:ty
-jllherative Judp
People of
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES
AN
APPEAL
FROM THE
HASTY
DELIBERATIVE JUDGMENT?/
>TT
O F T H E / J
PEOPLE OF ENGLAND;
CONTAINI NO
A Statement of the manifold Services rendered by our Fel-
low-countrymen in India, and the undeniable Claim they
poflefs to the Applaufe of their Country, to their good
Fellowftiip and Efteem.
ALSO,
Vindicating the Charafters of the M A N Y from the Imputations
thrown on them by the Conduft of a FEW.
TOGETHER WITH
Some important Hints to Minifters, and to the Nation in
General ; but more immediately valuable to the Shipping
Interefts of this Kingdom ; and humbly recommended to
the Perufal of the Members of an auguft AfTembly, dur-
ing the Difcuffion of the Bengal Petition now before them.
LONDON:
Printed for J. DEBRETT, oppofite Burlington -Houfe,
in Piccadilly.
M DCC LXXXVII,
To THE PUBLIC
INDIA DELINQUENCY having become
fo much a general topic, and fo much is it
the rage, indifcriminately to include in the oblo-
quy every fubjeft of this kingdom employed in
o India, that natural juftice to fo large and refpeft- f
~ able a body of my countrymen, who labour
o under the unprovoked injury of fo univerfal and
unfounded a prejudice, has induced me to offer
the following thoughts to the Public, on a fub-
je<5b, which, though not perfonally concerned in, V
I have confidered with that cool and impartial
deliberation, which, the paffions of prejudiced
people, foured by the conduft of a guilty FEW,
have rendered them incapable of excrcifmg for
innocent MANY. My intention is not to
fcreen the guilty, but to refcue the innocent from,
A % illiberal
354704
illiberal opprobrium. The juftice and candour
of my countrymen is fuch, that in this I can
have little more to do than to place before them,
in a confpicuous and concife point of view, the
relative fituation which our countrymen in India
bear to us, and which the hurry of refentments
only can have occafioned fo liberal minded a
People to lofe fight of,
TRUTH.
AN
A N
A P P E A
V,
IT is not, at any time, either an eafy or a plea-
fant tafk to contend againft prejudices , but
becomes a ftill more difficult and difcouraging
labour, when thofe prejudices, however ill-found-
ed originally, have taken root with time, and
been fuffered to grow into conftru&ive fafts and
admitted data, for want of fimple contradiction.
Such is the frailty or degeneracy of human na-
ture, that the mind of man is infinitely more
prone to cenfure and condemn, even unarraigned
and unheard, than to admit merit where due,
or, where merit cannot be deniect to beftow en-
comium
comium however deferved, however confpiciu
oufly juft; and this it's depraved appetite is ever
voracioufly ready to feize any object, any pre-
tence, or even rumour, however fictitious or
problematical, that can countenance or gratify
it's rage, or juftify it's unprovoked rancour. We
cannot but reflect with aftonifhment, and our
fenfes muft revolt at the idea, that, amongft
men of the moft enlightened underflanding,
whofe minds have been cultivated and embelliih-
ed by every liberal adornment within the fpheres
of the firft feminaries of education and learn-
ing in the Joiown world, fuch difpofitions, fo
diametrically oppofite, fo difgraceful, fo libellous
to that wonderful work of nature, Man, Ihould
exift j but, painful as the idea is, the fact is in-
controvertible, and the hiftory of the prefent, as
well as .paft time, comprifes but too true and
ftriking a likenefs of this portrait of deformity.
If we turn our thoughts and reflections, to, the-
Weftern World, and contemplate at all the fcen&
which, for a feries of time, there employed the
ableft and wifeft counfels of the People of Eng-
land, and the dreadful iflue and confequences of
jt 4 we fhall find, that it originated in prejudice^
was.
( 7 )
was cwdufted in ignorance, and has concluded in
rivet ted obftinacy, anger, and compulfivefeverance :
that we loft thirteen rich and beautiful provin-
ces, and as many millions of good, faithful, brave,
and loyal fubj eels, and all, becaufe we were
moft unnaturally prejudiced againft our fellow-
fubjects, whofe coats we unfeelingly endeavoured
to tear from their backs : becaufe we were ig-
norant of their ftrength, miftruftful of their fide-
lity, difdainful of their judgment; and, fcornfully
rejecting that quantum of aid which their better
reafon and fuperior knowledge taught them it
was more to our intereft and welfare they fhould
only 'voluntarily proffer under wife limitations , we
vainly and madly attempted to exact one infi-
nitely more hurtful and prejudicial for us to re-
ceive, than difficult, improper, or unjuft for them
to pay. And the Commutation Act fhall teftify
to the lateft pofterity,- and till time fhall be no
more, what the lofs of America has forrowfully
taught us, that we were drivea wild by preju-
dice and ignorance, and that it was unjuft, un-
wife, impolitic, and unprofitable, to pay fo high
a price for the dried herbs even of China ; or, in
other words, to be mulct fo large a fine for mif-
taking
( 8 )
taking and deviating fo grofsly from the duties
of good financiers, prudent and difpaffionate
ftatefmen, as to raife the rate of teas, when our
interefts fhould have taught, and actually required
us, to lower it. But this was the effect of unna-
tural prejudice, fupported by it's infeparable
companions, ignorance and obftinacy.
Turn our thoughts to the Eaftern World, and
we fhall find a parallel lofmg game there alfo.
Herei as with America, we again find two
parties, which I may clearly diftinguifh by the
opfreffbrs and the opprejfed. On one fide, we
fee good and loyal fubjecls, faithful fervants, and
unexceptionably good men,who, at an early period
of life having torn themfelves from their parents,
their kindred, and connexions, are devoting their
time, labours, healths, conftitutions, and lives,
in climates proverbial for their inclemency, to
the fervice of the Mother Country. I fpeak of
the collective body the community of Englifh
fubjects ferving in India, at large. On the
other fide, prejudiced and ignorant politicians
converting themfelves into judges of their con-
duel:, which they take on prefumption ; unpro-
tefling mafters, or employers, who filently fuffer
their
( 9 )
their fervants to be cenfured and ftampt with
every frantic and opprobrious epithet, tho' wildly
foreign to truth , and obftinate, unfeeling fellow-
fubjedts, whofe brains are filled with envy, hatred*
malice, and all uncharitablenefs j and whofe
brows exhibit avarice, extortion, difappointment,
difcontent, and ftrife, and their foul bantling pre-
judice, which they have nurtured and cherifhed like
a ferpent in their bofoms ; and I boldly warn them
as the genuine dictate and belief of my foul, that
it deferves and will require their utmoft prudence
to avert it's pernicious and poifonous influence
from proving as calamitous and dreadful in it's
effects and confequences in the Eaftern, as it has
been in the Weftern dependencies of this deluded
kingdom.
In all cafes, it is our duty to hear reafon, and
to enquire and inform ourfelves before we venture
to decide ; how much more, then, is it incumbent
on us to do fo, before we proceed to condemn :
and, in all cafes, there exifts fome certain and in-
difpenfable criterion, fome ftandard, by which the
human judgment ought to be regulated and go-
verned. On the fubject we are to difcufs, let us
confider what that ftandard ought to be. It is
B fuch
fuch as, I will venture to aflert, the moft virulent
prejudices, the 'moft partial, rancorous and en-
venomed mind will not tiare openly to deny,
however he may fecretly wifh to fupprefs.
Firft, we are infenfibly led to enquire, who the
clafs of Britifh fubjects in India are, againft whom
we are fo unnaturally prejudiced, and what their
connexion or affinity with us ?
Secondly, the nature of their fervices ; whether
ufeful to us as a People, and ferviceable to the
State ; whether they are dutiful and loyal ; whe-
ther they fhare with us the common labours and
toils of life, it's duties and fervices in aid and main-
tenance of the Parent State, as their fubmiffion
and allegiance require ?
Thirdly, whether they are entitled to our com-
mendation, or our cenfure ; our protection, and
the juft and liberal reward of their country for
their fervices ; or its refentive condemnation and
punifhment ?
Fourthly, of whom confift the 'party, what ?,re
their merits, or what the fervices they have ren-
dered their country, who have thus afllimed or
arrogated to themfdves a right of jurifdiction
over
( II )
over their fellow-fubjects, kindred, and country-
men, ferving in India ?
