\\5-L
 
 - 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 ^ . rt
 
 LETTER 
 
 T O 
 
 Governor Johnftone, &c. &c* 
 
 INDIAN AFFAIRS. 
 
 Ne quid detriment! Refpabllca caperet* 
 
 PMNTED FOR S. BLADON, IN PATER-NOSTER-ROW.
 
 
 LETTER 
 
 T o 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSTONE, 
 
 Si R, 
 
 o 
 
 BY the prevalence of popular prejudice, 
 and the contention of rival interefts, by 
 the unqualified aflertions of a few defigning 
 individuals, and the defective ftate of general 
 information, has the Eaft-India Company been 
 J reduced to almoft inextricable difficulties. 
 4 In the hour of difmay, and in her laft ftruggle 
 | for expiring rights, had not You voluntarily 
 \K> and vigoroufly ftepped forth to her affiftance, 
 fhc would, ere the prefent moment, have 
 B become
 
 become the fervile tool of arbitrary power, 
 or the paffivc vi&im of hungry FaQion. 
 Alternately threatened and cajoled, fleeced 
 and reviled, fcrutinized and mifunderftood, 
 too long has (he Glently wept over the in*- 
 fringements of her privileges, the mutilation 
 of her charters, the difturbance of her ar- 
 rangements, and the difpofal of her property. 
 Every fyftem of policy, every plan of com- 
 merce, every principle of action, by which 
 (in conformity to frequent ads of the legifla- 
 ture, and under the immediate encourage- 
 ment of charters from the Crown) the pro- 
 fperity of our affairs in Alia has gradually 
 augmented the trade, the power, and the 
 refources of the Mother Country, fo as to be- 
 come one of the moft important pledges for 
 the {lability of the empire, have been violent- 
 ly and repeatedly explored, to gratify a ma- 
 lignant, or an interefted curiofity. Every 
 record which might difplay the fources from 
 whence are derived the Company's wealth and 
 dominion, has been wantonly torn from its 
 facred repoiitory, and circulated in reports 
 and appendixes through the whole European 
 world. By thefe means have her councils 
 been diftra&ed at home, and her defigns 
 
 fiulfratwi
 
 r 3 i 
 
 fruftrated abroad : The chain of mutual de- 
 pend ance, which bound up all her fervants 
 into one connected body, and dire&ed the 
 aggregate impulfe of their united exertions to 
 the one grand object of the Company's fuc- 
 cefe, has been broken : Her vigilant and in- 
 veterate enemies, by thus acquiring a know-, 
 ledge of her intentions, of her preparations, 
 and of her poffible refources, have been in- 
 flrufled to evade, to counteract, to overturn 
 all her fchemes, and to purfue their own in 
 full fecurity ; while her immediate agents by 
 fuggeftions, by menaces, by temptations, have 
 been feduced into a partial departure from the 
 flrait outline of their delegated functions ; 
 have been encouraged in meafures hotlile to 
 their beft fervants abroad, and deflruclive 
 of all their own official confequence. In this 
 perilous fituacion, while war preys on her 
 extremities, and influence corrodes her vitals, 
 languiming equally under the feverity of her 
 diforder, and the infidious prefcriptions of 
 her political empiricks, has your animated 
 afllftance exhilarated her with a new and un- 
 expected chance for life. The talk you have 
 undertaken is not lefs toilfome than generous ; 
 frelh impediments will inceflantly retard your 
 B 2 progreis
 
 [ 4 3 
 
 progrefs difficulty will flart out of difficulty, 
 and labour beget labour. After all, the fub- 
 ject is fo complex, the drama is fo wound up 
 with danger and diftrefs, that imagination 
 itfelf can fcarcely invent for it f within the 
 limits of human probability) a fafe and a 
 fatisfaclory cataftrophe to either of the parties. 
 What can be done, You will do and I 
 doubt not, but the flrength and fteadinefs of 
 your efforts will as much do credit to your 
 head, as the voluntary liberality of your in- 
 terpofition has already diftinguifhed your 
 heart. If I have taken the liberty to prefent 
 you here with a few reflections, they are not 
 fuch as I can for a moment fuppofe may con- 
 duce to your better information, but they 
 may ultimately advance my own and that of 
 the public j for wherever I fhall have been 
 wrong, I truft implicitly to your future ora- 
 tions, in the courfe of the enfuing debates, 
 for correction ; and I flatter myfelf, that up- 
 on the whole, I fhall have contributed fome 
 {mall portion to that general mafs of knowledge 
 which muft, -or which ought to be collected, 
 before the final decifion of one of the molt 
 important topics that ever was agitated in the 
 council of the nation. 
 
 To
 
 [ 5 1 
 
 To me the fyftematic regularity neceflary 
 for the well-doing of a body constituted like 
 the Eaft- India Company, where commerce 
 and politicks are fo intimately interwoven, 
 feems to be as much liable to danger from 
 too frequent inftances of parliamentary inter- 
 ruption, as her independent rights from the 
 encroaching patronage of the Crown. No 
 doubt we more immediately feel an arbitrary 
 fummons, which difplaces our firft confidential 
 fervants, and obtrudes on us others, in whom 
 (however worthy) we cannot at once repofe 
 that implicit confidence which long-tried fide- 
 lity alone can juftify : But to have our fecrets 
 expofed, our plans fufpended, our Directors 
 intimidated, and our arrangements thrown 
 into confufion by reiterated formalities of 
 legiflative inveftigation, tends ultimately to 
 damp the fpirit of mercantile enterprife, to 
 difcompofe that orderly mechanifm which is 
 the very font of an extenfive trade, and to 
 clog all the intricate operations of credit^ 
 You, Sir, have undoubtedly traced the Com- 
 pany in her filent progrefs towards maturity, 
 and to that fplendor which rendered her an 
 for minifterial concupifcence. You 
 
 have
 
 t 6 1 
 
 have bferved how an unforefecn flroke of 
 misfortune laid her in a fupplicating pofturc 
 at the feet of Adminiftration, in 177?; and 
 I think you will agree with me that fhe then 
 pafled her grand clima&erick, never again to 
 recover her youthful health or vigour. To 
 that unfortunate inftant, when a temporary 
 convention was fubftituted in the place of a 
 conclufive treaty, \vhen her embarrafled affairs 
 were thrown on the Speaker's table as a per- 
 petual tub for the patriotic whale, moderate 
 and thinking men will afcribe the too evident 
 fymptoms of her probable diffolution ; and 
 why ? Becaufe Parliament has too often 
 chofen to put itfelf in the place of the Com- 
 pany, without having the leifure neceflary for 
 an adequate attention to its affairs ; becaufe 
 too frequent revifion breaks the thread of 
 progreffive aftion; and becaufe, when old 
 fyftems are overturned, eflablimed regulations 
 fuperfeded, and new experiments obtruded 
 upon ancient habits, reform is but another 
 name for diforder ; becaufe an at of Par- 
 liament, empowering the Crown to grant the 
 Company a renewal of their charter for ten 
 years, feems a kind of national warrant for 
 the uninterrupted exercife of all the func- 
 tions,
 
 [ 7 ] 
 
 tions, and enjoyment of all the privilege* 
 conferred by that charter for thofe ten years; 
 becaufe, in fhort, the very principle, that Par- 
 liament has a right at every turn of affairs 
 to interfere in the internal managements of the 
 Eaft-India Company (however true and juft 
 as far as refpects parliamentary omnipotence^ 
 may perhaps be deemed extremely inex- 
 pedient in its effe&s, and liable to be con- 
 verted into a moft dangerous inftrument for 
 the purpofes of fa&ion, of avarice, or of 
 ambition. The continuation or removal of 
 the Governor-general of Bengal is but the 
 tool of the prefent hour, and of the prefent. 
 workmen. The mine will dill be rich, when 
 the ore now working fhall be exhaufted : 
 other adventurers will prefently difcover a 
 frefh vein; It is the principle that I wifh to 
 combat : it is not a victory in favour of this 
 or that rival for government, that can effec- 
 tually ferve the Company, but a decided ac- 
 knowledgement of her rights as held under 
 Royal Charter, of her independence for a 
 certain number of years as fanHoned 
 and fecured by a& of Parliament. But 
 as the name of Haftings has already 
 fumifhesl the word for attack, it mufl 
 
