MEMORIALS 
 
 BEING A SELECTION FROM THE PAPERS 
 
 HENRY ST.GEORGE TUCKER, 
 
 I.AIE DIRECTOR OF I1IE EAST INDIA COJIPAKT. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 JOHN WILLIAM KAYE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 EICHAED BENTLET, NEW BTJBLINGTON STREET. 
 
 Publisher in (PrMnart) to ijtr illnjcsti). 
 
 MDCCCLIII. 
 
 [The right of publishing a French Translation of this tcork is reserved."]
 
 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 I THINK it is right that something should be said 
 about the circumstances under which this volume is 
 published. 
 
 On the 14th of June, 1851, the career of Henry 
 St. George Tucker, then in his eighty-first year, was 
 brought to a close. He had been for a quarter of a 
 century one of the ablest and most energetic Di- 
 rectors of the East India Company, and for more 
 than half a century had been personally associated 
 with, and deeply interested in, the affairs of the 
 great empire of which he came to be one of the 
 rulers. He read much ; he thought much ; he 
 wrote much. And he left behind him a great mass 
 of papers written by himself, partly of an official, 
 partly of an unofficial character a selection from 
 which constitutes the present volume. 
 
 The publication of such a collection of papers was 
 contemplated by the author during his lifetime ; and 
 the Editor of the present series, whilst preparing 
 the volume now offered to the public, had before 
 him a letter from Mr. Tucker to a friend, whom 
 he greatly loved and respected, indicating the parti- 
 
 b 
 
 51528G 
 
 LIB SETS
 
 iv PEEFACE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 cular papers which he desired to lay before the world. 
 "If I thought," wrote Mr. Tucker on the 30th of 
 November, 1850, "that, by printing some of these 
 papers I could promote in any degree the interests 
 and credit of the Court, by showing that we are not 
 unmindful (as is, I fear, suspected in some quarters) 
 of our public duties ; or if I could natter myself that 
 the discussions in which I have engaged were likely 
 to throw light on the questions which must soon 
 occupy the attention of the Court and of the Go- 
 vernment, I should not hesitate to contribute my 
 share to the general stock of materials to be used 
 for framing the new Charter. I should not, of 
 course, think for a moment of introducing any per- 
 sonal questions. The selection would have reference 
 1st. To our Hevenue systems of administration, 
 including the Salt, Opium, and Customs. 2ndly. To 
 our judicial administration, including the measures 
 adopted in this country for prosecuting the appeals 
 of her Majesty in Council. Srdly. To our political 
 proceedings, including the Afghan treaty of June, 
 1838, the seizure of Scinde, &c. I should be much 
 tempted to add my comment on the confiscation of 
 Colaba, and on the general policy to be observed 
 towards the Princes and Chiefs of India. 4thly. I 
 should be disposed to introduce my paper on 
 Cotton, my remarks on the powers of the Secret 
 Committee, and other miscellaneous matters; but 
 some of these would require careful consideration." 
 I have endeavoured to carry out the intentions of 
 the writer as declared in this letter, but I can hardly 
 hope that I have adequately fulfilled them.
 
 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. V 
 
 The task was, indeed, by no means without its 
 difficulties. The papers were, for the most part, of 
 an official character, and there were many public and 
 private considerations to restrict the free exercise of 
 the Editor's power of selection. There were State 
 secrets of recent date, not to be divulged without 
 public inconvenience; and there were the feelings 
 of living individuals which might be wounded, 
 whilst their acts, scarcely belonging to the legitimate 
 domain of Indian history, might not warrant public 
 discussion. There was another class of papers, too, 
 of which it was necessary to make sparing use 
 papers, very ably written, embodying sound opinions 
 and comprehensive information, but relating to a by- 
 gone state of things, of little interest in the present 
 day. Indeed, next to the desire to carry out Mr. 
 Tucker's own recorded wishes, I have been guided in 
 my selections by nothing so much as the wish to illus- 
 trate the present important discussions on the future 
 Government of India, by giving open expression to 
 the sentiments of one, the weight of whose authority 
 is admitted by men of all shades of political opinion. 
 
 In the arrangement of the papers I have en- 
 deavoured, as closely as possible, to follow the classi- 
 fication of subjects adopted by the Parliamentary 
 Committees now sitting. As there are few subjects 
 connected with the administration of British India 
 on which Mr. Tucker has not recorded his opinions, 
 the materials at my disposal have enabled me to illus- 
 trate, with more or less completeness, nearly all the 
 topics embraced in the present Parliamentary in-
 
 VI PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 quiry. There is not one of these on which the 
 opinions of the writer will not be received with respect. 
 If on some of these points the evidence is not as 
 copious as might be desired, the deficiency must not 
 be laid to the account of Mr. Tucker, but rather to 
 that of the Editor or perhaps, he may be permitted 
 to plead, to the necessity, under which he labored, of 
 selecting from a vast mass of papers materials only 
 sufficient to fill a moderately-sized volume. 
 
 The majority of these papers explain themselves. 
 In many instances I have been able to cull from 
 Mr. Tucker's writings an historical introduction ex- 
 planatory of the circumstances under which the 
 particular paper was written. Even the few edi- 
 torial notes, scattered thinly through the volume, 
 have not been introduced without reluctance, so 
 unwilling have I been to obtrude myself where com- 
 ment, whether in the shape of approbation or dis- 
 sent, would have been equal presumption. I can- 
 not help having my own opinions. To the indul- 
 gent friends who attach any weight to them, I may 
 say, that on a large majority of the subjects illustrated 
 in this volume, they coincide with those of Mr. 
 Tucker. But the selection lias not been made with 
 any reference to this concurrence of opinion. The 
 work is designed to be a fair exposition of the views 
 of the able and experienced Anglo-Indian statesman 
 who wrote the papers of which it is composed. 
 
 Nothing more need be said, in this place, about 
 the construction of the present volume ; but, per- 
 haps, a few words may not be inappropriately added
 
 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. Vll 
 
 regarding its internal character. In this volume is 
 contained a selection from the papers of a memher of 
 the Court of Directors of the East India Company. 
 It may be doubted whether the most inveterate op- 
 ponent of the existing system of Indian government 
 will deny that they exhibit a very intimate acquaint- 
 ance with the practicalities of a great variety of 
 subjects broad statesman-like views and a pure 
 and earnest desire to benefit the people of the vast 
 empire committed to the care of his colleagues and 
 himself. It is hard to say whether Mr. Tucker was 
 more distinguished for his intellectual activity or 
 his moral integrity. He shrunk from no amount of 
 personal labor. He was never driven or beguiled 
 from the path of duty by any personal apprehensions 
 on one side, or selfish inducements on the other. He 
 faced a Mandamus on one memorable occasion, and 
 in support of the Right was prepared at any time to 
 face it again. He was honest to the very core ; and 
 though some men differed from the opinions he ex- 
 pressed, all appreciated the sincerity and admired 
 the ability with which he enforced them. 
 
 It may, indeed, be suggested that, as many of Mr. 
 Tucker's papers did not reflect the opinions of the 
 general body of the Court of Directors, no argument 
 is derivable from their character and tendency in 
 favor of that administrative body. It is clearly, 
 however, not to be expected that a body of thirty 
 gentlemen, drawn from different services or profes- 
 sions,with different antecedents, and different idiosyn- 
 cracies, should concur in opinion on every one of the
 
 Vlll PKEFACE BY THE EDITOE. 
 
 detail questions of administration which come before 
 them in their collective capacity. And, indeed, 
 such concurrence is as little to be desired as it is to 
 be expected. The Court of Directors of the East 
 India Company are a deliberative body. Every 
 matter that comes before them is fully discussed. 
 The varied experience and the varied reflections of 
 many are brought to bear upon the elucidation of 
 every question that is submitted to them; and 
 though collectively, as individually, they may err, 
 they are at least never betrayed into error by 
 those temptations which ordinarily beset men 
 immersed in the strife of European politics. An 
 utter freedom from all party influences cha- 
 racterises the government of the East India Com- 
 pany. And though, as I have said, on questions 
 of administrative detail, complete harmony of 
 opinion is not to be expected, it is to the honor of 
 the Court of Directors, that on questions involving 
 great principles of universal justice, as on those of 
 the invasion of Afghanistan and the spoliation of 
 Scinde, there has been little or no diversity of 
 opinion. The statesmen who condemned the former 
 act the act of a "Whig Ministry were foremost to 
 condemn the latter, though perpetrated by a Tory 
 ruler. Mr. Tucker was a Tory as were the greater 
 number of those who condemned the conquest of 
 Scinde and recalled the Governor- General who de- 
 creed it but upon all such questions as these he 
 was of no party. He spoke out as strongly and un- 
 compromisingly upon acts of Conservative misrule
 
 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. IX 
 
 as upon those which, defiled the administration of 
 the Liberal predecessors of the men whose home- 
 policy he supported. The general verdict of the 
 public has long since pronounced that, upon both of 
 these great questions, Mr. Tucker and his colleagues 
 wrote and acted in defence of the Bight. 
 
 It would not become me in this place to dwell 
 any longer upon these things. I only touch upon 
 them here in illustration of the character of Mr. 
 Tucker's writings. He himself cherished the belief 
 that the publication of a selection from his papers 
 would "promote the interests and credit of the 
 Court of Directors ;" and I am strongly of opinion 
 that they will. If they indicate nothing more than 
 the fact, that every question that comes before the 
 Court is carefully and deliberately considered, and 
 that a large amount of practical experience is ap- 
 plied to its elucidation, they are creditable to the 
 East India Company. But I believe that they in- 
 dicate much more than this. No reader of this 
 volume will deny that the papers it contains are 
 distinguished by a profound knowledge of the sub- 
 jects discussed, and an eager desire to promote the 
 happiness of the people of Hindostan. It may be 
 too much to say that all the members of the Court 
 of Directors have the same extensive experience as 
 Mr. Tucker, and few, perhaps, have the same powers 
 of expression. But the assiduous attention which 
 he devoted to the administrative business of the 
 Company, and the earnest benevolence with which 
 he addressed himself to the promotion of measures
 
 X PKEFACE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 for the amelioration of the condition of the people, 
 were but characteristics common to the general 
 body of his colleagues. He would have been the 
 last to claim for himself any exclusive merit for the 
 possession of these qualities. 
 
 It need only be remarked, in conclusion, that for 
 the publication of these papers the Editor alone is 
 responsible. It will be assumed that they are 
 published with the consent of Mr. Tucker's repre- 
 sentatives; but from no other source has any 
 assistance been derived, and from none beside has 
 consent been obtained. The papers, it should be 
 emphatically stated, are published merely as " se- 
 lections." In some cases, they have been divested 
 of their official significance. I may not have pub- 
 lished all that I personally could have desired, but I 
 alone am responsible for what has been published ; 
 and I believe that the selection honestly represents 
 the opinions of the venerable writer. 
 
 J. W. K. 
 
 London, June 20, 1853. 
 
 ERKATA. 
 
 Page 498, line 15, for "having those angry feelings," read "leaving those angry 
 
 feelings." 
 In Table of Contents, page xii, opposite " Case of the Guicowar," for " 250," 
 
 read " 254." 
 
 Page 102, line 13, for " that," read "but." 
 
 Page 107, second line from bottom, for "genereux," read "generaux." 
 Page 116, second line from bottom, for "permit," read "admit." 
 Page 135, line 19, for " contribution" read " contributor" 
 Page 149, line 4, for " in," read " on." 
 Page 174, line 9, for " that if it," read " that it." 
 Page 428, line 24, for " expediency," read " inexpediency." 
 Page 442, line 14, for " were," read " was."
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ^ 1 
 
 ORIGIK AND PROGRESS OF BRITISH-INDIAN GOVERNMENT . . . 10 
 ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES AND AUTHORITIES: 
 
 Constitution of the Court of Directors 20 
 
 Court of Proprietors '.'.' 24 
 
 The Organisation of Committees 24 
 
 Functions and Powers of the Court of Directors 30 
 
 The Constitution of the Board of Control 37 
 
 The Constitution of the Secret Committee 43 
 
 The Court of Directors and the Board of Control . . . .47 
 
 The Supreme Government and the Minor Governments of India . . 50 
 
 Appointment of Members of Council 56 
 
 The Supreme Government and the Legislative Council . . .57 
 
 The Law Commission 60 
 
 Selection for Civil Employment 63 
 
 Revenue and Judicial Establishments 69 
 
 Furlough Regulations for the Civil Service ...... 87 
 
 TUB MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS: 
 
 The Officering of the Native Army 93 
 
 Sale of Commissions 93 
 
 Exchanges between King's and Company's Officers . . . .100 
 Corporal Punishment in the Native Army 101,104 
 
 THE REVENUES AND RESOURCES OF INDIA: 
 
 Systems of Land Revenue 106 
 
 The Permanent Settlement of Bengal .110 
 
 Initial Measures for the Settlement of the Ceded and Conquered Pro- 
 vinces 112 
 
 Extension of the Permanent Settlement 115 
 
 Zemindarry Rights 119 
 
 Tenant Rights 125 
 
 The "Ryotwar" System 129 
 
 Village Settlements 132 
 
 The Permanent Zemindarry Settlement 134 
 
 The Salt-Duties 138 
 
 The Opium Monopoly 149 
 
 Cultivation of Indian Cotton 162 
 
 Indian Sugar 178 
 
 c
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM: PAGE 
 
 Lord Cornwallis and the Eegulations 191 
 
 Proposed Revision of the Judicial System 195 
 
 Punchayet ... 223 
 
 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS : 
 
 General Remarks 227 
 
 Historical Retrospect . 230 
 
 Our Political System Character of Native Governments . . . 239 
 British Interference ... ...... 242 
 
 Treaties with Native States . ... . . . . .247 
 
 Case of the Guicowar 250 
 
 The Confiscation of Colaba 257 
 
 The Dawn of the Afghan War The Tripartite Treaty , . .261 
 British Policy in Central Asia . . .'..,-.. ... . 266 
 
 The Disasters in Afghanistan , ,. , , 282 
 
 Lord Ellenborough and the Re-occupation of Afghanistan . . . 300 
 
 The Question of Responsibility ,. . 305 
 
 The Conquest of Scinde . . . 313 
 
 The Annexation of Scinde . 326 
 
 The Administration of Lord Ellenborough . _ , 3 ^9 
 Case of Colonel Outram . , '. , t , . . . . . . . 350 
 
 HlNDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY : 
 
 Religious Ceremonies and Endowments .; 7.. ;.; . . . 353 
 
 Cursory Notes on the Lex Loci Question -.'. . . .,..- . 369 
 
 The Pilgrim-tax ,- . , -375 
 
 FINANCE : 
 
 Exchange Operations Home Remittances 381 
 
 Indian Banks and Paper Currency . . ; . . . .'-' . 391 
 
 Banks '. H-.' r . - . .- .401 
 
 The Copper Currency of India . . . . . . . .411 
 
 Revenue and Expenditure . . . . . . . .418 
 
 IVIlSCELLANEOUS : 
 
 Roads in Bengal 424 
 
 The Education of the Civil Service : . '. . . . . .430 
 
 Slavery in India .- ,.- : ...,,>. 434 
 
 Civil and Political Employment . . . ..;'.-..- . 437 
 The Supercession of Lord Heytesbury Power of Recall . . . 439 
 
 Evils of Party Influence Lord Heytesbury 447 
 
 Appointment of Members of Council 458 
 
 Coasting Trade of British India . . - . . ,.. T.. ...- . .459 
 
 Privy Council Appeals 468 
 
 The Afikirs of the Punjaub . . . . . ... . .473 
 
 Character of the Natives of India . . . .,>.-.- 480 
 
 The Abkarry Establishment . -. .486 
 
 Decline of Indian Manufactures . . . . . . . ^ .491 
 
 Commercial Injustice to India The Claims of British India . . 494 
 
 CONCLUSION : 
 
 General Government of the East India Company . . . . . 503 
 Acceptance of the Bill 504
 
 MFMORIALS 
 
 OF 
 
 INDIAN GOYEBNMENT. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY KEMAKKS.* 
 
 IN proposing to consider, without pretending to 
 resolve, one of the most difficult problems which 
 could he submitted to any body of statesmen, I hope 
 that I shall not lay myself open to the imputation 
 of presumption. I approach the subject with a 
 deep impression of its magnitude, and of the limited 
 extent of my own powers ; but if the experience of 
 thirty years in a great variety of public stations, 
 where I have had peculiar opportunities of observing 
 the machinery of our Indian Government, should 
 enable me to throw one feather into the scale of 
 truth, my time will not have been unprofitably 
 employed. 
 
 The proposition which I proposed to examine is 
 
 * Written in 1829. These remarks form the introduction to an unfinished 
 work, " On the Future Administration of British India," which Mr. Tucker 
 contemplated giving to the world at the time of tho last Charter-discussions, 
 but which he never completed. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 By what system of administration, at home and 
 abroad, can British India be governed, with a view 
 to secure the greatest degree of happiness and pro- 
 sperity to the people of that country, and at the 
 same time, to promote, to the utmost extent, the 
 general interests of the mother- country. 
 
 To embrace this vast question in all its various 
 relations, and to arrive at sound and satisfactory 
 conclusions, it would be useful to take an historical 
 retrospect of our administration of India. We must 
 ascend from that which is known to that which is 
 unknown we must judge of the work which is to 
 be done, from the work which has been done we 
 must direct our attention to the workings of the ma- 
 chinery in times past, to be enabled to predict with 
 confidence with respect to the future. If we would 
 correct our errors, and supply our deficiencies, we 
 must trace back our steps in order to detect the 
 sources from whence these errors have proceeded. 
 
 To provide for the future prosperity of India, we 
 should carefully examine every branch of our admi- 
 nistration. There is scarcely a tax imposed by our 
 Government which does not affect, in a greater or 
 less degree, the well-being of our Native subjects. 
 The population of India being essentially agricul- 
 tural, their comforts depend mainly upon the system 
 of revenue administration which we enforce. The Ab- 
 karry (or tax on spirituous liquors), the opium reve- 
 nue, the salt monopoly, the stamps, and other imposts, 
 all tend, directly or indirectly, to affect the morals, 
 the comforts, and the general character of the people. 
 
 "Without undertaking to discuss at length the
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 
 
 various questions which frequent meditation on the 
 subject has presented to my mind, it will, at least, 
 be useful to enumerate them. The exposition may 
 tend to satisfy those who are wont to leap at conclu- 
 sions, that the most accurate knowledge of the trade 
 of Liverpool or Bristol will not qualify us to give a 
 constitution to India that the routine of a count- 
 ing-house and the mechanism of a ledger will not 
 prepare us to appreciate those intricate combinations 
 and nice adjustments which are found necessary in 
 the course of regulating the multifarious concerns of 
 a community composed of various nations differing 
 in their religion and laws, in their social institutions 
 and habits, in their language, notions, feelings, and 
 general character-. Nay, it may be permitted us 
 to doubt whether the scholar, the philosopher, the 
 metaphysician, or the professional writer of Europe, 
 be precisely the person most competent to estimate 
 justly the Afghan or the Hajpoot, and to frame that 
 system of internal rule which may be best calcu- 
 lated to develop his virtues, to divest his energies of 
 any mischievous tendency, and to direct them in a 
 way to promote the public good. 
 
 Pew, I suspect, will now be found to concur in 
 the dictum* of an eminent historian, that a country 
 
 * "Whatever is worth seeing or hearing in India, can be expressed in 
 writing. As soon as everything of importance is expressed in writing, a man 
 who is duly qualified may attain more knowledge of India in one year, in his 
 closet in England, than he could obtain during the course of the longest life 
 by the use of his eyes and his ears in India." 
 
 This sort of syllogistic reasoning, if not carefully examined, is very apt to 
 mislead. If it be true (and this may be questioned), that everything worth 
 seeing in a foreign country everything worth hearing in a foreign language 
 
 B2
 
 4 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 is best viewed at a distance, and that the condition 
 and character of its inhabitants, their wants, inter- 
 nal economy, and external relations, are best appre- 
 hended and described by one who has never resided 
 among them. CaBsar and Xenophon, according to 
 this doctrine, ought never to have written ; and the 
 minister and friend of Henry IV. must be esteemed 
 an unwelcome intruder into the province of history. 
 Prejudices may, no doubt, be imbibed, and partial 
 views be adopted, by the near, as well as by the dis- 
 tant, observer ; but, all other things being equal, it 
 may surely be affirmed that he who has seen and 
 become familiar with an object, is more in a con- 
 
 can be fully and perfectly expressed in writing, it is not true that every- 
 thing of importance relating to India has actually been expressed in writing. 
 The second postulate, therefore, cannot be conceded. But even if everything 
 of importance had been expressed in writing, which certainly is not the case) 
 I deny the conclusion that a man, however qualified, can attain more know- 
 ledge of India in one year in his closet in England, than he could obtain, 
 during the course of the longest life, by using his eyes and his ears in India. 
 I assume, of course, that he uses his" eyes and his] ears as the organs of his 
 understanding, because I never can suppose that it was intended to compare 
 an intelligent being with the unreflecting animal of the fields. If I were to 
 hazard a dictum, it would be, that a residence in India, if not essential, is at 
 least extremely useful, to enable an historian to see the manners, to hear the 
 sentiments, to appreciate the character of a people, and to become familiar 
 with those peculiarities, with those faint shades and minute quantities, which 
 can scarcely be made matter of written record, but which in the aggregate 
 constitute important elements in national character. Mr. Mill is not the 
 mere writer of a narrative, nor can he mean to degrade the historian into the 
 condition of a mere copyist, or relater, of events collected from books. He 
 himself has undertaken to write a critical or philosophical history; and in 
 order to do justice to such an undertaking, the studies of the closet are not 
 all- sufficient. The course of human action must be judged with reference to 
 the situation and circumstances in which the human being may be placed. 
 What would appear extravagant and irrational in the case of a well-disciplined 
 European, may be perfectly natural and consistent in the mind of an Asiatic ; 
 and I contend that this Asiatic, like the bee, is best known to the near 
 observer, who has opportunities of viewing all the operations of his domestic 
 economy. H. St.G. T.
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 5 
 
 tlition to describe it than the individual whose know- 
 ledge has been obtained through an intermediate 
 channel.* The real spectator is not debarred access 
 to those sources of knowledge from which the re- 
 mote historian draws his materials; he has a test 
 to try the purity of those sources, and the value of 
 the materials ; and he has better means of detecting 
 error and prejudice in the records which form the 
 groundwork of history. The able writer alluded to 
 has furnished strong evidence against his own theory 
 in his delineation of the Hindoo (as well as in other 
 instances), for the resemblance is so slight and im- 
 perfect, that those who are best acquainted with the 
 original instantly perceive that the picture has not 
 been drawn from life. In fact, it is not safe to 
 generalise in describing a people. The high-spirited 
 Rajpoot of Central India bears no more resemblance 
 
 * I do not go so far as to maintain that a country cannot be described by 
 one who has never seen it. The late Dr. Blacklock, of Edinburgh, who was 
 born blind, wrote descriptive poetry in a very natural manner ; but this was 
 a mere mechanical operation the repetition of what he had heard. He had 
 heard that a rose was red, and he had found through another sense that its 
 smell was agreeable. When he wrote of this flower, it was associated with an 
 agreeable sensation ; but if Dr. Blacklock had been told that a rose was blue, 
 he would have applied this epithet to it in his poetry. A man may compile, 
 collate, digest, and arrange, without quitting his closet, and may compose a 
 good history, as Robertson and others have done. Mr. Mill has composed a 
 valuable history; but who can doubt that this history would have been much 
 more correct and valuable if he had resided ten years in India, and had been 
 as well acquainted with the languages, literature, and laws of the country as 
 that accomplished scholar, the late Sir William Jones, whom Mr. Mill so 
 much undervalues, or as the late Warren Hastings, a statesman whom he BO 
 vehemently condemns ? There is much in the administration of Mr. Hastings 
 which the moral critic must condemn; but in fairness he ought to be re- 
 viewed in the position which he occupied (a false one, no doubt, for a British 
 subject) of an Asiatic potentate, struggling for dominion and political ex- 
 istence. H. St.G. T.
 
 6 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 to the passive Molungee of the Soonderbuns; the 
 fierce Afghan of Rohilcund bears no stronger affinity 
 to the patient weaver of Dacca, than the well- 
 appointed citizen of this metropolis to the rude 
 fisher on the coast of Mekran. Both might be de- 
 scribed as Ichthiophagi, just as it is found conve- 
 nient by the naturalist to class together the human 
 species and the bat; but they would scarcely be 
 found to have any other habit in common. Generic 
 terms convey no distinct idea of a nation. In the 
 term "Hindoo" are comprehended numerous tribes 
 and communities, differing widely in their physical 
 and moral qualities. These must be seen and studied 
 in all their varieties, and in all their relations, to be 
 properly understood. 
 
 Many of the questions which I propose to bring 
 under view, will, I am aware, be best disposed of 
 hereafter by the constituted authorities ; but it is 
 essential to advert to them, because, in framing a 
 constitution of government, and in determining 
 upon the instruments which will be most suitable 
 and proper for its administration, regard must be 
 had to the nature and extent of the functions to be 
 exercised. The pastoral concerns of a tribe of Arabs 
 may safely be confided to a patriarchal chief ; but 
 if questions of international law are to be decided 
 if a system of jurisprudence and a code of laws must 
 be formed for a people in an advanced state of civili- 
 sation if various and important interests are to be 
 consulted and reconciled if, in short, very complex 
 machinery is to be framed and regulated for pro-
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 7 
 
 moting the welfare of a numerous people, then we 
 must draw our principles and our maxims from a 
 different source, and we must select the agency to be 
 employed from a different order of men. In no one 
 country, perhaps, do we find a combination of rare 
 and peculiar qualities so necessary as in those who 
 may be entrusted with the conduct of public affairs 
 in India. 
 
 It ought not to be matter of surprise that great 
 clamor should have been raised against the Govern- 
 ment of the East India Company. Many persons 
 have an interest, or fancy that they have an interest, 
 in its subversion. Some feel that they have been 
 aggrieved by particular acts, that their merits and 
 services have been overlooked or undervalued, and 
 have failed to obtain their just reward, and they both 
 harbor resentment, and look to a change for the re- 
 dress of their real or supposed wrongs. The origin 
 and growth of our Indian Empire, and the circum- 
 stances which have concurred to preserve it in the 
 hands of the East India Company, are so little 
 within the range of common observation, that the 
 whole course of things appears strange and inex- 
 plicable ; and those who do not penetrate below the 
 surface can perceive no natural connexion between 
 events and their causes. We have not followed the 
 example of other conquerors, either in ancient or 
 modern times. What can appear more irreconcile- 
 able with all our established notions than that an 
 extensive empire should be governed by a company 
 of merchants in the name of a titular pageant ?
 
 8 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 This empire presents itself to the eyes of many 
 as an unnatural excrescence a complication of dis- 
 cordant elements. The Government, which, indeed, 
 is unique in its kind, is regarded as a sordid scheme 
 for engrossing patronage^ as a monstrous alliance 
 between political power and commercial cupidity, 
 and, in fine, as a plan, devised for sinister ends, 
 which is not founded on any recognised principles, 
 and which is calculated to uphold a system of tax- 
 ation at once impolitic and mischievous, burden- 
 some and oppressive. 
 
 If these charges, or these unfavorable impres- 
 sions, had any just foundation, no friend of his coun- 
 try could wish to see the existing Government per- 
 petuated. It would have lasted too long ; and our 
 study should be to discover, as soon as possible, 
 some unobjectionable substitute. If, on the other 
 hand, its defects be such as are inseparable from 
 the peculiar circumstances in which our Indian Em- 
 pire is placed; if the difficulties of introducing a 
 different order of things be insurmountable, or the 
 danger to other great and valuable interests be im- 
 minent and great; or if, as we may reasonably 
 hope, the defects of the system be susceptible of a 
 remedy if the Government can, by means of certain 
 modifications, be ameliorated, so far as to answer the 
 ends for which it ought to be instituted, then let us 
 calmly and carefully examine how those improve- 
 ments can best be effected ; let us endeavor to 
 amend before we resolve to overturn. This is the 
 great object which I purpose to keep in view, dis-
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 9 
 
 carding from my mind, as far as I can, the pre- 
 judices of " caste," and all those prepossessions 
 and motives of personal interest which a public 
 station may be supposed to engender, however un- 
 consciously, on my part. 
 
 Prom controversial argument I shall abstain as 
 much as possible, nor shall I advert particularly to 
 the various publications which have, for some time 
 past, put forth a series of the most delusive and un- 
 founded statements, for the purpose of prejudicing 
 the public mind in this country against the East 
 India Company. Unfounded assertions, made with 
 confidence, may for a season impose upon the weak, 
 the careless, and the ignorant ; but I feel assured 
 that they cannot long mislead the reflecting part of 
 the community. 
 
 I cannot hope to interest the man of letters, or 
 the reader for amusement, for I have none of the 
 flowers or fruits of literature to offer. I address my- 
 self to the practical statesman, to the good sense of 
 Parliament, and to the good feeling of that part of 
 the British public, whose duty and whose inte- 
 rest it is to examine carefully, dispassionately, and 
 thoroughly, the merits of a momentous question, 
 on which a solemn judgment must soon be pro- 
 nounced.
 
 10 
 
 ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 BRITISH-INDIAN GOVERNMENT.* 
 
 THE native Governments of India, at the period of 
 our acquiring territorial possessions in that country, 
 and for ages antecedently, had been monarchical and 
 military ; hut, even if I were equal to the work, it 
 would not fall within the scope of my present under- 
 taking to trace the causes, moral, physical, or acci- 
 dental, which may have produced those social in- 
 stitutions which we found in existence, although 
 existing in a state of weakness and disorder. It will 
 he sufficient to observe generally that the Hindoo 
 religion inculcates submission to the prince and 
 the priest ; and that, in the early establishment of 
 the Mahomedan faith, the spiritual and temporal 
 authorities were united under one head. The con- 
 quering banner of the Khalif and his lieutenants 
 was consecrated by religion, whose influence favored 
 the concentration of political power. The military 
 character of the ruler tended to promote the same 
 end. Conquest was held to be a duty. The aristo- 
 cracy, too, being prepared by education and habit 
 
 * Written in 1829. It belongs to the unfinished work from which the 
 previous paper is taken.
 
 PROGRESS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 11 
 
 for the military life, it became an exclusive profes- 
 sion. Honor and glory, and the propagation of the 
 faith, were the great incitements to action. The 
 office of the statesman resolved itself into the use of 
 the sword. Literature was held in no estimation 
 knowledge was not the object of pursuit and the 
 great business of life was to dissipate in sensual 
 enjoyment the fruits of military enterprise. The 
 habits of command and obedience, and the discipline 
 of the camp, readily paved the way for the establish- 
 ment of civil despotism. 
 
 Erom the immense extent of the Moghul Empire, 
 under the immediate successors of Humaion, it 
 became necessary to place the remoter provinces 
 under the administration of members of the imperial 
 family, or of powerful chieftains, who, from here- 
 ditary pretensions, or military virtue and services, 
 aspired to these important commands. The wisdom 
 and liberal policy of Akbar preserved the wide 
 dominion entire, and transmitted it unimpaired to 
 his descendant; and notwithstanding the domestic 
 feuds, the unnatural rebellion, and desperate civil 
 war which raged in the reign of Shah Jehan, the 
 vigor of his son, the subtle Aurung-zebe, sustained 
 the mighty fabric, and upheld a throne, stained by 
 his vices, in that high and imposing station which 
 obtained for it universal respect and obedience. 
 
 Prom the death of Aurung-zebe may be dated the 
 decline of the Moghul Empire. Contests in the im- 
 perial family ensued; the symptoms of weakness, 
 decay, and approaching dissolution, were soon appa- 
 rent. The ministers and provincial governors affected
 
 12 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 independence, and aimed at sovereign rule. The in- 
 vasion of the Persian despot, Nadir Shah, in 1738, 
 shook the empire to its foundations ; the battle of 
 Panniput, in 1760, and the ferocious triumph of the 
 Abdalli, laid it prostrate, and for the time overthrew 
 the Hindoo power, which was rising from the ruins 
 of the imperial throne. The fugitive pageant, who 
 had occupied this throne, was held in bondage, and 
 passed successively from the hands of the Mahratta 
 into those of the Afghan, and again from the merci- 
 less grasp of the Afghan into that of the predatory 
 Mahratta, until at length the fortunes of the British 
 everywhere prevailed, and a safe but humble asylum 
 was provided for the blind and aged Shah Aulum in 
 the once resplendent palace of his forefathers. 
 
 It was in the Peninsula of India that the struggle 
 for power on the part of the British first com- 
 menced ; but the contest was soon transferred to a 
 wider and more promising field. The violence of 
 a provincial despot, the Soobadar, or Nuwaub, of 
 Bengal, gave occasion to those efforts and military 
 achievements which have terminated in placing 
 Great Britain in the proud station of arbiter of the 
 destinies of the East. 
 
 In 1763, the first* of that long line of British sol- 
 
 * The fame of Lord Clive will, we may hope, break through and survive 
 the strictures of the historian. It is not easy for a mere critic to compass 
 the dimensions of a great statesman, placed at a distance, in a very extra- 
 ordinary situation. We may apply the microscope, and exhibit monsters 
 even in the pure element. A double wrong has been done by the manner in 
 which the proceedings of our Indian statesmen have been arraigned in this 
 country. The fair fame of the individuals has been tarnished, while 
 foreigners have been furnished with texts for decrying the national character. 
 H. St.G. T.
 
 PROGRESS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 13 
 
 diers and statesmen, who have raised the reputation 
 of their country by their services in India, obtained 
 from the titular Emperor of Delhi a grant of what 
 is called the Dewanny, or Civil Administration of 
 Bengal. We had previously held military occupa- 
 tion of the country, and had exercised unbounded 
 influence over the Newaubs of that Soubadarry, who 
 in reality possessed little more than the external 
 attributes of power. The seat of Government was 
 transferred from the city of Moorshedabad to Cal- 
 cutta, which has since continued to be the metropolis 
 of a powerful empire, and the emporium of an ex- 
 tensive and valuable commerce. 
 
 I shall have little occasion to advert to the earlier 
 period of our administration ; for although the form 
 of Government was nearly the same as at present, 
 our situation was so novel and difficult, and we were 
 so much engaged in the business of acquiring and 
 preserving, that it was scarcely possible to bestow 
 much attention on the means of rendering the acqui- 
 sition most valuable to ourselves, and beneficial to 
 the people. Mr. Hastings, in addition to a host of 
 foreign enemies, had to contend with a hostile 
 Council, and to propitiate a new power (the Supreme 
 Court of Judicature), which had been erected in 
 1774, and which, on its first establishment, arro- 
 gated to itself pretensions extremely embarrassing 
 to his Government, and calculated to paralyse that 
 of a less dexterous statesman. 
 
 It was during the administration of Lord Corn- 
 wallis, which commenced in 1786, that the Govern- 
 ment of India assumed a more determinate and legi-
 
 14 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 timate character. By the Act XXXIII. of Geo. III., 
 cap. 52, the Governor-General was empowered to 
 exercise, upon his own personal responsibility, all 
 the political powers of the state ; and collision, ob- 
 struction, and opposition on the part of his Council, 
 were thus effectually precluded in one of the most 
 important branches of administration. 
 
 By the Act XXI. of Geo. III., cap. 70, the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Supreme Court was better defined and 
 limited; and although many questions have since 
 arisen with respect to its proper function and powers, 
 a check was given to the disposition to encroach, and 
 no serious inconvenience of a public nature has oc- 
 curred until lately from the proceedings of this 
 exalted tribunal. 
 
 By the Act XXI. of Geo. III., cap. 70, the pro- 
 vincial or native courts were recognised as courts of 
 record ; and by the Act XIII. of Geo. III., cap. 63, 
 the Governments of India were invested with the 
 powers of legislation, the local regulations framed 
 by them for the good government of the country 
 having all the force of law, if not repealed by the 
 Legislature or superintending authorities at home 
 within the space of two years. 
 
 A meagre code of regulations had been framed 
 and acted upon in the time of Mr. Hastings ; but, in 
 1793, Lord Cornwallis gave to the people of India a 
 body of laws, intended to define and secure their 
 rights, and to render the officers of the Govern- 
 ment, and the Government itself, amenable to the 
 jurisdiction of independent tribunals. 
 
 The Supreme Government of India, it is well
 
 PROGRESS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 15 
 
 known, is administered by a Governor-General and 
 a Council, composed of three members, one of whom 
 is usually, although not necessarily, the Commander- 
 in-Chief, and the other two are selected from the 
 Civil Service.* The subordinate presidencies of Eort 
 St. George and Bombay are modelled in the same 
 manner, and exercise full power in the internal ad- 
 ministration of the territory of those presidencies 
 respectively, but in subordination to the political 
 and controlling authority of the Supreme Govern- 
 ment. The petty settlements of Prince of Wales's 
 Island, Malacca, and Singapore, have also been bur- 
 dened with the costly apparatus of a Government, 
 quite unsuitable to the circumstances of those depen- 
 dencies ; but measures are now in progress for placing 
 the establishment on a footing totally different, and 
 verging, perhaps, towards an opposite extreme. 
 
 The Governor-General of India is empowered to 
 take upon himself the government of the subordinate 
 presidencies, whenever his presence at those presi- 
 dencies may be considered necessary or useful. He 
 then presides in the Local Council, and he appoints 
 a Vice-President to officiate, during Ms absence, in 
 the Council of Port William. 
 
 The Administrative Government is divided into 
 different departments; and the business of these 
 departments is conducted by the secretaries. The 
 
 * Written in 1829, under the Charter of 1814. The Supreme Council now 
 consists of the Governor- General, two members of the Civil Service, and an 
 officer of the Indian army; besides a legislative member, drawn from the 
 legal profession in England, and an " extraordinary member " the Com- 
 mander-in-Chie
 
 16 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 situation of these officers is not analogous to that oi 
 a Secretary of State in this country, or of Chief 
 Secretary for Ireland. From their knowledge and 
 experience they are usually the confidential ad- 
 visers of the Government; but they are merely 
 ministerial officers, and when they have assumed (as 
 has occurred in some late instances) a deliberate 
 voice in Council, the practice is not sanctioned by 
 the constitution of the office. 
 
 Every act of the Government is made matter of 
 record. A correspondence is maintained with the 
 other presidencies with the subordinate boards, 
 and public functionaries of every description with 
 the authorities in China, the King's Governments of 
 Ceylon and Mauritius and, regularly and exten- 
 sively, with the Court of Directors ; and in no part 
 of the world, perhaps, are the proceedings of any 
 Government detailed and recorded with the same 
 degree of minuteness and precision. This is done 
 to afford to the authorities at home better means 
 of revision and control; but the practice of re- 
 cording every paper, however unimportant, and of 
 corresponding so much in detail, is attended with 
 great labor, expense, and delay, while the delay 
 is often productive of inconvenience to individuals, 
 and of injury to the public interests. It happens 
 not unfrequently that papers extending to several 
 thousand folio pages must be collected, arranged, 
 and transcribed to enable the authorities in England 
 
 c/ 
 
 to pass judgment on a particular question, and to 
 frame a despatch to India, and those who have not
 
 PROGRESS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 17 
 
 witnessed the manner in which the correspondence 
 is conducted, can form no adequate idea of its ex- 
 tent, variety, and difficulty ;* nor would it be pos- 
 sible to carry it on without a large establishment 
 of able and experienced officers. 
 
 Independently of the general powers of legislation, 
 and of the exercise of supreme political authority 
 over the territory of British India, extending prac- 
 tically to the declaration of war, the conclusion of 
 peace, and the formation of treaties and alliances 
 the local Government is invested with certain special 
 powers for particular purposes. 
 
 From this review it will appear that the members 
 of the Government formerly composed the Courts of 
 Suddur Dewanny Adawlut, and Nizamut Adawlut, 
 or head civil and criminal courts of the country ; 
 but these courts were new-modelled in 1801, and 
 the Governor-General in Council only exercises now 
 the high prerogative of granting pardon to criminals 
 under sentence of death for capital offences. 
 
 Although we have not yet assumed the imperial 
 or regal titles and dignities, the British Government 
 is the paramount authority in India. We have left 
 these titles to a mere pensioner, partly upon con- 
 siderations of political expediency, which are 110 
 
 * Forty-four folio volumes were collected as the groundwork of our late 
 despatches respecting Kajpootana. It is not at all uncommon for the public 
 despatches from Bengal to extend to several hundred paragraphs ; and the 
 most indefatigable reader finds it difficult to get tlirough the papers con- 
 nected with these despatches within any moderate time. Indeed, a person un- 
 acquainted with the affairs of India cannot read them with any advantage, 
 for he scarcely knows to what points to direct his attention. II. St.G. T. 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 MEMORIALS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 longer entitled to much weight, and partly from 
 the inconvenience and incongruity of proclaiming 
 the sovereign rule of the Crown of Great Britain 
 while the temporary sway was committed to an 
 anomalous body, whose power and influence it was 
 of importance to uphold. Even that symbol and 
 attribute of sovereignty, the impression on the 
 public coin, remains to the present day unchanged. 
 "We still coin* in the name of the deceased Emperor 
 of Delhi, Shah Aulum ; and in our epistolary cor- 
 respondence with the native princes of India, we 
 observe much the same forms and etiquette which 
 belong to the subordinate character of provincial 
 administrators, or Viceroys of the Moghul. 
 
 The time has arrived, I think, when these forms 
 and observances may safely be dispensed with. The 
 natives of India are fully aware of the nature and 
 extent of our power, although few of them under- 
 stand the precise import of the trust and authority 
 delegated to the East India Company. They no 
 longer look up to the House of Timour with the 
 same sentiments of veneration. Mahrattas, Af- 
 ghans, Persians, and Sikhs, have all combined with 
 us to destroy the illusion ; and those incidents, and 
 that pretension which at one time might have 
 
 * At Fort St. George a coin has been issued bearing a strange inscription, 
 intended to designate the Honorable East India Company; but there is some- 
 thing puerile, if not ludicrous, in the barbarous terms of this inscription. 
 H. St.G. T. 
 
 [Since this was written, coin has been issued bearing the image and super- 
 scription of the Queen.]
 
 PROGRESS OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 19 
 
 aroused the jealousy of the Viziers of Oude, the 
 Nizams of the Dekhan, and other high dignitaries, 
 holding, like ourselves, from the imperial Crown, 
 would now pass unnoticed, or he quietly submitted 
 to, under the impression that the real sovereignty 
 of India now vests in the British Government. A 
 fit occasion will soon occur for substituting the 
 essence for the form of things. 
 
 C 2
 
 20 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES AND 
 AUTHORITIES. 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE COTJRT OF DIRECTORS.* 
 
 THE prominent and obvious defects at present ex- 
 isting in the constitution of the Court of Directors, 
 are first, that responsibility does not anywhere at- 
 tach ; and, secondly, that the different members are 
 not employed in the way in which their services 
 might be rendered most efficient and useful. No 
 reference or regard is had to their previous habits 
 ^nd acquirements; and men who might be benefi- 
 cially engaged in tracing all the intricate mazes of 
 Asiatic policy, are by a preposterous arrangement 
 doomed to waste their time unprofitably in cutting 
 blocks with a razor. 
 
 This strange distribution of the business is pro- 
 ductive of another great evil delay, which is often 
 severely felt by the Governments abroad, as well as 
 by individuals. The business is first prepared by 
 those who know little or nothing about it at least, 
 it is liable to happen so. It is then brought before 
 those who may happen to know more about it, dis- 
 
 * From a paper headed " Desiderata," containing suggestions relative to 
 the constitution of the Courts of Directors and Proprietors, and the appoint- 
 ment of writers and cadets.
 
 THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. 21 
 
 cussions ensue anew, dissents are recorded, the ques- 
 tion at length finds its way up to the Board of Con- 
 trol, and there, perhaps, everything is undone at the 
 private suggestion of a particular individual, whose 
 opinion, founded on experience, is worth all the rest, 
 and who ought to have been employed in the first 
 instance. To remedy this evil I would suggest : 
 
 That the Court of Directors, instead of deciding 
 important questions, as heretofore, by ballot, be re- 
 quired to record their individual opinions, or votes, 
 whenever a difference of opinion may occur on any 
 particular question. 
 
 The decision by ballot is a notable expedient for 
 frittering away the small portion of responsibility 
 which could attach to the Directors individually,- 
 whereas one of the great defects of the present sys- 
 tem is the absence of all responsibility. No man 
 whose intentions are good, and whose principles are 
 correct, ought to be ashamed or to be afraid of re- 
 cording his opinions ; and it is essential to good go- 
 vernment and to the ends of justice that important 
 decisions should not be passed by men under the 
 shelter of obscurity. 
 
 That the Directors be distributed into Com- 
 mittees, to be composed as follows : 
 
 Secret and Political Committee to con-, 
 sist of 3 
 
 Judicial (including the Law Department 
 at home) 3 
 
 Revenue (corresponding with the Terri- 
 torial Department of India) .... 3
 
 22 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Financial (including the Department of 
 Accounts) 3 
 
 Military (to be elected from the Military 
 Service of India exclusively) .... 3 
 
 Commercial (comprehending China, the 
 Warehouse Department, &c.)* ... 6 
 
 Marine 3 
 
 24 
 
 The Chairman and Deputy-Chairman to preside 
 in any of the committees which they may judge it 
 proper to attend, and one of them to be required 
 to attend whenever the members present may be 
 reduced below a quorum of three. Each com- 
 mittee should assemble not less than twice in every 
 week. 
 
 The business of each particular department should 
 be prepared in that department, and be submitted, 
 with the opinion of the members, for the considera- 
 tion and decision of the General Court of Directors ; 
 but the letters should be signed, and the responsi- 
 bility be made to attach specially to the members 
 of the particular committee. 
 
 Each committee should have a separate secretary 
 or head-clerk, and no person should be eligible to 
 the office of secretary in the Judicial, Revenue, and 
 Military Departments, who should not have served 
 in India in those departments, respectively, for a 
 period of not less than ten years. 
 
 That no person be eligible to succeed to a vacancy 
 
 * Written before the extinction of the monopoly.
 
 CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEES. 23 
 
 in the Direction, occurring in the Judicial or Re- 
 venue Committees, unless he shall have served in 
 India in the Judicial or Revenue Departments for 
 a period of not less than ten years. 
 
 At the present moment there is not, I believe, 
 a single judicial servant in the Direction, although 
 it is well known that the judicial and revenue 
 branches of the service constitute a distinct profes- 
 sion, and that no individual who has not had actual 
 experience in conducting the business of those de- 
 partments in India, can be competent to superintend 
 them in this country. How is it possible that men, 
 whatever may be their intelligence, can be qualified 
 to judge of the system of legislation best suited to 
 the habits, feelings, and character of a people whom 
 they never saw ? It is easy to manufacture consti- 
 tutions and laws in the closet ; but laws, to be useful 
 and efficient, must be suited to the particular sub- 
 jects to whom they are to be applied. The revenue 
 system of India, too, may be considered peculiar to 
 that country, and requires great skill and experience 
 in its administration. At the present moment there 
 is a question pending, upon the decision of which 
 the tranquillity of our possessions under the Ben- 
 gal Presidency perhaps depends. I mean the right 
 of the landholders in the ceded and conquered pro- 
 vinces to be admitted to the benefit of a permanent 
 settlement. They consider, very generally I believe, 
 that the Government stand pledged to grant them 
 this boon ; and as they are a brave and warlike race 
 of men, prudence should suggest (if no higher con-
 
 24 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 siderations influence us) the inexpediency and the 
 danger of irritating their minds, and of exciting 
 a spirit of disaffection by an act of injustice. 
 
 COURT OF PROPRIETORS. 
 
 I should prefer that the Proprietors of India 
 Stock voted openly at the election of the Directors, 
 instead of voting by ballot ; for it is notorious that 
 votes are sometimes given to one individual after 
 they had been promised to another, and this viola- 
 tion of a moral principle can be committed by 
 means of the ballot, without the risk of detection. 
 Now, in framing every system for regulating the 
 affairs of the community, every temptation to do 
 wrong should, as far as possible, be removed; for 
 the moral principle cannot be shaken in one instance, 
 however trifling, without the danger of its being 
 subverted altogether. 
 
 THE ORGANISATION OF COMMITTEES.* 
 
 Having seen the working of the official machinery 
 of the India-House Government, both abroad and 
 in this country, for a long course of years, I may, 
 without presumption, I hope, be permitted to offer 
 some suggestions for its adjustment, with a view to 
 render it more efficient and more suitable to existing 
 circumstances. 
 
 There are two great objects to be kept in view 
 
 * This paper, written in September, 1833, contains an amplification of 
 the suggestions in the previous memorandum, on the Constitution of the 
 Court of Directors.
 
 CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEES. 25 
 
 in remodelling the Committees of the Court of 
 Directors. The one, to effect a more judicious dis- 
 tribution of their labor, so as to bring their profes- 
 sional knowledge to bear upon professional ques- 
 tions ; the other, to fix the responsibility of the act 
 upon the actor. 
 
 Under present arrangements a member of the 
 Court, who may be peculiarly qualified, by know- 
 ledge and experience, for a particular duty, is per- 
 haps employed in a branch of the business with 
 which he is altogether unacquainted. All the Direc- 
 tors are expected to know and to attend to every- 
 thing ; but the business is of such magnitude, and 
 of so diversified a character, that this is impossible, 
 and a great deal of their work is accordingly done 
 in a hasty and an unsatisfactory manner. It is 
 sometimes prepared, in the first instance, by those 
 who are little acquainted with its details and pro- 
 bable tendency ; it is then to be revised, and perhaps 
 undone, by others better informed ; and the conse- 
 quence is, that delays are created very injurious to 
 the public service, and that, in many instances, a 
 good deal of patchwork is produced, bearing no de- 
 terminate character. No individual, I think, can 
 have been a member of the Court for six or seven 
 years without experiencing the inconvenience of the 
 present arrangements ; and there are few, I suspect, 
 who have not felt that they were sometimes mis- 
 placed, and that their time and labor had been 
 misapplied. 
 
 To remedy this evil, and to distribute the labor
 
 26 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 of the Court in a way to render it more efficient,* 
 and to provide at the same time for the greater 
 despatch of the public business, I would propose 
 that the Court be divided into three principal com- 
 mittees, the members to be selected and nominated 
 by ballot, the chairman of the Court being ex-officio 
 a member of all committees, and the deputy-chair- 
 man being in like manner, ex-officio, the chairman 
 of the first, or political and military committee ; 
 
 The first, or political and military committee, to 
 be composed of eight members, including the deputy- 
 chairman, who will preside ; 
 
 The second, or legislative, judicial, revenue, and 
 financial committee, to be composed of eight mem- 
 bers ; 
 
 The third, or commercial, marine, ecclesiastical, 
 house and civil college committee, to be composed 
 of seven members, and to embrace all those branches 
 of the public business which are transacted in what 
 is called the " Public Department" in India; 
 
 The chairman of the Court to exercise a general 
 superintendence over the conduct of the public busi- 
 ness, as well as over the ministerial officers of the 
 court; 
 
 A chairman to be appointed by the Court, by 
 ballot, to preside in the second and third commit- 
 tees for the term of one year ; but to be re-eligible 
 on its expiration ; 
 
 * This is become more especially necessary, now that the Board are em- 
 powered to exercise so direct a control over the correspondence and proceed- 
 ings of the Court.
 
 CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEES. 27 
 
 In cases where the subject may be connected with 
 the business of two committees, a joint-committee 
 to be formed ; 
 
 Each committee to prepare and sign its own de- 
 spatches to India ; but the chairman of the Court, or 
 any member of the committee, to be at liberty to re- 
 move into Court, by motion, any case or question for 
 the consideration and decision of the Court collec- 
 tively ; 
 
 The majority of the Court passing the final deci- 
 sion on such appeal, to sign and be held responsible 
 for the despatch ; 
 
 All despatches prepared by committees to pass 
 through the Court ; and any member to be at liberty 
 to move for their re-consideration, or re-commit- 
 ment ; and should any amendment be adopted, the 
 members voting in the majority, to sign and be re- 
 sponsible for the despatch ; 
 
 Three members of a committee to constitute a 
 quorum; but the committees generally to be at 
 liberty to call in the assistance of other members of 
 the Court, to aid their deliberations, on particular 
 occasions ; 
 
 The Court to refer any question for consideration 
 and report to a particular committee, or joint-com- 
 mittee ; 
 
 Any member of a committee, dissenting from the 
 decision of the majority, to be at liberty to record 
 a protest, and to move in Court for the production 
 of that, or any other document, with a view to the 
 re-consideration of the question ;
 
 28 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Particular questions before the political committee 
 to be made secret, when judged necessary ; and in 
 such cases, the question not to be removable into 
 Court, except on the motion of the chairman of the 
 Court. 
 
 The first committee to be divided into two 
 branches, political and military, and to have a sepa- 
 rate secretary and establishment for each depart- 
 ment. 
 
 The second committee to be divided into three 
 branches 1, Legislative and Judicial ; 2, Revenue; 
 and 3, Financial ; and to have a separate secretary 
 and establishment for each department, the auditor 
 being ex officio secretary in the financial depart- 
 ment. 
 
 The third committee to be divided into two 
 branches 1, Commercial and Marine, and 2, Pub- 
 lic, or Miscellaneous ; and to have a secretary and 
 establishment for each department. 
 
 The foregoing suggestions are calculated, I think, 
 to effect the re-organisation of our committees by 
 very simple means ; and I will only add a brief ex- 
 planation of the grounds on which I propose the 
 particular distribution of the business. 
 
 The political and military affairs of the Indian 
 Governments are often very much connected and 
 blended; and the military members of the Court 
 have, in various instances, been employed in diplo- 
 matic situations. There will, therefore, be an ob- 
 vious convenience in uniting the political and mili- 
 tary duties in the same committee.
 
 CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEES. 29 
 
 The revenue and judicial branches of the service 
 in India are, in the same manner, very much con- 
 nected and interwoven together; and some of our 
 members have been employed in both departments. 
 Their knowledge and experience will, therefore, be 
 brought more generally into use, by placing these 
 two branches of the public business under one and 
 the same committee. 
 
 The business of the third committee will corre- 
 spond generally with that which is conducted in the 
 " Public Department" of India ; and will call for 
 commercial knowledge, as well as for general expe- 
 rience, in carrying on the miscellaneous concerns of 
 a great Government. 
 
 Under the proposed arrangement, the chairman 
 of the Court will be relieved from a portion of 
 those duties which cannot be well performed by any 
 one individual ; and a direct responsibility will at- 
 tach to the chairman of the three committees, who 
 will be called upon to execute the work which at 
 present devolves on irresponsible officers. 
 
 I may be supposed to have abridged the functions 
 of the deputy-chairman of the Court, but I do so ad- 
 visedly. I perceive no advantage from his follow- 
 ing the chairman into all the committees. If these 
 functionaries act in concert, they have too great a 
 preponderance in a small committee; if they dis- 
 agree, some inconvenience may be experienced from 
 their collision. My object is to render the chair- 
 man of the committees real, efficient, responsible 
 functionaries in their respective departments ; for if
 
 30 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 we do not give them weight and importance, those 
 best qualified for the situation will not undertake 
 the onerous duties which it will impose upon them. 
 
 FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE COURT OF 
 DIRECTORS.* 
 
 The retention of the power to recall governors 
 and commanders-in-chief appears to me to be highly 
 essential to the respectability and efficiency of the 
 Court of Directors. This power has been rarely 
 exercised, and there can be no temptation to abuse 
 it ; but if it be withdrawn, the public functionaries 
 abroad may set at naught the authority of the Court, 
 and may hold us in contempt. A governor may be 
 lavish in the piiblic expenditure may think only of 
 providing for his own dependents or those of the 
 ministry may be indolent and inactive, or arbi- 
 trary and capricious in the exercise of his powers ; 
 and, notwithstanding these and other defects of cha- 
 racter and conduct, he will retain firm possession of 
 his station, as long as he can succeed in propitiating 
 the ministry of the day, who may be interested in 
 Ms continuance in office, and even derive influence 
 and advantage from his mal-administration. 
 
 I consider the control of the army should con- 
 tinue to be vested in the Court of Directors. I do 
 not observe that the Indian army is noticed in the 
 proposed plan ; but as the question of incorporating 
 
 * From a paper, written in March, 1833, reviewing the plan of Indian 
 government, under the new charter, proposed by the King's ministers.
 
 POWERS OF THE COURT. 31 
 
 it with his Majesty's army was discussed at a former 
 period, and as a great deal of evidence has been 
 taken before the Committee of the House of Com- 
 mons on the expediency of such an incorporation, 
 it would, I think, have been satisfactory if it had 
 been specifically declared that it was not the inten- 
 tion of his Majesty's ministers to propose any mate- 
 rial change in the constitution of that force, which 
 has hitherto been maintained as a distinct corps, 
 deriving its existence from the East India Company, 
 and owing allegiance to that body. 
 
 I attach little importance to the proposal to de- 
 prive the Court of Directors of the power of making 
 small grants of money, and of bestowing small pen- 
 sions and annuities. We have not abused the power, 
 I hope ; and whether it be quite delicate to with- 
 draw it without a necessity, or any apparent reason, 
 I am quite satisfied that the public expenditure 
 should be subject to as much check and control as 
 possible. While men act right, and only desire to 
 do that which is just and proper, they can feel no 
 objection to the most rigid scrutiny of their proceed- 
 ings. 
 
 Regarding the number of members to constitute 
 the Court of Directors, I would observe that 
 
 If the number of Directors were to be determined 
 now for the first time, and the Court were relieved 
 from their commercial duties, I should say that 
 twenty, or even sixteen Directors might conduct the 
 territorial business ; but I can perceive no sufficient
 
 32 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 reason for a change ; and I should be disposed to 
 retain the present number in preference, for the fol- 
 lowing reasons : 
 
 We are more likely to find the knowledge and 
 experience necessary for conducting such diversified 
 and complicated duties in the larger number. 
 
 The patronage can with more safety be assigned 
 to the larger number. 
 
 There is a greater probability of our commanding 
 the services of men of high character and inde- 
 pendent fortune. One of the practical advantages of 
 the present system, strange and anomalous as it 
 may appear in theory, is, that it collects together 
 men from different branches of society, possessing 
 habits of business, and varied knowledge and expe- 
 rience in almost every profession and department of 
 the public service ; and these different elements ope- 
 rate mutually as checks upon each other. Their con- 
 nexions are numerous ; and supported, as they gene- 
 rally have been, by the Proprietary, and by this once 
 powerful city, they constitute a great and influen- 
 tial body, which no ministry could safely attempt to 
 coerce while they act upon sound public principles. 
 Their power and independence would diminish with 
 the diminution of their number ; and they would no 
 longer constitute a barrier to protect the interests of 
 India against the selfish policy which too often dis- 
 plays itself in this country. 
 
 Party spirit, which is apt, no doubt, to impede 
 public business, may be found among four as well as
 
 POWERS OF THE COURT. 33 
 
 among twenty-four : a fact which was strikingly 
 illustrated during the memorable administration of 
 the late Mr. Hastings in India. 
 
 It is quite true that business proceeds, in general, 
 with more despatch when conducted by small num- 
 bers of men, and that responsibility can be made 
 more direct and efficient. But it would not be diffi- 
 cult, I think, to accomplish these objects, by dividing 
 the Court into committees upon a different system. 
 This is suggested to us in the proposed plan ; but it 
 is matter of internal arrangement, which the Court 
 are competent to adopt without any legislative pro- 
 vision. A very simple and easy modification of our 
 committees would enable us to apply our knowledge, 
 and to distribute our labor in a more useful manner, 
 and would supersede the necessity for substituting 
 seals and a secretary's signature to our despatches, 
 as proposed, since the committee which should pre- 
 pare the despatches might be required to attest them 
 under a personal responsibility. 
 
 But the greatest difficulty which the proposed plan 
 of administration involves remains to be noticed ; 
 namely, the disposition of the powers of the Board 
 and the Court, in such manner as to maintain a just 
 equipoise, without compromising the efficiency of the 
 system. This is a difficulty inherent in the complex 
 problem to be resolved. 
 
 Unity of design and action is, I acknowledge, very 
 essential in the exercise of political power ; but the 
 plan before us would seem to put us forward before 
 the public as an administrative body, to be entrusted 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 with certain mechanical functions, while all substan- 
 tial power would vest in the Board. It would make 
 us something like a steam-engine, which the hand of 
 the engineer is wont to stop or put in motion at plea- 
 sure. Now, the very worst system of administration 
 is, I think, that which assigns ostensible responsi- 
 bility without actual power, and bestows unlimited 
 power without direct responsibility. 
 
 Still, however, we must not be too fastidious. The 
 present system is by no means perfect. It works 
 tolerably well, because it commands the services of 
 respectable, upright, and independent men. Good 
 instruments will improve an indifferent system, and 
 take much of the evil out of a bad one. If we fly oif 
 because things are not placed precisely on the foot- 
 ing which we would wish, the new machinery may 
 fall into worse hands, and the people of India will 
 be the great sufferers. 
 
 I will state concisely the points which it appears 
 to me necessary to insist upon ; and which, if con- 
 ceded, would enable the Court, I hope, to continue 
 to act as a useful organ for administering the affairs 
 of India. 
 
 1st. The Court to retain the initiative in all cases, 
 except those which relate to the secret political 
 correspondence with India. 
 
 2nd. The Court to retain the absolute power of re- 
 calling governors and commanders-in-chief, as well 
 as all other public functionaries and servants, with- 
 out the exercise of a veto by the Board. 
 
 3rd. The Court to retain the military patronage,
 
 POWERS OF THE COURT. 35 
 
 and the control of the Indian army and the establish- 
 ments abroad, upon the present footing. 
 
 4th. The Board to continue, as at present, to exer- 
 cise the power of sending out political despatches 
 through a secret committee of the Court, and to exer- 
 cise further, upon their own responsibility, the same 
 powers which have been conferred on the Grovernor- 
 General in Council in India, of acting without the 
 concurrence of the Court, on all matters involving 
 questions of international law, the obligation and 
 construction of treaties, the levying of war, making 
 peace, and, generally, on all matters purely of a 
 political character; but in cases where the Board 
 may so act on their separate responsibility, the 
 grounds of their proceeding to be regularly recorded ; 
 and such powers not to extend to revenue, judicial, 
 commercial, or military matters. 
 
 5th. The Board to have the power of altering 
 despatches prepared by the Court ; but should the 
 Court demur upon any important occasion (after 
 remonstrance, or a personal conference) to adopt 
 such alterations, in cases involving a great public 
 principle as, contracts with the public creditors, 
 engagements with the landholders, and the like the 
 Court to be at liberty to bring such questions before 
 the Privy Council; and the Court to be bound to 
 carry into effect any orders which may issue under 
 the sanction of that tribunal. But, in all cases, 
 the Court to be at liberty to record their protest or 
 dissent from orders issued by the Board upon their 
 separate responsibility ; and copies of all such pro- 
 tests or dissents to be printed every year, and sub- 
 
 D2
 
 36 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 mitted to Parliament, and to the Court of Proprie- 
 tors ;* except in instances where, from the nature of 
 the subject (the discipline of the army, and the like), 
 publicity may, in the judgment of the Court, be 
 liable to produce public inconvenience. 
 
 6th. In cases of minor importance, where the 
 Court may differ from the Board, without being 
 prepared to oppose the alterations made in their 
 despatches, the Board to have the power of ordering 
 the despatches so altered by them to be forwarded 
 immediately to India ; but the Court to be at liberty 
 to enter a protest upon their proceedings, in all cases 
 where they may see fit to do so. 
 
 7th. The Board to exercise a veto in the case of 
 all money grants and pensions, both at home and 
 abroad, as well as on the creation of new officers, 
 and, generally, a restraining power over the public 
 expenditure, both in this country and in India. 
 
 It appears to me that, with some such provision, 
 the. Court might safely undertake to become the 
 organ of the territorial administration; and it is 
 
 * Mr. Tucker felt very strongly on this subject. He never ceased to con- 
 tend that the Court of Directors, both in their general administrative capa- 
 city, and as represented in the Secret Committee, ought to have the right of 
 publicly recording their protests against the acts of the Board of Control. In 
 1846, he was involved in a correspondence with the President of the Board 
 relative to the right of the members of the Secret Committee to record their 
 protests. The President declared that such protests could only be received 
 as " private hints." Mr. Tucker wrote in reply : " I never could persuade 
 myself that the Legislature intended to constitute the Secret Committee mere 
 unreflecting automata, commissioned to attest despatches, for this office 
 could have been equally well performed by a secretary or a seal. A member 
 of the Committee cannot alter a despatch prepared by the Board; but surely 
 he can relieve himself from responsibility, by recording his opinion when it 
 appears to him to be liable to objections on public grounds." See further 
 remarks by Mr. Tucker on this subject at pp. 46, 47, 48.
 
 THE BOARD OP CONTROL. 37 
 
 unquestionably our duty to smooth the way, as far 
 as possible, to a satisfactory settlement of the great 
 questions at issue with his Majesty's ministers. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE BOARD OF CONTROL. 
 
 [Written in October, 1841.] 
 
 The Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of 
 India are now invested with large powers by the 
 Legislature for superintending the administration of 
 that country. 
 
 It is unquestionable that, where large powers are 
 to be exercised, there should be direct responsibility ; 
 and that there should also be found knowledge and 
 experience to regulate their exercise. In no country 
 is a knowledge of localities, and of the particular 
 subject-matter to be dealt with, more necessary than 
 in India, where we find peculiarities and diversities 
 in the religion, laws, usages, habits, languages, and 
 character of the people; while a knowledge of all 
 these is only to be obtained by long experience and 
 a residence among them. 
 
 To apply these premises, without further preamble, 
 I would observe that the India Board, although com- 
 manding great talent and general knowledge, is 
 likely to be deficient in that local and professional 
 knowledge which are essential to the good govern- 
 ment of India. 
 
 I will adduce one instance to show how much 
 depends upon an accurate acquaintance with the 
 usages and languages of India.
 
 38 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 In a despatch to India, some years ago, the claims 
 to a large Jagheer were adjudicated, under circum- 
 stances which appeared to my late friend, Mr. Ed- 
 monstone, and myself to be extraordinary and sus- 
 picious; a garden, and the Jagheer, having been 
 assigned to a party who appeared to us to have no 
 just claims to the succession. We consulted the 
 records abroad in the English language, and found 
 that the Court's despatch was supported by them ; 
 but Mr. E., not feeling satisfied, referred to the 
 original deed in the Persian language, and there 
 we found that the whole case hinged upon an erro- 
 neous translation, the conjunction " and " having 
 been substituted for the preposition "in;" that is, 
 
 the original deed conveyed the garden of in 
 
 the Jagheer of , instead of the garden and the 
 
 Jagheer. 
 
 Here we have a decision of the local authorities, 
 founded in a mistake which had escaped the notice 
 of the Government abroad and their officers; and 
 which our chairs and our /officers, and the president 
 and secretaries of the Board, had not detected, and 
 could not possibly detect, without the vigilance and 
 critical knowledge of an individual conversant with 
 the languages. Yet, upon the decision of these 
 authorities, the destination of a large property de- 
 pended. 
 
 I do not mean to intimate that such cases are 
 common ; but I do submit that the usefulness, the 
 efficiency, and the moral influence of the Board 
 would be greatly increased, by its commanding the
 
 THE BOAED OF CONTROL. 39 
 
 services of a functionary familiar with the adminis- 
 tration of India. I would say that the appoint- 
 ment of a vice-president to the Board, possessing 
 experience and a knowledge of the country, might 
 be expected to produce the following advantages : 
 
 1st. There would be a responsible functionary on 
 the spot to officiate for the president, in the event of 
 his illness or absence. 
 
 2ndly. This functionary would be able to collect 
 and arrange the necessary materials, whenever an 
 Indian question was to be brought into either House 
 of Parliament by the president or the secretaries of 
 the Board. 
 
 3rdly. He would be able to assist the president in 
 his negotiations with the chairs, and in smoothing 
 away those difficulties which sometimes occur from 
 a difference of opinion between the Board and the 
 Court. 
 
 4thly. He would be able to apply his historical 
 and professional knowledge beneficially in assisting 
 to revise the drafts of despatches to India. 
 
 Other advantages might be pointed out ; but this 
 brief summary may be found sufficient to justify the 
 proposition which I have ventured to submit. 
 
 It is well known that in all the great depart- 
 ments of the State there is a vice-president, or a 
 deputy, to aid the cabinet minister in conducting 
 the business of his department. In the India Board 
 alone is this provision wanting, although the affairs 
 of India require it, perhaps, in a greater degree than 
 it is required in other departments, where the minis-
 
 40 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 ter is generally familiar with all tlie details of 
 business. 
 
 The station being respectable and honorable, I 
 have no doubt that the services of a well qualified 
 and independent man might be obtained on a mode- 
 rate stipend (say 1000Z. per annum) ; and I should 
 hope that the Court of Directors would be ready to 
 concur in making the necessary disposition for pro- 
 viding for an arrangement which may tend essen- 
 tially to promote the interests of the public service. 
 
