4 Letter to the Directors of 
 J^e Hiast-Ipdia Company, in Conse- 
 lience of that vost Extraordinary 
 Irent, the Pecall of Governor Gen. 
 ial Sir George Hilaro Barlow 
 
 By 
 Samuel Ferrand Waddington 

 
 , 
 
 ^x ' 
 
 ' V- 
 
 ....--- ^ 
 
 / 
 
 *>

 
 LETTER 
 
 TO THE 
 
 DIRECTORS 
 
 OF THE HONORABLE 
 
 .EAST-INDIA COMPANY, 
 
 In consequence of (hat most extraordinary Ei-cnf.. 
 THE RECALL OF 
 
 GOVERNOR GENERAL SIR GEORGE HILARO 
 BARLOW, BART. 
 
 Ingratitude, is a vice of the deeped dye." 
 
 /. O X It N .- 
 
 fo: the Author, and Sold by B. Cuornv. 
 Street ; and all otln?r Booksellers iu Tu\sa 
 and Country. 
 
 ^Y JOHN ABRAHAM, C LT. MKN'T '; I, A NT.
 
 MESSRS DIRECTORS, 
 
 I 
 
 .T is my defign, in this letter, to reply 
 to fome modeft queries, addrefTed to me lately 
 by " A City Elder,'* through that fpirited 
 and conftitutional public paper, called the 
 " Independent Whig." Thefe queries were 
 relative to the " whole truth," at that 
 epocha, when the Earl of Lauderdale (lately 
 created a Britifh Baron) was a candidate, along 
 with me, for the Shrievalty of London and 
 Middlefex. 
 
 A 2 It
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 It urges me to exprcfs my regret, that 
 that iunclion with his Lordfhip fhould 
 have diminilhed the efteem and confidence 
 which my political fentiiuents had aufpi- 
 ciouily eftablifhed. In that bufmefc, how- 
 ever, I was not poiTe/Ted of the actual objccl 
 of his Lordfhip's defign. He was invited 
 and brought into the City by Mr. Alderman 
 Combe, who kindly attached him to my 
 popularity ; a meafure to which, at an un- 
 wile moment, I gave aiTent, and thus heap- 
 ed upon rmfelf aa odium that, properly, 
 was not my due. The whole arrangement, 
 firs, was one of the many beautiful irradia- 
 tions of that Club, denominated by mifno- 
 mer " the Whig-Club of England," but 
 (however we may highly refpecl individuals, 
 moft truly unfortunate for Britons and for 
 freedom) is devoid of every requifite hut 
 the nr.me. Its three-fold magic embraces 
 and deludes the honeft and independent 
 without doors; charms and fafcinates thofe 
 within, not ot the fanclorum ; and, with 
 the higheft rinks and diOinCtion of the 
 
 realm,
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 realm, alfo holds deep and fwcet converfe, 
 whether it be with powers before, or whether 
 it be, behind the throne. 
 
 Every witling politician ought to have 
 known, that this Club was inftituted under 
 the impofing branches of a Whig influence, 
 at a tavern, in St. Martin's Lane, folely for 
 the purpofe of fecuring the election of Mr. 
 Fox for Weftminfrer : and, on my confcience, 
 if one political operation in Europe was rnojl 
 fatal to that expanfion of the mind, to that 
 additional confolation. which progreflive 
 knowledge has intitled man to, it was the 
 hypocrify, the tergiverfation, the feceffion, 
 the dereliction, of its members, whenever 
 the fyren voice of venality or of power 
 prefented a feductive charm. Its principles, 
 I fay, were founded on hypocrify, than 
 which nothing is more baleful. And my 
 obfervation will, I fear, be amply and la- 
 mentably confirmed by the public actions of 
 its chiefs, now enlifted into the phalanx and 
 tinfelled by the arm of authority. It cannot 
 
