r
(^/L/. e. / ff'J'Jf ^ ff /'/'<//..
THE
LIFE AKD CORRESPONDENCE
HEMY ST.GEOEGE TUCKER,
LATE ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL OF BENGAL,
CHAIRMAN OE THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
JOHN WILLIAM KAYE,
AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
JJublisljcr in rMnart) to i]cr ^njestt).
MDCCCLIV.
[T/ie right of publishing a French Translation of this work is reserved.]
fc;
PREFACE.
A WORK of this kind tells its own story so plainly,
that little prefatory remark need be made in the
shape of explanation or apology. I was requested
to write the Life of HENRY ST. GEORGE TUCKER ;
and believing that a Memoir of one, who throughout
the space of half a century took no unimportant
part in many of the great transactions of Indian
history, and who, in his participation in those trans-
actions, " did all like a man," would contribute
much both in the way of historical information and
personal example to the general stock of "things
worth knowing," I undertook to write it ; and the
present volume is the result of my endeavors.
I wish, however, to add, that for the publication
of whatsoever the Memoir contains, I, and I alone,
am responsible. It is based entirely on materials
derived from private sources. I have not received
the smallest assistance from any public body or any
official person. If there be anything in this volume
which ought not to be there, the indiscretion is
mine. I believe, however, that the faults of the
work are rather those of omission than commission.
Certainly they are in my own eyes. If any one
should think that I have inserted too much, and
reproach me for the insertion, I would beg him to
believe, that in consideration for what is called
"public convenience" a great inconvenience, be it
iv PREFACE.
said, to the Public and what really is private
feeling, I have forborne even more than I have
adventured.
What's done ye partly may compute-
But know not what's resisted.
It would have been egotistical and presumptuous
in me to have said even this much, upon the cir-
cumstances under which the present work has been
written, if it had not been that, on a recent occasion,
these personal circumstances were much mis-stated
both in Parliament and by the Press ; and a great
Public Body identified with what was in reality but
a private undertaking. And, however willing I
may be, in all cases where others have assisted me,
to share with them the praise that may be con-
sidered my due, I wish to keep the blame undi-
videdly to myself ; and to be held solely responsible
for all the revelations that are made, and all the
opinions that are ^expressed, in any book that bears
my name upon its title.
I have but one word more to say, personal to my-
self. On looking over the sheets of this work, it
appears to me that there is, in some parts, what
may seem to be a party bias in other words, a dis-
position to speak more slightingly of the acts of the
old Whig party than those of their opponents. As
the supposition that I have written at all under
political influence would, very properly, invalidate
my testimony, I think it right to say, that ever since
I was a boy my sympathies have been all with the
Whigs, and that if this has not appeared in the
writings which bear my name, it is because I have
ever held that " India is of no Party," and esteemed
the claims of Historical Truth paramount over all
considerations of Party or of Person.
London, January, 1854.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Birth and Parentage of Henry St.George Tucker The Bruere and
Tucker Families Early Life in Bermuda Departure for England
Schoolboy Days Embarkation for India Midshipman Life Arrival
at Calcutta 1
CHAPTER II.
Early Indian Life of Henry St.George Tucker Residence with Mr.
Bruere Departure for Gyah Residence with Mr. Law Mr. Law
and the Mocurrery System Appointment to the Secretary's Office
Loss of his first Earnings Appointed Assistant to the Commercial
Agent at Commercolly Residence at Hurriaul Early Writings-
Opinion on the Land Assessment On Excise and Gunge Duties 35
CHAPTER III.
Appointment of H. St.George Tucker to the Covenanted Civil Service
Employed in the Accountant- General's Department State of the
Civil Service The Administration of Sir John Shore Mr. Tucker
appointed Register in Rajshye His Intimacy with Henry Colebrooke
Appointed to the Secretariat Rise in the Department Arrival of
Lord Wellesley Mr. Tucker's Services Visit to Madras Anecdotes
of Lord Wellesley Return to Calcutta Appointed Accountant-
General 74
CHAPTER IV.
State of the Public Finances Public Credit Mr. Tucker's Measures-
Plan of a New Bank Reduction of Interest New Loans Improve-
ment of Public Credit Connexion with Palmer's House Mr. Tucker's
Double Duties Continued Financial Improvement 1 04
yi CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER V. PAGE
Retirement from Official Life Government Testimonial Mr. Tucker's
Mercantile Life Opinions of his Friends Conduct of Lord Wellesley
Admiral Bergeret His Friendship with Mr. Tucker Departure of
Lord Wellesley Anecdotes of his Staff Thoughts of Home 142
CHAPTER VI.
Arrival of Lord Cornwallis State of Public Affairs Condition of the
Finances Death of Cornwallis Succession of Sir G. Barlow Mr.
Tucker re-appointed Accountant- General Financial Measures
Their Unpopularity Correspondence with Sir G. Barlow and Others
Financial Results 161
CHAPTER VII.
The Settlement of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces The Special
Commission of 1807 Mr. Tucker's Appointment His Colleagues
Duties of the New Commission Their Reception in Upper India Mr.
Tucker's Report 212
CHAPTER VHL
Mr. Tucker's Resignation of the Commissionership His Return to Cal-
cutta Letters to his Family Projected Visit to England Appoint-
ment to the Secretaryship in the Public Department Death of his
Father; of his two Brothers Letters to his Sister and Mother
Embarkation for England Public Testimonials 234
CHAPTER IX.
Mr. Tucker's Reception in England Meeting with his Mother Visit to^
Mr. Carre Miss Boswell Mr. Tucker's Marriage His Wedding-Tour
Recognition of his Services His intended Return to India The
Voyage to Calcutta 251
CHAPTER X.
Return to India The Financial Secretaryship The Seat in Council
Want of Money at Home Bullion-supplies Correspondence with Sir
Hugh Inglis Mr. Tucker's Measures Scarcity of Money in India
Correspondence with Mr. Davis Death of Mr. Tucker's Mother The
Chief-Secretaryship Return to England 268
CHAPTER XL
Residence in Edinburgh Journey to London Adventures on the Road
Residence in London Excursion in Wales Visit to Ireland
Thoughts of Public Life 298
CONTENTS. VU
CHAPTER XII. PAGE
Mr. Tucker's Departure from Scotland" Starting for the Direction"
Constitution of the Court of Directors The Canvass Candidates and
Voters The "City Interest" The "West-India Interest" Mr.
Tucker's Defeat Renewal of the Canvass His Election Incidents
of Private Life 325
CHAPTER XIII.
Mr. Tucker in the Direction His peculiar Qualifications His Zeal and
Activity Early Efforts Questions of Land Revenue Resumption
Operations Salt and Opium Revenues The Company's Charter Ne-
gotiations with the Board of Control Mr. Tucker's Minutes 356
CHAPTER XIV.
The Court of Directors and the Board of Control Powers of the Board-
Collisions between the Two Authorities The Case of William Palmer
and Co. Mr. Tucker's Dissent The Writ of Mandamus Conduct of
the Court The Case of the Lucknow Bankers Firmness of the Court
Conduct of Mr. Tucker The Mandamus Stayed 385
CHAPTER XV.
The "Chairs" Mr. Tucker elected Deputy- Chairman Succession to
the Chair The Bombay Government Appointment of Mr. Robert
Grant The Governor-General Nomination of Sir Charles Metcalfe
Appointment of Lord Heytesbury Its Revocation Appointment of
Lord Auckland Mr. Tucker's Remonstrances Speech at the King's
Table 433
CHAPTER XVI.
Mr. Tucker's Private Correspondence Letters to Mr. Blunt Mr.
Charles Grant Mountstuart Elphinstone Lord William Bentinck
Sir Charles Metcalfe and Others 470
CHAPTER XVII.
The War in Afghanistan Our Relations with the Persian Court Re-
sistance of Russia an European Question The Tripartite Treaty
Mr. Tucker's Letters to the Duke of Wellington and Others His
Opinions on the Afghan War and the Conquest of Scinde Recall of
Lord Ellenborough 489
CHAPTER XVIII.
Mr. Tucker's Domestic Life His Second Chairmanship Appointment
of Lord Dalhousie Mr. Tucker's Farewell Address Public Enter-
tainmentsCorrespondence with Prince Waldemar of Prussia Din-
ners to Lord Dalhousie and Lord Hardinge Patronage Official
Duties ... .. 529
V1U CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX. PAGE
Mr. Tucker's Private Correspondence during his Second Chairman-
ship Letters to Lord Hardinge; to SirT. H. Haddock; to Mr. George
Clerk; to Mr. Thomason; and to Lord Dalhousie 561
CHAPTER XX.
Mr. Tucker and Lord George Bentinck The Sugar Duties Committee
The Navigation Laws His Private Life and Habits Illness and Re-
covery Letter to his Children Projected Retirement from Office
Address to his Constituency His last Illness His Death Character
of Henry St.George Tucker 588
APPENDIX 617
MEMOIRS
OF
HENRY ST.GEORGE TUCKER.
CHAPTER I.
Birth and Parentage of Henry St.George Tucker The Bruere and Tucker
Families Early Life in Bermuda Departure for England Schoolboy
Days Embarkation for India Midshipman Life Arrival at Calcutta.
HENRY ST.GEORGE TUCKER was born on the 15th
of February, 1771. On that one of the Bermudian
group of islands which is known as St. George's
he first saw the light. His father was a man of
distinguished reputation and high official position
in the Bermudas, who afterwards came to occupy,
on two occasions, the Presidential chair.
His mother was a Miss Bruere, daughter of
George James Bruere, who, for some years before
and after her marriage, was Governor of the Ber-
mudas. Of this Governor Bruere the colonial
annalists relate that he was a man of an irascible
temper and overbearing disposition, living and
ruling in a perpetual state of antagonism with the
Assembly and the People. He was a soldier, and a
B
2 LIFE OSV^.sy.G. TUCKER.
good one ; but he was habituated to command, and
impatient of opposition. In spite, however, of the
intestine strife into which he plunged the islands,
he governed them for nearly twenty years, and
might have governed them still longer, but that, in
the very crisis of the warfare, he was suddenly re-
moved by death. He died on the 10th of September,
1780, like a soldier, at his post."*
The Brueres and the Tuckers, it would seem, were
at one time not knit very closely together. There
were differences of opinion on vital questions to dis-
sever and distract. There is no animosity so viru-
lent as that which grows up in small insular com-
munities, when party feeling breeds real personal
warfare as bitter as it is abiding. The Brueres were
staunch royalists of a soldierly stock, loyal to
the core; whilst the Tuckers were not without
strong republican sympathies sympathies which the
American war was even then bringing into vigorous
action. The two families were thus divided; but
Henry Tucker, when he married Frances Bruere,
had not to make his election between them. Of
moderate views and a conciliatory disposition, he re-
mained cherished and respected by both parties;
and his sons, as they grew up at his knees, found
neutral ground before them, and planted there the
royalist or the rebel standard, each according to
the promptings of his childish fancy. George, his
second son, grew up a royalist, and dwelt much at
Government House ; whilst the heart of Henry St.-
* Williams' Historical and Statistical Account of the Bermudas.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 3
George, the subject of this memoir, inclined towards
the republican cause. His home was at Port Royal,
where was the estate of the Tuckers; and there
"rebel councils prevailed." "Whether this residence
in either case, or in both, was the cause or the effect
of these early tendencies, I do not pretend to know.
But of these remote family incidents the bio-
grapher has little need to speak. In his seventieth
year, Henry St. George Tucker wrote, for the amuse-
ment of his children, the story of his boyish days. It
would ill become me to substitute anything of my
own for such an autobiography as this. Unhappily
it is but a fragment. It treats of the Tucker and
Bruere families of the childish experiences of young
Henry St. George in his island birthplace of his
schoolboy days in England and of his voyage to
India, as a neglected midshipman. But of the life
of the man Tucker there is no record from his pen,
beyond that which is to be gathered from scattered
passages in his correspondence. The autobiography
can illustrate only the opening chapter of the me-
moir. It is " a monument of a purpose unac-
complished."*
Of his family, both upon the father's and the
mother's side, he has given us this account :
"I was born, I am told, on the 15th February, 1771. I
was the first-born of ten sons and one daughter My
parents on both sides were of gentle blood. My paternal ances-
* Mr. Tucker seems to have projected not, however, for publication a
complete memoir of his life, with some account of his cotemporaries. Many
will sympathise with the strong feelings of regret entertained by the bio-
grapher, when they peruse the following passage taken from the brief intro-
B 2
4 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
tors possessed landed property in Kent and Northamptonshire ;
and I still retain a few hereditary acres in the former county ;*
but why they emigrated to the little island of Bermuda (where
they also possessed landed property), I never happened to learn.
I know that I had two grandfathers; and beyond this fact,
curiosity never impelled me to penetrate into the mazes of
antiquity.
" My grandfather, Henry Tucker, was one of the finest
models of a man I have ever seen. Even at the age of seventy,
when I last saw him, his person was erect, combining the ele-
ments of strength and activity his step was firm and elastic
his eye brilliant and full of the fire of youth and his proud
carriage would seem to have pointed him out as a descendant
of the Great Mogul, or at least of the Plantagenets, or Tudors.
He had eight children. He loved the animated life of London,
where he resided as agent of the island; but, by preferring
the noise and bustle of Gerrard-street, Soho, to the verdant
lawns and cedar groves of Port Royal, his country residence in
Bermuda, f he did not, I fear, add to his paternal acres.
duction to the fragment extant, and remember that the autobiographer
has only carried down the narrative to the commencement of his sixteenth
year. "I may add," wrote Mr. Tucker in 1840, " that in sketching my past
life, I shall have an opportunity of paying a just tribute of respect to those
benefactors and friends whom I have loved, and whose friendship and regard
have been to me the source of infinite gratification. I have been much in the
way of observing men who have distinguished themselves in public life, and
whose names will appear in history ; and as I am habitually an attentive ob-
server of character, I may from time to time be able to give some sketches of
those eminent persons which will at least be interesting to my own family I
allude more particularly to my early patron, Sir William Jones, the good
Lord Cornwallis, Sir John Shore, Henry Colebrooke, Lords Minto, Hastings,
and others." It need scarcely be added that such a memoir would not only
have been perused with avidity by all Mr. Tucker's friends and cotemporaries,
but would have afforded a contribution to authentic history, the value and
the interest of which it would be difficult to over-estimate.
* At Crayford. There is a vault, at Milton, in Kent, which formerly be-
longed to the Tucker family.
f " ' The still vexed Bermoothes,' " writes Mr. Tucker, "is a beautiful little
island, or rather cluster of islands, extending about twenty miles from east to
west, and about three from north to south. The Governor's residence was,
in my time, at St. George's, near the eastern extremity of the cluster; but
BERMUDA. 5
" My father, his eldest son, was an accomplished gentleman
in the best sense of the word, and in every sense of the word.
I remember to have been present at a very earnest disputation,
at the table of General C., on the proper signification of the
term * a perfect gentleman.' Some maintained that polished
manners, an elegant address, and that ease and grace which
the seat of government has been since removed to ' Hamilton,' centrically
situated in the principal island. Port Royal,' a sweet secluded country seat
of my grandfather Tucker, was in the western part of the island. The great
disadvantage of Bermuda arises from the circumstance of its being subject to
violent storms. I recollect a terrific hurricane, which produced the most
fearful devastation. I remember, too, to have seen a ball of fire, or electric
discharge, which shivered the mast of a ship, and cast one of the fragments
within a few yards of the portico of our house, where some of the family were
assembled. Bermuda has never, I believe, been captured ; an impunity which
it owes, perhaps, quite as much to its coral-reefs as to the valor of its de-
fenders. The French fleet made a demonstration off the island during the
administration of my grandfather; but it did not venture to make an attack.
Our poverty may, perhaps, have saved us. Although so young when I left
the island, I well remember its scenery and localities, and have surprised
some of my countrymen by my accurate delineation of its topography. I
owe this knowledge, no doubt, to my frequent excursions on horseback.
'"Bermuda, parent of my early days!
To thee belong my tributary lays;
In thy blest clime, secured from infant harms,
A tender mother pressed me in her arms
Lulled me to rest with many a ditty rare,
And looked, and smiled upon her infant care-
She taught my lisping accents how to flow,
And bade the virtues in my bosom glow.
Hail! Nature's darling spot, enchanted isle!
Where vernal blooms in sweet succession smile
Where, cherished by the fostering sea-born gale,
Appears the tall Palmetto of the vale
The rich banana, tenant of the shade,
With leaf broad- spreading, to the breeze displayed.
The fragrant lime the lemon at its side,
And golden orange, fair Hesperia's pride
The memorable* tree of aspect bold
Which graced thy plains, oh Lebanus! of old,' " &c. &c.
Bermudian.
* The cedar is the most valuable product of the island, and is used in
building our fast-sailing vessels.
6 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
can only be found in the best society, constituted the main ele-
ments in the character. Others contended that a high spirit, a
cultivated, taste, superior accomplishments, and a finished edu-
cation, were indispensable requisites. Many names were brought
forward by way of example, but they were 'all rejected in con-
sequence of some attribute being wanting. At length a blunt
old soldier (General M.) settled the question by declaring that
c he was a gentleman who was incapable of a base or unworthy
action.'
" Two of my paternal uncles settled in America the one as
a physician the other as a lawyer; and both took an active
part in the revolution. Thomas Tudor, the senior, was a
member, I believe, of the first Congress; and during the last
thirty years of his life, he held the responsible station of Trea-
surer of the United States. He was a Roman in spirit, as I
have heard him described, without republican vulgarity, aus-
terity, or presumption. He bequeathed about 20,OOOZ. to his
relatives, without distinction of country.
" His younger brother, St.George, united very harmoniously
the character of soldier and judge, and was eminent in the
latter capacity at a more advanced period of life. He married
the widow Randolph, an American heiress, and mother of
John Randolph, the late ambassador to St Petersburgh; and
the fine estate of Ronoke, in Virginia, has now descended to
his son, my cousin and namesake. His father had a taste for
literature and poetry; and the following lines, written by him,
were recited at my table by Mr. Rush, the Minister from the
United States in this country :
" ' Days of my youth! ye have glided away;
Hairs of my youth! ye are frosted and grey;
Eyes of my youth ! your keen sight is no more ;
Cheeks of my youth! ye are furrowed all o'er;
Strength of my youth! all your vigor is gone;
Thoughts of my youth! all your visions are flown!
" ' Days of my youth ! I wish not your recall ;
Hairs of my youth! I'm content you should fall;
Eyes of my youth! ye much evil have seen;
Cheeks of my youth! bathed in tears have you been ;
Thoughts of my youth! ye have led me astray;
Strength of my youth! why lament your decay?
THE TUCKERS AND B3UIERES. 7
" * Days of my age! ye will shortly be past;
Pains of my age! yet awhile can ye last;
Joys of my age! in true wisdom delight;
Eyes of my age ! be Eeligion your light ;
Thoughts of my age ! dread not the cold sod ;
Hopes of my age ! be ye fixed on your God !'
" Dr. Nathaniel Tucker, another brother, who settled as a
physician in Yorkshire, had still greater pretensions to poetry.
He wrote the ' Bermudian,' and other poems, which would
have passed very well in the days of Waller and Prior. . . .
He then took a very serious turn, and engaged in the study of
the more abstruse and mystical branches of theology, which did
not promote his fortune or fame, nor add, I fear, to his happi-
ness. I remember him well; and I have met with few persons
of more mild, amiable, or dignified manners. I attended the
funeral of his widow, who was followed to her grave by all the
decent poor of the neighbourhood, among whom I could not
discern many dry eyes. This circumstance struck me very
forcibly; for I knew that she had not the means of being
charitable; and why, then, should the poor weep? I have
attended the funerals of the opulent and great without seeing a
tear shed. I can only conclude that benevolence may supply
the place of wealth, and touch the chords of the heart when the
hand of munificence may fail to leave an impression.
" My maternal grandfather, George Bruere (quasi Bruyere),
was a gallant old soldier ; and from the name, and a remarkable
vivacity of temper prevalent in his family, I should conjecture
that he was of French extraction. He obtained the govern-
ment of Bermuda as a reward for his services in the field ; and
he administered it for about twenty years as an honorable man.
He had fourteen children ! !
" I remember to have seen him, after rather copious libations,
go through the evolutions of the battle of Culloden, and other
great fights in which he was personally engaged. He marched
and countermarched charged the enemy with great vigor
handled his large stick with great skill and effect (albeit with
some peril to those around him), and generally concluded with
the shout of victory the ' British Grenadiers' or the popular
8 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
anthem of * God save the King !' He was, heart and soul, a
Royalist; while my grandfather Tucker, from his American
connexions, took a favorable view of the American cause. The
uncompromising Governor called the Americans * rebels' a
term of reproach which, naturally enough, gave mortal offence
to one who, at the moment, had two sons to whom the oppro-
brious term applied. These proud spirits separated, never to
meet again in friendly hall; the different members of the two
families became estranged from each other ; my father alone
occupying a neutral ground, beloved and respected alike by
Montague and Capulet.
" Several of my maternal uncles followed the honorable pro-
fession of their father. One was killed at ' Bunker's Hill ;'
another was so repeatedly perforated by the American rifles,
that he died an invalid in Fort ' George,' or Fort ' Augustus,'
in the Highlands of Scotland; a third (a lieutenant in the
navy) was severely wounded while heading a boarding party
in a night attack. The other brothers passed through life in
the ordinary course.
" My excellent mother was the eldest daughter; she was an
affectionate and exemplary wife; she devoted herself to the
cares of her large family, and was estimable in all the relations
of life. She survived my father* several years, and, in the
absence of all her children, she died at Cheltenham in October,
1813; and the only act of filial piety which I could perform, on
my return from India, was to inscribe a tablet to her memory
in the church of that place."
Such were the two families surrounded by which
* My father had held the situation of Treasurer and Secretary, and
President of the Council at Bermuda; and more than once held charge of the
government for a considerable time; but had not interest to secure the suc-
cession permanently. When I returned to England in 1811, I was called
upon, as his executor, to satisfy a demand of several thousand pounds which
stood against the estate, in consequence of the miscarriage of some accounts ;
but he was so correct, and was so well known, that I experienced little dif-
ficulty in satisfying the Office of Colonial Audit ; and the demand was reduced
to 32?., on account of the expense of a State boat, entertained, not by him, but
by his predecessor in office. H. St.G. T.
EARLY ASSOCIATIONS. 9
young Henry St.George passed the first ten years of
his life. It is always curious sometimes pro-
fitable to consider the extent to which the child
may have been father of the man. Not unmindful
of the effect that early influences may have had
in moulding and shaping his character, Mr. Tucker
himself paused, at the threshold of his boyish nar-
rative, to observe that " some of our deepest im-
pressions are received at a very early age, and tend
often to exercise an influence on our future lives."
" We grow up," he said, " with the character which
we have acquired as boys." Doubtless a vast deal
of biographical ingenuity is displayed to very little
purpose in tracing the connexion between the en-
vironments of the child and the actions of the man.
And where authentic materials are scanty, these
conjectural deductions often hover on the extreme
verge of the Absurd. But without wandering into
the regions of the great Par-fetched, something
may presently be said about the early associations
which Mr. Tucker has thus described, and their
effect upon the character of the Man :
" I suspect," he says, after writing of the family feuds hinted
at in the preceding extract, " that I was myself a bit of ajebel,
for my next brother, George (a noble fellow ! prematurely lost
to the service which he adorned), was domiciled at the Govern-
ment House,* and as I resided much at ' Port Royal,' where
* I only envied George his residence at the Government House from his
being in the way of hearing often ray favorite song of the " Four-and-twenty
Fiddlers," sung with great humour to please us children by the late Colonel
Donkin (father of Sir Rufane), who commanded the garrison, and lived much
at the Government House, where he was always a welcome guest. After an
interval of thirty years, I found this stately octogenarian standing sentinel at
10 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
rebel councils prevailed, what could be more natural than that
I, at the mature age of eight or nine, should aspire to become
the leader of the popular faction? Men become patriots when
they cannot otherwise distinguish themselves. Then why not
boys 9
" But my republican zeal was very much cooled by the
French Revolution; and if a spark of it had remained, our own
most contemptible revolution of 1830 would have extinguished
it, and have fixed me, for life, a determined i Conservative. 1
Oh ! for a Muse of fire, that I might scorch and consume those
wretched, mischievous, unprincipled men, who urged on that
fraudulent measure, for their own base purposes, to the ruin of
their country !
" The disunion of our families, originating in the civil war,
was productive of much inconvenience and discomfort, and
might have produced serious evil.
" Late in the evening, at Port Royal, when night was begin-
ning to cast her dark shades around, I perceived a strange man,
muffled up to the ears, suddenly rush from the garden into the
house, and I expected every moment to see him present a
blunderbuss, or some other deadly weapon. But, to my surprise,
the females of the family immediately threw themselves into
his arms ! Some sobbed and some laughed according to
their several tastes, and all was agitation and violent emotion.
This was quite inexplicable to me. The stranger was a rebel,
but he was also a son, who, prompted by natural affection, had
run some risk to pay a hasty clandestine visit to his family !
My loyal grandsire would not have doomed him to the fate of
poor Major Andre; but, had he been discovered, he would not
easily have found his way back to the rebel ranks.
11 A great deal of clandestine intercourse took place, during
the war, between the Bermudians and the Americans; and we
had the honor of sending forth two very eminent pirates., who
hovered about the island, and sometimes landed, not for the
the door of the York Hotel, in Bath. He had heard of my arrival, and was
awaiting my return to the hotel. I recognised him instantly and he greeted
me as he had done when I was a child. H. St.G, T.
EARLY HABITS. 11
purposes of plunder (for they were ' honorable men'), but to
greet their relatives and friends, and to dispose of their surplus
acquisitions. I once saw from the hills a beautiful chase the
brother pirates braved and defied his Majesty's ships. The
little Nautilus sallied out, perfectly covered with canvas; but
it was all in vain nothing, at that time, could touch a Ber-
mudian schooner. Her commander, Collins, succeeded after-
wards in making a French line-of-battle ship strike her colors;
but this was a more easy task than to capture the pirates.
Both subsequently perished in some desperate encounter, in
which their vessel was, I believe, blown up
"I was delicate as a child, and being the first-born, I was, of
course, indulged and spoilt. I became a little epicure ; but it
is remarkable that, in after-life, my tastes have been simple. I
have preferred a simple diet, and have rarely committed excess.
To the habit of temperance, early rising, and the love of
exercise, I attribute (under Providence, to whom I owe more
than I deserve !) that firm state of health which enables me to
enjoy life at an advanced age.
" I was always fond of riding, and I was allowed to ride
from one end of the island to the other, attended only by a
negro servant, who generally held by the tail of my little mare.
I sometimes went out with the negroes, to catch and bring in
the horses from the field ; and , on one occasion, I ventured to
mount my father's favorite horse, 'Brilliant.' The spirited
animal, with my light weight, and lighter hand, galloped off at
full speed. He soon encountered a gate, which he gallantly
cleared ; but I, who could not carry his momentum with me,
was left behind to clear it as I might, on foot.
" On another occasion, I owed a similar disaster to my ten-
derness for my mare. I would not allow her girths to be drawn
too tight, lest they should hurt her. I mounted, with a cousin
of my own age seated behind me. We dashed off; but the
saddle, abusing its liberty, suddenly swung round, and my
cousin and myself, in illustration of the theory of Sir Isaac
Newton, gravitated incontinently to the ground !
" But I met with a more serious accident, in a boating ex-
12 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
cursion, which nearly proved fatal to me. We sailed about the
harbour, and landed in a neighbouring isle, where we were
kindly received, and regaled with * milk punch,' a beverage to
me before unknown. I became much exhilarated, and in the
overflow of my spirits, on the way back, I clambered up the
mast of the boat, and either jumped, or fell, overboard. I sank
of course, for I could not swim I sank again; but, rising to
the surface, a negro, who was in the stern of the boat, caught
me by the hair, and drew me back into the boat, almost in a
lifeless state. The servants carried me home in all haste. My
parents were fortunately absent. I was dried and warmed at
the kitchen fire, and none, I believe, but the parties present,
were aware of the occurrence.
" My grandsire, the Governor, was exposed to some danger
about this time. A detachment (on its way, I think, to the
siege of Charlestown) landed in the island ; and a young officer
belonging to it, taking it into his head to fall in love with the
person, or perhaps the reputed fortune, of a young lady of
St. George's, and the beauty (or perchance her father) not en-
couraging his addresses, he became desperate, cut off the small
joint of his little finger, enclosed it to her in a letter, and pro-
tested that he would go on to sever and transmit to her joint
after joint until she should accept his suit.
" For this prank he was placed under arrest, and my grand-
father, passing near the window of his barracks, the young
ruffian, or madman, discharged a pistol at him, which nearly
took effect. Why he was not shot for the outrage, I do not
know ; but he escaped, and many years afterwards he was met
by one of my brothers, on service, in the command of a batta-
lion of the Rajah of Travancore.
" I cannot vouch for the fact of his having made love in so
novel a fashion, because I did not see the propitiatory offering;
but it was currently reported and believed in the island, and I
have, even at this time, a perfect recollection of the individual.
I was struck by his appearance, in consequence of his wearing a
splendid masquerade dress, such as I had never seen before
he personated, I think, a Hessian officer; and although very
DISCIPLINE OF THE SADDLE. 13
diminutive, and possessing feminine rather than manly beauty,
his countenance and costume were such as to attract and rivet
the attention of a boy.
" Before this period, I obtained a memorable victory over
my grandsire, which I must record. I was counting at his
table, after dinner, the seeds of a melon, and he, little dreaming
that I was one day to become the Accountant-General of India,
and distrusting my arithmetical powers, promised to give me a
pistreen for every seed, if my enumeration should prove to be
correct. The number was not small. They were counted and
recounted by the umpire, and it was decided that I had won
the prize. The next morning, my father's breakfast-table ex-
hibited the splendid trophy. I had never, perhaps, seen so
much money before, and my joy and exultation were great. Is
it not possible that this little circumstance may have had some
effect in directing my mind in after-life to the study of Finance?
I might never have had the control and appropriation of mil-
lions upon millions, if I had not succeeded in counting some
dozen, or hundred, seeds of a melon ! Hence it is deducible
that the financier sprung from a melon-seed ! ' This,' Horatio
might say, ' were to examine too curiously.' * Not a whit,' quoth
Hamlet."
It were not, at all events, to examine too curiously,
to surmise that all this riding and boating tended to
form the sturdy, robust, moral character of the man,
no less than to establish the vigorous physical con-
stitution, which lasted him fourscore years. There
were, fortunately for young Tucker, no pedagogues,
and, perhaps, few books in his island-home. His
schoolroom was amidst the eternal greenery or among
the sharp rocks of the " vexed Bermoothes." His
chief preceptor seems to have been the Saddle.
There is more than it is the fashion to acknowledge
in such teaching as this. Presh air and free exer-
14 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
else were the aliments which strengthened the boy,
and developed the hardy qualities of the man. This
was the real training the ineffaceable discipline of
Nature which did more to form his after-character
to prepare him for the great life-work of doing
and suffering, than any of the accidents upon which
he more emphatically dwelt. It is no small thing,
having to trace the career of one whose manliness
of character was in all things conspicuous; who
was, indeed, pre-eminently a man among men ; to
know that in early boyhood he was much subjected
to the voluntary discipline of the Saddle. It little
matters what books a boy is taught to read during
the first ten years of his life. But it is of the first
moment that he should be suffered to enjoy free
libations of air and exercise and the freest of all
are to be enjoyed in the saddle. Nothing could be
more full of promise than the words, " I was always
fond of riding, and was allowed to ride from one end
of the island to the other."
As to the rest, it hardly seems that there is much
connexion between either the early influences or the
early indications of character, glanced at in the
Autobiography, and the adult developments of which
I shall presently come to speak. The Republican
boy grew into a robust Tory. The little " Epicure"
of Bermuda lived to content himself with fare both
coarse and scanty ; to face all privation with a
cheerful countenance, and all hardship without a
murmur of complaint.
The real training of the boy was, as has been said,
DEPARTURE FOR ENGLAND. 15
in those hard gallops across the island, and those
boating excursions on the coast. It was time
enough to think seriously about book-learning when
young Henry St. George was ten years old, and good
opportunity offered for the safe conveyance of him-
self and his next brother, George, to England. How
it was may be told in the words of the Autobio-
graphy :
" Early in 1781,* my veteran grandsire terminated his
honorable career; and my father, who was anxious to give us
the benefit of a good education, determined to send my brother
George and myself to England for the purpose, under the care
of our kind-hearted grandmother, who had now become a
widow. There were no means of education at the time in
Bermuda, and mine had scarcely commenced. My father was
too much engaged with his official labors, and my mother
with the cares of a household and large nursery, to admit of
their giving me any instruction beyond a little reading, and
less writing.
''The family feud abated, but was not entirely extinguished,
by the death of my grandfather Bruere; and at a later period,
in England, it showed itself in a very trifling incident. One
of my maternal uncles sent me with a letter to Charles James
Fox; but, unluckily, I called, on my way to Graffcon- street, on
my grandfather Tucker, and he learnt my errand. He looked
at the letter with an expression of indignation he was much
enraged, and I suspected that he would have torn it in pieces,
in which case I should have had a very difficult account to
settle with the choleric Captain, who, on another very trivial
occasion, had treated me with a pretty smart box on the ear.f
Better feelings, however, prevailed; and I delivered the letter.
My grandsire had no dislike to Mr. Fox, although the opponent
* Mr. Williams, in his " History of the Bermudas," says that Governor
Bruere died in September, 1 780.
f I suspect that my rebel predilections may have given pungency to my
poor uncle's displeasure ; for he had but too much reason to complain of the
American sharpshooters. H. St.G. T.
16 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
in Westminster of his friend, Sir Cecil Wray. His indignation
was excited at the idea that one of his race should be converted
into a letter-carrier by one with whom he was not on speaking
terms.
" Preparatory to our departure, I paid farewell visits to all
my relatives and friends in the island, and was overloaded with
presents. Cousin Tudor gave me a large fat sheep, the pride
of his flock others sent jellies and preserves, and all some
token of regard and remembrance. But the most magnificent
present which I received was from a worthy auctioneer of the
name of Smith, who had collected a variety of English coins in
the course of his business, and these he generously presented to
me. He was not at all connected with our family, nor could
he have been influenced by the circumstance of my admiring
his pretty little daughter, ' Jenny Smith,' because I also admired
' Jenny Kelly,' and another rustic beauty at the opposite end of
the island. The fact is, that my father was very popular from
his gracious manners, and from that something which denotes
innate benevolence. They say 'Poeta nascitur non fit;' and so
I say of a gentleman. He must be born and bred one. We
were taught to take off our hats to the lowest person whom we
met; and this was no small condescension in one of my birth
and dignity ! My anxious mother, with much good advice be-
fore parting, explained to me that it was not necessary to take
off my hat to every person in the streets of London ; but habit is
strong, and even now, when I repair to the stables for my horse,
I interchange bows* with the coachmen and ostlers, and all the
little idle urchins whom I encounter in the mews.
* A Bermudian Justice, who had, I suppose, acquired the same habit, had a
wicked trick played off upon him on his arrival in London. A wag, who had
probably read the " Fool of Quality," and who had observed the Justice's sim-
plicity, pinned a label upon the back of his coat, describing his name and
quality. He sallied out to explore. The passers-by read the paper, and some
loud enough for him to hear. He was delighted that his name and fame
should have gone before him. Some accosted him" How do ye do, Mr. Jus-
tice ?" " How does your wife do ?" " What's the last news from Ber-
muda ?" The Justice bowed, and smiled, and bowed again, and thought the
" Lunoners" the civilest and best informed people in the world. I do not
know how the adventure ended ; but it is upon such slender premises, I fear,
that we sometimes build our fame, and rest our conclusions. H. St.G. T.
VOYAGE TO ENGLAND. 17
" The hour of departure at length arrived, and we embarked
in April, 1781, on the good ship Diligentia, a Spanish prize,
leaving many wet eyes behind us. Our little captain, who I
suspect was a Welshman, was determined, like another Van
Tromp, to sweep the seas. He bore a letter of marque ; and he
chased everything. The goodly Diligentia moved like a castle
upon the waters ; but still we pursued everything that ran away
from us. One heavy Dutchman we thought to have caught,
for she was as heavy as ourselves. I watched her with eager
eyes for many hours sometimes we seemed to near her, and
then again she increased her distance; but, at length, night
came on, and she escaped from us, or we from her.
" One fine morning, a long, low frigate, bearing French colors,
and of French build, came sweeping down upon us. She did
not give us time to chase her, as we should have done -just as
the heroic Sir William Meadowes was accustomed to chase
Tippoo Sultan; but we were resolved to show fight. The
boatswain's whistle called to quarters the men were at their
guns the little captain strutted the quarter-deck, an inch
higher and even the ' quakers' on the quarter-deck seemed
impatient * to give tongue;' when, lo! the frigate fired a shot
across our bows, hauled her wind, and hoisted English colors !
I will not undertake to say who was most glad or sorry at this
sight ; but this I remember, that, instead of round and canister
shot, which must soon have riddled the good ship Diligentia,
we received round bottles of ' capillaire' and * orgeat,' and
canisters of sundry good things which had recently escaped
from the West Indies. The frigate was H.M.'s ship L'Oiseau ;
and the courteous commander, hearing that the hospitable
hostess who had so often entertained the officers of H.M.'s
navy in Bermuda was on board, gallantly sent us every little
delicacy which his ship afforded. Here, again, we see the
gentleman.
" On one occasion, our bellicose propensities were like to have
been put to a rough trial. A French privateer, under English
colors, ran under our stern. I stole up from the cabin below to
see the fun, and placed myself near the taffrail, from whence I
C
18 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
could have thrown a biscuit into the vessel. She was crowded
with men, who thronged the forecastle and bowsprit, ready to
board; but our little captain was nothing daunted. He ran out
his stern-chaser made every preparation to receive the assault
put on so good a face, and gave his orders with such coolness
and determination (every word of which, I suspect, must have
been heard by the Frenchman), that the enemy became dis-
couraged, and soon sheered off. We then, as usual, gave chase ;
but to the amusement, I presume, if not to the mortification, of
the Frenchman. Had he shown more pluck, we must have
become his prize; for he greatly outnumbered us, to all appear-
ance, in men, while his vessel was more manageable. It is very
strange, but I do not recollect that I felt at all afraid at the
moment. I have often experienced the uneasy sensation of
fear; but on this occasion curiosity, or the novelty and excite-
ment of the scene, or perhaps ignorance of the danger, appear
to have suppressed all feeling of its presence.
"At length, after a passage of seven weeks, we safely landed
at Portsmouth."
The two brothers were put to school at Hampstead,
under the care of a Dr. Alexander, who seems to
have had small Latin and less Greek. But he had
provided competent teachers, and young Tucker, who
had learnt little in the Bermudas to place him in a
high form at Hampstead, fired by emulation, pushed
forward rapidly, but perhaps somewhat superficially,
and soon acquired tolerable proficiency in the learned
languages. His own account of his schoolboy days
has little that is remarkable in it. It is, indeed, a
sort of general transcript of the scholastic experi-
ences of the grandsires of the present generation of
schoolboys :
" We reached England early in June, 1781, and were kindly
SCHOOLBOY DAYS. 19
welcomed by my grandfather Tucker, who carried me to the
theatre (I think) the night after our arrival, to see the ( Clan-
destine Marriage.' Everything was, of course, new and won-
derful to the island boy ; but the indulgence nearly proved fatal
to me. I was inoculated for the small-pox a few days after-
wards; but the enemy had already insinuated itself into the
citadel, and my life was in imminent peril for some weeks, the
least evil apprehended being the loss of my sight. I recovered,
however, under the rough treatment which prevailed at that
time, and I was indebted mainly to the kind care and attentions
of an aunt for the preservation of my sight, and perhaps (under
Divine Providence) for life itself.
" But I came forth most wofully disfigured. For some time
I was not permitted to look in a glass; and when I first saw
myself, after my recovery, I was horror-struck at the change.
A shaved head, inflamed eyes, deep scars and indentations,
produced a face on which the furies might have been supposed
to have carried on a sanguinary conflict. ' Well,' observed one
of my aunts, ' you have now, Henry, lost all your good looks,
and you have nothing for it but to make yourself agreeable by
your manners and accomplishments.' Here was cold comfort;
but the words made an impression upon my mind, and may
possibly have had some influence on my future life.
" In August, 1781, I was placed, with my brother George,
who was two years younger than myself, at Dr. Alexander's
school at Hampstead an establishment where much was done
to furnish the head, but very little to supply another important
functionary. Our fare was very indifferent, and of those ar-
ticles whose quality was unobjectionable the supply was scanty
and insufficient.
" The first evening after my installation I was presented with
a coarse slice of bread and butter. This I held up in my hand,
demanding, in a peremptory tone, if it were ' meant for my
supper?' The woman stared in silence, and I indignantly
threw back into her tray the offensive article. A little urchin
near me whispered, meanwhile, ' Give it to me give it to me;'
c2
20 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
but the die was cast, and the good woman quietly proceeded on
with her tray.
"The keen air of Hampstead, however, produced a wonder-
ful change in my appetite; and the next evening I not only
accepted the proffered slice, but I should not have felt myself
insulted if the whole loaf had followed.
" To our hard puddings, which were always a prelude to the
meat, I never could reconcile myself; and, when no famished
boy was to be found, they were usually consigned to our
pockets, and many a volley have I seen fly over our next
neighbour's wall, after dinner. Happily no accident occurred,
but if man or animal had been in the way, these bullets, like
the famous gun of Tippoo Sultan, would have erased from his
forehead the decrees of Destiny itself.
"On entering the school, I was mortified to find that we
were placed at the bottom, and below boys younger than my-
self ; but pride gave a spur to my exertions, and I was soon
brought forward very rapidly, and, indeed, too rapidly, for I
passed over books which I ought to have read, and I was made
to read books (Juvenal, &c.) which I could not understand.
Horace and Homer were my favorite authors, and Greek my
favorite language; and if I had applied to it two or three
years longer, I should probably have made no inconsiderable
proficiency; but I acquired everything hastily, and consequently
superficially.
" Dr. A. piqued himself upon his French, but he was not a
classical scholar; and we, senior boys, would have thought it
quite ridiculous if he had interfered with our Latin or Greek.
He had, however, the good sense to engage a good Grecian
as senior usher (Hamilton), and our Latin master (Lorimer)
was full of zeal. George was a special favorite with him, and
he used to make us recite the odes of Horace, as a great treaty
during the hours which might otherwise have been given to
rest or recreation.
" I was not fond of Euclid, and I made small progress in
Mathematics, a circumstance which I have had occasion to regret
EARLY STUDIES. 21
throughout life. Feeling the want so much, I was induced, at
the age of thirty-seven or thirty-eight, to commence the study of
Algebra ; but it was then too late to become a mathematician.
For drawing I had no turn, and all my lines were run by the
rule and compass. I was fond of fencing, but I never became a
powerful or skilful swordsman. Dancing seemed to have come
to me as from nature, for I was scarcely credited when I men-
tioned, on my debut, that I had not been previously taught.
" I soon became very fond of novels and romances, and par-
ticularly of Spanish and Eastern tales; and I suspect that the
4 Arabian Nights' and the ' Tales of the Genii' may have had
something to do in sending me to India, although it is scarcely
possible to imagine a greater contrast than that presented be-
tween the gorgeous palaces of the East and the midshipman's
berth on the orlop deck of an Indiaman.
" The first novel which fell into my hands was the s Fool of
Quality;' and although it was probably foolish enough, I recol-
lect that I strained my eyes to devour it, in the twilight of a
summer's evening. ' Pamela' followed, and nothing came amiss,
excepting Richardson's most tedious * Clarissa Harlowe,' which
I never had patience to read to a conclusion.
" There are few things in the life of a schoolboy worth re-
membering, and few which I remember; but trifles sometimes
keep possession of the memory from particular associations.
" I well recollect the first ascent of Lunardi's balloon, which
I saw to great advantage, and which struck me as something
very wonderful. Godwin had not written his * Political Jus-
tice' at the time, or he might have instanced this triumph of
mind over matter, in illustration of his theory, although it is
now become so familiar to us as scarcely to attract attention.
In fact, science of late years has produced so many greater
wonders, that travelling in the air is considered to be fit only to
attract the gaze of the vulgar. Even a Lord Mayor's show,
which appeared to be so fine and imposing a spectacle, with the
men in armour, would be regarded by a modern schoolboy as a
gaudy, idle pageant. Such has been the advance of knowledge !
" I had several skirmishes while at Hampstead; but only two
22 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
regular battles. The first scuffle was with the Honorable Thomas
Douglas, subsequently well known as Lord Selkirk ; and I can-
not guess how we should have had an altercation, for he was
very reserved, and seldom engaged in our play. Indeed, he
kept aloof from us, and seemed to be entirely absorbed in his
own meditations. He often swung himself from the branch of
an old tree at the bottom of our playground ; and I can almost
fancy that I see him in his usual contemplative mood, with
head in air, to all appearance counting the leaves above him.
" My first battle took place with a French boy soon after I
entered the school. He was much older and taller than myself,
but lame and very awkward, and not at all skilled in the art of
boxing, in which I was myself a novice. After being engaged
for some time in a very desultory warfare, the odds turned in
my favor; and my opponent, becoming much enraged, made a
furious onset, seized me by the head, and endeavoured by one
great effort to bring my face into close contact with his knee;
when, lo ! off came my wig and the astonished Frenchman,
holding up this vain trophy, seemed to expect that the head
would follow; but I was not idle in the mean time, and after a
short struggle, victory declared in my favor.
" The termination of my next contest was very different
indeed. My opponent was younger than myself, but much
more strong and weighty, and a most skilful pugilist. He beat
me to a dead stand-still; and I could at last scarcely support
myself against the wall, or return his blows. He was victorious,
of course; but I was exceedingly provoked at being scolded
and taunted afterwards by a pert little housemaid for having
struck her * pet boy.' A plague upon such pet boys ; for I was
feeling at the moment most sensibly the effects of his sturdy
blows.
"We generally spent our holidays with our kind grand-
mother; but in the summer of 1783 we accompanied a part of
the school to Margate, for the advantage of sea-bathing. About
fifty or sixty of us were crammed into a hoy ; and having had
a long passage, we passed a night on board in the most comfort-
less condition. We were huddled together in a small cabin,
THE LAW AND THE SEA. 23
some lying longitudinally, others transversely and diagonally
over them, and nearly all suffering from sea-sickness. I was
one of the very few who escaped this annoyance ; but it being
known, on our landing, that I had not been sick, I was imme-
diately ordered a dose of physic. It seemed to me strange and
illogical that I should be required to take physic because I was
well; but Alexander the Great (not he of Macedon) troubled
himself very little with logic in such cases, and we knew he had
an instrument which would have silenced Aristotle himself.
Upon another occasion I was treated much in the same way.
Most of the boys had what is called the ' influenza,' for want of
a better title, /felt quite well; but our old apothecary, wisely
concluding that, if I were not sick, I ought to be, under any
theory, whether the thing were contagious or epidemic, or
neither the one nor the other, I was unceremoniously subjected
to the same course of discipline. Happily, however, I was not
often caught in his net.
" In 1785 we enacted the tragedy of ' Hamlet, the Dane;'
and really it was very well performed. The insignificant part
of Osrick was assigned to me ; but in the after-piece I was
rather better provided for in the character of the Frenchman in
Garrick's farce of ' Lethe.' We afterwards rehearsed the
tragedy of f Cato ;' and there I had allotted to me the important
part of Miss Marcia ; but whenever Jiiba began to recite the
lines : ' The lovely Marcia towers above her sex True, she is
fair, oh how divinely fair,' the boys were all in a titter, and I
was forcibly reminded of the small-pox. It was cruel to make
me personate a Roman belle, prude though she may have been ;
but luckily I left the school before I was called upon to perpe-
trate this part, or that of Termagant, in a farce, whose title even
I do not now recollect."
It was intended that young Tucker should be
trained for the legal profession. His father probably
conceived that his local interest would enable Henry
St.George to secure for himself a competence by
practising at the Bermudian Bar. But the boy had
24 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
no taste for such drudgery as this; and when, in
the course of the Christmas holidays of 1785-86, one
of his aunts asked him whether he would like to
visit India, he appears to have grasped eagerly at
the offer of such an escape from the thraldom of the
schoolroom and the lawyer's desk. It seems that
she had no delegated authority to make any such
proposal. The impulse was, doubtless, a kindly one ;
the act belonged to the great family of the Well-
meant. A very mischievous family it is ; but in
this case, at least, the unwarrantable interference of
the good lady, shaping as it did the whole career of
Henry St. George Tucker, produced results which,
had she lived to see them, she might have regarded
with a smile of complacency and a thrill of delight.
And so it was thus hastily determined that the
boy should " go out to India." It does not ap-
pear that his aunt had formed any very clear con-
ception of what he was to do there, or had very
far-seeing projects for his future advancement in
life. There were merchant-ships always sailing for
the Indian ports, and there was little difficulty in
obtaining for a hardy, healthy boy of good family
a midshipman's berth on board an Indiaman. So
Henry St. George Tucker, at the age of fifteen, be-
came a midshipman on board a merchant- ship. The
history of his departure and of his voyage to India
shall be told in his own words :
"In December, 1785, I bade adieu to Hampstead for the
holidays, never to return; for my good aunt T, having inci-
dentally asked me if I should like to go out to India, I eagerly
DEPARTURE FOR INDIA. 25
caught at the idea, and my destiny was soon decided. She had
the best motives, no doubt, for her object was to relieve my
father from the charge of my education ; but she assumed an
authority which did not belong to her, and she contravened all
his plans for my future establishment in life. My predominant
feeling was, perhaps, to get rid of the discipline of a school,
and to avoid the laborious process of preparing for the law, the
profession for which my father had destined me. I was also,
perhaps, influenced by the prospect of realising some of the
scenes in those Eastern fictions which had delighted my imagi-
nation.
" My father, however, was much displeased and grieved at
this hasty and most unjustifiable proceeding, which separated
us for ever, never to meet again ; and I received from him a
letter of reproof, which cut me to the very heart. It was one
of the most impressive productions of the kind which I ever
read, and I wish that I could insert it here, as a model of that
sort of composition which is produced by strong feeling, coming
directly from the heart of an affectionate parent ; but when it
reached me I was 15,000 miles off, hunting wild animals on
the plains of Behar.
" It having been thus hastily decided that I should proceed
to India, and in the situation of a midshipman on board an
Indiaman, I was forthwith sent to attend Mr. Wales, the cir-
cumnavigator and astronomer, at Christ's Hospital, for the pur-
pose of being instructed in navigation; but in six or eight
weeks I could not learn much. Indeed, I merely went over
the ground which I had previously traversed at school ; or if I
acquired anything, it was simply the application of trigonometry
to some practical purposes. No attempt was made to instruct
me in nautical astronomy.
" In March, 1786, I was to embark in the William Pitt,
Captain Charles Mitchell, and to bid adieu to England and my
family, perhaps for ever; but few of my relatives were in town,
and the parting was not, I believe, very painful. My kind
aunt T. presented me with a couple of guineas, enjoining me
not to mention the circumstance to Captain T., who would
26 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
furnish my purse with the necessary supply; but he, knowing
the world and its ways, bluntly asked me what my aunt had
given me, and I was obliged to confess the fact. ' Very good
that will do,' was the only remark which escaped him ; and
I was left, somewhat disappointed, and not exactly satisfied
with his slender premises or questionable conclusions.
" But I started for Gravesend in grand style, in a carriage
and four, with the Purser and public despatches, and two other
youngsters, midshipmen like myself.
" The following morning we were called into the cuddy,
successively, to receive our impress money, or an advance of
two months' wages ; and the good man who held the money-
bags fortunately asked me if I had ever been at sea before. I,
not knowing the object of the question, promptly answered that
I had. * I am glad of it, young gentleman, for we have too
many land-lubbers among us.' This stamped me at once as an
ordinary, if not an able seaman, and my wages were regulated
accordingly. And here let it be observed that, as I had suf-
fered by my candor in one instance, it was but fair that I should
gain by the same adherence to truth in another. My wages
enabled me to contribute a small sum towards my mess, and to
purchase a keg of gin in the Downs, of which I was never a
large consumer.
" In these said Downs my troubles commenced, and I expe-
rienced discomfort enough. The ship was crammed with in-
vestment, and crowded with Irish recruits. The very first
night my great-coat and my cot, with all its appurtenances, were
carried off, and I never saw them more at least, in a way to
identify them. There were seventeen midshipmen on board,
and the berth allotted to us on the orlop deck was only suffi-
cient to enable four to hang their cots, or hammocks. I took
possession of the chest on which our meals were served ; but
even for this hard couch I was obliged to maintain a sharp
struggle; and as I was successful, I trust that fortune was not
blind. Our senior midshipman and coxswain, seeing my state
of destitution, and being in a different watch, allowed me to
turn in and out with him for a week or ten days; but I was so
MIDSHIPMAN LIFE. 27
sleepy-headed that he found it difficult to rouse me, and this
indulgence was soon withdrawn ; and during the greater part
of the voyage I slept on a hen-coop on the poop ; and as our
poultry diminished, I sometimes, to avoid the rain, crept into
the hen-coop itself.
"I had another source of discomfort. A great lumbering
chest, which Captain T. had formerly used as a store-chest,
contained my clothes and necessaries. For a day or two it re-
mained on deck, the object of constant abuse, for it was in
everybody's way; but it being difficult to find room for it
below, it was consigned to the fore-hatchway, where it became
the dining-table of our Hibernian recruits. This would have
been all very well; but these Irish lads, by perpetually jumping
upon it, opened a large seam, or crack, in the lid, which in
consequence freely admitted their pea-soup. Unluckily, too,
the chest contained not only my clothes, but a supply of rusks
and gingerbread nuts; and the soup, entering into a combina-
tion with these precious articles, my chest was in a condition
which it would not be easy to depict. Besides, I could seldom
obtain access to it; and I have often remained wet and dirty,
without the possibility of obtaining a change of linen. . . .
I might have supplied myself with jackets and trousers from
the purser's stores; but then I was anxious to keep my wages
untouched, that I might have my pockets full on my return
home.
" Our first attempt to get out to sea was unsuccessful, and we
were compelled to return to the Downs; but it proved a pretty
sharp debut for us young gentlemen on the poop.
" Our chief mate (the son of a Deal pilot) was every inch of
him a thorough-bred seaman, and a brave officer ; but he was
a perfect tiger in a blue coat. He told us at starting that we
must manage all the after-sails, the mizen-mast and its appen-
dages being our peculiar charge. Well, there is no great dif-
ficulty in getting under weigh. Sails can be hoisted, and sheets
and braces hauled by inexperienced hands ; but the wind headed
us, and a gale came on, attended with sleet and extreme cold.
Every reef of the mizen-topsail was ordered to be taken in, and
28 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the sail to be furled. Here came the tug of war ' hoc opus,
hie labor.' We were to lie out on the yard-arm, where two-
thirds of us had never been before. No assistance was allowed
below, not even to trim the yards for the purpose of shaking the
sail. This hard, unbending sail, like ourselves, had never been
at sea before. It was made more unmanageable, if possible, by
the sleet and the wind, which forced it over the yard. We
were exposed to this persecuting sleet and intense cold for (I
think) about two hours, until we succeeded, at length, in secur-
ing the sail, after successively taking in every reef ; when we
were permitted to come down, benumbed and exhausted. We
soon after bore up, and returned to our anchorage in the Downs.
" The trial was a rough one ; but it had the effect of making
all difficulties appear light thenceforward. Of this I had prac-
tical proof in my own case. Some weeks after we had been at
sea, we were suddenly assailed by what is called a ' white
squall,' without the slightest indication of its approach. The
ship was laid on her beam-ends the ports were to be secured
halliards, sheets, and braces were let go and everything was in a
state of most admired confusion. Our after-sails were got in first,
and I was ordered up, with three after-guardsmen, to furl the
maintop-gallant-sail, for it was impossible all at once to man all
the yards, and attend to everything which the emergency re-
quired. But, unluckily, one of the lifts had given way, and the
yard, from its accustomed horizontal position, assumed the per-
pendicular. I was desired to lie out, or rather lie down, on the
yard, to get hold, if possible, of the lee-leach of the sail. Here
was a mighty pretty office for a young gentleman of fifteen; but
there was no time for reflection, and down I went, scarcely ex-
pecting to return, for the difficulty of maintaining my hold on
a dangling yard, with a blustering sail to deal with, was very
great. What would my poor parents have felt if they had seen,
or fancied me, suspended aloft in a position perpendicular to the
boiling sea below? I think I see the white foam at this moment,
although half an hour before the sea had been calm and unruffled.
But I happily got back in safety, from a situation where the
slightest misadventure or unsteadiness must have proved fatal.
MIDSHIPMAN LIFE. 29
How often have I been mercifully preserved by that gracious
Power to whom I owe so many blessings !
" While on this theme, I may as well recount a few accidents
which occurred to me on board, for the purpose of illustrating
the life of a midshipman in an Indiaman some fifty years ago.
" On being suddenly aroused one night from sleep on the poop,
I stepped, as I thought, from a hen-coop, upon the deck of the
said poop ; but to my great surprise, I alighted on the quarter-
deck, but without breaking my bones, or other injury, beyond
the shock at the instant.
" During a very rainy night, I had ensconced myself under the
mat-covering of a carriage, which had been placed (much out
of place) in the front part of the poop over the awning ; but
falling asleep, as was my wont, and the matting being decayed
or injured by these nocturnal visits, I slipped through, and was
precipitated with great violence on the quarter-deck. I was
grievously bruised and stunned, and I scarcely recovered my
consciousness until morning, having been huddled under the
awning out of the way, like any other useless lumber, by some
good-natured quartermaster ; but in a few days I was upon my
legs again, and indeed, I never absented myself from my watch,
or received medical treatment.
" One of the important duties of a midshipman is to hold the
candle when any work is going on below. On one of these
occasions, when we were moving or getting out some stores, a
brute of a quartermaster pitched a keg of pickled salmon in a
direction to strike me forcibly on the back. I thought that
my breath was gone, and my back broken; but things came
round in time, and no complaint was made of this brutality, for
that would only have produced a feud among those who were
near neighbours on the orlop, and not otherwise very well dis-
posed towards each other.
" Another inappreciable privilege of the midshipman was to
visit the coal-hole without a candle, and alone, for the spirit-room
was at hand, where a light would be dangerous; but unluckily
a grapnail had been placed across the entrance to this dark
cavern at the bottom of the ship, and we boys could only
30 LIFE OF H: ST.GL TUCKER.
squeeze ourselves in upon all fours, and shovel out the coals
with our hands into a large basket in the gangway. I had, on
one occasion, successfully gone through this tedious process the
basket was full, and was hoisted up slowly until it had nearly
reached the deck, when through accident or ^design (but I
suspect the latter) it was toppled over, and a shower of coals
came rattling down, to my astonishment and dismay. I had just
a moment to withdraw my head hastily into the dark coal-hole,
or that head would in an instant have been in a condition to defy
the manipulation of Dr. Spurzheim himself. ....
" I was never * mast-headed' but once as a punishment, and
perhaps I deserved it. The boy with whom I had a struggle
for the mess-chest as a bed, called upon me to heave the log ;
but I, fancying myself as good a man as himself, desired that he
would hold the reel, and / would heave the log. He refused,
and I persisted, and between us the log was not hove ; but the
omission was discovered, and the hour of reckoning arrived;
and both parties having been found guilty, we were both
ordered up for two hours to the main-yard-arm, first up to take
the weather-yard. I obtained this honorable distinction; and
the main-yard, it must be admitted, offered a pretty fair seat,
and sufficient accommodation ; but as I always distrusted my
propensity to sleep (for it was during the night), I took care to
secure myself by a gasket, or some other lashing. I came well
off, with only four bells; as one of our boys was kept at the
mast-head, either from design or forgetfulness, for nearly a whole
day, and we were obliged to supply his wants clandestinely
from below.
" It may be asked if such sharp discipline did not sometimes
occasion accidents. One did occur with us. A boy was knocked
down, or pushed down, in the dark, and falling against a ring-
bolt, broke his thigh. But he was indulged in consequence
with a hammock full six weeks or more. Lucky rogue !
" While I allude to occurrences somewhat tinctured with
severity, I ought not to omit a circumstance which was highly
creditable to the spirit and decision of our chief officer. Our
recruits, who had been reinforced by a party from Madras, and
MIDSHIPMAN LIFE. 31
who were certainly in a state of great discomfort from want of
the necessary accommodation, broke out into a serious riot ; and
they became so violent and ungovernable that it was judged
necessary for the officers and others to come armed to the
quarter-deck. One of the ringleaders was seized and lashed to
the main-shrouds for punishment, when an accomplice, who had
perched himself in the long boat, called out most vociferously,
' If one is to be punished, we'll all be punished.' The chief
officer darted through the crowd, was on the booms in an
instant, seized the man by the collar, placing a pistol at his
head, and coolly told him that he should be the first example.
The man uttered not a word the crowd silently made way
and the offender received two dozen, which would have satisfied
the most craving appetite. Only two punishments took place,
of two dozen each; but these two dozen, in intrinsic value,
were probably equivalent to 1000 lashes, which the parties
might have received for a similar offence on shore. Upon the
whole, although no connoisseur in these matters, I am disposed
to prefer our marine ' cat-o'-nine- tails,' for it does not unneces-
sarily prolong the torture.
11 1 do not dislike salt-junk; but it would be quite as agree-
able to have a little change in the course of four or five months.
I did, it is true, once during the voyage receive, for my portion,
about a cubic inch of roast mutton, which the captain's steward,
in an unaccountable fit of charity, or caprice, presented to the
mess. A young shark's tail, too, now and then offered some
variety, although it was not at all equal to the whale cutlets
which we have in Bermuda. But the luxury of all luxuries, the
dinner which would have given an appetite to Sir W. C
himself, with nothing more than his own hard biscuits, was an
enormous sea-pie, made of albatrosses and other sea-fowl, which
we had taken with the hook and line. Such a dinner I never
saw before, and never shall see again; and it was enjoyed by us
more than any ever set forth at the London Tavern.
' ' I had another pleasant little treat on Sunday evenings,
when the weather was fair. Our good purser, Mr. Begbie,
used to assemble four or five of us in his cabin, where we read
32 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
a chapter in the Bible, and were afterwards regaled with gin-
gerbread and a glass of wine or cherry -brandy. This made us
pass our Sunday evenings very comfortably, and I always looked
forward to them with pleasure, especially as on that day I gene-
rally contrived, in the absence of my tenants, the recruits, to
obtain access to my chest for a clean shirt, as well as the other
means of cleaning myself, and appearing like an officer and a
gentleman.
" We reached Madras on the 26th of July, just four months
after our departure from the Downs; and nothing can be more
curious, or strike a traveller more forcibly, than the sight of the
numerous catamarans, or, as it would seem, naked men, black
as coal, walking, as it were, upon the sea. The song of the
Mussoola boatmen is also new and pleasing to a stranger * Ali
Ali Emaum Ali Yar! Ali 1' Ali Ali 1'AliP
" I had lost a wager to one of my messmates of a dozen of
ducks; and, whether through his influence, or my own extra-
ordinary merit and trustworthiness, I was sent on shore in
charge of the first boat, conveying stores, or investment, to the
beach. This was too favorable an opportunity to be lost, and I
was commissioned to add a pig to my dozen of ducks, for the
purpose of having a proper cheveau on the very next day, which
I believe was Sunday. I succeeded admirably. The ducks
gave me no trouble, for they were dead; but a live pig is a
queer customer, and I not only had some trouble with him, but
when he was handed up the side of the ship with all due cere-
mony, he squeaked so lustily as to attract the quick ear, or keen
eye, of our chief officer. This was a contretemps which gave
me much vexation.
" The next morning I was placed on general duty, and was
employed incessantly under the immediate eye of the chief
officer himself, until it pleased him to retire from the quarter-
deck to take a hasty dinner. My ducks, in the mean time, had
been roasted, served up, and nearly consumed, with the little
rascal of a pig. No time was to be lost. Down I went to the
orlop, to feast upon the debris ; but I had a certain presenti-
ment, or misgiving, that I should not be allowed to pick my
ARRIVAL AT MADRAS. 33
bones in peace, so I prepared for the worst, like a skilful general
who foresees a manosuvre on the part of his opponent. Anon a
gruff voice thundered down the hatchway, ' Below there! Mid-
shipman Tucker !' I lost not a moment. Off went my shirt,
and in an instant I sprang upon the medicine- chest, which
occupied the hatch, almost in a state of nature. I then made a
pathetic appeal to the immutable principles of justice urged
that I had been at work the whole morning had not had time
to clean myself, nor (I might have added) to pick the bones of
my delicious ducks. The tiger growled, and went on in search
of other prey. This was a triumph not unworthy of Alexander,
with the advantage of not shedding a drop of blood ; and I pro-
ceeded, with some exultation, to finish my dainty repast, too
long delayed.
" The next day I received a kind invitation from Colonel
Grattan, the brother of the great Irish orator, to pay him a
visit, and I went on shore without delay, dressed in all my best.
I was graciously received by the colonel and his lady, who, as
Miss Carey, before her marriage, had resided with my uncle in
Calcutta. The colonel was a grave, reserved man, but I liked
him, because I fancied he resembled my father, whom I was
not fated to see again. Mrs. Grattan was a bonnie lassie, very
good-humoured a great contrast to the colonel; and I liked
her, because she carried me to a grand ball at the Government
House, and did all in her power to contribute to my amusement
during the ten days we remained at Madras.
" We made the passage to the Sand-heads without accident;
but bringing up in Saugor roads, our anchor got foul, and we
had the utmost difficulty in weighing it. The utmost force of
the lever was applied by crowding the capstan-bars, but all in
vain. The ' messenger' at length gave way, with a desperate
bounce, scattering us midshipmen, who were holding on, in
different directions, but luckily without much injury to any of
us. A new * messenger' was to be bent, and when at last we
succeeded in raising the anchor, one of the flukes was found, to
our great surprise, to have been drawn almost into a straight
line, such was the force which had been applied to it. The
D
34i LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
duty of holding on the * messenger' belonged especially to the
midshipmen, who were also indulged with a ride upon a tri-
angle, for the purpose of greasing the mast, tarring the standing
rigging, &c., &c. But, alas ! this useful class of boys is now, I
fear, nearly extinct, having followed the fate of those superb
ships which were heretofore the pride of our Indian commerce.
" On our arrival at Diamond Harbour I found a budgerow
waiting for me, with one of my uncle's clerks. I was speedily
on board, and being ushered into the cabin, I saw a sedate
gentleman, with what appeared to be the head of a long snake
in his mouth, while a rattling behind gave ground for conjec-
ture that this must be of the species rattle- snake. It was an
innocent Bengal hookah.
" We soon reached Calcutta,* where I was kindly welcomed
by my maternal uncle, Mr. Bruere, who was then one of the
secretaries to the Government; and having been duly installed
in a very commodious apartment, I was conducted up-stairs to
pay my devoirs to my aunt. I met an elegant little personage,
whom I took at first to be a young lady fresh from school, for
she had a pretty little figure, was dressed in a nice white frock,
with a profusion of beautiful hair, hanging below her waist.
This sylph-like vision was my very good aunt, the mother of
three children."
* This was about the middle of the month of August, 1786.
COMMENCEMENT OF HIS CAREER. 35
CHAPTER II.
Early Indian Life of Henry StGeorge Tucker Eesidence with Mr. Bruere
Departure for Gyah Kesidence with Mr. Law Mr. Law and the Mocur-
rery System Appointment to the Secretary's Office Loss of his first
Earnings Appointed Assistant to the Commercial Agent at Commer-
colly Kesideuce at Hurriaul Early Writings Opinions on the Land
Assessment On Excise and Gunge Duties.
IT was in the month of August, 1786, that Henry
St. George Tucker found himself located in the house
of his maternal uncle, Mr. Bruere, at that period one
of the secretaries to Government. It does not seem
that he had at any time a fixed intention of follow-
ing the profession into which he had been so hastily
and unadvisedly launched. If he had, it soon be-
came apparent to him that there was very little in-
ducement to adhere to such a design. He left his
ship at Calcutta, and looked the world in the face.
" I entered the world," he wrote more than half
a century afterwards to one of his sons, " without
money or friends ; and I had to struggle for almost
fifteen years against poverty and debt. I lived for
a time on about sixty rupees per month, in Rannee-
Moodee-Gully, in a small hovel which I had to main-
tain against a colony of rats. My health occasionally
D 2
36 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
failed, but a removal to this country or the comforts
of marriage never entered into my contemplation.
So far from it, I was obliged to assist others, in spite
of my pecuniary embarrassments. "Well, after all,
here I am at the age of sixty-nine, enjoying a fair
state of health and measure of strength, with every
blessing which I could desire. This, too, after
bringing up a large family with a moderate fortune,
not one sixpence of which was disreputably ac-
quired. . . . Consider these premises and the
result and take comfort."*
Such, in a few words, is the history of Henry St.-
George Tucker such the great moral to be drawn
from it. "Take comfort!" To the biographer,
whose duty it is to fill in the details, it is necessarily
a source of unspeakable regret that the records of
these fifteen struggle-years these years of difficulty
and debt should be so scanty and unsatisfying.
All that is known of Mr. Tucker's early Indian ex-
periences all that affection has garnered up and
that industry can gather from scattered sources
will be given in this and the following chapters.
Slender as is the information, it may yet suffice to
give full significance to the words, " Consider these
premises and the result, and take comfort /"
At the age of fifteen, young Tucker, fifteen thou-
* Written in 1840. Mr. Tucker, in this letter, addressing his son, says
also: " You complain of grey hairs. I had them as early as yourself ; and
what was worse, I was obliged to use spectacles at the age of twenty-two, and
had reason to apprehend that my sight would have failed long ago a failure
which must have been decisive of the fate of one who could only hope to
make his way in life by the most persevering industry."
RESIDENCE IN BENGAL. 37
sand miles from home, without money, almost with-
out friends, looked the world in the face. He had
no recognised position of any kind ; he was not a
writer ; he was not a cadet ; he was not a clerk in a
merchant's office ; he was simply an adventurer. Of
India and the East he knew as much as he had
gathered from those great authorities, the " Arahian
Nights" and the " Tales of the Genii ;" and he soon
found that a hovel in Hannee-Moodee-Gully is ex-
tremely unlike the palace of Haroun-al-Raschid. He
did not find an enchanted " Basket" to draw him up
to Paradise, any more than Whittington found that
the streets of London were actually paved with gold.
He had to make the Basket for himself. The only
Genii who came to his aid were his own indomit-
ahle energy and perseverance.
With the Brueres he tarried for a few months
partly in Calcutta, partly at their country resi-
dence at Sook-Saugor a village higher up the
river. He had landed at a bad season of the year,
and his hot, young blood was soon at fever-heat.
Those " months after the rains," when the hot
damps rise from the sodden plains of Bengal as from
a wet cloth hung before the fire, sent the young ad-
venturer, as they have sent many another young
adventurer, to his bed. He was taken, convalescent,
to Sook-Saugor, where the cold weather soon re-
stored him to all the vigor and elasticity of robust
youth ; and he began to long to be " up and doing."
Prom Bengal he was soon transplanted to Behar.
In December, 1786, we find the young adventurer at
Gyah, resident in the house of Mr. Law, who seems
38 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
to have received him and cherished him with all the
kindness of a father. How they first hecame ac-
quainted is not known. But their intercourse was
held in affectionate rememhrance by hoth to their
dying day. Thirty or forty years afterwards Mr.
Law wrote from America : " In India I passed my
youthful days. Ask Tucker if he remembers the
stout white pony that used to run away with him on
our shooting parties. M writes me how Tucker
and he are exerting themselves, I glory in such
friendship." He had reason to glory in it. It is
hard to say how much the friendship and hospitality,
which he extended to the homeless hoy at the outset
of his career, contributed to make the ripe Indian
statesman, who, sixty years after their first meeting
in Behar, was writing to the Governor- General from
the chair of the India House letters of instruction
and advice.
I need not tell any one even slenderly acquainted
with the administrative history of India during
the last quarter of the eighteenth century, that Mr.
Thomas Law was that collector of Behar, of whom, a
few years later, it was said that he was the " Pather
of the Permanent Settlement."* Lord Cornwallis
was Governor-General of India. The settlement of
the landed revenue of the provinces of Bengal, Behar,
and Orissa, was at this time the chief object of his
care. One experiment after another had been tried.
Each had been unsuccessful. Ever since the East
* Every one has heard the comprehensive description of Eobert Boyle
that he was " The Father of Chemistry and the brother of Lord Cork." I
have heard Thomas Law, with the same ludicrous infelicity, described as the
4< Father of the Permanent Settlement and the brother of Lord Ellenborough."
THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. 39
India Company had " stood forth as Dewan," the
adjustment of the land-tax had heen the standing
difficulty of our administrators. The land was,
somehow or other, to he made to yield a certain
amount of revenue for the exigencies of the State ;
but how that revenue was to he yielded in a manner
advantageous alike to the Governed and the Govern-
ing, was a question which demanded all the know-
ledge and the experience of the ablest Indian states-
men to solve. It was pretty well agreed, both at
home and abroad, that the settlement should be made
with the Zemindars, but whether for a fixed period
of years, or in perpetuity, was a point much open to
debate. It was certain, at least, that the system of
short leases had nothing to recommend it. It had
been tried, and it had disastrously failed. The
choice lay between the granting of long leases at a
fixed rate, and the unalterable assessment of the
amount to be paid by the Zemindar. After years of
consideration and discussion, the latter alternative
was adopted ; and what is now known as the " Per-
manent Settlement " became the law of the land.
Now, among the foremost supporters and the
most strenuous advocates of this " Mocurrery," or
Permanent System, was Mr. Thomas Law, collector
of Behar. He was a revenue-officer of ripe experi-
ence, and a man of a humane and kindly disposition.
The welfare of the natives by whom he was sur-
rounded had a cherished place in his heart, and
whether he judged rightly or wrongly in contending
for the perpetuation of the settlement, it is not to be
doubted that he was rooted in the conviction that it
40 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
would contribute to the happiness of the people.
What he believed so firmly himself he impressed
forcibly upon his young disciple ; and he had good
reason to be proud of his pupil. Whilst still in the
prime of life, Thomas Law carried the fortune which
he had acquired in India to the Western World ; and
nearly half a century afterwards it often gladdened
his aged heart in the far-off American city, in which
his Indian earnings were invested, to think that
among the ablest, the most earnest, and the most
influential supporters of the Permanent Settlement,
was the homeless boy who had eaten the curry,
ridden the pony, dwelt in the bungalow, and listened
to the precepts of the some-time collector of Behar.
It was here, under Mr. Law's roof, that young
Tucker first began seriously to study the peculiari-
ties of native character and native institutions, and
to ponder over the intricacies of our system of go-
vernment, and its effect upon the welfare of the
people. " The first year of my residence in India,"
he wrote in 1847,* " I passed in Behar (chiefly at
Gyah), and there I received impressions very favor-
able to the old Mahomedan families, whose fate ex-
cited my commiseration. I met at different times
Gholaum Hussein Khan, the author of the c Seer
Mutakhereen, 5 and he appeared to me the finest spe-
cimen of a nobleman I had ever seen. I have never
lost the impressions which I received of the harsh
treatment which many of the old families had expe-
rienced at our hands ; and I have since fought the
battle of many of the chieftains whose territories we
* To Sir George Clerk.
RESIDENCE AT GYAH. 41
have confiscated." These early impressions, indeed,
were never effaced.* As strong were they at eighty
as at eighteen. One of the last papers he ever wrote
it was written by an octogenarian hand that had
lost none of its pristine vigor was in defence of the
rights of the titular head of the great family of Ma-
honiedan chiefs.
To the study of the native languages he addressed
himself assiduously from the first.f It is related of
him that about this time he translated, whenever he
had leisure for the task, " Pergusson on Perspec-
tive," into Persian, to a native painter, who, like the
majority of his brethren, had little knowledge of the
principles of his art. Although we are told that
sometimes, lacking words to render his ideas, he
illustrated them with his pencil, it is not improbable
that we ought to refer this incident to a later period.
Even a friendly biographer may question the ability
of a boy of seventeen, who had been only a year in
the country, to translate a scientific work into one
of the Oriental languages.
* Some of the old Hindoo Zemindars, also, with whom he made acquaint-
ance at this time, long held, and were long held by, him in kindly remem-
brance. Even as long afterwards as the year 1835, Rajah Mitterjeet Sing,
" the oldest of the Company's Zemindars under the Mocurrery Settlement,"
wrote to thank Mr. Tucker (then an East India Director) for continuing to
icmember him. "Our acquaintance," wrote Mr. Tucker, in reply, "com-
menced when I was a boy at Gyali; but although our personal intercourse has
ceased for a great number of years, I have always taken an interest in the
welfare of my friend and in the prosperity of his country."
f He often discoursed, in after-days, upon the eccentricities of the Moon-
slice with whom he studied at Gyah a man who believed himself to be a
sort of Admirable Crichton in a turband and cummerbund, and who was just
as ready to prove his poetical powers by reciting a drama of his own compo-
sition, as his agility by jumping out of window.
42 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
What, however, is related in scattered memoranda
about young Tucker's sporting exploits at this time,
may all be received without stint or qualification.
He often spoke, in after-life, about his hog-hunt-
ing experiences in Behar. * Accustomed from early
childhood to equestrian exercise with a good seat
in the saddle, with strong nerves and an active
frame, he was just the sort of youth to delight in
manly sports of this kind ; and he was often, there-
fore, the companion of Mr. Law in his excursions
into the jungle. There is more in these excursions
than the routine-men of London and Liverpool can
rightly appreciate. When they hear of our Indian
officials living much in the saddle, and spending
many hours of the day, at certain seasons, gun in
hand, it seems to them that pleasure is followed
rather than business, and that the administration is
at a stand-still whilst judges and collectors are tiger-
hunting and pig-sticking in the jungles, or following
smaller game on the plains. But there is nothing
more certain in the philosophy of Anglo-Indian go-
vernment than that the gun and the hog-spear are
excellent administrators, and that without such ser-
viceable allies our civil functionaries would be much
less equal to their work. It is hard to say how
much is learnt often, indeed, how much is done
during these sporting excursions, which outwardly
* Hog-hunting was his favorite diversion. " I like hog-hunting better
(than tiger- shooting)," he wrote, in an unfinished work descriptive of the
country and the people, embraced in a series of imaginary epistles. " This is
a very manly sport, which requires much more personal exertion, and excites
more emulation."
SPORTING ANECDOTES. 43
represent nothing more than the leisure and the
amusement of our Indian administrators. In Eng-
land, business and pleasure are antagonistic; in
India, they often go hand-in-hand.
We may he sure that neither Law nor Tucker,
when he took the gun into his hand, was altogether
wasting his time. Something, however, even worse
than this, had like to have come out of one of these
sporting adventures. One day, by some wretched
mischance, young Tucker had the misfortune to
shoot Mr. Law. The accident proved not to be a
serious one ; but the former never forgot the uncon-
trollable agony of mind in which, thinking that he
might have killed his benefactor, he flung himself
upon the ground and gave way to his transports of
grief.*
In the cold weather of 1787-88 Henry Tucker re-
turned to Calcutta. It would appear, that at this
time he held a small uncovenanted appointment in
the Secretariat Department, the salary of which was
200 rupees a month, or about 250. a year. It is
probable that this appointment had been procured
for him through the instrumentality of Mr. Law,
and that a certain time had been allowed him
* Mr. Tucker used to relate another story, in illustration of his sporting
experiences in Behar, of a much less serious kind. He was out one day with
Mr. Law and some other gentlemen, when a native suddenly rushed forward,
and in a passion of mingled rage and grief, exclaimed, " You have killed my
mother." Thinking that a misdirected shot had brought down some venerable
matron, the English gentlemen began to experience the liveliest emotions of
concern, which, however, were soon dissipated on discovering that the parent
whom the poor fellow so emphatically bewailed was no other than his cow.
44 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
wherein to join his office and commence his duties.*
In the mean while his salary was drawn, or received
for him, by an agent in Calcutta, and as he was
living, at no charge te himself, under the hospitable
roof of his friend, he allowed it to accumulate in his
attorney's hands, only applying it to the purpose of
defraying such small expenses as it was necessary
to incur for clothes and other articles oT equipment.
He expected, therefore, to find on his arrival at the
Presidency a little fund at his disposal, and, at all
events, a score clear of liabilities. But to his dis-
may he discovered, on arriving at Calcutta, that the
house of business in which his pay had been lodged,
had failed a short time before, swallowing up his
little all, and leaving his debts unpaid.
This was a heavy blow to the young adventurer,
but it did not dishearten him. Indeed, there was
nothing very appalling in the prospect before him.
He had an appointment, with a saliffy attached to
it, equal at least to that drawn by the majority
of his cotemporaries in India, and far higher than
the emoluments enjoyed by striplings of eighteen at
home. But the -curse of Debt sate more heavily
upon him than upon the greater number of youths,
in the one country or the other. In India it sits far
loo lightly upon young men for their future happi-
ness and respectability. Fortunately, young Tucker
and it is hard to say how much of his success he
* The precise date at which Mr. Tucker received this his first appointment
in the public service, the biographer has not been able to ascertain.
HIS FIRST APPOINTMENT. 45
owed to it had a habit of looking every difficulty
in the face. With such a habit as this^no man is
ever ruined. There is safety in it past counting.
No sooner did this young ad^fcnturer find himself
in debt than he resolutely set himself to the great
work of getting out again. And he succeeded before
two years had worn to a close. He paid all off by
monthly instalments.* Before the year 1789 dawned
upon him, he found himself clear of debt still a
clerk in the Secretary's office, with 200 rupees a
month.
In this appointment he continued throughout the
year 1788. It would seem that even at this early
period the abilities of the youthful clerk were not
lost upon his official superiors. Mr. Hay was at this
time at the head of the department. It is related
that such was his confidence in young Tucker, who
was then only in his eighteenth year, that when the
claims of Mr. Keir to a grant of the exclusive privi-
lege of working the iron mines in the district of
Hamghur came before Government, he entrusted the
duty of drawing up*a report on the subject to the
young uncovenanted assistant. This^as the first
official paper which he ever wrote. Based upon in-
formation which he collected from the records of his
office, it took" a comprehensive survey of the whole
question, and conveyed the views of Government
* During six or eight months of this time he managed to secure the privi-
lege of free quarters in Writings Buildings. It was at this time that he made
the acquaintance of Mr. James Stuart, then a writer in the Buildings, with
whom his intimacy lasted for life.
46 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
with so much clearness and precision, that it was
immediately approved and adopted.*
At the close of the year 1788 he again quitted
Calcutta. He had been appointed assistant to the
Commercial B/esident at Commercolly and Hurriaul.
This appointment he held for the space of a year,
retaining the same salary as in the Secretary's office ;
hut he had reason to deplore his departure from
Calcutta. He soon won the esteem and confidence
of Mr. Taylor, the Resident, who placed him in
charge of the Hurriaul Eactory, and who offered him
an appointment, with a doubled salary, if he would
consent to remain there. But the occupation was
not congenial to him. The Resident was a well-
meaning, kind-hearted man, but thoughtless and in-
considerate. Unpunctual in his habits and irregular
in his office hours, he often kept his young assistant,
fasting and weary, at his desk, in a close, hot room,
two or three hours after sunset, until, utterly ex-
hausted with want of food and rest, his head sunk
on the table before him. The temptation of an in-
creased salary was not sufficient to induce him to
lengthen out such servitude as this ; so at the end of
the year 1789 he withdrew from his situation at
Hurriaul, and returned to Calcutta.
The year at Hurriaul may not have been plea-
santly, but that it was profitably spent is not to be
doubted. There are the best possible proofs extant
* Sixty years afterwards Mr. Tucker referred to this boyish report, in a
paper on the Porto Nuovo Ironworks.
EAKLY EXPERIENCES. 47
that young Henry Tucker grew rapidly in knowledge
and experience, and that, at an unusually early
age, he was competent to give an opinion on those
vexed questions of Indian administration especially
those relating to the collection of the revenue
which have puzzled men of ripe judgment and well-
exercised ability. It was no small thing, indeed,
that a youth, still only in his eighteenth year, should
be encouraged to write letters on fiscal matters to
one of the most experienced revenue-officers in the
country no small thing that he should write such
letters as now, after a lapse of sixty years, are to be
read by grown men, with pleasure and profit, not as
curiosities with the infant-phenomenon stamp upon
them, but as papers of intrinsic value, admirably
written, and full of instruction. In the course of this
year 1789 he wrote some long letters to Mr. Law, a
few of which have fortunately been preserved. The
style differs but little from that of his more mature
productions. . Indeed, it must occur forcibly to all
who, like myself, have studied Mr. Tucker's writings,
from the earliest to the latest, extending as they do
over a period of more than sixty years, that his style,
formed in very early youth, underwent, during all
the mutations of life, no material change, and that
there was neither crudeness in boyhood, nor feeble-
ness in extreme old age. Alike at eighteen and at
eighty, it had all its meridian clearness and force.
Often in the Bungalow often in the Jungle
during that ever-gratefully remembered year in
Behar, had Thomas Law and Henry St. George
48 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Tucker discoursed, gravely and earnestly, about the
administration of the land-revenue, the rights of the
Zemindars, and the protection of the actual culti-
vators of the soil ; and often since had the latter, at
his desk in the Hurriaul Factory, revolved these
weighty matters in his mind, and reduced to some-
thing like order and method his scattered but not
superficial ideas. And now, towards the close of
the year, when leisure would permit, he gave bodily
expression to these ideas with what success it is
my object to show.*
" My dear Mr. Law," he wrote to his friend in
one of these letters, " permit me to submit to your
* It would seem that Mr. Tucker's first impressions of the state of the
country and the character of the Anglo-Indian residents at the Presidency
were extremely favorable. He endeavored to obtain information from every
possible source, but he soon found and the complaint which he made more
than half a century ago has been very generally echoed during the last in-
quiries which have been made into the condition of the country that it
seldom happened that two informants gave precisely the same account. If
it were only for the illustration that it affords of the difficulty of obtaining
correct information relating to the condition of India, the following passage,
from one of Mr. Tucker's earliest productions, is worth quoting: " I am well
satisfied with the people (I mean the British inhabitants)," he wrote, "for
they are hospitable and social, and many of them well-informed and communi-
cative. There is, I think, a liberality of sentiment which particularly cha-
racterises them, and which is probably the effect of local circumstances.
Placed in elevated situations, and enjoying the smiles of fortune, there is
nothing to nourish a grovelling spirit. I have had occasion, however, to
make an observation here, which I have often made elsewhere viz., that it
is scarcely ever possible to find any two individuals agree upon any one pro-
position, or even upon any particular fact. I have made much inquiry re-
specting the country, the people, their customs, laws, &c. ; but I have found
a strange discordance in the accounts which have been given me. Some
men appear scarcely to observe what passes before their very eyes, or at
least they pay so little attention to passing objects that they leave no impres-
sion behind. I think, however, that I can perceive the truth through a great
mass of contradiction; for both ignorance and prejudice usually betray them-
selves."
HIS EARLY WRITINGS. 49
tribunal the following observations on the revenues
of the country, &c., and subjects connected with
them. I need not, I am convinced, implore your
indulgent judgment on this occasion, nor need I call
to your recollection the inexperience of the writer
his situation, which almost entirely prevents him
from dedicating any part of his time to study and
his views, which were to improve and form his own
mind, and to contribute as much as was in his power
to your pleasures. No ; I am well convinced that
every circumstance which may tend to excuse my
errors, or which may in any respect operate in my
favor, will spontaneously suggest itself to you."
And having thus modestly deprecated the criticism
of his friend, he proceeded to set forth the subjects
to the consideration of which his letter was to be
addressed. " I will first," he said, " endeavor to con-
sider the principle on which Zemindars and other
proprietors of land in this country hold their re-
spective tenures. On a knowledge of the nature of
this principle depends the propriety of the system or
regulations affecting them. I will next proceed to
inquire into the state of the lands, and the causes
which have operated in reducing their value from
its former standard ; and from the two will, with
deference, endeavor to draw a result establishing the
principle of right and expediency on which my sug-
gestions shall be founded."
He then proceeded to show, that as on the subjec-
tion of a country to a foreign power all property in
the lands devolve on the conquerors, " the rights of
E
50 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
all Zemindars and other landholders ceased on the
subjection of this country to the British arms."
" On our conquest of this country," continued the youthful
writer, " our situation did not admit of our aspiring to the
sovereign authority consistently with policy and prudence. It
was an object of much greater importance to us to obtain the
territorial jurisdiction, divested of the other superfluous powers
exercised by the Nabobs superfluous from their being un-
profitable, and difficult in the exercise. To this end we sought
and obtained the Dewanny from the nominal supreme au-
thority, leaving to the dispossessed Nabobs the Nizamut func-
tions. The Dewanny confirmed us legally in what we had ac-
quired by our arms, and gave to our possession a principle of
right. It conferred, however, only those powers as exercised
by the former Dewan, and the act of receiving the Dewanny
imposed on us an obligation never to exceed those powers. To
ascertain, therefore, the present rights of the subject and of
Government, it is necessary to recur to the former system.
" I cannot, indeed, but be of opinion that the very nature of
the functions exercised by the Soubahs of Hindostan precludes
every idea of the Zemindars possessing a property in the lands.
Without adverting to the forms of Pottas to circumstances of
Zemindars having been displaced at the pleasure of the sove-
reign, which I have heard alleged in proof of their being agents
only, but with which I am not myself sufficiently acquainted,
let me ask whether there is any specific system by which our
demands from the Zemindars are regulated ? whether it is not
generally understood by both parties that, after deducting from
the estimated produce of the lands the expense of cultivation,
and the necessary profits of the Ryot, and subsequently the ex-
penses of collection, and Nankarry or fund for the subsistence of
the Zemindar and his family, the surplus is not the right of
Government legally claimable ?
" If this be allowed, in what respect does the Zemindar pos-
sess a property in the lands? in what respect is he considered
more than an agent of Government? Does he ever appeal
REVENUE SYSTEMS. 51
against unjust demands? Does he ever set up any plea against
arbitrary and unequal increases, but that of total inability? and
yet I believe we have assumed no rights or powers but what
were exercised by the former Dewan, and which were legally
consigned to us with the Dewanny. It may be asked on what
principle we continue to allow dispossessed Zemindars a per-
centage on the collections, or the value of their lands when
Government has thought proper to dispose of them. I have
never heard of such customs having existed under the former
Government, and if it did not exist, it has not now taken place
from any principle of right, but of policy and humanity. I would
not, however, for a moment contend that such a Government
should exist. I think the consequences attending it must un-
avoidably defeat the object proposed. To illustrate this, we
need only recur to the present revenue system of this country,
where the object is to collect all that can be collected, but
where the means not only prevent its being attended with suc-
cess in collecting much, but cause most prejudicial effects, as I
will endeavor to prove."
He then proceeded to describe the system under
which the Revenue was at that time collected by
the executive officers of the British Government,
and the evils resulting from the insufficiency of
our European control :
" The ascertainment and administration of this right of Go-
vernment is entrusted to the British Revenue Collector a
duty inconceivably difficult a duty hardly ever to be executed
with justice to the parties. Although the collector should be a
man of abilities, integrity, and activity (qualities which do not,
as you have observed, unite in the generality of men), yet in-
numerable obstacles oppose his ascertaining with moderate
accuracy what Government with policy and propriety should
demand, and what the landholder could give. He is entrusted
with an extensive district, every part of which he cannot
personally superintend. He has many duties imposed on him
E 2
52 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
totally distinct from this trust, being from time to time a judge,
a magistrate, an accountant, and a public correspondent on
subjects of every description. He is, therefore, not only neces-
sitated to procure all information on this complicated subject
through the medium of native agents, but is frequently obliged
to delegate to them a considerable part of his authority. The
generality of these (particularly in Bengal) are men venal, ar-
bitrary, prejudiced, vain of the display of power and patron-
age, and in short, totally ignorant or regardless of every funda-
mental principle of honor, rectitude, and justice. The rights of
Government, with such agents, are a very late consideration.
Government must indeed inevitably suffer by them, because the
advantages resulting from a faithful discharge of their duties to
Government are precarious, distant, and inconsiderable ; a collu-
sion with the Zemindars offers immediate wealth and conse-
quence, and is in general to be effected with little danger. Self-
interest suggests to both parties studied concealment; and no
prying rival could be expected to come forward and challenge
unauthorised emoluments which he may hope to enjoy here-
after himself; his discovery of them would only tend to multiply
the frauds by multiplying the participators of them. Many of
the Zemindars are, I believe, by this means enabled to alienate
the rights of Government to a considerable amount; in the
certainty of being protected by their official friends, they exercise
not only a revenue, but a judicial authority in their own districts.
This is most grievous to the people, and consequently highly
prejudicial to the country. They sit in judgment in cases where
they are themselves parties punish trivial or imaginary offences
with the greatest severity, and draw a large revenue from crimes
and forged accusations and collusion with robbers. Under some
of them no description of property is secure. I have heard of a
man's whole effects being confiscated to satisfy their avarice or
wanton resentments. From their influence they are enabled to
monopolise the most valuable articles of trade, where the Com-
pany are not their comptitors; and I have seen instances of
their claiming the birds of the air and the fish of the rivers as
their property untangible.
SUGGESTED REMEDIES. 53
" Nor is it possible for the collectors, as many of them are
situated, to prevent these abuses. The injured mendicant must
travel eighty miles to the Adawlut; and can it be supposed that
the Zemindar, who has not scrupled to ruin him, will hesitate
to prevent him in this appeal that he will not or cannot seize
and imprison him in the attempt? Such are the oppressions,
such the powers assumed by many of the Zemindars; nor is it,
I think, surprising. The causes, I conceive, may be easily ex-
plained. The Zemindar has not only the demands of Govern-
ment to satisfy, but the demands of insatiate Dewans and Mut-
zuddies, and securities, with whom, though a collusion secures
him a more favorable settlement with Government, yet in the
end proves a most excessive burden to him. He is less disin-
clined to rack-rent his country, because he is never secure of
holding it for any time, and consequently considers that to
gain a little by whatever means, at the present moment, is
prudence ; to look forward for the effects of moderation and en-
couragement, wild speculation."
Having thus forcibly described the evils of the
existing system, he went on to suggest a remedy.
The remedy was that for the application of which
Mr. Law had long been contending a definite as-
sessment of the land to be fixed by Government in
perpetuity. " These evils/ 5 now wrote his young cor-
respondent, " are the necessary effects of the system ;
they are, I think, only to be obviated by an entire
change of it, by annihilating the principles of the
former and present Government (which I certainly
think are that the Zemindar is not proprietor of the
soil), by making the dues of Government fixed and
determinate ; and thus preventing the intrigues and
embezzlements of intermediate officers ; by making
it the Zemindar's interest to nurse his country and
protect his people, and, in short, by adopting your
54 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Mocurrery plan, to which (were I of sufficient con-
sequence to use such language, I would say) I give
my warmest approbation."
Thus hroadly stating his opinions in favor of the
Permanent System opinions from which he never
wavered to the day of his death he proceeded to dis-
course on the rate of assessment and the probability
of the land being capable, under more favorable cir-
cumstances, of yielding a larger amount of revenue
to the State than under the system then existing
a system, as it was, of temporary leases and fluctu-
ating assessments. He believed that, though certain
tracts of land might be so improved as to bear a
higher rate of assessment, the land generally could
not be so productive or, rather, that landed invest-
ments could not be so generally remunerative
under our rule as under the government of the
Moguls. The arguments which he adduced are in-
genious ; and they exhibit an extensive acquaintance
with the commercial status of Bengal, very remark-
able in one who had resided so short a period in the
country. They afford, as I have said, a pregnant
proof of the good uses to which young Henry Tucker
had turned his connexion with the Commercial
Agency of Hurriaul, although they are not, in all
cases, borne out by the results of the last half
century :
" It has been alleged," he wrote, " as an argument against it
(the Permanent System), that Government will be deprived of
a very considerable part of their right, since they will be cut off
from all participation in the improvement of the lands, which,
VALUE OF THE LAND. 55
from the effects of bad management, are at present valued much
below their former standard, and from which a much larger
revenue might in time be expected. I certainly think that the
lands are at present in some places much under-rented ; and this
ought to be fully ascertained previous to fixing the settlement.
I do not, however, agree that they would ever improve gene-
ratty, under the present system ; and I am decidedly of opinion
that, except in particular small spots, they never can, for physi-
cal reasons, pay, while under the British Government, the re-
venue they afforded under the Moguls; for although by che-
mical analysis of the soil, it would, I do not doubt, be found
resolvable into the same distinct principles, having the same
inclination to feed vegetation as thirty years ago, yet that its
value has undergone a necessary change I am convinced in my
own mind, and will endeavor to prove.
" I will pass over two causes which might be assigned viz.,
the depopulation, occasioned by the famines of 1770 and 1788,
and the mismanagement which has taken place in some of the
districts, as the effects of these are not permanent, and may be
removed by time, care, and better agency. There are causes
which are, I think, irremoveable ; and these I will proceed to
particularise :
" 1st. There is not so great a consumption of the valuable
articles of produce, as under the Mussulman Government.
" 2nd. The revenue collected from the lands is not again cir-
culated and retained in the country.
" 3rd. European individuals remit their private fortunes to
England and other parts ; and drain this country of its specie.
" 4th. The Company monopolise; and there is no perfect
equality of trade subsisting in any of its branches.
" In the Mogul Government the revenues collected by the
Prince were returned to the country with very little diminution ;
they were dispersed in various courses through every depart-
ment of the people, and kept in constant circulation. The
subject enjoyed affluence and ease, and was enabled to indulge
himself in all the luxuries the country produced. There was an
unceasing demand for paun, opium, salt, oil, sugar, tobacco, and
56 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
other articles of luxury, all of which are most valuable to the
cultivator. These were produced in great abundance, and must
have afforded an immense revenue ; for I have heard, both from
the Ryots and others, that a beega of paun yields in the year an
income of at least thirty rupees. The cultivation of these articles
is now very confined the people are poor their demand for
them consequently small and some of them are introduced at
the markets through the medium of monopolies; the value of
the lands, therefore, must of course be diminished, because the
value and quantity of their produce is diminished.
" No free and extensive cultivation of any article can take
place where there does not exist a free sale for it. All mono-
polies, therefore, must be highly prejudicial. They check in-
dustry, enterprise, and effectually prevent every improvement.
The cultivator, who knows that he has no choice of purchasers,
that his property is subject to arbitrary and unjust valuation
from the impossibility of his disposing of it, should he not ac-
cept the terms of the only purchaser, will not labor but from
absolute necessity. No spirit of avarice, no desire to aggrandise
himself or his family, will excite those exertions so necessary to
the welfare of the State. He will live in apprehension, inse-
curity, and, most likely, poverty. The wealth of the State de-
pends on the wealth of individuals, and the quantum of labor it
can call forth."
Upon the subject of the evil of Monopolies the
young writer discourses with an enthusiasm which
was somewhat cooled down in after-years. Doubt-
less, some of the circumstances to which he refers in
the following passage have long ceased to exist but
I do not clearly see that these altered circumstances
go far to promote the argument in favor of Mono-
polies. Upon the merits of such a question as this
it would be out of place to discourse in the present
work ; but it would not be just to introduce the fol-
CREDIT OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. 57
lowing passages from this remarkable letter, without
a word of comment upon the increased confidence
with which in these days the natives of India regard
the financial transactions of the British Government.
" The natives of this country," wrote Mr. Tucker, in
1789, " are still diffident of us ; and although they
have no public Banks of their own, nor any secure
means of placing their money to interest, they are
still cautious of trusting it with us." But in recent
days, whenever the British Government have opened
a Loan, a very large amount has been contributed
to it by the natives of the country. The confidence,
indeed, of the natives of India in the financial in-
tegrity of the British Government is in these days
without a limit :
" There are other effects equally pernicious to be expected
from the practice of monopolies, effects which, in my opinion,
have lately been experienced in this country. I mean with
respect to the enormous batta which has for some time past ex-
isted on gold-mohurs, and the late scarcity of grain, which I have
reason to think was in a great degree artificially increased.
" The natives of this country, it is well known, are still diffi-
dent of us ; and although they have no public Banks of their
own, nor any secure means of placing their money to interest,
they are still cautious of trusting it with us. For this reason,
trade appears the only mode by which monied men can live,
without breaking in upon the principal of their fortunes ; but
the trade in opium, saltpetre, in the manufacture and whole-sale
of salt, and in cloths (to a great degree), is monopolised by the
Company. They consequently have very little choice, and
they are obliged to employ their money in the purchase of
grain and the other necessaries of life, and in changing the
different coins. It might be expected from their number that
58 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
all the good effects of competition, in lowering the price of the
articles in the market, would necessarily be felt ; but this is not
the case. They are too prudent to ruin each other by endea-
voring to undersell. They must all have their profits, and
from the drawbacks they suffer, these must be immense. The
trade, therefore, is burdened by the number is absolutely
weighed down. The necessaries of life come to the market at
a most unreasonable price; they control the specie undisbursed;
and have lately shown to the world a feat almost incredible
they reduced the standard value of the current gold coin ten
per cent., and were very near being the death of all trade and
credit. On the other hand, did a perfect freedom and equality
of trade subsist did all traders buy and sell on the same foot-
ing, I am convinced in my own mind that no monopoly of
silver could ever take place, and that there would be very little
probability of a monopoly of grain. The streams of commerce
being open and free, every man would employ his money, be-
cause he could employ it with a prospect of advantage; every
man would be enabled to choose the course best adapted to his
abilities, situation, and circumstances; and these being so far
consulted, he could afford to trade on a comparatively small
profit. The inhabitant of one district would not be obliged to
wander to other parts, because the only free trade of his own
country was, from circumstances of his situation, inaccessible to
him ; but fixed with his family, practiced and experienced, he
would be enabled to proceed in the course pointed out by
nature, with security and advantage.
" Mr. Bebb, in a late letter to the Board, gives it as his de-
cided opinion that European traders are a burden to these
provinces, for the following reasons : That their expenses being
much greater than the expenses of native merchants of equal or
superior property, the charges on the trade are consequently
greater, and the goods come dearer to the market than they
would through the channel of native merchants ; that if they
were altogether removed the articles would probably come
cheaper to the market, the manufacturer be better paid, and in-
dustry every way encouraged; that they purchase at exceeding
EUROPEAN AND NATIVE MERCHANTS. 59
disproportioned prices ill-fabricated goods, and debase the
manufacture; that their fortunes, as soon as acquired, are re-
moved to England, and of course increase the drain so prejudi-
cial to this country. As I think this opinion ill-founded and
unjust, and that it would be most impolitic in Government to
adopt it, I shall take the liberty of commenting on it at large,
although it is not very nearly connected with the subject in
question.
" The three first reasons assigned appear to me contradictory.
If native merchants live at less expense than Europeans, and at
the same time purchase at the same rates, they can afford to sell
at a less profit; but it is a fact, and indeed a fact to be expected,
that native merchants purchase cheaper than Europeans, because
living among the manufacturers, connected with many of them,
and personally known to them all, they are enabled to take
every advantage of time and circumstances ; they are artful and
intriguing, acquire an influence over the ignorant manufac-
turers, and act upon their fears and prejudices, whenever this
may be convenient to accomplish their ends. How, then, does
it happen that Europeans bear any part against such formidable
competitors? Native merchants could at present afford to give
a better price, and to encourage industry equally well, as were
all Europeans removed from the Aurungs ; why, then, do they
not give a better price, and by that means engross the trade
entirely to themselves? or why, giving the same price, are they
not content to sell at more moderate rates than Europeans, and
thus exclude them from all participation in the commerce?
The third reason, however, conveys an idea that at present not
only industry, but indolence is encouraged ; ' ill-fabricated
goods are purchased at exceeding disproportioned prices.' With
these Europeans the fortunate manufacturer finds a ready and
advantageous sale for goods, which, from sickness, inexperience,
or circumstances of his situation, he has not been able to fabri-
cate with the usual degree of perfection. Could industry receive
a greater encouragement? If it be injudicious, why do not the
native merchants take advantage of it, since it is undoubtedly
in their power?
60 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
" But in removing Europeans, a still further encouragement
to the manufacturers is proposed a still greater price is to be
given. Should this take place, is it not natural to suppose that
they would be so far dazzled with their prospects, that paying
no attention to the quality of the fabric, their sole exertions
would be directed to increase the quantity? Indeed, this is
the effect complained of from the present disproportioned
prices ; but an increase would hardly remove it.
" The causes which appear to me to operate in preventing
native traders from bearing a successful competition against
European merchants, are their want of credit, and the conse-
quent necessity of their paying exorbitant interest for their
money their want of activity, knowledge of foreign markets,
judgment in preferring splendid but distant hopes to small but
quick returns, and, in short, their want of those qualifications
which determine the j udicious and experienced merchant. For
the honor of our country, it will not, I trust, be alleged that
Europeans are more arbitrary, unjust, oppressive, or more in-
clined to use force in their purchases than natives; indeed, it is
not so, nor could it ever be so while there is a watchful Com-
mercial Resident ready to inspect, and authorised in taking cog-
nisance of their illegal acts.
" That European individuals trading in these provinces, and
who may acquire and subsequently remove fortunes to Europe,
are a burden to this country, I entirely agree; but that this
burden would be diminished, or rather, that it would not be
increased by their removal from the provinces, I totally dis-
allow.
" The act of removing them would not give more credit, ac-
tivity, judgment, or experience, to the natives; on whom, then,
would the trade devolve? Is it probable that they would hold
a more successful competition against the Company and the
Company's commercial agents than they have hitherto done
against European individuals? I think not. The consequence
then would be that a most destructive monopoly would take
place. . Should the Company not wish to increase their provi-
sion, their .agents, who possess nearly the same advantages with
EARLY PROMISE. 61
them, and who might have credit to any amount from the
knowledge that they could advantageously employ money to
any amount, would engross the greater part of the trade.
Would they, too, be inclined to increase the price ? would
they, from patriotic motives, encourage industry by paying the
manufacturer more liberally, or would they settle their im-
mense fortunes in this country, and thus prevent the drain, so
prejudicial and so much complained of ? There is no law in
nature by which we may presume that Commercial Residents arc
better men than commercial individuals. I am, therefore, de-
cidedly of opinion that, until an entire change be made in the
present system until Commercial Agents be restrained from
trade these individuals will be of very great advantage to the
country; they prevent monopolies, and by the competition
they excite, oblige other purchasers to pay the manufacturer a
just and liberal price."
Some at least of the views here expressed were
considerably modified in the course of the after-life
of the writer. But they are cited here mainly to
show at how early an age Henry St. George Tucker
had directed all the energies of his mind to the
elucidation of those great financial and commercial
questions, upon his comprehensive acquaintance
with which the reputation of his manhood was
mainly founded. I am writing here of the early
promise of his youth; and I think it will be ac-
knowledged even by the most grudging reader that
the boy of eighteen, who could write such letters as
this,* gave good promise, under favorable circum-
* As the precise date of this letter is not given, it is right that some proof
should be afforded of the period at which it was written. The biographer
cannot be wrong in assigning it to the year 1789; firstly, because the writer
says at the close of it : "I have not yet considered your observations on the
subject of gunge duties," &c.; and there is a paper dated early in 1790 upon
62 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
stances, of growing into one of the foremost Indian
statesmen of the age.
In another paper drawn up about this same time
and submitted also to Mr. Law, the young writer,
who plunged deeply into political economy pro-
bably without knowing it discoursed, at consider-
able length, on the advantage of raising the principal
revenue of the country from customs-duties upon
manufactured articles, rather than resorting, for the
supplies of the State, exclusively to an immoderate
land-tax. "I do not wish it to be understood, 3 ' he
said, " that I think an entire substitution of duties
for a land-tax advisable. No ; I conceive a perma-
nent, equalised, and well-regulated land-tax a very
proper source of revenue. My arguments were ad-
duced only with the wish to prove that Government
should not recur to it alone that moderation in it
would be fully compensated by the birth or increase
of other resources, from which they could draw a
revenue with equal expediency ; and, if my argu-
ments have a just foundation, with greater conveni-
ence to the subject."
And the arguments, indeed, had for the most part
good foundation at least, in theory. It is probable,
however, that in his more experienced years Mr.
Tucker himself might have questioned whether the
consuming powers of the great mass of the people,
this subject of gunge duties, which will be presently quoted; and secondly,
because he says : '* Mr. Taylor wrote to Commercolly, a long time ago, to
desire that silkworm eggs should be sent you immediately; but as we are not
certain of their having been despatched, he writes again to-day" a passage
which is sufficient proof that the writer was with Mr. Taylor at the time
and he was with him only during the year 1 789.
CUSTOMS AND EXCISE. 63
in respect of manufactured articles, had not been
over-rated.
And as he contended in favor of the partial substi-
tution of Customs duties for an exclusive and immo-
derate Land-tax, so in another paper, written in the
following year, he advocated a resort to these Cus-
toms or Gunge duties, in preference to a system of
Excise which Mr. Law had recommended.* He
seems to have had a very clear conception of what
the plague of Excisemen would be in such a country
as Bengal :
" In respect," he wrote, " to the personal convenience of the
subject, the Excise is, I think, very objectionable, particularly
in this country. It necessarily authorises an unrestrained en-
trance into men's houses, which in its effects operates as a very
arbitrary power. An unprincipled Exciseman insists on being
admitted into the house of a man of character, on searching his
most private apartments, the recesses of his women, under the
* Primarily, with especial reference to an Excise on Looms Mr. Law's plan
will be found set forth at some length in his Minute of April 15, 1790. This
and other papers relating to the revenues of India were printed by him in
1792, after his return to England, in a volume, entitled " A Sketch of some late
Arrangements and a View of the rising Resources in Bengal; by Thomas Law,
Esq., late a Member of the Council of Revenue in Fort William." I have
never seen more than one copy of it, and that I picked up some years ago at
an old book-stall. In the Minute to which I have referred, Mr. Law shows
that the Gunge, or Inland Customs, duties had become very oppressive that
" the commodities of internal produce are burdened in the Bahar province
equal to twenty or thirty lakhs of rupees, and become too dear to be exported ;
besides, the merchants quit business disappointed and disgusted; and all this
for about three lakhs (30,OOOZ.) net Gunge collections. As Government can-
not afford to relinquish even that, I propose an Excise in preference which may
be taken on cloth; for the people all require more or less of it, and I think
that one anna upon every piece above one rupee to three rupees, and two
annas upon all above this, would not be heavy. With respect to the probable
gross collections, I can only guess (they would amount to about four or five
lakhs), for at present I am ignorant of the internal expenditure and export."
It is to this proposal that Mr. Tucker's remarks mainly refer.
64 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
plea that he conceals goods which have not paid the established
tax. This admission he can legally insist on ; indeed, if you
tax the whole manufacture, you must allow your officers to
pervade every place indiscriminately, as the weavers very fre-
quently make and keep their cloths in their Zenanas.
" A man of character would, I conceive, submit to any loss
sooner than suffer these apartments to be denied by the intru-
sion of a rude, profligate stranger. The Exciseman, therefore,
could exact his own terms for his forbearance. It may be said,
he may complain to a superior officer; but exclusive of the
difficulty of redressing the complaints of individuals in this
country, he will, I think, have no ground to complain, but of a
power delegated by Government, for the non-exercise of which
he has been obliged to pay their officer. Supposing the Excise-
man be convicted and punished, the injured man will thereby
have deprived himself of the only means of subsequently saving
his family from insult and disgrace.
" Consider what an immense number of scoundrels Govern-
ment must let loose with almost unlimited powers into the
Mofussil. You must have officers to superintend the clothing
of every individual in the empire ; their number will be so
great that Government cannot afford to employ respectable
men ; they must have people of the lowest class, with the lowest
salaries, who will have little to lose, but may gain a great deal
by illegal exaction. The power with which they must of ne
cessity be invested will be a most extensive one, and they most
unfit for the exercise of any power. Besides, every vagabond,
who cannot better employ his time, and who has no other for-
tune but resolution, will assume the character of an Excise-
officer, and patrol the country, exacting from the ignorant and
helpless weavers ad libitum. He will not, indeed, have the
stamps of Government to dispose of; but this rather makes it
worse, as his exactions will in consequence be confined in a
great degree to those who may have previously paid. Has not
this been the case in the collection of all River duties? Every
petty fellow who could afford to keep a boat became a collector
of River Customs in the remote parts of the country; and I do
CUSTOMS AND EXCISE. 65
not think the idea chimerical, when I say that I think there
would be a great number of forged Excise-officers, besides too
many authorised by Government; and this must be the case
with all duties that are not locally stationary."