 The foregoing suggestion was submitted to a high 
 authority some months ago ; but my meaning ap- 
 pears, in one particular, to have been misappre- 
 hended. It was supposed that I suggested the ap- 
 pointment of a Persian translator to the Board ; but 
 the instance adduced by me, where a singular error 
 had been discovered in a singular manner, was in- 
 tended only to illustrate the advantage to be derived 
 from a knowledge of the usages, laws, and habits of 
 the people. An error of translation rarely occurs, and 
 still more rarely can it be detected ; since the docu- 
 ments in the native language are seldom transmitted 
 to this country. It was a familiarity with the usages 
 of the people which led to a more minute exami- 
 nation of the case; and the detection of an error 
 was a consequence, and not a cause. I could have 
 brought forward much more important cases, where 
 the decision of the home authorities was liable to 
 affect the most weighty interests ; and where the 
 justice of that decision depended upon the applica- 
 tion of knowledge and sound principles in the act of
 
 THE BOARD OF CONTROL. 41 
 
 adjudication. Eor example, a despatch to India 
 had been drafted in 1834, authorising the deposition 
 of the King of Oude, upon the abstract proposition 
 that all government was instituted for the benefit 
 of the people ; and that, as his Majesty had not 
 governed well, it was fitting that he should be set 
 aside. This decision was strenuously opposed by two 
 gentlemen at the Board,* who had been in the civil 
 service of India, and whose opinions came in aid of 
 the chairman of the day, and enabled him to quash 
 the despatch which had been proposed. 
 
 Another instance may be mentioned. It had been 
 determined by the authorities abroad, by the Court, 
 and by the Board, to resume, as an escheat, the Jag- 
 heer of Rampoor, which had been assigned to the 
 Rohillah chief, Fyze-Oolla Khan, and settled on his 
 descendants as an hereditary fief; but the late Presi- 
 dent of the Board, on being made acquainted with 
 the sentiments of two members of the Court, who 
 were well acquainted with, the facts and merits of 
 the case, and who foresaw that great evils must 
 result from the resumption, was induced to revise 
 the decision ; and the Jagheer, most fortunately, has 
 been restored to the family. 
 
 Other cases could be cited, to show that the most 
 important advantages might be secured by giving to 
 the President of the Board an assessor or assistant, 
 or a third secretary, front the Service of India, 
 familiar with the usages, laws, and character of the 
 people of that country ; that he would, by this 
 
 * Mr. H. Ellis and Mr. Holt Mackenzie.
 
 42 THE HOME GOVEBNMENT. 
 
 means, be relieved from some duties to which he 
 cannot possibly pay all the necessary attention ; and 
 that, by strengthening his machinery, the influence, 
 authority, and reputation of the Board would be 
 raised, with certain advantage to the public service. 
 I might add, that in order to secure constitutional 
 responsibility for the disbursement of the public 
 money, it would be desirable to have an officer at 
 the Board whose special duty it should be to watch 
 over those disbursements which are made as " Secret 
 Service Money," under a direct responsibility to the 
 East India Company and to Parliament. Large 
 sums have been issued under this head of late years, 
 through the Secret Committee, and no account has 
 ever been rendered of their application; although 
 different members of the Court of Directors have, at 
 various times, called for the necessary explanations, 
 and have protested against the exercise of a power, 
 which is liable to abuse, by parties who incur no 
 responsibility. It occurs to me that this objection 
 might be removed by having an officer at the Board 
 specially commissioned to superintend the applica- 
 tion of the " Secret Service Money," and liable to 
 be called upon by Parliament to verify the accounts, 
 and to justify the disbursements.
 
 THE SECRET COMMITTEE. 43 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SECRET COMMITTEE. 
 
 [Written in September, 1846.] 
 
 The 35th section of the last Charter Act [3rd & 4th 
 Will. IV., cap. 85] provides for the appointment of 
 a Secret Committee by the Court of Directors " for 
 the particular purposes in this Act specified." 
 
 The 36th section provides that any despatches, &c., 
 treating of war or peace, or of negotiations with 
 native princes or other states, which " shall be of 
 a nature to require secrecy" shall be transmitted 
 through the Secret Committee. 
 
 Now, from these premises I deduce 1st. That the 
 Secret Committee, being appointed by the Court of 
 Directors, is responsible to the Court ; that, as a de- 
 legated body, it cannot exercise functions with which 
 it has not been expressly charged ; and that it cannot 
 usurp the powers properly appertaining to the body 
 which delegates. 
 
 2ndly. That the Secret Committee, in becoming 
 the organ of the Board for the transmission of de- 
 spatches relating to war or peace, or political nego- 
 tiations " of a nature to require secrecy," are re- 
 sponsible to the Court, if it shall afterwards appear 
 that such despatches are illegal or unconstitutional, 
 or that they have trenched upon some right or pri- 
 vilege, vested in the Court, and that they were not 
 " of a nature to require secrecy." 
 
 3rdly. That it is competent to the Secret Commit- 
 tee, in all such cases, to place on record, either col- 
 lectively or individually, a dissent or protest, setting
 
 4i THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 forth, their objections to the particular despatch, in 
 order to relieve themselves from the responsibility 
 attaching to it ; and that it is incumbent upon the 
 Board, in all such cases, to receive and to record any 
 such dissent or protest upon their proceedings. 
 
 Many cases might be cited where the legality of 
 an order might be questioned upon the clearest and 
 most indisputable grounds. No man can be required 
 to commit an act contrary to the laws of God and of 
 his country ; but without referring to extreme cases, 
 it may be observed that a public functionary might 
 demur (and he would incur responsibility if he did 
 not demur) to orders directing the misappropriation 
 or misapplication of the public money. 
 
 But a case more within the range of possibility 
 might be cited. 
 
 The Court of Directors are the natural and consti- 
 tutional protectors of their own servants, civil and 
 military. 
 
 Would it be competent to the Board of Commis- 
 sioners, through the Secret Committee, and without 
 the intervention or knowledge of the Court) to dis- 
 miss, or to order the dismissal of a public functionary 
 from office, such dismissal necessarily becoming an 
 overt act, and not therefore being " of a nature to 
 require secrecy," or to render it possible ? 
 
 As this question may involve personal conse- 
 quences, and perhaps public inconvenience, I will 
 add a few general remarks explanatory of my views 
 on the subject. 
 
 The constitution of this country, I apprehend, does 
 not recognise any secret tribunal, invested with un-
 
 THE SECRET COMMITTEE. 45 
 
 limited powers, and acting without responsibility. 
 The Inquisition and the Star Chamber have long 
 since been abolished. 
 
 The cabinet deliberates in secret, and issues secret 
 orders, but the minister is responsible to Parliament 
 and the country for all his acts. 
 
 The House of Commons have lately assumed the 
 power of imprisonment for real or supposed offences 
 against its privileges ; but there are few reflecting 
 men in the country who did not feel with the Chief 
 Justice, that every British subject is under the pro- 
 tection of the law. 
 
 The Board of Commissioners are empowered to 
 check, restrain, and control the Court of Directors in 
 all matters of a public nature ; but the Court have 
 the power to remonstrate and ultimately to protest ; 
 and Section 33 of the last Charter Act provides that, 
 in case of a difference of opinion between the two 
 authorities, involving a question of laic, a reference 
 shall be made to the Judges of his Majesty's Court 
 of Queen's Bench. 
 
 The Board, " in all matters of a nature to require 
 secrecy" (and no other, I presume), are empowered 
 to send out orders to the Governments of India 
 through the Secret Committee ; and the particular 
 cases in which the necessity for resorting to this 
 channel is contemplated, are specially referred to 
 (the occurrence of war, &c., &c.). 
 
 But does it follow that this committee was to be 
 used as a mere passive instrument for attesting 
 despatches? This manual office could be equally 
 well performed by a secretary.
 
 46 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Is it not more reasonable to assume that the 
 Legislature intended to assign a function to the 
 committee? that it was intended that the Secret 
 Committee, chosen from the most experienced of 
 the Directors, should act as assessors to the Board 
 should aid with their advice, and incur a respon- 
 sibility ? Can it be supposed that a committee so 
 appointed was intended only to perform a mere 
 mechanical part in the most important branch of 
 Indian administration ? 
 
 If my notions of the powers and functions of the 
 Secret Committee be correct, it will follow that their 
 authority does not extend to cases not requiring 
 secrecy, such as are involved in the administration of 
 public justice in the management of the public re- 
 venue and in the conduct of the public servants ; 
 for in these cases secrecy is manifestly impracticable. 
 
 And if these premises be sound, and be candidly 
 admitted, it will appear, I apprehend, that the Board, 
 through the Secret Committee, have transgressed 
 their authority in very many instances, in regu- 
 lating the internal administration of Scinde in 
 matters which did not require, and which did not 
 admit of secrecy. 
 
 I would then ask, in what manner should a 
 member of the Committee proceed who dissents 
 from the orders of the Board on the ground that 
 they transcend the legitimate authority of that body? 
 Is he not at liberty to record his opinions, and to 
 protest ? Is he not responsible to the Court and to 
 the country, if he neglect to protest ? 
 
 And if he decline to sign what he believes to be
 
 THE COURT AND THE BOARD. 47 
 
 an illegal order, does he incur any penalty? what 
 process can be used against him to enforce his sig- 
 nature ? and what means has he of protecting him- 
 self, placed, as he may be, in the dilemma of either 
 committing what he believes to be an illegal act, or 
 of refusing obedience to a constituted authority ? 
 
 THE COUET OF DIRECTORS AND THE BOARD OF 
 CONTROL.* 
 
 .... I am willing to hope that his Majesty's 
 ministers intend to render the Court a useful and 
 efficient organ of administration ; but, at present, I 
 cannot perceive how that object is to be accomplished, 
 while all real power is reserved to the Board. We 
 shall only, I fear, become a screen interposed between 
 the Government and the British people. The Govern- 
 ment will not have the direct responsibility which 
 ought to attach to the exercise of power ; and we 
 shall have the discredit of measures which we may 
 have disapproved and opposed. 
 
 It is not easy, I admit, to point out a safe and 
 unobjectionable course ; for there are difficulties in- 
 herent in the nature of the thing to be obtained : 
 good government, by a mixed agency and a judicious 
 distribution of powers. The Court were of opinion 
 that publicity would afford the best security against 
 maladministration; since men acting under the public 
 eye may be expected, generally, to act with cau- 
 tion and correctness. The right to appeal to another 
 tribunal may be expected to produce good, although 
 rarely exercised. All we have contended for is the 
 
 * From a paper written in 1833.
 
 48 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 
 
 privilege of laying our protests before Parliament in 
 particular cases. This could only be done on great 
 and important occasions ; and if the privilege should 
 ever be abused by factious men, the remedy would 
 rest with Parliament itself. A vote of censure would 
 strip them of all credit ; and render it impossible for 
 them to retain their places. An appeal to the Court 
 of Proprietors could scarcely produce the same effect ; 
 although I am sensible that an appeal to the public 
 through this channel would not be without its use. 
 
 I repeat, that we have gained much in the course 
 of our negotiation with his Majesty's ministers ; but 
 more might have been conceded to us without public 
 inconvenience ; and not only with advantage to the 
 proprietors, but with benefit to the national interests, 
 which, I am persuaded, would have been best con- 
 sulted by continuing the East India Company as the 
 organ of the territorial remittance, and as the instru- 
 ment of supplying the British consumer with the 
 article of tea. But we are now in the hands of Par- 
 liament ; and must submit to the wisdom of the 
 Legislature, the guardian of the national welfare. I 
 still hope that the two points at issue may be con- 
 ceded to us. 
 
 The extension of the Guarantee Fund, although 
 of importance to us, cannot be matter of importance 
 to his Majesty's Government. The privilege of re- 
 sorting to Parliament, where two authorities are 
 supposed to exercise a concurrent jurisdiction, might, 
 no doubt, produce inconvenience if abused ; but there 
 is no reason to apprehend abuse ; and as the Court 
 of Directors will be stripped of all that influence
 
 THE COURT AND THE BOARD. 49 
 
 which their commercial character gave them as 
 they have now little connexion with Parliament 
 and as their patronage, which also conferred influ- 
 ence, will probahly he placed on a different footing, 
 it appears to me that the independence of the Court 
 ought to be better secured, and its power to be 
 strengthened rather than curtailed, if it is to per- 
 form any useful office in the administration of India. 
 I cannot lift up the veil which hangs over the future ; 
 it may conceal from us sunshine or storms. The 
 plan of his Majesty's ministers has not been fully 
 disclosed to us, and it may not yet have received its 
 last finish; but viewing it, as I must do, in the 
 form in which it has been presented to us, my im- 
 pression is, that it must fail, and that its failure will 
 produce financial, commercial, and perhaps political 
 derangement. His Majesty's Government have been 
 urged forward by the popular voice, to take from the 
 East India Company every part of the China trade ; 
 but public opinion, on this subject, appears to me 
 already to have undergone a change. The merchant 
 is already calling for our protecting shield, and the 
 manufacturer for our fostering care. Let not truth 
 and reason come too late. I do feel a most anxious 
 solicitude on this subject ; and it is that strong feel- 
 ing which has impelled me to place my opinions 
 upon record. 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 THE SUPREME GOVERNMENT AND THE MINOR GOVERN- 
 MENTS OF INDIA.* 
 
 To the proposition of Mr. for the formation 
 
 of a fourth presidency I have not the smallest ob- 
 iection; on the contrary, the Board of Commis- 
 sioners, of which I was a member, in their report 
 to the Supreme Government of the 13th April, 
 1808, were induced to recommend " that a more 
 efficient authority be established in the ceded and 
 conquered provinces;" and the grounds for this 
 recommendation, far from being weakened, have 
 acquired force from the extension of our territory 
 and connexions, and from the unsettled state of our 
 western provinces and the adjoining country of 
 Oude. 
 
 I consider the imperial city of Agra to be par- 
 ticularly well adapted for the seat of the new Go- 
 vernment. Situated on the Jumna, it has, to some 
 extent, the advantage of river navigation; it has 
 a fortress for the protection of our treasure and 
 archives ; it is sufficiently near to Delhi, to Bhurt- 
 pore, Gwalior, Rajpootana, arid other points which 
 must always be observed with care and vigilance ; 
 and it is not only centrically placed with reference 
 to the territory likely to be assigned to the new pre- 
 sidency, but it occupies an intermediate and conve- 
 nient station between Calcutta and Bombay; it is 
 
 * From a paper written in 1833, reviewing the provisions of the present 
 Charter Act.
 
 THE MINOR PRESIDENCIES. 51 
 
 also near the principal stations of the Bengal army 
 Muttra, Meerut, &c. 
 
 But upon the constitution of this, and the other 
 subordinate presidencies, I differ widely from the 
 views entertained by the President of the Board, 
 whose proposition goes to degrade them into mere 
 lieutenancies, stripped of a council, and deprived of 
 all independent authority; the Supreme Govern- 
 ment being invested with " a precedent and pre- 
 ventive, in place of a subsequent and corrective 
 control." What functions of government are these 
 lieutenants intended to exercise ? We are told that 
 they are to have a council of "secretaries;" but 
 are these ministerial officers to deliberate and vote 
 under a direct responsibility ? And are they to be 
 remunerated with salaries equal to those which have 
 hitherto been received by the members of Govern- 
 ment ? If so, there is only a change of name ; and 
 the executive duties of the secretary will soon, no 
 doubt, be consigned to some inferior officer. If 
 they are not to be deliberative and responsible func- 
 tionaries, in what situation will not the Government 
 be placed? Some man of rank will be appointed 
 governor, or lieutenant-governor, who has never 
 seen anything of India who is unacquainted with 
 the languages, manners, and feelings of the people, 
 and who must depend upon the advice of an irre- 
 sponsible secretary for conducting all the affairs of 
 his government. The members of council are not 
 only qualified in general, by their knowledge and 
 experience, to give wholesome advice to the new 
 
 E 2
 
 52 THE LOCAL GOVEBNMENT. 
 
 governor, but they are a constant check upon him ; 
 and by recording their minutes, when a difference of 
 opinion occurs, the home authorities are enabled to 
 form a more correct judgment on the merits of every 
 case which may be brought under their notice. 
 
 I see no objection to the Supreme Government 
 being invested with a general power of restraint 
 on the public expenditure at the subordinate presi- 
 dencies ; and it may be useful that the regulations 
 framed at those presidencies should be submitted for 
 sanction to the superior authority, in order that 
 uniformity in the general principles of legislation 
 may be preserved ; but I am by no means of opinion 
 that legislation should vest entirely and exclusively 
 in the Supreme Government. It appears to me 
 that laws should be adapted to the state of the par- 
 ticular society; and the local administration must 
 certainly be best qualified to judge of the wants of 
 the community over which it presides. Absolute 
 uniformity in legislation is neither necessary nor 
 desirable, nor perhaps practicable. 
 
 Nothing can be more dissimilar than the charac- 
 ter and habits of different classes of the population 
 of India ; and no assumption could be more falla- 
 cious than that the same laws would answer equally 
 well for them all. The natives of Bengal Proper 
 bear no resemblance to the inhabitants of Upper 
 Hindostan ; and, although I cannot speak from the 
 same personal knowledge, I have reason to believe 
 that the Mahrattas of the Deccan, and the Nairs, 
 Mossilas, and other inhabitants of the peninsula, are
 
 SEAT OF THE SUPREME GOVERNMENT. 53 
 
 distinguished in a remarkable manner from both. 
 Why is it that the regulations of 1795 for Benares 
 have been found more suitable and easy of execution 
 than other parts of our code ? Simply because the 
 Benares regulations were drafted on the spot, upon 
 an accurate knowledge of the condition and wants of 
 the particular society. I contend, then, that the 
 power of legislation should be continued in the 
 subordinate governments ; although I do not object 
 to their being required to submit their regulations 
 for revision, and for the ultimate sanction of the 
 supreme authority in India. 
 
 I am of opinion that the seat of the Supreme Go- 
 vernment should be fixed in Calcutta ; and I could 
 assign many reasons for this opinion, in opposition to 
 that of Lord William Bentinck (who prefers " Alla- 
 habad"), if the question were still open for considera- 
 tion. The provinces from Benares* eastward, in- 
 cluding Arracan and the settlements on the coast 
 of Tenasserim, would constitute, I think, the proper 
 limits of the superior presidency ; and as these pro- 
 vinces have, with the exception of our late acquisi- 
 tions from the Burmese, been long settled, the super- 
 intendence of their internal affairs would not impose 
 upon the Supreme Government any very onerous 
 duties, or interfere materially with the exercise of a 
 general control over the other presidencies. The 
 
 * There would be a convenience in this division on financial considerations. 
 The Furruckabad rupee is the currency of the upper provinces, from Benares 
 westward ; the Calcutta sicca rupee alone circulates in the lower provinces 
 east of Benares. H. St.G. T.
 
 54 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 chief functions of the Governor- General in Council 
 will, no doubt, be legislative and political, with a 
 general superintendence ; but it appears to me by no 
 means advisable to divest the Supreme Government 
 of the immediate management of a particular terri- 
 tory. This sort of abstraction would separate it too 
 much from the people ; and remove it too far from 
 the sphere of their internal concerns. One great 
 evil incidental to our rule is, that the Governors of 
 India can rarely become acquainted with the people 
 over whom they are placed. 
 
 The projected change in the construction of the 
 Supreme Government appears to me to call for the 
 most serious consideration. It is to be composed of 
 seven members instead si four, the present number ; 
 and the councillors are to be appointed " by the 
 Court, with the approbation of the King" instead of 
 being selected, as at present, by the Court, without 
 any interference on the part of his Majesty's minis- 
 ters. For the proposed addition of three members I 
 can perceive no sufficient reason; even if no objection 
 occurred on the ground of expense. "With one hand 
 we take away the councillors from the subordinate 
 presidencies ; and with the other add (unnecessarily, 
 as I think) to the apparatus of the Supreme Govern- 
 ment.* 
 
 If it be intended to take the three additional coun- 
 cillors from the service of the subordinate presiden- 
 
 * This project of one Central Council was abandoned in 1833, but as it is 
 now again under consideration, the passage in the text is retained. The sub 
 ject is one of the gravest importance.
 
 POWER OP THE SUPREME GOVERNMENT. 55 
 
 cies, we shall remove them from the spot where their 
 knowledge and experience are likely to be most use- 
 ful ; and we shall bring them to a quarter where 
 they will find a different state of things, and where 
 even the languages which they have acquired will 
 not enable them to communicate with the people. 
 
 If it be proposed, by means of this extended appa- 
 ratus, to carry on in Calcutta all the details of ad- 
 ministration, from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya 
 Mountains, and from the borders of China to the 
 Indus then, I say, the project is visionary and im- 
 practicable. The machine will be overloaded, and 
 will not move : the responsibility will be divided 
 between the Supreme Government and its lieute- 
 nants. The latter, divested of all independent autho- 
 rity, must dwindle into insignificance ; or if, when 
 differences occur, an appeal is to be made to the 
 home authorities, the decision in the last resort must 
 either weaken the influence of the controlling power, 
 or become altogether nugatory. The plan, in truth, 
 appears to me to place the Supreme Government in 
 the position which the home authorities at present 
 occupy ; but as it is not intended, I presume, to 
 withdraw their superintendence, an intermediate 
 process of revision will have been superadded ; and 
 if it be required that the subordinate Governments 
 should send home their proceedings, and that the 
 superior Government should also transmit its cor- 
 respondence, containing the revision of those pro- 
 ceedings, the public business will be increased in a 
 degree likely to produce the greatest embarrassment.
 
 56 THE LOCAL GOVEBNMENT. 
 
 I am quite aware that much of the good which 
 has been done in India has been effected by the 
 local Government, and much ought at all times to be 
 left to its discretion; but I cannot think that the 
 check of the home authorities is without its use, or 
 that it can ever be safely dispensed with. I would 
 strengthen the political power of the Supreme Go- 
 vernment to the utmost, nor can it well be armed 
 with an authority too absolute over Europeans re- 
 sorting to India ; but I cannot perceive any neces- 
 sity for withdrawing from the subordinate presi- 
 dencies the free and independent exercise of all the 
 administrative functions of government, whether re- 
 venue, judicial, military, commercial, or even legis- 
 lative. 
 
 APPOINTMENT OF MEMBEES OF COUNCIL.* 
 
 The best security which we possess at present for 
 good government in India depends upon the judi- 
 cious exercise of the power to select from the service 
 at large the members of council at the different pre- 
 sidencies. We do not exercise the same independent 
 power in appointing the Governors of India; his 
 Majesty's ministers must, for obvious reasons, be 
 parties to such appointments. These high function- 
 aries have generally been political characters of dis- 
 tinction connected with the Administration, and 
 they must possess the confidence of the national Go- 
 vernment ; but the Court of Directors are better ac- 
 
 * Written in 1833.
 
 THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 57 
 
 quainted with the merits and pretensions of their 
 own servants, and it is of importance that the whole 
 service should look up to them for protection and 
 advancement. The high station of a member of 
 council is looked to as the reward of distinguished 
 service, and it operates as the great stimulus to ex- 
 ertion ; but if his Majesty's ministers be allowed to 
 appoint their own partisans, or individuals not con- 
 nected with the service, this fair and legitimate 
 object of ambition is at once removed, and those 
 motives and feelings which have heretofore produced 
 such devotion to the public service will necessarily 
 be weakened, if not extinguished. 
 
 THE SUPREME GOVERNMENT AND THE LEGISLATIVE 
 COUNCIL.* 
 
 I will now proceed to notice those changes in the 
 constitution of the administrative body which ap- 
 pear to me likely to have an injurious tendency. 
 
 1st. I cannot satisfy myself that the Court of Di- 
 rectors will continue to be an efficient and inde- 
 pendent organ of administration. I perceive only 
 two powerful functionaries, the Governor-General of 
 India and the President of the Board of Commis- 
 sioners ; and upon these must the fate of India hence- 
 forward mainly depend. "We may afford useful as- 
 sistance by our knowledge and experience, but we 
 shall not be the governing power, nor ought the 
 responsibility of governing well to attach to us. 
 
 * Written in 1833, with reference to the revised draft of the present 
 Charter Act.
 
 58 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 2nd. Although, the change in the constitution of 
 the Supreme Government will impart great energy to 
 it an energy very necessary to counteract the evil 
 which particular provisions of the Bill are calculated 
 to introduce I cannot admit the necessity for add- 
 ing so many memhers to the Supreme or Legislative 
 Council of India, at a very great expense. Had the 
 councils at the subordinate presidencies heen dis- 
 pensed with, some plea might have been found for 
 enlarging the apparatus of the Supreme Govern- 
 ment ; hut it has been most wisely determined that 
 the Governments of Port St. George and Bombay 
 should retain their council, and continue to exercise 
 nearly the same functions as heretofore, and I can. 
 not, therefore, perceive the necessity for so large an 
 addition to the Council of Bengal. 
 
 3rd. I anticipate much inconvenience from the 
 institution of a Law Commission for the revision of 
 our local regulations, professedly with a view to in- 
 troduce greater uniformity in the code. The expense 
 of such a Com mission, with its attendant establish- 
 ments, will be very considerable ; and if the inquiry 
 contemplated be necessary, it is quite competent to 
 the local Government to institute it, without any 
 legislative enactment in this country. The real ob- 
 ject seems to be, to prepare for the introduction of 
 English law ; and I am persuaded that, in the esti- 
 mation of our native subjects, a greater evil could 
 not well be inflicted on them. " You cannot," ob- 
 serves a writer on Mahomedan law, " change the 
 law of any country for that of any other, even for a
 
 THE LAW COMMISSION. 59 
 
 better, without offering great violence to the people 
 to the people of India of all others." 
 
 The truth of this remark can scarcely be disputed. 
 It were most unreasonable and extravagant to com- 
 pel the countless millions of India to acquire a 
 foreign language, and to submit to an unknown law, 
 even if their prejudices were not so deep-rooted 
 in favor of their own. Their present rulers, few in 
 number, can, from the advantages of education, and 
 the habit of study, acquire without difficulty the 
 languages and laws of the multitude over whom they 
 are placed ; but we cannot re-cast a whole people in 
 a new mould. The Mahomedans did, it is true, en- 
 force their criminal code ; and they made use of the 
 Persian language very generally in official corre- 
 spondence, in their sunnuds or grants, and in other 
 deeds and public documents ; but their example is 
 not one which we ought to follow in this particu- 
 lar ; and they were placed in a situation which en- 
 abled them to indulge their own prejudices, and to 
 enforce an arbitrary policy with less hazard to their 
 dominion.
 
 60 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 THE LAW COMMISSION.* 
 
 I doubt the necessity or expediency of appointing 
 a Commission to inquire into the administration 
 of existing laws with a view to the introduction of 
 greater uniformity in our judicial system. I have 
 already observed that there is a great diversity in 
 the habits, usages, and religious tenets of our native 
 subjects in different parts of the country; and 
 although uniformity in the general principles of 
 legislation is highly desirable, it appears to me 
 neither wise nor practicable to apply the same rules 
 and regulations indiscriminately to all classes of our 
 people. The local Governments ought to be most 
 competent to judge of their wants, and of the nature 
 of the laws which will be most suitable to them. 
 The expense of the proposed Commission would con- 
 stitute a very great objection to it ; and I am not 
 without apprehension that it is intended to commit 
 the inquiry to English lawyers. Now, to this pro- 
 ject I have a decided objection. The natives of 
 India, although abundantly acute, ought to have a 
 plain, simple, intelligible code, divested as much as 
 possible of technicalities ; and our object should be, 
 to keep as closely as possible to their ancient usages, 
 to which they have been long familiarised, and to 
 which they are attached. Our Acts of Parliament 
 are so encumbered with a peculiar phraseology, f 
 
 * Written in 1833. ' 
 
 f I have had a slight acquaintance with three of the languages of India ; 
 and I should say that it is scarcely possible to translate the barbarous jargon 
 of our statutes into a language which would be intelligible to the natives of 
 that country. H. St.G. T.
 
 ENGLISH LAWYERS IN INDIA. 61 
 
 that they are scarcely intelligible to any but profes- 
 sional men ; and even lawyers of the greatest emi- 
 nence* are found frequently to differ in their con- 
 struction of them. We attempted too much, I fear, 
 in the Code of 1793, to imitate the cumbrous and 
 perplexed language of our statutes ; and we intro- 
 duced forms, after the same model, which have the 
 effect of swelling our proceedings, of creating diffi- 
 culty and delay, and of subjecting all litigants to a 
 heavy expense. It may also be apprehended that 
 advantage is taken of our formal processes our 
 subtle distinctions and ingenious refinements and 
 devices to shelter fraud, and to cover corrupt evi- 
 dence ; and it cannot be doubted that the natives 
 who have been most in the habit of frequenting the 
 King's Courts, are among the most worthless of the 
 community. English lawyers repair to India at too 
 late a period of life to acquire a general and correct 
 knowledge of the languages ; and the consequence 
 is, that they rarely become intimately acquainted 
 with the people. Even the illustrious Sir William 
 Jones all accomplished as he was as an oriental 
 scholar never acquired the vernacular tongue (the 
 Hindoostani) ; and he was compelled to use an in- 
 terpreter to communicate with the people through 
 the medium of the Persian or Sanscrit ; the one 
 a foreign the other a dead language.! These ob- 
 
 * Contrast, for instance, the opinions delivered on the Hyderabad case by 
 Lord Lyndhurst, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, and the late Lord Gifford, with those 
 subsequently submitted to the House of Lords by the twelve judges. 
 H. St.G. T. 
 
 f I speak from personal knowledge; as I had the honor of being " Clerk"
 
 62 THE LOCAJL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 servations may appear out of place ; but while I ad- 
 mit that precision in language is highly essential 
 in all legislative enactments, and while I also freely 
 acknowledge that English lawyers usually receive a 
 more finished education than our own servants, and 
 that they possess a more extensive and accurate 
 knowledge of those great principles which form the 
 basis of all good laws, yet I must strongly and 
 earnestly deprecate the introduction of English law 
 among our native subjects, in supersession of their 
 own laws, usages, and institutions. Scotland, al- 
 though so long and so closely connected with us, 
 has retained its own laws and institutions, which it 
 would not willingly exchange for our judicial ma- 
 chinery. "We, as Englishmen, may have an im- 
 pression in favor of the superiority and perfection 
 of our own laws (to which, nevertheless, no wise or 
 good man ever willingly appeals) ; but the "King's 
 Courts in India are unquestionably to the natives 
 in the interior the objects of terror and aversion. 
 
 Much stress has been laid upon the expense which 
 will attend the establishment of a fourth Govern- 
 ment at Agra ; but I wish that we had urged this 
 objection more forcibly in bar to the appointment of 
 a Law Commission, and to the addition of three new 
 members to the Supreme Government, at an expense 
 of 300,000 rupees, or 30,OOOZ. per annum. The one 
 appears to me to be necessary ; the other to be un- 
 called for and objectionable.* 
 
 to Sir William; an honor to which, at thia day, I look back with pride. 
 H. St.G. T. 
 * Mr. Tucker was at this time rooted in the conviction that the establish-
 
 THE CIVIL SERVICE. 63 
 
 SELECTION FOR CIVIL EMPLOYMENT.* 
 
 In order to prevent inconvenience and injury to 
 the public service by reason of the employment of 
 individuals in public situations for which they may 
 not be prepared and duly qualified by previous 
 knowledge and experience ; 
 
 In order to prevent jealousies and dissension 
 between the two great branches of the service, civil 
 and military ; to prevent the unnecessary with- 
 drawal of officers from their corps in a way to preju- 
 dice the discipline, and to impair the strength and 
 efficiency of their regiments ; to introduce a more 
 
 ment of the Law Commission was a mistake ; and he subsequently believed 
 that the result had justified his anticipations of its failure. Writing, in 1842, 
 to Sir Robert Peel, he expressed himself in the following terms on the subject : 
 
 " My colleagues,' I believe, are nearly unanimous in opinion that the 
 " ' Law Commission ' in India may be dispensed with. I do not go so far as to 
 " maintain that this Commission has been of no public utility, but I do think 
 " that a more simple machinery might be employed to answer every neces- 
 " sary purpose. The ' Macaulay Code,' as it is called, which cost us not less 
 " than 100,000?., remains a dead letter ; and though I have repeatedly called 
 " attention to it, I have reason to believe that it is never likely to be brought 
 " into practical use. In this case, we shall have maintained a costly esta- 
 " blishment, with little or no fruit from its labors; and we shall justly incur 
 " reproach if we continue a large expenditure without obtaining any coramen- 
 M surate advantage. 
 
 " It occurs to me (and I am not singular in the opinion), that all the func- 
 " tions of legislation for India may be performed by the Council of India, 
 " with the assistance of the Chief Justice, as one of the judges of the Supreme 
 " Court, who might occupy the seat in the Legislative Council about to be 
 " vacated by Mr. Amos, with such addition to the salary of judge as would 
 " make it equal to that of a member of Council. 
 
 " This arrangement would effect the saving of the judge's salary ; and if 
 " at the same time the Law Commission be dispensed with, a saving to a 
 " very large amount would be effected in the judicial charge of India." 
 
 * Written in February, 1845.
 
 64 THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 uniform practice in selecting for public employment 
 from the different branches of the service ; and to 
 put an end to those questions which are apt to arise 
 from the professional feelings of its members, civil 
 and military ; 
 
 It would seem to be desirable that some definite 
 rules should be prescribed for regulating the selec- 
 tion for office by the Governments abroad ; and it is 
 accordingly submitted : 
 
 1st. That, according to established usage, founded 
 on considerations of justice and convenience, the 
 Political Department should be considered open 
 equally .to the civil and military services ; the selec- 
 tion for office being made with reference to the 
 qualifications, merits, and claims of the individuals. 
 
 2nd. That, on the ground of previous preparation 
 and professional education, all offices " purely civil" 
 be held exclusively by the civil service, in the same 
 manner, and for the same reasons, that situations 
 purely military are held exclusively by the military 
 service. Offices " purely civil " should comprehend 
 all situations in the revenue and judicial depart- 
 ments. 
 
 3rd. That, as an exception from this rule, military 
 officers be held to be eligible for employment in the 
 Thuggee Department, and in the military police 
 (should such establishments be maintained), with 
 the powers of magistrate. 
 
 4th. That, in accordance with the principle esta- 
 blished and enforced by the Regulations of 1793, 
 the officers employed in police duties, whether civil
 
 CIVIL EMPLOYMENT. 65 
 
 or military, be invested with the functions of magis- 
 trate only that is, that they he empowered to ap- 
 prehend, take evidence, and conn-nit for trial, but 
 without the power of trying, convicting, and punish- 
 ing the offender. 
 
 5th. That all trials for the crime of Thuggee, 
 Gang-Dakoity, &c., under commitments by the ma- 
 gistrate (whether a civil or military functionary), 
 be conducted in a regularly constituted court of 
 justice; and sentences for capital punishment, or 
 transportation, be referred, as at present, for confir- 
 mation by the Court of Nizamut Adawlut. 
 
 6th. That military officers appointed to the ma- 
 gistracy, or other civil duties, be required to sub- 
 scribe the same oath, and to undergo the same 
 examination in two of the native languages, as is 
 prescribed for civil servants appointed to similar 
 situations. 
 
 7th. That no military officer be eligible for em- 
 ployment in the civil department of the service until 
 he shall actually have served with his regiment for 
 not less than, say, five years, and shall be reported 
 to have made himself acquainted with his profes- 
 sional duties. 
 
 These simple provisions would not only tend to 
 obviate the inconvenience which is at present ex- 
 perienced, and to prevent the just complaints of the 
 civil service, arising out of their late exclusion from 
 employment in the political department, but they 
 would tend to establish a uniformity of proceeding 
 which is highly desirable, but which has not of late 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 years been observed on the part of the local Govern- 
 ments. 
 
 It has been urged in a high quarter that the 
 employment of the military in civil situations is an 
 arrangement recommended by economy ; but, if this 
 statement were well founded' (which it is not), I 
 must contend that the reason assigned is objection- 
 able in principle, for the public servants ought to 
 be remunerated with reference to the nature, extent, 
 and responsibility of the duties to be performed, and 
 not with reference to the profession of the party 
 performing them. But, on the other hand, I am 
 prepared to show : 
 
 1st. That the highest allowances in the service 
 are at this moment drawn by military men ; and, 
 
 2nd. That a large number of young subalterns 
 are employed in civil situations, on allowances supe- 
 rior to those drawn by civilians of the same rank 
 and standing in the service; and even in some 
 instances, I believe, on allowances exceeding those 
 which civilians would be entitled to draw under the 
 provisions of the Act of Parliament. 
 
 The following objections may be stated (and they 
 have repeatedly been urged) against the selection of 
 military officers for civil employment : 
 
 1st. Many highly gifted officers are detached from 
 their regiments, and so far detract from the effici- 
 ency of the military service. 
 
 2nd. Officers of inferior merit are sometimes, 
 through interest, promoted to civil situations for 
 which they are not qualified, while officers of supe-
 
 CIVIL EMPLOYMENT. 67 
 
 rior pretensions, not possessing interest or influence, 
 are left to go through the drudgery of regimental 
 duty, and fancying themselves to be neglected, they 
 become discontented. 
 
 3rd. Officers long employed in civil situations 
 become disqualified for the performance of regi- 
 mental duties are apt to find such duties irksome 
 and, when they attain the rank which may entitle 
 them to command, they are no longer competent to 
 perform efficiently, or to see that others perform, the 
 duties of their profession. 
 
 4th. A young subaltern appointed to a civil situa- 
 tion soon after his arrival in India (which has hap- 
 pened) will never be likely to learn the duties of his 
 own proper profession, and can never be expected to 
 make a good regimental officer. 
 
 5th. Some of the officers of her Majesty's service 
 who have served long in India, and have become 
 well acquainted with the languages and usages of 
 the people, must naturally feel their total exclusion 
 from civil employment a hardship, when the Com- 
 pany's officers, not possessing superior qualification, 
 are held to be eligible for such employment. 
 
 If the practice which has of late prevailed of em- 
 ploying the military, as well as the " uncovenanted" 
 servants of the Company, in civil offices requiring 
 peculiar qualifications, is to be continued, and 
 perhaps extended (for it has been growing of late), 
 the reasons for maintaining an exclusive service will 
 cease, and it will be for the home authorities to 
 consider whether it will not be expedient to abolish 
 
 F2
 
 68 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 that service, or to consolidate the two branches of 
 the service, and thus to save the very heavy expense 
 which both the Government and the families of their 
 civil servants at present incur, in bestowing a costly 
 education on those who are destined to perform 
 duties which it is now assumed others can perform 
 without such education. 
 
 To exclude the civil service altogether from em- 
 ployment in the political department (as has been 
 done of late), is virtually to determine that no indi- 
 vidual of that service shall have an opportunity of 
 qualifying himself, by knowledge and experience, for 
 the high political functions which he will have to 
 exercise as a member of the Government a situa- 
 tion which that service looks to as the only reward 
 held out to distinguished merit. The civilians have 
 never, I am convinced, felt any objection to, or any 
 degree of jealousy at, the selection of eminent men 
 from the military service for political situations ; 
 but they have felt their exclusion as a grievance and 
 injustice, and as disparaging the character of a body 
 of men who have served their country faithfully and 
 successfully, and who have not merited systematic 
 neglect, and still less contumely, from their em- 
 ployers. If they have not manifested of late that 
 high spirit, zeal, and independence which heretofore 
 distinguished the service, the deficiency must be 
 attributed to their having been most unwarrantably 
 degraded of late. Men who lose their own self- 
 esteem and the esteem of others, lose much of their 
 power of usefulness. Confidence is necessary to
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 69 
 
 stimulate zeal, and the best instruments may lose 
 much of their value and efficiency when committed 
 to hands which know not how to use them, and 
 which are disposed capriciously to abuse them. 
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL ESTABLISHMENTS.* 
 
 The changes announced by the Bengal Govern- 
 ment in their despatches [of the 10th and 30th 
 Dec., 1828] have been introduced professedly with 
 the view to render our revenue and judicial admi- 
 nistration more efficient, and this object is to be 
 accomplished by separating the criminal from the 
 civil department of our judicial system, and by an- 
 nexing the criminal branch to the revenue autho- 
 rities. 
 
 It is not pretended that in this change any new 
 
 * From a paper, bearing date July 11, 1829. It was called forth by the 
 measures of Lord William Bentinck for the reorganisation of the civil de- 
 partments, consequent on his abolition of the Provincial Courts. Certain 
 Commissioners of Circuit and Revenue were appointed, whose business it 
 was to preside over the criminal branch of the judicial administration, and 
 to superintend the settlement of the revenue. This union of the functions of 
 the judge and the fiscal officer in the same person, was conceived by Mr. 
 Tucker to be a dangerous anomaly, and he has pointed out very clearly and 
 convincingly, in this paper, the evils of the system. The result has abundantly 
 proved the soundness of his views. The system was not found to work 
 beneficially for the public service ; and the business of the Sessions was 
 subsequently entrusted to the civil judge. The Commissioner continued to 
 superintend the police establishments; and, in consequence of the new duties 
 imposed upon the civil judge, the functions of magistrate were transferred 
 from him to the collector; and thus again the principle, for which Mr. Tucker 
 contended, was violated in the subsequent arrangements. The system has 
 not worked well. The magisterial duties have generally been postponed 
 to the fiscal, and have, therefore, been inefficiently performed.
 
 70 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 materials are acquired. "We are to employ the same 
 men in nearly the same numbers; and the only 
 difference will be, that these individuals will be 
 employed in a different manner. The labor will be 
 distributed in a different way ; but the constituent 
 parts of the machinery will remain the same. 
 
 The first question which presents itself is, whether 
 the same individual, under the title of " Commis- 
 sioner," can with efficiency and advantage perform 
 the duty of directing and superintending the reve- 
 nue concerns of an arrondissement, or circle of five 
 or six districts, containing probably 15,000 or 20,000 
 villages, and a population of from 3,000,000 to 
 4,000,000 of people, and at the same time perform 
 the circuit of these districts, at least twice in the 
 year, for the purpose of holding a general gaol de- 
 livery at the principal stations. 
 
 There may be gifted persons who can with the 
 same facility embrace and expound the most recon- 
 dite principles of law, and unravel and master the 
 most intricate details of a revenue settlement ; but 
 if we take men of ordinary or average capacity, such 
 as they are found in real life, this versatility of 
 talent will not be forthcoming, and we shall be con- 
 vinced that particular men are best suited to par- 
 ticular purposes. 
 
 I will not insist that the subdivision of labor has 
 been found useful in multiplying the powers of labor 
 in almost every branch of industry to which the 
 energies of man have been applied ; but I do main-
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 71 
 
 tain that the powers of the individual, both physical 
 and intellectual, dispose him towards particular pur- 
 suits, and qualify him for the attainment of parti- 
 cular objects in different degrees; and that these 
 powers are developed, strengthened, and improved 
 by use and habit, when applied to particular rather 
 than to general objects. 
 
 Sir H. Strachey, and our colleague Mr. Stuart, 
 are known to have been among the very best judges 
 which our service has produced ; but these gentle- 
 men would probably have made only ordinary col- 
 lectors, while some highly distinguished collectors, 
 who might easily be named, would never probably 
 have risen above mediocrity as judicial officers. 
 
 In the list of new commissioners, I can point out 
 more than one gentleman who has never been em- 
 ployed in the revenue branch of the service, and 
 who, if he attempted to interfere in the revenue con- 
 cerns of a district, must expose his ignorance to 
 every revenue officer under him. What purpose of 
 real utility, I would ask, is intended to be answered 
 by employing this gentleman in a situation to him 
 so new and so difficult ? 
 
 In the unsettled districts, especially, the superin- 
 tendence of such a functionary must be merely 
 nominal. Without knowledge and experience him- 
 self, it is impossible that he should direct the opera- 
 tions of others with any kind of advantage, even if 
 his whole time and attention were devoted to the 
 particular object ; but when he has two duties to
 
 72 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 perform, will he not naturally apply himself to the 
 one which is become familiar to him, and compara- 
 tively easy, to the neglect of that to which he feels 
 conscious that he cannot do justice ? 
 
 And further, I contend that, let the disposition 
 and habits of the individual be what they may, 
 he cannot perform the circuit of five or six dis- 
 tricts twice in every year, for the purpose of hold- 
 ing the Sessions, and at the same time bestow the 
 necessary attention on the revenue concerns of 
 the province. The work, we say, is at present 
 too great for the instruments, and is not, conse- 
 quently, performed ; but can we reasonably assume 
 that it will be better performed by such a change in 
 the distribution of these instruments as shall con- 
 vert a judicial into a revenue-officer, and break up 
 all the established habits and associations of the 
 service ? 
 
 The Supreme Government, with their territorial 
 secretary, have pronounced the present judicial and 
 revenue system to be extremely defective and ineffi- 
 cient, if not " a complete failure ;" and this intelli- 
 gence is calculated to produce the utmost pain in the 
 mind of every man who takes an interest in the wel- 
 fare of the people of India and in the honor of the 
 British name. But is a partial re-union of the re- 
 venue and magisterial authorities the appropriate 
 remedy for the evils stated to exist ? 
 
 These authorities were united, at an early period 
 of our administration, upon a plan nearly resembling
 
 EE VENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 73 
 
 that which it is now proposed to introduce. Provin- 
 cial Councils superintended the general concerns of 
 a certain number of districts individual members 
 took charge of particular districts, for the formation 
 of the settlements and for executing the details of 
 business. At a later period the plan was modified 
 by the substitution of principal collectors or chiefs, 
 with assistants under them, uniting the revenue and 
 judicial authorities. But what was the state of our 
 Bengal provinces under this system ? It is notori- 
 ous that corruption prevailed that the people were 
 oppressed that justice was not administered and 
 that the country was impoverished and desolate. 
 
 This system was accordingly condemned, in 1793, 
 in the same manner as the system of 1793 is now 
 denounced by the Government of India as pregnant 
 with evils, which are to be remedied, not exactly by 
 a recurrence to the old and exploded plan of internal 
 administration, but by a sort of compromise between 
 the two systems. 
 
 Now, when everything which we undertake seems 
 to end in failure, ought we not to look deeper for 
 the cause, and ought we not, with becoming mo- 
 desty, to hesitate before we condemn and undo the 
 work of our predecessors while there is any, the 
 slightest, reason to apprehend that our remedies and 
 appliances are not such as are calculated to reach 
 the source of the evil. 
 
 . . . It may be thought strange and incon- 
 sistent that I should refer any of the defects of our
 
 74 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 administration to our character of foreigners, when 
 these foreigners are so well qualified by their educa- 
 tion, and by their acquaintance with the laws and 
 institutions of a country in the highest state of 
 civilisation, to introduce among a people much less 
 advanced those principles of government which are 
 supposed to produce the greatest sum of human 
 happiness. But while I admit, and indeed proclaim 
 with pride, that our rule in India has been at- 
 tended with advantage to its inhabitants, and espe- 
 cially in protecting them from the misery of foreign 
 invasion, I cannot conceal from myself that some of 
 the evils which the country suffers are inherent in 
 our situation as conquerors and strangers ; and that, 
 studious as we should ever be to alleviate them, 
 they cannot be entirely prevented, while they may 
 be aggravated by indulging that restless disposition 
 which will leave nothing to settle, and which is only 
 to be satisfied by the trial of some new experiment. 
 Upon principle, I consider the re-union of the re- 
 venue and judicial authorities in India to be unsafe 
 and inexpedient. The combination of such powers 
 in the same hands is liable always to generate 
 abuse it is difficult to control the exercise of them 
 by any wholesome and efficient checks. These 
 powers, so combined, were, at a former period, no- 
 toriously abused ; and it is equally true, I believe, 
 that since the separation of the two authorities in 
 1793, our revenue administration has been more 
 pure, that corruption has been more generally pre-
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 75 
 
 vented, and that the people have been better pro- 
 tected in their persons and property. The improve- 
 ment, I am aware, is not to be ascribed solely, nor 
 perhaps chiefly, to the separation of the two autho- 
 rities. The service was raised to an honorable 
 independence by the grant of liberal allowances ; 
 and it is now, I hope, better educated and better 
 trained for its more important duties. 
 
 But while I contend, upon principle, for the se- 
 paration of the revenue and judicial authorities, I 
 am not so devoted to system as to deny that they 
 may not in particular cases, and under certain cir- 
 cumstances, be combined with convenience and 
 advantage, or that the existing system is not sus- 
 ceptible of improvement. I myself have long 
 thought that some useful modifications might be 
 introduced, in order to render it more simple and 
 efficient, and, I may add, less expensive. 
 
 What I object to in the new arrangements intro- 
 duced by the Supreme Government is, that after 
 displacing nearly the whole service, and disturbing 
 all our official machinery, and after incurring a very 
 heavy expense, we shall find the new commissioner, 
 unchanged in his identity, unequal to the discharge 
 of the two duties imposed upon him, unqualified for 
 the one, distracted in his attention to the other, and 
 perhaps not unfrequently failing in both. Can it 
 be supposed that the criminal judge, whose mind 
 has been upon the stretch while anxiously trying a 
 case, where the character and life of a human being 
 are at stake, can suddenly turn from this grave and
 
 76 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 sacred duty to examine the details of a revenue set- 
 tlement ? That speculation is visionary and delu- 
 sive which proceeds on the assumption that rare and 
 splendid qualities are to be found in the aggregate, 
 and that various, difficult, and dissimilar duties can 
 be executed by the generality of men, merely be- 
 cause they can be embraced, in all their variety, by 
 some one favored individual. 
 
 Mr. Holt Mackenzie, for instance, who seems to 
 have planned the new arrangements, evidently mea- 
 sures the capacity of other men by the standard 
 of his own mind, and no mistake could well lead to 
 more erroneous conclusions. He could not other- 
 wise have described as plain, and easy, and even 
 "pleasant " in short, as mere pastime the forma- 
 tion of a settlement in a district containing eleven 
 thousand villages, " after a field measurement, an 
 individual assessment, with a detailed census," &c. 3 
 &c. If this be true, how has it happened that 
 to the present moment this holiday work has no- 
 where been completed? The secretary's papers 
 abound in reflections and abstract propositions, 
 which may all be perfectly just and true, without 
 advancing us towards any practical results. We 
 have to deal with an imperfect instrument ; and, 
 however specious may be the speculations of the 
 closet, we must be prepared for disappointment if 
 we measure out our work less with reference to the 
 capacity of the workman than to the demands of 
 a favorite theory. I do not object to the new ar- 
 rangements that they aim at a greater degree of per-
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 77 
 
 fection. Perfection, although unattainable, should 
 be aimed at in order that we may approach it ; but 
 as the most liberal and unprejudiced among us are 
 apt to regard that only as good and fair which is 
 reflected from our own minds, nothing will ever be 
 stable, nothing will endure, if respect be not had to 
 the opinions and decisions of our predecessors, and 
 if the whole mechanism of government is to be 
 taken to pieces and re-cast at the pleasure (I will not 
 say the caprice) of every succeeding theorist 
 
 Even admitting, what I cannot admit, that the 
 " Commissioner" will be equal to the double duty 
 of superintending the Revenue and the Police, and 
 of performing the periodical circuit for the trial of 
 criminal offences, no provision is made for his 
 absence or sickness. He has no deputy or sub- 
 stitute, although it is nearly certain that one will 
 occasionally be required, and must be supplied at 
 further expense. 
 
 When the public business is entrusted to Courts 
 and Boards consisting of two or more members, it is 
 not often found necessary to provide for the tem- 
 porary absence of an individual, because one of his 
 colleagues is at hand to take his place. Nor is this 
 the only circumstance in favor of such establish- 
 ments. Prom among two or three individuals there 
 is a fair chance that one, at least, will be found 
 active, intelligent, and efficient. Something, more- 
 over, is to be gained by an interchange of opinions, 
 by comparing and examining facts and the differ- 
 ent sources of knowledge. Timid men, who would
 
 78 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 shrink from responsibility while acting singly, and 
 who are liable to be overawed, even by their in- 
 feriors of more energetic character, proceed with 
 more confidence, and exert greater vigor, when sup- 
 ported by an official associate. And, above all, the 
 vice of corruption is best checked by the presence of 
 a near observer. There are few persons so dead to 
 all feeling as not to pause before the commission of 
 a dishonorable action which is likely to expose 
 them, not merely to the observation of an official 
 colleague, but to the contempt of one with whom 
 they habitually associate, and whose esteem is ne- 
 cessary to render society of value. 
 
 I am aware, at the same time, that, by confiding 
 power to a single hand, collision and contention are 
 avoided, despatch in the conduct of business is pro- 
 moted, personal exertion is stimulated, and respon- 
 sibility is rendered more sure and determinate. 
 
 These are great advantages, I admit ; but how if 
 that individual be ignorant, indolent, weak in body 
 or mind, the dupe of others ? Will he be able to 
 effect anything great or good ? And how if he be 
 corrupt, rapacious, arbitrary, intriguing, capricious, 
 destitute alike of principle and of shame will not 
 his very activity be mischievous to the public ? 
 
 I do not undertake to decide between the two 
 alternatives ; but I do presume to submit to those 
 who are so prone to decide, that the grounds on 
 which they claim a preference for their own par- 
 ticular system are not so clear and indisputable as 
 they would seem to imagine.
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 79 
 
 Sir C. Metcalfe, to my surprise and regret, appears 
 desirous of re-investing the Government with the 
 administration of civil and criminal justice, even (to 
 use his own words) to the extent of " revising, cor- 
 recting, and altering judicial decisions." 
 
 There is something, I own, very inviting in the 
 simplicity and uniformity of that theory which 
 would refer all power to one source, and which would 
 give life and motion to every object by the applica- 
 tion of one all-pervading impulse ; but it would be 
 as reasonable to impose upon the head the offices of 
 the hands and the feet, as to require the Supreme 
 Government of India to exercise all the legislative, 
 administrative, and judicial functions of the state. 
 The Privy Council of England, it is true, acts as a 
 high court of appeal ; but it is not the Government, 
 nor the Legislature. 
 
 But this theory has been tried at no very remote 
 period, and it was found wanting, although our terri- 
 tory at the time did not reach one half its present 
 extent. 
 
 It is contrary to sound principle that a Govern- 
 ment should sit in judgment upon its own acts ; but, 
 waiving tliis objection to the accumulation of powers, 
 which ought in some cases to operate as reciprocal 
 checks, the functions of the Sudder Dewanny and 
 Nizamut Adawlut cannot possibly be exercised effi- 
 ciently by the Government. When the attempt was 
 made, what was the consequence ? That the business 
 devolved upon irresponsible officers, the reporter and 
 registrar of the Court. I can speak to this fact with
 
 80 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 confidence, because I held at the time situations both 
 under the Court and the Government, which gave 
 me an opportunity of seeing how the legislative and 
 administrative duties, as well as of those of the 
 Sudder Courts, were carried on. The system was 
 condemned and exploded, not merely upon abstract 
 reasoning, but after a fair experimental trial. 
 
 In the same manner Mr. Secretary Mackenzie pro- 
 poses to mix up the revenue and judicial branches of 
 the service by appointing our young civilians to offi- 
 ciate, in the first instance, as assistants to the col- 
 lectors, and thence to take their promotion into the 
 higher judicial and revenue stations. There cannot 
 be a doubt that an intimate knowledge of revenue 
 management, in a country whose population is essen- 
 tially agricultural, must be of the highest utility. A 
 large proportion of the suits which are filed in our 
 courts originate in boundary disputes, and in ques- 
 tions relating to the landed property, and to the con- 
 tracts between landlord and tenant ; and from the 
 frequent absence of authentic documents, from the 
 difficulty of ascertaining local usages, and from the 
 defects of native evidence these are among the most 
 intricate and embarrassing cases which we are called 
 upon to unravel and decide. But is not the course 
 recommended exactly that which was pursued at a 
 former period ? Was not the usual routine of pro- 
 motion from the situation of assistant to a collector 
 to that of register, thence to a collectorship, thence 
 to a zillah, or city judgeship, and soon to the higher 
 grades of the service ? I can attest that this was the
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 81 
 
 usual course with few exceptions ; but it was changed 
 because it was thought not to answer well. It was 
 considered that these two important branches of the 
 service required a particular education and a separate 
 course of training. And, let me ask, were Sir H. 
 Strachey and Mr. J. Stuart (these were among the 
 exceptions) ever employed in the revenue depart- 
 ment of the service ? They were not. And let me 
 further ask, are we always to employ the talents of 
 our best servants for the great purpose of extracting 
 a landlord's rent from the country which has been 
 committed to our sway, we may hope for some nobler 
 purpose ? Mr. Secretary Mackenzie calmly suggests 
 that the ablest registers should be withdrawn from 
 the courts, and employed as sub-collectors. The pro- 
 position was well meant, I am sure ; but can we be 
 surprised that justice is not well administered, and 
 that the people are unprotected, when everything 
 must give way to considerations of revenue ? It is 
 idle to pretend that these useful officers are to be 
 lent to the revenue department, for the mere pur- 
 pose of qualifying them better for judicial duties at 
 some future period. What is the immediate object 
 of taking them away from those duties which are 
 now well performed by them ? If they had not 
 been well performed, would these officers have been 
 thought of for a revenue trust ? 
 
 I differ from Mr. Mackenzie not in his end, but in 
 his means ; and his means have been already tried. 
 If there be one defect in our service more striking 
 and more reproachful to us than any other, it is the 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 want of preparation and qualification for our high 
 judicial functions. Young men, half-educated, and 
 without knowledge or experience, are often called 
 upon to exercise the sacred office of judge, to do that 
 which no human beinsr can do with any certainty 
 
 o t> * 
 
 that he is doing right. Far, then, from blending 
 the judicial with any other branch of the service, and 
 far from depriving it of some of its most valuable 
 members, it ought, perhaps, ab initio, to constitute 
 a distinct and distinguished profession. Without re- 
 ference to the present question, I have been led to 
 reflect upon this subject ; and it appears to me that 
 the Court of Directors would act wisely and judi- 
 ciously were they to select the most promising of our 
 college youth for the judicial department, and to 
 provide specially for their instruction in the laws, 
 local regulations, institutions, and usages of the 
 country in which they are destined to serve. For 
 this purpose, it would be necessary to detain them 
 at Haileybury for a longer period (say, to the age 
 of twenty-one) in order that they may receive a 
 more finished education, and become more compe- 
 tent, from the direction given to their studies, to un- 
 dertake the important and responsible duties which 
 await them on their arrival in India. The elevation 
 of the judicial service will be found more particu- 
 larly necessary, if (unfortunately for the country) 
 Europeans are to be allowed to hold lands in it, and 
 English law is to be administered by our provincial 
 courts to an increased number of British adven- 
 turers ; but the discussion of the subject would be
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 83 
 
 out of place on the present occasion, and it is too 
 large to be treated incidentally. 
 
 With the sentiments which I have ventured to 
 express on the new arrangements adopted by the 
 Supreme Government, I may be asked whether I 
 think they should be peremptorily set aside by the 
 authorities in this country. To do so, would be to 
 resort to another unsettling change, which I depre- 
 cate ; and it is much to be apprehended that we 
 could not now retrace our steps without inconve- 
 nience. But the plan will not, I am persuaded, be 
 found efficient in practice ; and without absolutely 
 condemning it, orders may be given to reduce the 
 number of commissioners, and the arrangement may 
 otherwise undergo some salutary modification as 
 thus : 
 
 1st. The commissioner heretofore attached to the 
 judicial department, who shall not be found useful 
 as a revenue officer, should be sent back to the pro- 
 vincial courts, or his services may be dispensed with 
 altogether. 
 
 2nd. The commissioners in the old and settled 
 territory, and especially in Bengal Proper, may un- 
 questionably be dispensed with; because the duty 
 of prosecuting local inquiries, when necessary, can 
 be provided for by the occasional deputation of one 
 of the three members of the superior Board at the 
 presidency. 
 
 3rd. In those provinces where a commissioner 
 may not be stationed, the duties of the circuit may 
 be performed by one of the judges of the provincial 
 
 G 2
 
 84 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 court; and these courts, where necessary, may be 
 reinforced by the judicial officers, whose services 
 shall have been dispensed with as revenue commis- 
 sioners. 
 
 The saving consequent on the reduction in the 
 number of commissioners, is likely to be of more 
 importance than may at first appear ; because, even 
 if we suppose that these high functionaries, placed 
 at the head of a province, will find a salary of 
 36,000 rupees per annum (or 42,000 rupees, includ- 
 ing travelling expenses) sufficient, we shall be called 
 upon to provide occasional substitutes, secretaries, 
 translators, kutcherries, and other appendages of 
 high station, which must occasion additional ex- 
 pense ; and with every disposition on the part of the 
 Government to observe economy, the new apparatus 
 which they have introduced will, I apprehend, be- 
 come the source of a growing and an intolerable 
 charge upon the revenues of India. The very first 
 movement will be attended with a heavy expense, in 
 travelling charges, extra allowance to officiating ser- 
 vants, &c., a large proportion of the revenue and 
 judicial service having changed their stations. 
 
 The alterations pointed at are not unlikely, I 
 think, to be adopted by the Supreme Government 
 itself ; for when I endeavor to trace the progress of 
 the plan, and the manner in which the machinery 
 may be expected to work, my impression is that the 
 new distribution of powers and agencies will be found 
 inconvenient and defective, and that the plan must 
 undergo some early modification.
 
 REVENUE AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS. 85 
 
 The commissioners who have been heretofore 
 employed in the judicial department, will, it may be 
 presumed, attend to the gaol deliveries, and to 
 objects connected with the police of the country ; 
 but they will not probably interfere in revenue mat- 
 ters, with which they must be generally unac- 
 quainted. The business of assessment and collection, 
 of forming butwarries (the division of estates), and 
 other details, will accordingly devolve upon the dis- 
 trict collector ; and the new functionary, in his 
 revenue capacity, will thus become a mere channel 
 of correspondence between the collector and the 
 superior Board, and so far a sort of drag-chain upon 
 public business. 
 
 On the other hand, the commissioners, who have 
 been distinguished as revenue servants, will take 
 but little interest in gaol deliveries ; they will na- 
 turally apply themselves to that branch of their 
 duty which is most familiar to them, and from the 
 successful performance of which they can hope to 
 acquire credit and promotion. Successful exertions 
 in raising a revenue are much more obvious, and 
 lead much more frequently to honor and profit, than 
 the steady, useful, but less obtrusive labors of the 
 judge ; nor can it admit of a doubt, that the revenue 
 duty will generally command a preference, and that 
 the office of deciding upon the liberty and lives of 
 our native subjects, will be held only in secondary 
 estimation. 
 
 But who will undertake the arduous duty pre- 
 scribed by Regulation I. of 1821, of revising the
 
 86 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 transfers of landed property, and of correcting the 
 abuses which have been committed by revenue offi- 
 cers in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, for the 
 last twenty-five years ? A Sudder, or head Commis- 
 sion, was appointed for this express purpose, with a 
 Mofussil (or subordinate) Commission, for the pro- 
 secution of inquiries on the spot. Experienced ser- 
 vants were selected for the particular duty ; they 
 have been engaged on it for eight years, and what 
 have they accomplished? Their investigation has 
 not extended beyond two districts (those of Allaha- 
 bad and Cawnpore), constituting about one-sixth 
 part of the territory on which their labor was to 
 have been employed; and unhappily, too, the late 
 despatch from Bengal gives us reason to apprehend 
 that new mistakes have arisen, that recent abuses 
 have been committed, and that while we are cor- 
 recting at one end, new work is added at the other. 
 
 The special Commission (Sudder and Mofussil), 
 with its task unfinished, is now to be superseded ; 
 but will the new commissioner, or the collector, or 
 the superior Board (upon whom the duty is to de- 
 volve), by snatching a few hours of occasional leisure 
 from their numerous avocations, be able to com- 
 plete the work ? Or are the people to be left, after 
 all, to endure those grievous ills which are depicted 
 in such fearful terms in the preamble to Regulation 
 I. of 1821? 
 
 I am not contending for the continuance of the 
 special Commission. It originated in humane feel- 
 ings. Great abuse had prevailed in the sales of
 
 CIVIL FURLOUGHS. 87 
 
 land in the Western Provinces, which ought to have 
 been more generally avoided, and which my col- 
 league and myself, while in charge of the Western 
 Provinces,* discouraged decidedly. But I am will- 
 ing to believe that the evil was magnified, and I 
 never did entertain very sanguine hopes that the 
 people would derive much relief from the very 
 questionable expedient which was resorted to. At 
 all events, even admitting (which I am willing to 
 do) that the measure has been attended with partial 
 success, and that some injuries have been repaired, 
 the work appears to me now to have been virtually 
 abandoned ; although the circumstances which gave 
 rise to it are still made the theme of unwearied re- 
 proach, or unceasing lamentation. 
 
 FURLOUGH REGULATIONS FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE. 
 
 [Written in 184 6.] 
 
 The existing rules for granting furloughs to the 
 Cape, Australia, the Sanataria on the Hills, and 
 other places, are certainly defective ; and, in gene- 
 ral, fail to produce the benefit which they were in- 
 tended to secure to the Civil Service of India. They 
 operate as an encouragement to the idle, who can 
 resort to those places at a small sacrifice of official 
 income. They create a necessity for frequent changes 
 in the local functionaries, to the great inconvenience 
 of the public service, and to the injury of the people, 
 who are, more or less, affected by these frequent 
 
 * See Eeport of the 13th April, 1808, Para. 243.
 
 88 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 changes. And they make very inadequate provision 
 for the officers who are appointed to officiate for the 
 absentees ; while, in many instances, an expense is 
 incurred by the Government, consequent upon the 
 removals and changes which frequently take place. 
 
 But the plan proposed, as a substitute for the ex- 
 isting furloughs, provides only for an absence of 
 twelve months to Europe, the absentee, during that 
 period, being permitted to retain his office, with a 
 certain portion of the salary say one-third ; and 
 the residue, or two-thirds, being enjoyed by the 
 locum tenens. 
 
 A furlough of one year to Europe is not, however, 
 I apprehend, sufficient to accomplish the ends usu- 
 ally proposed; viz., the restoration of health and 
 strength to constitutions enfeebled by a long and 
 laborious service in the climate of India. Medical 
 men are very generally, I believe, of opinion that a 
 short residence in our native climate is not sufficient 
 to restore the tone and habit of the body, and to 
 give firmness to a constitution much impaired by 
 local complaints, or long-continued application to 
 business in India. A furlough of one year, from 
 the time of delivering over office to the time of re- 
 suming its duties, would scarcely admit of a resi- 
 dence of six months in England. 
 
 1st. I would therefore suggest that a furlough of 
 eighteen,* instead of twelve months, be allowed to 
 
 * Perhaps a distinction might be made between furloughs on sick-certifi- 
 cate and furloughs on private affairs; the former being granted for eighteen 
 months, and the latter for twelve months, from the date of embarkation. 
 H. St.G. T.
 
 CIVIL FURLOUGHS. 89 
 
 the chil servants of India, for the purpose of visit- 
 ing Europe ; and that the present practice of grant- 
 ing leave of absence to the Cape, and other places 
 beyond sea, or to the Hills, for any period exceeding 
 one month in each year, be entirely discontinued* 
 A furlough of eighteen months will generally admit 
 of the individual passing two winters in his native 
 land. 
 
 2nd. I would propose that the absentee be allowed 
 to draw one-third of his official salary, and that the 
 remaining two-thirds be assigned to his locum tenens. 
 The following sketch will show the medium rates of 
 income receivable by each : 
 
 ii Receivable Ditto by 
 by Locum 
 
 llary - Absentee. Tenens. 
 
 Rupees. Rupees. Rupees. 
 Servants of the 1st Class, whose salaries"} 
 
 amount to 36,000 rupees per annum, and > 39,000 13,000 26,000 
 upwards ....... J 
 
 2nd Class, salary from 24,000 to 36,000 30,000 10,000 20,000 
 
 3rd Class, salary from 12,000 to 24,000 18,000 C,OCO 12,000 
 
 4th Class, assistants under 1,200 rupees 7,500 2,500 5,000 
 
 3rd. That any servant obtaining the prescribed 
 medical certificate, be admitted to the benefit of the 
 furlough. 
 
 4th. That any servant applying for the furlough 
 on any other ground than that of ill health, be 
 granted the indulgence of the furlough, provided he 
 shall have served in India for not less than teni 
 years ; and that he shall satisfy the local Govern- 
 
 * Or if they choose to go to these places in preference, the furlough should 
 be on the same footing and terms as that proposed for England. II. St.G. T. 
 t Or eight.
 
 90 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 ment that he has good and sufficient reasons for 
 wishing to visit his native country. 
 
 This rule will, no doubt, render the number of 
 furloughs indefinite ; but Government will not incur 
 any expense in consequence, as they do under the 
 existing regulations; and the servants out of em- 
 ploy, who now receive a subsistence allowance, 
 would have situations provided for them, as offi- 
 ciating for the absentees. 
 
 5th. That any of the senior servants, entitled to 
 the retiring pension, who may take the furlough 
 and retire while at home, shall be required to refund 
 the furlough allowance which they may have drawn 
 from the period of delivering over charge of their 
 office in India. 
 
 6th. That servants of the 1st Class, whose salaries 
 may exceed 45,000 rupees per annum, be not, in 
 any case, permitted to draw a furlough allowance 
 exceeding 15,000 rupees per annum, as the maxi- 
 mum rate. 
 
 7th. That lieutenant-governors, and the members 
 of Council, and general officers on the stalf, who are 
 appointed to serve for a limited period, be not 
 allowed the benefit of the furlough. 
 
 8th. That military officers, having held civil 
 situations for not less than eight (or ten) years, be 
 entitled to the indulgence of furlough on the same 
 terms and footing as the civil servants. 
 
 9th. That the advocate-general and Company's 
 law officers the superintendent of the Indian Navy
 
 CIVIL FURLOUGHS. 91 
 
 officers of the Mint, and others, not being cove- 
 nanted servants, be admitted to the same indulgence 
 after a service of not less than eight (or ten) years 
 in India. 
 
 10th. That the furlough allowance be paid quar- 
 terly in England, at the exchange of two shillings the 
 Company's rupee, on a certificate showing the date on 
 which the party ceased to draw the allowances of his 
 office in India. 
 
 llth. That a second furlough be not granted ex- 
 cept in very special cases, to be established to the 
 entire satisfaction of the local Government. 
 
 12th. That any person being absent beyond the 
 prescribed period of twelve or eighteen months, as 
 the case may be, be held to have forfeited his office, 
 which shall be otherwise filled up accordingly. 
 
