Stricture on a Pamphlet En- titled Considerations on the Im- portant Benefits to be Derived from the East-India Company's Buil- ding and Navigating their Own Ships UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES STRICTURES ON A PAMPHLET ENTITLED CONSIDERATIONS O N T H E Important Benefits to be derived from the Eaft -India Company s Building . and Navigating their own Ships. " It mull be very difagreeable to any one, " who endeavours to come at truth, to *' find a heap of fallacies piled up in " order to obftrud: the paffage." Confederation*) P. 30. Out of tbint own mouth will I condemn tbee. LONDON: Printed for J. SEWELL, No. 32, CornlnU. PRICE ONE SHILLING, STRICTURES ON A PAMPHLET ENTITLED CONSIDERATIONS, a time, when a combination unfavourable circumftances loads every article of our manu- factures and commerce with fuch heavy impofls, as raife their price al- moft beyond the reach of the home-con- fumer, and fend them to foreign markets under the moft ruinous difadvantages, every attempt to lighten this load, and remove a that eats into our vitals, as a com- B mercial 3548 mercial people, deferves the moil feriouo attention and encouragement. In this light I was {truck by a late publi- cation, entitled,' CONSIDERATIONS on the important Benefits to be derived from the Eaft-India Company's Building and Navi- gating their own Ships. I read it, there- fore, with that favourable prepofTeffion which the title was calculated to raife, tho* without fuftering myfelf to be abfoltitely blinded by it. How well the work an- fwered the title mall now be fhewn, left others, taken in by the gilding, as I own I was, and wanting leifure to look for the hook concealed under it, mould fwallow the bait without examining. In convafiing this pamphlet, I mall not floop to take notice of the writer's inaccu- racies, merely as a writer. The errors of his judgment, (to give them the tendered: name ; a name indeed more tender than I believe my readers will ere long be inclined to give them) not of his %le, are the ob- jects of my attention. I will detect his fophiffns, and mew the dangerous tendency of the principles he would fupportby them; but I 3 1 but I will let him go back to fchool to learn how to write corre&ly, and like a gentleman. Confcious of the diftrnft, which experi- ence has imprinted on every prudent mind againft empirical reformers and innovators, he modeftly declines the honour of having been the firft difcoverer of the evils for which his public fpirit offers this remedy. He tells us, " that fo long ago aa in the year 1772, * the enormous expences that attended the " bufmefs of their mipping, attracted the " particular attention of the Proprietors; " and a Committee was appointed to con- " flder, ALONG WITH OTHER MATTERS, " of proper regulations, for the future ma- " nagement of that branch."* Now, with all due refpeft to this writer's authority, I believe his readers will be apt to fupec~t, that if this was an evil, " that " worked like a worm into the body of the * Confederations, P. 2. To fave the reader the trouble of future references^ he is defired to obferve, that all the paflages Marked thus (") are literally in the very words of the CONSI- DERATIONS. B 2 "Eaft- [ 4 ] " Eaft-India Company, and preyed upon " its vitals," it could not have efcaped dif- covery fo long; nor when difcovered would have been lumped to a Committee along with other matters^ and then left with- out farther regard for fo long a time as fix years, till he has at length flepped forth upon the ftage, like Doctor Loft, to fhew them a radical cure for it. To obviate the force of an objection, which he was fenfible would ftrike every man of common fenfe, he tells us, " it " happened unluckily that the Chairman * " of the Company at that time was too " deeply concerned in the fhipping bufi- " nefs, and had intereft and addrefs fuffi- " cient to perfuade his brethren in the " direction, that being ROPE-MAKER GE- " NERAL to all the Blackwall India- ' men, which were by much the greater " part of the Company's fhipping, ought " not to be confidered as within the letter " or fpirit of a law, by which it had been " provided, that NO SHIP SHOULD BE " HIRED OR FREIGHTED BY THE DlREC- * Mr. Crab Eoulton. " TORS, [ 5 1 " TORS, IN WHICH ANY DIRECTOR WAS " DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY CONCERN- ED" and " From his intimate connec- " tion with the (hipping party, with but a " fcanty portion of knowledge in other " matters, AND a liberal one of left-handed " wifdom, he contrived by his manage- " ment tofruftrate the honed endeavours of " the Committee, and difinterefted Pro- " prietors, to eftablim proper regulations " for the mipping department : and altho' " he quitted this ftage foon after, his influ- " ence has hitherto prevented the Diredors " from bringing