The youthful writer then discourses on the rela-
tive advantages and disadvantages of Customs and
Excise in some clever antithetical passages, which
afford further illustration both of the early bent of
his mind to financial inquiry, and his premature ac-
quaintance with the art of composition :
" You very justly say that there is an inconvenience attend-
ing Gunge collections, in stopping and opening packages re-
peatedly. This certainly has hitherto occasioned great delays
and consequent loss under the arbitrary system established by
the Zemindars ; but we have reason to expect improvement in
this respect; and, at all events, oppression on the merchant
does not operate so prejudicially as oppression on the weaver;
and the merchant is likely to be able in a great degree to
oppose it successfully the weaver never can.
" All collections in Gunges will be public; and oppressions
will be notorious, and sooner or later reach the ears of the
Power whose duty it is to suppress them. Excise must be
collected privately from each individual. A weaver who has
to pay one anna will not complain at two being exacted; re-
dress would not compensate for the trouble and expense attend-
ing it. A merchant may find his account in complaining of a
considerable exaction : restitution to him may be of conse-
quence.
" For this reason I conceive that taxes which fall in gross
are much less liable to admit of extortion than those which fall
upon articles singly.
" I confess that I think with you that Government are
more likely to be defrauded in their Gunge duties than in
their Excise; but for the foregoing reasons I think the subject
F
66 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
less likely; and you yourself allow that it is better Government
should be defrauded a little, than the subject
" Mr. Blackstone, I think, could not have had any idea of
this country, when he said that Excise was a less expensive tax
than Customs. Excise takes from each individual weaver
Customs from the merchant ; the one taxes every piece of
cloth separately the other, bales and cargoes; the one moves
about through every part of the country the other is sta-
tionary. There must consequently be an infinity of officers to
collect the Excise ; the accounts of it will be more diffuse and
complicated ; and the expenses of Government of course greater.
" I certainly think that duties should be levied on the manu-
factured article, and not on the raw material, as I have said in
the short paper I gave you on the subject; but this is no argu-
ment against Customs; why may not they be levied exclusively
on the manufactured article, as well as the Excise?
" After so much on the particular effects of the two taxes, I
will for a moment recur to their respective principles. The
Excise is a tax upon the whole manufacture Customs upon
that part alone which comes into circulation. The Excise,
therefore, holds forth the prospect of a greater produce than
Customs; but I do not think that in reality it has any superi-
ority in this respect. Why should you tax the grain which
the Ryot retains for his own subsistence ; or the piece of cloth
which the manufacturer makes for his own use; or, indeed,
the grain and cloth which these two mutually exchange?
There can be no great advantage in taxing them ; there may
be an advantage in omitting it for we are then sure that our
taxes do not prevent these useful subjects from being well
clothed and fed. They must be well clothed and fed if you
wish population to increase, and your country to flourish.
Their surplus labor they would carry to market; and from this
levy as much as you can without suppressing commerce: but,
in fact, you cannot suppress commerce unless you are very ex-
orbitant indeed in your demands, if you only tax the surplus
labor of the manufacturer and Ryot after they are clothed and
fed, because they have very few other wants, and could afford
CUSTOMS AND EXCISE. 67
to give their cloths and grain for a very trifle above the taxes
of Government. Those articles, therefore, could not be dear:
cheapness is the very life of commerce."
" Prom all these crude, undigested arguments,'*
he wrote in conclusion, " I wish to prove that
Gunge duties are likely to he nearly as productive
on the same article as an Excise ; more convenient
to the subject, less expensive in collection; less
likely to admit of undue exaction, or to he evaded,
because, at the time of paying them, the subject
receives an equivalent advantage. The Excise de-
stroys one of the dearest rights we possess that of
being sole and undisturbed lords of our own house
and domain as long as we conform to the laws of
our country." And then he added, still addressing
Mr. Law, this postscript, modestly apologising for
the confidence with which he had expressed his
opinions in opposition to those of his older and
more experienced friend : " Both Gunge and Ex-
cise duties are good taxes, and when compared with
a high land-tax, greatly to be preferred. They both,
however, have advantages and disadvantages, as all
taxes must have. You have very clearly and excel-
lently pointed out the advantages of the one ; but
have not, I think, included all its disadvantages. I
have endeavored feebly to show some superiorities
in the other, to which my mind, I must confess,
inclined ; but some of them are very trifling, and I
have very probably overlooked many of its defects.
My mind, however, is open to conviction, and is ten
thousand times more inclined to doubt its own sug-
68 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
gestions than the accuracy of any one of your opi-
nions. If I have used any strong expressions, they
must not be attributed to obstinacy or positiveness
in my own opinion, but merely to my manner of
writing."
This was written in 1790. Towards the close of
the preceding year he had returned to Calcutta.
He had hoped to find employment again in the
Secretary's office; but the appointment' which he
had held now belonged to another, and there was
no vacancy in the office. Hoping that one might
soon occur, he for some time remained as an un-
salaried attache* no uncommon thing in India,
where such waiters upon Fortune are known as
Omedwars, and few wait wholly in vain. It was
a sorry time, however, for the young adventurer.
Sorrier still would it have been, but for the kind
offices of Mr. Law now become a member of the
Revenue Board at Calcutta who made such ad-
vances to his young friend as at least enabled him to
live during this time of painful expectancy. It was
then, I believe, that Tucker occupied the cellar in
Rannee-Moodee-Gully, where the rats contended with
him for the possession of the wretched tenement, and
ate the powder and pomatum in his hair, when their
enemy was asleep. The sixty or seventy monthly
rupees advanced by the quondam Collector of Behar
and the young Omedwar was not one to accept
* Not, however, before he had endeavored to establish himself in an inde-
pendent business at Dacca, to which place he proceeded in the early part of
1790; but the contemplated arrangement was fortunately not brought to an
issue. The speculation was an unsuccessful one.
HIS CONNEXION WITH SIR W. JONES. 69
even as a loan more than bare subsistence-money
kept the wolf from his door, but could not keep
off these nauseous vermin.
He had other friends, too, after their kind, and
never lacked a place at the dinner-tables of those
who fared sumptuously every day. But it was the
steady support of Thomas Law that enabled him
to surmount all difficulties. The youth who whilst
yet in his teens could write such papers as those
from which I have quoted, was not one whom any
official in the country could have hesitated to re-
commend for Government employment. A place was
soon found for him. In the course of this year,
1790, he was appointed assistant to the Accountant
of the Board of Trade. And soon afterwards another
office, to which it is an especial pleasure to allude,
was conferred upon him. He had won the good
opinion of Sir "William Jones, who now extended to
him a hand of active assistance, and attached him to
his person as clerk. Prom these two appointments
he derived an ample income and something better
still than the six hundred rupees a month, which
was wealth indeed to the boy of nineteen ; for there
could hardly have been better training for him than
this. In the Accountant's office he laid broad and
deep the foundation of his fame as a [Financier ;
whilst sitting at the feet of Sir William Jones his
natural taste for elegant literature found due cultiva-
tion, and there was little chance of his ever subsiding
into a mere man of accounts and details. His love
70 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
of literature abided with him to the closing years of
his life.*
The year 1791 dawned prosperously on Henry
Tucker. He was in the enjoyment of good health ;
he was in possession of a comfortable income; he
had paid all his debts ; and, what was more solacing
to him in his exile than all beside, he was enabled
to render some essential service to his family in the
West. Through his instrumentality a commission
in the E/oyal Army was obtained for his brother
George. It is related that he solicited Lord Corn-
wallis to use his good offices in behalf of the boy,
and that the benevolent nobleman, upon whom
Henry Tucker had made a favorable impression,
cheerfully granted the request, t The sailor-boy had
already become the architect of others' fortunes.
* It is to be lamented that there are no records to be found of Mr. Tucker's
connexion with Sir William Jones, beyond brief allusions to the fact scattered
throughout the writings of the former. " I had also the good fortune," -wrote
Mr. Tucker on one occasion, " to be patronised by the late Sir William Jones,
whose genius seemed to soar above this lower world, and whose love of con-
stitutional liberty, and whose devotion to literature, impressed me with a
feeling which I have carried through life." In another paper he speaks of
" Sir William Jones, late the ornament of his country;" adding, " In no indi-
vidual, perhaps, have we ever seen united such diversity of useful and agree-
able talents. His premature death is ever to be lamented. ' I knew him
well, Horatio.' " See, also, " Memorials of Indian Government," page 61, and
note, in which Mr. Tucker says : " I had the honor of being ' clerk' to Sir
William Jones an honor to which, at this date, I look back with pride."
The acquaintance between them commenced as far back as 1788, in which
year the young uncovenanted clerk was elected a member of the Asiatic
Society, under the auspices of the great Orientalist.
f Mr. Tucker, throughout all the succeeding years of his life, spoke of Lord
Coruwallis in language of the warmest veneration. In a memorandum extant
in his handwriting, he says: " I had the good fortune in the early days of my
boyhood to enjoy a pure atmosphere. I first served under the great and good
MERCANTILE SPECULATIONS. 71
But the ladder of official promotion especially to
one in the " Uncovenanted Service" is of very slow
ascent ; and eager as he was to benefit his family at
home, Henry Tucker was readily persuaded to try a
shorter, though more perilous road to fortune. To-
wards the close of 1791 he joined a house of busi-
ness, of which Mr. John Palmer afterwards the
Prince of Indian Merchants was the chief member.
The house failed before the young adventurer had
been many months connected with it, and what was
to him a heavy amount of responsibility was thrown
upon him as a partner.* This was a mighty blow,
and one the weight of which he felt for many a year.
But with that brave habit of never shrinking of
never turning aside from the contemplation of an
obtrusive difficulty, he looked the evil steadfastly in
the face, and he determined, if God willed, to live it
down. It took him ten years to wrestle with the
calamity; but the work which he set himself he
fairly accomplished. He paid his share of the debt
principal and interest. But the anxiety which it
inflicted, and the privations it entailed upon him,
well-nigh cost him his life.
But the tide was again about to turn nay, it had
Lord Cornwallis, who was the perfect personification of disinterestedness and
patriotism. He steadily enforced the principles of justice; he saw no object
but the honor and the interests of his country." And this, indeed, is no more
than the language of unexaggerated truth.
* It is probable that I am not strictly correct in speaking of a " house of
business ;" and that it ought rather to have been said that, associated with
Mr. John Palmer, he entered into certain mercantile speculations, which were
not successful. In the year 1791, Mr. Tucker was in his minority, and could
hardly, therefore, have been a partner in a house of business. He was not
legally responsible for its debts.
72 LIFE OT H. ST.G. TUCKER.
already turned, although he knew it not in favor
of the young adventurer. Early in the following
year he had gone down partly for the restoration of
his health, partly for the transaction of some busi-
ness to the Coromandel Coast, when glad tidings
reached him from England. He had been appointed
a member of the Company's Covenanted Civil Ser-
vice. There would have been nothing now to mar
the completeness of his happiness if it had not been
for the Incubus of Debt.
It is believed that this appointment was procured
for him mainly through the influence of his excellent
friend Thomas Law. In the course of the year 1791,
this worthy man and valuable public servant was
driven to England by ill-health. He soon abandoned
the idea of returning to the East, and pitched his
tent in the Western "World. He had been the friend
of Cornwallis in the one, and in the other he allied
himself with the old antagonist of his former master.*
He married a niece of Washington, and in the city
which bears the name of that great man he passed
the remainder of his life. Once or twice, in his old
age, he visited England, and renewed his ever-
cherished intimacy with the friend of his early
days. Then it was his turn to use the language of
gratitude. " I shall often think," he wrote, " with
the essence of pleasure in my eyes of your and Mrs.
Tucker's kindness."
And up to the last, he thought affectionately of
* Antagonistic by circumstance but in character how alike!
ME. LAW. 73
his old work, and was zealous for the extension of
the Mocurrery system, which he had advocated so
warmly in those never-forgotten olden times in Behar.
"On my arrival in England," he wrote to Mr.
Tucker, " G , M , and others told me of the
breach of faith to the natives in the Ceded and Con-
quered Provinces. My feelings dictated and my
hand obeyed, and I rejoice that at sixty- eight my
instinctive impulses were strong enough to make
me read, and copy, and think. Your exertions have
given the crown to my trifle, and you will, I hope,
live to see success, and to have your labors duly ap-
preciated. I rejoice that Gyah produced Barlow,
you, and me. Henceforth I shall relinquish politics
and finance c hic coestus artem que repono.' " Not
long after this he was translated to the land where
all Settlements are Permanent. He died on the
30th of July, 1834, and lies buried in the city which
owes so much to his enterprise and zeal.
74 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TTJCKEE.
CHAPTER III.
Appointment of H. St.G. Tucker to the Covenanted Civil Service Employed
in the Accountant-General's Department State of the Civil Service The
Administration of Sir John Shore Mr. Tucker appointed Register in
Rajshye His intimacy with Henry Colebrooke Appointed to the Secre-
tariatRise in the Department Arrival of Lord Wellesley Mr. Tucker's
Services Visit to Madras Anecdotes of Lord Wellesley Return to Cal-
cutta Appointed Accountant-General.
THE first appointment held by Mr. Tucker in the
privileged " Civil Service" of the East India Com-
pany was that of an assistant in the Accountant-
General's Department.* He had proved his aptitude
for business of that kind when in the uncovenanted
service ; and his mercantile speculations, if they had
done nothing else, may be presumed to have im-
proved his knowledge of book-keeping and his gene-
ral acquaintance with financial affairs. I am not,
therefore, surprised to learn that his official superiorf
soon remarked his extraordinary progress, and said
that in six weeks Mr. Tucker had done what it
would have taken any one else six months to accom-
plish.
* His appointment bears date October 26, 1792.
f Mr. Larkins.
STATE OF THE CIVIL SERVICE. 75
The Company's Civil Service was, at this time, in
a transition- state fast merging out of it, it may be
said, and settling down into solid Respectability.
Many have been found to question the wisdom both
of the fiscal and Judicial Reforms of Lord Corn-
wallis ; but all acknowledge that under his adminis-
tration the morality and efficiency of the Company's
Services were raised to a height which they had
never attained before. The civil servants had been
a mixed race of public functionaries and private
traders ; and even when open trade had been offi-
cially prohibited, they had bought and sold through
the medium of native agents, and relied less upon
their official earnings than their commercial specu-
lations for the rapid construction of a fortune. But
to Lord Cornwallis, as to every other clear-sighted
man who had not grown up in the midst of this
deplorable state of things, it was obtrusively appa-
rent, that to establish a race of honest and efficient
public servants, it was necessary to give them plenty
to do, and to pay them handsomely for doing it.
The State, it was then declared, demanded all the
time and the activity of its servants, and for this
exclusive application of their time and their activity
it was decreed that they should be remunerated with
sufficient liberality to enable them to secure a com-
petence for their declining years, without the aid of
private speculation. It was of little use to prohibit
the trading of public servants without removing the
great incentive to it the difficulty, if not the impos-
sibility, of making a fortune without it. Cornwallis,
76 LIFE OF H. ST.O. TUCKER.
the first great Indian statesman who had not grown
up in one or other of the services, saw this with a
fresh eye ; and under his administration there rose
into being a class of well-salaried public functionaries,
who, whilst they retained the old names of Merchant
and Factor, had little of the commercial atmosphere
about them. They became in reality judges, magis-
trates, and revenue-collectors, and the mask of au-
thority was now seldom or never used to cover the
greed of the private dealer.
But this system, when Mr. Tucker entered the
service, was not yet perfect in all its parts. To some
of the lesser appointments insufficient salaries were
attached.* It is related that in the Accountant-
General's office indeed, throughout the first year of
his covenanted service he received only a monthly
salary of two hundred rupees. During a portion of
this time he acted as a Commissioner of the Court
of Requests in Calcutta, f and subsequently, in the
spring of the following year (1793), as Register to
the Zillah Court of Rajshye. Henry Colebrooke
* Writing in 1792, Mr. Law said: " The Company's servants are of the best
families and educations, with dispositions to foster and abilities to improve
the present system. At present their salaries are inadequate to the import-
ance of their trusts, and the Governments in India must have lamented the
sad necessity for cramping and curtailing. When the Company's finances
shall become flourishing, I trust that their servants will participate by en-
larged allowances ; indeed, the liberality of States is in general proportionate
at least with their circumstances. Young men who resign domestic comforts
and submit to a temporary exile are entitled to ample compensation for such
sacrifices. All are now feeling the embarrassments of the times in India, but
I hope they will soon find labor and merit requited by an enriched sove-
reignty."
f From December, 1792, to the spring of the following year.
HENRY COLEBROOKE. 77
was then collector of that place. Between him and
Mr. Tucker an intimacy soon sprung up, which was
terminated only by death.
Many grave discussions had they, at this time, on
the trade and agriculture of the country,* and many
a good day's hog-hunting together. In after-years,
they appeared as brother-authors ; but they never
forgot that they had been brother-sportsmen. Often
in the decline of life did Mr. Tucker speak de-
lightedly of his sporting excursions in Raj shy e with
Henry Colebrooke as his companion; and many a
story had he to tell to his children of the victories
they achieved with the spear.
Nor were these the only delights of his life at this
time. Letters came to him from his far-off home
in the Bermudas; and they were such letters as
gladden the heart of an affectionate son, and inspire
him with new constancy and courage to bear up
against all the depressing influences of protracted
exile. Prom one at least of these Bermuda letters
some extracts may be given. They show in what
light Henry St.George Tucker was regarded at this
time by the ever-venerated father, from whom he
was separated in early boyhood. It need only be
premised that in those days the communication,
even through England, between the East and West
Indies, was not only tedious, but precarious :
* It was at tliis time that Mr. Tucker first directed his attention to the
subject of cotton cultivation in India, in which he never ceased to take the
liveliest interest.
78 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEB.
" St. George's, May 21, 1793.
" It is a great while, my beloved son, since I have had the
pleasure of a letter from you ; your last was dated in February,
1792 a long and tedious interval indeed! Our friends, how-
ever, in England have informed me that you were well in
June, which I was rejoiced to hear. The several articles you
were so kind as to send, by way of Philadelphia, to the care of
Messrs. Elliston and John Perot, arrived safely. I thank you
for them ; and your mamma, to whom I have mentioned the
receipt of them, will, I doubt not, thank you too. Those
gentlemen (the Messrs. Perot, I mean) have been extremely
civil; and if you should have it in your power at any time to
serve them, or make them any little compliment, I should be
glad you would.
" I was afraid, my Hal, that your trusteeship would be pro-
ductive of much trouble to you; but I hope it will not create
you any enemies. I was sure it would prove an arduous busi-
ness; but, arduous as it may have been, I am convinced that
you will acquit yourself of it with honor and reputation. I
flatter myself your partnership goes on successfully ; but I must
own, my son, I never was fond of partnerships they seldom
end happily the generous and unsuspecting too often fall
sacrifices to the more selfish and designing. They cannot,
therefore, be entered into with too much circumspection. But
I have such confidence in your prudence, that I do not dread
any disagreeable consequences from the engagements you have
formed. Perhaps your appointment to the service will render
it necessary to dissolve them. It is a circumstance I should
not regret; though I by no means wish you to desert the inte-
rests of your friend.
" . . . I am afraid, my son, you apply yourself too
closely to business. You should be careful of your health.
Consider how much the welfare of the whole family depends
upon you! Your life is of inestimable value to every indi-
vidual of it. As for me, my sand is now running out very
fast; in a few years, according to the common course of things,
I must be as if I had never been.
LETTER FROM HIS FATHER. 79
" I long to know what my poor Geordie is about; and
whether he stands any chance for promotion. Perhaps the war
with France may be a means of accelerating such an event.
Your more than brotherly attention to him he acknowledges
in all his letters. How much reason have I to bless that Pro-
vidence which has bestowed on me a son so dutiful, affec-
tionate, and disinterested as my Hal has on all occasions
evinced himself to be ! . . . .
" I write under great lowness of spirits, my Hal, as you,
perhaps, will perceive. I am full of apprehensions about your
dearest mamma I cannot tell how she will get home to me
again. The passage from England is long, and the times are
dangerous. May Heaven, in its goodness, restore her safe to
us once more ! . . . .
" . . . Adieu, my best of sons !
' * Your father prays fervently for you.
" HENRY TUCKER."
All comment upon such letters is mere imperti-
nence. I will only add that, in the passages which I
have given, full justice is not done to the recipient,
for there is much hesides which indicates the self-
denying generosity of Henry St.George Tucker, hut
to which, as delicate as he was generous, he would
never have desired an allusion to be made.
In the course of the year 1793, Sir John Shore,
of whose appointment to the Governor- Generalship
mention is made in another letter from the elder
Tucker, arrived in India and commenced his ad-
ministration.* Mr. Law, it is there stated, had
spoken to Shore in terms strongly recommendatory of
* There was an interval of some months between the two events. Sir John
Shore arrived in March; but Lord Cornwallis did not take his departure
before October.
80 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the young civilian ; and the recommendations of the
old Behar collector were confirmed by Mr. Barlow,
once his Assistant in Gyah,* but now Secretary to
Government in the Revenue Department, and one of
the most influential men in Bengal. Barlow knew
that the young man had in him the germs of a first-
rate Revenue-officer, and the Governor-General, him-
self, perhaps, one of the best Revenue-officers that
ever served in India, was never slow to secure for
that department all the available talent in the State.
The Permanent Settlement had by this time become
the Law of the land, and the disciple of the " Eather"
of that great measure was one likely to render good
service in the carrying out of its details. At the
commencement of the year 1794 Mr. Tucker was
appointed Assistant to the Register, and afterwards
Deputy-Register of the Sudder Dewanny and Sudder
Nizamut Adawluts,t and Assistant to the Secretary
to Government in the Revenue and Judicial Depart-
ments.:!:
In this appointment he continued to serve up to
the year 1796, when, on Mr. Barlow's nomination to
the Chief Secretaryship, he was selected to succeed
* Barlow was Assistant to Mr. Law in the year 1787, when Tucker was at
Gyah; and there the intimacy between them commenced.
f The chief Kevenue and Judicial Courts at the Presidency.
J What was then called " Assistant Sub-Secretary," under which designa-
tion Mr. Tucker's name is found attached to numerous official papers up to
the year 1795.
He had, however, some time previous to this been nominated Eegister of
the Provincial Court of Patna; but Mr. Cowper, one of the members of
Council, represented that Mr. Tucker's withdrawal would be a serious loss to
the Secretariat, so he was allowed to retain his old appointment with in-
creased allowances.
OFFICIAL LIFE. 81
him as Secretary, or, as official nomenclature went
in those days, Sub- Secretary in the Hevenue and
Judicial Departments.* Of this period of Mr.
Tucker's life, spent as it was in Calcutta, amidst the
routine-work of his official duties, I have little to
record. Materials are wanting, and if they were
not wanting, there would probably be little to say
about a life, one day of which, in all its external
environments, differed little from another, t That
he was all this time laying up rich experiences is
proved by the writings of his later days, in which
the inner life of intellectual progress is fairly re-
flected. During this period he acquired that inti-
mate acquaintance with the details of the internal
administration of the country which is so conspicu-
ous in all that he wrote on the subject.
All through the years of Sir John Shore's govern-
ment years they were of almost entire repose
Henry St. George Tucker worked, as others were
working around him, diligently and hopefully at the
desk seeing there in the chief seat of the empire
one who had risen through all the gradations of the
service, and thinking that he might do likewise. But
there was something more going on all this time
than the intellectual progress of which I have
spoken ; there was financial progress, noticeable and
* The departmental Secretaries were then called Sub-Secretaries, all being
under one " Chief Secretary."
f I need not say that there is no lack of official letters among the records
of the India House bearing the signature of Henry St.George Tucker but as
he was, during the period to which I am now referring, in a subordinate
capacity, I have no right to identify him individually with the correspondence
of his department.
82 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
great. The results of the Palmer -and -Tucker
speculation were still hanging about him; but the
pile of debt was gradually diminishing ; for with an
increased income an income, indeed, which now
was not less than 1200Z. a year Tucker indulged in
no increased extravagance, but found the chiefest of
his pleasures in the contemplation of this diminution
of the pile of debt which had stood up so afflictingly
before him.
He was now, indeed health and strength being
granted to him to pursue the career of usefulness for
which he had been marked out on the high road to
fame and fortune. There were great events in the
womb of Time such as are needed to show the stuff
of which men of his stamp are made. Reputations
do not ripen rapidly in quiet times. On the 17th of
May, 1798, a little man with great aims ascended
the steps of one of the landing-places of Calcutta ;
and on the following day the guns of Port William
announced that there was a change of Government.
No two men could have less resembled each other
than Lord "Wellesley and Sir John Shore no two
administrations could have been more unlike than
that of the Irish aristocrat and the son of the super-
cargo. Lord Wellesley came out to India to conquer
Provinces and perplex the Revenue. It was a great
time for soldiers and financiers. Lord Wellesley
had need of them both, and his quick eye knew
where to find them.
It was a season of feverish excitement both in the
East and in the West. Threatened with internal
revolt and foreign invasion, England stood in an
STATE OF THE TIMES. 83
attitude of defence. Prance, glutted with the blood
of her own subjects, was threatening to descend upon
our shores with an army of 100,000 men, and was
openly aiding Ireland in the work of rebellion. The
Alien Bill was revived. The Habeas Corpus Act
was suspended. There was an unprecedented de-
mand for money and men. Old taxes were doubled
and trebled, and new ones, unheard of before, were
being levied upon the people. It was the life-struggle
of a great country.
In the East there was the same danger and the
same excitement. France, already established in
Egypt, was pushing her intrigues to the banks of the
Jumna and into the heart of Mysore. The great
tide of Mahomedan conquest, which had been rolled
back by the encroachments of the Eeringhee trader,
threatened again to pour itself down from the fabu-
lous regions of the Hindoo- Koosh. The son of Hyder
Ali was grasping, with warm assurances of friend-
ship, the hand of the descendant of Ahmed Shah.
The deposed Usurper of Oude was feeding his re-
sentment by fostering the enmity and the ambition of
both ; and even the Hindoo Princes, who were ready
to betray him, were eager to aid with enormous sub-
sidies the invader whom he invited to Hindostan.*
The crisis, indeed, was a great one. Erom one end
of India to the other the excitement was universal.
The mighty heart of Anglo-Indian society was stirred
* It is remarkable that the Rajah of Jyneghur, who subsequently gave up
this Vizier Ali to the British authorities, offered to subsidise the army of
Zemaun Shah with whom Vizier Ali was in league.
84 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
by one emotion of Patriotism. Men were ready to
sacrifice their fortunes and their lives in behalf of
the country which they had quitted in their boyhood.
In the summer of 1798, when Lord "Wellesley arrived
in India, he found that his countrymen were think-
ing even more of perils at home than of perils
abroad,* eager to assist the great movement that
was being made for the defence of the British Isles.
At all the Presidencies of India, and in all the great
provincial stations, meetings, known as " Patriotic
Meetings," were being held, for the purpose of testi-
fying the " fidelity and attachment" of the British
inhabitants of India to their " Sovereign and Con-
stitution," by sending home not only addresses of
loyalty and words of encouragement, but voluntary
contributions of money to aid in the prosecution of
the war. Prom the chief ruler in Government House
to the private soldier in his Barracks every man
responded to the call; every man contributed ac-
cording to his means ;t and gladly endured the priva-
tions which his patriotic exertions entailed. In this
frame of mind Lord Wellesley found the British in-
habitants of India when he looked out for the first
time upon its white houses and its scorched plains.
It was a juncture to tax all the energies of the most
energetic of men.
Of matters such as these, relating to the general
* At this time, indeed, all the perils which threatened our Indian posses-
sions had not yet openly manifested themselves.
f That excellent man, Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay, contributed
25,000 rupees. Most of the European soldiers in the country sent home a
month's pay.
SOLDIERS AND FINANCIERS. 85
history of the times, it is hardly the province of the
biographer to speak. I desire only to show that the
season was one in which the chief ruler of India
must have seen that he had need, not only of all the
best soldiers, but all the best financiers in the Land.
To the eye of the unreflecting multitude it appears
that great battles are fought only by means of
swords and muskets, guns, howitzers, and mortars ;
and that so long as we have men amongst us able to
direct the movements of these swords, muskets, guns,
howitzers, and mortars, great wars can be carried on
and great victories can be gained. But the states-
man knows that there is a mightier instrument still
than any one of these things an instrument with-
out which all these are as nothing the ever-poten-
tial money-bag. He knows that the Commander of
Armies is paralysed if the Commander of the Money-
bags does not come to his aid. He knows that to the
success of a campaign financial skill is not less neces-
sary than military skill, and that if the soldier is to
triumph, the financier must be found, at the right
time, equal to the occasion. Perhaps it is less dif-
ficult to find soldiers than to find financiers ; but the
first are sure of popular applause, whilst none take
heed of the poor wise man who saves the city. Our
Indian Empire has more than once tottered on the
brink of ruin not because swords or bayonets have
wanted temper, or guns and howitzers the true
metal, but because the money-bags have been
emptied by exhausting wars, and it has been far
more difficult to replenish them than to sweep great
armies from the field.
86 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Lord Wellesley he was then known as Lord
Mornington had halted, on his way to the seat of
the Supreme Government, for a few days at Madras ;
and there he had learnt that the state of affairs in
Mysore called immediately for a hostile demonstra-
tion against Tippoo Sultan on the part of the British-
Indian Government. Imperfectly acquainted with
the condition of the Coast Army and the state of
the Puhlic Treasury, the young Governor-Gene-
ral had scarcely taken the oaths of office when he
sent down instructions to the Madras authorities
to prepare immediately a military force to march
into the heart of the Mysore dominions. Such
a mandate as this hurst like a loaded shell on
the floor of the Madras Council-Chamber. Mr.
Webbe, whom many years afterwards the Duke
of Wellington, who knew him well, described as
" one of the ablest and honestest of men,"
was then Chief Secretary, and the main-spring
of the Coast Government. Lord Mornington' s
orders filled him with astonishment and dismay.
" I can anticipate," he exclaimed, " nothing but
a return of shocking disasters from a premature at-
tack upon Tippoo in our present disabled condition,
and the impeachment of Lord Mornington for his
temerity." He knew that the army was dispersed,
that the muniments of war were unprepared, and
that the Treasury was well-nigh empty.* And know-
ing this he was right. In less emphatic language,
General Harris, the Commander-in-Chief, urged the
* The Debt at this time (1798) was seven millions and a half sterling.
The deficit for the financial year 1797-98 was about thirty-three lakhs.
[ Tucker's Review of Indian Finance."}
REVISION OF THE PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS. 87
same arguments, whilst, as a soldier, he declared
his willingness to obey orders. But the Governor-
General had not been many weeks in Calcutta before
he recognised the great truth, that soldiers cannot
make war without financiers to help them ; so the
first orders were countermanded, and it was deter-
mined to " take time."
Mr. Tucker at this period was young in the ser-
vice, but he soon fixed the attention of Lord Wel-
lesley, who had a quick eye for the discernment of
merit, in whatever direction it lay ; and seldom made
a mistake. One of the first subjects connected with
the internal administration of the country to which
the new Governor-General directed his energies, was
" a general revision of all the public establishments
of Port William," and the adoption of " a similar
measure at Madras and Bombay, as well as at all
the subordinate settlements and in all the recent ac-
quisitions from the enemy."* These establishments,
for want of proper organisation, had become more
costly than efficient, and it was believed that the
same administrative materials might, under an ade-
quate revision of the existing arrangements, be
rendered more efficient for the service of the State,
and less burdensome to the public revenues. A
special Committee was, therefore, appointed, under
the immediate superintendence of the Governor- Ge-
neral, to carry out the details of this revision in the
Bengal Presidency. It was to consist of the Presi-
dent of the Board of Revenue ; one of the members
* Minute of Lord Mornington, June 12, 1798. [3f& Records.]
88 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of the Board of Trade; the Accountant-General,
and the Sub- Secretary in the Revenue and Judicial
Departments Mr. Tucker. " These gentlemen,"
wrote the Governor-General, " I propose to appoint
to be a Committee for the purpose already men-
tioned Mr. Tucker to act as Secretary to the Com-
mittee."
It was about this time that Mr. Tucker sub-
mitted to Lord Wellesley, among other papers re-
lating to the Public Finances, a plan for the esta-
blishment of a new Bank, to be partly under Govern-
ment control. Some years before* a proposition of
a somewhat similar character had found some favor
with the authorities in India, but had been reso-
lutely discountenanced by the Court of Directors.
" We have very great doubts upon our minds," they
wrote, " respecting the utility of such an establish-
ment in India. You are, therefore, to give no
countenance or encouragement whatsoever to any
plan or plans that may have been, or may here-
after be, laid before you by individuals for any such
establishment, and you are not to admit or receive
any notes or other engagements from the private
Banks as a payment in the collection of our Re-
venues, or in any other department of our public or
commercial concerns. "f But since this was written,
the advantages of such an establishment had be-
come more and more obvious to Indian Financiers.
Among others, Mr. Tucker had made it the subject
* In 1786.
f General letter of the Court of Directors to Bengal, Jan. 10, 1787.
Records."]
FINANCIAL PROPOSITIONS. 89
of much grave contemplation ; and before the arrival
of Lord Mornington he had completed a scheme for
the establishment of a Bank, by order of the Go-
vernor-General in Council, who was to be competent
to pass such rules and regulations for its better ad-
ministration as might appear necessary to him. It
was to be established on a capital of fifty lakhs of
Sicca rupees, divided into five hundred shares, two-
fifths of which were to be subscribed by Government,
and the remainder by private proprietors, who were
to assume the character of a corporate body. The
affairs of the Bank were to be managed by nine di-
rectors, of whom six were to be appointed by Govern-
ment, and the remainder by the shareholders. The
notes of the Bank were to be received as legal tenders
by Government at their Treasury, and other offices
at the Presidency, but not at the provincial treasu-
ries. The business of the Bank was to be confined
as much as possible to the discounting of bills and
the granting of loans, for short periods, for the
accommodation of merchants and the general con-
venience of the public but no larger sum than five
lakhs of rupees was at any time to be advanced to
Government, or than one lakh to a private individual.
Such, in its leading outlines, was the scheme which,
early in the year 1798, Mr. Tucker had prepared,
and which, soon after the arrival of Lord Wel-
lesley, he submitted to that nobleman. The Go-
vernor-General recognised at once the importance
of the establishment, and entered with the liveliest
interest into Mr. Tucker's general financial "views
90 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
but the great business of the war with Tippoo, and
the anticipated invasion of India by the French, were
at this time engrossing his thoughts and consuming
his energies ; and any statesman might have been
pardoned in such a juncture for postponing the con-
sideration of measures which did not press for im-
mediate adjustment. I shall have more to say on
this subject in another chapter. The new century
had not long dawned upon Bengal, when the Bank-
ing establishment, for the initiation of which Mr.
Tucker had so ably contended, became what it now
is a fact.
But Napoleon was at this time, on what is now
the great high road from England to India, issuing
proclamations from the burning sands, which stretch
beneath the Pyramids of Egypt. At such a time,
the physical defence of our Anglo-Indian Empire
was necessarily the first thought of its rulers. The
" defence of the entrance of the river (Ganges)
against a naval force, and the best means of pre-
venting the progress of a (hostile) armament, on the
supposition of its having gained the entrance of the
river,"* were among the primal objects of Lord
Wellesley's concern; and he thought too, at the
same time, how the Erench troops might be re-
ceived, on the great plain of Calcutta, if they were
to effect a landing at the ghauts of that palaced
city. The patriotism of the Anglo-Indian residents
might be turned, he thought, to profitable account.
* Lord Mornington to the Secret Committee, October 30, 1798.-[J/S.
Records.'}
DEFENCE OF CALCUTTA. 91
" "We have resolved," he wrote, " to embody the
European militia of the town of Calcutta, and to
form such of your civil servants and others as shall
offer their services into a body of cavalry, which
may prepare to act on any emergency."* And very
earnestly these " civil servants and others" re-
sponded to the call.f There are few now living
who can recall the actualities of that time of threat-
ened invasion. But the reign of the Calcutta volun-
teers extended for some few years into the present
century, and there are many still amongst us by
whom its later days are vividly remembered. It
would be easy to multiply anecdotes illustrative
of the military eccentricities of the Anglo-Indian
volunteers ; but they differ little from those which
are told of the amateur soldiering on the banks of
the Thames. { In both cases, the service which they
would have rendered, in case of an actual invasion,
still remains an unsolved problem ; but the convi-
viality and good-fellowship, which the association
promoted, are recorded facts.
* Lord Mornington to the Secret Committee, October 30, 1798. [M. S.
Records."]
f In a letter to the Court of Directors, dated Nov. 21, 1798, the Governor-
General highly commended the promptitude and cordiality with which his
call had been responded to, declaring that his " orders had been obeyed with an
alacrity and zeal," which " strongly indicate the resolution of the Company's
civil servants, and of all the European and Armenian inhabitants of Calcutta,
to devote their personal services to the defence of the seat of the Supreme
Government, in any exigency which may arise."
J One exception, however, may be made; for it has often been related that
on wet mornings, when the volunteers turned out for parade on foot, every
gentleman had a servant in attendance, with a brick to place beneath his
master's feet, and they who know the state of the Calcutta maidaun, or great
plain, in the middle of the rains, will not much wonder at the precaution.
92 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
It is enough for the purposes of this Memoir to
state that Mr. Tucker was an active memher of the
amateur Cavalry force ; and as he was an excellent
horseman, and full of spirit, he doubtless would have
distinguished himself as a soldier, if that had been
the mission which he was decreed to fulfil. As it
was, he rose rapidly from the rank of a private to
that of a captain in the regiment ; and he often
playfully adverted, in his declining years, to the
days when grave civilians forgot for a time the
affairs of the Dewannee and the Nizamut, sitting in
committee on patterns of volunteer uniform, or
dining together at Macdonald's tavern to take leave
of some distinguished comrade, and, perhaps, to pre-
sent him with a sword.*
"Whilst all these preparations were going on for
the defence of the Presidency against threatened in-
vasion, the Governor-General was bethinking him-
self of the mental qualifications of the civilians
whose physical powers he was turning to account.
It appeared to him that responsible offices were con-
ferred on young civilians, little qualified by a know-
ledge of the languages of the country and the regu-
lations of Government for the discharge of the im-
portant duties which devolved upon them. The
great idea of the establishment of the College of
* The Volunteer Cavalry of Calcutta or, as more correctly it should be
called, the European Militia Cavalry was organised by Colonel Welsh, who,
on his return to England, was presented, on full parade, with a handsome gold-
handled sword. As late as 1805, Mr. Tucker was addressed in some official
correspondence in the military department as " Captain Henry St. George
Tucker, commanding the Calcutta European Militia Cavalry."
HIS PROFICIENCY IN THE LANGUAGES. 93
Eort William was then taking shape in his mind.
With the pressing business of the war in the South
before him, he could not then bring the design to
perfection ; but, in the mean while, he issued an
order decreeing that "from and after the 1st of
January, 1801, no servant will be deemed eligible to
any of the offices hereinafter mentioned, until he
shall have passed an examination in the laws and
regulations and in the languages, a knowledge of
which is hereby declared to be an indispensable
qualification for such respective offices." On the
subject of the necessary examination in the native
languages and the formation of a qualified Board of
Examiners, that eminent Orientalist, Dr. Gilchrist,
was consulted. The Board was " to be selected from
gentlemen who were known to be competent judges
of Indian languages." Among the list of those re-
commended by Dr. Gilchrist a list which includes
the honored names of Barlow and Edmonstone
was that of Mr. Tucker, who, in spite of all the dis-
advantages under which he had labored, had dili-
gently studied the Oriental languages, from almost
the first day of his residence in the East.
The order of which I have spoken was issued on
the 21st December, 1798. Eour days afterwards,
Lord Wellesley embarked from the water-gate of
Eort William upon the Government yacht, which
carried him down the river to join the frigate com-
missioned to convey him to Madras. The war which
was now to be prosecuted with unfailing vigor
against Tippoo Sultan demanded his personal super-
94 LIFE OE H. ST.G. TUCKER.
intendence, and he hastened, therefore, to the Coast,
that no time might he lost in references to the seat
of the Supreme Government.
In the spring of the following year, the health of
Mr. Tucker, severely tried as it had heen by his un-
ceasing application to his official duties, gave way
beneath the continued tension, and he was com-
pelled to lay aside the pen. He had now been for
more than twelve years, with slight intermission,
under the enervating influence of the hot, damp
climate of the low countries on the banks of the
Ganges, severely tried by those two worst enemies
of health in all countries, much intellectual toil and
mental anxiety. It was time that he should cease
awhile from his work. So, in the spring of 1799,
he obtained leave of absence from his appointment,
and sailed for Madras.
Much thought had he, too, even then, of turning
to profitable account this permitted season of leisure
and recreation. The war in Mysore was at its height ;
the Governor- General was at the southern Presi-
dency. To Mr. Tucker it seemed, therefore, that
whilst the sea-breezes were recruiting his strength,
he might still, at the elbow of the Governor- General,
be exercising his official experience in the service of
the State. He arrived at a propitious moment. The
Presidency was in a transport of joy. The guns of
Port St. George were announcing the receipt of glad
tidings from Mysore. The stronghold of the Sultan
had fallen, and Tippoo himself was History.
Rightly had Mr. Tucker anticipated that his ser-
ENERGY OF LORD WELLESLEY. 95
vices would be required on the Coast. The Go-
vernor-General, in such a juncture, had especial
need of active and intelligent secretaries ; and the
circumstances of the War and the Victory had di-
minished the personnel of his staff. Colonel Kirk-
patrick, his Military Secretary, was at Seringapa-
tam ; and Henry Wellesley was now to be de-
spatched to England to communicate to the British
Government " all the detailed circumstances and
intricate considerations connected with the late My-
sore war," and the pacification which had ensued.
In the new arrangements for the completion of the
personal staff of the Governor-General which then
became necessary, Mr. Tucker was included. He
was appointed to act as Military Secretary, and he
took up the quarters, in the temporary residence of
the Governor- General, vacated by his Lordship's
brother.
The duties which he was called upon to perform
were various. Lord Wellesley knew the character
of the man knew that he could rely on his energy
and ability and he did not scruple to tax them to
the utmost. Often, in after-days, did Mr. Tucker
speak of all the circumstances of his residence at Ma-
dras in this momentous summer of 1799. Brought
constantly into close official and personal intercourse
with the Governor-General, he had abundant oppor-
tunity of observing the wonderful quickness of ap-
prehension and the unequalled intellectual activity
which distinguished the character of this remarkable
man. Little more than a year had elapsed since
96 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
the Governor- General had for the first time looked
out, from the deck of the Virgmie 9 on the white
surf and the low coast of Madras ; yet even now
men who had been for long years storing up rich
local experiences found him a ripe Indian states-
man, and stood abashed before the superior know-
ledge of the titled novice.
Some striking illustrations of the quickness with
which Lord Wellesley grasped all the salient points
of a great question, and the boldness with which
he enunciated the views thus hastily formed, were
brought, at this time, under the immediate notice of
the subject of this Memoir. One example may be
cited. At a late hour one night the Governor-Ge-
neral summoned Mr. Tucker to his presence. Giving
him a bundle of papers of considerable bulk, he
requested the Secretary to make a precis of their
contents, and to bring it to him on the following
morning. The performance of such a duty de-
manded not only the closest application during the
night, but some previous knowledge of the subject.
Fortunately, Mr. Tucker was acquainted with the
general bearings of the case. The question related
to the future relations of the British Government
with the principality of Tanjore.* At the appointed
* It had been discovered that Ameer Singh, the de facto Rajah of Tanjore,
was not the legal heir to the throne, but that Serfojee, the adopted son of the
late Prince, had claims to the sovereignty which the British Government were
bound to recognise. It was proposed, therefore, to pension Ameer Singh, and
to enter into a treaty with the other Prince, by which he was to become a
mere puppet in our hands upon receipt of an annual payment of a lakh of
star-pagodas (about 40,000?.) and a fifth of the net revenues. The treaty
with Serfojee was dated October 25, 1799.
ANECDOTES OP LORD WELLESLEY. 97
hour a compendium of all the facts bearing upon
the case was placed in the hands of the Governor-
General. He had little more than an hour in which
to make himself acquainted with all the circum-
stances set forth in Mr. Tucker's abstract; but
armed with this paper and with the writer of it him-
self, whom he had requested to sit beside him, at his
elbow, he entered the Council-Chamber without a
misgiving. The Governor of Madras and the mem-
bers of Council were invited to declare their opinions;
but the majority, more accustomed to elaborate mi-
nute-writing than to extemporary speaking, sate
disconcerted and confused, and little able to set
forth their views when suddenly called to enunciate
them. Believing that Lord "Wellesley was at all
events no better informed than themselves, their
astonishment was great when his Lordship addressed
the Council speaking fluently and well for more
than an hour entering into all the minutest cir-
cumstances relating to the history and condition of
Tanjore, and setting forth his views with regard to
our future relations with the State in a series of
luminous and convincing arguments. It seemed
strange, indeed, to the old Indian Councillors that
the Governor-General, with the experience of a
single year, should be better acquainted with all the
intricacies of such a subject than themselves. Per-
haps in reality he was not. Lord Wellesley was
always quick to learn and ready to speak, and his
self-reliance was unbounded. But there are men of
slower perceptions, wanting the faculty of ready
H
98 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
utterance, who possess more knowledge than they
can educe at a moment's notice, and are useful, too,
after their kind. Mr. Tucker always narrated this
incident as a remarkable illustration of the powers
of Lord Wellesley's mind powers which enabled
him to master all the details of a difficult question
in an incredibly short space of time. But his mo-
desty prevented him from adding, that the Governor-
General spoke from the secretary's brief; that the
real labor of analysis and arrangement had been per-
formed by Mr. Tucker; and that much of the
speaker's fluency and clearness may have been due
to the luminous expositions of the scribe.
In his attention to business Lord Wellesley* was
indefatigable, and he expected others to be the same.
He took little heed of hours, and was not always
mindful of the comfort and convenience of the func-
tionaries by whom he was surrounded. A little
arbitrary and capricious perhaps, he taxed the pa-
tience and powers of endurance of his secretaries in
a manner only to be justified by the pressing neces-
sities of critical times. On one occasion, for ex-
ample, as Mr. Tucker used to relate, the Governor-
General, at a late hour of night, passing his room,
saw that he was just retiring to rest. A few minutes
afterwards a message came from his lordship, request-
ing Mr. Tucker's immediate attendance. Thinking
that only business of very pressing importance, acl-
* In this and other places I have spoken of his lordship by the name by
which he is known in history but he was at this time not Marquis Welles -
Iqy, but the Earl of Mornington.
ANECDOTES OF LORD WELLESLEY. 99
mitting not even of a few minutes' delay, ought to
have summoned him from his bed, the Secretary
hastened at once into the presence of the Governor-
General in his dressing-gown and slippers, and asked
what were his instructions. The silent rebuke
seemed to be understood. Lord "Wellesley placed a
paper in the secretary's hands without uttering a
word, and he never again summoned him to his pre-
sence at so unreasonable an hour.*
That the official and personal intercourse between
the Governor-General and his secretary caused each
to regard the other, in spite of such incidents as this,
with extreme respect, is proved not more by what
Mr. Tucker was wont to say, in after-life of Lord
Wellesley, than by what Lord "Wellesley did towards
Mr. Tucker. As the time for the Governor-Gene-
ral's departure from Madras nearly approached, he
intimated to Mr. Tucker his desire that he should
remain at that Presidency, with the office of Register
of Sudder Dewanny and Mzamut Adawluts, " with a
view to his employment in the important duty of
framing a code of Regulations for Madras, upon the
model of that which had been established by the
Government of Bengal." The Cornwallis-and-Bar-
low Revenue and Judicial Regulations had found
especial favor in the eyes of Lord Wellesley, and he
* Another story which Mr. Tucker used to tell with reference to this period
deserves at least a place in a note. One morning, at breakfast, Lord Welles-
ley, on breaking his egg, found that its freshness was at least questionable,
and rebuked his attendant a Frenchman, half valet, half butler for the
offence. " Milor !" said the man, gravely, " dat not your Lordship's egg dat's
de aide-de-camp's egg!"
H2
100 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER,
was eager to see them in full operation upon the
Coast. Tucker had for some time been holding office
under Barlow ; he had known him long, and was
thoroughly acquainted with his views. A fitter
agent for the accomplishment of this great object
could not hare been nominated. But the appoint-
ment was distasteful to Mr. Tucker. He did not
wish to be detached from the service of his own Pre-
sidency. He believed, and rightly, that the selection
of a Bengal officer for such an office as this would
be a reflection upon the whole civil service of Ma-
dras, and would necessarily place the incumbent
himself in a most invidious position. Still, it was
difficult to refuse an appointment, which the Gover-
nor-General urged upon him as one demanded by
the necessities of the State. So Mr. Tucker, mo-
destly stating that he felt himself not wholly ade-
quate, without some further preparation, to the per-
formance of such important duties, solicited permis-
sion to return to Calcutta, in order that he might
take counsel with Mr. Barlow, and profit by the
experience of that eminent administrator. To this
Lord "Wellesley consented, and in the month of Sep-
tember Mr. Tucker accompanied the vice-regal party
to Calcutta.
The new civil arrangements, consequent upon the
revision of the establishment, which had been ordered
upon the first arrival of the new Governor-General,
were now to be brought into operation. The Secre-
tariat had been re-organised. It was henceforth to
consist of a Chief Secretary and three departmental
DEPARTMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS. 101
Secretaries. The old title of Sub-Secretary was abo-
lished, and Mr. Tucker was appointed " Secretary to
Government in the Revenue and Judicial Depart-
ments."* Prom this time he seems to have aban-
doned the idea of returning to Madras; but Lord
Wellesley still clung to the belief that it would be
expedient to depute Mr. Tucker to the Coast for the
furtherance of what he described as "the great
object of his anxiety." It was not until the very
close of the year that the reports which he received
from Madras convinced him that he might entrust
this difficult and important duty to the officers of
that Presidency. "The very able report of your
Board of Revenue," he wrote to Lord Olive, on the
31st of December, 1799, " and the intelligent and
satisfactory letters of Mr. Webbe to Mr. Barlow,
afford abundant proof that your service can supply
both knowledge and talents sufficient for the execu-
tion of the great plan in my contemplation, without
the aid of any person deputed from Bengal. I have
not sent Mr. Tucker to you, not only because I am
* The order is dated October 9, 1799, and is contained in the following
words: "The Right Hon. the Governor- General in Council having taken
into consideration the present establishment of the office of the Secretary to
Government and four sub-secretaries, the establishment shall in future consist
of a Chief Secretary to the Government and of four secretaries viz., one
secretary for the Secret, Political, and Foreign Departments ; one secretary
for the Public Department; one for the Judicial and Revenue Departments;
and one for the Military Department The Right Hon. the Go-
vernor-General in Council has been pleased to make the following appoint-
ments: Mr. G. H. Barlow, Chief Secretary to the Government; Lieut.-Col.
William Kirkpatrick, Secretary to the Government in the Secret, Political,
and Foreign Departments; Mr. H. St.George Tucker, Secretary to Govern-
ment in the Judicial and Revenue Departments; Lieut. L. Hook, Secretary to
Government in the Military Department."
102 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
persuaded his presence at Eort St. George is un-
necessary, but because I wish, to leave to your ser-
vice the full and undivided credit of its own re-
form."*
Mr. Tucker had been scarcely eight years in the
Covenanted Civil Service of the Company when this
important office was conferred upon him. It was
an office so much beyond the ordinary scope of pro-
motion that he was compelled for some time to hold
it with a diminished salary the regulations of the
service not admitting an officer of his standing to
draw the full allowance attached to it. I do not
know anything that could more clearly indicate the
high estimation in which he was held by the Go-
vernor-General and the members of the Supreme
Council.t "I have found," said Lord Wellesley,
about this time, " the officers of the Secretariat to
possess the industry of clerks with the talents of
statesmen."
But other duties even more important than this
were about soon to engage the energies and abilities
of Mr. Tucker. There were great events then loom-
ing in no very remote distance, and the Governor-
General saw that he had need, at such a time, of the
* MS. Records.
f The circumstance is thus explained by Lord Wellesley, who wrote: "I
propose that Mr. Tucker be appointed Secretary to the Judicial Department,
for which he is peculiarly well qualified. His standing in the service does
not admit of his drawing a higher salary than that which he now receives.
His merits, however, and the fundamental principle of the present arrange-
ment, require that his salary should be augmented to whatever his standing
in the service may admit of his drawing, until he is competent to hold the full
salary of his office, which I propose to fix at 50,000 rupees per annum,"
APPOINTMENT TO THE ACCOUNTANT-GENERALSHIP. 103
best financial skill that the country could yield.
Mr. Cox was at this time Accountant-General. In
the course of the year 1800 he fell sick ; and Mr.
Tucker, still retaining the office and discharging the
business of his secretaryship, performed Mr. Cox's
duties until he was able again to resume his work.
But early in the following year an opportunity oc-
curred for the permanent translation of Mr. Tucker
to this important office -an opportunity of which
Lord "Wellesley was eager to avail himself. Mr. Cox
was appointed a member of the Board of Revenue ;
and then, the Governor-General, who during his re-
sidence at Madras had remarked the extraordinary
financial ability of Mr. Tucker, called upon him to
take charge of the general revenues of the empire.
To Mr. Tucker the proposed change was not per-
sonally acceptable. He delighted in the duties of
the Secretariat; and the emoluments of the new
office were not equal to those which he was called
upon to abandon. But he cheerfully obeyed the
call, and entered at once upon the arduous and re-
sponsible duties of the Accountant- Generalship with
characteristic energy and zeal. He had at this time
just completed his thirtieth year, and had not been
ten years in the Covenanted Service of the East India
Company. He had half a century of usefulness yet
before him ; but he had even now attained one of
the highest, and at such a time the most important,
offices that could be conferred upon him by the
State.
104 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
CHAPTER IV.
State of the Public Finances Public Credit Mr. Tucker's Measures Plan
of a New Bank Reduction of Interest New Loans Improvement of
Public Credit Connexion with Palmer's House Mr. Tucker's Double
Duties Continued Financial Improvement.
IT was no small responsibility, it was no slight
labor that Mr. Tucker had undertaken. [Financial
embarrassment was at this time new to the Indian
Government. Lord Cornwallis, on laying down the
reins of office, had left an overflowing treasury ; and
it was not until the closing year of Sir John Shore's
administration that the surplus had disappeared.
But Lord "Wellesley found that terrible word deficit
ready written for him in the Indian accounts, and
costly military operations were forced upon him by
the hostility of Asiatic enemies and the intrigues of
their European allies.
In these times the making of wars, with an empty
treasury, is a matter sufficiently perplexing to the
Indian financier. But there were two causes which
at the commencement of the century were ever in
grievous operation to aggravate his perplexities. In
the first place, there was a two-fold demand for
money. Money was required for political purposes,
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. 105
and money was required for commercial purposes.
There were armies to be paid ; and there was the In-
vestment to be provided. In the second place, there
was no such thing as Public Credit. When the re-
venue was exhausted, money was to be borrowed.
But money was then obtained by Government only at
ruinous rates of interest. The Company then paid
as dearly for the money they borrowed from the com-
munity, as a needy customer who has the misfortune
to overdraw his account pays to the most usurious
House of Agency that ever beggared its constituents
and made them exiles for life.
Nor was the general want of confidence in Govern-
ment expressed even by the necessity of paying twelve
per cent, on the money which they raised by loan.
In the spring of 1801 this twelve-per-cent. paper
Treasury-notes, payable in the ensuing autumn was
celling at a discount of three or four per cent. The
native bankers of Calcutta, Moorshedabad, Benares,
and other places, had no faith in Government se-
curities, and either held back their capital or em-
ployed it in their private speculations. Exorbitant
rates of interest were obtainable from the landholders,
who looked, under the operations of the Permanent
Settlement, to the realisation of a still larger inte-
rest from the improvement of their lands. And the
general disorderment of the Company's finances
abroad opened many sources of gain to the capitalist,
who was made the medium of exchange between
different districts, and trafficked largely in the me-
tallic currency.
106 LIFE OF H. ST. G. TUCKER.
There was a scarcity of silver coin in those days.
It was much needed by Government for the pay-
ment of the troops, for advances to weavers, molun-
ghees, and others, and the native capitalists endea-
voured to sweep the largest possible supplies of it
into their own hands. The Revenue-payer was
for the most part largely indebted to the native
capitalist, through whom his payments were prin-
cipally made to Government. The capitalist paid
the amount into the Public Treasury in gold. But
for the practical purposes of Government the gold
coin was of little use. It was necessary, therefore,
to convert it into silver, and the silver was in the
hands of the native capitalist. It was only to be
bought. The consequence was, that the gold coin
was at a discount, sometimes of as much as six or
seven per cent., and large sums of money were lost
to the State by financial operations which it was not
in their power to control.
To the remedy of these evils Mr. Tucker now
brought the experience of a practical man of busi-
ness and the skill of an adroit financier. He looked
the mischief steadfastly in the face, and struck boldly
at a vital point. He knew that to be weak is to be
miserable. To confess weakness is to be miserable
in the extreme. Now what was all this borrowing
at twelve per cent. this subserviency to the native
capitalist but a confession of weakness of the worst
kind ? To pay exorbitant interest upon temporary
advances of money, whether the accommodation be
sought by an individual, or a Government, is equally
"PUBLIC CREDIT." 107
ruinous to the credit of the private or the public
borrower. The capitalist looks askance at the loan-
seeker, who is, or appears to be, in such desperate
straits as to seek assistance on these ruinous terms.
"Whilst the Government were paying twelve per
cent, for the money they borrowed, their securities
were at a discount, because their credit was bad. It
was plain enough to the Accountant-General that if
the Public Credit could be established on a secure
basis, all the rest would soon follow. This, indeed,
was the one great end to be attained, and a reduc-
tion of the rate of interest on public securities was
to be both the cause and the effect of this establish-
ment of Public Credit.
To provide, however, for the immediate exigencies
of the State was necessarily his first care. Schemes
of future extrication must give place to the reality of
present embarrassment. It is permitted neither to
men nor to nations all at once to take large views of
financial reform. The Accountant-General, at the
seat of the Supreme Government, had not only to
provide for the wants of the Presidency to which he
was immediately attached, but to answer the demands
of Madras and Bombay, which could not meet their
own charges. No small portion of Mr. Tucker's
time, during the first few months of his tenure of
office as Finance Minister, was consumed by the
arrangements which it was necessary to make for
the supply of remittances and the regulation of ex-
change operations between the different Treasuries
in the Company's dominions. These operations had
108 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
hitherto been carried on at a ruinous cost to Govern-
ment, and, as I have already briefly explained, to the
continual profit of the native capitalists through
whom they were principally effected. At this time
certain provinces of the great principality of Oude
known in History as the " Ceded Provinces" were
passing into our hands.* In such a conjuncture the
Lucknow Treasury was found to be a most service-
able auxiliary ; not merely on account of what the
new provinces actually promised to yield perhaps
in this respect their capabilities may have been over-
ratedf but because a skilful financier, by a judicious
regulation of the exchange between that place and
Calcutta, might obviate the necessity of that ruinous
intervention of the native capitalist, which, through
so many different channels, abstracted so much from
the Public Treasury into the hands of the bankers
and shroffs. " By regulating the exchange between
Calcutta and Lucknow," wrote Mr. Tucker to Colonel
Scott, who was then Resident at the latter place, " we
shall not only obtain the remittance of the surplus
tribute on the most advantageous terms, but we may
also prevent or check the exportation of silver from
the Company's provinces, the melting down of our
* It was not until November that the treaty under which these provinces
passed into our hands was signed. The financial operations of the year (1801)
to which reference is made, related principally to the Oude subsidy and to the
trade with Lucknow. The collection of the revenues did not devolve upon
us until the end of the year.
f A large number, too, of Lucknow rupees a depreciated currency were
sent to the Calcutta Mint for re-coinage; and, owing to the inefficiency of the
establishment, came out again so slowly that the financial operations of Go-
vernment were considerably obstructed by the delay.
FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS. 109
rupees, and generally much of the traffic in the
precious metals, which at present is supposed to
exist. Heretofore I have had no certain data for my
guidance, and I have consequently proceeded much
at random, influenced more by our immediate ne-
cessities than by any other consideration. These
necessities, however, will, I hope, be less urgent
hereafter, and I shall, therefore, be able to take a
larger view of the subject."
Like a skilful physician, indeed, he addressed
himself in the first instance to the " palliation of
urgent symptoms ;" but the remedies which he ap-
plied were not without their effect upon the seat of
the disease. It was no small thing in itself to show
that Government were becoming more and more in-
dependent of the monied interests, and could manage
their remittances and exchanges without the inter-
vention of the bankers and shroffs. This in itself
did something towards the establishment of Public
Credit ; and in the month of September, Mr. Barlow
was able to write to the Governor- General, who had
taken his departure on a tour to the Upper Pro-
vinces : " I made it my first object to inquire into
the state of the public credit since your Lordship's
departure, and I am happy to have it in my power
to transmit to your Lordship very favorable accounts
on the subject, which I received from Mr. Tucker."
The state of affairs, under judicious management,
was beginning to improve even more rapidly than
the Finance Minister himself had predicted before,
indeed, he had time to take the "larger views " of
110 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
which he at this time was referring only in brief an-
ticipatory outline.
Among the objects embraced in these larger views
was the institution of that Public Bank to which
allusion has been made in the preceding chapter.
The design, since it was first sketched by Mr.
Tucker, had been closely considered by him in all its
details, and he had taken counsel with men of judg-
ment and experience at the Presidency, and dis-
cussed it in all its bearings upon the financial inte-
rests both of the Government and the Public. It
was his conviction that by bringing the capital of
such an establishment into competition with that of
the shroffs and bankers, the value of money would
soon be brought down to its proper level, and the
rate of interest both upon public and private loans
greatly reduced. This, indeed, is something so ob-
vious, that the only wonder is that the project was
so long in course of accomplishment. Mr. Tucker
was eager that the sanction of Government should
be granted at once ; but the plan of the Bank was
thrown into the usual crucible of official delay.
Nothing was done before the Governor-General left
the Presidency ; and as nothing seemed likely to be
done, Mr. Tucker thought it expedient to press the
subject again on his lordship's attention ; so in Oc-
tober, he wrote :
" TO HIS EXCELLENCY MARQUIS WELLESLEY, K.P.
&c. &c. &c.
" 17th October, 1801.
" MY LORD, I have refrained from intruding on your
Lordship's time, as every circumstance connected with my im-
PLAN OF A NEW BANK.
Ill
mediate duty, which it could be necessary for me to report,
has, I believe, been communicated by Mr. Barlow. I only
now, indeed, address your Lordship in consequence of hearing
from Mr. Barlow that previously to deciding on the plan which
I some time since submitted for the establishment of a Public
Bank, your Lordship expected to receive from me some further
explanations upon the subject.
" The plan has been much canvassed by different individuals,
and several alterations have been suggested to me. Sir John
Anstruther, in particular, has had the kindness to give it his
attention ; and as his observations appear to me to be entitled
to weight, and as they, in fact, comprise all the objections
which have been urged against the plan, I shall beg leave to
submit them for your Lordship's consideration, with sucli re-
marks as may occur to me :
Whether the Bank shall be a cor-
porate body ?
Sir John Anstruther thinks it un-
necessary, and that there is no power
in this country to constitute it such.
Whether the Governor-General in
Council shall retain a general legisla-
tive power of altering the constitu-
tion of the Bank that is, the original
compact between the parties ?
Sir J. A. thinks that it would be
sufficient to retain a negative; that
the original contract should not be
altered, except by the consent of the
parties, to be determined by a vote of
the majority of the Proprietors; that
The only object in constituting it a
corporate body would be to limit the
responsibility of the Proprietors to the
amount of capital subscribed by them ;
whereas, if this be not done, the whole
of their property will be answerable
for the debts of the Bank .
The limitation of responsibility
would certainly be more agreeable to
the subscribers; but it would pro-
bably be more satisfactory to the
public that the responsibility should
be general. The risk, however, to
either party appears to me so very
trifling, that I consider it almost a
matter of indifference whether the
Bank be rendered a corporate body or
not. If it should be hereafter found
necessary, a charter of incorporation
might, I conclude, be obtained from
England without difficulty.
I think that this negative will an-
swer every necessary purpose, and
that the limitation of Government's
interference will be satisfactory to
the Proprietors. I, myself, should
prefer that the Government retained
112
LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
Government, however, should have
in every instance the power of reject-
ing such proposed alterations; that
whenever Government themselves
may be desirous of introducing new
regulations, they should be brought
forward by their Directors for the
determination of the Proprietors.
Whether there should not be some
restriction on the transfer of shares
without the consent of the Directors ?
Sir J. A. thinks that the transfer
of shares should not be made without
previously obtaining the acquiescence
of the Directors, as such transfers
affect the security of the Bank as far
as it rests on individual responsi-
bility.
Whether the moiety proposed to be
subscribed in 8 per cent, paper should
not be taken in Treasury Bills or 12
per cent, notes?
Whether merchandise and jewels
should be received as security for
loans?
Whether the Bank should not be
allowed to receive payment of interest
of salary bills bills of exchange,
&c., &c., from parties who may have
open accounts with it ?
a general power of altering the con-
stitution of the establishment, because
I am confident that this power could
not be lodged elsewhere with equal
safety. The negative, however, will
enable them to prevent wrong mea-
sures, and this will be sufficient for
the purposes of security. It is scarcely
to be presumed that the Proprietors
will refuse to adopt measures which
may be proposed for their benefit.
This will be a very proper precau-
tion if the Bank be not constituted a
corporate body.
This I should prefer. I only pro-
posed 8 per cents, with a view to ac-
commodation ; but the other paper is
far preferable, as it would be soon
realised in cash, and consequently en-
able the Bank to extend its operations
at an earlier period.
This was proposed with the same
view, but I would readily acquiesce
in the negative, as the receipt of
goods will be always attended with
trouble, sometimes with risk, and it
might involve the Bank in litigation.
I see no objection to this, and it
will be a convenience to individuals.
The agency houses may perhaps think
it some little encroachment on their
province.
" The foregoing are the only points which it appeared to me
necessary to refer to your Lordship ; and if it should be deter-
mined to adopt the plan, I can readily modify it according to
the directions which I may receive.
" I am very solicitous to obtain your Lordship's final orders as
soon as possible, because if the plan be not determined on im-
mediately, it cannot be undertaken in the present year. From
the month of February to the month of August the collections
on account of the land-revenue are so inconsiderable in Bengal,
that I should not be able to command a sufficient sum in specie
during that interval.
REDUCTION OF INTEREST. 113
"Of the practicability of the measure, if your Lordship de-
termined to undertake it, I have now very little doubt of
its expediency, I never had any doubt. I am, however, less
anxious about it at present than I was some months ago, as the
improved, and improving state of our credit has rendered it less
necessary. Still, I think it would greatly facilitate every other
financial arrangement; and although it may not be essentially
necessary, it would, I am persuaded, be beneficial.
" I have the honor to be, with great respect, my Lord, your
Lordship's faithful, humble servant,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Calcutta, 17th October, 1801."
The Bank, however, was not suffered to help
Lord Wellesley through the financial difficulties
which then lay before him. Its establishment be-
longs not at all to this chapter of Indian history.
The project was flung, like many other beneficent
projects, into the great Hereafter ; and it is fortu-
nate that it ever came out again. It was not until
1806 that the Bank of Bengal became a fact.
Other measures, however, conducive to the same
end, were brought into immediate operation. The
Treasury-bills, which in March were at a discount,
were now in September at par, and Mr. Tucker pro-
posed to reduce the rate of interest which they bore
from 12 to about 10 per cent. It was his project to
issue bills bearing a daily instead of a yearly inte-
rest, and with this intention he addressed a circular
letter to the principal members of the commercial
community, asking whether they were " aware of
any objections to the measure." After detailing the
amount of daily interest to be borne by the several
bills issued from the Treasury, he wrote :
LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" My reasons for the proposed change are briefly as fol-
lows:
" 1st. To effect a gradual reduction of interest. I am, how-
ever, by no means desirous of forcing things precipitately, or to
make any attempt without a very fair prospect of success.
" 2ndly. To consult the convenience of individuals, as well
as of our own officers, by establishing a rate of interest which
may be easily calculated by every person who can add up
numbers. By so doing, too, the Treasury-bills will be much
better calculated for a medium of exchange.
" 3rdly. To enhance the value of the Treasury-bills at pre-
sent outstanding, as well as of other Government securities
generally.
" 4thly. By issuing the Treasury-bills in smaller sums, and
at a lower rate of interest, I wish to familiarise the public, by
degrees, to a paper or bank currency.
" In justification of the proposed measure, I think it neces-
sary to observe:
" 1st. That I understand the Treasury-bills are at present in
great demand, and that they are not to be procured always
even at par.
" That as long as these bills circulate at par they are obviously
of great use in this settlement, inasmuch as they increase the
circulating medium.
" That I have every reason to believe their value will increase
rather than diminish, the amount outstanding being much re-
duced of late, and the expected issues being inconsiderable.
" Indeed, I think it probable that, by the end of February,
none of the Treasury-bills at present outstanding will remain in
the market.
" Should any objections occur to you, I shall be much obliged
by your communicating them to me, as I do not propose to
recommend the measure hastily."
The measure, received as it was with entire satis-
faction hy the principal members of the mercantile
community, was supported by Mr. Barlow and sane-
NEW LOANS. 115
tioned with approbation by the Governor-General, to
whom it was submitted.*
The interest on these bills, which before the close
of the year were "obtainable with difficulty by
persons desirous of purchasing them," was again re-
duced from 10 and a fraction per cent, to 9 and a
fraction per cent., and the twelve-per-cent. loan was
closed in the course of November, t
But it was obvious, that whilst the revenues of
India could not be made to pay the expenses of its
government, the further borrowing of money would,
under any circumstances, have been a necessity im-
posed upon us by the exigencies of our position.
But the necessity was in this case not so calamitous
as, considering that the great object of our pecuniary
operations at this time, after providing for present
* " I have the honor," wrote Mr. Barlow to Lord Wellesley, " to enclose
a copy of a letter written by Mr. Tucker to several of the principal mer-
cantile houses, under date the 16th inst. (Sept., 1801). The gentlemen to
whom the letter is addressed, and others who have been consulted on the
subject, entirely approve of the measure suggested by Mr. Tucker ; and he is
very desirous that your Lordship's sanction should be received for carrying it
into effect immediately. It appears to me to be in every respect advisable."
Upon this Lord Wellesley wrote: " I entirely approve the measure, and I re-
quest you to carry it into effect immediately. As it is an important measure
of finance, you should state on record that it is adopted with my concurrence."
IMS. Records.]
f See letter of Lord Wellesley to Secret Committee, October 16, 1801 :
" Public credit gradually improved, and at the end of September last the
Treasury-bills not only circulated at par, but were obtained with difficulty
by persons desirous of purchasing them. This favorable change in the
state of public credit induced the Accountant-General to suggest the closing
of the twelve-per-cent. loan on the 2nd of November next; and also to recom-
mend the reduction of the interests on the Treasury -bills from 12 per cent, to
9 rupees 2 annas per cent, per annum. The propositions of the Accountant-
General having been previously referred to the Governor- General, the Vice-
President in Council, with his Excellency's sanction, adopted the recommen-
dation of the Accountant-General."
i 2
116 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
emergencies, was to establish the confidence of the
community in the financial stability of the Govern-
ment, it might reasonably appear to be. An im-
pression was gaining ground that the prosperity of
the Company was such that the public debt was
about to be gradually discharged. At such a time,
therefore, the opening of a new loan might have
seemed to be peculiarly inappropriate ; but the Ac-
countant-General looked at the matter in another
light, and thus explained the circumstances of the
case in a letter to Mr. Barlow, who was then Presi-
dent in Council :
11 TO THE HONORABLE G. H. BARLOW.
" 13th of February, 1802.
" DEAR MR. BARLOW, I have the pleasure of sending you
the draft of the advertisement.
"I should have mentioned one possible ill effect of the loan.
" The rapid fall of the discount is perhaps in a great degree
to be ascribed to an opinion which I believe now prevails, that
means will be found for the gradual discharge of the public
debt. Now the opening of a new loan may appear such an in-
consistency as to destroy this illusion (if it be an illusion) al-
together; for the public will very naturally ask, ' Why should
the Government negotiate new loans, if they really have any
prospect of being able to pay off the old ones ?'
" On the other hand, it may be expected to occur to them
(for it is pretty nearly the real state of the case), that we are
borrowing at a lower rate of interest to pay off heavier incum-
brances ; and as far as this idea obtains, it ought to have a good
effect, for this is one way of obtaining the means of paying off
our debt.
" At all events, the illusion (if it be such) must be destroyed
sooner or later, unless we can suppose that the Court of Directors
will send out to Bengal in the ensuing year 1802-3 about
THE NEW LOAN. 117
80,00,000 rupees, and in 1803-4 about 1,50,00,000; and I
confess I am not quite sanguine enough, to entertain such an
expectation. These sums are the estimated deficiency of the
two years, including debt to be paid off'; and if the amount be
not supplied from England, it must be raised here by means of
new loans.
" Allowing for the receipt of a moderate supply of bullion
from England in 1802-3 (say thirty or forty lakhs, which I
think they are likely to send), it certainly might be practicable
to get through that year without a new loan by extending the
issue of Treasury-bills ; but I confess I do not feel much disposi-
tion myself to make this experiment, and we should, perhaps,
lose the opportunity of transferring the twelve-per-cent. loan,
which must be very embarrassing to us in 1803-4 if it be not
previously disposed of.
" To avoid any appearance of empressement, it occurs to me
on reflection that it will be better to postpone the publication
of the advertisement till Thursday next. This delay cannot
make much difference, and it will allow you time to give the
measure any further consideration which may be necessary.
" I am, &c., &c.,
(Signed) " H. Sx.G. TUCKER."
Five days afterwards the advertisement for the
new eight -per -cent, loan was published in the
Gazette. It produced about seventy-five lakhs of
rupees. " The loan has succeeded indifferently
well," wrote Mr. Tucker to Mr. Lumsden, the Chief
Secretary, in the following July, " although not so
well as I had expected, and certainly not so well as it
would have succeeded, if various contingent circum-
stances had not reduced our Treasury to a very low
state.* The subscriptions of which we have an account
* In another letter to Mr. Lumsden these circumstances are glanced at,
118 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
amount to seventy lakhs, and when the remaining
accounts come in, the total subscription will, I think,
be about seventy-five lakhs. Our credit continues
good, notwithstanding the poverty of our Treasury."
I must refrain from entering into these financial
details with a minuteness which might weary the
reader. It is enough that it should be shown how
in these years, 1801 and 1802, the efforts of Mr.
Tucker, sanctioned and supported as they were by
Mr. Barlow and Lord Wellesley, were attended with
results which needed only the continuance of peace
to render them permanently beneficial to the coun-
try. Public credit was then first established ; the
rate of interest on public securities was then first
reduced. The exchanges were so regulated as to
save to the State the ruinous brokerage of the
native shroffs and bankers, and the premium on
silver extorted by these capitalists was no longer
paid, for our own treasuries were well supplied. In-
deed, before the middle of 1802, the Accountant-
General was able to furnish it to the Calcutta mer-
and the difficulties with which Mr. Tucker had to contend briefly described.
" The loan has succeeded, but not to the full extent which I had expected,
owing to circumstances which I have already explained to you. The Amboyna
and the Madras bills were the principal cause of my embarrassment, and the
low state of the Treasury I have every reason to believe prevented the natives
from subscribing. In consequence of my being obliged to issue so many
Treasury-bills, the whole of the Salt Revenue has been paid in these bills. In
the present month I have not, I believe, received 10,000 rupees in cash out of
100 lakhs. I have also been most unexpectedly disappointed in some revenue
remittances, which will prevent me from making any immediate advances for
the investment at the factories in the neighbourhood of the Presidency, and
which may even prevent me from paying the military at the appointed time.
I have, however, taken every possible precaution to escape such a con-
tingency,"
IMPROVEMENT OF THE FINANCES. 119
chants. * And funds were provided for an Investment
to the extent of eighty or ninety lakhs of rupees, f
By Lord Wellesley this vast improvement in the
financial condition of the country was regarded with
the liveliest satisfaction. " I sincerely congratulate
you," he wrote, on the 7th of June, to the Chairman
of the Court of Directors, " on the improved state of
your finances It will be a satisfaction
to you to receive from me, in addition to the pledge
of my public character, this private assurance that
the finances of the Company in India are now in a
most flourishing state that they will further im-
prove not only with rapidity, but on such a durable
basis as to ensure the success of a comprehensive
plan for the reduction of the debt and that the
more minute and detailed any investigation of the
* See letter of Mr. Tucker (June 6, 1802) to Messrs. Fairlie and Co.,
Colvin and Co., Cockerell and Co., &c., &c. " As I understand that within a
few days a high batta has been exacted on gold rnohurs, I propose that you
send any gold which you may have to-morrow to the general Treasury, where
it will be exchanged for silver to the extent at least of 25,000 rupees from
each house."
f On the 8th of July Mr. Tucker wrote to the Chief Secretary, Mr. Lurns-
den: "We had actually advanced on the 30th of June about forty lakhs for
the investment, and I hope we shall be able to advance forty lakhs more in
time for the ships of the present season. Next year his Lordship may, I
think, with safety promise a full investment both from Bengal and Madras,"
And two days afterwards he again wrote, in reply to a letter from Mr. Lums-
den : '* I never gave any absolute assurance that it would be practicable to
provide an investment of ninety lakhs, nor do I now say that it is absolutely
impracticable. I am afraid, however, that it will not be possible to provide
the funds in proper time. The provision of an investment on this scale de-
pended upon several contingencies the early arrival of money from England
the practicability of drawing funds from Lucknow, and the success of the
loan," Mr. Tucker was of opinion that in calling for so large an investment
the resources of the Treasury were injudiciously strained. " If," he wrote,
"we begin to run before we are able to walk, it will not be difficult to antici-
pate the consequences."
120 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
probable revenues and charges of the Company shall
be, the more manifestly will be demonstrated the
stability of your credit and the extent and solidity of
your resources." On the 5th of August, he wrote to
Lord Dartmouth, who then presided at the India
Board : " Your Lordship will rejoice with me in the
prosperous state of the finances of India exhibited
by the accompanying statements ; 1803-4 will cer-
tainly prove a year of unexampled prosperity. Every
branch of the Revenue promises improvement. The
civil charges will not be augmented, and the military
charges may possibly be diminished." And, again,
a week afterwards he addressed, in the same exulting
strain, the Chairman of the Company : " Lord Dart-
mouth, at my desire, will give you copies of state-
ments of accounts, which will prove to you that the
finances in India are already restored. This was the
great object of my pursuit ; and I trust it will prove
an honorable termination of my government."
An honorable termination of Lord Wellesley's
government it was not. The seed of great events,
which were to turn all this prosperity and order
into ruin and confusion, had already been sown
broad-cast along the North -Western frontier of
India. The good work which Mr. Tucker had done
was soon to be undone ; for the reign of Peace was
at an end. But it seemed to him that already had
his mission been so far fulfilled that he might, with-
out injury to the State, resign his office, and hand
over the charge of the Public Finances to his suc-
cessor.
CHANGE OF PROSPECTS. 121
Eor with the new year had come other plans and
projects, and Mr. Tucker bethought himself of
taking an important step affecting his whole after-
career. " If you knew how much I am harassed at
present/' he wrote to his sister on the 2nd of Ee-
bruary, " by a variety of business, you would not ex-
pect to have a letter to acknowledge from me I
must, however, say a word or two, as so very ma-
terial a change has of late taken place in my situa-
tion and future plans of life. I am sure you expect
now to hear that I am going to be married ; but this
is not at all the case. I am much further removed
from any such contingency than I ever was, per-
haps, at any time of my life. I am, however, about
to resign my office, and to accept the situation
of senior member of a house of business here
Cockerell, Trail, Palmer, and Co. The change is not
altogether agreeable to me, but I determined upon it
principally with a view to enable my friend, Mr.
Palmer, to return to England a measure which the
state of his health rendered absolutely necessary, and
which he could not accomplish by any other means.
I gain nothing in point of income ; and the only ad-
vantage which the arrangement holds out to me is,
the prospect of being admitted a partner into the
House at home (Paxtons, Cockerell, and Co.). In this
case, I shall probably be enabled to retire to Eng-
land three or four years hence never more to return
to this detested country. In the mean time, I must
be content to give up the idea of paying you a visit
next year, and this to me is the most unpleasant
122 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
consequence of the arrangement. I had so long flat-
tered myself with the idea of a thousand gratifications
from this visit, that I cannot abandon it without a
very painful sensation I must, however, submit to
fate."
In this passage there is a comprehensive narration
of all the circumstances under which Mr. Tucker
was induced to declare his intention of retiring from
official life and again trying his fortune as a private
merchant. But these circumstances are more fully
set forth in the correspondence which a short time
before had taken place between the Accountant-
General and the leading members of Palmer's House.
In the following Memorandum, drawn up at the
commencement of the year, we see the
" Conditions on which Mr. Tucker would engage to 'become a Metnber
of the House of Messrs. CocJcerell, Trail, Palmer, and Co.
" I would engage to become a member of the House on the
1st January next, on either of the following plans:
" 1st. If Palmer should choose to go home, I would engage to
remain in his place for three years, from the 1st January, 1804,
provided I were admitted at the same time a member of the
House at home. I would not on any consideration remain in
the country beyond the term of three years ; and on retiring to
the House at home, I should be very well disposed to become
au active partner. My only personal motive for forming the
connexion here would be, this option of retiring at an early
period; for if I were disposed to continue in the Company's
service for six or seven years, I must, in the common course of
events, acquire an independent fortune on easier terms.
" 2ndly. If Palmer should not wish to retire next year, I
would go home in January next, and would engage to return in
ARRANGEMENTS WITH PALMER AND CO. 123
two years and a half (or even eighteen months if he wished it),
and would continue in the House for five years from the period
of my return, or of his retirement. I should expect, however,
as in the former case, to become a member of the House at
home on his retirement.
" If I should go home, I should expect no emolument from
the House during my absence ; or at least, a very trifling share
would satisfy me.
" I can form no idea of the probable income of a senior member
of the House ; but I conclude it cannot be much inferior to the
income which I should be likely to receive in the Service, and
if it were nearly equal to it, I should be perfectly well satisfied.
At all events, there would be no difficulty with me on this
head, for my great object is the situation at home. It is almost
impossible that I should obtain from the House here, what I
may reasonably expect in a few years from the Service.
" In either case, it would not be necessary to change the firm
of the House, nor should I wish it."
Mr. Palmer was at this time at the mouth of the
river seeking such benefit to his health as was to be
found in the temporary refreshment of the sea-air.
Eager was he to know the result of the negotiations,
which he hoped would enable him to re-establish his
health and recruit his exhausted energies by a return
to his native country. His letters to Mr. Tucker are
written under great depression of spirit. They ex-
hibit the magnitude of the service which the Ac-
countant-General was about to render to his friend :
" FROM JOHN PALMER, ESQ.
"Kedgeree, 15th January, 1803.
" MY DEAR TUCKER, ... I thank you for the trouble
you have bestowed on my concerns. I shall patiently await
this day's post to learn the result of your conversation with
Logan, and which I doubt not will be satisfactory to us both,
LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
or at least to me; for, excepting the state of your health, I do
not see a single objection which can be reasonably urged to a
connexion with you, and to my retreat. The acquisition will
be wholly in favor of the House. . . . Had the idea of
retiring not been urged to me, probably I should not have
dreamt of it, until sinking under a condition of health and
spirits no longer susceptible of any relief from a change ; but
in the now state and frame of my mind, I look to it as a man
does to Death for Salvation, not desirable or even tolerable in
itself, but relatively. I shall never be without care until I am
in the bosom of all my children, and the longer this blessing is
postponed, the greater will be my infirmities, and the more
precarious my chance of recovering from them. I feel a sort
of secret horror in every reflection connected with Calcutta;
and could I now proceed direct to England, I surely never
would revisit it. Still, my dear H., do not imagine that if I
am compelled to pass a longer period in Bengal, that I shall
not use every rational effort to rouse myself from the species of
stupefaction into which I have recently fallen ; and although it
may occasionally return upon me, yet I feel that it can only be
temporarily and gradually with less force. I have recovered
my appetite, and sleep as well as usual, and I cannot be happier
than in the tranquillity of my family society. . . .
" Yours affectionately,
" J. PALMEK."
"FROM JOHN PALMER, ESQ.
"Kedgeree, 16th January, 1803.
" MY DEAR T., As I purpose moving to Saugor with to-
morrow's dawn, I leave a line in acknowledgment of your
letter of yesterday. My inference relative to Logan is con-
firmed, and I am relieved from considerable uneasiness, or at
least suspense, by the arrangement which has been formed.
Go I will; but if I cannot bear the thought of parting with
my father and family without a pang of the acutest kind, still
I hope it may not expose me to a return of any other affliction.
I alone know the positive necessity for my departure, and this
must support me through the trial I have to make of a
THE CHANGE AND ITS MOTIVES. 125
premature and painful separation from the dearest interests
my heart ever knew. Say all that occurs to you for me to
Logan, Binny, and Caulfield. I cannot address either of them
immediately. It is superfluous to say much to you. I know
your heart sufficiently to be satisfied of the generosity of your
proceedings; and in leaving everything to you, I was in fact
taking a more effectual care of my own interests (which, how-
ever, have never occupied my thoughts) than I could myself.
" I am not so well to-day. I had, indeed, a very indifferent
night's rest or rather none at all, and my spirits have possibly
been exhausted by my letters to England. . . .
" Yours affectionately,
" J. PALMER."
What were the negotiations with his partners to
which reference is made in these passages, and what
was the result, may be gathered from the following
correspondence. It appears to me to he very honor-
able to all parties concerned. It indicates the libe-
rality with which, on both sides, the partnership was
entered into the desire of the old members of the
House to render the terms of the association advan-
tageous to Mr. Tucker, and his reluctance to avail
himself of the full advantages of the terms offered by
his friends. His first wish was to render a service
to Mr. Palmer, with whom he had been connected in
business some years before, and in closest friendship
ever since. Beyond this he looked only to the pros-
pect of a speedier return to England, and to the re-
newal of his intercourse with the members of his
family. His affection for them had been continually
testified by acts of substantial kindness, and his
heart had never ceased to yearn for the pleasure of
listening to their dear voices again. He sought for
126 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
no immediate gain for no accession of income. The
rules of the Service were not in those days as strin-
gent as they have since been rendered by wise provi-
sions of the Government. In the opinion, perhaps,
of those who are acquainted only with the present
order of things, nothing stranger will be found in this
biography than the record of the fact, that Mr.
Tucker was at the same time Accountant- General and
a leading member of a House of Business. In this
two-fold capacity he remained for about a year. I
shall enter, presently, with more fulness of detail
into the circumstances of this combination. It is
expedient, however, to preface such remarks with
the correspondence to which allusion has been
made :
" FROM WM. LOGAN, ESQ.
" 14th January, 1803.
" DEAR TUCKER, I had every desire to write you yesterday
according to my promise, but could not accomplish it.
" You may be aware, that in concerns of such magnitude there
must be many points requiring further discussion; but I readily
agree in opinion with Palmer that you are eminently qualified,
beyond any person within my knowledge, to supply his place;
and with every consideration I have yet given the subject,
there is no hesitation on my part in offering an opinion that an
arrangement may be effected, by reductions from the shares of
some of the partners, by which you might be assured the sum
mentioned by you as requisite to induce the change, inde-
pendent of any other motives that may operate with you. In-
deed, I should hope a considerable addition may be made to it,
as far as I can judge of the advantages expected to result from
the late junction of our establishments, and which are more
likely to increase than diminish. You have many objects for
your own consideration, and will naturally do so. With re-
CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. LOGAN. 127
gard to any future introduction to the business of the London
House, I could only offer an opinion.
" I regret much that the period fixed by us for our intended
return to England should be the same; but many alterations
may take place during that time. For my part, I apprehend
that a residence here already of twenty years, and continued
application to business, with a constancy seldom equalled during
that time, will render my return, about the end of three years
more, so desirable as not to be avoided, but under the most
pressing and serious considerations.
" Binny and Caulfield have perused, and approve of this.
" Yours sincerely,
" WM. LOGAN."
" FROM H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" DEAR LOGAN, Your note is very flattering to me, and as
far as my interests and situation are adverted to, it holds out a
prospect of more than I am disposed either to stipulate for or
to receive. I have stated to you and Palmer distinctly that I
shall be content to receive an income equal to the income of
my present office that I will remain here for three or four
years (barring accidents), or until Palmer can return, or until
you can form some better arrangement in concert with the
partners at home. The quantum of income is not my great
object. My immediate object is to enable Palmer to leave
the country; and my more remote view is to obtain an intro-
duction into the House at home. I do not, however, pretend
to require any engagement on the part of the House here on
this subject, because it is evident that they cannot make such
an engagement. I leave it to future contingencies, reserving
only the claim which my situation in the House may be sup-
posed to give me upon any subsequent arrangement.
" With respect to Palmer, he, I am persuaded, will be satisfied
with anything which you can propose; or if he object at all, it
would be to an arrangement in which every sacrifice might not
be made by himself exclusively. This disposition on his part
will, however, be resisted, I hope.
128 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEIl.
' ' Under other circumstances, if I engaged at all in a concern
of such magnitude (which I should be little disposed to do), I
should undoubtedly deem it necessary to give the subject a
very serious consideration, and to make much previous inquiry ;
but in the present instance I rely on the characters of those
with whom I offer to connect myself; and I feel so august a
necessity for immediate decision, that a more deliberate pro-
ceeding is in some measure precluded. With respect to what
I relinquish, and other personal considerations, I have already
made up my mind on grounds which, with me, are conclusive.
" In regard to the period of our retiring to England, I should
hope that we shall be mutually disposed to consult, as far as
possible, the interests and inclinations of each other, as well as
the general interests of those connected with us.
" Although you have not pointed out any specific basis of an
arrangement, I should consider everything so far settled as to
communicate my intentions immediately to Lord Wellesley, if
I were satisfied that an arrangement was practicable, desirable,
and personally agreeable to you. If you can give me such an
assurance, do so. If we cannot meet on terms perfectly satis-
factory to all parties, it certainly cannot be the interest of any
that we should meet at all. I myself would not form such a
connexion if I thought we should not meet on the most cordial
terms ; and I am sure Palmer would not, under any circum-
stances, propose or consent to an arrangement which he
thought could be objectionable to any individual concerned.
" Yours sincerely,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
"William Logan, Esq."
" FROM H. ST.G. TUCKER.
"January 15, 1803.
"DEAR CAULFIELD, In order to remove all doubts from
Logan's mind, you may, if you think proper, declare" to him
on my part, that it was never my intention or wish to inter-
fere with the arrangement subsisting between Palmer and
himself. Until some more permanent arrangement can be
CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. LOGAN. 129
adopted, I shall consider Palmer in the situation of the head
resident partner; and as such, he is of course at liberty to
assign the emoluments of his situation to any person he pleases.
It is a matter of private accommodation in which I have no
concern ; and I repeat, that I have no wish whatever to disturb
the present order of things, as explained to me by Palmer.
" If, after this explanation from me, Logan should find any
difficulty in making an explicit declaration of his sentiments, I
shall consider everything at an end between us, and shall im-
mediately write to Palmer, recommending him to adopt one
or other of the following alternatives.
" To go home this season, leaving Logan at the head of the
House, and me, in concert with some other friends, to attend
to his private interests and concerns: or,
" To allow us to take a passage for him to Bombay, or other
distant port, adopting such measures as may appear to him
expedient (by communicating with the partners at home, or
otherwise), preparatory to his going home in the ensuing
season.
" I should have given Logan a more particular explanation in
my note of yesterday, had I conceived it possible that he could
suspect an intention on my part to interfere with his emolu-
ments, when I expressly declared that I was content to receive
the same limited income which I now enjoy in the Company's
service.
" Yours sincerely,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" To J. Caulfield, Esq."
" FROM WM. LOGAN, ESQ.
"15th January, 1803.
' ; MY DEAR TUCKER, Binny was gone from the office before
I received your note of yesterday, but it has since been shown
to him and Caulfield, and we agree in thinking the proposed
arrangement is not only practicable, but very desirable; and, a?
for myself, it is most certainly perfectly agreeable.
" I pointed out no basis for the arrangement, but, as you wish
it, would propose that, on your admission taking place, an allow -
K
130 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
ance, say of 4000 Sicca rupees per month, be made you to the
30th April next, when the accounts and other material objects
may be settled; and that afterwards, for the period you mention,
under the reservations, and which I wish could also be extended
to me, you either draw from the business a certain income,
fully equal or rather more than you at present hold, or by
partaking of a certain proportion of the profits of the House
(say 5-24ths), at your option; the latter proposition would,
I trust, be most beneficial to you, and certainly more consistent
with my wishes.
" Yours sincerely,
" WM. LOGAN.
" To Henry St.G. Tucker, Esq."
"FROM H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" 15th January, 1803.
"DEAR LOGAN, Your proposal is extremely liberal, and I
have only to suggest a slight modification of the terms.
" I shall probably not be called upon to resign my present
situation before the 30th April; and, while I hold it, I neither
could nor would receive any income whatever from the House.
If I should find it necessary to resign it at an earlier period,
I shall be quite content with the income I now enjoy (3448
rupees per month, including house-rent and servants).
" After the 30th April, or my resignation, I shall be perfectly
well satisfied with 4-24ths, or the income you propose (4000
rupees per month), for the term of my residence in the country,
which I would not engage should exceed three, or at the
utmost four years, from the present time. I should myself
prefer the fixed income; but I consider the alternative a matter
of little moment, and I willingly leave it to be determined by
the House,
" I am content that the claims of either or both of us to an
introduction into the House in London, should be determined
(where alone they can be determined) by the parties interested
at home ; and I never had any intention or wish to disturb the
arrangement subsisting between Palmer and yourself. On
this subject I have made an explicit declaration to Caulfield.
" Should I find it impracticable to obtain hereafter an esta-
ARRANGEMENT OF TERMS. 131
blishment in the House in London, I should wish, on returning
to England, to retain an interest in the House here for a given
term (say, 2-24ths or 3-24ths for three years), because I cannot
possibly acquire in so short a period as three or four years such
an independence as would enable me to retire altogether.
" If these terms be satisfactory to Binny, Caulfield, and your-
self, let us consider the business settled, as far as my interests
are concerned, without further discussion. If it be judged
preferable that I should receive a proportion of the profits rather
than a fixed income (to which, by-the-by, there may be objec-
tions), I will not accept a larger share than 4-24ths, and it will
be much more agreeable to me if you proceed at once upon
the ground of this determination on my part, for I have com-
municated it to Palmer, and I will not, on any account, recede
from it.
"Yours sincerely,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
"FROM j. CAULFIELD, ESQ.
" 15th January, 1803.
" DEAR TUCKER, I am glad Logan's note was satisfactory
to you, and have no doubt of an immediate arrangement being
the consequence equally so to all of us. With respect to the
provisions in the deed, your younger partners receiving an
increase on Palmer's departure, I can only observe that was not
to take place for three years ; therefore, until the expiration of
such period, any intermediate arrangement cannot affect them.
Logan's arrangement or proposition will be, as I suppose,
thus
H. Trail . . 3-24
J. Palmer . 3-24
H. Tucker . 5-24
Wm. Logan 5-24
A. Binny ^
J. Caulfield C 8-24
G. Simpson )
and this has my sincere approbation, as being equitable and just.
" Yours ever truly,
" J. CAULFIELD."
K2
132 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
"FROM WM. LOGAN.
" 15th January, 1803.
" DEAR TUCKEK, I have received your note of this date
with the modification proposed by you, which I readily
acquiesce in; but Binny, Caulfield, and myself, still wish that
your interest might be 5-24ths of the general advantages of the
business, as more proportionate to the situation you will hold
in the establishment; and with the option of retaining a pare
of it, as stated by you, in the event of your returning to Great
Britain, with or without having a participation in the London
House.
" Yours sincerely,
" WM. LOGAN."
There were many circumstances which rendered
the step which Mr. Tucker was now about to take
extremely painful to him ; and the most distressing
of all was the manifest displeasure of Lord Welles -
ley. The Governor- General received his proposal to
retire from official life with strong expressions of
disapprobation. " Why, Mr. Tucker," he said, " if
you throw up your appointment and enter into a
commercial connexion, it rests with me to determine
whether or not you shall be permitted to remain in
the Service." To this Mr. Tucker replied, that he
was most unwilling in any way to embarrass the
Government, and that if his sudden resignation of
the Accountant -Generalship would occasion any
public inconvenience, he would cheerfully consent
to remain in charge of the Finances until satisfactory
arrangements could be made for their transfer to
other hands but that he could not recede from the
promise which he had made to Mr. Palmer, whose
health, perhaps his very life, was at stake.
ARRANGEMENT WITH GOVERNMENT. 133
The offer was accepted. The compromise was made.
It was not easy, in that conjuncture, to find a
Finance Minister to fill Mr. Tucker's place. It was
arranged, therefore, that he should continue, for a
while, to officiate as Accountant-General, whilst
acting, at the same time, as senior member of the
mercantile house. During fifteen months he con-
tinued, with unwearying perseverance, and with a
close attention to business, which afforded him little
or no time for recreation or exercise, to perform the
duties both of his public and private situation, and
there was no complaint that the interests of either
suffered by the junction. But although Mr. Tucker
acted indefatigably in both capacities, he received
only the emoluments attached to one office. So
long as he was Accountant-General of Bengal he
rejected the profits of the commercial partnership.
He drew only his official salary.
These circumstances stand recorded in the public
correspondence of the Supreme Government. In a
letter to the Court of Directors, dated the 13th of
January, 1804, they are thus officially detailed :
"Dated, 13th January, 1804.
" The Accountant-General, Mr. Henry St.George Tucker,
having lately become a partner in a private house of business
in Calcutta, addressed a letter to the Governor-General in
Council, explanatory of the terms and circumstances under
which he had entered into the partnership, and submitting to
the consideration of his Excellency in Council how far, under
the particular circumstances attending his present situation, it
might be compatible with the rules of the Service for Mr.
Tucker to retain the station of Accountant-General.
134 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" With a view to his continuance in the office of Accountant-
General while his services in that station might be required,
and in order to obviate as far as possible every objection origi-
nating from the circumstance of his having a private interest,
which might be supposed to be likely to influence his public
conduct, Mr. Tucker had made it a condition of the engage-
ment into which he had entered with the House of Messrs.
Cockerell, Trail, Palmer, and Co., that he should not receive
any share in the profits of the House so long as he should con-
tinue to hold the office of Accountant-General.
" The knowledge and experience of Mr. Tucker in measures
of finance, and his strict integrity, had recommended him to
the choice of the Governor-General in Council for the office of
Accountant-General, and his services in that situation could
not immediately be dispensed with, without the most serious
public inconvenience, and without certain and immediate in-
jury to the public service, and to the highly important measures
of finance at that time in progress. Under these considera-
tions, and adverting to the conditions on which Mr. Tucker had
become a partner in the house of Cockerell and Co., the Go-
vernor-General in Council has permitted Mr. Tucker to retain
the office of Accountant-General, until the 30th of April next,
at which period of time Mr. Tucker is to make his election,
either to relinquish his concern in the house of Cockerell and
Co., or to resign the office of Accountant-General."
The year 1803, indeed, was a busy one ; and the
duties of the Accountant-Generalship, though the
state of the finances had been greatly improved by
the good husbandry of the preceding years, were still
both difficult and onerous. A war had been com-
menced on our North- Western frontier, the end of
which it was difficult to foresee. It is not at the
commencement of a war that its financial evils are
apparent ; and as there was money at this time in
the Treasury, and public credit had been established,
FINANCIAL PROSPECTS. 135
the gigantic embarrassments which at a subsequent
period almost overwhelmed the Government were
then only in the germ. Still, as money for the
movement of our armies was to be found, and an
investment on an unusually large scale was to be
provided, there was much need for all the fore"
thought and sagacity of a skilful Finance Minister.
To Mr. Tucker, who had been anticipating, with
the deepest interest, the happy results of a season
of continued peace, this war-making was a great dis-
appointment. But he looked the matter cheerfully
in the face, and believed that we should weather the
storm. "It is impossible," he wrote to the Chief
Secretary, his friend Mr. Lumsden, " to say with
any kind of certainty what can be done during a
period of actual war ; but if the Government at
home perform their promises, and our operations
against the Mahrattas, &c., be not attended with
any very extraordinary expense, we shall, I hope,
hold our ground at the least. Had peace continued
only three years longer, with the assistance proposed
to be furnished from England, we should, I am
persuaded, have been able to put the Public Debt
into a very manageable state, and to have effected a
complete revolution in the rate of interest, &c., &c."
And again, a little later, writing to the same excel-
lent public servant, he said : " If in the face of a
war both in India and in Europe, it be practicable
to provide a full investment to pay off a large debt
and to meet a disbursement, such as that of the
present month (at least eighty lakhs at the General
136 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
Treasury alone) if this can be done with so slight
a diminution of credit, more will have been done, I
think, than might have been expected."
In another letter, written in October, Mr. Tucker
comments forcibly on the difficulties which he had
to encounter. " His Lordship," he wrote to Mr.
Lumsden, " I believe, is fully aware of the difficulties
we have had to surmount, and it will not be a matter
of surprise that some little inconvenience should be
experienced in particular quarters, as it is not pos-
sible to provide equally well on all sides against
sudden demands. The demand upon our resources
at this moment is far greater than I have ever
known it at any former period; and we shall do
well if we get over it after a little stumbling. My
attention has been principally directed to the army
and the General Treasury, for I know that any
failure in these quarters might be fatal ; but I have
paid every attention in my power to the other parts
of service. The state of every treasury in the
country is constantly before my eyes, and if any
particular treasury be not supplied, it is because
the means are actually wanting."
In the following letter are briefly sketched Mr.
Tucker's arrangements for the financial supply of
the army in the field, which, as he said, was one of
the two main objects of his thoughts :*
* Of the other the paramount necessity of keeping the General Treasury
\vell supplied Mr. Tucker has descanted in a paper of Instructions, which he
drew up for his successor, and in which he says: " It is particularly neces-
sary to keep the General Treasury well supplied, for here our credit takes its
character. This should be done although the public service may suffer in
SUPPLY OF THE ARMY. 137
" TO J. LUMSDEN, ESQ.
" 16th August, 1803.
" MY DEAR SIR, It would be advisable, I think, to col-
lect as large a sum as possible in the first instance at Head-
quarters, and after the army moves, the Commander-in-Chief
should be authorised to draw on the different treasuries, and to
order the collectors, if necessary, to remit in specie. The
bankers being all established at Lucknow, the Commander-in-
Chief will probably find it more easy to negotiate bills on that
treasury, and the Resident may, indeed, be enabled to make
an arrangement with the bankers for the supply of the army.
Colonel Scott is quite a man of business, and I do not know
any person to whom an arrangement of the kind could be so
safely entrusted. In the mean time, the collectors of Moradabad
and Bareilly should be directed to remit their unappropriated
balance immediately to Lucknow or Khanpore, either by bills
or in specie, as one or other of these remittances may be the
more advantageous. We have funds at these stations, and they
are, I presume, out of the way of the probable movement of
the army. I had intended to direct the collectors to remit, but
an order from Government may have more effect. I cannot
tell what the expenses of the army are likely to be, but I am
afraid we shall be much at a loss for funds during the ensuing
three months.
" The Commander-in-Chief may be authorised to draw on
the Presidency, provided he can obtain 102 or 101 Lucknow
rupees per Company's Calcutta Sicca rupees.
" Yours very sincerely,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
But whilst all these arrangements were being
carried out, under Mr. Tucker's presiding control,
consequence, in other quarters. It is a vital part, and any accident here is
fatal. A failure at the provincial treasuries has no consequences. It is not
regarded, and everything may be set right again without any derangement
being produced. The supply of the General Treasury, I repeat, is the very
first object to be attended to."
138 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
for the supply of the army on the banks of the
Jumna, on the banks of the Hooghly the Ac-
countant- General was providing funds for an in-
vestment on a large scale, and at the same time
paying off old debts, the interest of which had long
been a serious incumbrance. To sum up the finan-
cial history of the year, in the words of a cotem-
porary memorandum :
" A supply to an unprecedented extent was fur-
nished from Bengal to the Presidencies of Port St.
George and Bombay. An investment on the highest
standard was provided. A debt, bearing an interest
of 12 per cent, per annum, to the amount of
60,00,000 rupees, was punctually discharged; and
the funds required for these various services were
raised at a very reduced and moderate rate of
interest.
" Of the amount raised within the year, the sum.
of Sicca rupees 1,58,65,500 was borrowed at an
interest of less than 8 per cent, per annum; and
a supply, to the extent of Sicca rupees 45,31,700,
was obtained by the issue of Treasury-bills, bearing
an interest of less than 7 per cent, per annum, a
rate of interest almost unknown in India. Nor
should it be forgotten that this was accomplished
not only while the existence of war with a for-
midable European Power rendered it necessary to
maintain the military establishments throughout
British India on an enlarged and expensive scale,
but while the most extensive military operations
were carrying on in various quarters of Hindostan,
FINANCIAL MEASURES. 139
against the principal chieftains of the Mahratta
Empire. Although the existence of war, and other
circumstances, have necessarily caused a large ad-
dition to he made to the Puhlic Deht in India, and
particularly at the Presidency of Port William, from
whence the deficiencies of the subordinate Govern-
ments are supplied the charge of the deht at this
Presidency has scarcely increased in any perceptible
degree during the last three years the loans made
by the Supreme Government during that period
having been raised, not only for the immediate
supply of the public service, but also with the
express view of discharging debts bearing a higher
rate of interest. Had not an essential change been
effected in the administration of Finance, the debt
of the Honorable Company in India would at this
moment have far exceeded its present amount, and
would have borne an annual interest greatly exceed-
ing the proportion which this charge at present
bears to the capital of the debt."
And that these good results were attributable not
to accidental causes, but to skilful management, is
plainly demonstrable. In an official paper written
in 1803, with immediate reference to the financial
affairs of Bombay, Mr. Tucker says :
" The reduction of the rate of interest here has certainly
not been accomplished, nor has it been in any manner facilitated
by stagnation of trade. I do not believe, indeed, that the com-
merce of Calcutta was ever more extensive or more active than
it is at present. Vast numbers of Portuguese and American
ships have imported here this year, and are now about to sail
with full cargoes ; and an unusual quantity of tonnage will also
140 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
be required by individuals for consignments to London. Some
judgment may be formed of the extent of the trade, from the
business of the House of which I am a member. We shall ship
at least 1000 tons of goods for London this season, after having
effected very large sales here ; and we should have had occasion
to ship a still larger quantity, if the indigo crops had not been
so unfavorable in the Western Provinces, and the late accounts
from England had not discouraged the consignment of all the
coarser assortments of piece goods, and particularly those of
Oude, to the London market
" Witli respect to the comparative opulence, the immense
capital, and flourishing condition of Bengal (all which, I am
happy to say, may be fully admitted), I must observe, that if
our present financial prosperity is to be ascribed solely to our
capital and to our territorial resources, that capital and those
resources must have been generated in the course of the last
two or three years; because within that period we have ex-
perienced as great distress here as is at present experienced
at Bombay. Less than three years ago, our twelve-per-cent.
Treasury-bills were at a discount of from three to four per cent. ;
and the whole of our paper was much more depreciated in
value than the paper of the Bombay Government is at present.
At that time, we heard constantly of the poverty and distress
of the Government; the want of commercial credit, &c. &c. ;
and what was the sign of this distress ? The Government were
issuing immense sums in Treasury-bills, bearing an interest of
twelve per cent, per annum; and individuals were burdened
with these bills, which they could not dispose of, but at a very
great loss.
" Now we hear of the riches of the country, the prosperity
of the Government, and of the credit of individuals ; and what
are the tokens of this favorable state of things? The Govern-
ment are obliged to issue immense sums in Treasury-bills,
and every person has his hands full of them . Is it not some-
what extraordinary that the same thing should in one instance
be the sign of poverty and distress ; and in the other, the
symptom and the source of opulence and prosperity ? I do
PROFITABLE RESULTS. 141
not believe that there is a larger amount of specie in Calcutta
at present than there was three years ago; and if the capital
of the country has increased (which it has, no doubt), the
public debt has increased also. The Company have a greater
surplus revenue in India; but they have not a greater dis-
posable surplus in Bengal; because there is so large a debt to
be paid off this year, and we have so large a supply to furnish
the other Presidencies, in consequence of their finding it im-
practicable to borrow; that the resources of Bengal are as
inadequate this year to the demands upon them as they perhaps
have ever been at any antecedent period. The great change
of circumstances is that the public have now confidence in the
Government; and that ive have obtained a convenient medium of
exchange ; and the very debt of the Government, which, if un-
accompanied by credit, would be the source and sign of general
distress, is now what constitutes the capital the wealth and
prosperity of the community."
This was the great work which Mr. Tucker ac-
complished during his first tenure of office as Fi-
nance Minister. He had created and established
Public Credit in India, and he had permanently re-
duced the rate of interest paid by the British-Indian
Government on the money which it was compelled
to borrow. At the commencement of the present
century our twelve-per-cent. paper was at a discount;
and now, at one-third of that interest, more money
is obtainable by Government than it has need of,
even in a season of war. And to the great dis-
appointment of a public clamorous for such invest-
ments, a four-per-cent. loan is unexpectedly closed,
because the Treasury is gorged.
142 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
CHAPTER V.
Retirement from Official Life Government Testimonial Mr. Tucker's Mer-
cantile Life Opinions of his Friends Conduct of Lord Wellesley Ad-
miral Bergeret His Friendship with Mr. Tucker Departure of Lord
Wellesley Anecdotes of his Staff Thoughts of Home.
ON the 30th of April, 1804, Mr. Tucker's official
and responsible connexion with the public Finances
ceased for a time ; and on the following day the
Governor- General placed upon record a minute, ac-
knowledging, in befitting terms, the great services
which had been rendered to the State by the retiring
Accountant -General :
"Fort William, May the 1st, 1804.
" The Governor-General, in accepting Mr. Tucker's resigna-
tion of the office of Accountant-General, considers it to be his
duty to record the high sense which he entertains of the great
and important public services rendered by Mr. Tucker, in the
discharge of the functions of Accountant-General, during a crisis
of considerable difficulty, and under circumstances of peculiar
anxiety and embarrassment.
"The person holding the situation of Accountant -General at
Fort William, must be considered as the principal officer of finance
of the British Government in India, on the present extended
scale of this empire. The labor and attention required in the
preparation of the intricate and voluminous accounts of the
GOVERNMENT TESTIMONIAL. 143
Presidency of Bengal, form only one branch of the public duty
of that officer. It is the province of the Accountant- General
of Bengal to observe with unremitting attention the state of
public credit, and of financial management, in every part of the
British Asiatic possessions, extending even to the state of affairs
at Canton in China ; to ascertain the circumstances by which
the general finances of the Company in Asia may at any time
be affected ; and to suggest for the consideration of the supreme
authority in India, such measures as shall appear to be calcu-
lated to improve or to confirm the credit of the public securities
of Government, and to correct the administration of the finances
at any of the British settlements in India.
" Mr. Tucker was appointed to the office of Accountant-
General in the month of March, 1801; and it is a tribute of
justice due to the merit of that valuable public officer, to de-
clare that the Governor- General has derived the most useful
and able assistance from Mr. Tucker's advice in the arrangement
and execution of every important measure of finance adopted
since that period of time.
"The success which has attended those measures has been
uniform and extraordinary. During the two last years, the
credit of the securities of this Government has been raised
to a higher standard than at any period of time since the exist-
ence of a public debt in India ; and although a considerable
addition has necessarily been made to the amount of the public
debt of the Presidency of Fort William, the annual interest of
the present debt does not materially exceed the interest payable
by Government on the public debt as it stood in the year
1801.