 be
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 be othorwife with the conductors of the 
 Whig-Club of England. I had many fatal 
 proofs of a total want of difinterefted patri- 
 otifm in its internal organization. In my 
 motion there, " that thofc who were of 
 the Parliament fhould no longer fecede, 
 but attend their duty or refign, and alk the 
 opinion of conftituents," I was defeated and 
 infulted. But when, deeply imprefled with 
 impending circumftances, combined with 
 this Club's honor and very exigence, and 
 moft anxious to afcertain the depth of the 
 political wound, and when I prefented 
 that political ordeal, and gave notice of the 
 celebrated motion, " that the principles of 
 the Whig Revolution of 1688, imperioufly 
 demanded that fuch members as had given 
 evidence on the trials of O'Connor, &c. mould 
 be rcqu'.red to render fome account of their 
 part political connection with O'Connor, &c." 
 when I fay, that I was perfonably fought 
 after, at my own houfe, and folicited by men 
 now dignified with the higheft legal honors, 
 
 both
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 both here and in India, not to urge this 
 ineafure, I had then no longer any doubts 
 but that the machinery of this wonderful 
 theatre of mock-patriotifm and of ftupid 
 inebriety was chiefly applicable to the pur* 
 pofe of oufting minifters, no matter by what, 
 means, and by vi hat connexions, and that it 
 was alfo a delufive rallying-point for thofe 
 who view the fui face only, and a fham refer- 
 voir for the claims of oppreffion ? or for the 
 calls of actual philanthropy. Although I 
 might not give Sir James Mackintofh, Al- 
 derman Combe, or Mr. Erfkine, my " mo- 
 tives" for this unexpected ftep, it mufl be 
 obvious, that my motion tended to afcer- 
 tain, whether the Irijh Reformers were fupport- 
 cd, bona fde, by the Engli/h Qppofitionijls \ 
 If fo, the evidences were as criminal as the. 
 culprits at the bar : or, if they did notjtncerelj 
 fuftain the Reformers, their hypocrify to them 
 demanded the detejlation of all good citizens: 
 and (if the reader chooies, in the only pofli- 
 ble exception) luhelher^ ij deluded by the Re~ 
 
 former;*
 
 men of fuel fiaUow perceptions were 
 cualifed tobe the Juture prime advijlrs of the 
 Crown cj the United Kingdom, and the protec- 
 tors of the country's weal? I feel confident, 
 and I fpeak boldly. 
 
 If I had doubts on this critical concluiion, 
 (I \vifliit were poilible) my premiies would 
 be fuftaincd by a reference to the important 
 data in the Irifli confcffions ; by the alarm 
 and the anxiety which the bufmefs excited in 
 the Club; urging its members, before the 
 trials, even to the refearch of the Kent poll- 
 books for the laft fifty years ; and by fubfe- 
 quent events, among which, that of Earl 
 Thanet's iubmitting, with Roman heroifm, to 
 a punilhment for l>/o\vs given in Court by a 
 Commoner , is indeed the mod worthy of record. 
 But thcfe matters never met the public eye; 
 they were unworthy of the Club's recording- 
 committee, and of public papers. I humbly 
 tmir, however, that my patriotifm on that 
 ngi:hr event was of " better times ;" and 
 
 I beg
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 1 beg that it may be admitted as a counter- 
 balance for introducing a nobleman for civic 
 honors. But, when the public fends his 
 Lordfhip to India for the purpofe of fup- 
 planting that experienced and pacific fervant 
 of the Company, Sir George Barlow, we 
 muft alike tremble for the baneful continua- 
 tion of party and of cabal. It may be 
 prefumed, however, that your honorable 
 Court will perfevere in that flubborn 
 independence which they have lately dif- 
 playedupon the application made by the Board 
 of Controul, in the very face of the Go- 
 vernor General's moft elegant and gratifying 
 defpatch inferted in a Gazette Extraordinary. 
 