forward any regulations " for that purpofej notwithftanding it had " been referred to them by a General Court " in 1774* now almoft four years fince, " with a particular requifition of laying " them before the Proprietors, for their " approbation, as foon as it could be done CONVENIENTLY." I have given this curious paragraph thus at length, and in the writer's own words, as it was impoffible to abridge, or to do juflice to it in any other. How much the gentlemen then in the Direction, fome of whom are alfo in the prefent, and all, 'who have [ 6 ] bave not quitted this Jiage (as he elegantly exprefles it) frill in the Proprietary, may hold themfelves obliged to him for the ho- nour, not only of being led by fuch a man in his life-time, but alfo of remaining under his influence after his death (an influence, by the bye, not to be paralleled in the hif- tory of mankind), is not my affair. I make the quotation to mew the writer's manner of arguing, and leave the conclufion to the difcernment and candour of the reader, with this remark only, that the evil he mag- nifies in fo terrible a manner muft not have appeared fuch to them, or they muft have been the weakeft, as well as the word of men, to refer the remedy of it to the conve- nlency of the Committee, as a matter of no confequence. But, as a falvo for that unlucky circum- ftance, it feems, " It happens fortunately " for the Company, that a majority of the " gentlemen at prefent in the Direction, " have at laft taken up this bufinefs on the mod proper grounds, that of building " and navigating their own mips; by which " means only the numerous evils which " have been fuffered to fpread through all " the [ 7 1 " the various branches of this department, " can ever be effectually eradicated." Before, however, he thinks proper to (hew, that thefe numerous evils have exiil- ence any where but in his own brain, and that this is the only means by which they can be eradicated, he holds it neceflary to invalidate the credit of thofe by whom he judges his fcheme will be oppofed, as he had before difhirbed the afhes of the dead to heap abufe upon the man who had fup~ ported the fyftem he wants to over-turn. * There can be no doubt (he fays) of the " ftrongeft oppolition to a reformation of " this nature, from a party who have long tc been in the porTeffion of IMMENSE " PROFITS, EXTORTED in a great meafure " from the Company by the moft flagrant * combination of the fhip-hufbands." As the weight of fo black an accufation as that of extortion, againft a body of men who carry on one of the moft confiderable fyftems of commerce in the world, muft depend greatly upon the opportunities which the informer has had to obtain infor- mation [ 8 ] mation of the matter, he takes care to be- fpeak the credit of his readers, by informing them, that " it having happened to him to " be appointed one of the Committee to ".confider, AMONG OTHER MATTERS, of " proper regulations for the Company's " fhipping ; he had endeavoured to obtain ' the cleared information relative to this " bufinefs, from a laborious infpeclion of " the accounts of the Company, and an " examination of the proper officers ; and " begs leave to lay SUCH (information, I " prefume) as had occurred upon that oc- " cafion, before the Proprietors and the " Public, from which, he mould imagine, " THE IMMENSE PROFITS that mufl refult " to the Company from building and navi- " gating their fliips, will appear too evi- * { dent to be contradicted by the moil un- " blufhing mip-hufband" adding " that " he mail appeal to the records of the Com- " pany for facts, and to plain figures for " confequential proofs of the extraordinary " profits to be derived from this meafmrc. This, if the reader will take the trouble of making fenfe of the paragraph, may feem to be fetting out fairly : but, if I make it [ 9 ] it appear, that, after all this parade, the fadts he inftances are mifreprefented, and his figures thrown together without accu- racy or judgment, I apprehend the proofs he pretends to draw from them, however confequential in his opinion, will be held of no confequence by the public. In order to mew how much the Com- pany fufFers by the prefent mode of bring- ing home their merchandife, he gives an account of what that fervice has coft for fix years, and then makes a calculation of what it would coft^for the fame length of time in the manner he propcfes; and pla- cing one againft the other in the nature of an account current, draws the confequential proof from the ballance. I will not undertake to follow him thro* his different calculations, or examine every article of his account. I own I am as une- qual to the tafk, as I apprehend he has (hewn himfelf to be, to thofe who are more converfant with fuch matters. Though, were I ever fo much mafter of the fubjed:, I think the difquifition better patted by, as fuch chains of " dry calculations," C inftead I 1 I inftead of clearing up the fubjeft to com* mon comprehenfion, ferve only to perplex it; and are generally defigned to raife an opinion of fuperior information to anfwer a finifter (I beg pardon, I fhould have faid left -banded) purpofe, upon occafion. The end of thefe laborious eftimates and calculations, the ballance of the account is to fliew that the freight, for which the Company is now charged 357. 