 219 W
 
 I 8 J 
 
 now become alfo the fignal for defence. If 
 a corporate body, like the Eaft-India Com- 
 pany, be liable to thefe inceffant ihocks, 
 where is the liberty of the fubject, where 
 the faith of the Crown, where the ftability 
 of law ? The next blow may be on the Bank. 
 We can all recoiled the wonderful revolution 
 that took place in the Company's property, 
 by the act of 13. Geo. III. when the qualifi- 
 cation which fhould entitle a proprietor to 
 vote, was raifed from five hundred pounds to 
 ojie thoufand pounds ftock, and when the 
 duration of the office of Director was pro- 
 longed from one year to four. Before that 
 memorable aera, a qualification to vote was 
 as much my property as a freehold ; and the 
 regular change of Directors, by a fyftem of 
 annual rotation, was thought the palladium 
 which would ever preferve the proprietary 
 from a grafping ariftocracy. We may per- 
 haps, foon hear of quadrennial or perpetual 
 Bank Directors we may have a Governor of 
 the Bank by Act of Parliament, and only 
 removeable with the approbation of the 
 Crown. It is vain to urge the difference of 
 the cafe, with refpect to the two Companies, 
 while they both hold they* exiftence on the 
 
 fame
 
 i 9 i 
 
 fame tenure, a Royal Charter. The law, 
 which difcriminates not between ricn ancf 
 poor, is equally indifferent to all other acci- 
 dents of circumftance, where the bafis of the 
 claim is one and the fame. Each of thefe 
 grand members of the State owes its original 
 cftablifhment to the voluntary combination of 
 private merchants. The India Company's 
 powers were as explicit as thofe of the Bank, 
 and the purpofes of its inftitution as well 
 defined. They were to fit out (hips for ah 
 Eaftern commerce, and fhift for themfelves 
 in an unknown world. Events gave therri 
 power and wealth, and their acquiiitions are 
 fo much clear gain to the State. But now 
 that they have raifed a fortune, they mufl 
 confent to have it managed by Jlrange. 
 fte wards. What bulwark has the Bank 
 againft fimilar treatment ? That body too, 
 has rifen to a pitch of wealth and confeqnence 
 unfufpe&ed by its firft contrivers : why 
 (hould no patriot find it convenient tb call 
 for a revifion , of its flatutes, an examination 
 of its accounts, and a ftatement of its annual 
 profits ? No doubt he might difcover, that 
 it could well afford a falary of five or teii 
 fhoufand pounds per annum to its Governor; 
 
 Q J1OT
 
 nor would he want a plea topropofe himfelf, 
 or his coufin, or his informer, to the office, 
 and to conftitute it an eftablifhment for life. 
 One ftretch of prerogative authorizes another. 
 If the Eafl India Company mufl be fettered 
 in the appointment of their Governor- General 
 of Bengal, or of any their fervants, civil or 
 military, they cannot long expect to hold the 
 power of difmijjion; which if it be once 
 wrefled from them, their influence and autho- 
 rity in the directing, ordering, and manage- 
 ment of their affairs, commercial as well as 
 political, will be utterly annihilated. Yet 
 why mould Minifrry content themfelves with 
 the fingle aft of oppofing the Company's 
 wimes for the continuation of their Governor- 
 General ? It would be a curious fpeculation 
 to reverfe the inftance, and fuppofe, that the 
 Court of Proprietors having come to a pe- 
 remptory refolution of recalling a Governor, 
 Miniftry had forbidden the difpatch of the 
 
 neceflary paragraphs how inftantaneous 
 
 would be the Company's ruin on fuch an 
 event, I need not attempt to delineate ; and 
 yet \ve are at this moment treading on the 
 very brink of the precipice ! But grant that 
 the Crown means in future to be more reten- 
 tive
 
 [ II ] 
 
 live of its interference, and fliall hereafter 
 adhere clofely to the letter and fpirit of that 
 elaufe in the Regulating Aft of Parliament, 
 which limits its powers of prohibition to 
 articles immediately relating to war and peace. 
 Still, if it mall be in the habit of taking um- 
 brage at every aft of the Company, which it 
 fhali chufe to confider as refraclory, or un- 
 accommodating, and in apparent warmth of 
 temper, determine to make all fuch queftions 
 the objects of parliamentary difcuflion, the 
 fpirit of conftitutional refiftance, and virtuous 
 inflexibility, will at length be worn out in the 
 conteft, or the confufion of perpetual and 
 harrafling references throw the Company's 
 affairs into a ftate of bankruptcy. 
 
 The Court of Proprietors is the delibe- 
 rative body, the parliament of the Company ; 
 the Directors are its miniftry. In them is 
 lodged the executive power, and it is necef- 
 fary that they fhould not be too often 
 changed, left the courfe of public bufinefs 
 be thereby impeded. The patriots of the 
 prefent hour call loudly for an annual repre- 
 fentation in Parliament, on the idea that every 
 man of common fenfe is qualified to give his 
 C 2 opinion
 
 I I* J 
 
 Opinion without ferving an apprenticefhip. 
 On the fame principle the Company's affairs 
 would not be interrupted, if each quarterly- 
 General Court produced a new fet of Pro- 
 prietors. But neither Parliament nor Pro- 
 prietors could with fafery venture to affume 
 to themfelves the management of the detajl, 
 and the functions of their Minifters and 
 Directors. It is only in the grand outlines 
 of conduct, in the leading features of the 
 fyftem, that the collective body can or ought 
 to exert its powers of controul; but then its 
 Janguage is abfolute, its commands irrefiftible, 
 and obedience unconditional. " The inde* 
 " pendence of America," fays the national 
 voice, " is become a meafure neceffary for 
 * f the falyation of this country." " We 
 41 infift upon an explicit recognition of 
 41 American independence," echoes the Par- 
 liament Minifters figh, and acquiefce ; and 
 yet we all know the fentiments of the Crown. 
 V Mr. i iaflings is the only man/' fay the 
 Company, " who, in the pvefent pofture of 
 ct our Afiatic affairs, is qualified to be Go- 
 4t yernor- General of Bengal." " We think it 
 I* advifable to remove him," reply the Di-
 
 [ 13 1 
 
 reftors. " We poihively forbid you," re- 
 join the Proprietors, fix to one. " It is againft 
 " the with of the two Chairs,*' anfwer the 
 Dire&ors, " but we muft fubmit." Here 
 is no fophiftry, no trick, no management; 
 a plain queftion is agitated in a public and 
 peaceable afiembly : reafon operates on their 
 tmderflandings, and their refolutiori is the 
 refult of calm conviftion. " Mr. Haftings," 
 fay the Directors, " has been cenfured by 
 '* two refpeftable Committees of the Houfe 
 " of Commons. On their reports the Houfe 
 <e has judged him worthy of recall, and we 
 ** therefore recall him." The Proprietors, 
 in anfwer, urge, " That Mr. Haftings has 
 *' been accufed of opinions which he did 
 * 8 not profefs, and of afts which he did not 
 " command; of wars, whofe commence- 
 *' ment was equally out of his knowledge, 
 " and againft his advice j of revolutions, to 
 " which he contributed nothing but perfonal 
 i( rifle and a miraculous efcape; and of 
 " defpotifm, of difobedience, and fundry 
 *' indefinite charges, whofe impenetrable ob- 
 f fcurity alone fecures them from flat con- 
 f traditlion. If the Houfe of Commons, 
 
 t( in
 
 [ '4 ] 
 