This laft-mentioned object, it may be adverted,
is going beyond the boundary of a line purely de-
fenfive, in as much as a comparifon of conduct,
and principles of action, in favour of the gentle T
men of India, here ftated to be the party vfpre/-
ed) may poflibly tend to throw much blame on the
people of England, and efpecially by proving
them but too juftly ftyled the oppreffbrs. The
defence qf the former may fo unavoidably involve
the latter, that this may, in fome meafure, be-
come an inevitable confequence; and will, of
courfe, be found highly warrantable ; for, if the
people of England have afTumed to themfelves a
right of jurifdiction over their fellow-fubjects in
India, Which their relative fituation neither can
Authorize, or which can at all be compatible with
their connexion, cur countrymen in India cer-
tainly are not more unnatural in following only
fuch example ; nor can they have lefs reafon and
juftirlcation for peremptorily infifting on replacing
a.nd maintaining themfelves inthatjufl degree of
equality which God and Nature gave them > and
qf which, fo long as they demean thernfelves as
B % good
( I* )
good and loyal fubjects, God and Nature only can
have power to deprive them, however erroneoufly
or invidioufly their fellow-fubjects may attempt
it.
It afiiiredly is not my meaning, or at all to my
purpofe, ftudioufly to condemn my brethren of
England ; fo far otherwife, I could wifh to find
them as Ipotlefs in imputation, as they are gene-
rous in conduct ; and as juft, as they are brave !
My fole purfuit is to refcue from the moft igno-
rant calumny, (for nothing lefs than ignorance
could give birth to fo grofs a fpecies of it,) and
to defend the abfent few, who, from the moft
laudable and loyal motives, are ferving their
country in India; alfo not to fufFer the hearts of
their fellow-fubjects to be detached, and their
affections alienated, while it' is poffible that a fim-
ple Appeal to felf-evident facts may conduce to
awaken them from unnatural delufion to the ex-
ercife of that fenfe and good underftanding with
which Nature has endov/ed them for the moft
benign purpofes, and prevent their fubmitting
themfelves to be impofed on by the ready-made
opinions of men of weak judgment and illiberal
minds, urged on by fpleen, envy, or jealoufy
men
( -3 )
men mifled by every ill-founded and fhadowlefs.
prejudice, with factious purpofes in view, de-
figning to blow up a conflagration that may for
ever fow the feeds of diflention, revive the ani-
mofity, and rekindle the fury of contending par-
ties to fuch an unbridled degree, as may convulfe
the kingdom from one end to the other. I re-
peat, it is neither my meaning or purpofe to con-
demn : my only object and wifh is to defend a
very meritorious clafs of ourfelves from the unde-
ferved oppreflion of the reft; and, as from the
prefent public difcuflion of this fubject, and a late
popular decifion in a certain aflembly, which fully
involves and carries with it an exculpation of the
foul imputations generally and indifcriminately
thrown on the community of Britifh fubjects in
India, we clearly perceive liberality of thinking
and acting on it, to be gradually diffufing itfelf
over the opinions of mankind, fttrong induce-
ments, and fome encouragement, influence me
to treat freely of their actual relative fituation^
firmly perfuaded, that if fentiments, founded on
the cleared reafoning, and the moft unqueftion-
able facts, that fhall meet the underftanding of
every man capable of reflection, fhall fail of in-
fluencing
( 14 )
fiuencing a converfion, and ftiaking ill-founded
prejudice from the minds of my countrymen ge-
nerally, they will, at leaft, obtain many advo-
cates amongft men of liberal fentiments and en-
lightened minds, who, I am perfectly confident,
only require mifmformation to be removed from
their breads, in order to correct and revoke opi-
nions founded thereon ; and who, it cannot one
moment be doubted, will feel themfelves fcanda-
lized in being thought to fufrer paffion or preju-
dice to influence their judgment one moment af-
ter the appearance of fact and truth. The judg-
ment of a^tribunal fo juftly difpofed, it muft be
the pride of every honeft man to obtain ; pof-
feffing and regarding which as an ineftimable trea-
fure, he affumes a fecond dignity, and fcornfully
and contemptuoufly defpifes any fcattered feeds
of envy andjealoufy remaining elfewhere, as the
feeble refort of weak men and weaker minds, in-
capable of further mifchief. Supported by the
voice of the ferious few, he no longer regards the,
clamour and noife of the thoughtlefs many.
Having thus candidly declared my object, and
the motives which have induced me to come
under the difcufiipn and criticifm of the public
eye,
( '5 )
eye, where writers in general, however converfaht
with the world, however qualified to meet it, and
whatever their merits, experience but little juf-
tice and lefs mercy, I do not think it improper to
fubjoin, with a view of obtaining a clearer title to
an impartial and patient hearing, that I have not
any other : that I have not any party purpofe
to anfwer : that I have not the moft diftant con-
nexion with Minifters, and that formidable pha-
lanx fuppofed to be latently engaged in the pro-
tection of Eaftern delinquents j and, moil pro-
bably, never fliall -.that if I wifh one man to be
Minifter before another, my preference, infig-
nificant as it may be, is founded on and regulated
by that fimpleft of all rules, " that I think him
" the beft qualified to render fervice to his coun-
" try" : that, connected with very few of the
gentlemen from India with none who have ever
had the power to do mifchief, or to bring the
Englifh name into difrepute, it is a matter of in-
difference to me, what the public opinion of them
in general may be, otherwife than as I revere the
caufe of truth, in which I am not afhamed to be
an advocate, however obnoxious the man fuffering
under it's fuppreflion.
To
C '6 )
To revert, then, to what ought to be the firft
object of our enquiry Who the clafs of Britifli
fubjects in India are, againft whom we are Ib un-
naturally prejudiced, and what their affinity or con-
nexion with us ?
If it be poflible, that an axiom of notoriety ever
came within the compafs of the human under-
Handing, within the orthodox admiffion of the
whole world, this is one of fo long aneftablifhment
as almoft to forbid theenquiry whichl here propofe
to make as anufelefs, unnecerTary, and idle trouble :
it moft certainly ought to fall under that con-
ftruction ; but ftill, experience has fhewn on every
fubject of difcuflion, generally, and on this in
particular, that the human underftanding is natu-
rally given to roam and to traverfe wide and even
beyond the limits of the point under confideration,
abfolutely overlooking the vicinity within ocular
demonftration, affording that fureft and moft in-
dubitable evidence, which ought to have the firft,
the earlieft, and moft effectual operation and in-
fluence upon our judgments. It has fo manifeftly
been the cafe in the inftance before us, that I hold
it indilpenfably necelfary to recur to it, and endea-
vour to entice back my readers to the object
which
which they have unpremeditatedly pafled, and
which it appears, has, confequently, wholly ef-
caped their attention, or their recollection. They
will forgive me, then, if, in the firft moment of
time, I remind them -of what requires no argu-
ment to prove that the Britifh fubjects, ferving
their country in India, againft whom they fuffer
fuch an unceafmg torrent of invective, oppro-
brium, and virulent condemnation, to rim wildly
loofe and madly frantic, do notftand in a kfs near
degree of conjanguinity than their own children,
whom they really are ! Gracious God ! our own
children /Yes, your own children, whom you
have nourifhed, fed, and reared with every pa-
rental anxiety, but whom, not unlike the unna-
tural object of Solomon's judgment, you have
almoft given up to feverance, without once deign-
ing to open your ears for information concerning
the caufe, or reafoningon which fuch unnatural vi-
rulence was founded for what mifconduct, or
what crime, they have been thus difgracefully con-
demned ! ' Nature and time teach us affection
and attachment j and inftinct mutually binds our
yet inarticulate offspring to us, and us to our ofF-
fpring. In what language, then, (hall we de-
C fcribc
fcribe in what colours (hall we even reflect, or
fuffer our imaginations lightly to touch, without
horror, on the bafe defertion of thofe duties which
V/e receive, as it were, by infpiration ! Bafe de-
fertion ! I call it j and hold it an infinitely more
unpardonable tranlgreflion, in the fight of that
awful Judge," to whom all hearts lhall be opened,
and from whom no fecrets fhall be hid," than any
fpecies of criminality to be found delineated even
in the black catalogues of the crimes of a Jona-
than Wild, a Major Semple, Catharine Rudd,
or Warren Haftings !