12s. 2.\d. per ton, would in the mode he propofes coft no more than i87. a ton, immedi- ately on its adoption; and after a ftiort time only 1 5/. a ton. An over-charge, that on 9000 tons of merchandife annually brought home, amounts to the fum of 2 5$, 2 597. a year in the firft inftance ; and in the fe- eond to 314,5297. a year, (I take his cal- culations, as I fhall throughout, without examining their accuracy, which iignifies nothing to theargument) a draw-back upon the profits, that muft, in the end, ruin any trade ; and in this, we are told, " is confi- " derably more than the prefent dividend " paid to the Proprietors j" which of courfe will be more than doubled by the reforma- tion he propofes ; and all this, " without " any . ** any rifque to the Proprietors j and with tf a very trifling advance in cafh from the Company, for which even there is an *' allowance of five per cent, intereft," made in his account. It muft be allowed, that this makes a good {hew upon paper; but the laborious Calculator feems to have forgotten, that an argument which proves too much proves nothing. The amount of this over-charge takes away the probability, I might indeed have faid, the poffibility of its being true. The Directors, unjuft as this writer repre- fents them to have been in their fteward- fhip, could never have expected to conceal fo flagrant an impofition upon their confti- tuents. Nor (to fuppofe, however impro- bably, that they were capable of conniving at it) would that very fiagrancy have let it remain for the public fpirit of this writer to difplay to the world. It would have betrayed itfelf directly, and railed an indig- nation that muft foon have blown it up. I. fay, however improbably^ for a reafon, which I prefume he will not controvert. To attempt concealing that which mud C 2 betray t '2 ] betray itfelf is the grofTeft proof of folly ; and I imagine he will hardly accufe thofe Gentlemen of being fools, after all the accufations he has brought againft them of another nature. I wiili I could pay an equal compliment to his wifdom, in the difcovery of what could not be hidden. But the children of this world are in their generation wifer than the children of light. His public fpirit and probity muft make up for any defed: in his underftanding. When I faid that I would not follow him through his different calculations, or exa- mine every article in his account, I did not mean to preclude myfelf entirely from tak- ing a curfory view of them. Before his cal- culations and eftimates are entitled to be ad- mitted in proof of any thing, they muft themfelves be proved to be accurate and juft. 'Till this is done, my bare negative is of equal weight in the fcale of reafon, with his bare offer t ion, at the leaft. I fay they are inaccurate, and confequently unjuft; and put him to the proof. In regard to his account, though, I {hall take the liberty to be more particular. In t '3 1 In his account of the coft of freight for fix years, upon the average of which he forms his calculations, it is worthy of re- mark, that he lumps the charges of freight and demorage ; whereas, in the oppofite fide, he rnentionsyrag-^/ only. That this is an error, I prefume his moft fanguine advocates will hardly deny; whe- ther of over-fight or dfcfign, though, will foon appear. The omiffion was fo flagrant, that he could not avoid being ftruck by it. " He " feems to have felt by anticipation the " powerful effects of a fact that muft ine- " vitably deftroy the whole fyftem, he has " fo laborioufly endeavoured to eftablifh, " which he has attempted to prevent by a " flagrant mif-ftatement, or rather a kind of " jefuitical evafion ;" as he nsuft be aware, that fo grofs a fallacy, fo damning a faff, would inevitably take away all credit from his account, and overturn the edifice he wants to raife upon it. The manner in which he affefts to flur over the matter, after he thinks he has ferved fcrved his turn with it, is curious enough ; and mews his modefty to be equal to his candour. " I have made no eftimate (fays he, as juft bethinking himiclf of a trivial omiflion) " in the foregoing accounts, rela- *' tive to DEMORAGE; which has hitherto " been an article of confiderable expence " to the Company ; and which has arifen *' chiefly from the WILFUL delay of the ' officers, in order to have the longer time " for the difpofal of their clandeftine car- " goes; which is one of the evils propofed ' to be remedied by the Company's navi- *' gating their own (hips. It muft 'be ad- " mitted that fome expence is to be ex- *' peeled on this account from unavoida- " ble accidents; BUT I MUST DECLARE *' my INABILITY TO STATE IT WITH * ANY DEGREE OF PRECISION.'