" The Governor- General is satisfied that the highest merit is
to be attributed to Mr. Tucker, in carrying into effect the mea-
sures adopted by Government for the improvement of the ad-
ministration of the finances of the Presidency of Fort William ;
and that the prudence, skill, diligence, and judgment manifested
by Mr. Tucker in his public capacity as Accountant-General,
have proved considerably useful in establishing the public
credit of the Company in India on a solid and permanent
LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
basis; the great zeal, industry, and integrity manifested by
Mr. Tucker in the performance of his public duty, in every
situation, have been uniform and exemplary. The Governor-
General, therefore, records with great satisfaction his highest
approbation of the merit and services of Mr. Tucker; and he
entertains a confident persuasion that Mr. Tucker's services will
be duly appreciated by the Honorable the Court of Directors.
(Signed) " WELLESLEY."
But although Mr. Tucker then ceased to be offi-
cially connected with the Government of India, his
opinions were often invited, his advice was often,
sought, by public functionaries who knew the value
of his counsel ; and he was always ready to impart
the benefit of his experience to his successor, and to
record his views on great questions of Finance. It
was not his fault it was not his successor's fault-
that a crisis was fast approaching, when the boasted
financial prosperity of the empire was to be exploded
into ruin and confusion.
In the mean while, Mr. Tucker applied himself
diligently to the affairs of the great mercantile house
of which he had become a member ; and his asso-
ciates had good reason to congratulate themselves on
the alliance they had formed with so industrious a
man of business and so skilful a financier. Prom Mr.
Palmer he received many letters, full of the heartiest
expressions of gratitude and commendation ; and
the hopes which they held out to him of the speedy
completion of the arrangement which was to enable
him, at an early period, to return to England, were
not the least of the solaces of his life. Early in
February, 1804, Mr. Palmer, in a letter which he
CORRESPONDENCE WITH JOHN PALMER. 145
forwarded through the Egyptian Consul, sent as-
surances to his friend that the partners of the house
at home Messrs. Paxton, Cockerell, and Trail
had signed an agreement to the effect that if, on
his (Mr. Palmer's) return to Bengal, circumstances
should induce Mr. Tucker to proceed to England
with the view of continuing his connexion with mer-
cantile business, he should be admitted into the
English house, in the same position, and with the
same share of the business as that which would
have been held by Mr. Palmer. And in the follow-
ing July, alluding to this arrangement, the latter
thus discourses in a long and most affectionate
letter to his friend :
" In regard to yourself, I can only say that, if I may venture
to hope for your approbation of my arrangement with P., C.,
and Co., I shall esteem it the happy means of requiting the
sacrifices you are making to your friendship but that, indeed,
only partially, and in a very circumscribed degree. Your de-
cided conduct in regard to the Service and our establishment in
Calcutta, I calculate upon with more certainty than satisfaction,
in as far as you are concerned; for I cannot disguise to myself
the conviction of your loss by such a decision. And I can
only hope that in the career open to you here, your wish to
retire speedily will be profitably realised. I trust it will be
your own fault if you are not in England in June, 1806; for
though I am not so vain as to think I can maintain all the re-
lations of the house with that propriety and firm character you
do, yet I trust to support its respectability by walking in your
course, and adhering to your system. I am determined to re-
turn in April or May next, provided I am not ill; and should
such an accident prevent my moving, you shall be at liberty to
provide for your retreat by taking into the house the man of
your choice, even if you shall deem it necessary to place him
146 LIFE OP H. ST.GL TUCKER.
above the absent partners. The Service would supply several
competent men desirous of engaging in sucli a line; but if it
did not, I think you could be at no loss among another class of
society."
One or two more passages from the same friendly
letter may be given in this place :
" I have been astonished, in common with everybody here,
to see you maintain the Company's credit so highly in a time of
war; but after a knowledge of the real condition of their
treasury, I ascribe the result to your skill in the black art
under the auspices always of the great sorcerer himself. Your
recompense, however, will be most surely sought in your own
cogitations on the subject; for a different species of illiberality
distinguishes and characterises the ruling powers abroad and at
home. There you will only forego the reputation of the thing.
Here you will suffer the ordinary reward to slip your fingers ;
or rather, it will elude your grasp malgre your efforts. To keep
up your spirits, however, by illustration against my opinion, I
must mention that Fleming's merits have procured him 50,000
rupees.
" I saw Mr. Law twice whilst he was in England, and found
him but little changed in appearance, though more in manner.
He is more steady. He was too well bred to condemn your
association with me ; but I think he disapproved of it.
. ..." As I went to town expressly to attend to your cor-
respondence, you will naturally expect me to say something to
it. I shall, however, confine myself to a general declaration
that the clearness and precision with which every subject was
treated the arrangement, method, and order into which you
have brought the various concerns of the house, &c., gave
great satisfaction, and thoroughly predisposed the house to ad-
mire the line of conduct you have chalked out for your side of
the world, in regard to your own interests and those of your
constituents. I left Trail, therefore, to communicate the con-
tents of your letters to me ; and I was highly gratified to find
a general sentiment of personal respect towards you, the result
"LEAVING THE SERVICE."
of their knowledge of your plans and good management; I
trust you will not have imposed too severe a labor on yourself,
after you shall have relinquished your office ; and that you will
get through the remainder of your term of drudgery in it, with-
out prejudice to your health
" I am happy the business increases under your auspices, and
doubt not of its further augmentation; and as I am very sure
you will seek for the best connexions only, our security and
prosperity will necessarily go together. And as you will have
got rid of many others of a different complexion, or of a preca-
rious nature, before I can get back, I shall trust to maintain
the prudence and discretion of the principles you are establish-
ing, without pain or trouble to myself or others.' 1
That such a step as Mr. Tucker had taken should
have been diversely regarded by different friends was
natural indeed necessary. To view the matter with
plain mercantile eyes was one thing to view it with
official eyes was another. There were men, indeed,
who looked upon it as a blunder, and others who
saw it in the light of an offence ; some shaking their
heads in sorrow, others resenting it almost in anger.
Among the former, it seems, was Mr. Tucker's first
and best friend, Thomas Law. Among the latter
was Lord Wellesley. Of the worldly wisdom of the
act doubts may be fairly expressed. In this case, as
it will presently appear, the experiment was not
worked out to the result of ultimate success or
failure ; but seldom anything but failure has closed
upon such experiments. It would be easy to multi-
ply instances of men who have abandoned the fairest
prospects of official advancement for a life of ob-
scurity, poverty, and toil. They have made a fatal
mistake, and are to be commiserated ; but they are
L2
148 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
not to be condemned. On Mr. Tucker, however. Lord
Wellesley was inclined to pass something like con-
demnation. The Accountant-General had delivered
over the public finances to his successor in a most
flourishing condition, and had been officially eulo-
gised by the Governor- General himself. But the
approbation which descended upon the retiring Fi-
nance Minister in his public capacity, did not follow
him into private life. The Governor-General marked
his sense of Mr. Tucker's withdrawal from official
life by ordering his name to be erased from the
dinner-list of Government House.
To Mr. Tucker who was as little of a lackey as
any man that ever lived this was probably no very
severe visitation. The official stamp was gone from
him, and with it his passport to the table of the
Governor-General. But to that larger outer circle,
who are summoned to the more heterogeneous even-
ing gatherings at Government House, he was still
admissible if he would go. But he had not a
thought of going. If he were not welcome at Court,
there was nothing easier than to stay away. And he
did stay away, until a circumstance occurred which
brought him again as a welcome guest to the table
of a man, who had really too much that was noble
in his nature to harbour such petty resentments
as these.
It happened that in 1804 there was a French
prisoner in Fort William named Bergeret. He was
a distinguished naval officer, with a brave heart that
never failed him in war, and many very fine quali-
ADMIRAL BERGERET. 149
ties besides, which made him very loveahle in peace.
England's best sailors knew the man. They had
tried the temper of his courage in the Western and
the Eastern seas, and never found it wanting, though
Fortune had turned disastrously against him, and
victory was not within his grasp. In 1796, off the
Lizzard, he had fought Edward Pellew Lord Ex-
mouth. The action is a memorable one in naval
annals. Pellew commanded the Indefatigable, Ber-
geret the Virginie. The material advantage was on
the side of the former, and the French frigate, with
her mizen-mast and her main-top-mast shot away,
yielded at last to the superior power of her assail-
ant.* Respected by all men for his gallantry, but by
none more than his captor, of whom for a while he
was an honored guest, Bergeret lived for some time
amongst us. Sir Sydney Smith was a prisoner at
Havre, and the British Government sent the French
officer on his parole to endeavor to exchange himself
* When Bergeret, deeply moved by his misfortune, asked to whom he had
struck, and was told, " to Sir Edward Pellew," he exclaimed, " Oh, that is the
most fortunate man that ever lived. He takes everything, and now he has taken
the finest frigate in France." See " Life of Edward Pellew, Lord Exmouth."
The biographer says : " The Virginie was completely riddled. Some of the In-
defatigable 's shot had even gone through the sail-room and out at the opposite
side of the ship. She had four feet water in her hold, and more than forty of
her crew were killed and wounded. Yet she attempted to rake her opponent
as she was shooting ahead, and had nearly succeeded in doing so. While the
Indefatigable was reeving fresh braces, the other (British) frigates came up,
having been enabled to make a shorter distance by the altered course of the
combatants during the chase. On their approach, the Virginie fired a lee-gun,
and hauled down her light ; and being hailed by the Concorde, replied, * We
must surrender, there are too many of you. We strike to the frigate ahead.'
A more brave and skilful resistance is scarcely afforded by the annals of the
war ; and the officer who thus defends his ship against a very superior force,
may challenge more honor than would be claimed by the victor." Vide
" Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth," pp. 127, 128.
150 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
for the English admiral. The exchange was not
effected ; Bergeret returned to England ; but when
Smith escaped, the British Government, with a
liberality that cannot be too highly appreciated,
set the Frenchman at liberty without a condition or
a stipulation. He was soon, therefore, afloat again.
The peace saw him on the deck of a merchant-ship,
the Psyche, which had formerly been a national
frigate, and which, on the renewal of hostilities, was
again fitted out as a ship of war. Then it was that
fate brought him into the Eastern seas, again to be
made a prisoner, and again to taste the hospitality
of his old captors. For some time he cruised about
the Bay of Bengal with good success ; but one day
in February, 1805, the San Fiorenzo, which had
been sent in pursuit of him, came up with the
Psyche off Vizagapatam and brought her to action.
The conflict, which lasted for three hours and a
half, was a gallant one. But the French vessel was
no match for her opponent, and the San Fiorenzo,
having almost entirely disabled the enemy, hauled
off to repair her rigging. When she again presented
herself to renew the contest, Bergeret, who had lost
more than half his men, and whose vessel was so
crippled that it could hardly be worked, struck his
colors and surrendered. He was carried, a prisoner,
to Calcutta, and confined in the Fort.
Then was it that he became acquainted with Mr.
Tucker. What brought them first together I do
not know but I do know why, when they were
brought together, they became attached to each
TUCKEE, AND BERaEKET. 151
other. It was peculiarly a characteristic of the sub-
ject of this memoir to commiserate fallen greatness
and gallantry in distress. He was above all na-
tional prejudice. He was not one in those days to
hate a Frenchman, any more than nearly forty years
afterwards he hated an Afghan. He knew that
Bergeret was a brave and an unfortunate man and
that was enough for him. There was sympathy on
one side ; there was gratitude on the other ; and
there were many points of resemblance between
them. So it happened that a close intimacy grew
up between the British merchant and the French
admiral, and a constant reciprocation of kindness
if that can be called reciprocity where all the active
benevolence is necessarily on one side. All that
Mr. Tucker could do to lighten the sorrows of this
brave man's captivity was done by him at this time.
His liberality, indeed, was restricted only by the
Government orders which compelled Bergeret to
reside in the Port. But for this his friend would
have made him, as he yearned to do, a cherished
inmate of his own house.
Of Bergeret Lord Wellesley knew nothing. Cir-
cumstances had not made him acquainted with the
antecedents of his distinguished prisoner. And Mr.
Tucker, still believing that he suffered under the
displeasure of the Governor-General, did not feel
that he was in a position personally to plead the
cause of his friend. But one day in the course of
conversation on the incidents of the French sailor's
eventful life, Bergeret produced a letter from Sir
152 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Edward Pellew, alluding to their former intercourse,
and speaking of the gallantry of his old opponent
the commander of the Tirginie. On reading it, Mr.
Tucker recommended his friend to show it to the
Town-Major. He believed that through this chan-
nel its contents would be sure to reach the Go-
vernor-General, and he was convinced that Lord
"Wellesley would delight in doing honor to a pri-
soner of such repute. Nor was he mistaken. The
intelligence soon reached Government House, and
from it there came an invitation to Bergeret to dine
with the Governor- General. A party was invited
to do him honor ; and an especial invitation, " to
meet his friend the Admiral/'* was sent to Mr.
Tucker, by the hands of the captain of the Body-
guard. Prom that time the intercourse between
Lord Wellesley and his old Finance Minister was
resumed but the reign of the former was now fast
drawing to a close.
It was, indeed, soon after the occurrence of the
incident I have just narrated, that it fell to Mr.
Tucker's lot to communicate to Lord Wellesley the
first tidings of the appointment of his successor,
It was no uncommon thing, in those days, in India,
* Admiral Bergeret is still living. He was created a Peer of France under
the Orleans Government, but, after the flight of Louis Philippe, sunk (or
ascended) again into " Monsieur FAmiral." He still cherishes a most grate-
ful recollection of the old kindness of Mr. Tucker, and nothing delights him
more than to discourse, in his Parisian home in the Rue de Provence, where
the fine old veteran spends the winter of his days, of the benefits which he re-
ceived, nearly half a century ago, when a stranger and a captive in a foreign
land, from one, the only claim to whose friendly assistance was his gallantry
and his misfortunes.
RE-APPOINTMENT OF LOKD CORNWALLIS. 153
as well as in Europe, for the great mercantile houses
to anticipate the Government in the receipt of import-
ant intelligence ; and it happened that in the month
of May, 1805, two letters were received in Calcutta,
by the overland route, announcing the re-appoint-
ment of Lord Cornwallis to the Governor-General-
ship of India. One of these letters was received by
Mr. James Alexander, the other by Mr. Tucker.
Both gentlemen determined to keep their informa-
tion to themselves ; but a rumor was soon in cir-
culation to the effect that overland letters had been
received in Calcutta, and Lord Wellesley sent for
Mr. Tucker. After holding him in conversation for
half an hour, on different topics, especially on
finance, the Governor- General exclaimed, " I hear
you have received letters from England." Mr.
Tucker assented, and Lord "YVellesley asked, "Do
they contain any news of importance ?" "Of that,"
replied Mr. Tucker, " which I suppose has been done
at the suggestion of your Lordship the appoint-
ment of Lord Cornwallis as your successor." The
Governor-General said nothing ; but his looks con-
veyed, in a most expressive manner, his full sense
of the significance of such an appointment.
Often, in after- days, was Mr. Tucker wont to
speak of his connexion with the Government of
Lord "Wellesley and the character of that distin-
guished nobleman, varying his discourse with per-
sonal anecdotes of his Lordship and his Staff. Some
of these he noted down for the amusement of his
family ; but there are doubtless beyond that circle
154 LIFE OE H. ST.G. TUCKER.
some to whom a specimen of these early reminis-
cences will be acceptable amidst the grave matters
of Finance to which these early chapters are neces-
sarily devoted.
I give the following in Mr. Tucker's own words,
under the title which he affixed to it :
" THE BEAUTIFUL BOOTS.
' ' When Lord Wellesley was proceeding to the Western Pro-
vinces (I think in 1801), he was received in great state by the
Newaub of Moorshedabad.
" In his Lordship's brilliant suite were to be found the Persian
translator, Mr. E ; and among many others, an A.D.C., to
whom the following couplet was applied by a lady on another
occasion :
' Thus much we may say of our good friend C ,
That his name spells the same both forward and back.'
u He was of an elegant person: he danced delightfully (and
so he does still); and, above all, he was remarkable for the ex-
quisite finish of his boots. In truth, he could show a leg with
any man.
" Upon this little hint, our friend E composed an elo-
quent epistle from the Newaub to the A.D.C., expatiating in
terms of ecstasy on the beauty and elegance of his boots; de-
claring that they were fit to adorn the leg of the hero Roostum ,
or of that other hero, the wonderful Zaal, who was nursed by a
Phoenix on the celebrated mountain Ulboorz; imploring the
A.D.C. to say in what part of the world such boots were to be
found, and whether the universe contained a second pair.
II The A.D.C. not knowing a word of Persian, flew to his
friend, the translator, with a silken khureeta in his hand, and
entreating to be made acquainted with its portentous contents.
"No person could execute the translation better than the
author of the original composition; and it was forthwith trans-
fused into English, to the infinite delight of the admiring
A.D.C.
" A most respectful and gracious reply was immediately die-
ANECDOTES OF LORD WELLESLEY'S STAFF. 155
tated. Nothing could exceed the pleasure, the gratitude, and
pride of one to whom such a condescension had been shown ;
and it would be the business of his life to manifest his devo-
tion to his Highness, by laying at his feet, at the earliest pos-
sible period, a similar pair of boots ! !
" But the course of love does not always run smoothly; and
even boots may sometimes encounter a stone. An officious
wag dispelled the bright hopes which were beginning to dazzle
the eye of the aspiring A.D.C. He was told that strange
rumors were abroad that it was surmised he was carrying on
a clandestine correspondence with a native Prince, contrary to
law that this offence would subject him to the penalty of a
praemunire and that the least he had to expect was dismissal
from the Service, with or without a court-martial.
" At this astounding intelligence, he hastened to take counsel
of his friend E . Many wry faces were made many doubts
and apprehensions were intimated; but finally, it was agreed
that he should throw himself upon the mercy of the Governor-
General candidly confess his error, and humbly solicit that it
should be overlooked, in consideration of his inexperience and
ignorance of the law. A letter was accordingly prepared,
couched in the terms proposed; and the contrite A.D.C., with
many misgivings, consigned it to his friend, to be presented to
Lord Wellesley when he should be found in the most perfect
good humor.
" The amende was gravely, but graciously accepted by his
Lordship, who was cognisant of the whole affair, and was, per-
haps, the prompter of the plot ; and after a suitable admonition
on the virtue of discretion, the happy A.D.C. was once more
restored to the favor and smiles of the Governor-General.
" The moral of all this is, that, when under the influence of
some dominant feeling, we become blind to the most transpa-
rent absurdities."
The earlier part of the year 1805 was, to Mr.
Tucker, a season of unwearying application to the
business of the mercantile house; but his health
was not affected by the incessant labor, and his
156 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
spirits were sustained by the thought that his period
of exile was drawing to a close. Mr. Palmer had
written out to him at the beginning of the year :
" I certainly shall enable you to make your election
between the Service and the House in twenty months,
when I promise myself the felicity of taking you by
the hand." Mr. Tucker had made his election. He
had determined, on the return of his friend to India,
to retire from that country, and to take Mr. Palmer's
place in the House of Business at home. His at-
tachment to his native country, and the warmth of
his domestic affections, had never abated. It was,
indeed, the chief solace of his life to think of the
prospect before him of joining the family circle from
which he had been so suddenly and violently de-
tached as a boy, and contributing to the comforts of
those dear ones who were not rich in worldly pos-
sessions. This latter he had been doing for years.
It would be an injustice, not merely to the subject
of this memoir, but to the goodness that is in human
nature, to withhold all notice of these things. Much
has been said and written, in various times and
various places, about the selfish luxuriousness of
dwellers in the East the drying up of the pure home
feeling within them their isolation, their arrogance,
their uncharitableness. But hundreds upon hun-
dreds have been kept alive in India solely by this
good home feeling by the hope of some day rejoin-
ing the family circle, and renewing the associations
of their childhood. And it would be hard, indeed, to
say how many firesides in these British isles are
THOUGHTS OF HOME. 157
brightened by the kindly generosity of absent sons
and brothers, who esteem it their highest privilege
to contribute to the comforts of the dear ones they
have left behind. There is little truth in the popular
belief that the environments of Indian life have a
tendency to indurate and ossify the heart. The
climate may parch and wither the body, but it does
not dry up the well-spring of the affections. If
that " history of firesides, " of which the old poet
declared the " want," were written, it would not be
found that the Indian exile, who leaves it as a boy,
perhaps cast out as a reprobate, is the one who has
contributed least to the joint-stock of happiness col-
lected round the Christmas hearth.
From Mr. Tucker's private letters, written at this
time, may be gathered how much he thought of his
friends at home, and how it was the practice of his
life to share his Indian earnings with them, though
little was the time that he could snatch from his
wearisome task-work to give expression to the
strength of his affections. " I have been so much
engaged of late by business, my dearest N ," he
wrote briefly to his sister in January, 1805, " that I
have not been able to pay the least attention to my
absent friends; or to any private duty of my own.
I never was so harassed in all my life ; but it is now,
I hope, pretty well over, and my health has received
no prejudice from my hard labor. I write now
merely to satisfy you that I am alive and well, for
the packets are off, and I have only a few tired
moments to dedicate to you. I sent off yester-
158 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
day a few hasty lines for my father, for my con-
science smote me ; but do you make up for all
my deficiencies in your letters to him. I slightly
suggested the idea of his paying you a visit in
England, where we may all perhaps have the satis-
faction of meeting. It was done with a view to his
gratification, and not to save myself a trip to Ber-
muda. I shall see you, please Heaven ! about June
twelvemonth, and I shall revisit Bermuda, if I live,
at all events. I have been so often disappointed,
however, that I scarcely allow myself to contemplate
the happiness which I expect to enjoy in seeing once
more my friends and country."
In March he wrote again, full of the solacing idea
of his contemplated return to England : " Please
Heaven, this time twelvemonth I shall be approach-
ing towards old England, where the happiness of
seeing you is not one of the last things I look to.
Nothing, I hope, is likely to occur to disappoint
me now, for I should feel a disappointment most
sorely."
In June he wrote again, still dwelling tenderly
upon the same cheering thought, and in reply to
some remarks in his correspondent's letters about
his self-denying generosity, asking what he could
do better with his money than divide it with those
he loved: "You have not," he said, "kept me a
day in this country, nor will you influence at all my
return to it (for return I must). It is my fate to
lead an unsettled life, and perhaps I should not be
CHANGE OF PROSPECTS. 159
more happy if I had the means of retirement.
This country, upon the whole, has many advantages ;
and as my health is good, it will be no severe
punishment to me to return to a respectable situa-
tion in it. However, we will talk over all this when
we meet a year hence ; and I wish you only to re-
collect that you will destroy all the pleasure which I
shall otherwise experience from affording you a little
assistance, by showing me that it is at all painful to
you to receive it. "Why should it be so ? and in
what way can I derive more gratification from the
use of money ? There are very few ways of spend-
ing it from which I ever derived much satisfac-
tion."
But the sustaining hope of the visit to England
was not destined to be soon an accomplished fact.
These dreams of the Puture, however, are not with-
out their uses. To the Indian exile they are life
and health; vigor and activity. The seat in the
London counting-house was, after all, never to be
taken. "When Mr. Tucker announced to Lord Wel-
lesley that the honored nobleman, under whose go-
vernment he had first served, had been re-appointed
to the Governor-Generalship, he little thought how
great an influence the appointment would exercise
over his whole future life. But so it was. Mr.
Tucker had chalked out for himself the unambitious
career of an English merchant. But the State had
need of his services. A crisis had arisen in the
affairs of India, which rendered it necessary that the
160 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
man, who had shown himself to be of all others the
most competent to manage her Exchequer, should
again actively concern himself with the practicalities
of official life. India had need of a Finance Minis-
ter in such an hour ; and Henry St.George Tucker
was the man.
ARRIVAL OE LORD CORNWALLIS. 161
CHAPTER VI.
Arrival of Lord Cornwallis State of Public Affairs Condition of the Fi-
nances Death of Cornwallis Succession of Sir G. Barlow Mr. Tucket
re-appointed Accountant- General Financial Measures Their Unpopula-
rity Correspondence with Sir G. Barlow and others Financial Results.
ON the 30th of July, 1805, Lord Cornwallis a
second time took the oaths of office, and was pro-
claimed Governor- General of India. Long years of
hard service in the West and in the East had impaired
his robust constitution ; but his prudence, his ex-
perience, and his great name were considered alike
by the Court of Directors and the King's Ministers
more than sufficient to counterbalance the disadvan-
tages of age and infirmity. And so the venerable
nobleman was called from the retirement of his
country seat at Culford, again to take part in the
active concerns of public life. Reluctantly he con-
sented to take what he himself called the " rash step
of returning to India ;" and he went to his grave.
To the student of Indian history there is nothing
more interesting than this epoch nothing in all the
annals of British connexion with the East more
suggestive of reflection, and provocative of contro-
versy, than the incidents which this period embraced.
M
162 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Into the consideration of these events, even in the
page of deliberate history, something of the old
leaven of partisanship, which embittered cotenipo-
rary discussion, has been suffered to enter ; and the
"Wellesley and Cornwallis schools of politics are still
talked of as though it were a necessity that a public
writer should belong to the one or the other. I do not
myself perceive that the followers of the former
nobleman were moved by a " general frenzy for con-
quest and victory, 55 or that those of the latter were
weakly and pusillanimously regardless of the honor
of their country. But I do see that in the autumn
of 1805 the affairs of our British-Indian Empire were
in such a state, that the course of policy to be pur-
sued by its rulers had almost ceased to be matter of
choice. The wisdom of the statesman was reduced
to foolishness, and the might of the warrior to
feebleness, by the stern necessities of an exhausted
Treasury. There were great armies in the field, and
there were great men eager to lead them to victory ;
but the money-bags were in a state of collapse, and to
play " the grand game 55 any longer was, in the minds
of men not inflamed by the excitement of the con-
test, to precipitate ruin, and to steep the country in
disgrace.
It is certain that the crisis was a great one. It is
scarcely less certain that the magnitude of the
danger was not seen, in all its proportions, by those
who, on the actual theatre of war, were dazzled by
the brilliancy of the career which opened out before
them, and nould see nothing but the disaster and
OPERATIONS IN THE NORTH-WEST. 163
disgrace of abandoning a policy which had already
been pursued so far, and with the consummation of
which the honor of the British Government appeared
to be so closely inwoven. But on the banks of the
Hooghly, Lord "Wellesley had begun to perceive the
necessity of exercising a little more caution and for-
bearance, and to recognise the truth that measures
wise and expedient in themselves, are only wise and
expedient so long as there are the means of carry-
ing them into execution without engendering evils
greater than any they are designed to prevent. And
that these were the opinions of his successors stands
recorded in their actions no less than in their words.
It does not come within the scope of such a work as
this to enter into the subject of our political rela-
tions in Upper India at this time. It is enough for
my present purpose to treat of the great financial
question which Lord Cornwallis was now called upon
to solve. The British-Indian Government was in a
state of absolute bankruptcy. The alarm which was
entertained in Leadenhall-street had communicated
itself to the Home Ministry, and the new Governor-
General was sent out with peremptory instructions
at once to curtail the ruinous war- charges which
were overburdening the State, whatever might be
the result of such retrenchments upon the military
and diplomatic operations then in progress in the
North-West.
On the 30th of July, as has been said, Cornwallis
took, a second time, the oaths of office. It was, I
believe, upon the very same, or on the following
M 2
LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
day, that he sent for Mr. Tucker, and requested him
again to take charge of the Public Finances. The Go-
vernor-General, who knew well how the success of
the measures, which he was now about to undertake
in an hour of extreme peril, depended upon the
ability of the Finance Minister who was to shape
his plans of reform and to carry out all their details,
had taken counsel with the chief functionaries who
met him on his arrival, and inquired into the per-
sonal agency at his disposal for the execution of the
policy on which he had determined. He had known
Mr. Tucker during his first tenure of office only as
a young but a promising subordinate. During the
years, however, of his absence from India, he had
taken the liveliest interest in its concerns, and had
continually corresponded with one of the ablest
officers and readiest writers in the country. From
Mr. Barlow he had never ceased to receive detailed
accounts of all that had been passing in India ; and
he must have been well acquainted with the services
which Mr. Tucker had rendered as a financier
during the early years of Lord Wellesley's adminis-
tration. What he before heard was now repeated
what he before believed was now confirmed by the
representations of Barlow, Edrnonstone, and Lums-
den ;* and he determined, therefore, to endeavor to
recall Mr. Tucker to his old place in the financial
bureau.
* Barlow at this time Sir George Barlow, for his distinguished services
had earned him a baronetcy was senior Member of Council, Mr. Edm on-
stone and Mr. Lumsden were the chief officers of the Secretariat.
THE STATE AND THE " HOUSE." 165
By no man was Lord Cornwallis more respected
and more beloved than by Mr. Tucker. No man
saw more clearly than the old Accountant- General
that the State had need, in sucji an emergency,
of all the administrative capacity it could com-
mand and most especially in the department of
Finance. But much as, on these accounts, it would
have delighted him to return to his old office, he was
compelled, at this time, to recognise the cogency of
other more immediate claims. He could not, with-
out injury to his associates in business, withdraw
himself from the mercantile House with which he
was connected, and of which his industry and ability
had rendered him confessedly the main stay. It
was, indeed, his primary duty, under the circum-
stances which then surrounded him, to cling to the
mercantile friends with whom he had linked himself,
whatever might be the allurements which tempted
him to return to the service of the State. He was
still on the list of Government servants ; but he had
made his election to retire. And the pledges which he
had made to his associates could not then be violated
without injury to the House and without discredit
to himself. He could only, indeed, withdraw under
a voluntary release from his partners in business,
and the assurance that his withdrawal would not be
detrimental to the House.
The flattering offer made to him by Lord Corn-
wallis was therefore declined. Whether any advice
was elicited from him at this time I do not know,
but the course adopted by Lord Cornwallis was that
166 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of which, had his opinion heen sought, he would have
cordially approved. Two days after his arrival, his
Lordship addressed a letter to the Court of Directors,
in which he said, " I take the earliest opportunity
of an overland despatch to inform you of my arrival
at this place, and of my having taken upon me
the office of Governor- General on the 30th ultimo.
Finding, to my great concern, that we are still at
war with Holkar, and that we can hardly be said to
he at peace with Scindiah, I have determined to
proceed immediately to the Upper Provinces, that I
may he at hand to avail myself of the interval which
the present rainy season must occasion to the mili-
tary operations, to endeavor, if it can he done with-
out a sacrifice of our honor, to terminate by nego-
tiation a contest in which the most brilliant success
can afford no solid benefit, and which, if it should
continue, must involve us in pecuniary difficulties
which we shall hardly be able to surmount."
In fulfilment of the intentions here expressed,
Lord Cornwallis set out immediately upon his
journey, by water, to the Upper Provinces of India.
On the 9th of August he wrote from his pinnace on
the Ganges a more detailed letter to the Court of
Directors. " One of the first objects," he wrote,
" to which my attention has been directed since my
accession to this government, was an inquiry into
the state of our Finances, the result of which affords
the most discouraging prospects." And then,
having enlarged upon the necessity of disbanding
the large bodies of Irregular troops, the mainte-
SACRIFICE OF THE INVESTMENT. 167
nance of which was then costing the State little less
than six lakhs of rupees a month, and of paying up
the arrears due to the regular forces, he went on
to say : "I am necessitated to look to an extraor-
dinary resource in this state of things, and that
which has presented itself to my mind as the most
expedient is the detention of the treasure destined
for China, and expected in the ships under the con-
voy of Sir Thomas Troubridge. Whether that may
be the full extent of 200,000/. advised to be intended
for China, or whether a portion of it only is in those
ships, I am not informed ; but the urgency of the
case is so great here, that I have taken upon myself
to direct the whole of what may be imported on
that part of the China fleet to be landed at Madras,
and to be forwarded immediately to this Presidency ;
and I have also strongly urged the Madras Govern-
ment, if they find they can spare 50,OOOZ. of the
specie allotted for the service of that Presidency, to
consign that sum also to Bengal, applying to the
Admiral for such protection for the despatch of the
treasure as may obviate all risk from the danger of
an enemy." The crisis, indeed, was such, that it was
necessary to sacrifice the Investment. The imme-
diate demand for money utterly overwhelmed the
thought of prospective advantage.
Such were the first measures to which Lord Corn-
wallis directed his attention. As he proceeded up
the river, however, his health began to decline, and
with only some transient intervals of delusive im-
provement his malady increased upon him, until at
168 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Ghazeepore, on the 5th of October, he sunk into
rest. Many deplored his return to office, and ques-
tioned the wisdom of his measures ; but all beloved
and respected him living, and all lamented him
dead.
Sir George Barlow had some time before been
appointed provisional Governor-General. He now
took the oaths of office. "What Lord Cornwallis had
desired, his successor also yearned and strove to
accomplish the re-appointment of Mr. Tucker to
the Accountant- Generalship of Bengal. It seems that
the latter had, some time before, promised Sir George
Barlow, that if ever the Governor-Generalship de-
volved upon him, he would become his chief Minister
of Einance. The new Governor- General was not for-
getful of this promise. A change had come over Mr.
Tucker's position with regard to the mercantile House
of which he was a partner, since he had conceived
himself necessitated to decline the flattering invita-
tion of Lord Cornwallis. Mr. Palmer was now return-
ing to Calcutta, and his arrival was shortly expected.
It was now therefore in the power of Mr. Tucker to
enter again into official life without injury to his
associates. So he consented to take charge of the
finances.
It was with no common feelings of delight that
Sir George Barlow welcomed the succor which thus
opportunely presented itself to him, at a time when
the Government was beset with embarrassments and
perplexities from which there seemed to be little
hope of extrication. It was not a great military
ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE. 169
question it was not a great political question that
had now to be solved. It was simply a Financial
question. The Financial question had absorbed every
other consideration ; and of little service to the State
was it at such a time that the military skill of a
Lake, and the diplomatic talents of a Malcolm, were
continually at its command. What was wanted to
save the country in such a juncture, was not a great
Soldier, or a great Diplomatist, but a great Financier ;
and now the Government had obtained the services
of the man they needed, and Sir George Barlow was
full of gratitude and joy, which he did not hesitate
to express. The letter in which he communicates
these sentiments to his friend, is written with a
fervor the sincerity of which gleams out of every
sentence :
" SIR G. II. BARLOW TO MR. TUCKER.
" Saturday.
" MY DEAR TUCKER, Incessant interruption has prevented
me from answering your note. I am at a loss for words to ex-
press my sense of this mark of your friendship. Your under-
taking again the management of the Finances at this critical
period under the circumstances supposed, would be of the
greatest importance to the public interests and welfare, and the
success which I am confident would attend your exertions
would reflect the highest degree of credit on my Government,
and constitute its chief support. I therefore accept your offer
with joy and gratitude; and only hope that I shall not find you
have made too great a sacrifice of your personal interests to
your friendship for me.
" I am persuaded there will be no difficulty with Davis; and
I will make any consideration you may think proper to Eger-
ton for waiving his claim to the succession, under the promise
of it which I obtained from Lord Cornwallis. If you will call
170 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
upon me to-morrow we will settle tlie whole arrangement as
you may wish it should be made, if it is to take place.
" Believe me to be, with the greatest regard,
" Yours ever sincerely,
" G. H. BARLOW."
The necessary official arrangements were soon
completed. There was much good feeling on the one
side, and of delicacy on the other. It was settled
that Mr. Davis, the retiring Accountant- General,
should make up the accounts of the old year, and
retain his official designation until his departure for
England, which was close at hand. That every con-
sideration should he shown to his predecessor, and
that Government should especially recognise his
services, Mr. Tucker anxiously desired, and emphati-
cally requested, whilst Mr. Davis upon his part ex-
erted himself to facilitate an arrangement which he
knew to he advantageous to the State.* On the 18th
of October, Mr. Tucker took charge of the current
business of the office, t A week before this, however,
* " I am to take charge of the current business from Davis to-morrow,"
he wrote to Mr. Lumsden, on the 17th of October. "He has shown every
possible desire to accommodate matters in the most satisfactory manner." In
another letter from Mr. Lumsden to Sir George Barlow, the writer says :
" Tucker desires me to say, that from what he has already seen he is satisfied
that Davis is entitled to very high credit for his general management, that he
has shown the most cheerful readiness to come into all his wishes, and that
he (Tucker) hopes that you will record a handsome testimony of your sense
of Davis's conduct, on the occasion of his resignation of the office of Account-
ant-General."
f It was arranged that Mr. Tucker should covenant to relinquish his con-
nexion with the House of business within a month after the arrival of Mr.
Palmer, which was then shortly expected. See letter from Mr. Lumsden to
Sir G. Barlow (November 2, 1805), in which the writer says : " In consequence
of the arrival of your despatches for the Medusa, the meeting of Council in-
tended to be held on Thursday was postponed by Mr. Udny till yesterday.
Davis's resignation was then ready, and Tucker's appointment to the office of
FINANCIAL MEASURES. 171
he had fully determined upon the measures which it
behoved Government to prosecute in the existing
crisis, and had written the following elaborate letter
to the Governor-General :
"FROM MR. TUCKER TO SIR GEORGE BARLOW, BART.
"llthOct,, 1805.
"MY DEAR SIR GEORGE, In consequence of Egerton
having somewhat prematurely mentioned to Davis your in-
tended arrangement for my succession to the office of Ac-
countant-General, I thought it necessary to explain to the latter,
and found that he had no objection to deliver over charge of
the office whenever you might wish it. I thought it advisable,
therefore, to inform myself of the state of affairs as soon as
possible ; and as a few questions will call for your early atten-
tion, I shall briefly advert to them.
" From a cursory view of the accounts, it would appear that
our situation is such as to require the most particular attention.
It must be thoroughly probed ; and when fairly exhibited, you
will be convinced, I think, that nothing but the most deter-
mined resolution, and the most vigorous measures, will extricate
us from the greatest embarrassment. Our expenditure of late
for military and political purposes has been enormous ; and
instead of a surplus revenue, the Indian account proper ex-
hibits at present a most lamentable deficiency. The supplies to
the other Presidencies, too, and particularly to Bombay, appear
to have been on a scale altogether disproportionate to our re-
sources.
" Now, whatever we may hope for from good management,
or the influence of public opinion, our prosperity can never be
solid or permanent unless it rest upon a substantial foundation,
and this foundation must be a solvent account. If we go on
upon a scale of expense far exceeding our income, the concern
Accountant-General has been made. A note will appear in the proceedings,
stating that Tucker will relinquish all concern in the House of Trail, Palmer,
and Co., at the expiration of a month after the arrival of Mr. Palmer, which
may be expected in the course of the present or the ensuing month."
172 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKEK.
to the Company, as I have before observed to you, must be
ruinous, in whatever degree the nation may benefit from our
possessions in India.
" I am persuaded, therefore, that you will see the absolute ne-
cessity of making a complete reform in our expenditure, not con-
fining it to this Presidency, or stopping at slight reductions, but
extending it so far as to bring our annual charge within our
annual revenue at the very least. Should peace be happily re-
established, I should hope that great reductions might be effected
in the military establishments of Fort St. George and Bombay ;
and this object cannot too soon or too forcibly be impressed
upon the attention of those Governments, and of the Court of
Directors. Here, too, I trust further reductions will be found
practicable ; and it is of great importance that they should be
made at as early a period as possible, consistently with a proper
regard for our external and internal security. The magnitude
of our military Establishments in the Western Provinces sub-
jects us not only to a direct charge to an immense amount, but
also to an indirect charge, by compelling us to remit from hence
the deficiency upon the account of revenue and charge of those
provinces at very great expense.
"I am apprehensive that the ten-per-cent. loan will not suc-
ceed to such an extent as might have been wished, and I regret
extremely that the interest was not allowed to have retrospec-
tive operation, because it would have furnished a strong addi-
tional motive for the transfer of the cash passes and Treasury-
bills, and cur object should have been to render the loan as
productive as possible, in order that we may not be compelled
to recur to any similar expedient at a future period. Had the
outstanding passes and a fair proportion of the Treasury-bills
been transferred, I should have entertained sanguine hopes of
our succeeding very soon in re-establishing the credit of our
currency, which is the very first object to be attended to.
About 28,00,000 rupees in passes still remain in demand against
the Treasury ; and if these be not transferred before the loan
closes, which I scarcely now expect, some other means must be
do vised to relieve ourselves from them, and nothing occurs to
FINANCIAL MEASURES. 173
me. at present, but to get them exchanged for bills at a pretty
long sight on the provincial treasuries. This is a sort of anti-
cipation of our land-revenue ; but still nothing can be done
until we get rid of this encumbrance. The Treasury-bills out-
standing amount to about 1,14,00^000 rupees ; but I am not
alarmed at this sum.
" It will be advisable, in my opinion, to open an eight-per-
cent, loan as soon as possible after the ten-per-cent. loan closes,
both for the purpose of supplying the remaining deficiency of
the year, and of affording the military in Oude, &c., &c., an
opportunity of realising their arrears, a proportion of which
they are always glad to remit to the Presidency through the
channel of the public loans. I have been reflecting a good
deal on the terms which it would be expedient to grant ; and,
after the best consideration I have been able yet to give the
question, it appears to me that an eight-per-cent. loan at par
will be most suitable to existing circumstances. I was disposed
to think at first that a loan might be attempted even above par;
but, considering our actual situation, I am apprehensive that
this would be found too large a stride, and it is moreover ex-
tremely desirable to fund a large proportion of the heavy
arrears in Oude, for which a loan above par would scarcely
afford sufficient inducement. I would keep the loan open but
for a short period (say to the 1st February), in order that we
may have more time to raise our terms gradually ; and should
we succeed in this first step, the next loan, I should hope,
might be opened at two per cent, above par. We must do
everything possible to raise the eight-per-cents., that we may
be able to offer by some subsequent loan next year favorable
terms to induce the transfer of the ten-per-cent. debt, amount-
ing to a crore of rupees, which becomes payable in January,
1807. This debt will otherwise be most embarrassing.
" With regard to Investment, I can only say that Davis
seems to think it will be impossible to furnish further advances
this year; and I am much inclined to concur in the opinion, for
the first consideration is to emancipate ourselves from a state of
absolute bankruptcy, and to re-establish our credit. This done,
LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
we shall have a fair prospect of being able to furnish a proper
Investment next year; but if we neglect to attend to this
primary consideration, I can perceive no better ground for ex-
pecting an Investment next year than we have had in the pre-
sent. I understand, however, that some arrangement has been
made for disposing of the shipping, founded on a presumption
that an Investment to the amount of 80,00,000 rupees may be
provided by the month of August next. This appears to me a
most extravagant proposition I believe no precedent for any-
thing of the kind is to be found in times of our greatest pros-
perity ; but to attempt such a violent effort while we are yet in
uncertainty whether we are at peace or war, and while our
credit is in a state of great depression, would be both impru-
dent and fruitless. I do not enter into the consideration of the
question, how far it is wise to keep the ships here so long on
demurrage on any uncertainty, or how far it is judicious to
make a total alteration with respect to the period of sending
home the annual Investment, because these are professional
questions on which others are better informed But I would
not engage to furnish the means of providing this premature
Investment, and I would not hold out expectations to the Court
of Directors, which may influence their arrangements, when
the expectation cannot be indulged upon any solid grounds.
" This is all which it occurs to me at present to mention on
public business. I shall keep you regularly advised of every-
thing ; and after my appointment takes place, I shall wait upon
Mr. Udny from time to time, and submit to him every mea-
sure of importance which it may appear to me necessary to
adopt. There is one little matter, however, which concerns
myself individually, with which I must trouble you. I could
wish to be permitted to occupy the apartments in the office
which were heretofore occupied by my predecessors, and which
are at present unoccupied. Independently of considerations of
economy, comfort, and health (for the situation of the house is
particularly favorable), I should experience real convenience
from living in my office with my books and papers always
about me. I could do business at hours when it might other-
FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS. 175
wise be impracticable those under me would probably be
more regular in their attendance when I should be always at
hand to overlook them and individuals with whom I might
have business would not have to search for me in different
places. This was sometimes, I believe, attended with no
trifling inconvenience when I had three separate haunts, as I
must have still for two or three months. If it be judged ne-
cessary to put the house into a state of repair, it can now be
done without incurring the expense of hiring another building
for the temporary accommodation of the office, as I would give
up my own house for the purpose. I am not, however, solicitous
myself to have this done immediately, if it be not necessary, as
I can always make my own apartments sufficiently comfortable.
Nor have I a word more to say with respect to the arrange-
ment if it be liable to the slightest objection.*
" We continue to receive none but the most afflicting
accounts of poor Lord Cornwallis; but this distressing subject
has been sufficiently long on your mind, and so it has on mine.
I shall ever continue to revere his memory as the greatest of
public characters and the most excellent of men.
" Believe me ever, very sincerely, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
In all cases of pecuniary embarrassment, national
or individual, the first step towards extrication must
be a correct ascertainment of the debts and liabili-
ties for which provision is to be made. It was cer-
tain that in Upper India the military expenditure had
been enormous, and that the pay of the army was
greatly in arrears. What the exact deficiency was,
Mr. Tucker set himself at the outset to ascertain;
but it will be gathered from the following letter, that
correct information on this vital point was with
difficulty to be acquired :
* These arrangements were cheerfully sanctioned by the Governor-General;
and Mr. Tucker re-occupied his old official residence.
176 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" MR. TUCKER TO SIR GEORGE BARLOW.
" Calcutta, 13th October, 1S05.
" My DEAR SIR GEORGE, Lumsden favored me this morn-
ing with the perusal of your letter to him of the 10th instant,
and I hasten to communicate all the little information I can on
a subject which must engage your particular attention,
" One of the first inquiries I made was to ascertain the arrears
of the army in the Western Provinces, and they were stated
to me, on the latest information obtained at the Accountant-
General's office, at 33,00,000 rupees. To meet this and other
demands, I learnt from Davis that 37,00,000 had been remitted
in specie and bullion.
Not being satisfied, however, that the arrear was ascertained
to a period sufficiently late, I referred again to Egerton yester-
day, but have not yet been able to obtain more accurate infor-
mation. I have written also to Mr. Mackenzie, and when I
can ascertain the probable extent of the demand I shall do
everything in my power to provide for it. In the mean time I
have sent for one of the principal shroffs, to see if it be possible
to effect remittances from hence by Hoondee or otherwise. I
have no great hopes of immediate success, but you shall be im-
mediately advised if anything can be done. Perhaps the Com-
mander-in-Chief or yourself may be able to draw on Moorshe-
dabad at or near par, as the purchasers of your bills would be
certain of obtaining payment in specie. You could not do so
in Calcutta just now without stipulating for payment in specie,
because the shroffs Avill certainly demand a difference of ex-
change equal at least to the real or expected discount on the
Treasury-bills. By drawing on Moorshedabad, you would avoid
the necessity of making a stipulation which is calculated to dis-
credit the Treasury-bills; and I should do everything in my
power to provide funds at that place to meet your bills.
" It is impossible that we should go on well if we continue
so much in the dark with respect to the military disbursements
in Oude, &c., for the distance is so great that the arrangements
for furnishing the necessary supplies must be made long before
they are likely to be required. I have therefore furnished
ACCOUNTS OF THE ARMY. 177
Lumsden with the form of an estimate, and have suggested
that all the paymasters of the army be directed to forward one
on the 1st of every month to the Accountant- General direct.
If we are to wait for information until it passes through all the
processes of the Military Department, we never can depend on
receiving it in time. I do not mean to say that the present
distress for supplies has proceeded from not knowing our
wants, for we have not actually possessed the means of supply-
ing them ; but still the information is essential.
" It occurred to me that some person experienced in accounts
(Sherer, for instance) might be of great use, either with you
or the Commander-in-Chief ; but I hear that Mr. Nugent has
been appointed to superintend the accounts of the army ; and
if you will only direct him to keep the Accountant- General
regularly informed of the arrears, probable disbursements of the
army, &c., &c., every necessary purpose will, I trust, be an-
swered.
"Every possible attention will be paid to the state of
Colonel Collins' treasury ; and if means can be devised for
supplying it at an early period, I will not fail to let you know.
It must, in fact, be considered one of the treasuries of the
army.
" Believe me ever, very sincerely, &c.,
" H. ST.G. TCJCKER.
" P.S. I find, from Mr. Mackenzie, that he has no account
of the military arrears in Oude later than the 31st of July,
when they amounted to Sicca rupees 33,00,000, as noted by
Egerton (Sonaut rupees 35,00,000).
"H. T."
A few days afterwards lie wrote again to the
Governor- General, urging upon him, in emphatic
language, the necessity of prompt and decisive mea-
sures, regardless of all scruples on the score of
personal considerations :
N
178 ;LIEE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" MR. TUCKER TO SIR GEORGE BARLOW.
Calcutta, 19th October, 1805.
" MY DEAR SIR GEORGE, Lumsden will have informed
you that Davis readily assented to everything that was pro-
posed regarding the future arrangement of the office, and I now
attend to the current business, and shall take charge from him
regularly, as soon as he can complete the annual accounts of the
past year.
" I have held in mind the necessity of making provision for
the supply of the army in the field, and orders have been sent
to the collectors of Behar to make a remittance in specie to
Cawnpore with all possible expedition. I am in hopes that
three or four lakhs may be sent off immediately, and you or the
Commander-in-Chief will of course give the necessary orders for
the disposal of the money on its arrival at Cawnpore. Much
cannot be done at present. I could obtain Hoondees for a few
lakhs of rupees on Lucknow, in exchange for bills on our Bengal
treasuries; but it will be giving away our only resource here,
and I wish, therefore, to wait a little before I adopt this mea-
sure. If I find that the money is absolutely necessary for the
army, all other objects must give place to this paramount con-
sideration .
"The loan closes to-day; and I fear it will not have suc-
ceeded to the extent necessary to relieve us from our embarrass-
ments. The amount of Treasury passes outstanding has in-
creased within a day or two, instead of being diminished; and
to place the Treasury in a solvent state will now be impossible.
We have only about seven lakhs of our English money remain-
ing to meet demands to a very large amount, independently of
a heavy arrear.
" I have prepared the plan of an eight-per-cent. loan, which
I propose to submit to Mr. Udny immediately. I propose that
subscriptions should be received at par that the acknowledg-
ments should bear an interest of ten per cent, per annum, until
they are exchanged for notes and that, in the instance of cash
passes and Treasury-bills, interest should be allowed at the same
rate (ten per cent.) from their respective dates, instead of the in-
LETTER TO SIR GL BARLOW. 179
terest which they severally bear at present. The same reasons
which induced me to recommend that interest should be allowed
retrospectively at ten per cent, on subscriptions to the present
loan, apply equally to the proposed loan; and I have some hopes
that the difference of interest which will be obtained may
operate as an inducement to individuals to transfer their cash
passes and Treasury-bills which have been long outstanding. It
is very desirable of course to get rid of these, for while the
passes hang over us, we can never re-establish our credit, and
the old Treasury-bills, as they come in, will be converted in
general into these passes. Moreover, the service to be provided
for this year is so extensive and urgent, that we must have a
productive loan, and every inducement should be held out to
render it so.
"With respect to investment, I am much afraid that it will
be quite impossible to furnish any further advances this year.
Had the loan taken off nearly the whole of our cash passes, I
was in hopes that something further might have been done for
the investment ; but we have not only to encounter still a large
deficiency here, but we must attend to the supply of the army
as an object of the first consideration.
" As soon as Davis has finished the accounts of last year
and the estimate of the present, it is my intention to prepare for
you a brief abstract calculated to exhibit our real situation, or
the present state of the account proper of India, unconnected
with the supplies to or from Great Britain. I fear it will exhi-
bit a very discouraging result; but I confidently rely on your
exerting every degree of energy to give a different complexion
to our affairs. From all I have seen, I am firmly persuaded
that another year of improvident expenditure on the scale of the
past, would have exposed us to the most serious calamity, and
the mischief is only now to be averted by the most determined
conduct on your part without regard to personal considerations
of any kind. You will excuse my writing to you with freedom,
for you know that I can have but one motive. Reflect for one
moment what might be apprehended if, after going on antici-
pating our resources, we came at length to that point that we
N2
180 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEK.
could no longer pay our troops. It is obvious that an army
cannot be of any use unless it can be moved, and that it cannot
be moved unless it can be subsisted. We have touched very
nearly upon this point already; and if we had not received so
liberal a supply of money from England, I know not how you
could have undertaken another campaign. If any accident
should happen during your administration, the blame and
responsibility will attach to you, although the mischief may
have been prepared by others. I do not mean that you are to
be influenced by the consideration of what may happen to
yourself. The object to be attended to is the public interest;
and this is inseparable from your own. I only hope that you
will not allow delicacy towards others, nor any collateral consi-
deration, to interfere with the steady pursuit of this object.
You are placed in a most delicate and a most arduous situation ;
and the most determined firmness can alone, I think, enable you
to avoid very great embarrassments.
" I know little of our political situation, and it would not,
therefore, become me to say anything on the subject. Peace is
evidently most desirable, if it can be established on a solid
foundation; for, until it be restored, we cannot expect to get
rid of the enormous military charge which at present oppresses
us. I trust, however, that as far as reform can be effected,
both military and civil, you will do everything possible to ac-
complish it, whether we are to have peace or war. Much may
be done, no doubt, if we set seriously to work; and that it is
necessary, both with a view to the public interests and your
own reputation, that a very material reform should be made,
there cannot be a doubt.
" 20th October. I was interrupted yesterday, and was unable
to conclude my letter.
" On looking more minutely into the accounts, it appears to
me that the difficulties which Davis has had to encounter have
not been fairly appreciated. They have been very great. I
have not had for some time past a favorable opinion of our
situation; but I never apprehended that our expenditure, pro-
XETTER TO SIR G. BARLOW. 181
fuse as I suspected it to have been, was on such a scale. I was
as much surprised to hear of a military disbursement of
3,40,00,000 of rupees, as I should have been if it had been
ten times that amount. It is not, too, in the Military Depart-
ment only where this lavish expenditure appears to have taken
place of late. Considering, therefore, the difficulties which
Davis has had to surmount, I trust that you will bear ample
testimony to his merits. It will be but bare justice. He has
manifested, too, the greatest desire to accommodate and to
comply with your wishes in everything relating to the change
in the office.
" It is very possible, I think, that our late expenditure here
may be severely scrutinised in England, as in my opinion it
ought to be ; but whether it is, or not, I trust you will put an
immediate stop to it.
"I most earnestly conjure you not to leave the public purse
in the hands in which it has been placed for some time
past. I trust that you will take everything into your own
hands, and look to everything yourself. Let military men lead
our armies ; but do not make statesmen and financiers of men
who have not been formed such, either by nature or education.
If you wish me to speak more plainly, I will do it ; for I have
no idea of delicacy when there are great interests at stake. In
all matters of public duty, I am disposed at all times to say and
do what I think right and proper, without the smallest regard to
consequences. Is it not a miserable state of things, as Malcolm,
I think, very naturally asks, that the movement of our armies
should be obstructed, and those armies prevented from ' driving
Holkar to the devil,' for the want of a few lakhs of rupees? But
who has brought on this state of things? And is it not more
lamentable still that the fate of a great empire should in a great
measure be in the hands of a man who manifests such total igno-
rance on one branch of duty (the administration of finance) which
seems to have been especially entrusted to him of late? You
will excuse my harping on this subject, and indeed my agi-
tating it at all. Nothing but my feeling the deepest interest in
182 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
the prosperity of our affairs, and the success of your adminis-
tration, could have induced me to write on it.
" I have just had the perusal of poor Lord Cornwallis's in-
structions to Lord Lake of the 19th ultimo, and was particu-
larly gratified at observing the moderate course of policy which
it appears to have been his intention to pursue. I have also
had a long and confidential conversation with Robinson, which
has afforded me a good deal of information with regard to his
Lordship's sentiments and intentions. I shall never cease to
revere his memory ! May you happily conclude what he sacri-
ficed himself to accomplish.
" Believe me ever, very sincerely, &c. 3 &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" 20th October, 1805.
"P.S. The loan has produced only 60,00,000 rupees, and I
am sorry to say that it has called in but a small proportion of
the outstanding passes.
"H.T."
These manly utterances are to be admired; but
Sir George Barlow needed no such stimulants to
urge him to do what he believed to be the duty of
the chief ruler. Of the character and the conduct
of this statesman different opinions have been ex-
pressed. There is a mist of controversy about him.
History has taken note of him, chiefly to condemn ;
but they who have censured him most have under-
stood him least, and he never lived to see justice
done to him. His great moral courage, however,
has never been questioned even by the most viru-
lent of his assailants, and it shone forth conspicu-
ously at this time. He was one of those men who
never shrink from responsibility, but go straight
to the work before them without halting or waver-
SIR GEORGE BARLOW. 183
ing, or turning aside to regard personal distractions.
" I am fully sensible," he wrote to Mr. Tucker, on
the 18th of October, " of the nature and extent of
our financial difficulties, and that there is no other
mode of overcoming them but that which you have
described. You may rely that in this, as in all other
points, I shall pursue, without hesitation, the direct
course of my public duty. I shall rely on your
pointing out to me, from time to time, such articles
of expense as may appear to you to admit of being
reduced, and as may escape my notice." And again,
a week or two afterwards, he wrote: "You may
confidently rely on my executing, without hesitation,
whatever the exigencies of the Public Service may
require, in the most prompt and decided manner.
Lumsden will inform you that I had resolved to
pursue the line of conduct which you have so justly
stated to be absolutely necessary for the public in-
terests, as well as for the maintenance of my own
character, in the very arduous and responsible situa-
tion in which I have been thrown. I entirely concur
in all your able reasoning upon this subject, and
shall regulate my conduct accordingly, without re-
gard to any personal consequences or considerations
whatever. Lumsden will probably have informed
you that I have taken the most decided steps with
reference to this course of proceeding. I cannot
sufficiently thank you for the warm interest you take
respecting me, nor for the undisguised manner in
which you have stated to me the difficulties of my
situation. Confidently rely, that in so doing you
184 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
have added greatly to my esteem and affection for
you ; and I trust that you will find me deserving of
the confidence you have reposed in me." And in a
later letter he wrote, still in the same strain, but
with more emphatic earnestness : " I entreat, my
friend, that you will continue to write to me with
the utmost freedom ; for no person can be more fully
sensible than myself that my character and future
happiness depend upon my doing not what I wish,
or what I think right, but what is actually right.
I trust, however, that in future you will always
suppose that when your opinion differs from mine,
or when events shall prove that I have erred, that I
at least acted for the best, and under the influence
of public motives exclusively, without any private
motive in view whatever."
There was little fear of two men, who entered into
their work thus manfully and in the same spirit,
not co-operating heartily together. What they had
to do may be gathered, in some measure, from Mr.
Tucker's letters already quoted. In a few words, it
was to find money for present emergencies, and to
diminish the future expenditure of the State. The
former was to be done by applying to immediate
purposes the money which, under ordinary circum-
stances, would have been devoted to the Investment,
and by opening a new loan. The latter was to be
done by a reduction in every department of the
State, and especially by a reduction of the war-
charges. " The great reforms from which we are
to expect relief," wrote Sir George Barlow to Mr.
SIR GEORGE BARLOW. 185
Tucker, " must be made in the Political and in the
Military expenses ; and, depend upon it, I will not
stop until I have rendered our expenses propor-
tionate to our income. The danger to which we
are exposed whilst our finances remain in their pre-
sent melancholy state is, in my opinion, infinitely
greater than any danger which we are likely to
incur by the reduction of our military and political
expenses to the scale which I have stated." And
again, in another letter : " Lumsden will have in-
formed you of the orders for the return of the Bom-
bay army to Goozerat, and I have taken measures
for the reduction of all war-expenses both at Port
St. George and Bombay ; and I am now preparing
further orders for effecting reductions in their ordi-
nary military expenses to the extent which may be
practicable consistently with our security. I shall
not, indeed, scruple to expose that security to some
little hazard to avoid the greater danger resulting
from the deranged and embarrassed state of our re-
sources. Lord Lake has assured me that he has
every reason to hope he shall be able to order all
the troops on this side into Cantonments without
delay, excepting a light army, which he proposes to
retain under his own personal command, until we
have brought matters to a termination with Holkar,
which I trust we shall be able to effect in a very
short period of time. Lumsden will have informed
you of the reductions which I have ordered or pro-
posed in the civil branch of our establishments
here; and I believe that I have anticipated or
186 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
adopted all your suggestions on this subject. I am
firmly determined to proceed in making reductions
throughout India, until we have rendered our fixed
expenditure proportionate to our income."
These views were entirely in unison with those
entertained by Mr. Tucker, who saw, perhaps even
more distinctly than the Governor- General himself,
the dangers which surrounded our position ; for the
one subject of [Finance was ever present to his
thoughts. Erom all quarters there was a cry for
money, and who could be more painfully conscious
of our embarrassments than the man whose duty it
was to provide it if he could? But to respond
satisfactorily to all these demands was clearly an
impossibility. " If it would answer any useful pur-
pose to enter into details of our situation," he wrote
to Mr. Edmonstone, towards the close of November,
" you would see how impossible it is at the present
moment to provide for the demands which are
pressing upon us from all quarters. I yesterday re-
ceived a statement showing that the troops in
Bundlekund are six months in arrear, (there will be
above fifteen lakhs due to them at the end of the
present month,) and some of them have not even
been completely paid for April and May. The Grand
Army is also greatly in arrear. There are defi-
ciencies in every principal Treasury in the country.
Our general Treasury has long been bankrupt. Our
currency is vitiated, and our means of borrowing
are pretty well exhausted." " We have been going
on very heedlessly," he added, " towards a precipice,
FINANCIAL PROSPECTS. 187
and it will require a good strong arm and a skilful
horseman to pull up without a tumble."
A few weeks afterwards, in a letter to Sir George
Barlow, he entered upon an elaborate review of the
Financial position of the country, and the difficulties
and obstructions which impeded his efforts to meet
the demands which were made upon the Public
Treasury, and to substitute something like order for
the confusion in which the accounts were involved.
The letter affords so clear an insight into the cha-
racter of these difficulties, that it would be well to
give it with scarcely an erasure :
" MR. TUCKER TO SIR GEORGE BARLOW, BART.
"Calcutta, 12th December, 1805.
" MY DEAR SIR GEORGE, .... I understand that you
have begun upon your intended reform ; but I fear what has been
done, or what can be done immediately, will afford but a very
trifling and inadequate relief. Unless the charge of the army
can be reduced at least one-fourth at all the three Presidencies,
and the charge of the Political Department in a much greater
proportion, the retrenchments which can be made in the other
branches of the service will not be felt, and India will continue,
as at present, a heavy charge upon England, instead of contri-
buting to the resources of the empire. The accompanying copy
of one of the monthly cash accounts of one of our foreign Resi-
dents, will show you to what a height the charges of this
department have been carried; and the register of bills drawn
by the same Resident, a copy of which is also enclosed, will
show the enormous expense incurred in supplying funds for
this wasteful disbursement. The sum of 41,985 rupees appears
to have been lost in drawing a single bill upon Hyderabad,
where the currency is in a most wretched debased state, as you
will probably hear in due season from other quarters. I do not
mean to say that the charges of the Residency latterly are upon
188 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the same scale; but they are still enormous, and I know not
how they can be reduced within moderate bounds but by
allowing the Residents a fixed salary to defray all personal
expenses of every description, in the same manner as is done
at Lucknow. The salary of 7000 rupees per month would be
ample, I think, for a Resident at a fixed station ; and if at any
time he should be compelled to move, a fixed allowance (say
'1000 rupees per month) might be granted for camp-equipage,
&c., contingencies. I know it was your object to accomplish
something very like this; but it would be better, I think, to
place all the Residencies at once upon the footing of that at
Lucknow. Much trouble, too, would be saved ; for there
would be no occasion to audit their charges, &c.
" You are not aware, perhaps, that the Dawkes at the dif-
ferent Residencies are maintained at a very great expense.
Some reform here may be practicable; and a very great reform
is necessary in the regulation of the Post Office generally.
Nothing can be more lamentable than the manner in which the
business of it is conducted at present.
" You have not, I believe, been furnished with any statement
of the fixed establishment of the Military Department (the
staff, &c.). It may be well, therefore, to call for a copy of the
Auditor's abstract statement; as it may appear to you that re-
trenchments can be made in this department.
" The loan, I am concerned to observe, scarcely produces
anything, and I have now abandoned all hope of being able to
provide for the deficiency of the year by any means which at
present occur to me. The demands from all quarters are
immense, and particularly from Bombay, where you will be
astonished to hear that their disbursements for military pur-
poses are at present at the rate of 17,00,000 rupees per month,
or above 2,00,00,000 rupees per annum. The resources of
India cannot possibly support the present charge, nor can we
even borrow to the extent of the deficiency. The capital of
India, although large, is not at all equal to the supply of the
demands which have been made upon it of late: there has
been much anticipation, as I have already observed and now
I have some reason to suspect that individuals are withdrawing
FINANCIAL PROSPECTS. 189
their capital, in many instances, from the public funds. This
proceeds partly, perhaps, from the apprehension excited by the
great depreciation of our currency of late, and the reports of
the distress for money experienced all over the country; and
partly but in a less degree from there being a demand for
capital for commercial purposes, the indigo and cotton specu-
lations having been very successful of late.
" The discount on the Treasury-bills rose lately to eleven per
cent. ; and it is impossible to say where it will stop, or how
business can be carried on if it continues. To get rid of it
will be a matter of great difficulty, and will require much
time; for it is not only established into a habit, but there are
many individuals deeply interested (and some, I am sorry to
say, most improperly so) in perpetuating it. I shall do all
I can to overcome it ; but without any prospect of immediate
success. The treasure expected from England by the July
Fleet will be of great assistance to us; but I have no idea now
that it will relieve us from our difficulties, as I once hoped it
would have done. Of the extent of these difficulties, I doubt
whether you have yet a just conception; but they will force
themselves into notice sooner or later. I am not apt to be
terrified at distant dangers; but it is the part of prudence to
look forward to them, and it is pusillanimity often which makes
us shut our eyes upon what we do not wish to see. Judging
from present appearances, I think it not only very improbable
that we shall be able to provide an investment, even on the
smallest scale, in the ensuing year, but I think it doubtful
whether we shall have the means of providing for the payment
of the army for the salt and opium advances and other in-
dispensable disbursements. With all our resources in the three
ensuing months, we shall not be able to get rid of the present
arrear; and after the month of February our receipts from the
land-revenue will be inconsiderable, and we cannot expect to
receive specie from any other source. A supply of specie,
however, to a certain extent, you must be sensible, is abso-
lutely necessary ; and if we cannot procure it, the public service
may be completely at a stand, and the most serious mischief
may be the consequence. While we continue to be burdened
190 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
with a heavy arrear, and while our Treasury -bills remain depre-
ciated, not a rupee in cash will be received from the salt,
opium, and other branches of the revenue. The discount on
the Treasury-bills has become so serious a charge, that indi-
viduals are beginning to have two prices for their goods,
according as payment may be made or promised in specie or
bills; and a difference of twelve per cent, has been made of
late, I understand, between these two rates. Nor is it very
surprising, considering all circumstances (our inability to dis-
charge the demands upon us the manner in which money has
been taken up in Oude, &c., &c.), that things should be in their
present state. It has been reported among the shroffs here,
and it is, I fancy, very generally believed, that Lord Lake has
been taking up money for bills on the provincial treasuries at
65 rupees per cent. I, myself, have no information of anything
of the kind ; and I cannot believe it possible that he can have
drawn at such a rate; but, admitting the fact, it will not appear
surprising that the public should consider us in the last stage
of bankruptcy, and act accordingly. The idea of preserving
credit, or of preserving bread and water for our subsistence
under such circumstances, would be romantic in the ex-
treme.
" The Bombay Government have not yet furnished a copy of
their annual accounts ; but as soon as they are received, I will
prepare and submit to you an abstract statement, showing the
deficiency upon the Indian Account of Revenue and Charge in
1804-5 and 1805-6, on estimate. It will convince you, I think,
that the deficiency is so great as to render it impossible that it
should be raised from the capital of this country by any ordi-
nary means. Even in England, where a large proportion of the
capital of the whole world centres, there is a limitation to
borrowing ; and you may perceive, from what has recently
transpired, to what difficulties the Government were reduced,
and to what objectionable expedients they were obliged some-
times to have recourse, in consequence of the magnitude of the
public disbursement. To this day the Bank has not recovered
itself ; and it is very questionable whether the whole system of
our country has not experienced a very injurious change. See
RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENT. 191
Lord King's pamphlet, and other publications on the same
subject.
" Here we are, in fact, in a new country, where there is no
fictitious capital arising from credit ; and it is utterly impossible
to raise resources beyond a certain moderate extent. If, there-
fore, we strain our means, the most serious inconvenience is to
be apprehended.
" You will, I fear, suspect that I have a pleasure in dwelling
upon this gloomy topic ; but I can assure you that the reverse is
very much the case. I have thought it my duty to represent our
situation to you in what appeax to me to be its true colors ; and it
rests with you to draw just inferences, and to act according to
the exigency of the case. The whole weight is upon you I have
no responsibility to apprehend ; for if I had, I should consider
it necessary to address you publicly on the present state of our
affairs, in order that I might not incur censure for improvidence
and a want of foresight. I shall not willingly recur to this
subject ; and I trust that I have said enough to admit of my
taking leave of it altogether, otherwise than to submit to you
such accounts as may be necessary for your information
" Some embarrassment has been experienced also from the
base coin issued a year or two ago from the Illahabad Mint,
and Government are experiencing a heavy and a constantly
recurring loss in consequence. I know not what to recommend
to do away the evil ; for we are too poor just now to call in the
coin. This question was treated with singular neglect, con-
sidering the very strong representation which Davis made at
the time to Government ; and I shall not be surprised if this,
among various other matters, should attract the particular notice
of the Government at home. The accounts of our military and
political expenditure of late, will, I have no doubt, become the
subject of inquiry ; and this is one motive for rny^urging on
you so strongly the necessity of making every practicable reform
with the least possible delay. A still stronger motive, however,
arises from the real exigency of the case.
" I was happy to hear, within a few days, that you intended
to proceed to the westward ; and I am only sorry that you
found it necessary to halt at all at Illahabad. I have not said
192 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
anything on this subject, because I was ignorant of your reasons
for not proceeding further, and I did not suspect that you would
have stopped so long at that place. The only reason which I
have heard suggested for the delay, was delicacy towards the
Commander-in-Chief, whose local authority and influence you
did not wish to supersede or interfere with ; but this delicacy,
I imagine, cannot have been necessary, or have influenced your
proceedings in any degree on the occasion.
'* Believe me ever, very sincerely, &c., &c.,
" H. Sx.G. TUCKER.
" 13th December, 1805."
This was but a gloomy picture of the existing
state of aifairs. At the end of the month, however,
he wrote somewhat more cheerfully, though still
there were great evils to be contended with, and
great obstacles to be surmounted. " I have learnt
with great satisfaction," he said, in a letter to Sir
George Barlow, written on the* last day of 1805,
" that you are prosecuting your reforms with vigor,
and I hope that the early return of the Army to
Cantonments will enable you to extend them to those
branches of the service where there is most room for
reform. At the other Presidencies, also, there is
certainly great room for amendment. The enclosed
papers from Eort St. George will show you on what
ruinous terms they have been raising money of late
at that Presidency. The practice of purchasing
specie is a miserable expedient indeed ; and if entire
dependence cannot be placed on the officer employed,
it is liable to the greatest abuse. Is it possible that
we could have gone on long in the course we have
been pursuing for some time past ? We have been
consuming a moderate revenue in interest, ex-
DISORDER OF THE FINANCES. 193
change, and premiums. The loss incurred on this
account is so great, that it will never be believed in
England that it can have been incurred without the
grossest misconduct on the part of the Government
and the public servants. Had the fact been stated
to me, I should not have believed it." "But," he
added, a little further on, continuing in a more hope-
ful strain, " if the Commander-in-Chief does not
find it necessary to interfere, by drawing or other-
wise, I have great hopes that we shall be able, by-
and-by, to reduce everything to order, and to make
arrangements for applying our resources to our
wants in the most advantageous manner
Within a few days we have succeeded in getting
down the discount on Treasury-bills to a moderate
rate (four or five per cent.) ; but whether we shall
succeed in reducing it further, or how long we shall
keep it at this rate, I cannot pretend to say. It had
risen to a most alarming height (between eleven
and twelve per cent.), and I began to apprehend
that an entire stop would be put to all commercial
transactions. I shall do everything in my power to
support the credit of our currency ; but you must
be sensible how difficult it will be to accomplish this
object, when the Treasury-bills have become quite a
matter of traffic, and all those engaged in the traffic
have an interest in causing the most violent fluctua-
tions."
"The Loan," he continued, "has produced only
about ten or eleven lakhs of rupees ; but it has sup-
ported the credit of the Public Securities, which
o
194 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
have lately, I am happy to say, experienced a trifling
rise. I have encouraged the disposition to rise by
making large purchases on account of the Sinking
Pund ; and if we could hut get rid of our present
burdensome arrear, I should indulge very sanguine
hopes of raising the credit of our paper, and of
restoring even the circulation of our Treasury-bills
in a short time. Next year, at all events, every-
thing will, I trust, be in a more prosperous state,
provided always that you are enabled to effect the
extensive reform which I am at present encouraged
to expect. If a favorable change be not effected,
we shall be very ill-prepared to meet the ten-per-
cent, debt, which becomes due this time twelve-
month ; but bad as is the present state of affairs, I
hope for a great deal from the Future. My best
efforts will not be wanting to ensure success."
An opportune arrival of bullion from England in
the early part of the year (1806), did much to facili-
tate the operations of the Accountant-General ; and
Mr. Tucker, in the month of March, referring espe-
cially to this seasonable remittance, wrote to Mr.,
afterwards Sir George, Robinson, a Director of the
East India Company, the following account of the
financial prospects of the State :
"MR. TUCKER TO MR. GEORGE ROBINSON.
"Calcutta, 12th March, 1806.
"MY DEAR SIR, As you feel interested, I am persuaded,
in our proceedings in this part of the world, I shall trouble you
with a large packet, if the papers can be copied in time for the
Thalia, for the purpose of showing you how we are going on
in the department of finance-
LETTER TO ME. ROBINSON. 195
" The large and seasonable supply of bullion just received from
England will be of infinite service to us ; and I trust that we
shall make good use of it. We have been in a most lamentable
state of poverty and distress of late ; but I flatter myself that the
current will soon be turned. If the military establishments be
immediately reduced to a proper scale if we continue at peace
and the Court of Directors continue to assist us with supplies
of bullion to a moderate extent, I would be answerable for the
speedy re-establishment of our finances, and I should hope to
commence a reduction, in a very short time, in the present
enormous charge of interest.
' * You may be surprised that I should express any doubt with
respect to the continuance of peace ; but I must confess I have
never had any great confidence in our new situation. When
things have been so much disturbed as they have been of late,
they do not easily settle into order. Our present ' political
relations' are not, in my opinion, very well calculated to secure
permanent tranquillity.
"You may also be surprised that I should entertain a doubt
with respect to the immediate reduction of our military esta-
blishments ; but although Sir G. Barlow has with heart and
soul urged on this reform, little has yet been accomplished. The
Irregulars are still an intolerable burden upon us. Great efforts,
however, have been made, at great expense, to provide funds
for discharging them, as well as all extra military establish-
ments maintained during the war ; and if they are not now
discharged, you will be able to form as accurate a judgment of
the reasons as I can pretend to do.
" We are now besieging Gohud, in order, I believe, that we
may be in a capacity to deliver over the country which has been
ceded by us. Some little loss has been sustained in an attack
upon an outpost ; but it is expected that we shall soon obtain
possession of the place.
" Captain Baillie is engaged in resuming the Joidaad lands
in Bundlekund, from which we hope to obtain a considerable
increase of revenue. He has gone on successfully hitherto ; but
I shall not be much surprised if the object should not be accom-
plished without military operations.
o2
196 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" The army under Lord Lake is still at Delhi, having a con-
siderable detachment in advance at Panniput, under Colonel
Burn. This advanced position will be maintained, I believe,
until Holkar thinks proper to move on to his own territory.
He is at present employed, we hear, in squeezing his friends the
Sikhs a little ; and when he may be disposed to leave ' the
right bank of the Hyphasis,' it is not very easy to say. I sus-
pect you will be a little surprised in England to find us engaged
on the theatre of the Macedonian conqueror. There are not
many men whom I will suspect hastily of possessing the en-
lightened mind and extended views of the son of Philip ; but
there are a few in camp who might, perhaps, personate him in
some other respects, and I am not quite certain that this idea
has not occurred to their own minds.
" The Rajpoot Rajahs are about to take up arms for the
purpose of deciding their claims to the fair hand of the Princess
of Oudipoor ; and as Scindiah feels deeply interested in the
question, and Holkar is supposed to be not altogether indifferent
to the young lady's fate, hopes may be entertained that she will
make a very desirable diversion in our favor. The gallantry of
our Alexanders, however, if they were left to themselves, would,
I believe, induce them to take a very active part in resolving
this connubial difficulty.
" If the Honorable Court of Directors feel any curiosity to
ascertain exactly the causes of the present derangement of their
affairs, I hope they will refer to Davis, for he will be able to
give them full and accurate information, and he is a man who
will tell a plain unvarnished tale. I do not, however, despair of
overcoming our difficulties in time, as you will perceive from the
tenor of my remarks on the Estimate for 1806-7, which I have
the pleasure to enclose. There are some reserves and provisos,
it is true ; but still I have great *hopes that we shall succeed
ultimately.
" I have nothing to add respecting the estate of poor Lord
Cornwallis nor, indeed, on any other subject which can
interest you.
" Believe me, my dear Sir, yours very sincerely,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
UNPOPULAR MEASURES. 197
To carry out such reductions of public expendi-
ture as had been determined upon by Sir George
Barlow and Mr. Tucker, without causing much
private inconvenience and exciting much personal
resentment, was clearly an impossibility. These mea-
sures, indeed, were of a character which, looking
back at them now, after the lapse of half a century,
seems to be so steeped in unpopularity, that if they
had been designed for the express purpose of goading
into hostility many of the ablest and most influen-
tial men in the country, could not have achieved
that object with more entire success. It was not
only in Lord Lake's Camp that the utmost indigna-
tion was excited and the bitterest enmity provoked.
There was hardly a native Court, with a Residency or
a Commissionership attached to it, in which a group
of political officers did not tremble for the security
of their old gains, whilst the lavish expenditure in
which they had been wont unquestioned to indulge,
was now regarded by Government as profligacy, and
denounced as a crime. Prom one end of the country
to the other, sinecurists and monopolists were smitten
with dismay. There was no longer to be any shelter
for idleness ; any toleration for extravagance. Every
man, who drew the money of the State, was to be
expected to work for it. Two men were no longer
to be suffered to do the work of one ; nor were places
to be made, that favored officers might fill them. A
general war was to be waged against slothfulness
and corruption of all kinds ; and the licence of un-
controlled expenditure was thenceforth to be a folly
198 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEH.
of the Past. How such, stern resolutions as these
must have affected vested interests in public extra-
vagance, it is not difficult to conjecture.
A few paragraphs from one of Mr. Tucker's letters,
written at this time, will illustrate, better than any-
thing else, the personal bearings of this great question
of economical reform. " The expense," he wrote to
Sir George Barlow, " of the foreign Residents, Com-
missioners, &c., has risen to an amount that will
astonish you ; but I hear that you have placed them
all under limitations, and you will not, I am sure,
make any exceptions. Malcolm's disbursements are
very heavy, and I cannot perceive the necessity or
propriety of allowing ten or a dozen of the public
servants to support something approaching to a
royal state. The establishment of the Governor-
General's office may, I think, admit of very great
reduction, for a few good writers, I should suppose,
would now perform all the duty of it, conducted, as
I have no doubt it will be henceforward, on a mode-
rate scale. The voluminous despatches of Lord Wel-
lesley were a great evil, for they not only caused
great delay in making very necessary communica-
tions, but they were not, I believe, read by half a
dozen individuals. The expense of the College should
be reduced as much as possible, and all sinecures,
such as Provosts, Vice-Provosts, &c., should, I think,
be altogether abolished. Great reductions, I should
hope, may be made by-and-by in collecting the re-
venues of the Ceded and Conquered districts ; and
the Provincial Corps may, perhaps, be dispensed with
UNNECESSARY OFFICES. 199
hereafter. The Assistant- Judges, I have heard, are,
in most instances, if not everywhere, an unnecessary
expense. Registers and Assistants might, I think,
do the duty perfectly well ; and the Judges should
be stimulated to greater activity. Some of these
extra-Judges, I understand, ridicule the appoint-
ment as absolutely useless. There have been some
appointments created of late years (the Superin-
tendent of Civil buildings, Assay-Master at Benares,
&c., &c.), which, I should suppose, can scarcely be
necessary in a time of distress. The Government
here might revise all such establishments, and strike
off everything superfluous. We shall not too, I hope,
have any occasion for establishments on account of
the Calcutta Militia. The Commercial Residencies
in Oude appear to me to be absolutely useless at
least for the present." "A systematic attention to
economy," he added, "should be observed through-
out every branch of the public expenditure. The
military charge is the great object to be looked to ;
and even during war much expense may be saved
by a strict attention to the manner of providing the
army with stores, provisions, &c., through the public
agents and contractors." What a blow is here struck
at personal interests of all kinds from those of the
lazy sinecurist to those of the greedy contractor !
If such measures had not been unpopular, our
Indian officials would have been the most virtuous
and self-devoted in the world. But they were
grievously unpopular. Never, perhaps, before or
after not even in that second great epoch of econo-
200 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER,
mical reform, when officers of the Indian army
evinced their impotent indignation by refusing to
dine with Lord William Bentinck has such a flood
of wrath been poured upon a public functionary as
now streamed out, primarily against Sir George
Barlow, and secondarily against Mr. Tucker. There
are broad marks of this extant in the correspon-
dence of the period to which I now refer ; but from
Tradition it may be gathered that worse things were
uttered, even at the dinner-tables of great men,
than any that were ever embodied in written words ;
though in those days much was recorded which,
after the unfailing action of time had cooled down
their individual resentments, the authors would
have blushed to read. I am not passing judgment
upon these displays of party and personal hostility.
The men who were betrayed into them were not
weaker than their brethren. Such infirmity is com-
mon to mankind. I only speak of it now, to show
that the great work of Reform to which Barlow and
Tucker had devoted themselves, was not one without
its own peculiar miseries, and that it demanded no
small amount of moral courage to prosecute it con-
sistently to the end. Even in these days men may
question the wisdom and propriety of some of these
individual acts of reform ; but looking at the aggre-
gate, it must be admitted that they were necessary.
Impartial History cannot refuse to pronounce that
they were honestly and manfully carried out. Bar-
low and Tucker had not a thought beyond the in-
terests of the State. The duty which had devolved
LETTERS TO THE COLLECTORS. 201
upon them was as painful as it was onerous ; and
they went through it with the sturdy resolution and
self-negation of honest men. And I believe that if
their cotemporaries had read, as I have done, all
the correspondence which passed between these two
public functionaries at this time, they would, in
spite of all private inducements to censure and con-
demn, have regarded with respect the straightfor-
ward conduct of the Governor- General and his Mi-
nister of Finance. But the exigencies of the occa-
sion were not appreciated. And the motives of the
men were not understood. It was natural that in
such a conjuncture rash judgments should be passed.
It is the great privilege of Honesty to live them
down.
In carrying out the details of the measures, which
little by little, and almost against the fondest hopes
of their projector, had the eifect of restoring some-
thing like order to our Finances, Mr. Tucker was ne-
cessarily brought into collision with members of his
own service, for it was his to stimulate the tardy
and to reproach the indolent ; and more than one
revenue-officer at this time received a private hint
from the Accountant- General, that if a little more
activity were not displayed in the collections, a pub-
lic reprimand would be the result of his remissness.
To one collector he wrote : " You are charged with a
most important trust ; and much will depend upon
your energy and activity. I trust, for your sake and
my own, and for the sake of the public service, that
you will exert yourself with vigor ; for I tell you
candidly, and from motives of real good- will towards
202 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
you, that if I perceived the least relaxation upon
your part, it would be my duty to represent it, that
steps might be taken to give effect to the efforts
which I have been called upon to make." To an-
other he wrote, in the same strain : " This is a mo-
ment when the exertions of every public officer may
be of importance to the service ; and I trust you will
exert yourself, and pay immediate attention to the
instructions you receive. I know that I have no
right to urge or recommend anything privately to
you, or any other public officer; but knowing, as
you must, that I can be influenced by none but
a good motive, you will, I am persuaded, take
what I say in good part ; and be better satisfied
with my calling your attention to an object of
importance in a private letter, than if I had ad-
dressed you in my public capacity." Other passages
of a similar tendency might be quoted from Mr.
T acker's correspondence with the revenue- officers
in the Provinces . " When I inform you," he
wrote to them, " that every lakh of rupees which
you remit to the army probably puts an end to a
monthly expense to an equal amount, you will be
able to understand my urgency." This, indeed,
was not the least distressing of his duties at this
time ; but he performed it, not only with temper and
moderation, but with such kindness, that it does not
appear that the performance, uncompromising as it
was, entailed much odium upon him. In estimating,
however, the difficulties of Mr. Tucker's position, it
should be borne in mind that he was a younger man,
and younger in the service, than the majority of
SYMPTOMS OF SUCCESS. 203
those whose proceedings he controlled, and whose
conduct he commented upon ; and that he had just
been called from the counting-house of a private
mercantile firm to take these responsibilities upon
him.
I have said that the resolute measures of Barlow
and Tucker began in time to develope symptoms of
success. As the new year advanced, the financial
prospects of the country gleamed more cheerfully
upon them ; the worst difficulties were surmounted ;
the crisis was passed ; and to the steady action of
Time might they now look hopefully for the rest.
They had begun by applying desperate remedies to des-
perate evils. They had sacrificed the Investment, and
they had anticipated the Revenue. It was their one
great pressing object to obtain ready money; for only
by the action of Cash payments at the outset could
the great icebergs of difficulty before them effectually
be melted away. Debt, indeed, was breeding debt so
rapidly, that, as Mr. Tucker truly said, every luipaid
lakh of rupees was entailing a monthly cost almost of
the same amount practically, something approach-
ing to an interest of 1200 per cent. Ruinous esta-
blishments, for all effective purposes quite unneces-
sary, were being maintained, simply because an em-
barrassed Government could not discharge their ar-
rears of pay. Prospective measures of reform were of
little use so long as there was no money in the Trea-
sury to give them immediate effect. As with indi-
viduals, so is it with Governments, the impoverished
and embarrassed cannot afford to retrench. Re-
204 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
trenchment, in most cases, involves prompt pay-
ment of arrears ; and how is this to be accom-
plished, if there be no money in the Treasury ? It
was necessarily, therefore, the first care of our ad-
ministrators in this great conjuncture of 1805-6 to
provide ready money for the purposes of the State,
even at a great prospective sacrifice, for no sacrifice
could be so great as that involved in the continuance
of the existing order of things. Cornwallis appro-
priated to general purposes the money intended for
the China investment. And his successor reluc-
tantly consented to measures which were identical
with a forestalment of the Revenue. The evils of
such a system were apparent; but such was the
pressure of the times, that the representations of
Lake and Malcolm, though every sound financial
theory might be violated by the forestalment, were
successful in the end, and an anticipation of the
Revenue of the Western Provinces was authorised
by Sir George Barlow, with the sanction of his
Financial adviser. " I am glad," wrote the latter,
" that your arrangements are satisfactory to Lord
Lake ; but he must not expect us to supply all that
may be wished, or all that may be wanted. We will
do all that circumstances may admit of, although
this, I fear, will fall short of what is required, in
a lamentable degree, if great and immediate re-
ductions be not effected. This plan of forestalling
is somewhat embarrassing ; for it leaves me in some
doubt with respect to what may be expected from
the future. Lord Lake is an experienced soldier;
VIEWS OF COLONEL MALCOLM. 205
and he ought to know that it is not very prudent to
lay waste a country, or even to forage in a country,
which you have occasion to march through. The
anticipation of our Revenue is precisely the same
thing, 5 ' "although," added Mr. Tucker, "I am
sensible that it may have been entirely justified by
the urgency of the case."
Of course, a grand feature in these, as in all other
arrangements of embarrassed Governments, was the
borrowing of money or, in technical language, the
opening of a loan. " I should borrow," wrote Mal-
colm* at this time, "two, three, or four crores if
necessary, and stop every species of investment, in
the full confidence that I was promoting the in-
terests of my country." The stoppage of the In-
vestment was easy; but the borrowing of the four
crores was a matter to be talked of at Muttra rather
than to be accomplished in Bengal. Money was
with difficulty to be obtained from the community
at an interest of ten per cent. The capital, indeed,
* It is well known that Malcolm's views were greatly opposed to those
of Cornwallis and Barlow; but it is an error to suppose that at this time
his opinions found utterance in bitter or disrespectful words, or that he
gave practical expression to them by hesitating to carry out their plans of
financial reform. Of Lord Cornwallis he wrote, in language of emphatic
admiration, as of " a great and good man, who has continued to the last to
devote himself to his country." "Few, if any," he continued, "have lived
with such honor; no one ever died with more glory." Of Sir George Barlow
he wrote, a month afterwards, " I am at a loss to express my gratitude for
the very flattering manner in which he has expressed his approbation of my
conduct. I shall thank him by my future exertions." " I trust," he con-
tinued, "that we shall have the definite treaty signed to-morrow, or next day
at furthest. I work at that and the reductions as hard as I can. The latter
will be reported on in a few days. They amount to about two lakhs per
mensem and if we can only send Holkar out of the Punjab, or out of the
world, the whole of this expense will be done away, and many others."
206 LIFE OE H. ST.a. TUCKER.
of the settlement had been forestalled. There was
little floating about, seeking public or private in-
vestment. Upon such a subject there was no better
authority than Mr. Tucker. " The loan proceeds
but slowly," he wrote to Sir George Barlow, in the
middle of November, "and I am not now at all
sanguine that it will succeed to the extent required.
In fact, there has been so much anticipation of late,
that there is no disposable capital in the market at
present, and of this I can form a very good judg-
ment, from what has been done by our own House.
We have invested, since the 1st of January last, in
the public loans, on account of our friends and our-
selves, about thirty- six lakhs of rupees, and Govern-
ment, within the same period, have borrowed about
two crores of rupees. This sum, I think, exceeds
the annual accumulation of capital at this Presi-
dency, and a part of it, therefore, must either have
been on anticipation, or have been drawn from some
other channel (from the support of commerce)."
This seems to be unanswerable. It was easy to talk
of borrowing money ; but no one had any to lend.
But money for immediate necessities was provided
in the manner above described ; and an opportune
arrival of bullion from England came to the further
aid of our financial administrators. In the mean
while an able and experienced civil officer was
despatched to the Western Provinces to exercise
personal superintendence over the monied concerns
of the Grand Army. Not one of the least of the
evils which had stared the new Accountant-General
IRREGULARITY OF THE PAY-ACCOUNTS. 207
in the face on Ms assumption of office, had been the
extreme confusion of the military accounts. At the
end of October, 1805, Mr. Tucker was informed by
the Military Audit or- General that no account had
been received from the Paymaster to Lord Lake's
army, since the month of September, 1804.* So gross
an evidence of irregularity was fit subject for severe
animadversion. Mr. Tucker commented forcibly upon
it ; but that was not a season in which time or energy
could be advantageously expended in reproaches and
regrets; so he addressed himself at once to a re-
medy. " Considering," he wrote, " the great distance
of the army from the Presidency the unsettled
state of everything at present in the new territory
the want of experience on the part of those who have
been recently introduced into the Pay Department
and the extensive duty to be performed by the
public officers here it appears to me that the super-
intending Power at the Presidency is not efficient ;
and that it would be highly desirable to have a
strong controlling power on the spot, acting under
your immediate authority and direction. I should
recommend the appointment of an Auditor and
Accountant for the Military Department "West of Be-
nares, to continue only until everything is brought
into order; and this officer should, of course, act
under the Military Regulations at present in force,
and report everything regularly to the superintend-
* " Even if we had been galloping after Holkar all the time," wrote Mr.
Tucker to Sir George Barlow, " a statement might have been furnished of
the money transactions which occurred; but during the last six months,
the Army and the Paymaster have been quietly settled in Cantonments."
208 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
ing officers at the Presidency, with which he should
hold direct correspondence. "
" Everything," continued Mr. Tucker, "will de-
pend upon the individual who may be selected for
such a duty." He had first thought of Mr. Slier er,
a young and promising civil officer, who had early
displayed great aptitude for financial business ; but
the state of his health at that time seemed to render
it desirable that his zeal for the public service should
not then be taxed by the arduous duties of such an
appointment, and Mr. Tucker therefore made another
and an equally judicious selection from among his as-
sociates in the service. " The man in the whole ser-
vice," he wrote to the Governor- General, "to whom
I should commit the office with the greatest confi-
dence of success, is Richardson. He is acquainted
with the duty of a Paymaster ; and has had a great
deal of experience in the Revenue and Military
accounts ; but what is of most importance on this
occasion is, that he possesses an inflexible firmness
of mind, which will enable him to go through with
a very arduous, unpleasant duty. There are few men
who have zeal and firmness enough to undertake an
ungracious, invidious duty from disinterested mo-
tives; but Richardson's regard for the public in-
terests, and his friendship for you, would, I am sure,
stimulate him to make every possible exertion, and
I really do not know a man from whom I should
expect so much Should any objection occur to
this arrangement, I would recommend as an alter-
native, that Richardson be directed to take charge
APPOINTMENT OF MR. RICHARDSON. 209
of the office of Paymaster in the Pield, in order that
he may bring up the accounts which are in arrear,
and place everything in proper train. This is essen-
tial, at all events. Richardson will not, I am per*
suaded, like either duty, for his wishes are all directed
to the Political Department ; but I am convinced,
at the same time, that he will be ready to sacrifice
his own inclination and convenience to promote the
public service. You will not suspect me of an in-
terested recommendation on this or any other occa-
sion ; for I never was a jobber, or indeed a suitor, in
my life."
The arrangement here suggested was approved
by the Governor-General ; and Mr. Richardson was
despatched to join the Grand Army. Vested with
large powers to supply Lord Lake with necessary
funds, and to control generally the financial affairs
of the Army, he executed his appointed task with
all the zeal and ability that were expected from
him; and the best results attended this important
innovation upon a defective and disastrous system.
There had, hitherto, been a grievous want of order
and regularity in the management of the pecuniary
concerns of the Army; and good management is
often as serviceable as much thrift. Now, not only
was new vigor infused into the department, but
there was for the first time effective supervision on
the spot. The work of the Army, too, was done.
As the new year dawned upon India, Peace began
to dawn with it. The Army was to be broken up ;
its arrears were to be paid; and Mr. Richardson
p
210 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
was there to see that the puhlic money was pro-
fitably expended. For immediate purposes, as I
have shown, cash had been supplied ; and now the
whole machinery of Finance was regularly set
a-going. It needed, indeed, only that a good be-
ginning should be made that the difficulty should
be looked boldly in the face, and that the onward
progress of extravagance and ruin should be reso-
lutely arrested. With every new week appeared
some new symptoms of revival. The accounts from
the other Presidencies continued to improve. And
before it was announced in letters from England,
which took most people by surprise, that Sir George
Barlow, to whom the succession to the Governor-
Generalship had been promised, was to be super-
seded by an English nobleman, the peril was sur-
mounted; the great work was done.* The energy
and resolution which had been exhibited at the
right moment, were attended with results beyond
the expectations of the most sanguine; and Lord
Minto entered upon his government with little to
embarrass his movements, or to perplex his judg-
ment. That the precipitate abandonment of the
"great game" in the North- West was not pro-
ductive of after-results both embarrassing and per-
plexing, I am not prepared to show. I have nothing,
* On the 28th of August, 1806, Sir G. Barlow recorded a minute, in which
he says: "The present state of the Finances of the Honorable Company in
India, together with the several arrangements which Mr. Tucker has sug-
gested for their improvement, will manifest that the public interests have
derived very important benefits from his able and zealous exertions in the
conduct of the business of the department under his immediate super-
intendence."
IMPORTANCE OF THESE EVENTS. 211
indeed, to do with the solution of that question.
This is a chapter only in the Financial History of
India ; a chapter that has never yet been written
but one which is most necessary to a right com-
prehension of the Annals of a most eventful epoch.
It is not because I am engaged on this Biography
that I aver, that no History of India can be com-
plete without a record of these Financial measures,
or a just tribute to the exertions of Henry St. George
Tucker.*
* The correspondence between Sir George Barlow and Mr. Tucker, in the
years 1805-6, the whole of which is now before me, is so voluminous, that
I have been necessitated to reject very much which would have illustrated
the events narrated in this chapter, and greatly enhanced its historical value.
This is much to be regretted, because the more minutely it is studied, the
more impressed will the student be with a conviction both of the necessity of
the measures and the integrity of the men.
p 2
212 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
CHAPTER VII.
The Settlement of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces The Special Com-
mission of 1807 Mr. Tucker's Appointment His Colleagues Duties of
the New Commission Their Reception in Upper India Mr. Tucker's
Report.
UNDER the administration of Lord Wellesley the
dominions of the East India Company had been
greatly extended. The Ceded districts of Oude, and
the Conquered provinces wrested from the Mah-
rattas, had so swollen our Eastern Empire as to
demand a large accession of administrative agency
and administrative skill. The country which we
had acquired by our diplomacy and by our arms
was now to be governed for the benefit of the Com-
pany and the benefit of the People. A great He-
venue was to be raised ; and a great Nation was to
be protected. Now that the clang of arms no longer
drowned the counsel of the statesman, it was a
matter of primal concernment so to settle these
North-Western Provinces as to render our accession
of territory advantageous alike to the British Go-
vernment and the people whom we had subdued.
Even whilst the measures for the extrication of
the British-Indian Empire from the financial em-
SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCES. 213
barrassments which threatened to overwhelm it,
were in progress tinder the supervision and superin-
tendence of Barlow and Tucker, this great subject
of the revenue-settlement of the North- West had
been under their consideration ; and before the close
of the year 1805, the Governor-General had written
to his Finance Minister : " "When you succeed to a
seat at the Board of Revenue, you must turn your
mind immediately to the forming of the next set-
tlement for the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. It
will require a year or more to collect the necessary
accounts and information for making the settlement
properly ; and there is no time to be lost in laying
the foundations of this important measure." Sir
George Barlow knew that in Mr. Tucker he had a
man to whom he could safely entrust this important
duty; and his successor saw, with the same clear
vision, the expediency of availing himself of the
services of an administrator in whom soundness of
judgment and energy of action were eminently com-
bined.
In February, 1806, Mr. Tucker had been ap-
pointed a member of the Board of Revenue. To
the general subject of Indian taxation, from his
very boyhood he had devoted much earnest re-
flection, and the weight of his opinions was acknow-
ledged by all his official colleagues. Erom his cor-
respondence at this period something may be ga-
thered respecting the light in which he regarded
the existing mode of raising the necessary revenue.
The following letter to Captain Baillie, who was
LIFE OP H. ST.a. TUCKER.
then in political charge of our new districts in Bun-
dlekund, glances at so many important questions
within so small a space, that, before passing on to
the substantive matter of this chapter, I am tempted
to insert it here :
" MR. TUCKER TO CAPTAIN BAILLIE.
" Calcutta, 4th October, 1806.
" MY DEAR BAILLIE, Many thanks for your favor of the
13th ultimo, and for your early notice of my public application
to you. The information you have furnished is all very satis-
factory; but have you not estimated the whole revenue of 1214
as receivable within the year of account 1806-7 (or before the
30th of April next), while a proportion of that revenue must
necessarily fall into the ensuing year? On the presumption
that this was the case, I have ventured to deviate from your
estimate.
" I am very glad to hear that you are so rich in mines and in
other valuables, and I trust that you will be able to give a good
account of them. We should not, in my opinion, be in a hurry
to harass the country with customs, or any other new taxes ; and
I have long considered the abolition of the syer, a tax to which
the people were familiarised, a very hasty measure. A tax even
objectionable in principle, when once established and accommo-
dated to a country, may be much less injurious than a new tax,
to which the same objection may not apply; and in this country,
where your inferior officers are so little to be relied upon, all new
impositions are especially to be avoided. I have no time, how-
ever, just now for discussing the principles of taxation. I shall
be glad always to hear from you, and to receive information on
all subjects connected directly or indirectly with our public
duties; and you may rely that I will make the best use of it I
can. You will not, I hope, be discouraged from continuing
your communications should I not immediately acknowledge
them ; for I am not always master of my own time indeed, I
am seldom master of it. With respect to saltpetre, I have only
LORD WELLESLEY AND THE SETTLEMENT. 215
to observe, that if anything can justify a monopoly, the circum-
stances which you urge appear to render a direct interference
on the part of Government highly expedient. I, myself, am a
decided enemy to commercial restrictions; and I think that a
great Government ought to engage as little as possible (if at
all) in commercial transactions, and particularly petty transac-
tions. I approve of the opium monopoly, because it enables
us to draw a large revenue from a foreign country; of the
salt monopoly, because it is a very productive tax, with-
out being attended with personal oppression, because it is
paid voluntarily according to the means of the consumer,
and because I know no other tax equally productive and less
objectionable which could be substituted for it. In the same
manner, if a monopoly of saltpetre could be managed without
oppression and injustice, and could be made conducive to the
preservation of domestic tranquillity, I shall consider it an ad-
mirable tax, and it will have my warmest support.
"Believe me, yours very sincerely,
"H. ST.G. TUCKER."
There is no task, indeed, more worthy of the best
efforts of the philanthropist no task that demands
for its due performance a larger amount of adminis-
trative capacity than the revenue-settlement of a
new country. It is so great a work, indeed, and
one that requires a combination of so many rare
qualities, that it can seldom be entrusted with safety
to a single man. At all events, Lord Wellesley,
writing prospectively of the settlement of the coun-
try on the banks of the Jumna, recorded his opinion
that such researches as it was necessary to institute
"must be entrusted to the best principles and the
best talents/' "And," he added, "as the variety
of talents requisite for a successful prosecution of
divers inquiries may not often be eminently pos-
216 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
sessed by one and the same person, it may perhaps
be found advisable to select two or three of our
most intelligent servants to act together in each
quarter." These opinions were shared by Sir George
Barlow; and accordingly, in the month of June,
1807, a Commission was appointed, charged with
the important duty of inquiring into the condition of
the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, and reporting
upon the system of internal administration best
adapted to the requirements of the people.
Mr. Cox* and Mr. Tucker were nominated Com-
missioners.! Mr. Sherer was appointed Secretary
to the Commission ; Mr. Portescue, Assist ant- Secre-
tary ; and Mr. Butterworth Bayley, Interpreter.
With the full approbation of his brother-commis-
sioner, Mr. Tucker, in the first instance, had de-
signed the Secretaryship for Mr. Charles Metcalfe
then a young man of great promise, whose high
qualities were recognised alike by his cotemporaries
and his seniors in the service. But Metcalfe had
chalked out for himself a career in another line.
He had made his election in favor of Political J em-
ployment; and the predilections, which were first
generated by early ambition, had been subsequently
strengthened by the experiences of a stirring life in
* This gentleman had been Accountant-General prior to Mr. Tucker's first
tenure of office ; and subsequently a member of the Board of Revenue.
f Shortly before this, Sir George Barlow had offered Mr. Tucker the office
of Head-Commissioner at Madras to inquire into the debts of the Nabob of
Arcot; but Mr. Tucker was unwilling to quit Bengal, and he declined the
appointment.
t The English reader must bear in mind, that in Indian official language
Political means Diplomatic.
CHARLES METCALFE. 217
Lord Lake's camp. He was unwilling, therefore, to
connect himself, in so decisive a manner, with the
Revenue branch of the Administration ; and he
would probably have declined the offer if it had
been formally made to him by Government. But
he thoroughly appreciated the compliment, and he
wrote to his friend Mr. Sherer, on whom the ap-
pointment was subsequently conferred, explaining
the grounds of his disinclination to accept it. " By-
the-by," he wrote, " Tucker will doubtless have
mentioned to you what I read in a letter from him
to Bichardson, that at first, with the assent of Cox,
he had proposed to Sir George Barlow, through
Lumsden, my appointment as Secretary to the Com-
mission. Of course, at that time, he could not
have expected that the Secretary's office would be
put on so respectable a footing. He could have had
no idea that the Government would spare yon,
Bayley, and Portescue ; otherwise he would never,
it is clear, have thought of me. I will tell you the
effect that this had on my mind, when Bichardson
sent me Tucker's letter I must observe that Tucker
wrote just after Lumsden left him to carry the pro-
position to the Governor, and therefore could give
no hint of the result I was of course flattered by
the circumstance, and obliged to Tucker ; but I
wished that he had not made the proposal, and I
did not like the thought of getting so deep into the
Bevenue line and so far from the Political. I did
not know which I should do, if any reference were
made to me, as on the one hand to give up a
218 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
favorite line, and on the other, to reject so respect-
able a situation, likely to be attended with consi-
derable advantages, would be, either way, difficult.
My hope was that Government, without any re-
ference to me, would make its own arrangement,
excluding me, and so relieve me from the responsi-
bility of guiding my own destiny. The sight of
your appointment was the first, and is the only in-
telligence which I have yet received ; and, besides
the pleasure of seeing your appointment to a post
which I thought would be pleasing to you, I felt 011
my own account great relief. Although I am
obliged to Tucker for thinking of me, I am glad, on
many accounts, that the present capital arrange-
ment has taken place." After the lapse of more
than a quarter of a century it again fell to the lot
of Henry St. George Tucker to recommend Charles
Metcalfe for a situation. As Chairman of the East
India Company he recommended him. for the situa-
tion of Governor- General of India.
On the 25th of June Mr. Tucker quitted Cal-
cutta, on his journey to the Upper Provinces. The
appointment possessed peculiar advantages, which
he well knew how to appreciate, and he quitted the
Presidency in high health and spirits. A little
before his departure he wrote to his sister, speaking
of the prospects before him, and showing the cheer-
ful temper with which he regarded them :
" Calcutta, June 15, 1807. In the midst of bustle and prepa-
ration for a long journey, I must still write you a line to assure
you that I am perfectly well, and as happy as I can reasonably
CHEERING PROSPECTS. 219
expect to be in a life which admits not, I believe, of perfect
happiness. I set off in the course of ten days on a deputation
to the Western Provinces, for the purpose of superintending
the settlement of our new territory. The duty will be trouble-
some and laborious, as we shall have an immense tract of
country to put into order; but the appointment is most re-
spectable, and as I am accustomed to labor, as our party
(consisting of some of my most intimate friends) will be a very
pleasant one, and we shall have to travel over the finest
country in India, I am quite reconciled to the expedition; in-
deed, I am more than reconciled I am quite pleased at the
idea of penetrating to the very sources of the sacred Ganges,
and of picking strawberries on hills which are familiar with
ice and snow. This would be no novelty to you; but it will
be a very great one to me, who have not seen a strawberry-
bush for one-and- twenty years. I shall be employed on this
duty, probably, for eighteen months or two years; and on my
return to Calcutta I shall be thinking of proceeding home-
wards, to pass the remaining years which fate may have al-
lotted to me, in retirement and tranquillity. At least, I hope
that I may be permitted to enjoy both, after having devoted
so many years to severe and incessant labor. My fortune by
that time will be equal to all my wishes, which are moderate
enough. I have already, indeed, an independence, sufficient
to enable me to retire at any time; but it is as well to have,
something more than enough, and on this idea I shall remain
in India two years longer. In January or February, 1810,
Heaven willing ! I shall bid adieu to India for ever; and, in the
ordinary course of events, I may expect to have the happiness
of seeing you all in about three years from the present time.
It is a long period to look forward to, I own; and after so
many disappointments, I ought not to be sanguine in my ex-
pectations ; but I will flatter myself that there is some happi-
ness in store for me, and that I shall at last reach the haven to
which I have so long and so anxiously directed my course.
" Say everything kind and affectionate for me to our respected
parents; for, unless the packet be detained, I shall not be able
to write to them."
220 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
The circumstances under which this important
Commission was appointed, were many years after-
wards thus detailed by Mr. Tucker himself. " In
1803," he said, " during the administration of Mar-
quis Wellesley, a Regulation was passed (XXV. of
that year), declaring, that a permanent settlement
of the Ceded Provinces would he concluded at the
end of ten years, for such lands as should be in
a sufficiently improved state of cultivation ; and fur-
ther proclaiming the ( proprietary rights of all Ze-
mindars, Talookdars, and other descriptions of land-
holders possessing a right of property in the lands,
composing their zemindarries, talooks, or other
tenures, to be confirmed and established under the
authority of the British Government, in conformity
to the laws and usages of the country, and to the
regulations which have been, or shall be hereafter
enacted by the Governor-General in Council.' It
was also provided by the same Regulation, that
those Zemindars who might decline to enter into
engagements for their lands, should be allowed
c Nankar' not exceeding ten per cent, on the Jumma
of their estates. In 1805, a Regulation (IX. of
that year) was passed by the same Government in
nearly corresponding terms; declaring that a per-
manent settlement would be concluded with the
Zemindars and other landholders in the Conquered
Provinces, at the expiration of the decennial leases.
But in 1807, the Supreme Government being anx-
ious to extend to the landowners of our newly-ac-
quired territory those advantages which had been
INTRODUCTION OF THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. 221
conferred on the Zemindars of the Lower Provinces,
by fixing the land-tax in perpetuity, Regulation X.
of that year was enacted, appointing Commissioners
for superintending the settlement of the Ceded and
Conquered Provinces ; and notifying c to the Zemin-
dars and other actual proprietors of land in those
provinces, that the Jumma which may be assessed
on their estates in the last year of the settlement
immediately ensuing the present settlement, shall
remain fixed for ever, in case the Zemindars shall
now be willing to engage for the payment of the
public revenue on those terms in perpetuity, and
the arrangement shall receive the sanction of the
Honorable Court of Directors."
That it was the intention of Lord "Wellesley, of
Sir George Barlow, and Lord Minto, to introduce
the Permanent Settlement into the Ceded and Con-
quered Provinces, is not to be doubted. It is
equally a fact that the Commission which was
despatched to Upper India in 1807 was instructed
to adopt measures for the furtherance of its intro-
duction. There were few more consistent supporters
of the Permanent Zemindarry Settlement than Mr.
Tucker. But he did not at that time conceive that
our newly- acquired territory was ripe for such an
adjustment of the landed revenue. He believed that
our information was deficient; and that great in-
justice would be the result of the precipitate intro-
duction of a system, the very name of which implied
a necessity for the extremest caution and the most
elaborate preparation. Such a settlement ought
222 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
eyer to be based upon a careful ascertainment of
existing rights and how could these rights be
ascertained in a day ? So reasoned Mr, Tucker and
his associates; and the further they advanced in
their inquiries, the more apparent it was that it
was their duty to promise a Permanent Settlement
to the landholders not immediately to declare it as
the law of the land.*
So they went on from Station to Station, gather-
ing information as they went seeking the opinion
of all the principal revenue- officers on their line of
route ; and not confining themselves (for indeed the
objects of the Commission were not solely of a fiscal
.character) to inquiries respecting the landed tenures
or the general taxation of the country. Whatever
related to the prosperity of the country and the pro-
tection of the people, came within their sphere of
observation Judicial and Police establishments,
Public works and other great agencies for the ame-
lioration alike of the moral and physical condition
of the inhabitants races of men then believed to
* Very many years afterwards, Mr. Tucker, referring to this period of his
early history, placed on record a clear exposition'of his course of conduct as a
member of the Commission. " I was appointed in 1807," he wrote, " to carry
into execution a measure which successive administrations had considered to
be essential to the prosperity of the country. Although concurring most
unreservedly in the opinion that it was wise and salutary, and that it con-
tained a vital principle, which must in the end work out all the good anti-
cipated, I ventured to counsel delay, upon the ground that we were not at
the moment in a state of preparation to consummate so great an undertaking ;
but it never occurred to my mind that the principle of the measure was to
be abandoned, or that the landholders, who had received from us the most
solemn pledge given in the most authentic form, were to be denied for ever
the promised benefit, and that in the end they were to be cast aside as a mere
encumbrance on the earth. That pledge can never be effaced, although it
remains unfulfilled."
PROGRESS OF THE COMMISSION. 223
be " unaccustomed to any regular system of order
or law, and habituated to commit the utmost ex-
cesses of violence and oppression" came within
their scope, and were duly included in their official
reports.
The trade of the Provinces the reform of the
Customs the superintendence of the Mint and
Coinage were matters, also, to which they were in-
structed to address themselves and it would have
been difficult to find in the whole range of the ser-
vice a little cluster of men so eminently qualified,
alike by their peculiar antecedents and their pecu-
liar abilities, to carry out the intentions of the
Government which appointed them.