Not to dwell longer on a pofition fo undeni-
able, I fhall only add, that I appeal for the truth
of it to every individual who fhall either read or
hear it, and will implicitly abide by the decifion
of his own breaftj for it is next to a moral cer-
tainty, that it is fcarce pofiible for any fubjecl: of
this kingdom to fit in judgment amongft the peo-
ple, and not find, that he has either a fon, a bro-r
ther, a relation, or connexion, in the fervice of
his country in the Eaft. Even Mr. Haftings
(who, from the documents before me, notwith-
ftanding his long ftudied endeavours to inculcate
a very different belief, as a convenient cover for
his
( '9 )
his own private purpofes, appears to have been
no lefs the opprefTor of my countrymen ferving
under him, than the natives of India fubjedt to
his power) has defcribed, in his public advices,
<c many of them to be the fons of the firft families
" in the kingdom of Great Britain." Mr. Haf-
tings is by no means the greateft of all bigots to
Truth; but in this felf-evident inftance, where
no veil was to be found, he has certainly facrificed
at her fhrine.
Having thus endeavoured to reftore you to
the loft fight of your children, your deareft
connexions, I lhall proceed to the fecond ob-
ject of our enquiry, by no means lefs interefting,
or inferior in it's confequences as affecting your
paffions, or lefs important as it fhall concern
your pride, viz. " The nature of the fervices of
thefe your children in India, -whether ufeful to
us as a people, or ferviceable to the State j whe-
ther they are dutiful and loyal j and whether they
(hare in common with us the labours and toils of
life, it's duties and fervices, in aid and mainte-
nance of the Parent State, as their fubmiflion
and allegiance require ?"
To minds liberally difpofed, and inclined to
C 2 reflection,
( 20 )
reflection, I fhould only trefpafs, by entering
largely into the wide expanfe which the above po-
fitions comprize , it would, virtually, be to detail
an hiftory of the Britifh governments in India for
a period of time little fhort of two complete cen-
turies ; a work that \vould as far exceed my in-
tentions, or what is at all necefiary to my prefent
purpofe, as I am confident it would your expec-
tations : neither have I the prefumption to con-
ceive myfelf qualified, by the occafional diftribu-
tion of any allurements within the fcope of my
pen, and the humble fcale of its defcription, to
induce you to afTume fuch an intolerable fund of
patience, as would be abfolutely neceflary to ac-
company me through it. Befides, while you can
turn to the fuperior, and, by this time, familiar
productions of Verelft and Orme, you cannot
poffibly defire me to call to your memories
more than their great leading features, if fo
much. I do not hefitate to conclude, you glad-
ly join jfluewith me in this large retrenchment.
Our territorial acquifitions in India have long
been the admiration and the envy of the whole
European world ; and, fmce the feverance of
America, our quondam fqends there have thrown
a lafci-
( 21 )
a lafcivious eye on them likewife. The peace was
barely concluded, before the Thirteen Stripes
were flying in the river Ganges, and a conteft
begun with the Cuftom-Mafter at Calcutta,
which was obliged to be amicably fettled, by the
Americans lowering their ftandard, and hoifting
(of all others !) the flag of France ! It feems
to be a queftion, on which time is wafted by the
fages of the prefent day, philofophers, politicians,
conftitutionalifts, and others equally well informed^
whether the pofTeflion of our Oriental dependen-
cies be more a burthen or a benefit to this
nation ? I find it has likewife crept into the
fpeeches of fome of the national fenators, who
have even advanced a ftep further, and wifhed
the nation a perfect riddance of them. It is
the loofe language of ftate quacks, ifiued at
random, which deferves no attention ; the doc-
trine of men, infinitely more ufeful friends to
our enemies than to us, who have no other
means of obtruding themfelves into the know-
ledge of the Public. If our Eaftern fettlements
be the admiration and envy of nearly the whole
known World, which is a faft that will not be
CQntroverted, why ought they to be lefs valuable
to
( a* )
to us ? Surely, if we did not before know the trea-
fures we pofiefied, the covetous thirft of our ene-
mies after them fhould of itfelf awaken our fenfes
to their importance. Poflibly, they might be of
lefs comparative eftimation whilft we held good
fellowlhip with America ; but, alas ! the fitua-
tion of things is fo widely changed fince then, that
we muft now endeavour to retrieve in the Eaft
the dreadful lofles we have fuflained in the Weft.
An annual contribution of a million and an half,
and that greatly improveable, is no defpicable
aid to a nation like England groaning under tax-
ation, and burthened with a heavy debt, the an-
nual intereft of which more than exhaufls the
whole of the national income ; and, for this aid,
(or whatever the obftinate caviller will allow it to
be,) to whom are you indebted ? Not to the
King's Minifters Not to the Eaft India Com-
pany, and their big-fwelling-pompous Directors,
for " they toil not, neither do they Jpin" , but,
to your abfent children, your own offspring,
who are ferving in the Eaft. It is to their merits
to their induftry to their activity to their
good fenfe and prudence to their difcreet ma-
nagementto their labours and toils, and to the
heat
heat of their brows alone,that you are indebted for
the pofTeflion of one of the moft, extenfive, the -
moft populous, and, probably, the richeft and
fineft countries in the world, and for every re-
turn of property, acquifition and wealth, of what-
ever denomination, that you derive from the Eaft.
.It is to their active zeal you owe the prefent
exalted ftate of the Eaft India Company, whofe
precedence in the commercial world is fo much
the object of your boaft : it was their wile and *
enterpriziag conduct which raifed them from a
confined lading company, without territory be-
yond the "Iralls of a few fmall factories, barely on a
footing with the prefenthumble ftate of thofe of the
French, Danes, Portuguefe, or Dutch, to their now
exalted condition of mercantile preeminence and
territorial dominion, with a princely income of
five millions fterling, a revenue which few poten-
tates in Europe can boaft. It was their good and
fpirited conduct which refcuedthis lit tie body from
the humiliating condition of being obliged to
refort to and depend on the too often perfidious
aid of our natural European enemies, their neigh-
bours, for a combined protection againft the op-
prc-Sons of tyrant Mufiulmen, and of enabling
diem
( 24 )
them to prefcribe laws inftead of receiving them,
in one inftance, and to grant that protection, in
the other, for which themfelves were before the
iblicitors. It was thefe our brave and faithful
brethren, in all comparatively but an handful,
who overcame myriads before deemed invin-
cible, and obtained thofe lafting monuments of
your glory in Afia for their country's benefit :
and, it was they who fubfequently raifed, di-
fciplined, and attached armies to your fervice,
whom they have repeatedly led to battle and to
conqueft, thereby giving ftability and perma-
nence to fuch vaft acquifitions : In fhort, it is to
them you are indebted for the pofieffion oiafecond
world !!! It is the literal exchange the price
which you receive for their blood fhed in their
country's caufe, and their bones laid low in
Eaftern foil, of which the extenfive European bu-
rial places at every fettlement in Afia will bear
lafting teftimony*. Yet thefe are the children
whom
* To give my readers a competent idea of the ftate of
mortality amongft Europeans in that country, where the in-
dividuals do not happily poflefs the expenfive means of
counteracting the pernicious effe&s of it's climate, I need
only
whom you fo haftily incline to abandon to
whom you envy the fmall participation of that
immenfe wealth which their facriftces have pro-
cured you, confining your obfervation with an
evil eye, to the fortunate very few who live to re-
turn and fhare with you their well-earned property
in their native country ! Small as, God knows, -
this their portion of wealth is, when put in com-
petition with the numbers of thofe who drop in
die purfuit, and, amongft whom, were the whole
to be divided, it would barely afford each half a
loaf! Shall we, then, thus unthinkingly fuffer
the imputation of envy to fmother our admired
character for generofity of fentiment, and bene-
volence of heart, and withhold the effulions of
gratitude where fo defervedly due ? Shall we,
becaufe not immediately under our eye, overlook
the abundant merits of this divifion of our . i
fellow-fubjects, who, fentfrom their native coun-
try at an age of infancy, become refponfible to
only inftance the ftate of the Britim foldiery, the eftablifhed
number of whom ought to be three tboujand ; to fupport
which the Company fend an annual fupply of from eighty tt
one hundred recrultt ly every Jhip, and yet are not able to
effefl it. See Bengal Military Returns, feldom exceeding
two thoufand.