* A more extraordinary paragraph than this I believe never fell from the pen of any writer. He firft affects to recolle<3 himfelf of a matter which he had omitted, in as flight a manner, as if it was of no confe- quence. He then exprefsly fays it is coniK derable ; and after all acknowledges that he knows not what it is. What [ '5 ] What kind of reaibning this is, I leaver the reader to difcover. I fuppofe it is one of the confequential proofs deduced from his plain figures ; but 'till he (hall pleafe to mew by what rule in logicks he has formed his deduction, I ihall take the liberty to deny the eonclulion- he would eftablifh, by it. Cunningly though as he may hug himfelf in this truly jefuitical evafion, I am perfuaded it will not anfwer his purpofe. The arti- fice is- too thin not to be diredly feen thro'. If he was unable to ftate an article which he acknowledges to be expenfive, why did he attempt to make out the account?-* The reafon is obvious. He meant only to deceive, and. flattered himfelf that the pub- lic would, on the credit of his " laborious " infpedions of the accounts of the Com- " pany, and examination of the proper " officers," pafs his whole account with- out examining. But the fallacy was too grofs, and muft raife the indignation of every man of can- dour and probity. Thefe articles muft be feparated before the account can deferve any notice -, notice; and the amount of the dcmorage added to the charge of freight, in his fide; or " all his laborious calculations fall to the " ground." But I have not done with this curious paragraph. He fays, that " this expence " has arifen chiefly from the wilful delay " of the officers, in order to have the longer " time for the difpofal of their clandeftine e cargoes." It is well that paper cannot blufh, or this aflertion I believe would fcarcely be legible. But I doubt not but the reader will be of opinion with me, that this writer's front muft have glowed pretty comfortably at the time this was written, when he is informed that all the demorage charged to the Company is incurred by their own officers, not by thofe of the mips, who are invariably made to pay for every hour's delay they make after they receive the Company's difpatches : fo that his whole charge is a direct, as it muft be a wilful falfe- hood; which, as I have faid before, will probably incline the Public to give this writer's errors an harder name. On t '7 J On the fame authority of his bare word, refts the other alfertion, " that this evil can ** be remedied by the Company's navigating " their own fhips ;" unlefs the reader will take for a proof of it calculations, vvhofe ac- curacy has been already noticed, and which, from the consequential proofs drawn from them, appear to have been made in the-farne fagacious ipirit of cecorromy, with that of the prudent Hibernian, who having occa- fion to go twice or thrice a year to Wmdfor, thought it-fo unreafonable to be made pay a guinea for a chaiie, when he could go in a carriage of his own for the bare expence of turnpikes, that he directly bought a coach and horfes to fave the difference. On the fame anvil appear to have been forged the arguments, which he brings in favour of his fcheme, from the excels which fome fhips have carried, and he lays all fhips can carry, over the builder's tonnage, of which he gives inilances of fix particular fhips, in fix different years. I will not myfelf take, nor give my readers the trouble of following him mi- D nutdv [ '8 ] nutely through all his figures. One lingle inftance will be fufficient to fhew his can- dour, and the credit that is due to him, in every thing he advances. He tells us, that the Duke of Grafion, a (hip of 804 tons, builder's mcafure, brought home this year no lefs than 1001 tons of goods from Bencoolen ; and from thence en- deavours to ftrike the line, what all mips ought to carry. But if his defign was to inform, net to deceive, why did he not go on to tell with what goods (he was loaded ; and what the confequence of loading her fo deeply was ? That (lie was loaded with pepper, which, being fhot loofe, takes up considerable lefs room than any other merchandife ? that though me is allowed to be one of the beft. fhips in the iervice, me was in the greateft danger of being loft, on meeting bad wea- ther ? and that above 200 tons of the pep- per was loft and damaged, fo as to be thrown upon the owner's hands, infomuch that in reality fhe brought home no more than 80 1 tons, for the Company's