 13th. That these rules take effect (say, from the 
 1st of September, 1846), irrespective of former fur- 
 loughs, and of any furloughs which may be granted 
 and taken up prior to that date, after which they 
 shall be granted only under the present rules. 
 
 The foregoing rules are calculated, I think, to 
 remedy many of the evils of the present system, and 
 to confer a great boon on the service, especially to 
 those who are compelled by ill-health to vacate their 
 appointments,* and to proceed to Europe ; and who, 
 on their return, are obliged to wait for vacancies 
 until they can be employed, and on allowances 
 
 * In consequence of the forfeiture which is incurred by coming to England, 
 some of our most zealous servants remain at their posts until their constitu- 
 tions are destroyed, or injured, when they are no longer the same efficient 
 functionaries. H. St.G. T.
 
 92 THE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 which are not sufficient to defray their necessary 
 expenses. 
 
 It may be apprehended that too great a tempta- 
 tion will be held out to our servants to visit England ; 
 but it will be more useful, as well as more agreeable 
 to them to visit this country rather than the Cape ; 
 and the journey does not now occupy much more 
 time than the passage to the latter place of resort. 
 The Government will not incur any additional ex- 
 pense ; and the individual will, in general, return to 
 the station where he has been previously employed, 
 and where, from his knowledge of the people and the 
 Amlah serving under him, his services are likely to 
 be found most useful and efficient. 
 
 A legal question may arise, whether our servants, 
 in passing out of the Company's jurisdiction, and 
 coming to this country, will not, ipso facto, be placed 
 out of the service ; but if the law should, as at pre- 
 sent understood, interpose any bar to the arrange- 
 ment, a short clause in an Act of Parliament, in the 
 next session, would remove the difficulty.
 
 93 
 
 THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 THE OFFICERING OF THE NATIVE ARMY. 
 
 [Written in 1848.] 
 
 RECOLLECTING, as I do, the constitution of our 
 native army some fifty or sixty years ago, and the 
 high state of discipline and efficiency which it noto- 
 riously maintained, I cannot understand how the 
 complement of European officers in our native corps 
 can be considered insufficient ; unless, indeed, it -he 
 assumed that those officers can, without limitation, 
 be detached from their regiments, to be employed 
 on civil and other extra-regimental duties. 
 
 Prior to 1796, a Sepoy battalion had only nine 
 European officers attached to it ; and at an earlier 
 period, a still smaller number was found to be suffi- 
 cient, the battalion being usually commanded by a 
 captain, and very rarely having a field-officer at its 
 head. 
 
 At present, a Sepoy regiment of 750 or 800 rank 
 and file, has a complement of twenty-four European 
 officers ; and a regiment of regular cavalry a com- 
 plement of twenty officers. 
 
 When it was proposed to give an additional captain
 
 94 MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 
 
 to the regiments of Native Infantry, on the ground 
 that there was a deficiency of officers of that parti- 
 cular grade, I reluctantly concurred ; but I urged at 
 the same time the expediency of reducing a subaltern 
 in each corps. This would have made the ladder 
 one step shorter ; and I have always felt that there 
 was an evil in slow promotion in our Indian Army, 
 since it necessarily engenders discontent. By this 
 suggestion, too, if adopted, the expense of the 
 additional captain would have been considerably 
 reduced. 
 
 In considering the proper complement of officers 
 for our native corps, we must not forget that the 
 native officers (the Soubadars in particular) are 
 highly efficient, and can be most usefully employed 
 in maintaining discipline, and in promoting the effi- 
 ciency of the service. 
 
 Indeed, I am inclined to doubt whether the mul- 
 tiplication of young European officers may not, in 
 some respects, have had a prejudicial tendency. 
 
 Inexperienced as they are for some time, and ig- 
 norant of the native languages, their interposition is 
 sometimes galling to the veteran Soubadar of forty 
 or fifty years' standing in the service, who has been 
 present in many a well-fought field, and who cannot 
 understand the fitness of unfledged youngsters for 
 military command. 
 
 Moreover, the multiplication of numbers renders 
 the Europeans independent of native society. They 
 congregate in their messes and clubs, write for news- 
 papers, and are absorbed in pursuits strictly and ex-
 
 NATIVE REGIMENTS. 95 
 
 clusively of a European character. Too many of 
 them marry at an early age ; and this becomes 
 another cause of alienation from their native as- 
 sociates. 
 
 Formerly the Soubadar paid his respects regularly 
 to his commanding officer, attended often at his 
 breakfast-table, and gave an account of everything 
 which was passing in the regiment; so that the 
 commanding officer became familiar with the cha- 
 racter and conduct of every Sepoy under his com- 
 mand. He was enabled often to do them little 
 services ; and he obtained an influence, the effect of 
 personal attachment, which rendered the exercise of 
 authority easy. 
 
 Our military, too, secluded as they were from 
 European society, and mixing more with the natives, 
 acquired the colloquial dialects ; and some of our 
 best linguists of that dav were found among: our 
 
 O v O 
 
 Sepoy officers. Just now, some of them, no doubt, 
 go through a formal examination in the native lan- 
 guages to qualify for staff situations ; but the know- 
 ledge they acquire is generally from books, and not 
 from men. 
 
 But I may be told that some of our native regi- 
 ments have not half their complement of officers 
 serving with the corps. This is very true ; and I 
 remember that the 2nd Bengal Grenadiers took the 
 field lately, and marched to Kote-Kangra under the 
 command of the fourth lieutenant, not a single cap- 
 tain, or field officer, being present with the corps. 
 This is doubtless an evil ; but the evil arises in gene-
 
 96 MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 ral from an undue proportion of officers being de- 
 tached on civil and other employment, notwithstand- 
 ing the repeated orders of the Court of Directors to 
 limit the number of officers to be so employed. 
 
 The practice of detaching a great number of the 
 military, on civil and other duties, extra-regimental, 
 is attended with inconvenience in two respects. The 
 officers so detached acquire habits which indispose 
 them to return to regimental duties ; and I appre- 
 hend that an indifferent regimental officer is not 
 likely to become a very efficient commander in the 
 higher grades of the army. 
 
 Then, again, the officers who are left behind to do 
 the drudgery of the regiment, feel that they have an 
 undue share of duty imposed upon them ; and they 
 become discontented, not only upon this ground, but 
 because they fancy that their equals, or their inferiors, 
 have been preferred before them solely because they 
 had more interest at head-quarters. 
 
 But the immediate question is, whether the cavalry 
 should have an additional captain assigned to each 
 regiment, on the same grounds on which a sixth 
 captain was given to the infantry. 
 
 I do believe that in the field, and perhaps even in 
 cantonments, the cavalry officer has generally harder 
 work than the officer of infantry ; for he has horses 
 to attend to, as well as men. The promotion in the 
 Bengal cavalry has also been very slow; and the 
 proportion of officers detached on civil duties is not 
 usually so great as in the infantry. 
 
 But, on the other hand, our ten regular regiments
 
 NATIVE REGIMENTS. 97 
 
 supply, with few exceptions, the officers required for 
 the eighteen regiments of Irregular Cavalry ; and if 
 our cavalry officers are less frequently detached, the 
 complaint of a deficiency of officers for regimental 
 duty can scarcely be urged. 
 
 The slowness of promotion in Bengal may in part, 
 perhaps, proceed from the more expensive habits of 
 the cavalry, which prevent the early retirement of 
 the officers in this branch of the service ; but the 
 disadvantage would scarcely be removed by adding 
 another captain to the strength of the regiment. 
 
 Upon the whole, I cannot see sufficient ground 
 for granting this addition ; although I would not 
 have objected to it (nor would I now), if a subal- 
 tern had been struck off from every native corps on 
 our establishment. This would be attended with a 
 saving of expense, without injury to the army. 
 
 I am willing to hope that the number of irregular 
 corps of cavalry may gradually be reduced ; and at 
 an early period. These corps are composed, I be- 
 lieve, of excellent materials ; and they are very effi- 
 cient and serviceable in the field ; but in the present 
 state of our political relations, their services would 
 not seem likely to be required. Still, this warlike 
 soldiery cannot suddenly be discharged, without the 
 risk of public inconvenience and disorder. 
 
 In the present condition of our finances, it is clear 
 that some large reductions must be made in the 
 public expenditure ; for we cannot augment our re- 
 venue; and we must look to effect reductions in 
 those quarters where our establishments have been 
 
 VOL. i. H
 
 98 MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 largely increased in consequence of the existence of 
 a state of war. The heavy burthen which the acqui- 
 sition of Scinde has entailed upon us, has contri- 
 buted mainly to the derangement of our finances ; 
 and I own that I do not yet perceive in that quarter 
 any decided appearance of early amelioration. 
 
 SALE OP COMMISSIONS.* 
 
 This boon was once rejected by the Company's 
 officers ; but I believe their sentiments are now 
 changed, and that the great body of the service 
 would accept it with eagerness at this moment. f In 
 fact, it would confer upon the whole army a trans- 
 ferable property, which they do not now possess, 
 
 * From a paper without date, written many years ago, containing sugges- 
 tions for the improvement of the Indian Army. Many of these suggestions have 
 been carried out since the paper was written. The question of the sale of 
 commissions in the Indian Army, and the amalgamation of the Queen's and 
 Company's armies, having been recently considered, two extracts from the 
 document are inserted. 
 
 f The ensigncy would always be obtained, as at present, without purchase. 
 The other commissions might be valued as follows : 
 
 Lieutenantcy . . . .500, or 4,000 rupees. 
 Company .... 2,000 16,000 
 
 Difference . . . 12,000 
 Majority .... 4,000, or 32,000 
 
 Difference . . . 16,000 
 Lieutenant-Colonelcy . 5,000, or 40,000 
 
 Difference . . . 8,000 
 
 I have valued the commissions higher than in the King's service, because 
 they are really more valuable perhaps ; because money is more easily obtained 
 in India for purchases ; because it is desirable that there should be one uniform 
 price, which is not likely to be evaded ; and because it is desirable to relieve 
 the retired list by encouraging sales. 
 
 I have made a greater difference between the value of a company and a 
 majority, and that of a majority and lieutenant- colonelcy, because the majority 
 is a most important step as securing the benefit of the King's brevet, and 
 because the sum of 5000/. is more than equal to the value of the annuity to 
 which a lieutenant-colonel would be entitled on the retired list. H. St.G. T.
 
 SALE OF COMMISSIONS. 99 
 
 without expense to the Government, or to any other 
 party; and the means of realising this property 
 would he of the utmost importance to those junior 
 officers in particular, who are sometimes compelled 
 to resign the service, from ill health and other 
 causes, before they have acquired the right to retire 
 on a pension. An officer who has not served for 
 ten years in India cannot even obtain a furlough ; 
 and when called to England by urgent considera- 
 tions, he must either disregard these considerations, 
 or resign the service, and with it his profession pro- 
 bably, and the hopes of his future life. The effect of 
 allowing the sale of commissions would be, to acce- 
 lerate promotion throughout the army to relieve 
 gradually the retired list, which has already entailed 
 an enormous expense on the Company and, by a 
 quicker succession of officers, to weaken local habits 
 and local interests. 
 
 Supersessions would, no doubt, occasionally take 
 place ; but the promotion of an officer could scarcely 
 in any instance be retarded by a junior officer pur- 
 chasing above him. He might not move forward, 
 but he would never be thrown back, or be deprived 
 of a step, except, perhaps, in the instance of a 
 death-bed sale, which is sometimes allowed as an 
 indulgence in his Majesty's service. But the gene- 
 ral effect of allowing the purchase and sale of com- 
 missions must certainly be to accelerate promotion, 
 and to prevent that stagnation which is always the 
 fruitful source of ill-humor and discontent. 
 
 H2
 
 100 MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 EXCHANGES BETWEEN KING'S AND COMPANY'S 
 OFFICERS.* 
 
 This is a measure less free from objection, and of 
 more questionable policy, than the preceding; but 
 it might be applied to the artillery and the European 
 regiments, and as far as it went it would tend to 
 weaken local habits, local attachments, and local 
 interests, and to take away from the Indian Army 
 its provincial character. 
 
 It would also tend, in some degree, to relieve the 
 retired list; for although it would be proper to 
 allow King's officers, exchanging into the Company's 
 service, the benefit of that list, by taking into the 
 account of their twenty-two years' service the period 
 in which they may have served in India in a King's 
 regiment, yet in general they would not come so 
 soon upon the retired list as the Company's officers 
 with whom they may have exchanged would pro- 
 bably have done. 
 
 These exchanges, moreover, would be of the 
 utmost advantage to officers in the Company's ser- 
 vice, whose constitutions may have been so far 
 impaired as to prevent their continuing to serve in 
 a hot climate. 
 
 I am not quite sure that the exchanges between 
 officers of the native corps and officers of the King's 
 regiments who have actually served in India, might 
 
 * From the same paper as the preceding.
 
 CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 101 
 
 not be permitted with safety, under some such re- 
 striction as the following, viz. : 
 
 A King's officer who shall have served three 
 years in India, with an ensign, cornet, or lieutenant. 
 
 Ditto, ten years, with a captain. 
 
 Ditto, fifteen years, with a major. 
 
 Ditto, twenty years, with a lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN THE NATIVE ARMY.* 
 
 In a paper of notes prepared for Lord Ellen- 
 boroughf I ventured to suggest that corporal punish- 
 ments should be so far re-established (in the native 
 army) as to be made the concomitant of dismissal 
 from the service. The high-bred Sepoy will never 
 incur it, nor ever deserve it; and his pride will 
 rather be gratified that he should not be associated 
 with men who have deserved it. To the native 
 officers, who have lost much of their influence and 
 authority, it will, I have reason to believe, be highly 
 satisfactory ; and it will check a practice, which has 
 become not uncommon among the men, of throw- 
 ing up the sendee upon very trifling occasion, where 
 they happen to be discontented with their officers. 
 Had the dread of corporal punishment been present 
 to the minds of the Sepoys at Aseerghur and Se- 
 cunderabad, I am disposed to doubt whether the 
 mutiny, or resistance to their officers, would have 
 taken place. 
 
 * From a letter to Sir Robert Peel, written in 1842. 
 t Post, page 204. Corporal punishment was re-introduced by Lord 
 Hardinge.
 
 102 MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 Had the officers and the men been placed on the 
 same footing, I am equally disposed to doubt whether 
 the resistance would have been made. The officers 
 would only have had to explain to them " we are all 
 sufferers alike, and, as soldiers, we must submit and 
 obey." When the " double full batta" was abolished 
 in Bengal, and the full batta at Bombay, I do not 
 recollect that any complaint was made by the troops ; 
 and why ? the officers were the great sufferers. 
 
 The mutiny of the 15th Bengal Native Infantry, 
 in 1797 (I think), originated in their having been 
 called upon, without sufficient preparation, to em- 
 bark on board-ship (at that time a novelty) ; that 
 they were put down after a slight struggle, by a re- 
 giment of their own countrymen. 
 
 The quasi mutiny at Barrackpore, in 1824, was one 
 of the most unfortunate occurrences in our military 
 history one which I have always deplored. The 
 regiment could not move without the means of con- 
 veyance for its baggage, which had not been pro- 
 vided ; and they were cut to pieces by a battery of 
 artillery, when fair words might have brought them 
 to reason. 
 
 In the Madras mutiny, in 1809, the Sepoys only 
 followed their officers, and sacrificed their lives in a 
 cause in which they had no interest whatever. And 
 who were punished for this daring act of rebellion ? 
 Not the officers certainly. The only sufferer was 
 Sir George Barlow, who put down the mutiny by an 
 act of extraordinary vigor. 
 
 I allude to these occurrences for the purpose of
 
 CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 103 
 
 extenuating the offence of the native troops on the 
 late unhappy occasion ; for although they may be 
 misled, they are easily guided by reason in the garb 
 of kindness. And how are we to punish in cold 
 blood the large body of men who are reported to have 
 been sent off from Secunderabad as prisoners, for 
 the purpose of being subjected to trial, and eventual 
 punishment for their late passive resistance ? I can- 
 not even conjecture how it is proposed to deal with 
 them. There are no men more patient in submit- 
 ting to privations than the Bengal Sepoys. Of the 
 Madras troops I cannot speak with the same confi- 
 dence. In the Mahratta war of 1803 and 1804, their 
 pay was seven months in arrear, and in some in- 
 stances, if I recollect, as far as thirteen months, and 
 they were exposed to the greatest hardship ; but not 
 a complaint was, I believe, heard. 
 
 The duty of providing for the payment of these 
 arrears, exceeding a million, devolved upon me in 
 1805 ; and I was obliged to give a preference to the 
 irregular corps, which had become worse than use- 
 less, and which could not otherwise be disbanded. 
 Both officers and men displayed the best spirit ; and 
 the former, I have heard, were compelled in some 
 instances to dispose of their little articles of plate to 
 supply their immediate wants, and to assist their 
 men. 
 
 With such instances of patient endurance and 
 loyalty to the service, their errors ought to be re- 
 garded with clemency, and we ought to be more soli- 
 citous to prevent than to punish them.
 
 104 MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 CORPORAL PTJNISHMENT IN THE NATIVE ARMY.* 
 
 This subject may appear to be beyond my pro- 
 vince, and not at all connected with, the other 
 objects adverted to. It is one of extreme delicacy 
 and difficulty ; but it is one of deep interest. I have 
 had communication with many of oar officers, and I 
 heard from them but one opinion as to the singular 
 indiscretion which characterised the measure, and 
 its injurious effects, both with reference to the feel- 
 ings of the European soldiery, and the discipline of 
 the native troops. One officer, in particular, observed 
 to me that he had commanded a regiment of Sepoys 
 for sixteen years ; that he had never previously had 
 any trouble in managing the men; that he rarely 
 had occasion to inflict corporal punishment, and still 
 more rarely to inflict it in a way to entail disgrace ; 
 but that, after the promulgation of the order of 
 Lord "W. Bentinck, he could no longer preserve the 
 discipline of the corps ; that he was unable to sup- 
 port the native officers, who were set at defiance by 
 the men; while a general notion prevailed among 
 them that they had only to relinquish the sendee 
 whenever it became disagreeable to them. 
 
 The motive for this order was, no doubt, to raise 
 the character of the Sepoy, and to enable us to 
 recruit the native army with men of a higher tone 
 of character ; and it may be freely admitted that the 
 Bengal Sepoy seldom becomes the proper object of 
 
 * Written in 1841. This is extracted from the paper referred to in the 
 foregoing.
 
 CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 105 
 
 corporal punishment, and that he is never made a 
 better soldier by it. 
 
 At a former and somewhat remote period, the 
 petty landholders were anxious to place one or more 
 of their sons, or relatives, in a Sepoy corps, in order 
 to obtain a friend and patron in the commanding 
 officer, through whose intercession and influence 
 they expected to obtain justice and favor from the 
 collectors, and other public officers, before whom 
 they might have occasion to bring their complaints 
 of grievances ; but after the establishment of regular 
 courts of justice, and the assessment of the lands in 
 perpetuity, a different order of things took place, 
 and our ranks were no longer recruited to the same 
 extent from the same motives, and from the same 
 source. 
 
 Whether it would now be prudent or safe to re- 
 establish corporal punishment in our native army, 
 it would be presumptuous in me to pronounce ; but 
 I lately declared to one of our functionaries that I 
 was quite prepared to take my full share of respon- 
 sibility if the proposition were brought forward. 
 
 The course which I should be disposed to suggest 
 would be, to identify the infliction of corporal 
 punishment with dismissal from the service; that 
 is, to retain no man in the ranks after he shall have 
 incurred this penalty, making him liable to it, how- 
 ever, under martial law. Colonel Skinner, an ex- 
 perienced officer, has established this usage in his 
 corps ; and it is quite notorious that a finer body of 
 men, more orderly, and of more gallant bearing, is 
 not to be found in our native army.
 
 THE REVENUES AND RESOURCES OF INDIA. 
 
 SYSTEMS OF LAND REVENUE.* 
 
 IT is assumed by some writers that the Sovereign, 
 or Government, is the universal proprietor of the 
 land. This was the doctrine of Sir T. Munro, whose 
 experience had been acquired in districts from which 
 Tippoo Sultan had driven away and exterminated 
 the proprietors, and where no vestiges remained of 
 private rights, in consequence of his extortion and 
 oppression. His (Tippoo' s) object was to engross 
 both the rents and revenues of the country ; and Sir 
 T. Munro followed up the same system, as I think 
 to the impoverishment of the country, the people, 
 and the Government itself. 
 
 What is to be understood by the words " Sove- 
 reign," or " Government ?" The former term has 
 been said to describe the first successful soldier 
 the latter imports an administrative body, dif- 
 ferently constituted at different times, in different 
 countries, under different circumstances, but consti- 
 tuted for the purpose of protecting the community, 
 and superintending and regulating the national af- 
 
 * From a private letter written in 1845. It takes a brief comprehensive 
 survey of the different systems of Indian land revenue, and paves the way 
 towards a right understanding of the subsequent more detailed reflections.
 
 SYSTEMS OF LAND REVENUE. 107 
 
 fairs and interests. For this purpose it exercises a 
 necessary, and what may almost be termed an in- 
 herent, right to levy taxes for defraying the expenses 
 of administration and of protection ; but it requires 
 no property in the soil for these objects, and the pro- 
 perty in the land may be said to have belonged to 
 him who first occupied and cultivated it. True it 
 is, that in Europe and elsewhere, before the esta- 
 blishment of a regular system of taxation, the So- 
 vereign held large landed possessions, or estates, the 
 rents of which were applied to the same purposes as 
 our present land revenue ; but in modern times a 
 marked distinction has been established between rent 
 and revenue. So, too, in India, the Sovereign, both 
 Hindoo and Mussulman, claimed a right to partici- 
 pate in the produce of every beega of land, and in 
 theory, the proportion was usually calculated at one- 
 sixth ; but under a necessitous or rapacious Govern- 
 ment no such rule was practically observed, and the 
 Sovereign, or his instruments, extorted as much as 
 the country would yield, or the people could pay. 
 
 But we then come to the system of administering 
 the land revenue in India, which has varied greatly 
 at different times. It was usually committed to the 
 management of Aumils (administrators), who were 
 empowered to collect the public dues, and who ge- 
 nerally collected as much more as they could for 
 themselves. 
 
 Large districts were sometimes let out to farmers 
 (the Erench fermiers genereux), who extracted as 
 much as they could from the country, and often
 
 108 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 oppressed it grievously; but neither Aumils nor 
 farmers could rightfully dispossess the Talookdars 
 village Zemindars Mokuddums Khode Khoost 
 Ryots, and other classes, who were acknowledged 
 to have a beneficial interest in the soil, as well as 
 the right of occupancy. And, moreover, even the 
 native Governments not only recognised a perma- 
 nency of tenure, but they also in theory at least 
 professed to establish uniform rates of assessment ; 
 the Aumils and farmers engaging to collect accord- 
 ing to established usage (dustoor ool Moolk), and 
 the Pergunnah rates (or Nerikh), as recorded by the 
 Canoongos and Putwarris. When Lord Cornwallis 
 arrived in India, in 1786, he found the country im- 
 poverished, and the people wretched, under short 
 settlements generally concluded with farmers for 
 five years ; and after a long and elaborate discussion 
 with Sir John Shore and others, he determined to 
 establish a system of revenue administration founded 
 upon the recognition of private rights in the land, 
 and the introduction of the principle of permanency \ 
 
 He accordingly proclaimed to the people that the 
 Zemindars and others would be treated with as the 
 proprietors of the soil, the Government reserving to 
 itself only its acknowledged right to receive a por- 
 tion of the produce of each " beezah " of land, or, in 
 other words, the right of taxation. 
 
 2ndly. He established courts of justice, indepen- 
 dent of the Government, for the protection of these 
 and all other private rights. 
 
 3rdly. He resolved to fix the assessment upon the
 
 DIFFERENT TENURES. 109 
 
 land in perpetuity, in order to stimulate industry by 
 giving the landholders an interest in the success of 
 their own exertions to augment the general pro- 
 duce and to encourage the accumulation of capital, 
 by which alone extensive works could be undertaken 
 for the improvement of the country (tanks, wells, 
 water-courses, roads, &c., &c.). 
 
 Then arises the question, whether fluctuating, 
 permanent, or long settlements, were to be preferred. 
 The first had been tried, and had egregiously failed, 
 it having been found that, the year before the expi- 
 ration of the lease, the farmers and others invariably 
 extorted the last rupee, by forcing the sale of the 
 cattle, implements of husbandry, &c., of the help- 
 less Ryot, so as to annihilate the little capital by 
 which the lands were cultivated ; and this was done, 
 not merely to extract as much as possible from the 
 under-tenant, but also to reduce the land to such a 
 state of desolation, as to discourage competition for 
 it, and thus to obtain a renewal of the lease on 
 their own terms. 
 
 Long leases are certainly much less objectionable, 
 and they possess one great advantage in enabling 
 both parties, the Government and the lessee, to ajp 
 commodate their next contracts with due regard to 
 the changes which may take place in the value of 
 the precious metals, or by the introduction of new 
 and more valuable articles of cultivation. 
 
 I, accordingly (in 1827), was a party to the intro- 
 duction of leases for thirty years in the Western 
 Provinces, by way of compromise for violating the
 
 110 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 pledge which, had been given to the landholders in 
 1803 and 1805 to confirm the settlement, then made 
 with them, in perpetuity. 
 
 I trust that this long term will operate as some 
 compensation for their disappointment, and that it 
 will, in a great degree, answer the ends proposed by 
 a permanent settlement ; but as a principle, I still 
 maintain, that permanency of tenure, and a limita- 
 tion of the public demand upon the land, were boons 
 bestowed under the dictates of a just and enlightened 
 policy, and that Lord Cornwallis is to be regarded as 
 the greatest benefactor of India. 
 
 THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT OF BENGAL.* 
 
 That great measure has become the object of per- 
 petual attack and misrepresentation. Men, who are 
 not even acquainted with its principles, and who are 
 evidently ignorant of the manner in which its details 
 were conducted, have come forward to arraign and 
 condemn it. Let those persons peruse the corre- 
 spondence and minutes of the Government and of 
 the Board of Revenue at Calcutta, between the 
 years 1788 and 1791 ; and they will be convinced, I 
 think, that the permanent settlement of Bengal was 
 not concluded in a state of darkness and ignorance 
 that some of the ablest men whom our service has 
 produced, were employed in discussing its principles 
 and arranging its details and that in several dis- 
 
 * From the introduction to a paper, written in 1832, on the settlement of 
 the Ceded and Conquered (now known as the North -Western) Provinces.
 
 THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. Ill 
 
 tricts the engagements were taken from the lowest 
 class of landholders. A passage in Mr. Chaplin's 
 report, quoted with commendation by the Court of 
 Directors, describes the very manner in which our 
 Bengal collectors proceeded in obtaining the neces- 
 sary materials for assessing the lands. They took 
 what is technically called the " Hust-o-bood ;" that 
 is, they ascertained, in many instances by minute 
 and careful examination, the present and past assets; 
 and from these they deduced the future resources of 
 the estate. Not with mathematical certainty, be- 
 cause the unknown quantity was liable to be affected 
 by many contingencies ; such as, the introduction 
 of more valuable products, the improvement of agri- 
 culture, the fluctuation of prices by reason of the 
 abundance or scarcity of the precious metals, &c., 
 &c. These could scarcely be estimated ; but if the 
 permanent settlement deprived the Government of 
 all participation in future and contingent improve- 
 ment, it opened the door to that improvement, 
 which might not otherwise have taken place. Other 
 parties have benefited by it directly, and the Govern- 
 ment itself indirectly, by the advance of agriculture 
 and commerce, and by the augmentation of the 
 capital of the country. With me it is matter of 
 doubt whether the indigo manufacture, upon which 
 our means of remitting the tribute from India now 
 mainly depends, would ever have attained its pre- 
 sent magnitude, if, intent only upon the present, 
 and regardless of the future, we had continued to 
 raise the assessment on every new article of produc- 
 tion which promised to yield a higher rent.
 
 112 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 
 
 INITIAL MEASURES FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE 
 CEDED AND CONQUERED PROVINCES.* 
 
 In 1803, during the administration of Marquis 
 Wellesley, a Regulation was passed (XXV. of that 
 year), declaring, that a permanent settlement of the 
 ceded provinces would be concluded at the end of 
 ten years, for such lands as should be in a sufficiently 
 improved state of cultivation ; and further proclaim- 
 ing the " proprietary rights of all Zemindars, Talook- 
 dars, and other descriptions of landholders possess- 
 ing a right of property in the lands, composing their 
 zemindarries, talooks, or other tenures, to be con- 
 firmed and established under the authority of the 
 JBritish Government, in conformity to the laws and 
 usages of the country, and to the regulations which 
 have been, or shall be hereafter enacted by the Go- 
 vernor-General in Council." 
 
 It was also provided by the same Regulation, that 
 those Zemindars who might decline to enter into en- 
 gagements for their lands, should be allowed " Nan- 
 kar" not exceeding ten per cent, on the jumma of 
 their estates. 
 
 In 1805, a Regulation (IX. of that year) was passed 
 by the same Government in nearly corresponding 
 terms ; declaring that a permanent settlement would 
 be concluded with the Zemindars and other land- 
 holders in the conquered provinces, at the expiration 
 of the decennial leases. 
 
 * From the same paper as the preceding passages. These three extracts 
 set forth, briefly and succinctly, the historical circumstances of the Indian 
 land-tax, and form a fitting introduction to the succeeding papers, which are 
 of a more disquisitional kind.
 
 NORTH-WESTERN SETTLEMENT. 113 
 
 But in 1807, the Supreme Government being 
 anxious to extend to the landowners of our newly 
 acquired territory those advantages which had been 
 conferred on the Zemindars of the lower provinces, 
 by fixing the land-tax in perpetuity, Regulation X. 
 of that year was enacted, appointing commissioners 
 for superintending the settlement of the Ceded and 
 Conquered Provinces ; and notifying " to the Zemin- 
 dars and other actual proprietors of land in those 
 provinces, that the Jumma which may be assessed on 
 their estates in the last year of the settlement imme- 
 diately ensuing the present settlement, shall remain 
 fixed for ever, in case the Zemindars shall now be 
 willing to engage for the payment of the public re- 
 venue on those terms in perpetuity, and the arrange- 
 ment shall receive the sanction of the Honorable the 
 Court of Directors."* 
 
 The arrangement for anticipating the permanent 
 settlement was made subject to the approval of the 
 home authorities ; but no reservation of the kind was 
 made in the regulations of 1803 and 1805 for con- 
 cluding that settlement at the expiration of the de- 
 cennial leases. 
 
 Par from objecting to the pledge given to the land- 
 holders in those regulations far from contending 
 against the principle of a fixed assessment, either on 
 the ground of policy or of justice, the Court expressed 
 their approbation of the measure contemplated, and 
 gave it their unreserved sanction. To as late a pe- 
 riod as 1813 not even a doubt was expressed in the 
 
 * See sec. 5, Reg. X. of 1807. 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 way of discouragement ; and the Government of India 
 had every reason to presume that they were proceed- 
 ing in this great work with the full concurrence and 
 approbation of the controlling authorities in this 
 country. I will not quote from the despatches to 
 the Supreme Government on this subject ; because 
 my colleague, Mr. Edmonstone, in his able and in- 
 structive letters to the Court of the 31st July, 1821, 
 has shown most conclusively that the plans and pro- 
 ceedings of the Government abroad received an 
 ample confirmation. 
 
 Unhappily, as I think, different views were adopted 
 at a subsequent period ; and since 1813* the whole 
 tenor of the Court's correspondence with the Supreme 
 Government has not only discountenanced the idea 
 of a permanent settlement of the lands in the Ceded 
 and Conquered Provinces, but peremptory injunc- 
 tions have been issued to that Government, prohibit- 
 ing the formation of such a settlement, at any future 
 period. The pledge so formally given to the land- 
 holders in 1803, and 1805 and 1807, has accordingly 
 remained unredeemed to the present day temporary 
 settlements have been concluded in various ways 
 with different classes of persons some of the prin- 
 cipal Talookdars have been set aside, and deprived of 
 the management of their estates and the great ob- 
 ject seems to have been to introduce the system of 
 revenue administration which obtains in the terri- 
 tory of Tort St. George. 
 
 * See Court's Letter to Bengal of the 16th of March, 1813.
 
 PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. 115 
 
 EXTENSION OF THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.* 
 
 The objections urged against the extension of the 
 permanent settlement are : 
 
 1st. Want of materials for forming a permanent 
 settlement. 
 
 To these objections I briefly reply : 
 
 If we have not collected sufficient materials after 
 an experience of twenty years, during which minute 
 surveys have been undertaken and laborious investi- 
 gations have been made, we are never likely to com- 
 mand such materials. 
 
 But I am content to leave this question of fact to 
 be decided by the local Government, and to make 
 the order for the formation of a permanent settle- 
 ment conditional, and dependent upon the fact of 
 our materials being sufficient in the opinion of the 
 local authorities. 
 
 2nd. The fear of under-assessment. 
 
 There can be no ground to fear tmcfer-assessment. 
 Our collectors are too prone to exact the uttermost 
 farthing, because their credit depends upon the 
 amount of their collections. Our lightest assess- 
 ment is, perhaps, too heavy. A certain degree of 
 equality is, no doubt, desirable ; but it is not essen- 
 tial, nor perhaps practicable. 
 
 3rd. The fear of over-assessment. 
 
 I am much more afraid of over-assessment ; but 
 
 * This paper is without date. It was perused by Mr. Edmonstono, whose 
 marginal notes show how entirely he concurred in the opinions expressed. 
 
 12
 
 116 LAND KE VENUE. 
 
 all we can do is to enjoin the greatest caution and 
 moderation, and to discountenance all large and 
 sudden augmentations in the Jumma. 
 
 4th. Our ignorance of the rights of the land- 
 holders. 
 
 I admit that it is highly desirahle, although it is 
 not absolutely necessary, to ascertain the rights of 
 the parties with whom the settlement is to he 
 formed, prior to its formation ; hut if we cannot 
 decide this question after twenty years' possession 
 and experience, when shall we he prepared to decide 
 it? But, in reality, we may fix the assessment 
 without determining immediately what party shall 
 benefit by the limitation of our demand. The one 
 act is not necessarily dependent upon the other, 
 however desirable it may be that they should be 
 contemporaneous. We can form the settlement with 
 the same parties whom we found in possession, and 
 with whom we now engage under temporary settle- 
 ments, making a general reservation in favor of all 
 other parties who may hereafter establish a better 
 claim. In fact, it should be our object to disturb 
 the existing state of things as little as possible. 
 
 But a difficulty founded upon private rights can 
 scarcely be urged by those who contend for the right 
 of Government to demand " rent" from the whole 
 territory. This sweeping assumption of the right of 
 property in the land, is a virtual annihilation of all 
 private rights; for I will not permit the right to 
 perform a daily task-work to be any right at all.
 
 DIFFERENT LANDHOLDERS. 117 
 
 We must create property, before we talk of rights ; 
 and property in land can never be created under any 
 system which is founded upon the assumption of the 
 Government being the universal landlord. 
 
 5th. The difficulty of determining with whom to 
 form the settlement. 
 
 This objection has been partly replied to above. 
 I object to the term " middle-men," both as being 
 inapplicable to our Zemindars, and as tending to as- 
 sociate our Bengal system under the permanent set- 
 tlement with the system prevailing in Ireland. 
 
 I would form the settlement with Zemindars, 
 Talookdars, Maliks, or others, where such be found 
 to exist, making a reservation in favor of the rights 
 of all other parties. Where these landholders be 
 not found to exist, I would form the settlement by 
 villages, either with the village community or cor- 
 poration, where such be the usage, or with the vil- 
 lage Zemindar, Potail, or Head Ryot, according to 
 the circumstances which might be found to give a 
 claim to preference in the particular district. The 
 designation of the party is of little moment. 
 
 In all cases, I should be disposed to assess by vil- 
 lages, without attempting to apportion the Jumma 
 on each particular Beega. 
 
 Although it be desirable, I think, to assess the 
 land by villages, I shall be glad to see larger estates 
 grow up. I perceive no advantage, either to the 
 parties themselves or to the State, by constituting, 
 or attempting to constitute, the laboring peasantry
 
 118 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 proprietors of the land, or forty-shilling freeholders ; 
 and, at all events, I am satisfied that a Zemindar 
 or Talookdar is a less objectionable " middle-man" 
 than a Tehsildar or Aumil. The one has an in- 
 terest in protecting and assisting the peasant the 
 other seldom has any fellow-feeling with him. The 
 Byot can complain against the Zemindar against 
 the Tehsildar he dare not ; especially under our pre- 
 sent system, which arms the revenue-officer with 
 judicial power. 
 
 6th. The uncertainty whether a money-rent or a 
 determinate proportion of produce is intended to be 
 taken. 
 
 A money-rent is decidedly to be preferred, I 
 think, and is certainly intended by the Government 
 of Bombay. We might fix the Government pro- 
 portion of the produce, but this would be the pro- 
 portion of a varying quantity, fluctuating also in 
 value ; and this mode of assessment would be pro- 
 ductive of endless frauds and disputes. 
 
 7th. The necessity of providing against a change 
 in the value of the precious metals. 
 
 A great change in the value of the precious metals 
 may, no doubt, take place by the production of a 
 greater quantity from the mines. Science, skill, ca- 
 pital, and the powers of machinery may effect much ; 
 but the powers of absorption may be commensurate 
 with the powers of production, and I am disposed 
 to think (upon grounds which it is not necessary to 
 explain in detail) that such is likely to be the case
 
 ZEMINDARRY RIGHTS. 119 
 
 in India. I see no reason to apprehend our being 
 overstocked with the precious metals ; and if we are 
 to be stopped by the fear of remote and improbable 
 contingencies, there is scarcely any projected im- 
 provement which may not be objected to. More- 
 over, let it be remembered that we are a Government 
 debtor as well as a Government creditor, and that it 
 is only upon the balance of the account that we 
 should suffer in consequence of a depreciation in the 
 value of the precious metals. If we receive less 
 under our contract with the landholders, so, on the 
 other hand, we should pay less in intrinsic value to 
 the public creditors. In both instances, the en- 
 gagement is to receive and to pay the Sicca rupee, 
 or a given number of grains of fine silver ; and we 
 could only lose upon the difference between the fixed 
 revenue and. fixed charge. 
 
 ZEMINDARRY RIGHTS.* 
 
 There is no person more anxious than myself to 
 protect the interests of the agricultural population of 
 India ; but in upholding the rights of the Hyot, real 
 or supposed, we must not overlook the rights of 
 others; nor must we proceed upon mere abstract 
 considerations, without consulting the wishes and 
 interests of those whose cause we undertake to ad- 
 vocate. 
 
 * From an elaborate paper on the Settlement of the North-Western Pro 
 vinces, written in 1832.
 
 120 LAND BE VENUE. 
 
 The right to occupy and cultivate the land, which 
 is so much insisted upon in favor of the Ryot, may 
 be of no value in itself. It may be, and it often has 
 been, a burdensome obligation ; and those who con- 
 tend for anything further are bound to show that 
 some real and more valuable privilege was actually 
 enjoyed by the peasantry of India. The word 
 " Hyot" as I have elsewhere observed, is a generic 
 term; and it comprehends the mere husbandman, 
 who labors for wages, up to the petty landholder. 
 The Khode-kasht chuppurbund or domiciled Ryot, 
 is a favored yeoman, whom it was the interest 
 of the Zemindar to encourage and retain upon his 
 estate, by allowing him to hold small parcels of land 
 upon favorable terms, and who was not often dis- 
 turbed in his possession. This, I presume, is the 
 party pointed at in our correspondence, under the 
 designation of " hereditary cultivator," and I have 
 no objection to the designation. But I cannot pos- 
 sibly assent to the proposition of the Court that 
 all beyond the dues of Government belongs to this 
 person : on the contrary, I maintain that there are 
 parties in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, pos- 
 sessing a beneficial interest in the land whose 
 rights are susceptible of much more direct proof 
 than those arbitrarily assigned to the Uyot and 
 who cannot be reduced to the condition of mere 
 pensioners without signal injustice. 
 
 One of our most experienced revenue servants 
 who held the office of collector in the Ceded and
 
 BIGHTS OF THE ZEMINDARS. 121 
 
 Conquered Provinces for a period of about fifteen 
 years, with great credit to himself and with great ad- 
 vantage to the public writes to me in these terms 
 in a very late letter : " I have never been able to 
 discover the right of the Ryot himself : the Zemin- 
 dars that I have met with have generally possessed 
 title-deeds for their tenures, and when those should 
 have been wanting, there would be the prescriptive 
 right arising from long possession." He again ob- 
 serves : " In the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, it 
 is my opinion that the Zemindars generally possess 
 a substantial lien on the land ; there is the prescrip- 
 tive right arising from long possession, and frequently 
 title-deeds are forthcoming, in support of their several 
 tenures, which no one disputes, and which, of course, 
 could not be set aside without a regular judicial in- 
 vestigation. The Zemindars, in short, have long 
 ceased to be (if ever they were) stipendiary officers, 
 or agents of Government ; and as for the Ryots, in 
 many instances, they would not think of separating 
 from those to whom they have been subservient from 
 time immemorial. I do not mean to say that one 
 uniform system obtains throughout the country ; for 
 in Bundelkund the Bhyachar& tenure is to be found ; 
 and of course in other parts a greater diversity of 
 custom may exist." 
 
 Here we have experience opposed to theory 
 actual observation on the spot contradicting an hy- 
 pothesis framed at a distance. But does it follow 
 that the Ryots are not to be protected in the enjoy-
 
 122 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 ment of everything which they can justly claim under 
 usage, or otherwise ? Par from it the population 
 of India is almost entirely agricultural; and the 
 people have now scarcely any resource, except in the 
 culture of the land. The peasantry should un- 
 doubtedly be supported and encouraged by all just 
 and proper means by a Government which is solici- 
 tous to promote the welfare of its subjects. The 
 Mahomedan Government was by no means insen- 
 sible of this duty, for its stmmtds, and perwannas to 
 the Zemindars, and to its revenue functionaries, very 
 generally contain an injunction to "foster and pro- 
 tect the Ryot." 
 
 But I contend that for this purpose it is not neces- 
 sary to separate him from his ancient hereditary 
 landlord ; and that his condition is not improved by 
 placing him immediately under a stipendiary officer, 
 nor by calling him a joint tenant or co-proprietor 
 with the Government. This language, although not 
 so intended, is a mockery of his condition. 
 
 The Talookdars and Zemindars of the Doaub are 
 not the mere creatures of imagination. I have seen 
 them and communicated with them, and found some 
 of them prosperous, and all well satisfied with our 
 assurances, and apparently well affected to our Go- 
 vernment. We may call them middle-men, and con- 
 tractors, if we wish to degrade them by odious asso- 
 ciations ; but they are the liereditary gentry of tlie 
 country. The Aumil, or manager, was more properly 
 a contractor for the revenue ; but this officer, when 
 his agency was resorted to, was co-existent with the
 
 LANDED ARISTOCRACY. 123 
 
 Zemindar, and did not necessarily supersede the 
 latter or supply his place. 
 
 I do not argue in favor of the sudden creation of 
 a landed aristocracy ; but I would not destroy it 
 where it is found to exist ; and even where it does 
 not yet exist, I would allow it to take root and spring 
 up, as it naturally will do under the influence of 
 laws which protect property and encourage industry. 
 We must, at all events, he prepared to tolerate a 
 class of persons in India ahove the condition of the 
 laboring Ryot ; for if, after giving the people new 
 ideas, new views, and new desires, by means of edu- 
 cation and the Press, we withhold everything calcu- 
 lated to gratify those new feelings, they will not be 
 long in examining much too closely our situation 
 and their own. 
 
 The Mootahdar of Madras, whose fate is so fre- 
 quently alluded to as supplying an argument against 
 the recognition of our Bengal Zemindars, was a new 
 creation. The plant was not indigenous ; it was forced 
 forward much too rapidly ; and on the first exposure 
 it withered and failed. But the Talookdars and Ze- 
 mindars of the Doaub are, I believe, the growth of 
 ages ; and both Jaats, Goojurs, and other Hindoos 
 have been maintained in their possessions, although 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of the principal seat 
 of the JVtahomedan Government. 
 
 Their peasantry have long stood in the relation to- 
 wards them of tenant and landlord the Byots know 
 little of our Government they see it only in our 
 native servants, who appear always in the unpopular
 
 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 character of tax-gatherers. It is in vain that we 
 would impress them with notions of our benevolence 
 and consideration towards them, when we begin by 
 vexatious scrutinies, and end by exacting the utmost 
 which the land can yield in the shape of rent. The 
 way to conciliate them, or to improve their condition, 
 is not, I think, by dissolving the connexion between 
 them and the superior Talookdars, or village Zemin- 
 dars. The one we have, I fear, entirely displaced ; 
 but we cannot destroy the memory of their past, or 
 the consciousness of their present state. They were 
 once prosperous ; and they and their descendants 
 must feel that they are no longer so. They are silent ; 
 because the natives of India are accustomed to en- 
 dure and to submit to the will of their rulers ; but, if 
 an enemy appear on our western frontier, or if an 
 insurrection, unhappily, take place, we shall find 
 these Talookdars, I apprehend, in the adverse ranks, 
 and their Kyots and retainers ranged under the same 
 standard. 
 
 Views of policy cannot be admitted to determine 
 a question of right ; but it is fortunate when these 
 views come in aid of the claims of justice. The 
 Talookdars and Zemindars of the western provinces 
 are recognised by the regulations of 1803 and 1805, 
 as the parties with whom a settlement of the land 
 revenue shall be concluded ; and the local Govern- 
 ment superadded spontaneously another promise, 
 that the public demand should be fixed in perpetuity 
 on the expiration of the decennial leases. In set- 
 ting aside the hereditary landholders, we break
 
 TENANT RIGHTS. 125 
 
 through the usage of the country disregard the 
 claims of possession depart from our engagement 
 and contravene laws which bear the sanction of 
 the British Legislature. I may add, that we have 
 not even consulted the interests of the revenue. 
 With the exception of the district of Goruckpore, 
 the cultivation of the country had sufficiently ad- 
 vanced fifteen years ago, to admit very generally of 
 our fixing the assessment on favorable terms. The 
 land revenue in the western provinces seems, indeed, 
 to have reached its maximum ; and there is great 
 reason to apprehend that it will henceforward de- 
 cline. 
 
 TENANT RIGHTS.* 
 
 By a " Kyotwar Settlement " I understand a set- 
 tlement to be concluded with the immediate culti- 
 vators of the soil, to the exclusion of all Zemindars, 
 Talookdars, and others, who of late years have been 
 designated " middle men," and have been denounced 
 as such. 
 
 It is unquestionable that we found in many parts 
 of our territory, under various designations, a class 
 of persons intermediate between Government and 
 the cultivator, and enjoying from father to son a 
 beneficial interest in the land. Whether these par- 
 ties were landholders or public officers, it is not my 
 purpose to inquire ; but to set them aside without 
 any indemnification, and to deprive them of that 
 
 * From a long and elaborate paper on the Settlement of the Broach Per- 
 gunnahs, written in 1827.
 
 126 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 which they have enjoyed for generations, would, in 
 my opinion, be as unjust as to disregard the real or 
 supposed rights of the "hereditary cultivators." 
 
 If it be intended to grant them an indemnifica- 
 tion in the shape of an annual pension (Nankar), 
 the Government will incur the charge of double 
 agency, and will, I apprehend, substitute an agency 
 of a more objectionable character. The European 
 collector cannot realise the rents or revenues from 
 the numerous cultivators of the soil ; and Tehsil- 
 dars, or native collectors, must therefore be em- 
 ployed under him. For the Zemindar, or Talook- 
 dar, then, who is connected with the land, and with 
 whom the people have been long associated, we sub- 
 stitute a stranger, who is bound to them by no 
 common tie, who has no permanent interest in the 
 land, and whose object in general will be to make 
 the most of a situation which he holds under a very 
 precarious tenure. 
 
 I object decidedly to this change of agency, both 
 on grounds of justice and of policy ; and in setting 
 aside the Zemindars, Talookdars, and others, where 
 such functionaries are found to exist, I contend that 
 we innovate upon the native institutions instead of 
 upholding them. 
 
 The term " Byot" is very indefinite. There are 
 Ryots who may justly be esteemed petty land- 
 holders ; there are others who are tenants with a 
 right of perpetual occupancy ; others, again, who 
 are not domiciled on the land (the Payeen Kasht 
 E/yot), who are moveable, sometimes cultivating in
 
 TENANT RIGHTS. 127 
 
 one village and sometimes in another, and who may 
 be regarded as contractors for carrying on the cul- 
 tivation ; and lastly, there are Ryots who are mere 
 laborers for hire, who possess neither cattle, nor 
 plough, nor stock of any kind, and who are supplied 
 even with the seed grain, receiving the wages of 
 labor usually in kind. 
 
 To class these several parties together, is to con- 
 found all distinctions, and to apply to them all, in- 
 discriminately, the term " hereditary cultivators," 
 by way of denoting those who are to be specially 
 favored and preferred, is to deal with words without 
 much regard to circumstances and things. 
 
 With the first class (whether bearing the desig- 
 nation of Meerassydar, Malik, or otherwise) I shall 
 be glad to see the settlement concluded ; although 
 I am not one of those who consider the minute sub- 
 division of landed property desirable or beneficial in 
 any country. 
 
 The rights of the tenantry who claim under pre- 
 scriptive usage, or otherwise, the perpetual occu- 
 pancy of the soil, ought also to be carefully main- 
 tained ; and in forming the settlement, it would be 
 wise and proper, I think, to require the landholder 
 to fix his rent) and to make it bear a just and deter- 
 minate proportion to the Government revenue as- 
 sessed on the land. In forming the Permanent Set- 
 tlement in Bengal, it was certainly intended to 
 secure the under-tenants against any arbitrary in- 
 crease of rent; but the provisions made for this 
 purpose were not sufficient, and have not, I admit,
 
 128 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 been found to answer completely the end proposed. 
 We have now, however, acquired more experience ; 
 and I apprehend no difficulty in introducing into 
 our future settlements such conditions and pro- 
 visions as will effectually guard the rights of the 
 under-tenants against the encroachments of the 
 landholders. 
 
 With respect to the other classes of Ryots, who 
 have no fixed tenure or interest in the land, I 
 should say that the intervention of Government 
 between them and the landholder is by no means 
 necessary, or likely to be useful. The parties should 
 be left to form their own arrangements ; and, if 
 personal freedom be guaranteed to the Ryot, the 
 landholder can seldom find his account in continuing 
 towards him a course of oppressive conduct. 
 
 But does the " Ryotwar" system, which in theory 
 elevates the cultivator to the condition of a tenant 
 holding immediately from the Government, confer 
 upon him the blessing of personal freedom ? Can 
 he quit his land, and remove to another district ? 
 No; he, in this case, is pursued as a fugitive he is 
 liable to be brought back by an officer invested with 
 judicial powers, and to be dealt with by a summary 
 process. " The desertion of Ryots" was a common 
 theme of complaint in the revenue correspondence 
 in Bengal, prior to the introduction of the perma- 
 nent settlement ; and the evil, I fear, still exists in 
 the territory of Port St. George. Why do they de- 
 sert ? Are men prone to abandon that which is of 
 real value ? My great objection to the Ryotwar
 
 THE RYOTWAR SYSTEM. 129 
 
 system is, that while it takes away from one class 
 that which bears a value, it bestows nothing of value 
 upon any other. If we find none but peasants in 
 the country, this is a lamentable truth ; but in this 
 case we must of necessity deal with them. Instead, 
 however, of descanting upon rights which they do 
 not at present enjoy, let us confer a real benefit by 
 limiting our demands upon them. Property will 
 then spring up, and with it rights, which exist at 
 present only in name. The condition of an " here- 
 ditary cultivator" may be one fraught with evil; 
 and I myself have never been able to discover those 
 rights connected with it under the " Ryotwar sys- 
 tem," which we are so anxious to secure and per- 
 petuate. 
 
 THE " RYOTWAR" SYSTEM.* 
 
 Under this system, a good collector may do great 
 justice to the peasantry, by securing to them a com- 
 fortable subsistence from the land, and by perform- 
 ing towards them the office of a benevolent and 
 considerate landlord. He may manage the territory 
 in the same manner as an intelligent proprietor 
 would manage his estate ; and it is the interest of 
 every proprietor to foster, and protect, and encou- 
 rage an industrious tenantry. 
 
 But the system requires the agency of numerous 
 officers, who are not all considerate, intelligent, and 
 incorruptible. The nature of our European service 
 
 * From the same paper as the preceding. 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 LAND HEVENTJE. 
 
 is such as to allow little range for selection ; and if 
 the European superintendence be not efficient, the 
 inferior instruments will have the power of doing 
 infinite mischief. 
 
 The assessment involves innumerable details, and 
 it must be regulated with reference to the particular 
 species of agricultural produce, varying with the 
 quantity, quality, and price of the article produced. 
 
 The system renders personal coercion sometimes 
 necessary, to stimulate labor and prevent migration. 
 
 It operates as a check upon industry ; since the 
 demand for revenue keeps pace with the produce. 
 
 It tends to the suppression of valuable products 
 in some instances ; since these may require an out- 
 lay of money, or the exertion of a degree of skill and 
 attention which are not likely to be called forth 
 while the Government, in quality of landlord, de- 
 rives the chief benefit from the more valuable pro- 
 duction. 
 
 It prevents the growth of capital, and the accu- 
 mulation of landed property. 
 
 By opening the door to frauds on the part of the 
 peasant, and corruption on the part of the pub- 
 lic officer, where the superintendence is defective, 
 it has a tendency unfavorable to the morals of the 
 people. 
 
 By removing all intermediate classes connected 
 with the land, between the Government and the 
 peasant, it prevents the establishment of that 
 " landed interest," which in other countries consti- 
 tutes a powerful support of the Government.
 
 THE ftYOTWAR SYSTEM. 131 
 
 It tends to perpetuate a state of poverty through- 
 out the country; and, as the peasant cannot save 
 and hoard up from the produce of abundant seasons 
 wherewithal to supply the deficiency of a bad har- 
 vest, it provides no safeguard against the evils of 
 scarcity and famine. 
 
 It cannot be concealed or denied, I think, that 
 the object of this system is to obtain for Government 
 the utmost which the land will yield in the shape of 
 " rent ;" and although a humane collector will con- 
 nect with this object, as far as possible, the protec- 
 tion and encouragement of the peasantry, can we 
 expect to see the people generally prosperous while 
 our Government act upon the assumption that the 
 vast territory of India is to be held and managed, 
 for their account and benefit, as if it were some legi- 
 timately acquired freehold estate ? 
 
 One argument in favor of variable assessments, 
 and against a permanent settlement, I must not pass 
 over unnoticed. It has been urged that the value 
 of the precious metals may undergo a great change, 
 in consequence of the American mines becoming 
 more productive ; but I must observe that India, 
 from the present state of its manufactures and com- 
 merce, is little in a condition to supply itself with 
 any large quantity of gold and silver ; while the 
 waste and absorption of these metals in our pro- 
 vinces must always tend to maintain their value. 
 Our currency is almost exclusively metallic : a great 
 waste takes place by the wear of the coin in circula- 
 tion, as well as during the process of coinage and 
 
 K2
 
 132 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 re-coining, the rupee being invariably called in when- 
 ever it loses more than six-sixteenths per cent, of its 
 weight. The people, too, use habitually a consider- 
 able quantity of gold and silver in ornaments for 
 their women and children; and a very great con- 
 sumption of the article takes place in this way an- 
 nually. Moreover, let it be remembered that the 
 Company is a Government debtor, as well as a Go- 
 vernment creditor ; and that the disadvantage ap- 
 prehended from the depreciation of the precious 
 metals even if an excessive importation should ever 
 take place is likely to be felt only on the difference 
 between ike fixed revenue and infixed charge.* 
 
 VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS, f 
 
 Under whatever modifications the settlement may 
 be made, annual assessments will be liable to many 
 of the objections which I have enumerated ; but a 
 settlement by villages requires less interference on 
 the part of the public officers it is less vexatious 
 and oppressive more congenial, I think, with the 
 habits and feelings of the people it yields a more 
 certain and equal revenue, and is less expensive in 
 collection. 
 
 This mode of settlement has, I believe, been tried 
 with success in some of the Madras districts ; and 
 the chief difficulty attending it consists in the 
 selection of a proper representative, or manager, to 
 superintend the concerns of the village community, 
 
 * See ante, pages 118, 119.' 
 
 f From the same paper as the preceding.
 
 VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS. 133 
 
 and to undertake the responsibility for the public re- 
 venue. The manager (whether potail or cultivator) 
 may favor himself, his relatives, and friends ; and, 
 in quality of petty farmer, may become the little 
 tyrant of the village; but my limited experience 
 would lead me to say that we too often take a dis- 
 trustful and unjust view of the character of our 
 native subjects. They are not destitute of a proper 
 sense of right and wrong; and among each other 
 their dealings are regulated by the same feelings 
 which govern us. They do not habitually prey upon 
 each other ; although they are often led, from their 
 situation and circumstances, to oppose falsehood and 
 fraud to violence and extortion. At all events, I 
 would rather commit a village to one of its own 
 corporation than to a stranger, in the character of a 
 Government officer; and if there happen to be a 
 Zemindar, or Meerassadar, in the case, there can be 
 no question, I think, that he is the proper party to 
 engage for the public revenue. 
 
 Whether the settlement be made for each village, 
 or be concluded for each field, with the individual 
 Ryot or cultivator, a fixed assessment, or long leases, 
 will constitute a real good. This is, no doubt, a 
 great advance towards improvement; but still, if 
 we have no class above the mere yeomanry, the 
 country is never likely to attain any great degree of 
 prosperity capital will not be generated wells, 
 reservoirs, watercourses, and other useful works, 
 will not be undertaken upon any large scale foreign 
 commerce is not likely to be extended rich con-
 
 134 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 sinners will not be found to encourage rare and 
 valuable productions there will be no gradation in 
 society no education no middle class to constitute 
 the elements and instruments of a useful system of 
 judicature the population may, and probably will, 
 be excessive, and the people may produce food suffi- 
 cient to sustain existence ; but the British Govern- 
 ment will have done nothing to raise the people 
 from one common condition of universal poverty. 
 
 THE PERMANENT ZEMINDARRY SETTLEMENT.* 
 
 Let me repeat that, accustomed as I am to our 
 Bengal system, I have no partiality for names. In 
 the term "landholder," I would comprehend all 
 Zemindars, Talookdars, Chowdries, Maliks, Meeras- 
 sadars, Polygars, Deshmookhs, Deshadekars, as well 
 as Byots, or "hereditary cultivators," and all others 
 whom we have found in the possession of the land, 
 and in the enjoyment of hereditary rights and pri- 
 vileges. If we* happen to find two parties on the 
 same land, I should be disposed to follow the Bengal 
 practice, and to conclude the settlement with the 
 superior, requiring bim and the under-tenant to ex- 
 change pottahs and kubooliats (leases and engage- 
 ments) at fixed rates, bearing a due, and, as far as 
 possible, an exact proportion to the Government 
 assessment. 
 
 Such settlement might easily be made in a way to 
 secure the just rights of the tenantry. Land con- 
 
 * In continuation of the same paper.
 
 THE ZEMINDARRY SETTLEMENT. 135 
 
 stituting the peculium of the Zemindar or Ryot, and 
 held under the authority of long usage or otherwise, 
 either at a low rate, or exempt from assessment, 
 would be continued on the same footing ; and every 
 species of tenure, existing under the native institu- 
 tions, might be respected and preserved. 
 
 This settlement with a superior class of land- 
 holders is calculated, I think, to encourage industry, 
 to promote the interests of agriculture, the growth 
 of capital, and the extension of commerce to iden- 
 tify the interests of the governors and the governed, 
 so as to secure the allegiance and attachment of the 
 people ; and, finally, to add to the sources of human 
 enjoyment. 
 
 The most common objection urged against this 
 system is, that the Government sacrifice the means 
 of making future additions to its revenue, in pro- 
 portion to the augmented resources of the contribu- 
 tion ; and that the peasantry do not participate in 
 the benefit which may be derived from extended 
 production. But, if we find by experience that the 
 resources of the country do not increase under 
 annual and varying assessments, Government can 
 scarcely be said to make any sacrifice ; and it cannot 
 fail to benefit, directly or indirectly, by the increase 
 of capital, of production, and consumption, and by 
 everything which contributes to the prosperity of 
 its subjects. 
 
 If this universal truth be questioned, let me refer 
 to the ample revenue which we have drawn of late 
 years in Bengal, from salt, opium, customs, abkarry,
 
 136 LAND REVENUE. 
 
 stamps, &c. ; and although I am aware that the 
 principle and policy of some of those taxes may be 
 questioned, and that the land has for ages been 
 looked to in India (and for obvious reasons) as the 
 main and legitimate source of revenue, I cannot 
 admit that, under a judicious system of administra- 
 tion, we may not reasonably look forward to new 
 objects of taxation, less objectionable than an im- 
 moderate and uncertain land-tax. 
 
 The under-tenants and peasantry may not benefit 
 in an equal degree with the principal landholder, 
 from the limitation of the public demand ; but we 
 cannot attain to absolute perfection by means of any 
 fiscal arrangements, and we must be content to se- 
 cure the greatest attainable good to the greatest 
 numbers whose situation is susceptible of ame- 
 lioration. 
 
 I cannot admit that the Zemindars, who have an 
 interest in the prosperity of their estates, and in the 
 well-being of their tenantry, are likely to be more 
 oppressive functionaries than the officers of revenue, 
 who have no such interest. The over-zeal of a young 
 and inexperienced collector* (and there are many 
 such, I fear) is supposed to have caused 50,000 
 beegas of land to be thrown out of cultivation in a 
 single year, in one of the Baroach districts. No 
 Zemindar could have been guilty of such gratuitous 
 folly ; for he must have perceived that his own ruin 
 would be the inevitable consequence. I have always 
 
 * See the proposition of the collector of Chingleput for the confiscation of 
 Meerassy tenures (hereditary property) as a means of compelling the Eyots 
 to cultirate their lands. H. St.G. T.
 
 PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. 137 
 
 felt that the fewer officers we employ in the collec- 
 tion of the revenue, and the less these officers come 
 into immediate contact with the agricultural popu- 
 lation, the more ease and comfort will the people 
 enjoy. A prudent and considerate collector may do 
 a good deal of good, I allow ; but the object of our 
 intermeddling is in general to obtain money ; and 
 our Government so seldom appears in any other 
 than the character of tax-gatherer, that I should not 
 be disposed to put forth unnecessarily the instru- 
 ments and symbols of this unpopular office. 
 
 It may be asked whether, in supporting a parti- 
 cular system, my object is to establish " a principle 
 to be hereafter called into operation throughout the 
 whole of the British territory in India, where a per- 
 manent settlement has not already been introduced?" 
 
 I do not hesitate to acknowledge that I earnestly 
 desire to see sound and salutary principles prevail in 
 the administration of every part of our Indian ter- 
 ritory ; and that the orders proposed to be issued 
 for the settlement of the districts of Baroach have 
 not, in my opinion, been framed in the way best 
 calculated to promote the prosperity of those dis- 
 tricts. But I have never manifested, at any time, a 
 wish to disturb existing arrangements, and to su- 
 persede in the Madras territory, with which I am 
 only very imperfectly acquainted, a system of ma- 
 nagement which has long been established, and 
 which comes recommended by a gentleman so 
 justly entitled to the highest consideration and 
 respect.
 
 138 
 
 THE SALT-DUTIES. 
 
 [Written in 1827.] 
 
 IN examining this question of the salt- duties, two 
 objects must be held in view : the one, the security 
 of the public revenue ; the other, the comfort of the 
 consumer, to whom it is desirable, certainly, that 
 we should furnish an article of primary necessity at 
 a moderate price. 
 
 The first of these objects has been attained by the 
 operation of the system which was introduced in 
 Bengal about forty years ago, the revenue from salt 
 at that presidency having been gradually raised from 
 a very insignificant sum, until it now amounts to 
 nearly a million and a half sterling per annum; while 
 the revenue derived from the same article at Port 
 St. George, where the cost of manufacture is only 
 about one-third of the medium cost in Bengal, does 
 not exceed the sum of twenty-five lacs, or 250,000/. 
 per annum. 
 
 The difference in the produce of the tax at the two 
 presidencies does not arise, as I have reason to be- 
 lieve, from any great disproportion in the population 
 of the countries which contribute respectively towards 
 this revenue. It arises from a difference in the rates 
 of taxation. At Port St. George a strict monopoly 
 cannot be maintained at any high prices, because it 
 is scarcely possible to prevent the illicit manufacture
 
 BENGAL AND MADRAS CONSUMERS. 139 
 
 of salt throughout the long line of coast under that 
 presidency; and smuggling would inevitably take 
 place under the temptation of large profits. The 
 same difficulty opposes the establishment of a high 
 tax in our Bengal provinces west of Behar, salt being 
 produced in Malwa, and other countries west of the 
 Jumna, at a low price ; and it being impossible to 
 guard effectually against its clandestine importation 
 throughout a long line of frontier, without adopting 
 measures of severity which would be quite intolerable 
 to the people, and without maintaining numerous 
 officers at an expense which would absorb a large 
 portion of the tax. A futile and inconsiderate at- 
 tempt was made to establish a salt monopoly in our 
 western provinces soon after their acquisition ; but 
 it has been very properly abandoned, and we now 
 confine ourselves to the imposition of a moderate 
 duty on the importation of the article into our west- 
 ern territory, including the province of Benares, 
 whose consumption is supplied almost exclusively 
 from the produce of Malwa, Lahore, and other coun- 
 tries situated beyond the Jumna. The Bengal mo- 
 nopoly, in reality, extends only to the provinces of 
 Bengal Proper, Behar, and Orissa, the population of 
 which cannot greatly exceed that of the territory 
 which contributes to the salt-revenue of Fort St. 
 George ; and though this population, which has been 
 estimated at 30,000,000, would unquestionably con- 
 sume more salt, if they could obtain the article at a 
 lower price, no sudden or considerable increase in 
 the consumption can be safely calculated upon with- 
 out a material reduction of price.
 
 140 THE SALT-DUTIES. 
 
 Now, let me ask (since it is always useful to re- 
 duce new projects to some specific proposition), at 
 what rate is it proposed to fix the price of salt in 
 the first instance ? What, in fact, is that scale of 
 price to which the article ought to be reduced, for 
 the purpose of affording the desired relief to the con- 
 sumer ? The average of the sales in the last year 
 (1826) was not quite 353 rupees per 100 maunds. 
 Is this price considered too high ? and are we pre- 
 pared to entertain a proposition for its reduction, 
 say, to 250 rupees per 100 maunds, which would still 
 leave the tax at the rate of 150 per cent., while that 
 at Madras is only 100 per cent. ? Under such a re- 
 duction, the consumption remaining the same, we 
 must be prepared for a diminution in our gross re- 
 venue to the extent of 50 lacs of rupees per annum ; 
 or, in order that the revenue may remain undi- 
 minished, an increase must take place in the con- 
 sumption to the extent of 33 lacs of maunds that 
 is, it must suddenly advance from 50 to 83 lacs of 
 maunds ; an increase which no reasonable person 
 can venture to anticipate. Again, let it be proposed 
 to reduce the price gradually, and to fix it, in the 
 first instance, say, at 300 rupees per 100 maunds. 
 This would be attended with the sacrifice of only 25 
 lacs of annual revenue, the consumption remaining 
 the same ; or, in order that the revenue may remain 
 the same, the consumption must at once be increased 
 above 12 lacs of maunds, a rate of increase which so 
 small a reduction of price cannot, I think, be ex- 
 pected suddenly to produce.
 
 EFFECTS ON THE POPULATION. 141 
 
 Let us next inquire what degree of relief would 
 be extended to the consumer of salt by reducing 
 the tax in the sum of 25 lacs of rupees, even 
 admitting, what would by no means follow as a 
 necessary consequence, that, by disposing of our salt 
 at the public golahs at the fixed price of 300 rupees 
 per 100 maunds, a corresponding reduction of price 
 would take place in the retail market. 
 
 Taking the population of the three provinces whose 
 consumption is supplied by our periodical sales at 
 30,000,000, and assuming the net revenue drawn 
 from the salt monopoly at 1,25,00,000 rupees, 
 1,250,000 pounds sterling (the charge of manufac- 
 ture evidently constituting no part of the tax), each 
 individual contributes, on a medium, tenpence 
 per annum; and if a remission of 25 lacs of 
 rupees were granted, each contributor might be ex- 
 pected to benefit to the extent of something less than 
 twopence annually. The lower classes do not, how- 
 ever, pay quite so much as tenpence, as they do not 
 consume at the medium rate. 
 
 It is far from my intention to insinuate that a 
 poll-tax of tenpence, or even less, when levied on 
 the poorer classes of the population of India, is 
 likely to be felt as a light contribution ; or that a 
 saving of less than twopence in their annual expen- 
 diture would be matter of indifference. What I 
 would submit is, that in the present state of the 
 finances of India, we cannot afford to grant a 
 remission of even 25 lacs in our Salt Revenue, 
 unless we could discover some unobjectionable sub-
 
 142 THE SALT-DUTIES. 
 
 stitute for it ; and I am decidedly of opinion that we 
 could not suddenly raise this sum in India by any 
 new tax, without subjecting the people to a degree 
 of inconvenience and hardship which would by no 
 means be compensated by a trifling reduction in the 
 price of salt. 
 
 But is it at all certain that the individual contri- 
 butor would actually benefit by the remission of the 
 tax ? or, in other words, that the retail price of salt 
 to the consumer would fall in proportion to the re- 
 duction made by Government in the wholesale price 
 of the article ? 
 