D a Jiard-
a hard-judging world for their conduct, not
only as men but as ftatefmen, at a period, when at
home they are not emancipated 'from the fchool-
mafler's difcipline ?~ -Shall we alfo overlook their
merit at fuch ah age of childhood in brav-
ing the rude ocean, and refilling the impetuous
force of corrupt example during a fix month's
voyage, where blafphemy uriceafmgly circulates
in all it's rnofl horrid colours ? Shall we like-
wife forget the fiery Ihocks which their yet tender
and unformed conftitutions experience in hoftile
climes to the influence of which the ftrongeft
frames muft bend ? Shall we lofe fight of the
dangers to which their young minds become ex-
pofed on their arrival by a communication with
the moft vicious and luxurious feel of people in-
habiting the world, who court them with every
artful adulation, as fo many rifing funs through
the influence of whofe rays they hope hereafter to
benefit, and who endeavour to become panders
to their paflions and their will, as a certain
means of enflaving them to their future pur-
pofes ?
Can we, I fay, forget that with all thefe difad-
vanfages of youth, inexperience, and temptation,
they
they prove themfelves honourable members of
fociety, fulfilling every character thereof, both
public and private, with virtue and integrity ?
Can we avow ourselves fo uninformed, as to
deny to them thefe merits as a body, becaufe a '
guilty few have, by their tyranny and opprefiion,
excited our juft indignation ? Can we really force
on ourfelves a belief, that there were none to be
found amongft them, whofe hearts were fanctu-
aries too holy for guefts fo vile ? Where is there /
an equal body of men, with equal trufts, and j
equal difadvantages, amongft whom fo few ex- /
ceptionable characters are difcoverable ? Muft I
we, becaufe vice holds itfelf confpicuous in fome
daring characters, fuffer it's dark rays to over-
fhadow the brilliant virtues of the many ; and
thus allow integrity and abilities to be pafiively
enveloped in the fleam of unrighteoufnefs ?
No, furely : our refentments at an end, we
fhall fenfibly feel the injuftice of fnch general
conclufions againft our fellow-fubjects in India ;
we fhall draw the juft line between merit and
mifconduct -between the innocent and the guil-
ty ; and while we denounce juft punifhment on
conviction of the latter, we fhall not fail to diftri-
D 2 bute
( 28 )
bute ample reward to the former. fcut thefe
merits cannot fo forcibly be exemplified, as by a
fhort furvey of the nature of their fer vices : to
effect which, I fhall endeavour to paint their fe-
veral and arduous- avocations, in colours as ]un. as
the informations and documents I have fb inde-
fatigably aimed at collecting, will permit.
The Britifh fubjects, employed in India, are
divifible into four defcriptions ; but, I fhall par-
ticularize Bengal, the feat of the Government
General j as it is from the valuable manufci ipts of
a gentleman from thence I have derived very
much affifcance.
The firft of thefe defcriptions confifts of the
Officers of the Civil Government, and Officers
having commiflions on the Military Eftablifh-
ment, ail, or the majority of whom, are gentle-
men, and the fons of gentlemen, holding equa-
lity amongft the firft ranks of men, who will
neither yield right of priority as fubjeas, or for
a moment acknowledge inferiority in loyalty and
fidelity to their King and country. Their friends
made an intereft for their election into the fervice
of the Company, as a provifion for life, in what
they were taught to believe and confider a pur-
fuit
fuit of honour and profit ; and they have been
regularly admitted and enrolled, under ample
qualifications and credentials, and obtained fixed
rank and acquired rights on the public eftablifli-
ments. The number of civil fervants is about
two hundred and fifty, and the number of mi-
litary officers about fifteen hundred : the duties
of the former, much the fame as the duties of
office 'in England, from the Firft Minifler of
State in the Cabinet, to the youngeft clerk at his
defk, in every department of the Britilh Govern-
ment, and by no means lefs important , with a
variety of ftations, offices, and fervices, foreign
and domeftic, of much labour, difficulty, and
intricacy, unknown to the Civil Lift of Eng-
Jand, all requiring ftudy, judgment, manage-
ment, indefatigable application, and, what is
more than all, the difficult acquifition of Oriental
languages, and full infight into the characters,
religions, and prejudices of the natives. My
readers have an ample mode of detecting me, if
herein I err, by a reference to the annual Report
of the Eaft-India Company to the Honourable
Houfe of Commons, ftating the different offices
and employments of their fervants. But they
will
( 3 )
will readily admit, that the various duties of po-
pulous and extenfive kingdoms like Bengal and
Bahar, with all their branching foreign interefls
and connexions, which, involving all Hindoftan
and its vicinities, nearly communicate with the
Continent of Europe itfelf, are not to be conduct-
ed with the eafe and inactivity of a fpinning- wheel,
nor to be kept in regular routine by the approving
nod of a powerful Minifter, or the loud thunder
of an able Oppofitionift. As to military duties,
you can afk no explanation. Let readers, who
can judge of the general hardships of this fervice
of honour, reflect but a moment on the additional
toils of a brother foldier, labouring under the fe-
verities of a climate, where the thermometer in
the fun is feldom lefs than 100, and, in fituations
where their duty calls them, many degrees higher ;
where a familiar acquaintance with the languages,
manners, and religions of the men compofmg
our armies, and where a ftudy to invite and con-
ciliate the natives bigotted to their own rules and
prepofleffions, and, fubfequently, to gain and
preferve the attachment of armies fo compofed,
become a neceflary part of the fcience. And,
with refpeft to the general conduct of die army
of
( 3' )
of Bengal, I am warranted to alTert, that it has
ever done them honour ; that they have exercifed
their profeflion with bravery, humanity, and mo-
deration ; and the inftance of the Rohilla con-
queft in 1774, exhibits the moft noble inftance
which hiftory affords us of refiftance to the moft
alluring temptations in the hour of plunder, when
they remained peaceable fpectators of oppofite
conduct in the troops of our ally. The fecond
defcription of Britilh fubjects comprizes the ve-
nerable Bench of Judicature, with all it's tribe of
officers, dependents, and followers, to.the num-
ber of about one hundred, confifting of Judges,
Barr ifters, and a multitude of low, petty fogging,
ignorant Attornies, who having exchanged <c brew-
ers aprons" for " Jacob's Law Dictionary" and
" Druggifts weights and Jc ales" for " Every Man
his own Lawyer," have been admitted to prac-
tife, Jecundum artem, as quack doctors retail
their noftrums, " no cure, no pay." This whole
corps, with a few exceptions of amiable and good
men, are virtually a flight of locufts, " feeking
whom to devour," and will prove an everlafting
ftain on the wifdom of the Legiflature, whofe ad
is their licence, fo long as one ftone of this in-
ftitution
ftitution fhall remain on another. And, what is
their objeft ? Precifely, " to Jow diffention
<( amongft their fellow-citizens y and to get money /"
Lawyers are certainly the laft clafs of profefiional
beings who fhould be admitted into a country
where the form of Government is yet immature.
They profefs mifchief; they make mifchief, and
they unmake mifchief j they have mifchief in
their mouths, and they have mifchief at their
fingers ends ! And yet, they are called the
<c Independent Corps !" Their late leader in
Calcutta certainly placed little apparent value on
his claim to that diftinction, as he literally " part-
* f ed with his birth-right for a mefs of pottage ;"
but the Lawyers, not chufing to ape their bright
luminary in this his new orb,ftill maintained their's,
and when, during the late war, the Britifh fubjects
in Bengal were required to form themfelves into
a militia, the Lawyers pleaded their independence
of the Company's government, and the afiiftance
of a fearch warrant muft have been required to
have found any one of them on the parade on
field days. This certainly was one fpecies of
independence, and is a tolerable good fpecimen of
the acutenefs of their talents for perverfion.