account ? If he did not know this, what becomes of his [ 19 ] his boafted " infpedion of tl)e Company's " accounts, and examination of the proper " officers ?" If he did know, and endea- vour to conceal it, what credit does he de- ferve in any thing he fays ? But fuch is the candour of all pretended reformers, in every purfuit of life. What made for him he told, and there he Hopped, in hope that no one would take the trouble to fearch far- ther. But to fuppofe, for argument, that every {hip in the Company's employ could have carried twice as much as they have been hitherto chartered for \ how will that promote his fcheme, cs there is now an exprefs law, that henceforth every mip {hall be chartered for the full builder's tonnage ? If this was not done fooner, whofe was the fault? Were not the fhips chartered by the Direclors ? Why then mould that blame be thrown entirely upon the owners ? And may not the con- dud; of future Direclors be as myfterious as that of the paft, and the fame practices pre- vail for the fame reafons, under his fcheme, when they mall have the misfortune to lofe fo vigilant and upright an infpetfor ? All he D 2 fays, [ 20 ] fays, therefore, on this head, which takes up near one half of his pamphlet, might have been fpared, for any other purpofe be- fide that of lengthening the book, and raif- ing a cloud of duft to blind and miikad his readers. In the fame fpirit of candour does he give the account of eleven mips being fent out to bring home 4609 tons of merchandise, that might have been as well brought by five ; which was a lofs of 58,8427. 13^. on that quantity. Had truth been the object in his view, he would have faid that the (hip-owners objected in the flrongeft terms againft this meafure, and actually offered to bring home the whole inveilment at 2.1 /. a ton, provided the mips ihould be full loaded. In what defpicable inconfiftencies will the parfuit of a favourite point, and the blinded r. i;-: of p.irty, plunge their votaries ? Be- (e he thought this ftory bore hard upon the two gentk-:nen then at the head of the Direction, to whom, without (landing upon the ceremony of giving any proof, he im- putes t 21 ] putes the whole blame of it, he could not deny himfelf the pleafure of inferring it, though he mufl have been fenfible that it made as much againft his argument, when produced at length, as it gratified his ma- lignancy, by (hewing, that the fhip-owners were not in that infrance (and of confe- quence are not in any) to be charged with the exorbitancy of the price of freight ; becaufe, if their offer at that time had been accepted, it would have abfolutely precluded their ever making an higher demand. Should the reader be at a lofs to think, what provocation could have prompted fuch malignancy, as the misfortunes of cne of thole gentlemen fhould to every generous mind cover his faults, I will tell him : The other is again in the Direction, and likely, by the weight which his known abilities and expe- rience neccflarily give him in it, to diiap- point a fcherne PREJUDICIAL TO THE INTERESTS OF THE COMPANY, FOUNDED ON FALSE PRINCIPLES, and SUPPORTED EY FALLACIES, as I pledge myfeif to prove, before I have done with it. That [ 22 ] That the mip-hufbands, however, mould not grow too proud on a compliment paid them at the expence of the Directors, he re- folved to wipe off, with a dam of his wit, what they had gained from his malignant appre- heniion, by telling us, that " tho' the Direct- " ors thought they had purchafed the friend- " mip of thofe eleven DOG-CHEAP, fome " of the Proprietors might not think the '* \vhole PACK worth the money;" a re- mark, the language of which gives reafon to form a fhrewd guefs where the author of it had his education. That I have afiigncd the true motive for his mentioning this affair, appears from his totally paffing by another circumftance of the fame nature, becaufe he could ferve no particular purpofe of his own by it. Thefe are the reafons officially given at that very time, by a fhip-hufband *, to the Company, for the prefect exorbitant price of freight ; and his propofal for reducing it ; which were no other than altering the very practices with which this writer, with equal modefty and candour, charges the fhip-hulbands * Mr. Durand. themfelves ; I 23 ] themfelves ; that is to fay, not chartering the flips to the builder s meafure, and engag- ing fo many more than there was conftant employ for, that a great number was obliged to lie by, rotting in the wet docks -, the lofs and expences incurred by 'which modes of ma- naging, the hufbands were obliged to add to the charge of the freight for their indem- nification, er they could not carry on the trad?. The caufe of omitting fo finking a fad as this is obvious. It was too flubborn to be bent to his purpofb. It damned his fcheme beyond