 Thus far had I committed myfelf to the 
 public eye, referving only, (at future periods,) 
 to dilate and to expofe, to good patriots, the 
 arrant folly of attaching ideas of amor patrL? 
 to that political Club which I have thus de- 
 nounced. When, in common with all the 
 thinking world, I am imperioufly led to proceed 
 bv thr following apparently ^/'v;;//V intel- 
 
 R licence
 
 ligenec in all the public papers: " A/r. 
 Secretary Fox has bad a pr rcate audience with 
 the Kin?, and his Maje/ly ivas induced to c'<n- 
 
 O ' J J -/ 
 
 fent by his ftgn manual, agrsably to the Rcfiric- 
 the Aft of 1793, to recall GVj. Gen. Sir 
 George Barlow, and a mcjjage to this ejfctt 
 las been tranfmitted to the Court of Din'flsrs." 
 
 I mu ft refumc the fubjcct, but I tear that 
 it will be difficult for you to remove the film 
 ofprejudiee. You have been accofted gene- 
 rally by partizans, or by interfiled courtiers : 
 It will, however, I hope, prove a ufcful 
 variety, one independent man is worth a 
 thoufand hirelings. I will tiril recapitulate 
 the late proceedings, premifing, that tor the 
 laft three months the public papers have dif- 
 gufted the reader, with paragraphs evidently 
 paid for, preparing him for inch a recall, and 
 for the blejfmgs to be derived from bis fuc- 
 ccflbr, the Earl of Lauderdale ; I do not mean 
 to detract from his Lordfhip's talents, they are 
 cert 'inly refpi-flable, altho' it mull be ob- 
 vious, that the financial data of hisLordfhip, of 
 
 Sir
 
 ( 11 ) 
 
 Sir John Sinclair, and of Lord Sheffield, 
 were drawn from the more profound works 
 of Mr. William Morgan, nephew of Dr. 
 Price. 
 
 The Court of Proprietors, tremblingly 
 alive to every thing from Mr. Secretary Fox, 
 held an cfpecial court on the 25th of May, 
 relative to the conduct of the Directors 
 during the administration of Marquis Wel- 
 lefley. Their laudahle and grateful refolution 
 was fubmitted to a ballot, and is as follows : 
 
 " That this Court (of Proprietors,) having 
 confidered the papers laid before it, mod 
 highly approves of the zeal manifefted, and 
 the conduct purfued, by the Court of Direc- 
 tors, and regards a firm adherence to the prin- 
 ciples maintained by the Court of Directors, to 
 be indifpcnfably necejjary to preferve the fahi- 
 tary authority over the government of India ^ 
 Defied by law in the Court of Directors ; to 
 reftrain a profufe expenditure of public mo- 
 ney ; and to prevent all fchcmes of conqueft 
 
 B 2 and
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 and extcnfion of dominion ; meafures, which 
 the legiflature has declared to be repugnant 
 to the willi, the honor, and the policy, of 
 the nation ; and this Court doth affure the 
 Court of Dircflors of its tnojl cordial and 
 zealous fupport, ivith a view to preferve unim- 
 paired the rights and privileges cf the Eajl 
 India Company. 1 ' 
 
 " LONDON, 25th of May, 1806." 
 Carried by 928 againft 19,5. Majority 733. 
 
 The Honorable Court of Directors alfc 
 met, upon the rcquifition from the Board of 
 Controul, or rather from the above Secreta- 
 ry, arid again ft the recall of the Gov. General, 
 and appointment of the Earl of Lauderdalc, tn 
 their eternal honor, divided, 1 8 againft 4 Di- 
 rectors. Mod happily for Sir George Hilaro 
 Barlow, thr following Gazette Extraordinary, 
 unfortunately for Mr. Fox and his friends^ 
 confoled the friend of India and philanthropy: 
 
 Defpatcb
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 DC [patch from Sir George Hilaro Barlow. 
 
 London Gazette Extraordinary ^ May 16. 
 
 lllahabad, 4th Dec. 1805. 
 
 I have now the honor to inform your 
 Hon. Court, that on the 22d ult. a defini- 
 tive treaty was concluded between the Rt. 
 Hon. Lord Lake and the Plenipotentiary 
 Agent of Dowlah Row Scindiah, upon 
 terms which appear to me to be calculated 
 to eftablifh the relations of amity and con^ 
 cord between the two States upon the mofl 
 fecure and permanent foundation. 
 