 ' in voting his recall*, mean to influence 
 " our councils, or diftate to our Directors, 
 
 " it 
 
 * It Is worthy of remark, that the vote for the recall 
 of Mr. Haflings, that loaded him with undefined 
 charges, was never debated at the Secret Committee ; 
 a faft not generally known. It was indeed brought 
 forward under that imprefiion, as a kind of compromife, 
 and may be fairly termed a parliamentary juggle. On 
 the 14th of May laft, in the Rockingham adminiftra- 
 tion, when Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox were in the p'eni- 
 tude of power, Sir Adam Ferguflbn, the Lord Advocate 
 being abfent, (after a conference in the Houfe of Com- 
 mons with Mr. Fox, Mr. Burke, and Gen Smith) pro- 
 pofed to a Committee of the whole Houfe, that the 
 forty-four refolutions which had been brought forward by 
 the Secret Committee ftiould be voted. When the Houfe 
 kad gone through, them, Sir Adam propofed another, 
 in fubflance as follows; " That it was the duty of the 
 ' Court of Directors to remove thofe perfons whom the 
 *' Houfe of Commons hadcenfured." Mr. Robinfon, 
 nrember for Canterbury, obferved upon this occafion, 
 that the Houfe 'was rather thin, confidering the im- 
 portance of the reiblution. It pafled, however, there 
 feeing at the time twenty-eight members in the Houfe, 
 This refolution, if carried 'into effect, would have re- 
 moved every man in power in India ; perhaps this might 
 be the reafon that it never was reported to the Houfe, 
 though a refolution cf what is termed a Committee of 
 the whole Houfe. On the z8th of May the Lord 
 Advocate brought forward his refolution for the recall 
 
 Of
 
 [ '5 1 
 
 ** it hath exceeded its jurifdi&ion. We are 
 *' Proprietors of the territories of Bengal, 
 ** Sec. for a certain number of years, under 
 t: the mofl facred of ail compacts, the pledge 
 " of the Royal Charter, and the authority of 
 ** the whole Legiflature. If our Governor 
 " be criminal, he is at all times amenable to 
 " the laws of his country. If there be 
 " grievances, we who are his immediate maf- 
 '* ters are the perfons aggrieved : If there be 
 " wrongs, we have both the will and the 
 tf means to re'drefs them. We have feen 
 " none. You and your Committees have 
 " not as yet proved a tittle againft him : 
 " The onus probandi certainly lies on the ac- 
 * c cufers. Shew why we ought to remove 
 " him, and we will do it upon evidence : In 
 " the mean time, we deem it abfolutely iie- 
 <{ ceflary for our immediate exigencies that 
 
 " he fhould continue in the Chair." In 
 
 this flate of the bufinefs the Crown unex- 
 
 pe6ted!y 
 
 ef Mr. Haftiags and Mr. Hornby, and it was carries!, 
 there being ac the time /ortj-t-vo rnembrrs in rhr 
 Houfe. Mr. Fox fpoke upon the occafion, aUowed 
 Mr. Haftings to poflefs both abilities and integrity, but 
 voted for his removal, becaufe his plan of politics had 
 li?en difapproved of.
 
 [ '6 ] 
 
 peftedly interferes : Parties grow warm : Mi- 
 uiftry enter the lifts againft Mr. Haftings ; 
 the Company, alarmed at the imminent dan- 
 ger of their moft important rights, feel their 
 very exiftence to depend on his fupport. 
 The matter is thrown into Parliament; a 
 thoufand difcordant interefts will be impli- 
 cated in the ftruggle, and You, Sir, nobly 
 undertake the caufe of abfent merit. It is 
 not the lead wonderful part of the fpe&acle, 
 to obferve Miniftry and Oppofition taking the 
 fame fide of the queftion for Mr. Haftings's 
 recall, on pleas totally contradictory. But 
 though the objeft be different, the paffion, 
 you will fay, is ftill the fame. Miniftry con- 
 tend for patronage, the other party toil for 
 bread : and thus it is, that the eagemefs of 
 each prevents them from taking notice of 
 their inconfiftency ; and that while both are 
 fighting their adverfary's battles in an unna- 
 tural confederacy, the very means by which 
 they feparately pufti the fame point, precifely 
 A counteract each other's views. " The Mini- 
 " fter intends to caft a veil over Eaft-India 
 " delinquency," fays Oppofrtion, by way of 
 ftimulus to the attack. li The abu/cs and dif- 
 " orders which prevail in the Bengal Govern-
 
 e< mtnt, (he various, heavy, and complicated of" 
 " prejjiom which the natives Jujfer under them, 
 " defpotifm over thefubjefts abroad, difobediencc 
 " to the government of this country, and a wafteof 
 11 public treafurefor private purpofes, cry aloud for 
 " juftice on the delinquent." " Mr. Haflings," 
 adds the foaming orator, *' is that delinquent. 
 " I flake my chara&er againft his, and 
 <e pledge myfelf to produce evidence of 
 " fafb." " I renounce/' replies the Mini- 
 fterial Mouth-piece, " all idea of delinquency ? 
 " I have borne teftimony to the merit and 
 <c tlie integrity of the Governor-General, 
 " but I would recall him on the principle of 
 '-' expediency : and I flatter myfelf that I lhall 
 " demonftrate this expediency to the fads* 
 " fa&ion of the Houfe." Can thofe who 
 hold out Mr. Haft ings as a culprit, and thofe 
 who acquit him of all fufpicion of culpability, 
 unite in the fame vote ? Will thofe inde- 
 pendent fenators, who mail remark fuch pal- 
 pable contradictions and glaring prejudices, 
 cordially join with either ? Forbid it, reafon 
 and common fenfe ! Forbid it, public juftice and 
 national honour ! The die, however, is now 
 caft, and the parties have gone too far to recede : 
 fchediSerentqueilions of expediency and of de- 
 D l?nqucncy
 
 Mnqu'ency muft feverally be brought before 
 the Houfe, aad I hope not before empty 
 benches*; but who fhall guefs at the fen- 
 tence, when we know not even the exact 
 counts of the indictment ? 
 
 It is generally conjectured that the accu-' 
 faticai .will confift of two members, and that 
 an elaborate, extravagant, tragi-comic ha- 
 rangue 'will, firft expatiate upon " the extra - 
 " ordinary expulfion of a Rajah of the higheft 
 " rank, &c. &c. from his dominions," and 
 next, on a fecret article permitted to be con- 
 ditionally inferted in an intended treaty with 
 the Rajah of Berar, of which he never re- 
 ceived the flighteft hint. On the firft point 
 it will be argued (with a proper quantity of 
 pathetic interludes and theatrical apoftrophes) 
 that the Governor-General had no right to 
 propofe exacting a fine of fifty lacks of ru- 
 pees from Rajah Cheyt Sing : that he had no 
 right to demand a fum for contingent ex- 
 pences of the war over and above his ftipu- 
 
 lated 
 
 Twenty-eight members only were in the Houfe 
 when Sir Adam Fergufibn's forty-fifth refolution pafled, 
 and forty-two when the vote for the recall of Mr. 
 s and Mr. Hornby wat propofcd and carried,
 