Mr. Cox and Mr. Tucker,* it need not be said,
had both been Accountant-General. Mr. Sherer
had been Deputy-Accountant-General and Civil-
Auditor. He owed his advancement, in no small
measure, to Mr. Tucker, under whom, indeed, as he
delighted to acknowledge, he had graduated as a
financier. It was mainly the circumstance of the
Commission having been instructed to inquire into
the Commerce and the Coinage of Upper India that
induced him to accept the Secretaryship. Mr.
Tucker had mentioned to him that he had recom-
mended Metcalfe for the office, and subsequently,
since that appointment could not take place (for
reasons known neither to Sherer nor to Metcalfe),
mentioned to him the name of another officer who
* Mr. Tucker, it should be said, was the working Commissioner. He did
all the more active part of the business ; and drew up the reports.
224 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEK.
had applied for the situation. It was admitted
that the applicant had no peculiar qualifications for
such an ofiice. "But," said Mr. Tucker, "it does
not much matter. He is a quiet, gentlemanlike
man ; and as to business, I shall work hard myself.
With Metcalfe, indeed, it would have heen a dif-
ferent thing. He might relieve me of a great deal of
trouble, and be of essential service to me." Nothing
more took place at the time. " But, a few days
afterwards," wrote Mr. Sherer, " we were again
conversing on the general object of this Commission,
when I found that it was by no means to be limited
to the settlement of the Land-Revenue, but was
meant to embrace an inquiry into the Trade of the
Provinces, a reform of the Customs, a superinten-
dence of the Mint and Coinage, &c., &c. Now,
having been for some months a member of the Mint
Committee at Calcutta, the subject of coinage had
occupied a good deal of my attention, and I began
to fancy that I knew something about it. I had
also had a good deal of talk with Tucker of late on
the subject of Trade, and become very anxious to
possess the means of acquiring some practical know-
ledge of a subject so intimately connected with my
profession. I had hoped to get some little insight
into the various modes of employing commercial
capital in this country by my situation in the Bank,
but had been disappointed. This conversation,
therefore, had peculiar charms for me, and in the
course of it so many things occurred to fire my
imagination and excite a desire to go with the Com-
APPOINTMENT OF MR. SHERER. 225
mission, that I at length burst into an exclamation
to that effect. The wish was no sooner formed than
I was ready for its accomplishment. Tucker thought
it feasible ; and recommended me to apply directly to
Sir George Barlow." And so the application was
made, and it was granted but grudgingly by the
Governor- General ; for Sherer's services could not
well be spared from the Department to which he
belonged. The flattering hesitation was overcome ;
and the Civil- Auditor, still retaining his appoint-
ment at the Presidency, joined the Commission, to
the great satisfaction of all who were attached to it.
He was a very able and a very amiable man ; some-
thing, perhaps, of an enthusiast, but always in the
right direction; and it is not a little to his honor
that he was the cherished friend of three such men
as Charles Metcalfe, Butterworth Bayley, and Henry
St.George Tucker.
The hospitality of the English residents, all along
their route, was most cordially extended to them.
The first part of the journey had been performed by
water. They had proceeded up the river as far as
Eurruckabad, halting at the principal stations on
the way. " You will be glad," wrote one of the
party, at the end of August, " to hear that we have
been well received at every station we have stopped
at. At Benares, Tucker spent a week in Mr.
Brooke's family, and, indepd, was detained there so
long by the solicitude shown by every one to enter-
tain us. We have had a sad, tedious time of it
since we left Benares (on the 2nd of August) the
Q
226 LIFE OP H. ST.a. TUCKER.
wind having been so high, and adverse, and the
stream so uncommonly rapid, that we have been
creeping on at the rate of a few coss a day only.
To Benares we had been fortunate enough, for we
left Calcutta on the 29th of June, and arrived there
on the 27th of July, after stopping to see everything
worth seeing on the way up. We shall disembark,
I believe, at Furruckabad, and after doing what we
may have to do there with the Mint, shall proceed
to Bareilly, thence to Mooradabad, Saharunpore,
and so down by the way of Delhi to Alighur and
Agra." A few days afterwards, Mr. Tucker himself
wrote, in one of his letters to England, similar com-
plaints of the tediousness of the journey : " We have
had a tedious and unpleasant journey, and the heat
has been excessive. We shall, however, I hope, get
to the end of it in ten or twelve days (at least the
water-part of our expedition), and we flatter our-
selves that the pleasure of travelling by land in a
fine season will compensate for all the inconveniences
of travelling by water at a very unfavorable one.
This is the usual course of life. We go on to the
conclusion of it, expecting always that the Future
will make amends for the Past B
will tell you that I talk of paying you a visit;
and if I were not in so respectable a situation, I
should think seriously of it. This circumstance,
and some little difficulties which at present oppose
my wishes, will probably detain me in the country
two or three years longer ; but my expatriation can-
not exceed that period. In the society of my family,
EXCITEMENT OP TRAVEL. 227
I hope to enjoy a few years of tranquillity and com-
fort, after a life which, has had little to disting-oish
it but a succession of toilsome and uneasy struggles."
It is no small proof that the wearisomeness of the
river-voyage, the inactive life, and the incessant
heat, had greatly affected both his health and his
spirits, that one of so eminently cheerful a disposition
should write in such a strain as this.
But the river-journey accomplished the hot sea-
son passed and the little party once fairly launched
upon the scene of their labors, the unusual depres-
sion of spirits under which Mr. Tucker had suffered
in his boat, was very soon dissipated by the pleasing
excitement of a new life in a new country. Many
objects of extreme interest presented themselves to
the members of the Commission at every stage.
Nature and Art revealed to them beauties unknown,
almost unimagined, by those who had hitherto been
familiar only with the comparative insipidity of the
plains of Bengal and Behar. The majestic scenery
of Upper India, and the stately architectural monu-
ments of the Moguls, appealed irresistibly to the
sensitive temperaments of more than one of these
accomplished travellers. Mr. Tucker used to relate
how the exquisite beauty of the Taj of Agra affected
Sherer to such a degree, that he prostrated himself
before it and kissed the ground in an ecstasy of
delight; and long years afterwards, when Indian
pilgrimages were no more than dim recollections of
the Past, though the old enthusiasm was not yet
quenched within him, the sometime Secretary wrote
Q2
228 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
to Mr. Tucker, reminding him of those " light-hearted
days." " The beautiful and sublime scenery of North
"Wales," said Mr. Sherer, "is, indeed, truly enchant-
ing ; and my occasional rambles on the mountains
recall to my mind those light-hearted days, when,
as your unworthy Secretary, I was so delighted
with the hills and scenery still more sublime at
Hurdwar."
But they had other work than this to occupy their
minds and to exercise their bodies the strenuous
realities of the new Commission. And they set
about it with becoming zeal. It soon, however, be-
came evident to them that they would " not be able
to superintend the formation of the settlement in
person throughout the several districts of the Ceded
and Conquered Territory." " It was scarcely pos-
sible to traverse this extensive country within the
season which admits of travelling in tents; while,
to form the assessment on the spot, and to obtain
engagements from the numerous Malguzars, several
months must have been dedicated to the business of
a single district. It became necessary, therefore, to
commit the execution of this duty to the local
officers, and for the Commissioners to direct their
attention to those general objects on which they
could hope to employ themselves with more effect."*
Having thus wisely resolved not to attempt what
was plainly impossible, by entering into minute
details which would have embarrassed their opera-
tions and rendered the result of the Commission a
* Report of the Board of Commissioners in the Ceded and Conquered Pro-
vinces, dated April 13, 1808.
VIEWS OF THE COMMISSIONERS. 229
mere nullity, they set about the possibilities before
them with all earnestness and activity, and relied
upon the local officers for the local information they
required. They took, as it were from a tower of
observation, an extended view of the country which
lay stretched beneath them, and they garnered up
a great store of general truths of the most ser-
viceable kind. It would not have been possible for
them to have carried to their work fewer prejudices
and foregone conclusions to have entered upon it
in a more enlarged spirit of toleration, or with a
more genuine desire to turn their opportunities to
the best account for the benefit of the people. They
were not mere system-mongers. They did not go
there to skim the surface of the country on a plea-
sure-progress, and then to declare that the people
wanted nothing but British rule to make them
happy and prosperous. They saw, and they ad-
mitted, that there had been some good things even
in Mogul government, and they did not deny that
there might be, in spite of all our kind professions
and our good intentions, some evils in the change
of sovereignty which we had inflicted upon them.
Convinced, too, as they were, of the benefits which
had been conferred upon Bengal by the Regulations
of 1793, they were by no means prepared to pre-
scribe them as a panacea for all the maladies of
Upper India. They saw that they had to deal with
a different race of men, and that different institu-
tions were existing among them. They saw that
there were conflicting claims to be reconciled, and
that any undue eagerness to recognise the rights
230 LIFE OF H. ST.O. TUCKER.
of one class might be attended with injustice to
another. They went about, therefore, seeking in-
formation; not merely from our own local officers
and their native subordinates, but from the people
themselves, high and low from the great land-
holder to the petty cultivator; and the more they
acquired, the more convinced they were that they
had much more to acquire, and the more clearly they
saw the necessity of much caution and longer delay.
And, therefore, they counselled delay. But it was
not done without reluctance reluctance, which
had they seen far into the future, and anticipated
the eventual results of the postponement, would
have been even stronger than it was. " When we
reflect," they said, " that the miseries of famine
have, perhaps, been arrested in Bengal, by the la-
mented patriot who gave the Permanent Settlement
to that country, we feel the utmost repugnance at
the idea of opposing its extension to our new pos-
sessions. But Bengal is different in many particu-
lars. The land is more easily cultivated, and is fer-
tilised by a periodical inundation; water is easily
procured. Wells, reservoirs, and aqueducts are un-
necessary ; and a large capital is seldom required
for agricultural purposes. The inferior landholders,
and even the peasantry, can carry on the cultivation
of their lands without those aids which must be
furnished to secure the prosperity of the Western
Provinces. But above all, we were in every respect
better prepared in Bengal to undertake a measure,
which at a future period we shall gladly see ex-
tended to the rest of our possessions. 3 '
POSTPONEMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT. 231
It is not to be doubted that there is wisdom in
this. But the " future period 55 at which the Perma-
nent Settlement was to be extended to the North-
Western Provinces, Mr. Tucker never lived to see.
It was his recommendation on the part of the Com-
mission, " that the Permanent Settlement in the
Ceded and Conquered districts be for the present
postponed 55 "that the ensuing settlement be con-
cluded for a period of four years ; and that during
the interval a reference be made to the Court of
Directors, for the purpose of obtaining their au-
thority for the formation of a Permanent Settle-
ment unconditionally at a future period that during
the same interval, the attention of the public offi-
cers be particularly directed to the important duty
of collecting materials which may form the basis of
a fixed assessment ; and with this view the Collec-
tors who have distinguished themselves by their
successful exertions in the Ceded and Conquered
Provinces, be continued in their present situations,
and be remunerated by larger allowances, rather
than by promotion to higher offices. 55
It is beyond the scope of this work to enter
largely into the history of the landed Hevenue of
India, or even that particular branch of the subject,
which is known as the Settlement of the North-
Western Provinces. But before closing this notice
of Mr. Tucker's connexion with the Commission of
1807, it may be mentioned that the report which he
drew up, in the early part of the following year,
was less pleasing to the Supreme Government than
it was to the Court of Directors. "Allowing,' 5
232 LIFE OE H. ST.G. TUCKER.
wrote the former, " to Mr. Cox and to Mr. Tucker
all possible credit for the motives by which they
were influenced in the discussion of the subject,
and for the ability with which they have treated
it, their report has not occasioned any alteration
in the sentiments which we before entertained
with respect to the immediate establishment of
a Permanent Settlement in the Ceded and Con-
quered Provinces." But the latter subscribed to the
opinions of the Commissioners. The delay was
granted. Further information was sought. As
time advanced, the policy of the proposed measure
was freely canvassed. A strong party grew up in
the India House opposed to all permanent settle-
ments ; and at last the project of their extension
to the North- Western Provinces was shelved. The
result of much inquiry and much discussion was,
after all, a system of long leases, upon which the
Revenue administration of Upper India is now
based. But Mr. Tucker never ceased to declare that
this was a fatal error, and that the British Govern-
ment had been guilty of a gross breach of faith in
refusing to fulfil the pledges which doubtless it had
authoritatively made to the people.*
* The experiences gained by Mr. Tucker, during this tour, were often
spoken of by him in after-years ; and he delighted to dwell on the circum-
stances attending it. One characteristic illustration of this may be given here.
Moving through the country, not with the lavish magnificence, or as it was
commonly called the " great style," which had characterised all the official
movements of Lord Wellesley's administration, but still with a prestige of
authority around them, the Commissioners were everywhere regarded with
curiosity and received with respect ; and small as was their camp, and incon-
siderable as was the cortege that attended them, Mr. Tucker was not with-
out considerable apnrehension that his followers still harassed the people
EXACTIONS OF CAMP FOLLOWERS. 233
of the villages through which he passed by unauthorised exactions in his
name. Very many years afterwards, when Chairman of the East India
Company, and writing on the subject of Governors' Visitation-Tours, he
spoke of the unauthorised exactions of the followers of men in authority,
and thus alluded to the circumstances of his progress through the North-
Western Provinces : " I believe I may say that no person could be more
unwilling than myself to countenance or permit oppression or injustice ; but
I am far from being satisfied that much wrong may not have been com-
mitted in my name, when I made a tour of the Western Provinces just forty
years ago. Our camp did not, I believe, with our escort, exceed 400 or 500
men ; but this cortege, moderate as it was, when compared with a Vice-Regal
movement, was large enough to levy contributions from the country. I made
an example of two of my servants at an early period ; but I am not sure
that their successors were more trustworthy."
234 LIFE OP H. ST.GL TUCKER.
CHAPTEE VIII.
Mr. Tucker's Resignation of the Commissionership His Return to Calcutta
Letters to his Family Projected Visit to England Appointment to the
Secretaryship in the Public Department Death of his Father ; of his two
Brothers Letters to his Sister and Mother Embarkation for England
Public Testimonials.
BUT advantageous as in many respects was Mr.
Tucker's situation at this time, and pleasant as were
all its social environments, it had one very heavy
drawback. He found that the climate of the Upper
Provinces was detrimental to his health. That
Upper India is more salubrious than the low steamy
plains of Bengal, is a fact that all experience verifies.
But the Commissioners had started at too early a
season; and Mr. Tucker had left behind him his
spacious residence in the City of Palaces for the op-
pressive confinement of the Budgerow and the
Palanquin. If he had started in November the
result would have been different. But starting, as
the Commissioners did, in June, the fiery climate of
Upper India seems to have done its work upon
them. Before the end of the year 1807 Mr. Cox
had quitted the Commission ; and early in the fol-
lowing year Mr. Tucker forwarded an application
RETURN TO CALCUTTA. 235
to Government for leave to be absent from his office
for the space of three or four months, intimating,
at the same time, that if his request were denied,
he must solicit to be relieved from his appoint-
ment.
The permission which he sought was refused.
Lord Minto's official answer was a courteous denial.
In the public letter which was returned, Mr.
Tucker's claims "to consideration, from his talents,
knowledge, and services," were fully recognised;
but Government at the same time expressed its
" regret that any circumstances should be in the
way to prevent compliance with his request, or that
anything should have arisen to deprive Government
of his services in the settlement of the Provinces ;
but as Ms request could not be granted without the
most serious inconvenience, his appointment was
cancelled."
So Mr. Tucker returned to Calcutta much sus-
tained by the thought of a speedy visit to England.
" I came down to Calcutta," he wrote to his sister
at the latter end of April, " almost determined to
go to England. The heat of the Western Pro-
vinces I could not bear ; and I am sufficiently tired
of the country altogether. The favorable season,
however, has passed away ; and I fancy I must re-
main here some time longer. Do not be surprised,
however, if I should suddenly make my appearance
among you, some ' beau matin.' I am still in doubt
whether I shall not take my passage with Captain
Marshall in the Diana, which will sail a month or
236 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
two hence. There are so many objections, however,
that I feel a difficulty in deciding. My fortune is
very moderate ; it is not yet at my own command ;
and to render it equal to all my occasions, I ought
to remain in the country two or three years longer.
I shall consider a little longer, and decide ulti-
mately, I hope, for the best."
He considered, and he decided. He considered all
the bearings of the case, and he decided not to re-
turn to England. The sacrifice of his heart's de-
sires was great. He had been, for some years, in-
tent upon the thought of a speedy return to Eng-
land, and he had buoyed himself up with the belief
that this great object would be accomplished. But
he was not a man to think only of himself. There
were others whose happiness he might increase by
protracting the period of his exile. The Governor-
General had held out to him an assurance of honor-
able employment ;* and little as he cared, for his
own sake, to increase his worldly store, he thought
that for the sake of others it behoved him to make
further sacrifice of his ease and pleasure. So, in
September, he wrote to his friends in England : "I
cannot immediately leave the country without in-
jury to my affairs ; and I am afraid that I ought
* In the letter quoted above, Mr. Tucker says : " Lord Minto has treated
me with great personal kindness and attention ; and although my present
appointment is barren of all profit, I am persuaded that I shall obtain from
him everything I can expect or wish, the moment an opportunity occurs of
providing for me better. Whether it is worth while to wait is the question
which I find it so difficult to decide." The barren appointment to which
allusion is here made was that of a supernumerary member of the Board
of Revenue.
PLANS AND PROSPECTS. 237
not to leave it for a year or two to come. Lord
Minto has held out to me every possible induce-
ment to remain here ; and although I am most
anxious to return to England as soon as possible,
the regard which is due to others will perhaps deter-
mine me to remain in India a couple of years longer.
My circumstances are so circumscribed that it will
not be in my power to assist all the many members
of our numerous family who require assistance;
and to see them distressed without the power of
assisting them would be distressing to myself. If
the Secretary, Mr. Brown, should go home, Lord
Minto has promised me the succession ; and the
situation is so respectable, and the allowances aue
so handsome, that I fear I should have cause to
reproach myself hereafter if I neglected such an
opportunity of improving my fortune. It may in-
duce me to stay a year or two longer in the country ;
but nothing else can, I think, delay my departure
after the month of February."
In December, he wrote again to his sister on the
same subject. A little while before, he had received
the sad tidings of the death of his excellent father,*
whom he had not seen face to face since his early
boyhood in Bermuda ; but the recollection of whom
he had cherished with the greatest fondness, and
to the happiness of whose declining years he had
earnestly longed to contribute from his own abun-
dance. The blow smote him to the heart. It had, in
* On the 3rd of February, 1808, in the 66th year of his age.
238 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
all his thoughts of home, and all his comxnunings
with his family, been a sustaining reflection, that
" the old man of whom ye spake he is yet amongst
you," and now those grey hairs had gone down to
the grave. None but the wifeless and the childless,
who have toiled on through weary years of exile,
solaced and supported by the thought of paying
back for the parental tenderness of old the meet
reward of filial devotion, can know the full extent of
such an affliction as this. How deeply Mr. Tucker
felt the blow may be gathered from his letters to his
sister :
" Calcutta, 22nd Sept., 1808. I did not receive any letter
from you, my dearest sister, by the April Fleet ; but I can
easily conceive the grief which afflicted your heart, and how
painful it must have been to you to write under such circum-
stances. I feel it myself at the present moment ; but still, I
should be wanting in what I owe you, if I allowed my own
feelings to operate on such an occasion. Before this letter can
reach you, the sharp sense of this severe affliction will, I trust,
have been weakened. In my mind the impression is still fresh ;
and it is a misfortune which I must ever feel and deplore. Let
me not, however, renew in your heart feelings which I hope
are already less poignant. Time soothes the most bitter
sorrows, or nature must sink under the afflictions to which we
are exposed. Take care of our poor afflicted mother, and
alleviate her grief as far as possible. Would that it were per-
mitted me to assist in offering her consolation ! "
" Calcutta, 17 'th Dec., 1808. I wrote to you under date
the 22nd Sept., by the Preston ; and I believe I gave you
reason to expect that about this time I should be embarking
for England. I had so determined; but we can never be cer-
tain of what is to happen, even at the distance of a few hours.
I had taken my passage in the William Pitt, with my friends
the Fendalls, and was fully resolved to bid adieu to this
APPOINTMENT TO THE SECRETARYSHIP. 239
country, in which I have passed so large a portion of my life.
I had scarcely made my arrangements, when the Secretary,
Mr. Brown, determined to go home; and as Lord Minto had
previously tendered me the office should it become vacant, and
it is a situation in every respect desirable, I felt myself under
a sort of obligation to abandon my design, and to reconcile
myself to a further residence in this country. You will believe
that I did not give up the hope of seeing you again, without a
poignant regret. At this moment, I am scarcely satisfied with
the change ; but whatever is, is right. At least, I will hope so ;
although I have had sometimes difficulty enough to reconcile
the maxim.
" I propose to remain here a couple of years longer; and,
much as I feel the unpleasant parts of this arrangement,
I cannot conceal from myself that it is likely to be
attended with some advantage. I should have found my-
self probably much cramped in my circumstances, had I
left India immediately, and should, I doubt not, have been
compelled to return to it. This will not, I trust, be the case,
if I remain here a year or two longer; but I have been so
often disappointed in my hopes, that I will no longer speculate
upon a distant future. Two years constitute an age ; and I
must learn to bound my prospects. I will hope to enjoy the
happiness of seeing my family once more, without pretending
to trace out projects which may never be realised. Our des-
tiny is not in our own hands.
" I have already written to friend B ; and shall of
course not neglect to write to our poor afflicted mother. Con-
sole her, dearest N , and receive consolation for the afflic-
tions of your own heart. Mine has been smote, until it has
almost lost the sense of feeling."
At the commencement of the new year 1809
Mr. Tucker took charge of the office of Secretary in
the Puhlic Department. " I have taken charge of
my new office of Secretary," he wrote, " at the busiest
time (the despatch of a large Meet), and Lord Minto
240 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
having requested me also to continue to officiate as a
member of the Board of Revenue, in the absence of
two of the members, I have really my hands full."
He was now, indeed, in harness again ; and the
old subject of Finance was once more occupying
many of his official hours. It must have been with
satisfaction, not without alloy, that he now regarded
the state of the public accounts. There was now no
want of money in the Treasury ; and it was to be
borrowed from the community at an interest of six
per cent. " I shall be happy," wrote Lord Minto
from Madras, where the disturbances in the Coast
Army had taken him, " to find the reduction of in-
terest to six per cent, practicable and advisable ; and
I should conceive it possible to force a loan even on
those terms, with an overflowing Treasury such as
we now have, and without any immediate appre-
hension of events that would require a large ex-
penditure." So far, this was satisfactory. That
for which Mr. Tucker had so long striven had now
been fairly accomplished ; but a new source of alarm
now began to present itself to the Indian Financier.
In the month of August the Bengal Government
had sent home a long and elaborate Financial letter,
written with all that clearness and force which dis-
tinguished from first to last Mr. Tucker's official
papers, in which it was stated that " the rate of
Indian interest having of late approximated more
nearly to the standard of English interest, the capi-
talist has no longer the same motive for retaining
his funds in India ; and even if the security be sup-
TRANSFER OF THE DEBT. 241
posed equal, the charges of agency, the risk of dis-
appointment, and other circumstances, will probably
deter the public creditor from, leaving his property
at a distance from his own immediate control, when
the advantage to be obtained is no longer con-
siderable." At that time four-fifths of the Public
Securities were in the hands of European creditors.
Fortunes were more rapidly acquired than in these
days; the period of Indian service was generally
shorter; and such was the difficulty and uncer-
tainty of communication between the two countries,
that the English creditor was naturally anxious to
carry home his property with him, even if he had not
been moved thereto by the unsettled state of Europe,
and a vague alarm of Indian invasion ; so that there
was an apprehension of a large amount of the Debt
being speedily transferred to England. " It is to be
apprehended," continued the Einance-letter quoted
above, "that many of those who have deposited
their Government Securities in the Treasury, as well
as those who have left their property in the hands
of private agents, will order a large proportion of it
to be remitted to England at an early period. In-
dividuals, also, who are returning to England, and
even some of those who are still resident in the
country, may be expected to remit at least a part of
their Eunds." The unlimited power of remittance
through the Government Treasury was found, in-
deed, in the existing state of things, to be a serious
evil. There was the greatest difficulty in effecting
remittances through the channel of Commerce ; and
R
242 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
it appeared that so long as the Company's Treasury
afforded such facilities for the remittance not only
of the interest, but of the principal of the Deht to
England, there would be little money available in
India at a low rate of interest. " I do not think,"
wrote Lord Minto to Mr. Tucker, " any money will
be left in India at six per cent., which can find its
way to England, excepting the Native property.
But the remittance of money to England otherwise
than by Sills on the Court of Directors, will occa-
sion no inconvenience to Government, and the low
interest on Public Securities will throw more capital
into trade, which must be advantageous to the
country. It seems to follow, from this view of the
subject, that we should ensure the first fundamental
operation of exchanging the present Securities for
others, without the option of remittance to England,
by refraining from those conditions which may be
expected to force the capital home, under the power
which now exists for that purpose. And when that
is accomplished, we ought, and may securely, take
the proper steps for reducing the interest. But, as
I have already said, my judgment will of course
remain suspended on these points till it can be ma-
tured by consultation and discussion at Calcutta."
To Mr. Tucker, however, it seemed that the main-
tenance of a low rate of interest in India was not
incompatible with those other conditions to which
allusion has been made; but he saw the urgent
necessity of impressing upon the Company the evil
results attending an almost exclusive system of re-
COMMERCIAL REMITTANCES. 243
mittance by bills, when the industrial resources 01
the country, duly developed, and justly protected,
might be turned to this profitable account. And
in the masterly State-paper which I have quoted
above a paper which a quarter of a century after-
wards was read with interest, and cited with com-
mendation by some of the ablest men of the day
he pointed out the means of providing adequate
remittance through the channel of Commerce, and
making the advantage of the State the advantage
also of the people. For nearly fifty years, indeed,
was Mr. Tucker endeavoring to stimulate these
commercial remittances but all to very little pur-
pose. The sugar, cotton, &c., which he contended
were the legitimate means of remittance to this
country, still came in but scanty supplies ; and the
Justice to India, for which he clamored, he never
lived to see granted. A new state of things has
now arisen. The proportion of the Public Securities,
held by the native community has progressively in-
creased. Improved facilities of inter-communication
have placed Indian Securities more immediately
under the management of the English resident.
There is no longer any apprehension of the downfal
of our Indian Empire. And the long-continued
Peace in Europe has so reduced the interest of
money in England, that Indian Securities are still
sought, for the higher per-centage they bear. But
still the subject enlarged upon in the Financial letter
of August, 1809, is one that demands the considera-
tion of the Indian statesman, for with it is mixed up
244 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the whole question of the encouragement of the Agri-
culture, the Manufactures, and the Trade of India ;
and therefore of the prosperity of the country and
the happiness of the people.*
But he had not long devoted himself to the duties
of his new office, when fresh sorrows came to lacerate
his heart. In the summer of that year he received
information of the death of two of his brothers.
They had been drowned in the Channel on their
way to the coast of Spain. Colonel George and
Captain Nathaniel Tucker, of the King's service,
had embarked on board the Primrose sloop of war,
which formed part of a convoy proceeding to Spain
with troops destined to join the army then operating
in the Peninsula. Colonel Tucker had embarked
on board this vessel rather than on the frigate
which had charge of the convoy, because, crowded
as was the latter with officers of rank, there was
no room for his brother and his brotherly affection
cost him his life. A few hours after their embarka-
tion at Palmouth the Primrose was wrecked on the
" Manacles," and with the exception of a boy, who
was picked off one of the ship's tops, every soul on
board perished, f
These multiplied bereavements cut Mr. Tucker to
the soul. " Peel them I must," he exclaimed, in a
* For further information on this important subject I would refer the
reader to the paper on " Home Remittances," in Mr. Tucker's Memorials of
Indian Government, p. 381, et seq,
f Colonel George Tucker was the schoolfellow and favorite brother of the
subject of this Memoir. He was a good soldier, and on the high road to dis-
tinction, when his career was thus lamentably closed.
DEATH OF HIS BROTHERS. 245
letter written at the time, " to the end of my life ;"
and writing to his sister, he thus expressed the sin-
cerity of his grief:
"Calcutta, 27th August, 1809. I have not heard from you
for a long time ; nor can I be surprised at it. The afflictions
which we have suffered must have oppressed your feeling heart,
and have made it painful to you to communicate with those who
were equal sufferers. I have felt this myself; and it required
an effort to write even to those who have not equal cause to
deplore our irreparable loss. To my poor unfortunate mother I
have not been able to write a line. What can I say to her?
For some misfortunes no consolation can be offered. Heaven
grant that she may have fortitude to support such a succession
of afflictions! I would willingly speak comfort to you, my
dearest sister; but it is in vain. I feel this loss almost as a dis-
solution of the family. Poor fellows ! they were its treasure ;
we can never forget them. I have known little happiness of
late ; but what is personal to myself, I can bear. I had hoped
to have enjoyed comfort in witnessing their prosperity and
happiness. They, however, have left a scene of trouble and
affliction without a reproach ; and we are the sufferers who sur-
vive. Let me not, however, afflict you. I ought not, perhaps,
to write on this distressing subject. It shall henceforward be
buried in my own heart."
All through the year 1810, Mr. Tucker continued
to devote himself diligently to the duties of the
Secretariat. He went through his work with a
heavy heart; but he performed it with his accus-
tomed vigor. The thought of a speedy return to
England was still uppermost in his mind. What
he felt on this much-engrossing subject may be
gathered from his private letters, which better than
anything else relate the inner history of the man.
His outer history was one, for the most part, of
official routine :
246 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TTJCKEK.
" TO HIS SISTER.
"Calcutta, 17th February, 1810.
" It is now a period of full two years, I believe, since I had
the satisfaction of receiving a letter from you ; but I cannot be
surprised at your disinclination to write, under the distressing
circumstances which have occurred within that unhappy period.
I have felt the same repugnance myself, and did not indeed
write to you by the last Fleet; but these feelings we must over-
come if possible.
" .... I will not say that I am quite determined about the
period of my departure from India; for nothing beyond the
present moment can be depended upon ; but, as far as I can
judge at present, I apprehend no obstacle to my leaving the
country about this time twelvemonth."
" TO HIS MOTHER.
" June 10, 1810.
" .... I wrote to Mrs. T. that I should probably embark
for England about January next; and I do not foresee at
present that anything is likely to detain me longer in India. I
am most anxious to have the happiness of seeing you once more ;
and, please Heaven! I shall enjoy this happiness about this
time twelvemonth. My eyes are become so weak, that this is
an additional reason for my leaving the country ; for until I re-
tire from business, I cannot take care of them and spare them
as I ought to do.
" .... I do not propose to have a house, or an establish-
ment of any kind (in England) ; for my fortune is not sufficient
to admit of anything of the kind. A single room, and a single
servant, will answer all my purposes, if I should continue (as I
probably shall do) a bachelor.
"I have recommended to you, my dearest mother, to have
your little property secured as soon as possible in the Public
Funds; and I have written to J expressing the same
opinion. Do not, I entreat you, allow it to remain in any pri-
vate hands, or to be lent to any individual engaged in com-
mercial concerns of any kind. I have suffered so severely from
commercial speculations, that I have a dread of them; and
LETTERS TO HIS MOTHER. 247
much as I regard Mr. , I would not advise you to place
your property in his House ;* for although his business may be
very good, and he is as kind and as good a being as ever lived,
it is better to avoid the risk which must attend his and every
other concern in trade. J , or my friend B , will be
able to give you the best advice with regard to the mode of dis-
posing of your little property."
"Calcutta, 24th September, 1810.
" . . . . My eyes are so weak, that I cannot venture to write
much ; and in reading I scarcely ever indulge. This defect in
my sight has determined me to leave the country a year or two
sooner than I had intended ; and by the e$d of May or begin-
ning of June I hope to have the pleasure 6T seeing you all once
more. I have written to Captain Hay to reserve accommoda-
tion for me in the Astell ; but I am a little afraid that others
have applied before me. I shall, at all events, take my passage
in one of the ships which will sail in December or January next.
My health, in all other respects, is perfectly good; and I shall
consider myself very fortunate if I enjoy as good health in
England.
" . . . .1 was exceedingly mortified to find that the little
Kentish property had been let again upon a long lease ; and
that my quondam friend, Mr. , had behaved so unhand-
somely on the occasion. These disappointments will occur, and
they must be borne with patience. I was very desirous of add-
ing to the property, and should have been disposed to settle in
the neighbourhood, as I understand the situation is a pleasant
one. This idea must now be abandoned, especially as my pre-
mature return to England will prevent my making that addition
to my fortune which I had counted upon. I shall not now
have it my power to form any regular establishment, except as
far as it may be necessary for your comfort. I shall live my-
self without house or equipage, upon as moderate a scale of ex-
pense as possible.
* The House to which allusion is here made failed in the following year.
248 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEK.
" November 2nd. All quite well. I have taken my passage
in the Sovereign, Captain Campbell ; and as we expect to sail
direct about the 1st of January, I hope to have the happiness
of seeing you early in May."
And so, after a quarter of a century of exile, he
set his face towards the white cliffs of England, eager
to realise the dreams of the Past. He went, carrying
with him the thanks and the commendations of the
memhers of the Supreme Government, who on the
last day of the year indited the following despatch :
" To the Honorable the Court of Directors for Affairs oftlie Honor-
able tlie United Company of Merchants of England trading to
the East Indies.
" HONORABLE SIRS, We are extremely concerned that
Mr. Henry St. George Tucker, the Secretary to the Govern-
ment in the Public Department of this Presidency, is compelled
to resign that office, and proceed to England in the Honorable
Company's ship, Sovereign.
" 2. On the departure of any of your servants, who have
discharged the duties of their official situations with distin-
guished credit and ability, and with eminent advantage to the
public interests, we deem it an act both of duty and of justice
to afford to your Honorable Court our testimony to the merits
of their conduct, and to the importance of their services. To
none could this testimony be more justly due than it is to Mr.
Tucker, who not only in the office which he is about to resign,
but in other important and responsible situations under this
Government, has established a more than ordinary claim to our
approbation and that of your Honorable Court, by the appli-
cation of talents and acquirements of the highest order, with
unwearied diligence, and unimpeached integrity, in the dis-
charge of the laborious duties committed to his charge during
a long course of active employment in the Civil Service of the
Honorable Company.
" 3. At the express desire of the late Governor-General,
. KETURN TO ENGLAND. 249
Marquis Wellesley, Mr. Tucker was induced, at a season of
great financial difficulty, to relinquish the situation of Secretary
to Government in the Revenue Department, of which the
salary was 50,000 rupees per annum, and accept that of Ac-
countant-General, at a salary of not more than 38,000. Mr.
Tucker, we understand, was led to expect, but has not hitherto
received, a compensation for this sacrifice of private interest to
the calls of the public service, and proposes to submit his claim,
on this account, to your Honorable Court a claim to which we
cannot refuse to solicit your favorable attention.
"4. Mr. Tucker's peculiar abilities in the Department of
Finance are not unknown to your Honorable Court. The
services which he rendered to Government by the very able
manner in which he conducted the important and laborious
duties of the office of Accountant-General, merited and ob-
tained the recorded approbation of Government. We acknow-
ledge, also, the advantage which we have derived from Mr.
Tucker's assistance in forming our plans for the regulation of
your financial concerns since his appointment to the office of
Secretary to the Government in the Public Department; the
general duties of which have been conducted by Mr. Tucker
with distinguished ability, and in a manner to demand our
highest approbation.
"5. These long and meritorious services, we trust, will
appear to your Honorable Court to claim your favorable regard
to any representations which Mr. Tucker may have occasion to
address to you, and your consent to his return to India without
prejudice to his rank, if the state of his health, which has com-
pelled his departure without having acquired a competency,
shall enable him to resume his exertions in the service of the
Honorable Company.
" We have, &c., Honorable Sirs,
" Your most faithful, humble servants,
(Signed) "MiNTO.
" G. HEWETT.
" J. LUMSDEN.
" H. COLEBKOOKE.
"Fort William, the 31st December, 1810."
250 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
At the same time the Governor-General wrote a
private letter to Lord Melville, who presided at the
India Board, in strong recommendation of Mr.
Tucker; and to other influential men at home
addressed himself in terms equally commendatory of
the public servant from whom he had derived such
important assistance. In the month of May, 1810,
the Sovereign entered port.
RECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 251
CHAPTER IX.
Mr. Tucker's Reception in England Meeting with his Mother Visit to
Mr. Carre Miss Boswell Mr. Tucker's Marriage His Wedding-Tour
Recognition of his Services His intended Return to India The Voyage
to Calcutta.
ON his return to England, Mr. Tucker met with a
most flattering reception, both from the Court of
Directors and the Board of Control. On the day of
his arrival in London, Lord Melville sent for him,
and held him in conference for more than an hour.
He was the depository of a rich store of information,
which the governing bodies were most anxious to
possess.
He had many old friends, too, in London, who were
eager to show him the attention that was his due ;
and much business, too, that it was necessary at once
to transact. So that, impatient as he was to em-
brace his mother and his sister, he was detained in
the metropolis, for some little time, against his
will. " I have some business of great importance to
transact," he wrote to the former, from Charles-
street, Berkeley-square, "which I cannot possibly
get through before Eriday or Saturday. On Eriday
or Saturday evening, however, I will positively set
off in the mail, come what will, for I will no longer
deny myself the happiness of embracing those who
252 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
are so dear to me. I have been received here in the
most nattering manner, and this is one cause of my
detention ; for the kindness of my friends has pre-
vented my paying all that attention to business
which was necessary." In a previous letter he had
written, also to his mother, who was at Cheltenham :
" I am in the best possible health, and shall be most
happy in revisiting my country, if I find my friends
so. Heaven bless and preserve you !" He fulfilled
his promise, and was soon in his mother's arms.
Having spent a brief season of happiness in the
society of his widowed parent and his beloved sister,
he set out for Scotland, on a visit to those relatives
who had received him, when a boy in England, fresh
from his western home. He found, unfortunately, a
sick house ; and he wrote to his mother from Edin-
burgh, in July : " This illness has cast a glo'om over
us all ; but the sun is beginning to shine with us
again, and I hope that the conclusion of my visit to
Edinburgh will be more auspicious than its com-
mencement/' In this letter, as in many others
written at this period, the tenderest regard is
evinced for the happiness and comfort of the aged
parent, whose declining years he had done so much
to solace and to cheer. It was one of his chief
cares to provide her with a comfortable home.
Whether an arrangement could be made for them
to live together had been canvassed between them,
but there was an obstacle in the way. " You are
unequal," he wrote, "to the fatigue of house-keep-
ing; and it is impossible for me to impose this
HIS MARRIAGE. 253
trouble upon you. I, myself, am totally ignorant
of everything of the kind ; and even if it were cer-
tain (which it is not) that I shall remain in England,
I could not undertake to manage a household esta-
blishment. I believe, therefore, that I have nothing
for it, but to look out for a wife, or some good-
natured friend, to assist me in this way."
This was said jestingly, but there was deep mean-
ing at the bottom of it. The idea of taking a wife
was not, indeed, at that time a mere abstraction.
It already pressed itself on his mind as an embodied
reality. It was not a thought of a wife ; but of the
wife. He had, in his heart, made the election that
was to influence the future happiness of his life.
On his way to Edinburgh he had paid passing
visits to some friends ; amongst others, to Mr. Alex-
ander Carre, of Caverse, in Roxburghshire. Mr.
Carre was married to Miss Boswell, daughter of Mr.
Robert Boswell, of Edinburgh, Writer to the Signet,
a member of the Auchinleck family, and a rela-
tive of Johnson's biographer. It happened that a
younger sister was then residing with Mrs. Carre.
Mr. Tucker there saw her for the first time ; but it
can scarcely be said that they met as strangers.
Another sister was married to Mr. Egerton, of the
Bengal Civil Service, who had succeeded Mr. Tucker
as Accountant- General, and with whom he had
long lived in habits of intimacy and friendship. Of
her younger sister, Mrs. Egerton had often spoken
to him in terms of the strongest sisterly affection ;
and in letters home had alluded to Mr. Tucker, as
254 LIEE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
to an old and a dear friend, for whom, on his visit
to England, she hespoke all their kindness and hos-
pitality. So, now that Miss Jane Boswell and Mr.
Tucker met, face to face, at Caverse, they met
almost as old friends ; there were common ties to
knit them together. She had much to ask ; and he,
much to tell. And there was no disappointment on
either side. Mrs. Egerton had not exaggerated the
womanly heauty and gentleness of the one, or the
manly intelligence and kindness of the other. So it
happened that the acquaintance, which then com-
menced, soon ripened into love between them.
On the 15th of August he wrote to his mother,
from Charles-street, that he was "in a fair way,
after all, of getting married ;" and before the follow-
ing month had worn to a close, the Church had
pronounced Henry St. George Tucker and Jane Bos-
well to be man and wife.
Prom the letters written by Mr. Tucker, during
this interval, a few extracts may be made brief and
characteristic. They do not advance the progress of
his outer history ; but they afford many glimpses of
his inner life of thought and feeling. It is not
necessary to indicate the date of each particular
passage :
" I have always been of a domestic disposition, although the
tenor of my former life may seem at variance with this fact.
All my future joys must centre in my family; but still I am
not so churlish as not to partake in the amusements of others,
and I hope I have generosity enough to wish you to indulge in
every innocent gratification, even when I cannot be a partaker
in the enjoyment "
LETTERS TO HIS BETROTHED. 255
" The forms and observances of religion ought to be attended
to; and I love the spirit of unaffected piety, at the same time
that I revolt from bigotry, violence, and the spirit of party in
religion I have always thought that religion should in-
spire us with pleasing ideas, and never render us gloomy. He
who is strongly impressed with the benevolence of the Creator
ought not to be gloomy. All Nature everything we see
assures us of His benevolence ! Nothing can elevate our ideas
of the Creator so much as the contemplation of the innumerable
worlds which are circulating around us "
" A noble pride is the best foundation of high character; but
that pride which occupies itself with petty objects, is neither
respectable nor amiable "
" Passion is nothing more than a little quickness of feeling;
and if it be not in excess, there is no harm in it. Oftentimes
it is accompanied by great generosity. On the other hand, ill-
temper and sullenness of disposition are real defects of character;
and they are calculated to produce as much misery in the mar-
riage state, as a want of principle and of every amiable quality."
" I observed to you that it would take me a month to answer
your letters; and so it would, if I went on writing as long as I
could find matter to write about. The mode I pursue is to read
them over, and take notes (in a single word or two) of the sub-
jects to which they refer; but I feel always so strong an interest
during the perusal, that at least half the subjects escape me, and
my notes are very imperfect. I must adopt a new plan, I think,
and reply to line after line ; but there is an advantage in taking
notes, for with a glance of the eye you can arrange the subjects
in their proper order. I used to adopt this practice in my public
correspondence, and it enables you to write in a more connected
manner. Not that this sort of regularity is necessary in private
correspondence. I do not know that it may not sometimes be
a little ungraceful, for ease ought to characterise this correspon-
256 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
dence. Anything studied or constrained appears quite out of
place; and I am a thousand times more pleased with your un-
premeditated desultory observations, than I should be with the
most finished composition. Your sex are considered to excel
in letter-writing; and it is because you write as you feel. We
may admire Art; but we are always pleased with Nature, and
Nature never makes a fuss about anything. If she were to take it
into her head to write letters, they would be written with ease."
" Lord Minto has been most kind to my brother William,
and has given him an appointment (the situation of Deputy-
Paymaster-General to the troops employed on the Expedition).
It will not make W. rich; but it pleases him, and it pleases
me to find his Lordship so attentive to my parting request.
He has, indeedj complied with all my requests in the most
handsome manner; and I feel under great obligation to him."
" When I reflect and see the happiness which I have in
prospect, every wrong passion is, I hope, subdued, and I feel a
degree of gratitude which it is impossible to express."
" You are quite new to the world, and you have yet ex-
perienced none of its cares and anxieties. May you never ex-
perience them ! but . . . we must be prepared to meet a little
of those inconveniences, to which all mankind are subject.
We cannot expect that we shall be entirely exempt from ad-
versity. I would not willingly depress your spirits, or say
anything likely to check the current of your joy; but I would
wish to guard you, as far as possible, against disappointment."
" You have gratified me exceedingly by the ready manner
in which you have consented to take charge of my little wards,
the Richardsons. R. loves me, I believe, as a brother, and
I certainly love him as an invaluable friend. We have been
most intimate ever since I was a boy (he is some years older
than myself); and never, I believe, in the course of so many
LETTERS TO HIS BETROTHED. 257
years, have we experienced the slightest interruption to our
friendship.
" I mentioned to you that I would not send any more letters
for your perusal ; but I must gratify myself by forwarding the
enclosed from Mrs. Fendall. Do not suspect that I send it
from any feeling of vanity. I am sometimes cut to the soul
on receiving praise which I do not deserve. I am mortified
when I look within, and find the reality so different from
what the partiality of my friends would represent me. It has
been my fortune through life to meet with enthusiastic friends
and inveterate enemies, You have seen what the former are;
and I will some day give you a singular instance of what the
latter are capable of doing. But never mind them they are
not our concern at present. I send you Mrs. F.'s letter to
read, because I natter myself that it will gratify you, and
make you better acquainted with this excellent, warm-hearted
friend."
" If I had been inclined to add a motto, it should be one
which I have long purposed to adopt ' Nil desperandum.'
The words apply well enough to some part of my life; and
they form part of a speech made by my Greek ancestor,
Teucer, to his companions, on the occasion of his banishment
from Salamis to the island of Bermuda. Your brothers will
tell you where to find this speech in Horace, and they
will translate it to you. I am descended, also, as I believe I
told you, from the Kings of Jerusalem, and the ancient
Princes of Wales. The Bosvilles cannot boast a higher pedi-
gree. Our name is, however, precisely the same as the Greek
Teucer; for this latter could not actually be written in Greek
letters. They would give Tuker, or Tucker.
" We are agreed, then, to prefer ancient simplicity, and not
to like finery of any kind. The ancients, I suspect, did not
usually drive four horses, except in battle, or at the race-
course; and we will therefore be content to travel with a pair;
for, according to the best calculation, four would double the
expense, -without much adding to our comfort. The other
S
258 LIEE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
pair we will reserve for the peasantry in our neighbourhood.
We obtain a godlike gratification by indulging a spirit of
charity and benevolence."
This last passage was written a few days before
his marriage, which was solemnised on the closing
day of September. They were married from 2,lr.
Carre's house, Caverse, in Roxburghshire, and set
out immediately on a tour, through some of the
most beautiful parts of Scotland. " We have been
running about," he wrote, on the 10th of October
from Montrose, " to the Palls of Clyde, Glasgow,
Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine, &c., and nothing
could be more delightful than this excursion. We
have every prospect of many happy days and happy
years together; and I am grateful to Heaven for
the blessing it has bestowed upon me."
In November he proceeded to Edinburgh, and soon
began to busy himself with thoughts of his return
to India. He had made up his mind, before his
marriage, to take this step, not so much for his own
sake, as for the sake of others, and had written to
his betrothed a characteristic letter, in which he
said : " I think precisely as you do with respect to
our going abroad. It would be more pleasant to
remain where we are ; but circumstanced as I am
it is right to go. It would be to indulge a very
selfish feeling if we remained here, at the risk
of being compelled to deny others those little com-
forts which we have it in our power to procure for
them. If we retain our health, a short residence in
India will be no serious grievance. If you find that
CONTEMPLATED RETURN TO INDIA. 259
the climate does not agree with your constitution,
we can always return, and be content with some-
thing less." And speaking further of this con-
tingency, he said: "You must be satisfied in this
case to settle down quietly in Scotland without
splendor or riches. I can perceive that your good
mother is anxious that I should give Scotland p/
preference. Now I can do this without any diffi-
culty. I will readily agree to our residing near her,
if I should not have business which would fix me
in London. I am not likely to have any such busi-
ness, although I am told that a situation in the
India House would have been offered to me had
I arrived in England a year sooner. It has since
been given to another person."
It is probable that the resolution of returning to
India w^as formed in consequence of his intended
marriage. It seems to have taken a definite shape
in his mind between the months of July and Sep-
tember. In the former, although he had declared
himself ready to proceed immediately to Bengal, if
his services were required, he said that he had then
no fixed intention of returning to India. On his
first arrival in England he had been consulted by
Mr. Bosanquet, the Chairman of the East India
Company, respecting some financial matters, among
which was the question of the best means of re-
mitting to England the surplus funds in the Indian
treasuries. "With respect to remittances in bullion,
he wrote : " I cannot pretend to say what particu-
lar sum those on the spot may deem it prudent
s2
260 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
to send off immediately, but I have no hesitation in
saying that I myself should consider it both safe
and practicable, and easy to despatch from Bengal
and Madras in January next a sum of from two to
three millions sterling in specie and bullion. Of
dollars, however, the proportion will, I imagine,
be very small. Some gold may be supplied from
Madras ; but the bulk of the remittance must be
in the Bengal silver currency. I have, for some
time past, considered the question of this remit-
tance as embracing a great national object, as well
as objects most interesting to the Company ; and I
would have gone back to India to assist in the
arrangements which might be necessary for carry-
ing it into effect, had my services been called for or
desired. I have formed no determination yet to
return to India, nor am I now soliciting employ-
ment there or elsewhere; but I take such an in-
terest in that branch of the public business in
which I have been long employed, that I shall be
disposed to do everything in my power to promote
its success, even under circumstances of incon-
venience to myself."
The admirable letter from which this passage is
taken indicates that neither the excitement of his
first arrival in England, after an absence of a quarter
of a century, nor the delightful thought of em-
bracing the relatives whom he so much loved, had
diminished his public zeal, or in any way dimmed
the clearness of his perceptions, or disturbed the
logical arrangement of his ideas. It was, too, about
" HINTS FOR ACCOUNTANTS-GENERAL." 261
this time that he drew up a valuable paper entitled
" Hints for Accountants -General," full of truths,
which, obvious as many of them may seem to be,
are often disregarded by Financiers. It is written in
a style so pleasant and animated Finance, indeed,
seems to be made so easy in it that even the most
careless reader may peruse the more general portion
of it, which I now subjoin, without a complaint of
the dryness of the subject :
" HINTS FOR ACCOUNTANTS-GENERAL. 1811.
"1st. It is necessary to extend the view occasionally to a dis-
tant period, embracing at least the whole year ; but the service
of the two or three months next ensuing should never be out of
sight. It is no longer time to make provision for an emergency
when that emergency arrives. * Time and I against any two,'
was said heretofore. Time and the borrower will be an over-
match for any lender ; but without time there is no room for
the exertion of skill in financial affairs. Above all, it is neces-
sary to attend to the state of the general Treasury. Any blow
there is mortal. You may be bankrupt in any other quarter
without serious inconvenience, and without much discredit.
" 2nd. If you allow yourself to be pushed off your centre,
either from an over-anxiety to provide for the investment, or
otherwise, you may never recover the equilibrium. Credit once
lost is not suddenly regained. The stone which is precipitated
down in a few minutes, cannot be rolled up again without in-
finite labor. A temporary object may possibly be accomplished
by a violent effort; but, the sinews once over-strained, are
incapable for ever after of exerting the same force. It is some-
times judicious to husband your means to put your strength
out at interest, in order that you may act with greater efficiency
on important occasions. If we had not acted in this manner in
the year 1801, I do not believe that we should have got rid of
our twelve-per-cent. Treasury-bills at this moment ; and as for the
262 LIFE OP H. ST. a. TUCKER.
reduction of the interest of the debt to six per cent., or the
production of a surplus revenue of a million sterling, we
might have dreamed of such things, but we should only have
dreamed.
" 3rd. There may be wisdom in a multitude of counsellors,
but I have not found this to be the case in the affairs of Finance.
Secrecy is sometimes indispensable ; and you cannot be secret
sometimes, if you are not habitually secret. I would not advise
you to consult with the agents or other individuals ; for I do
not recollect ever to have received an opinion or suggestion of
any value from them. The fact is, that they see only one part
of the concern ; and it is not, therefore, to be expected that they
can form any general combinations. Without at all supposing
that they would be influenced by their own particular interests,
it is impossible that they should take a judicious or compre-
hensive view of our affairs, with which they are so little ac-
quainted.
" The same degree of reserve should be practised even with the
confidential officers of the Government (and with one in par-
ticular). They cannot assist you with their advice, and they
may mar your projects by their indiscretion. Address yourself
directly to the Governor-General, or to the member of Govern-
ment who may preside in the department, and communicate as
little as possible with any other individual. If you find a dis-
position on the part of any meddling person to interfere with
you, resist it manfully in the first instance, and abjure all re-
sponsibility if it be permitted or countenanced in any manner.
" 4th. Watch the movements of Capital and Commerce. Vigi-
lance and circumspection are at all times necessary ; but in
times of difficulty the greatest attention is necessary to the state
of the money-market. The price of bullion the quantity im-
ported or exported the demand for bills on particular quarters
the rates of exchange furnish grounds for deducing parti-
cular conclusions ; but many other facts and appearances will
require attention. It may be supposed, perhaps, that the rates
of interest paid by individuals ought to furnish more direct and
certain inferences ; but I am not of this opinion exactly. The
current rates of interest must, doubtless, be attended to ; but
263
my experience has convinced me that this market is affected by
circumstances, which do not by any means indicate the true and
legitimate demand for capital. It is sometimes put into an
unnatural, feverish state by the wants of a single individual; and
it is necessary to distinguish carefully between such paroxysms
and the effects produced by the regular demands of a more
healthful commerce. It is not easy to ascertain the extent of
the capital which is likely to be at the disposal of Govern-
ment ; but some judgment may be formed of it by attentive
observation.
" When the necessity for borrowing is become manifest and
certain, it is much better to offer at once to the public such
terms as are likely to be accepted, than to expose yourself to
the risk of being compelled to raise your terms. For instance,
if you offered seven per cent., and in consequence of a disap-
pointment it should be found afterwards necessary to tender
eight, it may happen that eight, which would have succeeded
in the first instance, will not be accepted after a failure. The
public will then speculate upon an increasing ratio of distress;
and they will be disposed to withhold their funds in the expec-
tation of obtaining ten or twelve per cent. When you have
secured the funds required, it will not be difficult to reduce your
rates of interest by a gradual operation. This was effected by
us in 1801 and 1802 with singular success. Subsequently, in
the end of 1805, I was induced to offer ten-per-cent. Treasury-
notes in order to get rid of an oppressive load of floating debt.
Here, too, we succeeded most completely, and in a very short
time we were again in a condition to resume the offensive; but
had we tendered eight per cent., it would not probably have been
accepted. We should have been obliged to raise our terms;
and we might have been embarrassed with a floating debt at
the present moment. The only time for undertaking any finan-
cial operation with the prospect of success, is when you have a
full Treasury, or at least when you are free from any immediate
pressure.
" The inequality of the instalments of our Revenue and charge
has now been well ascertained, and the necessity of attending
to it has been made sufficiently apparent. The same dispro-
264 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
portion exists at Fort St. George; and it should of course be
adverted to.
"It is also necessary to attend to the flux and reflux of
money at the Presidency, as well as to those circumstances
which occasion a periodical exacerbation of the demand for it.
This demand is always very urgent at the periods fixed for clear-
ing out the salt and opium ; but it is sometimes increased by
other circumstances, which can only be ascertained by a watch-
ful and constant attention, since their operation is not steady
and invariable.
" The ebb and flow of money at the public treasuries must
be well known to the Accountant-General, for it is constantly
in his view ; but the periodical flux and reflux of the private
capital should also be attended to. For instance: the salt
is realised in the interior of the country; the amount is re-
mitted by the merchants to Calcutta, partly in specie, and
partly in grain and other articles which are required for the con-
sumption of the town. The specie, of course, comes directly
to the Treasury in payment for the salt, and the value of the
grain, &c., when sold, comes to us in the same manner. The
money issued from the Treasury on account of interest, in pay-
ment of salaries, &c., &c., is employed in part to make these
purchases of grain, &c., &c., and in part is remitted into the in-
terior for the purchase of goods, indigo, &c., intended for ex-
portation to Europe. These goods constitute the channel for
remitting the savings of incomes and the interest of the public
debt, which is paid by us in cash on the spot "
It has been mentioned that Mr. Tucker, on his
arrival in England, was received in the most flatter-
ing manner both by the Court of Directors and the
Board of Control. The former body soon after-
wards evinced their high sense of his services by
conferring on him a substantial mark of their appro-
bation. They voted him a sum of money, amount-
RECOGNITION OP HIS SERVICES. 265
ing, at the exchange of the day, to about 6000/.*
Intimation of the grant reached Mr. Tucker soon
after his marriage. It was scarcely possible for
anything to have rendered him happier than he
then was ; hut looking as he did upon money as the
means of increasing the comfort and happiness of
others, the liberality of the Court added something
to the pile of blessings, and profoundly enhanced
the gratitude of his heart.
Early in the following year 1812 Mr. Tucker
was in London making preparations for the voyage
to Calcutta. The situation which he was to occupy
on his return to India was naturally an object of
consideration. He believed that his services entitled
him to aspire to one of the highest. And as a seat
in Council was likely soon to be vacant, he availed
himself of the opportunity afforded by a conversa-
tion with the Chairman of the East India Company,
to mention his views in that direction, and ask for
the support of the Court.
In the course of conversation, however, the name
of Mr. Edmonstone was mentioned in connexion with
the vacant seat ; and Mr. Tucker at once, with cha-
racteristic ingenuousness and magnanimity, declared
* " We have agreed," wrote the Court, early in November, to Bengal, " to
present Mr. Henry St.George Tucker, of your Civil Establishment, and lato
Secretary to Government in the Public Department, with the sum of 50,000
Sicca rupees, as a token of our approbation of the integrity and ability with
which he has discharged the duties of the several important situations he has
filled in our service, under your Presidency ; and, accordingly, direct that you
pay the same to Mr. Tucker's agents, in Bengal."
266 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
that lie could not pretend to be as well qualified for
the situation as a man of such eminent attainments as
his friend. What effect this frank testimony in favor
of another may have had upon Mr. Tucker's chance
of nomination, I cannot even conjecture hut soon
afterwards Mr. Edmonstone was appointed memher
of Council. When the decision of the Court reached
the two candidates, they were both of them in Cal-
cutta. The generous conduct of Mr. Tucker had
been communicated to his friend, and when they
next met in the City of Palaces, Edmonstone ex-
claimed : " No one but you no one in the world
but you would have acted such a part." This was
almost better than the appointment itself. The
guns of Eort William proclaiming that he had been
sworn in Member of the Supreme Council could
scarcely have sounded more pleasantly in his ears
than such words as these so uttered.
This, however, is an anticipation of the narrative.
Mr. Tucker and his bride are now in London, pre-
paring for their voyage to Calcutta. They have
determined to take with them a niece of the former
the eldest daughter of his only sister. They have
taken their passage on board the Company's ship
Bengal, commanded by Captain Nicholl they have
excellent accommodation, what is technically called
" half of the round house" and now, in the month
of April, they are fairly afloat.
They met with no adventures on the way neither
shipwreck nor Pirates, so that there is nothing to
VOYAGE TO INDIA. 267
record ; but it is still remembered, by the companion
of his voyage, how kindly and assiduously the some-
time Account ant- General instructed his niece, who
was an apt scholar, in the rudiments of mathema-
tics ; and how, when mirth was to be promoted, and
amusement was the order of the day, the grave
financier was as joyous and frolicsome as any of the
young midshipmen and cadets.
268 LIFE or H. ST.a. TUCKER.
CHAPTEE X.
Keturn to India The Financial Secretaryship The Seat in Council Want
of Money at Home Bullion-supplies Correspondence with Sir Hugh
Inglis Mr. Tucker's Measures Scarcity of Money in India Correspon-
dence with Mr. Davis Death of Mr. Tucker's Mother The Chief
Secretaryship Keturn to England.
GEE AT beyond measure was Mr. Tucker's delight
on first returning to the scene of his old labors.
Escorting his wife, in the first instance, to Garden
Reach the loveliest river- side suburb in the world
-where he had made arrangements to share with
Mr. and Mrs. Egerton* one of those stately villas
which render the seaward approach to Calcutta so
picturesquely inviting, he hurried off to the busy
parts of the town, to receive the welcome of his old
companions.
Foremost amongst those who were eager to extend
to him a hand of kindly greeting was the Governor-
General. As soon as it was announced at Govern-
ment House that Mr. Tucker had arrived, Lord
Minto sent for him ; and the result of the conference
which then ensued was, that a special office was
created for the man whose great financial ability
* Mr. Egerton had succeeded Tucker as Accountant-General. Mrs. Eger-
ton was Mrs. Tucker's sister.
THE SEAT IN COUNCIL. 269
had saved, and was saving, millions to the State.
On the 8th of August Mr. Tucker was appointed
" Secretary to Government in the Colonial and Fi-
nancial Department."
The April ships the very fleet, indeed, with which
Mr. Tucker sailed carried out intelligence of the
nomination of Mr. Edmonstone to a seat in Council.
This appointment was to take effect from the 31st
of July, at which date Mr. Lumsden's five years'
tenure of office terminated. Mr. Colebrooke, the
other member of Council, had then served for nearly
five years; and the same Court which appointed
Mr. Edmonstone, nominated also another Councillor
provisionally, to succeed to the seat which would he
vacant in the course of Octoher. By the Committee
of Correspondence, with whom the nomination ori-
ginated, Mr. Tucker was selected. But the General
Court did not confirm the appointment ; and it was
given to Mr. Seton.
By Mr. Tucker the disappointment was home, as
he might he expected to bear it, manfully and un-
complainingly, and with a grateful recognition of
all the blessings that had been vouchsafed to him.
" If I had been really distressed at this disappoint-
ment," he wrote to his wife, " your note w r ould
operate as a cordial to my heart. But, in truth, it
is not a serious evil ; and I should be the most un-
grateful being upon earth, if I allowed such a cir-
cumstance to make me forget the many and inesti-
mable blessings I enjoy. Never was man more
favored ; and I trust that I am not insensible to the
270 LITE OP H. ST.G. TUCKEIl.
numberless benefits conferred upon me although I
am not perhaps so grateful, and, perhaps, it is im-
possible for me to be so grateful, as I ought to be. I
only pray Heaven to continue me these blessings ;
and other disappointments I can easily bear." And
again, he wrote, with reference to the same subject :
" Possessing, as we happily do, so many blessings,
we ought not to be depressed by a single disappoint-
ment. Everything is ordained for the best ; and we
have abundant reason to be grateful for that large
and unmerited (in my case, at least,) portion of
good that has been assigned to us."
His philosophy, indeed, was eminently cheerful ;
and he had a deep sense of gratitude, which he was
ever ready to express. " We cannot," he wrote in
another letter, "be too grateful for the blessings
which have been bestowed upon us ; and we best
show our sense of obligation to a gracious Provi-
dence by receiving His gifts with a grateful and a
cheerful heart, without repining at the idea that
something still is wanting to our happiness."
"There are two things," he continued, "which I
endeavor to avoid, in order to escape perpetual
vexation and annoyance. The one is, looking back
to the Past for the purpose of discovering omissions
and mistakes and errors* the other is looking into
the Euture for the purpose of anticipating evil. The
day brings with it troubles enough ; and if we add
* I conclude that Mr. Tucker here means only to express his sense of the
folly of vain regrets and repinings. But the lessons of the Past, rightly con-
sidered as guides to the Future, are the best heritage of man.
DEATH OF HIS NIECE. 271
to the Present all the troubles of the Past and the
Future, our condition would be intolerable. So
much for the moral lessons of the day !"
But in the midst of all this enjoyment of so many
and great blessings a heavy blow descended upon
them. Their young charge, Miss L , who had
accompanied them from England, was prostrated by
one of the cruel fevers of the country, and never
rose again from her bed. The death of his niece
deeply afflicted Mr. Tucker, who trembled for the
effect which the sad tidings would have upon her
bereaved mother ; and looked with the most painful
anxiety for the arrival of the vessels by which he
expected to receive from England an acknowledg-
ment of the most distressing communication he had
ever been called upon to make. Eor many months
this sad event cast a shadow over their happiness,
and filled their affectionate hearts with apprehen-
sions that they could not suppress. In such a case
as this, Love proved stronger than Philosophy, and
the theory of never anticipating evil was not proof
against such a trial as now assailed them.
Nor was this the only sorrow that afflicted him
during the second period of his residence in India.
Another trial was in store for him, of which I shall
come presently to speak. But no private sorrows
ever interfered with the vigorous prosecution of his
labors as a public servant. The year 1813 wit-
nessed the completion of some great financial mea-
sures, which obviated a pressing difficulty severely
felt in Leadenhall-street, and conferred substantial
272 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
benefits on the King's Government in a very cri-
tical conjuncture.
In the penultimate chapter it has been briefly
shown that whilst the financial prosperity of the
Indian Government had been established by the
series of great measures which Mr. Tucker initi-
ated, and there was everywhere an abundance of
money flushing the Public Treasuries, the very evi-
dences and results of this prosperity were causing
grievous inconvenience to those who had the ma-
nagement of the Finances at home. The clauses in
the terms of the Loans, which gave the public
creditor the option of receiving the interest of his
securities in the shape of Government-bills on the
Home Treasury, and of exchanging such securities
for bills on England, had caused such a strain upon
the resources of the Company at home, that Leaden-
hall-street was perplexed and dismayed. Bills were
coming in upon the Court in such numbers, and to
such an amount, that it was impossible to meet
them without foreign aid. In this emergency it
was natural that they should have looked in the
first instance to the cash balances in India, of which
they were receiving such flourishing accounts. It
appeared, at one time, that there was an available
surplus of two millions and a half sterling. The
Company, therefore, called upon their officers to
send home large supplies of bullion; but Lord
Minto was slow to meet the demands of the Court,
and for some time their expectations were disap-
EMBARRASSMENTS AT HOME. 273
pointed. Bills came in in profusion ; but money to
meet them did not come.
The chagrin of the Court was great. And it is
easy to account for it. Not only was the perplexity
extreme, but singularly unseasonable. The Company
were seeking a renewal of their Charter. And there
was a scarcity of coin in England. At such a time
it was natural that the great corporation should
have desired to " stand well," as it was called, with
the country. The country itself was in a strait.
Cash was wanted to pay the Army in the Peninsula ;
but somehow or other all the specie seemed to have
been drained out of the land.* It was not a time
* Mr, Tucker attributed this to the erroneous financial policy of the
British Government. In an elaborate paper on the exportation of bullion
(drawn up about the year 1814), he thus expressed himself on the subject:
" The British Government have endeavored by means of penalties to pre-
vent the melting down and exportation of the established coin of the realm ;
but the coin has nevertheless disappeared entirely; and when a measure thus
fails in accomplishing the end proposed, there is reason to suspect some fun-
damental error. It was notorious that at the time, when the most rigorous
measures were enforced to preserve the national coin, the Government re-
quired remittances to the Continent to an amount far exceeding what the
trade could supply; and the remittances could not therefore be generally
effected without the aid of bullion. But bullion the Government could not
procure; guineas never approached the Exchequer; and the law forbade their
exportation even if they had more frequently appeared. As an alternative,
the public officers abroad were of necessity allowed to draw on the Treasury
at home; or in other words, individuals were invited to do what the Govern-
ment could not or would not do. They were invited by the temptation of a
high exchange to remit money for the supply of the military chest in Spain
and Portugal ; the current coin was accordingly melted down and exported
as bullion, or was smuggled out of the country at great risk and expense;
and for this additional charge, as well as for the ordinary expenses attending
the remittance, a full indemnification was required and was obtained in the
terms of the Exchange. The Government in this instance may be considered
to have held out, unconsciously, a premium to its subjects, as an indemnifica-
tion for the personal hazard and extraordinary expense attending a breach of
the law.
274 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
for the Company to go to Parliament for pecuniary
aid without damage to themselves; and yet the
state of things that had arisen rendered such a
course inevitable. Mr. Tucker, when in England,
had told both the Court of Directors and the Board
of Control, that large supplies of bullion might
easily be remitted from India; and the Company
saw how advantageous to their interests it would be,
at such a time, to reciprocate favors with the King's
Government, by furnishing the specie of which the
latter stood so greatly in need.* But, in spite of
the urgent demands of the Court, and the promises,
as they said, of Lord Minto, the bullion never ar-
rived. So the Chairs put themselves into commu-
"The enormous difference of exchange paid by the Government on its
remittances to Spain and Portugal during the last four or five years, suf-
ficiently testifies the fact, although I do not mean to say that other circum-
stances did not concur to produce this unfavorable exchange. Still it is un-
questionable that, in prohibiting or obstructing the exportation of specie, the
Government pursued a line of conduct tending to counteract their own views
and interests in one quarter, without promoting at all the great object of
preserving the national coin."
* " A supply of bullion to the amount we were entitled to expect, would
have enabled the Company to have gone into Parliament for the
renewal of their Charter on much higher ground than can now be
taken. It would have enabled the Minister to have given us with more
ease that support we so much want. And an accession of the precious
metals in aid of the circulation of the country, and of the prosecution of the
war in the Peninsula, would have procured for the Company a popularity,
at all times useful, but at the present moment essential to their best in-
terests. A supply of treasure to the extent of Lord Minto's promise (made
previously to the receipt of our orders by the Acteori), in conjunction with our
claims on Government, on account of expenses incurred in the capture of the
French and Dutch Islands, and the large remittances in cash to the Mau-
ritius, would have amounted to so large a sum, that the additional aid re-
quired to enable us to meet our difficulties, would have been small in com-
parison with that for which it will now be necessary to apply." [Private
Correspondence of the Deputy- Chairman of the East India Company, March,
1812.]
CORRESPONDENCE WITH SIR HUGH INGLIS. 275
nication with Mr. Tucker, on whom they knew they
could rely, and urged him immediately on his arrival
to press upon the Governor- General the necessity of
shipping the bullion without delay. " The object
of this letter," wrote the Deputy- Chairman to Mr.
Tucker, " is to induce you, knowing as you do the
host of enemies with whom we have to contend on
the renewal of the Charter, and fully sensible as you
must be of the ill effects the disappointment has
produced upon the general state of our affairs, to
impress upon Lord Minto's mind the necessity of
relieving, at the earliest possible period, our home
funds from the existing pressure, to the extent, at
least, of his promises, or of what we have directed in
the despatches now sent out I wished and
endeavored to see you previously to your departure
for India ; but before I could accomplish it, I found
that you had left Town. I have therefore troubled
you in this way, in the hope that on your arrival
there, you may, by reporting from your own observa-
tion our actual situation, stimulate the Government
to suitable exertions for our relief."
A few months afterwards,* the same correspon-
dent, who had then succeeded to the Chair, wrote
still more emphatically on the subject in a private
letter to Mr. Tucker :
" You will have learnt that no bullion has been sent to us
from India, and but a small amount from China. You, who
were acquainted with our wants and our expectations, will feel
for our disappointment, which is not alone confined to the
* September, 1812.
T2
276 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEH.
Company. The Public and the Government participate in it.
Silver is wanted for the current circulation of the country ; and
Government is distressed to find the means of making remit-
tances to pay our gallant armies in the Peninsula, and for other
purposes.
" From India we had reason to expect a large supply, not
only in consequence of the orders sent from hence, but in fulfil-
ment of a promise to remit in bullion to the amount of the drafts
that might be made from Bombay; but instead of making good
this engagement, we are told, and with the utmost indifference,
that it has been found necessary to stop the advances for our
Investment, and to draw down from the Provincial Treasuries
the balances, to relieve the more urgent wants of the Govern-
ment at Calcutta. At this very time we find loans to a very
considerable amount had been made to relieve the distresses of
individuals, not recollecting that the very existence of the Com-
pany might depend upon our Home Treasury being supported,
either by bullion or investment; but better by both.
" At a period like the present, when it was known to our
Governments that the Company's Charter was coming under dis-
cussion, when we stood in need of every aid to meet the heavy
pressure on our Home Treasury from the mass of bills from
India, it was not unreasonable to expect great and extraordinary
exertions on their parts; had they even set the example of
taking such part of their salaries as was not absolutely necessary
for their current expenses, it would have shown an anxiety to
assist the Company in this crisis of their affairs.
"I know it will be said the want of money in India has been
occasioned by the large supplies to the expeditions against the
French and Dutch Islands, and for their support; and that we
have claims on the Government at home for reimbursement.
It is true we have; but the Governments in India have not put
us in a way to substantiate these claims, by furnishing us with
clear and detailed statements, such as will enable us to make our
case good in Parliament. We have no such accounts; and
must beg as a boon what we are entitled to as a right.
" The Court have given their sentiments on the foregoing
subject, and pretty fully, in a finance letter which goes by this
CORRESPONDENCE WITH LORD MINTO. 277
ship. It was withheld to the last moment, in the hope of some
satisfactory explanations or information from the Governments
of India, that would have rendered such a letter unnecessary."
At this time Mr. Tucker was busying himself in
Calcutta to provide the much-coveted bullion-sup-
plies. With characteristic promptitude and energy
he threw himself into the work. He had not, in-
deed, been many days in Calcutta, before he wrote
to Lord Minto,* that "not a moment should be
lost in commencing operations ;" and proceeded to
show what was to be done :
"Mr. Egerton," he said, "will call down immediately to
the General Treasury all our surplus funds in the Provincial
Treasuries; and I apprehend there will be no difficulty in
remitting from hence to England twenty-four or twenty-five
lakhs of rupees (fifteen lakhs in Furruckabad rupees, and ten
lakhs in gold), which, with a remittance of five lakhs of
pagodas from Madras, ought to realise 500,0007. sterling. Mr.
Egerton has written to Mr. Garrow to prepare himself; and
your Lordship will, no doubt, adopt the proper means to
obtain a conveyance for the treasure, if it be not judged expe-
dient to despatch it in one or more of the Company's ships.
" With respect to further supplies, I shall only state my in-
dividual opinion, without pledging my friend Mr. Egerton
and it is, that an additional sum of 500,000/. may be sent from
hence (or partly from hence, and partly from Bombay) in
January next. This question, however, may well lie over for
consideration, until we see the effect of the measures which it
is proposed to pursue.
" It will not be practicable, I fear, to enter into the neces-
sary explanations in reply to the late Financial despatch from
the Honorable Court of Directors before the departure of the
Sir W. Burrouglis ; but, if your Lordship approve, I can draft
* August 3, 1812.
278 LIFE OP H. ST.GL TUCKER.
a short letter, expressing deep regret at the disappointment
which has been experienced promising to furnish a detailed
explanation of the causes by an early opportunity and assur-
ing the Honorable Court that a remittance of 500,0007. will be
despatched as soon as a proper conveyance can be provided;
and that the further sum of 500,0007. will be despatched in
January, if possible. Your Lordship will, I conclude, write to
the authorities at home ; and I propose also to give all the in-
formation in my power to Sir H. Inglis, with whom I shall
correspond regularly on this subject."
It need not be said that these efforts gave great
satisfaction to the Company, or that the result
was still more acceptable in Leadenhall-street. The
treasure sent home by Mr. Tucker arrived at an
opportune season, and was soon on its way to the
Peninsula. In March, 1813, his friend and corre-
spondent, the Chairman, Sir Hugh Inglis, wrote to
him:
" The bullion you sent by the Modeste came most a propos
both for the Company and for the public, as I have reason to
believe the whole of it is gone or going to the Peninsula, where
it is very much wanted for the payment of the troops, and the
general support of the army. The further remittances in
bullion will be most welcome, as they will be the means of
placing the Company on better ground than they have occupied
for some years past, especially if you can realise the expectation
you give of sending, in addition to the 700,0007., an anticipa-
tion of 250,0007. of next year's remittance. The aid derived,
and to be derived from the bullion remittances, and the money
due by Government for the advances made by the India Govern-
ments on account of the Expeditions, would have enabled us to
have gone through this year without any Loan from the public,
had we been able to keep our Bonds in circulation ; but, unfor-
tunately, they have been paid in upon our sales to such an
amount as renders an application indispensable for a credit to
the extent of 2,500,0007., though I hope, when our affairs come
CONDUCT OF THE COURT. 279
before Parliament, some arrangements will be made so as to
raise our credit, and to restore confidence in our paper, and by
that means render unnecessary, at least for this year, the credit
we solicit."
If Mr. Tucker's previous services had not entitled
him to a seat in Council, he had now fairly earned
one. And there were honest, unprejudiced Directors
in the Court, foremost amongst whom was Sir Hugh
Inglis, a man of undoubted integrity and ability,
who, thinking only of the interests of the public
service, were eager to support his nomination to
a provisional seat in the Government. But Mr.
Tucker had his enemies in the Court, and the ap-
pointment was not carried :
" Before I left the Direction," wrote the late Chairman, at
the end of April, 1813, "I had the pleasure of hearing of the
second supply of bullion which came by the President, and by
private letters I learnt that there were considerable sums on
board the regular ships which Admiral Stopford had left at St.
Helena. Though I considered the former supply by the Modeste,
this by the President, and what we have further to receive, to
be owing to your exertions, yet I am sorry to say, I found it
impossible to accomplish what on public grounds I was most
anxious to do to nominate you a Provisional Counsellor.
"Mr. Thompson would inform you of the result, which I
assuredly did not contemplate when I gave notice of my inten-
tion to propose you for the situation; but I have reason to
believe that my intentions were frustrated by a most active
canvass made by the friends of a gentleman of higher standing
in the service than you; and when the time for decision came,
I found several on whom I had depended, and even some that
I considered your personal friends, were against me. Under
these circumstances, I thought it more creditable to you to let
the business pass without any one being appointed. I hope this
circumstance will not induce you to leave India next January,
280 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
as in one of your letters you intimated that it was your intention
to do ; for I shall consider it a serious calamity if the Company
are deprived of your most able services."
To Mr. Tucker, who had the strongest private
reasons for wishing speedily to return to England
for the health of his heloved wife was failing this
was no disappointment. Indeed, he had ceased to
think of official promotion content still to do his
duty, though in a subordinate capacity, in that De-
partment to which he had so long been attached,
and in which he had no competitor.
Indeed, there was much work for him still in this
old Department of Finance. The Financial history
of India is a history of Reactions. So it appeared,
when Mr. Davis, who had been Accountant- General,
and who, on his final return to England, had been
elected a Member of the Court of Directors, wrote to
Mr. Tucker in May, 1813 : " You individually have
great credit with the Court for the exertion the
Governments of Bengal and Madras have made to
send home the money-remittance; but I fear the
strain has been to an extent that may be felt in your
Finance Department. As to sending home an equal
amount in the current year, or indeed making any
similar remittance to England, until you are in a
condition very different from what you were at the
date of your last letter, I hope the Government
abroad and the Court here will think it quite out
of the question." And Mr. Davis was right. The
strain upon the Indian Treasuries had been too great.
And in a little while it was announced that whilst
FINANCIAL REACTIONS. 281
the home Treasury was in a plethoric state princi-
pally owing to the gorging effects of some lucky sales
the Indian Treasuries were in a state of collapse.
Indeed, before the middle of 1814, by which time
Lord Moira had succeeded to the chief seat in the
Government of India, there appeared to be strong
symptoms of something like "a Financial crisis. In
May, Mr. Tucker wrote to Mr. Newnham, then
Secretary at Bombay, giving a lamentable picture of
the state of the Finances at the Chief Presidency.
" To give your Government," he said, " an un-
limited credit on Bengal, as heretofore, might sub-
ject us to great inconvenience. The bills which you
drew about the end of last year, coming upon us as
they did with other unexpected demands, had nearly
reduced us to absolute bankruptcy. Our disburse-
ments from the General Treasury alone in December
and January last, amounted to 1,20,00,000 rupees,
and during several days we had only 7 or 8,00,000
rupees in our Treasury. It is extremely hazardous
just now to sail in such shallow water ; and it re-
quired every effort to extricate ourselves at the period
alluded to. You must be sensible that any derange-
ment here would be felt in every money channel
throughout India ; and when financial derangement
once takes place, it is not very easy to restore
order."
The Governor-General, who had started on a
visitation-tour through the Upper Provinces, soon
became painfully conscious of this disagreeable fact.
The scarcity of money stared him in the face at
282 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
every turn. " The grievous want of money through-
out the country," he wrote to Mr. Tucker, " operates
most mischievously against the interests of Govern-
ment and the comfort of the inhabitants. The de-
fault of culture in the lands, through the inability
of the Ryot to command the slender advances neces-
sary for working it, and the insufficiency of the
Zemindar to aid him, strikes the eye painfully at
every step. It is only in the vicinity of some Euro-
pean, competent to furnish such assistance to the
peasantry around him, that one sees any justice done
to the soil and it is to that inadequate relief alone
that we must give the credit for the matters not
being much worse. The dissemination of some
amount of cash in a district is necessary to repair
the constant drain made to Calcutta."
In this emergency it was necessary to look abroad
for some extraordinary source of supply ; and it is
no insignificant proof of the real perplexity of Go-
vernment at this period, that so practised a Finan-
cier as Mr. Tucker could think of no better aid, in
the difficult conjuncture that had arisen, than a loan
from a native Prince. Towards the end of July, he
wrote to the Governor- General :
" MR. TUCKER TO LORD MOIRA.
" MY LORD, .... I have the satisfaction to inform
your Lordship that we have lately advanced the further sum of
ten lakhs of rupees on account of the Investment; but I am
apprehensive that we must now suspend our operations. The
balance of the General Treasury has been much reduced; the
collections in the Lower Provinces are now at a stand; and
PROPOSED LOAN FROM OTJDE. 283
we have thought it prudent to discontinue our drafts on the
Western Provinces, as your Lordship may, eventuallv, require
large funds in that quarter. We depend, in fact, just now, upon
the salt revenue, for the supply of our General Treasury; and
if the Honorable Court of Directors should grant bills on this
Government in favor of individuals, (as I have reason to think
they have done, or will do,) we shall find it very difficult, and
perhaps impracticable, to provide for this, and other demands,
from our ordinary resources.
" It has occurred to me, therefore, that it may be necessary to
look abroad for some extraordinary source of supply; and as
the late event in Oude might be supposed to open a prospect in
that quarter, I consulted with Mr. Edmonstone yesterday on
the subject. He is naturally averse to any step which might
compromise the character of our Government in the minds of
our neighbours, and of our own subjects, and he thinks that
if we applied for a loan to the Newaub so immediately after
his accession to the Government, it would be regarded by the
natives, and perhaps by himself, as a consideration exacted for
our services. The weight of this objection will be best esti-
mated by your Lordship ; but if it can be got over, we certainly
should find it very convenient to obtain a supply of fifty to
eighty lakhs of rupees at the present period. The accommodation
would not, however, be very material if the loan were granted
only for a short time; and should your Lordship see reason to
entertain the proposition, I would beg to suggest that the sum
which his Highness may be disposed to advance, be received as
a subscription to our present six-per-cent. loan; and that the
interest be made payable half-yearly or quarterly, by assign-
ments on the treasuries of Rohilkund, or other treasuries in the
Ceded Provinces. A strict Mussulman will not receive interest
for money in its simple form ; but the most orthodox will,
I believe, receive the produce cf money employed in trade;
and I should imagine that any scruples of this kind might be
overcome by granting an assignment on a particular province
to the amount of the interest payable on the loan. If, indeed,
the late Newaub should have made any disposition of his
personal property in favor of the junior, or illegitimate, Or
284 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
female branches of his family, perhaps this might be found the
most convenient and effectual mode of securing a permanent
provision for them.
11 Your Lordship will, I hope, excuse my travelling out of
my record on this occasion, as I do not often step beyond the
borders of my own immediate province.
" I have the honor to be, my Lord,
" Your Lordship's obedient, humble servant,
" H. ST. GEORGE TUCKER.
" Calcutta, 23rd July, 1814."
The proposal was sanctioned by Lord Moira ; and
Mr. Rlcketts was instructed to negotiate the Loan.
The scruples of the Newaub, if he had any, were
overcome ; and he advanced a million of money in
the shape of a subscription to the six-per-cent.
loan. Announcing this to his old friend Mr. Davis,
Mr. Tucker enters at some length into the general
politics of the times. What his political views
were, may be gathered from the following letter.
He had seen too much of financial embarrassment
financial embarrassment engendered by costly wars
not to tremble when he saw Lord Moira embark-
ing in great military operations, and swallowing
up the revenues of the State with something of a
Wellesleyan appetite. The letter is a curious and
suggestive one, if only on account of the glimpses
which it affords of the strong opinions on Indian
politics which he afterwards entertained, and the
emphatic manner in which he expressed them :
" MR. TUCKER TO MR. DAVIS.
"Calcutta, 12th Nov., 1814.
u DEAR DAVIS, Since I wrote to you on the 4th instant
we have received official advice from Lord Moira of his having
CORRESPONDENCE WITH MR. DAVIS. 285
obtained a crore of rupees on loan from the Newaub of Oude,
one moiety of which is to be received immediately, and the
other moiety on the 1st March. The money is to be paid in
as a subscription to the six-per-cent. loan ; and this is obviously
the best footing on which we could have obtained it. Some
special arrangement is to be made with regard to the payment
of the interest, with a view, as I conceive, to obviate Mussul-
man scruples.
" We lost no time here in calling upon Egerton to report on
the best mode of disposing of our superfluities; and his letter is
at present in circulation. We shall, I hope, commence im-
mediately on the payment of debt; and although there are
some serious contingencies impending, I have urged that we
should discharge the Bombay eight-per-cent. debt, with a small
amount of six per cent, standing before it on the Register,
amounting together to 54,56,000 rupees. We shall begin to ad-
vertise next week; and the operation will, I trust, be completed
by the 30th of April. Two objects will be gained by it. We
shall raise the value of our paper, and supply the houses of
business with funds. They are the principal holders of the
paper which will be paid off; and it is on every account much
better to assist them in this way, for whenever we send them
money there is difficulty and dissatisfaction experienced when
the day of payment arrives.
" With this loan from the Newaub we should have per-
formed glorious service, if we could have ventured to bring all
our resources into action; but, not content with our Nepaul ex-
pedition, we are, I find, meditating other projects which may
involve us in a general war. I have seen nothing of the cor-
respondence, and I have heard but little on the subject, so that
my opinion cannot have any solid foundation. I do think,
however, that, while the whole of our disposable force is
employed on our Northern frontier, it would have been as
prudent to allow affairs to remain in tranquillity to the South.
But then I shall be told, an opportunity presents itself which
may never again occur. What is this opportunity ? The
Newaub of Bhopaul and the Chief of Saugor are threatened
by Laindich and the Rajah of Berar. Now, by fixing our-
286 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
selves in the little principality of Bhopaul, we shall gain a
fulcrum, from which we may sweep away or smash the Pin-
darries, and drive a subsidiary treaty down the throat of the
Berar Rajah. Saugor, too, is a fine central point, round which
we may draw certain magic circles for promoting the success
of the same object.
" This may be all very good; but I say we must be dotards
if we cannot make as good an opportunity at any time. When
did ambition ever want opportunities for developing itself?
We must be downright bunglers if we cannot find at any mo-
ment an excuse for interfering in the affairs of Hindostan and
the Dekhun, disturbed as they are at present with jarring
interests.
" And what, after all, is the end proposed ? I asked a friend
of mine, whom you esteem as much as I do, * Do you propose
to hang up the Pindarries at the nearest tree ? Do you expect
by hard blows at once to effect a change in their character and
habits of life ? Do you intend to give them employment in
your service, or to bestow on them, otherwise, the means of
subsistence?' The answer was, ' We think it necessary to pre-
vent their future incursions into our territory, and for this pur-
pose it is necessary to expel them from the position which they
have occupied on the line of the Nerbuddah.'
" I do not mean to say that it is not desirable to do this and
many other things ; but I do think that these plunderers are
likely to be less troublesome when they obtain some territorial
footing; and I am quite satisfied that, extend your frontier as
far as you please, you will be liable always to have troublesome
neighbours, whom it will not be quite convenient to annihilate.
Annihilate you must, in pretty round numbers, if you are de-
termined that no soldiers of fortune shall remain in any part
of India.
"As for subsidiary treaties, I am sick of the very term.
Lord Wellesley was for firing off these treaties at every man
with a blunderbuss; but I had hoped that there was an end of
these forcible operations. After sacrificing, too, a little repu-
tation to the object of extricating ourselves from a connexion
with the petty states of Hindostan, I did not certainly expect
OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 287
that we should volunteer our services to support the Newaub
of Bhopaul, or the Chief of Saugor. The mischief is, that the
frequent change of our statesmen in this country must cause a
change of measures, and even of principles. What must the
natives think of our maxims of policy, when we one day break a
treaty with the Rajah of Jeypore because we wish to withdraw
from foreign connexions and the next, form a treaty with the
Newaub of Bhopaul, for a directly contrary reason ? I am no
politician myself; and I know that the idea of justice and
morality in politics is matter of ridicule; but, justice and
morality out of the question, I cannot perceive the policy of
our engaging more deeply in the affairs of Hindostan. Our
military power is so formidable, that we are not likely to be
attacked; and as for the Pindarries it would be quite suffi-
cient, I think, to beat them down whenever they presumed to
.show themselves in the neighbourhood of our territory. De-
fensive precautions might have cost us a few thousands or hun-
dred thousands annually; but a war with the Mahratta States
will cost us more than I would venture to estimate. For-
tunately, they are not very well prepared, and they are not very
enterprising, or they might at this moment when our southern
frontier is completely ungarnished of troops sweep through
the Doaub, and levy contributions within the sacred limits of
Benares. We common men can only say, ' let the General
look to that.' ....
" Farewell with best wishes, believe me
" Very sincerely yours,
"H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" P.S. 14th Nov. The difficulties of our Nepaulese enterprise
are beginning to show themselves even sooner than I had appre-
hended. An express has just been received, announcing that
General Gillespie had been repulsed and killed in an attempt
to carry Kalounga by assault. We have lost, it is said, about
400 men, killed and wounded, and I fear a large proportion of
Europeans and officers. This is a very inauspicious commence-
ment ; but we are now fairly in for the service, and must go on.
What an opportunity for the Mahrattas, while we are knocking
288 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
our heads against these mountains ; but they are, I trust, in too
distracted a state to avail themselves of it. Ought we to give such
opportunities unnecessarily? and is there wisdom in provoking
one neighbour, while we are endeavoring to subdue another ?
These are very simple questions, no doubt, and it would be silly
almost to propose them, if our conduct did not justify them.
This first failure may possibly have a good effect in inducing
Lord Moira to withdraw from his southern projects ; and, in
fact, I am not so much afraid of the Nepaulese as I am of our
southern neighbours. The former may repulse us; but they
cannot follow up their success. They have no description of
force which could act with effect on the plains ; and they are
not, therefore, formidable in offensive operations against us.
The force which might assail us from the south, is of a character
directly opposite. I shall not be surprised if Lord M. should
now be induced to take the field, especially if our difficulties
should increase upon us. There is a little of the romantic in
his character, and I think he will like to take a part, if there
should be any serious work on hand. This may be all very
right ; but what I object to is, that he should have made such
work for himself without a necessity. I already look upon our
crore of rupees as upon a departed spirit. Our financial opera-
tions will, I fear, be suspended, although I shall myself vote for
getting rid of our eight per cents, at all hazards. There are
more crores in the same coffers, if we should be much at a loss ;
and we may repay them with the sovereignty of Nepaul, if we
should succeed in conquering it. I am only surprised that any
individual should prefer war to peace, after the example of the
French Emperor.
"Farewell, sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. T."
Erom the military operations in which Lord
Hastings had emharked, Mr. Tucker had too much
reason to anticipate the most calamitous financial
results; but he afterwards acknowledged that the
evils which he predicted had been fortunately
THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD HASTINGS. 289
averted. " The Marquis of Hastings," he wrote
ten years afterwards, "unquestionably left the Fi-
nances of India in a most flourishing condition.
Hostilities had been carried on, upon an extensive
scale, without causing any very large addition to be
made to the public burdens. " A sum of about a
million of money " received from the King of Oude,
for the sale of Kyraghur, reduced the military charge
of 1815-16. Large consignments of bullion were
also received from England, remitted from the
' Surplus Eund of Commercial Profit ;' and these
tended materially to prevent the increase of debt,
and to facilitate all the financial operations of the
Government abroad." " Still," added Mr. Tucker,
" it is but just to Lord Hastings to notice, that his
Lordship's military expenditure, as compared with
that in the preceding Mahratta war, was very mo-
derate, as was shown by the Commissary- General.
This is to be ascribed, partly to the establishment of
an efficient Commissariat by Sir George Hewett,
during the administration of Lord Minto partly to
the extent of our pecuniary resources, which enabled
the Government to discharge the irregular troops
the moment their services were no longer wanted ;
and partly to the strict attention paid by Lord Has-
tings to economy in his military dispositions as
Commander-in-Chief . ' ' *
But the time was fast approaching when Mr.
Tucker's ministerial connexion with the Finances of
India indeed with all the official business of the
* Review of the Financial situation of the East India Company in 182-1.
U
290 LIFE OE H. ST.G. TUCKER.
State was permanently to cease. The health of
his wife had been, for some time, declining. The
climate manifestly did not agree with her constitu-
tion. She had more than once been prostrated by
fever, so severe and exhausting, that Mr. Tucker
had trembled for her life. It was in no small mea-
sure owing to his unremitting care and attention
to the love which took no account of fatigue, to the
almost womanly tenderness and patience with which
he watched by her sick bed, and ministered to her
wants, that, under Providence, she was enabled to
struggle through these fearful maladies. But his
apprehensions of the too great danger of another
such attack, moved him to prepare for his final
departure from India. There was nothing in the
country no wealth, no honor, that it could yield-
to tempt him to incur so terrible a risk.
These years, indeed, of his second visit to India,
had not been years of unclouded happiness. The
death of his niece, and the repeated illnesses of his
wife, had tried him sorely in the furnace of affliction.
But another great sorrow had also been dispensed to
him. In the course of 1814 tidings reached him of
the death of his beloved mother. When he opened
the letter announcing this mournful event, he was
moved as he had never been before. Habituated as
he was to self-control, he gave way to a paroxysm of
grief; threw himself into a chair, wept aloud, and
for a time was not to be comforted.
But in the domestic history of most men there
are blessed compensations. Henry St.George Tucker
FATHER AND SON. 291
was now parentless ; but lie had become a parent.
His mother had lived long enough to congratulate
him on the birth of his first-born. It was such
congratulation, too, as delights the soul of the reci-
pient. "May the child/' she wrote, "in every re-
spect resemble his parents ; and be as great a com-
fort to them, as our beloved Henry has been to us."
Alike by Father and by Mother had this praise been
often uttered before ; and most merited, indeed, was
the laudation. He had been the prop and the solace
of their declining years. From the fruits of his toil
he had contributed largely to the comforts of their
home. His generosity was that true generosity of
the heart which blesses alike the giver and the
receiver, and never makes bounty burdensome.
It is to be hoped that filial piety is not rare. The
gracious privilege of paying back in maturity the
care and kindness lavished upon the child may
not be vouchsafed to many; but for the honor of
human nature we would fain assume that when
vouchsafed it is seldom rejected. It is an error in
Biography to claim for each individual quality com-
mented upon, something peculiar to the possessor. If
there were not a peculiar combination of qualities,
there would be little for the Biographer to record.
But the peculiarity resides in the combination, not
in the individual virtues. Bare qualities are one
thing ; a rare character is another.
The thought of all these gaps in the family circle
may have done something to moderate the intensity
of Mr. Tucker's yearnings after home; but the
TJ2
292 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
health of his wife was a paramount consideration,
and before the close of 1814, he had come to the reso-
lution of removing her to a milder climate. Official
advancement was then within his reach ; but he was
indifferent about it. The Court of Directors had
disapproved of the creation of the new appointment
bestowed upon Mr. Tucker, and in a letter most flat-
tering to the incumbent himself, had directed the
abolition of the office.* " "With respect to the pro-
posed arrangement, " wrote Mr. Tucker at the end
of October, " as it may affect me individually, I have
little to say. During the short period in which I
am likely to remain in India, I shall be glad to do
all in my power to promote the public service ; but
I have no wish or intention to continue long in that
service, and the abolition of my present office would
not, therefore, give me any concern. The Colonies
cannot well be transferred for six or eight months,
and beyond that period I shall not be disposed to
retain the office, whatever may be the disposition of
the Court of Directors, or of this Government." But
before definite instructions for the abolition of the
Colonial Secretaryship had been received, Mr.
Tucker was promoted to a higher office. The
* " We entertain," wrote the Court of Directors, " a very high opinion of the
abilities and zeal of Mr. Tucker, and we are satisfied that you could have
selected no one of our servants who would discharge the duties confided to
him with more advantage to the public service; but \ve cannot, under the
actual state of our Finances, approve of your having incurred this additional
expense; and we direct that the office be discontinued upon the receipt of this
despatch. We, however, recommend Mr. Tucker to particular attention, when
any office may fall vacant suitable to his rank and claims in the service." For
the Indian Government's justification of this appointment, see a document in
the Appendix.
DEPARTURE FROM INDIA. 293
Chief Secretary, Dowdeswell, succeeded to a seat
in Council; and Mr. Tucker was appointed Chief
Secretary to Government in his place.
On the 28th of December, 1814, this appointment
passed Council. On the following day Mr. Tucker
wrote privately to his friend Edmonstone, who was
then Vice-President : " You already know that the
state of Mrs. Tucker's health requires a change of
climate ; but instead of passing the hot weather at
Chittagong, as I had proposed, it is my intention to
proceed to the Cape of Good Hope, or St. Helena,
and eventually to England ; and it is proper that I
should give you the earliest intimation of this inten-
tion. " Soon afterwards he sent in a formal applica-
tion for leave to proceed with his family to the Cape
of Good Hope or St. Helena, in the Honorable Com-
pany's ship Marchioness of Ely> and to be absent
from the duties of his office for a period of six
months from the date of his embarkation. And on
the 10th of February, 1815, the leave he sought was
officially granted.
And so they bade adieu to India. They sailed for
the Cape in the Marchioness of Ely ; and eventually
went on to England. The health of Mrs. Tucker
improved under the influence of the sea- voyage;
but it was thought advisable to proceed onward,
that the invalid might enjoy the benefit of a re-
turn to the climate of her native home. So Mr.
Tucker despatched from St. Helena a formal re-
signation of his appointment, and returned to his
ship-board cabin. The passage was a long and a
294 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
fatiguing one ; and it was not until the month of
August that they sighted the white coast of Great
Britain.
He had now made up his mind to retire altogether
from the active service of the Company. He was in
his forty-fifth year. He had served the State in
various capacities for nearly thirty years; and he
had amassed a moderate fortune. The Government
of Java was designed for him; hut he had seen
enough of Eastern life, and desired nothing more
than rest, domestic enjoyment, and literary leisure.
All these were now within his reach ; and he was
abundantly content.
On his arrival in London he waited upon the
Indian authorities, and was received by them with
marked consideration. He had much information
to impart, and the exposition of his views on the
great political questions of the day was listened to
with the greatest respect. To his friend Mr. Ed-
inonstone he wrote in October, with especial re-
ference to his conversations with Lord Buckingham-
shire, who then presided at the Board of Control.
He had by this time quitted the southern metropolis,
and was on a visit to his friends in the North :
" TO N. B. EDMONSTONE, ESQ.
"Carerse, 1st October, 1815.
" DEAR EDMONSTONE, I ought to have written to you
much sooner ; but a man arriving in a new country finds
abundance to do, and what is worse, he finds strong induce-
ments to be idle.
" This was my case ; and I am apprehensive that the habits
LETTER TO MR. EDMONSTONE. 295
of idleness are not likely to be dissipated, now that I have
really nothing to do, unless I choose to cull flowers, or to make
verses on cows, sheep, and other Arcadian objects !
" On my arrival in London, I of course waited on the Indian
authorities, and I had a long interview with Lord Bucking-
hamshire, who seemed to be very anxious to obtain information
regarding the state of affairs in India. I gave his Lordship
the best information I could ; and I gave also my own opinion
on questions which were proposed to me. Lord B. was also
very desirous of knowing your opinions on particular points ;
and although it was a very delicate office to undertake^ I did
not hesitate in stating what I believed to be your sentiments
on some of our late measures. The necessity for the Nepaulese
war seems to be very generally admitted ; but our proceedings
to the south are quite incomprehensible to all parties, as well
those who possess information, as those who are debarred access
to the official documents. You will be surprised to hear that
the great majority of the Directors are in the latter class, the
secret correspondence being withheld from them ; and even
Davis, one of the most active and intelligent of the corps, had
never heard of your controversial minutes with Lord Moira,
until I mentioned them to him.
" I was particularly glad that I had seen these documents;
for I took occasion to refer Lord Buckinghamshire to them,
and had the satisfaction to find that they were quite familiar to
his Lordship, although unknown to Davis. Lord B. spoke
of them as being most able productions ; and I can assure you
that your public character is justly appreciated, both at the
Board of Control and in Leadenhall-street. I had some diffi-
culty in satisfying Mr. Reid, the Deputy Chairman, that you
could not possibly have accompanied the Governor-General on
his tour ; for he, Mr. R., was disposed to attribute all our em-
barrassments to your having remained behind an opinion in
which he is not, I fancy, quite singular.
' ' In venturing to state what I believed to be your opinions, I
of course took care to observe as much delicacy as possible
towards Lord Moira. On the main question, I stated distinctly
that, desirable as you considered it that effectual means should
296 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
be taken to suppress the Pindarries, you were of opinion that no
decisive step should be taken with a view to this object until a
reply should be received to the reference which had been made
to the public authorities at home; and that, whatever judgment
might be formed with regard to the projected connexion with
the principalities of Bhopaul and Saugor, you were of opinion
that the agitation of these questions was unseasonable and unfor-
tunate. On the employment of irregular corps, and some other
minor points, I could speak from public documents, and I ran
no risk, therefore, of mis-stating your opinions. My own I
gave, as I usually do on such occasions, with no other re-
serve than what consideration towards others suggests as being-
proper
" I urged on Lord Buckinghamshire the expediency and the
necessity of your being furnished immediately with a supply of
bullion, to enable you to pay your army, and to keep faith with
the public creditors; and his Lordship appeared to be so im-
pressed with this necessity, that he despatched a messenger to
the Admiralty, while I was with him, to expedite the equip-
ment of the frigate ; but some assurance had been given that
the seamen should have liberty to spend their money, and it
was found that not a single ship could be manned while a
guinea remained. A large supply of money will, however, be
sent both to China and India, for the Directors have about
two millions sterling in their Treasury almost in a state of in-
activity.
" I insisted at the India House, with little success, that the
money destined for China should all be consigned to you ; but
they will not trust you further than is necessary, and they
seem not at all confident that what they may send will be
applied to the proper object. Your Lucknow Loans have done
you good service ; and they will, I hope, carry you fairly
through the present year; but this cannot be looked to as an
every-day resource, and I am not quite certain that your pos-
sessing such a resource has been regarded with much exultation
at the India House.
"You will, I think, have been a little surprised at their
having abolished my office of Secretary; but Lord Bucking-
LETTER TO MR. EDMONSTONE. 297
hamshire informed me that I was intended for the Government
of Java, and that he had written to Lord Moira to appoint me
to it. I thanked his Lordship, but told him it was an honor
which I must have declined, and that I had quitted India with
no intention of ever returning to it.
" The Lumsden and Davis families are your only con-
nexions whom I met in London; and as they correspond with
you, I shall leave them to give an account of themselves.
Lumsden is canvassing for the Direction, and with every
prospect of success, for his character, public and private, is well
known, and he will, I hope, be supported at the India House
and by Lord Buckinghamshire. He must, however, wait an-
other year before he is considered qualified for this high
honor
" Believe me ever, with great esteem,
" Very sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKEE.
" P.S. I pass the winter in Edinburgh ; but prepare to
return to England with my family early in spring."
298 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
CHAPTER XI.
Residence in Edinburgh Journey to London Adventures on the Road
Residence in London Excursion in Wales Visit to Ireland Thoughts of
Public Life.
SETTLED with his wife and children, and surrounded
by the relatives of the former, in the Scottish capi-
tal, Mr. Tucker now found himself for the first time
in the full enjoyment of the literary leisure for
which he had so often sighed. He was an enthu-
siast after knowledge of all kinds ; and now day after
day he was to he seen, at the age of forty-five, at-
tending the lectures of the Edinburgh professors of
Hope, Playfair, and others with as much ardor
as the most ambitious of the youthful students who
sate in the class beside him. The lecture over, he
seldom failed to hurry off to St. Andrew's and to
St. George's-square, to pay a visit to Mrs. Boswell
and to Mrs. Carre a visit always looked for and
always enjoyed, for he had truly become to the latter
an affectionate brother, and to the former a dutiful
son.
LIFE IN EDINBURGH. 299
In the society of the neighbourhood he mixed,
but with becoming moderation. He had many
friends and many connexions in Edinburgh, and he
delighted to see them assembled at his own hospi-
table board. This was the convivial intercourse
which pleased him best ; for it gratified at once his
social propensities and his affection for home.
But this pleasant life was broken in upon by an
event of a painful nature, arising out of the circum-
stances of a near relative, which compelled his pre-
sence in London. The business was of so distressing
a nature, and the anxiety it occasioned him was so
great, that during the two or three days which pre-
ceded his departure there was a marked change in
his appearance. A worn and harassed look beto-
kened the intensity of the inward struggle. He set
out under great depression of spirits, in the midst of
a violent snow-storm, although it was in the middle
of the month of May.
The excitement of the journey to the South seems
in some measure to have restored his composure ;
and he wrote cheerfully from Newark an amusing
account of his travels across the Border. In those
days a man, between Edinburgh and London, might
meet with adventures sufficient to fill a volume, and
companions enough to stock a portfolio with their
portraits. I shall devote this chapter to private
affairs, and leave Mr. Tucker's family letters to
carry on the story of his life. His journey to Lon-
don, and his residence in the metropolis in 1816,
are the first incidents described :
300 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Newark, Tuesday, 6 o'clock A.M.
" My progress hitherto has been much like
the ordinary progress of human life, sometimes smooth and
pleasant, and occasionally rough and disagreeable enough.
From Edinburgh to Berwick I had a companion who was com-
pletely drunk, and who took care to renew the stimulus (al-
though it was scarcely necessary) whenever the mail halted for
a few minutes. From his conversation while asleep (for he
was stupidly silent while awake), I discovered that he was a
sailor, and probably the master of a Berwick smack, under
whose good guidance I should be sorry to place myself. In
his sleep he was very lively as well as talkative, and he began
at one time to figure away with his feet at the roof of the mail ;
but as I did not much admire his dancing, I took the liberty
to interfere and put his legs in their proper place. Luckily he
was good-humored in his cups, and he took my hints in good
part; and on my presenting him with a few gingerbread-nuts
(a present from Alexander) he gave me a most
cordial invitation ' to take pot-luck with him' at Berwick. As
we did not arrive, however, until near midnight, the invitation
would not have been Tery seasonable, even if the host had been
in better condition to entertain his friends.
" Throughout the whole journey, as far as Newcastle, we had
a violent storm of snow, rain, and sleet; and the cold was more
severe than I have felt it during the winter. The coach was
not wind-tight at the bottom ; and as I was obliged to keep my
window open to allow the escape of certain fumes, the produce
of whisky, rum, and brandy, I felt the cold so pinching, that I
should have been glad of Mrs. S.'s fur cap, and the Doctor's
capacious worsted stockings ; but as these were not at hand,
and I was too lazy to look out for substitutes, the night was not
passed quite so snugly as I have passed nights at Bonington
and elsewhere. To aggravate the evil, I had not a decent com-
panion to converse with. We picked up sundry vagabonds on
the road ; but there was only one, between Edinburgh and
York, who bore the slightest appearance of being a gentleman.
The exception, too, a genteel-looking young man, who joined
JOURNEY TO LONDON. 301
at Durham, was not a very valuable acquisition, for he was
effeminate and affected. In addition to a great-coat, he had an
immense surtout, resembling a Japan gown ; and I was at no
loss to discover that he was some spoilt child, whose mamma
had shown more fondness than wisdom. He professed to be
very fond of reading in the mail, (rather an odd taste,) and he
told me he had got through two volumes on his last journey;
but I suspect his reading on these occasions was not to much
purpose, for I seldom turned towards him without catching
him peeping from under his eye, in search of a little admira-
tion. We had but one female in this part of the journey,
whom I at first took to be a Quaker, but who afterwards proved
to be a sturdy Jacobite. She was lamenting that we should
have no oaA-leaves to wear on the 29th of May; and I, who
neither recollected the origin of the custom nor the custom
itself, stupidly observed that I was not aware of the motive for
wearing oak-leaves on any particular day. ' Then, Sir,' said
she, ' you cannot be a Protestant. 1 I protested that I was a
Protestant ; and even if I had been a Jew or a Turk, I could
not discover the legitimacy of the lady's inferences.
" As far as Newcastle, all was sterility and dreariness ; and
you may tell Mrs. S. that even as far as York I met with no-
thing so summer-like as her garden. Not a rose was to be seen
011 the road; and if the hedges contained auriculas or violets,
they were concealed in the snow. The country between New-
castle and York was in an intermediate state, hesitating be-
tween winter and spring; but as soon as you pass the latter
city, the most beautiful verdure appears, and you find yourself
really in England. The neat cottages then present themselves,
and everything looks so cheerful and blooming, and rich and
elegant, that you cannot doubt the fact of your having passed
from the barren heaths of Scotland to a civilised country.
" I reached York at about ten o'clock at night, and was not
at all fatigued with the journey
"Here am I at the end of my first sheet, without having
advanced beyond the city of York; but from thence my journey
has been much more pleasant. The weather has been delight-
302 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
ful; and in the 'High Flyer' I have been much more fortunate
in my companions. The mail coachmen, I suspect, pick up any
vagrants who can afford to give them a few shillings or pence
to convey them a short distance ; but in the High Flyer things
were different. Our party consisted of a General Hunter and
his son, a lieutenant in the 52nd Regiment, a major on the
Madras establishment (I believe), whose face was very familiar
to me, an Englishman from Aberdeen, who had metLumsden,
and others of my acquaintance, a spruce citizen, and, for a short
time, an honest, fat, Yorkshire yeoman. The Aberdeen man
entered very soon into an argument with me on Finance; and
not suspecting his opponent, he told me very bluntly that one
part of my argument overset the other. I smiled at this ; and,
determining not to be whipped in my own school, I began a
regular attack, called upon him to define his terms, then placed
myself close along side ; and in the course of a very few broad-
sides, I completely silenced his fire. I did not, however, wound
his self-love by any undue exultation; and we parted the
best friends possible. Indeed, he came up to shake hands
with me on taking leave; and both he and my friend the
major expressed great regret that I was not to continue the
journey with them. This was no small compliment, consider-
ing that the coach was crammed with six lusty fellows, all as
fat as myself !
" On this part of the journey, too, we had only one female
companion, and she remained with us only ten minutes. She was
going to a fair at Tuxford ; and that she might make her ap-
pearance with eclat, she begged General Hunter to allow her to
take his place in the inside. To this he, very good humouredly,
consented
" We had a great deal of pleasant conversation during this
part of our journey; but the sketch which I have given of our
party must content you for the present. We arrived at this place
(a distance of seventy miles from York) between six and seven
o'clock in the evening : we all dined together, and I remained
here, and passed a tolerable night. I got up this morning be-
times to write to you; and after breakfast I shall resume my
JOURNEY TO LONDON. 303
journey in the mail, and shall reach London, I expect, about
five o'clock to-morrow morning
" . . . . Heaven bless and preserve you all; and may I
find you all on my return as well and as happy as when I left
you.
" Ever most affectionately yours,
" H. Sx.G. TUCKER."
"27, Leicester- square, May 16, 1816.
" . . . . I believe I gave you pretty nearly a complete
journal of my travels. My Aberdeen acquaintance turns out to be
Mr.Irvine of Drum, of avery old and opulent familyin Aberdeen,
and a very respectable, well-informed man. I took him for one
of us ; and he was, perhaps, educated in England. The last stage
of my journey from Newark was passed in a very comfortable
ma'nner. I had only two companions: the one an enormous
fat man, who occupied one side of the carriage: the other, the
son of a clergyman in Essex, who, although not very brilliant,
appeared to be a decent, well-behaved man. Upon the ground
of this appearance, I lent him two shillings to pay the coach-
man at Huntingdon; but as the gentleman did not think it
necessary to repay the debt, I began to waver in my opinion
of him, and during the latter part of the journey I stood aloof.