Their
( 33 )
Their continuance abroad is not only very unne-
c'eflary, but very pernicious, as the execution of
Nuncomar, on an ex poft fatto law, and the hea-
vy lofies the Company have fuftained by their of-
ficious interference, have evinced. And, having
thus defcribed the fecond clafs of our country-
men in India, as I fhall have no occafion to re-
vert to them, or their purfuits, I fhall difmifs
them with a moft ferious recommendation to the
nation at large, to infift on their evacuating Ben-
gal without delay in fome fuch mode as Mr.
Haftings recalled the reprefentative of the Britifh
nation from the Court of Lucknow *.
The third clafs confifts of a few Clergymen,
upwards of an hundred Surgeons and Apothe-
caries in the civil and military employ of the
" Mr. Richard Johnfon.
" Sir,
" You are hereby peremptorily ordered and commanded,
' within forty-eight hours of the receipt of this letter, to
' quit Lucknow, and repair without delay to the Prefidency
' of Fort William.- We have further to acquaint you, that
' the Commanding Officer at Cawnpore [a military ftation]
' has been directed to enforce thefe orders, in cafe of dif-
' obedience on your part." See India Papers, vol. ii,
p. 25.
E Company,
( 34 )
Company, the exercife of \vhofe functions there
are the fame as in every other part of the world j
and about as many free merchants, a refpeftable
body of gentlemen, who, although not covenanted
fervants of the Company, have their fanftion to
refide, and engage themfelves in private com-
merce, and many of whom have rendered very
efTential fervices to the nation j but particularly
a gentleman, who lately gave evidence in an ho-
nourable AfTembly on the fubjedt of opium, and
whole fervices are on their records. See India
Papers, Vol. VI. p. 22.
The fourth and laft clafs includes a moft ule-
ful body of pilots, feamen, handicrafts, and me-
chanicks, whom fervice, neceffity, or chance,
have introduced, and who are there by fufferance,
and, probably, without any exprefs licence from
the Company ; and a corps of well-difciplined
troops, to the number of about two thoufand,
whole duty, as in other armies, fimply confifts in
obedience.
Let us now proceed to examine, how the
duties of the government are fulfilled.
The whole world bear teftimony of the great
and enviable advantages accruing from our pofTef-
fions
( 35 )
fions in India, advantages not derived from
chance or magical influence, which muft follow,
if our brethren in India poflefs no merit, but
entirely from the prudent management and able
conduct of thefe our brethren, to which only we
are beholden for every importation of wealth or
property from thence. In this kingdom we
juftly hold up as a prodigy a fingle inftance of
youth, becaufe, with the advantages of a finifhed
education, and the affiftance of wife and experi-r '
enced counfellors, deemed capable of guiding
the helm of a ftate ; and great, it muft be ac-
knowledged, is his merit. But, fhall we at the
fame time deny what is due to our ftill younger
brethren in the Eaft, wrjofe abilities in the fame
various branches are equally called into action,
executed with equal judgment, integrity, and fuc-
cefs, although removed from their ftudies at a
period of life, when the moft brilliant part of their
education would only have commenced, and
whofe further improvement can alone be the
effedt of their own fole merit. Let us not fup-
pole the government of India to be a mere [
fyftem of trade and plantation. 'The civil go-
vernment is divided into three diftincl: branches,
E comprifm^
( 36 )
comprifing the political, the revenue, and the
commercial departments ; into each of which the
civil fervants of the Company are ftationed as
their talents and capacities render eligible, and
they gradually rife in their refpective lines,
with few exceptions, circumftances fometimes
occurring to occafion a removal from the one
branch to the other : and this fhould account in
England to fuch as appear furprized at finding
gentlemen return from India not equally conver-
fant in each of thefe diftmct and extenfive depart-
ments j add to which the orders of the Company
prohibiting* their fervants from a free accefs to
the
* Extrall of a General Letter from the Honourable the Court of
Direflorst to the Honourable the Governor General and
Council, dated 2lJ} Sept. 1785.
Paragraph 50. We have long regretted an abufe which
is now become fo prevalent, and has gone to fuch an extent,
that we muft be peremptory in taking the moft effectual
meafures to pat an end to it. We allude to the practice of
our fervants having accefs to and tranfmitting home to their
private correfpondents, fuch part of our Records as they think
proper. Our orders, therefore, are, that no perfon but
the Members of the different Boards (hall have accefs to
their Records, except the Secretaries of fuch Boards, and
thofe entruiled by them ; and that no private copies mail be
given thereof, except to the Frefident of each Board, if he
lhall
( 37 )
the records of any other department than that
to which they immediately belong, although they
{hall defire it. To thefe perfons fo entrufted we (hall look
for refponfibility ; and if copies of any of our papers, cor-
refpondence, or Records, mall be difcovered in the poflef-
fion of any perfons not warranted by the Government either
at home or abroad, we (hall certainly take the moft effectual
meafures in our power to difcover by whofe means the com-
munication has been made, and will difmifs from our fer-
vice any perfbn who mall be found guilty of difobeying
thefe our orders.
5 1 . Another practice of a fimilar nature likewife calls for
our animadverfion. Many of our fervants pofleffing our
moft confidential fituations are accuftomed to indulge them-
felves, without referve, in correfponding, by their private
letters, upon the public affairs of the Company. This is
attended with many inconveniencies, is directly contrary to
our repeated orders, and we defire you will take the moft
effectual means to prevent it ; and if any of our fervants
prefume to continue in a practice fo contrary to our wifhes
and orders, we (hall certainly mark our difapprobation by
the fevereft tokens of our difpleafure.
52. It is incumbent upon us further to inform you, that
a practice has fometimes prevailed of late, of our fervants
abroad fending home public letters to the care of perfons
refident in this country, to be delivered by them or not, as
in their difcretion they (hall think proper : we prohibit any
fuch practice in future ; and direct that all letters to us from
our fervants abroad, be addrefled directly to the Court of
Directors, and fent by the ufual conveyance ; no other will
be received by us.
profefiedly
354704
( 38 )
profefiedly expe<5t their fervants to be qualified
for all departments, In the political line the
number can be but few ; yet among thefe we find
finifhed ambafladprs, prudent negociators, and
able ftatefmen. The revenue branch is more
diffufe, and it's duties more complicated and ar-,
duousj yet executed with that fuperior degree of
judgment, punctuality, and ability, which only
requires to be known to excite both our admira^
tion and aftonifhment. The bufmefs of this de-
partment is intricate, Iab9rious, and manifold,
inafmuch as it comprizes all the various duties of
a minifter ; of civil and criminal magiftracy j
of inveftigator of the refources of provinces j
of arTeffor and receiver of revenue j of
comptroller of taxes, duties, and cuftoms ; and
of treafurer, &c. &c. with all the mod difficult
management of finance ; add to which a com-
petent knowledge of the languages, manners,
fuperftitions, cuftoms, and corrupt practices of
the various feels of people refiding within their
extenfive jurifdiclions, whofe undermining in-
trigues, mceffantly at work, require the moft ac-
tive and vigilant ability, and which it is not poffi-
ble too warily to counteract. Here we find
youths
( 39 ) -
youths governing populous and extenfive provin-
ces, many of them nearly as large as Great
Britain itfelf youths prefiding in crowded courts
of juftice, hearing caufes and appeals from thou-
fands in their refpective languages, and deciding
with juftice,integrity, and univerfal fatisfaction,
How few of thefe provincial decifions have ever
been arraigned of error or injury, and how ftill
fewer it has ever been found proper to reverfe,
even Sir Elijah Impey, who prefided over the
Court of Appeals at the Prefidency of Fort Wil-
liam, and whofe bitter prejudices againft the
fervants of the Company are on record, cannor
fcruple to bear teftimony.