 I 19 } 
 
 lated rent, and that he had no right on any 
 grounds to expel him from his hereditary 
 eftate ; perhaps alfo that he had no right to 
 advance the rents upon his fucceffor. In 
 the fecond article will probably be urged the 
 fatal policy of uniting the formidable powers 
 of the Mahrattas under one active command, 
 the danger of drawing on ourfelves the ven- 
 geance of the Nizam, fhould we encourage 
 Boofla to invade his dominions, and the con* 
 fequences of that grand alliance of the Afiatic 
 Princes formed under his aufpices as a 
 counterbalance to Britifh influence. The 
 above are, as far as I can judge, the Jlrong 
 grounds of the criminatory party. It has been 
 remarked, Sir, upon the fubjecT: f your late 
 admirable oration in Leadenhall-ftreet, that 
 Mr. Haftings's friends have fele&ed all the 
 ftrong points of argument which the fubjeft 
 afforded, and made, the moj? of them. Now I 
 apprehend, that You, and all thofe whom con- 
 ^i&ion has engaged in that gentleman's de- 
 fence, would fcout the obfervation with con- 
 tempt. They have not [defied the ftrong 
 points, but the cafe afforded no other. They 
 have combated fophiftry by fimple proofs, 
 D 2 and
 
 t 4 1 
 
 and wanton falfehoods by plain matter of 
 faft. His enemies have had all the choice 
 of fubjeft : they have taken up fuch points as, 
 to their jaundiced eye, appeared to afford the 
 tnoft colour; and to fay the truth, They 
 have made the moft of them. For they have 
 afferted delinquency \v3iere they have yet to 
 prove error: they undauntedly urge the 
 fame fophifticated tale after twenty refuta- 
 tions : and but the other day their cloud-com- 
 pelling champion exaggerated the vifionary ob- 
 jects of the Governor-General's oppreflion to 
 thirty millions. This is taking the mojl of a 
 point, with a vengeance! And yet he had 
 recently before his eyes his topographical 
 friend's excellent delineation, where he might 
 trace the piogrefs of the Governor- General's 
 glory to the very farthefl limits of its in- 
 fluence, though the page ungeneroufly funk 
 his name; and where he might have learned 
 the ftate of population in Bengal fufficiently 
 to have kept himfelf within the bounds of 
 oratorical probability. But to our ar- 
 gument. 
 
 . Whe
 
 When the Governor- General fet out on hit 
 journey for Benares, Cheyt Sing's prepara- 
 tions for revolt were almoft at the point of 
 maturity; of which no evidence cm be 
 more fully illuftrative, than the number of 
 his troops, the condition of his forts, and the 
 plenitude of his magazines, as difcovered in 
 the courfe of the revolution. Mr. Haftings, 
 in the true fpirit of candour, has in- 
 formed the public of his intention to have 
 affeffed the Raja in a fine of forty or fifty 
 lacks of rupees, but Cheyt Sing never gave 
 him time to propofe a fyllable of fuch his 
 purpofe. While he meant to have lulled the 
 Governor-General's vigilance for a few days 
 with the fubmiffion of a well-aled repent- 
 ance, the fuddennefs of his arreft precipitated 
 all his fchemes, and probably faved the Go- 
 vernor's life. Had the Raja's guilty conference 
 permitted him to perfevere in his affe&ed da- 
 cility of conduft, had he quietly paid th 
 fine, and fuffered the unfufpedting victim to 
 depart from Benares without alarm, there 
 can hardly be a doubt but fome of his nu- 
 merous ambufcades of banditti might have 
 maffacred the Governor-General and hi 
 whole efcort, before they could poffibly reach 
 
 Chunar.
 
 [ 2* ] 
 
 Chunar. But the providential arreft dKcen- 
 certed all Cheyt Sing's cool-blooded hypo- 
 crify, and while it certainly anticipated the' 
 hour of rebellion *, ferved perhaps as an ad- 
 
 ditiohal 
 
 * A few individuals among us make no feruple t 
 insinuate, that Cheyt Sing had no premeditated plan of 
 rebellion, and that his conduct was the refult of inftant 
 refentment and defpair on his arreft. But on thofe per- 
 verted minds, which a perufal of Mr. Haftings's candid 
 narrative of the tranfaelions at Benares, together with 
 its appendix, fhall not have awakened to the palpable 
 impoflibility, that a body of armed men, fo numerous 
 and well appointed, as that which aflifled in the Raja's 
 cfcape, and perpetrated the maflacre of our treops, 
 fhould have been inftantly aflembled on the fpur of the 
 occafion, without long-prepared and deep-laid defign, 
 neither argument nor proof will make any impreffion, 
 
 Thofe who can reprefent Cheyt Sing's rebellion as 
 the impulfe of the moment, may well deny the glaring 
 intrigues of the two plotting Begums of Oude, and the 
 dangerous fpirit of defection, which their machinations 
 iad raifed in the Vizier's dominions. 
 
 To the author of fuch wretched furmifes, I leave it 
 to enjoy the contemptible triumph of disenabled dif- 
 belicf. I have no pleafure in purfuirtg phantoms ; a 
 refutation of his afTertions is my prefent purpofe, not a 
 Deformation of his underftanding or principles. In ad- 
 dition to the connected feries of deduction, by which 
 Cheyt Sing's motives are indifputably dcmonflrated
 
 dttional ftimulus to the revolt of his deluded 
 followers. You, Sir, have eftabliflbed be- 
 ^' yond 
 
 ^ 
 
 from his a&ions, and to the feveral refpe&able. tefll- 
 monials which have already appeared to confirm each 
 part of the charge, I fhall here quote the following 
 document, which has not yet been made public, 
 but of which the authentic record may be perufed at 
 the India-Houfe. 
 
 Extract of a letter from Mr. John Holland, our Re- 
 dent at the Nizam's Court, to the Governor-general, 
 and Supreme Council of Bengal, dated Hydrabad, 
 $th Oftober, 1781. Entered in Bengal Confultations, 
 Zpth Oaober, 1781. 
 
 After ftating what the Nizam had faid to him the pre- 
 qeding day, relative to the hoftile difpofidon of theMah- 
 tattas, which the Nizam had learned from the Mahratta 
 Minifter, Mr. Holland adds thefe words, " His High- 
 " nefs faid, that the (Mahratta) Minifter had inform- 
 " ed him of a plan of general attack ur.on our poflef- 
 " fions : one numerous army cf hoi Te had been ap- 
 *,* pointed to the fervice of laying wafte our Circars ; 
 " another with BoofU and other Mahratta Chiefs, 
 V was to enter Bengal by the way of Cuttack, and a 
 third, ScinJia's, &c. was to proceed from Malva, 
 *,' to fupport the infurrection of Cbeyt Sing, and other 
 ' Zemindars, to join NujuffCawn, and to penetrate 
 f, s into the heart of the Bengal Provinces." 
 
 Cheyt Sing was arrefted the iSth of Auguft. This 
 If.Ke;: is dated the 8;h of Oflobex an inierval of only 
 
 forty-
 
 I H 1 
 
 yond the poffiibility of cavil-, in your late fo. 
 fpecch to the Court of Proprietors, that 
 
 forty-nine days, in which it was barely poffible, that 
 the account of the arreft fhould travel from Benares to 
 Hydrabad ; but which utterly precludes the probabi- 
 lity of the Nizam's having received from thence, let-. 
 ters of any later date, with information of thofe very 
 exier.fae military preparations which the Raja was 
 fubfequently discovered to have iecretly arranged-*-* 
 jnach lefs that he ihould have then have obtained ac- 
 curate intelligence of thofe facts, which afterwards 
 proved the exigence of a very powerful difaffefted 
 party in Oucle, fomented by the two ambitious 
 Begums, to which Mr. Holland's- letter moft indu- 
 bitably alludes. 
 