Mem. to insert in my Common-place Book Never to volunteer
the loan of money to entire strangers ; and if I should be more
cautious in future, the lesson will not be purchased dearly at two
shillings. I endeavored to recollect if I had drawn any in-
formation from him, or acquired any other advantage from
his company, to repay me for my shillings; but the only
thing I can remember is his explanation of the origin of
Wandsford being called ' Wandsford in England! A peasant
fell asleep on a stack of hay, and was carried into the river by
a sudden flood. When he was at length picked up by the
country people, he asked where he was ? They told him at
Wandsford. ' What, at Wandsford in England? Bless me
I thought I was gone abroad.' This is scarcely worth two
shillings, although brother C. might make something of such
304 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
materials. If he will take the bargain off my hands, let him
give me two shillings, and he is welcome."
The date of the preceding letter shows that Mr.
Tucker had taken up his quarters in Leicester-
square, where, after considerable trouble, he had
managed to secure lodgings. London was at this
time unwontedly full fuller even than it com-
monly is, at this fullest season of the year. " Prom
about five o'clock to seven or eight," he wrote on
his arrival, "I was running about in search of a
place of shelter for myself and my trunk. I was
refused admittance at seven different hotels, both in
the fashionable and unfashionable parts of the
town." A friend, however, had secured apartments
for him, "none of the best," and to these he
betook himself, and set resolutely about his work.
He had much to do besides the immediate business
which had brought him to town. His letters written
from Leicester-square, exhibit him now calling at
the India House and at the Board of Control*
now looking after his tenants at Crayford now
winding up the affairs of his deceased father, the
Bermuda treasurer, and convincing the Audit Office
of the correctness of the accounts now advancing
his brother's interests at the Horse Guards now
visiting his old friend Sir G. Barlow now dining
with old schoolfellows, and after a lapse of thirty
years being familiarly addressed by them as " Harry "
* He wrote, however, very emphatically at this time, " I do not mean to
trouble myself with India matters; for I shall have trouble enough probably
with my own concerns."
RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 305
now attending the theatres and seeing Miss
O'Neill and Edmund Kean and now complain-
ing that there was no good music to be heard at the
Opera House :
" Leicester-square, 21st May, 1816.
" I dined as I mentioned I should at the S 's. In the
evening, we had a rubber at whist ; and I was so lucky as to
come off winner four shillings, a sum more than sufficient to
pay for the dirtiest hackney coach I ever chanced to meet.
My two schoolfellows were present ; and they seemed really
glad to see me. It appeared strange, after the lapse of thirty
years, to be called by them 'Harry/ just as if we had lived
together all the time. They both urged me to come and settle
among them near Southampton, and they mentioned half a
dozen charming places for sale in their neighbourhood, and all
great bargains. What is to be done ? . . . .
" Tell sister M., with my kind love, that I saw her boys at
C., and that I was well pleased with their appearance. I have
not yet seen Mr. Colebrooke.
" I went yesterday to the Horse Guards, and had an inter-
view with my friend Shawe, and with another of the Duke of
York's staff. From what they tell me, I think Charlton is
pretty secure of his troop; but Shawe recommended that I
should have an interview with Sir H. Torrens, the Military
Secretary, and I am accordingly to see him this morning at
two o'clock, after my return from the city. Shawe is very-
cordial ; and it is satisfactory to find that you are not forgotten
by your friends.
" I afterwards went to Somerset House, to call on Mr. M..,
the Auditor of the Exchequer, and I found my father's ac-
counts in a more promising state than I could well have ex-
pected. They all acknowledge his extraordinary regularity
and correctness; and there is not an item of the account which
would not have been passed if he had lived to settle it. Even
under every disadvantage, all the larger items will, I trust, be
passed ; and those which cannot be admitted, from some defect
X
306 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of form, or from want of explanation, will not, I hope, amount
to more than 50Z., a sum which. I shall very readily pay, if
necessary. The adjustment of the account will take place pro-
bably in July next ; and I shall have the satisfaction of know-
ing that you and our dear boy can never be troubled on the
subject when I am no longer here to manage such concerns.
'" I dined with L., and went afterwards to the play to see
Miss O'Neill. She is certainly a good performer ; but the
piece was not a good one (' The Jealous Wife '), and I was, upon
the whole, rather disappointed. We came away before the
farce was half over, for we were all sufficiently tired. I have
little enjoyment now in the theatre ; and as Madame Catalini
is abroad, I shall not probably go to the Opera."
" Leicester- square, 23rd May, 1816.
" After writing to you on Saturday, I had a very busy day.
I called twice on Mr. G. ; but I have never yet been so fortu-
nate as to meet him. I next proceeded to the Board of
Control; and left my card for Mr. Sullivan. There is no Pre-
sident to the Board just now; and indeed, to prevent the possi-
bility of any reference to me on business, I do not even leave
my address on my cards.
" I then went to the Audit Office, to inquire into the state
of my poor father's accounts ; and I had a very satisfactory
interview with Mr. Rawlinson, who, without any exception, is
one of the most gentlemanly men of business I have ever met
with in public life. I thought we were patterns in India ; but
he is quite equal to the best of us. He seemed to take a per-
sonal interest in my concerns ; and he has put me in a way,
I hope, of bringing the question to a final settlement. He took
the trouble to go over and explain to me the different reports ;
and if I find Mr. M., the auditor of the Treasury, equally ac-
commodating, I foresee no further difficulties. At all events if
I do not succeed here, I shall write to Mr. G., or to Mr. L ,
the joint secretaries ; and I have no doubt that the ultimate
demand will be much reduced, if it be not altogether relin-
quished
" At Chiselhurst I met C., and found them all tolerably well.
RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 307
Next day I rode over to Crayford. There I had the satisfaction
to find our estate in the best possible condition, owing to the
exertions of one of the sub-tenants, a gardener, who tells me
that he has laid out 500/. on the cottage, and TOO/, on the
ground in his occupancy. He has, in fact, converted ten acres
of the land into a beautiful garden ; and the tenants, I suppose,
receive from him more than they have engaged to pay me
. I walked over the estate, examined the cottage, &c.,
and looked as big and as important as any Scotch laird in the
land ! The ride was pleasant, and the visit to this little pro-
perty was altogether very satisfactory. It will, I hope, be a
more valuable possession to our dear boy. I saw many houses
in Kent which I thought would have suited us nicely ; but I
do not repent of our purchase in Charlotte-square. Kent is a
delightful county; the beautiful verdure, the fine trees, the
undulating nature of the ground, &c., &c. ? all concur to render
it a most picturesque country.
" 29, Leicester- square, 27th May, 1816.
" After dressing and taking my dish of tea, I
went to Davis, in Portland-place, and from thence proceeded,
after breakfast, to Lumsden, in Gloucester-place, from whence
I accompanied him to pay a visit to Sir G. Barlow, at Streat-
ham. Sir George was well, and in good spirits, and he ap-
peared to be really glad to see us, and highly delighted with
our visit. On my return to town, I waited on Mr. Sullivan,
at the Board of Control, and had a pretty long interview with
him, which I was obliged to put an end to, in order to save
my dinner. He received me most graciously, and I was glad
that I had devoted an hour to pay him this attention. After
returning home and dressing for the Opera, I went into the
city by water, dined with E., got your dear letters, set out for
the Opera on foot (no coaches being procurable near at hand)
with C. and cousin J., in a shower of rain got a coach at
length in Cheapside put down J., proceeded to the Opera,
got a good seat in the pit, heard execrable music, saw very in-
different dancing, but had the satisfaction of sitting within four
or five yards of the Princess Charlotte and her good man. I
x2
308 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
will describe both when we meet. He is a good-looking man,
with a sombre, thoughtful countenance she is a laughing,
careless girl, with more spirits, perhaps, than discretion. The
Opera is miserably fallen off in every particular, and I should
never think of attending it a second time in its present condi-
tion. Madame Merconi was the only tolerable singer, and she
performed a male character. C. and I returned home in what
you would call & pour of rain ; but I suffered no other injury
than what befel my black silk stockings.
"Lord Melville, it is said, comes into the Board of Control,
and leaves the Admiralty to Mr. Canning. This arrangement
I should like, if I had any concern in Indian affairs; but I
take little interest in them at present, and I am likely to feel
less every day.
" I take my seat in the mail to-day, and, please Heaven ! I
shall have the happiness of seeing you again on Saturday
next. I shall not probably write to you to-morrow, unless
something should occur to detain me, for I shall have enough
to do on leaving town. I have no fear of detention, however ;
nor am I aware that I shall have left anything essential undone,
with the exception of the question with Mr. Adams
" I dine to-day with the L.'s, and accompany them to the
theatre to see Mr. Kean and the new tragedy. I shall there-
fore have seen most of the sights ; but there is no sight which
can gratify me half so much as that of my own dear J and
her sweet pets ; and it must be something very urgent indeed
which can ever induce me to leave them again. I shall leave
this place with joy, although the longer you stay in it the more
you become reconciled to it."
Mr. Tucker returned to Edinburgh poorer by
4000 . It had cost him that sum to arrange the
business which had carried him to the south of the
Tweed.
The autumn and winter of this year and the
spring of 1817 were spent principally in the Scottish
VISIT TO CHESHIRE. 309
capital. In the summer, accompanied by his sister-
in-law, he undertook an excursion to the Welsh coun-
ties, with the intermediate object of visiting some
friends at Backford, in Cheshire, from which he pro-
ceeded to Tenby, Carmarthen, and other places.
His impressions are conveyed with much liveliness
of manner in the letters which he wrote to Edin-
burgh at the time :
" Backford, 21st June, 1817.
" .... I did not write to you yesterday, as we sallied
out immediately after breakfast, and did not return until late,
after having undergone a sort of boiling process in a hot-house,
in addition to the roasting effects of a burning sun. I shall now
give you a brief journal of our transactions.
" On the evening of my arrival, E. and I took a long ramble
on foot into the fields, for the purpose of viewing and exploring ;
but there is nothing very delightful in the aspect of the country.
It is flat, with little diversity of scenery : the trees are stunted,
and bend generally in one direction : the brick houses are mean
in appearance: the roads are dusty and bad; and, in short,
there is no prospect which can compare at all with that from
my own window. Backford itself is a commodious house, and
it is comfortably furnished Yesterday morning
we set out for ' Eaton,' the seat of Lord Grosvenor, distant
from hence about seven miles; and a most magnificent palace
it is ! When I tell you that it cost 400,OOOZ., you will conclude
that it ought to be something worth seeing ; and in truth it is
a most costly and superb mansion. I must, however, discover
defects in everything which is not my own ; and here the fault
is, that everything is too fine: ornaments are heaped upon
ornaments; and there is throughout a lavish and a gaudy
display of splendid decorations. The Mausoleum at Agra is as
rich in beauties, and those beauties are more chaste and simple.
The building, which is in the Gothic style, is, nevertheless,
very handsome : the painted glass windows are most resplendent
310 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
and beautiful : the staircase is superior to any tiling of the kind
I have ever seen; and the tout-ensemble has a noble effect. The
gardens and grounds are extensive : the green-house and hot-
house very large; and there is everything which you can
imagine to be necessary to form a princely establishment. 1
was surprised, however, to see so few pictures. There are
scarcely a dozen in the house; and these are chiefly by West.
There are only two or three by the old masters, and they arc
not at all remarkable.
" . . . . We dine to day with Mrs. E ; but first we
pay a visit to Lady B. at Hoole, which is only three or four
miles from hence. To-morrow we attend Divine Service at the
cathedral. On Monday we go to Oulton. On Tuesday we
shall rest ourselves, I hope, at home; and on Wednesday I
shall pursue my journey through Wales.
" Farewell I must now take an abrupt leave.
I shall hope to receive a letter from you to-morrow, and I am
longing for it. Heaven protect and bless you all !
" Ever yours, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" Cheltenham, 1st July, 1817.
" . . . . I was delighted just now at receiving your
letter of Friday last. I had become a little impatient to hear
from you, and yet I scarcely expected to have this gratification ;
for in changing my route I necessarily deranged all our plans of
communication. _ I never paid five shillings postage with more
pleasure than I did to-day; and all your accounts are satisfactory.
. . . . I am heartily tired of this place; but I have en-
gaged a seat in the coach to Gloucester, and shall set out this
evening. I packed up my baggage betimes this morning ; but
I was still lingering in the hope of receiving letters when your
epistle came to hand and determined me. From Gloucester I
shall proceed on to-morrow morning by the mail to Tenby,
without going to Bristol as I had intended, and I hope to reach
Tenby on Thursday evening. I have resolved not to go to
London, in spite of all your injunctions. The trip would not
EXCURSION IN WALES. 311
be productive either of pleasure or advantage, and it would be
attended with expense and inconvenience. I could not take
any step with regard to our future residence ; and it will be
much better that we should go together next spring, when we
can look about us at leisure. I have had a very inviting ac-
count of Devonshire from an old acquaintance whom I met
here, and he has offered either to make inquiries for me about
a house, &c., or to give me a bed, that I may be enabled to
make them in person. He keeps his carriage and horses, has an
excellent house in or near Exeter, goes about, sees his friends,
has two or three grown up daughters, and his expenditure does
not, he tells me, exceed 1400Z. per annum. The house which
I looked at near Wrexham, in Denbighshire, would suit us very
well, and would be a very suitable establishment for us in all
respects; but there are many points to be considered before we
move with a view to a permanent settlement, and these we can
discuss at leisure."
" Tenby, 3rd July, 1817.
" . . . . I arrived here two hours ago with a beard as
long as a Turk's; but I have now got rid of this ornament, and
although I have had rather a hard journey over bad roads, I am
perfectly well and stout. I could not write to you en route ; for
between Gloucester and this place a distance of about 150
miles we did not halt for twenty minutes at any one time. I
neither had dinner, tea, nor supper yesterday, and only tasted
two biscuits and three sponge cakes between eight o'clock
yesterday and eight o'clock this morning. You will not consider
this very good fare for a hungry traveller; but I find it answer
better to eat little when I am travelling, and I am just now
reaping the benefit of my abstinence. Had I been disposed to
dine, I must, under the arrangements of the mail, have taken
my dinner at twelve o'clock, and my supper at twelve o'clock
following ; but I was not at all sorry that these hours did not
suit my appetite. I mention these circumstances to show you
that I had no time to write to you, chemin faisant ; and I am a
little afraid that you may be disappointed at the long interval
which must elapse between your receiving my last and my
312 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
present epistle. I was delighted with two letters on my arrival
here, and I thank you for them with all my heart.
" The country I have just passed through, and I think the
road from Ross to Monmouth, is as beautiful as any part of
England or Scotland which I have seen. The river Wye
meanders in sight of it a great part of the way ; and although
the scenery is different, and not perhaps so picturesque as that
between Lang Town and Langholm, it is by no means inferior
to it. The house I, of course, have not seen. . . . Before we
move, there are many points to consider and arrange ; and all
these we will discuss by-and-by at leisure.
" We have had Scotch weather for the last three days,
alternate wind and rain, and a little occasional sunshine. The
rain having predominated since my arrival, I have not been
abroad, and the only peculiarities which I have yet remarked
are, that the cattle are almost universally black ; that the women
ride on horseback and wear hats like those which are worn by
our sex; that the people speak in a sharp tone, with a quick
utterance, something after the manner of their relations, the
French ; that the coal looks like coaldust ; and that they put
two bullocks and two small horses, and sometimes three small
horses, into a cart which would be easily drawn by one in-
diflerent Scotch horse ; and, finally, that the country is more
( denuded ' of trees than even Scotland itself I mean the
country within thirty miles of this place; for I repeat that the
country near Monmouth is most beautiful."
" Backford, July 10, 1817.
" I am once more snug and comfortable with
our friends here, after a long and very tiresome journey. I
left Tenby on Monday, after breakfast, and posted thence to
Coldblow to meet the mail ; but, after waiting two hours for it,
it arrived quite full of passengers within and without ; and I
was obliged to post on to Carmarthen in a most sorry equipage.
At Carmarthen I was detained again nearly a whole day ; and
the coach which brought me from thence to Shrewsbury was
one of the most wretched conveyances I ever met with. We
travelled at the rate of about four miles and a half per hour ;
VISIT TO IRELAND. 313
and during a part of the distance I could have walked much
faster than the coach. Here I am, however, as fresh and as
well as ever, and ready to set out again to dine with Mrs. E. in
Chester "
Backford, July 14, 1817,
" We have just returned from haymaking ; but as it was
very hot, our labors have not accomplished a great deal. S
is the most indefatigable of the party, and as for V , she can
do nothing but read ' Cecilia.' We are both very
comfortable and happy here ; but we shall be quite as well at
home. We shall not, however, I fear, get away until Friday
morning ; and I shall find it rather a difficult affair to get to
you on Tuesday. I shall push hard for it."
" Penrith, July 24, 1817.
" . . . . We arrived here yesterday quite well, after
exploring the Lakes, &c. We have had a very pleasant ex-
cursion I shall not, I fear, have the happiness of
seeing you until Wednesday evening at the earliest ; for we
must pass a few hours at the least with dear Anne. I am very,
very impatient, but neither the sun nor post-horses will move
much faster in consequence. I pray Heaven that we may have
a speedy and a happy meeting "
The summer of the following year found Mr.
Tucker in Ireland. The immediate object of his
journey was a visit to an old Indian friend, Mr.
Bichardson, who had settled himself down in Dun-
dalk. But over and above this sacrifice to friend-
ship, there was in this, as in all his other excursions,
a further end to be attained. He who spends all
the best years of his life in a distant country, differ-
ing in every conceivable point of view from his own,
has necessarily much to learn and something to un-
learn, on settling down again in the land which he
LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
quitted as a boy. To Mr. Tucker it seemed, as to
every intelligent Anglo-Indian in these later days it
has seemed, on revisiting the home of his fathers,
that cognisant as he was of the manners and insti-
tutions of the East, he was necessarily behind his
neighbours in practical acquaintance with the people
and the usages of the British Isles : and it appeared
to him a duty to guard himself against the forma-
tion of erroneous opinions, by extending his expe-
riences to all parts of the country, and filling his
pitcher at the fountain-head. Time was, if we may
believe the traditions of the past century, when the
retired Nabob squared all his opinions by the rule and
plummet of his Indian experiences when he trans-
planted to Bath, to Cheltenham, or to Edinburgh,
the manners of the Cutcherry and the morals of the
Zenana when his local knowledge went little be-
yond the boundaries set forth in the map of Bengal,
or "the Coast," and all the institutions with which
he had any distinct acquaintance were the Regula-
tions of the Indian Government. But in these days
it is subject of common remark remark always
mingled with expressions of astonishment that
men who have passed by far the greater part of
their lives in some distant Indian settlement, appear
soon after their return from exile to know at least
as much of the countries, the people, and the insti-
tutions of Europe, as those who have lived all their
years in the "West. Strange as this may appear at
the first glance, the strangeness vanishes after a
little reflection. Men who, after years of absence
"OLD INDIANS." 315
and years of toil, return to their Western homes,
are slow to settle themselves down into the fixture-
life which is the characteristic of our home-bred
civilisation. They have health to regain ; they have
leisure to exhaust ; and they have money to expend.
They are accustomed to frequent migrations. They
take little account of distance. They are citizens of
the world. The polarity of the fireside is not to
them what it is to their brethren of Somerset House
and the Exchange. Many a returned Indian in the
course of a year or two sees more of Great Britain
more of continental Europe than all the rest of his
family in their aggregate experience during the
whole course of their lives. He sees it, too, at a
period of his career when he is less likely to form
hasty conclusions when his mind, enlarged by
foreign travel, and much intercourse with men, is
more capable of forming comparisons and analogies,
noting differences and distinctions, and illustrating
the observances of one country by a reference to the
experiences of another. "When Mr. Tucker returned
from India, there were scarcely any of those facili-
ties of locomotion which exist in the present day,
and he could not visit, in rapid succession, the va-
riety of places at home and abroad to which now his
successors are whirled. But to travel more is not
necessarily to see more. During the three first
years of his sojourn in Europe, he visited many
parts of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland;
and with that rare aptitude for acquiring informa-
tion which had enabled him when yet a boy, in
316 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Bengal and Behar, to discourse knowingly on sys-
tems of Indian revenue, he gathered up rich ex-
periences, to he turned to profitable account in the
game of statesmanship which he was yet destined to
play.
But I am writing, in this chapter, of Mr. Tucker
in his private relations, and desire to illustrate only
the domestic side of his character. The passages
which I am culling from his correspondence are
gathered from letters addressed to the companion of
his life, and were intended only to gladden the home
from which he was never ahsent in spirit. It is
time now that I should resume my quotations :
"Leinster Hotel, Dublin, May 14th, 1818.
" . . . . We arrived here last night at eleven o'clock,
after a passage of thirteen hours, which is considered sufficiently
favorable I fear that you will have expected to
hear from me sooner, and that you may have been a little dis-
appointed in not getting a letter from me ; but after getting
into the mail at Llangollen, I had not one single moment
which I could command. From Llangollen 1 did not think it
necessary to write, as I had only just left you, and I had not
seen anything which I thought worthy of a description.
"Do not expect to hear from me regularly, for I find that
the packet is sometimes two days, or longer, in getting across ;
and while I am travelling, it is not possible to write. I am at
this moment writing in a public coffee-room, with people all
around me talking Irish in the purest style ; and this confuses
me a little, since I cannot choose but hear them. You must
not be surprised, indeed, if I should give you a little of the
brogue.
11 On Saturday we set off for Dundalk, where I propose to
remain until Tuesday or Wednesday, and on Friday or Satur-
day we shall, I trust, embark again for England. This, how-
IRISH EXPERIENCES. 317
ever, must depend upon wind and weather; for if the wind be
adverse, or (what is worse) if there be a calm, there is no use
in commencing the voyage. Calms are to be expected at this
season ; and we may therefore be a couple of days in crossing
the water. Do not, then, expect us before Tuesday, nor in-
deed on any particular day or hour ; for it is impossible to
make arrangements which must depend on winds and weather.
I can give you no description of Dublin, for I
have not yet seen it ; and the fine bay, which is its greatest
ornament, we saw almost in the dark. You shall, however,
have a full account of our travels on our return."
" Dundalk, May 15th, 1818.
" . . . . We arrived here at two o'clock to-day, after
a pleasant journey. We came through a country not at all
remarkable for beauty ; and as for this good town, it is one of
the dirtiest holes I ever saw. You have nothing in Scotland
half so dirty or disgusting. The utmost degree of wretchedness
seems to prevail throughout the country ; and except during
the famines in India, I have never anywhere met with such a
ragged, squalid, miserable race of beings. Half the population
is half naked, or in filthy rags ; and the number of beggars is
so great as to be a serious nuisance. In short, things are much
worse here than in Scotland ; and, go where I will, I come al-
ways to this conclusion, that everything is best at home. I am
really sorry to see R. fixed eve,n for a short time in such a
wretched town. The house is large and commodious, and they
have a very pretty garden ; but nothing could reconcile me to
such a neighbourhood.
" Upon the whole, I have seen nothing yet to delight me;
but I have seen a new country, which is always an object of
interest, and I am not sorry that I made the trip. I have been
most amused with the language and remarks of the lower orders
of the people. There is something so original and so ludicrous
in their manner and expressions, that I listen to them with a
great degree of interest; and I am induced to laugh at them, or
with them, as I should do at good comic acting. We shall
stay here probably until Tuesday; and after rambling about
318 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TTJCKEB.
Dublin and its neighbourhood until Friday or Saturday, I hope
to embark again for dear England. We cannot, however, be
with you before Monday at the soonest."
"Dundalk, May 17th, 1818.
" . . . . We have just come in from church, where
we had very good service; and the day being extremely fine,
and the people being all in their best attire, things wear rather
a more cheerful appearance. But, at best, this is one of the
most dirty, disagreeable places I have ever been in. We yes-
terday took a ride out on horseback, a distance of five or six
miles from the town; but although this is considered the best
ride in the neighbourhood, there is scarcely any part of Scot-
land which I should not think more civilised and more inviting
in its appearance. The people seem either habitually lazy, or
altogether disheartened by their poverty and misery. In each
field you see some three or four ragged laborers (sometimes the
fair sex are of the party), who stand leaning on their spades, as
if totally indifferent to the work they have in hand. The
ground being scarcely turned up by the plough, they are
obliged to break it up as well as they can with the spade ; and
then they send a light harrow tripping over it, for no one pur-
pose whatever which I could discover, since if they brushed the
ground with an ostrich feather they would make quite as much
impression upon it. The lower Irish are the most careless,
thoughtless beings which it is possible to conceive. Yesterday
we met in our ride two strapping fellows upon a miserable lean
horse, with two large sacks of bran dangling one on either side,
the mouths being downwards. Well, by way of showing off,
as they passed us, the poor animal was goaded into a rumbling
trot, the mouth of one of the sacks opened, and the bran went
flying about until the road was strewed with it. These fellows
went jogging on, notwithstanding, as if perfectly unconscious
of what was going forward; but at length one of them, appear-
ing to awake, he set about dismounting. Instead, however, of
getting off on the side of the empty bag, which I should have
conceived the more easy and obvious proceeding, he threw
himself back the other way ; and his weight being thus thrown
IRISH EXPERIENCES. 319
into the heavier scale, the whole party came to the ground.
Everything seems to be matter of indifference to them. The
boys amuse themselves in jumping from the walls of the cot-
tages into the filthy dunghills below ; and this seems to delight
them as much as if they were plunging into beds of roses. The
streets and roads are crowded with children and young lads
in tatters, playing at hop-step-and-jump, and apparently well
pleased to do anything but work. The best estate in the county
would not tempt me to live in it ; and I am no longer surprised
that there should be so many absentees.
" We shall set out on our retunTto Dublin on Tuesday, and
on Friday evening I hope to embark again for England, with
purpose never to revisit this sweet little island of Erin. I am
glad that I have seen it ; but I shall be glad not to see it
again."
" Dundalk, May 18th, 1818.
" . . . . Yesterday we had crowds of visitors here, all
pure, unadulterated Irish. One lady asked me very gravely
' If India were not much nearer now to this country than it was
some years ago?' This was rather a puzzler; but I got off as
well as I could without offence to her, or to the laws of nature.
To-day we have a fair in the town; but as the county has been
proclaimed, and is under military law, the people are obliged to
be very circumspect, and we shall not probably have any of the
usual fun of broken heads, or the like. We are going, how-
ever, to sally out on horseback, to see what is to be seen. Such
was the state of this neighbourhood during last year, that they
were obliged to enforce what is called the Insurrection Act;
and no person can stir out of his house after the curfew, with-
out being liable to be taken up as a vagrant, and sentenced to
transportation. What a country to live in !
" P.S. Dublin. We arrived here, all well, yesterday even-
ing, after having had a genuine specimen of Irish posting. The
horses were so lame, and the equipage altogether so wretched,
that we were ashamed to show ourselves in it to the citizens of
Dublin; and so we got out, and walked the last mile. Indeed,
we thought that the horses could drag us no further. The
320 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
weather was, however, delightful, and we perambulated the
city afterwards, until past nine o'clock."
On his return from Ireland, Mr. Tucker, accom-
panied by his wife, paid a brief visit to London. In
the course of the following September he escorted
Mrs. Tucker's sister and a party of young friends on
an excursion to the Scotch lakes a work of kind-
ness rather than of inclination, for he was familiar
with the ground which they traversed, and the in-
cessant sight-seeing was wearisome to him. He was
longing all the time to be again in Charlotte-square.
" It is all very well," he wrote, " to view objects of
curiosity ; but my real delight will be in reviewing
my own dear home."
Towards the close of the following year (1819),
Mr. Tucker was called by business to London, where
he took up his residence in the Haymarket, which
was then something more than a name. " You may
be curious to receive some account of my present
abode," he wrote. " It is directly opposite to the
Opera House, within a few doors of the little
theatre; and I have, therefore, music and dancing
quite within reach. I have also a fine prospect of
hay from my windows." He had much business to
do, and many visits to pay on his own account ; but
he yet could make time to advance the interests of
others ; and much of his private correspondence re-
lates to his toilsome, but in the end successful efforts
to obtain appointments for some young relatives and
connexions, who had very little claim upon him.
RESIDENCE IN LONDON. 321
He entered but sparingly into the amusements of
the town. "R. and I," he said, still writing to
Charlotte-square, " dined together at a coffee-house
yesterday, and went afterwards to the House of
Commons, where we heard a very interesting debate.
We were fortunate in procuring excellent seats, and
remained in the House till near three o'clock in the
morning. This is the greatest raking I have been
guilty of for many a day. The evening before I
dined alone at a vile coffee-house, recommended
to me by Colonel C , that I might go and
see Drury Lane Theatre. Kean performed, what I
think his best character, Sir Giles Overreach; and
as I was in the Pit, I saw and heard to great ad-
vantage.* I have only now to attend the House
of Lords, and then I shall have satisfied all my
curiosity in this way."
He visited also the India House and the Board of
Control, and the subject of an appointment in the
Examiner's Office at the former, again came before
him for consideration. " I passed four or five hours,"
he wrote, " yesterday at the Board of Control and
the India House, and was most cordially received
by all my acquaintance, who seem to regret that I
have not been placed amongst them. It was, I
believe, in contemplation, when the last arrange-
ment took place but they concluded that I would
not accept a situation on the footing on which they
* In a letter written about this time, Mr. Tucker says, " I am getting one
of my Comedies transcribed; and if it should be finished in time I shall submit
it to one of the managers." Whether he did so or not, does not appear.
322 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
would have been disposed to place me. Mr. M'Cul-
loch, I hear, "behaved extremely well. He assured
the Chairman that he did not wish to stand in the
way of any arrangement which it might be found
convenient to make; and that he should be quite
content to remain under any person who might be
selected for the head of the office. But," added
Mr. Tucker, communicating this to his wife, "we
are both quite content, my own dear Jane, to remain
comfortably in Charlotte- square, instead of encoun-
tering the noise and smoke of this overgrown me-
tropolis." He saw, at that time, little to induce
him again to wear the harness of official life.
His business in London accomplished, Mr. Tucker
hastened back to the northern metropolis. E/eports
of disturbances in Scotland caused him to accelerate
his homeward movements. There seemed to be a
prospect of exciting times, and except the thought
of giving assurance by his presence at home to his
own family, nothing pressed upon his mind more
eagerly than the desire to testify his loyalty by join-
ing any volunteer force that might be raised for the
protection of the country. " Beg Boswell, or Alex-
ander," he wrote, " to insert my name immediately
as a member of the volunteer cavalry ; and request
A to look out for a light active horse for me.
He had better consult my friend Richardson about
him, as he is an old cavalry officer, an excellent
judge of horses, and he knows the kind of animal
which would suit me." But the disturbances were
soon at an end ; and Mr. Tucker was not called upon
THOUGHTS OF PUBLIC LIFE. 323
to exhibit himself, in the "West, as he had done in
the East, as a Light-Horse Volunteer.
But he was about soon to gird himself up for
another contest. This is the only chapter of Mr.
Tucker's adult life which is purely one of private
history. I have expanded it the rather on this ac-
count, and dwelt upon circumstances of little im-
portance except as illustrations of private character,
because such a chapter affords a sort of halting-
ground, where the reader may rest before passing
from the record of Mr. Tucker's career in the East
to the narrative of his public life in the "West. It
is not to be doubted, that during this period of re-
pose he was very happy. In the wife of his bosom
he had a true help-meet and a charming companion.
And his children were growing up at his knees,
visions of delight filling him with joy. But man,
who knows himself but little, knows himself in
nothing so little, as when he estimates his power,
in the prime of life and the vigor of intellect, to
retire into privacy and to subside into inaction,
without a regret or a desire to ruffle the surface of
his domestic peace. If it be an infirmity for a man
at the age of forty-eight to think that his work is not
done, and to desire to take part in public affairs,
such is the " infirmity of noble minds," and I envy
not the man without it. Henry St. George Tucker
thought for a time that he was " quite content"
with Charlotte- square, with his loving wife, and his
dear children. And in one sense he was content.
Happy is the man, who feels in his inmost heart
Y2
324< LIFE OP H. ST.Q. TUCKER.
that public success is not a necessity of his life
that if entrance into the great world of Politics be
denied to him, he has still abundant store of comfort
left him in the solid realities of domestic bliss. But
the excitement of public life, rightly considered and
legitimately encouraged, is not antagonistic, but an-
cillary, to domestic happiness. As with the body,
so with the mind, the proper exercise and just de-
velopment of each part is essential to the health and
perfection of the rest. Men are not worse, but
better husbands and fathers, for taking part in the
external realities of public life. It has been said,
by the greatest 1 " of English prose-writers, that the
pleasures of the intellect are greater than the plea-
sures of the affections as though they were antago-
nistic properties. But it is only in combination
that either is perfect. No man really knows the
delights of home no man can justly appreciate its
blessings who has not another life, another history,
than that of the fireside.
DEPARTURE FROM SCOTLAND. 325
CHAPTER XII.
Mr. Tucker's Departure from Scotland" Starting for the Direction" Con-
stitution of the Court of Directors The Canvass Candidates and Voters
The " City Interest" The " West-India Interest" Mr. Tucker'g Defeat-
Renewal of the Canvass His Election Incidents of Private Life.
WHEN, therefore, Henry St. George Tucker formed
the resolution of leaving Edinburgh, and again enter-
ing into public life, all that his Biographer can say of
the matter is, that he did wisely. In the course of
the year 1820, he removed his family to England ;
and hired a residence in that part of the country
where Middlesex and Hertfordshire join, in the
neighbourhood of Barnet. And then, early in the
following year, he began " to canvass for the Direc-
tion." In other words, he bethought himself of
again entering public life, as a Director of the East
India Company.
It was a legitimate and a worthy object of ambi-
tion that he had now set before him. He aspired to
be nothing less than the twenty-fourth part of a
King of one of the greatest sovereigns in the
world. If all kings were as competent to govern
the empires entrusted to them, they would have no
326 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
need of bad ministers. Mr. Tucker felt that he
had within him the knowledge and experience the
earnestness and zeal necessary to the character of
one who aspires to take an active part in the manage-
ment of such a country. He did not merely want
employment. He did not want position. He did not
want patronage. He wanted to be useful. He
wanted to do good.
The Court of Directors of the East India Company
at that time consisted of twenty-four effective mem-
bers ; and six on a non-effective list, formed by the
yearly rustication of that number of the fraternity,
all going out in succession. These thirty Directors
were elected by the Proprietors of East India Stock
no other qualification being necessary than the posses-
sion of a certain amount of the prescribed securities.*
It happened, therefore, that a considerable number
of these Directors were chosen not from among men
who had passed many years in India and had
garnered up rich stores of Indian information, but
from among Merchants and Bankers, and men con-
nected with the Shipping interests, who had but
slender acquaintance with the history, the geo-
graphy, the institutions, and the usages of the East.
Nor was it altogether unfitting that such general
elements should enter into the constitution of the
Court. The East India Company was at that time a
" Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies ;"
and, although when Mr. Tucker canvassed the Pro-
* I write in the past tense, because, doubtless, there will be some readers
of this volume into whose hands it will not pass before all this is tradition.
THE " CITY INTEREST." 327
prietors, the monopoly of the India trade had been
abolished, the China monopoly still existed, and the
management of this trade formed an important part
of the duties of the Leadenhall-street Council.
It may be doubted whether even in those days
the " City-interest" was not too powerful for the in-
terests of India. But it is not to be doubted that
many men, who have had no Indian antecedents,
or whose connexion with India has been of the
slenderest and most uninstructive kind, have risen
into very useful and very influential Directors, whose
merits their more experienced brethren have de-
lighted to acknowledge. It is not because such men
were often elected, that I speak of the undue power
of the City-interest ; but because in effect a few great
Houses monopolised so large a number of votes, that
the real constituency was greatly narrowed, and it
became not so much a matter of primal concernment
for the candidate to canvass the general body of Pro-
prietors as to canvass these great Houses. And it
need not be said that it was not the individual fit-
ness of the candidate his ability, his experience,
his zeal, and his integrity which these Leviathan
Houses were wont in the first instance to regard.
This Mr. Tucker knew and deplored. He would have
amended it, if he could ; but as he could not, he had
no sooner formed his intention to " stand for the
Direction," than he took counsel with some leading
members of certain great City Houses, and invited
their support.
In the following letter written to one of these great
328 LIFE Or H. ST.G. TUCKER.
vote-holders a merchant whom he had known well
in India it may be seen how the course which he
purposed to adopt was then taking shape in his
mind:
" TO JAMES A , ESQ.
"Friern Lodge, Whetstone, 22nd January, 1821.
" DEAR A , I came into the country, like certain
pugilist?, for the benefit of a summer's training ; but I hear
that the Ring is likely to be formed much sooner than I
could have anticipated. From Cox and other friends I have
heard lately that there is a probability of no less than three
vacancies in April, by the resignation of two of the Directors ;
and if this information be correct, it may be as well for me to
consider whether I ought not to offer myself for one of them.
Not that I am at all impatient to stand. On the contrary,
Mr. Forbes' advice to me ' not to be precipitate' was unques-
tionably good, and I feel much disposed to follow it. I feel,
moreover, great reluctance to stand against Welland; for
although I do not myself believe that I should prejudice his
interests, he and his friends will, perhaps, think differently.
" On the other hand, by standing in April, I may derive
some benefit from the attendance of some of the distant voters,
who are not likely to be in London at any other season ; and
there are some on the spot who would give me their second or
third votes, although I could not expect from them their first
votes in a single contest.
" Now, I do not wish to be importunate or troublesome to
you; but if you have had an opportunity of consulting your
friends, and if they are prepared to come to a determination, it
would be of great importance to me to know whether you and
they are disposed to support me with your second or third
votes, in the event of three vacancies occurring. If you should
be so disposed, and if I should be advised to stand, it is evident
that I have not a moment to lose ; for I have my testimonials
to collect and arrange, and I have to undertake a personal
canvass, which I can scarcely be said to have yet commenced.
PLANS AND PROSPECTS. 329
I have received most flattering encouragement from many indi-
viduals, and abundance of very gratifying compliments, which,
after due abatement, incline me to think (or at least to hope)
that I shall have a fair share of the benefit of public opinion in
my favor; but I have neither commenced a regular canvass,
nor had I any idea of commencing one, before the General
Election, until I heard of the expected vacancies.
"Again, I repeat, that I am not in a hurry to stand myself,
nor would I wish to hurry you; but if your decision be formed?
the communication of it would relieve me from a little dilemma,
or awkwardness; for while a doubt exists with regard to it, I
feel that I cannot in delicacy ask advice from Shore and others
who act with you, and whose advice would be to me of the
utmost importance. In any case, you will do me the justice to
believe that I am not so unreasonable as to harbour anything
like a feeling of dissatisfaction, if you were to tell me at once
that you could not support me. I am perfectly satisfied of your
good wishes; and I am well aware that, in so extensive and
complicated a connexion, it may be necessary to consult the
views and interests of so many, as to render it difficult, and
perhaps impracticable, for you to give effect to those wishes.
Tn truth, too, it would not seriously distress me if I were to
stop short to-morrow ; for I have not placed my happiness in
the East India House, and I have received testimonies of regard
and of approbation of my public conduct, more than sufficient
to recompense me for the little trouble I have hitherto taken.
A seat in the Direction is a legitimate object of ambition. I
like active employment, and I prefer, from habit, those public
duties and occupations to which I have been so long accus-
tomed; but I shall not be unhappy if I am not allowed to
become a public drudge. Even the patronage is not a principal
object with me, although it would, no doubt, be the source of
very great gratification; for my friends in the Direction have
hitherto supplied my wants.
" In short, this is a long letter, which it is time to conclude;
and I shall conclude by repeating that, although I am far from
being indifferent to the object which I have proposed to myself,
I am by no means impatient to prosecute it; and that, if you
330 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
and Mr. Forbes, and your friends, would only interest your-
selves so far as to say ' halt,' or ' move forward,' I should cheer-
fully and thankfully obey the word of command.
" Believe me, very sincerely, &c.,
"H. Sx.G. TUCKER."
Though the plan here spoken of was abandoned,
he now began to prosecute his canvass in earnest.
A long and a wearisome business was this " can-
vassing for the Direction." The canvassing of con-
stituencies is never pleasant. A man with a vote in
his pocket rides the suffrage like a high horse. He
is as extortionate as a Chief Inquisitor, and as pre-
sumptuous as the Grand Turk. He thinks himself
privileged to ask anything, to exact anything, to
dictate anything ; and to give in return grudging
assents, half promises, or impertinent denials. But
the torture to which the candidate is subjected is
generally brief. The circle of suffering is bounded
by a few weeks. The canvass is not commenced
till the opening has presented itself and the day of
election is near at hand. Canvassing for the East
India Direction was, however, a work of years. It
looked far into the future. It addressed itself to re-
mote contingencies. It contemplated events not
in esse, but m posse. It anticipated the will of Pro-
vidence, and hungered after empty places before the
hour was ripe. It took its stand upon the doctrine
of probabilities, and calculated rates of mortality.
It assumed that the ranks of a corps, composed
chiefly of men who had long passed* their prime,
must be periodically thinned, and that in no single
CANVASSING FOR THE DIRECTION. 331
year of the century was a vacancy far off. A man,
therefore, declared himself a candidate for the Di-
rection whenever he had a mind to put forth an
address to the Proprietors of India Stock. The
earlier he appeared in the field, the earlier in all
probability would he be returned. So the candidate
prepared himself for the contest put himself into
training, waited patiently, and worked strenuously
till the day of battle had come.
The operation was a tedious one. Of this patient
waiting and this strenuous working it demanded,
indeed, long years. When a man first declared
himself a candidate for the Direction, he knew that
others, who had declared themselves before, must
be elected before him. It was not the first vacancy
or the second or, perhaps, even the third, that
he believed himself destined to fill. A vacancy oc-
curred, and he did not even attempt to hoist himself
into the place. Another, and he still looked on. A
third ; and he went, perhaps diffidently or carelessly,
to the Poll, with scarcely a hope of success. A
fourth, and there was a sharp contest he was
beaten by a few votes. A fifth, and he was tri-
umphantly returned. He might be beaten twice, or
he might be beaten only once ; but few entered the
Court without sustaining at least one defeat. De-
feat, indeed, was almost a condition of election. I
believe that there is but one Director, at this time,
who secured his seat without years of canvass.
That in this state of things there were inherent
332 LIPE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
evils is not to be doubted. A resolute candidate,
whatever might be his claims, sometimes gained his
point by dint of shere perseverance and importunity.
A vote would often be promised to a man for two
or three elections in advance, simply for the purpose
of getting rid of a troublesome candidate, or, in
very gentleness of heart, to smooth the asperity of
a present refusal. So that when candidates of high
rank presented themselves, they found the Pro-
prietors already prospectively pledged, and were ne-
cessitated to endure the ordeal of initiatory failure
or to withdraw altogether from the lists. So it
happened that men of distinguished reputation, un-
willing to be defeated by their inferiors, shrunk
altogether from the contest. And it was said that
the necessities of the canvass and the chances of the
competition filled the Court with second-rate men.
But this was only partly true. It has been asserted,
on the other hand, that such men as Munro, Elphin-
stone, and Metcalfe, needed only to declare them-
selves as Candidates for the Direction to secure an
immediate recognition of their claims. And I have
the utmost faith in the assertion. I believe that
there were few candidates who would not have
voluntarily given place to such men, and temporarily
released their supporters from the pledges that they
had ignorantly given. I believe that the claims
of such pre-eminent merit would never have been
denied. But it must be admitted that many men,
distinguished though in a lesser degree, shrunk from
the contest upon no insufficient grounds ; and that
THE CANVASSING SYSTEM. 333
others who had braved it, were defeated by their
inferiors in ability and reputation. There was some
leaven of real evil in this but there was much, too?
that lay only on the surface. It was found in effect
that the men of the highest Indian reputations did
not always make the best Directors. Great names
are often great delusions. Men entered the Court
with great reputations; and were found to be in-
dolent, or prejudiced, or crotchety, or self-sufficient,
and rather obstructed than aided the working of the
machinery of Government. Sometimes they looked
upon a seat in the India House as an easy-chair,
in which they might lounge away the rest of their
lives, reposing under the laurels which they had
earned in India. On the other hand, men, w r ho had
a reputation to make, made it ; and were the more
eager to prove their fitness for office since they knew
that it had been questioned. I do not mean to say
that this was the rule, or that, if it had been, it
would have proved the excellence of the system.
I only mean that the most distinguished men did
not necessarily make the best Directors, and that
system had some advantages if it had many defects.
Of the general results of the system of the
working of the Government so constituted, I shall,
perhaps, have occasion to speak more fully in an-
other chapter. To this only belongs the subject of
election with the process of preliminary canvassing,
which was a work demanding no common amount of
energy and perseverance. It demanded, too, some-
thing more than this ; it demanded leisure, and it de-
334 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
manded money. The constituency was scattered all
over the British Islands. There was no place, from
the Land's End to John O'Groat's, in which a Pro-
prietor of India Stock, with one or more stars to his
name, might not be located. An active canvasser
seldom relied on the effect of epistolary solicitation.
He generally, either in his own person, or through
the agency of a zealous friend, beat up the quarters
of the voter. It would be curious to estimate the
number of miles travelled by a candidate for the
Direction in the course of his canvass. The ex-
penditure of money, too, was not inconsiderable. A
man desiderating a seat in Parliament goes down
to a borough and spends, perhaps, a few thousand
pounds in the course of a few days. The trouble
and anxiety are intense whilst they last ; but they
are soon at an end. But the candidate for the Direc-
tion spent his money slowly, and his sufferings were
spread over a space of several years. The disper-
sion of the constituency, too, was a great evil to
the candidate. Men located in remote parts of the
country had their public virtue or their private
friendship severely tested by a request to come up
to London, in days when travelling was both costly
and expensive, to vote for an Indian Director. The
reluctance of the indolent, and the scruples of the
parsimonious, were alike to be overcome. Then
there was often the inopportune intervention of a fit
of gout, or an attack of lumbago, to keep the voter
to his own room at the very time when he was re-
ELECTIONEERING TACTICS. 335
quired to put himself into the Mail, and be jolted to
the Poll at the India House. All sorts of disap-
pointments and vexations would arise in the course
of a canvass of such long duration. The delay, too,
tried the truth and consistency of voters to an ex-
tent sometimes beyond their powers of resistance.
I am afraid it sometimes happened that men pro-
mised their support to one candidate, and voted for
another.
One .of the first things that a candidate did, after
declaring his intention to stand for the Direction,
was to form a Committee of influential friends, and
to hire a Committee-room at some first-rate tavern
in the City. These Committees consisted of a cer-
tain number of good names ; and two or three
working members, who kept annotated lists of the
Court of Proprietors, and studied all methods,
direct and indirect, of approaching uncertain voters.
There was " treating," too, doubtless on a liberal
scale, but not after the fashion of a borough elec-
tion. A candidate for the Direction did not keep
open house during the years of his canvass, but he
recognised the necessity of entertaining his friends ;
and balls and dinner-parties constituted at least a
portion of the legitimate allurements which were
employed. This was, generally, the full extent of
the bribery and corruption. The canvass, indeed,
was altogether more toilsome than humiliating;
and it may be questioned whether, as a rule, any
other elections are conducted with so little resort to
336 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
unworthy and illegal means of accomplishing a de-
sired end.*
There were exceptions to this, as to other rules,
and I shall come presently to speak of some of them.
In the mean while, let it be said that Mr. Tucker
set about this work of canvassing, as about every
other work which he undertook, with characteristic
energy and activity. He had not long formed the
resolution of starting for the Direction, before he
set out for Bath, Clifton, Cheltenham, and other
places where Proprietors of India Stock congregate,
to declare his intentions, and to solicit support.
Prom Bath, about the middle of February, he wrote
to his beloved wife, who was entirely in all his
councils, and who entered with the liveliest sym-
pathy and warmest affection into all his views : " I
have been running about a great deal this morning,
paying visits to Indian friends as well as to voters ;
but I found very few of either description at home,
and I do not promise myself great success as far as
electioneering objects are in question. I saw Sir
Robert Blair, Sir P. Dallas, General Cameron, and
Colonel Shaw, who are all Proprietors ; and I left-
cards for many others ; but they are all pretty well
engaged, and I cannot expect many of them to
travel above 200 miles, merely to gratify one who is
* Of course, a constituency so composed is not to be bribed with pots of
beer, or even with five-pound notes. But it has been alleged that the
patronage of the Directors has been forestalled for electioneering purposes
that Proprietors have been bribed by promises of writerships and cadetships.
If this charge be intended to have general application, it is singularly untrue.
If such has been done, the case is an exceptional one. The rule is altogether
the reverse.
CANVASSING. 337
a stranger to them." From Clifton, he wrote a few
days afterwards, " I have been canvassing here with
better success than I had expected ; and I have
found here as elsewhere friends who are disposed to
exert themselves strenuously in my favor." From
Cheltenham he wrote, on the 2nd of March, " To-
day I shall pay my electioneering visits at this
place ;" and two days afterwards, having proceeded
to Malvern, he added : " I was most civilly received
by the Cheltenham voters." Everybody acknow-
ledged his fitness for the office, even when foregone
promises and pledges stood in the way of a tender of
individual support.
It was, indeed, solely on the strength of his per-
sonal fitness and his public claims to the support of
the Proprietary body, that he prosecuted his canvass.
He had little private influence at this time ; and
some powerful interests were arrayed against him.
Even the influential City men and there were some
who furthered his views did so, solely upon public
grounds. Eoremost amongst these was Sir Thomas
Baring, who steadily, consistently, and unwearyingly
supported Mr. Tucker. " If you succeed in obtain-
ing a seat in the Direction," he wrote, " which I
trust and feel persuaded you will do, upon the first
vacancy that may occur, you will owe your success
more to your own merits, than to any assistance
that I may be able to give you, although that assist-
ance may not, and I hope will not, be inconsider-
able."
But it was not the " first vacancy" that he was
z
338 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
destined to fill. Others had been in the field before
him. "When he first announced his intention of
coming forward, he had intended to go to the Poll
on the occurrence of the second vacancy. "My
present intention," he then said, "is to stand for
the second vacancy (Mr. Mills being supposed to
occupy the first), and to go on to a second trial of
strength should I not succeed in the first experi-
ment ; and should this experiment satisfy me that I
have a fair share of public opinion in. my favor. A
second defeat will infallibly lay me up in ordinary
for the rest of my life, as I have no wish to trouble
my Mends and myself to no purpose. I should my-
self be disposed to refrain from giving any pledge or
intimation with respect to the time of my coming
forward ; but the question has been repeatedly asked
me since the last election, and my answer hitherto
has been generally that I do not mean to stand
against Mr. Mills ; but that I shall probably come
forward on the second vacancy." Circumstances,
however, induced him to swerve from this reso-
lution.
Colonel Baillie, an officer much distinguished as a
soldier and a diplomatist, had declared himself before
him ; and his prospects of success were so good, that
Mr. Tucker determined not to oppose him. " Baillie
has been much longer in the field," he wrote, in
1821, " and is, probably, much better prepared for a
contest than I can pretend to be. His military
character is also of use to him just now." And
again, in the following year (August, 1822), he
FRIENDLY COMPETITORS. 339
wrote to a friend : " As there seems now to be a
fair prospect that Colonel Baillie will succeed to the
next vacancy in the Direction, may I solicit the
favor of your powerful support when he shall have
accomplished this object ?"
It was subsequently to this that Sir Thomas
Baring expressed his confidence that Mr. Tucker
would succeed to the next vacancy ; but other can-
didates were then pushing forward. Mr. Mills was
elected in 1822 ; Colonel Baillie in 1823 ; and Mr.
Masterman in the same year. The contest, which Mr.
Tucker subsequently stood, was with Mr. Muspratt.
Among other candidates, too, who presented
themselves at this time, were some of Mr. Tucker's
oldest friends but the competition, if so it can be
called, was marked upon all sides by a delicacy and
generosity which it is a pleasure to illustrate. Mr.
Trant, who owed much to Mr. Tucker, hesitated to
push forward his claims, until the success of his
friend had been secured; but the latter, unwilling
to impede his advance, wrote to hhn in September,
1822:
" Now, while I thought that I could only put you back a
couple of vacancies after Baillie, I felt no repugnance at taking
the lead, since I flattered myself that the arrangement might
in the end conduce to the convenience and promote the success
of all parties ; but, foreseeing as I do, that I may myself be
put back for an indefinite period, it would neither be fair to
you, nor satisfactory to myself, that I should become the
means of putting you back for an indefinite, and, perhaps, an
extended, period. It is my wish, then, and I make it my re-
quest, that you prosecute your canvass, and proceed otherwise,
z2
340 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
in the way which may appear to you best calculated to promote
the attainment of your object without reference or regard to me.
" Were I differently situated, I might determine at once to
take the bull by the horns; but circumstanced as I am, with
great numbers depending upon me, this is a step which I could
not very well justify to myself, while any fair alternative re-
mained. I must, therefore, resort to sober reflection, in the
first instance, and endeavor to avail myself of any favorable
chances which may occur. Should none such occur, I must,
before I quit the field, make trial of my fortune; although, as
matters stand at present, I see no reason whatever to expect
success. You are a younger man; and by persevering will
ultimately, I trust, prevail."
About the same time, another old friend, Mr.
James Stuart, eager, on his own account, to secure
a seat in the Direction, but equally reluctant to
oppose any obstacle to Mr. Tucker's success, thus
addressed him on the subject :
" I was happy to find that you think you have so good a
chance for the Direction, equally on your own account and
that of the Public. It would be idle on my part to offer you
my services, for I do not possess any means of being useful.
Friends have begun to suggest the same object to me; and if I
thought I should succeed without a troublesome and expensive
canvass, I should be inclined to try. I might, perhaps, be
assisted by some of the Court, and be countenanced by the
Government. I should feel a strong repugnance to interfering
with your prospects ; but I trust that you are too well forward
on the course to admit of your being embarrassed By a candi-
date who cannot at earliest be brought in these two years to
come. I fear that the good people in the City begin to be
jealous of the number of Indians who have succeeded to the
Direction."
To this Mr. Tucker replied :
u You cannot possibly, I think, interfere with me by offering
LETTER TO MR. STUAUT.
yourself as a candidate for the Direction, because I shall pro-
bably be disposed of in some way or other, before you can
come upon the ground ; but at all events, whether it be pos-
sible or not, I would wish you to regulate your movements
without the slightest regard to such a contingency. Act pre-
cisely as if I were not a candidate, and pursue your own plans
without taking me into the account in any way whatever. You
have better counsellors than I could pretend to be; and I
would not take upon myself on any account the responsibility of
advising you either to stand or not to stand. I would not do
the one, because I might involve you in inconceivable trouble ;
I would not do the other, because I would not willingly be the
means of depriving the public of your services, or of dis-
couraging you from seeking that which, if found, is a desirable
acquisition to most men in our situation. I shall only, then,
observe, simply and briefly, that there appears now to be only
two ways of getting into the Direction ; the one, by the force
of such a transcendent public character as shall impose upon the
Court of Directors a sort of moral obligation to support the
candidate ; the other, by means of extensive and powerful com-
mercial connexions. To attempt to get in by collecting indi-
vidual votes, is to gather water in a sieve ; but it is better
to say no more on the subject, both because I should be sorry
to discourage you, and because it is impossible to convey any
adequate idea of the circumstances attending a canvass at the
present period."
And both Mr. Stuart and Mr. Tucker were right,
when they said that the City Interest was too ad-
verse to the influx of old Indians into the Direction ;
and that the best efforts to accumulate single votes
would seldom bring a Candidate to the goal of suc-
cess. Mr. Tucker had much prejudice and much
misrepresentation to combat. Identical with a sec-
tion, and a powerful one, of the City Interest was
what was known as the West-India Interest. It
342 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
was given out that Mr. Tucker was hostile to these
interests; so all the West-Indians were arrayed
against him. The statement was no further true
than that he was one, who, seeing clearly the im-
mense advantages to be conferred on the people of
India hy the due development of the resources of the
country, was eager to stimulate production of every
kind, and adverse to all fiscal regulations that had
the effect of excluding Indian produce from the
markets of Great Britain. It is true that he desired
to bring East-Indian sugar the growth of the
labor of free men fairly into competition with
the slave-grown staple of the West-Indian Isles.
But surely it was a strange charge to bring against
a man, that he desired to advance the interests of
the country he aspired to govern.
But strange as such an objection might be, con-
sidering all the specialities of the case for Mr.
Tucker, in encouraging the production of East-Indian
sugar, had regarded no less the financial interests of
the Company than the welfare of the people of India
it was a very operative one. Men, who had pro-
mised to assist him, forsook their allegiance, when
it was said that he was adverse to the exclusive
interests of the West- Indian proprietors and others,
who had not promised, refused, with contumely, to
support him. One Proprietor told him that he
would not only vote against him, but that he would
exert himself to the utmost to keep such a man out
of the Direction. " I replied," said Mr. Tucker,
who used to tell the story with .a benignant smile,
THE WEST-INDIAN INTERESTS. 343
" that I thought this was rather hard, as he had
never received any injury at my hands, but that he
had, of course, a right to dispose of his votes as he
pleased ;" " and," added the narrator, " he voted for
me after all." It happened in this way. Some time
afterwards Mr. Tucker met the same gentleman in
a public vehicle. They entered into conversation ;
and presently the voter said, " Sir, is not Sir Alured
Clarke a great friend of yours ?" To this Mr. Tucker
replied that he had the honor of Sir Alured's ac-
quaintance. "Then," said the voter, "tell Sir
Alured to ask me for my votes. He has been very
kind to a Mend of mine in India ; and if he asks for
my votes he shall have them for you, I promise."
He had found out by this time that Mr. Tucker was
not an enemy to any " interests" except when they
arrogated to themselves an exclusiveness injurious
to the interests of humanity.*
There were other questions, too, with respect to
which Mr. Tucker encountered some difficulty in
the course of his canvass, and had some prejudice to
overcome. The extent to which anything like inter-
ference with the religious usages and ceremonies of
the people of India might with safety be permitted
* The following note [without date] from Colonel Mark Wilks, the ac-
complished historian of Southern India, shows how much stress was laid upon
this question:
" Here are, my good friend, a tolerable large squad of votes depending
upon a question which Sir T B could not answer, and which I do not
like to answer positively without reference, viz., Is Mr. Tucker, or is he not,
inimical to the West India interests? What shall I say?
"Ever yours,
" MARK WILKS.
" Is Mr. Tucker a Methodist?' To that I have answered, ' No.'
"M.W."
344 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
by the British-Indian Government, had long been a
vexed question, upon either side of which might be
seen arrayed men of eminent piety and wisdom.
But there were pretenders to both, who conceived
themselves qualified to dogmatise and to dictate, and
were angry when others were disposed to make the
question one between themselves and their con-
science, and to act, according to the light that was
in them, and in all humility of spirit. There were
some voters, indeed, who thought themselves privi-
leged to catechise candidates on points of faith, and
to call for pledges in respect of the most sacred and
most delicate points of procedure. It was Mr.
Tucker's wont to refuse to make any pledges. He
was determined to enter the Court free and unfet-
tered, or not at all. His language upon this head
was clear and emphatic. Here is a sample of the
manner of his replies :
" TO , ESQ.
" DEAR SIK, There is no person, I believe, more anxious
than myself to obtain and deserve the good- will of all good men ;
but in public life I have prescribed to myself certain rules of
conduct, from which I hope never to deviate, and from which,
I should hope, you would scarcely wish me to deviate. You
will hold in mind that I am not before the public just now for
the first time.
" I should have been much gratified by receiving your sup-
port, if you could have given it with satisfaction to your own
mind; but as I claim the right to judge and act for myself, I
freely allow the same right to others, and I neither ask, nor
wish for your vote, if it cannot be given me without placing a
constraint upon your own conscience.
"1 have perused with attention the publication which you
PLEDGES. 345
were so good as to send me, and I thank you for it. The
subject is not new to my mind, and I give you credit for the
earnest zeal with which you enforce your opinions on a most
important question; but it is not incumbent upon me to sub-
scribe to those opinions, or to the opinions of your opponent, or
to any abstract propositions whatever. As a public func-
tionary (if I should ever be such), the plain and simple course
of my duty is to keep my mind perfectly free and unfettered,
that I may act in every case which comes before me according
to the best of my judgment and to the dictates of my con-
science. Upon this principle I always have acted, and upon
this principle it is my intention to act for the time to come, if
I should again be called into public life.
" I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" 3, Upper Portland-place, 1st December, 1823."
This letter is of general application ; but a more
specific declaration of his views, with respect to what
was called the " Missionary question," was at a little
later period (in the course of 1824) called forth by a
circumstance which he has himself recorded. He
considered it advisable, indeed, to draw up a paper
on the subject, that no misunderstanding might be
perpetuated. The anecdote to which I refer is here
narrated. Thus Mr. Tucker wrote :
" I am of opinion that the Government should never identify
itself with the Missionary and other societies which have been
instituted for the propagation of the Christian religion in the
East. In the minds of the people of India, Government is
habitually associated with the idea of power, or force; and I
am persuaded that the slightest demonstration of an intention
to use force for the conversion of this people would alarm their
fears in a degree to produce immediate and serious danger.
Our Government is established in the spirit of toleration ; and
a sort of tacit compact, or understanding, exists that we shall
346 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
not interfere with the religion of our native subjects. Our
Government stands in the situation of a powerful umpire,
whose duty it is to afford equal protection to all, and to main-
tain in the free exercise of all civil rights (and among these,
liberty of conscience), its subjects, of whatever description,
with strict impartiality. I consider, then, that the Govern-
ment could not take part in the proceedings of the Missionary
Societies with the slightest prospect of advancing the interests
of religion, nor without departing from those principles, upon
a strict adherence to which its own existence essentially de-
pends.
u This opinion I have not hesitated to offer with freedom
and candor, whenever I have been questioned on the subject in
the liberal spirit of inquiry. But, when called upon to give a
pledge that I would support particular doctrines, or co-operate
to promote particular ends or objects, I have invariably stated
that I would never pledge myself to any abstract proposition
whatever : that I considered it to be the duty of every in-
dividual, entering upon a public trust, to keep his mind free
and unshackled, in order that he may be enabled to decide
upon the merits of every case coming before him, according to
the best of his judgment, and to the dictates of his conscience;
and that, having acted upon these principles of perfect inde-
pendence throughout my public life, no considerations can
tempt me to deviate from them in any public situation in
which I may hereafter be placed.
" Having briefly stated my honest opinion on this great
question, I shall now notice in a summary way the circum-
stance which has given occasion to my offering the foregoing
explanation.
" I was called upon by a Proprietor to give a pledge that I
was friendly to particular views connected with this subject,
and disposed to promote particular objects. This demand I
resisted in limine; and it appeared to me more particularly
necessary that I should make a stand, because the interference
of the Government was distinctly pointed at. I was told, it is
true, that 'it was not wished that the Government should
come forward with the sword, but with the olive-branch.'
THE " MISSIONARY QUESTION." 347
" On my declining to give the pledge required, the Pro-
prietor observed that e it was high time for him and other
Proprietors who thought as he did, to look out for a candidate
who would give such a pledge ; and that it was high time for
those, who were not Proprietors, to become such for the same
purpose.'
" This species of intimidation was not only very offensive to
my feelings personally, but it appeared to me highly unjusti-
fiable on public considerations ; for if a party, or body of men,
can combine successfully to impose conditions upon a candi-
date, it is obvious that his independence is completely de-
stroyed, and that he must enter upon his public station, not
for the purpose of acting according to the dictates of his own
judgment and conscience, but as the agent of a party. It is,
moreover, evident that such a power of prescribing terms to a
candidate, or of excluding him upon a refusal, might be em-
ployed to serve the most sordid and selfish purposes.
" The very peremptory requisition which was made by the
Proprietor in question, appeared to me the more unreasonable,
as I had grounds to believe that it was not his intention to
support me; and although this circumstance did not prevent
my answering his questions, I certainly felt that he had no
right to demand a gratuitous pledge from me, when he had
no intention, even if satisfied, to afford me that support which
might be considered as furnishing a plea for the attempt to
exact conditions from me.
" Under the irritation of feeling which this circumstance pro-
duced, the conversation was not carried on in that calm and
dispassionate manner, which is proper and desirable in all
cases, and more especially on an occasion where religion is the
subject. I was, in consequence, misunderstood, and my opinions
have since been misrepresented ; but although the misstate-
ment was calculated to prejudice my interests, I feel such a
repugnance to everything which might lead to controversy,
that I have refrained from noticing it ; nor do I harbour any
anger or resentment against the individual who (unintention-
ally, I am willing to hope) has done me the injury.
" In truth, it has been my wish and my study to obtain the
348 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
good-will of all good men, and to conciliate, as far as possible,
even my opponents ; but, much as I have had this object at
heart, I still could never consent to sacrifice a principle to
disguise an opinion or to attain, by unworthy compliances,
an object which, however desirable in itself, would lose all its
value in my estimation, unless it were attained by means quite
unobjectionable, and in a manner perfectly satisfactory to my
own feelings."
Prom another and an unexpected quarter a
clamor against Mr. Tucker was raised, too, at this
time, intended, perhaps, to prejudice his chances of
success. It was said that in his office of Financial
Secretary, in 1810, he had counselled a breach of
faith to the Public. The outcry was raised by those
holders of public securities, who had suffered by the
financial measures of Lord Minto' s Government, at
the time when the threatened transfer of so large a
portion of the Public Debt to England rendered it
necessary to restrict the power, possessed by the In-
dian creditor, of converting his securities into Bills
upon the Court of Directors.* The old debt had
been placed in course of payment, and a new eight-
per-cent. loan, divested of the privilege of remit-
tance, had been opened in its stead ; but this course
had been suggested by Lord Minto himself, f Mr.
Tucker had counselled another. This he now ex-
plained in a letter to his friend, Sir Henry Strachey,
concluding with the following sentences, couched in
a strain of characteristic manliness : " I can truly
* See ante Chapter VIII.
f See letter from Lord Minto, quoted at page 242.
SIK HENRY STUACHEY. 349
say," he wrote, "that throughout my public life I
have been anxious only to do my duty to the best of
my judgment : I am content to leave my conduct to
be judged by the Public, and to stand or fall by the
decision which may be passed upon it. In offering
myself as a candidate for the Direction, my chief
object is to obtain occupation public and honorable
employment ; but if any individual can believe that
I ever counselled a measure involving a breach of
faith to the Public, that individual will do right to
exclude me for ever from all public trust. He will
not, however, do right to pass judgment, in ignorance,
in this or any other case. For the rest I can only
say, that whether right or wrong, I shall continue
to act always on the principles on which I ever have
acted ; and those must not trust me for the Future,
who have reason to disapprove of the Past."*
In letters to other friends, written at a somewhat
later period, he thus spoke of his chances of suc-
cess, and of the motives by which he was actuated :
" In truth," he wrote, " if I find that I am not likely
to receive the support of those who have most in-
fluence in deciding upon the fate of a candidate, I
shall not long persevere in an unavailing attempt. I
came forward with no unworthy motives, and it will
cost me no violent effort to retire, if I should find
that I am not likely to obtain the countenance and
* The letter from which this passage is taken is given complete in the Ap-
pendix. It may advantageously be read in illustration of a portion of the
Eighth Chapter.
350 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
assistance of those who act upon public grounds.
.... I am not backward in encountering difficul-
ties ; but to exchange domestic comfort and inde-
pendence for all the annoyances of a protracted
struggle against desperate odds, is not the course
which any prudent man would pursue." And in
another letter, written like the preceding one, in the
autumn of 1822, he said : " If I had not believed
that there was among the Directors, as well as
among some of the Proprietors, a disposition to
countenance the pretensions of those who have had
opportunities of acquiring useful knowledge and ex-
perience in India, I should never have exchanged
comfort and independence for the annoyances of a
canvass. As it is, I must now bring the thing to a
test ; and if I am disappointed, I trust that I shall
only have to regret the loss of time which might,
perhaps, have been better employed."
And early in the following year he did "bring the
thing to a test" I need not dwell any longer on
this first canvassing period, extending as it did over
a space of more than three years ; enough has been
said on the subject. Mr. Mills, Colonel Baillie, and
Mr. Masterman having been elected, Mr. Tucker de-
termined to contest the next vacancy. Early in
1824, Sir Thomas Heid, who on more than one occa-
sion had occupied the chair, was removed from the
Direction by death. A ballot at the India House
was fixed for the 23rd of March. Three candidates
then went to the poll Mr. Tucker, Mr. , Muspratt,
THE BALLOT. 351
and Sir Robert Farquhar. It was understood that
the contest would lie between the two former.
A ballot at the India House is destitute of all the
rude turmoil, the noise, the confusion, the outrages,
the broad practical humors of a contested election
in county or borough ; but it is not without excite-
ment of a certain kind ; and there is often a humor-
ous side to it, too, intelligible to the initiated looker-
on. There are no Hustings, and there are no
speeches. The election lasts but a single day. The
votes, written on paper, are slipped into a certain
number of ballot-boxes, or vases, lettered alpha-
betically, so that each elector knows in which to
deposit his vote-paper. Scrutineers are appointed,
and the voting over, the contents of the vases are
counted out. This is a very simple and a very
common-place process not provocative, it would
seem, of much excitement or of much mirth. But
the activity of the friends of the candidates, during
the election, sometimes exhibits itself in a strange
manner ; and Mr. Tucker used to relate how, on this
occasion, one friend carried up several of his voters
to the wrong side of the poll, and how another was
discovered, by some strange accident, distributing
his opponent's cards. These were purely uninten-
tional gaucheries ; but there were some accidents of
voting on the wrong side done on purpose, and
some resort to electioneering tactics of a very
questionable kind. In the heat of the contest
weapons were used, which would not have been
352 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
employed in cooler moments, and which cannot
be remembered without pain by the most zealous
partisan.
The result of the Election was the defeat of Mr.
Tucker. On examining the glasses, it was found
that he had polled 684 votes ; and Mr. Muspratt,
752.*
It does not seem that, as is the wont of defeated
candidates, in like cases, he immediately began to
prosecute another canvass, or determined to contest
the next vacancy. He turned his thoughts, indeed,
towards other matters, and at one time contem-
plated the formation of a commercial partnership
with a gentleman of considerable ability and reputa-
tion, who was among the most active members of
the Court of Proprietors. Announcing this to his
friend, Mr. Sherer, who had recently returned to
India, he wrote, " You may conclude from the
present suggestion, that I have given up all
thoughts of the Direction. This is not exactly the
case, although in reality I am not so anxious about
the attainment of the object as I was, nor so much
disposed to make any great sacrifice for its accom-
plishment. If there should be a break or vacancy
in the House List, I shall come forward, and with
a fair prospect of success ; but my present plan is to
avoid an individual contest, until I can secure such
support from the Directors and others as will place
the issue beyond all uncertainty."
This was written in 1825. It was in the early
* Sir Kobert Farquhar polled 398.
HIS PRINTED WORKS. 353
part of this year that he published his work on the
" Financial Situation of the East India Company."
It was intended to form part of a larger work ; but
as he intimated, in an "Advertisement" prefixed to
it, " the undertaking originally contemplated could
not have been completed for a considerable time,
and as the subject embraced in these pages was of
more immediate interest, he had been induced to
submit the present Essay to the Public, detached
from other matter." This was not the first time
that he had fixed his ideas on the printed page. In
1813 he had sent home for publication in Edinburgh,
a work entitled " Reflections on the Present State
of Great Britain, with Relation chiefly to its Fi-
nances." It had been studied during his English
furlough, and written during the monotonous leisure
of the voyage to India.* Authorship was, there-
fore, nothing new to him when he published his
volume on Indian Einance a work containing the
gathered results of much thought and long expe-
rience, which no one can write upon the subject
without consulting with advantage.
But although, for a little while, the ardor of Mr.
Tucker's pursuit after what had been a laudable ob-
ject of ambition a seat in the Home Government
of India had considerably abated, circumstances
ere long tended to revive it. He had, it has been
seen, determined to come forward to contest a seat
* Writing to his friend Mr. Myers, of this work, he said, " My opinions
will not be relished hy some I am aware ; but I care not ; ray object is to
speak truth and to do good."
2 A
354 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
in the Direction, only if an opportunity should be
afforded to him at one of the periodical April elec-
tions. On these occasions, the six members who
a year before had " gone out by rotation," under-
went the form of re-election, in the place of six
other retiring members. All the six vacant seats
might legally be contested ; but the custom was to
re-elect the old members without opposition. It
sometimes, however, happened that a vacancy was
created by the death, resignation, or disqualification
of one of these six Directors ; and then at the April
election the new candidates came forward and were
included with the old Directors in the list out of
which six members were to be chosen. It was then
nominally an election of six Directors, but in reality
only of one, or of as many as there were gaps in the
old number. Now it happened that early in 1826
there were two of these gaps to be filled. Mr.
Tucker determined, therefore, in pursuance of his
old intention, to present himself to the constituency
at the April election. Mr. James Stuart, and Cap-
tain, afterwards Sir James Bivett Carnac, also
announced their intention of going to the poll.
The contest was a keen one. The scrutiny lasted
till morning, and the anxiety of the scrutineers was
kept alive to the last. The votes were so equally
balanced, that at one time, as they were being
counted out, Mr. Tucker would be in the minority ;
a quarter of an hour later he would command a
majority. It seemed at one time that the election
was going against him, and the friendly scrutineer
HIS ELECTION. 355
trembled for his success. But when the last glass,
containing the letters E; to Z, was being counted
out, the aspect of affairs brightened. A large num-
ber of Mr. Tucker's supporters were to be found
under these initials. The lost ground was regained ;
and at the end of the scrutiny it was found that he
was in a majority of twenty-three.
A brief note from the friendly scrutineer de-
spatched early in the morning to Portland-place,
announced to Mr. Tucker the result of the election.
The majority was a small one. But there were many
powerful interests arrayed against him ; and he was
returned solely on the strength of his individual
merits. Even those who had opposed him acknow-
ledged the goodness of the choice, and some influen-
tial men, who had thrown the whole of their weight
into the scales on the side of the enemy, throughout
all the years of Mr. Tucker's candidateship, frankly
told him that they had committed a mistake. They
were men above the suspicion of interested motives ;
but there were others who now rushed in to pay
homage to success, finding high qualities in the Di-
rector which they had never admitted in the Can-
didate, and pretending to be the humble friend and
admirer of the man whom they had covertly opposed.
2 A2
356 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
CHAPTER XIII.
Mr. Tucker in the Direction His peculiar Qualifications His Zeal and Ac-
tivityEarly Efforts Questions of Land-RevenueResumption Opera-
tions Salt and Opium Revenues The Company's Charter Negotiations
with the Board of Control Mr. Tucker's Minutes.
ME. TUCKER was now a member of the Court of
Directors of the East India Company the twenty-
fourth part of a King. "When I say that he was
eminently fitted for the post, I do not hazard an as-
sertion to be attributed to the partiality of the Bio-
grapher ; but state a fact, which all who have fol-
lowed me thus far who, having acquainted them-
selves with Mr. Tucker's antecedents, reflect upon
the character and constitution of the Company, as
then established will accept without a demur. The
East India Company was, in those days, still a
" Company of Merchants," and its functions were
therefore two-fold. It was the duty of the Directors
to regulate the Trade* of the Company, and to ad-
minister the Government of a great Empire. Now
* I need not explain that in 1826 it was only the China trade that re-
mained to the Company but still the administration of their commercial
affairs constituted no unimportant part of their business.
DUTIES OF AN INDIAN DIEECTOH. 357
Mr. Tucker had been a merchant, and he had been
an administrator. He was as conversant with affairs
of Commerce as with affairs of State. He was
thoroughly acquainted with the Revenue and Judi-
cial systems of India. He was the best Financier
that ever concerned himself with the Company's ac-
counts. He had a true regard for the interests of
all classes of the Indian Community, from the Prince
to the Peasant. He had a genuine respect for the
faith of Treaties ; and, to the very core, he was an
honest man.
He entered upon his new duties with a full heart.
His whole soul, indeed, was in his work. He ever
had been an indefatigable man of business. His
capacity for labor was unbounded. Even under the
exhausting influence of the damp heats of Bengal, he
had at the same time regulated the Financial ope-
rations of the Empire, and the business of a gigantic
mercantile house. He now saw that there was abun-
dance of work before him ; and he regarded it with
the liveliest satisfaction. He had gone into the Di-
rection to work ; and his practice did not belie his
intentions. I have heard it said that the earnest-
ness with which he at once took part in the' discus-
sions of the Court, and the freedom with which he
expressed his opinions, was not considered by some of
the more punctilious members of the Court becom-
ing in a "young Director." But Mr. Tucker, though
a young Director, was not a young man. He had
lived more than half a century in the world ; and
had been graduating for five-and-thirty years in the
358 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
school of Indian statesmanship. During five or six
of these years he had been before the Court and the
Public as an Embryo Director, and throughout that
period he had been maturing his views of all the
great questions which were likely to be discussed in
the Council-chamber of Leadenhall-street. It is not
strange, therefore, that being not at all a forma-
list, or a tactician, and probably altogether unac-
quainted with the etiquette of the Assembly of which
he was now a member^ he should have gone about his
work without a probationary interval of silence.
Mr. Tucker entered the Court at a period of
comparative tranquillity. Great questions were
looming in the distance they had not yet come on
for discussion. But there were then, as there always
are, many measures of internal administration
greatly affecting the prosperity of the country and
the happiness of the people, calling for present con-
sideration, and therefore engaging the energies of
the Court. Among these were matters of Land-re-
venue those especially of the settlement of the
North- Western Provinces and the Resumption of
Rent-free tenures. Erom his youth upwards, Mr.
Tucker had been a consistent advocate and supporter
of that great system of landed-revenue introduced
into Bengal and Behar during the administration of
Lord Cornwallis, known as the Permanent Settle-
ment of Bengal. The lessons, which he had learnt
as a boy, when Thomas Law and George Barlow
were his associates at Gyah, had remained impressed
upon his mind in the full maturity of his years and
QUESTIONS OF LAND -REVENUE. 359
his intellect. He had never departed, indeed, for a
moment from his abiding faith faith the result of
personal knowledge and experience; the evidence,
indeed, of his senses in the wisdom of a system
under which the Lower Provinces of India had con-
tinued to increase in prosperity. He had been a
party, moreover, to the promises given to the land-
holders of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, that
the same system of fixed assessment should become
the law of the land in that newly-acquired portion
of our Indian possessions ; and he had never ceased
to protest against the departure from the pledges
of Lord Wellesley and Lord Minto which, subse-
quently, under other counsels, had been ordained by
the Government of Leadenhall-street. So it hap-
pened, that when the measures, which finally re-
sulted in what is now known as the Settlement of
the North- Western Provinces, were under considera-
tion at the India House, they did not meet with Mr.
Tucker's support.
He was in a minority at the India House but he
did not fight the battle alone. There were one or
two who sided with him one especially who was
"a host in himself." On all questions of Land-re-
venue indeed, on almost all questions whether af-
fecting the internal administration of the country
or our exterior relations the opinions of Mr. Ed-
monstone were identical with those of Mr. Tucker.
They had been brought up very much in the same
school, and they entertained for each other the
360 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TTJCKEK.
warmest regard until death put a period to their
friendship.
Strongly, however, as he expressed himself upon
this subject, there was not one which called forth a
louder, a more earnest expression of opinion, than
that which is known generally by the name of the
Resumption of Rent-free tenures that is, the as-
sessment of tracts of land which, for various rea-
sons, had been held rent-free for years, with the
cognisance of Government, although documentary
evidence of legal exemption was not to be adduced.
When Mr. Tucker first entered the Court of Di-
rectors these measures were only in their infancy.
But he very soon perceived, both in the Court and
at the Board of Control, indications of this pro-
pensity to increase the revenue, at the risk not only
of exciting popular discontent, but of violating sub-
stantive Justice. The measures which then sug-
gested themselves to the Authorities, were in them-
selves moderate and forbearing in comparison with
those which were subsequently carried into effect ;
and it was, probably, in anticipation of the tendency
of all such measures to gather strength from pro-
gress, that Mr. Tucker determined at the outset to
oppose the introduction of the " small end of the
wedge." Thus, in July, 1827, the Board had intro-
duced into a Revenue despatch a passage relative to
certain of these rent-free estates in the Lower Pro-
vinces, in which they said : " As we have no doubt,
however, that there is a considerable quantity of
land to which the holders have no better title than
RESUMPTION OPERATIONS. 361
what is constituted by the loose and indefinite set-
tlement which became permanent, we conceive that
the uncertainty which prevails on both sides might
be removed with satisfaction to the holders of the
land, though with some sacrifice on the part of Go-
vernment, by a compromise. Something of the na-
ture," they added, "of what is called a fine in
English law might be taken, perhaps in the shape
of a stamp, for the grant of a Sunnud, confirming
the property in the land to which this uncertainty
attaches ; and the amount of the stamp should bear
a proportion to the value of the property thereby
confirmed."
To this the Board had added a suggestion, that
the fine might be commuted for the payment of a
small annual revenue but admitted, at the same
time, that in the permanently assessed districts the
exercise of such power must be preceded by a Judi-
cial Inquiry, and to this end they hinted that a
Commission, similar to that established by the
famous Eegulation I. of 1821, might be appointed.
Prom all this Mr. Tucker dissented :
" 1st. Because the grounds on which it is proposed to exer-
cise the power of taxation, are acknowledged to be doubtful and
uncertain ; while the terms of the order are so vague and
general, that it may be extended to cases where its application
would be both impolitic and unjust.
"2nd. Because any proposition for the increase of the land-
tax within the territory permanently assessed, will be regarded
by the people of India (and justly, too) as a violation of the
Settlement concluded in Bengal by the Supreme Government
362 LIFE OE H. ST.G. TUCKER.
in 1790, and confirmed and ratified in 1792 by the public
authorities in this country.
" 3rd. Because the proceeding enjoined by the Board will be
attended with so many difficulties, that any increase of revenue
likely to result from it will be but a poor compensation for the
expense the labor the loss of time and other inconveniences
incidental to the proposed scrutiny.
"Lastly. Because the Board's order, if confined to the Sun-
derbunds, or other territory, not included in the Permanent
Settlement, is at variance with the special instructions conveyed
to the Bengal Government in the Court's letter of the llth June,
1823; and if this order be intended to have a general applica-
tion to the settled territory, it is at variance with the paragraph
immediately preceding it in the Court's present despatch, and
with the letter and spirit of the existing Regulations. . . ."
After considering in detail the description of lands
to which this order might be made to refer, Mr.
Tucker proceeded thus emphatically to declare his
opinions :
" That the landholders will consider the proffered ' compro-
mise' as the first step towards the abrogation of the Permanent
Settlement of that settlement which is evidently viewed in
some quarters with no very friendly feeling cannot, I think,
be doubted. I myself regard it in this light. It is to tear the
seal off the bond it is to make the first breach in a formal
compact, which I had hoped, for the honor of the British
name, would have been held inviolate as long as our empire in
the East should endure : it is calculated to shake all confidence
in our engagements, to weaken the attachment of the land-
holders to our government, and to destroy the little credit
which we have established by one solitary act of self-denial in
limiting the public demand upon the land. The landholders,
I repeat, will view this first inroad upon them with jealousy,
distrust, and dismay ; they will feel that after the first barrier
has been broken down, further breaches will be made, and a
RENT-FREE TENURES. 363
less scrupulous* proceeding be hereafter resorted to ; while even
those who have no interest in the question will not fail to per-
ceive that, if the demand of additional revenue, in the way of
1 compromise,' or otherwise, can be enforced from an estate
permanently assessed, upon the ground that the original con-
tract was * loose and indefinite,' there never can be wanting a
plea for calling in question the most sacred engagements, and
there never can be any safe ground of reliance on the steadiness,
the moderation, and good faith of a Government which, for its
own purposes, assumes to itself the right to revise and set at
nought its own acts, after the lapse of thirty-five years. . . ."
That tracts of land were held rent-free, which had
no title, legal or equitable, to such exemptions from
assessment -that in many cases fraud had heen at
work that boundaries had heen passed, land-marks
removed unlawfully that by artifice and connivance
the limits of rent-free holdings had been frequently
extended, Mr. Tucker did not deny ; but it was his
opinion that it would be the wiser course to submit
to a certain amount of imposition, rather than gain
a small accession of revenue at the cost, not only of
great inconvenience and considerable expense, in
the way of adjudication and collection, but of much
personal injury and injustice, and a sense of general
insecurity and alarm. " I am quite satisfied," he
wrote, " that the appointment of a Commissioner to
revise and new-model that which has existed undis-
turbed for a period of thirty-five years, would be
received by the landholders of Bengal with terror
and despondency. It is not difficult to issue man-
dates which may affect a whole people ; but before we
* This has actually occurred. H. St.G. T.
364 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
do so let us not conceal from ourselves the possible
consequences ; and let us at least pause before we
determine to prosecute an object which is not pre-
tended to be of much value, at the risk of compro-
mising the rights and of forfeiting the attachment
of our native subjects/ 5 At a later period, when re-
sumption-measures on a gigantic scale were in pro-
gress, Mr. Tucker lifted up his voice loudly against
them in Court, and recorded many an earnest dis-
sent or vehement protest for the perusal of his col-
leagues. The question was one which was much
discussed and debated, both in India and in Eng-
land ; and the names of many able and benevolent
men were to be found arrayed on both sides of the
controversy. It is not my province, in this place, to
do more than record the fact.
I have spoken, however, of dissents and protests,
of discussions and debates and it need not be con-
cealed that Mr. Tucker was sometimes at variance
with his colleagues, and that he was sometimes, too,
in a minority. The necessary inference from this is,
that either Mr. Tucker or the Court was in the
wrong. Now, infallibility is not to be claimed for
any human creature or any human tribunal. But
what, it may be asked, would be thought, collec-
tively and individually, of any body of men who were
to dismiss the business that came before them with-
out any expression of adverse opinions ? The dis-
cussions of the Court of Directors are the safeguard
of India. It is not to be expected it is not to be
desired that all the members of the Court should
hold the same opinions. A deliberative body com-
DISCUSSIONS OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 365
posed of four-and-twenty gentlemen, of different
professions, different antecedents, different political
opinions, and different habits of mind, is intended to
antagonise. Antagonism is a proof of zeal a proof
of honesty a proof of activity. The decision arrived
at may not in all cases be the right one, for, as I
have said, no human tribunal is infallible. But, what-
ever it may be, it has been reached after full con-
sideration and discussion. Of course, among four-
and-twenty members there are different degrees of
zeal and ability. Some men devote more time and
attention to the consideration of the great questions
which come before them, and are more competent to
form correct opinions than others; but the aggre-
gate result is the devotion of much thought and the
application of much knowledge to their elucidation ;
and, at all events, every case is decided upon what is
believed to be its merits, without any detraction or
diversion on the score of party feeling or political
strife.*
Among the earliest subjects, too, to which he
directed his attention, after taking his seat in the
India House, were the cultivation of Cotton and
Sugar, and the Salt and Opium Revenues. There
was no man more diligent in his efforts to further
the production of the staple commodities indeed, in
every possible way to develope the resources of a
country which was being sacrificed to the commer-
cial cupidity of the British capitalist. Against the
* I write this in the present tense. Though the " Four-and-Twenty" Di-
rectors will soon belong to the Past, the argument will hold good when
the number is reduced to eighteen, though not in the same degree.
366 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
policy which excluded from Great Britain the pro-
duce of the Agriculture and the Manufactures of
India, whilst it threw wide open the ports of India
to the produce of the British Isles, he earnestly and
indignantly remonstrated. He saw that the most
diligent promoters and the most clamorous expo-
nents of that policy that the men who were doing
their utmost to depress the commerce of India and
to impoverish the people were fast becoming the
loudest inveighers against the imputed misrule under
which, as they said, a once flourishing country was
sinking into decay. On the Salt-Tax and the Opium
Monopoly he wrote, from first to last, with un-
deviating consistency maintaining that there were
inherent objections to both sources of Revenue, but
that the amount which they yielded to the State was
necessary for purposes of government. But he laid
down as the principle that should regulate the collec-
tion of these taxes, that whereas, in the case of the
Salt-duties, it should be our object to levy the neces-
sary amount of revenue upon the largest possible
quantity of the article taxed ; in the case of the
Opium-tax the system should be the reverse the
amount should be drawn from the smallest possible
quantity that could yield the necessary revenue. In
the latter instance, he subsequently declared that
this salutary principle had been violated; and he
both deplored and condemned the extended produc-
tion of the deleterious drug.*
* See, for papers on these subjects, Tucker's " Memorials of Indian Go-
vernment."
THE CURRENCY. 367
To questions of Finance lie naturally devoted no
little attention at this time ; and his opinions were
much sought by his colleagues. To one subject,
especially, in connexion with the Financial affairs
of the Company's Government, he applied himself
with no common earnestness. The question of the
Currency was then before the Company. Great in-
convenience had long resulted from the different
descriptions of silver coins which were used both
in Government and Commercial transactions. The
rupee was the common coin of the country; but
there were all sorts of rupees in circulation. "What
was known as the Sicca rupee, had, in 1773, been
recognised by the British Government as the legal
coin of the country. But there had been other
rupees of different standards in circulation the
Benares rupee, the Bombay rupee, the Furruckabad
rupee, the Madras and Arcot rupee and then there
was the Sonaut rupee, which was rather the nomi-
nal representative of value than an existing coin.
The Sonaut rupee, an old and much worn piece of
silver money, had, indeed, been called in, in 1793 ;
but although the coin itself had disappeared, it had
continued to be the common standard for the mea-
surement of all military disbursements. The troops
had been actually paid in the current coin of the
provinces in which they were posted. Thus, in the
Lower Provinces, they had been paid in the Sicca
rupee, according to the true standard of the value of
the silver. As the Sicca rupee was the most valuable
coin (being nearly five per cent, above the Sonaut),
368 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
there was, of course, a deduction or discount when
the coin came to be counted out. For every 104
rupees and 5 annas (Sonaut) a hundred rupees
(Sicca) were paid. In other parts of India, how-
ever, the current coin the Benares, Furruckabad,
Arcot rupee, &c. so nearly assimilated to the re-
cognised standard of payment that it was actually
used, rupee for rupee, in the settlement of accounts.
All this, as I have said, caused great public incon-
venience ; and it appeared both to the authorities in
India and in England, that the establishment of an
uniform coinage would be attendedwith advantageous
results. Mr. Tucker perceived the advantages of such
a system, but his practised eye saw clearly that it
was surrounded by difficulties and dangers, only to
be avoided by wisdom and wariness in the execution
of the details. He contended that both in the ad-
justment of the pay of the public establishments,
and the realisation of the revenue, either a sacrifice
of the dues of Government, or an injustice to the
public, was likely to arise from the alteration of the
coin ; and at the end of an elaborate minute, show-
ing that minute acquaintance with the details of the
Indian currency which was to be expected from so
eminent a Financier, he thus summed up his cau-
tionary suggestions :
" I submit that the following questions must be decided
before we can proceed to reduce the value of the established
currency of Bengal in the proportion of six and a half per
cent. :
u First. Whether the pay of the Bengal army shall be regulated
THE SILVER CURRENCY. 369
anew, in order to give the officers and men in the new cur-
rency, or Arcot rupee, the full value of their present regulated
pay in Sonaut rupees ; that is whether an addition of about
two per cent, shall be made to the present complement of pay in
the Sonaut rupee.
" Secondly. Whether the land-revenue of Bengal shall be
re-assessed, in order that the Government may obtain a greater
number of rupees in Tale, in proportion to their diminished
value; or whether the Government, in order to avoid the re-
proach of having violated a solemn compact, shall determine to
sacrifice a sum of not less than twenty lakhs of rupees in annual
revenue.
" Thirdly. Whether, in the event of its being determined
not to make such a sacrifice of income, the Government will
compel the Zemindars in the settled territory to adhere to the
existing pottahs, or leases, and to make that sacrifice of effective
income which the Government itself will not make ; or whether
they will authorise the landholders to recall and cancel the
present pottahs, and to re -adjust the rents of their Ryots and
under-tenants upon the same principle on which the Govern-
ment re-assess the public revenue.
" These questions involve considerations of great moment;
and whatever alternative may be embraced, considerable incon-
venience is to be apprehended. We cannot, however, escape
from the dilemma, if it be resolved to proceed in effecting the
equalisation of the currency; and all I would further urge on
the present occasion is, that we proceed with great caution and
deliberation that the difficulties of the case be fairly met, and
that, in our anxiety to obviate them, no step be taken incon-
sistent with the obligations of good faith, and with that spirit
of justice by which the proceedings of a Government ought
always to be characterised."
It would take not one, but many volumes, to
enter into all the historical circumstances connected
with Mr. Tucker's very varied minutes. It is suffi-
cient to state, in this instance, that an uniform silver
2 B
370 LIFE OE It. ST.G. TTJCKEH.
coin, known as the Company's rupee a coin bear-
ing the image and superscription of the Queen of
England instead of the old Mogul legend, acknow-
ledging the supremacy of the House of Tiniour
was struck at the Company's mints, and substituted
for the heterogeneous coinage of old times ; and that
the measure was carried out with so much wisdom
and discretion that no evil resulted from the change.
But a greater question than any of these was now
pressing forward, for the consideration not only of
the Court of Directors collectively, but of every
individual member of the great Corporation. The
Charter, under which India was governed and the
exclusive trade with China was carried on, was now
approaching the close of its permitted span of ex-
istence; and it was generally believed that some
vital changes would be introduced into the Act
under which thenceforth British connexion with
India was to be maintained. The previous Charter
had deprived the Company of the monopoly of the
trade with India ; and it was now apprehended that
the Legislature would seek to deprive them alto-
gether of the remnant of their exclusive mercantile
privileges, and convert the Court of Directors into a
purely administrative body.
The country had been, for years, becoming more
and more inveterate against all monopolies. The
genius of Free-trade was pushing onward with re-
sistless strides. The accumulation of Capital and
the advances of Science had rendered Englishmen
more alive to the necessity of opening out new fields
THE CHINA TRADE. 371
for the exercise of their commercial activity; and
without any very great knowledge of the subject,
they argued that what was worth keeping was worth
taking, and that if any benefit were derivable from
the trade with China, it ought to be enjoyed by the
country at large. Before the Charter- Act of 1813
had numbered half of its allotted years, Committees
had been appointed to investigate the whole question
of Exclusive Trade, and they had reported in favor
of a relaxation of existing restrictions. It was not
consistent with public faith to interfere with the
privileges of the East India Company until the ex-
piration of their Charter but it was generally felt
that the -monopoly could not survive the Act under
which it was then maintained.
Some vague Parliamentary discussions in 1829
were succeeded by a substantial movement, in the
early part of the following year, calling for an in-
quiry into " the present state, of the affairs of the
East India Company." Lord Ellenborough in one
House, and Mr. Peel in the other, moved for the ap-
pointment of Select Committees, at the beginning
of February ; and from that time the investigation
into both the commercial and administrative affairs
of the Company proceeded with but slight intermis-
sion. In July the Commons' Committee reported
on the China Trade ; and in October the Chairman
and Deputy-Chairman of the Court of Directors
were invited to an interview with the Premier and
the President of the India Board ;* and informed
* The Duke of Wellington and Lord Ellenborough.
2B2
372 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
that, in all probability, on the expiration of the ex-
isting Charter, the Government of India would be
left in the hands of the Company, but that the
China monopoly would cease. Prom that time the
Court of Directors were in a continual state of con-
troversy with his Majesty's Ministers relative to the
arrangements which were to be made for the future
management of their affairs, and in these contro-
versies Mr. Tucker took no undistinguished part.*
Before the close of the year 1830, the Government,
of which the Duke of Wellington was the Chief, was
compelled to resign the seals of office ; and a Whig
Cabinet was formed, in its place, under the direction
of Lord Grey. In the distribution of the new
Ministry, the chief seat at the India Board was
allotted to Mr. Charles Grant. The distinguished
son of a distinguished father one who had gra-
duated in the best school of Indian politics, and
who, from his very boyhood upwards, had been en-
deavoring to render himself familiar with the his-
tory, the institutions, and the usages of our Eastern
Empire one, who twenty years before, when yet a
young member and a young man, had earned a great
Parliamentary reputation by a series of able speeches
on the subject of Indian Government he was, of
all the adherents of Lord Grey, the one best fitted
by his personal qualifications to preside at the Board
* In a work of this description, I am compelled to touch briefly upon this
important chapter of Indian history; but the negotiations relative to the
renewal of the Charter have been narrated so much in detail, and with so much
clearness by Mr. Thornton, in his fifth volume, that I can hardly regret the
compulsory brevity of my own account of these transactions.
MR. CHARLES GRANT. 373
of Control. His qualifications were not solely of
an intellectual character. He had high moral
qualities, which rendered those who were deeply
concerned for the welfare of India and her people
hopeful in the extreme of the good results which
might flow from his connexion with her affairs. He
was a humane, and, in intention, he was a just
man. His integrity was unquestioned. It was said
of him, at a later period, that he was indolent and
compliant that he lacked energy and firmness, and,
indeed, all the sterner and robuster qualities. Eut
these defects must have grown upon him, for it is
certain that during the greater part of his tenure of
office, as President of the India Board, he exhibited
an extraordinary amount of activity, and sometimes,
as will he gathered from a subsequent chapter of
this Memoir, a degree of firmness which, in a bad
cause, degenerated into obstinacy. Upon Mr. Grant
now devolved the duty of incubating the new East
India Bill, and superintending, on the part of the
Government, the necessary negotiations with the
Company.
As the son of an old East India Director as one,
too, who had battled manfully on the side of the
Company the new President of the India Board
was little likely to bring to the performance of
his duties any prejudices against that great Cor-
poration. It was certain, however, that the Com-
pany's exclusive privileges of Trade must cease and
determine in 1834. The country had determined
that question ; and whether a Wellington or a Grey
374 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
were supreme in Downing-street an Ellenborough
or a Grant in Cannon-row it was equally useless to
endeavor to obtain a reprieve for the monopoly
against which sentence of death had been irrevo-
cably written down. The Commercial affairs of the
Company were to be wound up; there was no
question in the public mind about that but there
was a question as to how they were to be wound up
how the commercial assets of the Company were
to be disposed of consistently with the just claims
of that body and the interests of the British nation.
The Company, however, battled manfully for the
preservation of their old privileges ; and it must be
acknowledged that they brought forward many sub-
stantial arguments in their defence, and exploded
many injurious errors which had been disseminated
by their opponents. But they had to contend
against a violent pressure from without. It had
long ceased to be a question to be decided by argu-
ment. The temper of the times was not favorable
to the maintenance of monopolies of any kind. The
nation had made up its mind upon the subject. The
Court argued, and argued truly, that the Commerce
of the Company had been advantageous to the inte-
rests of India, inasmuch as that its profits had been
devoted to purposes of territorial administration.
But it had ceased to be an Indian question a
question between the Company and the people of
India ; it was a question between the Company and
the people of England. And whatever might be
ABANDONMENT OF THE MONOPOLY. 375
the gain of the monopoly to India, England de-
clared that she could not away with it.
"When, therefore, on the 10th of December, 1832,
at a conference between Lord Grey and Mr. Grant
on one side, and the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman
on the other, a memorandum, or paper of Hints,
illustrative of the Government plan for the future
management of Indian affairs, was laid before the
latter, it cannot have been matter of surprise to
them that the first words it contained were " The
China monopoly to cease."
It is beyond the scope of this Memoir, and would
hardly answer any useful purpose at the present
time, to enlarge upon the discussions of 1832-33,
relative to the abandonment of the China Trade, or
on the course which was pursued by the Court of
Directors and the Court of Proprietors. It is enough
that, at every stage of the proceedings, Mr. Tucker
was active among the active, and drew up many
vigor ously- written papers upon the Government
scheme. Of the measure, in respect of the aboli-
tion of the trade, he wrote in one of those minutes :
" Viewed in its commercial and financial relations
and bearings, it impresses me with the most serious
apprehension. A more sudden or violent change in
the commercial policy of a country has rarely been
witnessed; and although it may not be attended
with permanent evil, it must produce temporary de-
rangement. The accustomed channel of Commerce
has been broken up. The stream has been diverted
376 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEK.
from its course, and those noble establishments
which nourished on its banks are now doomed to
desolation and ruin. We ought to have made a
stand at the threshold, and to have insisted, as a
preliminary condition, that time should at least be
allowed us to wind up the commercial concerns of
the Company, and to prepare for the gradual intro-
duction of those changes in our commercial system,
which may have so extensive an influence upon the
national interests, and more immediately upon the
interests of this vast metropolis."
It was Mr. Tucker's opinion, as may in part be
gathered from the above passage, that the Company
sacrificed their chances of success by holding back
at times when they ought to have pressed forward ;
and that if they had come out more boldly to meet
their opponents, they would not have been so worsted
in the contest. It was his opinion, as early as 1830,
that it was expedient for the Court of Directors to
prepare their case, by collecting and arranging do-
cuments, illustrative of their good administration of
the Company's territories, so that there might be
something before the country in answer to the vehe-
ment and unscrupulous attacks of their opponents :
" About two years ago," he wrote in 1832, " I suggested
the expediency of our appointing a Select Committee to collect,
arrange, and digest evidence which might bear upon the many
important questions connected with the administration of India,
and with the commercial affairs of the East India Company,
then about to undergo public investigation ; and I urged that
such a body of evidence was not only essential to facilitate the
labors of the two Committees of Parliament, but that it was
TACTICS OF THE COURT. 377
highly necessary with a view to justify the past administration
of the Company, and to substantiate its claim to a continuance
of public confidence. This opinion I have since repeated on
different occasions; and I now find that the late reference to
us from the Board of Commissioners point directly to some of
the objects of inquiry contemplated by me.
" My suggestion was overruled, and the Committee of Cor-
respondence, consisting of eleven members, with two associates
subsequently added, was appointed ( specially to watch over the
proceedings in Parliament, so far as regards the East India
Company,' and to report, from time to time, to the Court, &c.
In other words, a special, a most difficult, and most important
duty merged into the ordinary business of a Committee, which
has already, in my opinion, more work imposed upon it than
it can successfully execute.
" I am bound to believe that the Committee have been most
sedulous in the discharge of the trust reposed in them; but,
with the exception of a secret report of a conference held
with his Majesty's late Ministers in October, 1830, I have not
yet seen the produce of their labors. If evidence has been col-
lected and arranged to assist our own deliberations, or to aid the
inquiries of his Majesty's Government, or of Parliament, it has
not yet been submitted to the Court. If conferences have since
taken place, if the views and intentions of the present Minis-
ters have been ascertained, if the basis of any plan for the
future administration of India, and for regulating the Company's
trade, has been propounded and discussed, I have yet to learn
what has been done, and what it is proposed to do. I have
been asked by persons who take a deep interest in the welfare
of India, and who have a deep stake in the well-being of the
East India Company, if we have no case to bring forward if
we have no means of repelling the attacks which are so perse-
veringly made upon us by our indefatigable opponents. In my
opinion we have a case, and a very strong case ; but we have
taken no steps to bring it fairly before Parliament and the
Public. The members of this Court have not yet, to my know-
ledge, interchanged opinions upon the vital questions which
378 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TTJCKEK,.
must be present to the mind of every man who knows anything
of India, and who takes an interest in the prosperity of that
country. We have not communed together for the purpose of
coming to an understanding with respect to the course which
we ought to pursue in order to obtain a renewal of our Charter,
both as the means of securing to the natives of India the bless-
ings of good government, and of continuing in the East India
Company one great commercial function which it has so long
exercised, and which, I maintain, it is still competent to exer-
cise with signal benefit to the national interests. I own that I
feel indignant at the idea of our tamely and silently submitting,
without even a struggle, to the annihilation of a great political
and commercial body, which has occupied so distinguished a
place in history, and from whose councils and arms a ray of
glory was shed over the mother country, at times when discom-
fiture and misfortune in the western hemisphere had cast a
shade over its destinies.
" But shall I be told, as I have been told in debate, that our
policy is to wait, and our best position that of defence ? I con-
tend, on the contrary, that we are in a false position that we
have waited too long and that every day's delay in bringing
forward our case is injurious to the Company. Are we to wait
until this Company is left a mere wreck to abide the contempt
of its assailants? to contend, in the last hour of existence,
against popular clamor and prejudice, popular ignorance and
commercial cupidity?
" Again, I may be told that it will be more prudent to stand
aloof until the near approach of the period when the Charter
expires; as his Majesty's Ministers will then be so embarrassed
with the difficulty and magnitude of the undertaking, that they
must shrink from it, and allow everything to proceed as here-
tofore.
" This would be both a foolish and a dishonest policy, which
my colleagues, I am sure, can never countenance. Public men
are rarely seen to possess this sort of salutary diffidence this
distrust of their own powers; and it would not, I apprehend,
be easy to persuade them that they are not sufficiently imbued
TACTICS OF THE COURT. 379
with that knowledge and experience, and with those sound and
comprehensive views of Indian policy, which are so essential to
the preservation of our vast empire in the East.
" Still, it may be urged that the very delicate question of
settling the future constitution of India, and of arranging the
Company's commercial concerns, must be left to the discretion,
wisdom, and diplomatic talents of the Chairs, who are the offi-
cial organs of the Court in conducting all negotiations with his
Majesty's Ministers. I have the utmost respect for our high
functionaries; but I cannot consent to place my judgment
wholly in abeyance. Nor can they exempt me from the per-
formance of my own duty. Every Director is called upon to
take part in the proceedings of the Court ; and must act upon
his .own individual responsibility. We have all undertaken a
sacred trust we have all sworn to perform the duties incidental
to it, according to the best of our judgment, and there is no
power which can grant us a dispensation if those duties be
neglected. But even admitting that the Chairs can in the first
instance most conveniently conduct a negotiation with his Ma-
jesty's Ministers, I still think that they ought to be fortified
with the opinions of the Court, and that we ought to be pre-
pared with a clear and comprehensive statement of our case.
When the last Charter was to be renewed, the negotiations
commenced in 1808, or five years before its expiration ; whereas
we are now within about two years of the termination of our
present Charter, with less support from the Government to rest
upon, and with stronger opposition from the Public to contend
against without our having yet made, as far as I can perceive,
any progress whatever to set ourselves right with that public,
and to support the just claims of the East India Company,
whose accountable stewards we are, or we ought to be."
There is much in this which, after a lapse of twenty
years, may be read with advantage by those whom it
most nearly concerns. Mr. Tucker believed that, at
this time, when the East India Company were about
to be put upon their trial, they committed a grand
380 LIFE OF H. ST.O. TUCKER.
error in not concerting measures calculated to prove
to the world that they had not been unprofitable
stewards. I am afraid that this is a chronic ailment,
and that years have not mitigated its severity. It
must be regarded, indeed, as a species of slow suicide.
Popular applause is an aliment necessary to the con-
tinued existence of all governments; and the go-
vernment of the East India Company has been re-
solutely starving itself to death. A contempt of
public opinion may be the growth of a consciousness
of right ; it may be very beautiful in theory, very
magnanimous in principle ; but practically, as the
world goes, it is a fatal mistake. People are always
willing to give us full credit for our vices ; but they
are slow to take our virtues for granted. An indi-
vidual may choose for himself whether he will
proclaim them. But if the East India Company,
or any other governing body, believe that the con-
tinuance of their government is beneficial to the
people who are subject to it, they have no right
inertly to suffer it to lie under a cloud of misappre-
hension and disgrace.
Mr. Tucker complained that at this time the
Court insisted upon playing a waiting-game; and
was of opinion, that if they had bestirred themselves
earlier they would have obtained better terms for
themselves. It was his maxim throughout life
never to put off to to-morrow what can possibly be
done to-day. He never played a waiting- game.
The Court of Directors, on the other hand, have
always waited until it has been too late to retrieve
the ground which they have lost at the outset. It
OPINIONS OF THE NEW ACT. 381
is the true policy in these cases to take the initiative.
I believe that the position of the Company would be
far better than it is, at the present time, if they had
thought more of public opinion, and had been less
inclined to wait.
But although, perhaps, the Court armed them-
selves too late to carry on the war to a triumphant
issue, they gained some successes in the course of it.
Against several of the propositions of the Crown
Ministers, relating both to the local and the home
Governments, they protested with consistency and
vigor. And the result of the controversies between
the two authorities was that several important
points were conceded to the Company, and the draft
of the Act for the future Government modified until
it took shape more in accordance with the declared
wishes of the Court.
In the contest for these changes Mr. Tucker took
no undistinguished part. He was of opinion that
the establishment of the fourth Presidency (of Agra)
would strengthen and improve the administrative
machinery, and he believed that if the Government
were placed in the hands of an experienced Com-
pany's officer, like Sir Charles Metcalfe, there would
be little need of the aid of a Council. But he did
not think that, as a general rule, and under other
circumstances, it would be expedient to dispense
with the Councils of the minor Presidencies."* He
was opposed to excessive centralisation. He did not
think that it was desirable to vest the sole legislative
power in the Supreme Council ; and he was entirely
* See Minute dated July 2, 1 833, quoted in Memorials of Indian Government.
382 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of opinion that uniform legislation for the divers
peoples of India was neither desirable nor prac-
ticable.* He did not recognise the expediency of
enlarging, to the proposed extent, the Supreme
Council of India, and he protested against the at'
tempt to deprive the Court of Directors of the abso-
lute and uncontrolled power to appoint all the or-
dinary members of Council.! And the representa-
tions of himself and his colleagues on these points
were attended with a large amount of success. The
minor Presidencies were not stripped of their
Councils. The new Presidency of Agra became 1
a Lieutenant-Governorship under an experienced
Company's officer. The number of the Supreme
Council was reduced ; and the absolute right of ap-
pointing Councillors remained in the hands of the
Court.
On the free admission of Europeans to all parts of
India Mr. Tucker entertained very strong opinions.
He believed that some restrictions were necessary to
protect the natives of the country against outrage
and oppression ; and he used his utmost endeavors
to resist a measure J which he believed to be laden
with consequences injurious to the people of the
soil. Against that part, too, of the proposed Act
which decreed the abolition of Slavery throughout
the Company's territories, he lifted up his voice, not
because he did not hold slavery in as much abhor-
rence as the introducers of the clause themselves,
* See Minute dated July 2, 1833, quoted in Memorials of Indian Govern-
ment.
f Ibid.
% See Letter to Mr. Blunt, post, pp. 470, 471.
INDEPENDENCE OF THE COURT. 383
but because, whilst he knew that the evil existed
only in a very modified form in India, if indeed it
were more than a name, he saw that much mischief
might arise from the abolition of it, and much
misery to the " slaves" themselves. And he suc-
ceeded in preventing all abrupt and violent inter-
ference ; so that in the end there was an ample
recognition of the principle of universal liberty, and
a due promotion of the interests of humanity, with-
out any of those attendant evils which legislative
indiscretion might unknowingly have associated
with them.
But that which above all things Mr. Tucker ex-
erted himself most strenuously to secure was the
independence and efficiency of the Court of Direc-
tors. He apprehended that, under the provisions of
the new Act, the Court would be reduced to a mere
shadow a name, without substance and without
power a delusion, leading men astray from, the
truth, and obscuring the responsibility which ought
to be patent to the world. One very important
concession had been made to the Company. In the
original plan of the Government it had been con-
templated to reserve to the Crown Ministers a veto
in the case of the recall of the Governor-General of
India, or the minor Governors ; but the Court had
contended for the absolute right of recalling these
functionaries, and had secured the power to them-
selves. This at all events had the effect of prevent-
ing the entire Government of India from falling into
the hands of the President of the India Board and
the Governor- General ; but it still appeared that the
384 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
power of the former to over-ride the Court was too
great, and as a check upon that authority they con-
tended that the right of publicity that is, of laying
before Parliament their protests against the Board's
measures should be conceded to them. This, how-
ever, Government resisted. The Chairman and
Deputy- Chairman protested against this resistance
Mr. George Smith and Mr. Tucker followed on
the sam e side.But their remonstrances were of no
avail. The Chairs were resolute ; the last two
points for which they had contended were the exten-
sion of the Guarantee Eund and the right of pub-
licity; and now, in August, 1833, they declared
their unalterable conviction that, whilst the Pro-
prietors were justly entitled to the former, the latter
was " indispensable to the independence of the Court
of Directors;" and on these grounds they refused
to recommend the Ministerial Bill to their consti-
tuents. Mr. Tucker, however, argued on the other
hand, that, defective as was the Bill, and insufficient
as were the powers of the Court, it would still be
beneficial to the interests of India that the Govern-
ment should remain in the hands of the Company.