 Your Hon. Court will alfo have the fatis- 
 fadtion to be apprifed of the expectation 
 which I confidently entertain of a fpeedy 
 and favourable termination of hoftilities 
 with Jufwunt Row Holkar, and of the con- 
 fequent important reduction of the military 
 charges of the feveral prefidencies infepa- 
 rable from a flate of war. 
 
 I have
 
 (11 
 
 I have the iatistaflion to inform your 
 lion. Court, \}\dt perfefl tranquillity prevails 
 1/1 rccry quarter ^f the Company* s dominion* - y 
 and I am not aware of the probability of any 
 occurrence i.t a nature calculated to diihirb 
 it, or to impair t'rc fundamental fources of 
 the Biitiih power and profpcrity in India. 
 
 Dcfpatchos have alfo been received from 
 Sir George H. Barlow, dated Ilhhabad, 24th 
 of Decemb-.-r, iO 5, from which it appears, 
 
 tiv.'t, \'.\ ' : ic . oi t -treat; p, >.: j v/ith 
 
 Scindiah ;r)n 1-; c -nh^jit expert -:tion ^f a 
 
 ( . '."': \\ r ' , orders hau been iiTued 
 
 : to i t rii, n ;rceably to a n,-ace- 
 
 - ivi'S r:lv-.-:ig with 
 
 yc. ! .i, , ^ ci .''"vl^lr! tin, niodcit de- 
 
 ci:iVJ l-jtt^r, (\ i Saviour of India, 
 
 '!! in :i [ir;t 'i 1 . 6, \traordinary t is it 
 
 . ' nflrou , is it j - r t the hightli of wanton 
 
 p'',. "' ', U> uvgc the I^ircclor , to advifc 
 
 * c j-n ; ' '//' Maje'iy, to recall tb" 
 
 C' ". . ( ;c:!'. . ;.!, '\\'\ tr.us requuc <?T?// for good? 
 
 y A"c ::viOj 1 ' :-, trace tlii< buiinefs to 
 
 its
 
 it.s fource, I mud go back to the notorious 
 India-Bill of Mr. Fox, and I fear that I mud 
 vow fpare him upon this his iccond prepof- 
 terous coalition, with men " who had ruined 
 f ' their country, and worthy only of condign 
 il punifhment." I muil prcmife, that it is my 
 chief defi?n to aroufe the Company from their 
 
 O J- J 
 
 lethargy, by proving, in this ha. fly production, 
 that the fine qua inn of the fuccemve Mi- 
 niflers of this country for 30 years pad, was 
 to increafe the already immenfe power of the 
 Crown, by an uncontrolled ajcenaency over 
 the territories and inexhauftible wealth of Hin- 
 doflan. In 1783 (I might have gone farther 
 back) we find the Lord Advocate of Scot- 
 land, (Mr. Henry Dundas, now Vifcount 
 Melville,) in the Houie of Commons, thm 
 prefacing his motion for the recall of the 
 mod judicious and mod fuccefsful (next ft 
 Sir George Barlow) Governor-General, that 
 ever your Court heard of, I mean that 
 perfecuted man, Warren I ladings, Efq. 
 " The Court of Directors, fenfible of the 
 : wrongs v/hlrli v/cre committed, fent our 
 
 * inftruc-
 
 ( Iti ) 
 
 41 inftructions, but thefe were generally dif- 
 " regarded, and were often injudicious" He 
 therefore mould propofe Lord Cornwallis, 
 whofe birth, whole rank, whofe military 
 prowefs, would unite the mo ft defirahle re- 
 quifites." Mark, Meffrs Directors of a 
 trading community, <f military requiiites." 
 Mr. Burke was alfo moft vehement for this 
 mcafure. Pofterity will know, however, 
 that this orator's zeal, in Warren Haftings's 
 matters, arofc from flights to his relative in 
 India. Lord John CavendiOi declared, 
 *' that the territorial acquifitions, of the 
 Company, were but a fruitful fource of 
 grievance," *' let it confine itfelf to the 
 Charter of Merchants. 1 ' Governor John- 
 llonc manfully oppofed the meafure ; 
 *' France had fent out formidable fquadrons; 
 I-Vancc had an eye to India; and would 
 vou recall the Governor-General when lie has 
 
 4 
 
 juft concluded peace with the Mahrattas, 
 and has fupplied the expcnfes of the late war 
 with wonderful ingenuity ?" Mr. Dempftcr, 
 .m th_- lame fide, laid, that, to fuperfede Mr. 
 