Nor is the commercial department, though
(landing in order the laft, of the leaft importance ta
this country, as it is to the judgment and good
conduct exercifed in this line, that this kingdom,
and, virtually, every part of the globe where the
products of the Eaft are in eftimation, are indebted
for the great improvement of their manufactures,
and for thofe well-chofen inveftments fent home
by the fervants of the Company, which annually
allure tlie whole European world to our ports and
markets. The magnitude and importance of
thefe
( 40 )
thefe advantages will not be difputed ; but, great
as they are, I find by enquiry, that, had the re-
commendations of die fervants abroad been duly-
attended to and fupported by Directors and Mi-
nifters at home,thofe advantages would have been
greatly multiplied. For the want of a grateful
communication of property between that country
and this kingdom, individuals have been help-
lefsly driven into the arms of other nations for die
remittance of their fortunes, and thereby have
enabled foreigners to carry on a trade, in a coun-
try, the commerce of which we profefs to claim the
exclufive* privilege of,nearly co-extenfive with our
own, almoft wholly on credit : whereas, had the
Company opened their treafuiy, as they ought to
have done, for remittances at a liberal rate of ex-
change, even decently within the terms of fo-
reign bills f, and augmented their inveflments ac-
cordingly,
* This "exclufive privilege", tooiir dlfgracc be itfpoken f
affefts only the fubjefts of Great Britain and Ireland, thofe
of all other nations having a free intercourfe with all the
Eaftern fettlements, whether thofe of England, or otherwife.
f Foreign bonds on refpondentia under a fpecific mort-
gage of the (hip and cargo, at an exchange of 2s. 3d. the
current rupee, and ten per cent, premium, while you may
enfure for fix, payable in London nine months after the ar-
rival
cordingly, they would have multiplied the national
advantages : they would have multiplied their
own. Such meafures would have encreafed the
cuftoms ; would have encreafed the national
Jlrength by encreafing their flipping, which, fitted
out arme en flute, might have been converted into
fhips of war as occafion fhould require : would
have eftablifhed a certain and infallible nurfery for
feamen, that moft important object to England,
rival of the (hip at her deflined port. For the terms offered
by the Englilh Company, read their own words, when
they laft authorized bills to be drawn viz. in Sept. 1785.
' All thefe bills, both for the bonded and the other debts,
are to be drawn at an exchange of one Hulling and eight
pence the Bengal current rupee, and at a proportionable
rate of exchange for the pagoda and Bombay rupee, to be
fettled by our Governor General and Council. They are
to be made payable 548 days after date, with an pption to
the Company to poftpone the full payment thereof, on pay-
ing intereft upon them half yearly, at the rate of 5 per cent,
per annum, from the date of their becoming due, and alfo
on paying inftalments of not lefs than 10 per cent, on the
principal in ever)' year, after the ift March 1790, unlefs it
fhall fuit our convenience to difcharge them by earlier or
larger payments ; and for the purpofe of rendering thofe
bills more convenient to the holders, they are to be iflued
to each creditor in bills of five hundred pounds each, and
one bill for the fractional part, if any fuch fliall be owingto
him."
F now
( 42 )
now fo much wanted : -would have given em-
ployment to large bodies of people ; prevented
competition with the foreign world, and, by re-
ducing them to the neceffity of importing bullion
for the fupport of their remaining trade, as for-
merly, they would have aided our lettlements by
the introduction of fpecie, inftead of the difad-
yantages of it's drain, from the effects of which
they have for fome time paft been drooping.
This is a fubjecl: of fo much ferious moment to
this nation, that it is entitled to claim the parti-
cular attention of it's Minifters, and the whole
Shipping interefts ; nor can I omit this opportu-
nity .of teftifying to the People of England at large ^
that if, from the afiumption of the Bengal Go-
vernment by Lord Clive in 1767 to the prefent
time, 1787, there be any one point of duty in
which their brethren ferving abroad have been
more uniform than another, it has been the re-
commendation of this fubject to the confideration
and adoption of their employers.
From the foregoing fhort premifes, I truft,
the generous reader will readily feel and ac-
. knowledge with me, that the fervices of thefe
our abfent brethren are highly meritorious and
*.? ufeful
( 43 )
Cf ufeful to the State ; that they are dutiful and
" loyal, and more than fhare in common with us
" the labours and toils of life, it's duties and
" callings, in aid and maintenance of the Parent
" State :" and, from hence will alfo conclude,
in the terms of the third queftion of our invefti-
gation, " That they are juftly entitled to our
<f moft grateful commendation, and not our cen-
u fure- to our warm protection, and the juft and
" liberal reward of their country, for their fer-
<c vices,' and not to it's refentive condemnation
fc or punilhment."
It now only remains to confider the fituation
and merits of thofe moft eager to become the ge-
neral and illiberal cenfurers of fo large and re-
Ipeftable a part of ourfelves, who, without being
at the trouble of reflection or enquiry, have, from
the alledged mifconduct of a few, arrogated to
themfelves the right of paffing fentence on the
whole.
Among thefe I can only difcover perfons pof-
fefling the negative merit of inheriting rank or
independence from the virtue or toils of their
anceftors ; whofe moft fatiguing expedition has been
a " fummer trip to the Continent, in fearch of an
F 2 Opera
(. 44 )
" Opera dancer," and whofe mofl glorious exploit
has confifled in a " fuccefsful elopement, where
" no refcue was attempted ;" or others, moving
in the more humble fphere of aping their betters
in the repetition of common-place opinions, as
the rnoft promifing mode of lecuring their future
favour. Surely, thefe ought not to prove leaders
of fufficient weight to bias the judgment of the
people of England, whofe juftice, on reflection,
will ever teach them to queftion their own right
of pafling fentence, as well as the grounds on
which they proceed ; and until they forfeit the
character of Britons, they will be as cautious in
afTuming a competency of judgment improperly,
as tenacious in it's maintenance when admitted.
Yet, for want of fuch reflection, I am forry to
fay, the jurifdiftion has not only been aflumed,
but they have actually proceeded to judgment
haftily, I will admit j but neverthelefs carrying
wirh it all the poignancy of condemnation and
coniequent prejudice, with ftrong indications of
which the prefs at prefent teems j and the " de-
" linquency and peculations of our fervants
<c abroad," come as pat from the mouths of
e/ery porter at the India Houfe, as " the laft
Cf dying,
( 45 )
* c dying fpeech and confeffion of the malefactors
tc executed at Tyburn," from that of the but-
cher's parrot of St. Martin's Court i and though
with as little intellectual connexion, yet as eager-
ly liftened to by the wondering and credulous
multitude.
The terms (( delinquents" and fc peculators/'
appear to be received as fynonymous defcriptions
of gentlemen ferving abroad ; yet it is by no
means free from apprehenfion, that too ftridt an
enquiry would prove them infinitely more appli-
cable to thofe of correfponding ftations in Eng-
land. But, with what eye would the injuftice of
the gentlemen from India be regarded, were they
therefore to pronounce indifcriminate cenfure ?
However, admitting mifconduct among our bre-
thren of the Eaft, (for what but imperfedtion is
the lot of humanity !) it clearly can only be con-
fined to a few. Mifcondudl neceflarily implies a
pre-exifting power to incur it; common fenfe
teaches, that few there are in any Government,
who can pofiefs that power ; and that it can only
be among thofe few that we can look for refpon-
fibility : therefore, the accufer, be he who he
may, previous to condemnation, fhould difpafl
fionately
lionately and deliberately queftion himfelf as to
the power of the party arraigned, and regulate
his opinions accordingly. The Britifh inhabi-
tants of the Eaft are no more all rulers indivi-
dually, than the whole people of England : it
would be prepofterous to fuppofe it ; but it would
not be niore prepofterous to condemn the whole
people of England on that ground of conftructive
abufe and oppreflion, than it is to involve, under
indifcriminate condemnation, the whole body of
Britifh fubjects in Afia. Much pains have been
taken to load with opprobrium a fervice, which,
in itfelf, is indifputably honourable ; but wherein
can the difference of fervice between England
and Afia confift, the purfuit being fo much the
fame, as to entitle the former to imply purity,
while the latter fhall only infer contamination ?