" Upon the whole," he said, " after long and anxious
reflection, I am compelled to say to our constituents
(not with perfect confidence I own), accept the Bill
with all its defects ; and let us by our prudence and
firmness remedy as far as we can the disadvantages
of our situation ; and by the faithful and zealous
fulfilment of our duties, promote to the utmost the
prosperity and happiness of the people."
CONSTITUTION OF THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 385
CHAPTER XIV.
The Court of Directors and the Board of Control Powers of the Board-
Collisions between the two Authorities The Case of William Palmer and
Co. Mr. Tucker's Dissent The Writ of Mandamus Conduct of the Court
The Case of the Lucknow Bankers Firmness of the Court Conduct of
Mr. Tucker The Mandamus stayed.
WHILST these negotiations for the renewal of the
Company's Charter were evoking the energies and
activities of the Court, other circumstances, of a
more accidental but more exciting character, were
keeping all these energies and activities on the
stretch.
By the Act of Parliament under which India was
governed, it was intended that, in respect of all
matters relating to the internal administration of
the country and our ordinary dealings with the
Xative States, the originating power should be pri-
marily that of the Court of Directors of the East
India Company. But that in questions relating to
Peace and War, and our negotiations with Foreign
Powers, the whole management should be entrusted
to the President of the Board of Control, and a
Secret Committee of the Company (consisting of the
Chairman, the Deputy- Chairman, and the Senior
2 c
386 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Member of the Court) the President being, in fact,
a Secretary of State for Indian affairs, and the mem-
bers of the Secret Committee performing the func-
tions only, as Mr. Tucker happily expressed it, of
66 a Secretary or a Seal."
Over the solution of these questions of Peace and
"War questions into which European politics might
sometimes largely enter it was right, perhaps, that
the Crown Minister should exercise undisputed con-
trol. It was assumed that he took counsel with his
colleagues in the Cabinet, and that every important
measure affecting our relations with foreign States,
or the extension of our Indian Empire, was under-
taken with their cognisance and sanction, and after
full inquiry and due deliberation. This may or may
not in reality have been the case. An arrogant, self-
sufficient President might scorn to consult his official
chief; or, with strong personal prejudices and pre-
dilections, might seek the advice of one particular
member of the Ministry to the exclusion of all the
rest. But men neither saturated with prejudice nor
case-hardened in egotism, were not incorrectly be-
lieved to express the views and to carry out the de-
signs of their colleagues, when they entered upon
great measures affecting the question of Peace or War
with Foreign Powers. If such authority as this were
not in the hands of the Crown Minister, or of some
functionary in immediate connexion with the Cabi-
net, it is clear that the British Government might
often be greatly perplexed and embarrassed by the
prosecution of measures undertaken in India and, to
THE " SECRET COMMITTEE." 387
all outward appearance, of purely Indian signifi-
cance, but still bearing upon our political relations
with States beyond the Company's cognisance and
control.
Taking this view of the case, it was impossible
not to recognise the necessity of vesting the chief
political authority in the representative of the
Crown. Whether all the real power being thus in
the hands of the President of the India Board, the
responsibility should not more openly and intel-
ligibly have attached to him whether despatches
emanating from this functionary should have been
dated from the India House, and signed by the
representatives of the Company whether, in short,
the institution of the Secret Committee should have
been maintained, as a Fiction or a Pact, according
to the character and the caprice of the Crown Minis-
ter,* was a question, and a very important one,
which forcibly suggested itself to Mr. Tucker's mind,
and which, perhaps, I shall be called upon to con-
sider in another chapter. In the mean while it may
be said that, whether for better or for worse, such
was the constitution of the Government of India,
and such the intent of the Act of Parliament under
which it was carried on. But in respect of the other
department of Government, of the general adminis-
* I say this, because a not over-confident Minister will consult his India-
House colleagues and make use of their information, if he will not adopt
their opinions. In this respect the utility of the Secret Committee is not to
be questioned but all depends upon the character of the man. And under
any circumstances the measures are really those of the Crown Minister,
whilst the outward responsibility is the Company's, in whose name they arc
undertaken.
2c 2
388 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
tration of the internal affairs of our East Indian
possessions, the intent of the Act was not so clear,
the authority of the Board was not so definite. That
there was any ohscurity about the Act, or any
doubts about the extent of the Board's powers, in
the department of internal administration, would
not be implied, in this place, if it were not that the
records of the East India Company abundantly
prove that the boundaries of the Board's autho-
rity, as understood at the India House, have been
continually passed, and the Company's interpreta-
tion of the Act falsified by the practice of the con-
trolling powers. Such, however, was the case. It
was the complaint of the Company that the Board
exceeded its legitimate authority, and often reduced
the entire Court, in its general administrative capa-
city, to a fiction as entire as that represented by the
Secret Committee. How this happened it is not
difficult to show. The mode of procedure was this :
A despatch to one of the local Governments, drafted
by a ministerial officer in the India House, was laid,
perhaps after private perusal and annotation by some
of the members, before an assembled Court; and
there discussed, revised rejected or adopted. If
adopted, it was forwarded in due course for the
approval of the Board of Control. Then began the
work of correction. Then, sometimes, began what
has been called " the battle of the inks." The in-
exorable red-ink rode down the black, trampling
under foot whole squadrons of paragraphs, and
drawing itself up, in orderly array, with conquering
THE COURT AND THE BOARD. 389
front, all a-down the margins. The massacre was
often complete ; it stopped not short of total exter-
mination. And the luckless despatch then went
back to the Court, without a trace, perhaps, of its
original meaning left upon it and yet it was to be
adopted as theirs, to be signed with their names, and
to be sent out for the guidance of their servants.
For such alterations as these the Board were
under legal obligations to assign their reasons. But
whether those reasons were good or bad the Court
were compelled to be bound by them. They might
endeavor, by respectful representations, to mollify
the controlling power; and individually or collec-
tively the Directors might protest ; but if they re-
fused to forward the despatch to India, a writ of
Mandamus might be issued against them ; and then,
if they still continued recusant, there was no alter-
native but a prison.
It may be supposed that to such a length as this
the antagonism of the two bodies did not often pro-
ceed ; but it happened that in the years 1832 and
1833, there were two memorable conflicts of which
History has taken account, and concerning which,
inasmuch as Mr. Tucker's name is conspicuous in the
recorded proceedings of both affrays, this narrative
must not be silent.
The first of these is known as the Hyderabad
case the case of the claims of William Palmer and
Co., on account of certain sums alleged to be due to
their House by the ostensible Prime Minister of the
Nizam. To give a detailed account of a transaction
390 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
which is illustrated by a correspondence extending
over several folio volumes, is impossible in such a
work as this and if it were possible it would not
be desirable. It is enough that certain English
gentlemen established a House of business in the
independent state of Hyderabad, in the Deccan, and
became money-lenders on a gigantic scale. The ruler
of Hyderabad, known as the Nizam, was a puppet in
the hands of his Ministers. The most influential
of these, one Chundoo Lall, to whom the financial
management of the country was entrusted, and who
was rightly described as "a creature of British
power," sought a refuge from embarrassments which
the prudent management of the resources of the
kingdom might have averted, in pecuniary dealings
with the English firm ; and thus plunged the State
into a sea of difficulty, compared with which the
troubled waters from which he had sought extrica-
tion were smooth and shallow in the extreme. Not
that it was now the Minister who paid the penalty
of these usurious loans. He was a powerful but
irresponsible go-between. Chundoo Lall and Pal-
mer and Co. both basked in the sunshine of the
British Residency. There was no one but the British
Resident to restrain them from sacrificing the un-
happy country. And he did not inquire too nicely
into the transactions which were enriching the few
and so cruelly oppressing the many. So it happened
in time that Palmer and Co. became masters of a
large portion of the revenues of the State indeed,
were in a fair way ere long to sweep the whole into
their net.
AFFAIRS OF WILLIAM PALMER AND CO. 391
But a new Resident appeared on the scene and
that new Resident was, perhaps, the ablest and
honestest man that ever won for himself a coronet,
without bloodshed and without intrigue. Sir Charles
Metcalfe went to Hyderabad. The great iniquity
stared him in the face. The reign of the English
money-lenders was at an end. Already, the Court of
Directors had sent instructions to India to close the
transactions with Palmer and Co., which were en-
gulfing the resources of the country ; and now Met-
calfe instituted searching inquiries into all the cir-
cumstances of the Nizam's liabilities, and made a
painful, but most necessary exposure. The result
was a great expenditure of reputation; and the
payment, on behalf of the Nizam, by the Bengal
Grovernment, of upwards of seventy-eight lakhs of
rupees, in liquidation of the claims of the English
usurers. Soon after this the House of William
Palmer and Co. was Bankrupt.
But Bankruptcy in India means nothing. It is
often a renewal of strength a revival of activity.
"William Palmer and Co." were soon endeavoring
to re-establish their influence at Hyderabad; and
were preferring large claims, principally on the
score of balance of Interest, against the Chief Mi-
nister of the unfortunate Nizam. Into the Debtor
and Creditor account I cannot of course afford to
enter. But the Court of Directors were thoroughly
impressed with the conviction that Palmer and Co.
were not justly entitled to sixpence more than they
had received, and that any interference on the part
of the British-Indian Government to obtain pay-
392 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
ment from the Nizam woiild be entirely unjustified
by the circumstances of the case, and contrary to
the faith of treaties.
The subject attracted a vast deal of attention at
home. An immense mass of official papers strug-
gled into type. Pamphlets of all sorts and sizes
v/ere poured out upon the public. The Court of
Proprietors woke from their wonted apathy, and a
debate of six days' duration was distinguished by
more eloquence and more excitement than the India
House had witnessed for years. Everything that
ould be said to justify the proceedings of the House
of Usury was said but in vain. The Court of
Directors were convinced ; the Court of Proprietors
were convinced; the Public were convinced. An
irreversible verdict was pronounced. And the most
charitable were the most eager not to revive so
painful a discussion.
And so little was said about it for some time.
But the members of the Bankrupt House were
busying themselves in the collection of what they
called their debts; and again, after a period of
quiescence, the attention of the Court of Directors
was called by the local Government to these old
transactions, and again they were invited to in-
terfere for the settlement of the long- disputed claims
upon the Nizam. In 1828, the Court had permitted
Sir William B/umbold, one of the partners in the
House, to proceed to India, for the purpose of
assisting the Trustees of Wm. Palmer and Co. to
recover sums due to them by individuals, with the
CONFLICTING VIEWS. 393
express stipulation that neither the House, nor any
member of the House, should " be suffered to con-
tinue or renew pecuniary dealings, under any pre-
tence whatever, with the Nizam's Government;"
but the Indian Government had somewhat relaxed
these restrictions, and contented themselves with
Sir "William Huinbold's guarantee that he individu-
ally would not interfere with the affairs of the
Nizam. For this departure from their instructions
the Court censured the local Government, ob-
serving that they should thenceforth expect a
" stricter observance of their former instructions,
which they saw no reason either to extend or to
vary." But the Board of Control had expunged
these condemnatory paragraphs ; and in remorseless
red-ink had substituted others, conveying altogether
a different meaning. The Board, in fact, found a
justification for what the Court declared unjusti-
fiable; and instructed the Indian Government to
inform Sir William Humbold, that although the
Court considered "every claim of the House of
Palmer and Co. on the Nizam's Government, which
was in any way sanctioned by the British authori-
ties, to have been more than satisfied, they no
longer restrained him from proposing to the Ni-
zam's Government, in such manner as he might
think fit, any legal claims of that House which he
might conceive to be still unliquidated." And fur-
thermore, the Board wrote : " The Resident will
intimate to the Nizam's Government that you (the
Indian Government) would hear with satisfaction
394 LIFJB OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
that the House had recovered their just claims from
their private debtors ; and he will advise the Ni-
zam's G-overnment to adopt those measures which
may facilitate to that firm such recovery of their
just debts, by process of law in the ordinary Courts
of Justice in the country."*
Against such a wholesale alteration of the mean-
ing of their despatch, the Court of Directors loudly
remonstrated. They had been made to deviate from
a course of policy which for some time they had con-
sistently pursued ; and had been committed to future
proceedings which they could not conscientiously
adopt. " The policy about to be subverted," they wrote
through their Secretary, "has been steadily main-
tained by the Court of Directors throughout a period
of ten years. It has been sanctioned by four succes-
sive Boards of Commissioners. It has been publicly
canvassed by a Court of Proprietors, and approved
after six days of discussion, which excited more public
interest than any Indian question has done for many
years ; and it has been acted upon by four successive
Governments in India, not in the mere spirit of offi-
cial obedience, but with active and cordial co-opera-
tion." And after pointing out the serious nature of
the evils likely to result from the adoption of the
Board's corrections, the Court expressed their full
expectation that the Board would revoke the altera-
tions made in the draft. " Should the Court be dis-
appointed in this expectation," they added, " they
will still have performed their duty consistently and
* July 23, 1830.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF CONTROL. 395
conscientiously, and the responsibility for the results
will rest undividedly on the Board."
The remonstrance was not without effect. The
despatch, as altered by the Board, was not sent out
to India. The question, indeed, was shelved for a
time ; and not until the beginning of 1832 was the
discussion again revived. Then the Board wrote to
the Court, intimating that in consequence of intelli-
gence received from India, relative to the affairs of
Palmer and Co., it would be advisable that the Court
should prepare a new Draft in lieu of that to which
objections had been raised, " alluding to all the un-
answered communications of the local Government
respecting the affairs of Messrs. William Palmer and
Co." " When this is done," added the India-Board
Secretary, " the Board will be prepared to give a de-
finite opinion upon the whole of the correspondence
now under consideration."
Accordingly, a new despatch was drafted review-
ing the past measures of the local Government, and
offering instructions for their future guidance. That
Government had endeavored to bring the question
between the House and the Nizam to an issue,
through the agency of a Punchayet, or native Court
of Arbitration. But the effort had failed. There
had been no satisfactory basis whereon to arrange
the terms of arbitration ; and no sufficient guarantee
that the award of the Arbitrators would be rendered
binding upon the parties to the suit. The Court now
suggested that these desiderata should be supplied,
and proceeded to argue upon the abstract merits of
396 , LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the case, with a view to its adjustment according to
the soundest principles of justice. Large sums had
been claimed on account of accumulations of inte-
rest, and the Court justly observed that "an in-
dispensable preliminary to all ulterior proceedings
would be to consider and determine what principle
of limitation it would be proper to apply."* But
the great objection to this was, that there was any
allusion to ulterior proceedings at all. It opened
out the whole case anew when it was desirable to
close it, and was in effect a retractation of the former
judgments of the Court.
The draft w^as carried through the Court on the
20th of March, but not without opposition. On the
22nd, Mr. Haikes gave in a dissent. On the 28th,
Mr. Tucker and Colonel Baillie did the same ; and
on the 4th of April, Mr. Wigram declared his opi-
nions emphatically against the Court's resolution.
Mr. Raikes pointed out the tendency of the despatch
to restore the influence of Palmer and Co. at the
Court of the Nizam, and therefore he protested
against it. Mr. Wigram denounced it as an at-
tempt to force British interference unjustly upon a
native Prince, and stigmatised such interference as
C( unsound and pernicious in principle, as derogatory
* The reasonings of the Court on this subject appear to be conclusive as far
as they go. " The high interest common under the native Governments is, in
great part, the consideration for insecurity The principal part of that
high interest, under such Governments, is in the nature of an insurance upon
a risk. But if the influence of the British Government is to be employed in
such a manner as to ensure payment and thereby to take away the risk, it
will deserve to be considered how much, if anything, of that which may be
regarded as the consideration for risk in the nominal rate of interest, it will
be equitable to allow."
THE HYDERABAD DISSENT. 397
to the character of the British Government in the
estimation of the natives of India, as inconsistent
with the past practice of the Court, and as calcu-
lated to introduce a most destructive precedent."
And Mr. Tucker recorded the following Dissent, in
which Colonel Baillie concurred :
" DISSENT BY H. ST.G. TUCKER, ESQ.
" I am compelled to dissent from the letter to the Govern-
ment of Bengal on the affairs of Hyderabad, which passed the
Court on Tuesday last. Not because this letter appears to me
to be very defective as a composition, nor because it puts forth
inconclusive arguments upon unsound or questionable pre-
mises, but because it does not, in my judgment, advance us
one single step towards the end which the Court have in
view.
" The Supreme Government call for more specific instruc-
tions; and we give them none. They are in a state of per-
plexity; and we do nothing to put an end to their embarrass-
ment. The Governor-General, upon his own responsibility,
and in opposition to the advice of his Council, removes the
Resident, Mr. Martin; and we say not a word on the subject,
although this extraordinary exercise of power cannot fail, I
think, to have a powerful influence on public affairs at Hyder-
abad.
" The whole tenor of the Court's despatch would seem to
contemplate the establishment of some basis, on which an
equitable adjustment of the claims of W. Palmer and Co. on
the Newaub Moneer-ool-Moolk and others may be effected;
and yet I cannot discover that any such basis has been decided
upon, or that any approach to it has been made.
" The Court observe that risk enters as an element into
interest, and that high interest includes a premium of in-
surance ; but this proposition is qualified by a subsequent
remark that ex post facto (as it may be termed) security, ob-
tained by means of the interposition or influence of our Go-
vernment, must be admitted as a set-off against the original
398 LIFE OE H. ST.a. TUCKER.
risk; and again, this qualification is considered to be liable to
modification by reason of the ' pain and anxiety' which may
have been endured intermediately between the period when
the sense of risk commenced, and the period when the sense of
safety supervened.
" These distinctions are, no doubt, highly intellectual and
refined; but they do not lead to any practical purpose of busi-
ness. To my simple understanding, the considerations which
regulate and determine the rates of interest are sufficiently
plain. They comprehend :
" 1st. The productive powers of money at the time and
place.
" 2ndly. The relation subsisting between the demand for
money for political or commercial purposes, and the means of
supply at the time and place.
" Srdly. The intelligence, skill, and credit of the parties
treating.
" Lastly. The degree of risk and uncertainty incidental to
the ultimate recovery of the money lent.
" But what shall we gain by subtle disquisitions upon ab-
stract propositions? Is it useful is it fit and becoming in a
Government to pursue a serpentine course of reasoning, whose
involutions are scarcely traceable by a common mind, when,
after all, we end just at the point from which we set out?
" The questions arising out of the case .before us appear to
me to be simply these :
" 1st. Did any fair and legal contract exist between the
late firm of W. Palmer and Co. and the Newaub Moneer-ool-
Moolk and others?
" 2nd. Has the contract been violated by either party ?
" 3rd. Is the British Government called upon to interpose its
authority, or influence, for the purpose of enforcing the fulfil-
ment of that contract ?
" Now, what are the facts of the case ? Sir Charles Metcalfe
asserts that six or seven years ago it was acknowledged by the
parties themselves that the loan to the Newaub Moneer-ool-
Moolk had been actually redeemed with more than twelve per
THE HYDERABAD DISSENT. 399
cent, interest per annum* The Newaub had made over his
extensive Jagheers to the House they managed his estates,
collected his rents, and realised large sums of money. With
such a security in hand, and with the means of paying them-
selves more than twelve per cent, interest on their loan, what
can have been the value and amount of that 'pain and
anxiety for which compensation is to be sought in a high rate
of interest ?
" And upon what grounds can the British Government be
called upon to interpose its authority or influence for the pur-
pose of enforcing against a native nobleman of high rank, not
subject to our Government or laws, a demand for interest ex-
ceeding twelve per cent, per annum ?
" Did we sanction the usurious loans contracted by the late
Newaub of the Carnatic ? Did we assist his creditors further
than to guarantee payment of the principal of their just claims
with a very moderate rate of interest ?
" But it may be said that we gave publicity to the opinions
of three of the greatest lawyers of this country; and that these
opinions were found afterwards not to be sound law ; or rather,
that the twelve judges of England, by a bare negative, gave a
different exposition of the law with relation to the supposed
limitation of interest on loans made and contracted within the
territory of a 'native independent sovereign of India.'
" Admitting, then, what, however, I am not at all disposed
to admit, that the promulgation of a legal opinion of high
authority upon a special case, although subsequently impeached
by the answer of the twelve judges to a general question
(without, I understand, any argument by Counsel), may have
had, for a time, a prejudicial effect upon the affairs of W.
Palmer and Co. ; admitting that the English law opposes no bar
to the enforcement of a rate of interest, however extortionate
(say, cent, per cent., instead of twenty-five per cent.), within
the territory of a ' native independent sovereign? and that
Hyderabad was such a State ; admitting, too, that a debt or
* I quote from memory, as the papers had been sent to the Board before I
had an opportunity to refer to them. H. St.G. T.
400 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
demand, composed of interest, will carry with it further interest,
without any limit whatever, in opposition to an opinion which I
have seen from one of the first Chancery lawyers in this country ;
admitting, again, that the Mahomedan law, which does not re-
cognise interest (on what it terms increase or accumulation),
may be dispensed with or evaded, under usage or otherwise,
and that interest can be legally enforced against the Newaub
Moneer-ool-Moolk, himself a Mahomedan; admitting all these
things, what have we done, either to determine the rate of
interest which it would be just and proper to allow, or to con-
stitute the tribunal which shall decide upon the general merits
of the case that is, upon the facts connected with the original
loan or contract the rate of interest stipulated for the value
actually received by the borrower and the value subsequently
realised by the lender.
" We have, it is true, pointed at something like a mean
between the rate of interest claimed (twenty-five per cent, per
annum) and the rates of interest which Saoucars (or native
bankers) are accustomed to charge and allow, in their trans-
actions with each other; but as the latter is an unknown and a
varying quantity, I do not perceive how we are to arrive at
this golden mean; nor is it likely that it would satisfy either
party, even if it were practicable to arrive at it. In point of
fact, the native bankers, I have reason to believe, accommodate
each other at a very low rate of interest. They know each
other's situation in general ; and by mutual accommodation,
they can economise their respective balances; that is, they are
enabled severally to retain a much smaller sum than would
otherwise be necessary to meet unexpected demands. Such
arrangements are well understood in this country, and not less
so by the native bankers of India, a most intelligent race of
men.
" Placing, as I do, this imaginary mean out of the question,
the next proposition which the Court's letter appears to me to
embrace, is, the resort to arbitration. But who are to be the
arbitrators ? and who is to enforce their decision ? Has not
an ineffectual attempt been made already to induce the parties
to have recourse to arbitration ? I discard the term " pun-
THE HYDERABAD DISSENT. 401
chayet" which is a Hindoo institution, for this term is but
too often used and misapplied. Have not the two parties taken
opposite grounds with respect to the question of interest ? and
can any hope be reasonably entertained that they will now
consent to a basis, or that they will ever appoint arbitrators,
who may not be their respective tools and representatives?
And if they .should consent to nominate such arbitrators, will
these tools or representatives ever be brought to agree upon
the selection of an umpire? In my opinion, they never will;
and I say further, that no prudent, upright, independent man
is likely to be found to undertake voluntarily an office, which
may expose him to the machinations and intrigues of those
who never will remain quiet under an adverse decision, how-
ever honest, pure, and unimpeachable that decision may be.
" With these difficulties before our eyes, is it fair, is it candid,
is it just to the creditors of Wm. Palmer and Co., or to the Newaub
Moneer-ool-Moolk and others, to leave the Supreme Government
in a state of doubt and perplexity ? Is it not injurious to the
public service, and to the character of our Government, to go
on for years, casting this question backwards and forwards be-
tween England and India, without pronouncing any definite
judgment, and without conveying any intelligible instructions
to the Government abroad ?
" In my opinion, there are only two courses which we have
to choose between either to withdraw from all interference
whatever, and to allow the trustees of Wm. Palmer and Co. to
prosecute their claims against Moneer-ool-Moolk and others,
before such tribunal as the ' independent sovereign' of Hydera-
bad (and if he be not an ' independent sovereign' the answer
of the twelve judges does not apply) may have provided for
the administration of public justice within his territories, or
which his Highness (who is not understood to be a mere
cypher like his immediate predecessor) may, at our suggestion,
or by means of the representations of the parties, be induced to
appoint ; or secondly To constitute and appoint a Special
Commission, under the authority of the British Government, to
be composed (say, for instance) of a member of the Court of
Sadder Dewanny Adawlut, with the Ckzi ool Cozaat and a
2D
402 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
Mufti of that Court, as assessors, with full powers to examine
into the whole case, including the original contract and claim
of debt, with all subsequent proceedings connected with its
liquidation; and to adjudicate finally on every point of dispute
between the parties, upon such grounds as law, usage, and the
general principles of justice may furnish for an equitable ad-
justment.
* ' I have abstained as much as possible from any allusion to
the nature and character of the transactions of W. Palmer and
Co. at Hyderabad; as it is, I think, for the honor of the British
name in India, that as little should be said on the subject as
possible. These transactions cannot be consigned to oblivion,
because the writings of Sir Charles Metcalfe, an officer alike
distinguished for great talents, high honor, great zeal, and
above all, for that moral courage which gives the seal and im-
press to the other virtues of a public man his writings, I re-
peat, and the able speech delivered in this house by the late
Mr. Impey (one of the most convincing arguments which I
ever heard in any public assembly), have cast a broad light
over those transactions, which nothing but time can ever ex-
tinguish. What I wish is, that this subject should not be kept
alive by our indecision. Every consideration of justice and
policy should impel us to bring the questions at issue to an
early and final settlement regard for the situation of the
Newaub Moneer-ool-Moolk consideration for the creditors of
W. Palmer and Co. and respect for the reputation of our own
Government, all alike demand from us a prompt, clear, and
unequivocal expression of our sentiments. It is because the
letter of the Court appears to me to be deficient in all these
particulars, that I record the present dissent, considering, as I
do, that letter to be altogether unsuitable to the occasion, and
not at all becoming that high authority from which it pro-
ceeds ; and which (whatever may be the term of its exist-
ence) I am anxious to see maintain always a high and undis-
puted place in public estimation.*
11 H. ST.G. TUCKEK.
" 24th March, 1832."
* This admirable dissent was published among the Proceedings connected
with the Writ of Mandamus published in 1833.
CORRECTIONS OF THE BOARD. 403
The draft despatch so assailed at the outset was
sent in for the approval of the Board. The Board
absolutely annihilated it with their exterminating
Red Ink. It had originally consisted of thirty-seven
paragraphs. Of these the Board scored out all but
four, three of which contained only a preliminary
recital of facts, and the fourth a mere general pro-
position. For the paragraphs so expunged the
Board substituted ten of their own. In this
amended despatch the Court were made to declare
their conviction that " the joint interposition of our
Government and that of the Nizam will be requisite
to bring the matter in dispute to a final settle-
ment." The nature of the proposed interposition
was then declared. The Nizam was to be suffered
to take his choice between an ordinary plan of arbi-
tration (the umpire to be nominated by the Go-
vernor-General) and the appointment of a Com-
mission to be appointed by the Supreme Govern-
ment ; he was to be recommended by the Resident
at Hyderabad to consent to one of these plans, and
to make the decision final, whatever it might be.
And the despatch concluded with an admission that
the Court had unintentionally done an injustice to
Palmer and Co. by not urging an earlier settlement
of their claims.
This was too much for the Court. They could
not bring themselves to sanction such an authorita-
tive interference ; and the admission at the close of
the letter was intolerable to them. So they nega-
tived the resolution for the adoption of the altered
2D 2
404 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
despatch, and wrote a letter of remonstrance to the
Board.
The Eoard consented to some slight alterations in
the body of the draft, and expunged the obnoxious
admission in the tail of it. But still the Court were
not satisfied. Mr. Grant,* who then presided at the
Board, had declared that it was far from his inten-
tion that there should be any authoritative inter-
ference on the part of the British Government.
But, look at it as they might, the Court could not
see in the despatch anything short of the recom-
mendation of such authoritative interference. So
they still declined to forward the despatch. Court-
day after Court-day arrived ; meeting after meeting
was held. The whole question was discussed and
re-discussed again, but still they could not overcome
their reluctance to sign the obnoxious despatch. At
length they came to a determination which does not
appear to me to be distinguished by their wonted
sagacity. They rescinded the Resolution of the 30th
of March, and virtually cancelled both the Draft
and its Amendments, declaring that they had no
authority to meddle with the case at all. Now they
were competent to rescind their own Resolutions,
but not to cancel a despatch after it had been altered
by the Board of Control, t And to declare their
want of authority to meddle with a case with which
they had been meddling for many years was simply
to stultify themselves.
* The present Lord Glenelg.
f This, at least, is my own impression, strengthened by the decision of the
Court of King's Bench but the contrary was very ingeniously contended by
Serjeant Spankie.
THE MANDAMUS ISSUED. 405
To this Besolution the Board of course demurred ;
and again there were new discussions in the Court.
The difficulty seemed to thicken. There was no
hope of a reconciliation. So at last the Court, after
a controversy of eight months' duration, told the
Board that they had nothing to do but to leave the
Law to take its course. And accordingly, on the
24th of November, in the Court of King's Bench,
the Attorney-General made a motion to call upon
the East India Company to show cause why a writ
of Mandamus should not be issued to compel them
to transmit to India a certain despatch, finally
amended and approved, by the Board of Commis-
sioners for the Affairs of India, according to the pro-
visions of the Act of Parliament 33rd George III.
The 21st of January the first day of term was
fixed for the hearing of the case. It was argued at
great length by Mr. Serjeant Spankie, Sir James Scar-
lett, and Mr. Wigram, on the side of the Company ;
by the Attorney and Solicitor-General and Mr. Amos
on the side of the Crown. There was a vast display
of legal ingenuity. The clauses of the Charter- Act,
bearing upon the question at issue, were anatomised
with an amount of skill that must have astonished
the framers of it, whilst it perfectly bewildered the
judges on the Bench. Eight days afterwards Mr.
Justice Littledale delivered the judgment of the
Court. The rule for the Mandamus was made abso-
lute.
On the 13th of February the Mandamus was
served on the members of the Court then present at
406 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
the India House. The opinion of Counsel was then
sought by the Company as to whether an appeal to
the King in Council would be attended with any
advantageous results. The opinion recorded was
that it would not. So on the 13th of March a
year wanting only a week from the date of the ori-
ginal draft the Court met pursuant to notice given
by the Chairman, to consider the expediency of
signing the despatch as altered by the 'Board. The
Court were divided on the question. There were
men prepared to face the Mandamus and to abide
the result, in defence of the Eight. When, there-
fore, the resolution for the signing of the despatch
was moved, the previous question was put, and the
votes were found to be equal. According to the
provisions of the Charter- Act it was, therefore, lost ;
and the original resolution was carried. That reso-
lution ended with the words : " The Court feel that
they have no alternative but to sign the despatch ;
but in doing so ministerially and by compulsion,
they desire to record their most solemn protest
against the orders which they are required to de-
spatch."
On the next Court-day, u Protest signed by Messrs.
Eavenshaw, Marjoribanks, Smith, Astell, Wigram,
Baillie, Tucker, Masterman, Stuart, and Ellice, was
delivered in and read to the Court. It was an able
and a dignified remonstrance closely argued, clearly
written carrying conviction with it at every stage.
It set forth and it proved that the interference
ordered by the Board of Control was
PROTEST OF THE TEN MEMBERS. 407
Contrary to the faith of treaties.
Contrary to the policy of the East India Com-
pany.
Contrary to the established practice of the Court
of Directors.
Contrary to the general practice of the former
Governments of Bengal.
Contrary to the substantial justice of the case.
Contrary to the right use which should be made
of the experience derived from the past transac-
tions of the House.
All these points were conclusively established in
the Protest ; the nature of the transactions between
Palmer and Co. and the Nizam's officers was exa-
mined ; the accounts between them were analysed ;
the real character of the claim was exposed; and
then the remonstrance thus concluded : " To put a
stop at once and for ever to that real or supposed
influence, so assumed and so abused by Messrs.
William Palmer and Co., was once the object aimed
at, not only by the Court of Directors and the
Bengal Government, but also by the Board of Com-
missioners. To restore that influence to all its per-
nicious efficiency must be the result of the inter-
ference which the present Board of Commissioners
would compel the Court to enjoin, and against
which we hereby most earnestly protest. And we
cannot too strongly deprecate, not only the use
which the Board have made of their power on this
occasion, but the possession by a Minister or Go-
vernment Board (without appeal to another tribunal
408 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
on the merits of the case) of such power a power
to transfer money, to any extent, and on any pre-
tence, from the possession of our allies or of their
subjects, to that of ourselves, or of the subjects of
the British Government."
This able and vigorous protest was subscribed by
Mr. Tucker ; but it did not contain all that he de-
sired to express. He had recorded a Dissent from
the original draft prepared by the Court, and now
he desired to declare his conviction that the one was
no better than the other, inasmuch as that neither
tended to that peremptory closing of the whole ques-
tion which he conceived to be demanded by all the
past circumstances of the case. He, therefore, in
conjunction with Colonel Baillie, who had signed his
original dissent, placed upon record the following
Addendum to the great Protest :
" FURTHER PROTEST BY HENRY ST.GEORGE TUCKER, ESQ.,
AND JOHN BAILLIE, ESQ.
"1. We have subscribed the foregoing protest, believing it
to be substantially correct, and feeling it to be highly essential
that those members of the Court who have taken so decided a
part in resisting an arbitrary proceeding of the Board of Com-
missioners for the Affairs of India should place on record a state-
ment of those facts, and a review of those considerations, which
influenced them in opposing the orders of the Board.
" 2. But we wish, at the same time, to explain, that we by
no means consider the letter substituted by the Board for the
Political Despatch, No. 167, which passed the Court on the
20th March, to be of a more objectionable character than the
original Draft. On the contrary, the Board's letter is much
more intelligible, and of a more straightforward character, and
it avoids that circuitous course of reasoning which, in our
opinion, could lead to no useful result. Were we called upon
FURTHER PROTEST. 409
to decide between the two, we should sign the Board's letter in
preference. We protested, however, against the Court's letter
of the 20th of March, and we have felt it to be our duty also to
oppose]the Board's despatch, upon considerations varying some-
what in degree and in their general import, but sufficiently
strong to make it impossible for us to adopt the Board's views.
"3. We cannot think it right to direct the Resident at
Hyderabad * to endeavor, by personal representations, to engage
his Highness the Nizam, on the strong grounds of justice, to
use his influence with Moneer-ool-Moolk, in order to induce
him to concur in the proposed reference.'
" 4. We cannot think it right to direct the Resident ' to urge
on his Highness, in terms of strong recommendation, the justice
of his resolving to enforce the final award.'
'* 5. Nor can we determine to express our conviction, when we
have no such conviction, * of our having been the instruments,
however unintentionally, of arresting, by the promulgation of
an erroneous opinion, the earlier liquidation of the debt.'
u 6, We cannot concur in these things; for after reviewing
the correspondence and minutes of Sir Charles Metcalfe, the
representations of the late Resident, Mr. Martin, the acknow-
ledgment of the parties themselves, and the figured statements
which have been prepared in this House, we cannot satisfy our-
selves that the House of William Palmer and Co. have any just
claim of debt on the Newaub Moneer-ool-Moolk, or that there
are any grounds whatever for exerting the authority and in-
fluence of our Government to enable that firm to enforce any
such claims.
'* 7. On the contrary, we are deeply impressed with the con-
viction, that such an exertion of authority on our part would
be an act of gross injustice, tending to violate our engagements
with a Native Power, to produce a most improper interference
in its domestic administration, to expose the rights and property
of its subjects to be dealt with in the most arbitrary manner,
and finally to lower the character of the British Government,
and to render our very name odious in the estimation of the
people of India.
(Signed) "H. Sx.G. TUCKER.
" J. BAILLIE."
410 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
The altered despatch was sent to India. The
disputed claims were referred to arbitration. Mr.
J. M. Macleod was appointed by the Governor-Ge-
neral to the office of Umpire ; and it was decided
that the heirs of the Minister Moneer-ool-Moolk
should pay a further sum of ten lakhs of rupees to
the estate of Palmer and Co., bearing interest at nine
per cent. When this result was communicated to
the Court of Directors, it was received without re-
mark. But Mr. Tucker, with the practised eye of
an Accountant, saw that there was injustice in the
award, and he thus, on the 4th of May, 1836, recorded
his dissent :
" I feel it to be my duty to record my dissent from the resolu-
tion of the Court to sign the following brief, and to me inexpli-
cable paragraph, in the political despatch to India, No. 65,
bearing date the 26th ultimo viz. :
"'Paras. 1 to 16, reporting proceedings by which it
appears that Mr. J. M. Macleod, the umpire selected by
the Governor-General, has decided that the heirs ofV Ul ^ ^,
Moneer-ool-Moolk shall pay to Messrs. W. P. and Co. a |
further sum of ten lakhs of rupees, with interest at 9 per
cent., until the same shall be discharged.'
" First. I dissent on the following grounds : Because, with-
out reference to the merits of the case, it appears to me un-
becoming in this Court to pass over a question of great interest
and importance in a way which must leave the Government
abroad in doubt with respect to our real sentiments. Such a
proceeding cannot fail, I think, to produce very unfavorable
effects in India; and whether it be surmised that we are afraid
to pronounce a judgment upon a delicate and difficult question,
or that a want of union among us has led to a compromise, or
that differences with the Board have rendered it impossible for
the two authorities to concur in any one course of proceeding,
the impression upon the public mind in India must be such as
COMMENTS ON THE AWARD. 411
I would most earnestly deprecate. The Government which
dreads and avoids responsibility cannot command respect ; and
although cases of collision between the two authorities will
sometimes occur, constituted as those authorities are at present,
it is far better that our differences should be fairly and honestly
maintained, than that we should be suspected of compromising
a public principle in order to preserve an appearance of concord
and good understanding. On the present occasion we are called
upon to answer a despatch involving important questions. We
have pronounced no opinion whatever we have disposed of a
subject which has engaged, and deeply engaged the attention
of this Court for years past, by the simple words ' No remark?
and I can scarcely picture to myself the astonishment of those
who are now waiting to hear the final judgment of this high
tribunal, when these words, ' No remark? proclaim our determi-
nation to let that which has been done pass without notice,
whether it has been well done or otherwise.
ts Secondly. I must contend that the award of the umpire
exhibits upon the very face of it a palpable error ; and although
the members of this Court are not expected generally to be
professional accountants, I will venture to say that there is no
practical accountant who would not detect the error at the
slightest glance.
" The following is the award in substance :
" e After mature deliberation, it appears to me that the best
mode of determining the amount of the debt at the present
time, is first, to fix its amount at the time of the failure of the
House, then to double the same, to deduct, without interest, the
principal monies of payment since made on account of the debt,
and to take the remainder to be the debt at this day.'
" Now, it is quite evident that the great principle on which
accounts are framed is here lost sight of. To double the prin-
cipal of the demand is to allow interest, and to allow it, indeed,
to the utmost extent to which, by usage, it is claimable;* but
* to deduct, without interest, the principal monies of payment
* Without reference to Hindoo law, or our own regulations (Mahomedan
law condemns usury or compensation for the use of money), I may observe,
that the penalty inserted in a bond is double the amount of principal, so that
the sum recoverable upon it for the interest is virtually limited. H. St.G. T.
412 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEK.
since made on account of the debt,' is to determine that one
side of an account shall not bear interest, while it is fully
allowed on the other. By this decision, the heir of the late
Newaub Moneer-ool-Moolk is placed in the same situation as if
he had only paid in the year 1835 monies which were actually
paid in 1823-24. To show to what an erroneous result the
process adopted by the umpire has led, it is only necessary to
quote his own words, from paragraph 21 of his letter of the
10th March, 1835, containing the award:
" ' On the other hand, were the account to be brought down
to the month of August, 1829 (or to Mokurrum 1244 Hegry),
the balance against him (the Newaub) would be reduced to
about four lakhs; and were the account to be brought down
to the present day, it would exhibit a balance of upwards of a
lakh of rupees against the representatives of the House.'
" This is a simple and, I believe, a correct exposition of the
case. As far as a judgment can be formed from very perplexed
accounts, I am led to infer that the principal of the debt had
been fully liquidated, and that the balance, if any, due by the
Newaub could only have resulted from a difference of interest,
to be determined in the usual manner by a regular interest
account.
" Other questions present themselves in a review of the
award and of the correspondence connected with it ; but I have
not the slightest wish to go beyond the plain duty of pointing
out an obvious error, which, I am satisfied, was quite unin-
tentional, but which, deeply affecting, as it must do, the interests
of one of the parties, ought not to be passed over in silence.
" Nor have I the slightest desire to enter upon the original
merits of a case which has been so often before the Court, and
on which I have had occasion so often to deliver my sentiments.
The facts connected with it have been so fully and so clearly
exposed in the protest which was recorded by ten members of
the Court on the 15th March, 1833, that anything which
I could urge on the present occasion would probably only
weaken the impression which that able document was cal-
culated to produce.
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
4th May, 1836."
ME. CHARLES GRANT. 413
I have anticipated the sequence of time in the
record of this Dissent ; but I should feel more satis-
faction in dismissing the case altogether, if I had
not now to speak of another of kindred origin and
character. The years 1832-33-34 were, for the
Court of Directors, years of unusual excitement and
activity. Apart from the disturbance of their tran-
quillity necessarily engendered by the unwelcome
innovations of the new Charter- Act, they were years
rendered memorable by the repeated collisions into
which they were forced with the Board of Control.
I do not know how it happened, that during the
Presidentship of a man so high-minded, so just, and
so averse from strife, as Mr. Charles Grant, the
Court should have been so often compelled to resist
the eiforts made by the Board to force them into acts
of injustice. Perhaps it was that a sort of fatal good-
nature a disinclination to sift the claims of hungry
applicants, and to disbelieve the specious repre-
sentations which were made to him, induced him to
side with claimants who had no title to his support ;
and that in his eagerness to be more than just to
one party, he was sometimes less than just to
another. But, whatever may have been the cause,
during these years the Company were disturbed
by being called upon in no less than four dif-
ferent cases to interfere for the settlement of
claims advanced against certain native princes and
chiefs.
Of the claims upon the Zemindar of Noozeed and
the Eajah of Travancore I need not here make espe-
LIFE OP H. ST.GL TUCKER.
cial mention. I pass on to the more notorious ease
known as that of the "Lucknow Bankers." It
bears a generic resemblance to the Hyderabad case ;
but its details are not quite so complicated. It was
a case of a spendthrift monarch on one side, and a
gang of hungry usurers on the other. Porty years
before, some native bankers, named Mooneer Doss
and Seetul Baboo, following the example of other
money-lenders, European and native, fell upon the
track of the profligate Nabob of Oude and lent him
some money, upon bonds, at a rate of interest which
implied either their belief in the badness of the
security, or their resolution to defraud the borrower.
It was the old story over again a native prince
wallowing in the deepest slough of sensual indul-
gence spending on dancing-girls and buffoons on
wild-beast fights and pageants all the treasure that
he could extort from the people ; then borrowing
more from the usurers, who were ready with their
money-bags to administer, for a consideration of
thirty per cent., to the necessities of his unscrupulous
lust. The borrower was reckless about the interest,
for he knew that, if it were paid at all, it would be
wrested from his unhappy people ; and the lender,
careless of the blood and tears which were to flow
from the extortion, believed that as long as the
country could yield a revenue, they who supplied
the necessities of the prince would be sure to enrich
themselves by the connexion. So these " Dosses" as
they were subsequently known in Parliamentary
History lent money at the close of the last cen-
CASE OF THE " LUCKNOW BANKERS." 415
tury to the Nabob-Vizier Asoph-ood-dowlah and
thus a new contribution was made to the sufferings
of the people.
But borrowing must have some limits, and even
the possessors of rich Indian principalities must
come to a stand at last ; so the Nabob, being at
length awakened to a real sense of his position by
the British Resident, determined to compound with
his creditors that is, to pay them all something less
than their exorbitant claims, which consisted for the
most part of small advances, swollen into prodigious
sums by a process of tumefaction well known to
Oriental usurers. The composition, however, that
was offered was not of an uniform character. It
was determined that the European creditors should
be repaid at one rate, the native creditors at another.
It need not be said that the former was the higher.
The arrangement took place. The creditors, for the
most part, prudently took what they could get,
which was, in most cases, more than they deserved.
But the " Dosses," claiming to be British subjects,
stickled for the European rate of composition, and
were rewarded for their ambition by getting nothing
at all.
Soon after the completion of this transaction,
Asoph-ood-dowlah died. In his place, the English
Government set up one Saadut Ali, who was not of
a temper to part with sixpence, when he was not
actually compelled. So the "Dosses" went on from
year's end to year's end, clamoring for their money
and not obtaining it and employing the services of
416 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
an European Agent, who was as persevering in his
pursuit of " Justice" as though he had heen one of
the principals. There was nothing which he did
not try, from a bill in equity to a humble petition,
to induce the East India Company to further his
suit. But all his efforts were vain. The Court of
Directors were resolute not to interfere. An appeal
was made to Parliament ; and Parliament got rid of
the nuisance by appointing a Select Committee,
which never reported on the case. This was in
1822. Ten years afterwards, the energy of the
European Agent was as sleepless as ever ; and he
saw before him at last something like a prospect of
obtaining the reward of his toil. The President of
the Board of Control was inclining a favorable ear
to the claims of Mr. Prendergast's friends.
In consequence of the representation of this inde-
fatigable gentleman, Mr. Grant had undertaken to
review all the circumstances of the case ; and the re-
sult of the inquiry thus instituted was a conviction in
his mind, that however sound the principle of non-
interference in such cases might be, "the circum-
stances connected with the transactions on which
their (the Bankers') claim is founded, give it so
peculiar a character, that the Court and the Board
would have been warranted in adopting a different
course." This conviction he communicated to the
Court, in a letter to the Chairman and Deputy-
Chairman, dated April 12, 1832 ; and, as the result
of it, declared his intention of making our interpo-
sition with the King of Oude "direct and formal"
PROPOSED LETTER ON THE OUDE CLAIMS. 417
adding, " I propose, accordingly, that the Go-
vernor-General in Council should be directed to lose
no time in addressing to the King of Oude a letter
to that purport, and that his Lordship should be
desired to instruct the Resident to take an early
opportunity of delivering that letter to the King,
and of verbally explaining to his Majesty the
grounds on which the British Government have
felt themselves constrained to press upon his serious
attention a claim which ought to have been dis-
charged thirty years ago, and which the Agents of
the parties have not ceased to prosecute to the
utmost extent of their power, both in India and in
this country. The rate and amount of interest
should, of course, be settled according to the law
and usages of the country in which the debt was
contracted. The mode and details of payment must
be matters of negotiation between the King of Oude
and the Supreme Government." And the memo-
rable letter thus concluded : " Having thus ex-
plained briefly, because the merits of the case are
well known to you and to the Court of Directors,
the result of my investigation into the claim of the
Calcutta Bankers, I have to request that you will
be pleased to bring the matter under the considera-
tion of the Court, and that you will move them to
prepare the draft of a despatch to the Governor-
General in Council, containing instructions of the
tenor above stated. The despatch will, of course,
require the sanction of the Commissioners for the
Affairs of India."
2*
418 LIFE OE H. ST.Gr. TUCKER.
This, as I have said, was dated the 12th of April,
1832. Only the day before, the Court had voted
against the adoption of the obnoxious alterations in
their despatch relative to the claims of Palmer and
Co. ; and now they were called upon to authorise an
act of interference which they conceived to be still
more impolitic and unjust. There seemed to be a
run upon their patience and forbearance ; and they
were well disposed to declare themselves Insolvent.
Where, indeed, was all this to end? There were
other claimants on the King of Oude other claim-
ants upon other Native Princes ; and if the claims
of the Dosses were conceded, and measures taken to
enforce their settlement, why should not the heirs
and representatives of other claimants English,
Indian, and those who were neither English nor
Indian, or both be satisfied too, by an equally au-
thoritative interposition in their behalf ? The Board
of Control was in a fair way, indeed, going on at
this rate, to beggar half the Princes of India. Every
claimant thought his own an exceptional case, and
the Board seemed to be adopting wholesale the
opinions of the claimants themselves. In sooth it
was time to stop.
So the Court of Directors drew up a general re-
monstrance against these acts of interference, It
was dated the 9th of May, 1832, and is a remark-
ably able State paper luminous, forcible, and con-
vincing. But it did not convince the Board of
Control. It pointed out all the evils of interference
the impolicy, the injustice; the manifest incon-
REMONSTRANCES Or THE COURT. 419
sistency of such a course of procedure ; the loss of
character to Government; the inconvenience, the
danger of opening the door to a rush of hungry
claimants ; the certainty either of being hurried into
more concessions, or of raising louder clamors and
stimulating greater discontent hut it was all ar-
gued in vain. The President of the Board of Con-
trol was not to be convinced. He had made up his
mind that the Bankers who had waited for years
for the spoil, should be now let in to gorge them-
selves to the full.
But as argument was of no avail as the question
could not be settled by an appeal to principles of
reason and justice, the Court took the next best
course. They did nothing. They were silent. They
did not prepare the despatch. Seven months passed
in silence. The Court had been ordered on the 14th
of May to prepare the despatch. On the 15th of
December it was not written ; and they had given
no sign of an intention to write it. So, on that day
the Board forwarded to the India House a draft
despatch of the President's own framing, with in-
structions to the Court to prepare one of like ten-
dency, and transmit it to India. The Court did not
obey the injunction. They resolved once more to
try the effect of an appeal to reason; and after re-
newed consideration of the whole question, they
wrote a long letter to the Board, which was signed
on the 1st of March, 1833, setting forth, in detail,
the causes of their unwillingness to obey the in-
structions of the controlling authority. This was
2 E 2
420 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
afterwards pronounced by Mr. Herries, in the House
of Commons, to be the very ablest public document
which had come under his observation for years.
Still the President of the India Board was not to
be convinced. And still the Court of Directors
were not to be driven into a course of conduct
against which reason and conscience revolted. So
there was again active strife between the two autho-
rities an irreconcileable difference which it seemed
that nothing but an appeal to the law could finally
adjust. But the Hyderabad battle had not yet been
fought out; so the Oude contest but slowly pro-
ceeded to an issue. On the 29th of January the rule
for a Mandamus was made absolute in the case of
Palmer and Co. ; on the 31st of that month the
Attorney-General made a motion in the Court of
King's Bench to call upon the Company to show
cause why a Mandamus should not be issued, to
compel them to sign a certain despatch relating to
the creditors of the King of Oude.
Mr. Tucker was at this time Deputy-Chairman of
the East India Company. He had felt strongly,
and he had written strongly, regarding the impolicy
and injustice of interposing authoritatively for the
adjustment of the Hyderabad claims. And now,
here, if possible, was a worse case worse, inas-
much as the claim was one of much longer standing
a veteran, indeed, of some forty years. If there
was one subject in connexion with the circumstances
of our position in India on which Mr. Tucker felt
TREATMENT OF THE NATIVE PRINCES. 421
more ^trongly than on another, it was that of the
treatment of the Native Princes and Chiefs of India
by the British Government, as the paramount and
controlling power. He was always thinking that
it was "excellent to have a giant's strength," hut
"tyrannous to use it like a giant;" and he could
not by any means see that these Native Princes were
left upon the face of the earth only to be pillaged
and plundered, to be trampled on and oppressed,
according to the will of the English conqueror. He
respected their fallen state, though he took account
of their vices ; and he could not by any means see
how those vices were to be eradicated by sinking
them into deeper degradation, and making their per-
plexities thicken around them. In the present case,
he saw clearly both the injustice and the danger of
the course which the Board had ordained. How,
he asked, was such a payment to be enforced by
anything short of physical coercion ? Was the
money to be extorted at the point of the bayonet ?
It was impossible to conceive a measure so laden
with unrighteousness, and so pregnant with danger,
as that which the Court of Directors were now im-
peratively called upon to adopt.
Mr. Tucker had made up his mind on the subject,
and nothing, now, could shake his resolution. He
was as inflexible as adamant in defence of the right.
The law had no terrors for him. The Court of King's
Bench might rule what it pleased ; he was not to be
driven from his allegiance. He could go to prison ;
422 LIFE OF H. ST..G-. TUCKEK.
but he could not violate the principles which, he had
made the rule of his life ; he could not be untrue to
himself.
On the 5th of February, 1834, five days after
the Mandamus had been moved for, Mr. Tucker ad-
dressed his colleagues in the following words. The
trumpet gave no " uncertain sound." It was in-
tended to " arm them for the battle :"
11 TO THE HONORABLE THE COURT OF DIRECTORS.
" HONORABLE SIRS, A writ of Mandamus having been
moved for in the King's Bench, to compel this Court to sign
and forward to India the despatch which was sent to us for
signature on the 15th December, 1832, relating to the claim
of the Lucknow Bankers on the Government of Oude, I feel it
to be my duty to declare that it is impossible for me to comply
with the requisition of the Board of Commissioners for the
Affairs of India on this particular occasion.
" I am quite aware that I am called upon to act ministerially
only, in signing the despatch of the Board; but there are cases
where I cannot act even ministerially there are obligations
superior to that of yielding obedience to a Mandamus and
there are acts which the law itself cannot command acts which
cannot be performed without a violation of those principles on
which all law is founded. The Legislature can, no doubt,
invest a public functionary with large discretional powers; but
these powers can never extend so far as to give a legal sanction
to an act in itself illegal and criminal.
" The order which we are required to issue has for its object
to enforce payment of a claim which has never been admitted
or substantiated which takes its origin some forty years ago
and which is understood to amount, with interest, to more
than a million sterling. The claim must be enforced against
one whom we recognise in the character of a sovereign prince,
and whom we must lay prostrate and involve in ruin, if, dis-
LETTER TO THE COURT. 423
regarding his remonstrances, we persist in compelling payment
of this demand without a regular adjudication; since it is well
known that it will be followed by other demands of the same
kind to an enormous amount. Let it be remembered always
that this is only one of many claims on the State of Oude,
which we may be called upon, and which we have been called
upon, to enforce; and I can perceive no ground whatever for
separating it from the rest, or for exerting in favor of the
claimants an authority, or influence, which we will not exert in
any other case.
" If it be not intended to use force in the execution of the
orders of the Board, they will remain inoperative they will
effect nothing; and they will be, indeed, worse than useless;
for every means short of force were resorted to in 1816 for the
purpose of inducing the Newaub to satisfy this particular
claim. The next step must then be a resort to military exe-
cution, or the threat of military execution; and who is pre-
pared to say what consequences may result from such a pro-
ceeding ? One effect must certainly be produced we must
sink in the estimation of our allies and native subjects; for the
act will be stamped in their minds with the character of in-
justice and oppression; and who is so ignorant as not to perceive
that the loss of reputation must, in our peculiar situation in
India, endanger the stability of our power ?
" Far from wishing to carry on a hostile contest with the
Board, my study has been, in the station which I have the
honor to hold, to promote a good understanding between the
two authorities to conciliate confidence and to smooth away
difficulties, as far as this could be done without compromising
the independence of the Court, or the interests of the public
service. I have followed this course, both from inclination,
and upon principle; for even when the two authorities concur
and cordially co-operate, the work to be performed is of such
magnitude as to be almost beyond our power of execution;
while it is quite apparent that, if collision take place, if discord
prevail, and habitual opposition be offered on either side, the
machine of Government must absolutely stand still.
u But here let me render an act of simple justice. During
424 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the brief period in which I have had the honor of assisting at
personal conferences with the President of the Board, I have
found that Minister as anxious as the Chairman and myself to
promote harmony and to consult the interests of the service.
Every question has been debated with fairness and candor, and
the greatest solicitude has been shown to remove every cause
of difference, and to allow the utmost weight and consideration
to every proposition which our duty has led us to bring forward
on the part of the Court.
" On this one point the difference has been extreme and irrc-
concileable, involving a principle which it was impossible for us
to concede. We could not consent to be parties in overturning
the deliberate decision of successive Courts and successive
Boards. If the judgment of our predecessors is to be set aside
after the lapse of a long period of years, without new facts
being adduced, without the case assuming any new feature,
what would be stable in our proceedings ? what resolution
would be permanent ? what act would be final ? During the
long administration of Marquis Wellesley, when the case was
more recent, and the facts more susceptible of proof, no step
was taken by the Supreme Government to obtain an adjudi-
cation of the claim : his Lordship's subsequent advocacy of it
was at a time when he had no official responsibility, and when
he was not in a situation to pronounce a judgment. Lord
Hastings, although evidently disposed to favor the claimants,
limited his interference to importunate recommendations to the
Newaub through the Resident at Lucknow, and admitted that
the case was not one which ' the British Government was
warranted in formally supporting.' But the whole question
has been so fully canvassed in the Court's letter of the 1st
March last, that it is quite unnecessary for me to enter upon
any further examination of its merits.
" I am called upon, then, to make a decided stand ; and I
feel that it ought to be made at all hazards. Adjusted as are
the powers between the two departments, what gives, or can
give, weight and influence to the Court ? The knowledge,
experience, and political integrity of its members. Take away
CHARLES GRANT. 425
these, and the Board becomes supreme. The Court, by mani-
festing, on great occasions, firm resolution and a high spirit of
independence, will raise its own character, and inspire confi-
dence and respect. Our servants, who have not always shown
a becoming deference to our authority and station, will learn to
obey a power which is prepared calmly to resist that which it
believes to be wrong, and steadily to enforce that which it feels
to be right; and acting thus, our constituents, and the British
public, and the people of India, will be satisfied that the Court
of Directors is, what it ought to be, an efficient organ of admi-
nistration, to whom the interests of a great empire may safely
be confided.
" I have the honor to be, Gentlemen,
" Your very obedient, faithful servant,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
< ; 5th February, 1834."
It was not without pain that he wrote this nohle
remonstrance. There were many fine qualities in
Charles Grant which no man better appreciated than
Henry St. George Tucker. There were some points
upon which they differed; but there were many
more on which their opinions were identical, and an
abstract love of justice was paramount in the cha-
racters of both men. I believe that both as Indian
and Colonial Minister the conduct of Charles Grant
was regulated by the highest principles of justice ;
but that he sometimes missed the right application
of these principles, and in the plenitude of his kind-
ness did the unkindest things. In the great contest
of which I am now writing, it is my conviction that
Mr. Grant and Mr. Tucker each believed that justice
was upon his side. But Mr. Tucker had knowledge
as well as faith. He and not only he, but many of
426 LIFE OE H. ST.G. TUCKER.
his colleagues brought to the investigation of this
question much local knowledge and experience a
deep insight into native character in general, and
an intimate acquaintance, in particular, with the
profligate helplessness of Oriental princes, and the
almost fathomless cunning of Oriental usurers. Mr.
Grant, on the other hand, did not, perhaps, reflect
that what was justice in the West might not he jus-
tice in the East ; and that the arhitrement suited
to one country might be lamentably unsuited to
another. Had his father then been at his elbow he
would have followed a different course.
All this was manifest to Mr. Tucker. He greatly
esteemed the virtues of the man; and, therefore,
the more bitterly deplored the errors of the minister.
He often, indeed, at this time, expressed his regret
that the contest of public principle was with a man
whom personally he so much respected ; and in one
of his speeches at the India House, quoted with ad-
mirable felicity, and with deep feeling, the touching
words of the poet :
" Jc faimais inconstant qu'aurais-jefaitfidele ?"
In his resistance to the arbitrary measures of the
Board, Mr. Tucker did not stand alone. On the
15th of January a resolution had passed the Court,
without a dissentient voice, declaring that as the
proposed interference with the King of Oude was
unjust, inconsistent, and mischievous, the Court
could " not consent, even ministerially, to act upon
the orders of the Board until compelled by Law to
CONDUCT OF THE DIRECTORS. 427
do so." It was in consequence of this resolution
that the Mandamus had been moved for and now
it became the duty of every Director to consider how
he should face it. The resolution had only com-
pelled them not to sign the despatch except under
compulsion of a Mandamus. But there were mem-
bers of the Court, who, like the Deputy-Chair-
man, were resolute not to affix their signatures,
under any circumstances, to the obnoxious despatch.
On the 5th of February the date which Mr.
Tucker's letter bears six members of the Court,
Messrs. Astell, Marjoribanks, Wigram, Russell El-
lice, Mills, and Thornhill, placed their opinions on
record in the following brief but emphatic commu-
nication which they addressed to their colleagues :
"Adverting to the proceedings which have already taken place
relative to the claims of the Lucknow Bankers, we feel it to be
our duty to place upon the records of the Court the expression of
our determination not to affix our signatures, under any cir-
cumstances, to the despatch proposed by the Board of Commis-
sioners; because we are impressed with the deepest conviction
that any attempt to enforce such claims by the direct inter-
ference of the British Government, would be nothing short of
an act of spoliation towards an ancient and prostrate ally, that
it would compromise the British character, and lead to con-
sequences most detrimental to the continuance of our rule in
India."
But there were other members of the Court who
took different views of their obligations as Directors
of the Company. One approved of the despatch,
and declared himself desirous of annexing his sig-
428 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
nature to it.^ The Chairman recommended that
the Court " should use every legal means in their
power to prevent the transmission of this most
objectionable despatch; but that after having done
so, they should obey the law, and by that example
inculcate in others the important duty of obedience
to their legal orders." Several members of the
Court subscribed this letter. The document is an
important one, for it contains an argumentative ex-
position of the grounds upon which an influential
section of the Directors based their belief in the
impropriety of resisting the operation of the Law.
Among other points, it was contended that no
responsibility attached to the Directors for acts
done in obedience to the authority of the Board,
when exercised in opposition to the protests of the
Court. " Sooner," said the Chairman, " than be
responsible for this draft, I would resign my seat
but no such responsibility exists. If I sign it,
I do so ministerially, and because the law compels
me ; and surely every Director knows that he is re-
quired in some cases to do what the Secret Com-
mittee is always required to do, to act merely minis-
terially in communicating to the Indian Govern-
ments orders and instructions for which the Board
are exclusively responsible."
In this letter there is much that has a gloss of
reason upon it ; but it would seem that the latent
* Mr. John Forbes. He had been absent from the Court when the reso-
lution of the 15th of January was passed or it would not have been carried
unanimously.
PERSONAL OBLIGATIONS. 429
weakness of the argument peeps out from the ahove
sentence. A member of the Secret Committee signs
ministerially a despatch emanating from the Board
of Control, of the contents of which despatch he
does not approve, because he knows that it is the
intent of the Legislature that in this department of
the Government the Crown Minister should be
absolute. The case of the Secret Committee is a
special and exceptional case. But it was not the
intent of the Legislature, in framing the Act under
which India is governed, that in matters of general
administration, not bearing upon questions with
which the Crown Ministers, directly or indirectly,
have any concern, the President of the Board of
Control should dictate to the Court of Directors, and
force upon them measures utterly abhorrent to their
ideas of reason and justice. There may have been
certain ambiguities in the letter of the law, under
which the Board may have claimed this right to
force any thing upon a reluctant Court ;* but it was
assuredly not in harmony with the spirit of the law,
that the former authority should initiate measures,
* It was argued, in the Hyderabad case, that the powers of the Board
extended only to matters relating to the civil or military government of the
Company or the finances thereof, and that such transactions did not come
within those categories. This specification was intended to prohibit the
interference of the Board with the Company's commercial affairs; but I can
hardly believe that the Legislature ever intended to confer on the Board such
powers as they claimed with regard to these Hyderabad and Oude cases,
although the Charter- Act did give them authority to call upon the Court to
transmit despatches, framed by the Board, after they (the Court) had been
instructed and had neglected to prepare them for themselves. The letter of
the law appears to me to have been on the side of the Board, but the spirit
was with the Court.
430 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of the expediency or inexpediency of which the latter
must necessarily be better judges, and compel them,
in the face of all their aggregate knowledge and
experience, to attach their names to documents
which they believe to be irrational and unjust.
It was rightly said by Serjeant Spankie, arguing
in behalf of the Company in the Hyderabad case,
that " nothing is so material as to distinguish who
are the acting parties, and not to suffer them to be
blended and confounded till all responsibility is lost
between the parties who, to a certain degree concur,
and to a certain degree revolt and hold back."
" And so," he said, " I apprehend, in all cases in
which the Board take upon themselves the initia-
tive, the responsibility is with the Board, and that
the Court of Directors should not be forced into an
apparent responsibility." Mr. Loch, and the col-
leagues who voted with him, contended that there
was no responsibility. If the President of the
Board of Control could have signed the despatch
himself, and merely compelled the Court to transmit
it, their responsibility might have been merely that
of a porter or a postman. But as it was necessary
that the despatch should be adopted by the Court of
Directors that they should render it formally and
officially their act by attaching their names to it
that their servants should be called upon, under
their hands, to carry out the instructions it con-
tained there was at least " an apparent responsi-
bility." The act became in India their act, what-
ever it may have been in England ; and the natives
QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY. 431
of the former country, who knew nothing of India-
House Protests, or Bang's - Bench Mandamuses,
would have regarded it as their act, and held them
responsible for it. I do not think, therefore, that
the responsibility was to be wholly escaped.
But it was admitted by Mr. Loch that circum-
stances might arise, to render it incumbent on a
Director to resign his office rather than sign, even
ministerially, a despatch forced upon him by the
Board of Control. The real question at issue,
therefore, between him and Mr. Tucker, related
simply to the magnitude of the present occasion.
Mr. Tucker conceived that now, if ever, the Directors
should make a stand that great principles were in-
volved in the contest between the two authorities
and that a fitter occasion for asserting the indepen-
dence of the Court was not likely to arise.
Mr. Loch thought that the occasion was sufficient
to warrant him in going to certain lengths of re-
sistance ; Mr. Tucker determined that he would go
all lengths. The Chairman said that he would sign
the despatch only under the operation of a Man-
damus. The Deputy-Chairman declared that he
would not sign it, even if the Mandamus were
issued. The question is surrounded with many diffi-
culties. A phalanx of substantial arguments is
arrayed on either side, and it would ill become me
to attempt a dogmatic solution of it. It may, how-
ever, be observed, that rightly to estimate the mag-
nitude of the occasion, and the degree of resistance
which it became the Directors to offer, we must
432 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
consider not so much the single act of attempted
coercion in the case of the Lucknow Bankers, as the
aggregation of four different cases of the same kind
which had heen pressed, within a short time, upon
the reluctant Court. It was, indeed, the cumula-
tive tyranny and injustice of the Board that was to
be resisted. All measures short of the actual defiance
of a Mandamus had already heen tried, and had failed.
It seemed, therefore, to Mr. Tucker and to six of his
colleagues, that it now became them to carry their
resistance to the extreme point, and either to resign
their appointments, or quietly to go to Prison.
And that they would have done so there is no
doubt. Mr. Tucker was prepared for the conse-
quences of resistance ; and as the time approached
for the issue of the Mandamus, talked cheerfully,
but resolutely, of going to Prison. The Mandamus
had been moved for on the last day of January ;
and the first day of term following had been fixed
upon for the hearing of the case. Of the result
of the motion there could be no doubt but just as
the contest had reached the culminating point of
interest, it was brought suddenly to a close. . The
proceedings against the Court were stayed. Por
reasons, which either lie on the surface, or deep
down in a gulf of mystery, the Mandamus was
never obtained. The East India Company tri-
umphed ; and Mr. Tucker did not go to Prison.
THE "CHAIRS." 433
CHAPTER XV.
The "Chairs" Mr. Tucker elected Deputy-Chairman Succession to the
Chair The Bombay Government Appointment of Mr. Robert Grant
The Governor-General Nomination of Sir Charles Metcalfe Appoint-
ment of Lord Heytesbury Its Revocation Appointment of Lord Auck-
landMr. Tucker's Remonstrances Speech at the King's Table.
ON the 10th of October, 1833, Mr. Tucker was
elected Deputy-Chairman of the Court of Directors
of the East India Company.
According to the Law and Constitution of the
East India Company, a Chairman and Deputy-
Chairman are to be appointed every year on the
first Wednesday after the General Election in April.
The appointment rests with the Directors them-
selves. Sometimes the election is the result of a
close contest ; at others there is scarcely any com-
petition. The Deputy-Chairman of the preceding
year is always, by common consent, appointed
Chairman for the ensuing one, except in those rare
instances when, for peculiar reasons, the out-going
Chairman is requested to retain his seat for another
year. The election is in effect, therefore, only the
election of a Deputy-Chairman. It may, however,
happen that in the course of the official year, the
434 LIFE or H. ST.a. TUCKER.
death, disqualification, or resignation of the Chair-
man or Deputy-Chairman necessitates the nomina-
tion of a successor before the appointed time. In
1833 both the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman
resigned in the month of October, so that it became
necessary to appoint two Directors to their vacant
seats. Then Mr. Loch was elected Chairman, and
Mr. Tucker Deputy-Chairman of the Court.
"I have never," wrote the latter to one of his
colleagues a few days before his election, " sought
the Chair, for reasons that are pretty well known to
you and other friends ; but I have never declined
it. I could not decline that which has never been
offered me. But I would not shrink from the per-
formance of any public duty which might be im-
posed upon me. I never have, it is true, solicited
the suffrages of my colleagues; nor will I ever
solicit them. I disapprove of the practice of can-
vassing for the Chair ; and I never will place any
colleague in the unpleasant I may say the painful
situation in which I have myself been placed by a
personal application, when my wish was to oblige, and
my duty told me that I ought not to assent. Much
as I esteem our colleague , I cannot support his
nomination. I consider it indispensable that one of
the Chairs should be occupied at the present
moment by an Indian, and if the youngest Indian
in the Court should be brought forward, he will
have my preference on public grounds
If any members of the Court should think proper
to propose me, and the Court should be pleased
APPOINTMENT TO THE CHAIR. 435
in consequence to command my services, their
commands will be obeyed ; and those services will
be diligently and zealously exerted ; but I will not
solicit the honor. ' ' And then, adverting to what had
been remarked on the subject out of doors, he con-
tinued : " Indeed, I have been strangely placed ; for
I have actually been reproached out of Court for
want of zeal and public spirit in not undertaking an
office which has never been offered me, and which
has not in reality been within my reach, at least
not without my having recourse to a proceeding
which would not at all accord with my notions of
right and expediency."
Such were the opinions which Mr. Tucker enter-
tained all his life, and in accordance with which, at
the close of 1833, he accepted the invitation of his
colleagues, and was elected to fill the Deputy-Chair.
The period was one which seemed, upon public
grounds, to render the appointment extremely ad-
visable. The commercial affairs of the Company
were now to be wound up ; and it was expedient
that the most prominent positions in the Court
should be held hymen possessing a thorough practical
acquaintance, both as merchants and administrators,
with all the details of the system under which the
old monopoly had been worked, and with a com-
prehensive knowledge of the large financial opera-
tions rendered necessary by the abandonment of the
Trade. In the month of April, 1834, Mr. Tucker
succeeded, in due course, to the Chair. In the
same month the old Charter under which India had
436 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
been governed for twenty years expired ; and the
" winding-up of the Company's commercial con-
cerns" became one of the primary duties of the
Court.
But there were other matters at this time to en-
gage the thoughts and call forth the energies of
Mr. Tucker. No greater responsibility attaches to
the Chairmanship of the East India Company than
that involved in the nomination of those high offi-
cers to whom the Government of the Indian Presi-
dencies is entrusted. On the fit selection of these
officers, who are appointed by the concurrent autho-
rity of the Court of Directors and the Board of
Control,* the welfare of India in no small measure
depends. There are few matters, indeed, in con-
nexion with the whole question of Indian Govern-
ment more important than this few which it is
more desirable to illustrate historically in such a
manner as to show, by a recital of facts, how the
responsibilities vested by law in the two authorities
have been practically discharged.
In the early part of 1834, Lord Clare announced
his intention of retiring from the Government of
Bombay. Mr. Charles Grant was President of the
Board of Control, when his brother, Mr. Robert
Grant, presented himself as a candidate for the
* The selection is made, in the first instance, by the Chairman, generally
in concert with the Deputy. There is then a conference with the President
of the India Board, and if the authorities concur, the appointment is then
formally proposed to the Court of Directors, and, when carried, confirmed by
the Crown.
EGBERT GRANT. 437
vacant government. It was the happy lot and the
high distinction of the elder Charles Grant to live to
see both his sons giving promise of future eminence.
After a brilliant university career, Robert had ap-
plied himself with success to the study of the law ;
but had varied his legal pursuits by diverging into
the more attractive fields of literature and states-
manship. During the discussions which introduced
the Indian Charter- Act of 1813, he had written an
elaborate work on the Government of the East
India Company, and twenty years afterwards, when
under a new Charter the Legislative Council of
India had been established, he had been a candi-
date for that office which was eventually conferred
on Mr. Macaulay. He was a man of eminent
ability, and of the highest principles. For one not
trained on the spot in the school of Indian politics
he had a large acquaintance with Indian affairs.
He had studied the great subject of Indian govern-
ment both in the closet and the bureau both as an
author and a statesman and he was eager to turn
his knowledge to practical account. He had ren-
dered good service to the Company at home; and
there was reason to believe that he would render
good service to them abroad. So when the Govern-
ment of Bombay was about to be vacated in 1834,
the Chairman of the East India Company did not
hesitate to recommend Robert Grant for the office.
"I anticipate only two objections," he wrote to
Charles Grant ; " the one, that lawyers do not often
make the best statesmen ; the other, that, connected
438 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
as your brother will be with the Board, the Court
may not be able to exercise the same efficient control
over his proceedings. The first objection, I think,
applies only to those who from habit have bound
down their minds to the technicalities of the pro-
fession. On the second, I may observe that the
Court will never, I trust, find any difficulty in exert-
ing all its legal powers. 5 '
With the full concurrence and approbation of the
Crown Ministers, Mr. Robert Grant was appointed
Governor of Bombay. But the selection, although
sanctioned by the Court of Directors, did not give
entire satisfaction to all the members of the Court.
It was whispered that the independence of the Com-
pany had been compromised that it was not the per-
sonal merit of one brother, but the official influence
of the other, that had caused such an arrangement to
be made for the future government of the Western
Presidency in short, that the Chairman had been
guilty of truckling to the Board of Control. This
was in effect, indeed, the charge which, subsequently
in a more open manner, was brought against Mr.
Tucker, and with so much authority too, that he
conceived it to be incumbent upon him to rebut it.
He therefore addressed a letter to the Court of Di-
rectors, in which, after alluding to " the peculiar
and very unusual terms in which Mr. Grant's ap-
pointment had been animadverted upon," he pro-
ceeded to say :
" .... I had hoped that my public character would
have saved me from unjust imputations and injurious suspi-
BOMBAY GOVERNORSHIP. 439
cions, especially as- it must, I think, be known to my colleagues
that I have not the slightest connexion, political or personal,
with his Majesty's Ministers.
" As the law prescribes that every appointment to the office
of Governor in India ' shall be subject to the approbation of
his Majesty,' I conferred with the President of the Board on
the selection of a successor to Lord Clare. I did so according
to what I believed to have been the established usage in such
cases, and upon grounds of obvious convenience ; for it is quite
clear that without the concurrence of the advisers of the Crown,
no such appointment could take effect. Indeed, cases might
be cited where a nomination made by the Court, without the
concurrence of the Minister, had been overruled.
" Having, then, ascertained that the appointment of Mr.
Robert Grant would meet with the cordial approbation of the
Cabinet, and seeing no grounds for giving a preference to the
other candidates who aspired to the office (although unquestion-
ably gentlemen of high pretensions), I determined to propose
the appointment to the Court upon my own responsibility, and,
I will say, upon an honest conviction that he was peculiarly
qualified for the high and important trust. My guarantee was
his character, his known talents, his acquired knowledge, his
intimate acquaintance with the affairs of India, and his general
experience in public business. These, I thought, furnished a
sure promise that his public services would not only be most
useful to the Government, but that the powers of his mind
would be beneficially exerted in favor of the people of India.
In this anticipation I feel satisfied that I shall not be dis-
appointed.
" I declare that these were the grounds on which I proposed
the appointment of Mr. Robert Grant to the Government of
Bombay. I have never compromised my own independence
or that of the Court. I have never shown subserviency to any
Minister; and in the new position in which the Court has been
placed, it has been my anxious study to maintain its authority
and to uphold its reputation. If I could compromise its inde-
pendence or my own by any unworthy submission to the
440 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
President of the Board, I should be unfit for the high station
which I have the honor to fill ; and if I could suppose that
I do not enjoy the full confidence to which I feel myself to
be justly entitled, I would not hold that station for a single
day "
There were many independent men in the Court
of Directors, but not one with a sturdier spirit of
independence than Mr. Tucker not one amongst
them less likely to truckle to the Crown Ministers.
Only a few months before, he had resolutely declared
his determination to be carried off to Prison rather
than to sign an unjust despatch; and he would
have abided by the resolution. "Well might he say
that there was nothing in his public character,
nothing in the antecedents of his life, to warrant
even a suspicion of his descending to anything
so foreign to the manliness of his nature. Eor
my own part, indeed, I have a very strong con-
viction that Mr. Tucker would rather have turned
the tread-mill or picked oakum all his life than so,
in a great battle of principle, have compromised
himself and the Court. At all events, it was his
good fortune not to wait long for an opportunity of
proving, by his conduct, the independence of his
spirit, his loyalty to the Court, and his devotion to
the interests of India. That honest statesman and
sturdy reformer, Lord William Bentinck, had now
held the chief seat in the Government of India for
more than the wonted period of office, and his fail-
ing health had compelled him to solicit the appoint-
ment of a successor. His resignation was received
THE GOVERNOR-GENERALSHIP.
at the India House towards the close of the month
of August. The nomination of a new Governor-
General now devolved upon the Court of Directors.
Mr. Tucker, with whom, as Chairman, the selection
primarily rested, was not long in coming to a deci-
sion on this most important subject. He did not
doubt that what India most wanted in that con-
juncture was a statesman of ripe Indian experience,
with a name like a household word in the mouths
of the people.* He saw before him two such men,
either one of whom might fitly represent the sove-
reign power in India, and preside over the adminis-
tration of her affairs, to the benefit alike of the
parent State and the dependent country. There
was no need to draw upon the Peerage, or to re-
sort to the Cabinet for a Governor-General, when
Elphinstone and Metcalfe were yet in the ranks of
living statesmen.
Between the claims of two such men it was diffi-
cult to decide. And Mr. Tucker did not wish to
decide. He desired to leave the choice between
them, to be exercised by the King's Ministers. It
might, however, happen that there was no choice.
Mountstuart Elphinstone was in England, in the
placid enjoyment of a life of literary leisure, enhancing
the tranquil pleasures of the Present, rather by a re-
currence to the associations of an honorable Past,
than by anticipations of a still more honorable
Future. To him, therefore, Mr. Tucker at once
* It was especially desirable, at that time, when the new Act for the future
Government of India was to be introduced, that there should be an expe-
rienced statesman at the head of affairs to give effect to its provisions. See
Letters to Mr. Grant in the following chapter.
442 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
addressed himself. " Government," he wrote, " may
have other views ; but I will not lend myself to any
project which I cannot cordially concur in and
justify. Others must move, if I am not allowed to
do what I think right." He then asked Mr. Elphin-
stone if, in the event of the Court and the Board
ratifying the choice of the Chairman, he " would be
prepared to undertake the important trust."
The answer was in the negative. The brilliant
offer could not tempt him. Elphinstone mistrusted
his physical health. He had never been greedy of
public honors. He knew how to resist all such
popular allurements; and he gratefully declined to
put out his hand for a prize, which the greatest
soldiers have coveted, and the most successful states-
men have not refused.
One difficulty, therefore, was removed. Mr. Tucker
now saw his way clearly before him. He took coun-
sel with some of his colleagues, found as he expected
that they approved of his choice, summoned a special
Court for the following Wednesday, and then wrote
to the President of the Board of Control that it was
his intention to move the following resolutions for
the confirmation of Sir Charles Metcalfe in the office
of Governor- General, which he then provisionally
held:
" That tliis Court deeply lament that the state of Lord William
Bentinck's health should be such as to deprive the Company of
his most valuable services ; and this Court deem it proper to
record, on the occasion of his Lordship's resignation of the
office of Governor-General, their high sense of the distinguished
NOMINATION OF SIB, CHAKLES METCALFE. 443
ability, energy, zeal, and integrity with which his Lordship has
discharged the arduous duties of his exalted station.
" That, referring to the appointment which has been con-
ferred by the Court, with the approbation of his Majesty, on
Sir Charles T. Metcalfe, provisionally, to act as Governor-
General of India, upon the death, resignation, or coming away
of Lord William Bentinck ; and adverting also to the public
character and services of Sir Charles Metcalfe, whose know-
ledge, experience, and talents, eminently qualify him to prose-
cute successfully the various important measures consequent on
the new Charter- Act, this Court are of opinion that it would
be inexpedient at present to make any other arrangement for
supplying the office of Governor-General. And it is resolved
accordingly, that the Chairs be authorised and instructed to
communicate this opinion to his Majesty's Ministers, through
the President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of
India."*
Some causes of delay having interfered, the Reso-
lutions given above were not carried through the
Court before the 26th of September. They were
then voted by an overwhelming majority. Out-
wardly they indicated only the desire of the Court
that Sir Charles Metcalfe should continue to hold
the provisional appointment, under which, on the
departure of Lord William Bentinck, he was em-
powered to assume the title and discharge the duties
of Governor- General ; but they meant something
more than this. When Mr. Tucker enclosed tho
* In the following chapter another draft of these ^Resolutions, differing
from the above, is given, at the end of a letter to Mr. Charles Grant. It will
be seen that the copy in the text is an amendment and amplification of the
original sketch.
4.44 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
first draft of them to the President of the India
Board, he wrote to that gentleman, saying : " I have
already conferred with many of my colleagues, and
by far the greater number cordially incline to the
arrangement, which I shall feel it my duty to pro-
pose to the Court, and to submit to you, for the
consideration of his Majesty's Government. It is
to confirm Sir Charles Metcalfe in the office of
Governor- General of India."* And he subsequently
explained that the Resolutions were framed in the
hope and in the belief that his Majesty's Ministers,
having once recognised the expediency of retaining
Sir Charles Metcalfe in the Government, would soon
consent to issue a new Commission, and render the
provisional appointment a substantive one.
But the advisers of the Crown were not inclined
to regard the matter in this light. They argued
that a provisional appointment was one thing and a
permanent appointment another ; and they demurred
to the permanent appointment of a man who had no
other claims to preferment than his own individual
fitness for the office to which it was proposed to
appoint him. To nominate Sir Charles Metcalfe
a civil servant of the East India Company, who had
spent all his life in India was, according to their
narrow views of political expediency, to throw away
a great chance. It was to appoint a man of no
* The letter from which this passage is taken is given entire in the follow-
ing chapter.
MEASURES OF THE CROWN MINISTERS. 445
political connexions, who was neither to be pro-
moted nor to be got rid of, for the immediate benefit
of their party, to the highest office in the gift of the
Crown. "Whether in reality an appointment distin-
guished by an unusual amount of disinterestedness
and public spirit, would not have strengthened the
party more than the course which they determined
to pursue, is a question of no very difficult solution ;
but the fable of the Dog and the Shadow is as ap-
plicable to political as to private life ; and his Ma-
jesty's Ministers decreed that the appointment of
Sir Charles Metcalfe to the Governor-Generalship
should not be suffered to become a fact.
Arguments were not wanting in support of this
decision. But it is a trick of our self-love to find
a never-ending flow of argument in support of what-
ever consorts with our personal convenience. If
knowledge and experience, and proved capacity,
were to be recognised as the best claims to employ-
ment in the highest offices of the Indian Govern-
ment, all the Indian patronage of the Crown would
fall among the Elphinstones and the Metcalfes ; and
how then were Ministers to purchase aristocratic
support, or to provide for impracticable colleagues ?
So, on receipt of an intimation from the Court of
Directors that a Resolution had been passed in
favor of the appointment of Sir Charles Metcalfe, the
Board of Control announced that the Company's
nominee was considered ineligible to the station of
Governor- General ; and the grounds of objection
were such as would have excluded the whole, both of
446 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the civil and military services of India. It hap-
pened that some years before, Mr. Canning, who
seldom said foolish things, hut who was not alto-
gether infallible, had pronounced an opinion hostile
to the claims of the Company's servants ; and now
his authority was emphatically quoted, as though
it had all the significance of Scripture. But the
Court of Directors were not to be put down even by
a dictum of Mr. Canning. If the question were to
be settled by a reference to the recorded wisdom of
this great statesman, they also might quote his
words in favor of the claims of the Company's
servants;* but they appealed to the authority of
deeds rather than of words they asked, with the
old E/oman, Dicta an Fact a pluris sint ; and reso-
lutely stood by their first decree.
The independence of. the Court and the welfare of
the people of India could not have been in better
hands than in those of Mr. Tucker. He took his
stand resolutely upon the palpable reason and jus-
tice of the case, and was not inclined to bate a jot.
When the letter of the Board announcing the re-
fusal of the Crown Minister to ratify the choice of
the Court was received by him, he drew up a
remonstrance, in the shape of a letter to the Presi-
dent of the India Board, and on the 8th of October
submitted it for the approval of his colleagues. It
* Mr. Canning had said in 1813 that the system could not be a bad one,
which had produced all the able and distinguished Company's servants who
had then recently given their evidence before the Parliamentary Committee,
and at a later period had spoken of Sir Thomas Munro as a man in whom
the highest qualities of the soldier and statesman were pre-eminently united.
LETTER TO THE INDIA BOAKD. 447
is an admirable specimen of official correspondence
temperate and dignified in tone ; clear and forcible
in diction :
" TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF CONTROL.
" SIR, We have had the honor to receive your letter of
the 1st instant, communicating to us, for the information of
the Court of Directors, the sentiments of his Majesty's Ministers
on the resolution passed by the Court on the 26th ultimo, for
continuing Sir Charles T. Metcalfe in the office of Governor-
General of India.
" Having laid your letter before the Court, we have been
requested to submit to you the following observations:
" The Court of Directors concur with his Majesty's Ministers
in opinion that, in proceeding to fill up the office of Governor-
General, a permanent arrangement is to be preferred ; and
impressed as they are with the conviction that Sir Charles
Metcalfe is peculiarly qualified to do justice to that high and
difficult trust, and that his services are of the utmost im-
portance at the present moment, it would have been most
satisfactory to the Court if the King's Ministers had thought
proper to advise his Majesty to give his royal approbation to
the appointment of Sir Charles Metcalfe to the office of Go-
vernor-General, upon a footing more permanent than that
which the Court had themselves proposed.
" But the Court of Directors have learnt with deep regret
that Sir Charles Metcalfe is considered by his Majesty's Go-
vernment to be ineligible to the station of Governor- General;
and upon grounds which would exclude the whole Service of
India from that high office.
" The Court of Directors feel little disposed to engage in dis-
cussing the merits of an opinion which his Majesty's Ministers
appear to have adopted on the authority of the late Mr. Canning.
They will only observe, that the whole course of our trans-
actions in British India may be referred to as furnishing the
most conclusive evidence that the servants of the Company,
both civil and military, are eminently qualified for the highest
448 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
public trust, and that the important office of Governor-General
has been held by several of them with the utmost advantage
to the national interests. The Court will not unnecessarily
recall to the recollection of his Majesty's Ministers those names
which have rendered the Service of India illustrious that
Service to whose merits, to whose talents and high tone of
character, the late Mr. Canning has himself borne the most
unqualified testimony.
" But the Court cannot refrain from observing that, inde-
pendently of the impolicy of putting forth any general declara-
tion of ineligibility, his Majesty's Ministers appear to them to
be scarcely justified in proposing to narrow the choice of the
Court, by excluding any class of men, possessing the necessary
qualifications, from the office of Governor- General.
" The Court of Directors, in exercising those functions with
which the law invested them, are still desirous, at all times, to
act in cordial concurrence with the King's Government, and
especially in those instances where the two authorities are
called upon to act together. With this feeling, the Court will,
at the proper time, take into their consideration the expediency
of adopting an arrangement for filling up the office of Go-
vernor-General of India; and the Court cannot for a moment
doubt that his Majesty's Ministers will fully concur with them
in opinion that high qualification for the office must be an
indispensable condition of the appointment that the selection
must be made primarily upon this ground, without regard to
other considerations and that to lose sight of this leading
object would be to compromise the interests and, perhaps, the
safety of our Indian Empire.
" We have the honor, &c. 5 &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" W. STANLEY CLARKE.
" East India House, 8th October, 1834."
This letter was carried triumphantly through the
Court. Only one dissentient voice was lifted up
against it. At the same time Mr. Tucker wrote
MR. GRANT AND THE GOVERNOR-GENERALSHIP. 449
privately to Charles Grant,* remonstrating, in still
more forcible language, against the Ministerial
dictum, and pronouncing the practice, which it was
intended to support, an unconstitutional infraction
of the intent of the law under which India was
governed. He took counsel also with the legal
* In the letters which I have quoted it has appeared so prominently that
Mr. Grant was himself a candidate for the office of Governor- General, that
there was no need to repeat it in the text. This has long been, indeed, an his-
torical fact. It was first announced to the country by Mr. Mills, who, in a
speech characterised by his wonted candor and fearlessness, delivered at a
Court of Proprietors on the 15th of July, 1835, laid bare the whole proceed-
ings of the Court and the King's Ministers. Speaking of Mr. Tucker's oppo-
sition to Charles Grant's appointment, he said that " their late Chairman,
with that independence of spirit which distinguished his conduct both in
India and in this country, resisted the attempt of the President of the Board
of Control, though backed by all the powers of Government;" and the an-
nouncement was received with loud cheers. But, although Mr. Tucker acted
thus without hesitation, as he was bound to do, he did not oppose the appoint-
ment of Mr. Grant without strong feelings of personal regret. I have already
said that he respected and loved the man. He recognised his many fine
qualities; but believed that "ambition should be made of sterner stuff," and
that this sterner stuff was wanting. What Mr. Tucker wrote on this subject
to Mr. Grant himself is so honorable to both parties, that, after a lapse of
eighteen years, it may be cited without impropriety or indelicacy. " With
respect to yourself," he wrote on the 22nd of August, 1834, " I hope that it is
unnecessary for me to repeat, that I entertain the highest opinion of your
talents, your various acquirements, and your intimate acquaintance with the
affairs of India; and, if I were called upon to point out an objection to you, it
would have reference to qualities of the mind and disposition, which in pri-
vate life are justly esteemed virtues. But in India there is much rugged
work, calling sometimes for the most determined austerity of purpose. Your
having held your present office so long, and your long and familiar acquaint-
ance with the public transactions in India, would unquestionably give you a
very great advantage in undertaking duties of extreme difficulty; but there
are, on the other hand, objections to the arrangement, to which the Court
would, I am persuaded, attach the greatest weight. Among these, your posi-
tion relatively with your brother, and the unreasonableness of committing to
one family nearly the whole power and patronage of India, would immediately
be insisted upon. I must candidly own that they would operate with me ;
but even if I were prepared (which I confess I am not) to propose the appoint-
ment, I feel persuaded that I could not carry with me a majority of the
Court."
2G
450 LIEE or H. ST. a. TUCKER.
advisers of the Company relative to the interpreta-
tion of that clause of the Charter- Act which com-
pelled the Court to nominate a successor within two
months of the announcement of the resignation of
an Indian Governor, and on their failure trans-
ferred the right of nomination to the Crown. The
decision of the Law-officers was, that under the
circumstances which had arisen the right of nomi-
nation would not be forfeited. But the Crown
Ministers took a different view of the matter ; and
were inclined to assert their prerogative. As 110
recent intelligence had then been received from Cal-
cutta, and as it was probable that further informa-
tion from the seat of the Supreme Government
might bear upon the question at issue, it might
Aave been convenient not to press it to an imme-
diate decision. But with the prospect before the
Court of forfeiting their right of nomination, what-
other course was it possible to pursue ?
It was a perplexing and embarrassing situation
in which Mr. Tucker now found himself placed.
He was resolute not to propose the appointment of
a man in whose public character and tried capacity
he had not the fullest faith. He had written in
August, with reference to this subject, that he
would rather resign his office than be a party to
any such appointment. " I never can bring for-
ward," he said, " a measure which I am not pre-
pared cordially and strenuously to support and jus-
tify ; nor can I vote upon the propositions of others,
in opposition to my own judgment; but I would
willingly leave the Chair to make room for others,
MINISTERIAL TACTICS. 451
if my remaining in it would create any obstacle to
the adoption of any arrangement likely to be pro-
ductive of public advantage, and to meet with the
concurrence of the Court." And now, in October,
having vainly endeavored to secure the nomination
of either Elphinstone or Metcalfe, and not having
confidence in any of the Ministerial proteges, he
found himself approaching the close of the period
of grace allowed by the Act of Parliament, with-
out any appointment having been made, or being
likely to be made, whilst the Crown Ministers were
seemingly waiting to take advantage of the lapse.
The President of the Board of Control had, some
time before, expressed an opinion that no time
should be lost in appointing a successor to Lord
William Bentinck ; but now, although Mr. Tucker
pressed for a declaration of the Ministerial views,
Mr. Grant declared that he was not prepared to
enter on the question. He was playing a waiting-
game, thinking either to compel the Court to act at
a disadvantage, or to punish them for not acting
at all.*
It seems to have been, at this time, the policy of
the Crown Ministers not to precipitate the appoint-
ment of a Governor-General, but to wait patiently,
in the hope that something might be written down
in that great Chapter of Accidents which contains
the solution of so many perplexing enigmas. And
they waited to some purpose. For before the year
had expired before they had contrived to induce
* See letter from Mr. Tucker to Mr, Charles Grant [October 16, 1834],
given in the next chapter, page 480.
2G2
452 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
the Court of Directors to nominate a Governor-
General of the Ministerial party the Cabinet was
broken up and Parliament was dissolved.
All through the year, events had been rapidly tend-
ing to this pass. The retirement of Lord Grey in Au-
gust had greatly weakened the Government, and now,
in November, the elevation of Lord Althorp to the
Upper House brought matters to a crisis. The removal
of the popular leader of the House of Commons to a
sphere of limited influence and utility was but the
last fitful gust that overthrew the tottering fabric.
Lord Melbourne believed that the mischief was not
irreparable. He went down to Brighton to persuade
Lord John Russell to take Lord Spencer's place ; but
the King, believing that the Cabinet could not be
patched up in this manner, sent for the Duke of
Wellington.
Sir Robert Peel was, at this time, the hope of the
Conservative party. But he was wandering among
the ruins of old Rome, intent rather upon the sha-
dowy dreams of the Past than the solid realities of
the Present. Party and Place were distant from his
thoughts when he was summoned from the banks of
the Tiber to the banks of the Thames, and invited
to take the command of a Ministry of his own re-
cruiting. Hastening to London, on what must have
seemed to him. a bootless errand, he arrived there in
the second week of December, and waited on the
King. Before the end of the month Parliament
was dissolved ; and the new year opened with a
General Election. It was altogether a hopeless ex-
APPOINTMENT OF LORD HEYTESBURY. 453
periment. The Whig Ministry had lost the confi-
dence of the country, because they had exhibited
certain leanings towards Toryism which the people
could not tolerate ; and now the Tories themselves
were seeking for public support. It was certain that
the new Parliament would not keep the Ministers
in their places ; and it had scarcely assembled before
the fate of the Government was sealed.
But before the assembling of Parliament a new
Governor-General of India had been nominated by
the Court of Directors and accepted by the Crown.
On the 28th of January, 1835, Lord Heytesbury
was appointed; on the 5th of February, the ap-
proval of the Crown was given and there seemed
to be no sort of obstacle to the completion of an
arrangement which was looked upon with favor by
the authorities both in the East and "West end of the
town. Lord Heytesbury was a distinguished Euro-
pean diplomatist, and a man of moderate political
opinions. Of India he knew nothing ; but as it
had become an axiom among English statesmen
that ignorance and inexperience are essential qualifi-
cations for Indian office, the selection was at least as
harmless as any other that could have been made
from among the same class of men. " The appoint-
ment," said Mr. Tucker, in an able minute called
forth by circumstances which will presently be nar-
rated, " was formally and deliberately made by the
Court of Directors under the provisions of the ex-
isting law, with the full approbation of his Majesty.
... It was the free and unbiassed act of the Court.
454 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
It devolved upon me to have the honor of proposing
him to my colleagues ; and I did so, not hastily,
not under the domineering influence of the Govern-
ment, hut deliberately, after inquiry, and after satis-
fying myself that his Lordship was likely to do ample
justice to the high and responsible trust which it
was proposed to confide to him." " Sir Hobert
Peel's Ministry, I can declare," continued Mr.
Tucker, " acted most honorably on the occasion :
the great object seemed to me to make the most
judicious selection for the office ; and if it were per-
mitted me to enter into the details of what passed
on the occasion, I could establish beyond all dispute
that the (Conservative) Ministry were prepared to
concur in the appointment of one totally uncon-
nected with them in party politics."*
This 6 ' one' ' was Mount stuart Elphinstone. ' ' Lord
Heytesbury's appointment," wrote Mr. Tucker in a
private letter, dated June 28, 1835, " was not dic-
tated by any party spirit, nor intended to promote
any party views. The first individual whom I
named was Mr. Elphinstone, whose family and con-
nexions (as you know) are all "Whigs; and Lord
Ellenborough, I believe, immediately wrote to him
to express the concurrence of the King's Govern-
ment. I had made the proposition to Mr. Elphin-
stone during the former Administration of Lord
Melbourne; and I was prepared to place him in
nomination, if his health would have permitted him
* See Memorials of Indian Government, pp. 449, 450.
APPOINTMENT OP LORD IIETTESBURY. 455
to accept the charge. The late (Conservative) Mi-
nistry showed no disposition whatever to force any
individual upon us. They acted most honorably,
and the sole object seemed to be to find out the best
qualified party within reach. Lord Heytesbury had
retired from public life, and was drawn from his
retreat under a conviction of his fitness for the
office. I had never seen his Lordship previously ;
but I know from very high authority that on the
Continent he is held in the highest estimation, not
merely as a skilful diplomatist, but for those higher
qualities which, as distinguishing the best of our
countrymen, commands the respect of foreigners."*
On the 4th of March, Lord Heytesbury was sworn
in as Governor- General of India. The usual Eare-
well Banquet was given to him at the Albion
Tavern. The entertainment was a brilliant one.
Sir Henry Pane, who had been appointed Com-
mander-in- Chief, was also the guest of the night.
The Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and
many others of the most distinguished men of the
age, were to be seen assembled in the Banquet-
room. After the lapse of nearly a score of years,
all the circumstances of this great dinner are vividly
remembered by many of the guests. Mr. Tucker,
who occupied the Chair, spoke with even something
* In a Postscript to this letter, Mr. Tucker adds : " In excluding, as I
have wished to do, all party feeling from our Court, I do not, of course, dis-
claim political opinions and preferences. Every man who reflects at all,
must adopt political opinions, and must associate himself, more or less, with
those who adopt similar opinions ; but my maxim has been that India ought
to be of no party and that our Court ought to be independent, and to stand
aloof from all party connexions, which might compromise its independence."
456 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEE.
more than his wonted animation and impressiveness.
Among all the toasts that he introduced, not one
was given out with so much earnestness of utterance
and cordiality of manner as the health of the Duke
of "Wellington;* and I have heard it said by an
impartial and a competent witness, that the Duke
rarely spoke with so much feeling and so much
eloquence as when, responding to the toast, he re-
verted to his past career and his early connexion
with the Company. Mr, Tucker was all his life a
consistent advocate of Peace, and for the soldier
who fought for the mere love of fighting, no matter
what his eminence, what his success, he entertained
a sovereign contempt. But the qualities that make
up a great warrior no man knew better how to ap-
preciate ; and no man more respected the Duke of
Wellington than Mr. Tucker. The feeling of respect,
indeed, was reciprocal between them. The Duke
recognised the ability and integrity of Mr. Tucker ;
and though for a time he withdrew his favor from
the East India Director, it may be doubted whether
he ever ceased to esteem the man.f
So Lord Heytesbury partook of the Farewell
Banquet at the Albion, and was publicly congra-
tulated there as the Governor-General Elect. Pri-
* In the course of the speech, whilst alluding to the might with which
Wellington had broken the strength of our national enemies, Mr. Tucker
struck the glass before him with the Chairman's hammer, and shivered it to
pieces. It was not a theatrical coup; it was a mere accident but the im-
pressiveness of the speech was enhanced by so striking an illustration.
f When Mr. Tucker was with his family at Walmer, in 1840, the Duke,
hearing of his arrival, exclaimed: " Mr. Tucker here! I'll go and see him."
And he did so immediately inviting him and the members of his family to
the castle.
RETURN OF THE WHIGS. 457
vately he was busy with his preparations prepara-
tions not limited to his material outfit, for which
the accustomed grant of money had been paid by
the Company but extending to the inner equip-
ment of his mind ; for he was continually in commu-
nication with Mr. Tucker, and exhibited a laudable
eagerness to acquire information relating both to
the internal and external affairs of his new Govern-
ment. His willingness to learn promised well for
his after-career but it was written down in the
Chapter of Accidents that there was to be no after-
career. The Conservative Ministry had been in a
moribund state from the very day of its birth ; and
now, in April, before Lord Heytesbury had em-
barked for Calcutta, the last throes of mortal sick-
ness were upon it, and it perished for lack of
strength.
Upon this the King sent for Lord Melbourne;
and the old Whig Ministry was reconstructed the
same, "with a difference." Mr. Charles Grant was
promoted to the Colonial Office, and Sir John Cam
Hobhouse went to the India Eoard. If great clever-
ness and great boldness had been all the qualities
requisite in an Indian Minister, the appointment
would have been an excellent one. A man of varied
accomplishments, with a genius which, if full justice
had been done to it, might have placed him in the
front rank of the statesmen of the age, and an auda-
cious candor which commanded the unwilling ad-
miration even of those who condemned it, he was as
little likely to bungle through his new duties, for
458 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
want of official aptitude, as any member of the
Ministry, but perhaps, of all its members, the most
likely to commit himself and his colleagues to some
act of splendid temerity. He was a very able,
but a very unsafe man. Possessing many fine
qualities both of head and heart, he yet lacked those
which are most essential to the character of a states-
man ; for he was without prudence and discretion.
Of India and its affairs he knew little; and ig-
norance did not magnify their importance in his
mind the omne ignotum pro magnifico principle
was entirely reversed for he held them of very
little account. He had not long, indeed, taken his
seat at the India Board, before he publicly declared,
that he thought it better that the interests of India
should suffer than that the Minister of the day
should be defeated.* Such opinions may have en-
deared him to his party, to which he was consist-
ently true no small merit in an age of tergiversa-
tion but the enunciation of them was not a cir-
cumstance of happy augury for the future welfare
of the country whose destinies were to be committed
to his hands.
Such, in a few words, was the man who, at the
end of the month of March, met the " Chairs" for
the first time, and confidentially announced that the
Ministry of which he was a member had come to
the resolution of revoking Lord Heytesbury's ap-
* See speech of Mr. Mills in the Court of Proprietors, July 15, 1835.
Asiatic Journal See also Appendix C.
RECALL OF LORD IIEYTESBURY. 459
pointment.* They had suffered this rich piece of
patronage to slip through their hands in the autumn,
and now they were determined to lose no time in
grasping at it again, and securing it by greater
promptitude of action. And they did not miss it a
second time. Lord Heytesbury's appointment was
revoked ; and an amiable nobleman, who had exhi-
bited at the Admiralty some aptitude for official
business, but whose qualities were generally of that
negative character which can secure for a man only
a respectable character as a statesman, and that
only in quiet times and ordinary conjunctures, was
selected to fill his place. Lord Auckland was ap-
pointed Governor- General of India, t
* Perhaps it ought more strictly to be written, " had formed an intention
of revoking." The " resolution" came afterwards. " At the close of the
month of April," wrote Mr. Tucker, "Lord Heytesbury's preparations for
embarkation were complete; but at the first interview which the Chairs had
with the President of the India Board, after that right honorable gentleman
had assumed office on the 30th of that month, they were informed, under the
injunction of strict confidence, that his Majesty's Ministers intended to re-
commend the revocation of Lord Heytesbury's appointment ; and the Chairs
were not released from this injunction of confidence (which, indeed, was re-
peated at the instance of the President through one of the Board's secre-
taries) until the Cabinet had resolved upon the measure, which was accord-
ingly first officially announced in the President's letters to the Chairs of the
4th of May. Not one reason, however, was given for setting aside in so
abrupt and unprecedented a manner the appointment of a nobleman who was
selected for the office of Governor-General solely upon public grounds, and
free from all party bias or political feeling."
f The Whigs claimed credit at this time for having offered the appoint-
ment to Mountstuart Elphinstone. At a meeting of the Court of Proprietors,
Colonel Leicester Stanhope ostentatiously announced that this offer was one of
the first acts of the new Ministry. No such offer was ever made ; but if it
had been, I think it not improbable that the Whigs would have been about
as sincere as the Tories. Mr. Elphinstone had declined the appointment,
on account of the state of his health, when the Court of Directors were
460 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Mr. Tucker had by this time quitted the Chair.
He had ceased, indeed, to tie a member of the
Court of Directors, for his year of rustication had
come round, and, therefore, he had no part in the
councils of the India House. But these proceed-
ings rendered him indignant in the extreme; and
he drew up some masterly comments on the impro-
priety of the Government measure, and the evil
consequences of rendering India, in any sense, the
Government of a party. These minutes he could
not officially record at the India House ; but he sent
a copy of them to Sir Eobert Peel and other Con-
servative statesmen, and he embodied their sub-
stance in a series of Resolutions, which he proposed
to submit to the Court of Proprietors. Mr. Praed,
who had been Secretary to the Board of Control
under the Peel Ministry, had given notice of a
motion for the production of papers, and with re-
ference to this, Mr. Tucker wrote to the Tory
leader :
" TO SIR ROBERT PEEL, BART.
" Southgate, 26th June, 1835.
" DEAR SIR, I take a deep interest in the question which,
I understand, will be brought forward in the House of Com-
mons on Monday next by Mr. Praed; and, in fact, I am per-
sonally concerned, as the party who proposed to the Court of
anxious to appoint him, in the early part of 1834 ; and it was well known
that he could not be induced to accept it. If the Whigs had really made the
offer, as something more than a sham, they must have got over the objections
which existed, when Mr. Grant was at the Board of Control, to a Governor-
General reared in the ranks of the Company's service ; and if they had
abandoned their prejudices against competent and experienced statesmen,
there was no obstacle to the appointment of Sir Charles Metcalfe.
LETTER TO SIB ROBERT PEEL. 461
Directors the appointment of Lord Heytesbury to the Govern-
ment of India.
" You will, therefore, I trust, excuse the liberty I take in
submitting to you the accompanying papers. The one is the
sketch of a series of Resolutions, which I propose to bring
forward, eventually, in the Court of Proprietors. The other
is the draft of a proposed dissent, prepared at the East India
House, but not yet recorded; nor do I know whether any of
my colleagues will determine to record it. I am not, at pre-
sent, a member of the Court, or I should certainly feel it to be
my duty to place on record a Protest, couched in the strongest
terms, against the act of supercession. My own proposed
Resolutions express very imperfectly the objections to which
the proceeding is liable; but by you these objections will be
felt in all their force, and will, I am sure, be exposed in the
most forcible manner. / shall not be found to call in question
the Prerogative of the Crown, but the recall of Lord Heytes-
bury is the act of the Minister, who is responsible for it to the
country.
" I cannot hope to throw any light on the subject; but the
accompanying papers will, at least, show the interest which it
has excited; and I am willing to hope that it cannot fail to
excite a strong interest in Parliament. At all events, I feel
assured that it is in hands which will do full justice to it.
" I have the honor to be, with great respect,
" Dear Sir, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
The Resolutions to which allusion is here made
were not brought forward at the Court of Proprie-
tors. Mr. Praed's motion for the production of
papers was negatived ; and it was considered, there-
fore, expedient that the Resolutions submitted to
the Court should embody a call for the documents
refused by Parliament. But as Mr. Tucker's draft
contains in a small space the substance of the ar-
462 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
gunients elsewhere set forth, in detail, it may be
advantageously inserted in this place :
" PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS.
" That this Court cordially concur in and highly approve
the opinions expressed in the letter of their Court of Directors,
bearing date the 6th ultimo, to the President of the Board of
Commissioners for the Affairs of India, on the occasion of the
supercession of the Right Honorable Lord Heytesbury, who stood
appointed to the important office of Governor- General of India.
" That this Court could not view otherwise than with feel-
ings of deep concern and alarm any attempt to render the
high and responsible station of Governor-General of India
subservient to political purposes in this country, contrary to
the manifest intentions of the Legislature, which has carefully
provided against the assumption of the patronage of India,
directly or indirectly, by the Ministers of the Crown.
" That the act of cancelling an appointment formally and
deliberately made by the Court of Directors under the pro-
visions of the law, without the plea of incompetency, or other
sufficient cause assigned, must be regarded as an infringement
of the rights of the East India Company, and as calculated to
degrade the Court of Directors in the eyes of their servants and
public, and so far, to weaken their legitimate authority and
influence.
" That the practice of recalling the Governors of India,
upon considerations of political conveniency, on every change
of Administration (such changes having been of late years very
frequent), must have the effect of degrading the office and of
impairing its efficiency, since men of independent fortune and
high character would not be found to proceed to a distant
country, and to undertake a difficult and responsible trust,
when held upon so precarious a tenure; while the influence
and authority of such high functionaries would be weakened
in consequence of this want of permanency in their situations;
the confidence of the public would be diminished; measures
requiring time and persevering labor to bring them to
DEBATE AT THE INDIA HOUSE. 463
maturity would not be undertaken; and the public servants
abroad would be taught to look to their political connexions,
and to political influence in this country, for that promotion
which has heretofore been sought as the reward of merit and
useful service.
" That this Court regard with sentiments of the most pro-
found respect the Royal Prerogative; but impressed as they
are with the conviction that the appointment of Lord Heytes-
bury to the office of Governor- General of India was adopted by
the Court of Directors, and approved by the late Government,
on public considerations, without reference to political objects;
that the high character, the known talents, and eminent services
of this nobleman in various stations of great trust, and under cir-
cumstances of great delicacy and difficulty, furnish a strong and
satisfactory assurance that his services in the important office of
Governor-General of India might be expected to promote, not
only the well-being and prosperity of our Indian subjects, but
the great interests of the empire at large this Court earnestly
recommend to their Court of Directors to address a further re-
monstrance to the President of the Board on the supercession
of Lord Heytesbury, and to urge upon his Majesty's Ministers,
in respectful, but decided terms, the expediency of their with-
drawing the letter of recall, and of giving effect to an appoint-
ment which has met with such general approbation, and
from which such favorable results may reasonably be anti-
cipated."
The call for papers at the India House, moved for
by Mr. Mills, seconded by Mr. Tucker, was success-
ful. There was a long and energetic debate. The
opposition, headed by Sir Charles Porbes, contested
the point with some spirit; but the papers were
eventually voted. This was on the 15th of July.
Six days before the meeting, Mr. Tucker had ad-
dressed to the Court of Directors a long and vigor-
ously-written letter, reviewing all the circumstances
464 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of Lord Heytesbury's appointment, and commenting
upon the grievous injury that would be inflicted
upon India, if the administration of her affairs were
to be directly or indirectly influenced by the strife
of parties at home.* This also Mr. Tucker sent to
Sir Robert Peel, who, acknowledging the receipt of
it, truly said : "I think you underrate the effect
which your Protests and Remonstrances will pro-
duce. They may not avail in rescinding that par-
ticular act of unwarrantable interference, against
which they are especially directed, but they will
remain on record as a public proof that the undue
exercise of power was not tamely acquiesced in, but
that its motives were exposed, and its consequences
deprecated, with equal vigilance, independence, and
ability."
And this, indeed, was the use of Mr. Tucker's
remonstrances. Lord Auckland went out to India ;
but the revocation of Lord Heytesbury's appoint-
ment is an historical fact, the character of which has
been painted in its true colors. Of the soundness
of the arguments adduced in the papers to which I
have . referred, it is difficult to entertain a doubt.
It may, of course, be urged that it is at all
times desirable that the Governor- General of India
should enjoy the entire confidence of the Crown
Ministers. But, as to enjoy the confidence of
the Ministry means, in ordinary official language,
to belong to the same party, if this consideration
were paramount, it would be necessary to change
* See Memorials of Indian Government, in which this paper is inserted.