 Haflings.
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 j failings, would be like recalling Governor 
 Elliot, when hot balls were flying at Gi- 
 braltar. 
 
 The whole bufinefs ended here, the Bill 
 wax ! r >Jl. But, in November of that year, 
 Mr. Secretary Fox, true to the latent prin- 
 ciple, brought forward his " celebrated'* Bill 
 for the purpofe of *' relieving" the company 
 from the burden of directing their own 
 0ffain 9 by an inveftment of their powers in 
 feven ccmmiflioners, (of which, I think, 
 Earl Fitzwilliam is now only living,) " for the 
 benefit of the proprietors and of the public. JJ 
 My mercantile affairs are in confufion, I am 
 incapable of farther conducting them, and 
 my creditors (the public through their re- 
 prcfentativcs) kindly take them out of my 
 hands, and veil them in thofe of Earl Fitz- 
 william and fix others ; this is the cafe in 
 plain Engli (h. Mr. Fox, who had fcarccly 
 taken his feat as a Minifter, declared ** that 
 ** it was impoffible for a fubjecl of greater 
 dignity and ivsigbt to be under the infpec- 
 
 C tion
 
 ( 18 ) 
 
 tion of a Britifh Parliament ; it involved 
 the belt intcrcfts, if fuch be the denomi- 
 nation \vc choofe to beftow upon the fources 
 of commerce and opulence of the empire. It 
 was intimately connefted with the honor 
 and fair fame of the Englifh nation ; and, 
 which was of a thoufand times more im- 
 portance, it was to give a colour to the fate 
 and the happinefs of thirty millions of men ! 
 The patronage and wealth of India might 
 prove a permanent fourcc of influence and 
 corruption-, and, placed implicitly in WRONG 
 HANDS, they might overturn that balance 
 of the conilitution, which we have been 
 habituated to view with fo fond an admira- 
 tion, s:id sive a new face to the government 
 of thffe iflands ! ! Whatever may be Mr. 
 Haftings's demerits i he is a man of a very 
 different {lamp from the herd of our late 
 Governors of India. The refolution of the 
 houfe to recall an Afiatic Governor had been 
 difobeyed, and a vote of thanks fubftituted by 
 the Court of Proprietors. 1 " This is but an 
 outline of Mr. Fox's fpecch. His Hill, 
 
 while
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 while it preferved the monopoly, and left- 
 untouched the queftion of the territorial 
 right, propofed no lefs than to take, from 
 the Proprietors and the Directors, the entire 
 adminiftration of their territorial and com- 
 mercial affairs. It took from them their 
 houfe in Leadenhall-ltreet, together with 
 all their book?, papers, and documents, 
 vefting the entire management, the appoint- 
 ment of all officers and fervants, the rights 
 of peace and war, and the difpofal of the 
 whole revenue, in the hands of thefe feven 
 co mmifli oners. They wereyfry? to be chofen 
 by the legiflature, afterwards by the crown, 
 and to hold their offices, as the Judges of 
 England, only removable by an add reft 
 from a houfe of Parliament. " This bu(i- 
 ncfs forced itfelf upon him and the nation : 
 he came forward with no other reaibn on 
 earth than becaufe the neceffity was fo 
 urgent ; its preffure fo irrefftibk that:;,? far- 
 tier delay could be admitted '; they (the Com- 
 pany) now want a loan of 'naif a million; 
 th ev nrc drawn upon for t ; o mere \-ff.:a'i 
 