 This benefit does not appear to have resulted gene- 
 rally from the reduction of the tax at Port St. 
 George, it being stated "that the salt merchants had 
 not afforded to the inhabitants of many of the dis- 
 tricts a corresponding reduction in the retail price;" 
 and the fact tends very much to strengthen the 
 apprehension which I entertain with regard to the 
 practical good to be expected from the projected 
 change of system. 
 
 I have no grounds for affirming that a sub-mono- 
 poly exists at Port St. George, either on the part of 
 the public servants, or the merchants; but it is 
 matter of notoriety, and it was matter of just re- 
 proach to the Government of the day, that the 
 utmost abuse prevailed in Bengal prior to the esta- 
 blishment of the present system, under which the 
 periodical sales are conducted in a public manner, 
 and are open to general competition. 
 
 The same abuse can never be practised again in
 
 PERIODICAL SALES. 143 
 
 the same degree ; but should it be determined to fix 
 the price of salt at a reduced rate, and to confine 
 the sales to the public golahs, or storehouses, it ap- 
 pears, to me that the native servants will have great 
 opportunities of levying contributions from the mer- 
 chant and consumer, even if they should not ac- 
 tually succeed in establishing a regular sub-mono- 
 poly. 
 
 The boats, which bring down, from the more 
 remote districts, grain and other bulky articles, for 
 the consumption of Calcutta and its neighbourhood, 
 and for exportation by sea, are usually employed in 
 carrying back salt ; and under the existing system 
 of periodical sales, the merchant who carries on this 
 double traffic, by effecting his purchases previously, 
 can secure always the required supply of the article, 
 deliverable at the particular station which may best 
 suit his purposes ; but, if the sales are to be made 
 at the golahs, he must send his boats, at a venture, 
 without any certainty of his being able to procure a 
 supply. The native servants in charge of those 
 golahs will have only to say that he is too late, and 
 that the salt in store had already been disposed of to 
 others ; and they will reduce him to the alternative 
 of submitting to their exactions, or of returning dis- 
 appointed, after having been subjected to expense 
 and delay, and the other inconveniences usually 
 resulting from the derangement of a commercial 
 speculation. If it be said that such vexatious delays 
 may be created for corrupt purposes even under the 
 present system, I admit that this is possible ; but in
 
 THE SALT-DUTIES. 
 
 the one case the officer complained against may urge 
 a plea which it will be extremely difficult to dis- 
 prove ; while, in the other, no justification can he 
 pleaded for the non- delivery of that which is known 
 to he in store, which has been actually purchased, 
 and for the delivery of which the purchaser holds 
 an order, or warrant, from a public officer of the 
 Government. 
 
 If, with the view of obviating this objection, it be 
 proposed that the sales should be made, at fixed 
 prices, by the Board of Trade at Calcutta, and not 
 at the golahs, then, I contend, that a sub-monopoly 
 is likely to be established by the Calcutta capitalists, 
 who will purchase up the whole quantity offered for 
 sale, and compel the real merchant to take what he 
 requires from them at an advance of price. This is 
 not mere vague speculation. Attempts have been 
 made to engross in this way both the salt and opium, 
 and they have been attended with partial success, 
 even under the difficulty of open competition ; but 
 if the salt be tendered for sale at a reduced and 
 fixed price, I apprehend that the great capitalists 
 will experience little difficulty in establishing a sub- 
 monopoly. 
 
 If, in the very laudable design to bring salt home 
 to every man's door at a cheap rate, it be proposed 
 to allow the petty dealers and consumers to purchase 
 the article at the golahs in small quantities, without 
 the intervention of the wholesale merchant, I submit 
 that, in addition to the objection already stated with 
 regard to the opportunity of levying contributions,
 
 SMUGGLING. 
 
 which will be afforded to the native servants, facili- 
 ties will be given to smuggling in a way calculated 
 to affect the public revenue. I will not insist that, 
 according to the principles of political economy, 
 labor is most productive when subdivided and ap- 
 plied to individual objects, and that nothing is 
 gained by taking the petty dealer from his shop, or 
 the manufacturer from his loom, in order that these 
 parties may dispense with the services of the inter- 
 mediate merchant. What I would urge is, the diffi- 
 culty of preventing smuggling, if the salt be disposed 
 of in small quantities in the manufacturing districts, 
 with liberty to the purchaser to convey it through 
 those districts. The Molungees are in the habit of 
 secreting a part of their produce, for the purpose of 
 realising, by private sale, a higher price than they 
 receive from Government; and in order to check 
 this practice, it has been found necessary to prevent 
 as much as possible the transit* of salt in small 
 quantities within certain limits, and to confine the 
 transportation of it under rowannahs, or passes, to 
 the principal rivers and routes, until it passes beyond 
 the Chokees, or Guard Stations, when the trade be- 
 comes free, and the article may be distributed over 
 the country without interruption or hindrance. But 
 as salt cannot easily be identified and distinguished, 
 the practice of allowing it to be removed in small 
 quantities from the golahs, would afford great facili- 
 ties to the Molungees (and, I may add, to the native 
 
 * See sections 36 and 47, Regulation X., 1819; also sections 55, 60, and 70, 
 of the same Regulation. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 14-6 THE SALT-DUTIES. 
 
 servants) for tlie removal of illicit salt; and the 
 market being thus in part supplied through an irre- 
 gular channel, the interests of the monopoly would 
 be liable to be affected in a serious degree. 
 
 The object of the Board, I presume, is not to 
 reduce the tax at this moment. It is to promote 
 consumption, and to give the poorer classes more 
 salt to eat for the same money, while the Govern- 
 ment draw the same revenue from an extended sale. 
 This is a just and humane object; and I am as 
 anxious as any man can be to promote its attain- 
 ment. But does it follow that it is only to be ac- 
 complished by disposing of our salt in small quan- 
 tities at fixed prices ? It appears to me that the 
 end may be attained equally well, and with less risk 
 to our revenue, by extending the public sales. If 
 the present price (about 350 rupees per 100 maunds) 
 be considered too high, let an addition be made, say 
 of five lacs of maunds, to the quantity annually 
 brought to sale ; and if that be not sufficient, let a 
 further addition be made, and it is unquestionable 
 that, by a seasonable and judicious adjustment of 
 the supply to the demand, the price may be regu- 
 lated with a great degree of precision. The specula- 
 tions of individuals may sometimes, no doubt, run 
 up the prices beyond the proper scale, and for a time 
 disturb this adjustment ; but when the intention of 
 the Government to lower the price by enlarging the 
 sales is known and understood, and the public be- 
 come sensible that steps can and will be taken to 
 restore the equilibrium whenever great fluctuations
 
 EXTENDED IMPORTATION. 147 
 
 occur, the disposition to speculate must be mate- 
 rially checked. 
 
 But what means will the Government possess of 
 regulating or influencing prices in the retail market, 
 if the whole prodiice be offered for sale at a fixed 
 price, and the wealthy capitalist (as he probably will 
 do) determine to purchase it up as fast as it can be 
 brought forward ? Under the existing system, the 
 real merchant is sure of obtaining a supply if he 
 chooses to bid high enough, and there is little 
 danger of his being undersold while he purchases 
 like others, at nearly the average of the public 
 sales ; but, if the supply fall into the hands of sub- 
 monopolists, he will not only IDC exposed to arbitrary 
 and indefinite exactions, but he will be liable to be 
 undersold in the market of consumption by the sub- 
 monopolist himself. 
 
 Although adverse to the plan of disposing of our 
 salt at the public golahs at fixed prices, I have long 
 been of opinion that, with a view to the benevolent 
 object contemplated by the Board, the supply of salt 
 to our Bengal subject should be gradually augmented ; 
 and that the importation of the article from the coast 
 of Coromandel should be more encouraged. There ex- 
 isted, heretofore, in Bengal, a prejudice against this 
 salt ; but it is now, I understand, getting into more 
 general use, and the price is approximating more 
 nearly to that of our Bengal manufacture. The fol- 
 lowing, among other reasons, may be urged in favor 
 of extending the importation of it. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE SALT-DUTIES. 
 
 1st. By substituting it more generally for the 
 Bengal salt, we shall be enabled to discontinue the 
 manufacture of the latter article in the Sunderbunds, 
 and other situations where the climate and local cir- 
 cumstances are so injurious to the Molungees. 
 
 2nd. "We shall obtain a cheaper, and, I may add, a 
 better article, the cost of the coast salt, with the ad- 
 dition of freight and other charges attending its 
 transportation to Calcutta by sea, little exceeding 
 one-half the cost of our Bengal manufacture. 
 
 3rd. The interests of the revenue of Port St. 
 George are promoted in some degree by the exporta- 
 tion of salt from the territory under that presi- 
 dency. 
 
 4th. The coasting trade, and especially that which 
 is carried on in the native vessels, or donies, is very 
 much promoted by permitting the importation of 
 salt and receiving it from the importer at a fixed 
 price. These vessels seldom make more than one 
 trip in the year ; they convey grain from Bengal to 
 the coast of Coromandel ; but the trade is liable to 
 be impeded or checked if they are not allowed to take 
 a cargo of salt, on terms to yield a freight, and supply 
 a remittance for the purchase of grain in Bengal. 
 Moreover, by maintaining the dony tonnage, we 
 provide the means of alleviating the sufferings of the 
 people on the coast of Coromandel, in seasons of 
 scarcity ; but our existing regulations are not calcu- 
 lated to encourage and extend it. The selling price 
 of coast salt last year in Bengal was about 330 ru-
 
 THE OPIUM REVENUE. 149 
 
 pees per 100 maunds ; and as only 30 rupees of the 
 amount were receivable by the importer (or some- 
 what less than the original cost of the article), he 
 could have realised no freight in the cargo. 
 
 THE OPIUM MONOPOLY. 
 
 [Written in 1829.] 
 
 It is scarcely necessary for me to speak of the 
 policy which had been pursued by the East India 
 Company, systematically for a long course of years, 
 with relation to the monopoly of opium in Bengal. 
 The leading feature of that policy was, to limit the 
 manufacture to a moderate quantity, seldom exceed- 
 ing 4500* chests to confine the cultivation of the 
 poppy to those districts in which the drug could be 
 produced of the best quality, and at the lowest cost 
 and to prevent, as far as possible, the sale and use 
 of it in our territory, except for medicinal purposes. 
 In prosecuting this policy we went so far as to pro- 
 hibit the cultivation of the poppy in the districts of 
 Baugulpore and Kungpore, where it had long been 
 grown extensively, and where the produce had here- 
 tofore been appropriated to the purposes of the mo- 
 nopoly ; and, at a period not very remote, on infor- 
 mation being obtained that the cultivation in Rung- 
 pore had been clandestinely renewed, the Govern- 
 ment did not hesitate to order the plant to be eradi- 
 cated, in the most peremptory and arbitrary manner. 
 
 * Average annual sale in eleven years, from 1814-15 to 1824-25 Bengal 
 opium chests, 3942.
 
 150 THE OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 In short, the very essence of all our arrangements had 
 been to draw the largest revenue from the smallest 
 quantity of the article. 
 
 On the cession of Malwa to us by the Mahrattas, 
 the Governments of India seem to have entertained 
 the project of raising from that province an opium 
 revenue, similar to that which we had succeeded in 
 establishing in Bengal. For this purpose a very high 
 duty* was imposed on the transit and exportation of 
 the article by sea from Bombay and the ports on the 
 western side of India ; and I am persuaded that if 
 this simple plan had been persevered in, we should 
 not only have succeeded in affording very material 
 protection to our Bengal monopoly, but that we 
 should also have raised no inconsiderable revenue at 
 Bombay by means of the duty. It was very high, 
 no doubt ; and when high duties exist, smuggling 
 may be expected to take place in a greater or less 
 degree. But surely we had greater means of pre- 
 venting or checking smuggling after we had obtained 
 possession of the whole coast with the exception of 
 the obscure ports of Diu and Demaun and after we 
 have established a paramount authority or a predo- 
 minant influence throughout the whole of Central 
 India than we can be supposed to have possessed 
 while the Mahratta and Bajpoot states enjoyed poli- 
 tical independence. 
 
 Some small quantity of opium would, I can readily 
 
 * Twelve rupees per seer. Had this duty been collected on one- half the 
 quantity of Malwa opium at present exported, it would have yielded an annual 
 revenue of at least 24,00,000 rupees. H. St.G. T.
 
 ILLICIT TRAFFIC. 151 
 
 believe, have escaped our custom-houses, and have 
 been exported through the Portuguese settlement of 
 Demaun, as heretofore ; but the Bengal monopoly, 
 which had always this competition to encounter, 
 would at least have been as well, if not better pro- 
 tected, while a certain revenue would have been 
 drawn from the regular trade in the article. More- 
 
 o 
 
 over, I would observe that the difficulty, risk, and 
 expense of carrying on an illicit traffic in opium 
 from Malwa would have been so great as to constitute 
 a virtual protection to our monopoly. The cost of 
 production in that province far exceeds that of Behar 
 or Benares ; while the sale value in the market of 
 consumption was less. The transportation of the 
 article a distance of several hundred miles, through 
 mountain passes, in a country possessing no regular 
 roads or other facilities for conveyance, must have 
 been opposed by very formidable obstacles, and have 
 been attended with very great expense ; while the 
 exactions of the petty chieftains through whose ter- 
 ritory it must pass, would have all tended to enhance 
 its cost, and in so doing to afford an indirect protec- 
 tion to our Bengal monopoly. Opium, in fact, is an 
 article very difficult to smuggle in large quantity. 
 Its presence is easily detected ; and it must be pre- 
 pared and packed in a particular manner to com- 
 mand the confidence of the foreign purchaser. 
 
 Notwithstanding these circumstances, which 
 seemed to favor so decidedly the success of the first 
 plan projected, it was suddenly abandoned, even be- 
 fore it had been brought to the test of experiment.
 
 152 THE OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 A large quantity of opium, which, the proprietors 
 appeared unable or unwilling to export, was pur- 
 chased at Bombay at an enormous* price. The mo- 
 nopoly was subsequently undertaken on account of 
 Government it was for some time notoriously mis- 
 managed high prices were given, very far exceed- 
 ing the natural cost of production the cultivation 
 of the poppy was thus encouraged and extended 
 and, to finish this hasty sketch, I may observe 
 that we have now become the manufacturers or 
 purchasers of above twenty thousand maunds (say 
 one million and a half of pounds weight) of Malwa 
 opium, annually, without enjoying even the poor 
 consolation of knowing that by this monstrous pro- 
 duction we have added to our financial resources. It 
 is true that a small profitf is at length exhibited in 
 the public accounts ; but my own conviction is, that 
 the Bengal monopoly has suffered from the excessive 
 production of the article in Central India in a de- 
 gree far exceeding the revenue which has been ob- 
 tained, or which is ever likely to be obtained from 
 the monopoly established in our new territory. 
 
 But this is not all. The utmost efforts have been 
 used to extend the cultivation of the poppy in our 
 old provinces. Premiums and rewards have been 
 held out new offices and establishments have been 
 created the revenue- officers have been enlisted in 
 
 * In January, 1821, a large purchase was made at 400 rupees per Surat 
 maund of 39.2lbs., or 1400 rupees per chest of one pecul = 133^1bs., or near 
 1 600 rupees per Bengal chest of 149lbs. The prime cost of a chest of Bengal 
 opium is about 200 rupees; or, with charges, about 270 rupees.. H. St.G. T. 
 
 f About 600,000 rupees per annum. See Court's letter of the 16th Sep- 
 tember.
 
 THE RETAIL SHOPS. 153 
 
 the service the influence of that department has 
 been brought into action to promote the production 
 of opium and what has been the consequence ? By 
 the multiplication of agents, responsibility has been 
 diminished the powerful impulse given to the in- 
 crease of quantity has caused the quality to be less 
 attended to the quality of the drug produced in 
 Behar, the province notoriously most favorable to 
 the growth of the poppy, has been deteriorated and 
 the Supreme Government, on a late occasion, were 
 exposed to the embarrassing and humiliating situa- 
 tion of being compelled to indemnify the merchant, 
 to the extent of near one hundred and fifty thousand 
 pounds, for having supplied him with a defective 
 commodity. 
 
 The Supreme Government of India, too, have con- 
 descended to supply the retail shops with opium for 
 domestic consumption ; and have thus added a new 
 feature to our fiscal policy. I believe that no one act 
 of our Government has appeared, in the eyes of 
 respectable natives, both Mahomedan and Hindoo, 
 more questionable than the establishment of the 
 Abkarry, or tax on the sale of spirituous liquors and 
 drugs. Nothing, I suspect, has tended so much to 
 lower us in their regard. They see us derive a 
 revenue from what they esteem an impure source ; 
 and when they find the pollution of public-houses 
 spreading around them, they cannot understand that 
 our real object is to check the use of the noxious 
 article which is sold, or to regulate those haunts of 
 the vicious with a view to objects of police. And
 
 THE OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 have we succeeded in promoting these objects ? Will 
 any man be so hardy as to maintain that the use of 
 spirituous liquors and drugs has been diminished by 
 the operation of the tax ? or that it has not been 
 everywhere extended ? Have we the slightest ground 
 for concluding that in licensing Abkarry shops we 
 have promoted the purposes of an efficient police ? 
 But even if we admit that these objects have been 
 kept in view, or that it is become necessary, in the 
 present state of the country, to regulate the vend of 
 spirits and drugs, was it becoming in a great Govern- 
 ment to exhibit itself as the purveyor of opium to 
 publicans, or " to establish shops on the part of the 
 Government" (I use the words of the Regulation) 
 "for the retail sale of the drug?" Is it desirable 
 that we should bring it to the very door of the lower 
 orders, who might never otherwise have found the 
 article within their reach ; and who are now tempted 
 to adopt a habit alike injurious to health and to 
 good morals ? 
 
 But the evil of introducing or extending the use 
 of opium assumes a still more serious character, if 
 we trace its probable effects in Central India, or in 
 E/ohilkund, where it was lately proposed to encou- 
 rage the cultivation of the poppy, and to establish 
 an agency. The following short quotation is from 
 the valuable work on Hajasthan, or Rajpootana, by 
 Lieut.-Col. James Todd, our late political resident at 
 the court of the Hana of Oodipore : 
 
 "This pernicious plant (the poppy) has robbed 
 the Hajpoot of half his virtues ; and while it obscures
 
 CONTRACTS WITH NATIVE STATES. 155 
 
 these, it heightens his vices giving to his natural 
 bravery a character of insane ferocity, and to the 
 countenance, which would otherwise beam with in- 
 telligence, an air of imbecility. Like all stimulants, 
 its effects are magical for a time ; but the reaction is 
 not less certain ; and the faded form, or amorphous 
 bulk, too often attest the debilitating influence of a 
 drug which alike debases mind and body." 
 
 The cultivation of the poppy has now been spread 
 throughout a large portion of E-ajpootana, as well as 
 in our own and the Mahratta districts of Central 
 India, and the AfFghan state of Bhopal. Negotia- 
 tions have been entered into, and treaties concluded, 
 such as are not, I believe, to be paralleled in the 
 whole history of diplomacy. We have undertaken 
 to pay Holkar the sum of six lacs of rupees annually; 
 and we are anxious that Scindia should be induced 
 to accept a subsidy of the same description. Oodi- 
 pore, Kotah, Boondi, and other Rajpoot states, arc 
 all to receive, and some of them do actually receive, 
 annual payments from us on account of opium. And 
 for what purpose are these pecuniary engagements 
 contracted ? Are they intended as an indemnifica- 
 tion to the chiefs and their subjects for suppressing 
 the cultivation of the poppy ? Quite the contrary. 
 These burdensome contributions bear a rateable pro- 
 portion to the quantity of opium supposed to be 
 produced ; and they therefore operate as a direct and 
 powerful stimulant to the production of the article. 
 We engross the supply, it is true, as far as we can ; 
 but, when such encouragement is given to produc-
 
 156 THE OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 tion, the domestic consumer must neces'sarily enjoy 
 greater facilities in procuring the drug. We make 
 it the interest of the chief to increase the growth of 
 the poppy, to the exclusion, in some instances, of 
 sugar-cane, cotton, and other products which consti- 
 tute the riches of a country, and which ought to 
 minister to the comforts of the people. 
 
 The virtues of the Rajpoot are highly colored hy 
 the partiality of Colonel Todd ; but one fact is quite 
 clear that with all his heroic bravery and other 
 good qualities, he requires very skilful management. 
 The same may be said of the Affghan of Rohilkund, 
 who is still more restless and impatient of control ; 
 and, if there were not other and better reasons, I 
 should say that it is not safe with either race, 
 Rajpoot or Affghan, to supply the means of habifual 
 excitement, which must render them more turbulent 
 and ungovernable. If we suppose that the use of 
 opium tends to demoralise and brutify a people, 
 we cannot countenance it without incurring a still 
 deeper responsibility. 
 
 The advocates of the present system urge two ar- 
 guments in justification of the monopoly established 
 in Central India : the one, that it would be unjust 
 to debar the Rajpoot and other states from the ad- 
 vantage which they have hitherto derived from the 
 cultivation of the poppy the other, that we cannot 
 prevent the Malwa opium from finding its way to 
 the sea coast, for exportation to China and the 
 Eastern Islands ; that we cannot, in consequence of 
 the competition arising from this and from the Tur-
 
 ARGUMENTS FOB AND AGAINST. 157 
 
 key opium, maintain our high monopoly price, and 
 that it is become necessary, therefore, to endeavour 
 to draw the same revenue from a larger supply at 
 lower rates of profit. The first ground is the best ; 
 and if we had granted a pecuniary indemnification 
 to the native states for any loss of agricultural profit, 
 or of revenue, which they might sustain from our 
 restrictive system, or if we had allowed them to col- 
 lect duties on the transit of the article through their 
 own territory, or to participate in the high export 
 duty which we proposed to levy I should have 
 thought that we acted wisely, justly, and con- 
 sistently ; but our present subsidies are evidently 
 calculated to produce an effect directly opposite to 
 that which is contemplated. 
 
 To the second ground I attach little import- 
 ance ; and it is, in fact, admitted in the Court's 
 letter of the 16th ultimo, that the mountain passes 
 of the Aravalla, and other parts of the route, might 
 be so far guarded as to prevent any considerable 
 traffic in contraband opium from Central India ; and, 
 if this be true, I conceive that every fair and legiti- 
 mate object might have been accomplished by per- 
 severing in the original plan, incorporated in Regu- 
 lation I. of 1818, and II. of 1820, of the Bombay 
 Government. The competition from Turkey we can- 
 not prevent ; but the supply from that quarter is not 
 considerable ; and although it is, no doubt, liable to 
 be increased by high prices, I must contend, that if 
 a revenue cannot be drawn from such an article as
 
 158 THE OPITJM REVENUE. 
 
 opium otherwise than by quadrupling* the supply, 
 by promoting the general use of the drug, and by 
 placing it within the reach of the lower classes of the 
 people no fiscal consideration can justify our in- 
 flicting upon the Malays and Chinese so grievous an 
 evil. I deny, however, that this extension of the 
 monopoly was necessary or conducive to the interests 
 of the revenue, f 
 
 The purchase of houses in Calcutta, noticed in the 
 10th and llth paragraphs of the Court's letter (cer- 
 tainly in terms of slight reprehension), appears to me 
 to have been highly unjustifiable ; and the additional 
 establishments reluctantly sanctioned in the 19th and 
 20th paragraphs of the despatch, I consider to be 
 worse than useless ; but these are minor objects, and 
 my business is with the system the objections to 
 which may be reduced to the following general heads : 
 
 1st. "We are stimulating by high prices the pro- 
 
 Chests. 
 
 * Average annual sale of Bengal opium from 1814-15 to 1824-25 3942 
 Sale in 1826-27 : 
 
 Behar 4982 ?6570 
 
 Benares 1588 i 
 
 Malwa not ascertained -with certainty; but the produce is now estimated 
 at above 20,000 maunds. 
 
 Chests. Es. 
 
 f Net annual profit on Bengal opium, on an ave- 
 rage of ten years, from 1814-15 to 1824-25 . 3907 82,26,253 
 Amount of profit realised on Bengal opium in 
 1826-27, the last year for which the accounts 
 
 have been adjusted 6570 66,25,754 
 
 Profit on sale of Malwa opium in 1825-26, as stated 
 in Court's letter of the 16th Sept. . . . 6,55,754 
 
 Ditto, in 1826-27 22,22,907 
 
 But I apprehend that this latter sum will be subject to heavy deductions on 
 account of our payments to Holkar and other native states. H. St.G. T.
 
 EVILS OF THE SYSTEM. 159 
 
 duction of opium, in places by no means favorable to 
 the growth of the poppy, and where the natural cost 
 of production is comparatively high. The late agent 
 had, it is true, the merit of reducing the price of the 
 Malwa opium from 55 rupees per pussaree (or lOlbs.) 
 to 30 rupees ; but even this reduced rate is more than 
 double the cost of the opium produced in Behar and 
 Benares, and it is further enhanced by the annual 
 payments to the Rajpoot and Mahratta states. 
 
 2nd. We are compelled to place an immense sum an- 
 nually in the hands of an agent, who is stationed at a 
 vast distance from the seat of control ; and we not only 
 impose upon him a heavy trust and responsibility in 
 consequence, but a temptation to abuse is held out, 
 to which it is not desirable that any public officer 
 should be exposed. In one year (1823) the agent in 
 Malwa had occasion to draw for no less a sum than 
 86,25,000 rupees, or near a million sterling; and, 
 much as I value the character of our service, I do not 
 think it prudent to commit sums of such magnitude 
 to the discretionary management of any individual. 
 
 3rd. By the very large payments which we have 
 had occasion to make for Malwa opium, the excess of 
 our expenditure in the west of India has exceeded 
 the sum which could be supplied from Bengal 
 through the channel of the trade ; the exchanges 
 
 O ' O 
 
 were, in consequence, deranged, and the Government 
 of Bombay could no longer draw on Calcutta on the 
 same advantageous terms as heretofore. This effect 
 has been partially removed by bringing to sale at 
 Bombay a portion of the Malwa opium ; but as far
 
 160 THE OPIUM REVENUE. 
 
 as the exchange has been lowered to our disadvan- 
 tage, the difference may be considered as justly 
 chargeable to the account of the Malwa monopoly. 
 
 4th. By attempting to engross the produce of Cen- 
 tral India, we have exhibited ourselves to the Raj- 
 poots and Mahrattas as a Government eagerly pur- 
 suing a grasping and selfish policy ; and all our sub- 
 sidies, burdensome as they are to us, and professedly 
 intended to give them a common interest in the 
 success of our restrictive measures, will not, I fear, 
 remove that feeling, nor satisfy them that they have 
 not suffered, both in revenue and in character, by 
 their engagements with us. 
 
 5th. By promoting the growth of the poppy 
 throughout Central India as we have done, by 
 paying high prices, and by giving the native chiefs 
 an interest in producing, rather than in restricting 
 cultivation, we became accessory to the probable 
 extension of a pernicious habit among a race of men 
 whose well-being ought never to be an object of 
 indifference to us. 
 
 6th. By encouraging and extending the growth of 
 the poppy in our own provinces, and becoming the 
 retail vendors of the drug, we shall promote the in- 
 troduction or extension of the same pernicious habit, 
 which is calculated both to debase our native sub- 
 jects, and to render the maintenance of an efficient 
 police more difficult and burdensome to our finances. 
 
 7th. By pursuing this course, we impose upon 
 ourselves, at the same time, a necessity for extend- 
 ing the sphere and operation of severe penal laws,
 
 EVILS OF THE SYSTEM. 161 
 
 which cannot be perused, I think, without a painful 
 and compunctious feeling. 
 
 8th. By forcing upon China such an enormous 
 quantity of an article whose importation is prohi- 
 bited, we run the risk of exciting the attention of 
 the Government of that country, and of inducing it 
 to resort to more peremptory and effectual measures 
 for the suppression of this contraband trade. 
 
 Finally. By extending our monopoly, we exhibit 
 ourselves more prominently to the public in a very 
 unpopular character. We place ourselves gratuitously 
 in a most unfavorable point of view ; and we seem 
 almost, as it were, by choice and preference to run 
 into a course of policy and legislation totally incon- 
 sistent with the character of a mild and benevolent 
 Government.* 
 
 * Mr. Tucker, in common with other members of the Court of Directors, 
 entertained very strong opinions on the subject of the Opium Monopoly. He 
 would fain have seen it abandoned altogether as a source of revenue to the 
 East India Company, if this could have been accomplished without a dan- 
 gerous derangement of their financial affairs. Or if this could not be done, 
 he desired so to restrict the cultivation of the poppy, as to derive the neces- 
 sary revenue from the smallest possible quantity of the drug. " When I was 
 connected with the finances of India," he wrote to Sir Robert Peel, in No- 
 vember, 1842, " the policy pursued in the management of the monopoly was 
 to draw the largest revenue from the smallest quantity of the drug. The 
 districts most favorable to the cultivation of the poppy were selected, the 
 cultivation was abandoned in other quarters, and on one occasion the Govern- 
 ment went so far as to order the plant absolutely to be eradicated, upon 
 
 grounds which may at least be regarded as questionable But when the 
 
 province of Malwa came under our dominion, it occurred to some of our 
 functionaries that an opium revenue might be obtained at Bombay, analo- 
 gous to that derived from the monopoly of the manufacture in Bengal, and 
 every possible stimulus was given to the cultivation of the poppy. . . . From 
 this time an entire change in our policy took place, and it became the object 
 of the Government to crush the competition from other quarters, which high 
 prices might engender, and to draw the same revenue from a large quantity 
 at lower rates." In another letter of an earlier date, to Mr. Campbell 
 Marjoribanks, Mr. Tucker says: "For the last twenty years we have been 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 COTTON CULTIVATION. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF INDIAN COTTON. 
 
 [Written in November, 1828.] 
 
 My attention has lately been called to the im- 
 portant question of extending the importation of 
 cotton- wool from. British India, both with a view to 
 the great national object of rendering Great Britain, 
 as far as possible, independent of foreign supply, in 
 the first instance, of a raw material, upon which her 
 most valuable manufacture depends ; and also with 
 a view to add to the agricultural resources of India, 
 and in so doing, to facilitate the means of remittance 
 from our extensive possessions in the East, which 
 incur annually a political and commercial debt to 
 the mother country. I shall therefore submit, in a 
 summary way, the results which I have been enabled 
 to obtain by consulting the public records, and by 
 personal communications and correspondence with 
 those individuals (Dr. WaUich and others) who ap- 
 peared to me likely to possess the best information on 
 the subject. 
 
 There are two species of the cotton-plant pro- 
 ducing the wool which is used in our manufactures 
 the gossyplum Harbadense, and the gossypium her- 
 baceum ; and there are persons who maintain that 
 
 encouraging the production by all possible means, and we now export to China 
 alone the enormous quantity of 27,000 chests. This I have always con- 
 sidered an intolerable evil, and my voice has been raised against it on num- 
 berless occasions. I have regularly opposed all the measures in detail, which 
 had for their object to increase the production of the article." That the 
 monopoly is a great evil is generally admitted; but it may be doubted 
 whether the unrestrained cultivation of the poppy would not be a greater 
 evil still.
 
 MODE OF CULTURE. 163 
 
 an essential difference exists, not merely in the bo- 
 tanical character of the two species, but in the 
 strength and durability of the filament which these 
 plants produce. It is well known that the gossy- 
 pium Barladense is grown generally in America and 
 the "West Indies, and may be designated the cotton 
 of the "West, while the species herbaceum is a native 
 of Asia, and may be distinguished as the cotton of 
 the East. 
 
 There are several varieties of each species,* pro- 
 duced probably by a difference in situation, soil, cli- 
 mate, and culture ; and although the two species, 
 with their several varieties, have an original and na- 
 tural site, there is reason to believe that they can be 
 cultivated indifferently, in any tropical situation fa- 
 vorable to the production of the plant generally. 
 
 The cotton of the "West, as the raw material of our 
 manufactures, has hitherto borne, and still bears, a 
 much higher price in the markets of Europe than 
 the cotton of the East ; although it is contended 
 that the fabrics wove from the latter surpass, in the 
 essential character of strength and durability, those 
 which are manufactured from the cotton of America. 
 
 Without insisting upon the superiority of the 
 Eastern cotton as a natural production, its inferiority 
 as an article of commerce, and its consequent depres- 
 sion in price, may be accounted for by the following 
 circumstances, which operate in a greater or less 
 
 * Some naturalists reckon four species of the cotton-plant; and many va- 
 rieties are enumerated by Dr. Lastreyrie and others. As I am not a na- 
 turalist, I shall not attempt to give botanical descriptions nor use botanical 
 terms. H. St.G. T. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 COTTON CULTIVATION : 
 
 degree in deteriorating its quality and merchantable 
 value : 
 
 1st. The best variety is not generally cultivated for 
 exportation. 
 
 2nd. The best situations are not always chosen for 
 its cultivation. 
 
 3rd. The mode of culture is essentially defective, 
 the natives of India being in the habit of growing 
 different articles of produce upon the same land at 
 the same time, with little regard to a rotation of 
 crops ; and owing to this injudicious husbandry, and 
 to carelessness and mismanagement in other respects, 
 the shrub, which under proper care is elsewhere ren- 
 dered biennial, triennial, and even perennial, is in 
 India found to be an annual only.* 
 
 4th. The cotton is not properly cleaned and sepa- 
 rated from the seed, the machinery employed for this 
 purpose being very insufficient, and greatly inferior 
 to that now in use in America, f 
 
 5th. In consequence of the defects of the ma- 
 chinery, the essential oil of the seed is liable to be 
 
 * By some authorities it is considered judicious husbandry to root up the 
 plants every second or third year, and to change the seed periodically. The 
 natives of India, where the plant is an annual, rarely, I believe, take the pre- 
 caution to procure seed from other quarters, although this is known to be 
 beneficial, both in rural economy and in horticulture. Where the cotton- 
 plant is biennial or triennial, it is said to yield the best produce in the first 
 year; and so far the Indian cultivation may be right in allowing the shrub to 
 die off annually; but it still may be highly useful to change the seed and to 
 practise a more useful husbandry. H. St.G. T. 
 
 t It has been urged that the saw-gin tears and injures the filament, and so 
 perhaps it does; but although hand-picking is very essential to aid in clean- 
 ing the cotton, it cannot become a substitute for machinery. In India, where 
 labor is so cheap, the process of cleaning the wool ought to be well executed; 
 but the churker (or cylinders) used for separating the wool from the seed is 
 a very rude machine, and leaves much to be done by the hand. H. St.G. T.
 
 ITS DEFECTS. 165 
 
 expressed and suffused over the cotton, to the injury 
 of its color and quality. 
 
 6th. The cotton being produced generally at a 
 greater distance (in some instances not less than 
 1000 miles) from the place of export, and the state 
 of the rivers at the season of gathering the crop 
 not admitting of its being conveyed the whole dis- 
 tance by water, it is frequently warehoused for 
 months at intermediate stations ; and a whole season 
 is often lost before it can be packed and screwed for 
 exportation. 
 
 7th. During its progress to the place of export in 
 loose bags or bales, partly by land and partly by 
 water, it is much exposed to the inclemency of the 
 weather ; the bales are often rendered wet or damp* 
 by the heavy rains which prevail in tropical climates ; 
 and the cotton seldom arrives at its place of destina- 
 tion without some discoloration and partial damage, 
 incidental to its conveyance in open carts and ill- 
 secured boats, during a long land journey and 
 tedious river navigation. 
 
 8th. Although attempts are made to clean the 
 cotton, and remove the seed and particles of the pod 
 and leaf before it is submitted to the screw, this is 
 never done effectually, and the extreme compressure 
 to which the cotton is then subjected by this power- 
 ful machine, with a part of its seed and impurities 
 still adhering, must tend to injure the fibre. 
 
 9th. The heat and moisture of the hold of a ship 
 
 * It has been alleged that the natives sometimes "damp" the cotton, in 
 order to increase its weight; but the defect may bo referred, with greater 
 probability, to other causes. H. St.G. T.
 
 166 COTTON CULTIVATION : 
 
 during a long voyage, in which, great alternations of 
 temperature are usually experienced, may also tend 
 to injure the quality of the article. 
 
 Lastly. It may be observed, that the practice, 
 heretofore common in some of our provinces, of 
 receiving the cotton in payment of rent and re- 
 venue, was calculated to make the cultivators more 
 solicitous to increase the quantity than to improve 
 the quality of the article. Then 1 necessities, more- 
 over, may be supposed to have compelled them often 
 to gather their crop unseasonably, for the purpose 
 of making these payments in kind ; and it is well 
 known that cotton gathered in wet weather is liable 
 to be materially deteriorated in quality and value. 
 The practice of receiving payments in kind has been 
 discontinued at Bombay ; but effects are often felt 
 long after the original cause has been removed. 
 
 Without assuming the superiority of the Eastern 
 cotton as a natural production, the greater degree 
 of strength and durability of the fabrics made from 
 it may be referred, perhaps, to the following circum- 
 stances : 
 
 1st. The thread spun with care by the hand is 
 probably more perfect. 
 
 2nd. The operations of the loom, when conducted 
 carefully by the hand, are not so liable to injure the 
 fibre as the process carried on by machinery. 
 
 3rd. The process of blanching the brown web is 
 effected in India by steam and the solar ray ; and 
 the texture of the fabric is not liable to be injured 
 by the use of muriatic acid or other chemical sol- 
 vents.
 
 ITS VARIETIES. 167 
 
 4th. The fabric, for the purpose of being rendered 
 more even and beautiful, is not exposed to the very 
 delicate operation of singeing off the ends of the 
 thread and other excrescences. 
 
 5th. The raw material is not economised in our 
 Eastern manufactures in any way to diminish the 
 firmness and strength of the texture. 
 
 The Bairati knpas, the finest variety, perhaps, of 
 the Eastern cotton, is produced only in small quan- 
 tity in the districts north-west of Dacca; and is 
 never exported, I believe, as an article of commerce. 
 Its favorite site seems to be the high banks of the 
 Ganges (or as it is called in a part of its course, the 
 Pudnah), and its tributary streams; but as the 
 country adjacent is liable to annual inundation, the 
 tract of land applicable to its cultivation is not ex- 
 tensive.* This variety, which is also called by the 
 natives Dtsy (of the country), would seem to be, as 
 the name imports, the indigenous cotton of Bengal, 
 producing those unrivalled fabrics which have been 
 known and highly valued in Europe from the earliest 
 period of authentic history. 
 
 Other varieties (the Boglia fatpas, &c.) are found 
 in Bengal Proper, and are used in its domestic 
 manufactures ; but the cotton which is exported to 
 
 * Many years ago I resided in this part of the country, and was induced, 
 from the great superiority.of the Bairati kupas, to send the seed, with a model 
 of the churker, to my native island (Bermuda) ; but the cultivation of cotton 
 was not prosecuted in that island. The fibre of the Bairati is extremely fine, 
 silky, and strong; but the staple is very short, and the wool adheres most 
 tenaciously to the seed. I have in my possession a specimen of the thread, 
 which has been above forty years in this country, and is apparently still 
 perfect. II. St.G.T.
 
 168 COTTON CULTIVATION : 
 
 Europe and China, from Bombay and Calcutta, 
 under the denomination of Surat and Bengal* is 
 produced chiefly in the tract of country lying be- 
 tween the rivers Jumna and Nerbudda, and extend- 
 ing westward to the Gulf of Cambay. Cotton is also 
 grown in the southern parts of the Peninsula, and is 
 exported from Madras under the denomination of 
 Tinnevelly; but the quantity produced is not very 
 considerable, and the strong durable fabrics manu- 
 factured in the Northern Circars are made from 
 cotton obtained from the territory of Berar, and the 
 neighbouring districts. I may add that attempts 
 have been made to cultivate cotton on the Malabar 
 coast ; although it is understood that they were not 
 attended with such success as to lead to a belief that 
 .the situation is favorable for the growth of the 
 article. f 
 
 An experiment was made a few years ago, under 
 the auspices of Lady Hastings, to introduce the cul- 
 tivation of two varieties of the Western cotton (the 
 Barbadoes and Brazil), at a place called Eutteghur, 
 
 * The cotton exported from Calcutta as Bengal bears a great variety of 
 names on the spot (Jalson, Kineb, Banda, Cuckaura, &c.), derived from the 
 place of growth, or the principal marts to which it is brought for sale; but 
 although the quality is very different, owing to a difference in soil, culture, 
 and management, the cotton is all, I believe, of that description which Dr. 
 Hamilton Buchanan designates hill cotton. The cotton of Surat differs from 
 it only in consequence of the difference in local circumstances. H. St.G. T. 
 
 f Attempts have also been lately made to cultivate cotton in the province 
 of Cuttack ; but I understand that they have not succeeded. More recently 
 the cultivation of the plant has been undertaken in the island of Saugor ; but 
 sufficient time has not elapsed to enable me to ascertain the result. Dr. 
 Wallich is sanguine in his anticipations of success ; and, in fact, it is well 
 known that the plant likes an alluvial soil and the neighbourhood of the sea. 
 H. St.G. T.
 
 ITS COST. 169 
 
 in the vicinity of Calcutta ; but although the cotton 
 produced was reported to be of good quality, the ex- 
 periment was upon too small a scale, and bore too 
 much the character of mere garden cultivation, to 
 furnish any decisive results. It may be observed, at 
 the same time, that the thread spun from this cotton 
 was not considered by the Indian manufacturers to 
 be by any means equal in quality to that obtained 
 from their own native cotton it being estimated by 
 them at eight* and ten per cent, below the value of 
 the latter. This would seem to favor the notion that 
 there is an essential difference in the fibre of the 
 Eastern cotton; nor can it be disputed that the 
 Asiatic fabrics, f from whatever cause, are superior 
 in strength and durability to the manufactures 
 which are produced from the cotton of America. 
 
 The Hairati Tcupas, although its fibre be fine and 
 silky, and admirably calculated for the manufacture 
 of the muslin or thinner fabrics, has the disadvan- 
 tage of a short staple, while the wool adheres so 
 closely to the seed that it is with difficulty sepa- 
 rated; and this variety is otherwise, perhaps, too 
 costly a production to enter largely into our manu- 
 factures. 
 
 * Brazil eight per cent, worse, Barbadoes ten per cent. Both plants have, 
 under culture, been found to be triennial (i. e^ they produce for three years). 
 The shrub will last longer, but is not productive after the third year. 
 H. St.G. T. 
 
 f The nankeens of China are, perhaps, the stoutest cloths manufactured 
 
 from cotton ; and yet we do not know the plant which produces the wool, nor 
 
 are we agreed whether the color be natural or artificial. The wool of the 
 
 gossypium rdigiosum has much the same color; but it is not supposed that the 
 
 ankeens are made from this cotton. II. St.G. T.
 
 170 COTTON CULTIVATION, 
 
 Although some of the finest cotton is produced in 
 islands and situations within the influence of the 
 sea, this circumstance does not appear to he essen- 
 tial to the perfection of the plant ; since a large por- 
 tion of the article used in our manufactures is 
 grown in districts very remote from the sea. Still, 
 it is of importance that the cultivation of the article 
 should be promoted as much as possible in situa- 
 tions which are near the coast, or which have an 
 easy communication with our seaports; because 
 any difficulty or delay attending its exportation not 
 only occasions expense, but in many cases renders the 
 cotton liable to deterioration in quality and value. 
 
 It would appear from the papers lately printed 
 by Parliament on the American tarif, that the cost 
 of cotton grown in the United States has of late been 
 very materially reduced, either by improvements in 
 their domestic husbandry and in the mode of clean- 
 ing the cotton, by opening and extending number- 
 less channels of internal communication, or by other 
 means. 
 
 At their principal seaports the price of cotton is 
 now about ten cents, or fivepence per pound. 
 
 In Calcutta the ordinary price of Bengal cotton is 
 twelve* rupees per maund, or about fourpence per 
 
 * Dr. Hamilton Buchanan, in his statistical account of Dinagepoor, esti- 
 mates that cotton can be produced in India at a very low cost. Circumstances 
 have, no doubt, changed within the last twenty years; but there is reason to 
 believe that, under a proper system of culture, the article could be grown in 
 many of our provinces at a very moderate rate. The charges on the Com- 
 pany's cotton are at present very high; and it is sometimes found that the
 
 AMERICAN AND INDIAN. 171 
 
 pound ; but the latter article incurs a heavier charge 
 for freight and other outlays, while it usually sells 
 in the English market at about twopence per pound 
 below the price of good American cotton. 
 
 In the United States, the cost of subsistence and 
 the wages of labor are considerably higher than they 
 are in British India ; and other circumstances being 
 nearly equal, this ought to give us a material advan- 
 tage in producing a raw material for the supply of a 
 foreign market. In point of fact, the Americans, at 
 no very remote" period, did actually import cotton- 
 wool from India, although it was charged with a 
 duty of three cents per pound ; but being landed 
 for about fifteen cents, or sevenpence-halfpenny per 
 pound, it came into successful competition with their 
 own produce, which bore at the time a price of from 
 eighteen to twenty cents per pound. 
 
 In the United States, although the cost of sub- 
 sistence is much less than in England, the wages of 
 labor are higher ; and, placing machinery out of the 
 question, which may indefinitely multiply labor in 
 either country, this lower rate of wages ought to 
 give us a present advantage as a manufacturing 
 people. But the wages of labor, which are generally 
 regulated by the cost of subsistence, are compara- 
 tively high in America at present ; because new ob- 
 jects, upon which labor can be advantageously em- 
 ployed, are perpetually presenting themselves, and 
 
 article can be purchased from individuals at the place of export, at a price 
 below the invoice cost of their investment ; but the concern is surely suscep- 
 tible of more economical arrangements. If the quality were good in propor- 
 tion, the higher price would afford less matter for regret. H. St.G. T.
 
 172 COTTON CULTIVATION. 
 
 the demand may therefore be considered to exceed 
 the supply. 
 
 As the population increases and the objects of pro- 
 fitable employment are successively exhausted, the 
 American laborer must be content with a less liberal 
 subsistence, the wages of labor must gradually fall, 
 and the advantage which we at present enjoy will be 
 turned in favor of that country which produces the 
 means of subsistence at the cheapest rate. 
 
 The public debt of the United States, which does 
 not at present exceed fifteen millions sterling, is 
 likely to be extinguished in seven or eight years ; 
 and the Government will then command a large 
 surplus income, which may be applied to the ad- 
 vancement of any national object. Imbued as the 
 people of that country are with a singular spirit of 
 rivalry, eager in the pursuit of wealth, active, enter- 
 prising, and intelligent is it not to be expected that 
 their resources will be applied, by means of bounties 
 and other encouragement, to force their produce and 
 manufactures into every market of consumption ? 
 They have already made great progress in the esta- 
 blishment of different manufactures, and in the in- 
 troduction of machinery ; and instead of importing 
 largely, as they have hitherto done, from this country, 
 they already supply their own consumption with the 
 coarser cotton fabrics ; and are likely from year to 
 year to become less dependent upon any foreign 
 supply. Xor do they confine their views to their 
 own consumption. "With that confident spirit which 
 peculiarly characterises them, they are already cast-
 
 PROPOSITIONS FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT. 173 
 
 ing abroad and anticipating the hour when they 
 shall supplant us in every market of the commercial 
 world. They propose to meet us in China and in 
 our own colonies and dependencies ; and if, while 
 they are thus rapidly advancing, this country should 
 make no corresponding efforts to preserve her com- 
 mercial superiority, and to uphold her manufactures 
 by obtaining the raw material of the best quality, 
 and at the lowest cost, who shall venture to say that 
 their most extravagant anticipations will not be re- 
 alised ? 
 
 Adverting to the foregoing premises, which must 
 be regarded only as the brief exposition of a question 
 of deep interest, I would submit the following pro- 
 positions : 
 
 1st. That it is become highly expedient, as a 
 national object, to encourage and promote in British 
 India the cultivation of the two species of cotton, 
 or those varieties which are most esteemed, and 
 which are likely to be found most suitable and 
 useful in extending and improving the manufactures 
 of this country. 
 
 2nd. That with this view, it is desirable to esta- 
 blish two or more plantations upon a larger scale, 
 under the superintendence and management of the 
 public servants, for ascertaining experimentally the 
 best system of husbandry applicable to the growth 
 of cotton, and the species or varieties of the plant 
 which can be cultivated with the greatest advantage 
 in the soil and climate of British India. 
 
 3rd. That if persons acquainted with the mode of
 
 174 COTTON CULTIVATION. 
 
 cultivating cotton in America can be procured, one 
 or more be sent out to India, to assist in the ma- 
 nagement of the experimental farms which it is 
 proposed to establish ; and that steps be also taken 
 to procure from the Brazils, Egypt, the Isle of Bour- 
 bon, and other quarters, the necessary supply of 
 fresh seed of the most approved varieties of the 
 Western cotton.* 
 
 4th. That if it be recommended to the Govern- 
 ment to make choice of situations for such esta- 
 blishments contiguous to the sea, or having easy 
 means of communication with a convenient sea- 
 port ; the coast of Tenasserim, and some of the dis- 
 tricts on the west side of India, under the Govern- 
 ment of Bombay, being considered likely to afford 
 suitable situations for the purpose. 
 
 5th. That two or more of the machines, known 
 under the name of Whitney's Saw-Gin, f and now 
 generally used in America for separating the cotton- 
 
 * The color of the seed is a distinguishing character in cotton; but Nature 
 is arbitrary, if not sometimes capricious, in her arrangements : and the black 
 and the green seed are converted iuto each other by a change of place and 
 circumstances. The sea-island cotton, which bears so high a price in our 
 markets, is from the black seed; but I am told that, if it be transplanted to 
 the Upland or back country, the black seed in the second year becomes 
 green, and the length and quality of the staple undergo a great change. 
 Upon the whole, however, the green-seed cotton appears to be that which 
 enters largely into the great bulk of our manufactures, and to which our 
 attention should be chiefly directed. H. St.G. T. 
 
 f I have endeavoured, but hitherto in vain, to procure Whitney's saw-gin in 
 this country, or a model or drawing of it. I am led to believe that it is only 
 an improvement upon the machine which was made by Messrs. Maudsley, 
 the engineers, and sent out to India in 1814, for separating the wool from the 
 green-seed cotton. A much more simple machine is used for the black seed, 
 to which the wool does not adhere so closely. It is upon the same principle 
 as the Bengal churkhe, but very superior to it in materials and construction. 
 H. St.G. T.
 
 PROPOSITIONS FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT. 175 
 
 wool from the seed, be prepared and sent out to 
 India, to serve as models; and that every facility 
 be given to the multiplication of this machine for 
 the use of the Indian growers of cotton. 
 
 Gth. That it be recommended to the Government 
 to establish the cotton screws, in all practicable 
 cases,* nearer to the districts where the cotton is 
 grown than they are at present ; because the bales, 
 when packed, will occupy less space, and be more 
 secure against the weather in their passage to the 
 place of export. 
 
 7th. That in order to bring into operation the 
 stimulus of private interest to aid in promoting a 
 public object, and at the same time to obtain the 
 advantage of European skill, industry, and enter- 
 prise, the Government of India be authorised to 
 grant to any British subjects, properly qualified by 
 character, and by possessing the command of capital, 
 such quantity of unoccupied land as may be judged 
 necessary or expedient for the establishment of a 
 cotton plantation, the land being secured to the 
 parties on lease at a low quit-rent for a term of 
 years, on condition of its being used for the cultiva- 
 tion of this article. . 
 
 8th. That in the event of any difficulty occurring 
 in assigning Government lands of proper quality, 
 
 * For instance, at Surat and Kalpee on the Jumna, instead of Bombay 
 and Calcutta. The Company's cotton is at present half-screwed at Kalpee; 
 and an experiment was made a few years ago to complete the process of 
 screwing at Surat ; but the bales were reported to hare burst, and the plan 
 was abandoned. I cannot, however, persuade myself that, with the same 
 materials and machinery, cotton cannot be screwed as well at Surat as at 
 Bombay. H. St.G. T.
 
 176 COTTON CULTIVATION. 
 
 and in suitable situations for this purpose, the 
 Government be authorised to grant permission to 
 such European British subjects to purchase from the 
 Zemindars and others, or to rent for a term of years, 
 any quantity of land not exceeding five thousand 
 begahs, which the parties will undertake and engage 
 to employ in the growth of cotton. 
 
 9th. That the Governments of India be authorised 
 to offer annual prizes for the production of the 
 best cotton in the best merchantable condition, in 
 quantity not less than one hundred maunds. 
 
 10th. That the Governments of India be in- 
 structed, generally, to afford every possible encou- 
 ragement to promote the trade in cotton, by freeing 
 it from all duties of customs* on transit and ex- 
 portation, by facilitating the means of internal 
 communication, and otherwise obviating, as far as 
 possible, those causes of delay which tend to enhance 
 the cost of the article, and to prevent British India 
 from carrying on a successful competition with other 
 countries, and from supplying the mother country 
 with a raw material, constituting the basis of a 
 manufacture upon which her commercial prosperity 
 mainly depends. 
 
 * Cotton appears to have been charged with a duty of three-and-a-quarter 
 per cent, at Surat. A transit of twelve annas per maund is levied in our 
 Bengal provinces ; but the whole is drawn back on the cotton being exported 
 to sea on British bottoms. This system may have some slight tendency to 
 encourage our shipping; but it leaves the Indian manufacture subject to a 
 high tax on the raw material ; and it is, moreover, a great disadvantage to 
 the exporter to be compelled to advance the duty, and to be subjected to de- 
 tention at successive custom-houses for the payment of the duty, for the 
 examination of the passes, and subsequently for the purpose of establishing 
 his right to the drawback. H. St.G. T.
 
 MR. TUCKER AND COTTON CULTIVATION. 177 
 
 [This valuable paper was originally published in 1836, in a volume of " Re- 
 ports and Documents connected with the Proceedings of the East India Com- 
 pany in regard to the Culture and Manufacture of Cotton-wool, Raw Silk, 
 and Indigo in India." There were few subjects to which Mr. Tucker directed 
 his attention more earnestly and energetically than to that of the cultivation 
 of Indian cotton. In a letter to Mr. Thomason. dated Sept. 17, 1847, he says: 
 " I have for a very long period taken a particular interest in the cultivation of 
 cotton in India, esteeming it a great national object, and twenty years ago I 
 submitted to the Court a little memoir on the subject; but it was overlooked 
 and disregarded for some years, until the attention of the Board and of the 
 British public was drawn to the subject. I have lately had a good deal of 
 communication with Dr. Royle, the American planters, and the merchants of 
 Manchester, on the best means of extending the cultivation of the article, and 
 of rendering it better suited to the purposes of the British manufacturer. 
 
 " There is a great difference of opinion among the Manchester gentlemen 
 with respect to the species of cotton which will answer best. Mr. Turner (a 
 leading authority) is of opinion that our Disi, or indigenous, cotton, if 
 carefully cleaned and prepared, will answer every purpose; while Mr. 
 Peel (another high authority) confidently maintains that the cotton produced 
 from the American seed will always command a decided preference. I would 
 try both, until we arrive at some certain result. 
 
 " It is singular that I should, at this late period, after the lapse of nearly 
 sixty years, be pursuing an object which attracted my attention as a boy, 
 when residing in the Hurriaul Aurung, in the district of Rajashahi. I sent 
 to my little island of Bermuda from thence some of the seed of the Disi 
 Kupas, with the model of a churki for cleaning it, on the idea that what pro- 
 duced the beautiful fabrics of Dacca might enrich that island; but it was not 
 found that cotton could be cultivated with advantage." 
 
 In another letter, addressed to Mr. Cornewall Lewis, under date Dec. 13, 
 1847, Mr. Tucker observes: 
 
 " There is no question on which I feel that we are stronger than on that of 
 cotton. Nearly twenty years ago I took up the question, as involving a great 
 national object, and I composed a little memoir on the subject, which I believe 
 you will find on the records of the Board. Indeed, the Board bestowed 
 earlier attention upon it than my own colleagues, by whom it was for some 
 years overlooked. But of late years we have used the utmost exertions, and 
 have incurred great expense, to extend the cultivation of cotton, to improve 
 its culture, and to introduce the species best calculated to suit our Home 
 manufactures. We have sent out machinery, American planters, as instruc- 
 tors to our agriculturists, and a variety of seeds from all quarters. 
 
 " The point wliich Mr. Bright is likely to moot, will be the expediency of 
 reducing the rent, or tax, on cotton lands. The assessment is now made on all 
 lands according to their value; and we cannot compel the Ryot, or Zemindar, 
 to give a preference to cotton cultivation, nor can we lower the Government 
 tax without recurring to the system of granting bounties, which, I should 
 think, has been pretty generally exploded. 
 
 " I explained these circumstances some time ago to a deputation of manu- 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 INDIAN SUGAK. 
 
 facturers from Manchester, and Mr. Turner (the head of the Association) 
 appeared to be perfectly satisfied. I pointed out to him that, if those inte- 
 rested in the cultivation of cotton would proceed as our indigo manufacturers 
 have done in Bengal for fifty or sixty years, they would experience no diffi- 
 culties from the local government." 
 
 Writing again to Mr. Lewis, on the 10th of February, 1848, Mr. Tucker, 
 looking at the subject with the eye of a practised financier, wrote thus: 
 
 "But there is one point to which I would draw your particular attention 
 the means of obtaining a remittance of four or five millions from India, as its 
 tribute to the mother country. This remittance was secured heretofore, to a 
 great extent, by means of our imports in tea; but one of the greatest difficul- 
 ties which I anticipated from the change of system under the new Charter 
 Act, had reference to the question of remittance. "We now, indirectly, obtain 
 a remittance through China, to a certain extent ; but we have not been able 
 of late to command the large supplies which are required to meet our Home 
 expenditure ; and unless encouragement be given to the productions of India, 
 I apprehend that, in two years, or sooner, we shall come to a stand, and find it 
 impossible to draw from India that tribute which that territory has heretofore 
 yielded to the mother country."] 
 
 INDIAN SUGAR. 
 [Written in 1823.] 
 
 It is maintained : 
 
 1st. That it is inconsistent with the principles of 
 sound policy to exclude by prohibitory or exorbitant 
 duties, the importation into this country of raw 
 sugars, the produce of any part of the British domi- 
 nions, whether such sugars be required to supply the 
 consumption of our own population, or to furnish 
 our refiners with the raw material to enable them to 
 supply the foreign market with the article in its 
 manufactured state. 
 
 2nd. That the duty of thirty-seven shillings per 
 cwt. on East India sugars, being equal to a tax of 
 about 200 per cent, on the prime cost of the article 
 in India, is manifestly of this description, and has 
 not only checked the importation of the finer sugars, 
 the produce of British India, by subjecting the im-
 
 THE SUGAR DUTIES. 179 
 
 porting merchant in many recent instances to a 
 heavy loss, but has actually, in the case of the coarser 
 sugars, operated as a prohibition, and has excluded 
 those sugars altogether from the British market. 
 
 3rd. That it is not only inconsistent with the 
 dictates of a wise policy to check the trade in this 
 article from any part of the British dominions ; but 
 that to exclude the produce of a particular depen- 
 dency, by the imposition of partial and unequal 
 duties, for the sole purpose of favoring the importa- 
 tion of the article from some other quarter, is a 
 manifest departure from those principles of equal 
 justice, to the benefit of which the subjects of these 
 realms have all an equal claim. 
 
 4th. That the additional duty of ten shillings per 
 cwt. imposed upon East India sugars, which is further 
 aggravated by levying upon those sugars almost in- 
 discriminately the duty of five shillings per cwt., 
 payable upon cloyed sugars (although it is well 
 known that the finest sugars from British India are 
 very inferior both in quality and value to the cloyed 
 sugars of the West Indies), is a partial and unequal 
 tax, intended to favor a particular interest at the 
 expense of other important interests, and is not sanc- 
 tioned by any principle of justice. 
 
 5th. That, although the British Legislature should 
 succeed in excluding East India sugars from the 
 British market by prohibitory duties, this exclusion 
 would but little avail the parties whom it is intended 
 to favor, while those sugars can find their way into 
 the markets of Europe ; since it is perfectly certain 
 that the price of the commodity in our own market, 
 
 N 2
 
 180 INDIAN SUGAR. 
 
 which contains a large surplus for exportation, must 
 be regulated, or be materially affected, by the price 
 which the article bears in the general market of 
 Europe ; and that, consequently, while this attempt 
 to confer a benefit on the West India interest seems 
 little calculated to accomplish the end proposed, it 
 is evidently calculated to alienate a valuable branch 
 of trade to give employment to foreign in pre- 
 ference to British shipping and to enable the 
 foreign refiner, by supplying him with the raw ma- 
 terial at a lower rate, to compete successfully with 
 the British manufacturer. 
 
 6th. That, whether it be justifiable or not, in re- 
 gulating our system of commercial policy, to make 
 a distinction between European British subjects and 
 the natives of India, who, by the dispensation of 
 Providence, have been placed for more than half a 
 century under the dominion of Great Britain, this 
 partial and unequal tax does unquestionably injure 
 the property, and affect the interests of large numbers 
 of British-born subjects, who have claims to legis- 
 lative protection, upon grounds as strong and incon- 
 testible as those which have been urged, or can be 
 urged, by the proprietors or mortgagees of estates in 
 the West Indies,, or by any other class of British 
 subjects. 
 
 7th. That European British subjects who have in- 
 vested their capital in houses, factories, and other 
 buildings in docks, machinery, and other immove- 
 able property, and who can draw to this country the 
 income of such property, and ultimately the principal 
 itself, in no other way than by means of the produce
 
 THE SUGAR DUTIES. 181 
 
 of India, are placed in a situation perfectly analogous 
 to that in which the proprietors and mortgagees of 
 estates in the "West Indies describe themselves ; and 
 have just ground to complain of those legislative 
 enactments which, excluding the produce of India 
 from the British market, virtually deprive them of 
 the means of removing their capital to the mother 
 country. 
 
 8th. That the income of British-born subjects 
 from capital in India, with the annual savings of the 
 public servants and others from professional allow- 
 ances and other sources, for which a remittance to 
 this country is required, has been estimated at the 
 sum of three millions sterling per annum ; and that, 
 assuming this fact, which is strongly corroborated by 
 the difference which has long existed, and which still 
 exists, between the amount of imports and exports in 
 the trade of India and China with Great Britain, it 
 would appear that the value of property, and extent 
 of interest, held by European British subjects in 
 India, is not inferior to that held by their fellow- 
 subjects in the West Indies. 
 
 1820. 
 
 Imports into Great Britain . . . 7,537,000 
 Exports from ditto .... 1,998,000 
 
 Excess of imports . . 5,539,000 
 
 1821. 
 
 Imports into Great Britain . . 7,562,000 
 Exports from ditto .... 2,978,000 
 
 Excess of imports . . . 4,584,000 
 
 9th. That the protecting duty of ten shillings per 
 cwt., which was imposed for the first time in the 
 year 1813, to favor the trade of the West Indies at
 
 182 INDIAN SUGAR. 
 
 the expense of British India, has necessarily the 
 effect of enhancing generally the price of all sugars 
 in the home market ; and that, consequently, as far 
 as West India produce is in question, it imposes upon 
 the British consumer a tax, the produce of which 
 does not find its way to the public exchequer, but 
 which is levied, without discrimination, not merely 
 for the benefit of the proprietors of estates in the old 
 colonies, who are known to be in a state of distress, 
 but also for the benefit of Demerara, and the other 
 newly-acquired colonies, which can neither advance 
 the same plea of distress, nor pretend that they have 
 acquired any peculiar rights on the ground of long 
 possession. 
 
 10th. That this forced enhancement of price in the 
 home market is injurious to the British refiner, and 
 tends to prevent his obtaining the supply of the 
 foreign market, while the drawback which is granted 
 to compensate this disadvantage can be supplied only 
 by means of direct contributions from the British 
 public. 
 
 llth. That the partial and unequal tax already 
 described, although more obviously affecting the 
 British consumer and the capitalist who has occasion 
 to draw his funds from India, is not less injurious to 
 the interests of the British manufacturer, who sees 
 within his reach an extensive market ready to receive 
 his cottons, woollens, hardware, and other articles, but 
 who finds it impossible to extend, or to continue, his 
 exportation in consequence of not being permitted to 
 import, at a fair rate of duty, the raw produce of 
 India in return.
 
 THE SUGAE DUTIES. 183 
 
 12th. That, all commerce resolving itself ulti- 
 mately into a barter of commodities, an import duty 
 may, and in certain cases must, have the effect of 
 checking and altogether preventing exportation ; and 
 that the enormous and unequal duty imposed upon 
 East India sugars, does notoriously tend to prevent 
 that free interchange of the manufactures of Great 
 Britain for the raw produce of her Eastern posses- 
 sions, which is calculated to secure great and reci- 
 procal advantages to the two countries. 
 
 13th. That even the agricultural interests of these 
 islands are exposed to injury by those injudicious 
 enactments, which tend to check the exportation of 
 British commodities ; since every measure which de- 
 presses the condition of the manufacturer, diminishes 
 liis means of consuming, and circumscribes his de- 
 mand for the produce of the land. 
 
 14th. That the East India Company, who are 
 under an obligation to furnish a remittance for a 
 portion of the interest of the territorial debt, are 
 liable to incur, and have actually sustained, a heavy 
 loss in consequence of the high protecting duties 
 levied upon East India sugars ; and that this loss, 
 which might have been avoided under a more equit- 
 able system of commercial regulation, has actually 
 trenched upon a capital which may be regarded as 
 national property. 
 
 15th. That the East India Company, precluded as 
 they have lately been from the importation of sugars 
 to any extent, by reason of the excessive duties, have 
 found themselves compelled to have recourse to the 
 importation of specie and bullion from their Eastern
 
 184 INDIAN SUGAE. 
 
 possessions, as the only channel of remittance which 
 was open to them. That upon this remittance, 
 amounting in the last year to the sum of about 
 two millions sterling, a loss must be sustained of not 
 less than twenty or twenty-five per cent., and that, 
 if it should be found necessary to continue the im- 
 portation of specie in future years, either for the 
 purpose of enabling them to fulfil their engagements 
 to the public creditors, or for the purpose of defray- 
 ing the territorial charge incurred in this country to 
 the amount of about one million and a half sterling 
 per annum, the loss must become of such magnitude 
 as to affect the profits, or dividends, of the numerous 
 body of individuals who hold an interest in the Com- 
 pany's stock. 
 
 16th. That the exportation of specie from British 
 India, a country which is not known to possess any 
 mines of the precious metals, must, if continued 
 upon a large scale, soon produce a scarcity of the 
 circulating medium; and that such a scarcity, by 
 lowering, as it probably would do, the price of all 
 consumable articles, the produce of the soil, must 
 tend to create & difficulty in the realisation of the 
 territorial revenue, and ultimately to reduce that re- 
 venue in proportion to the diminution in the value of 
 the produce of the land. 
 
 17th. That the probability of such a result can 
 scarcely be doubted by those who are aware that the 
 land constitutes the chief source of revenue in India; 
 and that, adverting to the fact of the gross revenue 
 of our Eastern possessions being now supposed to 
 exceed twenty millions sterling per annum, and to
 
 IMPEDIMENTS TO CULTIVATION. 185 
 
 have yielded in the last year, 1821-22, a net sur- 
 plus of not less than two millions, it is manifestly 
 an object of such vast national importance as to de- 
 mand that it should not be placed at hazard by com- 
 mercial enactments, originating in a desire to protect 
 and favor a particular interest. 
 
 18th. That it is a solecism in political reasoning, 
 and a proposition perfectly monstrous in a moral 
 point of view, to maintain the right to exact the 
 payment of a large annual tribute from a dependent 
 territory, at the same moment that its produce and 
 manufactures, from which alone such a tribute can 
 be paid, are peremptorily excluded from the mother 
 country by the imposition of prohibitory duties. 
 
 19th. That even admitting that the Government, 
 as lords paramount of the soil, should succeed in 
 realising the same revenue from the country, not- 
 withstanding the fall of prices, the landholders and 
 peasantry of our possessions in the East, who are 
 under engagements to pay a fixed money-rent, must 
 suifer from a diminution in the value of their raw 
 produce; and especially in the instance of sugar, 
 which is represented to be one of the most profitable 
 articles of cultivation. 
 
 20th. That admitting further, that a scarcity of 
 the circulating medium should not take place so as 
 to occasion a sensible fall of prices, the persons en- 
 gaged in the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, 
 and other classes of industrious individuals, must 
 suffer from the exclusion of that article from the 
 home market ; for, although it is quite true that
 
 186 INDIAN SUGAR. 
 
 sugar will be grown in India while there is a demand 
 for it in the general market of the world, it is by no 
 means a slight injury to shut it out from that market 
 to which it would be sent in the natural course of 
 trade, and in which a rapid increase of consumption 
 may be expected to take place under the influence of 
 moderate prices. 
 
 21st. That the prosperity of the trade from India 
 generally depends in a great degree upon the admis- 
 sion of sugar, since it is matter of notoriety that 
 cotton- wool, raw silk, indigo, and other articles, con- 
 stituting, as they do, a very light cargo, cannot 
 safely be transported by sea without a certain pro- 
 portion of dead weight ; and that, if sugar be ex- 
 cluded, a portion of the tonnage of every ship carry- 
 ing these light goods must either be occupied with 
 ballast, yielding no freight, or with saltpetre, an 
 article which cannot be imported at present without 
 a heavy loss. 
 
 22nd. That the exclusion of East India sugars from 
 the British market has consequently a tendency not 
 only to divert the trade in that valuable article into 
 a foreign channel, but also to force with it into 
 foreign ports a portion of the cotton-wool, which 
 forms the raw material of our most valuable manu- 
 facture. 
 