 The converfation here related, paffed on the ;th of 
 October, and was hi confequence of a frtvicus con- 
 ference between the Nizam ?."- .ta Miniiler,- 
 
 t~b whom alfo we muft allow fome time for receiving 
 and connecting his intelligence from different quarters ; 
 which will carry back the dates fo far, as to leave a 
 clear impofiibility for any part of this account to have 
 been the produce of-fx p oft facto information. 
 
 But when we confider, that the Mahratta Minifter's 
 communication to the Nizam, was not of detached 
 fcraps of intelligence, derived to himfelf from various' 
 channels, but of a deliberate connected plan of conduct, 
 feverally agreed to by different powers, at almoft the 
 different extremities of India ; and that this circumftan- 
 tial account could only-have come to the Miniiler from
 
 tfte Governor-General, as reprefentative of 
 Cheyt Sing's immediate paramount, had a 
 dear right to infift on his provifional aid for 
 the general burthen of the war. It is a right, 
 Sir, coeval with the exiftence of afl Govern- 
 ment ; and as it is authorized by plain reafon, 
 and the very nature of things, fo it is war- 
 ranted by precedents from the Mogul hiftory. 
 Under the proof of this right is comprehended 
 a full conviction of the Raja's culpability 
 in refiftance. To fuch culpability, and for 
 fuch a culprit, what is the adequate, the con- 
 venient, and, I may add, the only conftitu- 
 tional mode of puni foment ? A fine : and 
 \vhat the ultima ratio of feodal authority ? 
 Difpoffeflion. You will here naturally re- 
 eollecl: a paragraph which I have quoted in 
 my fixth letter, in the Mdming Herald It 
 i's as follows : 
 
 E Exiracl 
 
 his principles at Poona, we muft of necefHty allow 
 a date of fome months at leaii, to the Machiavelian 
 bafis of Cheyt Sing's infurre&ion, founded on the 
 known dilTaffisdion of the two Begums, and on expec- 
 tations of great collateral affiftance, in conference of 
 a general cornpaft for our extirpation-
 
 Extraft of a fecret Idler from the Governor-Ge- 
 neral and Council of Bengal, dated Jan. 15, 
 1776. 
 
 " We thought it advifeable to fix a proper 
 " weight and flandard to be invariably ob- 
 " ferved by the Raja in all money which 
 " might bo coined, on pain of FORFEIT- 
 *' ING the Mint, and being liable to any 
 " PENALTY the Board might think Jit to 
 " impofe, on the fir/I inftance of any devia- 
 " tion." 
 
 Can the language of man convey in flron- 
 ger terms a clear explicit affumption of all 
 the rights and functions of Sovereign Power, 
 or a more full fpecification of the mode of 
 procedure to be applied to in cafes of difobe- 
 dience, Fine and DifpoJfeJJion ? Rebellion, 
 furely, is a crime of as black a dye as adulte- 
 ration of coin ? But revolt was riot a fpecies 
 of guilt, which it was fufpe&ed that the Raja's 
 known daftardly nature and avaricious habits 
 would incline him, from any poflible motives 
 of intereft or policy, to commit. Debating 
 of coin better fuited with his genius and his 
 purfuits. Had he thus corrupted the channels 
 of commerce by a miferable fraud on the cre- 
 dulity
 
 dulky of his people, he was to have been 
 Jived for the benefit of his paramount : but 
 when the finews of Government are Ihrunk 
 by his niggard obftinacy, when his deliberate 
 treafon endangers the very exiftence of our 
 Eaftern dominions, he is to be prote&ed 
 and excufed ; his crime is to be palliated by 
 the voice of patriotifm at home ; his punifti- 
 ment to be mifconflrued into a flagrant a6t of 
 violence. You and the public, I flatter my- 
 jfclf, will fee the matter in a very different 
 light. Admitting that Cheyt Sing may be 
 morally vindicated for feizing the opportunity 
 of our embarraffments to throw off his yoke, 
 Mr. Mailings is no lefs morally excufable for 
 difappointing his defign, and praife- worthy 
 for fo vigoroufly fupporting tfce interefts of 
 his conftituents. Cheyt Sing's expulfion from 
 his Zemindary had no relation to his in- 
 tended fine, for he never knew the intention 
 nor did he refift the fine, but the arreft. That 
 arreft furnifiied him with an unexpected plea 
 for his pre-determined revolt, which, it is as 
 clear as the Sun, would have been promptly 
 executed, had the arreft never taken place. 
 He was infatuated He had received bad 
 advice I ftill think him to have been led 
 E ^ blindfold
 
 [ 28 J 
 
 blindfold to his own deftruftion. He had 
 been taught to judge too lightly of the ftrength 
 of our Government, and too favourably of 
 his own. Independance was his object, and 
 for that he forfeited his allegiance. But though 
 he might have had a hoary Franklin at his el- 
 bow, .h certainly had no Wafhington : the 
 fuccefs which he never could hope from open, 
 hoftilities, he fought by cowardly afTaffination. 
 And when his attempt was defeated, v. hen he 
 could do no more mifchief,and when the halter 
 was already about his neck, he abjeclly peti-. 
 tioned for the reftoration of his wealth and 
 territories in the defpicable cant of flavifh> 
 contrition. -r- The folly of his guilt can only 
 be equalled by that of his repentance : had 
 he been pardoned, his forgivenefs would have 
 been a pledge of impunity for the rebellion 
 of every difaiTecled Zemindar in India. Ha 
 was therefore expelled of neteffdy ; or rather,- 
 his eftates were ipfo JaSo FORFEITED, 
 from the inftant that he took up arms : and 
 it was but by an a6l of fovereign clemency 
 that the fequeftered Zemindary was conti* 
 nued in his family. 
 
 The
 
 The fight of inveHiture "having thus fully - 
 cfcheated to the Company, the terms by 
 which Cheyt Sing had been bound were no 
 longer obligatory on either party. The Ze-, 
 mindary is known to be fully ; adequate to 
 a very large increafe of rent, and the .preffing 
 exigencies of Governnient rendered an ad- 
 vance (in itfelf exceedingly moderate) an ob- 
 jet of the utmoft confequence. It was en- 
 tirely fair and reafonable in, the Governor- 
 General to propofe this addition to the. re- 
 venue, and it was equally optional in the new 
 Rajah to ha\'e refufed inveftiture on thofe 
 conditions; but as the demands of Govern- 
 ment, even on the new leafe, bear no degree 
 of comparifon to the annual fum aflefled on 
 the lands, the prefent Zemindar has infinite 
 caufe to be pleafed with his bargain. 
 
 Mr. Haftings .might with great propriety, 
 and in ftril conformity to the feodal maxims 
 of the Mogul .Government, have demanded 
 a large fiim of money from the new Rajah> 
 as a Nuzzer, or fine of renewal for his leafe. 
 In proof of this, I appeal to the laft page but 
 one of Appendix, No. 14, to the fixth re- 
 port of the Seleft Committee of laft fefllon, 
 
 wherein
 
 [ 3 1 
 
 wherein is quoted an arifvver from the Roy- 
 Royan, and Canongoes, (who are in the fame 
 place explained to be competent judges of the 
 cuftoms of the country, and of the ufages of 
 the former Government) to certain queftions 
 propounded to them in 1773, by the late 
 Prefident and Council of Bengal, refpe&ing 
 the inheritable tenure of Zemindaries. " It 
 *' is ufual for- the fon of a Zemindar, after 
 * his fathers death, to repair to the prefence, 
 ** and prefant a Nuzzer to the King, that a 
 ** new Sunnud may be made out in his name."- 
 A very little knowledge of Indian affairs will 
 fuffice to underftand, that this Nuzzer of re- 
 nrafcd is always proportionate to the fuppofed 
 x r alue of the lands, and does not, at the fame 
 time, impede the ftipulation of an additional 
 yearly rent : fo that the Governor-General 
 has here, in a very diftinguifhed manner, 
 cxercifed the reigning virtue, moderation, by 
 obtaining an eafy advance on the rent 
 only, without proceeding to the legal and 
 cuftomary extremity of a Jine of renewal. 
 On the whole a traitor has been punifhed as 
 he deferved; his ufelefs hoards have been 
 brought into the mafs of general circulation ; 
 his faccefEon is To much clear gain to the 
 
 new
 
 t 3* 1 
 
 new Rajah, and the Company's affairs are 
 affifted in a critical moment by a fair and 
 equitable augmentation of revenue. All 
 parties are benefited at the expence of a 
 villain and a murtherer. His caufe, I truft, 
 will now experience the fate of his perfon. 
 