 r? --..
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 their bills be dijhonorcd? Good man! hov. 
 delighted \\ill the clofe hunks and gabk - 
 bc with this extracl. " The Director.-, had 
 acquiefced in the recall of Mr. Ilailings, but 
 the Court of Proprietors had refcinded the 
 vote, and had voted him their thanks for 
 his conduct." The oppofition, in replv, de- 
 clared that " every thing had been expected 
 of Mr. Fox, but the mcafure of that da\ 
 augured the fatal effects of Ins junction with 
 Lord North. // was impojjibk thai he could 
 ever be hereafter trujled as the Minijhr of tbu 
 country" Air. Pitt (for whom Mr. Fox i.-, 
 now paving a fplendid mau(oleum) declurcd. 
 that, " by this Bill, the annihiLition 6/ t/..^ 
 charter of the Company t and a nei'<: audun- 
 conftitutional influence, was created. The Bill 
 attacked the moil folemn eharteis. It was 
 a fair pur chafe madt. bt the public, a;i cqihU 
 compact. Pafs this Bill, what afllirance had 
 \ve for the great charter itillf : Every tiling- 
 was to be given up. Imagination i-^as at a 
 lr>fs to guef> at the tnofl injignificant trifie ivhich 
 bad efc aped the harp -y claws of a RAVENOUS 
 
 coalition.
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 coalition. Did Mr. Fox wiili to be a di<fta- 
 tor a 'id be crowned ? I will hold no com- 
 panions with Cromwells, Cadars, and Cati- 
 lines ! In oppofition, he has declared that 
 the influence of the crown was enormous ; 
 he would render the crown every tiling.'* 
 Mr. Henry Dundas, " he has out-heroded 
 Herod." The bill, however, was flrenuoufly 
 fupported by Mr. Erfkine, now High Chan- 
 cellor Lord Erfkine ; Mr. Courtenay, now a 
 Treafury-Lord; by Lord Rawdon, now Earl 
 Moira, Matter-General of the Ordnance; 
 and by Lord Maitland, now Earl of Lauder- 
 dale, and, they fay, Goveror-General of India. 
 It was oppofed by Mr. Wilberforce alfo, and 
 carried by a fmall majority; it was petitioned 
 again ft by both the Court of Proprietors and 
 by the Directors. 
 
 In the upper houfe, Earl Temple and Lord 
 Thurlow manfully oppofed it, and it was 
 there rejeded 9-3 to f(j. This terminated 
 Mr. Fox's bill, and his coalition with Lord 
 North. It cannot however be difguifed, that, 
 
 in
 
 in the bill of Mr. Pitt, which cnfucd, nncl 
 which wai lofi by a majority of o, the lame 
 deli en of wreftincr the affairs of T:idia out of 
 
 o '-J 
 
 the hands of the fole Proprietors, and of 
 attacking its inexhauftiblc rcfourccs, and in- 
 calculable patronage and power, w-as the 
 true bails and foundation. 
 
 The Company, alive to its intcr^il-, the 
 nation at large alfo, however individually 
 venal, not loft in fhamelefs duhonour, woul-.l 
 not allow even their then favo: itc, the ion 
 of a Chatham, to proftitute /}, nations 
 ! -,/;or, the folcmnity tf a cb-.irttrc.i right^ at 
 r :,c fhrinc of ambition or ri theoretical f^cn- 
 '.;;-'//. They were aware, no doubt, that 
 \\\z frit principle of that con::\iv\l, bc'tucen tli^ 
 v ;...wmmi'iit and the Companv, w;-s a coin- 
 mcrcial principle; and tli.it lucli principle, 
 uliencv^r deviated from, cither hv th.c mad 
 .isiibition oi governors, like C'livc, or like 
 \\'clUiley, cr by the machinations of the 
 lipMh Minlfler.-', only had produced tlioll- 
 L-riornums cxpcnfcs and calanutic.-, v. hich 
 
 arc
 
 ( 23 ) 
 
 are fo truly deplored by the real friends of 
 the Company, yet, fo highly acceptable to 
 thofe miniilers and politicians as are actu- 
 ated by a thirft for Slfiatic power and arbi- 
 trary fway. 
 