 23rd. That those deductions, which reason and 
 theory long since suggested, have lately been made 
 manifest by actual experience ; and in no instance 
 more remarkable than in that of coffee : namely, 
 that high taxes dry up the very sources of revenue,
 
 THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 187 
 
 and that moderate impositions upon commerce are 
 often more productive than the highest duties ; and 
 that, applying these premises to the case of sugar, it 
 may fairly he pronounced that the apprehensions in- 
 culcated of a decrease of revenue being the inevitable 
 consequence of an equalisation of the duties, are as 
 little reconcileable with the deductions of sound 
 reasoning, as they are with the results of actual ex- 
 perience. 
 
 24th. That the argument founded upon the com- 
 parative security and permanency of our possessions 
 in the West Indies, is not entitled to more weight or 
 attention, since it might easily be made to appear 
 that our insular possessions in the West, situated as 
 they are in the immediate neighbourhood of an as- 
 piring and powerful state, are much more exposed to 
 the attacks of a foreign enemy than our extensive 
 continental possessions in the East ; while the slave 
 population of the former, having almost before their 
 eyes the example of St. Domingo, are less to be de- 
 pended upon, and are more likely to break out into 
 dangerous insurrections than the free native subjects 
 of our Indian Empire, who enjoy the inestimable ad- 
 vantages of freedom, and who have hitherto been 
 protected in their rights (with, perhaps, the single 
 exception of commercial restriction), with a degree 
 of care and solicitude characteristic of a benevolent 
 and paternal Government. 
 
 25th. That while a well-founded reliance may be 
 placed in the stability and security of our Indian 
 Empire so long as that vast territory shall be adrni-
 
 188 INDIAN SUGAK. 
 
 nistered by a wise, just, and energetic Government, 
 it is not intended, or wished, to conceal that it may 
 be exposed to danger : that we may forfeit the attach- 
 ment of the people upon which the very foundations 
 of our empire rest : that they may be goaded by 
 oppression, and irritated by injustice ; and that it 
 ought, consequently, to be a primary object of the 
 British Legislature to remove all those commercial 
 restrictions and prohibitions which are calculated to 
 excite in the minds of our Asiatic subjects a sense of 
 injustice which may alienate their affections, and 
 cause them to regard the domination of Great Bri- 
 tain as a calamity rather than a blessing to their 
 country. 
 
 26th. That the East Indian interest, far from 
 wishing to extend to their fellow-subjects those op- 
 pressive restrictions on commerce of which they 
 themselves have so much reason to complain, are 
 ready and willing to co-operate with the West Indian 
 interest in soliciting from the Legislature relief from 
 any remaining restrictions and disabilities under 
 which they may still suffer, and which can be re- 
 moved without compromising the general interests 
 of the empire. 
 
 27th. That the East Indian interest would most 
 cordially and zealously concur with the West Indian 
 interest in urging upon the British Legislature the 
 expediency, and still more the moral obligation they 
 are under, of endeavouring, by all justifiable means, 
 to put an end as soon as possible to that unhallowed 
 and execrable traffic in human beings, which is still
 
 THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 189 
 
 carried on by some of the nations of Europe, and 
 which constitutes the foulest blot in the history of 
 the civilised world. 
 
 28th. That while the East Indian interest are pre- 
 pared to deny and to disprove the claims to a protect- 
 ing duty set up by the West Indian interest on the 
 ground of prescription, they are ready and willing 
 to co-operate cordially with their fellow-subjects in 
 petitioning the Legislature either to substitute a mo- 
 derate ad valorem duty on the importation of sugar, 
 or to reduce the duties on East and "West India 
 sugars respectively to the rates* at which they stood 
 in the year 1803 ; satisfied as they feel that these 
 duties were then regulated on juster principles, and 
 that a recurrence to them would, without involving 
 a sacrifice of the public revenue, afford essential relief 
 to those who are interested in the manufacture and 
 trade in sugar, both in the "West and East Indies. 
 
 29th. Finally. That with a view to these several 
 considerations, it being apparent that the high and 
 unequal duties at present levied on East India sugars 
 do, in a greater or less degree, affect the interests of 
 the British consumer of the British manufacturer 
 of the agriculturist of all those engaged in the 
 trade and transportation of sugar, cotton, and other 
 articles from British India of the British capitalist 
 who has invested his funds in India of the land- 
 owners and peasantry of our Eastern possessions of 
 the manufacturers and merchants employed in carry- 
 
 * Viz. On Muscovado ... 20 shillings per cwt. 
 E. I. white sugars . . 22 do. do. 
 W. I. cloyed .... 23-4 do. do.
 
 190 INDIAN SUGAR. 
 
 ing on the internal trade of those provinces of the 
 British and Indian shipowners and, lastly, of the 
 East India Company themselves, both from the large 
 interest which they hold in the produce of the soil, 
 and from the obligation they are under to continue 
 the great organ of remittance from India it is the 
 bounden duty of the Honorable Court of Directors, 
 of the Court of Proprietors of East India Stock, and 
 of all others connected with, or taking an interest in, 
 the welfare and prosperity of British India, to en- 
 deavour, by all lawful and justifiable means, to obtain 
 the repeal of an arbitrary and oppressive tax, which 
 is not reconcileable either with the views of an en- 
 lightened policy, or with the dictates of impartial 
 justice.* 
 
 * Mr. Tucker had long been familiar with this matter of Indian Sugar. 
 As far back as 1793-94 he wrote a treatise on the subject, which was embodied 
 in Mr. Colebrooke's work on Indian Agriculture. More than half a century 
 afterwards he was in close communication with Lord George Bentinck and 
 others on the important question of the Sugar Duties, and was examined 
 before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1848. He always insisted 
 upon the necessity of encouraging the production of this article as a means 
 of remittance to the mother country. Writing to Lord George Bentinck on 
 this subject in May, 1848, he said: " I need hardly repeat that India can only 
 discharge her annual tribute to the mother country, for a continuance, by 
 means of her produce and manufactures ; and if this country will not receive 
 that produce at remunerating prices, the same amount of tribute cannot be 
 realised. I have stated that sugar appears to me our most promising article 
 of export from India ; but at the present prices in this market it cannot be 
 exported with advantage ; and if the supply should cease, or be materially 
 curtailed (which is certainly to be apprehended), I know not where a substi- 
 tute is to be found Again, I would urge, without presuming to 
 
 point out the quo modo, that one of the greatest benefits which the British 
 Legislature could confer on India and the East India Company, would be to 
 encourage, by whatever means, the importation of sugar from our Indian pos-
 
 191 
 
 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 LORD CORNWALLIS AND THE REGULATIONS.* 
 
 IN the year 1793, the Supreme Government framed 
 a code of regulations for the better administration of 
 our Indian territory ; and by Regulation XLL, which 
 is, in fact, the keystone of the code, it was provided 
 that " every rule or order that may be passed by the 
 Governor-General in Council, regarding the adminis- 
 tration of justice the imposition or levying of taxes, 
 or of duties on commerce the collection of the public 
 revenue assessed upon the lands the rights and 
 tenures of the proprietors and cultivators of the soil 
 the provision of the Company's investment the 
 manufacture of salt or opium and generally all 
 regulations affecting in any respect the rights, per- 
 sons, or property of the natives, or any individuals 
 who may be amenable to the Provincial Courts of 
 judicature, shall be recorded in the Judicial De- 
 partment, and there framed into a Regulation, and 
 printed and published, as hereafter directed." 
 
 Lord Cornwallis, with that wisdom and foresight 
 for which he was distinguished, was anxious, how- 
 
 * From a paper on the Settlement of the North-West Provinces, written 
 in 1832.
 
 192 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 ever, to secure the rights and interests of our native 
 subjects by something more binding and authorita- 
 tive than an enactment of the local Government. 
 He was quite aware that the love of system, and the 
 love of change, or fiscal cupidity, might at some 
 future period predominate ; and endanger, and per- 
 haps overturn, the best and the wisest institutions. 
 He accordingly, in concert with the able statesmen 
 who at that time conducted the affairs of this country, 
 procured to be enacted by the British Legislature a 
 clause in the 37th George III., whereby the code of 
 regulations framed for the Presidency of Bengal in 
 1793 was fully recognised and confirmed ; while a 
 general power of legislation was conferred pro- 
 spectively upon the Government of India, in terms 
 the most distinct and comprehensive. The very 
 words of the preamble to Regulation XLI. are 
 quoted ; and as it appears to me of importance that 
 we should keep in view this most important provision 
 of the Legislature, I shall transcribe in this place sec- 
 tion 8 of the Act of the 37th George III., c. 113. 
 
 " VIII. And whereas certain regulations for the 
 better administration of justice among the native 
 inhabitants and others, being within the provinces 
 of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, have been from time 
 to time framed by the Governor-General in Council 
 in Bengal ; and among other regulations it has been 
 established and declared as essential to the future 
 prosperity of the British territories in Bengal, that 
 all regulations passed by Government, affecting the 
 rights, properties, or persons of the subjects, should
 
 THE REGULATIONS. 193 
 
 be formed into a regular code, and printed with 
 translations in the country languages, and that the 
 grounds of every regulation he prefixed to it ; and 
 that the courts of justice within the provinces he 
 hound to regulate their decisions by the rules and 
 ordinances which such regulations may contain, 
 whereby the native inhabitants may be made 
 acquainted with the privileges and immunities 
 granted to them by the British Government, and 
 the mode of obtaining speedy redress for any in- 
 fringement of the same. And whereas it is essential 
 that so wise and salutary a provision should be 
 strictly observed, and that it should not be in the 
 power of the Governor-General in Council to neglect 
 or to dispense with the same : be it therefore enacted 
 that all regulations which shall be issued and framed 
 by the Governor-General in Council at Port William 
 in Bengal, affecting the rights, persons, or property 
 of the natives, or of any other individuals who may 
 be amenable to the provincial courts of justice, shall 
 be registered in the Judicial Department, and formed 
 into a regular code, and printed, with translations, 
 in the country languages ; and that the grounds of 
 each regulation shall be prefixed to it ; and all the 
 provincial courts of judicature shall be, and they are 
 hereby directed to be, bound by, and to regulate 
 their decisions by such rules and ordinances as shall 
 be contained in the said regulations ; and the said 
 Governor- General in Council shall annually transmit 
 to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, 
 ten copies of such regulations as may be passed in 
 TOL. i. o
 
 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 each year, and the same number to the Board of 
 Commissioners for the affairs of India." 
 
 It is not required by this enactment that the 
 regulations of the Indian Government should re- 
 ceive the sanction of the home authorities, in order 
 to their becoming valid and effective. They are not 
 placed on the same footing as those rules and ordi- 
 nances which, under another provision of the Legis- 
 lature, must be registered in the Supreme Court 
 before they can take effect ; nor are they of the 
 nature of certain other regulations, by which the 
 Indian Governments are empowered to impose and 
 levy duties of customs and other imposts at the 
 three presidencies. These are not valid without the 
 sanction of the home authorities ; and for very suffi- 
 cient reasons, because they imply the power to tax 
 British commerce and British subjects. 
 
 But Lord Cornwallis would not have secured ade- 
 quate protection to the rights of our native subjects, 
 if, in bestowing upon them good laws, he had not 
 at the same time provided independent courts of 
 justice for the administration of those laws. He 
 did establish such courts ; and he rendered the offi- 
 cers of Government, and the Government itself, 
 amenable to their jurisdiction. My conviction is, 
 that if this great bulwark had not been provided, 
 the Permanent Settlement, as sacred a compact as 
 was ever entered into by a Government, would not 
 have endured to the present day.
 
 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 195 
 
 PROPOSED REVISION OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM.* 
 
 A very intelligent people enacted that the pro- 
 poser of a new law should come forward with the 
 terrors of death impending over him, and in thus 
 discouraging innovation they acted upon the sound 
 dictates of reason and experience. Change is in 
 itself an evil. "When any system has been once 
 settled and established, habit comes in to its aid, 
 smoothes away little difficulties, and reconciles 
 trifling defects. It cannot then be disturbed with- 
 out inconvenience, nor often without danger ; and 
 he who would innovate should not only be fully 
 satisfied that there is a certain and a serious evil to 
 correct, but he should also have the strongest 
 grounds for presuming that the remedy proposed to 
 be applied will remove it, or mitigate its effects. 
 
 It is matter of notoriety at present, not only that 
 our system of police is very defective, but that our 
 whole judicial system is so encumbered and unwieldy 
 
 * This paper is without date. It was written many years ago perhaps 
 about 1815. Many of the evils which it points out have been amended ; at 
 all events the system has been revised for revision is not always amend- 
 ment and some of the changes introduced, on the abolition of the Provincial 
 Courts (see Mr. Tucker's paper on " Our Revenue and Judicial Establish- 
 ments"), had inherent defects of their own. It has been thought advisable, 
 however, to insert the paper in the present collection, partly because it has a 
 sort of historical value, partly because some of the remarks which it con- 
 tains are still applicable to the present state of things, and some of the sug- 
 gestions it puts forth may still be studied with advantage. Indeed, a consi- 
 derable portion of it might have been written yesterday. 
 
 o 2
 
 196 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 as to have become altogether inefficient. I will not 
 undertake to explain what is already known, nor 
 is it material to trace the causes of defects with 
 any other .view than to discover the appropriate 
 remedy. 
 
 Many circumstances may have a prejudicial in- 
 fluence upon the good order of society, and some 
 of these may operate without impeachment of the 
 system of police. For example, the decay of manu- 
 factures, the high price of provisions, the disbanding 
 of armies after the termination of war, &c., &c., may 
 all tend to produce disorder; but such causes of 
 derangement may be expected to have a temporary 
 influence only. There are other circumstances 
 which may be attended with more permanent effects 
 the habit of gaming, the immoderate use of spi- 
 rituous liquors, and generally, all immoral habits 
 and practices. 
 
 I myself am disposed to deduce very serious con- 
 sequences from the increased and increasing use of 
 spirituous liquors and drugs in these provinces ; but 
 the large revenue at present drawn from the Abkarry 
 will, I fear, operate as an insuperable bar to the 
 adoption of any plan having for its object the cor- 
 rection of this pernicious practice. Indeed, when 
 the use of a powerful stimulant of the kind has once 
 been generally adopted by a people, it is scarcely 
 possible for a Government, acting upon the most 
 benevolent principles, to eradicate the habit en- 
 tirely. 
 
 I will not undertake to examine the merits of the
 
 POLICE REFORM. 197 
 
 experiment which was resorted to a few years ago, 
 for the purpose of invigorating and improving our 
 system of police; because men of greater know- 
 ledge and experience* than myself have canvassed 
 the plan, and after a very elaborate discussion, it is 
 still vehemently condemned by one party, and as 
 vehemently extolled by the other. I allude to the 
 employment of Goindahs, or informers, as instru- 
 ments of police. With respect to these persons I 
 shall only observe that, as far as I had an opportunity 
 of judging of their agency in the judicial situation 
 which I formerly held, my testimony is decidedly 
 against them. I regarded the employment of Go- 
 indahs as a measure pregnant with the greatest 
 mischief ; and I was satisfied that they were scarcely 
 a less grievous burden upon the country than the 
 bands of robbers whom they were employed to root 
 out. 
 
 I do not mean to assert that a magistrate should 
 not look abroad for information, or that he should 
 not employ instruments to obtain it. I object to 
 those roving commissions which have been given to 
 men of questionable and even infamous character, 
 under which they erect petty tribunals in the in- 
 terior of the country, spread alarm wherever they 
 appear, suborn evidence by the most shameless 
 means, conjure up offences which have no existence 
 but in their own atrocious machinations levy con- 
 tributions from those who are rich enough to pur- 
 
 * I was employed in the' Judicial Department during a period of eight 
 years, but I have long been detached from it. H. St.G. T.
 
 198 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 cliase off accusation and finally, drag the indigent 
 and helpless to a jail, for the purpose of manifesting 
 a merciless and mischievous activity. 
 
 These abuses are not the creation of imagination 
 I remember full well to have convicted a band of 
 Goindahs of the most oppressive and criminal con- 
 duct ; and if proof be required of the irregular and 
 unjustifiable proceedings of these men, the public 
 records will, I believe, supply it. 
 
 The bands of Dakoits which infest the country are, 
 no doubt, a very serious evil ; but there is no de- 
 scription of robber so formidable as the licensed free- 
 booter, who acts under the sanction of law. 
 
 My attention, has, however, been directed chiefly 
 to what appear to me defects in other parts of our 
 system; and as these may, perhaps, be susceptible 
 of a remedy, I shall venture to submit some propo- 
 sitions for the consideration of those who have the 
 deepest interest in promoting the public welfare. 
 
 1st. Our provincial courts are inefficient from the 
 great length of the circuits the immense number of 
 appeals, &c., &c.* 
 
 2nd. Our district magistracy is inefficient from 
 the circumstance of the judicial officers being 
 burdened with a variety of duties, civil and crimi- 
 nal, and from these duties being encumbered with 
 innumerable and perhaps unnecessary forms. 
 
 3rd. The judicial officers are in many cases incom- 
 petent to the due discharge of their functions from 
 
 * The provincial courts were subsequently abolished by Lord William 
 Bentinck.
 
 ITS DEFECTS. 199 
 
 want of experience, and from their possessing only 
 an imperfect knowledge of the languages, manners, 
 moral habits, prevailing opinions and prejudices of 
 the people, &c., &c. 
 
 This ignorance of the moral qualities of the wit- 
 nesses frequently disqualifies the magistrates for 
 judging of evidence, and prevents them from scruti- 
 nising and exhibiting it to the superior courts in a 
 shape to admit of those courts forming a satisfactory 
 judgment upon it. 
 
 Prom these and other causes, upon which I shall 
 not enlarge, the administration of justice in Bengal 
 is notoriously defective ; and as the difficulties which 
 are already experienced may be expected to increase, 
 it is to be apprehended that in the course of a short 
 time the encumbered machine will stop altogether. 
 I am far from presuming to think that I could con- 
 struct a better system ; but the simplest bystander 
 may fortunately perceive, and seasonably remove, 
 little obstructions, which, if allowed to remain, might 
 embarrass and impede the action of the most perfect 
 machinery. I will proceed, then, to give a brief 
 sketch of the modifications which I think may with 
 advantage be introduced into our present judicial 
 system ; and I will afterwards add such remarks as 
 may be necessary for the purpose of explaining the 
 grounds of the proposed alterations.
 
 200 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 Provincial Courts. 
 
 1st. I would propose that the provincial circuits 
 should be discontinued, and that the criminal court 
 should be constituted a tribunal for superintendence 
 and revision. 
 
 2nd. That the number of judges should be reduced 
 to two ; 01% in the courts where there are now four 
 judges, to three. 
 
 3rd. That the proceedings of the district magis- 
 trate should be referred to this court for revision in 
 all cases where the punishment adjudged shall ex- 
 ceed twelve months' imprisonment, or fifteen strokes 
 of the korah, or thirty strokes of the rattan. 
 
 4th. That the provincial court shall pass sentence 
 without reference to the Nizamut Adawlut in all 
 cases where the punishment adjudged shall be short 
 of death, or perpetual imprisonment, or transporta- 
 tion for life, reserving only capital cases for the final 
 decision of the latter court. 
 
 5th. That the provincial court shall try all charges 
 brought against any magistrate, judge, or collector, 
 or against any public officer, or servant, employed in 
 the district courts, whether civil or criminal, or under 
 the collectors in their judicial capacity. 
 
 6th. That the provincial courts shall entertain and 
 try all suits in the first instance, when the value of 
 the property contested shall exceed the sum of 1000 
 rupees. 
 
 7th. That the provincial courts shall receive, try,
 
 DISTRICT MAGISTRACY. 201 
 
 and decide finally all appeals from the district courts, 
 when the value of the property litigated shall exceed 
 100 rupees, and be less than 1000 rupees, the district 
 judge deciding finally, without appeal, to the amount 
 of 100 rupees. 
 
 8th. That the provincial courts shall decide finally 
 to the extent of 5000 rupees in suits brought before 
 them in the first instance when the judgment passed 
 in full court may be unanimous ; but in such cases, 
 the individual opinions of the judges shall be re- 
 corded. 
 
 9th. That an appeal be allowed in all such suits to 
 the Suddur Dewanny Adawlut when the judgment is 
 not unanimous, and in all cases where the value of 
 the property contested shall exceed 5000 rupees. 
 
 Zillah, or District Magistracy. 
 
 10th. That the present judges and magistrates be 
 constituted magistrates only, the civil duties being 
 otherwise provided for. 
 
 llth. That the magistrates perform the circuit of 
 their districts twice in the year, visiting the Tannahs, 
 hearing complaints against the officers of police, and 
 holding a session at the principal towns. 
 
 12th. That the magistrates hold a continued 
 session at the Suddur, or head station, when they may 
 not be employed on the circuit. 
 
 13th. That the police Darogahs be superseded, 
 and the duties of these officers, with some modifica- 
 tions, be committed to Zemindars and other respect-
 
 202 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 able residents of the district, to be selected by the 
 magistrate, and confirmed by the provincial court. 
 
 14th. That the salaries and establishments of the 
 present Darogahs be transferred to these Zemindars, 
 or other officers of police. 
 
 15th. That the magistrate preside at all criminal 
 trials, assisted as at present by a Mahomedan law- 
 officer ; but that the verdict be given by a jury of 
 natives. 
 
 16th. That the magistrate at every session be re- 
 quired to issue a Sunnud, or commission, appoint- 
 ing five of the most respectable inhabitants of the 
 district or town (Mahoniedans and Hindoos being 
 chosen indifferently), for the purpose of officiating as 
 jurors in the trial of all criminal cases. 
 
 17th. That these jurors be required to take an oath, 
 or to subscribe the usual declaration, engaging them- 
 selves to the true and faithful discharge of the trust 
 reposed in them. 
 
 18th. That the jurors be required to attend in 
 court throughout the trial that they be allowed 
 liberty to examine the witnesses, and on the conclu- 
 sion of the proceedings be required to give in their 
 verdict declaratory of the guilt or innocence of the 
 prisoner upon the whole, or upon any part of the 
 charge. 
 
 19th. That, in the event of the jurors not being 
 unanimous in their verdict, the individuals be re- 
 quired to deliver their opinions in writing, with an 
 explanation of the grounds of such opinions ; and
 
 DISTRICT COURTS. 203 
 
 that the court, to whose decision the proceedings 
 may be referred, be required to pass sentence upon 
 the verdict of the majority, if it be for an acquittal, 
 or to mitigate the punishment at their discretion, if 
 the verdict of the majority condemn the prisoner. 
 
 20th. That, in cases where the provincial court, or 
 Nizamut Adawlut, may have reason to believe that 
 some palpable error has been committed in the course 
 of the trial, or that the jurors have been tampered 
 with these courts be empowered to order a new trial, 
 and, if necessary, to nominate a new set of jurors. 
 
 21st. That after the verdict shall have been given 
 and approved, the Mahomedan law-officer be re- 
 quired, as at present, to deliver in a Tutwah, ap- 
 plying the law to the fact, but not embracing the 
 proof. 
 
 22nd. That the Court be empowered to take the 
 opinion of the Mahomedan law-officer upon the 
 competency of evidence, and other points of law 
 which may arise out of the trial. 
 
 District Civil Courts. 
 
 23rd. That in lieu of the present assistant judges 
 and registers, a district judge be appointed in each 
 Zillah and city, with a salary of 1000 rupees per 
 month, and liberty to appropriate the fees payable 
 on the causes which may be decided by them re- 
 spectively. 
 
 24th. That the district judge be empowered to 
 decide finally in all suits for property not exceeding 
 hi value 100 rupees.
 
 20-1 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 25th. That the district judge be empowered to 
 entertain suits for property to the amount of 1000 
 rupees; but that an appeal be allowed to the pro- 
 vincial court, when the value litigated shall exceed 
 100 rupees. 
 
 26th. That one or more native commissioners, 
 referees, or arbitrators, be appointed, as at present, 
 at the Suddur, or head station, of each district or 
 city, with jurisdiction to the extent of twenty-five 
 rupees ; but that the commissioners who are spread 
 over the interior of the country be recalled. 
 
 27th. That an appeal be allowed to the district 
 court from the decree of the commissioners; but 
 that the judgment of arbitrators, nominated by 
 mutual consent of parties, be final in all cases, 
 unless corruption be charged against the arbitrators. 
 
 Collectors' Court. 
 
 28th. That the collectors of the land-revenue be 
 empowered to take cognisance of all suits between 
 landlord and tenant, and between different land- 
 holders in cases of disputed boundaries, undue ap- 
 propriation of crops, and other trespasses. 
 
 29th. That the collectors be empowered to decide 
 finally to the extent of 100 rupees; but that an 
 appeal be allowed to the provincial court when the 
 value of the property litigated may exceed that 
 sum. 
 
 30th. That the collectors be empowered to nomi- 
 nate commissioners, referees, or arbitrators, at the 
 Suddur station, with jurisdiction to the same extent
 
 COLLECTORS' COURTS. 205 
 
 as that which xnay be given to the same description 
 of officers acting under the district judge. 
 
 31st. That the jurisdiction of the revenue com- 
 missioners be strictly confined to suits for disputed 
 rents. 
 
 32nd. That the collectors' court be rendered the 
 depository of the revenue registers, and of all re- 
 cords relating to disputed boundaries, the division of 
 estates, the assessment of the public revenue, &c., &c. 
 
 33rd. That the Canoongoes, or other officers, be 
 appointed under the collectors to prepare and pre- 
 serve the revenue registers, &c., upon the plan re- 
 commended to Government by the Board of Revenue 
 on the 15th November, 1808. 
 
 34th. That these officers be also employed in pre- 
 paring registers of all rent-free lands upon the same 
 plan. 
 
 35th. That an officer of record be constituted at 
 the presidency, under the Board of Revenue, for 
 the purpose of collecting, arranging, and preserving 
 these registers upon the same plan. 
 
 Explanatory Remarks. 
 
 If I were called upon to describe the prominent 
 features of our present judicial* system, I should 
 say that it attempts too much that it manifests 
 everywhere a spirit of distrust and that it mul- 
 
 * I am far from wishing to cavil at this system, which, in my opinion, with 
 all its defects, still possesses great merit. Its founder, Lord Cornwall!?, 
 I revered as a genuine patriot a brave and able soldier a statesman who 
 acted always on principles of justice and, lastly, as a good and honorable 
 man. II. St.G. T.
 
 206 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 tiplies checks and forms in such manner as to 
 detach and fritter away responsibility, instead of 
 fixing it in any particular quarter. 
 
 The police Darogah apprehends persons accused 
 or suspected, takes examinations, and sends them 
 up with a long train of witnesses to the magistrate. 
 The latter officer examines the prisoners, takes the 
 depositions of the witnesses a second time, and if he 
 see reason, commits. 
 
 In many instances, however, this commitment 
 does not take place until after the lapse of a consi- 
 derable time; for the number* of persons appre- 
 hended in some of the districts is so great that 
 months must elapse before it comes to the turn of 
 persons accused to undergo the necessary examina- 
 tion. In the mean time they are crowded together 
 in a place of confinement. If they be innocent, 
 they will probably come out contaminated ; and if 
 they be guilty, opportunity is given them to in- 
 trigue with the low, sordid Vakeels, who hover about 
 the criminal courts, to tamper with, and perhaps to 
 intimidate, the witnesses, and to support, by perjured 
 evidence, some fictitious story calculated to discredit 
 the charge. During this period the prosecutors and 
 witnesses are detained at much personal inconve- 
 nience to themselves. Their usual occupations are 
 
 * At Nuddeah there are, I understand, about 1500 persons in general 
 under examination, and before their commitment or discharge can take 
 place, they have already suffered a long confinement. This delay is in itself 
 a severe grievance, and it is a punishment which every malignant character 
 has it in his power to inflict on the innocent. The Goindahs are well aware 
 of the use which can be made of it to extort money. H. St.G. T.
 
 COURTS OF CIRCUIT. 207 
 
 suspended, and Government is subjected to a heavy 
 expense in providing for their subsistence. 
 
 At the expiration of some months, the Court of 
 Circuit appears at the station, and if the trial be not 
 postponed to a future session (which happens not 
 unfrequently), the prisoners and witnesses are again 
 examined, and sentence is at length passed. But 
 the fate of the parties is not yet decided, if the 
 crime be of any magnitude, for in this case the pro- 
 ceedings must be referred to the Mzamut Adawlut 
 (and, in some instances, to the supreme executive 
 authority). Then the trial in reality commences ; 
 and if no material error should have been committed 
 in the course of conducting the proceedings in the 
 lower court, sentence of condemnation or acquittal 
 is at length pronounced. 
 
 In a country where knowledge is generally dif- 
 fused, and where the governors and the governed 
 are the same people, complex and artificial arrange- 
 ments are not always attended with material incon- 
 venience ; but when a foreign power, setting aside 
 ancient institutions, undertakes to legislate for a 
 conquered people, with whom it is only very imper- 
 fectly acquainted, the system which it may propose 
 to substitute ought to be simple, intelligible, and 
 easy of execution. Codes of laws have everywhere 
 a tendency to grow ; and whatever they be in their 
 origin, they are liable, in the course of time, to shoot 
 out excrescences which require to be primed. 
 
 But what, let me ask, is the great utility of the 
 Courts of Circuit? Do they bring justice to the
 
 208 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 door of tlie party injured ? Do they operate as a 
 check upon the judicial officers ? or do they place 
 before the eyes of the superior court, and of Govern- 
 ment, a true and comprehensive chart of the moral 
 state of the community? 
 
 The judges have to travel on each half-yearly cir- 
 cuit a distance of from 600 to 1200 miles ; much 
 time is occupied in performing this tedious journey 
 in a country where there are no conveniences for 
 travelling. They find at every station more busi- 
 ness than they can possibly get through with ease 
 and satisfaction to themselves. It is hurried over ;* 
 they cannot wait to consider how it may best be 
 done, they are compelled to study how it be most 
 speedily done. Trials are put oif to the next session 
 whenever a plausible reason can be found for delay ; 
 and the exhausted judge, if he had leisure to look 
 around him for information, would probably find all 
 access to him barred in those instances where the 
 misconduct of the district officers might render it of 
 importance that he should scrutinise the proceedings 
 of the local authorities. 
 
 I do not mean to assert that this description of 
 the circuits applies universally. There are some 
 distinguished exceptions, and the Circuit Reports of 
 Sir H. Strachey, Mr. Stuart, and others, reflect honor 
 on the service which has produced such men. These 
 valuable documents are not, however, the offspring 
 
 * I have heard of a judge of circuit conducting two or more trials at the 
 same time ! Is not this a mockery of justice ? Few of our judges have 
 had the advantage of a professional education, and yet some are found to 
 attempt what Lord Mansfield never dreamt of undertaking ! ! H. St.G. T.
 
 CIRCUIT JUDGES. 209 
 
 of a hurried journey. They are the emanations 
 of reflecting minds ; and their chief value consists 
 in the acute discrimination of national character 
 which they manifest, in the judicious use and appli- 
 cation of general principles, and in the laborious 
 and accurate attention bestowed to trace effects to 
 their true causes. These reports might have been 
 produced equally well, if the same men had never 
 moved beyond the borders of a single province or 
 district. 
 
 The judges of circuit, in fact, do little more than 
 perform the office of a grand jury, and by employing 
 them in this manner as a sort of sifting tribunal, 
 we not only encumber and embarrass the execution 
 of criminal justice, but we deprive ourselves of the 
 means of providing adequately for the administra- 
 tion of justice in civil cases. 
 
 The magistrates, assisted by a few intelligent 
 natives, would perform the functions assigned to the 
 judges of circuit with much better effect. They would 
 labor every case while yet warm from the forge 
 they would have it in their power to prosecute their 
 inquiries on the very spot where the crime may be 
 committed they would have better means of be- 
 coming acquainted with local circumstances, and 
 with the characters of the people placed under their 
 authority prosecutors and witnesses would not be 
 carried away repeatedly to a distance from their 
 homes, at great inconvenience to themselves and 
 families and the Government would not be sub- 
 jected to a heavy expense in supporting them all 
 VOL. i. p
 
 210 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 the mischief of delay would be in a great degree pre- 
 vented punishment would follow more closely upon 
 the commission of crime, would he more striking and 
 impressive, and would operate in the way in which 
 it is most desirable that it should always operate 
 in the prevention of crime. Prosecutors and wit- 
 nesses would have less to apprehend, and the com- 
 munity might be brought to take a more active part 
 in the prevention and detection of offences. 
 
 But it may be asked, perhaps, how I can reconcile 
 it to principle that the power of apprehending, try- 
 ing, and punishing, should be committed to the same 
 hands ? I reply that the cumbrous process which we 
 have established is the fruitful source of those evils 
 which I am anxious to see corrected. There are few 
 temptations to corruption in the administration of 
 criminal justice confidence must in the end be re- 
 posed in some quarter, and power must ultimately 
 be committed to some hands, however scrupulous 
 we may be in the selection. The magistrates will, 
 no doubt, be liable to error ; but if the dread of fall- 
 ing into error is to operate as a perpetual check and 
 discouragement, we cannot hope to accomplish any- 
 thing good or useful. I do not propose to leave 
 everything to the magistrate the Provincial Courts 
 will revise his proceedings in cases of magnitude ; 
 and to the Nizamut Adawlut will be reserved the 
 power of passing final sentence whenever the verdict 
 may adjudge death, or perpetual imprisonment, or 
 transportation beyond sea. 
 
 If it be absolutely necessary that the conduct of
 
 THE MAGISTRACY. 211 
 
 the magistrates should be watched, and that periodi- 
 cal reports of the state of the country should be sub- 
 mitted to the Nizamut Adawlut and to Government, 
 the itinerant superintendents of police might be em- 
 ployed in the performance of this duty. The Pro- 
 vincial Courts, moreover, are not so remote as to be 
 precluded from the exercise of an efficient control 
 over the conduct of the district officers ; and I have 
 expressly provided that all complaints preferred 
 against those officers and their servants should be 
 brought before the Provincial Courts. By requiring, 
 also, that civil suits of magnitude should be brought 
 in the first instance into those courts, they will be 
 resorted to more frequently by the natives, and be 
 regarded generally as the central and superintending 
 authority in the province. 
 
 It may be supposed that in assigning the magiste- 
 rial functions to the principal officer of the district, 
 and in taking from him all civil jurisdiction, I have 
 rather neglected the civil concerns of the people ; 
 but I have been influenced by the consideration that 
 it is of more importance to protect the person than 
 the property of the subject, and that it is more neces- 
 sary to protect his property against open violence 
 than against the less alarming attempts of fraud and 
 dishonesty. The district judges will certainly be men 
 of less experience ; but their jurisdiction will be 
 limited, and the Provincial Courts must be looked to 
 as the great safeguards of property in all cases where* 
 from its magnitude, it could not be prudently en- 
 trusted to inexperienced hands, or where, from the 
 
 P2
 
 212 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 same circumstance, it is liable to become the object 
 of intrigue, and the exciting cause of corrupt prac- 
 tices. 
 
 Even now, in some districts, the judge is com- 
 pelled often to suspend the exercise of his civil 
 functions, and to give a preference to the duties of 
 magistrate; and if the business of the Dewanny 
 Court proceed at all, the parties are principally 
 indebted to the labors of the Registers. 
 
 I fear that I shall be suspected of an intention to 
 revolutionise the natives, when I propose the insti- 
 tution of juries ; but we must not be misled by 
 names. I use this term for want of some better 
 designation ; but I have no idea of recommending 
 the trial by jury in these provinces upon the model 
 of that established in England. I wish to employ 
 the agency of natives in weighing evidence. We 
 cannot assimilate with the people of this country 
 we cannot enter into their characters, and we cannot, 
 therefore, judge correctly of their words and actions. 
 An endeavour on their part to conform to our ideas 
 frequently misleads them and deceives us, and ter- 
 minates in the absolute perversion of evidence. But 
 the difficulties which a British judge experiences 
 from this circumstance are so clearly and ably de- 
 scribed by Sir H. Strachey, in a letter which is 
 quoted in the Eifth Report of the Committee of the 
 House of Commons, that it is necessary only for me 
 to refer to this authority. 
 
 The jury should not be constituted a sort of 
 standing tribunal, for in that case an opening might
 
 JURIES. 213 
 
 be given for intrigue. The jurors should be changed 
 frequently ; and, indeed, " one of the best and most 
 characteristic features of an English jury is, that the 
 individuals composing it come to the performance of 
 their important functions without any previous 
 knowledge of the cases which they may be called 
 upon to try, and without an opportunity being given 
 to the parties to influence their judgments by the 
 arts of intrigue, or by holding out to them improper 
 inducements of any kind." 
 
 By employing a greater number than five jurors, 
 we should only create confusion and prevent unani- 
 mous verdicts; and by reducing the number still 
 lower, we should place in the hands of a few indi- 
 viduals a more active kind of power, which would 
 be liable to be abused. 
 
 Incompetent as we are from circumstances to dis- 
 tinguish and appreciate the true tendency and value 
 of native evidence, another difficulty is superadded 
 by the mode in which our criminal trials are some- 
 times conducted. The depositions of the witnesses 
 are usually recorded in the Persian language, which 
 few of the deponents understand; and instead of 
 taking oral examinations, the courts of justice not 
 unfrequently, I believe, are content to read in a 
 translation the evidence delivered before the magis- 
 trate, or the police Darogah. But, without insisting 
 upon the difficulty (I might almost say, impossi- 
 bility) of transfusing evidence with perfect accuracy 
 from one language into another, I must observe that 
 written evidence can scarcely in any case be made
 
 214 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 to answer the purposes of parole evidence. Every 
 person who has had the least experience in judicial 
 proceedings must be sensible that the countenance, 
 the manner, and even the tone of voice of a witness, 
 constitute essential points of evidence. 
 
 We shall not, however, have advanced very far in 
 the way of improvement by providing a more easy 
 and expeditious mode of trial, if we do not at the 
 same time provide for the apprehension of oifenders, 
 and for the suppression of acts of violence and out- 
 rage. Nothing, I own, can be more difficult than to 
 provide effectually for the protection of the persons 
 and property of the natives of the Bengal provinces. 
 Their habitations afford no defence ; they are little 
 accustomed to the use of arms ; and the timidity of 
 their character is such that they are rarely found to 
 resist open violence. 
 
 And what protection have we provided for them ? 
 The police Darogahs are absolutely useless as in- 
 struments of police ; and sometimes, I fear, worse 
 than useless. These officers are usually selected 
 from among the servants and dependents of succes- 
 sive magistrates. They have been in the situation 
 of Sircars or Jemadars, and in some instances, I 
 believe, in offices still less respectable. The extent 
 of country committed to their charge is such as to 
 preclude their superintending it generally in person ; 
 and the number of Burkandanzes upon their esta- 
 blishment is not sufficient to keep hi awe the ban- 
 ditti which infest almost every district. As far as 
 my experience extends, it certainly has not furnished
 
 THE POLICE. 215 
 
 me with any grounds for placing confidence in these 
 officers, whom I generally found much more busy 
 in fomenting domestic feuds and village disputes, 
 and in bringing forward cases of adultery, and other 
 offences against good morals, than in suppressing or 
 resisting the more violent attempts against the public 
 peace. 
 
 I am aware that attempts have been made to em- 
 ploy the agency of the landholders in the Police, and 
 I know that difficulties oppose the substitution of 
 then' agency for that of the Darogahs. The separa- 
 tion of the Talookdars from the larger Zemindarries ; 
 the subdivision* of estates by sales, and in the course 
 of inheritance ; and the mismanagement or misfor- 
 tunes of many of the ancient Zemindars, which have 
 terminated in the dismemberment of their large pos- 
 sessions are circumstances which have produced a 
 great change in the organisation of the native com- 
 munity in the interior of the country. Mr. Stuart, 
 in one of his reports from Benares, has well de- 
 scribed this revolution, which has in reality broken 
 the chain of connexion and dependency heretofore 
 subsisting throughout the different gradations of 
 society, and which has destroyed, or greatly impaired, 
 the influence naturally attaching to the possession of 
 extensive estates. 
 
 To the ancient Zemindars have succeeded a new 
 order of landholders. Hindoos of various ranks and 
 degrees, who, in the service of Europeans, or in the 
 
 * As a member of the Board of Revenue, I strenuously opposed the prin- 
 ciple of facilitating and promoting the subdivision of landed property; but 
 my voice was overruled. H. St.G. T.
 
 216 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 pursuit of commerce, have amassed great wealth, 
 which they find it advantageous to invest in landed 
 possessions. These persons, although better ma- 
 nagers than their predecessors, do not, in general, 
 command that respect which rank and family usually 
 bestow, and they cannot, therefore, exert with the 
 same effect that influence which is a substitute for 
 power, or power itself in a milder form. 
 
 The separation of the Talooks, and the subdivision 
 of the Zemindarries, have caused the different estates 
 to be intersected in all directions ; and this circum- 
 stance would prevent our assigning Police jurisdic- 
 tions to the landholders with that mathematical 
 precision with which we profess to describe the 
 jurisdiction of the Darogahs. We cannot certainly 
 form compact arrondissements, if we confine the au- 
 thority of the Zemindar to his own estate ; and if 
 we extend it over the lands of his neighbours, jea- 
 lousies and dissension may be engendered. This is 
 a difficulty, no doubt ; but I think it will be neces- 
 sary to encounter it, and that we shall not succeed 
 in effecting much improvement, unless we employ 
 the principal Zemindars, and assign them jurisdic- 
 tion over the inferior estates in instances where, from 
 contiguity or otherwise, the arrangement would be 
 attended with public convenience. 
 
 I am not at all confident that the plan of Police 
 which I contemplate would be free from every 
 inconvenience. "What human institution is exempt 
 from defects ? Some objections occur, undoubtedly, 
 to the employment of the Zemindars as officers of
 
 APPEALS. 217 
 
 Police. Their authority may be abused ; but I 
 cannot perceive that we have any alternative. No 
 other agency within our reach is likely to be suffi- 
 ciently powerful and energetic ; and it is notorious 
 that there is felt at present a want of that active 
 power, which is necessary to quell turbulence and 
 disorder, and to preserve the tranquillity of the 
 country. The military power may occasionally be 
 called out to suppress dangerous tumults; but it 
 never can be advisable to use this power habitually, 
 or on trifling occasions ; and, indeed, it is the most 
 expensive instrument of Police to which a Govern- 
 ment can well resort. 
 
 It would answer little purpose for me to enter 
 into more minute details on the projected plan of 
 Police without knowing whether the outline is ap- 
 proved; nor shall I have occasion to offer many 
 remarks in explanation of my propositions with re- 
 gard to the administration of civil justice. 
 
 The multiplication of appeals is, in my opinion, a 
 serious evil. We are never certain that the last 
 decision will be more correct than the first ; but we 
 are quite certain that a suit cannot be passed 
 through the ordeal of a court of justice without 
 much inconvenience. The parties are subjected to 
 a heavy expense in every stage of the proceedings ; 
 they lose what ought always to be of value time ; 
 and their attention is diverted from useful occu- 
 pations. The time of the public functionaries, 
 which is the property of the community at large, 
 and which ought to be a valuable property, is often
 
 218 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 wasted unprofitably ; and the accumulation of busi- 
 ness becomes so formidable, that the judge, indus- 
 trious as he may be, seeing no prospect of melting 
 down the mass, is discouraged altogether from the 
 attempt. We never work with cheerfulness and 
 spirit when we see no end to the labor. 
 
 In a large proportion of the cases which come 
 before our Courts, the appeal is prosecuted, not for 
 the purpose of obtaining the correction of some 
 notable blunder, but for the purpose of gaining time 
 of evading the immediate payment of just de- 
 mands or of embarrassing and distressing some 
 personal adversary. Tlie natives of these provinces, 
 to whom the duel is little known, repair to our 
 courts as to the listed field, where they may give 
 vent to all their malignant passions. But should 
 we encourage them in this perverted use of the 
 forum ? In my opinion, the combat should not be 
 allowed repeatedly, at all events. One appeal is 
 surely sufficient in any case, and when we have 
 obtained the solemn judgment of two disinterested 
 men, we ought to be satisfied. Errors will still be 
 committed, I admit, as long as human wisdom is 
 confined within narrow bounds, and as long as 
 human passions have sway ; but it is better that a 
 few individuals should suffer injury from the mis- 
 takes of a judge, than that the whole community 
 should be harassed, and all the ends of justice be 
 defeated. 
 
 We have proceeded upon the benevolent notion of 
 bringing justice to every man's door, in constituting
 
 THE OFFICE OF THE JUDGE. 219 
 
 petty tribunals throughout the country ; but instead 
 of bringing justice, we have, I fear, brought litiga- 
 tion to the hut of the peasant. The natives of this 
 country, from various causes, are prone to litigation ; 
 and we have, I think, acted injudiciously in giving 
 them so many opportunities of indulging this spirit. 
 The universal dispensation of justice may well be 
 regarded as the consummation of those great ends 
 for which men unite in societies. We do not often 
 reflect seriously upon the functions of a judge ; but, 
 in truth, the being who is elevated to this station is 
 commissioned by us to perform the office which can 
 alone be perfectly executed by Omniscience itself. 
 He disposes of property, character, and life, and of 
 that which is often more valuable than existence. 
 I am aware that the business of life may be carried 
 on without sublime theories; and that a Govern- 
 ment, in nominating judges, must consider the 
 practical purposes which these officers are destined 
 to answer ; but I contend that it is not prudent or 
 safe to invest a great number of individuals with 
 powers which are always liable to be abused. I 
 have had no experience myself of the conduct of the 
 native commissioners ; but I have frequently heard 
 complaints of their proceedings, and they ought not, 
 I think, to be entrusted with authority in situations 
 where their conduct cannot be superintended by 
 European agency. It is better that the lower classes 
 should submit to trifling wrongs, or that they should 
 be obliged to travel some distance in the pursuit of 
 justice, than that numberless petty tribunals should
 
 220 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 be domesticated among them, at the hazard of ex- 
 citing and perpetuating discord. 
 
 If it should be found that the courts proposed to 
 be established at the head station of the district are 
 not equal to the trial of the causes brought before 
 them, I would suggest that the commercial residents, 
 or other Europeans of respectable character, residing 
 in the district, be empowered to try and decide suits 
 for property to the amount of 100 rupees, in cases 
 where their own servants or dependents may not be 
 parties ; or that native commissioners be appointed 
 at the towns where there are European, residents of 
 this description, for the trial of suits for property to 
 the value of 25 rupees, with liberty to the parties to 
 appeal to the commercial resident. 
 
 Perhaps the agency of these officers might also be 
 usefully employed in some instances in the Police ; 
 and they might either be appointed justices of the 
 peace, or be invested with commissions to act under 
 the magistrate. 
 
 I own, however, that the greatest improvement 
 which I anticipate in the administration of civil jus- 
 tice, will arise from the employment of the collectors 
 in the trial of revenue suits. One of the greatest 
 mistakes which we committed in modelling our judi- 
 cial system, was the abolition of the Maal Adawlut, 
 or Collectors' Court ; for of all the suits which are 
 brought before our tribunals, the most perplexing 
 are those which involve questions relating to rent, 
 and the boundaries of estates. 
 
 Both landholders and tenants are alike unwilling
 
 REVENUE SUITS. 221 
 
 to exchange written engagements and acquittances, 
 the one expecting to extort something more, and the 
 other hoping to pay something less ; and the judge, 
 seeing himself without any evidence which can be 
 depended upon, is compelled to decide at random. I 
 felt myself so incompetent to adjust, in any satisfac- 
 tory manner, a revenue account, that I was solici- 
 tous always to induce the parties to refer their case 
 to the arbitration of some native officer of the court ; 
 and by taking a medium course between exaggerated 
 pretensions on either side, it was sometimes possible 
 to satisfy both parties. 
 
 The collector, however, from his experience, from 
 his habits, from the greater leisure which he enjoys 
 in many instances, and from the assistance which he 
 would derive from the revenue servants, must evi- 
 dently be much better qualified to try such cases. 
 
 It may be imagined that the rules prescribed 
 in section 13, Keg. VIII., 1794, in section 21, 
 Beg. V., 1812, and also in Regulation VI., 1813, 
 provide sufficiently for the speedy adjustment of re- 
 venue suits ; but it appears to me that the references 
 which the judges are authorised to make to the col- 
 lectors under those regulations, tend unnecessarily 
 to swell the proceedings, and that no material benefit 
 will be derived from the employment of the collec- 
 tors, unless they be empowered to decide, as well as 
 to conduct summary inquiries. 
 
 Still, however, the mere establishment of courts, 
 well adapted as they may be to the purposes of jus- 
 tice by the nature of their constitution, will not be
 
 222 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 found sufficient if those courts cannot command good 
 and satisfactory evidence. It is matter of general 
 complaint that the testimony of those among the 
 natives who most frequently appear in our Courts, 
 cannot be confidently relied upon ; and I fear that 
 the evil lies too deep for any remedy which I could 
 apply, for it is to be referred to the moral character 
 of the people.* 
 
 All we can hope to accomplish is to supply the de- 
 fects of this evidence in particular instances ; and 
 with this view I have proposed the re-establishment 
 of the office of Canoongo, upon the plan submitted 
 to Government by the Board of Revenue in 1808, 
 when I held a seat at that Board. 
 
 The utility, and I might say the absolute neces- 
 sity, of maintaining an office of record for the 
 purpose of registering transactions relating to the 
 landed property of the country, must be apparent ; 
 although the office of Canoongo had, I believe, dege- 
 nerated, and was, probably, in different instances 
 perverted. 
 
 " I should hare added, in justice to this people, that their defects are to be 
 traced to the defects of their government. Falsehood and fraud are but too 
 often resorted to by the weak against the strong. The people of India have 
 many redeeming virtues. H. St.G. T.
 
 PUNCHAYET. 223 
 
 PTTNCHAYET. 
 
 [Written in 1827.] 
 
 The " Punchayet" has been tried under more than 
 one form ; and it has been very generally rejected by 
 those very parties to whom it was offered, under an 
 impression that it was coveted by them as the greatest 
 possible boon. Experience has, in fact, established 
 that which reason might safely have predicated with- 
 out an experiment : namely, that the vague and 
 undefined project resorted to for settling disputes, 
 under the denomination of " Punchayet," is alto- 
 gether unsuitable to the present state of society in 
 British India. 
 
 If by " Punchayet" be meant a system of volun- 
 tary arbitration^ no reasonable man can object to it ; 
 and the resort to this mode of arbitrament in civil 
 cases, is both sanctioned and encouraged by the 
 Bengal regulations of 1793. 
 
 If, under this name, we propose to give our Eu- 
 ropean judges the aid of native assessors, or of a 
 native jury under certain modifications, this is a pro- 
 position which may merit consideration ; but which 
 lias not yet been brought forward hi any distinct or 
 debateable form. I, myself, am far from meaning 
 to contend that useful auxiliaries may not be em- 
 ployed in our European courts ; and still less am I
 
 22'i THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 disposed to exclude native agency from the adminis- 
 tration of justice. It is largely employed at present ; 
 and I am willing to hope that, under judicious 
 checks, and a vigilant superintendence, the native 
 Moonsiffs will, hy-and-by, he found very fit and un- 
 objectionable instruments for dispensing justice ge- 
 nerally to their countrymen. If, on the other hand, 
 it be proposed, either wholly or partially, to dis- 
 pense with our European courts, and to substitute, 
 under the designation of "Punchayet," an assembly 
 of natives, taken promiscuously from the mass of the 
 people, for the administration of justice, then, I say, 
 we must be prepared to maintain that the uncertain 
 dictates of private judgment are to be preferred to 
 written law ; and that untutored men are as likely 
 to take a clear and comprehensive view of difficult 
 and complicated questions as men who have been 
 trained by education, study, and professional habits, 
 to the examination of such questions. Such assem- 
 blies of friends and neighbours in a rude state of so- 
 ciety, where the objects of contention were few and 
 worthless, would naturally be resorted to, and would, 
 no doubt, be perfectly competent to compound and 
 settle petty disputes ; but this is not the condition of 
 society at present in the greater portion of British 
 India. The people have written laws : they possess 
 property : that property is liable to contracts of va- 
 rious kinds ; and it is liable ultimately to be claimed 
 by heirs upon various and dissimilar grounds. And, 
 let me ask, could an enlightened Government say to 
 this people " Go, assemble your neighbours, and let
 
 PUNCHAYET. 225 
 
 them settle your disputes in the best manner they 
 can ; for written laws are unnecessary, and courts of 
 justice are a nuisance." (?) 
 
 I am not one of those who would wish to apply 
 the same machinery to all purposes and under all 
 circumstances ; and if I could find, in any part of 
 our territory, those respectable patriarchs whom the 
 imagination of some writers has created, able and 
 willing to dispense impartial justice to their country- 
 men with the aid of a little village council, I should 
 readily admit that, in such situations, the more ela- 
 borate forms and process of our courts might well 
 be dispensed with. But the advocates of "Pun- 
 chayet," and of " Native Institutions," are apt to 
 overlook entirely one great consideration namely, 
 the total and obvious inadequacy of such an in- 
 stitution as a protection to the people against 
 Government and its officers. Let it be admitted 
 that neighbours may arbitrate between neighbours ; 
 but no inconsiderable portion of the injuries suffered 
 by the individual originate in the acts of the con- 
 stituted authorities ; and who is so ignorant of the 
 people of India as to indulge a hope that a " Pun- 
 chayet," or assembly of natives, can be rendered an 
 efficient instrument to guard the rights of the sub- 
 ject against the encroachments of power and official 
 oppression. It was one main object of the Regula- 
 tions of 1793 to establish such a safeguard, and to 
 interpose between the Government and the people 
 an independent authority which should fairly and 
 fearlessly decide between them. This authority itself 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
 
 is controlled and directed by written law, promul- 
 gated to the people in their own languages. The 
 system has unquestionably operated to curb violence 
 and restrain injustice ; and it is infinitely to be pre- 
 ferred to the state of anarchy which had previously 
 existed. 
 
 I cannot for one moment believe that the en- 
 lightened members of the India Board can contem- 
 plate a return to this state of barbarism, under an 
 anxiety to preserve to the natives their rejected 
 "Punchayet," or other forgotten institutions ; and 
 I do regret that the Board should feel any unwil- 
 lingness to meet and try the great question of Indian 
 judicature, now that our different theories can be 
 submitted to the safe test of experience, and that 
 landmarks have been obtained to enable us to 
 legislate for the people of India not merely upon 
 those general principles which the statesman may 
 sometimes apply too indiscriminately, but upon the 
 knowledge acquired by us of the wants and wishes 
 of the people themselves.
 
 227 
 
 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 [Under this general head will be given a selection from Mr. Tucker's 
 numerous papers relating to the Native States of India, the external relations 
 of the British-Indian Government, and the wars in which we have recently 
 been engaged. The selection may he advantageously introduced by some 
 passages from the unfinished work, quoted at the commencement of the collec- 
 tion, including a brief historical retrospect illustrative of the extension of our 
 Indian Empire.] 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 WE are connected with the Native States of India 
 in a variety of ways, and some of our relations with 
 them bear a perplexed and embarrassing character. 
 It would be necessary to travel through a series of 
 treaties,* in themselves extremely complicated, in 
 order to show the precise situation in which we stand 
 towards the different powers ; but as this cannot be 
 attempted at present, something will be gained by 
 distributing those powers into classes, distinguished 
 by some marked feature in the nature of our con- 
 nexion with them. 
 
 In the first class are included those states which 
 enjoy real independence, and exercise sovereign rights 
 within their own territory, without any interference 
 on our part. 
 
 * The collection of Treaties with the Native States, published in 1812, 
 should be consulted by those who study the political history of British India. 
 
 Q2
 
 228 OUE POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 2nd. Those states which enjoy a nominal sove- 
 reignty and territorial possessions, held under a 
 guarantee of military protection on our part. 
 
 3rd. Those powers acknowledged to possess a bene- 
 ficial interest in territories which are under our im- 
 mediate control and management. 
 
 4th. Those powers who have lost their territorial 
 possessions, and are now hecome mere dependents 
 upon the British Government. 
 
 Our relations with the independent states do not 
 involve any questions of peculiar difficulty. It is our 
 interest to preserve with them a good understanding 
 as neighbours, to maintain peace undisturbed ; and 
 we have no motive for forming a closer connexion 
 with them, except in the possible case of a European 
 power harboring designs which it might be our 
 common interest to oppose. We do not covet their 
 territory we are already encumbered with a larger 
 domain than we can successfully manage. The three 
 provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Benares, are of more 
 value than the rest of our widely-extended empire ; 
 and if they were insulated, or protected by an im- 
 penetrable barrier, we should be richer by being 
 confined to this our first great acquisition and best 
 possession. 
 
 The injunctions of the Legislature all breathe the 
 genuine spirit of peace, and are intended to enforce 
 a constant regard to the obligations of justice and 
 good faith. The policy of the Court of Directors, 
 and of the controlling authorities of his Majesty's 
 Government, has always been pacific, and for plain
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 229 
 
 and obvious reasons wars are invariably attended 
 with a large expenditure of money, and are gene- 
 rally followed by financial embarrassment. The ex- 
 tension of territory seldom produces an increase of 
 revenue commensurate with the increase of charge ; 
 and the empire of India, from its very magnitude, 
 not only brings with it duties difficult of execution, 
 but, like other enormous masses, it may be in danger 
 of falling by its own weight. 
 
 How, then, it may be asked, have our Governments 
 abroad been led to pursue one uniform career of 
 conquest, in defiance of the solemn injunctions of 
 the Legislature, and in opposition to the dictates of 
 an obvious policy ? Since it was our interest to be 
 moderate, and just, and forbearing, how has it hap- 
 pened that we have encroached upon all our neigh- 
 bours, and finished by absorbing the possessions of 
 all who come into contact with us into one immense 
 dominion ? 
 
 When the ball has received its momentum, the 
 hand can no longer arrest its course. The British 
 Government was propelled onwards by a powerful 
 impulse, and sometimes advanced because it was 
 not safe to retreat, or even to remain stationary. I 
 am unwilling to take a larger retrospect ; but it may 
 be useful to trace the origin of the wars which have 
 taken place since the administration of Lord Corn- 
 wallis.
 
 230 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 
 
 The first Mysore war, which, commenced in 1789, 
 was undertaken for the protection of an ally, the 
 Rajah of Travancore ; and it terminated, after a 
 fierce and protracted struggle, by the defeat and 
 humiliation of Tippoo Sultan, who was compelled to 
 sacrifice a moiety of his territory to the allied powers 
 the Nizam, the Mahrattas, and the British Go- 
 vernment. 
 
 But the son of Hyder Ali, with an instinctive 
 hatred and dread of the British name, rallied again, 
 and, in 1798, endeavoured to obtain support from an 
 European power, just at the time when Lord Wel- 
 lesley, who had witnessed the terrible energy of the 
 revolutionary Government of Prance, assumed the 
 administration of India. 
 
 The conduct of the Mysore ruler was weak and 
 absurd ; and if his movements had been unconnected 
 with other circumstances, his hostility would have 
 been little calculated to excite serious alarm. But 
 a French party had obtained the ascendancy at the 
 Court of the Nizam of the Dekhan, and were in 
 military occupation of the country, while another 
 French leader, General Perron, the successor of 
 General du Boigne, governed, in the name of Sin- 
 diah, the districts around the imperial cities of Delhi 
 and Agra, and a large portion of the Upper Doaub, 
 or country lying between the Jumna and Ganges, 
 and immediately bordering upon the territory of 
 Oude, which we were under engagement to protect.
 
 HISTOEICAL RETROSPECT. 231 
 
 Egypt was not known to have been invaded at 
 the time; but the Governor-General, abundantly 
 alive to the dangers of French influence and power, 
 determined to anticipate the threatened movements 
 of the Sultan of Mysore; and, in one brief cam- 
 paign, the usurpation of the short-lived dynasty of 
 Hyder was annihilated, and the ancient Hindoo Go- 
 vernment restored. 
 
 By another masterly operation the French party 
 at Hyderabad was overawed and suppressed, and 
 -military occupation of the country was assumed by 
 a British force. 
 
 In these instances it would be unjust not to admit 
 that our wars were undertaken to avert a great and 
 impending danger ; and that conquest, and extension 
 of territory, although contemplated, no doubt, as a 
 consequence, was not proposed as a primary object. 
 
 But General Perron and a French corps remained ; 
 and by the cession of territory which was made to 
 us by the Vizier of Oude in 1801, our frontier 
 touched the very border of Sindeah, who, by means 
 of his European officers, had disciplined a formi- 
 dable army upon the model of those of Europe. 
 
 Here again was presented a state of things calcu- 
 lated to produce political uneasiness. The danger 
 was unquestionably very much diminished since the 
 subjugation of Mysore, and the dispersion of the 
 French party at Hyderabad ; nor can the command 
 of armies and the mere possession of power, without 
 the manifestation of hostile designs, be assumed as 
 a legitimate ground for war ; but it may be fairly
 
 232 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 contended that the co-existence and proximity of a 
 French and British force, maintaining a peaceful 
 attitude, on the plains of Hindoostan, was scarcely 
 possible while the two nations were waging a des- 
 perate struggle for national independence in every 
 quarter of the world in which their arms could 
 penetrate. 
 
 The campaigns of 1803 and 1804 left the power 
 of Sindeah and Holkar in much the same condition 
 as that of Tippoo Sultan after the dismemherment 
 of Mysore hy Lord Cornwallis. The Mahratta had 
 cast away the sword and the lance, the appropriate 
 arms of the predatory horseman, which had ren- 
 dered him so formidable; and tying himself, as it 
 were, to unwieldy artillery, in imitation of a people 
 much more advanced in the science of war, he 
 yielded to the skill, discipline, and valor of his 
 opponent. His armies were overthrown and crushed 
 his country was subdued, and the districts around 
 Delhi and Agra, and the whole of his possessions in 
 the Doaub, became the spoil of the conqueror, and 
 gave a wider range to British domination in Hin- 
 doostan. Our frontier advanced beyond the Jumna, 
 and the military outposts of Loodiana and Rewarry : 
 the former, on the banks of the western branch of 
 the Indus, brought us into the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of the Seikhs, the Jaats, and Rajepoots of 
 Central India. 
 
 After the termination of the war with Sindeah 
 and Holkar, Hindoostan enjoyed a longer repose 
 than usual, and there existed a political calm, which
 
 HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 233 
 
 has been most unjustly ascribed to a timid and tem- 
 porising policy. The prudent and unostentatious 
 Government of Lord Minto was engaged in tran- 
 quillising and composing the elements of discord, in 
 circumscribing our political engagements, and in 
 restoring order to our finances ; and, in regard to 
 the last of these objects, his lordship's administra- 
 tion, it will be admitted, was eminently successful. 
 
 The Marquis of Hastings took charge of the 
 Government in 1813, and manifested, at a very 
 early period, that his views of our foreign policy 
 differed widely from those of his immediate prede- 
 cessors.* He was evidently impressed with the 
 opinion that the absolute supremacy of the British 
 power throughout India must be maintained, and 
 that the Native States must be united in one great 
 federative league, under a supreme head, which 
 should control and protect them. 
 
 This broad scheme of policy, which has found 
 some strenuous advocates, is very much in unison 
 with that which was for some time successfully pur- 
 sued in Europe by the late ruler of Prance. The 
 ostensible object was to organise the great family of 
 nations, and to promote universal peace and har- 
 mony; but the plan necessarily involved the sa- 
 crifice of national independence, and, although it 
 seemed to embrace a multitude of arrangements, it 
 was perfectly simple in its own nature, and re- 
 
 * I do not think it necessary to refer to hi8 lordship's minutes and cor- 
 respondence, in which this opinion is expressed. It is throughout maintained 
 and acted upon. H. St.G. T.
 
 234 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 ctucible to one single proposition the establishment 
 of the well-meant despotism of a powerful state 
 over all its weaker neighbours. 
 
 The attention of the Governor-General was first 
 directed to the Goorka state of Nepaul, with which 
 some border questions had arisen, as border ques- 
 tions will arise between states whose frontier is ill- 
 defined. The tract of forest land at the foot of the 
 hills had long continued a common barrier, of little 
 value otherwise to either party; but as cultivation 
 advanced, the lands became of more value, the Ze- 
 mindars and others on the border pushed forward 
 their cultivation and intersected the forest in dif- 
 ferent directions, until their possessions were inter- 
 mingled, and disputes arose among them and the 
 officers of police stationed on the frontier. Their 
 adverse claims and petty conflicts, which had long 
 been disregarded, as insufficient to call for or justify 
 a national war, finally produced a resort to arms. 
 
 The valley of Nepaul had been deemed inaccessible 
 to a regular army, and the country was defended by 
 a brave and sturdy race of mountaineers. Our first 
 efforts to penetrate were far from successful, and the 
 service was so new and difficult, that much dis- 
 couragement for a time existed ; but the perse- 
 verance of Lord Hastings, seconded by the skill of 
 the general and the valor of the troops, at length 
 prevailed, and succeeded in planting the British 
 banner on the snowy regions of the Himalyah. The 
 spirit of the Goorka was subdued, and our northern
 
 HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 235 
 
 frontier was advanced into the mountain range by 
 the acquisition of the province of Kumaon. 
 
 I do not pretend to the office of bestowing praise 
 or censure ; but it is impossible not to be struck 
 with the unwearied industry with which Lord Has- 
 tings prosecuted his researches, and collected in- 
 formation and materials relating to the countries 
 which were destined to become the theatre of his 
 military operations. Even a civilian may be per- 
 mitted to admire his military dispositions, his ex- 
 tensive combinations, the foresight and care with 
 which he provided against contingencies and re- 
 verses, and his unshaken fortitude and perseverance 
 in the prosecution of his designs to a successful 
 issue. How sad a contrast was shown in the late 
 Burmese war, which was apparently undertaken 
 without plan or preparation, and which was fertile 
 only in the display of that military prowess in the 
 field, for which the army of India has been so long 
 distinguished. 
 
 The Mahratta campaigns of 1817 and 1818 soon 
 followed the war of Nepaul, and produced the usual 
 result an extension of territory as the fruit of 
 military success. 
 
 A horde of freebooters, under the well-known de- 
 signation of Pindarries, had grown up from the weak- 
 ness or connivance of the Mahratta states, and had 
 established themselves in the districts bordering on 
 the Nerbudda river under different chiefs, who di- 
 rected their movements and exercised an irregular 
 authority over them, without the character or respon-
 
 236 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 sibility of a recognised Government. Their numbers 
 had greatly increased ; their force assumed a more 
 organised appearance ; they had become the scourge 
 of the neighbouring country, not sparing even the 
 territory of the Peishwah himself ; and they at length 
 carried their audacity so far as to invade the British 
 territory on the coast of Coromandel (or Northern 
 Sircars), where they pillaged and devastated the 
 country, and inflicted the most grievous calamities 
 on the miserable inhabitants who happened to be 
 within the range of their desolating course. They 
 even menaced the rich provinces of Behar and Be- 
 nares, which had not known the footsteps of an 
 enemy for half a century. 
 
 At an early period, the Marquis of Hastings 
 opened negotiations with the Newaub of Bhopal, and 
 with a native chief, who had pretensions to the prin- 
 cipality of Saugor, as these districts were considered 
 to afford good military positions, or a sort of conve- 
 nient fulcrum, from whence we might sweep away the 
 pestilent banditti, whose enormities could no longer 
 be tolerated by a Government which affected to 
 secure protection to its subjects. 
 
 But several of the Mahratta states had claims upon 
 Bhopal, and none of them were probably friendly to 
 a movement which would place a British force in the 
 very heart of their territories, while this force, by 
 breaking their line of communication, must afford 
 great facilities for the prosecution of hostile designs, 
 should such be contemplated, against the different 
 Mahratta powers of the Dekhan and Central India.
 
 HISTORICAL RETROSPECT. 237 
 
 It is not to be doubted that the jealousy and fears of 
 the Mahrattas were excited ; and that, far from being 
 disposed to co-operate with us in the suppression of 
 the Pindarries, they dreaded much more the conse- 
 quences of that success, which must have brought 
 us into their more immediate neighbourhood. 
 
 These feelings soon produced an explosion. The 
 Peishwah and the Rajah of Nagpore, apparently by 
 a concerted and simultaneous effort, attempted to 
 overpower and destroy the subsidiary force stationed 
 in the vicinity of the two capitals of Poonah and 
 Nagpore; and no common exertions could have 
 warded off the insidious attack, or have averted the 
 calamitous consequences which must have attended 
 its success. But the energy of the British residents, 
 and the steady and unconquerable fortitude of the 
 troops, baffled the attempts of the enemy, and 
 afforded another singular illustration of the supe- 
 riority of discipline over the force of numbers. 
 
 The campaigns of 1817 and 1818, which embraced 
 a very extensive line of operations, terminated in the 
 captivity of the Peishwah, in the conquest of his 
 capital and country, in the flight of the Rajah of 
 Nagpore, and the total abandonment of his terri- 
 tories to the British power. The remnant of the 
 ancient family of Sattara, which had once reigned as 
 head of the Mahratta confederacy, was released from 
 confinement, and assigned a principality ; the state 
 of Nagpore, circumscribed in extent, was re-esta- 
 blished and restored to the next heir ; and the British 
 Government appropriated to itself such portion of
 
 238 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 the conquered countries as seemed to be best calcu- 
 lated to consolidate its power, and to give it a more 
 decided and undisputed ascendancy, as the supreme 
 head of the nations of India. 
 
 It is impossible to look back without astonishment 
 upon the rapid, yet regular progress of our advances 
 towards this elevated station. Fortune seems to have 
 attended us in every stage of our career ; but fortune 
 is a convenient term for expressing that which results 
 from wisdom, energy, discipline, science, skill, and 
 military virtue. 
 