EVILS OF PAHTY INFLUENCE. 465
the Governor- General of India as often as the Pre-
sident of the Board of Control, and the Government
of India would then become, to all intents and pur-
poses, the Government of a Party. If a Tory Go-
vernment can have no confidence in a Whig states-
man, or a "Whig Government no confidence in a
Tory, it may be, and we believe it is, desirable that
the Governor- General of India should not be closely
connected either with one party or the other that
men like Elphinstone and Metcalfe, whom neither
Paction would mistrust, on account of their Party
views or political antecedents, should be appointed
to this high office ; but it certainly is not desirable
that the Governor- General of India should occupy a
seat from which he may any day be driven by a
gust of Parliamentary caprice at St. Stephen's, or
the impetus of a Downing- street fracas.
It is true that in this instance Lord Heytesbury
was only a Governor-General Elect that he had
only been appointed to fill the office that he had
only received as much of the Company's money as
was supposed to be sufficient to provide his outfit,
and that his performances in the service of the Com-
pany had been limited to the consumption of the
initiatory turtle, and the delivery of the inaugural
address at the Albion. But, in principle at least,
it was as much a recall of a Governor- General and
a recall for Party purposes as if Lord Heytesbury
had actually inhaled the dust of Calcutta, and gazed
at the snows of the eternal Himalaya. It was
known throughout India that this nobleman had
2 H
466 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
been appointed Governor-General of India, and in
the presence of his Majesty's Minister and the
authorities of the India House had been publicly
congratulated on his accession to office. Therefore,
although the mischief of his precipitate recall might
not have been so disastrous as if any great political
measures had been suddenly arrested by his removal
from office, doubtless much mischief was done. The
natives of India had been taught, that often as they
had been told that their country was never again to
be made the battle-field of Party, their chief ruler
was, after all, not the representative of the British
Sovereign or of the British people, but the repre-
sentative of a Faction that might be dominant to-
day and utterly prostrate to-morrow. They had
seen Charles Metcalfe Sahib set aside first for one
English Peer and then for another, of neither of
whom they had ever heard; they had seen three
English Ministries within the space of a few months,
each Ministry grasping at the patronage of India,
and eager to send out an untried nominee of its own.
Could anything have been more surely calculated
than this to shake their confidence in the character
of that paternal Government of which they had
heard so much a Government, whose parental in-
stincts were now manifesting themselves in a frantic
eagerness to clutch the perquisites of office, and to
divide the spolia opima of Indian patronage among
themselves ?
But although the events to the recital of which
this chapter has been devoted are those, for the most
CHAIRMAN-LIFE . 467
part, which, constitute the historical importance of
Mr. Tucker's first Chairmanship, they are but mere
accidental protuberances, which by no means repre-
sent the formal reality of Chairman-life in Leaden-
hall-street. Very different, indeed, was the daily
work in which Mr. Tucker was at this time engaged.
" My time," he wrote to Sir Charles Metcalfe, " has
been chiefly occupied with the question of compen-
sation to our maritime service the reorganisation
of our establishments the warehousing and ma-
naging private goods and other commercial mat-
ters quite alien to the business of administering to
the affairs of India, and by the time these trouble-
some questions are well settled I shall be leaving
the Directorship. So we go on." In other words,
he was superintending the obsequies of the Trade ;
seeing that its remains were decently laid out, and
that its interment was ceremoniously performed.
He was Undertaker and Executor too at the same
time. The assets of the dear departed were to be
realised. The estate was to be wound up. All this
demanded the exercise of no small amount of in-
dustryno small amount of ability; but it will
hardly be a subject of complaint that it is not dwelt
upon here more in detail.
But the record of this period of Mr. Tucker's
life would be imperfect, if I did not touch upon an
incident, connected with his Chairmanship, which
has a fine characteristic flavor about it. He was
invited to dine at the King's table, where, after din-
ner, William was pleased to drink to the prosperity
468 LIFE OP H. ST.a. TUCKEIl.
of the East India Company. I believe that it is
not the etiquette of the Court on these occasions for
the royal guests to make " speeches ;" but, either
unacquainted with the observances of these royal
entertainments, or believing that the custom of
silent acknowledgment was more honored in the
breach, he thus responded to his Majesty's address :
" Sire, I beg to offer your Majesty my dutiful and respect-
ful acknowledgments for the compliment paid by your Majesty
to the East India Company, whose representative I have the
honor to be on the present occasion.
" As a very humble individual, I would willingly avoid public
observation; but in the performance of every public duty I
have endeavored always to forget, as far as possible, my own
personal identity. Your Majesty has been pleased to draw me
from my shell. And the just observations which your Majesty
has made, upon the effect of the social institutions of this
country, are strongly illustrated in my own person ; for in the
presence of my Sovereign stands a quondam sailor-boy
friendless, and half-educated but now the representative of a
public Body, whose deeds have cast a lustre over the brightest
pages of English history.
" Sire, Your Majesty's Councils and the wisdom of the Le-
gislature have lately introduced great and important changes
into the constitution of that Body. While this difficult and
complicated question was under consideration, my colleagues
and myself strenuously and vehemently opposed the projected
change. We did so upon principle, upon a strong conviction
that the proposed change of system would compromise the
national interests. But now that the decision has been finally
passed, it has become our duty as good citizens, as loyal sub-
jects, and as honorable men, to render the new system as
efficient as possible, and to extract from it the utmost good of
which it may be susceptible.
" But while, Sire, we cordially embrace, and promise to
SPEECH AT THE PALACE. 469
cherish, the new Bride which has been presented to us^ may
I be permitted, without presumption and without offence, to
pay one last tribute of regard to the object of my early
affections the late East India Company. By an extraordinary
union of bold councils and daring enterprise in the field, that
singularly constituted Body succeeded in adding a whole region,
teeming with countless multitudes of industrious and faithful
subjects, to the Empire of Great Britain. Fostered, protected,
and encouraged by your Majesty's illustrious father, that Com-
pany placed in the British Crown its most precious jewel.
And may ' He that wears the Crown immortally' long preserve
the peerless gem in your Majesty's Crown, and long may your
Majesty and your royal House continue to wear that Crown,
for the well-being of these realms, and for the happiness and
prosperity of the people of India, whose destinies are now bound
up in the fate of the British Empire."
There was a manliness a sincerity in this that
must have pleased the Sovereign far better than
courtly words, or even more courtly silence.
470 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKEB.
CHAPTER XVI.
Mr. Tucker's Private Correspondence Letters to Mr. Blunt Mr. Charles
Grant Mountstuart Elphinstone Lord William Bentinck Sir Charles
Metcalfe and Others,
FROM the Correspondence of Mr. Tucker, during his
tenure of office, I have made some selections, for the
most part in illustration of subjects touched on in
the preceding chapter. They tell, with sufficient
distinctness, their own story ; and call for no further
comment :
" TO WM. BLUNT, ESQ.
[On the Changes in the Constitution of the Company under the New Charter-
Act.]
"East India House, May, 1834.
" MY DEAR BLUNT, I have been favored with your two
letters dated the end of December; and I was much gratified
to find both you and my friend, Sir C. Metcalfe, concurring so
generally in the views which I had taken of our proper line of
policy in the course of discussing the Charter question. It is
much to be regretted that we, the Court, did not adopt a more
decided course at an earlier period; for, in that case, a modi-
fication of the new system might, I think, have been effected,
or, at all events, time would have been obtained for its more
gradual introduction. All parties seem to me now to feel that
the changes have been pushed forward with unnecessary and
injudicious precipitancy ; but we cannot retrace our steps now
that the old machinery has been nearly broken up. What I
LETTER TO MR. BLUNT. 471
most dread, is the unchecked resort of Europeans to India, and
their location upon the land. This may lead to much injustice
and oppression to the natives, and to a fearful struggle at some
future period; but I used my utmost efforts, to no purpose, to
prevent the measure. I succeeded better with the slavery
question; and it will be the fault of the legislative Govern-
ment if any imprudent step be taken with relation to this
object. Mr. Grant was urged on by a strong popular feeling;
but we checked it here successfully. "We have just now, on
the table of the Court, a long letter, giving an outline of the
Plan which we think should be adopted for framing your new
constitution, and for the exercise of your legislative functions;
and I hope to be able to despatch it in the course of a month,
although these despatches go through a very operose process.
We proceed, however, very cordially and comfortably with the
Board; and in less than three months I hope to have every
letter from India answered, to the end of 1833. We are about
to put forth here a Transfer loan, for the admission of the
six-per-cent. remittable loan; and if it succeed, a great ad-
vantage will have been obtained for the Company ; but I took
an objection in limine to the project. I do not like the idea of
our financiering for India in this country, to the exclusion of
the local Government and the local officers, who ought to be
responsible for all such measures.
" With every good wish for your health and happiness,
" Believe me, very sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE BIGHT HON. C. GRANT.
[On the Appointment of Mr. Robert Grant to the Governorship of Bombay.]
" East India House, 26th May, 1834.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have been favored with your note of
yesterday; and it is unnecessary for me, I think, to say that I
entertain the highest opinion of Mr. R. Grant's talents, and of
his qualification for a high public station. I do not, therefore,
hesitate in mentioning to you that I shall feel perfectly justi-
472 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
fied in proposing him for the Government of Bombay, and that
I shall feel personal satisfaction in doing so.
" We have a Committee to-day ; but I do not intend to con-
sult my colleagues on the appointment until I have the plea-
sure of seeing you. I anticipate only two objections on their
part the one, that ' lawyers do not often make the best
statesmen ;' the other, that, connected as your brother will be
with the Board, the Court may not be able to exercise the
same efficient control over his proceedings. The first objec-
tion, I think, applies only to those who, from habit, have
bound down their minds to the technicalities of the profession.
On the second, I may observe, that the Court will never,
I trust, find any difficulty in exerting all its legal powers.
" On the first open day I shall have the pleasure of calling
upon you, when we may confer on the proper time for bring-
ing forward the nomination, and other particulars.
" Believe me, my dear Sir,
" Very sincerely, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Eight Hon. Charles Grant, &c., &c.
"P.S. I have detained this note until the arrival of the
Deputy, as I wished to show it to him."
" TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD W. BENTINCK.
[On the Oude Despatches Military Eank in the Queen's and Company's
Services The Resort of Natives to England, &c., &c.]
" East India House, 19th July, 1834.
" MY LORD, I was glad to hear that your Lordship had left
Madras for Bangalore in perfect health ; and I hope that we
shall soon receive a report of your operations in Mysore that
they will all be successful and that the necessity for any mili-
tary operations against the Coorg Rajah will have been averted
by his submission.
" We have at length passed and despatched the Oude letter,
which has been so long upon the anvil, and which has pro-
duced so much difference of opinion among us. The authority,
to take the last decisive step, is given up, on the assumption of
LETTER TO LORD W. BENTINCK. 473
an extreme necessity, of which your Lordship is constituted
the judge. The question has been now for two years before the
Court and the Board; and it appeared to the late Chairman
and myself, not only an act of justice to your Lordship, but a
measure of positive duty, to put an end to this state of suspense,
and to give, at least, conditional, if not peremptory, orders. I
feel myself the utmost repugnance to any proceeding which can
involve the violation or infringement of a treaty, and I am not
disposed to admit very easily considerations of expediency; but
in the present case we seem scarcely to have a choice. Some-
thing must be done; and the only question is, whether the
exigency is such as to justify the last extreme measure.
" We have had a great deal of discussion on the question
relating to the rank of colonel, the supply of general officers
for the station commands, &c. A voluminous correspondence
has taken place; many professional opinions have been obtained
by Mr. Grant; and I submitted the whole to the Duke of
Wellington, whom I was anxious to enlist on our side, both as
the highest military authority, and as the proper expounder of
the Regulations of 1828, which were framed under his autho-
rity. His Grace has written a very able paper on the subject;
but I fear that we shall not succeed in obtaining what we have
been contending for. The question will, however, I trust, be
soon brought to a decision; and I shall lose no time in com-
municating to your Lordship the result.
" Mr. R. Grant, the new Governor of Bombay, embarks in
the Buckinghamshire on the 1st Sept., and will probably reach
his destination by the end of the year. Mr. Cameron, our new
Law Commissioner, will accompany him, and probably land at
Point de Galle. Our proposed despatch on the constitution of
the Indian Government, the exercise of its legislative functions,
&c., &c., is still before the Board; but I hope that we shall be
able to launch it off' without much further delay.*
" The steam question has been for some time before a Com-
* This is the despatch to the Supreme Government of India, dated Decem-
ber, 1834, containing the views of the Court with respect to the interpretation
of the new Charter a very masterly state-paper.
474 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
mittee of the House of Commons, who propose, I understand,
that we should undertake experimental operations on a joint
account with the King's Government. I am not, I own, quite
so sanguine as many others appear to be, both here and in
India, with respect to the success of the plans which have been
proposed; although I quite concur in the importance of the
object. I would not annihilate both time and space, but I
would gladly accelerate the communication between India and
England, and so far virtually approximate the two countries.
" We are beginning to be very much tormented by natives
resorting to this country, to prefer most extravagant claims, and
to obtain redress for all manner of grievances ; and it is very
difficult to deal with them here. We have at this moment in
the House one of these persons, in custody of one of his Ma-
jesty's attendants at Windsor, he having threatened to throw
himself under the King's carriage. Others threaten to sit
dhurna upon us, in order that we may restore to one his
wife, to another lands claimed as Jaghir (although never pos-
sessed), under a sunnud from Aulumjeer ; and a third, to be
restored to your Lordship's body-guard, &c., &c. All this will
be very embarrassing by-and-by; because the feelings in this
country are such that we cannot proceed in a summary manner
with such parties, although we have every reason to believe that
they are not entitled to a moment's attention.
" With every good wish for your Lordship's health, and the
success of your administration,
" I have, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE HON. MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE.
[On the Succession to the Governor- Generalship.]
"East India House, 28th August, 1834.
C( MY DEAR SIR, Lord W. Bentinck, as you perhaps may
have heard, has sent in his resignation ; and I shall be called
upon, at an early period, to propose a successor. My choice
would rest between Sir C. Metcalfe and yourself ; and I shall
be ready to place in nomination either, giving a preference only
LETTER TO MR. GRANT. 475
to the one, who may be most acceptable to the Court and
the King's Government. That Government may have other
views; but I will not lend myself to any project which I can-
not cordially concur in, and justify. Others must move, if I
am not allowed to do what I think right. What I would re-
quest is, that you would say whether, in the event of my
having reason to believe that you would be the choice of the
Court and the Board, you would be prepared to undertake
this important trust. I ask particularly with reference to your
health; for if that should oppose an objection, I should proceed
no further.
" Believe me, with great esteem,
" Very sincerely yours,
" H. Sx.G. TUCKER.
" Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone."
" TO THE EIGHT HON. CHARLES GRANT.
[On the Succession to the Governor-Generalship.]
"East India House, 4th Sept., 1834.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have been anxiously occupied, as you
will easily believe, in the consideration of the steps which it
will be necessary or expedient to adopt, in consequence of the
resignation of Lord Wm. Bentinck ; and I have summoned a
special Court for Wednesday next, in order that I may have
an opportunity of consulting my colleagues on the subject. I
have already conferred with many of them individually; and
by far the greater number cordially incline to the arrangement
which I shall feel it my duty to propose to the Court, and to
submit to you, for the consideration of his Majesty's Govern-
ment.
" It is to confirm Sir Charles Metcalfe in the office of
Governor-General of India.
" Of his superior talents, and of his high qualification for an
important public trust, he has afforded, I think, abundant
evidence, during a long and a very distinguished course of
public service ; and at the present period, when there is so
much to arrange so much crude matter to reduce into form,
it appears to me highly essential that we should command the
4/76 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
services of one who, to great knowledge and experience, adds
energy of character and an uncompromising rectitude one,
in short, tried, and known to the public, and in whom the
public would place the utmost confidence.
" Should the Court make choice of Sir Charles Metcalfe for
the office of Governor- General, and should the selection meet
with the approbation of his Majesty's Government, it will
become necessary to adopt some subsidiary arrangements.
" Without, however, proceeding to these before the main
question has been decided, upon which, in fact, they will hinge,
I may be allowed to offer it as my individual opinion that it
will be advisable to give the new Governor of Agra (whoever
he may be) the aid of a Council ; and that it will be more con-
venient to assign the new Commander-in-Chief a seat in that
Council, than one in the Legislative Council of India. At
Agra he will be in the very centre of the army ; and will be in
a situation to exercise an efficient military control, while per-
forming his civil duties. I was always disposed to think that
a Council would, sooner or later, become necessary, or at least
be found useful; although it appeared to me that it might be,
for a time, dispensed with, while the administration remained
in the hands of Sir C. Metcalfe.
' ; I have merely thrown out these suggestions, with a view
to call your attention to the subject generally; but I shall be
ready to enter into a more particular examination of these and
other points whenever you may be prepared to take up the
question, and to confer with the Deputy and myself upon its
different branches.
" I have the honor to be, my dear Sir, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" I beg to annex for your information a copy of the pro-
posed Resolution, on which I intend to take the opinion of my
colleagues on Wednesday:
" ' That this Court deeply laments that the state of Lord
Wm. Bentinck's health should be such as to deprive the Com-
pany of his valuable services at a period of great difficulty ; and
the Court desires to record its grateful sense of the distinguished
LETTER TO Mil. GRANT. 477
zeal, energy, ability, and high honor, with which his Lordship
has discharged the arduous and important duties of his exalted
station.
" ' That referring to the appointment, which has been con-
ferred by the Court, with the approbation of his Majesty, on
Sir C. Metcalfe, provisionally to succeed as Governor-General,
upon the death, resignation, or coming away of Lord Wm.
Bentinck this Court is of opinion that is unnecessary, and, in
view to the measures now in progress, that it would be incon-
venient and inexpedient at present to make any other ar-
rangement for supplying that office; and that the Chairs be
authorised and requested to communicate this opinion to his
Majesty, through the President of the Board of Commissioners
for the Affairs of India.' "
" TO THE EIGHT HON. CHARLES GRANT.
[On the Danish Settlements.]
"East India House, 16th Sept., 1834.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have been favored with your note of
the 13th instant, enclosing a paper of suggestions signed
Gloijer.
"It cannot be doubted, I think, that in negotiating the
general peace, our Ministers committed a great oversight in not
retaining all the possessions and factories of France, Holland,
Denmark, and Portugal, on the continent of India. The
cession was gratuitous on our part : these possessions were of
no real value to the parties to whom they were restored, while
they were of great value to us, as excluding a nuisance.
" But the Danish settlements are of less inconvenience to us
than those of any other European power; for the Danes are a
quiet, unambitious, commercial people. They formerly ex-
ported considerable quantities of piece-goods from Serampore
and the coast ; but this trade has, I believe, almost entirely
ceased.
" The inconvenience and disadvantages which we experi-
ence from the European establishments on the continent of
India, may be stated as follows, viz. :
" 1st. In preventing our Government from levying the
duties of customs on the whole of the import and export trade.
478 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" 2nd. In compelling us to make compensation for requiring
them to forego the right to trade in salt and opium, to the
prej udice of our monopoly.
" 3rd. In affording an asylum to persons escaping from their
creditors, or from the hands of justice.
" 4th. In harbouring persons disaffected to our Government,
and in affording facilities for the establishment of a malignant
press. Upon these, and other considerations perhaps, it would
certainly be desirable to obtain the surrender of any of the
foreign settlements and factories, which we may have oppor-
tunity of obtaining ; but anything may be purchased too dear,
and the cession would resolve itself into a question of terms or
means.
" The proposed exchange of one or more of our West India
islands, I presume to be quite out of the question. We cannot
make over British subjects in this manner to a foreign power ;
although interchanges are sometimes made at a general peace
by the cession of actual conquests.
" What the money value of Tranquebar may be, I am not
prepared to say ; but the value of Serampore to us would not
be great, I apprehend, at present. To the Danes it must, 1
think, be an incumbrance ; and if they would surrender the
settlement for the value of the public buildings, and other
fixed property, to be taken at a fair valuation, both parties
would, I imagine, be gainers. Their trade with Bengal might
be guaranteed at the duties chargeable to the most favored
nation.
" As the suggestion which has been offered to you does not
seem to have proceeded from any functionary of the Danish
Government, and as I do not know whether your colleagues
in the Foreign or Colonial Departments have taken up the
question, I have confined my remarks to a few general points ;
but if the proposition should be seriously entertained by his
Majesty's Government, it will be my duty, and my wish, to
afford every information in my power, with a view to promote
a satisfactory arrangement.
" Believe me, my dear Sir,
4f Very sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
LETTER TO MR. GRANT. 479
" TO THE RIGHT HON. C. GRANT.
[On the Succession to the Governor-Generalship.]
" East India House, 22nd Sept., 1834.
" MY DEAR SIR, In our conference on Tuesday last, you
gave us reason to suppose that we should be honored with an
invitation from Lord Melbourne to a personal interview in the
course of the week ; but as I have not been favored with any
communication from his Lordship, and as I stand pledged to
my colleagues to bring under their consideration, on Friday
next, the present state of the Indian Government, I can no
longer delay to solicit through you an intimation of the views
of his Majesty's Government with respect to the appointment
of a successor to Lord William Bentinck.
" I have already communicated to you, and to the Court,
the proposition which I intend to bring forward, for confirming
Sir C. Metcalfe in the station of Governor-General, for such
time as may be found necessary to enable him to carry into
execution the important arrangements consequent upon the
new Charter- Act ; and I continue decidedly of opinion that
this will be the most convenient proceeding which could be
adopted. Still, it will be my duty and my wish to place before
my colleagues the views of his Majesty's Ministers, if they
should be prepared to offer an alternative to the Court.
" The communication which I have had with you on the
subject, hitherto, having been confidential, I have not felt
myself at liberty to enter into any explanations officially ; but
when the question is formally brought forward, the Court will,
I think, expect from me every information which can assist
their deliberations, in appointing a successor to Lord William
Bentinck.
" I need not point out to you the necessity for an early
decision. When our last advices came away, the Indian Go-
vernment was evidently in an inefficient and unsatisfactory
state. Strictly speaking, there was no legal administration in
the two Presidencies of Bengal; and if any political occur-
rences, calling for prompt measures, should take place on our
western frontier, it appears to me that the utmost inconvenience
was to be apprehended from the absence of the principal au-
480 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
thorities, civil and military, at so great a distance from the seat
of the Supreme Government.
" I have had but little time yet to reflect on the minutes of
Lord William Bentinck, which you were so good as to send
for my perusal ; but if I wanted an argument in favor of the
appointment of Sir C. Metcalfe, these documents would furnish
it. I feel persuaded that Sir Charles is almost the only indi-
vidual capable of extricating us from the difficulties which the
proposed reduction of the Indian army will, I apprehend, pro-
duce. Let me beg you to refer to his masterly minute of the
22nd January, 1831, on the proposition of the Finance Com-
mittee to reduce the army; and although I have not the pre-
sumption to pronounce a judgment on a question of military
reform, I must think that if such a delicate, such a difficult
operation is to be undertaken, it cannot be entrusted to any
hands so safely as to those of Sir Charles Metcalfe, who has
always been popular with the army, and whose prudence and
firmness will give him a peculiar advantage in conducting any
measure of difficulty.
" I shall not refer in this place to the subordinate arrange-
ments which will become necessary; because these will depend,
in some measure, on the selection which may be made for the
station of Governor- General; but I would observe that the
question of appointing a Council to Agra, to which I have
called your attention, will require an early decision. I have
already submitted to you my own opinion on the question ; and
it is unnecessary, therefore, to trouble you with any further
remarks on the subject.
' c I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES GRANT.
[On the Appointment of a Governor- General.]
"East India House, 16th October, 1834.
" MY DEAR SIR, I was favored with your note of yester-
day, which I had an opportunity of submitting to one of our
Committees.
" It has always been my earnest wish to act in concert with
LETTER TO MR. GRANT. 481
you, and in concord with his Majesty's Government; but I
have a paramount duty to perform towards the Court, and I
must upon the present occasion act upon my sense of that
duty.
" The delay of a few days may appear of small moment;
but, after the declaration made by you, in the course of our
conference on Tuesday, that his Majesty's Ministers, in conse-
quence of the Court's resolution of the 26th ultimo, proposing
to continue Sir C. Metcalfe in the station of Governor-General,
no longer considered themselves pledged to abstain from making
an appointment under the 60th section of the Charter- Act, the
delay of a few days may involve the question of the forfeiture
of one of the most important rights of the Court. If I have
misunderstood you, it is easy to set me right; and if I have an
assurance from you that the King's Government do not mean
to avail themselves of any delay on our part, for the purpose of
taking the appointment into their own hands then it will be
no longer necessary for me to bring forward the question to-
morrow, as I now propose to do.
" In explanation (and, if you please, in justification) of my
proceeding, let me beg to call to your recollection the following
circumstances :
" 1st. That the tender of the resignation of Lord W. Ben-
tinck has been known to yourself, and his Majesty's Ministers,
for at least seven weeks.
" 2nd. That only two calendar months are allowed the Court
of Directors to fill up a vacancy.
" 3rd. That you yourself, in your letter to the Chairs of the
1st instant (sixteen days ago), intimated, to the Court the de-
cided opinion of his Majesty's Ministers that ' in reference to
the present state of India, no time should be lost in appointing a
permanent successor to Lord Wm. Bentinck, as Governor-
General of India/
" Lastly. Let me beg to remind you that, if any lapse take
place on the part of the Court of Directors, and the appoint-
ment to the office of Governor-General devolve, in consequence,
upon the King's Government, the constitution of the Indian
Government is virtually changed. The Court of Directors can
2i
482 LIFE OF H. ST.GK TUCKER.
no longer recall or remove a Govern or- General so appointed,
and, consequently, can no longer exercise the same efficient
control over that high functionary, who is already invested
with such extensive powers.
" Let me add that, at our two last interviews, I asked you
expressly if you were prepared to enter upon the question.
You stated that you were not prepared ; and acting, as I have
always done, with the utmost consideration towards you, I did
not press you further, although I myself was perfectly prepared
to submit my views to you, and to receive an intimation of the
views and wishes of her Majesty's Government.
" The foregoing explanation will, I trust, satisfy you that I
am not acting unreasonably in declining to accede to a further
delay in bringing forward the name of a successor to Lord
William Bentinck. I must give a week's notice to the Court,
as I have already stated to you ; and although I believe the law
will give us more time, under the legal opinion which I have
obtained, it is impossible for me, in a matter of such import-
ance, to run any risk. I could not do so without bringing the
rights of the Court into question, nor without subjecting my
own conduct to just animadversion.
" I have the honor to be, my dear Sir,
" Your faithful servant,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" If you would wish to see us, the Deputy and myself will be
happy to wait upon you, either this evening or early to-morrow,
when I can explain to you my intended course of proceeding."
' TO , ESQ.
[On the Distribution of Patronage.]
" East India House, 22nd December, 1834.
** MY DEAR SIR I have been favored with your note of
Saturday, and I regret very much that it is not in my power
(circumstanced as I am) to comply with your request for a
cadetcy for your young friend.
u The Court scarcely ever grant nominations to their service
as a body. I only recollect one instance (that of Sir D. Ochter-
LETTER TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 483
long) where they have deviated from their general rule or
usage ; and the reason for this rule is obvious. We should have
innumerable applications, with which it would be impossible to
comply; and we should i>e compelled to make very invidious
distinctions. *
" With respect to myself, I determined some time since to
apply my extra patronage, as Chairman, to public objects, i. e.
to provide for the sons and relations of meritorious officers of
his Majesty's and our own service; and I have given effect to
this determination in the manner which appeared to me best
calculated to accomplish the end which I had in view.
" Believe me, dear Sir,
" Very faithfully yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
To the above letters may be advantageously ap-
pended two or three of a later date, in order that
the narrative continuity of the next chapter may
not be broken by their insertion :
"TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
[On the Authorities of the Board of Control and Court of Directors.]
September 27th, 1838.
" MY LOUD DUKE, I have had the honor to receive your
Grace's favor of the 14th inst., and I beg to offer my best acknow-
ledgments for the communication. Your Grace's remarks tended
greatly to fortify me in the opinion which I had previously
formed on the question, and enabled me to maintain that
opinion with greater confidence.
" I have the satisfaction to state that the proposition for
sending out the Irish Roman Catholic priests to India at the
public expense, has been negatived by a large majority of the
Court ; but as this attempt has been repeatedly made under
the auspices of the present Government, I am not without
apprehension that it may be renewed, and that sooner or later
it may be successful.
"Your Grace seems to consider that the administration of
2i2
484 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
India is now vested in the National Government. This is very
much the case, no doubt ; but although the Legislature, by the
late Charter- Act, has stripped the Court of Directors of sub-
stantial power, we are still left in g, position to exert some
moral influence with effect. ^
" In all our foreign relations and political concerns, the
Board can act independently of the Court, through the Secret
Committee ; and here we have no voice whatever, nor are we
even cognisant of the Board's proceedings.
The Board have, moreover, a general and absolute restrain-
ing power; but they cannot propel us forwards, if we choose to
resist. Our vis-inertias alone is sometimes sufficient to arrest
their proceedings. The present Government have on more
than one occasion resorted to a high judicial tribunal for the
purpose of coercing us by a Mandamus ; but they signally
failed. On a late occasion they ordered us to dismiss all the
Judges of our Court of Sudder Dewanny Adawlut (the head
Court of Appeal in Bengal) we refused they threatened to
dismiss them by their own authority they were told that this
could only be done by a mandate of recall under the Sign
Manual ; but they were not prepared to undertake such a re-
sponsibility, and the case was closed by a peevish censure.
" The Court of Directors still, by law, retain the initiative;
and although, by the connivance of their organs, this privilege
may be rendered of no avail, it has heretofore been asserted
with very salutary effect. We are also at liberty to protest,
and to expose to public view instances of mal-administration ;
so that, as long as the Court shall be filled by independent and
honorable men, they may not only, by their knowledge and
experience, assist in giving a proper direction to the machine of
Government, but they can also exert a wholesome influence in
checking the career of an unscrupulous Government. Had this
not been the case, we should have had at the present moment
an establishment of Irish Roman Catholic priests as an appen-
dage to our Indian army.
" Still, I feel most painfully that we are gradually sinking.
Our weight and influence have declined of late, and are de-
clining; and among the other evils of the time, I look forward
ON THE EDUCATION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE. 485
with anxiety and apprehension to the future condition of India.
It may be preserved for a longer or a shorter period ; but I
doubt whether it will be long preserved in a condition to be of
real value to the mother country. Religious fanaticism, which
is not discouraged by the present Government, has already
done much to alienate the attachment of the people, to shake
their confidence, and to produce uneasiness and alarm.
" I scarcely need mention that I did not make use of your
Grace's letter with my colleagues, although I believe that it
would have had the effect of bringing our debate to an early
conclusion.
" I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
TO
[On the Education of the Civil Service.]
"East India House, 17th Aug., 1844.
" MY DEAK , It would be great presumption in me to
oppose the professional opinion of so eminent a scholar as Pro-
fessor Wilson, when I am no scholar at all ; but I have on more
than one occasion ventured to place on record my opinions
with respect to Haileybury, and I have seen no reason to re-
tract those opinions. In establishing that College, our objects,
I apprehend, were threefold :
" 1st. To complete a liberal education, such as young men
receive at our Universities.
" 2ndly. To give our civil servants an elementary knowledge
of the Oriental languages, in order to facilitate the acquisition
of those languages on their arrival in India. And,
" Srdly. To obtain an assurance of moral character and con-
duct, and of that industry and application which are essential to
insure habits of business. This last has always been with me an
object of paramount consideration.
" With respect to European languages and literature, I should
say that we attempt too much. At seventeen or eighteen a
young man ought to know enough of Latin and Greek; and I
should be disposed to dispense with those languages in the two
486 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
last terms, or to make the study of them optional. It may be
doubted whether French, Italian, or German, might not be
substituted with advantage ; but I have no wish to engage in a
controversy on this question, which, perhaps, in due season will
be decided, by the railroad, calculated as it is to mix together
the nations of Europe.
" But the Oriental branch of the question is that which wo
have to deal with at present, and I have no hesitation in
repeating my opinion that the study of three Oriental lan-
guages, in addition to the other studies which are imposed upon
our young men, cannot be prosecuted with advantage.
" Professor Wilson's argument is, that the acquisition of the
primitive language facilitates the acquisition of the derivative
language that when Sanscrit is acquired, the acquisition of
Bengali, &c., is easy. This is quite true; and the argument
might be applied to the acquisition of Arabic as a means of
facilitating the acquisition of the Persian. But is the process
necessary ? I think not ; and I will state a case in point.
" I was stationed for about two years in a Bengali district
(Rajeshahy), and with the aid of Halhed's little grammar I
learnt enough in about three months, I think, to be able to
transact public business with the people. Now, had I com-
menced with Sanscrit, I should have quitted the district before
I reached its derivative, the Bengali, although the latter was
really what 1 required. The best speaker of Bengali whom I
met with was a Dr. M (an age ago), and he knew nothing
of Sanscrit; and the best speaker of Hindustani whom I met
with (also an age ago), was an ill-educated Irishman, who had
never, probably, looked at a grammar in the course of his life.
He, like Mr. B , acquired the language in the Zenana, and
the natives admitted that he spoke the language so correctly
that they could not detect the European. He acquired it
entirely by the ear.
" Sir William Jones, on the other hand, although a Sanscrit
and a Persian scholar, could not hold the most common con-
versation either in Bengali or Hindustani; so that we have
here the primitive languages without their leading to the
derivatives. Nor do I believe that a single instance can be
LETTER TO SIR CHARLES METCALFE. 487
adduced of one of our Haileybury students being able to carry
on a dialogue, either in Hindustani or Persian. This was not
the case in the Calcutta College some forty years ago.
" Persian is fast disappearing in our Bengal provinces, to
which my remarks are confined; and in the course of a few
years it will be of no use for any practical purposes of business.
With the Hindustani, neither our civil nor military servants
need ever be at a loss in the districts under the Bengal and
Agra Presidencies.
" What I would deduce from these premises is, that we
attempt too much, both in the European and Oriental branches
of study; that two Oriental languages are as much as can be
well attended to ; and that even one (the Hindustani), if pro-
perly cultivated, would be sufficient; and that the study of
Sanscrit, Arabic, and even Persian, might be left optional with
the student. I adhere to my opinion that sixteen is the best
age for entering Haileybury that the student should be
allowed to quit it and enter the service as soon as he is re-
ported to be duly qualified, even after the expiration of his
second term and that the acquisition of the native languages
should be remitted mainly to India, where more will be accom-
plished in six months, after a little elementary preparation
here, than can be effected by a two years' residence at
Haileybury.
" Believe me, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
; ' TO SIR CHARLES METCALFE.
[On the Settlement of Bundlekund.*]
" . . . . If you should have taken charge of your Go-
vernment of Agra, your attention will, I am sure, be directed
immediately to the state of Bundlekund. I have instructed our
secretary to take up the subject here as soon as possible ; but
what can we do here? ....
* This is an extract from a letter written in 1834, and accidentally omitted
from the earlier part of the chapter.
488 LIFE OF H. ST. a. TUCKER.
" When I visited the province, it seemed to be prosperous,
although not particularly well managed by the Lucknow
Tehsildars, whom Baillie had introduced or recommended ; but
the villagers (I am tired of the term Ryot) appeared comfort-
able, and I have never seen in any part of the country such
magnificent wells. There was a good deal of bishy (or surplus)
and alienated land, which enabled the people to pay a high as-
sessment; but when the late Mr. Scott Waring brought this
land upon the rental, and taxed it, the same high rate of assess-
ment could not be paid, and the province has rapidly declined.
This is a mistake which we often make. It does not follow that
by detecting alienations we can augment the revenue
" I cannot change the opinion of men, nor can I venture to
overturn a favorite system when in office only for a few months.
It would be presumptuous and dangerous for me to attempt to
move; but you on the spot have a heavy responsibility. The
country ought not to be allowed to go to ruin. What I wish
to see is, the demand of Government limited and fixed. The
party with whom the settlement is to be concluded is matter of
inferior consideration. I prefer moderate estates, say from 200
to 2000 rupees annual revenue; but I would not manufacture
estates, as my excellent friend Sir G. Barlow attempted to do
at Madras. Let them grow, as they will do if you do not crush
them. What I should like to see would be,' the grant of Mo-
kurrery tenures when estates have been well ascertained, where
they are in full cultivation, and where the assessment has been
made by trustworthy officers. If a beginning were once made
in this way, we should get on rapidly ; but what have we accom-
plished in the last twenty years? Of late, we seem to be retro-
grading. My friend, Sir H. Strachey, has often reproached
me for not having undertaken to form a Permanent Settlement
in 1807 ; and if we do not manage better than we have done
lately, I shall begin to reproach myself. There are various other
questions to which I should like to call your attention ; but I
have little leisure for correspondence "
THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 489
CHAPTER XVII.
The War in Afghanistan Our Relations with the Persian Court Resistance
of Russia an European Question The Tripartite Treaty Mr. Tucker's
Letters to the Duke of Wellington and Others His Opinions on the
Afghan War and the Conquest of Scinde Recall of Lord Ellenborough.
THE narrative portion of the penultimate chapter
closed with the appointment of Lord Auckland to
the Governor- Generalship of India. The chapter
upon which I am now entering is to he devoted to
the consideration of the policy pursued towards the
states beyond the Indus during his and his succes-
sor's administration; and the part taken by Mr.
Tucker in the resistance of measures which he
believed to be both impolitic and unjust. I cannot
take upon myself to say that if Lord Heytesbury's
appointment had not been reversed, this chapter
would not have been commenced ; but I have a very
strong conviction, based upon the recorded senti-
ments of Sir Charles Metcalfe, that if the Indian
Civilian instead of the English Peer had been ap-
pointed to the Governor- Generalship, we should
have heard nothing of the wars in Afghanistan and
Scinde.
490 LIEE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Whilst Mr. Tucker was yet in the Chair, the sub-
jects of our relations with Persia and of the opening
of the Indus, for purposes, as it was said, of naviga-
tion and trade, had been brought prominently before
him. He seems to have seen through them both at
a glance. It was his conviction, in 1834, that the
Persian alliance was an European question with
which the Indian Government ought not to meddle ;
and that inasmuch as Commercial agencies were
prone to develope themselves, with extraordinary
rapidity, into Political agencies, the less we con-
cerned ourselves about the commerce of the Indus,
the better it would be for the prosperity of India
and the character of the British nation.
I am fortunately able to narrate in his own words
the consistent course which Mr. Tucker pursued with
reference to our Central- Asian policy, from the very
commencement of those unhappy operations which
terminated in a sea of disaster and disgrace. " I had
various personal conferences with the Indian Minis-
ter throughout 1834-35," he wrote in an interesting
retrospect which he drew up in 1842, " when I held
the station of Chairman; and in all these conferences
regarding the state of Persia and its relations with
Great Britain, I invariably maintained that it was
impossible to operate upon Persia with any effect
from India, whilst that Power was countenanced
and supported by Russia ; and that the national
force must be applied in Europe, if it should become
necessary to counteract or to arrest the proceedings
OUR RELATIONS WITH PERSIA. 491
of Russia in any of the Asiatic states. The notes
of my conferences with his Majesty's Ministers I
have kept as a sealed book ; for I regarded them
always (at least for the time) as confidential on both
sides. The obligation of secresy may, however, be
considered to cease when questions have been finally
settled ; when the facts have become publicly known
through other channels, and when a disclosure can
neither prove injurious to the public interests, nor
hurtful to private feelings."
From these memoranda it appears that on the
7th of June, 1834, Mr. Tucker explained at great
length (to the President of the Board of Control)
the critical state of affairs in Persia and urged that
no measures, offensive or defensive, could be taken
in India and that the whole question should be
taken up by the British Cabinet. On the 23rd of
June and the 1st of July he reiterated these
opinions. On the 22nd of the latter month, advert-
ing to letters received from the Persian Envoy, Mr.
Tucker strongly objected J;o his proposition to pay
the demand of Russia (250,000/.*), and referred to a
letter, which he had written to the Board, explain-
ing the grounds of these objections and his views
of the policy to be observed in Persia. " It is
become," he again emphatically said, " a European
* It was proposed that the British Government should enable Mahomed
Meerza to satisfy the pecuniary claims of Russia, hi order that we might " take
from that Power all pretence for occupying the province of Ghilan, for de-
manding a cession of territory, and for interfering directly in the appoint-
ment of a successor to the throne."
492 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEH.
question." In the letter to which he alluded on
this occasion, he had laid down the following pro-
positions :
" 1st. That the British Government cannot, with
the smallest prospect of success, employ a military
force in Persia, for the purpose of opposing the
progress of the Russian arms, or of Russian in-
fluence in that quarter.
" 2nd. That we could not advance our military
line of frontier in India, in the direction of Persia,
without exciting jealousy and distrust on the part
of the intermediate states, nor without incurring
great expense unattended by any corresponding ad-
vantage.
" 3rd. That we could not undertake to furnish
supplies of money to the Government of Persia, in
whatever hands that Government may he, with
any prospect of advantage; nor, indeed, without
strengthening the very Power, whose designs are
supposed to be adverse to the British interests in
India."
"These considerations," he continued, "would
seem to lead to the conclusion that nothing effectual
can be done by the Government of India to coun-
teract the projects of Russia in the East that the
only means of opposing her advance in Persia are to
be sought in Europe ; and that whatever diplomatic
agency it may be thought proper to maintain at the
Court of Persia ought to act in immediate subordi-
nation to the political authorities in this country,
OUR PERSIAN RELATIONS. 493
rather than under the Indian Government, which
has no quick or certain means of communicating
with the Envoy at Teheran, and which neither pos-
sesses the necessary information with respect to our
political affairs in Europe, nor any means of com-
pelling a European power to refrain from those acts
affecting the interests of other nations, or tending
to endanger the public peace." And in a postscript
he had added: "We might observe generally that
it is impossible for India to secure the independence
of Persia, unless it could furnish both a Government,
an Exchequer, and an efficient army. It is also
quite clear that our relations with Persia, Turkey
(including the Pachalic of Bagdad), and Syria, con-
stitute now a general question, which can be best
considered and dealt with as a whole."*
In the course of subsequent conferences with Mr.
Grant, up to the very last which was held with him
(on the 10th of December) before the dissolution of
the Whig Ministry, Mr. Tucker had used the same
language of remonstrance ; but almost immediately
on the accession of Lord Ellenborough to the Board
of Control, under the Peel Ministry, the new Presi-
dent announced that the Persian Mission was to
be made a European question that an Envoy was
to be deputed on the part of the Crown that Mr.
H. Ellis had been selected for the station, and that
a communication would immediately be made to the
* The letter is of considerable interest and importance in connexion with
the whole Persian question ; but it is too lengthy for insertion here.
494 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Secret Committee respecting the arrangement. But
Mr. Tucker at this time declined to give any pledge
with respect to the Company contributing to defray
the charge.
Doubtless, however, he was well assured in his
own mind that the Company would be compelled to
contribute largely towards the expenses of the Mis-
sion, although it was to be appointed by the Crown.
When, therefore, it was decreed that the Indian
contribution should amount to 12,OOOZ. per annum,
he felt that it would be of little use to remonstrate
against the " arrangement."* But he could hardly
have formed a just conception, at that time, of the
manner in which the settlement of the affairs of
Persia was to be made a "European question." It
was so far to be a European question, that all power
and authority over the Persian Mission, and all
control over the Politics of Persia, were to be vested
in the Crown Ministers ; but whenever great mea-
sures, costly and dangerous, were to be undertaken,
when armies were to be moved, and millions of
money expended for the counteraction of Russian
intrigue, it was the Establishment of the East India
Company that was to be indented upon, and the
Treasury of the East India Company that was to bo
drained. The Russo-Persian question was thence-
forth to be a "European question;" but it was
* He, however, steadfastly insisted upon the maintenance of this limit to the
demand upon the Company. On the 26th of February he repeated to Lord
Ellenborough that the Court would not consent to pay more than 1 2,000/. per
annum; and that the expense of the military must either be defrayed by the
Shah, or the officers and men be ordered back to Persia.
THE "COMMERCIAL AGENCY." 495
Indian blood, and it was Indian treasure that was
to be lavished on its solution.
Very far removed from this was Mr. Tucker's
conception of a European question. With a saga-
city almost prophetic, he saw in the future the fata]
consequences of interfering, from the side of India,
in the affairs of Central Asia, whether the inter-
ference were to be called diplomacy or commerce.
With the countries beyond the Indus he desired
that the Indian Government should have nothing
to do. To the charmings of Alexander Burnes,
charm he never so wisely, he was insensible : " The
late Sir Alexander (then Lieutenant) Burnes," wroto
Mr. Tucker in 1842, "was introduced to me in
1834 as a talented and enterprising young officer;
and it was suggested that he might be usefully
employed as a commercial agent at Caubul, to en-
courage our commerce with that country, and to
aid in opening the river Indus to British industry
and enterprise. I am, upon principle, friendly to
the extension of all legitimate commerce ; but it
appeared to me that the commercial resources of
Afghanistan, and the means of deriving advantage
from an intercourse with that country, were greatly
magnified ; for I had reason to know that the
country was poor and difficult of access, that the
people were turbulent, and that the state of society
was not such as to justify an expectation that the
Afghans could easily be led to adopt peaceful and
industrious habits. I declined, then, to propose, or
to concur in, the appointment of Lieutenant Burnes
496 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
to a commercial agency in Caubul, feeling perfectly
assured that it must speedily degenerate into a
political agency, and that we should, as a necessary
consequence, be involved in all the entanglement of
Afghan politics.* These, I believe, were nearly
the precise words frequently repeated by me, in ex-
pressing my objection to the projected arrange-
ment. Erom 1835-36 the entire charge of our
relations with Persia was assumed by his Majesty's
Government. Dr. (now Sir John) M'JSTeill was ap-
pointed Ambassador to the Shah ; and the only
duty, or function, which devolved upon the Court
of Directors was to supply the sum of 12,OOOZ. per
annum, under the arrangement of January, 1835,
to defray the charge of the embassy. Lieutenant
Burnes returned to India ; and after a short in-
terval was deputed on a mission to R/unjeet Singh
at Lahore, and subsequently obtained the appoint-
ment of political agent at Caubul, where his nego-
tiations with the ex-ruler, Dost Mahomed, and his
rupture with that chief, were made public under
an order of the House of Commons. In these
transactions the Court of Directors took no part ;
nor were we made acquainted officially with the
projects of the Indian Government and their hostile
preparations until an army was actually .assembled
* On November 11, 1834, with reference to Lieut. Burnes, Mr. Tucker men-
tioned his application to be recommended to the appointment of agent at
Caubul, or on the Indus, and gave it as his opinion that no such agency was
necessary at present, and that he could not with propriety interfere with the
local Government in selecting for public situations. Mr. Grant concurred
entirely with respect to the inexpediency of appointing au agent at Caubul.
LETTERS TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 497
on the banks of the Sutlej for the invasion of Af-
ghanistan. I was not, however (continued Mr.
Tucker), inattentive to the proceedings abroad ; and
on the first intelligence reaching us of the military
movement on our "Western Frontier, I addressed a
letter to an illustrious statesman, so far back as the
8th November, 1838, deprecating the policy which
appeared to have led to that movement, and point-
ing out, in strong terms, the danger of prosecuting
an enterprise against Afghanistan for the purpose
of deposing the de facto ruler, and of substituting
our pensioner, Shujah-ool-Moolk, in his place. As
the papers were from time- to time produced, I
again addressed the same illustrious statesman,
under date the 8th and 12th February, 1839 ; and
I also addressed two other distinguished statesmen
on the same subject, under date the 16th March
and 3rd April following." The statesmen of whom
Mr. Tucker here speaks were the Duke of Welling-
ton, Sir Robert Peel, and Lord Ellenborough. It
would be an injustice to the subject of this Memoir
to withhold the remarkable letters to which he al-
ludes :
" MB. TUCKER TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
" 3, Upper Portland-place, 8th November, 1838.
" MY LORD DUKE, The late military movements in India
must, I am sure, have attracted your Grace's attention ; and I
will not therefore apologise for submitting some observations
on a subject which is of the highest national interest.
" About five years ago, when I held the situation of Chairman
of the Court, I ventured to urge an opinion that our concerns
in Persia, in consequence of the position and movements of
2K
498 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEH.
Russia, had become an European, and not an Asiatic question
that it was impossible to meet and counteract Russia at
Teheran that we might lavish our money upon a weak and
corrupt Court but that we could not assist it with a military
force sufficient to secure its independence as against Russia,
whose armies were at hand; and that therefore our obvious
policy was to operate upon Russia in Europe.
" I was also adverse to the project of establishing a mission at
Caubul. The professed object was to extend our commerce
with Central Asia by the Indus ; but it appeared to me certain
that our Agency would assume a political character, and that we
should soon be mixed up in all the perplexed politics of the
Afghans; and even if we should succeed in opening a commer-
cial road through the Punjab, or otherwise, to Afghanistan, we
should only make a military road from that country to Hin-
dostan, which appeared to me to be by no means desirable.
" Your Grace is aware that, about this time, the Persian
Embassy was transferred to his Majesty's Government, the East
India Company undertaking to defray the charge, to the extent
of 12,OOOZ. per annum, while the idea of establishing an Agency
at Caubul was for the time abandoned.
" But that which I had deprecated, and which it was my
great object to prevent a military movement from India has
now actually taken place; and, from certain indications, I am
persuaded that it has taken place under orders from this
country. The transfer of our Persian relations to his Majesty's
Government has therefore, I apprehend, brought upon us the
very evil which it was intended to prevent. The late Sir R.
Grant would never, I am satisfied, have made that pitiful
demonstration in the Persian Gulf without authority from
hence, nor would Lord Auckland who has shown great
prudence in other instances have embarked, I think, in so
fearful an enterprise without express authority from home.
" The evil, then, originating here, it is only in this country
that its progress can be arrested.
" In order to give your Grace some idea of the feeling which
has been produced in India by our projected movements on our
LETTER TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 499
North- Western frontier, I beg to enclose an extract from a late
letter from a correspondent on trie spot ; and I will add a brief
summary of what appear to me to be the facts of the case, and
the position in which we have placed ourselves.
" 1st. We have contracted an alliance with Shah Shujah,
and have appointed a Minister to his Court; although he does
not possess a rood of ground in Afghanistan, nor a rupee which
he does not derive from our bounty as a quondam pensioner. We
thus embroil ourselves in all the intricate and perplexed concerns
of the Afghan tribes. We place Dost Mahomed, the de facto
sovereign, in open hostility against us ; we alienate the Prince
Kamran of Herat, who is nearer than Shah Shujah in the line
of succession of the Douranee Family ; and even if we succeed
in ousting Dost Mahomed, and placing Shah Shujah on the
throne of Caubul, we must maintain him in the government by
a large military force, at the distance of 800 miles from our
frontier and our resources.
"2nd. If our army should succeed in penetrating into
Afghanistan, our line of communication will be intercepted by
the Punjab and Scinde, which in the course of events may
become hostile to our proceedings.
" 3rd. Our right flank is already menaced by the Nepaulese;
our left is open to the Rajpoot States, who, I apprehend, are
by no means well-disposed towards us ; while our rear may be
attacked by the Burmese, who are notoriously hostile
" The military demonstration on the coast of Persia is as much
at variance with sound policy, as it is with political morality
(for we are not at war with Persia), and I can compare it with
nothing but our lamentable proceedings towards Holland and
Spain. The movement on our North- Western frontier seems
to have proceeded from the same source ; and it may involve us
in much more serious consequences.
11 In fine, if some decided steps be not speedily taken for the
purpose of averting the evils which seem to impend over us, we
shall not long, I fear, be able to say that the sun never sets
upon the dominions of Great Britain, or at least we shall not
be able to say that its widely-extended possessions are the
2x2
500 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
source of strength, power, and prosperity to the parent
country. I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
11 H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON TO MR. TUCKER.
" Strathfieldsaye, December 12th, 1838.
"MY DEAR SIR, I have received and perused with much
interest your letter of the 8th of December, I conclude, but
you have written it November.
" I had understood that the raising the siege of Herat was
to be the signal for abandoning the expedition to the Indus.
It will be very unfortunate if that intention should be altered.
The consequence of crossing the Indus once to settle a go-
vernment in Afghanistan, will be a perennial march into that
country.
" The policy of the Persian Court has of course been in-
fluenced by its fears of Russian invasion. On the other hand,
nothing was to be looked for from her Majesty's Government.
I should think that the invasion by the Persian Gulf was
carried on as a make-weight against Russian influence. This
invasion certainly had an effect, and if I have not been mis-
informed, affected the Russian Government to a greater degree
than anything else that could be done.
" I don't know that while the siege of Herat continued,
particularly by the aid of Russian officers and troops, even in
the form of deserters, the Government of India could have
done otherwise than prepare for its defence. But I cannot
understand the Afghan or Sikh policy. I don't think that
Runjeet Singh, established on both sides of the Indus, is a
safer neighbour than Zemaun Shah was. An emergency,
such as an immediately expected invasion, might oblige a
Government to take a course inconsistent with its ordinary
political system ; but when the danger is passed, we ought not
to incur fresh risks in order to carry into execution a system
which must eventually be inconvenient to us, and lead to fresh
wars and expense. I confess that I anxiously hope that the
next accounts will bring us the report that the expedition is
given up. Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,
"WELLINGTON."
LETTER TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 501
" MR. TUCKER TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON,
" 8th February, 1839.
" MY LORD DUKE, It was very satisfactory to me, and I
believe to all who are interested in the welfare of India, to
observe that both your Grace and Sir Robert Peel had called
the particular attention of Parliament to the present state of
our affairs in the East, for it is to Parliament only that we can
now look for the means of overcoming our difficulties, and I
may add, of averting our dangers.
" The Tripartite Treaty of Alliance concluded at Lahore, on
the 20th June last, has been laid before our Court, and your
Grace may like to run over it. A more extraordinary State
Paper has never come under my notice. It is evidently of
Native origin and character, having originated with Runjeet
Singh, but we have made some fearful additions to it for his
sole benefit. We undertake, in fact, to guarantee to him and
his heirs all of his present possessions east of the Indus, in-
cluding Cashmeer and Moultan, and a large tract of country on
the right bank extending west to the Khibur Pass and south of
the neighbourhood of Shikarpoor, including the valley of Pesha-
wur, &c., &c. I cannot trace its range to the south exactly,
for some of the places named are not to be found in the map.
" This treaty cannot fail to arm the whole Afghan nation
against us, not excepting the great tribe of Durannies, nor even
the clan of Suddozyes, to which Shujah-ool-Moolk himself
belongs; and it will also, I fear, be regarded with an evil eye
by the Ameers of Scinde and the Chief of Bhawulpore, for
it places these chiefs entirely at the mercy of Runjeet Singh.
In truth, the sole object of the treaty would seem to be to erect
the Sikh state into a stronger barrier between us and the Ma-
homedan states of the west ; but as the Afghans bear a most
inveterate hatred towards the Sikhs, both as ' KafFres,' as ( per-
secutors of the Faith,' and as invaders who have dismembered
their territory, I am persuaded that we could not have re-
sorted to more effectual means to ruin the cause of Shujah-
ool-Moolk, and to strengthen the government of Dost Ma-
homed, his opponent.
502 LIFE OF H. ST.G-. TUCKER.
" The main army will halt, I have no doubt, for we are already,
I suspect, alarmed here at our own work ; but what will then
become of Shujah-ool-Moolk's hasty levies, or of the small
force under Sir John Keane ? The advance of the latter, I
apprehend, will be clandestinely obstructed, if not openly op-
posed by the Scindians, and the inhabitanst of the intervening
country.
"If we had pushed forward Runjeet Singh, as the Russians
have pushed forward Persia, I could have understood the policy
of such a proceeding, although I might demur to the wisdom
and justice of embroiling other nations in order to promote
our own interests, or even to ward off an apprehended danger ;
but I cannot understand the policy of undertaking a burden-
some and perilous war, for the purpose of aggrandising Run-
jeet Singh, whose armies, be it remembered, are under the
direction of French officers.
" As the treaty is almost unintelligible by itself, I have given
notice of motion for further papers explanatory of its origin,
objects, and provisions. These will not be granted, I fear, at
least not to the extent 1 require ; and I shall therefore prepare
to place on record a formal protest against our whole proceed-
ing, from such materials as I can command.
"I would not trouble your Grace again on this subject, but
I know that you take a warm interest in everything affecting
the great interests of the country ; and I am sure that you con-
sider the well-being of India as comprehended in those great
interests.
" I have not made any communication to Sir Robert Peel
on this subject; but if the question should be first mooted in
the House of Commons, where the Indian Minister is to be
found, and I can furnish any information likely to be of use, I
need scarcely say that I should be most happy to communi-
cate it,
" I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
"I had sketched a brief analysis of the Tripartite Treaty;
but as it is hasty and imperfect, I will not trouble your Grace
LETTER TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 503
with it. As, however, my friend Mr. Edmonstone is much
better authority in these matters, your Grace might like to see
a private note written by him on the subject.
" His Grace the Duke of Wellington."
" MR. TUCKER TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
"February 12, 1839,
" MY LORD DUKE, I have been favored with your Grace's
note, and I regret that I cannot answer your question with any
degree of certainty. In fact, the motion which I shall make
to-morrow will have for its object to obtain information upon
this and other branches of the question.
' ' There has, I have reason to believe, been a good deal of cor-
respondence, through the Secret Committee, on this subject,
with the Governor-General, and Lord Auckland's information
has, I have no doubt, been obtained through Captain (now Sir
Alexander) Burnes, who has been employed for some time in a
political capacity at Caubul. I have seen several private letters
from that officer, from which it appeared that a Russian agent
had been received by Dost Mahomed, and had been carrying
on very active intrigues for the purpose of engaging the State
of Caubul to take part in a confederation against the British
Government; but all this stands upon the authority of Sir A.
Burnes, who represented that he was endeavoring to counter-
act this intrigue.
" Your Grace may recollect that Captain Burnes came to this
country in 1834, with a view, as I had reason to believe, to
induce the Home authorities, upon the recommendation of
Lord W. Bentinck, to establish a commercial agency at Caubul,
or upon the Indus. This proposition I strongly, and, for the
time, successfully opposed, on the ground that a commercial
agency would soon become a. political agency, and be the
means of involving us in all the perplexed affairs of the
Afghans. The result has shown that I had but too much
reason for my apprehensions ; and I attribute mainly our late
unfortunate alliances, and the war with which we are threatened,
to our negotiations at Caubul. or rather, to our intermeddling
in the affairs of that State.
504 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Your Grace will perceive, from the enclosed note from my
friend Mr. Edmonstone, that he entertains great doubts with
respect to our having any sufficient grounds for our connecting
Russia and Persia with those occurrences which have led to our
present hostile movement; but although Lord Auckland does
not name Russia in his proclamation of the 1st of October last,
it is quite evident that he points directly to that power, and
that the treaty which he has entered into with Runjeet Singh
and Shujah-ool-Moolk, was intended to create a barrier against
the supposed designs of Persia and Russia.
" As your Grace appears to have paid such kind attention
to my communications on this subject, I venture to submit for
your perusal a brief analysis of the Tripartite Treaty of alliance
lately concluded at Lahore; and you will perceive from this
paper that, although unacquainted officially with the facts of
the case, and with the causes of our present warlike proceeding,
I have at least endeavored to trace out their probable conse-
quences.
" The object of the treaty I think that I sufficiently under-
stand ; but I think, at the same time, that its policy is more
than doubtful.
"I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" I have notes of numerous conferences with the President
of the Board in 1834 on the subject of our relations with
Persia, and I invariably maintained, on those occasions, that our
relations with that power, influenced as it was by Russia, con-
stituted a European question, and that it was impossible for the
Government of India to deal with it effectively.
" I urged, at the same time, the reasons which I have re-
peated in the papers before your Grace, against any attempt to
form a political connexion with the State of Caubul; but even
if it be admitted that such a connexion was desirable, very
strong and obvious objections exist, I think, to our alliance
with Shujah-ool-Moolk and Runjeet Singh."
LETTER TO LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 505
" MR. TUCKEK TO LORD ELLENBOROUGH.
" 3, Upper Portland Place, 16th March, 1839.
"MY LORD, I have been favored with your Lordship's
note of yesterday, and beg to return my best thanks for the
papers ; but a copy of these precious documents was placed
before the Court on Wednesday last, and I cannot consider the
proceeding otherwise than as a mere mockery and insult to our
understandings; for some of the treaties are twenty or thirty
years of age, and have long been upon our open records. The
rest have no bearing upon the present state of our political and
military affairs in India.
" I have determined not to submit myself to this mockery,
and I shall accordingly place my protest upon record without
further delay; for I will not incur even the risk of responsi-
bility by my silence.
" I have been in India under critical circumstances, but I
have never had the same apprehension of danger as at the present
moment. Your Lordship will perceive the feeling which pre-
vails on the spot from the accompanying extract ; but although
there may be some exaggeration in the statement, it is corro-
borated in its leading features by the information which I
receive from other quarters. I do hope that your Lordship
and others, who really know India, will take some decided
step. To know what is right, and to see what is wrong,
without endeavoring to enforce the one and to avert the other,
is to incur, I think, serious responsibility. We all deprecate
the loss of Canada, as a national calamity; but what is Canada
to our Eastern Empire ?
" If things go on for another twelvemonth on their present
footing, and under the present management, my impression is
that the evil will be without remedy.
" We have been called upon to augment our European force,
by adding ten men to each company ; but these recruits will
not be available in the field as soldiers for two years to come !
This is in keeping with all our late operations.
" I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. Sx.G. TUCKER.
" Right Hon. Lord Ellenborough."
506 . LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" MR. TUCKER TO SIR ROBERT PEEL.
" 3rd April, 1839.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have been using my best efforts for
some time past to call attention to the state of our affairs in
India; but on my own proper ground these efforts have been
attended with little or no success.
" It appears to me, however, that in society a greater interest
has been shown of late in the state of India than I recollect to
have observed at any former period; and I am willing to hope
that this interest has extended itself to Parliament, where alone
any question of national concernment can be treated with any
prospect of advantage.
" I have, indeed, heard, and the report has afforded me par-
ticular satisfaction, that it is intended, at an early period, to
bring the present state of our affairs in India fairly and fully
under the consideration of both Houses of Parliament.
" Papers have been called for, and some have been produced
and printed ; but they are in general mere ' extracts of letters,
which do not afford a full and perfect relation of recent trans-
actions.
" Much has been suppressed ; and although there are strong
reasons for believing that the late movements have been di-
rected or encouraged from this country (in some instances, I
suspect, by means of an extra-official correspondence), the whole
responsibility attaching to measures of fearful importance would
seem at present to be thrown upon the Governor-General of
India.
" You must possess ample information with respect to India,
and you can command, when necessary, the best assistance from
the highest quarter; but it has occurred to me that the accom-
panying paper (which is the transcript of a letter addressed by
me to the Court of Directors) may aid your inquiries in some
slight degree, if it be intended (as I trust it is) to institute pro-
ceedings in Parliament, with a firm determination to examine
thoroughly and unflinchingly into the present state of our
affairs in India, and into the causes which have produced the
existing embarrassment.
LETTER TO SIR ROBERT PEEL. 507
" In fact, if this be not done promptly, the rescue may come
too late. Individual exertions can effect nothing in this coun-
try. Party combinations, aided by eloquence, can alone give
an impulse and right direction to popular feeling, and in
nothing is popular feeling so sluggish here as on subjects re-
lating to India. Scarcely any question has excited a general
interest since the Bill of 1784. The last Charter- Act passed
with little opposition or notice, although it introduced some
desperate innovations in the pre-existing system, both political
and commercial.
"Foreigners understand the value of India to us. We do not.
They have heretofore been compelled to admire our wise and
self-denying policy. They now perceive our errors with a very
complacent feeling, and they will probably exult in our humi-
liation, which they, no doubt, anticipate. The loss of Canada
would be a misfortune. If the West Indies should become a
worthless possession (no improbable event) this, too, must be
regarded as a national calamity. But if our dominion in India
should, unhappily, be shaken or endangered, what would be
the fate of this empire, once so transcendently great and
glorious? It would be as melancholy an object as Palmyra in
the Desert !
" I have the honor to be,
" My dear Sir, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Right Hon.
" Sir Robert Peel, Bart., &c. &c."
The answers which these stirring letters educed
showed that the opinions which he so emphatically
enunciated were shared by the statesmen whom he
had addressed. "But," continued Mr. Tucker, in
the Retrospect already quoted, " as it appeared that
I should not by these appeals exonerate myself from
responsibility as a Director, I was induced to ad-
dress a letter to the Court, under date the 29th of
508 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
January, 1889,* in which I reviewed much in de-
tail the grounds of the policy which had been
adopted by the Government of India in the Tri-
partite Treaty of the 20th of June, 1838, and in the
Proclamation of the Governor- General of the 1st of
October of that year, and in which I also pointed
out the consequences likely to result from the pro-
secution of so dangerous and so unjustifiable a
policy. One of our colleagues (Sir Henry Willock)
about the same time, from a high sense of public
duty, pursued the same course, and addressed the
Foreign Secretary on the subject ; and as he was well
acquainted with the country and with the character
of the people, his opinions were entitled to great
weight. I do not know how far our reasoning may
have produced an effect ; but the President of the
Board called for and received a copy of my letter on
the 6th of March ; and I cannot doubt also that he
received every necessary information to enable him
to form a sound judgment, from the gentlemen who
filled the Chairs of the Court at the time, and who
* This paper was " drawn up as a protest in consequence of Sir John
Hobhouse having refused to place certain documents before the Court for
their information." " Upon notice of motion, however," wrote Mr. Tucker to
the Duke of Wellington on the 31st of January, " he yesterday furnished us
with a copy of the treaty concluded by Lord Auckland, and my protest will
riot, therefore, be placed on record for the present. The subject will, how-
ever, be brought before the Court, as I conclude it must be also before Par-
liament." In the same letter Mr. Tucker says: " I am not one of those who
would rush headlong into a war with Russia, but I would wish to see our
Government pursue a more manly and straightforward course, and not fence
m the dark with a power which we do not even venture to name. Such a
state of things could not have occurred under ordinary circumstances, but we
are now so entangled that I cannot perceive how we can advance with safety
or retreat with honor."
PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 509
were conversant with Indian affairs from a long re-
sidence in that country."
But whatever effect the reasoning of Mr. Tucker
and Sir Henry Willock may have had upon the
opinions of the Crown Ministers, it had none what-
ever upon their actions. In the East they pushed
forward the war ; and in the West they vigorously
defended it. There was a brilliant dawn of delusive
success ; and for a time the eyes of the multitude
were dazzled. But there were some far-seeing men,
who saw clearly and said truly that success at
the outset was necessary to the consummation of
eventual failure that our difficulties would com-
mence just at the point where they seemed to termi-
nate. The expedition into Afghanistan was, for a
time, considered a master-stroke of diplomacy and a
triumph of military enterprise. Lord Auckland was
the greatest of statesmen ; Lord Keane the greatest
of soldiers ; and Shah Soojah the most popular of
monarchs. But the Protests which Mr. Tucker
had recorded were not belied by the march of
events.
The papers, in which he placed upon record his
remonstrances against the dangerous course of
policy which had been adopted by the Crown Minis-
ters, were dated January 29 and April 12, 1839.
They have already been laid before the public, and
need not, therefore, be quoted here. Before the
issue of events had proved the remarkable pre-
science by which these Protests were distinguished,
the soundness of the reasoning, and the general
510 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
sagacity by which they were marked, no less than
the manliness of their tone and the eloquence of
their diction, had called forth the commendation of
some of the greatest of English statesmen. And at
a later period, one, who on such a subject as this
was even more competent than Wellington, Peel,
and Ellenborough to pronounce an authoritative
opinion,* wrote to Mr. Tucker that he had read
these papers, " not only with admiration, but almost
with wonder, at the correct, complete, and prophetic
view which they take of every part of the question
connected with our Afghan mania." "You_ were
one of the few," wrote the same great man, in an-
other letter, " who condemned our mad policy in
Afghanistan, when the world admired and ap-
plauded; and although you could not prevent it,
your opposition to it will ever redound to your
honor."
He could not prevent it. He saw the war run
its course. He saw the initial triumphs, and the
treacherous calm which succeeded them ; but he
was not deluded by the mask of success. Then he
saw the storm gathering, and he was one of those
who would have anticipated the failure which ere
long was to be written in characters of blood, by
leaving Shah Soojah to govern the country which
we had restored to him, without the aid of his Ee-
ringhee allies. He was one of those who, when the
storm burst over us, contended that it would be
madness to endeavor to re-establish our influence
* Lord Metcalfe.
THE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 511
in Afghanistan ; and that the sooner every British
soldier could be withdrawn to our own side of the
Indus the better for the stability of the British Em-
pire in the East. And he was foremost amongst
those who contended that, as the war had been
undertaken for European purposes, under instruc-
tions from the Crown Ministers, without the sanc-
tion or even the cognisance, officially and collec-
tively, of the Court of Directors, it was a great
iniquity to throw the entire financial responsibility
of the war on the shoulders of the East India Com-
pany. " It was no doubt very convenient," he said,
" for his Majesty's Government to cast the whole
burden of an enterprise directed against Russia on
the finances of India, instead of sending a fleet into
the Baltic or the Black Sea; but we are bound to
resist the attempt to alienate and misapply the re-
sources of India."
Such an unrighteous misapplication of the reve-
nues of the country, which it was the especial duty
of the Court to protect against all such unjust
spoliation, he determined to resist; and his col-
leagues were leagued together in the same good
work of resistance. In furtherance of this object,
he proceeded to estimate the ascertained amount of
war-charges which the expedition across the Indus
had entailed upon the Indian Government; and
then he enunciated the following undeniable pro-
positions :
" 1st. That Persia, having for some time prior to 1835 sub-
mitted to the influence of Russia, the political relations of the
512 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
British Government with the former country, constituted pro-
perly a European rather than an Asiatic question, and that it
could only, therefore, be dealt with as such.
" 2nd. That this assumption was admitted and acted upon
by his Majesty's Government, who, on the 15th of January
and 24th of February, 1835, entered into an arrangement with
the Court of Directors, founded on these premises.
" 3rd. That the Tripartite Treaty of the 20th of June, 1838,
was contracted without the consent, or previous knowledge, of
the Court of Directors ; that the policy which dictated that
treaty was neither sanctioned nor approved by them ; and that
they were not made acquainted with the obligations contracted
by it until the * Army of the Indus' was put in motion, under
the Proclamation of the Governor-General of India of the 1st
of October, 1838, for carrying the treaty into effect.
" 4th. That an extraordinary expenditure has been incurred
in the execution of the treaty, to the extent of not less than
8,000,000/. sterling,* which ought not to fall on the finances of
India, the service having been undertaken as against Russia,
and with a view to European objects and policy, and not for
the protection of our Indian possessions or frontiers, which
were never endangered, or even menaced, by an enemy.
" 5th. That the East India Company having delivered up its
commercial assets, amounting to fifteen millions sterling, for the
purpose of being applied to the discharge of territorial debt,
and for other territorial objects, and having been compelled to
borrow large sums of money, amounting in the last year,
1841-42, to nearly three millions sterling, chiefly for the pur-
pose of maintaining our footing in Afghanistan ; its Adminis-
trators, the Court of Directors, are no longer in a condition to
raise the necessary supplies to defray the Home Charges, the
Interest of the Public Debt, and the Civil and Military ex-
penses abroad, without aid from the National Government;
and that, should it be judged necessary to put forth another
expedition for the re-conquest of Afghanistan, the resources of
* The entire expenses of the war were subsequently ascertained to amount
to 15,000,0007.
THE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 513
India will be found unequal to the enterprise. Money must be
raised (if it can be raised at all in India) at an extravagant
rate of interest ; the public creditors will be seriously injured
by the deterioration of the existing securities, bearing an in-
terest of only four and five per cent, per annum ; while the
public finances will, it is to be apprehended, be reduced to a
state of irretrievable disorder."
, having entered into the historical facts of
the case in a retrospect, which I have already quoted,
and emphatically repeated that " his Majesty's Go-
vernment is solely and exclusively responsible for
the expenditure which has heen incurred, and for
all the other consequences arising out of the occu-
pation of Afghanistan," he proceeded to say :
" If these premises be correct (and it is not even pretended
that we were willing instruments in the hands of his Majesty's
Ministers), I would submit that the Court are entitled and are
bound to claim indemnification from his Majesty's Govern-
ment. The extraordinary charge incurred, and to be incurred,
to the 30th of April, 1842, may be fairly estimated at eight
millions sterling ; and I would suggest, that in order to render
it more easy for the National Government to provide for the
demand, an annuity equal to the interest of that sum at 3^- per
cent, (the rate which Consols now yield), or 266,0007., be
settled by Parliament on the East India Company ; the amount
to be applied, in the first instance, to augment the existing
Guarantee Fund so far as to ensure its reaching its maximum
of twelve millions within forty years from the date of the last
Charter ; and such annuity to be afterwards applied as a Sink-
ing Fund for the security and ultimate redemption of the
Public Debt of India.
"There is nothing extravagant or unreasonable in this
claim; for the National Government must ultimately make up
the Guarantee Fund to the sum of twelve millions, by the terms
2L
51-1 . LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of the Charter-Act ; and when it is recollected that the Com-
mercial Assets of the Company have realised 15,215,654/., a
large portion of which sum has been appropriated to the dis-
charge of Territorial Debt, and other incumbrances, the Pro-
prietors of East India Stock have just reason to expect, and to
require, that their pecuniary interests be adequately secured
and provided for.
" Prospectively, some extension of the arrangement may
eventually become necessary ; for if it be determined to send
forth another expedition, on a larger scale, for the re-conquest
of Afghanistan, the resources of India will be found absolutely
unequal to the undertaking. We must go on borrowing at a
high rate of interest, while the dividends of the Proprietors of
East India Stock, and the interest payable to the public
creditors, must be provided for by means of loans. This is a
state of things which cannot long continue or be tolerated ; and
no man at all acquainted with India will be prepared to main-
tain that the extraordinary supplies required can be furnished
by means of increased taxation on the already over-taxed
people of India."
There was reason in all this there was justice in
all this : so much reason and so much justice, that
the Crown Ministers, then being Conservative states-
men, and not themselves the authors of the war,
made a show of considering the claims of the Com-
pany, and virtually, indeed, admitted their cogency.
It need not, however, be said that nothing was
done. The Court of Directors, true to themselves,
true to the country whose resources had been thus
lamentably wasted, pushed their claims with stead-
fastness and vigor. The Court of Proprietors made
a demonstration in the same direction ; and many
truths were uttered as truths often are uttered in
that assembly all to very little effect. The people
THE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 515
of India had paid the expenses of a war which, from
first to last, had heen a mystery to them a war
made for European purposes by the representatives
of the English Government and let the Court of
Directors and the Court of Proprietors clamor as
they might, not one sixpence was to he refunded.
Against this great injustice Mr. Tucker never
ceased to protest. He well knew that there were
no charges more often brought against the Govern-
ment of the East India Company than that it
wasted its resources on unprofitable wars, and was
greedy of territorial aggrandisement. And here
was a case, to be cited in all time, of a prodigious
waste of public money drawn from the labor of
the people of India an expenditure of millions
cast upon the waters to return to us in blood and
tears. This war had been prosecuted by the agency
of the armies of the East India Company, and
maintained by their revenues. In the flush of its
first success, the Crown Ministers, in Parliament
and on the Hustings, had boasted of it as a master-
stroke of policy redounding to the honor of the
existing Cabinet ; but when these boasted measures
were clouded by disaster and disgrace, and it was
found that millions of money had been expended
only to bring about the most appalling catastrophe
recorded in the annals of our Indian Empire, the
whole responsibility of the war was cast upon the
East India Company, and in spite of expostulations
and remonstrances bearing the eternal stamp of
justice upon them, the people of India were com-
2L2
516 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
pelled to pay the cost of the vagaries of Downing-
street. Had the millions thus misapplied been
suffered to remain in the Company's Treasury, for
ordinary purposes of internal administration,
placing at the disposal of the local authorities an
increasing surplus, and so stimulating the benevo-
lent energies of the Home Government, it is hard
to say what blessings, in the shape of great repro-
ductive agencies, might not have been conferred
upon the people. But instead of this, throughout
the greater part of the period embraced by the
Charter- Act of 1834, the curse of a Deficit sate
upon the arm of our Indian administrators, and
paralysed their ameliorative efforts. That Deficit
the Company owed primarily to the misdeeds of the
Crown Ministers ; and, secondarily, to the supine-
ness of the Parliament of Great Britain, which took
no account of these misdeeds. But the rare Justice
which had squandered the revenues of India upon
objects of European policy continued to pursue the
East India Company. It was made a reproach to
them that they had wasted the money drawn from
the labor of the people upon profligate and im-
politic wars ; and because they had not done more
good with this money, it was authoritatively de-
creed, by the Government which had spent it and
the Parliament which had permitted the expendi-
ture, that therefore the share of the Company in
the future government should be diminished and the
Ministerial element increased.
Such was the justice of the first charge against
THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 517
the Company's Government, and the justice with
which it was disposed of by the Government of the
Crown. The second charge of which I have spoken
of is, that the Company have proved themselves to
be greedy of territory, and have unrighteously ex-
tended their dominions. A signal instance of this
is to be found in the case of the appropriation of
Scinde. Scarcely had Mr. Tucker ceased to protest
against the iniquity of the Afghan invasion and the
scandalous misappropriation of the Company's re-
venues which it involved, when he was disquieted
by the announcement of the spoliation of Scinde.
Lord Ellenborough having restored peace to Asia,
and stamped the gratifying fact on a commemorative
medal, immediately made war upon the Ameers of
Scinde. These unhappy Princes, who might have
wrought us grievous annoyance during the brilliant
retributory operations of Pollock and Nott, and
who, if they had really desired to compass our over-
throw, exhibited in this juncture an extraordinary
amount of forbearance, were known to be weak, and
therefore they were declared to be hostile. Napier
and his battalions were let loose upon them. With
a signal display of courage worthy of a better
cause, the British General, with greatly inferior
numbers, flung himself upon the Belloochee host,
and humbled the Talpoor Princes to the dust.
There are some bright pages of military history in
our annals of Eastern conquest which should be
read apart from their political context ; and this is
one of them. The Ameers of Scinde were beaten
518 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
in battle ; and their country proclaimed a British
province.
This was one of those grievous wrongs which
were sure to stir the heart of Mr. Tucker with
measureless indignation, and to call forth from him
no uncertain trumpet- sounds of expostulation and
remonstrance. It may be stated here again, that,
as a man, he was a stanch Tory. His political
sympathies were all with the Conservative party.
He had rejoiced in the return of Sir Robert Peel to
office. He had recognised the great natural talents
and the official diligence of Lord Ellenborough at
the Board of Control, and believed that the appoint-
ment of that nobleman to the Governor-Generalship
of India was to be hailed as an auspicious event
ominous of a reign of prosperity and peace. But
as an East India Director he was of no party. He
had denounced the invasion of Afghanistan and the
deposition of Dost Mahomed; and he saw in the
spoliation of Scinde a kindred act of injustice. The
Court of Directors, to a man, were ranged upon the
same side. I believe that a considerable majority
of them at this time belonged to the Conservative
party. But it is a distinguishing merit of the Go-
vernment of the East India Company that its Di-
rectors shake the dust of faction off their feet when
they pass the threshold of the great house in
Leadenhall-street. They looked only at the injus-
tice and impolicy of conquering and annexing a
country, the rulers of which had in reality exercised
singular forbearance under great provocation, and
LETTER TO SIR HOBEKT PEEL. 519
the revenues of which could not be made to cover
the cost of its administration and its defence. So at
the end of August, 1843, they formally passed a
resolution, declaring that, in their opinion, the pro-
ceedings adopted towards the Ameers of Scinde had
been unjust and impolitic, and inconsistent with the
true honor and interests of our Indian Government.
Before this, Mr. Tucker had placed upon record
his opinions on the subject of the annexation of
Scinde.* In spite of his strong Conservative lean-
ings, and his disinclination to embarrass the Govern-
ment of Sir Robert Peel, he had been active in call-
ing for information relating to our proceedings
against the Ameers, and had not scrupled to de-
clare to the leader of the Conservative party that
the unrighteousness of these proceedings had forced
upon him a strong conviction that the Government
of India was not in safe hands. In the beginning
of June he wrote the following letter to Sir Robert
Peel:
" TO SIR ROBERT PEEL, BART.
" 1st June, 1843.
" MY DEAR SIR, I believe that you know that I have long
been an humble adherent of the Conservative body of which
you are the distinguished leader, and that, to the utmost of my
very slender means, I have, upon principle, advocated its cause
and interests through good fortune and through bad fortune.
" But as a member of the Court of Directors I have certain
duties imposed upon me, for the honest performance of which
I am responsible to my constituents and to the country. I
cannot believe that the Legislature intended to constitute us
mere unmeaning cyphers ; and, holding this opinion, I have
* See Memorials of Indian Government, pp. 313, et seq.
520 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
always acted, according to the best of my judgment, an inde-
pendent part, as one of the administrators of our Indian affairs.
" I may venture to say to you, that wiser and better men
than myself have, for some time, been of opinion that the
Government of India is not at present in safe hands. I concur
in this opinion; but I have been unwilling to act upon it
hitherto, from a feeling that extremities ought to be avoided as
long as possible.
" But the late transactions in Scinde have produced, unhap-
pily, a crisis in our affairs ; and I cannot refrain from taking an
early part in inquiring into the conduct of our Governor
abroad, without exposing myself to the charge of inconsistency,
and to a suspicion that the part which I took on the occasion
of the invasion of Afghanistan was dictated by party and factious
motives.
" I have accordingly given notice of a motion for the pro-
duction of the Scinde papers for the 7th of June ; and I have
sketched the grounds on which I propose to support this
motion.
" If the papers be laid before the Court, I shall examine the
case calmly and dispassionately, and endeavor to arrive at its
real merits.
" If the papers be refused, I must work with my own mate-
rials, and place on record the result. I do not go so far as to
say that, if the papers should not be given us, a presumption
will arise that the Government cannot be justified, or defended;
but I must think that an unfavorable impression will be pro-
duced by even their temporary suppression ; nor will it be
possible to prevent the case of the Ameers from being brought
before the British public, sooner or later.
" If you should have any wish to see my Notes, a copy shall
be immediately submitted for your perusal. They are founded
on what is publicly known ; for I have not thought it right to
make use of any confidential communications on the subject,
in the present stage of our proceedings.
u I have the honor to be, my dear Sir, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
"Bight Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart."
EVILS OF SECRECY. 521
Mr. Tucker hated secrecy. It was his opinion
that the history of Indian Government was too
much a sealed hook that truth and justice de-
manded a more general ventilation of Indian poli-
tics and that out of the Secret Committee there
should he no official secrets. The resolutions con-
demnatory of the annexation of Scinde were
" secret" resolutions ; hut it was Mr. Tucker's
opinion that they ought to he recorded upon the
puhlic proceedings of the Court, "it heing con-
trary to usage and at variance with the constitution
of the Court, acting under responsibility to other
puhlic authorities, to establish any Secret Depart-
ment, or to withhold from the public records any
secret resolution, or proceedings, beyond such rea-
sonable period as can be justified, upon the ground
that immediate publicity would seriously compro-
mise the public interests." And in November,
1843, he had contemplated proposing a resolution
to this effect ; but he had been subsequently induced
to withhold it. That, apart from every other con-
sideration, such secrecy is injurious to the character
of the Company's Government is not to be doubted.
The conduct of the Court of Directors has in many
instances been misunderstood and misrepresented ;
and they have submitted to these misunderstandings
and misrepresentations with an amount of for-
bearance which appears to me mistaken in prin-
ciple and unjustifiable in practice. A private indi-
vidual may submit to be misrepresented he may
do good by stealth, if he will, and be accused of
522 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
doing evil, without rebutting the charge he may
determine to let calumny have its way and to live
it down, without an effort to deprive it of its sting.
But a Government has no right to indulge in a
magnanimous forbearance of this kind. Its cha-
racter is public property. It cannot be misrepre-
sented without injury to the public. Every lie
affecting the character of a great constitutional
body is more or less a public calamity. If certain
Native Princes are violently despoiled of their pos-
sessions, and their broad lands annexed to the terri-
tories of the East India Company, it should be
known to the world whether it was or was not the
greed of the Company that caused this extension of
their empire. About such a matter as this, History
should not go groping in the dark. How is it to be
determined whether the Company ought expediently
to be trusted with more or with less power, unless it
is known what part they had in the furtherance or
the resistance of measures which have cast a stain
upon British policy in the East ? These were the
opinions of Mr. Tucker ; and if he had lived to hear
and to see what, during the discussions of 1853, was
said and written about the Company's Government,
lie would have been strengthened in his conviction
of their truth.*
* It was frequently said in my hearing that the Company might have ob-
jected to the annexation of Scinde, but that there was no proof of it before
the world, and that people were not called upon to take for granted the
truth of all vague assertions or obscure rumors on the subject. Others de-
clared that if the Company had condemned, either before or after the fact, the
unjust treatment of the Ameers of Scinde, they would have made it known
to the world, and that the mere fact of their silence was presumptive evidence
of their complicity in these foul transactions.
LOKD ELLENBOROTJGH'S RECALL. 523
What Mr. Tucker, as an individual Director,
wrote about the conquest and annexation of Scinde,
is on record. What the Court of Directors did in
their collective capacity, is not. I have only to do
with the performances of the latter, in so far as they
illustrate the sayings and doings of the subject of
this Memoir. But even in this limited significance,
the obscurity of which I have spoken is incon-
venient and embarrassing. One secret makes many.
If the Resolutions passed by the Court of Directors
in August, 1843, with reference to the annexation of
Scinde, were on record, they would throw much
light upon the next subject which the Biographer of
Henry St. George Tucker is called upon to illustrate.
These Resolutions, relating only to our proceedings
towards the Ameers of Scinde, were in effect a vote
of want of confidence in Lord Ellenborough. There
were other sources of complaint, but they were only
petty tributary streams swelling the great flood of
censure which set in against the unrighteous appro-
priation of the territories of Scinde. What they
principally were may be gathered from Mr. Tucker's
papers.* It is matter of history that Lord Ellen-
borough was recalled. That Mr. Tucker, some time
before the measure was determined upon by the
Court, had foreseen the necessity of it, has been
shown. He had no prejudices against the man ; he
had greatly esteemed his many high qualities, which
he now saw were those of one capax imperil nisi
imperassU, and there was regret in the disappoint-
* See papers on the "Administration of Lord Ellenborough" Memorials
of Indian Government, pp. 339, et seq.
524 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
ment. He was attached to Lord Ellenborough's
party; he was especially attached to some of his
Lordship's chief supporters the Duke of "Welling-
ton at their head and so little could he have heen
influenced by those considerations which were un-
truly said at the time, more than anything else, to
have moved the Court against him, that the very
measure which called forth the remarks of the Go-
vernor-General provocative, it was said, of his recall,
had been resolutely opposed by Mr. Tucker. But
he was not one to be deterred by any feelings of
personal regret from prosecuting his public duty.
Lord Ellenborough was recalled. The " gross in-
discretion" of the East India Company was publicly
stigmatised by the Crown Ministers; and every
effort was made to wrap the whole question in an
impenetrable fog, and set the public groping about
in ignorance and perplexity. Mr. Tucker was for
dragging it wholly into the clear light of day. In
truth, it was a very simple and intelligible business ;
and they who had looked for highly-seasoned reve-
lations would, if the whole history had been made
public, have been greatly disappointed. There was,
indeed, very little to reveal. The Court of Directors
believed that the public interests would suffer by
Lord Ellenborough's retention of the office of Go-
vernor-General, and therefore they recalled him.
What Mr. Tucker believed would be the effects of
the recall may be gathered from the following
letter :
LETTER TO LORD HEYTESBURY. 525
" MR. TUCKER TO LORD HEYTESBURY.
" 29th April, 1844.
" MY DEAR LORD, Throughout a long course of years, in
good fortune and in adverse fortune, I have continued the steady
adherent of the party which now constitutes the Government
of this country, and to the utmost of my very humble means
I have rendered it all the little service in my power, without
receiving or seeking any recognition of those slender services.
I have acted upon principle ; and if I am compelled to place
myself in opposition to those whose cause and interests I have
been so long accustomed to advocate, my motives can scarcely
be mistaken.
" But I have other duties and obligations imposed on me of
a paramount character ; and those duties I will endeavor honestly
and fearlessly to fulfil.
" The Court of Directors are placed at this moment in a
position of singular embarrassment; and I must think that the
Government has placed itself, and the public service, in a
position of extraordinary difficulty, which may have very serious
results.
" The two co-ordinate Authorities entrusted with the admi-
nistration of India, have been exhibited to Parliament and to
the Public as directly opposed to each other upon a most
important question. The judgment pronounced by twenty-nine
independent and disinterested men (for such they are) acting
under the sacred obligation of an oath, has been virtually
denounced and condemned (most unhappily, as I think) by a
Minister of the Crown in his place in Parliament, that Minister
being perfectly aware that the question had undergone the
most deliberate consideration during eight months, and that
the Court of Directors were fully prepared to carry out and to
justify their resolution.
" Again, we have the Governor- General of India placed in
the very singular position of being condemned by one of the
co-ordinate Authorities, while he is supported and publicly
justified by the other. This state of things must inevitably
produce inconvenience and embarrassment.
526 , LIFE OE H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" The first result will be, that the Court of Directors will
find it necessary to make an immediate appeal to their consti-
tuents, and through them to the British Public, in vindication
of their proceedings. The whole of their correspondence with
the Board and the Governor-General will be published; and a
case will, I have no doubt, be made out fully to justify the
recall of Lord Ellenborough.
" The second result may possibly be an appeal to Parliament,
where we shall be able, I think, to show that the power entrusted
to us by the Legislature was not granted in ignorance, as sup-
posed by Lord Brougham that the question of reserving a
veto to the Government was discussed and abandoned that
any tampering with the existing law in Parliament would be a
virtual infraction of the Charter that the power entrusted to
the Court has been wisely conferred and that the absolute
power to retain a Governor-General, the colleague or partisan
of any Ministry, would establish a despotism in India, totally
irreconcileable with constitutional principles, and with the
public interests.
" We have temperately considered all which has been urged,
or which perhaps can be urged, against our resolution; but we
deduce inferences exactly the reverse of those which have been
drawn.
" We are persuaded that the recall of Lord Ellenborough
will go far to restore that confidence to the Princes and Chiefs
of India, which his Lordship's aggressive policy (especially in
Scinde) has had a direct tendency to destroy.
" That it will promote the re-establishment of peace in India;
and may be expected to avert the calamities of new wars which
are impending in different quarters.
" That it will enable us to place our recent acquisitions in
Scinde on a more safe and satisfactory footing.
" That it may prevent the further disorganisation of the
Native army.
" That it will show the people of the Continent and of the
United States that the Government of this country is not iden-
tified with the unscrupulous and aggressive policy which has
characterised the proceedings of the Governor- General.
LETTER TO LORD HEYTESBURY. 527
" I could say a great deal more on the subject ; but our case
will be fully explained and enforced at the proper season, and
I have the most firm conviction that we shall be supported by
the Public.
" The Government paper of this morning has put forth a
foul calumny, that the Court have been influenced by a corrupt
feeling, originating in the Governor-General's economical re-
forms. Nothing could be more untrue Lord Ellenborough has
not effected any such reforms, although he has made innumer-
able changes, which are likely to occasion a great increase of
charge ; and if he had introduced such reforms, he would have
received the cordial support of the Court, who can have no
interest in any increase of expenditure.
"My seat in the Court is now of little or no value to me,
and I care not how soon it may terminate ; but while I hold it,
I shall do my best to maintain the independence of the Body
to which I belong, as well as what I believe to be the interests
of the public service.
" And why do I address myself to your Lordship at the
present moment on such a subject ? Because I foresee public
mischief, and because, well knowing your great prudence and
patriotism, I think it possible that you may have an opportunity
of averting that mischief.
" With this view, your Lordship is at full liberty to make
any use you please of this letter.
" I have the honor to be, &c., &c., most sincerely, &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Right Hon. Lord Heytesbury."
Perhaps, Mr. Tucker somewhat over-rated the
calm and dispassionate judgment which he "believed
that Lord Heytesbury would bring to bear upon
this important question. His Lordship was, per-
haps, more of a party man than his friend sus-
pected ; and he was a devout follower of the Duke.
At all events, the communication which Mr. Tucker
528 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
received in reply to the above earnest letter did not
encourage him to open out his mind any further to
his correspondent ; so he wrote back the following
brief rejoinder to Lord Heytesbury's reply :
" MR. TUCKER TO LORD HEYTESBURY.
" 1st May, 1844.
" MY DEAR LORD, I have been favored with your Lord-
ship's note of yesterday, and I have no wish to trouble you
further on the subject, except to explain that I never contem-
plated for an instant the possibility of the Court retracing its
steps. My anxious wish was to prevent, if possible, the Go-
vernment from identifying itself, to an unnecessary extent, with
the Governor- General, and from identifying its friends with its
political opponents. This has now been done. We have been
violently attacked; and as public men responsible for our acts,
we must defend ourselves. That defence will lead us into a
parallel line with those who are always ready to assail the
Government. Few will deplore the possible consequences more
than I shall do ; but many, I apprehend, will have greater
cause to deplore them.
" I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Eight Hon. Lord Heytesbury."
The Company did not "retrace their steps"
Lord Ellenborough returned to England. But it
was not thought expedient, now that the act of
"indiscretion" had been committed, that there
should be a public inquiry into its history. The
Company had accomplished their main object ; and
the Right of Recall remained in their hands.
DOMESTIC LIFE. 529
CHAPTER XVIII.
Mr. Tucker's Domestic Life His Second Chairmanship Appointment of
Lord Dalhousie Mr. Tucker's Farewell Address Public Entertainments
Correspondence with Prince Waldemar of Prussia Dinners to Lord
Dalhousie and Lord Hardinge Patronage Official Duties.
IT is time that I should cease, for a little space,
from the records of these exciting political events, to
speak again of Mr. Tucker's domestic life, and the
repose which he enjoyed in the family circle. He
had now numbered the allotted years of man. In
1840 he entered his seventieth year. But there was
a long season of usefulness yet before him ; and his
strength was not labor and sorrow. He was in the
enjoyment of excellent health ; all his faculties were
unimpaired ; his memory was as perfect as in his
youth ; his intellect was in its fullest vigor ; and an
abundant flow of animal spirits, a perpetual cheer-
fulness of demeanor, rendered his companionship
truly delightful even to the very young.
His home-life was a tranquil one. He was in the
daily enjoyment of many blessings, and a perennial
stream of thankfulness flowed from his heart. He
had seen a large family grow up at his knees a
2M
530 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
dutiful, an affectionate, a united family. No heavier
sorrow had thrown a shadow across his threshold for
long years, than that which all must bear who send
forth their sons to seek their fortunes in a strange
land. One by one his boys had received his benedic-
tion and set their faces towards the East. But there
was abundant compensation even in this. He knew
that his absent children were treading steadily the ap-
pointed path ; and that distance had little weakened
the ties which bound them to the old homestead.
He watched from a distance the career of his five
sons, and rejoiced in the thought that he had con-
tributed so many good workmen to the service of
the State.
There were other children, too, left to brighten
the fireside ; and there was the beloved companion
with whom he had climbed, hand-in-hand, the hill-
side of life. Day after day he journeyed down to
the India House, leaving his house in Upper Port-
land-place at an early hour of the morning, and
returning in the afternoon but little exhausted by
the labors of the day. He was not, as some men
who are much engaged in public business, absorbed
or distracted in the family circle. I have heard it
said, that he gleamed into it like sunshine, and had
a ready smile for the humblest of its members. He
left the India House, with all its cares and conten-
tions, behind him, and among his children was him-
self a child. Yet in his very playfulness there was
something that inspired respect. He was dignified
TESTAMENTARY BEQUESTS. 531
without stateliness ; and though he often unbent, he
never descended.
He was in the enjoyment, too, of a moderate for-
tune a fortune somewhat impaired by his excessive
liberality for he was at all times a cheerful giver,
and there were many members of his family and
many not of his family, who had profited largely
by his bounty but still sufficient for all his wants.
With his temperate habits, his powers of self-denial,
and his utter freedom from ostentation, he could
have contented himself even with a humbler style
of living ; and at one time the education and equip-
ment of his sons, and other extraordinary items
of expenditure, having pressed heavily upon the
sources of his income, he had it in serious contem-
plation to abandon his old home in Portland-place,
and to seeli elsewhere a humbler tenement. But it
had happened that, at this juncture, his store was
unexpectedly increased. Providence deals as largely
in rewards and compensations as in retributions and
revenges. To him who gives much, much often is
given. It was meet that one whose self-denying
generosity had been manifested so conspicuously
throughout life whose open hand had cheered so
many households, should now in his turn be cheered
by a gift as little anticipated by him as a shower of
gold from heaven. In January, 1840, a near neigh-
bour and a valued friend of Mr. Tucker Mr. An-
thony Brough died, and bequeathed to him and
his family legacies amounting in all to 10,OOOJ. Nor
2 M 2
532 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
was this the only unexpected boon that enriched
him in his declining years. At a somewhat later
period, Mr. Andrew Maclew, who in early life had
known Mr. Tucker in India, bequeathed to him
another lakh of rupees, with legacies to all his
daughters. Neither of these gentlemen was in any
way connected with Mr. Tucker; nor were they
beholden to him for any especial services. In both
instances the gift was nothing more than a spon-
taneous tribute of respect for the character of the
man.
A man neither prone to avarice nor to ambition,
nor abandoned to luxurious living, may have rejoiced
becomingly in these good gifts of Fortune ; and,
doubtless, they contributed to the happiness of the
last years of Mr. Tucker's life. It was an abiding
source of consolation to him to think that the house
in which he had lived a score of happy years, and in
which some of his beloved ones had first seen the
light, would still, when it pleased God to remove
him from the scene of his earthly labors, continue
to shelter those whom he saw daily assembling at
his board, and whom daily he commended to the
love of that kind Providence which had done such
great things for him. His cheerfulness and loving-
kindness, indeed, were without stint or abatement.
Increasing years seemed only to bring increasing
joyousness of heart and increasing gaiety of manner.
It was a calm, unclouded sunset which flushed all
the household with light.
Tew things have furnished to the literary essayist
HOURS OF RELAXATION. 533
pleasanter topics of discourse than the amusements
of the wise, and there are few more delightful chap-
ters in the biographies of the most loveahle of great
men, than those which represent the statesman or
the philosopher, the poet or the divine, in his hours
of relaxation. The greatest, indeed, have delighted
in seasonable frivolities, and have come down, be-
nignantly, from the stilts. It little matters what
the diversion may be. It may be the flying of kites
or the blowing of bubbles or the sending up of
paper balloons it may be a game of nine-pins or
of push-pin or it may be the swimming of little
boats. No one respects a man less for these season-
able amenities ; and every one loves him more.
Mr. Tucker's favorite relaxation was of a more in-
tellectual character than any I have here indicated.
It consisted in the composition of poetical enigmas.
And it was by no means a selfish amusement. Eor
he read them aloud after dinner, to the infinite
delight of his family circle, offering a reward to the
first of his children who succeeded in supplying the
required solution. Many and many a happy even-
ing was thus spent, after the severer labors of the
day were done ; and nothing was ever more accept-
able than the announcement that the Sphinx had
something to reveal. Many of these enigmas were
distinguished both by the ingenuity of the puzzle
they contained and the elegance of the poetry which
encased them. When in 1845-46 his quinquennial
year of absence from the Court came round, and he
had necessarily more leisure for the indulgence of
534 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
this harmless humor, he made a collection of these
little pieces, and printed them for the amusement of
his family circle and a few of his more intimate
friends.
Though no man ever delighted more in the tran-
quil enjoyments of Home, or hungered less after
extraneous excitements, he was one who, using the
World as not ahusing it, neither withheld himself
from social intercourse, nor desired to see his chil-
dren living the life of the Hecluse. But that which
was a distinguishing feature of his social character
was a never-failing hospitality. His doors were
opened freely to relatives and friends without regard
for his own personal convenience. His house, in-
deed, was one of those elastic houses which are not
unfitly called Family Hotels, and into which are
sometimes crowded an assemblage of guests far
beyond their legitimate capacity of accommodation.
There was no sacrifice of individual comfort which
he was not willing to make when there was any
peculiar claim upon his hospitality. He converted
his drawing-rooms into a sick- ward for the reception
of an invalid lady whom the Eaculty had pronounced
incurable ; and on another occasion received into
his house a more perilous inmate, with only a dis-
tant claim of consanguinity upon him. And, in
both cases, his kindness was rewarded by the unex-
pected recovery of his guests.
His humanity, indeed, was in all things con-
spicuous. He was tenderly compassionate of every
description of human suffering, and did not, whilst
HIS HUMANITY. 535
taking account of the more imposing misery of large
classes of his brethren, overlook the humbler sor-
rows of individual sufferers who shivered at his
own door. He watched with the deepest interest
the progress of those great social questions which
involved the physical and moral welfare of large
masses of the working classes;* but he did not,
whilst the cry of the Factory children was sounding
in his ears, close his eyes to the appealing looks of
the poor cross-sweeper who stood at the corner of
the street.
Upon such traits of individual character it is a
pleasure and a privilege to dwell but I must re-
turn again to the India House, and revert to Mr.
Tucker's public career. Though he had numbered
nearly fourscore years, he was as regular in his visits
to Leadenhall-street as in the early days of his con-
nexion with the Court ; and as indefatigable in his
* The Factory question, iu all its branches, especially that which related
to the limitation of the labor of women and children, excited his compas-
sionate sympathies in no common degree; and he was zealous in his en.
couragement of Lord Ashley and others, who were forward at this time in
the cause of humanity. The following letter, which he addressed to that
nobleman, shows the deep interest which he took in the question:
" March 23, 1844.
" MY DEAR LORD, I hope I may be permitted to congratulate you on the
triumph of humanity and justice yes, and of wisdom and policy.
" We may be dazzled for a season by our victories in the field, but this is
a triumph which will be registered where the record will endure for ever.
" I hope that your Lordship will, by-and-by, direct your views to a quarter
where grievous wrongs are to be redressed, and where there is a noble field
for the exercise of those qualities which are given us for the good of man-
kind.
" I have the honor to be, with great esteem,
" Your Lordship's most faithful,
" H. ST.G. TUCREK."
536 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
attention to business. Nor was it only the will that
was present. The power remained with him unim-
paired. He was as clear in all his conceptions ; as
tenacious of all the experiences of his long life ; as
methodical in the arrangement of his ideas ; and
both as vigorous and as perspicuous in his diction,
as he had been twenty years before. Such, indeed,
was the confidence which his colleagues reposed in
his unimpaired administrative ability, that, at the
age of seventy-five, he was invited by them again to
occupy one of the Chairs. " You will be surprised,"
he wrote to one of his sons, on the 5th of May,
1846, "to hear of my undertaking the office of
Deputy-Chairman at my advanced age ; but I could
not well avoid it ; and so far I have not experienced
any inconvenience from my extra labors. My health
has been mercifully preserved to me, and should I
continue to be blessed with it for a year or two longer,
I may hope to perform my duties efficiently."*
It was not without some doubt and hesitation that
he accepted the office. But as the colleagues who
knew him best were the most eager to counsel his
acceptance, and the strongest in their assurance
that his occupation of the Chair would be advan-
tageous to the interests of India, he made up his
mind to sacrifice his private ease and convenience,
* His health was very good at this time: and he was profoundly thankful
for this and all the other blessings that had been vouchsafed to him. " How
mercifully have I not been dealt with!" he wrote in a private memorandum-
book, under date of May, 1846. " How many blessings do I not enjoy! At
seventy-five I have still health, and am capable of enjoying all the comforts of
life. May I never forget, or cease to be humbly grateful to that gracious
Power by whom all these blessings have been bestowed."
APPOINTMENT TO THE CHAIRS. 537
and again to become one of the stroke-oars of the
Court. The only real objection to the arrangement
was purely of a domestic kind. Mr. Tucker believed
that if he were to take counsel with his family,
although every member of it would in her inmost
heart deplore his return to public life, not only be-
cause it would necessarily deprive her of so much of
his beloved society, but because it might endanger
his precious health, there might still be some re-
luctance, knowing as all did what was his sense of
public duty, to persuade him not to listen to the
solicitations of his friends in the Direction. And,
with characteristic generosity and refinement of feel-
ing, he determined, therefore, to take the step, past
revocation, without consulting any member of the
family-party, that the entire responsibility of the
step might be his own, and that, if any evil should
result from it, there should be no self-reproach be-
yond the limits of his own breast. It was not until
everything was concluded, that he announced in
Portland-place his intention of again accepting the
Chair.
In April, 1846, Mr. Tucker was, a second time,
elected Deputy-Chairman of the Court of Directors ;
and in April, 1847, he was, a second time, elected
Chairman of the Court.
Mr. Tucker's second Chairmanship was a less
troublous one than his first but it was not a less
busy or a less important one. It happened that in
the year 1847-48 an unusual amount of patronage
fell into the hands of the Court; and that there
538 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
was an unwonted number of those public entertain-
ments which draw together at the hospitable board
of the Company so many of the most distinguished
men of the age. During this year, not only was a
new Governor appointed to the Bombay Presidency*
and another to the Madras Presidency,! but it de-
volved also upon the East India Company to ap-
point a Governor-General in succession to Lord
Hardinge, who, greatly to the regret of the Court,
had announced his intention of laying down the
reins of office. " Lord Dalhousie," wrote Mr.
Tucker, in a letter dated the 26th of July, 1847,
" is to be the new Governor- General, and Sir Henry
Pottinger the new Governor of Madras. The papers
say that these appointments were proposed to us by
the Ministry ; but the fact is, that they were pro-
posed by us. There is only the difference of a pre-
position."
By Mr. Tucker, on whom, primarily as Chairman,
the duty of selection descended, the responsibility
was by no means lightly regarded; and it was a
source of personal regret to him that the vacancy
had occurred during his tenure of office. Writing
to Lord Hardinge in May, he said, " No proposition
has yet been made through me to the Court by her
Majesty's Government ; and I do believe that a
hope is still entertained that your Lordship will
continue at your post. I have a selfish feeling on
this subject, for a change may involve me in great
difficulty. I consider the selection for the office of
* Lord Falkland. f Sir Henry Pottinger.
APPOINTMENT OP LORD DALHOUSIE. 539
Governor- General to impose a sacred duty. The
well-being of millions may depend upon this selec-
tion, and the public interests may be seriously
affected by it. This is not mere speculation. To
my infinite annoyance I was on a former occasion
compelled to oppose an arrangement in which I
could not honestly concur ; and it would be an
instance of extraordinary bad fortune (which I
should most earnestly deprecate) if I should, a
second time, be placed in the same embarrassing
position. I can only hope for the best; and re-
solve to do my best."
And, doubtless, he did his best, when, in con-
junction with the Court, he recommended Lord
Dalhousie for the high office of Governor- General of
India. There was fortunately on this occasion no
difference of opinion between the authorities of the
Company and of the Crown. The appointment was
one of those felicitous ones which evoke no conflict
of interests, and scarcely excite any antagonism of
opinion. It was approved in England ; it was ap-
proved in India. Lord Dalhousie was known to
be a man of unstained reputation and uncommon
ability; sedulous in his attention to business, and
energetic without extravagance. It was believed
that he would prove to be at once a vigorous and a
safe ruler one who knew when action was required
and when repose; one equal to the necessities of
stirring times, but not eager to create them. And
it was mainly because moderation was esteemed to
be a distinguishing feature of his character that Mr.
Tucker gave him his confidence without stint.
540 LIEE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
It is one of the duties of the Chairman of the
Court of Directors to deliver a parting admonitory
address to every newly-appointed Governor. In
these addresses the same leading principles are
necessarily inculcated on all occasions ; and there
are certain stereotyped forms of expression, honored
by long usage, which one Chairman after another is
necessitated to use, for they are indispensable to
the completeness of the oration. By, the departing
statesman these valedictory harangues are generally
received as matters of course, and the exhortations
they contain not seldom whistled to the wind on
emerging into the outer air of Leadenhall- street.
On the occasion of which I am now writing, it is
probable that all that Mr. Tucker had to say had
been said more minutely and more emphatically in
private, and that he now only embodied his fore-
gone admonitions in more formal and stately periods.
Lord Dalhousie had visited the venerable Chairman
in his own private room at the India House, and
had shown himself eager to profit by the experience
of one who had been a ripe Indian statesman before
the youthful Governor-General had been born. It
is easy to divine what those lessons were. It is no
part of my duty to inquire how far they have been
regarded.
The formality of the valedictory address is followed
by the festivity of the, Farewell Banquet. "When
the Governor Elect has been instructed and admo-
nished in Leadenhall-street he is sumptuously feasted
and flattered in the coterminous street of Bishops-
PRINCE WALDEMAH. 541
gate ; and then it is well that he should speedily
embark. The entertainment to Lord Dalhousie was
not the first at which Mr. Tucker had presided since
he succeeded to the Chairmanship in April. In
July, 1847, he had welcomed home some of the dis-
tinguished soldiers who had taken a conspicuous part
in the recent campaigns on the Punjahee frontier.
At this entertainment Prince Waldemar of Prussia,
who had earned for himself a right to be classed
among the heroes of the Sutlej, was an honored
guest. This was one of many features which ren-
dered the Banquet a remarkable one, not easily to
be effaced from the memory of those who took part
in the festivities of the evening. There was some-
thing in the open, ingenuous character of the young
Prince that drew Mr. Tucker's heart towards him ;
and there were few in this country who more sin-
cerely lamented the premature close of his career
than the venerable statesman who had entertained
him, with so much geniality, at the London Tavern.
The feelings of kindness and respect between them
were, indeed, reciprocal. It will somewhat inter-
rupt the narrative to introduce in this place the
following letters, which they interchanged some
months after their meeting in the City Banqueting-
room but the interruption will be readily forgiven.
They call for no introduction and no comment :
" MR. TUCKER TO PRINCE WALDEMAR OF PRUSSIA.
"East India House, 18th March, 1848.
"MY MUCH ESTEEMED PRINCE, I have been honored with
your Royal Highness's letter of the 29th ult.; and I beg to
542 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
tender my respectful and warm acknowledgments for your
R.H.'s kind recollection of my request to be favored with auto-
graphs of the Royal Family of Prussia; and I can assure your
R.H. that those which you have kindly sent will be highly
valued by my daughters, who will consider them a very in-
teresting addition to their collection
" Your Royal Highness will, I am sure, be glad to hear of
the safe arrival of Lord Hardinge in this country, in excellent
health and spirits. The Court of Directors give the noble Lord
an entertainment on Wednesday, the 5th of April; and if
Berlin were a little nearer to us, I should earnestly entreat your
R.H. to join your companions in arms on this occasion; and to
impart additional lustre to the compliment which we propose
to pay his Lordship on the occasion of his return. In that case,
I should enjoy the very great gratification of having to present
your R.H., and your personal staff, with the Sutlej Medals,
which we expect to have ready for distribution in the course of
a very few days.
{i I pray Heaven for the peace of Germany, and for the con-
tinued prosperity of your Royal Highness's illustrious House.
" 1 have the honor to be, with the highest consideration
and respect,
" Your Royal Highness's most faithful servant,
" H. S-1-.G..fiorG-E TUCKER.
" To his Royal Highness
" Prince Waldemar of Prussia, &c., &c."
"PRINCE WALDEMAR TO MR. TUCKER.
" Berlin, 28th April, 1848.
" MY DEAR MR. TUCKER, It was impossible for me to find
a quiet moment, in the troublesome and excited state in which we
are thrown in oar heretofore peaceful Germany, to fulfil my warm
desire, and to express to you earlier my feelings of gratitude for
the remittance of the Sutlej Medals. I can assure you that we
all whom you kindly decorated with it are proud to wear this
present, given as a remembrance of a for-ever-glorious cam-
paign, where British valor manifested its renowned fame, and
DINNER TO LORD DALHOTJSIE. 543
where we Prussians were lucky enough to witness the invinci-
bility of our old allies. It is my sincerest wish that this friendly
understanding between our two nations, which are connected by
ties of relationship, may never be interrupted on account of
their mutual welfare, which is more uncertain than ever in
these times.
" I take this opportunity, dear Sir, to offer you my best
thanks for your amiable letter of the 18th ult. I hope you will
preserve your kindly feelings towards me, as I can assure you
that I still remember with gratitude your personal complaisance
with which you treated me during my stay in London, as much
as the very distinguished manner with which I was received in
the East India House a very gratifying moment of my life,
for which I have also to be thankful to you.