 My pofition, that the fo'e power of India 
 is the object, is confirmed by the act of Mr. 
 Pitt, fome years afterwards, the eftablifhment 
 of the Beard of Controul over the actions of 
 the Court of Directors ; and alfo by the recent 
 declarations made by minifters or their depen- 
 dents in the Houfe of Commons ; that " this 
 Controul, and this Court of Directors, are 
 incongruous ; that fome more fimple plan of 
 conducting India affairs mud fooner or later 
 be devifed." To which, however, Mr. Fran- 
 cis appears adverfe. He is, of all men in 
 Europe, be ft informed on India affairs, and 
 / hope that he will copy Mr. Paull in his dif- 
 intereftednefs, and that he is not fallen into 
 the pernicious and deflructive wiles of the 
 prcfent adminiftration, relative to that devoted 
 quarter of the globe. It is a pity but we 
 
 could
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 could ftudy what originally eflablimed Indian 
 profperity, and even our own, or that of 
 every other rational people, where commerce 
 has extended its tranquil wing. // w^s ho- 
 norable engagements , not the fword ; it was 
 commerce ) uncontrolled by power. From tne 
 earlicft ages, the expanfion of commerce 
 has been in due relation to the influence of 
 power: E^ypt, Tyre, Rome, Carthage, 
 Venice, Genoa, fucceihvely funk into arbi- 
 trary power, poverty, and rag?. In more 
 modern ages, Portugal, Holland, England, 
 America, and France, have made their pro- 
 ^refilve or n-tro^rade march in the civilifed 
 
 f> o 
 
 .irt~ of manufactory and commerce, as their 
 rcfp.ctivc people vere more o; lefs ponderous 
 in th.- feale of government. It is becaufc 
 thit frcatrn :'r //',' very foul of commerce \ it 
 cm not even iuticr the " c..)!itroul" cf a 
 RjfixtnmM or a \t nimum npo:i a iingle pro- 
 H-;.:li-j:i; for, at the inoft enlightened period 
 ot onr own liulory, when party and cabal 
 had n!;t re \iclv.-d thoir climax, I mean the 
 be-rinninc; of this reirn, all reftrictive acts 
 
 O O O ' 
 
 upon
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 upon the freedom of commerce, were removed 
 by a fweeping repeal of Parliament, " as 
 they had prevented a free trade, and only 
 tended to advance prices." 
 
 In our own time we witnefs, the vain and 
 blighting efforts making by the arbitrary go- 
 vernments of Pruffia and Ruflia, or of Sweden, 
 to become manufacturers ; they will foon 
 difcover, that a reftridlion of fpeech and of 
 communication, an infecurity of property, are 
 inlurmountable obftacles. In this coun- 
 try even, we are by our warlike habits, 
 endangering thofe genial fources of comfort, 
 of which we have been the envy and admi- 
 nttion, arid the day is not far diftant, when it 
 will bo a quefdon, whether we muft re-trace 
 our fteps, or again immerge into a military go- 
 vernment: 
 
 The India Company has before it a laby- 
 rinth of difficulties. If Marquis Wellcfley 
 had been deputed to have laid you proftratc 
 at the feet of the throne, it muft be admitted, 
 that he has alllduouily employed himfelf. A 
 
 D debt
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 debt of eleven increafed to thirty-two mil- 
 lions ! and all by what ? by meafures dia- 
 metrically oppofite to the eftablijhed pacifc 
 commercial dcfenjive principle 'j, upon which the 
 Company's charters iv ere founded t and by which 
 it had originally proffered. But like Mr. 
 Paull, to whom the country is infinitely in- 
 debted, I may be told, that I fpeak " at my 
 peril" On this point, however, I am at if- 
 fue with Mr. Fox and his colleagues. Mr. 
 Fox may enter the royal prefence and advife 
 the King to give his fign manual for the 
 recall of a Governor General, but this will 
 not do away the indelible ftain of ingratitude 
 for Jignal ferviccs ; it will net replace the 
 flinrulu* to laudable public feruices ; when 
 we find that in this cafe, as with Sir David 
 Baird and Commodore Popham, party, not 
 public virtue, a filly promife to a dependant , 
 are the motives which actuate this cham- 
 pion of his country's rights ! 
 