 The occupation of Malwa, and the other arrange- 
 ments consequent on the overthrow of the federative 
 union of the Mahrattas, brought us into a direct and 
 intimate connexion with the Rajpoot states of Cen- 
 tral India, as well as the great feudatories of the 
 Dekhan, and gave full scope to the project of Lord 
 Hastings for establishing British supremacy in the 
 East. 
 
 The Rajpoots, although among the bravest of the 
 brave, had become tributaries to the Mahrattas, and 
 had suffered grievous oppressions from that rapa- 
 cious people. The states, from being divided into 
 principalities, could not resist singly the Mahratta ; 
 and there existed no bond of union among them of 
 sufficient force to induce them to combine for their 
 common defence. They could not even repel the in- 
 cursions, or resist the exactions of the Afghan 
 adventurer, Ameer Khan, who, although nominally 
 in the service of Holkar, had assumed the indepen- 
 dence, and pursued the lawless career, of a Pindarry 
 chief.
 
 NATIVE GOVERNMENTS. 239 
 
 Having succeeded to the station and pretensions 
 of the Mahrattas, we soon entered into treaties of 
 friendship and alliance with all the Hajpoot states : 
 Joudpoor, Oudipoor, Jyepoor, Kotah, Boondee, 
 Kirawlee, Bikaneer, Jessulmeer, Kishenghur, Doon- 
 gurpoor, Banswarrah, and Purtabghur. 
 
 [The historical sketch, it is to be regretted, closes here. It is taken from a 
 fragment of a work which, perhaps lacking time for its completion, Mr. 
 Tucker discontinued. The following more general observations are taken 
 from the same paper. The arrangement has been altered so as to separate the 
 narrative and disquisitional parts of the paper, and render the former more 
 continuous and complete.] 
 
 OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM CHARACTER OF NATIVE 
 GOVERNMENTS.* 
 
 The policy of Lord Wellesley had been to impose 
 upon the Native States within the range of our in- 
 fluence, subsidiary treaties to obtain, under these 
 arrangements, military occupation of the country, 
 at the cost of the state which enjoyed our protection, 
 and thus to acquire the services of a military force, 
 which might be used to preserve internal tranquillity, 
 and to oppose the designs of a foreign enemy. 
 
 This policy was specious and inviting, but, as it 
 led to political entanglement, it was not viewed with 
 favor, nor at all countenanced by the authorities at 
 home ; and during the administration of Lord Com- 
 wallis, Sir G. Barlow, and Lord Minto, a determina- 
 tion was shown to avoid such engagements, and to 
 recede from those already contracted, as far as this 
 could be done without the violation of an actual 
 compact. 
 
 * From the same paper as the preceding.
 
 240 OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM. 
 
 Experience has since shown that, however plau- 
 sihle and unassailable the theory, this system has 
 produced much inconvenience and embarrassment, 
 and has been followed by consequences which were 
 not probably foreseen, even by the comprehensive 
 mind of one of the first of British statesmen. The 
 princes and nobles of India are not prepared by 
 education for the great business of public life the 
 civil administration of their country. If they have 
 not war, they can scarcely be said to have any public 
 occupation. They are brought up as boys in the 
 Zenana, or female apartments ; and although they 
 acquire very polished, and often very dignified man- 
 ners, they see little of real life, and they have little 
 opportunity of acquiring that knowledge of men and 
 things which is so essential to those who are called 
 upon by their birth and station to superintend the 
 interests of a great community. Except when ex- 
 cited by war, or the sports of the field, or the exer- 
 cise of horsemanship, and the use of the sword, they 
 are indolent, and inclined to indulge in those sensual 
 gratifications which tend to enervate the frame, and 
 to indispose the mind for the difficult and laborious 
 duties which the conduct of public affairs imposes 
 upon public men. There are illustrious* exceptions, 
 no doubt. Men of great energy, and possessing 
 
 * The Maba Rana Zelim Sing of Kota, and others. Even among the 
 females some very remarkable characters have appeared. The Mahratta 
 Princess, Ahilya Bhye, the heroine of Sir John Malcolm's tale, showed great 
 skill in the management of public affairs, and a frame of mind which fitted 
 her for a nobler theatre than that on which she performed so distinguished a 
 part. The Oudipoor Princess, Khrishna Bhye, may challenge competition 
 with all the Arrias of Rome. H. St.G. T.
 
 NATIVE STATES. 
 
 high endowments, have appeared even since the 
 ascendancy of the British, which has unquestionably 
 had the effect of checking the spirit of ambition, 
 and of discouraging, on the part of the natives of 
 India, those impulses which prompt to heroic action 
 or useful labors, and which lead to honor and 
 distinction. 
 
 In this state of things it has usually happened 
 that the native princes, our allies or dependents, 
 when invested with power, have been found incapable 
 of carrying on the business of Government. They 
 have generally fallen into the hands of favorites, who 
 for the purpose of preserving their influence, and of 
 engrossing all power in their own persons, have been 
 studious to encourage the indolence, the extrava- 
 gance, and the vices of their master. Thoughtless ex- 
 penditure, necessarily leading to pecuniary embarrass- 
 ment, the most ruinous expedients have been resorted 
 to for raising funds to command some momentary 
 gratification the people are surrendered to the ruin- 
 ous exactions of unsparing creditors, or rapacious 
 revenue -officers discontent is engendered the 
 country is made desolate and nothing but the mili- 
 tary force of the British Government is sufficient to 
 repress insurrection, and to maintain the deluded 
 prince in the possession of his worthless dignities. 
 
 VOL. i. n
 
 242 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 BRITISH INTERFERENCE.* 
 
 And what, tinder such, circumstances, do the dic- 
 tates of honor and humanity, and justice and sound 
 policy, prescribe to the British Government ? Inex- 
 perienced persons, actuated by just and natural feel- 
 ing, will readily answer the question ; but it is not 
 so easy of solution. Different courses have been 
 tried. We have changed our system from time to 
 time when we have found it productive of evil ; but 
 we have as often discovered in the alternative new 
 sources of mischief and embarrassment. 
 
 Ought the British Government to abstain alto- 
 gether from interference in the internal concerns of 
 its allies or dependents ? 
 
 Ought its interference to be partial and limited, so 
 far as to correct, or mitigate, the evils of misgovern- 
 ment, without superseding the authority of the 
 prince ? 
 
 Or, ought its interference to be direct and peremp- 
 tory, in order to prevent the abuse of authority, to 
 protect the people, and to rescue the country from 
 anarchy and desolation ? 
 
 The last expedient pointed at will have many ad- 
 vocates ; but it involves the violation of treaties, and 
 it would impose duties which we cannot successfully 
 perform. 
 
 We cannot manage the wide territory already pos- 
 sessed by us in a way to do full justice to the ini- 
 
 * From the unfinished work quoted in the preceding sections.
 
 BRITISH INTERFERENCE. 243 
 
 portant trust ; and where are we to stop ? Are we 
 to engross the possessions of all our allies ? "We 
 have gone on, after every war, advancing our frontier, 
 but we still find new neighbours ; and are these to 
 be deprived of their independence, and to be subju- 
 gated to our domination, because they have not suc- 
 ceeded well in governing themselves ? 
 
 Our great difficulty is not, however, with those 
 states which enjoy real independence, such as that 
 of the Seikh Chief, Runjeet Sing. It is with those 
 whose independence has been guaranteed to them by 
 treaty, while we have undertaken to protect them 
 against foreign and domestic enemies by a military 
 force. 
 
 But a direct interference with these allies involves 
 the necessity of our undertaking the internal admi- 
 nistration of their country. We must frame laws 
 from, a mass of crude materials we must erect 
 courts of justice, where none exist, which deserve the 
 name we must provide for an efficient police we 
 must regulate the system of revenue, and aid in the 
 collections we must select and support the minister, 
 and superintend the whole business of administra- 
 tion ; offices, all difficult in their own nature, and pe- 
 culiarly unsuitable to us as foreigners and strangers. 
 But, even if the difficulties could be all surmounted, 
 the great objection would still remain that our in- 
 terference would amount to an infraction of existing 
 engagements, and an usurpation of recognised rights, 
 to the discredit of our national character. 
 
 The second proposition supposes an interference 
 
 R2
 
 2M OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 by friendly counsel and good offices ; and this is the 
 course of proceeding' which has been most generally 
 resorted to. But at the very outset a necessity 
 occurs for supporting a particular minister, who is 
 considered to be favorable to our views of policy, 
 and of sufficient talent and energy to govern the 
 country. Here the seeds of jealousy and discontent 
 are immediately sown in the mind of the prince, who 
 finds his authority superseded and his dignity in- 
 fringed, and who becomes indifferent to the concerns 
 of his country, and the welfare of his people. He 
 confines himself to the retirement of the Zenknk 
 engages in low pleasures and puerile amusements 
 dissipates his treasures or his income contracts 
 debts and soon sinks into a state of humiliation 
 and distress. The British Resident is looked up to 
 as the real ruler, for he appoints the ruler. "What- 
 ever may be his vigilance or the austerity of his 
 virtue, his officers and dependents are prone to 
 interfere and eager to establish a double authority 
 or influence in the country. The ostensible minis- 
 ter must provide resources for the payment of sub- 
 sidy or tribute, as well as for defraying the public 
 charges ; and being assured of support, he is reck- 
 less and careless about the means, and often resorts 
 to the most mischievous expedients for raising sup- 
 plies ; the people are impoverished and discouraged 
 by endless exactions ; the country falls into a state 
 of decay; and the whole obloquy attending this 
 course of mal-administration falls upon the British 
 name. Nor is it unreasonable that it should do so.
 
 BRITISH INTERFERENCE. 245 
 
 We are accessory, and mainly instrumental in the 
 establishment of an anomalous administration. A 
 nominal Government without authority an un- 
 avowed ruler without responsibility. And after all, 
 this system leads to direct interference; for when 
 the revenues at length fail, and debts contracted 
 under our guarantee accumulate, the country (as in 
 the instance of the Guicowar and others) is placed 
 under sequestration to redeem the pledge. 
 
 The plan of non-interference is not without its 
 difficulties and objections; but it is that which 
 accords best with the principles of justice, with the 
 dictates of prudence and moderation, and the obli- 
 gations of good faith. 
 
 What, then, are the difficulties attending it? 
 Can we not forbear, when forbearance is enjoined 
 equally by policy and justice ? 
 
 The British Resident at the native court sees a 
 great deal which does not square with our system 
 and maxims, or with his particular notions. A bad 
 minister is appointed, and he fancies that he could 
 make a much better selection, and he is encouraged 
 in this idea by all those who surround him, and 
 perhaps by an intriguing party in the court of the 
 prince himself. He feels a restless desire to be 
 useful. This is increased, if the revenues are not 
 well administered if complaints are made against 
 the Aumils, or collectors, or farmers if the police 
 be neglected if riots and tumults occur if banditti 
 collect on the borders if fugitive criminals from the 
 Company's provinces be harboured and encouraged 
 if disputes arise between the subjects* of the two
 
 246 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 states. All these things will happen, and do hap- 
 pen ; and the Resident, impelled by an irresistible 
 desire to do good, cannot remain an indifferent spec- 
 tator. A military force must be called in to avert 
 an impending evil; but before we can employ it 
 with propriety, an investigation must be made into 
 the merits of the case we must be satisfied that we 
 are not countenancing oppression and supporting in- 
 justice. "We interpose as umpires, and decide as 
 dictators. 
 
 But the first step was a false one. We have no 
 right to assume that the people of India are inca- 
 pable of governing themselves in their own way. 
 When their princes enjoy real independence, they 
 are under the restraint of public opinion they are 
 liable to be checked, and even controlled by their 
 nobles and military chiefs they have feelings in 
 common with their subjects, sympathy for . their 
 misery they are alive to the charms of praise and 
 renown, and not insensible to the value of those 
 qualities which command it. The restraints may 
 not always be effectual, nor the motives to good 
 conduct so powerful as it is desirable they should 
 be ; but it is a mistake to suppose that popular opi- 
 nion has no influence in India, or that the elements 
 of an organised society are wanting. 
 
 When we interpose, the charm is dissolved. A 
 military force is all in all it resolves all questions 
 supersedes all responsibility and the native prince, 
 secluded in the recesses of the Zenkna, leaves the 
 world to Csesar.
 
 TREATIES. 24<7 
 
 TREATIES WITH NATIVE STATES. 
 
 After subduing the Mahomedan power of Mysore, 
 and dispersing the French party at Hyderabad, it 
 became the object and aim of the British Govern- 
 ment to strengthen itself by " general defensive 
 alliances," and to induce the Native States con- 
 nected with it to disband their own irregular and 
 disorderly troops, and to subsidise a British force 
 for the general protection of India. 
 
 On the 12th October, 1800, a treaty was concluded 
 by Marquis Wellesley with the Nizam of the Dekhan, 
 by which we engaged to supply a corps of 8000 
 infantry and 1000 cavalry for the protection of his 
 Highness' dominions ; and to defray the expense of 
 this force, the Nizam ceded to us the whole of the 
 territory which had been acquired by him from My- 
 sore after the successful termination of the contest 
 with Tippoo Sultan. 
 
 Under a treaty concluded by Lord Teignmouth, in 
 1798, with the Newaub Vizier, Saadut Ali Khan, 
 the Newaub engaged to pay an annual subsidy of 76 
 lakhs of rupees (about 760,000/.) in consideration of 
 our undertaking the defence of his dominions ; but 
 on the 10th November, 1801, this arrangement was 
 modified by Marquis Wellesley, the Vizier consenting 
 to cede territory, estimated to yield an annual reve- 
 nue of 1,35,00,000 Lucknow rupees (or 1,350,000*.), 
 in consideration of our providing a military force for
 
 248 OUK POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 the protection of " the territories remaining to his 
 Excellency, against all foreign and domestic ene- 
 mies," and for suppressing all "rebellions and 
 disorders" which might arise in his Excellency's 
 reserved dominions. 
 
 By the sixth article of the treaty it was stipulated 
 that his Excellency should retain the exclusive admi- 
 nistration of the reserved territory ; but that " he 
 should advise with, and act in conformity to, the 
 counsel of the officers of the Company." 
 
 A great desire was manifested to extend these 
 alliances, and to induce the neighbouring states to 
 subsidise our troops ; but the cautious Mahrattas 
 stood aloof; and until the struggle between Sindiah 
 and Holkar for the ascendancy at Poonah had 
 driven the Peishwah from his capital, no success 
 attended our endeavours to form a closer connexion 
 with the Mahratta power. 
 
 "When, however, the Peishwah became a fugitive 
 for personal safety in Bassain, the favorable oppor- 
 tunity was not neglected ; and on the 31st of De- 
 cember, 1802, " a general defensive alliance" was 
 formed with his Highness, who engaged to subsidise 
 a corps of 6000 native infantry, with the usual pro- 
 portion of artillery, and to cede a territory estimated 
 to produce a revenue of twenty-six lakhs of rupees 
 (or 260,0002.) per annum for defraying the annual 
 charge. 
 
 By the ninth article of the treaty, this force " was 
 to be employed, if necessary, for the chastisement of 
 rebels and exciters of disturbance, and for the due
 
 TREATIES. 2-19 
 
 correction of his Highness' subjects or dependents 
 who may withhold the payment of the Sircar's just 
 claims." 
 
 This treaty brought us into the very centre of 
 Mahratta politics ; and if it did not produce the war 
 of 1803 and 1804, with Sindiah and Holkar, it was 
 immediately followed by the rupture with those 
 chiefs. 
 
 It has been contended that the Government of 
 India, although so frequently involved in war, has 
 pursued a defensive policy ; and if it be meant that 
 these wars have been undertaken generally to avert 
 an impending danger, or a supposed evil, or to 
 strengthen our position as conquerors, which our 
 foreign character rendered unsteady and insecure 
 the proposition may be maintained with every ap- 
 pearance of reason; but our enemies might with 
 equal reason contend that their combinations and 
 other hostile demonstrations and movements had a 
 defensive object in view. 
 
 The policy of the authorities at home has been in- 
 variably pacific ; and if the obvious considerations of 
 justice and prudence were not sufficient to account 
 for the disposition, the very nature of the elements 
 composing the Court of Directors would furnish the 
 necessary explanation. Merchants and financiers 
 find not their advantage in war, which is liable 
 always to derange and impede commerce, and which 
 occasions an excessive expenditure, leading generally 
 to financial embarrassment. The Court share not in 
 the triumph of victory, while they are held largely
 
 250 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 responsible for the consequences of failure ; and it is 
 both their duty and their interest to provide those 
 resources which are necessary to pay regularly the 
 dividends of the Proprietors who elect them, and 
 whose capital must suffer depreciation from finan- 
 cial derangement. 
 
 [To the preceding papers, setting forth Mr. Tucker's opinions regarding 
 the conduct to be observed towards the native princes of India, the following 
 brief extracts from documents, written only a very few years ago, may be 
 appropriately added.] 
 
 Those who are eager for the extension of our 
 territory, flatter themselves that we are extending 
 our power as a necessary consequence ; but the an- 
 nexation of a principality to our gigantic empire 
 may, in my opinion, become the source of weakness, 
 by impairing our moral influence over our native 
 subjects. I remonstrated against the annexation 
 (I am disposed to call it confiscation) of Colaba, the 
 ancient seat of the Angria family, to which allusion 
 has been made in the Bombay minutes ; and far 
 from having seen reason to recall, or to modify, the 
 opinion recorded by me on that proceeding, I have 
 availed myself of every suitable occasion to enforce 
 my conviction, that a more mischievous policy 
 could not be pursued than that which would en- 
 gross the whole territory of India, and annihilate 
 the small remnant of the native aristocracy. There 
 are persons who fancy that landed possessions in 
 India cannot be successfully administered by native 
 agency. In reproof of this notion, I would point to 
 the Rampoor Jagheer in Eohukund, which was a
 
 DUTY OF THE PARAMOUNT POWER. 251 
 
 perfect garden when I saw it long ago, and which 
 still remains, I believe, in a state of the highest 
 agricultural prosperity. Nay, I would point to the 
 principality of Sattara itself, which appears to have 
 been most successfully administered, both by the 
 ex-Rajah, Pertaub Singh, and his brother and suc- 
 cessor, the late Rajah Appa Sahib, who have done 
 more for the improvement of the country than our 
 own Government can pretend to have done in any 
 part of its territory. 
 
 We are told, indeed, that our Government has be- 
 come the "paramount power" in India, and, as 
 such, may deal with its vassals and dependents 
 according to the dictates of an enlightened policy. 
 True we wield the power of the sword, and our 
 political supremacy is everywhere acknowledged ; 
 but we do not possess, and never can possess, the 
 power to violate treaties the power to do wrong 
 and to commit injustice the power to dominate 
 over those who cannot resist us, while we hesitate to 
 enforce it in our relations with those states who en- 
 joy, with a larger territory, a greater degree of inde- 
 pendence. To apply to the weak a rule which it 
 would be unsafe to extend to the strong, would ill 
 become the British character ; and I must contend 
 that, in giving effect to the obligations of a treaty, 
 we consult alike the dictates of justice and of sound 
 policy. 
 
 Annexation of territory is justified upon political
 
 252 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 and financial considerations ; for it is contended that 
 the claims and pretensions of the individual must 
 give place to considerations for the good of the 
 many. 
 
 If this dictum were unreservedly admitted, it 
 would go to the subversion of all property. It 
 might he useful to the State to confiscate the wide 
 domain of the Duke of Sutherland, or the noble 
 patrimony of the house of Russell ; but would such 
 a proposition be seriously entertained for a moment 
 in this country ? 
 
 Our resources, it is said, are exhausted; our 
 Treasury is empty ; and we cannot undertake those 
 useful works (roads, canals, bridges, &c.) which are 
 required for the convenience of the many, and for 
 the interests of commerce ; but is this a ground for 
 depriving any man of his inheritance ? 
 
 It is further contended that the native princes are 
 not in general well qualified for the successful ad- 
 ministration of their territories ; and that a great 
 benefit will accrue to the people from the intro- 
 duction of our principles, and the substitution of 
 our superior agency. 
 
 That our principles and views are excellent, must 
 be freely and fully admitted ; and that our agency, 
 in particular instances, has been eminently success- 
 ful, may also be acknowledged with pride ; but that 
 our mode of administration is generally satisfactory 
 to our native subjects, or would be generally pre- 
 ferred to their own, may well be doubted. Our 
 manifold forms and operose proceedings they do not
 
 RIGHTS OF THE NATIVE PRINCES. 253 
 
 always understand our judicial and revenue pro- 
 cesses are apt to embarrass them the delays in 
 administering justice are often very injurious ; and 
 parties are, I fear, just as liable to be maltreated by 
 our native officials, as by the functionaries employed 
 by their own rulers. 
 
 I do not go so far as to affirm that our native 
 subjects would give a preference to their own princes; 
 but I certainly think that the most unscrupulous of 
 their rulers would scarcely have acted as we have 
 done of late years in our eagerness to engross terri- 
 torial possessions, and in the wholesale and indiscri- 
 minate resumption of rent-free tenures, under cir- 
 cumstances calculated to produce alienation and 
 disaffection. May the time never arrive when this 
 feeling shall find vent in some fatal explosion ! 
 
 But grant that our agency is superior (as I hope 
 it is), are we prepared to set aside the native princes 
 in alliance with us, on the ground that we should 
 become better administrators of their territory ? 
 Are we prepared to supersede the Nizam, the King 
 of Oude, the Guicowar, the Rajpoot princes, and 
 others, simply on the ground that the interests of 
 the few must give way in favor of the many ? 
 
 The propagation of such a doctrine could not fail 
 to shake the attachment and confidence of every 
 native prince and chieftain throughout India, and 
 may at some future period lead to consequences 
 greatly to be deprecated ; consequences which can- 
 not be contemplated without serious forebodings as 
 to the future tranquillity of our Indian Empire.
 
 254 OUR POLITICAL EELATIONS. 
 
 [After the perusal of the preceding passages, a just conception may be 
 formed of Mr. Tucker's opinions regarding both the justice and the ex- 
 pediency of the policy which it becomes the paramount British power in 
 India to pursue towards the Native States. It is to be hoped that there are 
 not many amongst us who will question the liberality and enlightenment of 
 these views.) With Mr. Tucker, practice ever went hand-in-hand with 
 theory ; and the opinions, which he so forcibly expressed on paper, he ever 
 supported with his voice and his vote in the council-chamber. One or two 
 examples of the manner in which he carried out in detail the general prin- 
 ciples here enunciated, are given in the following extracts. The paper on the 
 Confiscation of Colaba, alluded to above, and given at page 257, is one which 
 the writer himself especially desired to publish.] 
 
 CASE OF THE GUICOWAE. 
 
 [Written in 1844.] 
 
 . . . "Would that our treatment of the Princes 
 of India, and of the Guicowar among the rest, 
 entitled us to assume a high standard of political 
 morality ; 
 
 True it is, 
 
 " Who bribes an officer, corrupts, 
 And is corrupted ;" 
 
 but we must make allowances for the peculiar 
 notions and usages of a people ; and it is notorious 
 that the natives of India attach no idea of moral 
 wrong to the practice of offering Nuzzurs, or presents, 
 to their superiors, for the purpose of propitiating 
 them, and of obtaining a pledge of protection. 
 
 And what is the offence imputed to his Highness the 
 Guicowar ? and what are the real facts of the case ? 
 
 During a series of years, various questions have 
 arisen between his Highness and the British Govern- 
 ment, of a nature to produce mutual dissatisfaction 
 and estrangement; and several of these questions 
 have remained unsettled to a late period, and espe- 
 cially that which arose out of our demand upon his 
 Highness to maintain a body of cavalry, designated
 
 CASE OF THE GUICOWAR. 255 
 
 " Robert's Horse," nominally for his service, and at 
 his expense, hut really for our own purposes. 
 
 It would be out of place and useless to enter into 
 the merits of these questions, upon which I have 
 long since recorded my opinions ; but it will be seen 
 that Dhakjee Dadajee adroitly availed himself of our 
 differences with the Guicowars, in furtherance of his 
 own personal views. 
 
 That person was considered by his Highness to 
 have unduly appropriated to himself while in office 
 the sum of 7J lacs of the public money, which he 
 was accordingly made to refund; and the opinion 
 of Mr. Elphinstone, who held the Government of 
 Bombay at the time, appears to have justified the 
 Guicowar in this proceeding, on the ground that 
 improper charges had been made by Dhakjee in his 
 public accounts. 
 
 But whether his Highness had, or had not, a 
 right to require the refund of the money alleged to 
 have been embezzled by his own servant, there is 
 reason to believe that Dhakjee sought and ob tamed 
 full indemnification from the Gomashtah of the 
 Photadarry, Omeah Sunkur, his subordinate in 
 office, although he contended that the sum exacted 
 from this individual was in satisfaction of a private 
 debt. . . . *.'.: 
 
 Now what is the real essence of this transaction ? 
 The Guicowar, kept in ignorance of the Court's 
 orders, was duped and plundered by an artful man 
 pretending to possess official influence, and known 
 to have been patronised and protected by the Bri-
 
 256 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 tisli authorities, and to have heeii supported by us 
 (most unjustifiably, as I have always thought), in 
 opposition to the will of his own master. 
 
 Is it extraordinary that his Highness should have 
 been imposed upon under such specious appear- 
 ances ? He thought that he was paying money 
 which had been required from him, and he was 
 willing to give it, in order to get rid of vexatious, 
 importunate, and never-ending claims ; for he was 
 threatened with a demand for interest to an amount 
 exceeding the principal of the alleged debt. 
 
 It is the mere affectation of public principle to 
 charge the natives of India with the want of moral 
 rectitude, when they are acting under moral com- 
 pulsion. The Guicowar is duped, and abused., and 
 plundered, because he could not help himself, or 
 thought that he could not help himself; and this 
 we tell him is a " grave offence." He ought to be 
 pitied, and we reprimand him. Can we suppose 
 that he gave away his money willingly to a man 
 whom he had denounced ? and would it not have 
 been more to the purpose if we had expressed our 
 concern that he should have been imposed upon by 
 one who pretended to have the sanction and support 
 of the head of the local Government ? At all events, 
 do not let us add insult to the injustice which we 
 sometimes perpetrate in the confidence of superior 
 strength. 
 
 And why do we refer to " numerous circum- 
 stances of a mysterious and very suspicious cha-
 
 COLABA. 257 
 
 racter," without taking any steps to clear up the 
 mystery, and to satisfy ourselves whether there be 
 grounds for the suspicions intimated? The Gui- 
 cowar's conduct and motives are plain enough. He 
 parted with his money (reluctantly, no doubt) to 
 satisfy a demand which he felt he had no power to 
 resist successfully ; and he hoped to obtain some in- 
 demnification by being relieved from a burden 
 which pressed on his finances, and which was other- 
 wise grating to his feelings. 
 
 THE CONFISCATION OF COLABA. 
 
 [Written in 1841.] 
 
 I entirely concur in the opinions recorded by my 
 lamented colleague and friend, the late Mr. Edmon- 
 stone, and by other eminent members of the Court ; 
 and I will say that, neither in this Court, nor else- 
 where, is an individual to be found whose opinions 
 are entitled to greater weight and authority than 
 those of Mr. Edmonstone, in applying the princi- 
 ples of national policy and political justice to cases 
 arising out of our political connexion and relations 
 with the native princes and chieftains of India. 
 
 That highly-talented member of the Court, whose 
 place in it can never be adequately supplied, and who 
 has left no equal behind him, mainly assisted, in the 
 last year, in rescuing the Bampoor Jagheer from 
 confiscation, or from what we are accustomed to call 
 resumption ; and it is highly honorable to the Presi- 
 
 VOL. i. s
 
 258 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 dent of the Board that he paid deference to such un- 
 questionable authority. 
 
 But the case of the principality of Colaha stands on 
 higher grounds than that of the Bampoor Jagheer. 
 
 The latter was, no doubt, held under an hereditary 
 and perpetual Sunnud, granted to the Newaub Fyze 
 Oolah Khan, by the Vizier of Oude, upon a capitu- 
 lation with the tribe of Bohillah Afghans in 1774 ; 
 but it was still a Jagheer, or fief; and there might 
 be some plea, or pretence, for treating it as an 
 escheat in the case of a total failure of heirs, and 
 other possible circumstances. 
 
 But the principality of Colaba has been held by 
 the family of Angria for nearly two centuries, in a 
 state of independence. It has never been in our 
 possession. Our connexion with it rests upon the 
 foundation of a formal treaty, freely contracted; 
 and while a vestige of the Angria family remains, 
 it belongs of right to them, and cannot be seized 
 and appropriated by us otherwise than by an act of 
 violence, perpetrated by our superior power. It is 
 not pretended that the family is disaffected, or that 
 this petty state has placed itself in the position of a 
 public enemy, in such manner as to justify our 
 Government in taking forcible possession of the 
 territory. 
 
 It is assumed that the principality has lapsed to 
 the paramount State, by reason of the failure of legi- 
 timate heirs; but I deny that a failure has taken 
 place, for the right of adoption still exists ; and I 
 contend, also, that illegitimate descendants are not
 
 COLABA. 259 
 
 excluded from succession, even under our own Go- 
 vernment 
 
 But the ground I rest upon is, that the widow of 
 Raggogee Angria possessed, under the authority of 
 that prince, which is not disputed, the right to adopt, 
 and still possesses that right unimpaired; for al- 
 though it remained in abeyance while there was the 
 prospect of a natural heir, it revived as soon as the 
 death of the posthumous child removed the bar to its 
 exercise. The right of succession to honors and 
 estates in our own country remains in suspense under 
 similar circumstances ; but it takes effect as soon as 
 the intermediate bar is removed, either by the birth 
 of a daughter, or the death of the posthumous child. 
 
 Adoption, with a Hindoo, is both a right and a 
 duty ; for the tenets of his religion require that, fail- 
 ing a natural heir, a substitute should be raised up 
 to perform certain ceremonial rites enjoined by that 
 religion ; and even if we admit that the principality 
 of Colaba was a mere dependency of our Government, 
 and that the paramount State, in certain cases, can 
 refuse to sanction an adoption, this power is not 
 to be exercised lightly and capriciously upon insuffi- 
 cient grounds. It is a reservation intended to guard 
 against irregular and illegal adoptions. 
 
 The right of adoption is somewhat analogous to 
 that, under which, by means of a testamentary deed 
 or will, we give a destination to our property in this 
 country, after the demise of the testator ; but with 
 the Hindoo a religious motive is superadded to ren- 
 der the act of adoption necessary ; and it would not 
 
 s2
 
 260 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 be more unjust to prohibit a British subject from 
 executing a will, than it would be to prevent a 
 Hindoo from raising up an heir by means of an 
 adoption. 
 
 Whether the case before us be considered to in- 
 volve a question of international law, assuming 
 Colaba to be an independent state ; or a question of 
 inheritance, viewing it as a mere dependency it is 
 clear that there are no grounds for the forcible inter- 
 ference of the British Government. The principality 
 is, at the least, a territorial domain, or estate, held 
 under the protection of the law; and should the 
 proprietor, or claimant, be compelled to resort to a 
 court of justice in order to establish his rights, I 
 cannot for one moment doubt that the august tri- 
 bunal in the last resort in this country, would ex- 
 tend to him its protection, and grant redress for any 
 wrongs which he may have suffered at our hands. 
 
 I never can satisfy myself that true policy can 
 comport with injustice and oppression. The native 
 princes and chiefs of India will see, in the fate of 
 Colaba, their own future destiny ; their fidelity and 
 attachment cannot be relied upon while they have 
 such cause for distrust and alarm; and although 
 they may be overawed and kept down by an irresis- 
 tible military power, the occasion may arise when 
 their hostility might become dangerous. The feel- 
 ings of our Indian subjects are not to be trifled with ; 
 and it is not wise, nor safe, to depart from that con- 
 ciliatory conduct, and to efface from their minds 
 those impressions of our justice, wisdom, and good
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 261 
 
 faith, which have hitherto constituted our hond of 
 union with the people, and the true basis of our 
 power in India. 
 
 THE DAWN OF THE AFGHAN WAR THE TRIPARTITE 
 TREATY. 
 
 [It is well known that Mr. Tucker was one of those able and right-minded 
 men who bitterly deplored the unjust and impolitic invasion of Afghanistan, 
 the melancholy issue of which so fearfully justified the anticipations of evil 
 which they so emphatically pronounced. It is well known, too, that he did 
 more than anticipate evil that he resolutely set himself to stem the tide of 
 coming disaster by lifting up a warning voice, and endeavouring to infuse 
 greater wisdom into the councils which were then dominant. He never 
 omitted an opportunity of recording his opinions and demonstrating that the 
 war in which we had so insanely embarked was at once a great political 
 blunder and a great national crime. The papers which have been selected in 
 illustration of this, exhibit the growth of these opinions from the early part 
 of 1839 to the close of 1842. The following paper bears the first of these 
 dates.] 
 
 On the 20th of June, 1838, a tripartite treaty of 
 alliance between Runjeet Singh, Shuja-ool-Moolk, 
 and the British Government, was concluded at La- 
 hore, the professed object of which was to reinstate 
 Shuja-ool-Moolk on the throne of Caubul. 
 
 On the 1st of October following, the Governor- 
 General of India issued a proclamation, declaring 
 war against Dost Mahomed, the de facto ruler of 
 Caubul, and the princes of Candahar, his brothers. 
 
 On the 8th of November, the Governor-General, 
 on hearing from Colonel Stoddart that the siege of 
 Herat (the real cause of war) had been raised, issued 
 another proclamation, declaring " that he will con- 
 tinue to prosecute with vigor the measures which 
 have been commenced, with the view to the substitu-
 
 262 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 tion of a friendly for a hostile power in the eastern 
 provinces of Afghanistan, and to the establishment 
 of a permanent barrier against schemes of aggression 
 against our north-west frontier." 
 
 In the course of the same month (November) a 
 large army advanced from the Jumna to the Sutlej, 
 where the command was assumed by Sir Henry Pane, 
 the Commander-in-Chief, who issued a general order 
 for regulating the conduct and discipline of the troops 
 composing " the army of the Indus" on its advance 
 to that river. 
 
 In the course of December this army was broken 
 up, the Commander-in-Chief taking a formal* leave 
 of it in general orders one-half, it was supposed, 
 is to return to the Provinces, or to be cantoned on 
 the Sutlej ; while the other moiety is destined, as 
 it is understood, to form a military line of defence 
 from Perozepore, on the Sutlej, to Shikarpore on the 
 right bank of the Indus, thus establishing a commu- 
 nication with the Bombay army. 
 
 There may have existed good and sufficient reasons 
 for retracing our steps from the Sutlej to the Junina ; 
 but the same considerations ought to have prevented 
 our advance only a few weeks previously ; and, with- 
 out some explanation, the sudden change of plan 
 would seem to indicate an infirmity of purpose which 
 has seldom characterised our councils in India. 
 
 Our late proceedings in India have been made the 
 subject of critique and ridicule by the Indian press, 
 and must have tended to lower our national charac- 
 
 * See G. 0., 30th of November, llth of December, and 27th do.
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 263 
 
 ter ; nor can it be doubted that, to lower the cha- 
 racter of any Government, and the Government of 
 India beyond all others, perhaps, is to diminish its 
 moral influence and power, and to affect even its sta- 
 bility. 
 
 But the financial evil which must be produced is 
 immediate and certain. Our military expenditure 
 must be enormous, independently of the charge for 
 subsidies, political establishments, &c., &c. "We have 
 already deemed it necessary to reduce our demands 
 upon India in the ensuing year to the extent of a 
 million sterling ; and should our military operations 
 be carried on for any time on the scale indicated by 
 our late movements, it is impossible that any surplus 
 revenue should exist in India, applicable to the pay- 
 ment of the home charges. In this case, the divi- 
 dends to the Proprietors of India Stock, and other 
 disbursements in this country, must be provided for 
 by means of loans to be raised in India. 
 
 If, moreover, it be determined to run a line of mili- 
 tary posts from the Sutlej to the Indus, in order to 
 place the Bengal army in communication with that of 
 Bombay, we must occupy Bhahawulpore and several 
 stations in the Scinde territory ; but will the Ameers 
 submit to this ? and upon what grounds of justice can 
 we insist upon planting a military force in positions 
 which must compromise their independence ? Upon 
 what grounds can we justify a war originating in such 
 an aggression ? and have we nothing to apprehend 
 from the hostility of the Scindians, the Beloochees, 
 and other tribes, through whose territory our supplies
 
 264i OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 and reinforcements must pass to support the army in 
 advance ? 
 
 If it were just and politic to dethrone Dost Ma- 
 homed for the purpose of reinstating Shuja-ool- 
 Moolk, why should not Hunjeet Singh have under- 
 taken the military operations ? He is to derive the 
 chief advantages : his advanced positions in Pesha- 
 wur border upon the dominions of Cauhul ; and he 
 could fall back upon his magazines and reinforcements 
 behind the Indus, in the event of his experiencing 
 any disaster, or check, in his advance upon Caubul or 
 Candahar. 
 
 The Maharajah not only appears to entertain ap- 
 prehensions of Dost Mahomed, but he manifested a 
 good deal of uneasiness when Shuja-ool-Moolk ad- 
 vanced to Candahar in 1833, and he showed no dis- 
 position to countenance the expedition ; and it is 
 maintained by a high authority* that he made a false 
 step in subjugating and expelling the Barukzyes of 
 Peshawur, as they would have interposed a barrier 
 between the more powerful tribe of Dooranees and 
 his possessions east of the Indus. 
 
 We appear to contemplate the formation of three 
 lines of defence to the west of our Indian territory. 
 
 The first, by means of the occupation of Candahar 
 and Caubul by Shuja-ool-Moolk. 
 
 The second, by enlarging and strengthening the 
 dominions of Hunjeet Singh. 
 
 And the third, by advancing a line of military 
 stations from the Sutlej to the Indus. 
 
 * See Major Wade's letter of 1834.
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 265 
 
 But the first of these projects depends upon the 
 success of a difficult, hazardous, and expensive expe- 
 dition ; the second hangs upon the life and the good 
 faith of Runjeet Singh ; and the third must entail 
 upon us an enormous expense, at the same time that 
 it can scarcely he accomplished without a violation 
 of national rights and independence, nor without the 
 probability of our being involved in an unjust and 
 aggressive war. 
 
 Whatever view I take of the question, I arrive at 
 the same conclusion, that we have commenced our 
 operations in the wrong quarter that they are 
 directed against an ostensible, but not the real 
 enemy that a single monosyllable would probably 
 have arrested the progress of Russia, if addressed to 
 her with firmness and in perfect good faith while 
 all our armies may be moved in vain from the east 
 without touching that Power, and without prevent- 
 ing her stealthy advance, and the success of her in- 
 trigues to push forward Persia and the Afghans to- 
 wards the Punjaub, and ultimately, perhaps, to our 
 north-west frontier.* 
 
 * It will be seen that the paper from which these passages are extracted, 
 was written before the precise character of our military operations beyond 
 the Indus was known in this country. They are of importance, howeyer, as 
 exhibiting the fact that, from the very first, when these operations were 
 supposed to be of comparatively limited extent, Mr. Tucker vigorously re- 
 monstrated against them.
 
 266 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 BRITISH POLICY IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 [The following paper, written early in 1839, contains a vigorously-written 
 summary of Mr. Tucker's views regarding the Central- Asian policy which 
 had been forced by the home Government upon the Court of Directors. 
 There was no one point which the writer was more anxious to bring promi- 
 nently forward than the fact that the war in Afghanistan was made for 
 European purposes, and was mainly the work of European statesmen. He 
 never lost an opportunity of protesting against the injustice of burdening the 
 finances of India with the expenses of a war undertaken, not for the promo- 
 tion of Indian interests, but for objects connected with a tangled web of 
 European intrigue.] 
 
 I propose to submit in the present address the 
 substance of a protest which I prepared some time 
 since, on receiving an intimation from the Chairman 
 (of the Court of Directors), that the President of the 
 (India) Board would not authorise the Secret Com- 
 mittee to communicate to the Court the correspond- 
 ence with India explanatory of our new alliances, 
 and of the extensive military movements then in 
 progress. 
 
 It is the more necessary that I should take this 
 step for my own eventual justification, as we were 
 yesterday called upon to concur in an augmentation 
 of the European force in India ; while the proposed 
 augmentation, under the view which I take of our 
 present position, political and military, appears to 
 me not only inadequate, in degree, to the emergency, 
 but (owing to the delay which must occur in raising, 
 training, and conveying recruits to India) unlikely to 
 afford that prompt and seasonable reinforcement 
 which the exigency of the service would seem to 
 demand. 
 
 One prominent point I cannot too often or too
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 267 
 
 strongly impress upon the Court. It is evident that 
 her Majesty's Government have now thrown upon, 
 the finances of India the whole hurden of maintain- 
 ing a contest which is manifestly connected with 
 national objects, and which may not necessarily have 
 had an Indian origin ; and it is also clear that, as we 
 have no longer any voice or control in the manage- 
 ment of our relations with Persia, the East India 
 Company may be engaged, at any time, in war, or 
 questions relating to European objects and politics, 
 to the great risk and injury of the Proprietors of 
 East India Stock, and of our Indian creditors and 
 others, without our possessing any means of protect- 
 ing pecuniary interests (involved in a property of not 
 less than fifty millions sterling) which are especially 
 committed to our care. 
 
 As an independent member of the Court of 
 Directors, I cannot submit in silence when I see 
 such interests placed in peril ; and if I am not fur- 
 nished with public and authentic documents to assist 
 me in arriving at just conclusions, I must work 
 with such materials as I find within my reach. 
 
 I am fully aware of the tenor and scope of the 
 36th section of the last Charter Act ;* and while 
 
 * This is the clause referring to the powers of the Secret Committee : 
 " Provided also, and be it enacted, that if the said Board shall be of opinion 
 that the subject-matter of any of their deliberations concerning the levying 
 war or making peace, or treating or negotiating with any of the native 
 princes or states in India, or with any other princes or states, intended to be 
 communicated in orders, despatches, official letters or communications to 
 any of the Governments or presidencies in India, or to any officers or servants 
 of the said Company, shall be of a nature to require secrecy, it shall and may 
 be lawful for the said Board to send their orders, despatches, official letters 
 or communications to the Secret Committee of the said Court of Directors, to
 
 268 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 treaties are in process of negotiation, I should not be 
 so indiscreet as to call for premature disclosures ; but 
 I cannot believe that the Legislature intended to con- 
 stitute this Court the mere unreflecting instrument 
 of the Board ; and I am quite certain that we cannot 
 properly execute the duties entrusted to us, unless 
 we be made acquainted with the state of affairs in 
 India, and with the nature of the service proposed 
 to be undertaken by our armies. We have private 
 means of information, no doubt ; and we can gather 
 something in an authentic shape from the public 
 newspapers ; but we have no official documents upon 
 which to form our judgment, although we are called 
 upon, from time to time, to concur in measures of 
 the utmost importance, both financial, military, and 
 political, in utter ignorance of the circumstances 
 which may have given rise to them, and which might 
 justify us in becoming a party to the proceeding. 
 
 I consider the Chairs of the Court of Directors, the 
 Secret Committee, and the Court itself collectively, 
 to be bound by every obligation of public duty to 
 give its best advice and assistance in all matters con- 
 nected with the administration of India to remon- 
 strate against wrong measures to avert evil as far 
 as possible and to co-operate cordially with the 
 Board in promoting to the utmost the welfare of 
 
 be appointed as is by this Act directed, who shall thereupon, without disclosing 
 the same, transmit the same according to the tenor thereof, or pursuant to the 
 directions of the said Board, to the respective Governments and presidencies, 
 officers and servants ; and that the said Governments and presidencies, offi- 
 cers and servants, shall be bound to pay a faithful obedience thereto, in like 
 manner as if such orders, despatches, official letters or communications had 
 been sent to them by the said Court of Directors."
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 269 
 
 India ; and should this duty be neglected, I hold the 
 Chairs and the Court to he directly responsible to 
 the country. 
 
 Before I enter upon a review of the present state 
 of affairs in India, as deducible from Lord Auck- 
 land's manifesto, Colonel Stoddart's letter, and other 
 documents which appear in the Indian papers, I 
 would call the attention of the Court to the corre- 
 spondence which is to be found recorded in our pro- 
 ceedings of January, 1835. 
 
 It had long been felt that our connexion with 
 Persia was most burdensome to the finances of India. 
 During the last forty years the charge for embassies, 
 subsidies, military stores, &c. &c., had amounted to an 
 enormous sum, while it was not at all apparent that 
 any real benefit had been derived from this expendi- 
 ture. The court of Teheran was insatiate in its de- 
 mands for money, and we were lavish in the supply of 
 it ; but over its application we could never exercise 
 any efficient control ; and we had no satisfactory as- 
 surance that our supplies might not be applied to ob- 
 jects quite unconnected with our own immediate in- 
 terests. 
 
 The distance of Teheran from Calcutta, and the 
 many intervening obstacles, rendered the correspond- 
 ence with the Government of India tedious and un- 
 certain, and prevented the possibility of that Govern- 
 ment exercising a prompt and efficient control in any 
 case of sudden emergency. 
 
 And with our line of communication interrupted 
 by a foreign territory of vast extent, and that terri-
 
 270 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 toiy intersected by inhospitable deserts, and by 
 mountainous regions of difficult access, it became 
 apparent that no military movement could be under- 
 taken from India, either for the purpose of support- 
 ing or coercing Persia, without extreme difficulty, 
 and the risk of a disastrous result. 
 
 It was notorious, at the same time, that Persia was 
 too feeble to maintain her own independence that 
 Russia was at hand in a commanding military posi- 
 tion, anxious to establish a paramount influence, and 
 bent upon using that influence to promote ulterior 
 objects that the Indian Government had no power 
 to counteract its designs that even the bribe of 
 money could not render a weak and corrupt court 
 steady, and proof against the effects of fear and, in 
 short, that Russia, holding the vantage ground, and 
 not being tangible from India, no means could be re- 
 sorted to in that quarter for the purpose of averting 
 the evils to be apprehended from her continued ad- 
 vances eastward, with any chance of success. 
 
 Prom these premises it was deduced that our con- 
 nexion with Persia, the moving power being Russia, 
 had become essentially an European question, and 
 that against an European state, so circumstanced, the 
 protection of our Asiatic possessions must depend 
 mainly upon the exertion of that national power, 
 which had hitherto upheld the British dominion in 
 all parts of the world against all its enemies. 
 
 It was accordingly resolved* by her Majesty's Go- 
 vernment and the Court of Directors, in January, 
 
 * See Proceedings, January, 1835.
 
 THE WAK IN AFGHANISTAN. 271 
 
 1835, that the Persian embassy should be transferred 
 to her Majesty's Government, the East India Com- 
 pany undertaking to defray the charge, to the extent 
 of 12,000/. per annum ; and from this period I have 
 been accustomed to consider that any measures of re- 
 pression which the encroachments and intrigues of 
 Russia in the East might render necessary, would be 
 undertaken in the only quarter in which that Power 
 can be successfully assailed or resisted. 
 
 But how, let me ask, has this proposition been 
 worked out to a practical conclusion ? Has the late 
 arrangement precluded the necessity for sending forth 
 our armies upon distant and hazardous enterprises, 
 to accomplish ends which were heretofore deemed to 
 be unattainable ? Have the finances of India been 
 secured against a wasteful and unprofitable expendi- 
 ture upon costly expeditions, promising neither poli- 
 tical advantages, nor military glory ? 
 
 The manifesto of the Governor-General of India, 
 published on the 1st of October last, answers these 
 questions to a certain extent. It contains a declara- 
 tion of war ; but war against whom ? Against 
 Hussia, which notoriously prompts all the move- 
 ments of Persia ? By no means. That Power is 
 never mentioned, and we are ostensibly on a footing 
 of friendship and cordiality with the Czar. We have 
 an ambassador at St. Petersburg, and we receive an 
 ambassador at St. James'. 
 
 Is, then, the war about to commence to be directed 
 against Persia? Certainly not. Our minister has
 
 272 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 returned* to Teheran. ; and an envoy from Persia is 
 understood to be on his way to the British capital. 
 Besides, the second manifesto of the Governor- Ge- 
 neral, bearing date the 8th of November, would seem 
 to place this question at rest. Colonel Stoddart re- 
 ports officially that the siege of Herat f had been 
 raised, and that the Shah had retired; while the 
 abandonment of this enterprise has apparently re- 
 moved all difficulties in the way of re-establishing 
 our friendly relations with the court of Persia. 
 It is true that the military demonstration in the 
 Persian Gulf bears a hostile character towards the 
 Shah, from its obvious tendency to encourage insur- 
 rection and rebellion in his southern provinces ; but 
 the force is too insignificant to make any other impres- 
 sion ; and except in so far as it may promote an ob- 
 ject, scarcely reconcilable with political morality, 
 we may now assume that no other purpose is to be 
 answered, and that the Persian branch of the ques- 
 tion has, for the present at least, been disposed of. 
 
 The manifesto of the 1st October must therefore 
 be now considered as applicable exclusively to Dost 
 Mahomed, the ruler of Caubul, his relations, the 
 princes of Candahar, and their tribe of Bamkzyes ; 
 and it is these parties to whom the Governor-General 
 evidently refers in his subsequent proclamation of 
 the 8th November last, wherein he observes that 
 " while he regards the relinquishment by the Shah 
 
 * This paper was written in January; a circumstance which will account 
 for some apparent anachronisms. H. St.G. T. 
 f See Bombay Gazette of the 20th of November.
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 273 
 
 of Persia of his hostile designs upon Herat as a just 
 cause of congratulation to the Governor of British 
 India and its allies, he will continue to prosecute 
 with vigor the measures which have been com- 
 menced with a view to the substitution of a friendly 
 for a hostile power in the eastern provinces of 
 Afghanistan, and to the establishment of a perma- 
 nent barrier against schemes of aggression against 
 our north-west frontier." 
 
 Now, let us inquire what are the grounds of com- 
 plaint alleged against Dost Mahomed and the princes 
 of Candahar, his brothers ? 
 
 It is stated in the Governor- General's manifesto, 
 that it was proposed, " by opening the navigation of 
 the Indus, to facilitate the extension of commerce, 
 and to gain for the British nation in Central Asia the 
 legitimate influence which an interchange of benefits 
 would naturally produce." 
 
 But it is not shown, nor even pretended, that Dost 
 Mahomed, by any overt act, or secret counteraction, 
 attempted to obstruct us in this peaceful pursuit; 
 and even if our operations had inspired the Afghan 
 ruler with some misgiving and a little distrust, this 
 ought not to create surprise, recollecting as we must 
 do, and as the people of Asia unquestionably do,, 
 that, although we begin generally as traders, we 
 always finish as sovereigns. Commerce has been 
 the point of the wedge which military force has 
 driven in ; and by a very natural progression, terri- 
 torial dominion has constantly followed. 
 
 The anti-commercial Afghan having, however, 
 some cause of difference " with our ancient ally, 
 VOL. i. T
 
 274 OUK POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 Maharajah Runjeet Singh, it was to be feared" (as 
 the manifesto proceeds to declare) " that the flames of 
 war being once kindled in the very regions into which 
 we were endeavouring to extend our commerce, the 
 peaceful and beneficial purposes of the British Go- 
 vernment would be altogether frustrated. In order 
 to avert a result so calamitous, the Governor-Gene- 
 ral resolved on authorising Captain Burnes to inti- 
 mate to Dost Mahomed Khan, that if he should 
 evince a disposition to come to just and reasonable 
 terms with the Maharajah, his lordship would exert 
 his good offices with his Highness for the restoration of 
 an amicable understanding between the two Powers." 
 In other words, we propose to introduce our com- 
 merce into certain independent countries some eight 
 hundred miles distant from our frontier ; we find two 
 of these states at variance with each other, which 
 we previously knew to be the case ; we tender our 
 friendly mediation ; but one of the parties " persist- 
 ing in urging the most unreasonable pretensions, 
 such as the Governor-General could not, consistently 
 with justice and his regard for the friendship of 
 Maharajah Hunjeet Singh, be the channel of sub- 
 mitting to the consideration of his Highness," what 
 do we do ? Do we quietly withdraw, and leave the 
 parties to settle their own disputes ? No such thing. 
 Commerce is to be introduced, and the blessing of 
 peace to be secured by the instrumentality of war, and 
 we then proceed to find out some latent cause of of- 
 fence which shall justify us in forming a tripartite 
 alliance, and in equipping our armies for the field. 
 The offence of Dost Mahomed would appear to be
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 275 
 
 that " he avowed schemes of aggrandisement and 
 amhition injurious to the security and peace of the 
 frontier of India ; and that he openly threatened, in 
 furtherance of these schemes, to call in every foreign 
 aid which he could command. Ultimately he gave 
 his undisguised support to the Persian designs on 
 Afghanistan, of the unfriendly and injurious cha- 
 racter of which, as concerned the British power in 
 India, he was well apprised : and by the utter dis- 
 regard of the views and interests of the British Go- 
 vernment, compelled Captain Burnes to leave Cau- 
 bul without having effected any of the objects of 
 his mission." 
 
 The chiefs of Candahar are comprehended in this 
 political indictment in the following terms : 
 
 " The chiefs of Candahar (brothers of Dost Ma- 
 homed Khan of Caubul) have avowed their adhe- 
 rence to the Persian policy with the same full know- 
 ledge of its opposition to the rights and interests of 
 the British nation in India, and have been openly 
 assisting in the operations against Herat." 
 
 I am not prepared to say that there may not be 
 facts to warrant this announcement, although it is 
 somewhat startling, because Governments, and Asi- 
 atic princes in particular, are not much in the habit 
 of divulging their intentions, and of proclaiming their 
 ambitious views, until prepared to draw the sword. 
 
 It is unquestionable that the Persians and Afghans, 
 if supported and pushed forward by Hussia, might 
 penetrate into the Punjab ; and should our " ancient 
 ally," Runjeet Singh, whose armies are disciplined 
 
 T2
 
 276 OUE POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 and led by French officers, be induced to concur in 
 the design, and to co-operate in the enterprise, such 
 a combination might become formidable to the 
 British empire in India ; but Russia is not even 
 mentioned in the proclamation, although the real 
 aggressor, without whose aid and incitement not 
 one of the Powers alluded to would venture to place 
 a hostile footstep within our frontier. 
 
 And why has not Russia been brought forward as 
 a party in our warlike denunciation ? Because it is 
 not convenient for the home Government to enter 
 the lists with that Power in Europe, and because it is 
 more convenient to throw the burden of a perilous 
 war and the charge of onerous treaties and alliances 
 upon the resources of India. Russia may advance 
 and recede at pleasure under a mask ; and although 
 not daring to show herself, or to encounter our 
 armies in the field, she knows that she can, without 
 danger, carry on a destructive warfare against our 
 finances. Here is the evil of which I complain. 
 
 It is deeply to be lamented that the Governor- 
 General should gratuitously have committed himself 
 by the manifesto of the 1st October, because the 
 people of India are not slow to discern fallacies, and 
 are quick enough in detecting and exposing even 
 specious reasoning when proceeding upon false or 
 weak premises. They may even discover, or fancy 
 that they discover, an ill-concealed fear of our secret 
 enemy. But Lord Auckland, who has manifested 
 great prudence and judgment on other occasions, 
 and who is assisted by a very able secretary, would
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 277 
 
 never have put forth such a proclamation without 
 orders from hence; and if it were allowable to 
 speculate in such a case, it might he surmised that 
 the document was conceived and framed in a dif- 
 ferent officina. 
 
 Before a nation embarks in a foreign war, its 
 Government should look carefully into its situation 
 at home. It is easy enough to perceive that a large 
 body of men cannot traverse a vast tract of desert 
 country, almost destitute of water and supplies, 
 without encountering serious difficulty ; and we also 
 know that a mountainous region, defended by a 
 warlike population, cannot easily be surmounted by 
 artillery and the other appendages of a regular army. 
 No person who hasreadMr.Elphinstone's description 
 of the topography of Caubul, and the intervening 
 country, of its climate, of the character of its in- 
 habitants and social institutions, can fail to be con- 
 vinced that the attempt to penetrate into Caubul by 
 whatever route, with an army from India, must be 
 attended with imminent risk. I will grant that the 
 force is efficient and fully equipped that the Se- 
 poys, and the new levies especially) do not, like Mr. 
 Elphinstone's followers, manifest a strong disposi- 
 tion on entering the desert* to return to their 
 homes that the troops in general are not, as was 
 the case in his camp, attacked by a fatal sicknessf 
 that the Europeans can bear the scorching heats of 
 
 * They deserted in twenties and thirties. 
 
 f Forty persons died at Bickaneer, in his small camp, in one week, from 
 fever and other complaints produced by the sudden and violent fluctuations 
 of temperature. H. St.G. T.
 
 278 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 the desert, and the natives of Hindostan the severe 
 cold of the mountains that Runjeet Singh and the 
 Ameers of Scinde are sincere, and disposed to allow 
 us a free passage through their respective territories 
 that the Indus can he crossed without opposition 
 : and that, after a long and laborious march, our 
 army reaches, without any serious disaster, the passes 
 of Hindoo Coosh, or the foot of the Tukht-i-Sooli- 
 man. Let this be granted, contrary to all reason- 
 able speculations, and we shall still have the most 
 formidable obstacles to overcome. 
 
 The Afghans are a brave and warlike people, 
 proud of their national independence and of their 
 individual liberty, impatient of a ruler, attached to 
 their clans, prone to republican turbulence, and 
 easily excited to give vent to religious fanaticism. 
 Upon this race of sturdy mountaineers, in whose 
 character and habits Mr. Elphinstone discovers a 
 close resemblance to the Highlanders of Scotland, 
 we would impose a ruler, who has been repeatedly 
 ejected by them, in whose favor we would depose 
 the de facto, sovereign, Dost Mahomed, and at the 
 same time set aside the pretensions of the Prince 
 Kamran (the son of an elder brother), who has so 
 gallantly and successfully defended the fortress of 
 Herat against an attack which has evidently been 
 regarded by us as the basis of a series of operations 
 directed towards the British possessions in India. 
 
 I cannot well imagine any object more adven- 
 turous ; and even if we should succeed in placing 
 upon the throne of Caubul our late pensioner, Shuja-
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 279 
 
 ool-Moolk, who does not possess an acre of land in 
 that country, it is quite certain that he could only 
 maintain his authority and rule by the presence of a 
 British force, sufficient to hold in subjection his re- 
 fractory subjects, and to overawe the rival clans who 
 are hostile to his supremacy. 
 
 But waiving these considerations, let us look at 
 home. Can we safely send forth the flower of our 
 army to a point which cannot be reached in less 
 than three months, at a distance from its magazines 
 and supplies, and with its line of communication 
 liable at any time to be interrupted ? What if this 
 army should sustain a check ? Can we rely with 
 confidence on the allies whom we leave in the rear ? 
 Would they not take advantage of any disaster to 
 our arms ? Is it as easy to retreat as to advance ? 
 and is not our military reputation too precious to 
 be hazarded unnecessarily in the prosecution of an 
 object which presents such formidable difficulties ? 
 
 Still, I have not touched the main point. It can- 
 not be concealed that the presence of our army at 
 home was never, perhaps, more necessary than at 
 the present moment. 
 
 On our right flank, to the north, it is found 
 necessary to observe the Nepaulese with a military 
 force. 
 
 On the left, we have the Bajpoots in a very un- 
 settled and unsatisfactory state; and the petty Bajah 
 of Jhansi has even ventured lately to set our au- 
 thority at defiance, nor had we a military force at 
 hand sufficient to enforce that authority.
 
 280 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 In our rear, to the south-east, the Burmese have 
 openly manifested a hostile spirit, which has ren- 
 dered measures of precaution urgently necessary, 
 and which, no doubt, would have justified and called 
 for offensive operations had our hands been free ; 
 but the Burmese frontier is above 2000 miles from 
 Caubul, and our army could not be recalled and 
 traverse the intermediate space in less than six 
 months, if its services were found necessary to be 
 directed against the Burmese. 
 
 In our North-Western Provinces, whose inha- 
 bitants differ widely from the patient and submissive 
 natives of Bengal, a spirit of disaffection is known 
 to exist; and I have repeatedly had occasion to 
 bring under the notice of the Court the causes 
 which have, as I think, engendered this feeling. We 
 failed to redeem our pledge to grant the landholders 
 a permanent settlement we have displaced the 
 principal talookdars, and have converted the landed 
 aristocracy of the country into discontented pen- 
 sioners we have lately resumed the rent-free tenures 
 by a most summary, and I must say, iniquitous pro- 
 cess and we have, in consequence, alienated the 
 good-will of an influential class the priesthood 
 who hold a large interest in these tenures ; and still 
 more recently, our proceedings both at home and in 
 India with relation to the pilgrim-tax and the re- 
 ligious observances of the people, have produced 
 much uneasiness, and have given rise to an appre- 
 hension that the British Government has withdrawn 
 its protection so formally guaranteed, and is about
 
 THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. 281 
 
 to interfere with its native subjects in the exercise 
 of their religion. On this subject I will not enlarge ; 
 but we have evidence upon our records* that, even 
 in the Lower Provinces, a fanatical feeling has mani- 
 fested itself, and is supposed to have been fomented 
 by the measures which have been pursued for the 
 resumption of the rent-free lands. 
 
 With such weighty matters pressing upon our 
 attention, is it not the part of prudence and wisdom 
 to pause ? and would it not be better even to re- 
 trace our steps than to persevere in a dangerous 
 course ? Our allies are not to be relied upon with 
 confidence ; and if they fail us, it will be in their 
 power to inflict a deadly injury. Shuja-ool-Moolk 
 can only make head by means of our military power ; 
 and instead of forming a barrier in Afghanistan 
 against Persia or Russia, " by substituting a friendly 
 for a hostile Government," we have converted Dost 
 Mahomed, his family, and tribe, into open enemies ; 
 we have made them the willing instruments of Rus- 
 sian ambition, and we have probably enlisted all the 
 national feelings of the Afghan race against us. 
 
 Nor does it appear to me that our position would 
 be improved by pursuing a middle course. If Shuja- 
 ool-Moolk be allowed to advance without our main 
 army, his success must, at least, be doubtful ; and 
 should he meet with a repulse, or any serious check, 
 
 * See judicial letter from Bengal, of the 8th September, 1836, with cor- 
 respondence. See, also, Lord Auckland's minute of 17th November, 1838. 
 H. St.G. T.
 
 282 OUK POLITICAL KELATIONS. 
 
 we must advance to his support under greater diffi- 
 culties, perhaps, from the loss of military reputation, 
 and the confidence which successful resistance will 
 have inspired in his opponents. 
 
 Peeling as I do that the vital interests of India 
 are at stake in the present crisis of our affairs con- 
 vinced as I am that it is not in India but in Europe 
 that our empire in the East must he guarded against 
 European aggression ; and holding it to be the pri- 
 vilege and the duty of every member of this Court 
 to exercise his free judgment on all measures in 
 which he is called upon to co-operate I have felt it 
 to be incumbent upon me to record the present pro- 
 test, which, although intended to exonerate me from 
 responsibility, must not be taken as indicating in the 
 slightest degree an abatement of that zeal which is 
 become more than ever necessary for the advance- 
 ment of the public service. 
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 [The following paper was written in 1842, after intelligence of the disas- 
 trous results of the policy, so powerfully dissected in the preceding document, 
 had been received in England. It treats of the subject, then under discussion, 
 of the re-occupation of Afghanistan, and the difficulties attending that move- 
 ment. Many of the anticipations here glanced at were fully justified by the 
 result.] 
 
 The late disastrous occurrences in Afghanistan 
 must have struck deep into the heart of every man 
 who loves his country, and is tender of its honor, or 
 who possesses the common feelings of humanity. 
 
 Grievous errors have, it would appear, been com-
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 283 
 
 mitted ; but there is no use in recurring to the past, 
 except for the purpose of obtaining a guide to the 
 future. These errors must now, if possible, be re- 
 paired. 
 
 It is the part of prudence to look forward in order 
 to anticipate difficulties and dangers, and if possible 
 to avert them; but when they do occur, it is the 
 part of patriotism to encounter them with energy, 
 and to use every effort to surmount them. 
 
 The questions to be examined with reference to 
 the present state of our affairs in Afghanistan, 
 are 
 
 1st. Whether it be expedient and practicable to 
 maintain our military position in that country. 
 
 2nd. Whether it be incumbent upon the British 
 Government to maintain its political connexion with 
 Shah Shujah, and to adhere otherwise to the tri- 
 partite treaty of the 20th June, 1838 ; or assuming 
 the negative of this proposition, whether it be politic 
 and practicable to form any other political connexion 
 with Afghanistan. 
 
 3rd. Whether under any assumed state of things, 
 it be expedient to withdraw altogether from the mili- 
 tary occupation of Afghanistan, and from all political 
 connexion with that country. 
 
 If we continue to hold a single military post be- 
 yond the passes, and the slightest hope can be 
 entertained that it will be possible to maintain it 
 until reinforcements can be thrown in for its relief, 
 every consideration of honor and policy demand that
 
 284 DUE POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 the most strenuous exertions be made, and the 
 greatest sacrifices be submitted to, in order to main- 
 tain (at least for a time) our footing in. the country. 
 Whatever may have been the original merits, or 
 demerits, of our proceedings in Afghanistan, we are 
 now called upon to assert the national honor to 
 punish treachery and rebellion to bring to justice 
 the authors of barbarous assassinations to restore 
 our military reputation and to re-establish our 
 political supremacy. 
 
 If, on the other hand, our armies shall, unfor- 
 tunately, have been driven out of the country, or 
 have been compelled to evacuate it, a very different 
 question presents itself. Are we prepared to renew 
 the original enterprise, under circumstances of dif- 
 ficulty incalculably increased by the intervening 
 events ? The new difficulties which will have been 
 superadded to those enumerated in my letter to the 
 Court of Directors of the 29th January, 1839,* may 
 be thus briefly enumerated. 
 
 1st. The impression of our military prowess and 
 power, which probably assisted mainly in enabling 
 our army under Lord Keane to penetrate the Bholan 
 Pass unopposed, must have been greatly weakened. 
 The Afghans know and acknowledge the superiority 
 of our artillery, and of our professional science; 
 but they have not seen our military tactics very 
 successfully illustrated, and they acknowledge no 
 inferiority on their part as soldiers and men. 
 
 * The preceding paper.
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 285 
 
 2nd. The defeat of Major Clibborne's detachment ; 
 the result of their repeated encounters with the gal- 
 lant Sir Robert Sale's force; and, above all, the 
 destruction of the army on its retreat from Caubul, 
 must not only have inspired the Afghans with great 
 confidence in their own bravery and military re- 
 sources, but these unhappy events have aiforded 
 them practical and striking evidence of the strength 
 of their mountain passes, and of the ease with which 
 their country can be defended against a foreign 
 enemy. It cannot be doubted that, on any future 
 invasion, they will be prepared to defend their de- 
 files and fastnesses ; and we cannot prudently assume 
 that, fortified as they probably will be, we shall suc- 
 ceed in forcing them. 
 
 I am not ignorant that, both in ancient and mo- 
 dern times, such natural barriers have been pene- 
 trated and surmounted ; but, on the other hand, I 
 would appeal to the case of Circassia, to show that a 
 brave race of mountaineers, strongly posted in their 
 native fastnesses, can, for a series of years, bid de- 
 fiance to the power of the Russian Empire, and 
 have to this moment preserved their national inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 Other instances of successful resistance to mighty 
 armies, under similar circumstances, might easily be 
 cited. 
 
 3rd. Our native troops have suffered so severely 
 from the rigor of the climate (the cold in Caubul 
 and its neighbourhood being intense), that I much 
 doubt whether they can be induced again to enter
 
 286 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 that country. No man can have greater confidence 
 in the valor, zeal, and fidelity of the Sepoys than I 
 feel, and have long felt, from personal observation of 
 their character and conduct ; but there is a limit to 
 endurance, and although one heroic effort may be 
 made, we must not tax human nature beyond its 
 powers, nor expect a perpetual succession of heroic 
 achievements. 
 
 But whether we succeed or not in inducing our 
 Sepoys to advance again to the passes of Afghanistan, 
 I am quite convinced that the utmost difficulty will 
 be experienced in commanding the services of camp- 
 followers. We know how essential this appendage 
 is to an Indian army, and we know how large* and 
 unmanageable it is, especially in the instance of an 
 army moving from our Bengal provinces. A large 
 train of followers, for the camp equipage, the com- 
 missariat, and other services, is absolutely indispen- 
 sable ; and as the fate of those who have miserably 
 perished in the late disaster to our arms must soon 
 become known to their countrymen, it is to be ap- 
 prehended that the most serious difficulty will be ex- 
 perienced hereafter, in obtaining the supply of fol- 
 lowers required for the forward movement of any 
 large body of troops, f 
 
 A difficulty of the same description is to be appre- 
 hended in recruiting our native corps. There are 
 many Afghans in our army who will have witnessed 
 
 * The army of the Indus, 15,000 strong, had 85,000 followers. See Major 
 Hough. H. St.G. T. 
 
 f There is a prejudice, too, against rossing the Indus, felt by the natiyes 
 of Hindostan. H. St.G. T.
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 287 
 
 the late occurrences, and a still greater number to 
 whom the event will become known. Can these men 
 be safely trusted ? and if a religious feeling be super- 
 added, can we expect them to be faithful to their 
 standard ? My greatest anxiety for the fate of the 
 garrisons which have been left in Afghanistan has 
 its origin chiefly in this source. A single fanatic 
 amongst our Sepoys may become the nucleus of dis- 
 affection, which may be too strong for the habitual 
 feeling of attachment to their salt, their colors, and 
 the service; and if the spell which has hitherto 
 bound them to us be once dissolved, who will under- 
 take to say what amount of European force will be 
 sufficient to enable us to maintain our footing in the 
 country ? 
 