redemption. He therefore had no way to evade its force, but by paiung it by unnoticed, in hope, as I have obferved in another inftance, that the public, cajoled by his profeffions, and bewildered in his calculations, would take his word without farther enquiry, it not being to be thought that after all his " labourious infpections of -" the accounts of the Company, and exa- " mination of the proper officers, he could " poflibly be a flranger to it." Having waded thus far through thick and .thin, cutting up Directors and Ship-huf- banus [ 24 ] bands flap-dam, as they happened to (land in his way, this zealous reformer's lad at- tack falls upon the officers who navigate the fhips. What fair and upright treatment thefe gentlemen are to expect from him he has already (hewn, by charging the heavy ex- pences of demorage upon their delaying in order to carry on their clandeftine trade. But, in the violence of his rage, he has broken off the point of his fvvord : as the detection of an acculation fo groily falfe, and that evi- dently to his own knowledge, muft totally invalidate the credit of the accufer, they may comfort themfelves with an alTurance, that all the dirt he throws at them will re-' coil into his own face. I give his wit, indeed, credit for the pun on the room allowed by the pack of {hip- huibands to the commanders, to reimburfe themfelves for the very extravagant prices they pay for their fhips ; as I am well LXT- fuaded the latter will alfo give him thanks, and, as far as in them lies, heartily promote his fcheme, if he will iecure them " fuch " an increafe of their outward-bound m. , " with. ** with admimon to return the produce of *' it from India, and fuch a recompence ff for the trade hitherto allowed from thence, " that they (hall find their fituation, upon " the whole, in any degree of probability '* of being better than it is at prefent." But is it not to be apprehended that he promiles too much here, as he proved too much before ? If the commanders have their fituation made better than it is at prefent by the Company, how is the Com- pany to be benefited by the change ? The fales at the India-Houfe may be greater I allow, by fo much as the commanders fmuggle; but what advantage will that be to the Proprietors, on making up the account, if the commanders are to receive the excefs ? That the revenue might profit fomething by it, I allow alfo; but I imagine the per- fons to whofe care that is entrusted, do not want this fchemer's inftruction how to execute their duty ; and that it is pretty well known, at their Board, that the lofs fuf- fered by the private trade of the Company's officers is not an object of fuch considerable pomerjt as he would make it, or they P woufd would before this have found means, more effectual than any the Company can pro- vide, becaufe fupported by a greater power, to prevent it. But to fuppofe, for argument, that this writer's fcherne mould be adopted in the extent he delires, what reafon is there to expect the important benefits he protrsifes- to the EaiV India Company frcm it ? From a retrofpect to the paft, we are enabled to form a judgment of the future. This is the advantage of experience. Now I call upon this reformer himfelf to point out one in(lance, in which the public has been benefited by any modern fcheme of reforma- tion in the management of iis affairs. What law has human prudence provided, that hu- man perverfion has not been able to defeat of its intent ? Has not the Eaft-India Company already provided by exprefs laws, that no flip Jh all be hired or freighted by the Directors, in which any Director is direffily or indirectly concerned? Tihat no Commanders of flips flail pur chafe their Jlations, ?r. &c. ? And have thefe laws been effectual to prevent the [ 27 1 the practices againft which they were made ? Or what ground of hope is there, that the laws this ichemer propofes fhall be better obeyed ? That Directors fhall not be either directly or indirectly concerned in the con- tracts for building the {hips j and with the Commanders who navigate them ? Will his law make them lefs myfiericus in their tranfactions than he himfelf fays they al- ways have been ? I beg his pardon j it pof- fibly may ; becaufe then they will have no occafion for any myftery, but may openly do as they pleafe. May not they alfo take/ or, as at prefent, connive at the taking of mo- ney from the Commanders for thtirjiafionsi Indeed, will they not be likely to take more, as they will have it in their power to give them fafer and better opportunity, as well as greater room to reimburfe themfelves ? * In a word, is there any evil or abufe pre- tended to be precluded by this fcheme, for which it does not in reality open a wider door ? as it removes that mutual check, which the Directors and Ship-hufbands have now upon each