" I remain, dear Sir, with these feelings of gratitude, for
ever
"Yours,
" WAKDEMAE, PRINCE OF PRUSSIA."
In all its outer accidents and environments the
great Dinner to Lord Dalhousie on the 4th of Novem-
her, 1847, was much like any other dinner of the
same kind. There was the usual supply of turtle and
venison of cold punch and Champagne the usual
assemblage of my Lords and Gentlemen, including
many of the greatest statesmen and the greatest
soldiers of the age the usual vociferations of Mr.
Toole, the Toast-master, and the usual after-dinner
addresses. It is seldom given to man to enjoy better
dinners or pleasanter parties than these for not
only are the good things of the world abundant, but
there is an abundance of ready hands to dispense
them : there is a multitude of guests and no crowd ;
dignity without restraint, and cordiality with all
LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKEH.
decorum. There is the excitement of a public en-
tertainment with the comfort of a private party.
And in all these pleasant characteristics the dinner
to Lord Dalhousie differed little from those which
have preceded or which have followed it. Neither
outwardly was there much difference in the de-
meanor of the Chairman. The wonted geniality
scintillated in all his speeches. He spoke with the
same earnestness with the same impressiveness as
he had done on former occasions. But the day had
been to him one of severest trial.
A short time before, one of Mr. Tucker's sons
a civilian on the Bengal establishment had been
thrown from his horse, with fearful violence, against
the portico of a friend's house. His head had come
in contact with one of the pillars, and he had since
been lying between life and death at the Mofussil
station, where the accident had occurred that very
station of Gyah, where Mr. Tucker's first Indian
experiences had been gathered. This sad intelli-
gence had reached him by a preceding mail ; and it
so happened that on the very morning of the great
entertainment to Lord Dalhousie, the arrival of
another overland despatch the despatch by which
Mr. Tucker expected to receive tidings either of
his son's death or of his recovery was announced
at the India House. The forenoon was passed in
painful suspense, and yet in necessary activity. The
letters had not yet been delivered. The pressure on
the father's heart was almost intolerable ; but there
was much work to be done much for which prepa-
PARENTAL ANXIETIES. 545
ration was to be made and Mr. Tucker's wonted
firmness and self-control did not desert him. He
did all that it behoved him to do, and then waited
the arrival of the letters.
In the course of the day they were delivered.
There was not one in his son's handwriting. Tre-
mulously anticipating the worst, Mr. Tucker opened
the first that presented itself to him and a little
note fell from it. It was written by his boy. The
enclosure was from the medical officer who had
attended him announcing that so great an im-
provement had taken place that the invalid would
be speedily enabled to proceed to Calcutta for the
purpose of embarking for England. The weight
which had pressed so heavily on Mr. Tucker's heart
was now removed ; and it beat freely with exulta-
tion and gratitude. But there is always something
enervating and unhinging in such reactions. It is
a strong mind the equilibrium of which is not dis-
turbed by such shocks as this. But with all the
tender-heartedness of a woman, Mr. Tucker had an
habitual self-command truly heroic ; and he now
held his feelings in subjection to his will. He went
through his appointed duties with composure deli-
vered the valedictory address at the India House,
and presided at the complimentary Banquet at the
London Tavern as though he had not a few hours
before been in tremulous expectancy of receiving
intelligence of the death of a beloved son.
In the spring of the following year, just before his
retirement from the Chair, he twice again presided
2N
546 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
at the public entertainments of the East India Com-
pany. The first of these was a farewell dinner to
Lord Falkland, who was about to proceed as Go-
vernor to Bombay. The second was a congratu-
latory Banquet to Lord Hardinge, on the occasion
of his return from India. This was on many ac-
counts a remarkable gathering and it was the last
one at which Mr. Tucker ever presided. It may be
said that on this 5th of April, 1848, he took his
leave of the Public. Of Lord Hardinge he had
ever been a steady admirer and consistent supporter.
There was not, perhaps in the whole kingdom, a man
with a sincerer love of Peace not one who despised
and condemned, with a more sovereign contempt
and a more vital abhorrence, those traders in War,
who make for themselves the occasion of battle, and
smite either for the love of smiting, or for the re-
wards that Victory brings. He had no toleration
for the cruel or the ambitious soldier ; but he saw
in Lord Hardinge one neither cruel nor ambitious
one who had kept the sword in the scabbard as long
as it could be kept there with safety and with honor
one who had been slow to strike, but who had
struck, in self-defence, bravely and well, and who,
in the hour of conquest, had exercised a forbearance
as conspicuous as his gallantry in the field. He
saw in Lord Hardinge a great soldier, with whom
courage and clemency, success and moderation, went
hand in hand ; and he honored the man who, amidst
so much to dazzle and to disturb, could still possess
himself in steadfastness of soul.
DINNER TO LORD HARDINGE. 547
What, therefore, on this occasion, Mr. Tucker
said in praise of Lord Hardinge, he said from the
full heart; and he said it, too, with an enlarged
satisfaction, because he spoke in the presence of the
foremost soldier of the age. The Duke of Welling-
ton had accepted the invitation of the Company,
and had attended to do honor to one of the most
esteemed and heloved of his Lieutenants. He had
not partaken of the hospitality of the Company
since they had incurred his displeasure by the recall
of Lord Ellenborough* but now his animosity
seemed to have passed away, and he met Mr. Tucker
with even more than his old cordiality, extending
both his hands to greet the Chairman, and eagerly
inquiring after his health. This was not one of the
least of the circumstances which on that evening
stirred Mr. Tucker's heart with grateful emotions.
He knew that the displeasure of the great Duke
was unreasonable and unjust ; but although he never
regretted the cause of it, he could not help lamenting
the effect.
But there was a shady side to the picture, too.
This, as I have said, was Mr. Tucker's last appear-
ance, in a prominent position, before the Public. It
may be said, indeed, although his career of official
usefulness was not at an end, that he then virtually
bade farewell to Public Life. When Sir John Hob-
house, as President of the Board of Control, pro-
* Oji the occasion of the Farewell Entertainment to Lord Dalhousie, the
Duke had accepted the invitation, but had rot attended the dinner. This,
however, did not prevent Mr. Tucker from proposing his health, with all
warmth of heart and fervency of manner.
2 N 2
548 LIFE OF II. ST.G. TUCKER,.
posed the health of Mr. Tucker and the Court, the
venerahle Chairman replied : " I accept the compli-
ment which has been offered on the part of the
Court of Directors, whose organ, on this occasion, I
have the honor to be. But I am only the Pageant
of a day ; and after having fretted my little hour I
must disappear. If, however, I may be allowed to
appropriate any part of the compliment, I must
assign it to its true source. I had the good fortune,
in the early days of my boyhood, to enjoy a pure
atmosphere. I first served under the great and good
Lord Cornwallis, who was the perfect personification
of disinterestedness and patriotism. He steadily
enforced the principles of justice ; he saw no object
but the honor and interests of his country. I had
also the good fortune to be patronised by the late
Sir William Jones, whose genius seemed to soar
above this lower world, and whose love of constitu-
tional liberty, and whose devotion to literature, im-
pressed me with a feeling which I have carried
through life. To these estimable men be assigned
the merit of anything which I have been fortunate
enough to accomplish. And now, my Lords and
Gentlemen who know me not, and whom I have had
the honor of seeing probably for the last time, I bid
you a respectful Farewell. To my colleagues, friends,
and companions, who do know me, I would say,
farewell till we meet again.
" ' Inveni portum, Spes et Fortuna, valete !
Sat me ludistis, ludite nunc alios.'
" I've reached the haven Fortune, Hope adieu,
Let others now the slippery path pursue.' "
CHAIRMAN-LIFE. 549
But although it may be said that in these words
he took farewell of the larger outside circle of the
Public, there was still a season of continued use-
fulness remaining before him ; his work, indeed,
was not yet done. I have hitherto only spoken in
this chapter of those circumstances, arising out of
Mr. Tucker's second tenure of office as Chairman of
the East India Company, which brought him pro-
minently before the Public. But it is not of these
public appearances that the Chairman-life of an East
India Director is made up ; all this, as Mr. Tucker
said, is but the pageantry of the hour. There is a
solid reality about it, far beyond the scope of fare-
well addresses to Governor-Generals, or complimen-
tary after-dinner harangues. And Mr. Tucker, at
least, was not one to suffer his office to degenerate
into a sham.
He was, indeed, very tenacious of the character of
the Court, and on all occasions asserted its rights
and upheld its dignity. To the very last he pro-
tested against the encroachments of the Board of
Control. At one of the public entertainments to
which reference has been made, Sir John Hobhouse,
who had long presided at that Board, on proposing
Mr. Tucker's health, had said : "A more conscien-
tious, a more zealous, a more vigilant guardian of
the interests entrusted to him could not exist ;" and
had added, that although " allusion had been made to
differences that might arise in the conduct of affairs
between the two authorities, he could only say, that
if these quarrels were between them, they were
550 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
lovers' quarrels, which only ended in the renewal of
love." But the real state of affairs is not to be judged
of by these post-prandial amenities. Doubtless, the in-
tercourse between them was maintained without the
smallest leaven of personal animosity on either side.
They were both of them far above the littleness of
suffering any feelings of private resentment to enter
into the official conflicts which occasionally arose.
These were simply conflicts between the Court of
Directors and the Board of Control ; and it was in
the course of one of them that Mr. Tucker wrote to Sir
John Hobhouse that he could not bring himself to
believe that it was the intention of the Legislature,
that in the Secret Committee the representatives of
the East India Company should be reduced to a
mere nullity, and suffered only to perform minis-
terial duties which could as well be executed by " a
secretary or a seal."
That each statesman conscientiously pursued the
course of official conduct that seemed to him best
calculated to advance the public interests, is not to
be doubted. But there was much conflict of opinion ;
and it appears to me, that when the two authorities
came into actual collision, as they sometimes did,
there was unconstitutional encroachment on the side
of the Board, constitutional resistance on the side
of the Company. Thus, on one occasion, the Board
cancelled in a letter which the Court had addressed
to one of the local Governments, a passage ordering
the dismissal of one of their servants an officer of
the Indian navy. That the Court of Directors were
THE COTJUT AND THE BOAKD. 551
invested by law with the power of dismissing their
own servants, is not to he questioned. They had
authority to dismiss a Governor- General and au-
thority to dismiss a naval lieutenant. Any attempt
to interfere with this authority was clearly contrary
to law ; and Mr. Tucker, when he resisted it, as
Chairman of the Company, did only what he was
bound to do in defence of the independence of the
Court. As an individual Director he had opposed
the measure in question ; but as the organ of the
Court it was his duty to enforce it, whatever might
be the decree of the Board.
This is given merely as an illustration of the
manner in which the two authorities were some-
times brought into collision ; but there were more
important differences of opinion regarding the ge-
neral functions of the Secret Committee and the
intent of its organisation. Upon this subject Sir
John Hobhouse and Mr. Tucker were hopelessly at
variance. The former regarded the Secret Com-
mittee as a mere sham ; and determined to keep it
so. He thought that there was little use in per-
sonal conferences between the President of the
Board of Control and the " Chairs" of the East
India Company ; and insisted that, although the
latter might relieve themselves, if they pleased, by
writing Dissents or Protests in their own houses,
for their own comfort or convenience, they had no
power to record them, and no right to claim for
them the distinction of being regarded as public
documents. He described the system of writing
552 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
and recording minutes at the India House as an
inconvenient practice, which encouraged contro-
versy, retarded public business, and perpetuated
disunion; and declared that if he could do away
with this bad Indian habit, he would do so to-
morrow. Prom all of this Mr. Tucker emphatically
dissented. He asserted his belief that personal ex-
planations had sometimes removed difficulties, and
enabled the two authorities to carry on the public
business with more expedition, and in a more satis-
factory manner, than might otherwise have been
practicable; and so far from regarding the system
of recording minutes as a mischievous one, he ear-
nestly declared that the greatest consolation he had
enjoyed, or could enjoy, as a public servant, arose
from the reflection that he had placed on record his
sentiments and forewarning on the Afghan question,
the Scinde question, the Resumption of Rent-free
Tenures, the Extension of the Opium Monopoly, &c.
That the practice of recording the dissents of the
Secret Committee might have been inconvenient to
the Crown Ministers, is not to be doubted ; but that
was hardly the question at issue, nor could Mr.
Tucker so regard it. But irreconcileable as was the
difference of opinion between the two statesmen,
the utmost courtesy and kindness was maintained
in all their relations with one another ; and one of
the last letters which Mr. Tucker wrote to the Pre-
sident of the India Board, before quitting the Chair
in 1848, he concluded by saying : " My time is now
short ; and in six weeks I shall be relieved from a
PATRONAGE. 553
charge, which in many respects has been irksome to
me, although I am very far from including my inter-
course with you among the disagreeables. On the
contrary, it has been the source of satisfaction to me."
Something, too, may be said in this place about
Mr. Tucker's distribution of his patronage. Much
has been written and spoken, at divers times and in
divers places, about the nepotism of the Court of
Directors of the East India Company. The corpus
delicti appears to be this, that having every year
a few writer ships and a considerable number of
cadetships, besides a certain number of appoint-
ments in the medical and clerical services at their
disposal, they provide, out of this fund, for their
children, or grandchildren and for a few more re-
mote connexions. But I have never been able to dis-
cern, in this, anything discreditable to the Directors
themselves, or disadvantageous to the public interests.
It may be assumed, in the first place, that it was the
intent of the Legislature, which fixed the salary of an
East India Director at an amount below the sum
apportioned to a junior clerk in the India House,
that the patronage of the Company should, in some
sort, be considered as the perquisites of office. But
setting aside this consideration altogether, it appears
that the department of Government, the chiefs of
which do not distribute the patronage at their dis-
posal among their own friends, is yet to be disco-
vered. And there is this remarkable difference
between the distributors of English and Indian
patronage, that whereas the tenure of office by a
554 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
Grown Minister is always more or less precarious, an
East India Director is elected for life. He is not,
therefore, under the necessity of grasping everything
within his reach whilst the sunshine of place and
possession is beaming upon him, lest some stray gust
of popular caprice should suddenly blow him back
into private life. Mr. Tucker, for example, held his
place at the India House for a quarter of a century.
During that period he sent out five sons to India
in the Company's service ; and he provided for some
collateral relatives. Now, there is this advantage in
the India House system, that however much a
Director may be given to nepotism, the nepotes are
never so numerous as not to leave a large surplusage
of patronage to be distributed among applicants
whose claims are mainly of a public character. That
every Director gives away a considerable number of
appointments solely on these public grounds is not
to be questioned. They who are best acquainted
with the secrets of the India House are best pre-
pared to depose confidently to the fact.
But, on the other hand, it is not to be doubted
that the claims of some applicants are advanced in
vain. I do not know that it is peculiar to the India
House that petitioners and worthy ones, too are
sometimes sent empty away. But I believe that
there is no public building in the country where so
much time is spent by the dispensers of patronage
in listening to and sifting such claims, and that no
official men are, on the whole, so patient and so
courteous. The Chairman of the Court of Directors,
PAT110NAGE. 555
who is supposed to be the representative * of the
Court, and to exercise a sort of general power over
its patronage to be the depositary, indeed, of all
kinds of rich gifts, and the target at which all sorts
of complaints may be rightfully levelled day after
clay devotes a large portion of his time to the recep-
tion of these petitioners. He and his Deputy have
a double share of patronage at their disposal ; but
the number of appointments in their gift bears but
a small proportion to the number of applicants, and
there must necessarily be many refusals. This was
the most painful part of Mr. Tucker's duties ; as I
doubt not it was and is of all his colleagues who
have occupied the Chair. But he was accessible to
all comers ; he received them with ready courtesy,
and when compelled to return a refusal, was careful
that it should be a kindly one. It has been said of
him, indeed, as it was said of Marlborough, that " he
could refuse more gracefully than other people could
grant, and those who went away from him the most
dissatisfied as to the substance of their business, were
yet personally charmed with him, and in some degree
comforted by his manner."
It was his privilege, however, to distribute no
small share of his patronage beyond the circle of his
own private friends, and largely to elicit, by these
bestowals, the gratitude of the widow and the orphan.
As years advanced, he became increasingly solicitous
about the right appropriation of the appointments
in his gift. The dispensation of his clerical patron-
age had always been a matter of anxiety to him ; for
556 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEK.
he conscientiously recognised the greatness of the
responsibility it involved. During his first Chair-
manship he had placed two Indian chaplaincies at
the disposal of the Chancellor of Oxford then the
Duke of Wellington and now he made a similar
offering to Cambridge, through the Chancellor,
Prince Albert :
" TO H.R.H. PRINCE ALBERT, &C., &C.
"East India House, 16th December, 1847.
" SIR, When, on a former occasion, I had the honor of
holding my present station as Chairman of the Court of
Directors of the East India Company, I was induced to
solicit his Grace the Duke of Wellington, as Chancellor
of the University of Oxford, to do me the favor to pre-
sent from among the members of that University two clergy-
men for the appointment of Chaplain on the Indian Establish-
ment. I was desirous on this occasion to testify my personal
respect for his Grace, as well as my respect for the University,
and to feel satisfied that individuals would be selected for the
sacred office who would do credit to the nomination, and who
would be found useful and respectable members of the ser-
vice.
" Upon similar considerations I am induced to solicit that
your Royal Highness will be graciously pleased to present from
the University of Cambridge two of its members for the ap-
pointment of Assistant-Chaplain at the Presidencies of Bengal
and Madras; and in making this request, I may be permitted
to express my hope that it will be graciously received as a
testimony of my great respect for your Royal Highness, and
for the University over which you preside.
" I have the honor to be, with the highest respect and de-
ference, your Royal Highness's most faithful servant,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
"To H.R.H. Prince Albert, &c., &c."
LETTER TO Sill ROBERT PEEL. 557
Some years before he had offered a eadetship to
Sir Robert Peel, on the occasion of his election as
Rector of the Glasgow University, to be given to
one of the students of that Institution. The letter
in which he tendered the appointment is so charac-
teristic of the writer, that the retrospect will be
forgiven :
" MR. TUCKER TO SIR ROBERT PEEL.
"East India House, 17th January, 1837.
" MY DEAR SIR, The youth of Glasgow are worthy of all
honor; and I regard your recent visit to that city as the most
auspicious event which has occurred for some time an event
which I hail with joy and hope, as the harbinger of our coun-
try's deliverance.
"It has occurred to me that you would feel pleasure in
having an opportunity of providing for one of these public-
spirited young men; and I, in consequence, take the liberty of
placing at your disposal a nomination to the service of
India.
" I should, perhaps, feel some hesitation in taking this step
if I had anything to ask, and if you were the dispenser of
favor; but my motives cannot, I think, be mistaken. I am too
old for ambition, and too young, I hope, for avarice; even if
you were in a situation to gratify these passions.
" With the most fervent wishes for your complete success
in the glorious course which you have undertaken, I have the
honor to be,
" Dear Sir, your very faithful servant,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
The offer, however, was not accepted. Sir Robert
Peel's answer was full of courtesy and kindness, but
he said that he was not personally acquainted with
a single student in the University, and that he knew
558 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKEH.
no public object that was to be gained by his holding
the appointment in his gift.* "Whether it did not
occur to him that it might be placed at the disposal
of the Collegiate authorities for purposes of public
competition, or whether he was not sufficiently en-
lightened to recognise the expediency of such a mode
of dispensing the Company's patronage, I do not
pretend to know.
Ten years afterwards, Mr. Tucker declared his will-
ingness to place at the disposal of the Governor-Ge-
neral an Assistant- Surgeoncy, to be given to one of
the native students of the Medical College of Calcutta.
" The question," he wrote to Lord Dalhousie, in No-
vember, 1847, " of their eligibility to appointments in
the regular branch of the service has not yet been
mooted, but I will consult my colleagues on this
question at our next meeting, and if it should be
considered that they can, without objection, be in-
troduced into the Medical service as Assistant- Sur-
geons, I shall be happy to place a nomination for
one of them at your Lordship's disposal. One of the
greatest benefits, in my opinion, which we have yet
conferred on the people of India, is the introduction
of medical science among them, and the dissipation
* The passage in which this is stated is worthy of insertion here: "I feel
much obliged by your kind consideration, and assure you with perfect sin-
cerity that I should not hesitate a moment in availing myself of the kind
offer which accompanies your letter, if I could do so with advantage. But I
literally was not personally acquainted with any one student at Glasgow when
they elected me, and I have therefore no private and personal wish to gratify
by profiting by your kind consideration Having, therefore, no personal
wish to gratify, and fearing no public object would be advanced by my avail-
ing myself of your generosity, I return to you the enclosed, with thanks as
sincere and cordial as if I had been enabled to make use of it."
PATRONAGE. 559
of their prejudice against anatomical operations."
But the Court, after mature deliberation, were of
opinion, that the appointment of these native
students to the covenanted branch of the service
would be attended with much public inconvenience.
The decision was severely criticised out of doors;
and many arguments, theoretically sound, were ad-
duced against the exclusion of the native students.
But there were practical considerations weighing
heavily on the other side ; and they who were best
acquainted with the nature of the Service to which
it was proposed to attach these deserving youths,
and the character of the duties to be performed by
them, believed that both the welfare of the students
themselves, and the interests of the public, would be
best promoted by effectually providing for them as
medical practitioners without giving them military
commissions.*
The activity of Mr. Tucker at this period was
great. There was scarcely a subject connected, in
any way, with the Government of India, from the
cultivation of cotton and sugarf to the officering
* With reference to the subject of Mr. Tucker's patronage, the reader may
advantageously turn back to a letter given at page 482, in which the writer
says : " I have determined to apply my extra patronage as Chairman, to pro-
vide for the sons and relations of meritorious officers in his Majesty's and our
own service."
f See, on the subject of Cotton Cultivation, letter to Mr. Thomason, given
in the following chapter; and letters to Mr. Cornewall Lewis and Mr.
Thomason, in Memorials of Indian Government (page 177). In one of the
latter Mr. Tucker says: " It is singular that I should, at this late period, after
the lapse of nearly sixty years, be pursuing an object which attracted my at-
tention as a boy, whilst residing in the Hurriaul Aurung, in the district of
Rajashaye." To the kindred topic of Indian Sugar reference is made in
Chapter XX. Some excellent remarks, written in l48 t on the want of sym-
pathy between the European officer and the native soldier, will be found in
Mr. Tucker's Memorials (pp. 93, et seq.~).
560 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of the native army, to the elucidation of which he
did not apply himself with all the energy and ahility
of his youth. Some of his most valuable papers were
written about this time. Nor was it only in the
minutes which bear his name that the results of his
intellectual activity were apparent. The rough
drafts of whole sheaves of India-House despatches,
with Mr. Tucker's pencil - notes and emendations
upon them, exhibit, in umnistakeable characters, the
earnest, sedulous attention which he devoted to the
duties of his office. Indeed, he more than fulfilled
the expectations of the friends who told him that
the Chair could not be occupied by one better able
to do full justice to the selection of the Court.
PHIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 561
CHAPTER XIX.
Mr. Tucker's Private Correspondence during his Second Chairmanship
Letters to Lord Hardinge; to Sir T. H. Maddock; to Mr. George Clerk; to
Mr. Thomason; and to Lord Dalhousie.
To a selection from Mr. Tucker's correspondence,
during his second tenure of office, as Chairman of the
East India Company, the present chapter may be
fitly appropriated :
[Introductory The Affairs of the Punjab, Scinde, Gumsoor, &c. The Re-
ligious Controversy at Madras The Furlough Regulations, &c.]
" East India House, 24th April, 1847.
" MY DEAR LORD, As the Court of Directors have been
pleased to appoint me their Chairman for the present year, your
Lordship may perhaps expect to hear from me; and if I can be
of any use in conveying intelligence on matters of interest a
little earlier than you can receive the communication through
the official channels, I shall be happy to perform this office.
" I very cordially congratulate your Lordship on the success
of your Punjab arrangements; and I believe that all impartial
and intelligent men are now satisfied that these arrangements
were dictated by sound policy, while they were recommended
by considerations of a still higher character. We were latterly
somewhat favored by circumstances ; but our success was the
legitimate result of prudence, moderation, and justice.
" We have a number of important and difficult questions
2 o
562 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
pending at present the Railroad projects the new Furlough
Regulations, &c., &c.; but I will not trouble your Lordship
just now with my particular sentiments on these questions.
The Madras controversy on that most delicate of all questions,
Religion, has occasioned us the greatest embarrassment ; but
only one feeling, I think, prevails here that the agitation of
this question is pregnant with danger, and that it is become
urgently necessary to enforce the policy so long observed by
our Government.
" The Scinde question is also most embarrassing. There is
a strong impression here (supposed most erroneously to originate
in personal feelings), that a regular system of civil administra-
tion should be introduced in that country ; but the quo modo is
still felt to be matter of difficulty.
" The Gumsoor disturbances will, I am sure, have received
your Lordship's early attention. I am quite satisfied that a
barbarous people are not to be reclaimed and civilised by the
process of burning and destroying; and your Lordship will
have known, historically, that a people, very similar to the
Khoonds in habits, character, and origin, were reclaimed and
civilised by the benevolent policy of an individual (the late
Mr. Cleveland, then Collector of Baugulpore). I am just now
engaged in preparing a despatch on this subject.
"The Furlough question will, I believe, be referred to your
Lordship's Government, as we cannot come to a perfect under-
standing with the Board on some parts of the new plan, on
which the late Chairman has bestowed a great deal of atten-
tion. ....
u I will only add, on the present occasion, my sincere wishes
for the continued success of your Lordship's administration;
and I do hope that you will continue long enough in the Go-
vernment to effect as much in the civil branches of the service
as you have accomplished in the political and military branch
of our affairs. I pointed out to Sir H. Maddock, some time
since, some objects which might admit of retrenchment on the
restoration of peace ; and I observe that they have not escaped
your Lordship's attention. I might add, perhaps, the She-
kawattee brigade, the Russell brigade at Hyderabad (with a
LETTER TO LORD HARDINGE. 563
view to relieve the Nizam's finances), and some other objects;
but they will not, I am sure, be overlooked by your Lordship;
and I have hazarded enough for a first letter. I cannot, how-
ever, conceal from myself that we have an enormous financial
deficit to meet, and that it is impossible to go on prosperously
with an increasing debt.
" I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT HA.RDINGE, G.C.B., &C., &C.
[On the Appointment of Sir John Littler, &c., &c., and the evils of frequent
Changes in the Administrative Agency of India.]
" East India House, 7th May, 1847. !
" MY DEAR LORD, I have little of novelty or interest to
communicate to you since the despatch of the last maiL
" I have given notice of a motion for Wednesday next, for
the appointment of Sir John Littler as a provisional member
of Council, and I have no doubt of the cordial concurrence
of my colleagues. The appointment will, I think, give your
Lordship pleasure, and be highly satisfactory to the army, as
showing our sense of the merits and services of so distinguished
an officer
" The Madras controversy has occasioned us great embarrass-
ment, especially in its relation to the religious question ; but I
hope the orders from hence will put a stop to it, for no question
more mischievous could well be agitated.
" The Gumsoor disturbances have also caused us great
concern and some anxiety; but I feel assured that your Lord-
ship will have arrested the proceedings of the agent, Captain
M'Pherson ; for no people, I apprehend, will ever be civilised
by fire and devastation.*
" The attention of the Court has been drawn lately to the
practice of making numerous acting appointments, especially
in the North- West Provinces. They cannot always be avoided;
* This was written under an erroneous impression of the real character of
Captain M'Pherson's proceedings, which had been misrepresented to Govern-
ment. The charges brought against M'Pherson were afterwards investigated
by a Special Commission, and found to be entirely groundless. J. W. K.
2o2
564 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
but they are very prejudicial, for the people have not time to
become acquainted with their rulers, nor the rulers with the
people. I merely mention this as a circumstance (not to say
an evil) which has been discussed at much length of late, in
reviewing the new Furlough plan.
" It is reported in some quarters here, that it is your Lord-
ship's intention to leave India in January next; but I do hope
that such is not the case. I have no connexion with her
Majesty's Government; but I feel satisfied^ from what I hear,
that they are quite sincere and earnest in the wish that your
Lordship should continue in charge of the Government. One
of the greatest evils attending our administration of India is
the frequent changes in the Government. The natives look to
persons, rather than to principles and to the system of Govern-
ment; and they see everything in a course of change; and, in
truth, there is too much disposition to change on our part.
Every man is more or less attached to some preconceived
notion ; and we do not always pay sufficient deference to the
wisdom of our predecessors. Your Lordship has been so much
engaged in military and political movements of vast magnitude
and importance, that you have had little leisure to enter into
the details of civil administration ; and I do hope that you will
remain long enough in the country to render your Government
in the civil department as beneficial to the country as your
political and military arrangements have proved to be, both to
the State and to our native subjects and allies. That your
Lordship's administration may continue prosperous in all its
branches to its termination, is the sincere wish of
" Your most faithful servant,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE EIGHT HONORABLE VISCOUNT HARDINGE.
[On the Announcement of his Resignation, and the Appointment of a
Successor.]
" East India House, 23rd May, 1847.
" MY DEAR LORD, I have just been favored with your
Lordship's letter of the 5th April, and it was with unfeigned
concern that I received the announcement of your intention to
LETTER TO LORD HARDINGE. 565
resign the Government in December next. I do believe that it
is the earnest wish of her Majesty's Ministers that you should
remain in India at least for another year ; and if for no better
reason, from the difficulty of finding a suitable successor. Lord
Clarendon goes to Ireland; and even if he had not been called
upon to fill this difficult (perilous, I might call it) this most
difficult station, his Lordship, I understand, had objections to
India. Two other noblemen have been mentioned, but I ap-
prehend that difficulties may occur in carrying through the
appointment of either; but no proposition has yet been made,
through me, to the Court, by her Majesty's Government; and
I do believe that a hope is still entertained that your Lordship
will continue at your post. I have a selfish feeling on this
subject; for a change may involve me in great difficulty. I
consider the selection for the office of Governor- General to
impose a sacred duty. The well-being of millions may depend
upon this selection, and the public interests may be seriously
affected by it. This is not mere speculation. To my infinite
annoyance, I was, on a former occasion, compelled to oppose
an arrangement which I. could not honestly concur in; and it
would be an instance of extraordinary bad fortune (which I
should most earnestly deprecate) if I should, a second time, be
placed in the same embarrassing position. I can only hope for
the best, and resolve to do my best.
"For the last fortnight a very uneasy feeling has prevailed
in this metropolis, partly from the dread of famine, and partly
from Financial derangement. Happily, we have had some
days of propitious weather, which has somewhat diminished the
alarm of an impending famine; and if we should be blessed
with a bountiful harvest, our financial difficulties will, I trust,
gradually disappear. They arose, in part, from the excessive
importation of corn; and they were felt in a degree which I
have never witnessed in this country the acceptances of the
first Houses having been discounted at nine and ten per cent.
You will judge of the alarm on the subject of food, when I
mention that the Premier, at a late public dinner, strongly en-
joined, on the part of her Majesty, the utmost economy in our
domestic expenditure.
566 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" Your Lordship's very judicious minute of the 17th October
last, on the discontinuance of labor on public works on Sunday,
has attracted the attention of the Court, who entirely concur in
the prudent caution which you have inculcated with reference
to our native troops
" My opinion has always been, that the greatest danger we
have to encounter in India is from the intemperate zeal of re-
ligious enthusiasts; and I am also convinced that these indi-
viduals take the most effectual means to defeat their own
cherished object
" I had a good deal of conversation yesterday with Sir John
Hobhouse on the subject of the Law Commission, the Macaulay
Code, &c., and a reference will probably be made to your
Lordship's Government on both questions. The Law Com-
mission will die a natural death when Mr. Eliott repairs to
Madras, unless revived, or dissolved, which it cannot be, I
apprehend, without an Act of Parliament; and our total
neglect of the Code, which has cost us such an immense sum of
money, I have always felt as matter of reproach to us. ...
" I am, &c., &c.,
" H. Sx.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE HON. SIR T. H. HADDOCK.
[On the Reduction of the Salt Duties.]
" East India House, 24th May, 1847.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have only just been favored with
your letter of the 4th ultimo, and I have derived very great
satisfaction from your very encouraging report on a prospective
view of our finances; and I trust that your most sanguine
anticipations will be fully realised.
" I cannot venture to commit the Court by any premature
opinion on your resolution to reduce the duty on Salt ; but I
may say that it harmonises with the opinions which I have
long maintained on the subject My principle has always been
to realise a moderate revenue upon the largest quantity, both
with a view to relieve the consumer, to diminish the motive
for smuggling, and to remove, as far as possible, the odium
attaching to a tax on one of the necessaries of life. I shall be
LETTER TO MR. CLERK. 567
glad if I am enabled to satisfy my colleagues that your proceed-
ing is entitled to their approbation and support.
" The extension of your hypothecation advances will not, I
trust, expose your treasury to inconvenience, and they may
ultimately prove convenient to us, for we have not latterly
obtained so large a supply by our bills as we had estimated.
Your balance appears to be ample ; and in the present state of
the money-market here, it is not at all desirable that our
resources from India should be curtailed.
" I have been much concerned to hear of Lord Hardinge's
determination to resign the Government in December next,
for I had hoped that he would have remained long enough to
complete his work in the civil department of the Government,
which he has not yet had time to enter upon fully.
44 With every good wish, believe me,
" Very sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE HON. G. R. CLERK, GOVERNOR OF BOMBAY.
[On the Treatment of Native Chiefs and the State of the Police.]
" East India House, 24th May, 1847.
" MY DEAR SIR, I was only this morning favored with
your letter of the 15th ultimo, and I was very glad to perceive
that it contained no complaint of your health, or of the climate
of Bombay; for I had been led to apprehend, from a late com-
munication from you to Sir James Hogg, that you had already
been suffering from the climate, and were even apprehensive of
the necessity for a removal. I know that Sir James strongly
deprecated the idea of your quitting your post; and I may add
that I should, if possible, still more strongly deprecate it.
" On the two leading points noticed by you, there is no pro-
bability of any difference of opinion between us. Nay, I was
right glad to hear your remarks on the treatment of the native
chiefs; for I have been advocating their cause (not so success-
fully as I could have wished) for the last twenty years, or longer.
The first year of my residence in India I passed in Behar
(chiefly at Gya), and there I received impressions very favor-
able to the old Mahomedan families, whose fate excited my
568 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
commiseration. I met at different times Gholaum Hussein
Khan, the author of the Seer Mutakhereen ; and he appeared to
me the finest specimen of a nobleman I had ever seen. I have
never lost the impressions I received of the harsh treatment
which many of the old families had experienced at our hands ;
and I have since fought the battle of many of the chieftains whose
territories we have confiscated. I have also contended against
the sweeping resumptions of rent-free grants in our North-West
Provinces; but my most strenuous efforts have only succeeded
so far as to mitigate the evil.
" As Judicial Secretary in Bengal, the greatest difficulty I had
to encounter was with the Police. The Daroga plan was ineffi-
cient, and totally failed. The Darogas were ill-paid, and not
trustworthy; and I suggested the employment of the agency of
the landholders; but here, too, there were great difficulties to
overcome. I also suggested to Lord Wellesley the appoint-
ment of a Superintendent- General; and the late Mr. L. Davis
(an excellent officer) was appointed accordingly, and the office
has since been continued ; but I do not perceive that as much
good has resulted from it as I had anticipated. The fact is,
that there are inherent difficulties in the establishment of an
efficient Police in India. We cannot proceed according to the
notions and practice of the natives; and our principles and
usages are not suitable to them. But I have not time at present
to discuss these questions; and my antediluvian information
and opinions can be of no use to you.
" Believe me, with great esteem, very sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE HON. GEORGE CLERK.
[On the Visitation-Tours of Indian Governors.]
" East India House, 24th July, 1847.
" MY DEAR SIR, I will frankly tell you my opinion, as an
individual member of the Court, in regard to the tours, or
periodical movements of our Governors.
" When those Governors, as in your case, happen to be well
acquainted with the people of India, and conversant with their
languages, I consider it to be highly desirable and eminently
LETTER TO MR. CLERK. 569
useful that they should have personal communication with the
native Chiefs, Jagheerdars, and others, in order that they may
become better acquainted with the character of those chiefs,
with their feelings, interests, and general disposition towards
our Government, in order that they may be conciliated by
kindness, that their complaints may be heard, that they may
be benefited by wholesome and friendly advice; that they
may be taken out of bad hands, and, as far as possible, guarded
against habits of extravagance and dissipation. I am accus-
tomed to regard some of these chiefs as full-grown children,
who stand in need of parental care; and the Governor who can,
and will supply the place of a parent to them, may not only
become a benefactor to the individuals, but he performs an im-
portant service to the public.
" But a tour of mere parade, by one who knows little or
nothing of the country, is worse than useless; and I could
mention certain of these visitations which have proved most
mischievous in their consequences.
" Generally they, are inconvenient, as they dislocate the
Government, and, for the time, nearly paralyse it.
" Then, again, they not only occasion expense to the State,
but, what is much worse, they give rise to impositions on the
people, and not unfrequently to positive mal-treatment and
oppression. Crops are injured cattle and men are pressed
arbitrarily into the service articles of consumption (eggs,
poultry, milk, firewood, &c.) are appropriated without re-
muneration; and the people are sometimes frightened from
their villages. You cannot move a large body of men through
the country, and especially men armed with authority, or
assuming authority, without these contingencies. I believe I
may say, that no person could be more unwilling than myself
to countenance or permit oppression or injustice; but I am
far from being satisfied that much wrong may not have been
committed in my name, when I made a tour of the Western
Provinces, just forty years ago. Our camp did not, I believe,
with our escort, exceed 400 or 500 men; but this corteye,
moderate enough when compared with a Vice-Regal movement,
was large enough to levy contributions from the country. I
made an example of two of my servants at an early period; but
570 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEK,
I am not sure that their successors were more trustworthy; and
as for an ' Ellenborough Promenade,' I should say, that it
would be more destructive than any flight of locusts could
possibly prove.
" Here you have my genuine feeling on the general question ;
but in your particular case, I do hope to hear that you have
visited the interior (by-and-by, including even Scinde), to
the great comfort of the people, and to your own great satis-
faction.
" With every good wish, believe me, my dear Sir,
" Very sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE HONORABLE JAMES THOMASON.
[On the Cultivation of Cotton in India.]
" East India House, 24th July, 1847.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have been favored with your letter from
Simla of May the 20th; but as our packet is about to close, I
can at present do little more than acknowledge it.
" I am very glad to hear that you are taking so great an
interest in the success of our cotton operations. It has been a
favorite object with me for twenty years, and I wrote a Memoir
on the subject many years ago ; but I met with little encou-
ragement for some time, although what I contended for em-
braced a great national object.
" Things have now taken a different turn, and I anticipate
entire success at an early period. A great meeting of the manu-
facturers, at which Dr. Royle and our American planters
(Messrs. Mercer and Blunt) attended, took place lately at
Manchester, and upon the explanations which were given, two
of the principal Houses immediately determined to send out
orders for the purchase of 18,000 bales of our Indian cotton,
and I believe they will, by-and-by, send out factors to purchase
from the cultivators on the spot, and to make advances in the
same manner as we have long done for indigo, silk, &c.
" Mr. Bell shall experience every attention, and receive
ample justice, if his produce be approved; but from some
strange oversight, 800 anonymous bales have arrived, which I
suspect to be from h.im, but which cannot be identified. They
LETTER TO LORD HARDINGE. 571
were received per Monarch and Amwell. The first report of
the brokers on this cotton was very unfavorable; but I am
glad to find that it is likely to turn out much better than had
been anticipated. The fibre was represented to have been much
cut ; but a handful sent me by my son St.George, and which I
suspect was taken from the same consignment, was not found
to have this defect.
" Your North- West cotton will not, however, I fear, be found
equal to the produce of the districts further south; and your
cultivation is reported to be ' slovenly,' and very unequal to that
of the districts of Berar, Candeish, Dharwar, &c. This has
somewhat surprised me ; but the defect may surely be corrected ;
and another great defect, the want of due care in separating the
cotton from the seed and leaf, and other impurities, may also,
no doubt, be remedied by a little more attention. I have the
pleasure to enclose a short memorandum from Dr. Royle. . . .
" Believe me, my dear Sir,
" Very faithfully yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT HARDINGE, &C., &C.
[On the Affairs of Oude, Hyderabad, Gumsoor, &c. The Furlough Regula-
tions The Great Ganges Canal, and the Appointment of Lord Dalhousie.]
" East India House, 7th August, 1847.
" MY DEAR LORD, I have been favored with your Lord-
ship's letter of the 9th June, and I rejoice to hear that every-
thing is going on favorably and satisfactorily, with the excep-
tion, perhaps, of our relations with Oude and Hyderabad. But
both these cases have presented great difficulties for a long
course of years ; and I had to encounter them when in office
thirteen years ago. I have not yet seen the correspondence ;
but, after communicating with Sir John Hobhouse, I will here-
after state to your Lordship everything which may occur to me
on the subject
" We hope soon to hear that the Gumsoor disturbances have
been suppressed, and that a milder system has been introduced,
for the better management of that territory. Razias can never
succeed in tranquillising any country; and your Lordship will
572 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
not, perhaps, be surprised to hear that the French Government
are at length becoming sensible of this truth, and that they have
actually applied to us to ascertain how we manage our Ma-
homedan population. I am surprised that your Lordship should
not earlier have been made acquainted with the state of affairs
in Gumsoor, for we had some information on the subject here;
and two very intelligent men Mr. George Russell and Mr.
Mills furnished me with memoirs on the causes of the recent
outbreak.
" Our military Furlough Regulations have not yet been
matured. I find from my Indian letters that an erroneous
sketch of what was projected has been received in Bengal, and
that it has produced much dissatisfaction. I always apprehended
that the army would be disappointed ; and it is to be regretted
that any expectation should have been held out to them until
the plan was matured.
" The question of the * Ganges Canal' has been much dis-
cussed of late among us ; and a member of the Court has given
notice of a motion for Wednesday next, and has prepared an
elaborate paper, strongly deprecating the undertaking. When
the project was first brought forward, I contended against the
attempt to combine the two objects of irrigation and naviga-
tion ; and all I have since learnt has tended to strengthen
and confirm my objections. Major Cautley, indeed, states that
* navigation' constitutes no part of his original plan, and that it
was super-added under a peremptory order of Lord Ellen-
borough ; but, in fact, he has not satisfied us that, even with a
view to objects of irrigation, the canal is likely to succeed in
producing more good than mischief, or that more simple, easy,
and economical means might not be resorted to for the purpose
of accomplishing the same end. The following objections,
among others, have been urged against the canal :
"1st. That the expense would be enormous, and incom-
mensurate with the object.
" 2nd. That, after the completion of the work, a large annual
charge must be incurred for establishments, repairs, &c., &c.
" 3rd. That the work cannot be completed for many years,
Major Cautley himself admitting that the Salam Aqueduct, ex-
LETTER TO LORD HARDINGE. 573
tending for the first nineteen miles, cannot be completed in less
than five years.
" 4th. That the distribution of the water will be matter of
difficulty will give occasion to complaints and litigation, and
will be open to great abuse by the officers of Government.
" 5th. That the navigation of the Ganges above Allahabad
will be utterly destroyed, to the great injury of the landholders
and people of Rohilkund, Oude, &c. This fact almost admits
of proof even from what has occurred in the Jumna; and Major
Cautley's assumption that the deficiency of water in that river
has been supplied by percolation, would seem to be unsup-
ported by the facts of the case as exhibited by one of our
colleagues.
" 6th. That the sanatory effects of the canal may prove very
injurious, by converting a running stream into stagnant water
during the dry season.
"7th. That the extension of cultivation, by means of irriga-
tion from the canal, has been much over-estimated ; and that,
even admitting such extension, a falling off may take place in
other quarters, the Ryots and others having no sufficient means
of hoarding and preserving their surplus produce.
" Lastly. That the same object may be attained in a better
manner by sinking wells, forming reservoirs, &c., &c., accord-
ing to the usage which has long prevailed in different parts of
the country.
" After communicating with Sir John Hobhouse on the sub-
ject, and hearing the course of our deliberations, I will com-
municate the result to your Lordship at as early a period as
possible.
"I have only to add that Lord Dalhousie was appointed to
succeed your Lordship in the Government on Wednesday last,
and that he proposes to embark for Alexandria, in an Admiralty
steamer, in the middle of November, and may be expected to
reach Calcutta early in January. Sir H. Pottinger was ap-
pointed at the same time to succeed to the Government of Fort
St. George.
" With every good wish for your Lordship's health, and a
574 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER,
happy termination to an administration which has been so suc-
cessful,
" I have the honor to be, most sincerely, &c.,
"H.ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE EIGHT HON. VISCOUNT HARDINGE.
[On the State of Affairs at Hyderabad.]
" East India House, 24th August, 1847.
" MY DEAR LORD, I have not had the pleasure of hearing
from your Lordship by the July mail ; but Sir John Hobhouse
has communicated to me your letters of the 23rd June, on two
very important questions.
14 The state of affairs at Hyderabad involves a question of
great delicacy and difficulty, on which the Court have been
much divided during the last twenty years. From present ap-
pearances, there is reason to apprehend that a crisis has arisen,
or must soon arise, when some decided steps must be taken ;
and your Lordship's despatch on the late transactions at Hyder-
abad (military and financial), which may be expected by the
next mail, will fairly open the question to us. It is one which
is not new to me ; for I have frequently had occasion to reflect
upon it, and to discuss it publicly. My own principles lead me
to a strict observance of treaties, and I was a party to the Hyder-
abad despatch of 1843 ; but I do not go so far as to maintain
that a case may not arise to justify a peremptory interference ;
and I am disposed to think that, in the present instance, our
interposition may be necessary, both with a view to the in-
terests, and indeed to the safety, of the Nizam himself. Before
proceeding to an authoritative act, leading to the assumption
of the territory, I should be glad, I own, if an attempt were
made to obtain his Highness's consent to our undertaking the
administration for a limited term (say five or ten years), on
his part, and for his behoof ; the net evenue being receivable
by his Highness, after defraying the charges of administration,
and the interest of any bondjide debts, to which the State may
be liable. We have a case somewhat analogous in Mysore,
although in this instance an article in the treaty was considered
to authorise our assumption of the territory. Lahore presents
LETTEK TO Mil. CLERK. 575
another instance ; but here we had a clear field. Much of our
success in this, as in other cases, would depend upon the agency
employed ; but on this point I am not prepared to hazard any
suggestion. Your Lordship must now be well acquainted with
the instruments within your reach. Some men easily inspire
confidence ; and you must gain the confidence of the natives
of India before you can negotiate with them successfully.
" With every good wish, I have the honor to be, most sin-
cerely, &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE HON. GEORGE CLERK.
[On the Administration of Scinde and the Government of Aden.]
" East India House, 5th Sept., 1847.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have been favored with your letter of
the 3rd July, and Mr. Melvill has also given me the pleasure
of perusing a letter from you of the 17th. I trust that there
is now an early prospect of your having Scinde placed under
your administration, and I feel satisfied with great public ad-
vantage. If you can spare time to pay a visit to that province,
your inspection of the state of things on the spot may be very
useful. There is nothing so satisfactory as seeing with our own
eyes ; and I apprehend that you will see much which it is de-
sirable you should see. I have never been able to satisfy myself
with respect to the manner in which the land-revenue is
realised. The collections appear generally to be made in kind ;
but how is the grain valued when taken from the cultivator ?
and is it issued at the same valuation to the commissariat, &c. ?
or how is it disposed of? Our information has been defective
throughout in every branch of administration ; but you will be
able, on the spot, by examining the officers employed, and
their accounts, to satisfy yourself on the facts of the case.
With respect to the judicial administration, we are equally at a
loss for information ; but your inquiries will enable us to judge
of the system which will be most suitable for the country and
the people in their present condition.
" I am surprised that there should be any difficulty in
selecting a competent officer to command the troops ; but if he
576 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
should not be found at Bombay, Lord Hardinge will, I trust,
be able to supply one from Bengal. It is desirable, no doubt,
that an officer should be selected from Bombay to command
Bombay troops ; but if he be not forthcoming, we must look
to some other quarter. I will make inquiry about the views
and intentions of General Hunter ; but we could not well invite
him to go out to take a command, without knowing exactly
what that command is to be ; and we could not safely make an
arrangement here until we shall be made acquainted with the
opinion and views of the Governor-General.
" I cannot think that the appointment of a Governor, or
Lieutenant-Governor, to such a petty place as Aden, can be
required. This would be to imitate what was called the
' Scotch Invasion ' of Penang some half century ago. If the
public functionaries will not act harmoniously together, the
public service must otherwise be provided for. The distinction
between the civil and military authorities in India has been
long settled, and is well understood. The one points out the
service to be performed the other executes and determines the
means upon its own responsibility. If, however, a Head be
wanting, larger powers might be given to the Resident or Mili-
tary Commandant (as the case may be), without the costly
apparatus of a regular Government.
" With every good wish, believe me, my dear Sir, very
sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKEK."
TO THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT HARDINGE, &C., &C.
[On the Appointment of Lord Dalhousie The Affairs of Nepaul Oude
Hyderabad.]
" East India House, 8th November, 1847.
"MY DEAR LORD, I have been favored with your Lord-
ship's letters of the 5th and 20th September, by the same mail;
and I was much pleased to find that the appointment of Lord
Dalhousie was so highly approved by your Lordship.
" I can confidently say that it was the wish of the Court of
Directors, and, I believe I may say, of her Majesty's Ministers,
LETTER TO LORD HARDINGE. 577
to select a worthy successor to your Lordship; and I feel
satisfied that the earnest wishes of all parties are likely to be
fulfilled.
" I was very glad to hear that your Lordship had succeeded in
removing the Ranee from the scene of her mischievous in-
trigues with so little trouble and difficulty; and I have no
doubt that this step will tend greatly to maintain tranquillity
in the Punjab, and to preserve her son from the contagion of
vice. You have not announced officially your proposed ar-
rangement for the future management of our affairs at Lahore;
and until the first move be made in India, we cannot well make
the consequent appointments here. My intention is to propose
that the appointment of Sir F. Currie to succeed Colonel Law-
rence (Sir F. necessarily vacating his seat in Council) should
be confirmed, with the allowances of a member of Council;
that Sir John Littler should succeed to the vacant seat; and
that Sir H. Haddock should have his term in Council ex-
tended for another year. This will prevent the necessity for
any new appointment to Council will make an opening for
the re-appointment of Sir F. Currie to Council some sixteen or
eighteen months hence and will afford Lord Dalhousie the as-
sistance of an experienced officer in the commencement of his
government. But before all this can be arranged, we must
hear of Colonel Lawrence's retirement.
" We shall not, I trust, have any occasion to interfere in the
affairs of Nepaul. They must settle their own affairs in their
own way; and although we must desire always to see our
neighbours enjoy peace and internal order, I doubt whether
any interposition on our part would tend to promote that end.
" From the late despatches regarding Hyderabad, I am led
to hope that some amelioration has taken place, and that the
first move has been made to effect a reform in the finances of
the state. Had its financial embarrassments been further aggra-
vated, we should have been compelled, I fear, to take some
strong measures to secure the payment of the large arrears due
to us ; but I own that I shall be glad to hear that the Govern-
ment has reformed itself without our instrumentality. I have
2p
578 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
given notes for a reply to your Lordship's last despatch on the
subject; and, indeed, a draft has already been prepared.
" I am afraid that your Lordship will find more urgent occa-
sion for the interposition of our good offices with his Majesty
of Oude; and I shall be a little impatient to hear the result of
your interview with his Majesty. Our agency in managing
that country would be more easy and beneficial, and more ad-
vantageous to the Prince and people, than it would be likely to
prove at Hyderabad ; but I do hope that your Lordship will
show your accustomed liberality, and that everything will be
done for the behoof of the King, unworthy as he may be, and
that we shall only require indemnification for the expense of
our agency.
" We first exacted 70,00,000 per annum to defray the
charge of our subsidiary force : we then increased the subsidy to
1,20,00,000, and then commuted it for territory yielding double
that sum !
" I have given directions for an immediate reply to the last
reference to the Court on the religious question, and I hope to
render the Court's instructions more specific; but it is a ques-
tion of great delicacy, and there are various feelings to be con-
sulted and reconciled. My own opinions are very decided, as
your Lordship is aware. Our late despatch was prepared by
Sir James Hogg with great care, and it passed the Court with
a very general feeling in its favor, and was cordially acquiesced
in, I believe, by the Board ; but I perceive that the members
of Council feel some difficulty in giving effect to our views and
wishes, and that some more precise instructions are required.
In the mean time, I think that it was very prudent to abstain
from publishing the Court's orders, or any which your Lordship
may have thought advisable, in the Gazette, since such publica-
tion would almost infallibly have given rise to a mischievous con-
troversy in the papers. We have had too much of this already
at Madras.
" I scarcely know what to say about the Ganges Canal; but
I fear with your Lordship, that we must go on with the work,
although I much fear, at the same time, that no advantage will
LETTER TO LORD HAKDINGE. 579
be derived from it at all commensurate with the immense out-
lay. And, independently of pecuniary considerations, I foresee
that contingencies may result which are likely to become the
source of much future embarrassment. We have great mis-
givings on the subject here, where the project has been care-
fully examined, and difficulties and objections have presented
themselves which do not appear to have been sufficiently ad-
verted to by the original projectors. Engineers, very naturally,
regard such works with the eyes of engineers. It is not their
business to foresee remote consequences affecting the rights and
interests of parties, or the health and well-being of the com-
munity.
" Our railroad project is quite at a stand-still. The company
with which we have been so long negotiating, cannot raise
money sufficient to make the required deposit of 100,0007.;
nor, indeed, any large portion of it. We have given them to
the 31st March to make good this preliminary condition; but I
doubt whether they will then be better prepared than at pre-
sent. Such is the deplorable state of the money-market here,
that funds cannot be raised, even on Government security, at a
lower interest than 8 or 10 per cent, per annum; and there is
no immediate prospect of amendment. I fear that the money-
market of India must soon experience the effect of our embar-
rassment ; and I am apprehensive that difficulties may be experi-
enced in furnishing us with those large supplies, by means of
hypothecation, which we shall probably require in the ensuing
season. In the mean time, the Indian Treasuries will be relieved
by the very limited amount of our drafts; although commerce
must suffer from the difficulty of procuring funds for remittance
to India and China. I have mentioned to Sir H. Maddock
that early arrangements will be made with reference to the
amount of supplies to be furnished from India.
" Your Lordship's military reductions have afforded us here
the utmost satisfaction. It required no small degree of moral
courage, and, I may say, patriotism, to undertake such reduc-
tions ; but they were absolutely necessary to rescue us from a
state of bankruptcy, and the work has been manfully undertaken
and accomplished.
2p2
580 LIFE OF H. ST.GL TUCKER.
es Your Lordship's suggestions with respect to the carriage of
the soldiers' baggage, &e., will receive every attention, as soon
as the subject comes officially before us. I have always under-
stood that one of the greatest difficulties attending military
operations in India arose from the extent of the baggage; but
this inconvenience has, I believe, been somewhat mitigated of
late years; and although your Lordship has done so much to
prevent hostile movements for some time, yet it is always de-
sirable to avail ourselves of a time of peace, to guard against the
contingency of war.
" I do hope that in a few months I shall have the pleasure
of seeing your Lordship in this country in perfect health, to en-
joy your success and your domestic comforts.
" I have the honour to be, very sincerely, &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE.
[On the Financial Affairs of the Company.]
"East India House, 7th December, 1847.
" MY DEAR LORD, In my last letter, I mentioned that
we were likely to experience great financial difficulty, in con-
sequence of the total derangement of the money-market in this
city ; nor do I very clearly see my way through these diffi-
culties. Moreover, they are not merely of a temporary character.
" We have entirely exhausted our reserved fund, arising out
of the residue of our commercial assets ; and we have not,
therefore, any resource to fall back upon in order to meet a
temporary emergency.
" 2nd. We cannot raise money, as heretofore, by our bills
on India ; for the commercial capital has been so shattered of
late, and the rate of interest is so extravagantly high, that
money cannot be supplied to effect the usual remittances to
India and China.
" 3rd. Many of the Houses on which our hypothecation bills
were drawn have failed, or suspended payment, and others are
anxious to obtain the indulgence of time to effect their pay-
LETTER TO LOUD DALHOUSIE. 581
ments ; so that this resource has, in a great measure, failed us,
at least for the present.
" 4th. Our bonds have been of late at a heavy discount, and
it is not only impossible to effect any further issue, but we have
reason to apprehend that notice will be given, requiring pay-
ment of those outstanding, amounting to 2,300,0007., at the
expiration of twelve months.
"We shall, under these circumstances, urgently require the
bullion-remittance of half a million, which has been ordered,
and which I trust we shall receive in the course of April, or
early in May.
" Under present circumstances, it appears to me much more
prudent to resort to a moderate remittance in bullion, than to
lower the exchange for our bills. If India has 4,500,0007.
to pay on her commercial and political account, and only
4,000,0007. to receive, it is better to incur a loss on the remit-
tance of bullion to pay the excess (500,0007.), than to reduce
the exchange on the whole debt of India, or 4,500,0007. I
discussed this question, and the general theory of exchange, in
a despatch to the Court from the Financial Department, bearing
date the 23rd of August, 1809 ; and your Lordship can, if
you please, refer Mr. Dorin to it.
"But we cannot for a continuance depend upon remittances
in bullion ; and then arises the question How is the political
and commercial debt of India to be discharged? The public
debt, for which we must find a remittance, amounts now to
nearly four millions; and I fear that at least another million
must be added for private fortunes accumulated in India, for
which a remittance is periodically required.
" I have reason to believe, from the best inquiry which I
can make here, that India possesses at present a fair stock of
the precious metals, the importations greatly exceeding any ex-
portation or absorption which I can trace ; but it would be
very useful if your Lordship would direct Mr. Dorin to make
particular inquiry on this subject, in order that we may be
enabled to judge how far we can depend upon drawing, from
time to time, a supply of bullion from India, without deranging
582 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
commerce or the circulation, and without creating the appre-
hension of a deficiency of specie. I found it very necessary to
satisfy myself on all these points while I had the charge of our
finances.
" But the discovery of the channel of remittance is not our
only difficulty. We must command the means of supplying
that remittance, by producing a substantial surplus revenue,
after defraying the large and increasing home charges. Lord
Hardinge has set to work manfully in reducing the military
expenditure, and I trust that the energy and zeal of Mr. G.
Clerk will do much to effect important reductions in the charges
of Scinde, although there is no one branch of the service to
which I can look forward with less satisfaction and less hope
than this same province of Scinde. It has sorely punished us
for our rapacity, our vicious ambition, and our violation of the
national faith ! What a contrast does not the Punjab present
to us!
' ' Lord Ellenborough has attacked our plan of hypothecation ;
but we stand on strong ground, and I little heed opinions which
are not founded on public principles. Had we abandoned this
system to interested clamor, we should not have had at this
moment a hundred pounds in our Treasury, and we must have
gone to Parliament as paupers !
" With every good wish, 1 have the honor to be, &c., &c.,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" I have the pleasure to enclose a copy of some notes which
I wrote on a former occasion, in objection to a reduction in the
rate of the exchange ; but I was not successful in persuading
the Court to adopt my opinion. H. ST.G. T."
" TO THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE, &C., &C.
[On the Affairs of Hyderabad and Oude, and the Resignation of Mr. Clerk.]
" East India House, 24th December, 1847.
" MY DEAR LORD, I trust that you are now traversing the
Bay of Bengal, and that in a few days you will be safely landed
at the seat of your government.
LETTER TO LORD DALHOUSIE. 583
" Sir John Hobhouse has been so much indisposed of late,
from the prevailing epidemic, and so frequently absent from
town, that I have not seen him for a month past, and we have
not, consequently, transacted any important business which it
might be desirable for me to notice to your Lordship. On
financial matters, I have already communicated as much as can
be necessary or useful, in my two last letters.
" We have at present on the table of the Court a proposed
despatch to India on the state of our affairs at Hyderabad;
and if it should be concurred in by the Board, it will show
your Lordship distinctly the sentiments of the Court, and the
line of policy which we think should be pursued towards that
state. It is in reply to Lord Hardinge's late despatches, en-
closing the correspondence with General Frazer; and it dis-
poses, I hope, of the main questions involved in that very volu-
minous correspondence.
" I have received a private letter from Lord Hardinge of the
6th ultimo, relating to the state of affairs in Oude, which are
embarrassing enough; but our relations with that state are
somewhat different from those which connect us with Hyder-
abad: and the difficulty of effecting necessary reforms in the
former are not so formidable, I should hope, as in the latter
case. I shall be anxious to hear the result of his Lordship's
personal conference with his Majesty of Oude ; and I feel
assured that his arrangements, whatever they may be, will be
dictated by a sense of justice, a respect for our engagements,
and a real desire to promote the best interests of his Majesty
and his people. These interests, I do believe, would be best
promoted by his allowing us to put his country in order for
him (he deriving the whole pecuniary advantage) ; but I fear
we have given so many instances of a grasping disposition, and
of a selfish policy, that his Majesty will not readily commit his
concerns to our good management.
"I have learnt from Mr. George Clerk, with extreme con-
cern, that he intends to resign the Government of Bombay on
the 1st May next, in consequence of the failure of his health.
This will be a great disappointment to us, and a real loss; for I
584 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
expected much from his talents, energy, and public spirit, in a
station where all these qualities are so much required, and so
difficult to be commanded. I trust, however, that before his
departure, he will be able to collect and to furnish your Lord-
ship's Government and the Court with valuable information
regarding Scinde, which may assist materially in enabling us to
regulate beneficially its future administration.
" With every good wish, I have the honor to be, your Lord-
ship's most faithful,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
;< TO THE HON. G. R. CLERK.
[On his Resignation of the Government of Bombay and the Administration
of Scinde.]
" East India House, 24th Dec., 1847.
" MY DEAR SIR, I have been favored with your letters
of the 12th and 13th ult., and I have learnt with extreme con-
cern your intention of resigning your government on the 1st
May. Your own correspondence with Mr. Melvill and myself,
independently of other sources of information, shows that much
is required to be done at Bombay to correct abuses, and to
place public affairs on a sounder and better footing ; and from
your experience, energy, and public spirit, and I may add, from
your familiarity with sound principles and practice, I had
hoped and anticipated that the necessary reforms would have
been effected. I am aware, at the same time, that we cannot
contend against failing health ; and that it would be unreason-
able and unjust to expect any man to sacrifice himself, without
even the prospect of his accomplishing the object of that
sacrifice.
" I do hope, however, that you will be able to satisfy yourself,
by careful and intelligent inquiry on the spot, with respect to
the real state of affairs in Scinde, past and present; and that
you will be able to suggest a remedy for existing and ascer-
tained evils. I have received, at different times, a good deal of
information, and from a highly respectable quarter, regarding
LETTER TO MR. CLERK. 585
the internal administration of that country (revenue and ju-
dicial), and more especially with regard to the manner in
which the revenue in kind is realised and brought to account,
and the produce in grain subsequently disposed of to the com-
missariat, &c. ; but you will have better means of ascertaining
the facts on the spot ; and if any deceptions should have been
practised, you will, I am sure, be anxious to detect and to
correct them. I hope that Mr. Pringle is a man of energy, and
not likely to be discouraged or deterred by difficulties. The
great object of a retrospect into past mismanagement (if it has
existed) is to reform it, and to trace out a safer and better road
for the future.
" The specimens of your press, which I have lately seen, are
atrocious ; but nothing can surpass in calumny what we are
sometimes condemned to hear in the General Court in this
House. The times are strangely altered since my early days*
when all claiming to hold a place in society were compelled to
speak and act as gentlemen. The attacks on your administra-
tion, and on the Indian Navy question, are too flagitious to
excite any but one feeling, except among those who have
discarded every proper feeling. This Indian Navy question
has embarrassed us beyond measure, and it is still under con-
sideration. We are much astonished at the conduct of some
parties, who ought to have known better.
" With every good wish, believe me, my dear Sir,
" Very sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
" TO THE EARL OF DALHOUSIE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL, &C.
[On the Affairs of Hyderabad and the State of the Public Finances.]
" East India House, 24th April, 1848.
" MY DEAR LORD, I have been favored with your Lord-
ship's letter of the 9th of March ; and I scarcely know why I
neglected to write by the January Mail ; but I was a good deal
harassed at one time, and had more to do than I could possibly
do in a satisfactory manner.
586 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
" I am a great stickler for the observance of treaties, and so,
I have reason to believe, is your Lordship ; but I apprehend
that the time must arrive (even before the expiration of Lord
Hardinge's two years of grace) when our intervention in the
affairs of Oude will be found necessary even for the safety of the
Prince himself. I feel satisfied that, if the country were placed
under our administration, at least a third would be added to its
revenue in the course of three years; but the financial benefit
should all be secured to the Prince, and I would not take from
him a single rupee beyond the expense of management. Our
arrangement with his Majesty's predecessors in 1798 and 1801
were all to our advantage, and were sufficiently exacting on our
part.
" Towards the Nizam we stand in a different relation; and
there must be a strong case to justify our interference with his
Highness, except for the purpose of ameliorating his condition,
and rendering him an act of tardy justice, by relieving him from
a military charge, imposed upon him for our own purposes, with-
out any regard to the obligations of the treaty. I trust that this
military force may be dispensed with, by-and-by, as the most
easy means of restoring his finances. There are two difficulties
at Hyderabad : the one, to find a capable minister ; the other, to
get rid of European influences and connexions, which have
long operated injuriously on the affairs of that state. The well-
being and prosperity of all the native states depending upon
us, are liable to be much influenced by the character of our
Resident. If he understand the people, and with the union
of firmness with a conciliatory temper will take the trouble to
explain to them their real interests, and to show them how
those interests may best be prosecuted, he will soon gain their
confidence, and be in a condition to guide them. The natives
of India are easily led by those whom they believe to be their
friends.
" I feel very great anxiety on the subject of our finances. If
we cannot produce a surplus revenue in India, sufficient to
defray the home expenditure and if means cannot be found
to effect an annual remittance to the extent of three and a half
LETTER TO LORD BALHOUSIE. 587
or four millions we shall, at an early period, be reduced to a
state of actual insolvency here. It would never do to go on
borrowing from year to year, during a period of peace, even if
funds could be raised at a moderate rate of interest, which is
far from certain; and, if once we begin to raise our rate of
interest in India, no man can say where we should stop; and
how are our stupendous works to be carried on without bor-
rowing? our canals, our railroads, our projected works at
Bombay, at Aden, and in Scinde, and elsewhere? I have had
a conversation with Sir James Lushington this morning on the
subject; and I own that I do not see my way. I am no longer
at the helm, and I am happy that I am not; but I take a deep
interest in my old department, in which I served so long.
" The last two months have produced more extraordinary
events in Europe than, under ordinary circumstances, would
fairly have occupied two centuries; but your Lordship will have
heard enough of them so far, and the result is still to be deve-
loped. The 10th of April was, however, a glorious day for this
country; and it .exhibited in strong contrast the difference
between our people and those of the other nations of Europe.
May we long enjoy our pre-eminence !
" With every good wish, I have the honor to be, my dear
Lord,
" Most sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
588 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
CHAPTER XX.
Mr. Tucker and Lord George Bentinck The Sugar Duties Committee The
Navigation Laws His private Life and Habits Illness and Recovery
Letter to his Children Projected Retirement from Office Address to his
Constituency His last Illness His Death Character of H. St.G. Tucker.
WHEN Mr. Tucker, in April, 1848, retired from the
Chairmanship of the East India Company, he had
entered his seventy- eighth year. But he was still in
good health and in the unimpaired possession of all
his faculties ; and still was he an active member of
the Court of Directors. At no time, indeed, of his
life did he take greater interest in public affairs, or
was he more competent to express an opinion re-
garding them.
Among other subjects which much engaged the
attention of Mr. Tucker at this time was the im-
portation of Indian -Sugar. He had been examined
before a Committee of the House of Commons whilst
yet in the Chair,* and he continued, after quitting
* Lord George Bentinck set great store by Mr. Tucker's evidence. " British
interests," he wrote, " cannot do without you. The dictum of the Chairman
of the East India Company, that 'the certain consequences of annihilating the
export trade of sugar to England and of rice to Mauritius, would be to bring
India's power of remittance to a dead lock before two years are out,' will
have more effect, in-doors and out, than all the evidence put together that we
hare heard, or shall hear, about India."
LETTER TO LOUD GEORGE BENTINCK. 589
it, to correspond with Lord George Bentinck, whose
indomitable industry and activity excited in him no
common admiration. These were qualities which
won the respect even of political opponents, and
were sure to he appreciated by Mr. Tucker, who
concurred in the opinions of the Protectionist chief.
The subject was one which always had for him a
peculiar interest. He had been familiar with it for
half a century. In an earlier part of this Memoir
it has been shown how zealously Mr. Tucker con-
tended for the necessity of encouraging the pro-
duction of the staple commodities of India as
Sugar, Cotton, Silk, &c. not only for the benefit
that such encouragement confers upon the people,
but as a means of remittance to England.* The
importance of this argument Lord George Bentinck
clearly perceived, and with a view to the more com-
plete elaboration of his report on the evidence taken
before the Committee, he applied to Mr. Tucker for
some further information on the subject of the re-
mittance of the Indian tribute. In compliance with
the request made to him, the latter drew up a paper
of "Notes," under date May 2, 1848 ; and on the
following day wrote a long letter on the subject :f
" TO LORD GEORGE BENTINCK.
" East India House, 3rd May, 1848.
" MY LORD, I have had the honor to receive your Lord-
ship's note of yesterday, requesting me to state whether ; the
march of events enabled me to furnish the Committee with any
* See ante, pp. 365, 366.
f It was about this time that he wrote the paper on Remittances to
England, given in Memorials of Indian Government.
590 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
facts illustrative of my evidence already given, that any serious
depreciation of the staple productions of India, and more par-
ticularly of sugar, would be calculated injuriously to affect the
power of India to make the remittance of her annual tribute
to England.'
" It would ill become me to indulge in speculations which
might create uneasiness or alarm. Nor should I be justified,
as an individual, in pronouncing a judgment on the commercial
policy which should be pursued by the Legislature of this
country with relation to our Indian dependencies; but I do
not hesitate to declare, that I have seen no reason whatever to
retract, or to modify, any of the opinions and statements
which I ventured to submit, in my examination before the
Committee.
" On the contrary, my apprehensions of the difficulty which
we are likely to experience in effecting our accustomed re-
mittances from India, have lately much increased.
" 1st. Because, notwithstanding the late reduction in the
exchange of our bills on India from Is. lOd. the rupee to
Is. 9-|d., the demand for these bills has been very incon-
siderable.
" 2ndly. Because, from the latest accounts which I have re-
ceived from Calcutta, bearing date the 21st of March, I am led
to believe that our remittances, by means of hypothecation, are
likely to be very deficient in the present year. It is observed :
( You will learn from the despatch that, finding the advances
on hypothecation come in very slowly, we amended the terms
by advancing to the extent of three-fourths. This improvement
of the terms has, I am sorry to say, produced no sensible effect.'
" 3rdly. Because the late sales of sugar, consigned to the
Court in the last year under hypothecation, have been attended
with an actual loss, estimated at about one-fourth of the amount
of the bills drawn upon such consignments.
" 4thly. Because it has been found necessary to resort to a
remittance of bullion from India, in order to supply a portion
of the deficiency in the commercial remittance.
" It is scarcely necessary for me to observe that a remittance
in specie, or bullion, cannot be resorted to with advantage,
LETTER TO LORD GEORGE BENTINCK. 591
except for the purpose of adjusting a balance on the commercial
and political debts and credits of two or more countries; and
I can state from my own experience, that any large abstraction
of the precious metals from India is likely to occasion great
public inconvenience. That country possesses no mines of
those metals the importations have much diminished of late,
as our Mint records and other accounts tend to show there
is an exportation to the countries beyond the Jumna, in pay-
ment for salt and other articles no inconsiderable amount is
absorbed in the manufacture of plate, trinkets, &c., by the
natives and our metallic currency is little assisted by a paper
currency, which cannot enter largely into the very minute
transactions of the native population, and which is liable to
expose them, from their ignorance, to frauds and impositions.
" Under these circumstances, I can state confidently that we
cannot often have recourse to a remittance in specie, or bullion,
from India, without the risk of financial derangement. The
wealthy natives, under any alarm, are very apt to withhold
specie from circulation ; and its abstraction is liable to affect
public credit, and to prevent the Government from raising the
funds which may, from time to time, be required for the public
service, at a moderate rate of interest.
" I need scarcely repeat that India can only discharge her
annual tribute to the mother country, for a continuance, by
means of her produce and manufactures; and if this country
will not receive that produce at remunerating prices, the same
amount of tribute cannot be realised. I have stated that sugar
appears to me our most promising article of export from India ;
but, at the present prices in this market, it cannot be exported
with advantage; and if the supply should cease, or be materially
curtailed (which is certainly to be apprehended), I know not
where a substitute is to be found. Cotton may, by-and-by,
furnish a very important resource, and our attention has been
directed, for many years past, to this great national object;
but we are not yet in a condition to compete successfully with
the cotton from the United States. Indigo, I fear, has reached
its maximum. Silk is not improving; and the indirect re-
mittance in opium through China is likely to be much dimi-
592 LIFE OF II. ST.G. TUCKER.
nished, in consequence of the late fall in the price of the article
in Calcutta.
" Again, I would urge, without presuming to point out the
quo modo, that one of the greatest benefits which the British
Legislature could confer on India and on the East India Com-
pany, would be to encourage, by whatever means, the importa-
tion of sugar from our Indian territories.
" I have the honor to be,
" Your Lordship's most faithful servant,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
Among other subjects which engaged his atten-
tion at a little later period was the Repeal of the
Navigation Laws, and the reflexion of this measure
upon the Coasting Trade of India. He dissented
from the determination of his colleagues to grant a
relaxation of existing restrictions similar to that
which had been decreed in England, and recorded
his opinions on the subject in an elaborate minute-
He also addressed a letter to the present Lord
Derby on the subject, in which he declared that he
" viewed with jealousy and distrust every attempt
to extend to India the application of those novel
doctrines which, in his opinion, had already pro-
duced infinite mischief in our own country."*
In the same year (1849) he was actively engaged
in the discussions of the Court, arising out of the
appointment of Sir Charles Napier to the chief
command of the Indian army, and he drew up a
series of Resolutions on the subject, which show
that his pen had lost none of its old perspicuity and
* This letter, and the official minute, have already been published in the
Memorials of Indian Government.
HIS ACTIVITY. 593
vigor. He recommended that the appointment
should be confirmed, but that the entire responsi-
bility of the measure should be declared to rest on
the advisers of the Crown.
He attended at the India House, at this time,
with all his old punctuality, generally proceeding
thither in a public conveyance. " I should consider
myself a perfect Heliogabulus," he wrote jestingly,
one day to his wife, " if I were to treat myself to
the luxury of a cab." He had for some time de-
nied himself horse- exercise, though his health
benefited greatly by it, that he might meet the
numerous claims on his benevolence. But at this
period (1847-8-9) it was his wont to ride with one
of his daughters almost every afternoon, except on
Court-days, after he had done his work at the India
House. And he would talk about old times, gaily
and pleasantly, and tell many stories of his early
Indian career, interspersing them with sketches of
Cornwallis and Wellesley, Barlow, Minto, and
Hastings, and anecdotes of his first friend, Thomas
Law, and other associates of his youth. It is hard
to say how much this Memoir has benefited by
these afternoon rides in the Park.
His health, as I have said, was excellent at this
time ; but he never forgot the years that he had
numbered, or the gratitude that was due to the
Almighty who had mercifully preserved him so
long. Some years before he had thought that the
final summons was near at hand; for there were
symptoms of what seemed to him to be an affection
2Q
594 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
of the heart, which might suddenly terminate his
existence.* But the apprehension was groundless ;
and six years after the seizure, which was devoutly
accepted by him as a warning, he was in the full
enjoyment of all the tranquil pleasures of domestic
life, and capable, as ever, of pursuing his old career
of public utility. Still, as I have said, he never for-
got the years that he had numbered.
In February, 1850, he wrote to his sister-in-law :
" I did not take leave of you and yours ; for I am
not fond of this ceremony, and at my time of life I
cannot separate from my friends without the feeling
that we may never meet again. In the course of
nature my career must soon be brought to a close,
and, indeed, the term of my existence has been merci-
fully extended far beyond what I could have ex-
pected. I have, too, been blessed with health ; but
still I must be prepared to obey the great law of
nature, and I trust that I shall submit to it with
perfect resignation and composure.'' In the follow-
ing month, he wrote one day from the India House
to his wife : "I got here comfortably in a good
'bus ; and my visit was rather satisfactory than
otherwise. But it grieves me to think that my
* On the 17th of June, 1843, he wrote in a private memorandum-book:
" I was very unwell last night with a sort of nervous fever, palpitation of the
heart, &c. ; and I scarcely closed my eyes. The end approaches ! I have
long thought that I was subject to some affection of the heart, which
would terminate suddenly. Dr. , whom I consulted, was of a different
opinion. He assured me that there was no organic defect. I still doubt.
Thy will be done ! I should prepare to render up my account to that gracious
Power, by whom I have been so long and so mercifully preserved and
protected."
SUDDEN ILLNESS. 595
children as well as your dear self should look for-
ward with such painful feelings to an event which is
inevitable, and which at my age cannot he long
postponed. My only feeling of pain will be to leave
you all, who are justly so dear to me." And soon
afterwards, in another letter, he said : "I have
been most mercifully dealt with, and I am deeply
grateful that at my advanced age I should be per-
mitted the use of my faculties of sight, hearing,
mind, and even some degree of bodily activity."
He attended to his business at the India House
at this . time without being distressed by the exer-
tion. Early in April, he made a spirited speech in
Court, on some subject in which he was greatly in-
terested. After the debate, a brother-Director con-
gratulated him on the force and vigor with which
he had spoken. " Ah !" replied Mr. Tucker, " it is
only the last flicker of the taper before it goes out."
Whether he had, at this time, in spite of his pre-
sent vigor, any internal promptings suggestive of a
failure to come, I do not know. But very soon after-
wards a sudden attack of illness, with strong symp-
toms of fever and inflammation, prostrated him ;
and, for a time, in spite of the ministration of three
experienced medical attendants, the keenest appre-
hensions were entertained for his life. Throughout
many days he lay stretched on what was believed to
be the bed of death, racked by the severest pains,
which he endured with beautiful patience and re-
signation. To all in that sorrowing household it
was a season of intense anxiety; at times of de-
2 Q 2
596 LIFE OF H. ST.a. TUCKER.
spondency and despair. It seemed as though the
summons had come at last suddenly unexpectedly
finding all but the sufferer himself unprepared for
the blow. He had always been so full of life there
had been so much activity of body, so much energy
of mind, so much elasticity of spirit, that they had
never associated with all this vitality a thought of the
stillness of death. And yet now, at the threshold
of fourscore, under paroxysms of mortal illness
such as the frame of youth might vainly have re-
sisted, how probable was such an issue ! They could
only pray to Him in whose hands are all such issues
the issues of Life and Death.
And their prayers were heard. After many days
and nights of suffering, there were symptoms of
favorable change. The crisis of the disorder had
passed. A season of comparative ease had followed
the pain and the restlessness that had threatened
to bring him to the grave ; and, on the 1st of May,
he rose up from his bed.
The first words that he had uttered were words of
Prayer and Praise. "When he was seated in an arm-
chair, he asked for his purse, and gave out his
monthly contribution to the poor-box. Then his
thoughts reverted to some old pensioners the cross-
sweepers, who had long been recipients of his bounty ;
and he placed some money in the hands of his
daughters to be given to them, that they might not
suffer by his confinement to the house.
His recovery was retarded by a severe inflamma-
tion of the eye, which threatened, at one time, to
LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN. 597
deprive him of sight. But the measures to which
recourse was had to arrest the evil proved eminently
successful, and he was soon enahled to take the pen
again into his hand, and to write without incon-
venience. His spirits soon regained their wonted
elasticity; and he became as cheerful in conva-
lescence as he had been patient in sickness ; never
at any time exhibiting the slightest symptom of
fretfulness or irritability, but with a rare appre-
ciation of the unfailing love which had ministered
and was ministering to him with so much gentleness
and assiduity, was prodigal of kindly acknowledg-
ments, and tenderly solicitous lest the unwearying de-
votion of his attendants should press upon the sources
of their health. But the greatness of this love and
devotion disquieted him. He had been mercifully
rescued ajmost from the very gates of death ; but
he could not hope much longer to be spared to
occupy his accustomed seat in the centre of that
loving circle. He knew that they must prepare
themselves to see his place empty and it saddened
him to see their grief. So, as soon as he was capable
of so much exertion, he drew up the following beau-
tiful letter of exhortation to his children. He kept
it for some time in his desk, and then gave it to one
of them, with instructions that it should be opened
after his death :
" 3, Upper Portland-place, July, 1850.
" MY BELOVED CHILDREN, Your unwearied and devoted
attentions to me during my late serious illness, have endeared
you to me, if possible, more than ever; and I feel profoundly
598 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
grateful to that merciful Providence which has supported your
dearest mother and all of you throughout this severe trial.
" But you must not give way to strong emotions; for they
are not only injurious to your health and well-being, but they
distress the object of your solicitude.
" I have reached a very advanced age. and must be prepared
for a change. Old age has its infirmities and suffering, and a
prolonged existence is not to be desired. Your care should
now be to comfort and console your beloved mother, who has
been everything to me, and everything to you all. I trust that
she will not leave this house, in which we have all enjoyed so
much happiness; and I feel assured that you will all tenderly
watch over her, and contribute by every means in your power to
her future comfort. Submit with resignation to the decree of
that merciful Power which cannot err, which has spared me for so
many years, and which in its goodness may call me soon to
another state. May that gracious Power continue to you all its
protection and favor ! and bestow upon you all those blessings
of which this life is susceptible ! ! Do not mourn for me like
those who are without hope. You have duties still to perform ;
and you have still, I trust, many years of future happiness in
prospect.
" Your most affectionate father,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
As the summer advanced, the health of Mr. Tucker
continued steadily to improve. It was his year of
absence from the Court, so that his zeal in behalf of
the public service did not impede his recovery ; and
in July his restoration to health had advanced so far
that he contemplated a yachting excursion along the
Southern Coast, and would have carried out his
design, but that the vessel which he had purposed
to engage, and in which he had before made a short
trip, chanced to be engaged for the season. His
HIS OCCUPATIONS. 599
family were anxious that he should try the invigo-
rating effects of change of air, but he was averse
to any land-travelling, and preferred the sure com-
fort of his own home to the uncertainty of a strange
abode. He therefore remained in Portland-place,
continuing to improve in health, and deriving much
tranquil pleasure from the domestic occupations in
which he had, at all times, found abundant solace and
delight. He would dictate whilst one of his daugh-
ters wrote; or sometimes he would write himself,
with a hand that had lost but little of its firmness.
He would listen joyously to his children's music.
Occasionally he would balance his accounts, and
with as much precision as when he was Accountant-
Gen eral, and had charge of the revenues of India.
But that which above all else engaged a large share
of his time was the current literature of the day.
The English and Indian papers were read aloud to
him and discussed. Articles in periodicals of good
repute often afforded him considerable entertain-
ment ; and he would listen for hours, whilst his
wife or one of his daughters read to him some inte-
resting new work, or passages of that great old dra-
matist whose writings are always new.* A rubber
of whist with his children often afforded him evening
amusement ; and he played with so much spirit, and
* To an article in the Calcutta Review, on " The Lindsays in India," which
was read to him about this time, he listened with the greatest interest. It
seemed to excite many recollections of the Past, and it called forth a flood 01
anecdotes relating to Lord Wellesley and other celebrities of Mr. Tucker's
earlier days. Lord Campbell's "Lives of the Chancellors" afforded very
many hours of pleasant reading; and Shakespeare was always welcome.
600 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
yet with such, charming good humor, that it was a
pleasure indeed to be one of the party, or even to
watch the game.
Nor was all his social intercourse at this time
confined to the members of his own family. He re-
ceived the visits of his friends, and took pleasure in
their conversation. Sometimes, accompanied by one
of his daughters, he would call on a near neighbour
or one of his brother-Directors who resided in a con-
tiguous street for he seldom, indeed, missed his
daily walk and occasionally he welcomed to his
dinner-table some of his most intimate and che-
rished associates.
It was towards the close of this year (1850) that,
in compliance with the wishes of one of his sons, he
bethought himself of arranging, for purposes of
publication, a selection from his public and private
papers relating to matters of Indian Government.
In pursuance of the intention which was taking
shape in his mind, he addressed the following letter
to one of his colleagues, who was among the most
honored and beloved of Mr. Tucker's friends :
"3, Upper Portland-place, 30th November, 1850.
" MY DEAR , I was urged some years ago to print a
selection from my Dissents ; but I had no ambition to bring
them, or myself, under particular notice. They were written
in the performance of my official duty, and without any
ulterior view.
" I have recently been solicited by one of my sons, who has
been carefully looking them over, to allow him to select and
print some of these documents ; but I am not disposed to give
THOUGHTS OF PUBLICATION. 601
this permission, unless my doing so could be connected with
some public object.
" If I thought that, by printing some of these papers, I could
promote in any degree the interests and credit of the Court,
by showing that we are not unmindful (as is, I fear, suspected
in some quarters) of our public duties; or if I could flatter
myself that the discussions in which I have engaged were
likely to throw light on the questions which must soon occupy
the attention of the Court and of the Government, I should
not hesitate to contribute my share to the general stock of
materials to be used for framing the new Charter.
" I should not, of course, think for a moment of introducing
any personal questions such as my Comments on the case of
Colonel , Mr. , Sir , &c.
" The selection would have reference
" 1st. To our revenue systems of administration, including
the salt, opium, and customs.
" 2ndly. To our judicial administration, including the mea-
sure adopted in this country for prosecuting the appeals of her
Majesty in Council.
" Srdly. To our political proceedings, including the Afghan
treaty of June, 1838 the seizure of Scinde, &c. I should be
much tempted to add my comment on the confiscation of
Colaba, and on the general policy to be observed towards the
Princes and Chiefs of India; but I fear that this might lead me
to the ' tabood' question of Sattara, Delhi, &c.
" 4thly. I should be disposed to introduce my paper on
Cotton, my remarks on the powers of the Secret Committee,
and other miscellaneous matters; but some of these would
require careful consideration.
" If, by-and-by, at some convenient moment, you should feel
disposed to consult the Deputy and other leading members of
the Court, and there should be a feeling in favor of the project
which I have sketched, I will be prepared to commence my
work early in the spring, so that it may not interfere with my
other duties, should I be spared to return to the Court.
" Believe me, most sincerely yours,
" H. ST.G. TUCKER."
602 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKEH.
The design here contemplated was never carried
out it remained an unaccomplished purpose until
after his death. Perhaps, he, or some of his colleagues,
may have had official misgivings. His health, too,
was failing again. As the year wore on to a close,
he was visited by a severe neuralgic affection, which
caused him at intervals acute pain. The disorder,
which was known as " neuralgic rheumatism,"
seemed to baffle the skill of his medical attendants.
Very little was it that they could do, all through the
winter, to alleviate his sufferings, which were great.
But as spring approached, the hopes of Mr.
Tucker's family began greatly to revive. The
acuteness of the neuralgic pains was considerably
mitigated ; the patient seemed altogether to be
gathering health and strength. His medical ad-
visers said that the month of March, with its cut-
ting winds, once passed, there was every reason to
be hopeful for the future. March came and March
went ; and still the patient continued to improve.
The year of Mr. Tucker's rotatory exclusion from
the Court of Directors was now Dearly at an end.
The day of his return to the active duties of his
office was close at hand. They who had been pro-
fessionally watching the state of his health believed
that his restoration to office would have a benignant
effect. They thought that moderate occupation and
gentle excitement would invigorate and refresh him ;
and they looked forward, therefore, with pleasure
and confidence, to his return to the Court.
So Mr. Tucker, who had now completed his
LETTER TO HIS CONSTITUENTS. 603
eightieth year, again took part in the councils of
our Eastern Empire. It must be said that he did
so, not without some misgivings. Personally, he
was unwilling to quit his post. He used to quote
the case of Lord Cornwallis, and seemed to cling to
the idea of dying with the harness on his back. But
on the other hand, although there was no per-
ceptible decay of the mental powers, and he felt
that he was capable of efficiently performing the
duties of his office, when not prevented by any
physical ailment from taking his seat at the India
House, he doubted whether it would not become
him better, sensible as he was of the inroads of
constitutional decay, to resign his place to some
younger incumbent. He had been cordially wel-
comed back to the Court by his colleagues ; and he
had resumed his old duties without suffering from
the exertion. But he still reflected upon the subject
of retirement, and, never doubting for a moment
that he ought to be an efficient Director or no
Director at all, at last came to the determination
of addressing his constituents and resigning his
seat. And, in accordance with this intention, he
drew up the following announcement to tlie Pro-
prietors of India Stock :
' ; I beg to tender my cordial and respectful acknowledg-
ments for the honor which you have been pleased to confer
upon me, by again appointing me to a seat in the Direction of
your affairs; and I had indulged a hope that, for some short
space, I might have continued to serve without prejudice to the
public interests.
604 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
11 But the infirmities of age have been so greatly aggravated
by a long and severe illness, with which I was afflicted during
the last year, that I feel it would be impossible for me to
render efficient service in the responsible situation of a Director
of your affairs. I must, therefore, replace in your hands the
appointment of a successor.
" I have now served the East India Company in different
situations, abroad and at home, for about sixty years ; and I
trust that I may be allowed to add that I have served with dili-
gence, fidelity, and zeal. In retiring from public life, I will
only express my earnest hope that the vast empire which has
been committed to British rule may long continue to flourish,
and be rendered conducive to the prosperity of the mother
country, and to the well-being and happiness of our Asiatic
subjects."
It is impossible not to admire the conscientious-
ness out of which this determination arose. The
intended resignation of his seat at the India House
was a mere precautionary measure. He did not
purpose to retire from the Direction because he felt
that he was incompetent to the efficient discharge of
his duties, but because he felt that at his advanced
age he might become incapable of discharging them
with the energy of his younger days. But his
friends were of opinion, that whilst he was yet able
to take part in the councils of the India House, and
render his knowledge and experience ancillary to the
general efficiency of the administration, it was in
no sense his duty to anticipate a Future, which
might yet be some years distant, by a voluntary
relinquishnient of his post. Upon public grounds
such a withdrawal from office was not to be desired.
Mr. Tucker had proved that his veteran hand had
QUESTION OF RETIREMENT. 605
lost none of its old nerve and vigor. During a con-
nexion of a quarter of a century with the Court of
Directors, he had written few more masterly papers
than one which, at the age of seventy-eight, he drew
up with reference to the future destiny of the Reign-
ing Family of Delhi. And now, in the middle of May,
1851, a minute which he had written on a very dif-
ferent subject the Porto Nuovo Iron- works was so
full in its information and so sound in its argument,
that some of the most influential of his colleagues ex-
pressed a wish to attach their names to it, moulded
into a Dissent. There were, therefore, no public rea-
sons for Mr. Tucker's retirement ; and there were
strong private reasons against it. It was apprehended
that there might be danger in the sudden removal
of one of those props and supports upon which he
had rested for so many years. Business, indeed, had
become almost necessary to him ; and the dispiriting
and relaxing effects of a suspension of his old duties
a change in his old habits was dreaded by his
family and friends.
But, as the year advanced, the neuralgic pains
which had so much afflicted him did not abate.
Change of air was recommended by his medical at-
tendants, and, in accordance with their advice, on
the 22nd of May, accompanied by Mrs. Tucker and
his youngest daughter, he journeyed down to
Brighton. The fatigue of travelling did not distress
him, and he was so well, and in such good spirits on
his arrival, that he expressed a desire to take the air
out of doors. The change seemed to invigorate him,
606 LIEE OP H. ST.GL TUCKER.
and although the pains which racked him returned
at intervals, his beloved companions were filled with
hopes of his restoration to health ; and for a time
they were very happy. The weather was mild, and
the invalid would sit in an easy-chair, by the bay-
window, watching the white sails of the fishing-
boats on the opposite sea, enjoying the music of the
street-bands, listening to the reading of the news-
papers from town, or dictating letters to his daugh-
ter. He had lost none of his old powers of com-
position, and his diction was as clear and forcible as
it had been at any period of his life.
But the end was approaching. On the last day
of May, the little party returned to town. In the
following week unfavorable symptoms presented
themselves, and recourse was again had to the
best medical aid. On the 5th of June the sufferer
seemed to rally, and for some days there was a
marked improvement. On the 8th, indeed, he was
sufficiently well to receive the visits of two brother-
Directors ; and on the 10th, he felt so far recovered
he was in possession of so much strength that
he talked of going to the India House on the fol-
lowing day, to take part in the Wednesday's council.
His medical advisers, however, recommended that he
should postpone, for a day or two, his return to his
official duties; and as there was to be a Mower
Show in the Botanic Gardens on the same day, he
asked his children, in his old cheerful way, whether
he should go to the City or to see the flowers. There
could be no doubt of the reply. So he wrote a note
HIS DEATH. 607
to his friend the Chairman of the Court, explaining
the cause of his intended absence from the India
House, and promised his children that they should
take him to the Gardens.
On that Tuesday night Mr. Tucker slept better
than he had slept for many months. On the follow-
ing morning he seemed to be in high spirits, antici-
pating with much pleasure his visit to the Flower
Show. The weather was favorable ; he went there
in his carriage ; walked about the Gardens for a
little space, enjoying the bright sunshine, and ex-
amining with a smile of pleasure the beautiful
specimens of Nature's works around him. The
exertion did not distress him, and during the two
following days he appeared to be in better health
and spirits, taking a lively interest in all that was
going on around him, and listening with attention
to the evening reading. On the Friday night there
were no unfavorable symptoms of any kind, but
when he kissed his children on retiring, and blessed
them with his wonted tenderness, it was for the
last time.
He never returned again to the room which had
been for so many years lighted up by his beloved
presence. 'That night mortal sickness fell upon
him. ; and before the morrow's sun had reached the
meridian he had rendered back his soul to his
Maker.
He fell asleep on the 14th of June, 1851, in the
eighty-first year of his age. In the Cemetery at
Kensal Green, an obelisk of white marble, in the
608 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TUCKER.
summer-season bordered with many a flower, marks
the spot where rest his remains. It bears this in-
scription upon it :*
SACRED
To the beloved and revered memory of
HENRY ST.GEORGE TUCKER, ESQ.,
Of Upper~ Portland-place,
Director of the Honorable East India Company,
Who departed this life,
Trusting in the merits of his Redeemer,
June 14th, 1851, in the 81st year of his age.
" When the ear heard him, then it blessed him ; and when the eye saw
him, it gave witness to him.
" Because he delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him
that had none to help him." Job xxix. 11, 12.
His life and death formed a rare mirror :
The one showing how a Christian ought to live;
The other how he may hope to die.
If the biographer of Henry St. George Tucker has
not set forth his character in this volume better
than any description can illustrate it, he has written
in vain. Yet something, too, may be said, in this place,
about those many fine qualities which, with rare
harmony and consistency, spoke out from the actions
of his life. Eoremost among these qualities and,
indeed, comprehending many others was the man-
liness of his nature. He was pre-eminently a man
among men. He had a disposition into which
nothing mean, or cowardly, or sordid, ever entered.
There was altogether a genuineness about him, that
made all shams and pretences shrink and cower in
his presence. "Whatsoever he said, he said truth-
* A monumental tablet in the church of Crayford, in Kent, with an in-
scription somewhat similar to the above, and a painted window in Trinity
Church, have also been consecrated to his memory.
HIS CHARACTER. 609
fully, earnestly, from the full heart. Whatsoever
lie did, he did thoroughly, conscientiously, and with
an energy that could seldom be resisted. He had
nothing to do with half-truths, compromises, or
reservations. He did not form his resolutions
hastily, hut, once formed, no adamant was more in-
flexible. A sustaining conviction of right upheld
him; and he went on bravely to the end with a
constancy which no fear of consequences could
shake, and no hope of advantage could unsettle.
In all the circumstances of life, his independence of
mind was, indeed, conspicuous. He had been
habituated to self-reliance from his very boyhood ;
but there was nothing presumptuous or domineering
in his reception of the opinions of others, or un-
candid in the construction of their motives. He did
not deny to others what he claimed for himself the
right of free judgment and independent action and
although he deplored the opposition which he some-
times encountered, he never resented it. It was
Tiot, indeed, in his nature to speak bitterly or slight-
ingly of his opponents.
His mental activity was great and enduring. His
intellect was of the robustest kind. It seldom
happens that early development is not followed by
early decay. But it is not too much to say of Henry
St. George Tucker, that he was a statesman at
eighteen and a statesman at eighty. There are few
instances on record of men who, at the two extremes
of so long a chain of years, have been endowed with
so much intellectual strength, and been capable of
2R
610 LIFE OF H. ST.G-. TUCKER.
such sustained efforts. There is a period in the lives
of most men who have attained to an advanced age,
from which a perceptible decline of mental power is
to be traced. But following the career of Mr.
Tucker over a space of more than half a century,
I find it difficult to fix the point at which there was
any increase or any diminution of his power to
grapple with great questions, or to set forth his
arguments in language distinguished alike by the
strength and the transparency of crystal. Years,
indeed, passed lightly over him. His remarkable
memory was unclouded to the last. There was
never any confusion in the arrangement of his ideas,
or any obscurity in his diction. In the lasting
qualities of his mind he was, perhaps, unsurpassed
by any example upon record.
His reputation in early life was first established
by the consummate skill with which he handled
intricate questions of Indian Finance. He was un-
questionably the most eminent Financier that ever
presided over the Indian Exchequer. But although,
in this capacity, he rendered great services to his
country, for which he has never yet been assigned
his due place in History, it was by no means his
only claim to be placed in the front ranks of Indian
statesmen. Both in matters of domestic and foreign
policy his foresight and sagacity were conspicuous.
In respect of those questions of internal adminis-
tration which necessarily engage so large a share
of the time and attention both of the local and the
home Governments, he belonged to what is now
HIS CHARACTER. 611
called an old school a school in which Shore, Bar-
low, and Edmonstone taught, and of which Corn-
wallis and Wellesley were the patrons. It has now
ceased to be popular ; but there was at the bottom
of the policy which it encouraged a respect for indi-
vidual rights which we look for in vain in the tenets
of the new school which is fast supplanting it.
To the sovereignty of Justice Mr. Tucker was ever
loyal. He had no toleration for those politicians
with whom Resumption and Annexation are house-
hold words, and who sit loosely to the obliga-
tions of all sorts of covenants and treaties. The
same leading principles which regulated his dealings
with the people of our own territories, spoke out
also from all that he said and did in relation to the
rights of native Princes and foreign nations. He
had never any eagerness to confiscate the princi-
palities of our dependents, or to absorb the king-
doms of our enemies. He was the champion of
the weak ; the shelter of the prostrate ; and he was
never more earnest in his utterances than when he
was inculcating lessons of mercy and forbearance.
There was a generosity, indeed, in his character
as a statesman, which had something chivalrous and
romantic about it. He was continually in an atti-
tude of defence and protection, with a stretched-out
arm to shield the oppressed. He may have some-
times invested the objects of his compassion with
qualities which did not rightfully belong to them,
for it is in the very nature of a generous disposition
to be confiding and unsuspicious ; and if he erred in
612 LIFE OF H. ST.G. TTJCKEU.
this, the error is one only of noble minds, to be re-
corded and dwelt upon with pleasure. But his
generosity and judgment were not often at variance.
The veil of glittering sophistry which injustice draws
before its acts the mist through which national
vanity and national prejudice go blindly groping
never obscured the truth from his eyes. He judged
the case of others as he would his own, and called
things by the names that rightfully belonged to
them. He was as genuine a lover of his country as
any of his cotemporaries ; but he did not conceive
it to be the truest patriotism to varnish her mis-
deeds, and to encourage her in acts of injustice and
oppression.
There was a noticeable peculiarity in the consti-
tution of his inind to which some of these results
may be traced. With a mathematical exactness
and precision, which ensured correctness of state-
ment and soundness of argument in all his writings
and speeches, he combined much of the enthusiasm
and imaginativeness of the poetical temperament.
The dry studies of Finance, in which, during all
the earlier years of his adult life, he was continually
engaged, never deadened the liveliness of his fancy
or blunted the acuteness of his sensibilities. He
was a great reader of polite literature ; and espe-
cially delighted in the works of the great masters of
British song. He delighted, too, in the recreation
of verse, and had a taste for dramatic composition,
which, if it had been decreed that he should lead a
life of literary leisure, he would probably have less
HIS CHARACTER. 613
sparingly indulged.* To the charms of Music, too,
he was peculiarly alive, and the fineness of his ear,
which is to he discerned also in the nicely-balanced
structure of his literary compositions, rendered him
as a critic fastidiously correct. Upon his puhlic
demonstrations these lighter accomplishments were
not wholly without an effect, for he was wont fre-
quently to introduce hoth into his speeches and his
writings brief illustrative quotations from the great
dramatists, or snatches of stirring national songs.
It was his fortune to be a financier ; but it was his
delight to breathe an atmosphere of Poetry and
Romance.
But it is only by associating those qualities,
which illustrated his public career as a statesman,
with those which graced and beautified his domestic
life, that the character of the man is to be fitly por-
trayed. There was in Henry St. George Tucker a
rare union of masculine firmness and courage, with
a kindliness so winning and a tenderness so en-
gaging, that all who dwelt beneath his roof were
drawn to him by feelings of the most hallowed af-
fection. The nearer you were to him, the more you
loved and the more you honored him. Coldness
and harshness were alike foreign to his nature. He
invited confidence by his own openness and unre-
serve ; and he so tempered reproof with mildness,
that his lessons made a lasting impression on his
* He wrote and printed two tragedies " Harold" and " Caraoens" of
which mention should have been made in the course of the narrative. They
abound in noble sentiments vigorously expressed.
614 LIFE OP H. ST.G. TUCKER.
children, but never left a sting behind them. In
his own home he was not only the loving husband
and the indulgent parent, but the most cheerful of
companions the life and soul of the family party
youthful among the youthful, and among the
sportive ever full of sport. Whatever may have
happened to vex or to distress him abroad, he car-
ried home to the domestic circle the same evenness
of temper, the same undisturbed serenity of mind.
No disappointment ever embittered him; sickness
and pain never made him querulous. As years ad-
vanced, all his fine qualities seemed to ripen under
the sun of time ; and he was never more loveable
than when he was summoned from the scenes, which
he had so long gladdened by his presence.
Of the liberality of his nature I have already
spoken. He had an open hand and an open heart ;
but he was not a thoughtless giver. His generosity
was controlled and tempered- by prudence. It was
prompt, but considerate ; quick, but not hasty. And
it was utterly free from every taint of ostentation.
His bounty was, for the most part, exercised in
secret. It was never talked of; it was little known.
He gave when he had little to give ; and he gave
when Providence had increased his store. It may
be truly said of Henry St. George Tucker, as it was
said of William Penn, that " some of the best pages
of his history were written in his private cash-book."
And as he was pitiful in the extreme to all who
needed his assistance, so was he uniformly courteous
to all men with whom he was brought into public
HIS CHARACTER. 615
or private intercourse. He used to say that he had
many friends and many enemies ; but although the
friendship was not all on one side, the enmity was ;
for he never harboured a vindictive or malignant
feeling, and was grieved when he heard others speak-
ing evil of those who had done him wrong. He
lived, indeed, as a Christian ought to live in
Charity with all men ; and he walked humbly with
his God. Humbly, but most hopefully, he walked ;
approaching the great hour of eternal change in all
the serenity of a quiet conscience, grateful for the
Past, expectant of the Future, only regretting his
translation to another world for the sake of those
who would remain to feel the great void that was
left by the removal of HENRY ST.GEORGE TUCKER.
ERRATA.
Page 2, line 8, dele inverted commas after post.
Page 49, last line, for " devolve," read " devolves"
Page 377, line 5, for " point," read "points."
APPENDIX.
[A. Page 292.]
EXTRACT PUBLIC LETTER PROM BENGAL.
Dated 20th October, 1812.
Par. 83. The grounds which led us to appoint a separate
Secretary in the Colonial and Financial Departments, are
stated in the minute of the Right Honorable the Governor-
General, dated 8th of August.
84. The Governor-General remarks that the return of Mr.
Tucker, from England, to this country, naturally suggested a
strong desire, founded on a knowledge, and, indeed, a long ex-
perience, both in the present and former administrations, of his
distinguished talents and qualifications, to render his services
available at the shortest possible delay.
85. No situation, under the existing establishment of Go-
vernment, adequate to his rank and consideration in the service,
was vacant, and there was no immediate or any definite pros-
pect of a suitable opening.
86. These services revived, in the mind of the Governor-
General, the consideration of a question, very lately under de-
liberation, for the establishment of a separate Colonial Depart-
ment, to be placed under the charge of an additional Secretary
618 APPENDIX.
to Government. The great accession to business, thrown both
upon the members and officers of this Government, by the re-
cent conquests, including those of the French Islands, and in
the Eastern Seas, had already been found so oppressive upon
the several departments, as to induce an inquiry into the most
convenient way of transacting those affairs. A reference was,
therefore, made to the Secretaries of Government, whom we
requested to report their sentiments upon that subject. Their
opinion was unanimous, that a distinct department, for that
branch of the public business, was nearly indispensable, and
that opinion was supported by a statement of facts, connected
with the present overburdened state of the administration in all
the departments, which it was impossible not to acknowledge,
and, by reasons drawn from that view of the subject, equally
difficult to controvert.
87. The Governor- General was prevented from giving his
immediate assent to the proposed measure, by motives of public
economy alone, and by a reluctance to make so considerable an
augmentation of establishment, until its necessity should be as-
certained by a somewhat longer trial. The reports of the Secre-
taries to Government are recorded with the minute, and every
week's experience has justified the sentiments they submitted to
the Board.
88. The Governor- General was the more strongly induced
to reconsider the question, by a sense of the advantage which
Government would derive, not only in affording relief to the
other departments, but in acquiring the more essential assist-
ance, which the peculiar qualifications possessed by Mr. Tucker,
for most of the principal points of public deliberation and
business, connected with the Colonies, would afford, by that de-
partment being committed to his charge.
89. Upon this proposition, the Governor-General grafted the
further modifications of the present arrangements, of placing
the Financial Department also under the charge of Mr. Tucker.
Government had already experienced his eminent knowledge
of that science, and his distinguished talents in that peculiar
branch of administration, by the success of the important and
APPENDIX. 619
beneficial operations of Finance, which were commenced, and
brought nearly to their accomplishment, while he administered
that department previous to his departure to Europe.
90. We persuade ourselves that under the present pressure
of the Colonial business, upon all the superior officers of Go-
vernment, and under the considerations above stated, your
Honorable Court will be well inclined to sanction and approve
the appointment of Mr. Tucker to the office of Colonial
and Financial Secretary to Government, with the allowances
now enjoyed by the other principal Secretaries to Govern-
ment.
[B. Page 349.]
LETTER TO SIR HENRY STRACHEY, BART.
Friern Lodge, Whetstone, 13th April, 1821.
DEAR SIR HENRY, As you appeared the other day to
take an interest in a question in which I am deeply interested,
perhaps you will take the trouble to peruse the accompanying
notes. It is necessary to hold in mind that the Government
had two objects in view in the Financial arrangements which
were undertaken in 1810. First to deprive the Debt of the
privilege of being convertible at any time into a Bill of Ex-
change on the Court of Directors. Secondly to effect a re-
duction in the charge of interest.
The first object was accomplished by placing the old Debt in
course of payment, and opening a new eight-per-cent. loan,
divested of the privilege of remittance, for receiving transfers
from the former, or subscriptions in money, which should be
applied to the discharge of the former. This has been oppro-
briously designated "the Decoy Loan;" and it is only neces-
sary to mention that a large proportion of the old Debt was
transferred to it.
The next proceeding was to effect a reduction in the rate of
interest, by placing the new (or Decoy) eight-per-cent. loan in
course of payment, and opening a six-per-cent. loan for receiv-
620 APPENDIX.
ing transfers and subscriptions; and this measure also suc-
ceeded.
It is very certain that both objects might have been at-
tempted at the same time, and by one single operation that is,
by opening a six-per-cent. loan at once, divested of the privilege
of remittance; but this measure, after a great deal of discussion,
was judged to be too bold and hazardous. Perhaps it was;
and certainly, if it had miscarried, the Public Debt of India
would have been ten millions greater than it is at present, even
if we had escaped absolute insolvency. But those who accuse
me of being the author of the project, do me, perhaps, more
justice than they intend or than I deserve; while, in ascribing
to me the particular means which were adopted, they un-
doubtedly pass judgment in utter ignorance of the circum-
stances. It was the chief aim of my public life, while I was
employed in the administration of the Finances, to effect a re-
duction in the charge of interest; but this merit I claim only in
common with others it was not exclusively mine. With re-
spect to the means to be employed for accomplishing this great
end, I may state to you in confidence, as a confidential officer
of the Government, what I never can explain to the Public
my own opinion was in favor of the more direct proceeding;
but it was considered, in a quarter which I was bound to re-
spect, of so hazardous a character, as to preclude all idea of its
.adoption. It was apprehended, in fact, that a large proportion
of the Debt, amounting to about thirty millions, would imme-
diately have been transferred to England, where there were no
funds forthcoming for its discharge that the Court of Direc-
tors would have been compelled to send back the bills under
some most burdensome compromise with their creditors and
that, thus, the only opportunity ever likely to offer of giving the
Debt a local character, and of reducing the annual charge of
interest, would, in all probability, have been lost for ever. All
this might have happened, no doubt, and the evil would have
been most serious if it had happened ; but the prudence and
foresight which adopted the safer course of proceeding, consti-
tuted no part of my merits.
APPENDIX. 621
You will perceive how awkwardly I am placed ; but as I can
truly say, that throughout my public life I have been anxious
only to do my duty to the best of my judgment, I am content
to leave my conduct to be judged by the Public, and to stand
or fall by the decision which may be pronounced upon it. In
offering myself as a candidate for the Direction, my chief object
is to obtain occupation public and honorable employment;
but if any individual can believe that I ever counselled a measure
involving a breach of faith to the Public, that individual will
do right to exclude me for ever from all public trust. He will
not, however, do right to pass judgment in ignorance, in this,
or any other case. For the rest, I can only say that, whether
right or wrong, I shall continue to act always on the principles
on which I ever have acted; and those must not trust me for
the Future who have reason to disapprove of the Past.
Believe me,
Sincerely yours,
H. ST.G. TUCKER.
[0. Page 458.]
The passage in Mr. Mills 5 speech at the India House, on the
15th of July, 1835, relative to the recall of Lord Heytesbury,
to which allusion is made at page 458, is thus printed in the
Asiatic Journal:
" He might be permitted to observe that, in vacating the
appointment of Lord Heytesbury, after it had been so delibe-
rately made, the Right Honorable Baronet, Sir John Hobhouse,
had done an act which decidedly militated against the good
government of India. Beyond that, he would admit that the
Right Honorable Baronet had met the question most manfully
in the House of Commons, and also in his communications with
the Directors. He had stated that he thought it better that the
interests of India should suffer, than that the Minister of the
day, whoever he might be, should be defeated."
I have referred to the speech of Sir John Hobhouse, in the
622 APPENDIX.
House of Commons, in reply to Mr. Praed's motion for papers,
thinking I should probably find in it the declaration alluded to
by Mr. Mills. In this speech the President of the India Board
is reported (in the Mirror of Parliament) to have said that he
scorned " the miserable pretence of consulting measures not
men' " and that it was " better that the authority of the East
India Company should receive a shock in India, than that a
cordial sympathy should not exist between his Majesty's Minis-
ters and the Governor-General." This may not have been the
passage referred to in the India House debate, but the declara-
tion is tantamount to that to which allusion has been made. It
should, however, be added, that it is at least doubtful whether
Sir John Hobhouse was really the prime agent of Lord
Heytesbury's recall. I know at least that Sir Robert Peel told
a near relative of his Lordship, that he believed Sir John would
have suffered the appointment to take effect but that it was
necessary to conciliate Mr. Hume and the Radicals who were
eager to see it cancelled.
THE END.
C. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STKAXD.
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