 But granting that the fidelity of the Sepoy is not 
 to be shaken by adverse events, it does not follow 
 that our army can be speedily recruited with proper 
 materials. Very great difficulty has been experienced 
 of late years in obtaining first class men, such as 
 were heretofore the pride of the Bengal army. The 
 fact could be accounted for if it were necessary and 
 desirable to enter into details ; but it may be confi- 
 dently assumed that the difficulty, from whatever 
 source originating, will be seriously aggravated under 
 existing circumstances. Our best locality for re- 
 cruiting men of good caste and physical power, has 
 been in the districts north of the Ganges in Oude, 
 Rohilkund, Goruckpore, Azimghur, &c. Now these 
 districts, and especially the province of Rohilkund, 
 abound with Afghans (Patans, or Kohillahs, as they
 
 288 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 are usually called) ; and it cannot be doubted that 
 this race of men will feel the utmost reluctance to 
 engage in an expedition against those who are con- 
 nected with them by the ties of religion and social 
 habits. Skinner's* Horse, one of the most distin- 
 guished corps in the service, is composed chiefly of 
 Afghans, and these men could not now be em- 
 ployed in a service repugnant to their religious 
 and national feelings. The character of the Afghan, 
 or Patan, is well known; and the audacity and 
 headlong devotion of the Rohillah peasantry was 
 sufficiently displayed in Sir Robert Abercrombie's 
 campaign in 1794. 
 
 4th. If another expedition to Afghanistan should 
 be determined upon, it is quite clear that the force 
 must be upon a scale of great magnitude, and that 
 a large proportion must consist of Europeans more 
 inured to a cold climate. The cattle and equipment 
 must be on a proportionate scale, and especially with 
 reference to the movement of a powerful artillery. 
 But where are the necessary supplies to be sought 
 in the exhausted state of the country ? In the late 
 expedition it was found difficult to collect a sufficient 
 number of camels ;f and the wear and tear in cross- 
 ing the desert and in ascending the passes was enor- 
 
 * This officer is a great loss to us at the present moment, for he had ac- 
 quired an extraordinary influence over his corps. The MS. memoirs of his 
 life, written by himself, are now before me : and they exhibit a singular pic- 
 ture of Asiatic manners, and of the disposition and habits of the Indian sol- 
 diery. He was the son of a Rajpootnee. H. St.G. T. 
 
 f From 25,000 to 30,000 were required for the army of the Indus ; and 
 33,000 are said to have perished or been carried off in the course of the 
 campaign. H. St.G. T.
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 289 
 
 mous. I shall not in this place insist upon the 
 overwhelming expense of keeping up the establish- 
 ment of cattle, which will be called for in the first 
 instance, and in supplying the casualties which may 
 be expected to occur. I consider it doubtful whe- 
 ther an adequate supply can be obtained at any 
 price ; and I have already observed that the drivers 
 and attendants, in common with other camp fol- 
 lowers, may be expected to show a disinclination to 
 the service. 
 
 It is true that, by crossing the Punjaub, the route 
 will be shortened, and the inconveniences of the 
 desert be avoided ; but the passes* must be pene- 
 trated, a rugged and inhospitable country must be 
 passed over, and this cannot be done without the 
 application and waste of a vast amount of animal 
 power. 
 
 5th. The expense of such an equipment as I have 
 supposed will be ruinous to our finances, nor can the 
 resources of India supply the demand. I estimate 
 that ere six months elapse, the treasuries of India 
 will be completely drained; and that, whatever 
 means may be resorted to in order to raise money, 
 the capital of India, in the depressed state of public 
 
 * It is to me matter of surprise that no attempt appears to have been 
 made to effect a communication between Caubul and Peshawur by the Caubul 
 river. Where a river finds its way through a country, it is presumable that 
 men can penetrate, and possibly animals. The late Sir A. Burnes tra- 
 velled a great part of the way from Peshawur to Jellalabad in 1 832 by the 
 river. Having left Peshawur on the 19th April, he reached Caubul on the 
 1st May. It is also presumable, from Captain Ferris' retreat, and Captain 
 Gray's escape, that there are passes in the mountains which it would be 
 desirable to explore eventually. H. St.G. T. ' 
 
 VOL. I. TJ
 
 290 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 credit which must be looked to, will not furnish any 
 adequate supply. The books of account for the last 
 three years not having yet been adjusted, it is im- 
 possible for me to state with precision the amount 
 of the military and political expenditure in those 
 years ; but we have some collateral evidence to lead 
 to a conclusion ; and as far as I can judge from such 
 materials as are within reach in this country, I am 
 led to believe that the military and political extra- 
 ordinaries, connected with the invasion and occupa- 
 tion of Afghanistan, cannot have fallen short of the 
 sum of two-and-a-half minions sterling annually, on 
 the average of the last three years. 
 
 Now, assuming what is highly improbable, that a 
 fresh expedition on a larger scale of equipment can 
 be sent forth and maintained on the same scale of 
 expense, I must contend that the means of support- 
 ing it can only be supplied from this country ; and 
 if the facts and reasoning urged in my letter to the 
 Court of Directors of the 29th January, 1839, and in 
 other documents, be entitled to any weight, they go 
 far to establish an equitable claim on the part of the 
 East India Company for reimbursement of the ex- 
 penses already incurred, not by the organs and 
 administrators of that body, but in following out 
 the policy of her Majesty's late Government. India 
 was at no time in danger from B/ussia, Persia, or Af- 
 ghanistan ; and even if it had been menaced, the 
 Court of Directors could never have pursued such a 
 course of defensive operations. 
 
 Lastly. Our internal situation is not, I fear, secure
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 291 
 
 and satisfactory at the present moment ; and in the 
 letter already referred to, I have endeavoured to 
 trace the causes of that alienation and disaffection 
 which is believed to exist among our native subjects. 
 Those causes still continue to operate in full force ; 
 for although the severity of our resumption proceed- 
 ings has been relaxed of late, in obedience to injunc- 
 tions from this country, the impression which they 
 created among the people has not been removed, and 
 a new cause for apprehension and distrust has re- 
 cently been super-added. A Commission has been 
 instituted for surveying the lands and determining 
 the boundaries of villages in the permanently assessed 
 territory ; and it has naturally produced great alarm 
 and loud complaints among the landholders, who, not 
 unreasonably, apprehend that the projected scrutiny 
 may lead to a re-assessment of their estates, in con- 
 travention of the Permanent Settlement. The func- 
 tions of this Commission in settling boundaries are 
 essentially judicial; and as it has not been consti- 
 tuted under any legislative enactment, I hold it to 
 be illegal, as well as highly impolitic. 
 
 But another manifest cause of the discontent 
 which prevails, may be referred to our late summary 
 proceedings in deposing several of the native chiefs, 
 and in resuming several principalities and Jagheers 
 which are assumed to have been forfeited, or to have 
 escheated to our Government. 
 
 Among these I would instance the following : 
 1st. The case of the Rajah of Sattara, who has 
 been set aside in favor of his brother, upon an as-
 
 292 OUK POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 sumption of treasonable designs and practices hos- 
 tile to our Government. The family are the descend- 
 ants of Sevajee, the founder of the Mahratta Empire, 
 and their fate cannot fail to have interested the 
 whole Mahratta people. 
 
 2nd. The independent principality of Colaba, in 
 the Northern Concan, which has been held by the 
 descendants of the celebrated Angria for two centu- 
 ries, has been resumed as an escheat to our Govern- 
 ment, in consequence of a supposed failure of heirs ; 
 and this act of confiscation must produce a great 
 sensation among the different chiefs who are still 
 allowed to hold territorial possessions.* 
 
 3rd. The late Newaub of Kurnaul was deposed on 
 the ground that he meditated hostile designs against 
 the British Power, and the vast accumulation of 
 ordnance and military stores, found secreted in his 
 palace and fort, furnished certainly a strong pre- 
 sumption of a hostile spirit, and of an intention to 
 resist by arms any attempt to enforce our authority. 
 
 Other instances might be cited of a somewhat 
 similar character ; and from these I draw the con- 
 clusion, either that there has been disaffection in the 
 country, to justify such strong measures ; or that the 
 forfeitures and resumptions which have taken place 
 were arbitrary and unjust, and must consequently 
 create alienation and discontent, and spread alarm 
 among those chiefs who still maintain landed pos- 
 sessions under so precarious a tenure. 
 
 * See Mr. Tucker's Remarks, on the 19th May, 1841, of the subject of the 
 C onfiscation of Colaba, at page 257, et seq.
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 293 
 
 Prom one fatal error of resumption we have for- 
 tunately escaped. It had heen determined hy the 
 Government of India'to resume the Jagheer of Barn- 
 poor on the demise of the last incumbent; and a 
 despatch had heen prepared sanctioning the pro- 
 ceeding by the home authorities; hut Sir John 
 Hohhouse fortunately attended to the unofficial re- 
 monstrances of my late colleague Mr. Edmonstone, 
 with whom I held a private correspondence on the 
 subject ; and the Jagheer was ultimately continued 
 in the possession of the family. Had this princi- 
 pality, which was settled in 1774 on the descendants 
 of the Hohillah chief, Pyze Oollah Khan, been 
 actually resumed, I venture to affirm with confidence 
 that this act would have caused a general insurrec- 
 tion throughout the whole province of Rohilkund, 
 the inhabitants of which are more excitable and 
 more fanatical than any class of our native subjects 
 in India. 
 
 Of the Mussulmans generally, it may be observed, 
 that they cannot safely be depended upon, when 
 their religious feelings are brought into violent 
 action. 
 
 I have not recurred to the cases alluded to for the 
 purpose of reviving controversy, or of condemning 
 what has been done. My object has been to expose 
 the weak points in our position, to the end that we 
 may be upon our guard. Our empire in India has 
 been described as a pyramid standing upon its apex ; 
 and it is quite certain that, at the present moment, 
 all the energies of our ablest statesmen and best
 
 294 OUE POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 soldiers will be required to place it firmly on its 
 base. 
 
 Erom the foregoing remarks I would deduce this 
 conclusion that, if our footing in Afghanistan shall 
 have been lost, it cannot now be regained ; and that 
 any attempt to re-conquer the country must be at- 
 tended with a ruinous expense, and may endanger 
 the safety of the British possessions in India. 
 
 With respect to our late pensioner, Shuja-ool- 
 Moolk, it is only necessary to observe that his fate 
 must already have been decided ; that all our conces- 
 sions to him by the treaty of the 20th of June, 1838, 
 were perfectly gratuitous ; that no equivalent has 
 ever been obtained from him ; and that his utter 
 incapacity to govern, his suspicious conduct, and the 
 defection of his family, have deprived him of every 
 claim to further assistance on our part for the re- 
 establishment of his authority in Afghanistan. 
 
 But although it appears to me impolitic and dan- 
 gerous to send forth a second expedition into Afghan- 
 istan under the circumstances assumed, I am by no 
 means of opinion that we ought to abandon our posts 
 east of the passes into that country. I am not a 
 military man ; but, as a member of the Political and 
 Military Committee, I am bound to examine the 
 question, and to resort to the best materials within 
 my reach to enable me to form a sound judgment 
 upon it. The retention of Dadur, Bukhur,* Shikar- 
 pore, and Kurachee, with perhaps Sehwan and Lirk- 
 
 * This island fortress in the Indus includes Sukhur on the right bank, and 
 Roree on the left; both being connected with it, and commanded by it. 
 H. St.G. T.
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 295 
 
 hana, would give us the command of the Lower 
 Indus would enable us to overawe the Scindians, 
 Beloochees, and other tribes to check any incursions 
 through the Bholan and Gundava Passes and to 
 extend a great degree of protection to the commerce 
 of the country. On the Upper Indus, while the 
 Sikhs retain possession of Peshawur, with the slip of 
 country on the right bank of the river, and the fort 
 of Attok on its left bank, no attempt could be made 
 by the Afghans to invade the Punjaub, with the 
 slightest prospect of success ; and fortunately the 
 Sikhs have a common interest with us in repelling 
 such an attempt. 
 
 I have had a skeleton map prepared, for the pur- 
 pose of exhibiting more distinctly the military posi- 
 tions indicated, with the routes and distances from 
 Kurachee, the seaport west of the embouchure of 
 the Indus ; but it would be presumptuous in me 
 to pretend to decide how far it may be necessary or 
 prudent to occupy permanently all or any of those 
 positions. Their temporary occupation appears to 
 me desirable, (if for no other reason) for the pur- 
 pose of showing the people of India that we have 
 not ingloriously retreated from all our late acquisi- 
 tions. 
 
 Ghuznee, it is to be apprehended, will have fallen ; 
 for it would naturally have become the first object 
 of the insurgents' attention, and from no quarter 
 could succours have been thrown in to reinforce its 
 weak garrison during the winter season. 
 
 The force at Jellalabad under Sir Robert Sale
 
 296 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 must be considered safe, for large reinforcements 
 were coming up from Peshawur the post at Ali 
 Musjeed in the Khybur Pass had been relieved and 
 strengthened by the two regiments of native in- 
 fantry which had been pushed forward ; and there 
 is reason to suppose that Sir R. Sale would expe- 
 rience no difficulty in forming a junction with the 
 corps advancing to his support. 
 
 In Candahar, we have a large* force under Gene- 
 ral Nott ; and, although an insurrection had taken 
 place in the neighbourhood, and one of the Jan-baz 
 corps had deserted, there can be no ground for 
 apprehending that the general will not be able to 
 maintain himself for some time ; or, if necessary, to 
 fall back upon Quetta, where two native regiments 
 are posted with a detachment of artillery and the 
 necessary supply of provisions. We have also a 
 force of 1000 men at Kilat-i-Ghilzie, with supplies 
 for six months; and the small detachments at the out- 
 posts would appear to have been all called in. Troops 
 were also proceeding with treasure and supplies 
 from Sukhur in the end of December ; and it is pro- 
 bable that a considerable reinforcement will have 
 been collected at Dadur to form a junction, event- 
 ually, with the Candahar force, should it have been 
 compelled to retreat. 
 
 In our Bengal provinces, an army of 15,000 men 
 was likely to be assembled at an early period to pro- 
 tect our Nepaul frontier ; and the Government ap- 
 pear to be making preparation in all quarters to 
 
 * Six Regiments N. L, H. M.'s 40th Foot, a corps of Cavalry, &c.
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 297 
 
 guard against any untoward occurrences to which 
 we may be exposed. 
 
 In this country, her Majesty's Government and 
 the Court of Directors have manifested the utmost 
 promptitude in preparing to send out large rein- 
 forcements at the earliest period practicable. All 
 our officers have been ordered out to join their corps, 
 and several regiments will be despatched to India 
 as soon as the necessary conveyance can be pro- 
 vided. 
 
 It appears to me of the utmost importance at the 
 present juncture, that the proportion of European 
 troops relatively with the Sepoys should be largely 
 augmented. I have great confidence in our native 
 soldiery, and especially in the Hindoo Sepoy ; but 
 they must not be led to suppose that we depend 
 wholly and exclusively upon them for the main- 
 tenance of our Raj. There ought to be a Euro- 
 pean force at hand to put down promptly any partial 
 disaffection ; for if once a successful rising should 
 take place in any quarter, the contagion would be 
 liable to spread rapidly and extensively. "We never 
 can hold the country with a European force : 
 200,000 would not suffice for the purpose, as the 
 climate would preclude their being employed on par- 
 ticular duties (on escorts, guards, &c.) ; and on our 
 north-east frontier, and in the line of jungle and 
 hill country, west from the province of Orissa to 
 the river Sone, they could not be employed at all 
 without the certainty of their becoming victims to 
 an unhealthy climate. We must, therefore, depend
 
 298 ,'. OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 mainly upon our native troops ; and while they re- 
 main firm in their allegiance, they will constitute 
 the great prop and support of our empire. 
 
 It is fortunate, perhaps, that we have a large 
 European force on the coasts of China, which will 
 furnish a resource, if their presence should he re- 
 quired either to check the movements of the Bur- 
 mese on the horders of Tenasserim or Arracan, or 
 to strengthen our armies on the western frontier. 
 It appears, moreover, from a statement now before 
 me, that we have a formidable naval force* in the 
 China seas, quite sufficient to convert our hostile ope- 
 rations in that quarter into a strict blockade of the 
 rivers and ports of China, and to maintain with the 
 marines the insular posts which have been occupied, 
 if it should be found necessary to withdraw the land 
 forces. There are some intelligent persons who 
 contend that an effective blockade would have been 
 less hazardous and expensive, and more likely to 
 succeed in accomplishing our object, than the land 
 operations which have been undertaken, or projected; 
 but this is not the proper time or place for inquiring 
 into the origin or progress of our hostile operations 
 against the empire of China, or for reviewing the 
 plans and conduct of those who have directed this 
 great movement. 
 
 The late events in Afghanistan are deeply to be 
 deplored, as involving a public calamity and great 
 individual suffering ; but the Government which en- 
 
 * Thirty-two ships of war, and twelve war-steamers of different classes.
 
 THE DISASTERS IN AFGHANISTAN. 299 
 
 gages in war must be prepared for reverses ; and 
 while we are careful not wantonly to provoke the 
 religious feelings and prejudices of the people, nor 
 by acts of imprudence to shake the attachment of 
 the native troops, these reverses and losses may be 
 repaired. 
 
 But it will be thought that I have overlooked one 
 main consideration. Men of ardent and generous 
 tempers will urge that the national honor has been 
 outraged that our ambassador has been treache- 
 rously and barbarously assassinated that individuals 
 have been atrociously murdered and that their 
 blood calls for vengeance. I respect this feeling; 
 but it is necessary to show how it can be satisfied. 
 An outrage has been committed, which, under the 
 laws and usages of civilised nations, would call for 
 full reparation, and, in the last resort, justify an 
 appeal to arms ; but we have placed ourselves among 
 a semi-barbarous people ; their national pride and 
 personal feelings were offended, and they have 
 avenged themselves in their own way by acts of 
 great atrocity but how are they to be punished ? 
 We cannot reach the assassin, Mahomed Akbur 
 Khan, for, if he were pressed by our troops, he 
 would retire beyond their reach, and find an asylum 
 in Turkistan or Tartary, where we cannot follow 
 him. We could not oifer a reward for his head, for 
 that would only multiply blood-feuds by an unjus- 
 tifiable proceeding. A reward for his apprehen- 
 sion would have no consequences, unless it produced
 
 300 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 his assassination, which could not be justified. A 
 nation cannot wage war against an individual ; nor 
 can a whole people be made liable for individual 
 crimes. We have not, in this case, a civilised Go- 
 vernment to deal with, which would, no doubt, be 
 justly responsible for political offences, and for 
 wrongs and outrages committed against unoffending 
 parties, in violation of the public law. 
 
 But let it be shown that we can maintain our foot- 
 ing in Afghanistan for a single season, and then let 
 retributive justice have its full sway. This, I appre- 
 hend, cannot be shown ; and if the view which I have 
 taken of the present state of our affairs be just and 
 correct, any rash attempt to re-conquer Afghanistan 
 by a second invasion would probably fail ; while the 
 defection of our native troops (a contingency which 
 I cannot place entirely out of sight) must shake to 
 its foundation the whole fabric of our Indian Em- 
 pire. 
 
 LOUD ELLENBOROUGH AND THE RE-OCCUPATION OF 
 AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 [The annexed observations were written in February, 1843, after the re- 
 ceipt in England of the glad tidings of the victories achieved by the armies of 
 Pollock and Nott, and the release of the Caubul prisoners. They were called 
 forth by the proposal to pass a vote of thanks to Lord Ellenborough for th e 
 energy with which he had applied the resources of the country to the prose- 
 cution of the military operations which had been attended with such brilliant 
 success.] 
 
 It is proposed to pass a vote of thanks to the 
 Governor-General of India for the " ability and 
 judgment with which the resources of the British
 
 THE RE-OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN. 301 
 
 Empire in India have been applied to the support of 
 the military operations in India." 
 
 In order to decide on the merits of a civil governor, 
 directing military operations, it is necessary to con- 
 sider whether his original views were just whether 
 his plans were wisely conceived and carefully ma- 
 tured whether his means of carrying them out were 
 adequate and well adapted to the accomplishment of 
 the ends proposed whether the time for their ap- 
 plication was well chosen and whether his mea- 
 sures were prosecuted with spirit and vigor, and 
 with that consistency of purpose and action which 
 might furnish reasonable grounds for expecting 
 success as the legitimate result of wise and skilful 
 combinations. 
 
 It will scarcely be contended that a civil governor 
 is entitled to claim praise and thanks for the success 
 of military operations which he did not order or ap- 
 prove ; and still less if those operations were under- 
 taken in opposition to his opinion and declared will ; 
 and still less again, if their success were liable to be 
 impeded, or rendered doubtful, by orders having a 
 contrary tendency. 
 
 It is quite clear, from the correspondence, that, to 
 a very late period, the Governor-General was de- 
 cidedly adverse to the advance of General Nott, and 
 that, throughout, his lordship contemplated, and 
 even urged, his retreat by the route of Quetta upon 
 our strong posts in Scinde ; and it is equally clear 
 that, if General Nott had failed in his forward move-
 
 302 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 ment, in opposition to the declared opinion of the 
 Governor- General, he would have incurred a fearful 
 responsibility. 
 
 It is also unquestionable that the Governor-Gene- 
 ral, in directing the abandonment of Kilat-i-Ghilzie 
 and other posts, contravened the meditated advance 
 of General Nott upon Caubul, by rendering that 
 movement more difficult and dangerous. 
 
 It may farther be assumed from the correspond- 
 ence, that the retrograde movement both of General 
 Pollock's and General Nott's armies was contem- 
 plated by the Governor-General, even in the event 
 of the negotiation for the release of the captives 
 having failed ; and, indeed, his lordship, in express 
 terms, declares that no hope can reasonably be enter- 
 tained of the recovery of the prisoners taken at 
 Ghuznee. 
 
 I am far from wishing it to be inferred that the 
 Governor-General did not feel the most anxious 
 interest to effect the liberation of the hostages and 
 captives. On the contrary, I am satisfied that no 
 man could be more alive to the obligation we were 
 under to accomplish this object by all justifiable 
 means, both on the ground of hwnianity and of policy ; 
 but his lordship evidently did not expect to succeed, 
 and our success was ultimately obtained by means 
 and efforts which no man could possibly have anti- 
 cipated. 
 
 Nor do I mean to say that there were not strong 
 grounds for the cautious policy which induced the
 
 THE EE-OCCDPATION OF AFGHANISTAN. 303 
 
 Governor-General to discountenance the advance of 
 General Nott ; for it is unquestionable that a second 
 disaster, similar to that which we sustained in Janu- 
 ary, 1842, would have shaken our Indian Empire to 
 its very foundations. Lord E.'s caution, therefore, 
 although overlooking some very important objects, 
 was founded on what may be termed vital considera- 
 tions. 
 
 But still the question arises whether the Governor- 
 General can justly claim any participation in the 
 credit due for the success of operations which he 
 did not direct, 'and which, to a very late period, he 
 strongly discouraged. 
 
 It is true that the proposed vote of thanks is con- 
 fined to the merit of having applied the resources of 
 India with ability and judgment to the support of 
 our military operations ; and it must be fully ad- 
 mitted that the Governor-General made the greatest 
 efforts to reinforce the army, and to supply it with 
 money, medicines, the munition of war, and with the 
 means of transport ; but as these supplies were fur- 
 nished with a view to the retreat of the army, and 
 not to its advance. Lord E.'s name can scarcely be 
 associated with the success of that advance and the 
 triumph of our arms, nor with those operations 
 which happily terminated in the release of the Bri- 
 tish hostages and captives. 
 
 The difficulty of coming to a vote of thanks in 
 this case arises from some ambiguity in the applica- 
 tion of its terms, and from the secondary qualities 
 of the statesman being brought forward instead of
 
 304 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 those primary qualities which ought most to distin- 
 guish him. In other words, it is proposed to thank 
 the Governor- General for his exertions in carrying 
 into effect a plan of operations not his oicn, instead 
 of thanking him for the wisdom and prudence of 
 his plans, and for that foresight and those compre- 
 hensive views which ought to have characterised 
 them. 
 
 There is one test of the merits of the statesman, of 
 which we have been deprived, by the total omission 
 of the despatches from the home authorities. Those 
 despatches must have conveyed intelligence, opi- 
 nions, and perhaps instructions to the Governor- 
 General. If he followed them out, he was relieved 
 from much of his responsibility if he contravened 
 them, he took upon himself the entire responsibility 
 of his own plans and views. In the one case, Lord 
 E. will have acted as a ministerial functionary, and 
 may claim the merit of having applied the resources 
 of the empire with vigor to give effect to the plans 
 of the home authorities. In the other case, he will 
 have acted independently, and must be judged by 
 the character of his own measures. In either case, 
 we ought to have these despatches before us, to 
 enable the Court to come to a sound judgment upon 
 the merits of his lordship's proceedings. 
 
 Let me observe further, with reference to the col- 
 lection of papers before us, that, from a disregard of 
 chronological order, great attention is necessary to 
 the dates of the despatches ; for as earlier letters 
 are sometimes entered after those of more recent
 
 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AFGHAN WAB. 305 
 
 dates, it might be inferred that the former convey 
 the last opinion, or the latest orders, which is not 
 always the case. This want of arrangement occa- 
 sions not only inconvenience to the reader, but it 
 may produce erroneous impressions. 
 
 There is one point more to which it may be pro- 
 per to advert Whether the general tenor and cha- 
 racter of Lord E.'s administration have been such as 
 to furnish a fair presumption in favor of a particular 
 measure where the case might otherwise be doubt- 
 ful ? With a view to this question, I have sketched 
 some of the leading features of his lordship's go- 
 vernment, and I regret to be compelled to deduce 
 from this summary, that there is much to condemn 
 on the ground of rashness and precipitation, and 
 little to commend as the result of foresight, pru- 
 dence, sound judgment, and those other qualities of 
 the mind which best distinguish the accomplished 
 statesman. 
 
 THE QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 [Before quitting this subject of the invasion of Afghanistan, it is desirable 
 that the following passages from one of Mr. Tucker's minutes, in which the 
 whole question of responsibility is very fairly and very forcibly reviewed, 
 should be added to the selection. It plainly demonstrates if, indeed, further 
 proof of the notorious fact be needed, to "convince the most sceptical in- 
 quirerthat the East India Company were, in no degree, responsible for the 
 Avar in Afghanistan, and that it was a grievous injustice to cast upon the 
 finances of India the expenses of that war.] 
 
 . . . . The primary object which some of my 
 esteemed colleagues and myself had in view in call- 
 ing for the production of the secret correspondence, 
 was to establish the fact that the invasion of Af- 
 
 VOL. i. x
 
 306 OUE POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 ghanistan, which I long since denounced as rash, 
 dangerous, impolitic, and unjust, was undertaken 
 by orders from her Majesty's late Government,* 
 without the participation, or even the knowledge, of 
 the Court of Directors that it was directed against 
 the apprehended advance of Russia, rather than 
 against the Afghans, with whom we had no ground 
 of quarrel and that, in this view, it constituted a 
 European rather than an Asiatic question, which 
 could alone be dealt with by her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment in Europe. For the grounds of this assump- 
 tion I must refer to my recorded opinions ;f and if 
 the secret correspondence be produced, I hazard 
 little in stating my conviction that the premises will 
 be fully established. So late as the 22nd May, 
 1838, only one month before the conclusion of the 
 treaty of Lahore, the Governor-General of India 
 anxiously awaited a " communication of the views 
 (of the Secret Committee) upon the present crisis at 
 the earliest possible opportunity ;" and it is clear, 
 from this and other despatches of his lordship, that 
 he was not prepared to engage in so hazardous an 
 undertaking, without the express authority and di- 
 rection of the home Government. 
 
 I will not, however, argue the question on as- 
 sumed premises, when direct evidence can be pro- 
 duced to controvert those premises, if there be no 
 sufficient foundation for the assumption. Enough 
 
 * See the paper, dated 29th January, 1839, given in extenso at page 266, 
 et seq. 
 f See the paper referred to above.
 
 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AFGHAN WAE. 307 
 
 has been shown to satisfy me that the war was 
 undertaken by the late Government with a view to 
 European objects, in utter disregard, as I think, of 
 the immediate interests of the East India Company ; 
 and I therefore contend that the stewards and ad- 
 ministrators of that body are bound to claim from 
 the national authorities full indemnification for the 
 expenses which have been incurred, as well as re- 
 lief from all responsibility attaching to proceedings 
 which have led to such disastrous results. 
 
 The amendment of the Court appears to me to in- 
 volve a virtual abandonment of our cause ; for al- 
 though the insertion of the words " for the present" 
 would seem to indicate an intention to renew our 
 application to the Board at some future period, I 
 must insist that the proper period has already ar- 
 rived nay, I am decidedly of opinion that we ought 
 to have come to an understanding with the Board 
 more than three years ago ; and that any further 
 delay, by throwing a doubt on the merits of our 
 case, can only prove mischievous. The Board may 
 suspect that we are scarcely in earnest ; for who is 
 disposed to postpone the settlement of a just de- 
 mand ? As for waiting for a favorable occasion, I 
 have generally found that such occasions seldom 
 occur, and that no time is found seasonable and 
 propitious for doing that which we are not earnestly 
 disposed to do. Let us not forget the enormous 
 sacrifice which the East India Company were com- 
 pelled to make in effecting a settlement of accounts 
 
 x2
 
 308 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 with her Majesty's Government for the advances 
 made in India on account of the expeditions to the 
 Mauritius and the islands in the Eastern Archipe- 
 lago ; and the further we proceed in our disburse- 
 ments connected with the military operations in 
 Afghanistan, the greater will be the difficulty of 
 obtaining indemnification from the national Go- 
 vernment. 
 
 ***** 
 It is essential to the ends of justice that the 
 responsibility incurred by bad measures should 
 attach to the proper parties. The Court of Direc- 
 tors are liable to grave imputations, consequent upon 
 the late calamitous events in Afghanistan ; but the 
 Court are not justly chargeable with any partici- 
 pation in the proceedings which have taken place. 
 They were not consulted on the origin or progress of 
 the war ; and they have not been allowed to exercise 
 the slightest influence in directing the operations, 
 military and political, which have been carried on 
 beyond the Indus during the last three years. They 
 have acted ministerially throughout, and in abso- 
 lute ignorance of everything which was necessary to 
 enable them to take an independent part in relation 
 to these portentous movements. The Legislature 
 has invested us, nominally at least, with the admi- 
 nistration of India ; but we are no longer, I regret 
 to think, an independent body, or an efficient organ 
 of administration. The whole power of government 
 has been assumed (I will not say usurped) by the
 
 KESPONSIBILITY OF THE AFGHAN WAR. 309 
 
 Board ; and nothing can be more insignificant or 
 humiliating than the position which we have occu- 
 pied for some years past. I myself deeply feel the 
 humiliation ; and all I can do is to place upon record, 
 from time to time, my protest against measures 
 which I cannot prevent. Even the custody of the 
 public money no longer rests substantially with the 
 Court ; for the Board of Commissioners, through the 
 Secret Committee, can order the disbursement of 
 any sums they may please, without any explanation 
 to us, and without being accountable, as far as I 
 can perceive, to any power in the State, for the due 
 application of the fund to necessary and legitimate 
 purposes. 
 
 I am not competent to give an opinion upon the 
 legal construction of an Act of Parliament ; but I 
 have sought in vain in the last Charter Act for the 
 authority under which the power to disburse what is 
 called " secret service money" has been exercised, and 
 I cannot believe that the Legislature ever intended to 
 confer the power of making these disbursements at 
 pleasure, without control, and without responsibility. 
 
 The 36th section of the Act gives the Board, I 
 own, most ample powers to send out orders, through 
 the Secret Committee, " concerning the levying of- 
 war, or making peace, or treating or negotiating 
 with any of the native princes or states in India, or 
 touching the policy to be observed with respect to 
 such princes or states ;"* but it is, I think, unques- 
 
 * See page 267, note, for this 36th section of the Act of 1833, there given 
 in its integrity.
 
 310 OUK POLITICAL EELATIONS. 
 
 tionable that the secrecy to be observed on such 
 occasions was not intended to be perpetual. It was 
 to continue as long as its continuance was essential 
 to the public welfare; but to maintain that the 
 Legislature ever meant to invest any body of men 
 in this country with the power to cast a veil of im- 
 penetrable darkness over their proceedings, would be 
 to maintain that it intended to secure impunity to 
 the worst actions. All power in this country is 
 exercised under constitutional responsibility; and 
 the Court of Directors, for the satisfaction of their 
 constituents, and for their own credit, are bound to 
 provide, as far as they can, that the administration 
 of India is conducted on public principles, and for 
 the benefit of the people of that country. 
 
 The arrangement made in January and February, 
 1835, for placing the affairs of Persia in the 
 hands of his Majesty's Government, had for its 
 object to commit all questions connected with 
 European policy and interests to the national 
 councils. It was found that the communication 
 between Teheran and Calcutta was so tedious 
 and uncertain, that the Governor-General of India 
 could not possibly exercise any useful influence or 
 control over what was passing in so distant a 
 quarter ; and a Russian army might have been moved 
 into the provinces of Azerbiyan, or Mazinderan, 
 before any means of opposition or counteraction 
 could be resorted to in India. It was also felt that an 
 army could not be moved in India through the inter- 
 vening country without the utmost difficulty and
 
 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AFGHAN WAR. 311 
 
 danger ; and that if any hostile movement should be 
 made by any European Power towards our Indian 
 territory, it could be most successfully counteracted 
 in Europe. Our own frontier was never menaced, 
 and could be in no danger from any European Power ; 
 and I felt always perfectly assured that Great Bri- 
 tain had only to declare Us will, in order to arrest 
 the advance of any European force towards its 
 Indian dependencies. 
 
 I am unwilling to say more on this subject than 
 is absolutely necessary, because I have recorded my 
 sentiments upon it already ; and I have no wish to 
 take credit for foresight ; but I deprecated, from an 
 early period, our involving ourselves in the entangle- 
 ment of Afghan politics, and before our army had 
 crossed the Indus, I placed on the records of this 
 Court a formal protest against a proceeding, which 
 appeared to me at the time both hazardous and un- 
 justifiable, and which I look back to with infinite 
 pain, as having led to the most fatal results as 
 involving an enormous expenditure of the public 
 money, and a frightful waste of human life as 
 inflicting an extent of misery and suffering on in- 
 dividuals unparalleled even in the annals of Asiatic 
 barbarity as compromising, for the moment, the 
 high reputation of our arms and as tarnishing (it 
 is to be feared) what ought to be dear to us all, the 
 national character. I would ask them, do not these 
 things call for notice and inquiry ? Are there none 
 who have justly incurred responsibility? and none 
 who may fairly claim to be exonerated from sus-
 
 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 picion and reproach ? or is it incumbent upon us to 
 adopt the quiescent language of the amendment, and 
 " to abstain, at present, from urging the production" 
 of the papers ? 
 
 I do not mean to imply that a Government is 
 strictly responsible for all the events of a war. The 
 capture of Ghuznee, and the disasters at Caubul, 
 were alike contingent on circumstances not referrible 
 to the Government of India; and it can neither 
 claim credit for the one, nor be wholly answerable 
 for the other. But when a Government sends forth 
 its armies upon a wild and perilous enterprise, and 
 places those armies in a position where success can 
 yield no fruit, and discomfiture must end in ruin, 
 the authorities so acting are justly responsible for 
 the consequences. Without pretending at all to 
 prejudge the case, which indeed is likely to come 
 before another tribunal, I would submit that suffi- 
 cient grounds have been shown to justify our calling 
 for the production of the secret correspondence, as 
 essential to the establishment of our claims; and 
 although it may no longer be possible to remedy 
 past evils, the Court cannot dispense with the exer- 
 cise of the functions assigned to it by the Legislature, 
 nor with the obligation to protect, by all legitimate 
 means, the pecuniary interests of the East India 
 Company.
 
 .THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 313 
 
 THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 
 
 [Upon the subject of the Conquest of Scinde and the deposition of the 
 Ameers, Mr. Tucker felt as strongly, and expressed himself as emphatically, 
 as on that of the invasion of Afghanistan. He had all his life belonged to the 
 Conservative party; but when it is said of him that in all matters of Indian 
 policy he was neither Whig nor Tory, that he regarded neither parties nor 
 persons, but shaped his conduct in accordance with fixed principles, only that 
 is said which applies, with equal cogency, to the whole body of the Court of 
 Directors. The invasion of Afghanistan and the conquest of Scinde were cog- 
 nate acts of injustice, and were so regarded by the Company. On these ques- 
 tions Mr. Tucker expresses, in all their essential bearings, the opinions of a 
 large majority of the Court.] 
 
 I hold it to be one of the first duties of a Govern- 
 ment to maintain with scrupulous good faith its 
 treaties and other engagements ; and if any viola- 
 tion of a treaty by the Government of India should 
 take place, it is clearly the duty of the controlling 
 Government at home to interpose its authority. If 
 this duty be neglected, we must be content to share 
 in the obloquy justly attaching to the violation of a 
 public compact. 
 
 The Governor-General, in his proclamation, bear- 
 ing date the 1st October, 1842, announces to the 
 chiefs and people of India the principles and policy 
 by which his administration would be guided and 
 governed ; and these sound and salutary principles 
 are evidently contrasted with the course of policy 
 adopted by his predecessor in his proclamation of 
 the 1st October, 1838, which, as Lord Ellenborough 
 observes, led to disasters " unparalleled in their ex-
 
 314 OUE POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 tent, unless by the errors in which they originated." 
 " Content with the limits nature appears to have 
 assigned to its empire, the Government of India will 
 devote all its efforts to the establishment and main- 
 tenance of general peace, to the protection of the 
 sovereigns and chiefs, its allies, and to the pros- 
 perity and happiness of its own faithful subjects." 
 
 His lordship adds : " The combined army of 
 England and of India, superior in equipment, in 
 discipline, in valor, and in the officers by whom it 
 is commanded, to any force which can be opposed 
 to it in Asia, will stand in unassailable strength 
 upon its own soil ; and for ever under the blessing 
 of Providence preserve the glorious empire it has 
 won in security and in honor. 
 
 " Sincerely attached to peace for the sake of the 
 benefits it confers upon the people, the Governor- 
 General is resolved that peace shall be observed, and 
 will put forth the whole power of the British Go- 
 vernment to coerce the state by which it shall be 
 infringed." 
 
 "Whether it was necessary, or in good taste, or in 
 accordance with that wnity of character which be- 
 longs to our Indian Government, to condemn the 
 measures of the preceding Administration, or to 
 enter into formal pledges with respect to the course 
 of policy to be hereafter pursued, may admit of 
 question ; but it is impossible to deny to Lord E. 
 the merit of lofty aspirations in thus proclaiming to 
 the world the maxims of an enlightened, a pacific, 
 and humane policy.
 
 THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 315 
 
 But how have these bright anticipations been 
 realised ? Within less than five months, we find 
 our troops engaged in a sanguinary conflict ! And 
 with whom ? With a mighty Power which threat- 
 ened the stability of the British Empire ? Certainly 
 not. The contest has been with the Ameers of 
 Scinde : chiefs of so little note and account that 
 their names and habitations are scarcely known to 
 the people of this country ; and whose forces, brave 
 but undisciplined, have been signally defeated by 
 2800 men a small fraction of the British army of 
 India! 
 
 And what can have induced those chiefs to mea- 
 sure their strength with that army which Lord El- 
 lenborough has so justly described as of immeasu- 
 rable superiority? Are we to suppose that they 
 voluntarily rushed on destruction? or is it not 
 more reasonable and fair to presume that they 
 were provoked and goaded on to a course which 
 must necessarily lead to their ruin ? Eear some- 
 times engenders desperation ; but it was not the 
 British Power which had anything to fear from the 
 Ameers of Scinde. 
 
 We have long been under treaty with these chiefs ; 
 and it would appear, from the Governor-General's 
 recent proclamation of the 5th March last, that a 
 fresh treaty had been concluded with them on the 
 14th of February, the terms of which have not yet 
 been made public ; but the subjoined proclamation 
 pronounces that the rupture took place in conse- 
 quence of treaclwry on the part of the Ameers.
 
 316 CUE POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 "Palace of Agra, 5th March, 1843. 
 
 " The Governor-General had earnestly hoped that 
 the new provisions, to which various acts* in con- 
 travention of their existing engagements, and vari- 
 ous indications of hostility had compelled him to 
 require the assent of the Ameers of Scinde, would 
 have been carried into full effect, as they had been 
 agreed to by their Highnesses, without a recurrence 
 to arms. This hope has been disappointed. 
 
 " The Ameers, having signed the new treaty pro- 
 posed to them on the 14th of February, attacked on 
 the following day, with a large force, the residence 
 of the British Commissioner. In this treacherous 
 attack they were repulsed. On the 17th, Major- 
 General Sir Charles Napier gained a decisive vic- 
 tory over their whole army ; and on the 20th the 
 British troops occupied the city of Hyderabad. 
 
 " Six of the Ameers delivered their swords to 
 the British general upon the field of battle. All 
 their guns, ammunition, and treasure were taken, 
 together with their camp. The Beloochees lost 5000 
 men. 
 
 " Thus has victory placed at the disposal of the 
 British Government the country on both banks of 
 the Indus, from Sukhur to the sea, with the excep- 
 tion of such portions thereof as may belong to Meer 
 Ali Morad of Khyrpore, and to any other of the 
 Ameers who may have remained faithful to his en- 
 gagements. 
 
 * These " acts" and " indications" are nowhere stated.
 
 THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 317 
 
 " The Governor-General cannot forgive a treache- 
 rous* attack upon a representative of the British 
 Government, nor can he forgive hostile aggression 
 prepared by those who were in the act of signing a 
 treaty. 
 
 " It will he the first object of the Governor- 
 General to use the power victory has placed in his 
 hands in the manner most conducive to the freedom 
 of trade, and to the prosperity of the people of 
 Scinde so long misgoverned. 
 
 " To reward the fidelity of allies by substantial 
 marks of favor, and so to punish the crime of 
 treachery in princes as to deter all from its cjom- 
 mission, are further objects which the Governor- 
 General will not fail to effect." 
 
 Is this the first fruit of that just and forbearing 
 policy so pompously announced by the Governor- 
 General, which was to give confidence to the princes 
 and people of India, and to establish the halcyon 
 rule of peace ? In the present state of our informa- 
 tion, can any man at all acquainted with India 
 seriously believe that the Ameers of Scinde have 
 committed an act of unprovoked aggression which 
 called for instant vengeance ? Have they ever come 
 to us? or can they come to us without passing 
 through a desert extending from three hundred to 
 four hundred miles ? What motive can they have 
 for hostility against the British Government, except 
 that general feeling which all Asiatic princes must 
 
 * It would appear that the Ameers protected Major Outram ; and, prior to 
 the outbreak, urged him to retire. H. St.G. T.
 
 318 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 now entertain, that we are ambitious and unscrupu- 
 lous neighbours ? 
 
 These chiefs have not shown any disposition to 
 extend their territories, or to engage in warlike en- 
 terprises; they would seem to have been content 
 with their hunting-grounds, and I doubt whether 
 they would have exchanged them for the fairest 
 province of Hindostan. What, then, can have 
 occasioned the late outbreak? Is it usual for the 
 weak to attack the strong ? Do they owe us any 
 allegiance, or any obligation, beyond that which our 
 treaties impose ? But it has been surmised that the 
 Gov.ernor-Greneral alludes to some intercepted cor- 
 respondence, bearing a hostile character, and com- 
 promising the Ameers with our Government. 
 
 Let me here observe, for the information of those 
 who are unacquainted with India, that nothing is 
 more easy, or more common, than the fabrication of 
 letters in that country. Men of rank do not write 
 their own letters, nor usually subscribe them. They 
 are written by a Moonshi, or secretary, and are only 
 attested by a seal affixed to the envelope. This seal 
 is easily forged ; and fabricated seals are to be ob- 
 tained without difficulty in all the larger cities. I 
 could cite several instances of such forgeries ; but I 
 allude to the circumstance without attaching weight 
 to the surmise that the Ameers have been detected 
 in carrying on a correspondence with our enemies, 
 either during our occupation of Afghanistan, or 
 since; for nothing could be more improbable, or 
 more inconsistent with their general conduct, than
 
 THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 319 
 
 such a proceeding. Let us not forget that those 
 chiefs permitted our troops, in large bodies, to pass 
 through their territory in 1838-39, unresisted and 
 unmolested ; nor, when our army sustained so fatal 
 a disaster in the defiles of Afghanistan, did they 
 make any movement to aid our enemies, or to avail 
 themselves of so favorable an opportunity for inter- 
 rupting our communication, and intercepting our 
 supplies. On the contrary, when our advance beyond 
 the Indus might naturally have inspired them with 
 apprehensions for their own safety, they still allowed 
 free passage to our troops and reinforcements, and 
 abstained from all aggression at a time when their 
 hostility must have proved dangerous to a retiring 
 army. What, then, I repeat, can have impelled 
 them to appear in hostile array against a Power 
 which in a few weeks was sure to overwhelm them P 
 Nothing but dread and desperation, proceeding from 
 the conviction that this Power was about to subju- 
 gate them, or to compromise their independence. 
 The Persian, Sadi, observes, that " he who cannot 
 flee will fight."* Nothing but the dread of an 
 attack can have induced these chiefs, helpless as 
 they were, to take up arms. And if we have at- 
 tempted to force harsh terms upon them, to extort 
 money, or the cession of territory, or the immediate 
 
 * Literally" In the time of extremity, when there is no room for flight, 
 the],hand seizes the sharp sword." Goolistan. I fear that the case will be 
 found to resemble very closely that of Cheyt Sing, the Rajah of Benares, for 
 which Mr. Hastings was impeached ; but that statesman was impelled by 
 the necessities of his position to resort to extortion and violence ; and he 
 perilled his own life on the occasion. H. St.G. T.
 
 320 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 abolition of slavery,* or the total abolition of the 
 duties and imposts levied on commerce, upon what- 
 ever plea or pretence if when they were ready to 
 submit, and to subscribe a new treaty on our own 
 terms, we still persisted in advancing our army upon 
 their capital, in despite of their remonstrances we 
 have clearly been the aggressors, and we must be 
 prepared to encounter public reprobation. What 
 could the Ameers gain by an assault upon our 
 Resident and his small escort ? Major Outram 
 was popular with them, and they never can have 
 contemplated his destruction. Let us not confound 
 treachery with self-defence, nor the sudden impulse 
 of furious men anticipating attack with premedi- 
 tated outrage. It is well known to the people of 
 India that, begin where we may in the character of 
 merchants, we always end in the character of sove- 
 reigns. The demand of a tracking path on the 
 banks of the Indus would, in their view of our 
 ordinary course, be held to be a demand for a free 
 passage to the musnud of empire. Moreover, it 
 must be remembered that the Ameers have not the 
 power to coerce or restrain the Beloochee Sirdars, 
 who owe them a nominal allegiance, but who exert 
 a real independence ; and if the treaty of the 12th 
 February contained any provisions injurious to the 
 interests or offensive to the feelings of these Sirdars, 
 the outbreak may easily be accounted for, without 
 
 * The sudden abolition of slavery was, in itself, quite sufficient to create a 
 dangerous ferment in a semi- barbarous Mahomedan population ; for it would 
 be regarded as tantamount to laying open their Zenanas, and as enforcing 
 the surrender of a valuable property without indemnification. H. St.G. T. .
 
 THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 321 
 
 impeaching the fidelity and good faith of the 
 Ameers. 
 
 I must here contend that an invasion of Scinde, 
 or an attempt to compromise its independence, can 
 no more he justified than the invasion of Afghanistan, 
 which Lord Ellenborough has condemned. The 
 theatre may he smaller, and our operations may be 
 conducted with less hazard. We are not called upon 
 to surmount formidable denies ; but our army is ex- 
 posed on the confines of a desert, and had the gallant 
 Sir C. Napier and his heroic band been defeated, their 
 retreat must have been attended with difficulty and 
 danger, surrounded on all sides by a numerous ca- 
 valry and an infuriated population. I do not go so far 
 as to say that a Government is justly answerable for 
 the contingencies of war ; but if a Government place 
 its armies in a false position, in the prosecution of un- 
 justifiable or unattainable objects, it unquestionably 
 incurs a deep responsibility. 
 
 The following treaties have been contracted by us 
 with the Ameers of Scinde : 
 
 On the 22nd August, 1809, a regular treaty was 
 concluded with the Ameers, and another on the 9th 
 November, 1820, which stipulated for the exclusion 
 of Europeans and Americans from their territory. 
 
 On the 19th June, 1832, Lieut.-Colonel Pottin- 
 ger negotiated a treaty with Meer Morad Ali of 
 Hyderabad, and Meer Roostum of Khyrpore, pro- 
 viding 
 
 1st. Por perpetual friendship. 
 
 VOL. T. T
 
 322 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 2nd. An engagement by each to abstain from 
 molestation of the territories of the other. 
 
 3rd. A passage by the Indus for the merchants 
 and traders of India, and transport of merchandise, 
 on the condition that no arms or armed vessels 
 come by the river, and no persons be allowed to 
 settle in Scinde. 
 
 4th. Passports required. 
 
 5th. Fixed, proper, and moderate duties to be 
 established, and no vexatious delay to be allowed by 
 the Scinde Government at their Customs posts. 
 
 6th. The portions of other treaties not modified 
 by this to remain unaltered. 
 
 7th. Intercourse between the states by Vakeels. 
 
 A supplemental commercial treaty was entered 
 into in the beginning of 1834; and in 1838 was 
 formed another treaty, whereby we engaged to use 
 our good offices for the arrangement of differences 
 between the Ameers and Hunjeet Singh, the former 
 to receive a British E/esident at their court. 
 
 The last treaty which has been made public is that 
 of 1839, which provides : 
 
 1st. For perpetual friendship between the tico 
 states. 
 
 2nd. For the maintenance of a British force at 
 Tatta, or some other station. 
 
 3rd. For the protection of Scinde by the British 
 Government against all foreign aggression. 
 
 4th. For the integrity of the Scinde territories. 
 
 5th. For the prevention of intrigues with foreign 
 states.
 
 THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 323 
 
 6th. Por no toll being levied on trading boats 
 passing up or down the river Indus from the sea to 
 the northernmost point of that stream within the 
 territories of the Ameers. 
 
 7th. Por any merchandise landed from boats on 
 their passage up or down the river, and sold, being 
 subject to the usual duties of the country, with the 
 exception of goods sold in a British camp or canton- 
 ment. 
 
 8th. Por goods of all kinds being brought by mer- 
 chants and others to the mouths of the Indus, sub- 
 ject to the usual duties and regulations. 
 
 That some of the stipulations in the foregoing 
 treaties have been infringed by our Government 
 there is but too much reason to apprehend; but 
 until we are made acquainted officially with the 
 terms of the treaty of the 12th Pebruary last, and 
 with the circumstances which led to the rupture 
 with the Ameers, it would be premature to pass any 
 judgment upon the conduct of the parties. All 
 which I assert is, that sufficient grounds have been 
 shown for inquiry, and that it will be impossible for 
 the Court to come to a sound judgment upon the 
 merits of the case, unless they shall be furnished 
 with the whole of the correspondence explanatory of 
 the transactions which have taken place at Hy- 
 derabad, and of the conduct pursued by our Go- 
 vernment, either for the purpose of giving effect to 
 existing treaties, or of imposing new engagements 
 upon the Ameers. 
 
 Y2
 
 32-i OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 I carmot conclude this imperfect sketch of our re- 
 lations with the Anieers of Scinde without adverting 
 to the determination of the Governor- General to 
 annex their territory to the British dominions, and 
 to open the Indus to all the world as a commercial 
 thoroughfare. 
 
 Whether a forfeiture of their territory by those 
 chiefs has been justly incurred, is a preliminary 
 question which will demand our grave and deliberate 
 consideration ; but upon a very slight view of the 
 policy of opening the Indus to all the nations of 
 Europe and America, there are some strong and 
 obvious objections. 
 
 1st. We shall facilitate the introduction of arms 
 and ammunition into countries where we must be 
 prepared to encounter many inveterate enemies. 
 
 2nd. We shall encourage the resort of European 
 adventurers into the interior of India, for the pur- 
 poses of intrigue, and of obtaining military service 
 with the native princes, contrary to our established 
 policy and to the spirit of our treaties with those 
 Powers. 
 
 3rd. We shall facilitate and promote a contra- 
 band trade in opium by the Americans and others, 
 to the great injury of our opium revenue. 
 
 4th. By the free admission of Europeans and 
 Americans into the Indus, we shall aid and en- 
 courage their trade in competition with our own 
 manufactures and shipping interests, contrary to our 
 long- established policy, and to regulations which
 
 THE CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 325 
 
 have established discriminating duties for the pro- 
 tection of our commerce and navigation. 
 
 And has our quarrel with the Ameers of Scinde 
 no better foundation than the costly project of open- 
 ing the Indus to foreign commerce ? It has always 
 appeared to me that the advantages of opening 
 this river have been magnified beyond all rational 
 bounds, even with reference to commercial views, 
 for the navigation is difficult, the country through 
 which it flows has little of value to export, and the 
 rude tribes which occupy it are too poor and law- 
 less* to become large consumers of our produce and 
 manufactures. But the idea of opening 1 it to foreign 
 adventurers, and of inviting competition against 
 ourselves, would seem to denote a species of fiscal 
 chivalry little reconcilable with our own interests, 
 or with the plain dictates of common sense. 
 
 I shall be prepared, at the proper season, to sup- 
 port my opinions on these subjects ; but it is essen- 
 tial that we should be put in possession of authentic 
 documents, and that a full, fair, and unreserved dis- 
 closure of our late transactions in Scinde should be 
 made to the Court, in order that we may be in a 
 condition to form a sound judgment upon the mea- 
 sures which have been pursued by the Government 
 abroad. It is for the honor and reputation of the 
 Court, and for the interests of the public service, 
 
 * Scinde can only be held by us with the drawn sword, and even the com- 
 munication by the river must for some time be protected by a military force. 
 I doubt whether it will ever repay the cost of its conquest and tenure. 
 H. St.G. T.
 
 326 OUR POLITICAL EELATIONS. 
 
 that we should act with promptitude and firmness 
 on the present occasion ; and if it shall appear that 
 injustice has been committed, and that the public 
 faith has been violated, our way is clear and we 
 must either endeavour to correct what is wrong, and 
 to repair the injuries which have been done, or we 
 must be content to be held up to public odium as 
 the abettors and protectors of the wrong-doer. 
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF SCINDE. 
 
 [The following paper, written in September, 1843, is in continuation of the 
 same subject. Some of the arguments adduced in the preceding minute 
 are here reiterated and amplified ; but it has been deemed best, in spite of 
 these reiterations, to give the document in its integrity. The two papers 
 embrace a very complete review of the whole question of the conquest and 
 annexation of Scinde. Mr. Tucker, it will be seen, was prepared to carry 
 out his opinions in practice even to the extent of the restoration of the 
 Ameers to their confiscated dominions.] 
 
 While I have witnessed with feelings of admira- 
 tion the valor and discipline displayed by the army 
 employed in the late operations in Scinde, and the 
 gallantry and professional talents so signally dis- 
 played by their distinguished commander, I cannot 
 regard otherwise than with deep concern the result 
 of proceedings which have ended in the downfal and 
 captivity of the Ameers, and the annexation of their 
 territory to the British dominions in India. 
 
 The East India Company cannot dispense with 
 the obligation which they are under to consider 
 how far the war undertaken against the Ameers of 
 Scinde was called for, and can be justified, on public
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF SCINDE. 327 
 
 principle ; and for this purpose it will be proper to 
 refer to some of the leading facts, upon which the 
 merits of the case will mainly depend. 
 
 1st. The forcible seizure and destruction of the 
 fortress of Emaum-Ghur, belonging to the Ameer 
 Roostum Khan of Khyrpoor, although with the 
 connivance of his relative Meer Morad Ali, must 
 be held to be an act of aggression and open hostility 
 on the part of the British authorities ; and for this 
 hostile act against a party whom we were bound by 
 treaty to protect, no plausible pretext could be 
 found, except that the seizure of the fortress, by de- 
 priving the Ameer of a safe retreat in the desert, 
 was conducive to the success of our projected mili- 
 tary operations. 
 
 2nd. The dismemberment of a portion of the 
 Khyrpoor territory in favor of the Nawaub of Bha- 
 hawulpore, and the surrender to him of the districts 
 of Subzulcote and Bhoombarra, as a free gift on the 
 part of the British Government, who had no right 
 whatever to the territory, must be regarded as an 
 act of confiscation, for which no plea can be found 
 (as in the case of Emaum-Ghur), on the ground that 
 it promoted any military object. 
 
 3rd. The arbitrary displacement of the Ameer 
 Meer Roostum, the head of the Khyrpoor family, 
 in favor of his relative Meer Morad Ali, and the 
 elevation of the latter to the chief ship (or " Tur- 
 ban," as it is called), involved the assumption of a 
 power of control over the Ameers not warranted by 
 treaty, and amounted, in fact, to an undisguised
 
 328 OUR POLITICAL KELATIONS. 
 
 violation of the rights and conventional usages of 
 the family. The feeling of distrust and alarm, en- 
 gendered by this interference with the family ar- 
 rangements of the Ameers, was sufficiently mani- 
 fested at a later period, when the expulsion of Meer 
 Hoostum was made the chief ground of complaint 
 by the whole body of the Ameers, and was evi- 
 dently felt by them as an encroachment upon their 
 rights, which rendered the tenure of the chiefs gene- 
 rally insecure, and dependent upon the will and 
 pleasure of the Government of India. 
 
 4th. The advance of our army upon Hyderabad, 
 their capital, in despite of the strong remonstrances 
 of the Ameers, while a treaty was pending, and was 
 actually in course of signature, cannot be regarded 
 otherwise than as an act of open hostility, which jus- 
 tified preparations for defence, and which scarcely left 
 it in the power of the Ameers to control, or restrain, 
 their unruly and semi-barbarous feudatories and re- 
 tainers. It must, at the same time, be observed 
 that the report of the conference of the Commis- 
 sioner, Major Outram, with those chiefs, satisfac- 
 torily shows that they were anxious to avoid a rup- 
 ture; and that, when the Commissioner and his 
 escort were attacked by an infuriated multitude, the 
 Ameers made every exertion, at some personal risk, 
 to protect and ensure the safety of the Commissioner 
 and his attendants. 
 
 It is, indeed, clearly established that the Ameers, 
 after reluctantly signing the new treaty, forewarned 
 the Commissioner, Major Outram, of his danger
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF SCINDE. 329 
 
 from the violence of the Sirdars and their Beloochee 
 followers, over whom they exercised no paramount 
 or efficient control that they urged him to retire 
 in time and that, when attacked by a disorderly 
 soldiery, they made every exertion for the protection 
 of his person. There would seem, then, to be no 
 sufficient grounds for the imputation of " treachery;" 
 and the battle which followed must be regarded as 
 a necessary consequence of the advance of our army, 
 and of the hostile attitude which it assumed, threat- 
 ening an immediate attack upon the capital (Hyder- 
 abad), and compromising the safety of the chiefs 
 and their families. 
 
 It must not, moreover, be overlooked that the 
 previous correspondence with the Ameers was of a 
 menacing character that particular chiefs were de- 
 nounced that threats of imposing penalties and 
 confiscations had been held out that we continued 
 to occupy the strongest military positions in the 
 country, and clearly manifested an intention to re- 
 tain military possession of it that in arresting and 
 disarming parties of the Beloochees, prior to the 
 action on the 17th February, we virtually com- 
 menced hostilities in a manner most irritating to 
 the feelings of a proud soldiery that our previous 
 interference in regard to the collection of Transit 
 Duties, under a very doubtful construction of the 
 treaty, our peremptory demand for the refunding of 
 the money, and for the surrender of the Karbar, and 
 for the suppression of all future collections, showed 
 a determination on our part to exercise an authority
 
 330 OUR POLITICAL -RELATIONS. 
 
 in the internal management of the country, quite 
 independent of its native chiefs. And further, it 
 cannot be denied that some of the articles of the 
 new treaty were of a highly offensive character, 
 especially that which stipulated for the supply of 
 fuel for our steamers, involving as it did a contin- 
 gency which the Ameers most dreaded the en- 
 croachments upon, and eventual destruction of, their 
 favorite Shikar-gurhs, or hunting preserves that the 
 stipulation regarding the coinage of the country was 
 an assumption on our part of one of the most 
 marked attributes of sovereignty and finally, that 
 the treaty throughout imposed conditions irrecon- 
 cilable with the independence of the Ameers, and 
 little calculated (with the single exception of the 
 article relinquishing the money tribute) to conciliate 
 the good-will and confidence of those chiefs, or to 
 obtain their cordial co-operation in carrying the 
 treaty into effect. 
 
 In what degree the political errors which have 
 been committed may be assignable to the Governor- 
 General and to his local representative, it is not 
 material to inquire ; because the selection of the 
 political functionary (and a better selection for mili- 
 tary purposes could not possibly have been made) 
 was the act of the Governor- General because the 
 powers exercised were conferred by the same autho- 
 rity and, if these powers were exceeded, or if the 
 public functionary on the spot failed to observe a 
 sound discretion, and was permitted nevertheless, 
 without check or reproof, to pursue a wrong course,
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF SCINDE. 331 
 
 the Governor-General is clearly answerable for the 
 consequences ; but, in fact, his lordship, in his de- 
 spatch of the 13th March, expressly avows that 
 " Sir Charles Napier had his instructions more than 
 JL three months before the battle of Meanee," and he 
 refers to what had been done in terms of unqualified 
 commendation. 
 
 Upon a full and careful examination of all the 
 circumstances bearing upon the case under review, 
 it is impossible not to arrive at the conclusion that 
 the whole course of our proceedings towards the 
 Ameers of Scinde in the late transactions in that 
 country, was calculated to irritate, alarm, and 
 alienate those chiefs, their Jagheerdars and depen- 
 dents, from the British Government ; and that the 
 rupture which ensued was an act of desperation, 
 which ought not to have been visited with those 
 extreme penalties justly attaching to premeditated 
 treachery and unprovoked hostility. 
 
 It may be proper to advert in this place to the 
 charge brought forward against the Ameer of Khyr- 
 poor, Meer Roostum, and his minister or agent, 
 Mahomed Ghoree, of having entered into a trea- 
 sonable correspondence with a foreign Power, and 
 of having connived at the escape of a state prisoner ; 
 but it will be sufficient to observe that the charges 
 have not been established on any conclusive or 
 satisfactory evidence, that they have been steadily 
 denied by Meer Roostum, that the character and 
 former conduct of that chief furnished a presump- 
 tion in his favor, and that the letter supposed to
 
 332 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 bear his seal, and addressed to Maharajah Sheer 
 Singh of Lahore, if really genuine, contained no 
 matter of a treasonable character which could fairly 
 be construed into a violation of the existing treaty. 
 Let it be remembered that the Rajah of Lahore was 
 at the time the acknowledged and firm ally of the 
 British Government ; and to suppose that he would 
 receive and suppress a treasonable letter, would be 
 to impeach the loyalty of that prince, while on the 
 part of Meer Roostum the act of addressing such a 
 letter to our ally would indicate senseless infatua- 
 tion. What more likely than that the letter was a 
 fabrication of Meer Morad Ali, who was intriguing 
 to supersede his chief in the person of his own 
 brother ? 
 
 I am not at all disposed to undervalue the advan- 
 tages of an extended commerce, nor to deny that it 
 would be desirable to substitute good government 
 for the state of anarchy and mis-rule which is al- 
 leged to exist in Scinde nor to overlook the moral 
 obligation imposed on a civilised and Christian Go- 
 vernment to remove, or to mitigate the evils of 
 slavery ; but even these important objects would be 
 purchased too dearly by the sacrifice of the national 
 honor, and our reputation for justice, probity, and 
 good faith ; and it may, indeed, be questioned whe- 
 ther such ends, desirable as they may be, can ever 
 be successfully prosecuted by arbitrary and unjusti- 
 fiable means. 
 
 Upon each of these heads it may be useful to offer 
 a few explanations.
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF SCIN13E. 333 
 
 The advantages of the river Indus as a great 
 thoroughfare for commercial and political purposes, 
 have, I apprehend, been greatly magnified and over- 
 rated ; for the entrance into that river during three 
 or four months in the year is nearly closed and inac- 
 cessible ; while, from the changes which take place 
 in the direction of the stream, and from the sudden 
 formation of sands and other obstructions, the navi- 
 gation is difficult, tedious, and sometimes unsafe. 
 
 The country through which it flows has little of 
 value to export ; and the rude tribes who occupy it 
 are too poor and unsettled, and too little addicted to 
 habits of industry, to become large consumers of OUT 
 produce and manufactures. In particular situations, 
 too, the river is commanded from its high banks by 
 the predatory tribes, who find shelter in the neigh- 
 bouring deserts, and whose lawless depredations 
 can only be restrained by the presence of a military 
 force. In these respects the Indus resembles the 
 Euphrates more nearly than the Ganges. 
 
 There are other circumstances, moreover, which 
 are unfavorable to our occupation of Scinde. The 
 climate is intensely hot, and is very unhealthy 
 during a portion of the year ; and if we are to main- 
 tain a large military force in the country to overawe 
 its unruly population, we must be prepared for a 
 serious waste of human life, as well as of treasure. 
 
 But upon the policy of opening the Indus indis- 
 criminately to the nations of Europe and America, as 
 announced in the proclamation of the Governor- 
 General, the following objections obviously occur :
 
 334 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 1st. We shall facilitate the introduction of arms 
 and ammunition into countries where we must be 
 prepared to encounter the hostility of warlike tribes, 
 whom we shall thus arm against ourselves. 
 
 2nd. We shall encourage the resort of European 
 adventurers into the interior of India for the pur- 
 poses of intrigue, and of obtaining military service 
 with the native princes and chiefs, contrary to our 
 established policy, and to the declared object of the 
 treaties which we have required the Native States 
 to contract with us. Nay, if we had anything to 
 apprehend from an European enemy, to open the 
 Indus would be to expose gratuitously one of our 
 flanks, and to render necessary the maintenance of a 
 military force for the purposes of defence. The in- 
 tention, no doubt, is to give extension to commerce ; 
 but in India commerce has been the pioneer to 
 political power. 
 
 3rd. We shall facilitate and promote a contraband 
 trade in opium by the Americans and others, to the 
 great detriment of our revenue. 
 
 4th. By the free admission of Europeans and 
 Americans into the Indus, we shall aid and en- 
 courage their trade, in competition with our own 
 manufactures and shipping interests, in contraven- 
 tion of those regulations by which discriminating 
 duties have been imposed for the protection of our 
 commerce and navigation. 
 
 It can scarcely be admitted, then, that the project 
 of throwing open the Indus to the commercial world, 
 is recommended by any sound views of policy ; and
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF SCINDE. 335 
 
 it may, on the contrary, be affirmed that it involves 
 the sacrifice of our national interests, and is at 
 variance with those maxims on which fiscal and 
 commercial legislation is usually founded. 
 
 On the benefits likely to result from the establish- 
 ment of regular government in Scinde, it is only 
 necessary to observe that we are not called upon to 
 volunteer our services in the introduction of our 
 system of internal administration among rude and 
 barbarous tribes, whose habits, usages, and notions 
 are altogether different from our own, and who, 
 from religious feelings and national prejudices, are 
 adverse to the introduction of our rule among them. 
 It may further be urged, that the fatal issue of our 
 connexion with Afghanistan ought to have placed 
 us on our guard ; for although we have not in Scinde 
 the formidable defiles and other physical obstruc- 
 tions which embarrassed our military operations in 
 Afghanistan, we have in Scinde been brought into 
 collision with a race of men equally warlike, daring, 
 and sanguinary ; who will find a safe retreat in the 
 surrounding deserts, in which a regular army cannot 
 follow them without being exposed to a harassing 
 service, involving risks beyond the ordinary contin- 
 gencies of war. 
 
 That the abolition of slavery should be kept in 
 view, as an ultimate object highly interesting to an 
 enlightened Government, cannot admit of question ; 
 but that its sudden abolition in a country where it 
 has long constituted a part of the social system of 
 the people, must produce discontent and derange-
 
 336 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 ment, is a fact which no statesman ought to over- 
 look or disregard. It is understood that the state 
 of domestic slavery, or bondage, existing in Scinde, 
 is not characterised by those harsh and revolting 
 features which usually mark the condition of the 
 predial slave ; but whatever may be the evils at- 
 tending this state of society, they can only be met 
 and overcome by cautious and prudent manage- 
 ment. The property in the slave cannot be peremp- 
 torily annihilated without some indemnification. 
 The old and infirm cannot suddenly be thrown upon 
 society without some provision for their subsistence. 
 The Zenanks of the chiefs and others cannot autho- 
 ritatively be thrown open, and their inmates dis- 
 persed, without outraging the feelings of the people, 
 and calling into violent action those passions which 
 may become dangerous to the peace of society. 
 These considerations, although sufficiently obvious, 
 appear to have been overlooked in the resolution of 
 the Governor- General of India for the immediate 
 abolition of slavery in Scinde. 
 