other; and makes all fmooth with the former to act as they pleafe without fear of detection or controul, as no one will have a right to enquire into their E '2 conduct; condudl; which, fpecioufly as he has blazoned it, appears to be his defign in this publica- tion, in the title of which he has made a fmall omifiion of the perfons to whom the important benefits he propofes are to be de- rived, who evidently can be no other than the Directors. While the bufinefs remains as it is, it is well understood ; and the abufes it is liable to guarded againft as far as is pofiible ; per- haps, indeed, as far as is neceflary. The fox would not drive away the gorged leeches to make room for hungry ones. An inno- vation now would only throw this branch of the India Company's bufinefs into a ftate of confufion, out of which all this fchemer's fagacity might find it difficult to bring it back to a degree of order, equivalent to the rifque; or that would be in any refpect more beneficial to the Company in general, than the courfe at prefcnt followed. That there may be evils in this, as well as in every other human inftitution, I will not deny; but Hill it is a maxim in the law of reaibn, as well as of the land, that it is better to fuffer an evil than an inconvenience; and that this fcheme would be necefiarily attended with inconvenience) [ 29 ] inconvenience, by opening a door to greater evils than thofe for which it is held forth as a remedy, by giving afr.il! greater power to thofe who have abufed it fo greatly in this very inftance, I prefume has been made to appear beyond a doubt, or poflibility of contradiction. " 'Tis better bear the ills we have ! " Than fly to others that we know not of." Immenfe as the profits may be, extorted from the Company by the fhip-hulbands ; and the lofles occalioned to it by the clandef- tine trade of the Commanders, it was not by either or both of them, that '* the Com- " pany was brought to the verge of bank- " ruptcy ; but by a feries of the moft " grofs mifmanagement of the Directors." Why then, in the name of common fenfe, mould their power to mifmanage be en- larged ? What fecurity have we that a fu- ture Direction may not manage as badly, or fall under the influence of as bad men, as a former ? What has been, may be : and the frailty of human nature leaves little room for fanguine hope of much amend- mendi O! but [ 3 1 O 1 but this writer will tell you, or, at leaft, he {hews that he would have you think jfo, when he gets into the Direction, as he prornifes himfelf he mall, upon the merit of this reformation in the conduct of the Company's affairs, he will take care, not only to remedy every actual, but alfo to prevent every poilible evil, that may attend his favourite fcheme, of the efficacy of which he is fo fully iatisfkd, that " if " the fhipping party, by their ufual ma- " nagement, mould happen to fucceed at " the India-houfe, the Proprietors may be " always certain of finding relief by a proper " application to Parliament, from whom " they can hardly fail of obtaining every e effectual redrefs, on this or any fuch " flagrant injury." A more curious paragraph than this, I believe, never concluded any propofal. Do as we bid you, or we will make you ! If the Proprietors will not furrender themielves at difcretion into the hands of the Directors, why then rthe Directors will apply to Parliament to give them, bound hand and foot, into their power. For that is literally the meaning of it. Whatever is done at a general t 31 ] General Court is certainly the a6l of the Pro- prietors. To fay, therefore, that if this meafure mould be reprobated by a "General Court, the Proprietors fuffer a flagrant in- jury, is the groffeft infult to common fenfe. By whom are they injured ? or againfl whom can they find redrefs, but them- felves? . But this is not the firft, or only inftance, in which this writer has, in his eagernefs, over-mot his mark. What right has Par- liament to interfere with any man's manage- ment of his own property? Would this feeker of redrefs, I wonder, like to have Parliament order him to boil rather than roaft his pig ? or carry his farthings in his purfe, and his gold loofe in his pocket ?