 If reforms in India are wanting; and where 
 does not the imperfeclibility of man demand 
 
 reform
 
 reform ; jet them be made through theit 
 lawful and natural channel, through the 
 Directors, and through fuch men as Barlow 
 or of Francis, whofe natural lives even have 
 been contracted by local experience; and let 
 us hear no more of the nomination cf ftrangers 
 to India's gigantic operations. Let Mr. Fox 
 and his new friends fland fair, if they can, with 
 the nation let them not on every occafion 
 avoid the introduction of papers. After the re- 
 folution of the Court of Proprietors, it i . 
 the boundcn duty of Mr. Fox, to fathom 
 the bufinefs of Marquis Wellefley j or, has 
 he gone " accorde" with my Lore} Grenville, 
 
 11 OBLIVION UPON THE PAST ?" Are WC 
 
 to barter our 40s. Freeholders for Parliamen- 
 tary Reform? a 10 per cent, in lieu of 61 Pro- 
 perty Tax? an increafed {landing Army for 
 the new modelling of the old constitutional 
 force, the Militia? an excifeman in every 
 private brewhoufe for the "Shop Tax?" the 
 /Ymerkan Intercourfc bill, for the navigation 
 D 2 acl 5
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 act? But let it not be faid that Mr. Fox v s 
 principles relative to freedom and to control 
 oivr the public expenditure, (hall be firfl 
 expofed and ridiculed, mall be firfl brought 
 to the Jhrlne of derijion, when he has arrived 
 at the highth of power, and that "control" 
 fhall only appear, when Indian government is 
 to be \vrefled from its rightful poflefTors. 
 Let us not fee realized, that ominous HEAR- 
 SAY* of the laft three years, that " the 
 cxpenfes of this war, and of future ones, 
 would be derivable from India/' There was 
 n time (vide Parliamentary Regifter) when 
 Mr. Fox had objections to this Board of 
 control and when he viewed it with 
 jealoufy and when Mr. Francis's fpeech, 
 5th of April, 1806, cenfuring Marquis Wel- 
 le fley for the carnatic war, "was completely 
 unanfwerable." Has Mr. Fox no leifure to 
 look into his own palpable inconfiftencies 
 Does he fuppofe that there is a child igno- 
 rant that his protege's (Lord H. Petty) 
 
 bill 
 * All Mr. B'irkc's solemn truths were conveyed by a
 
 ( 29 J 
 
 Bill for the appointment of commiifioners t6 
 
 audit public accounts, amounting to nearly 
 
 -five hundred millions, is a great libel on his 
 
 worthy coadjutor, Lord Grenville, who as 
 
 auditor for life (and alib Firft Lord of the 
 
 Treafury) has enjoyed a mofl fplendid annuity, 
 
 for not pajjingfuch accounts ? 
 
 But I humbly truft, that I have already 
 fufficiently attracted your attention to the 
 alarming position in which his Majefty's 
 new Minifters would place you. If, however, 
 unfortunately you fhould not aroule, and 
 aflert your independency, in which you will 
 be cordially fupported by the virtuous com- 
 munity I pledge myfelf that the period is 
 not diftant, when thefe their plans will be 
 found to be a veritable ban's for the unity of 
 the united kingdom with Hindojtan and that 
 the talents and profound ingenuity of the Earl 
 cf Lauderdale, will have been only preliminary 
 and fubfervient to a more powerful, definitive, 
 
 and
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 tnd exclujive fyftem of dominion, under the 
 benign fa ay of a far more illujlrious perfmage 
 than any which your Honorable Court has ever 
 beheld among the pafl Governors-General of 
 India. 
 
 S. F. WADDINGTON
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
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