 The grounds on which the attack on the 
 fecret article propofed to have been inferted 
 in a treaty with the Raja of Berar, will pro- 
 bably proceed, I have taken from the twenty- 
 third refolntion of the Secret Committee, 
 read in the Houie of Commons, on Monday, 
 April 15, 1782. On that queftion I believe 
 Jlronger grounds of obje&ion do not exift, 
 or the learned mover of the refolutions would 
 afTuredly have brought them forward thefe, 
 therefore, fuch as they now ftand, I mail beg 
 leave with fubmiffion to canvafs. In the firlt 
 place, this fecret article of the treaty with 
 Boofla never came to a preliminary difcuffion : 
 It lies buried in the fame grave with that 
 excellent young man whofe untimely death 
 prevented the negotiation. We now talk of 
 that article as if it had been of public noto- 
 riety, whereas it never was divulged in India ; 
 nor was it meant to be included in the treaty, 
 
 if
 
 r 3* i 
 
 if Boofla cotald have been brought 'to any 
 terms of alliance without if. Moil certain it 
 is, that the Nizam never entertained a fuf- 
 picion of its exitlence, or traces of it would 
 be found in his expoftulatory correfpondence 
 with the two Prefidencies : yet we are baited 
 with the hazardous " confequence of an of- 
 " fenfive alliance with the Rajah of Berar, 
 " for the exprefs purpofe of recovering for 
 " him the conquefts made by the Nizam, and 
 " of uniting the dangerous powers of the 
 ." Mahratta empire under one active com- 
 " mand." Thefe are arguments ad coptandum 
 vulgus the timorous forebodings of pruden- 
 tial politics. Mr. Haftingsisaftatefman on a 
 higher fcale : and his genius, like that of Au- 
 gull us over Antony's, looks down with an eye 
 of unerring penetration on the fouls of the 
 .ACatic Princes, and anticipates the ftrokethat 
 {hall fruflrate their defigns. We may wrangle 
 and dogmatize here on the probable bias of 
 contingent events, and magnify the formi- 
 dable refult of the Nizam's refentment* or 
 Boofla's ambition ; but the Governor-General 
 laughs at their pitiful manoeuvres. The fame 
 hand that plays the pawn, can throw the 
 king off the board with one flight touch of 
 
 the
 
 the finger : its importance is only among bits 
 of wood or ivory of its own form and order. 
 I argue, firft, that the propofed treaty with 
 the Raja of Berar was not for the exprefs pur- 
 pofe of recovering for him what had been 
 feized by the Nizam, but for the exprcfs pur- 
 pofe of fecuring to ourfelves a neceflary reve- 
 nue and a fubftantial barrier on the weftera 
 fide of India : Secondly, that at the time of 
 propofing that treaty, the Nizam's (ingle 
 power was of little or no weight in the poli- 
 tical fcale, and that his confcquence confifts 
 in the piudence with which he has contrived 
 to appear prepared for war, without engaging 
 in actual hoftilities. His forte lies in the Ca- 
 binet, and the late confederacy of the Indian: 
 Powers is his matter-piece. But had Boofla 
 and his Mahratta friends been the avowed an- 
 tagonifts of that league, inftead of its parties, 
 the Nizam's wifdom muft have fought forne 
 frelh fubterfuge for his own fafety. " The 
 " union of the Mahratta Empire under one 
 *' a&ive command," is juft as little to be 
 dreaded. Wj have now for fome years fup- 
 ported a war again ft all the Mahratta States 
 but Berar on the one hand, while Hyder Ally 
 (formidable even to the combined forces of ' 
 F tbofo
 
 f 3-4 ] 
 
 thofe very Mahrattas) has exerted all his 
 flrength againft us on the other. Even fhould 
 we allow Boofla to have obtained his object 
 in confequence of our propofed treaty : fup- 
 pofe him to have weakened the Nizam, united 
 the Mahrattas, and fettled with us; where 
 fhould we have been more vulnerable tRan at 
 prefent ? And who could have guaranteed to 
 Boofla, the loyal and unfhaken adherence of all 
 the refllefs, ambitious, ;md intriguing Chiefs 
 of the Mahratta States to his ftandard ? The 
 fame policy which could detach Mhadajce 
 Scindia from the combination of his country- 
 men, and at one effort convert him from an 
 enemy to a mofl ufeful ally, would foon con- 
 trive the means to diflever any other iimilar 
 confederacy. But the Gpvernor-General, 
 knew that fuch an union xvould naturally fof- 
 tcr in kfelf the feeds of its own diffblution. 
 The politics of Afia have in faft undergone 
 an entire revolution within a few centuries. 
 Of the four mighty Empires which once (hared 
 the whole between them, that of China alone 
 ftands undiminifhed. The thrones of the 
 Tartar, the Perfian, and the Mogul, are fal- 
 len, never to rife again. Their territories ate 
 fubdivixfed, and the magic chain, which
 
 [ 35 ] 
 
 bound together and rivwtted their authority, 
 is vanifhed into air. For myfelf, I attribute 
 this phenomenon entirely to the difcovery of 
 the Cape of Good Hope, and to the improve- 
 ment of navigation. Whether an impercep- 
 tible change of opinions and inanners may 
 have been formed by the gradual operation 
 of commercial intercourfe, or by the influence 
 of what other inflrument this levelling fyftem 
 may have been promoted, I do not attempt 
 to explain : but the cauje (hikes me with the 
 ftrongeft conviction, and I am more impli- 
 citly confirmed in my fentiments, when I 
 confider the prefent condition of China. 
 Thofe commercial prohibitions, by which 
 ens fort only is fuffered to admit foreign veffels 
 through the whole aftonifhing extent of that 
 empire, are to me the pledges of its duration. 
 Should it once admit Ihips and colonies indif- 
 criminately, a ft urn eft de Republica. 1 am 
 therefore inclined to think, that Afia will never 
 again fee another very powerful and extenfivc 
 monarchy of any continuance, under a feries 
 of Afiatic Princes ; and of all events, which 
 can intereft my countrymen in India, the 
 union of all the Mahrattas feems to me the 
 leaf I to be apprehended. After all, we need 
 F 2 fear
 