- And yet, in the fpiritof the thing, where is the dirTerenc-e ? The Proprietors of the flock of the India Company have for con- veniency chofen a fet of men to manage the trade carried on with that flock, under their own infpection and controul. What right then can any other man, or body of men, pretend for interfering in that manage- ment, or giving the men fo chofen a greater power over the flock, than the owners of it f 32 I it have thought proper ? The very thought is ridiculous, and confutes itfelf. " It happens unluckily for him and his " clients, that he has deftroyed this favou- " rite offspring of his brain by a few un- " lucky ftrokes of his pen ; but it is to be " hoped his friends will never confider it in " any other light than chance-medley." He certainly muft forget the manner in which Parliament has already exerted the right of interfering in the Company's concerns, or he would never mention giving them occa- fion to interfere again, with any other view, than to prevent it. I lay the right ; becaufe fuch they had, in confequence of the Di- rectors being fuppliants for favour. But perhaps it may not be amifs to reca- pitulate a few of the circumftances of that memorable affair, to mew how judicioully this reformer has called it in aid to his fcheme ; and the principles by which he would fupport it. Flettereji nequit Juperos, Acberonta movebit. If heaven won't hear, he'll feek for help from hell. f In [ 33 1 " In the year 1772, when, by a feriesof " the mofl grofs mifmanagement, the " Company was brought to the verge of " bankruptcy, the Directors thought pro- " per to apply to Parliament for affiftance." Such an application certainly gave Parlia- ment a right to interfere in the manage- ment at that time, in order to fee that fuch a mode fhould be adopted, as would make the public fafe, in granting the affiftance befought. Yet, as I prefume this writer may remember, when the Proprietors faw to what a height Parliament defigncd to carry that right, they would gladly have re- tradted their application, and endeavoured to furmount their difficulties by their own ftrength, rather than, by fubmitting to fuch an invafion of the facred right of every man to manage his own property, eftablifh a precedent that might, on fome future oc- cafion, be made ufe if to take the property itfelf, as well as the management of it, out of their hands: but perhaps, with that very view, they were prevented, and the affift- ance, fuch as it was, crammed down their throats, whether they would or not. X F But [ 34 ] But though this worthy reformer may have forgot, or, which is more likely, re- membered, with league, to forget, thefe circum (lances, I trull that the impreffion of them will never be effaced from the me- mory of the Proprietary ; and that they will take warning by&fop's horfe, and not, to ferve a particular purpofe, fubmit to have a bridle put into their mouths, which they may never after be able to get out of them. As to Parliament's interfering ofEcioufly, and without being called upon, I apprehend there is no great reafon to apprehend that, at prefent ; at leaft till they mall have fup- ported their claim to infallibility and omni- potence more effectually than on fome late cccafions. I have thus, I perfuadc myfelf, refuted every fhadow of an argument from fact, every consequential proof from figures, which this writer has attempted to bring in fupport of his fcheme ; and in that refutation proved, beyond a pofllbility of rational doubt, that the fcheme itfelf is prejudicial to the inte- terefls of the Company, founded on falfe principles, and fupported by fallacies, as in F 2 the t 35 1 the confidence of truth I had undertaken to prove. Nor was the undertaking difficult : to re- fute inconfiftencies, they need only be placed in oppofition to each other; and fallacies too grofs to efcape detection refute them- felves. Under a falfe notion of ceconomy, he would involve in a moil exorbitant ex- pence a Company already too deeply in debt. He accufes the Directors of being unjuft ftewards, and yet wants to have their ftewardmip enlarged. He mutilates, and mifreprefents facts. He attempts to impoie upon his readers with accounts which he is forced to own himfelf unable to make out. He brings accufations, which he muft himfelf know to be groundlefs and confcious that he has no chance of fucceeding by reafon, he has recourfe to threats. But why do I find fault ? The advocate is equal to the caufe, and the caufe worthy of the advocate. I {hall conclude from my motto, with the obfervation of a writer, whofe authority I believe he will fcarcely object to, though poflibly he may not have been pleafed with the manner in which I have frequently ap- plied 354891 1 36 ] I plied his words in the courfe of thefe re- marks. " It muft be very difagreeable to any one " who endeavours to come at truth, to find " a heap of fallacies induftrioufly piled up, ' in order to obftrudl thepaflage. It would " be a tirefome bufinefs to be obliged to re- " move the whole heap at once ; nor have I " leifure even at prefent for a bufinefs of the " kind ; but it is hoped that fuch a fuffici- te ent quantity of it is removed, on this " occafion, as to admit any one, who means " to purfue the fame road, to a clear view ' of that fide on which it lies." Confederations, P. 30. FINIS. 27 85 ^* UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-32m-8,'58(5876s4)444 UNIVERSITY OF C AT T.HS ANttF.T F,S A 000017695 8