The moft rigid analyfis will prove to an axiom,
how ridiculous the doctrine; it will evince, to
mathematical demonftration, that the object of
both fervices is alike a mixture of honour and
profit ; that wealth is not lefs our purfuit at home-
than abroad. But here, I apprehend, the com-
parifon between our brethren of India and our-
felves, will not prove favourable to us, if we re-
vert
( 47 )
vert to the difficult, dear bought, and far fought
rewards of the one, and to the fatisfactory eafe of
the obtaining it at home in the bofom of their
native country, amidft their families and friends,
and without the facrifice of health, or any one
enjoyment that can attend life, by the other : -
thefe laft, moreover, poflefs not the plea of hav-
ing a competency to feek, which, as I have
before faid, they already have the negative merit
of deriving from their anceftors, but are actuated
by the inordinate thirft of accumulation ; where-
as, the former go profefledly in fearch of a well-
earned competency, which, when acquired, they
return to Jhare hofpitably amongft their coun-
trymen. And fhall v/e, my friends, think even
the meaneft of our ' fellow-fubjects in this king-
dom entitled to enjoy unmolefted the fruits of his
induftry, and deny the fame privilege to thofe
who have paid fo dearly for the acquifition of in-
dependence, in the accomplifhment of our ag-
grandizement abroad ? Or, can we fuppofe, that
the official advantages in that country, any more
than in this, are confined to nominal, inadequate
falaries ! We need only have recourfe to the Ka-
}enclar to fatisfy ourfelves on what an unreafonable
ground
ground fuch an expectation would here be form-
ed j and wherefore affect furprize at the exiftence
of emolument in India, beyond the falaries an-
nexed, which, in that country, are not even
equal to the moft rigid frugality ; but, were
they even a decent maintenance, could we reafon-
ably expect gentlemen to quit their native coun-
try, their families, and friends, in purfuit of a
mere temporary fubfiilence, and thereby fubfcribe
to banifhment, like felons tranfported for life,
without hope of return ! If the fervice of the
Eaft be a fervice of emolument, as it undoubtr-
edly is, and certainly ought to be, the fervice
of England is not lefs foj and I venture to pro-
nounce, without the fear of contradiction, that
they are alike avowed, and fo equally well un-
derftood, as alike to have obtained fanction from
the neceflity of toleration. But, we need not
inftance either England or India; all fervices
whatever have their foundation in emolument,
which forms the cement of afibciation, and
creates the only title we can make to the afliftance.
of our fellow-creatures.
It may here be alledged, that India Delinquen-
cy ftands actually before the nation in moil glar-
ing
( 49 )
ing colours. But, let us for a moment examine
the fituadon of parties fo arraigned, and we fhall
find, that they are wholly confined to fuch in- w
dividuals, as in a former part of their lives, hav-
ing returned with moderate fortunes ahd reafon-
able views, were corrupted by the intrigues and
evil example of thofe at home, to anfwer diffe-
rent views, and taught fo well to feel the necef-
fity of abundant riches in this extortionate coun-
try, as to make them defperate in their refolves
on future acquifitions at any price. I am perfectly /
warranted to ufe this laft, though harfh expref-
fion ; for, who can deny, that the gentlemen from
India, immediately on their landing in England,
become objects of general prey to plunderers of
all denominations ? This, without the fting of
the prefent fafhionable vices, fo well underftood
within the precincts of St. James', has not a
little contributed to drive many of them back
again, while others, failing in this expedient, have
actually funk under the weight of it's oppref-
fion.
But, it may be faid, the general condemnation
ijjfore alluded to has even originated from the
authority of the head of their own community.
V
(See
( 50 )
(See Mr. Hading' s Letters from Bengal, 5th
May 1781, and from Lucknow, 3oth April
1784, &c.)
How far the fentiments contained in thofe let-
ters were dictated by truth, or what oppofite im-
preffions they were calculated to effect, the Peo-
ple of England can by this time form a compe-
tent judgment. I am happy to fee that my coun-
trymen, thus injured, have found protection in
the lights thrown thereon by Mr. Burke's bright
and able exertions ; for, in a Government confti-
tuted like that of Bengal, where our fuperiority
is more ideal than real, the governing being fq
out of all proportion to the governed, the degra-
dation or depreflion of the Englilh name and
character is by no means the leaft exceptionable
part of a Governor's conduct. The before-
mentioned Letters would lead us to believe, that
all in India were corrupt, except the author \ but,
unlefs the fyftem of ethics be reverfed, it is mo-
rally impojfible for the body to be Jo umverfally
difeajedy and the head remain unpolluted. Who-
ever fhall be at die pains of perufing the Letters
in queftion, will readily admit the juft fentiments
contained in the late celebrated oration of an
honorable
( J' )
honorable Member of the Houfe of Commons,
that " fuch imputations on the Englifh name
" were moft readily and joyfully countenanced
tc as a fcreen and flicker for his own (the au-
cc thor's) abandoned profligacy." For my own
part, I fhall only further obferve, that thofg
produftions are the Author's own libels on his
own adminiftration.
It may be obferved, that the object of this
condemnation is not the acquifition of wealth,
but the practices of cruelty whereby it is obtain-
ed. This is a worn-out charge, which never
could be verified. The Britifh inhabitants of
India have on more occafions than one loudly
applied to their country, (fee Comments on their
Petition to Parliament, in the year 1779,) cc to
" call forth from amongft them any individuals
<c whofe conduct was exceptionable, to conviction
" and punifhment," and even offered their fer-
\ vices cc to aflift in the profecution ;'* but, from
that hour to this, no cafe of guilt has ever been
presumed, except in the inftances of a certain
Baronet, and a late Governor General : the firft
is recent within the mind of' every man, as it re-<
g.ularly underwent a Parliamentary enquiry : the
G 2 fecond
( s* )
fecond is now before them; and, if he be that
honeft man he announces himfelf, like an honeft
man he will defire to go to his trial, and, like an
honeft man, be acquitted.
But, my good friends, admitting for a mo-
ment what is mofl diametrically oppofite to the
truth, that cruelties have been pra&ifed. If a
zealous abhorrence of fuch ads be your motives,
you have a very extenfive field before you, for
the exercife of your clemency, in the long fanc-
tioned practices of the Weft Indies, where flavery
and cruelty are reduced to a fyftem, and human
nature is your traffic*. While you publicly
countenance fuch practices as thefe, to what fhort
of envy can be attributed your ftrictures on your
brethren in the Eaft ? It will be difficult to per-
fuade future ages, that your condemnation of
alledged conduct in one part of the world is the
* I have been well affured, that, in the Weft Indies,
flavery is reduced to fo complete a fyftem, that planters
there make regular calculations by which they are governed
in the treatment of their flaves, and from which they find it
more beneficial to work their flaves to death in the fhort
fpace of. three years, than to allow them the courfe of na-
ture's fpan in the performance of ordinary duty.
effect
( S3 )
effect of humanity, while you publicly enjoy the
benefits arifing from the openjale of your fellow-
creatures in another ! !
Having thus offered a vindication of the con-
duct of my countrymen againft private prejudice
and public reprefentation, let us advert a little to
fome public acts of this nation, whereby they
have juft reafon to confider themfelves injured.
In 1773, we pafled an act under the plea of
correcting prevalent abufes in the adminiftration
of the Company's affairs both at home and
abroad, which, by depriving them of their na-
tural right of trial by jury, the great palladium
of the freedom of England, became an arbitrary
and unjuft oppreflion j and this was farther ag-
gravated by the inftitution of a Court of Judi-
cature, vefting in the Judges, or at leaft leaving
them the power to afliime an undefined jurifdic-
tion, accompanied by a fpecies of difcretion in
the difpenfation of juftice, unknown to the fyf-
tem of jurifprudence and the practice of the
Courts in Great Britain, by which thefe Judges
virtually became Legiflators alfo. Meafures' of
fuch tendency require no comment to an Englilh
reader. But, injurious as they were to the birth-
rights
( 54 )
rights of Englifhmen, let us examine with what
temper they were received in India. The ope-
ration of this inftitution commenced in Bengal
in the year 1774. It is not to be fuppofed our
brethren there could be infenfible to fo grofs a
grievance, or that their minds could be otherwife
than filled with alarm, at thus becoming die
objects of meafures fo unconftitutional, and far
more calculated to multiply than to remedy the
evils which they were profefledly to remove.
They neverthelefs received the act with the de-
ference due to the authority from whence it
iffued, and unmurmuringly fubmitted to it's
practice and effects, for a period of near five
years, in order to give it a full and uninterrupted
trial j and, then only, on bitter experience of it's
baneful confequences, came forward in a modeft
and refpectful appeal to their country, figned by
fix hundred and forty-eight as good and loyal
fubjects as any in his Majefty's dominions, for
that redrefs to which they were fo well entitled.