 I 36 J 
 
 rear neither any fingle power, .nor any com- 
 bination of native powers in Afia; "while the 
 fea is our own : fo long we fhall predominate 
 by land, and no longer. Naval ftrength is 
 like the ifland of Laputa ; it commands 
 dominion by neceffity of fituation. While 
 *nen muft either march or fail *o con- 
 -quefr, the latter will always beat ; and 
 if flying be among the arts yet difcover- 
 able by man, that nation \vhich mail invent 
 it, and prefer ve the fee ret, will probably, 
 for a time, rule over the habitable globe. 
 Had we laft year cavilled lefs about the 
 interior arrangement of Indian affairs, and 
 difpatched five {hips of the line more to 
 that quarter in proper time, we might 
 now have afTumed a tone of irrefiftable fu- 
 periority in our negociations with the French 
 for a participation of Indian territories. 
 If the Raja of Berar, by our afliftance, had 
 weakened the Nizam, we mould no longer 
 have heard of the danger of incurring his 
 Vengeance; and if we had been clofely allied to 
 thefe United Mahratta States, we had nothing 
 to fear from them, all the a.liance was broken. 
 Put even on that fuppofition, had the Mah- 
 ratta powers attained to that formidable con- 
 
 fiftency,
 
 [ 37 ] 
 
 iiftency, fuggefted by the Penman of the 
 Secret Committee's refolutions, the other 
 native Princes of India, would moft eagerly 
 have embraced a combination with us, to 
 counteract the effects of their encroachments : 
 fo that in the very effort of raifmg the Mah- 
 rattas, we mould have enfured to ourfelves 
 the means of fecurity from their ingratitude. 
 But the field of political conjecture is un- 
 limited ; its paths perplexing and uncertain* 
 It would be beft to leave the fairy land 
 of hypothefis to that refpeclable veteran, 
 whofe peculiar province it is to give the 
 graces of manly eloquence to the apologues 
 of infantine fimplicity; who, after having 
 ineffectually tried his verfatile weapon on the 
 firft naval character the world ever faw, and 
 on a commander, whofe laurels the very 
 blaft of adverfity hath not been able to blight, 
 now wields it with two-handed impetuofity 
 againft the Chatham of the Eaft. But hen 
 alfo, he will not find the conflict more eafy, 
 nor the viclory more fecure than in his for- 
 mer attacks. To charges of criminality, the 
 defence will be Ihort, clear, and fatisfatlory. 
 We wait with confidence for the trial. If it 
 be urged, that Mr. Haft ings has involved 
 
 the
 
 t 38 ] 
 
 the Company in cxpenfive and unneceflary 
 wars, we appeal to the records at the India- 
 Houfe to the reports and appendixes of two 
 Committees, and on their authority refute 
 the accufation. If it be faid, that he hath 
 loft the confidence of the country powers ; 
 we anfwer, " that as far as prefumptive proof 
 " can be obtained, on fo complicated a mat- 
 w ter, we are warranted in aflerting, that 
 '* many of the firft Potentates of India, and 
 " in particular the Nabob Vizier of Oude, 
 ' the Raja of Berar, the Nabob of the 
 Carnatic, and the Nizam have, in many 
 " and very fire rig inftances, manifefted 
 *' their perfect reliance on his integrity and 
 " honour." Finally, if it be fuggefted, 
 that he hath forfeited the national character 
 for moderation, we beg leave to premife 
 upon the argument, " that moderation is 
 ** no part of our national character in 
 " Afia;" and we \vi 1 afterwards deny, that 
 the Governor- General hath in any degree 
 forfeited our claim to that virtue. While 
 we were known in India but as a Company 
 of Merchants, while we- fubfiftcd by the 
 ivreer barter of commodities, and fought by 
 affumed affability the preference of a mar- 
 ket, it cannot be fuppofed that our national 
 
 chara&r
 
 
 t 39 1 
 
 cl araRer was an object of con fide ration. It 
 was our commercial character on which we 
 relied for fuccefs, and our behaviour was 
 naturally fuited to the fubordination of our 
 circumftances. It was Clive who gave us 
 our fir ft exiftence as a nation in the Eaft, and 
 dive's virtues were not of the pitiful negative 
 clafs. Valour and conduct formed the balls 
 of his pile; juftice and honour were the 
 cement of the fuperftructure. Then it was 
 that we exchanged the pliability of mercantile 
 negotiation for the fteadinefs of political in- 
 dependence ; that we acquired the character 
 of a brave, a fteady, and a generous people. 
 If we are ft ill to be confidered as mere mer- 
 chants at home, it is but juft : here we poflefs 
 neither kingdoms, nor revenues, nor armies : 
 but we are not, on that account, to be de- 
 prived of our rights and privileges, war- 
 ranted to us both by law and charter. If by 
 that moderation which we are inftructed to 
 practice, it be meant that we fhould again re- 
 duce ourfelves to our original ftate of traders 
 in India, we reply, " That our national cka~ 
 ** rafter among Indians will not be at all 
 <! improved by a meer compromife of power 
 *' among ourielves, and by Jfubftituting a 
 
 ** Governor-
 
 f 40 ] 
 
 " Governor General of Bengal on the pare 
 " of the Crown, for him appointed by the 
 " Company.'* But the language of Minin 1 ry 
 is, that it is expedient to remove the prefent 
 Governor-General : and who ftiall fix tha 
 ihifting Proteus expediency, to bring him to 
 dofe examination ? It will be faid, that Mr. 
 Haflings's recall will procure an immediate ceiYa- 
 tion of hoftilities in Afia. The means however 
 feem very inadequate to the end propofed. 
 There are, as I think, but two methods of bring- 
 ing an obftinate enemy to terms : the one is by 
 victory the other by conceffion. For the 
 former, no man can be more amply quali- 
 fied than Sir Eyre Coote : he is the idol of 
 his army, the infpiring genius of the field, and 
 under him a Seapoy is fomewhat more 
 than an Afiatic. The latter method may be 
 cUemed more confident with the prefent mo- 
 derating principles : but its fafety is yet very 
 far from demonftration. If conqueft be 
 within the powers of .humanity, we need not 
 look farther for it than to Coote: but he 
 never could have taken the field, nor would 
 he have maintained his poft a fmgle day with- 
 out the wonderful aftiftarce and fupplies fur- 
 uiftied him by the Governor- General of Ben- 
 
 gal:
 
 gal : and it will at leaft be a matter of much 
 difficulty to find a man more fertile in re- 
 fources, and more gifted with the powers of 
 civil exertion, than Mr. Haftings. A new 
 Governor, we are told, would be more mo- 
 derate in the articles on which he would agree 
 to a peace. But we have not yet inconteftably 
 afcertained the ultimatum of Mr. Haftings's 
 political moderation. His fucceflbr would 
 probably be a ftranger to the internal ftrength, 
 to the relative advantages and private views of 
 the different States of India ; in their language 
 he mutt be totally deficient : and at all events, 
 will be reduced to the neceffity of a cling upon 
 the dictates of fubfidiary knowledge. He will 
 fee all things through a cloud, and at fecond 
 hand. The prefent Governor-General can 
 hear, and fpeak, and judge for himfelf. While 
 we condemn his want of moderation, we for- 
 get that this very conduct may be founded on 
 the meer principles of public prefervation. 
 It is probable enough, that he may have fo 
 accurately compared our exigencies with our 
 means, as to have feen the abfolute impoffi- 
 bility as well as impropriety of conceffion. 
 We have a large eftablifhment, an increafing 
 demand for money, and a heavy debt ; 
 it furely would not be prudent (even in a na- 
 G tional
 
 r. 42 T 
 
 tfonai I'ievj, as long as the old adage- fc faltff 
 populi fuprema lex ejto," ihall be found policy) 
 to admit of fuch a peace as fhould leave 
 us no human chance of ever reducing our 
 mcumbranccs ! A peace founded on the 
 voluntary dereliction of thofe exprefs objects 
 for which we have fo long contended, would 
 prove no left faithlefs than di-f reputable. Ar> 
 acknowledgment of pr efent inferiority would 
 but provoke future demands ; and if we con- 
 cede any thing now for the fake of tranquillity, 
 the moment our enemies ilia 11 have recruited 
 their flrength, they will again commence ho*. 
 ftilities, in hopes of farther conceffions. To 
 clofe the war, without fettling the balance of 
 power, would but expofe the fcale to the per- 
 petual chance of new vibrations from the 
 fligbteft accident: we have nearly obtained 
 poffeffion of the beam, and why mould we 
 wantonly reject it? The prefent ftruggles 
 may be compofed on a fyftem that fliall prc- 
 ferve the calm of all our Afiatic connexions 
 for half a century, or they may be fufpended 
 by an infidious truce, which all the parties 
 will be forward to break. I will hazard a 
 conjecture, which I dare flatter myfelf, Sir, 
 You will not wholly reject. Negotiations 
 for a general peace in Europe have been 
 