But, I am forry to caft fo great a ilur on the
honor and juftice of my country, as to obferve
thefe grievances, crying as they are, ftill unre-
drefled: nay, we have, on the contrary, even
added
( 55 )
added infult to injury, by the fubfequent act of
1784, not only by diverting them of other rights
and privileges derived from their fituation and
length of fervices, but, to the difgraceful encou-
ragement of bafe informers, who, in that country
in particular, are ever ready to facrifice their
matters, or protestors, to fordid purpofes. I
fhall not enlarge on that claufe of the ad which
was a monument of fo much glaring difgrace to
our nation, that it's framers found it wife to
repeal it. I muft, however, obferve, that the
infult it offered was complete in the enabling it,
as it fully and ftrongly expreflfed the ill-founded
angry bias which raged in the minds of their
countrymen againft them. The claufe in allufion
cannot fail to be in the recollection of my reader;
but, to bring to his mind the full influence of it's
injurious tendency, let him reflect with what tem-
per fuch a claufe would be received among the
people of England, and more particularly among
the Members of that very Houfe, who framed
and pafled the act for others.
Still unredreffed, the grievances of our fellow-
fubjects in India now form the fubftance of a fe-
cpnd petition to their country, which has, at
length.
( 56 )
length, found its way to the table of the Houfe
of Commons , but, under fo many difficulties
and difcouragements, as to damp the profpeft
of the redrefs reafonably looked for j at leaft,
fhould any weight be given to the extraordinary
opinion of an honorable minifterial Member on
the motion for it's introduction, who, if he did
not confider the petitioners as the inanimate pro-
ferty of the Eaft-India Company, clearly re-
duced them to the ftate of live flock ; for, " how,"
fays he, tc can we receive a petition from thofe
" who are only die fervants of the Company,
" when the Company themfelves [or, in other
" words, thefe gentlemen's owners} have not peti-
" tioned !" As the difcuflion of India bufmefs, from
the confpicuous and exalted flation which this
honorable Member fills, muft completely abforb
his thoughts at prefent ; and as it is by no means
unufual with him to trample on all dijlinftions of
locality., fo, on this occafion, he muft certainly
have tranfported his mind's eye from Calcutta,
the refidence of gentlemen not in any rejpeft his in-
feriors^ to the wretched fcene of Englifh avarice
and defpotifm in Rohilcund, where our humane
ally the tyrant Sujah Dowlah, " -having [it is
" faid]
faid] converted the Rohillahs into fubjecls, the
<c next thing he does is to deny them the rights
" of human creatures, and palpably confider them
* as inanimate property* which the owner may
" difpofe of as he thinks fit." Good Heavens !
what a doctrine ! I congratulate my country,
however, that it did not proceed from the mouth
of an Englijhman , and that the rectitude of a
Britifh Houfe of Commons fcouted fuch fenti-
ments with the fcorn they deferve. We ought
not, however, to be affefted with furprize at the
ipeech in queflion, when we reflect, that the pe-
tition againft which it argued; was produced by
the oppreflive aft which this very Member is fup-
pofed to have had fo ample a lhare in framing,
and of which the riioft offenfive claufe (faid to
have been his favourite bantling) but too plainly
characterizes it's author, and his talents for def-
potifm.
We fhall not relinquifh the hope of feeing the
natural juftice of Parliament exerted in a due
attention to the reafonable prayer of the petition
of thefe our fellow-fubjects. An Englifh Houfe
of Commons has ever hitherto gloried in oppofmg
unconftitutional meafures and they would de-
H fcrt
( 58 ;
fert their duty if they did not : fuch inftances,
therefore, of encroachment, as now aggrieve our
fellow-fubjects in India, can only be attributed
to miniiterial faction ; and, confequently, it is to
be prefumed, cannot be of much longer duration.
Juftice will ever prove a fufficient fpur to Eng-
liihmen, without having recourfe to the addi-
tional motive of caution againft driving the op-
prefTed to fuch defperate afts as the ftrength
of a powerful army, confiiling of fifteen hun-
dred experienced officers, and fixty thoufand
brave and well-difciplined troops, attached to
them from affection and fervice, in pofTerTion of
a rich and extenfive country, yielding a moft
princely revenue, and fraught with every valuable
refource, might enable them to effect. But,
ihould Minifters perfift in turning a deaf ear to
thejuft claims of the petitioners, becaufe they
pofTefs the power fo to do, and determine to
with-hold rights, to the poffeffion and free exer-
cife of which, the loyalty, fidelity, and great at-
chievements of our brethren in India, in their
country's caufe, would of themfelves be deemed
an ample title under more reafonable men, I
fhall moft earneftly recommend it to fuch rulers,
to
( 59 )
to turn their reflections to the fatal and yet bleed-
ing effects experienced from fuch unfeeling and
injudicious conduct towards our late brethren in
America j whofe perfecution, as I before faid,
" originated in prejudice, was conducted in ig-
" norance, and has concluded in compulfive fc-
" verance." Our fellow-fubjects in the Eaft have
ftiewn, that they can bear diftrefs like men, and
feel like men , and while we fliall continue to
pofiefs our valuable acquifitions in that country,
which we at prefent hold on a tenure of perpe-
tuity as the tribute of their eminent fervices, and
which nothing can (hake, while we continue to
poflefs their affections and attachment unfhaken,
we certainly cannot require to be reminded, that
they can alfo aft like men. Let us, then, beware
how we drive them to extremities ; nor, when
they apply to us for bread, prefent them a ftone.
Our errors towards them are hitherto retriev-
able with honor i but, leaving the protection
of their petition to the more able and interefted
advocates acting under their immediate delega-
tion, I fhall not further trefpafs on the patience
of my readers. The object of this Appeal is of
a different nature > and I dare truftj, the candid
Has apd
( 60 )
and generous minds of my countrymen, ever
open to conviction, particularly in the caufe of
TRUTH, will have fuffered my juft, though un-
adorned arguments, to remove the veil of pre-:
judice from their underftandings, nor longer al-
low " the dark rays of vice, confpicuous in a
" few daring characters, to overfhadow the bril-
" liant virtues of the Many, and thus fuffer in-
" tegrity and abilities to be paflively enveloped
" in the fleam of unrighteoufnefs -."---that they
will not confound particular error with general
pnerit and loyal fervice ; nor forget, that their
fzliow-Jiiljetts In India are a fart of tbemfehes,
, and have never yet been deficient in their country's
caufe.
An apology to the Public for an intrufion on
their time, generally precedes the fubjec~t ; and,
although I feel the necefiity of it greater in my
inftance than in any other, I flill flatter myfelf it
will not be lefs favorably received, as a conclu-
fion, than if I had, in the ufual way, made it in
a foimal exordium. I may fafely place great
reliance on the difmtereflednefs of my motive ;
but more pcv/erfyliy refc on the necefiity which
humanity laid ire under, of taking up a caufe,
which,
which, in the opinion of unprejudiced people,
has been meft Jhamefully abandoned by gentlemen^
ivhoje former ftations in India, and pi'efent fitua-
tions in an Honorable AJfembly, render it their
more immediate province, if not their duty, which
can no otherwife be accounted for, than as the
effect of the miftaken principle, of fuppofing it
neceffary to facrifice the whole community of
their India brethren to the defperate caufe of an
individual. And this abandonment is the more
ihameful, as the expectation of the nation is na-
turally directed to them in particular, for a jufti-
fication of their former fociety , and that their
filence, however indefenfible, may be conftrued
into condemnation : they fhould, however, reflect,
that this condemnation muft in a more material
degree affect themfelves, not only from their af-
finity of power and confequent relponfibility, with
the individual in queftion, but from the dread of
inveftigation, which this their filence might
imply. Should this hint tend to awaken them
from their unpardonable lethargy, it will prove a
great additional reward for any pains I may have
been at in collecting materials for the juftification
of my fellow-countrymen abroad, which, in my
opinion,
opinion, requires nothing more than a fimple
Hate of facts amply and firmly to eftablifh.
I have done my duty, as a good citizen, in con-
tributing my mite towards it ; and thereon found
a claim to call on thefe gentlemen, either to fol-
low my example, or to avow the motives of
their defertion of what muft be no lefs their own,
than the caufe of our abfent countrymen.
FINIS.
35
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