 for
 
 I 43 1 
 
 for fome tims on the tapis: among the. 
 various reafons imagined for their pro- 
 traction, a difference with regard to the parti- 
 cipation of territories in India is the rnoft 
 generally received. The French are thought 
 to fpin out the preliminaries, in hopes that 
 fome unfavourable turn of our affairs in the 
 Carnatic may enable them to dictate more 
 humiliating terms. Now I have not a 
 doubt, but if our legiflature, at the firft 
 opening of the prefent feffion, had fuddenly 
 recalled Mr. Haflings, and infilled on his 
 quitting the chair on the inftant arrival of his 
 -fucceffor, that the Cabinet of Verfailles would 
 abruptly have broken off the treaty, and have 
 Irufted more to the effects of our ill-timed 
 refolution, than to their own arms, (an objett 
 which I think them to have ftill in view) for 
 the evenf of another Indian campaign. Our 
 new Governor, Sir, were he to defcend from 
 heaven in their fight, would excite diftruft 
 in fome of our allies, fear in many, and 
 -an expectation of change in all. Intereft 
 would induce fome to Ilipulate for frefli 
 advantages as the price of their alliance : 
 appiehenfion would perfuade others to ftand 
 neuter, until they Ihould have feen the pro- 
 bable consequences of the new Governor's 
 G 2 conduct
 
 [ 44 ] 
 
 A circumftance which thus damped 
 the ardour of our friends, would in the fame 
 degree add vigour to the exertions of our 
 adverfaries. Chance at leaft would be in 
 their favour. They have beholden but 
 Clive and Haftings, en whofe fide deftiny 
 itfelf feemed to contend, and they know as 
 well as ourfelves that extraordinary men do 
 'not ufe to fpring up like muQirootns. Cn 
 the whole, this doftrine of expediency, which 
 is now to be the engine for Mr. Haftings's 
 removal, was the very plea for his continuation, 
 at the lafl General Court of Proprietors. I 
 appeal to the protefts of the diffentient Di- 
 reclors, I appeal to the nervous and irre- 
 fiftable eloquence of the day's debate, whether 
 any reafon be fo forcibly urged, or fo de- 
 cidedly conclufive, as that of the neceffity for 
 prolonging the authority of the prefent Go- 
 vernor-General, on account of the very psr- 
 flexed ftate of our affairs. This is the argu- 
 ment on which he has been fupported by his 
 immediate employers, it is now the charge 
 on which he is to be degraded. Admirable 
 pliability of language, which (as we are told 
 of a Hebrew word that may fignify either 
 to- blefc or to curfe) can fave at one end of the 
 town and damn at the other ! Like the ob- 
 literated
 
 [ 45 ] 
 
 literated characters of fome illegible infcrip- 
 tion, that fuit equally with an Otho or an 
 old button, a Roman fhield, or a rufty 
 pot lid! 
 
 When Mr. Haflings's recall mall have been 
 irrevocably doomed by the whole legiflative 
 po'.~. er, the bufinefs of expediency is flill but 
 half accornplifhed. The greater moiety of 
 the talk is to find another Governor -General 
 more fit for our purpofe, and to eflablifh him 
 in our opinions on the bafis of conviction. 
 If You be difTatisfied with the capacity of 
 your bailiff or Reward, you difmifs him, I 
 grant, bat not till you have feen another 
 whofe character you approve on a clofe en- 
 quiry, and whofe abilities you afcertain to be 
 fuch as will fuit you, by the manner in which 
 he has been ufed to exercife rhern. A Go- 
 vernor-General is the fteward of the Com- 
 pany : his capacity muft be fuited to the 
 nature of his office, and be broken in to its 
 functions by experience. The bungling work 
 made by General Clavering and his majority, 
 the glaring abfurdities obtruded on the public 
 
 by Mr. F , after fix years refidence in 
 
 the habits of bufinefs, have given the Com- 
 pany a forfeit of experimental government; 
 
 and
 
 [ 43 ] 
 
 " Circuit, and the countenance given by him 
 " to very improper mea fares, on fcvcral 
 " occafions, relative to the letting of the 
 ce diftricls, Jefcrve the ftrongei! marks of our 
 " difpleafure ; but as thofc fw-lccls we foreign 
 " to th: Centrals military proftflion, we (hall 
 " not, on the prefent occafion, proceed fur- 
 " ther, than to exprefs our difapprobation 
 * : of his conduct." Another inftance I find 
 in Appendix, No. 3, to the firft report of 
 the Select Committee of laft feflion. 
 Extract from General Sir Eyre Coote's 
 
 minute, in confutation, a^th Oft. 1780. 
 
 " As the determining upon points, relative 
 * : to law proceedings, has fallen fo little 
 '* wit bin the Ii/K : is cf my profej/ion^ I acknovv- 
 " ledge myfelf inadequate to the forming a 
 " thorough judgment, concerning the plan 
 *' propofed by the Governor - General." 
 Here then, we have one of the Company's 
 Commanders in Chief acquitted of refponfi- 
 bility for errors of the firft importance in 
 revenue matters, on account of his profejfion. 
 Another, whofe fervices have but this inftant 
 
 been honoured with the thanks of both 
 
 
 
 Houfes, and who r j^a-s once (as I have heard) 
 a Candidate for the Government cf Bengal, 
 pleads bis profejfion in apology for not enter- 
 ing into the difcufikm of a legal arrangement. 
 
 Yet
 
 [ 49 1 
 
 Yet revenue, at leaft, is the firfl concern of the 
 Bengal adminiftration, and frequent occafions 
 will arife for the exercife of a tried judgment, 
 on queftions of coinage, of commerce, of 
 civil and political negociation, of practical 
 government, and of legiflation. Far be it 
 from me to fuggeft, and I do from my foul 
 renounce the idea, that any one of thofe 
 noble and honourable perfons, whom the 
 conjectures of the public have, at different 
 times, named for the fucceffion to that high 
 office, be not amply qualified for the talk. 
 While I allow them every advantage of 
 natural and acquired abilities, I am within the 
 pale of refpect, when I venture to hint, that 
 experience may be wanting to the completion 
 of their characters : nor do I think that any 
 pne of them could more effectually confult 
 his own honour, as well as his duty to his 
 country, than by dedicating a portion of his 
 time, to the habits of feeing with his own 
 eyes, and of judging upon his own know- 
 ledge, before he launches out to act upon his 
 own bottom. 
 
 I have now, Sir, only to beg pardon for 
 
 the length of this intrufion : its defign, I am 
 
 fure, You will not condemn. If it fhould 
 
 H in
 
 t 50 ] 
 
 in the fmalleft degree ferve the Company, 
 tvhofe interefts I have moft warmly at heart, 
 and a man for whofe merit I have the moft 
 profound veneration, I fhall very heartily 
 rejoice : mould it by any means ferve my 
 country, even at the expence of thofe olr 
 jefts which induced me to take up the pen, 
 I fhall ftill have a confcious pride in my 
 labour : fhould it fail in all points to be 
 ferviceable, and (hare the common oblivion 
 of diurnal publication?, i have yet the flat- 
 tering affurance of your promifed exertions 
 in the fame caufe, to give new life to my 
 expectations, and to dart a fplendor where I 
 have but raifed a mift. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, 
 
 Si R, 
 Your moft obedient fervant, 
 
 DETECTOR. 
 
 4/4 of January, 1783.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 
 
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