 I have not judged it necessary to carry the retro- 
 spect to past proceedings in Scinde beyond the last 
 year ; because the rupture with the Ameers, the 
 confiscation of their territory, and the other events 
 referred to, have all taken place within the last 
 twelve months, and did not necessarily result from 
 antecedent transactions. It is not sufficient to say 
 that acts of aggression were committed by a pre- 
 ceding Government, for violence and oppression can 
 never be justified by precedent. The Ameers sub-
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF SCINDE. 337 
 
 mitted to our encroachments in 1839 because they 
 were helpless ; but harsh and severe as may have 
 been the treatment which they experienced at our 
 hands, they took no advantage of the disasters sus- 
 tained by our army in Afghanistan, when their hos- 
 tility might have aggravated the difficulties of our 
 position, and have prevented, perhaps, the triumph 
 which subsequently crowned our arms. Far, then, 
 from regarding the Ameers as the just objects of 
 our vengeance, it appears to me that, simply by 
 their forbearance and neutrality, they established 
 claims upon our national gratitude. It would be 
 easy to enlarge on this subject, and to show circum- 
 stantially that the Ameers had great cause for jea- 
 lousy, and distrust, and complaint ; and that if their 
 conduct was equivocal on particular occasions, it 
 was the natural result of those apprehensions for 
 their own safety, which our advance beyond the 
 Indus, and the seizure of their military posts, could 
 not fail to produce. 
 
 Upon an attentive consideration of the circum- 
 stances thus concisely noticed, it appears to me that 
 sufficient grounds have not been shown for the 
 forcible ejection and expatriation of the Ameers of 
 Scinde, and the annexation of their country to the 
 British dominions, as a forfeiture justly incurred by 
 treachery and the unprovoked hostility of those 
 chiefs. 
 
 That the proceeding of the Governor-General in 
 this instance was directly at variance with the prin- 
 ciples and policy formally announced to the princes 
 
 VOL. i. z
 
 338 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 and people of India in Ms lordship's proclamation of 
 the 1st October, 1842. 
 
 That, if considerations of policy could in any case 
 be admitted to outweigh the obligations of justice, 
 there would seem to be no motives of policy which 
 recommended the confiscation of the possessions of 
 the Ameers, and the annexation of Scinde to the 
 British dominions in India. 
 
 That it is, consequently, incumbent upon the 
 home authorities to replace the Ameers as nearly as 
 existing circumstances will permit, in the position 
 which they occupied prior to the late rupture, under 
 such modifications of the treaty of 1839, and of the 
 treaty of the 12th February last, as may appear to 
 be most conducive to the well-being of the Ameers 
 themselves to the amelioration of the condition of 
 the people to the general interests of commerce 
 and to the maintenance of those friendly relations be- 
 tween the chiefs and people of Scinde and the British 
 Government, which must tend to their mutual ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 I have more than once placed on record the expres- 
 sion of my deep conviction that our empire in India 
 is only to be maintained, for any beneficial purpose, 
 by a strict adherence to the obligations of justice, by 
 a faithful adherence to our treaties and other engage- 
 ments, by respecting the rights of the native princes 
 and chiefs, and by refraining cautiously and habi- 
 tually from every act calculated to outrage or to 
 offend the religious feelings and prejudices of the 
 people, from among whom our native army is raised 
 and recruited. "We may, no doubt, continue to hold
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 339 
 
 the country by an overwhelming military force, but 
 if confidence be extinct if respect for our national 
 character (that great element of strength) be once 
 destroyed or shaken, and the attachment of the peo- 
 ple be estranged if, in short, the sword is always to 
 be drawn, to keep in subjection an adverse popula- 
 tion our tenure of the country may be maintained 
 for a longer or shorter period, but that country will 
 be valueless, and our rule become matter of just re- 
 proach. Chief after chief has disappeared of late ; 
 principality after principality has merged into our 
 all-absorbing dominion ; and the forcible seizure of 
 Scinde will, I fear, tend to destroy the confidence of 
 every native state, prince, and chief in India, in the 
 permanency and security of their possessions, and 
 go far to extinguish the hope that those possessions 
 will be permitted to descend unimpaired to their 
 posterity. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 
 
 [Written in February, 1843.] 
 
 The conduct of Lord Ellenborough from the com- 
 mencement of his administration, has been marked by 
 rashness and precipitancy, and by the absence of that 
 prudence and temper which are indispensable in the 
 ruler of a great empire. 
 
 His lordship manifested at an early period a pre- 
 judice against the civil service of Bengal ; and he is 
 reported to have treated the members of that service 
 with the utmost neglect, if not with contumely. His 
 
 z2
 
 340 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 suspension of Mr. Erskine was arbitrary, and was 
 marked by a degree of severity uncalled for and 
 unusual in our service. 
 
 I think it quite unnecessary to defend the charac- 
 ter of the civil service of India ; but the Governor- 
 General who alienates this service by acts of tyranny, 
 or by contemptuous conduct, deprives himself of the 
 zealous offices of that instrument by which he must 
 conduct the affairs of the country. 
 
 His lordship's financial despatch of the 7th Au- 
 gust, 1842, was unbecoming and disrespectful towards 
 the Court; and it excited, on its first perusal, a 
 general burst of indignation. 
 
 His lordship's proclamation of the 1st October, 
 1842, lays down some sound and salutary principles 
 of policy ; but it was ill-timed and imprudent in the 
 highest degree. It was evidently intended to exhibit 
 a contrast between his policy and that of his prede- 
 cessor; but the direct condemnation of Lord Auckland 
 was unbecoming ; and Lord Ellenborough seems to 
 have forgotten that this sort of antithetical exposure 
 was calculated to destroy the unity of our Govern- 
 ment in the minds of the natives, and to weaken 
 their confidence in the stability of our policy, and in 
 the wisdom, justice, and consistency of our rule. 
 
 His lordship's subsequent proclamation of the 16th 
 November, regarding the Gates of Somnath, would 
 be viewed as something puerile and ridiculous, if it 
 did not bear a mischievous character. It involves a 
 departure from the policy which has been successfully 
 observed by us throughout our administration of 
 British India. By that policy we have stood aloof as
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 341 
 
 a powerful umpire between the religious sects of India, 
 extending equal protection impartially to all; and 
 by this simple and just course we obtained the con- 
 fidence, and commanded the services of all. But Lord 
 Ellenborough has come forward as the special protec- 
 tor of the Hindoo, and as the avenger of his wrongs 
 against his Mahomedan despoiler. It is to be hoped 
 that this vain and ill-conceived effusion will be treated 
 with the neglect it deserves ; but if taken as a grave 
 indication of the feeling and temper of our Govern- 
 ment, it may produce a very injurious effect in the 
 minds of our Mahomedan subjects, and in particular 
 on the attachment of our Moslem soldiery. Its cha- 
 racter with reference to our own religion is calculated 
 to produce a feeling which a man of common pru- 
 dence would have been careful not to excite. 
 
 Lord Ellenborough has manifested singular pre- 
 cipitation in displacing the political functionaries 
 in Scinde, and especially Major Outram, who has 
 rendered most important services, and without w r hose 
 zealous and spirited exertions, aided by his personal 
 influence with the Brahoe and other tribes, it may 
 be doubted whether the reinforcements under Gene- 
 ral England could ever have found their way to Can- 
 dahar, and whether General Nott could have been 
 placed in a condition to prosecute his march upon 
 Ghuznee and Caubul with any prospect of success. 
 Without this co-operation, the movement of General 
 Pollock upon Caubul must have been hazardous, if 
 not impracticable. 
 
 But Lord Ellenborough has been thanked by Par-
 
 342 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 liament and by the Court of Directors for pro- 
 moting the success of our military operations in 
 Afghanistan; and it may be well to consider the 
 degree of merit which may fairly be ascribed to his 
 lordship for his participation in that service. 
 
 It is quite certain that the orders of the 29th 
 April and 6th May, 1842, authorised and required 
 our armies to retire from the different posts still 
 held by our troops in Afghanistan (Candahar, Kilat- 
 i-Ghilzee, Quetta, &c.) ; and that the order was not 
 carried into execution by our officers, either because 
 its immediate execution was impracticable, or be- 
 cause it was countermanded before the movement 
 could be undertaken. 
 
 It is also certain that General Pollock was autho- 
 rised to treat with the de facto Government of Cau- 
 bul for an evacuation of the country on the basis of 
 an exchange of prisoners ; and I would refer to the 
 instructions of the Governor-General of the 29th 
 July, 1842, in proof of this fact. 
 
 It appears, moreover, that Akbur Khan was the 
 only person excluded from the benefit of an am- 
 nesty ; and that General Pollock was authorised and 
 required to bring this chief to trial, and eventually 
 to proceed to his execution. 
 
 In abandoning Caubul to anarchy and bloodshed, 
 Lord Ellenborough seems to have forgotten his own 
 principles of political morality, and to have followed 
 the course which he so unreservedly condemned in his 
 predecessor. "We had displaced one Government, and 
 had introduced general confusion throughout the
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 343 
 
 country ; and Lord Ellenborough was morally and po- 
 litically bound to endeavour, as far as possible, to re- 
 store order, and to prevent if possible a desolating civil 
 war, and the probable massacre of the boy who was 
 left in possession of the " Bala Hissar." Moreover, 
 by the unconditional release of Dost Mahomed, a fire- 
 brand will be thrown among the combustibles, and 
 the tragedy will probably end in the destruction of 
 the Durknee race. This, perhaps, was an inevitable 
 consequence of the first false step, but I cannot per- 
 ceive that any attempt was made to avert it. 
 
 We are not yet in a condition to judge of the 
 reasons and motives for the military spectacle exhi- 
 bited on the banks of the Sutlej ; but it must have 
 been attended with an enormous expense, and with 
 serious injury to the inhabitants of the country, for 
 it is well known that large bodies of men cannot be 
 moved in India without giving occasion to plunder 
 and to the destruction of the crops, orchards, &c. ; 
 while it rarely happens that any adequate indemni- 
 fication is obtained by the proprietors. If the gor- 
 geous pageantry and the assembling of the princes 
 and chiefs of India at Perozepore were intended only 
 as a vainglorious display to grace the triumph of 
 the Governor-General, it is to be apprehended that 
 the sagacious people of that country may have re- 
 garded it as indicating a design to gloss over our 
 escape from a great danger, rather than as a genuine 
 feeling of exultation in the success of our arms. 
 
 Lord Ellenborough's precipitation in awarding 
 medals, &c., is very remarkable, for his lordship
 
 344 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 trenched very closely on the royal prerogative ; and 
 the elaborate attention bestowed on the selection of 
 a fanciful ribbon was scarcely in keeping with the 
 attributes of a great statesman. Indeed, his lord- 
 ship's over- solicitude on all occasions to do much, 
 has generally caused him to have much to undo. 
 
 The topics referred to have no necessary con- 
 nexion with the proceedings of the Governor- General 
 in Scinde ; but they have a general bearing upon the 
 character of his lordship's administration. A civil 
 governor is not entitled to praise for the valor of our 
 troops and the success of our army, unless it shall 
 appear that his original views were just that his 
 plans were wisely conceived that his means were 
 adequate, and well adapted for the accomplishment 
 of those ends that the time for their application 
 was well chosen and that success was a probable 
 and legitimate consequence of his combinations. 
 
 If a civil governor place an .army in a false or 
 dangerous position, he deserves censure, although 
 the army may be extricated from its difficulties by 
 the skill of its commander and the gallantry of his 
 troops. 
 
 In the Afghan campaign, the orders of Lord Ellen- 
 borough showed prima facie great indecision they 
 were not framed with that forecast and comprehen- 
 sive view of our position and circumstances which 
 should distinguish the statesman. Orders for a re- 
 treat were given when our army had no means of 
 moving, in consequence of the want of cattle ; and 
 had it attempted to move, its retreat must speedily
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 345 
 
 have become a flight. The advance of General Pollock 
 was so long delayed that only a month was left for 
 making those arrangements and dispositions, both 
 military and political, which were necessary for the 
 purpose of restoring something like order in the 
 country, and also for the purpose of preventing our 
 hasty departure from being regarded as an inglorious 
 abandonment of our position. 
 
 The difficulty in obtaining the necessary carriage 
 and supplies may have rendered the earlier advance of 
 General Pollock impracticable ; and the uncertainty 
 which Lord Ellenborough may have been under, in 
 regard to obtaining reinforcements from England, 
 may have impressed him with the apprehension 
 that he could not command military resources suffi- 
 cient to enable him to undertake a great forward 
 movement ; but similar difficulties and uncertainties 
 did not discourage some of his predecessors, and the 
 question still remains whether LordEllenboroughwas 
 instrumental in producing the success of our arms. 
 
 I was one of those who entertained the highest 
 opinion of Lord Ellenborough' s talents, energy, and 
 indefatigable application to business ; and I antici- 
 pated the best results from his administration of 
 India. But I have seen so many instances of rash- 
 ness and imprudence, and of a presumptuous dis- 
 regard of the rules and usages of the service, and of 
 the well-weighed policy of our Government, that I 
 see reason to examine more particularly how far 
 our anticipations of a prosperous administration are 
 likely to be realised.
 
 346 ' OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 [The following more detailed remarks, written very soon afterwards, are 
 appended to the above paper.] 
 
 IST. NEW CANTONMENTS, &c. The Court of Direc- 
 tors have had before them two letters from the Go- 
 vernor-General, bearing date the 18th October and 
 22nd November last, communicating to the Court 
 his intention to make various arrangements for the 
 cantonment of the troops on the north-western fron- 
 tier, embracing a most extensive line of works from 
 the borders of Nepaul to Eerozepore, or Loudi- 
 ana, on the Sutlej. It would be premature to enter 
 upon the details of this important change in the 
 disposition of our army, involving, as it would do, 
 the erection of new cantonments upon a large scale, 
 the construction of bridges, roads, towers, telegraphs, 
 and other works, at an enormous expense. I shall 
 simply observe that the Governor-General does not 
 appear to have consulted either the Cominander-in- 
 Chief or the Military Board, or the Medical Board,* 
 or the chief engineer, on the expediency of under- 
 taking this vast project, or on the practicability of 
 its execution. Nor has his lordship called for any 
 estimate of the probable expense of these extensive 
 works from the proper officers. On the contrary, 
 he concludes his despatch of the 18th October with 
 these remarkable words: " But where the health of 
 troops and the efficiency of an army are in question, 
 I do not deem myself to be justified in attending to 
 
 * His lordship did not even take the trouble to inquire if water were pro- 
 curable. H. St.G. T.
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 347 
 
 mere financial results, and hardly even in adverting 
 to them." 
 
 These are, no doubt, most important objects ; but 
 it does not follow that the Governor-General has 
 adopted the best means for promoting them, nor 
 does it appear that any inconvenience could result 
 from taking the opinion of the professional authori- 
 ties upon a professional question, according to the 
 established usage of the service. There are few 
 things which may not be purchased too dearly ; and 
 Lord Ellenborough might have recollected that the 
 Government of India are expressly prohibited from 
 undertaking works of magnitude, or ordering an out- 
 lay for new buildings beyond a certain amount, except 
 in cases of emergency, without the previous sanction 
 of the home authorities. Now, it cannot be pretended 
 that this was a case of emergency, or that any in- 
 convenience could have arisen from a delay of three 
 or four months in consulting the home Government ; 
 for the proposed works are of such extent and mag- 
 nitude that years will be required probably for their 
 completion. 
 
 The principal ground urged for the movement of 
 the troops is the supposed unhealthiness of Kurnaul ; 
 but the medical returns show that this is one of the 
 most healthy cantonments in the Western Pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 Upon the whole, it may be observed that this is 
 perhaps the most precipitate of the many hasty pro- 
 ceedings by which his lordship's short administration 
 has been characterised.
 
 348 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 2ND. NEW CORPS OF ARMED POLICE. The forma- 
 tion of a new corps of military police may be justi- 
 fiable and expedient; but it involves a change of 
 system, and it ought to have been submitted for the 
 consideration and orders of the home authorities 
 prior to its establishment. The communication with 
 India is now so rapid, that there can be no just 
 ground for proceeding to the adoption of any im- 
 portant arrangements without consulting the home 
 Government. 
 
 3RD. SCINDE ARRANGEMENTS. The subversion of 
 the Government of the Ameers of Scinde, and the 
 annexation of their territory to the British Empire, 
 is a proceeding upon which we are not at present 
 prepared to form a judgment ;* but if it shall be 
 found that we have been the aggressors, Lord Ellen- 
 borough will have incurred a deep responsibility, and 
 will have been the first to violate his own declared 
 principles formally announced in his proclamation 
 of the 1st October, 1842, to the princes, chiefs, and 
 people of India. 
 
 4TH. H. M.'s REGIMENTS. Lord Ellenborough, in 
 refusing to allow the soldiers of H. M.'s regiments 
 embarking for England permission to enlist in corps 
 remaining in India, not only deviated from an esta- 
 blished usage, but he deprived the Government of the 
 services of men seasoned to the climate incurred an 
 unnecessary expense in conveying them to England 
 and, in the instance of those who had contracted 
 
 * This was written just after the first receipt of intelligence of the con- 
 quest of Scinde, but before the details of the transaction were known.
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 349 
 
 marriage, and had families by the native women, he 
 was guilty of great harshness, either in compelling 
 these men to abandon their wives and children, or 
 to carry them to a country and climate ill-suited to 
 their constitution and habits. 
 
 5TH. SAUGOR ARRANGEMENTS. Lord Ellenbo- 
 rough's removal of the whole establishment of the 
 Saugor and Nerbudda territory, and the substitution 
 of young military men, is a measure likely to produce 
 much public inconvenience, independently of its in- 
 justice to the individuals affected by it. Some of the 
 officers who have been appointed are without expe- 
 rience in the administration of civil affairs ; whereas 
 one of the civilians who has been superseded (Mr. 
 McLeod) bears a high character, and has managed a 
 portion of the territory for some years with great 
 credit and success.
 
 350 OUE POLITICAL DELATIONS. 
 
 CASE OF COLONEL OUTRAM. 
 
 [Written in 1846.] 
 
 I quite concur in the opinion that newspaper con- 
 troversies between the officers of Government are to 
 be deprecated, and, if possible, to be prevented, and 
 especially where they degenerate into personal at- 
 tacks upon the public or private character of indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 But in these cases the aggressor is first to be dealt 
 with, for, in reality, he is the originator of the mis- 
 chief. 
 
 Colonel Outram considered himself to have been 
 aggrieved and calumniated by the publication of 
 General William Napier,* and he also considers his 
 professional character and public conduct to have 
 been arraigned by Sir C. Napier in the correspond- 
 ence published by the home authorities. His com- 
 mentary was intended to be a reply to those attacks, 
 and a vindication of his own character and conduct, 
 and his justification of this unusual proceeding is 
 simply this that, as his own masters would not 
 
 H 
 
 interpose to defend his public character, he, as a man 
 of honor, was compelled to defend it himself. 
 
 Sir C. Napier, be it observed, has not only ani- 
 madverted in very offensive terms on the conduct of 
 Colonel Outram, but he has, in a most wanton and 
 unprovoked manner, assailed the civil service of 
 India, and he has not scrupled even to attack the 
 Government of Bombay and the Court of Directors, 
 under whom he serves. Can he, therefore, with any 
 
 * "The Conquest of Scinde."
 
 CASE OF COLONEL OUTRAM. 351 
 
 degree of consistency, come forward to complain of 
 one whom he has himself attacked, and whose reply 
 was intended as an answer to such attack ? 
 
 If Sir C. Napier felt himself to be aggrieved by 
 any unwarrantable proceeding on the part of Colonel 
 Outram, it was competent to him to bring that 
 officer to a court-martial. 
 
 I apprehend the most serious inconvenience, if 
 not disastrous consequences, as likely to result from 
 the agitation of this question. 
 
 Colonel Outram will never submit to be con- 
 demned unheard, and he will place everything at 
 stake rather than allow his honor and his profes- 
 sional character to be impeached. 
 
 The Court of Directors will never consent to allow 
 one of their servants to be degraded, without being 
 satisfied that he has justly incurred their displea- 
 sure. 
 
 The agitation of this question will again bring the 
 whole of our proceedings in Scinde under review; 
 and I do not believe that any impartial man, who 
 has made himself acquainted with those proceedings, 
 will be found to justify, or to palliate, them. There 
 cannot be a doubt that the public voice has pro- 
 nounced against them, although the strong case 
 which the Court of Directors have it in their power 
 to bring forward has not yet been placed before the 
 public. There is not, I have reason to believe, a 
 single member of the Court who does not reprobate 
 those proceedings, as characterised by acts of the 
 grossest injustice, highly injurious to the national 
 reputation.
 
 352 OUR POLITICAL RELATIONS. 
 
 I myself have placed my opinions on record on 
 this subject ; and I will only add that no considera- 
 tion shall ever induce me to be a party in the con- 
 demnation of Colonel Outram, until the proceedings 
 of his assailants have been visited with just ani- 
 madversion as the original aggressors. This duty 
 ought long since to have been performed by the 
 proper authorities to whom those officers are ame- 
 nable. 
 
 I may observe, further, that the Secret Committee 
 have no power to condemn, punish, or even censure, 
 a public servant who is under the immediate pro- 
 tection of the Court of Directors; and that I, as a 
 member of that Committee, would not sign any de- 
 spatch assuming such a power. 
 
 If it be proposed to censure Colonel Outram 
 through the Court of Directors, then I would ob- 
 serve that, as far as I can judge, the Court would 
 steadfastly resist any attempt to make them parties 
 to any such proceeding. For myself, I can say that 
 I will never willingly become a party to what I be- 
 lieve to be an act of injustice. I have already faced 
 a mandamus, and I am prepared to face it again, in 
 what I believe to be the cause of truth and justice. 
 
 Colonel Outram' s is not an isolated case. It is 
 inseparably blended with the question of Scinde ; and 
 it cannot be dealt with without opening the whole 
 proceeding connected with the acquisition of that 
 country a proceeding more iniquitous than any 
 which has ever stained the annals of our Indian ad- 
 ministration.
 
 353 
 
 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND ENDOWMENTS. 
 
 [Written in 1838.] 
 
 THERE are several questions, distinct in themselves, 
 which have been very much blended in the public 
 discussions which have taken place in this country ; 
 and much embarrassment has been produced by 
 their being thus blended, for parties have not come 
 to a distinct understanding upon the points at issue ; 
 and different individuals, who might concur upon 
 particular points, may, nevertheless, feel unwilling 
 to commit themselves to any general proposition on 
 so large and complicated a question. 
 
 1st. We have to consider how far the British Go- 
 vernment stands pledged to protect our native sub- 
 jects in the free exercise of their religion ; and how 
 far they can consistently with such pledge take any 
 steps to put down, or denounce, idolatrous worship, 
 or other rites and observances abhorrent to our feel- 
 ings as Christians. 
 
 2nd. Whether we can, as Christians, allow the 
 public servants professing Christianity to take part 
 in, or be present at, the ceremonials of our Hindoo 
 or Mahomedan subjects at their religious festivals ; 
 and whether, in the event of it being judged neces- 
 
 VOL. i. 2 A
 
 354 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 sary, or becoming in us to interdict or dispense with 
 such attendance, we shall he justified in requiring 
 the complimentary attendance of our native troops 
 at our own religious festivals. 
 
 3rd. "Whether the British Government can, con- 
 sistently with its Christian character, continue to 
 levy the Pilgrim-tax, and to appropriate the revenue 
 derived from this source to the purposes of the 
 State. 
 
 Lastly. Whether our Government is bound to re- 
 cognise and perpetuate the religious endowments 
 created by the native Governments our predeces- 
 sors; and whether we can, without impropriety, 
 employ our own officers Europeans or natives in 
 collecting the rents of land appropriated to religious 
 purposes and uses. 
 
 Upon the first question there cannot, in my opi- 
 nion, exist a doubt. We have in the most formal 
 manner, and by the most .authentic acts, guaranteed 
 to the natives of India under our rule* " the free 
 exercise of their religion." We have done this, not 
 
 * See Preamble to Regulation III., 1793: 
 
 " The many Taluable privileges and immunities which have been conferred 
 upon the natives of these provinces, evince the solicitude of the British Go- 
 vernment to promote their welfare, and must satisfy them that the regula- 
 tions which may be adopted for the internal government of the country, will 
 be calculated to preserve to them the laws of the Shaster and the Koran, in 
 matters to which they have been invariably applied to protect them in the 
 free exercise of their religion and to afford security to their persons and pro- 
 perty. The benefit, however, which they would derive, solely from regula- 
 tions enacted for the above purposes, would be but partial, unless the judicial 
 establishments for dispensing those regulations are framed upon principles 
 which will render them the means of protecting private rights and property 
 under the changes and temporary derangements to which all forms of govern- 
 ment must occasionally be liable."
 
 BELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 355 
 
 merely in the spirit of toleration, but as the pro- 
 tecting Power, which not only engages to abstain 
 from all interference with the religious rites and 
 ceremonies of its subjects, but which undertakes to 
 defend them against all such interference on the part 
 of others. This is the compact existing between the 
 British Government and its Hindoo and Mahomedan 
 subjects, upon which their allegiance and our domi- 
 nion depend ; and any infringement of it cannot fail 
 to be attended with the most disastrous consequences. 
 Our rule and supremacy have been hitherto main- 
 tained by our native soldiery ; and any spirit of dis- 
 affection which might pervade that body, originating 
 in a religious feeling, would shake the very founda- 
 tion of our empire. The country cannot be held in 
 subjection by an European force ; and if the Hindoos 
 and Mahomedans, united by one prevailing senti- 
 ment, should make common cause for the defence of 
 their religion, they would not stop at mere defensive 
 measures. Once aroused, they would proceed to ex- 
 tremity ; and not only would the lives and fortunes 
 of every European in the country be placed in the 
 utmost peril, but the very existence of our Govern- 
 ment would be endangered, while the last hope of 
 propagating the truths of Christianity in India (save 
 only by Divine interposition) must for ever be aban- 
 doned. The safest, and perhaps the only means of 
 accomplishing that object by human agency, would 
 be by gradually opening the minds of the people, 
 and especially the rising generation. Some pro- 
 gress has already been made in introducing a better 
 system of education : the higher class of Hindoos, 
 
 2A2
 
 356 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 who have become familiar with European literature, 
 are beginning to use their excellent understandings ; 
 and nothing could more certainly arrest their pro- 
 gress towards a better state of things, than an un- 
 seasonable indication on our part of an intention to 
 effect their conversion. Any attempt of the kind 
 would excite immediate and general distrust and 
 alarm, and would arm their religious prejudices, and 
 their religious pride, against us. 
 
 The Government of India have hitherto carefully 
 abstained from acts which might identify them with 
 the proceedings and objects of the Missionary Socie- 
 ties, and others, engaged in the propagation of Chris- 
 tianity in the East ; and it is only by reason of the 
 confidence which this forbearance has inspired, that 
 they have been enabled to interpose powerfully and 
 successfully between the different sects whose violent 
 contentions have frequently endangered the public 
 tranquillity. At Benares, and other places, the 
 Hindoos and Mahomedans have at different times 
 engaged in serious conflict. It has been found ne- 
 cessary in these cases to call out our native troops ; 
 and corps, composed indifferently of Hindoos and 
 Mahomedans, have been known, at the command of 
 their European officers, to fire upon their country- 
 men of both creeds, in order to put down religious 
 feuds and insurrection by force of arms, while their 
 own feelings were strongly engaged with the com- 
 batants ; and nothing but a sense of duty, and habi- 
 tual confidence in our Government, could have pre- 
 vented them from joining the opposing ranks, and 
 rendering the public disorder general and irremedl-
 
 EELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 357 
 
 able. Let the grounds of that confidence be once 
 removed let their attachment and fidelity to their 
 trust be once shaken, and who can fail to perceive 
 that our dominion in India will no longer rest on 
 any solid foundation ? This is a topic of great deli- 
 cacy, on which it would not be prudent to enlarge ; 
 and it is one of the inconveniences and disadvan- 
 tages attending the position of the Court of Direc- 
 tors, that they cannot bring forward those facts and 
 circumstances connected with our political situation 
 in India, and with the tone and temper of our na- 
 tive troops, which would go far, I think, to satisfy 
 the most daring innovator, and the most unreflect- 
 ing enthusiast, that we could not depart from the 
 course of policy hitherto observed, without compro- 
 mising the public safety, nor without danger to the 
 interests of religion itself.* Let the British rule be 
 extinguished in India, and when and from what 
 quarter would the lights of Christianity shed their 
 benign influence on Hindostan ? I can only antici- 
 pate the return of anarchy, barbarism, and universal 
 darkness. 
 
 2nd Question. On the second branch of the sub- 
 ject I must observe that, under the Presidency of 
 Bengal, the public servants are never required to 
 attend at the religious festivals of the natives ; nor 
 has it been customary to fire salutes, or to pay any 
 other public compliment on such occasions. Detach- 
 ments of troops are sometimes employed to preserve 
 order at these festivals, when large bodies of men 
 are assembled, and especially when the Mahomedan 
 
 * See minutes of Sir Thomas Munro and Mr. Thackeray, recorded in 1822.
 
 358 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 festival of the Mohurrum, and the Hindoo festival 
 of the Doorga Poojah, occur at the same time. The 
 processions, in these cases, would not meet without 
 a sanguinary conflict, which the ordinary police 
 would not be able to suppress ; but, in employing 
 the military at such times, they are strictly confiTip.fi 
 to the duty of maintaining the public peace. The 
 Government interpose as a powerful mediator be- 
 tween its subjects of different creeds, in order to 
 protect their persons, and to secure to all the free 
 exercise of their religious observances. 
 
 At Madras and Bombay a different usage has to 
 some extent prevailed. It has been usual at those 
 presidencies to pay military compliments on some of 
 the great native festivals ; but it must be observed, 
 that these honors were paid as a tribute of respect to 
 the sovereign of the country rather than to his reli- 
 gion. We have now assumed the sovereignty, and 
 such honors may no doubt be hereafter dispensed 
 with. The discontinuance of them involves a ques- 
 tion of time, and manner of proceeding; and this 
 question can most safely be left to the discretion of 
 the Government of India. Usages which have long 
 existed, cannot always be discontinued without in- 
 convenience ; and it will be necessary for the local 
 authorities to proceed with caution and circumspec- 
 tion in introducing any change which may affect the 
 religious feelings of the people ; for although they 
 may submit in silence, a secret discontent may be 
 fostered ; and if any impression unfavorable to the 
 Government should afterwards arise, from whatever 
 source or if any disastrous event should unhappily
 
 THE PILGRIM-TAX. 359 
 
 occur, the religious spark which lay concealed will 
 then show itself, and may produce a flame which it 
 will be difficult, if not impossible, to extinguish. 
 
 Military salutes, parades, and other demonstra- 
 tions in honor of particular anniversaries, cannot of 
 course be altogether dispensed with ; but it will not 
 be difficult to divest them of such a religious cha- 
 racter as might suggest to our native troops the 
 same scruples which have been felt by our own coun- 
 trymen when called upon to take part in a cere- 
 monial inconsistent with what they believe to be 
 their religious duties. 
 
 3rd Question. The Pilgrim-tax descended to us 
 from the native Governments ; and it has been con- 
 tinued more with reference to objects of police, than 
 with the view of augmenting the public resources. 
 
 When the settlement of Behar was concluded in 
 1780-81 for five years, with the Rajahs Kulliam 
 Singh, and Khgaliram, the duty on pilgrims resorting 
 to Gyah constituted a branch of the " Sayer," and 
 was managed as such by a Mussulman agent, or 
 farmer. This person is represented to have been 
 guilty of great extortion and oppression; and in 
 1784 the then collector* induced the Government to 
 commit the charge of the collections to his hands ; 
 and from that time the tax has been collected under 
 the superintendence of our revenue servants, much 
 to the contentment, I believe, of the pilgrims and of 
 the Hindoo population generally, who attach much 
 
 * Mr. Thomas Law, a very estimable officer, the son of a bishop, and bro- 
 ther of two bishops. H. St.G. T. [See pott, page 376.]
 
 360 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 importance to the pilgrimage to Gyah, as an act of 
 piety towards deceased ancestors. 
 
 The question to be considered is simply whether 
 the Pilgrim-tax can justly be regarded as connecting 
 the Government with the worship of idols, and as 
 encouraging idolatrous worship ; and whether the 
 revenue derived from such a source can be received 
 and appropriated by the British Government with- 
 out compromising its Christian character. 
 
 I will readily concede that a tax on religion, ex- 
 cept for the purpose of providing for its service, and 
 of defraying the expense of maintaining its temples 
 and priesthood, cannot be justified ; and I consider 
 it unworthy of a great Government to levy contri- 
 butions from the religious feelings of its subjects of 
 any description. 
 
 But this is not the objection which has been urged 
 against the tax. It has been represented as involv- 
 ing pollution : it is contended that the funds levied 
 from so impure a source cannot be applied to public 
 purposes by a Christian Government without moral 
 contamination, while the imposition of the tax itself 
 is calculated to promote idolatrous worship. 
 
 In general, it has been supposed that the per- 
 formance of any act is likely to be discouraged by 
 pecuniary impositions ; but in the particular case of 
 the Pilgrim-tax, I am disposed to think that it is 
 willingly, if not cheerfully paid, as the means of ob- 
 taining security to the person and property of the 
 pilgrim, as well as free access to the object of his 
 worship. It is held to be a pledge of. protection on
 
 THE PILGRIM-TAX. 361 
 
 the part of the Government ; but I cannot believe 
 that the tax itself encourages the resort to the 
 temple. If the same protection were afforded with- 
 out its concomitant, I cannot satisfy myself that 
 the pilgrimage would be less frequently undertaken ; 
 although we do sometimes find instances of that 
 perverseness in human nature which causes men 
 to disregard and undervalue objects which are easily 
 attainable, and to pursue with ardor those which 
 cannot be reached without difficulty and expense. 
 
 Nor can I think that the contributions of the pil- 
 grims, in the shape of a duty or tax, may not be 
 applied, with perfect propriety, to the benefit of the 
 contributors, by constructing roads, bridges, serais, 
 and other works tending to promote their comfort 
 and accommodation. We do not, it is true, disburse 
 the identical rupees received from the pilgrim for 
 this express purpose ; but we expend a much larger 
 sum annually on such objects than the Pilgrim-tax 
 produces ; and if it be desirable to make such special 
 application of the funds, an arrangement for the pur- 
 pose can, no doubt, be made, without involving any 
 pecuniary sacrifice, and without the interposition of 
 European agency, either in collecting the tax, or in 
 appropriating the proceeds. The primary object of 
 such appropriation should certainly be to maintain 
 the necessary establishments for preserving order, 
 and for protecting the person and property of the 
 pilgrim ; and in reality a large portion of the funds 
 collected has been applied to this purpose at Jugur- 
 nath and other places.
 
 362 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 I have always been of opinion that the British 
 Government should abstain from all interference in 
 the interior management of the temples. It was 
 clearly unbecoming in us to undertake the office of 
 superintending the administration of Jugurnath, by 
 directing the supply of food and clothing for the idol, 
 and by engaging in other details of the kind ; but all 
 this was intended to prevent malversation and abuse ; 
 and the following section of Regulation IV., 1809, 
 will show that our Government, at an early period 
 after the conquest of Cuttack, judged it proper to 
 withdraw from interference in the internal affairs of 
 the temple. Section 2, clause 1st " The superin- 
 tendence of the temple of Jugurnath, and its interior 
 economy the conduct and management of its affairs 
 and the control over the priests, officers, and ser- 
 vants attached to the temple, are hereby invested in 
 the Rajah of Khoordah, who on all occasions shall be 
 guided by the recorded rules and institutions of the 
 temple, or by ancient and established usage." 
 
 At Gyah the Government have never interfered in 
 the administration of the temples ; the public ser- 
 vants being employed only to collect the regulated 
 fees from the pilgrim, or from the Gyawals, or tra- 
 velling priests who attend him ; but even this office, 
 I admit, might be committed with advantage to 
 Hindoo agency. There are to be found, both among 
 the Zemindars and the opulent natives at the presi- 
 dency, many respectable Hindoos, who might be em- 
 ployed in superintending the collection of the tax, 
 and its subsequent appropriation to such public pur-
 
 THE PILGRIM-TAX. 363 
 
 poses as may be most conducive to the safety and 
 comfort of the pilgrim, and to the convenience of 
 the community generally. Such an arrangement 
 would probably be popular with the Hindoos ; and 
 it would, I hope, satisfy the religious scruples of our 
 own countrymen, who view the tax as unhallowed, 
 and as disgraceful to the character of a Christian 
 Government. The sudden abolition of it, however, 
 would, I apprehend, be viewed with jealousy and 
 alarm, as indicating an intention to divest ourselves 
 of the obligation of protection, and to hold ourselves 
 free to overthrow, at some convenient season, the 
 Hindoo religion itself. Our native subjects will not 
 easily comprehend that the British Government can 
 relinquish revenue without some ulterior design ; 
 for although the liberal policy which led us, some 
 fifty years ago, to limit our demand upon the land, 
 commanded for a time their admiration, they have 
 since seen a strong disposition to retrace our steps ; 
 as if we felt that we had made too great a pecuniary 
 sacrifice for the benefit of the people.* 
 
 The opinions which I have maintained on the sub- 
 ject of the Pilgrim-tax are not new.f I never have 
 considered religion a fit object for taxation ; but it 
 would be unjust to the Government if I failed to 
 state that they have been actuated by no sordid 
 views in continuing the tax. Their object has 
 been to regulate and restrain to prevent disorder 
 among a tumultuary assemblage of religious enthu- 
 
 * The transit duties hare lately been abolished bj the unauthorised act of 
 an individual; but compensation was contemplated in an augmentation of 
 the duties on external commerce. U. St.G. T. 
 
 f An earlier paper on the subject is given at page 375.
 
 364 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 siasts to check the extortions and violence of the 
 priests to protect the lives of multitudes, who 
 throng from all quarters, and undertake long and 
 toilsome journeys to be present at the periodical 
 festivals and, finally, I may observe, that the small 
 contribution levied from the pilgrim is intended to 
 provide a fund for defraying the various expenses 
 which are incurred for his benefit. Let me add, 
 that the tax was not instituted by us : we found it 
 already established. The Mahomedan Government 
 could never have regarded it as tending to promote 
 superstition, or to encourage idolatrous worship. 
 The Mussulman is a professed Iconoclast ; he ab- 
 hors the worship of images ; and the faith in which 
 he glories would lead him to destroy the temple of 
 the persecuted Hindoos to overthrow their altars 
 and to compel them to abandon the religion of their 
 fathers. And how has he succeeded ? The Ma- 
 homedan power is extinct in India; and in every 
 other quarter it has been shaken to its very founda- 
 tions, and stands at this moment like a pyramid 
 poised upon its apex, ready to fall with the slightest 
 touch. Here we have a practical lesson before us, 
 which it would be folly to disregard. By giving way 
 to an intemperate zeal, we shall alarm the minds, 
 and alienate the affections of our Hindoo subjects ; 
 and thus endanger the success of that cause, which 
 has excited such ardent feelings in this country, and 
 which has for its object to enlighten the. minds of 
 men to extend the sphere of civilisation and to 
 bestow on countless millions the blessings of a pure 
 religion.
 
 RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS. 365 
 
 4ith Question. The vast territory of India has 
 been acquired by us partly by conquest, and partly 
 by cessions under treaty ; and throughout this ex- 
 tensive empire we found numerous religious and 
 charitable endowments, created by our predeces- 
 sors,* which considerations both of justice and of 
 policy induced us to recognise and to continue, and 
 which now stand confirmed under the formal sanc- 
 tion of lawsf enacted under the authority of the 
 British Legislature. 
 
 These endowments consist generally of lands held 
 under Sunnuds, or Puttahs, granted by the former 
 Governments or their officers; and in some in- 
 stances by the Zemindars, who alienated portions of 
 their estates, and assigned them to Brahmins and 
 others, for religious and charitable purposes. 
 
 These various grants we cannot now resume, with- 
 out a violation of public faith, by any other process 
 than that which the law prescribes. Inquiries have 
 frequently been instituted into the nature of the 
 tenures, which in very many instances have been 
 resumed ; and far from admitting that the British 
 Government would be justified in seizing and appro- 
 priating the existing endowments on the plea that 
 they tend to support a false religion, there is reason 
 to apprehend that we have pushed our resumptions 
 far beyond those limits which justice, policy, and 
 humanity alike recommend. 
 
 The Government is sometimes compelled by cir- 
 
 * See Regulations 19 and 37 and 411793. 
 t See Act 37th Geo. III., cap. 113, iec. 8.
 
 366 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 cumstances to employ its servants in the manage- 
 ment of the alienated lands ; but this course is not 
 pursued from choice : it is rendered sometimes ne- 
 cessary for the preservation of the property, and in 
 cases of litigation the intervention of a disinte- 
 rested party becomes necessary to prevent violence 
 and to guard against waste. 
 
 These endowments are as much a property as the 
 Church lands of England ; and they are liable to be 
 contested as such in our Courts of Justice. Even the 
 possession of an idol, or the performance of some re- 
 ligious ceremony in the temples, may become the 
 subject-matter of litigation ; and, however strange 
 the proposition may appear to persons in this coun- 
 try, I submit that we are bound to entertain such 
 suits. We have formally guaranteed to the people 
 the maintenance of all rights exercised under their 
 religion, laws, and established usages. We cannot 
 shut the doors of our Courts against claims derived 
 from these sources, however extravagant they may 
 appear in our eyes ; and we could not, without 
 endangering the public peace, and compromising 
 our duty as rulers, permit our subjects of any creed 
 to resort to personal violence for the purpose of de- 
 ciding their adverse pretensions. Our tribunals 
 have been established for the common good our 
 laws have been framed for the protection of the per- 
 son, and for the preservation of the rights of all our 
 subjects and we cannot expect to command their 
 allegiance one hour after we shall cease to perform 
 our own duty as sovereigns, and to respect those
 
 RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS. 367 
 
 solemn obligations which we have contracted with 
 the people of India. 
 
 I may further observe that, in a country where 
 there are no " Poor Laws," the religious and chari- 
 table endowments bequeathed to us by our prede- 
 cessors, supply their place to some extent as a pro- 
 vision for the poor ; just as our monasteries, and 
 other religious establishments before the Reforma- 
 tion, contributed to the maintenance of the indigent 
 and destitute, and furnished those means of support 
 which are now supplied by contributions from the 
 community at large. 
 
 One word on the character of the Hindoo, who has 
 been depicted in the most offensive colors, as debased 
 by an abject superstition addicted to the most odious 
 vices profligate faithless cruel and corrupt. 
 
 My own recollections would not lead me to recog- 
 nise this picture. In an immense population very 
 much diversified in many particulars, characters of 
 every description will, no doubt, be found. The in- 
 tellectual Hindoo is a pure Deist, entertaining the 
 most sublime notions of the attributes of the Deity. 
 The religion of the great mass of the people is super- 
 stitious and idolatrous ; but, in the common concerns 
 of life, I have found the Hindoo mild and patient 
 temperate in his habits generally faithful to his 
 trust susceptible of the feeling of gratitude intel- 
 ligent and, under certain excitements, capable of 
 heroic action. His vices are mainly to be referred to 
 the conniptions of his religion, and to the baneful 
 influence of the despotic Government to which he
 
 368 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 lias for ages been subject. The abominations imputed 
 to the priesthood can scarcely have been witnessed 
 by pure eyes; nor ought the report or rumour of 
 such things to be lightly received and credited by 
 sober minds, passing as such rumours must have done 
 through channels very suspicious, if not corrupt. 
 
 Erom these premises, which have been the subject 
 of loner reflection, and which have, I trust, been sub- 
 
 O * w 9 
 
 mitted without exaggeration in the calm spirit of 
 truth, I would deduce the following conclusions : 
 
 1st. That the British Government is bound by the 
 most formal compact to protect its native subjects, 
 of whatever creed or sect, in the full and free exer- 
 cise of their religion ; and that it cannot with safety 
 identify itself with any proceedings which have for 
 their declared object to eflPect the conversion of the 
 people of India to Christianity. 
 
 2nd. That the practice of firing complimentary 
 salutes on particular festivals, which has partially 
 prevailed, as well as the attendance of individuals of 
 one religion on the processions and ceremonials of 
 another, may hereafter be dispensed with ; but that 
 the time and manner of discontinuing these observ- 
 ances must be left to the discretion of the local 
 Government. 
 
 3rd. That the collection and appropriation of the 
 Pilgrim-tax to objects of public utility may be com- 
 mitted to the agency of respectable Hindoos, to be 
 nominated from time to time by the local Govern- 
 ment; but that it will be still necessary for the 
 Government to reserve to itself a general power of
 
 THE LEX LOCI. 369 
 
 regulation and control, in order to guard against a 
 misapplication of the funds, or other abuse. 
 
 Lastly. That the British Government is bound to 
 respect the religious and charitable endowments, 
 which constitute a charge upon the territory, either 
 under treaty, or under the sanction of existing laws ; 
 and that they cannot, as sovereigns, divest them- 
 selves of the obligation to protect this, in common 
 with every other property, for the benefit of those 
 who have acquired a legal title to it. 
 
 If these premises be admitted, it will not be diffi- 
 cult to frame a despatch to India, embodying the 
 principles which it has been my purpose to expound 
 and enforce and prescribing the manner in which 
 the necessary arrangements for giving effect to them 
 should be carried out by the local Government. 
 
 CTJESORY NOTES ON THE LEX LOCI QUESTION. 
 
 [This paper, written in 1846, though it relates principally to legal and judi- 
 cial matters, may not inappropriately be brought into the present section, 
 as the leading subject discussed is the vexed question of the propriety of 
 retaining, or abrogating, the Hindoo law of inheritance, with all its bigotry, 
 its persecution, and its injustice.] 
 
 Jt is agreed on all hands that Hindoos and Ma- 
 homedans must continue, as at present, to be subject 
 to their own law. In fact, this is guaranteed to them 
 by our regulations, recognised and sanctioned as 
 those regulations are by an Act of the Legislature. 
 
 But, then, a question arises whether, if a Hindoo 
 or Mussulman embrace the Christian faith, any for- 
 feiture of hereditary civil rights shall be incurred ? 
 
 VOL. i. 2 B
 
 370 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 It appears to me that a change of religion ought 
 not to involve penal consequences. A Hindoo, enti- 
 tled to an inheritance, ought not to forfeit his here- 
 ditary rights ; biit he ought not, on the other hand, 
 to claim new rights under the English law. For 
 example : the daughter of a Hindoo might be enti- 
 tled only to take a half share with her brothers, in 
 cases where, by our law, she would take a full share. 
 Now, all she can justly claim, I think, is that which 
 the Hindoo law would give her. 
 
 Nor do I think that the Hindoo parent should be 
 restrained from exercising his right to dispose of his 
 property by will, gift, or otherwise, in those cases 
 which his law recognises and allows, even to the 
 exclusion of his children, whom he may regard as 
 apostates. 
 
 But there are two other classes to be dealt with : 
 
 1st. Foreigners, Armenians, Jews, Chinese, Par- 
 sees, and others. The number of these persons is 
 not considerable, and they must, in general, be sub- 
 ject to the lex loci (just as foreigners, resorting to 
 France, are subject to the laws of that country), 
 both in civil and criminal cases, except in matters 
 relating to their religion, and their rights of inhe- 
 ritance. I do not apprehend that any difficulty can 
 be experienced in legislating for these parties. 
 
 2nd. European British subjects, and their de- 
 scendants, the " Indo-Britons." 
 
 For the protection of these persons, and for the 
 protection of the natives of India against them, her 
 Majesty's Courts of Justice were established in 1774
 
 THE LEX LOCI. 371 
 
 at the three presidencies ; and if these Courts had 
 been confined to the original objects for which they 
 were instituted, they would have proved a blessing 
 to the country. 
 
 But our territory has been so widely extended, and 
 the number of Europeans and their descendants has 
 been multiplied so greatly, that it would be highly 
 inconvenient to bring down all cases affecting them, 
 both civil and criminal, to the Supreme Courts at 
 the presidency. The expense, and the personal in- 
 convenience to parties and to witnesses, would be 
 intolerable. 
 
 Our local regulations (the code of 1793, ct seq.) 
 provide, to a certain extent, against this inconve- 
 nience ; and one of the objects contemplated in the 
 institution of the Law Commission, was to obtain a 
 code, or digest of law, which should supply existing 
 deficiencies, and be applicable to those cases and 
 objects which our present code could not reach. 
 
 A penal code, or digest, has been prepared and 
 submitted by the Law Commission, of the merits of 
 which I am not competent to judge ; but I may ob- 
 serve, that it appears to me to bear more the cha- 
 racter of a legal dictionary, or philosophical treatise 
 on criminal law, with examples in illustration of the 
 definitions, after the manner of Johnson's folio ; but 
 whatever be its merits, or defects, it ought to be dis- 
 posed of in some way, after so much labor and ex- 
 pense have been bestowed upon it, and after it has 
 been for such a length of time under consideration. 
 
 Sir Lawrence Peel has tendered his services to 
 
 2u2
 
 372 H1NDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 prepare a code, or digest of law, applicable to the 
 wants of India ; and it cannot be doubted that, from 
 his talents and professional attainments, the work 
 would be well performed. But it would scarcely be 
 fair to accept his gratuitous services, especially when 
 we have a functionary (the fourth member of Coun- 
 cil), whose special duty it is to prepare all acts of 
 the Legislative Council of India. 
 
 Should a vacancy occur, it may be well to consider 
 whether the services of Sir L. Peel might not be 
 advantageously employed as a member of the In- 
 dian Legislature, with the express view of obtaining, 
 through his means, such a code, or digest of law, as 
 he contemplates. 
 
 I will not advert to the controversial discussions 
 which have taken place between Sir T. H. Maddock 
 on the one side, and Messrs. Cameron and Millett 
 on the other ; but I may observe, generally, that a 
 code of laws, intended for India, should be as clear 
 and simple as possible, both with reference to the 
 character, habits, and circumstances of the people, 
 and with reference, also, to the machinery* (the 
 civil service of India) by which those laws are to 
 be administered. Sir L. Peel remarks that the laws 
 relating to real property (the most intricate part of 
 our system) will not be required for India, where 
 houses, &c., are dealt with as chattels. This will 
 relieve us from much difficulty ; and I should hope 
 
 * Some years ago I suggested that a portion of our civilians, who might 
 manifest an aptitude for the study of law, should be detained in this country 
 for two years, for the purpose of attending our Courts, and of qualifying 
 themselves otherwise for the exercise of judicial functions. H. St.G. T.
 
 THE LEX LOCI. 373 
 
 that, without materially departing from the prin- 
 ciples recognised in the Regulations of 1793, a useful 
 code might be framed, suitable to the wants and cir- 
 cumstances of the people, without much difficulty. 
 
 The Law of Evidence has attained a degree of re- 
 finement in this country which we cannot hope to 
 reach in India ; but what we want are some plain, 
 intelligible rules, dictated by reason and common 
 sense, and divested, as far as possible, of techni- 
 calities. 
 
 With respect to European British subjects, it will 
 be contended that they must have trial by jury 
 their birthright. When monarchs were despotic, 
 judges arbitrary or obsequious, and when an inde- 
 pendent and intelligent bar was wanting, trial by 
 jury afforded, no doubt, security to the subject in 
 person and property ; but, in the present state of 
 society, I can scarcely fancy any worse tribunal, 
 guided, as it often is, by prejudice, ignorance, and 
 caprice. One bad man in a panel is sufficient to de- 
 feat the ends of justice. 
 
 Still, if the public feeling be too strong to admit 
 of the application of the lex loci to European British 
 subjects in criminal cases, there would seem to be 
 no alternative but to bring them within the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Supreme Court, at whatever inconveni- 
 ence; for, even in our largest provincial cities, it 
 would not be practicable to command the services of 
 a British jury. 
 
 The Mahomedan Law was recognised and con- 
 tinued by us as the criminal law of the country, be-
 
 374 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 cause we found it established by our predecessors ; 
 and it was administered for some years by the Naib 
 Nazim (Mahomed Reza Khan), assisted by district 
 Maulavies. It was, however, soon found necessary 
 to modify it. The punishment by mutilation was 
 abolished. Decut (or the price of blood) and 
 Kissaas (the right of retaliation) were superseded; 
 and other alterations were introduced, to render it 
 less repugnant to English feeling. 
 
 In its present state, it perhaps answers its pur- 
 pose, as applicable to the native population, and 
 especially the Mahomedan portion of it; but we 
 cannot submit European British subjects to the 
 Eutwah of a Mussulman doctor, who is guided by 
 the opinions of the four commentators on the Koran, 
 without outraging the national feeling. 
 
 It would appear to result that, for the population 
 generally, a local code, founded upon the existing 
 Regulations, will answer every necessary and useful 
 purpose; but that an exception must be made in 
 favor of European British subjects, who claim, and 
 who must be considered to be entitled to, the benefit 
 of their own laws. 
 
 They have been made amenable to the Zillah, or 
 District Courts, to a certain limited amount for civil 
 contracts ; and this is matter of convenience to all 
 parties. It is also essential that the natives of In- 
 dia should enjoy the right of appealing to her Ma- 
 jesty's Courts, for relief and protection against Eu- 
 ropeans for all wrongs (civil or criminal) committed 
 by the latter ; but, on the other hand, while admit-
 
 THE PILGRIM-TAX. 375 
 
 ting our native subjects universally into the Supreme 
 Courts for the redress of all wrongs, as plaintiffs, I 
 would not force them in any case, nor allow them 
 to be forced, into those courts as defendants, when 
 all parties aggrieved have it in their power to prose- 
 cute in the courts to which they are properly ame- 
 nable under their own laws. 
 
 THE PILGRIM-TAX. 
 
 [Written in 1832.] 
 
 I am generally of opinion that public taxes should 
 be levied for general purposes, without regard to 
 local or particular objects ; but I think that excep- 
 tions may sometimes be made in the application of 
 this rule ; and the tax on pilgrims is one which ap- 
 pears to me to be of a character which should take 
 it out of the ordinary course. 
 
 I have always felt that there was something in 
 the tax unworthy of a great Government. The duty 
 levied on the pilgrims resorting to Jugurnath, is 
 not strictly a source of revenue : it is rather a tax 
 of regulation ; and the whole amount collected has 
 been expended in constructing and keeping in repair 
 the public road, and in other objects connected with 
 the support of the temple. 
 
 The duty levied on the pilgrimage to Gyah (an act 
 of filial piety towards deceased parents) constituted 
 a branch of the Sayer; and when the province of 
 Behar was let in farm (in 1780 or 1781), the Sayer 
 duties of Gyah were sub-let to a Mussulman, who is
 
 376 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 represented to have been very oppressive and extor- 
 tionate, and to have discouraged, by his violence and 
 exactions, the resort of pilgrims to that city. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Law, who was appointed to the 
 charge of the district on the expiration of the farm- 
 ing settlement, brought the subject of the Sayer, in 
 1785, under the notice of the Board of Revenue, and 
 proposed various measures for the improvement of 
 the revenue, and for regulating the tax on pilgrims 
 in particular ; and on the 10th May of that year, 
 the Government, on the recommendation of the 
 Board, passed a resolution, granting to Mr. Law one 
 moiety of any increase which might be effected in 
 the Sayer, by his exertions, beyond the amount of 
 the existing receipts, which were stated at the time 
 not to exceed the sum of 30,000 rupees per annum. 
 
 Under such powerful encouragement, the Collector 
 may be supposed to have made extraordinary exer- 
 tions to improve the Sayer. The duties, or fees, 
 payable on the performance of the different ceremo- 
 nials were fixed on a moderate scale. The proceed- 
 ings of the Gyahwals, or itinerant priests, who collect 
 and conduct the pilgrims to Gyah, were placed under 
 wholesome restraint, all undue exactions were pre- 
 vented, means were provided for the accommoda- 
 tion of the pilgrims, and for the protection of their 
 persons and property, and, in a short time, they 
 nocked to Gyah in great numbers, especially from 
 the Mahratta territory. Indeed, the Princess 
 Ahilya Bhye, the heroine of Sir John Malcolm's 
 history, was induced to build a splendid temple at
 
 THE PILGRIM-TAX. 377 
 
 that place, at vast expense. Persons of rank and 
 opulence undertook the pilgrimage from all parts of 
 the Mahratta country; and the Collector's arrange- 
 ment had at least the effect of raising to a condition 
 of great prosperity one of our most ancient cities, 
 the object of peculiar veneration to our Hindoo 
 subjects. 
 
 The revenue drawn from the duties on pilgrims at 
 Gyah amounts at present to about 2,20,000 rupees 
 per annum ; and the collections at Allahabad, at the 
 confluence of the Jumna and Ganges, amount to 
 about 80,000 rupees ; and these sums are appro- 
 priated to public purposes in the. same manner as 
 other branches of the revenue. 
 
 Now, what I would presume to suggest is that 
 the surplus collections at the different places of pil- 
 grimage, including Jugurnath (amounting at present 
 to about 4,00,000 rupees per annum), should be 
 placed under the management of a committee or 
 committees of respectable Hindoos, to be selected by 
 the Governor-General in Council that they should 
 lie authorised and required to appropriate the amount 
 at their discretion, in the construction and repair 
 of roads and bridges, in maintaining the Hindoo 
 shrines and temples, in digging tanks, sinking wells, 
 planting avenues of trees, constructing serais, and in 
 other works calculated to promote the comfort of the 
 Hindoo population who pay the tax. 
 
 2nd. That our interference in the internal regula- 
 tions of the temple at Jugurnath be entirely with- 
 drawn ; and that its concerns be left to the manage-
 
 378 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ment of the priesthood, our Government strictly 
 confining itself to the duty of protecting the persons 
 and property of the pilgrims, by such regulations of 
 police as may from time to time be found necessary 
 for that purpose. 
 
 3rd. That the committee or committees of respect- 
 able Hindoos, whose appointment might be made for 
 a limited period, and be revocable at the pleasure 
 of the Governor- General in Council, be required to 
 submit annually to Government an account showing 
 their receipts, and the manner in which the amount 
 shall have been disbursed in promoting the objects 
 contemplated in the arrangement. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that the Hindoos are 
 by no means desirous that the tax on pilgrims should 
 be abolished ; although levied and appropriated by 
 foreigners of a different religion. Lord W. Bentinck 
 mentions the fact, and my own recollections lead me 
 to the same conclusion. This circumstance is surely 
 very creditable to us, for it shows that great modera- 
 tion has been observed, and that the people are really 
 sensible that our main object has been to protect 
 them in the performance of their ceremonies and 
 observances, without interfering with the rites of 
 their religion. Still, however, it appears to me that 
 they would be highly gratified by our committing 
 the collection of the duties to respectable individuals 
 of the same faith; and by our appropriating the 
 annual receipts to objects and purposes connected 
 with the immediate comfort and well-being of the 
 Hindoo community.
 
 THE PILGRIM-TAX. 379 
 
 I have another view in proposing that we should 
 relinquish the tax and withdraw from all inter- 
 ference in the management of the temple at Jugur- 
 nath. There are many estimable persons in this 
 country who consider such interference as compro- 
 mising the character of a Christian, and who cannot 
 reconcile themselves to the idea of our drawing a 
 revenue from what they esteem an impure and un- 
 hallowed source. We ought, no doubt, as far as 
 possible, to pay deference to religious scruples which 
 are founded on a high conscientious feeling ; and, by 
 adopting my proposition, I conceive that every just 
 and reasonable concession will have been made to 
 the feelings of the most scrupulous. I cannot believe 
 that any Christian would wish us to allow our 
 Hindoo subjects to be plundered and tortured, as 
 they are represented to have been at a former period, 
 merely that they may experience the deplorable 
 effects of superstition. The true way to wean men 
 from the practice of superstitious rites, is surely not 
 by exposing them to the evils attending superstitious 
 observances. They are little acquainted with the 
 Hindoo character who fancy that a Hindoo enthu- 
 siast can be terrified, or deterred from his purpose, 
 by any array of physical evil. He voluntarily sub- 
 jects himself to the most painful penances on the 
 slightest occasions. 
 
 But it may be said that the Government will still 
 derive indirectly all the benefit of the Pilgrim-tax, 
 inasmuch as the collections will be applied to pur- 
 poses for which provision must otherwise be made
 
 380 HINDOOISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 from some other branch of the revenue. Such will 
 not be the case. My proposition is to appropriate 
 the receipts to objects which would not otherwise be 
 provided for. The few public works which we have 
 executed in Bengal have been undertaken generally 
 for the improvement of the public revenue and our 
 commercial interests, or to promote the health, com- 
 fort, and convenience of Europeans* My wish is to 
 do something for our native subjects, or to allow 
 them to do something for themselves, by appropri- 
 ating their voluntary contributions in the manner 
 most agreeable to themselves, to objects in which 
 they may take an interest. 
 
 I am glad to avail myself of so fair an occasion to 
 record my sentiments on the subject of the tax on 
 pilgrims. I have never been friendly to it as an 
 object of revenue ; and I have always considered 
 our interference in the internal economy of the 
 temple at Jugurnath as altogether unsuitable to 
 the character and proper functions of the British 
 Government, f 
 
 * This was written in 1832, and must be regarded only in its application 
 to Bengal. Mr. Tucker was of opinion (see a subsequent paper at page 424) 
 that roads were not essential for commercial purposes in Bengal Proper, 
 which enjoys the advantages of riYer-communication throughout nearly its 
 whole extent. 
 
 f It will have been observed that some of the statements and arguments 
 contained in a preceding paper on " Religious Ceremonies and Endowments," 
 are repeated in the above document but it contains so much besides of a 
 practical character, in connexion with the Pilgrim-tax, that it has been given 
 with little or no abbreviation.
 
 381 
 
 FINANCE. 
 
 [If there was one subject upon which, more than upon others, Mr. Tucker 
 spoke with especial authority, it was that of Indian Finance. It would be no 
 exaggeration to say that he was the ablest financier who has ever gone out to 
 India. His early connexion with the East India Company was mainly in the 
 capacity of a finance officer; and such was the estimation in which he was 
 held by Lord Cornwallis and Sir George Barlow, that he was called from the 
 counting-house of the private merchant to resume his place in the civil service 
 of the Company, and as Accountant-General to regulate and re-invigorate the 
 financial condition of the empire, which had been so disordered and debilitated 
 by the Mahratta wars at the commencement of the present century. There 
 are among Mr. Tucker's papers a vast number of very able documents, 
 ranging in date over more than half a century, but so many of them, relating 
 to a bygone state of things, have been necessarily excluded, that it is feared 
 the present selaction will afford but a very imperfect picture of Mr. Tucker's 
 merits as a financier.] 
 
 EXCHANGE OPERATIONS HOME REMITTANCES. 
 
 [Written in 1848.] 
 
 IT will be readily admitted that the annual tri- 
 bute from India, amounting to from 3,700,000. to 
 4,000,000., can only be remitted by means of the 
 export trade from that country ; in other words, 
 India can only pay her public debt by her produce 
 and manufactures, exported either directly to the 
 mother country, or indirectly through China and 
 other countries having commercial relations with 
 Great Britain.
 
 382 FINANCE. 
 
 But the public tribute is not all which India has 
 to pay. The private fortunes which Europeans ac- 
 quire in that country must also be remitted, sooner 
 or later ; and they may be roughly estimated at 
 half a million sterling, on an average of years. 
 India must further pay for her annual imports from 
 Europe and other quarters, which cannot be esti- 
 mated at less than 3,000,0002. or 4,000,0002. ; so 
 that a remittance, by means of her produce and 
 manufactures, is annually required, to the extent of 
 not less than eight millions sterling. 
 
 And what is the present condition of her export 
 trade, which is relied upon to furnish such a re- 
 mittance ? It is notoriously in a state of absolute 
 stagnation. Very few, if any, articles of import 
 from India, during the last year, have yielded a 
 profit, or obtained remunerating prices. Upon the 
 article of sugar a loss has very generally been sus- 
 tained to the extent of at least 25 per cent. ; and 
 the derangement produced by the fall of the princi- 
 pal houses engaged in the trade, both in this coun- 
 try and at Calcutta, has been such as to produce, 
 apparently, a temporary suspension of the commerce 
 with India. 
 
 And it is under these circumstances that the 
 Court expect to realise funds by lowering the ex- 
 change of their bills on India. For what purpose 
 are these bills likely to be required ? 
 
 1st. They may be taken to remit back funds 
 already realised in this country ; but as it is well 
 known that the bills drawn on the consignments of
 
 REMITTANCES. 383 
 
 last year could not generally be paid, there can be 
 little, if any, surplus to remit back. 
 
 2nd. Our bills may be called for to purchase in 
 India and China the produce and manufactures of 
 those countries in the ensuing year. I believe that 
 funds will be required in China for the purchase of 
 tea, which we must have ; but our bills for that 
 purpose have heretofore been taken at a much 
 higher exchange, and have been applied to settle 
 the account between the importers of opium and 
 the exporters of tea with great advantage. 
 
 3rd. Our bills may be taken, as a commercial 
 speculation, at the present low exchange, in the 
 expectation that the proceeds may be remitted back 
 from India at a profit. This certainly was done in 
 1845, on the reduction of the exchange to Is. 9d. ; 
 but circumstances are widely different at the present 
 moment. 
 
 There is not at present the slightest ground for 
 assuming that capital will be remitted to India on 
 such a speculation, when it can be so advantageously 
 employed on the spot ; and when, after the recent 
 failures, there is so much reason to apprehend that 
 it could not be brought back in safety, or without 
 loss. And I may observe further, that, even if there 
 were disposable capital in this city, likely to be em- 
 barked in such a speculation, that capital, when 
 remitted back from India (which sooner or later it 
 will be), must come into competition with us as 
 remitters, whether by bills on hypothecation, or by
 
 384 FINANCE. 
 
 consignments of bullion, or otherwise. This fact 
 seems to have been altogether overlooked by the 
 Court. The sale of a bill in the present year in 
 London may interfere with the purchase of a bill 
 next year in Calcutta ; so that the difficulty is only 
 postponed. Those who purchased our bills in 1845, 
 were remitters in competition with us in 1846 a 
 fact which has come under my personal observation. 
 
 When a statesman encounters a difficulty, he 
 naturally applies himself to trace the cause, and to 
 discover the best means of removing it. 
 
 Our difficulty in the present case arises from the 
 circumstance that a remittance to India is not wanted 
 that there is nothing to remit ; and this difficulty, 
 I apprehend, is not likely to be overcome by tamper- 
 ing with the exchange. But I am told " we must 
 follow the market." If it be meant that we must 
 be governed by the operations of a few bill-brokers 
 and money-dealers, I demur to the dictum. A great 
 and influential body ought to lead rather than to 
 follow the market by which I understand, gene- 
 rally, the adjustment of the supply to the demand, 
 both in exchange and in other financial operations. 
 Had we acted upon this dictum in India, our Go- 
 vernment at the present day might have been paying 
 an interest of 10* or 12 per cent, per annum, for 
 
 * We raised a loan in 1798-99 at 10 per cent, per annum, irredeemable for 
 ten years! In March, 1801, our 12 per cent, treasury notes bore a discount 
 of 3 and 4 per cent., although payable in the August following. In a very 
 short space the interest on those notes was reduced to 6 per cent, and a 
 fraction per annum, and circulated at par at that rate, but not, certainly, " by 
 following the market." H. St.G. T.
 
 REMITTANCES. 385 
 
 such I have known them to pay they might have 
 been purchasing silver with gold, by paying a high 
 premium, for such also I have known to have been 
 done* during a series of years; and they might 
 have been purchasing bills, or Hoondies, for com- 
 mercial advances, and for the payment of the troops 
 in the interior, by paying a Hoondean, or difference 
 of exchange of 2 or 2 J per cent. ; whereas our in- 
 ternal remittances are now effected without loss, and 
 generally with an advantage, either in the exchange, 
 or in the saving of time. 
 
 I need scarcely urge that frequent alterations in 
 our rates of exchange are, as far as possible, to be 
 avoided; since they produce uncertainty in the 
 operations of the merchant, and they indicate a 
 want of foresight, or an infirmity of purpose on our 
 part. I must, moreover, remind the Court that, in 
 lowering the exchange from Is. lOd. to Is. 9d., we 
 virtually impose upon India an addition to her an- 
 nual tribute of about 200,0002. ; and we also, indi- 
 rectly, cause a reduction in the fortunes of our 
 servants and others, which are realised ultimately 
 in this country, in probably the same proportion. 
 
 The theory of exchanges is fully discussed, and, I 
 think, developed, in the financial despatch from 
 Bengal, bearing date the 23rd August, 1809 (para- 
 graphs 57 to 121) ; and, after an experience of 
 nearly half a century, I adhere to the principles laid 
 
 * See Sir John Shore's very elaborate minute on this subject, recorded on 
 the Bengal proceedings of the 3rd October, 1796. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 C
 
 386 FINANCE. 
 
 down in that despatch, and have acted upon them in 
 my public capacity. 
 
 I may he asked, no douht (and I have been asked), 
 in what manner I would propose to supply our home 
 treasury, if not by reducing our exchange ? But, 
 without insisting that he who points out a wrong 
 course, or would avoid an impracticable road, is not 
 necessarily bound to find an easy path, I am pre- 
 pared to state that I have for some time past been 
 anxiously engaged in examining this question, and 
 I have done all in my power to arrive at a satisfac- 
 tory solution of it ; but, if the present distressed 
 state of the trade with India should unhappily con- 
 tinue, I unhesitatingly say that there is no remedy 
 for the evil. 
 
 I certainly would not recommend an extension of 
 oiH* remittances in bullion ; for our first remittance 
 has already occasioned some uneasiness in Calcutta ; 
 and, as I have elsewhere observed, " a remittance in 
 specie, or bullion, cannot be resorted to with advan- 
 tage, except for the purpose of adjusting a balance 
 on the commercial and political debts and credits of 
 two or more countries ; and I can state, from my 
 own experience, that any large abstraction of the 
 precious metals from India is likely to occasion great 
 public inconvenience. That country possesses no 
 mines of those metals the importations have much 
 diminished of late, as our Mint records and other 
 accounts tend to show there is an exportation to 
 the countries beyond the Jumna, in payment for 
 salt and other articles no inconsiderable amount
 
 REMITTANCES. 387 
 
 is absorbed in the manufacture of plate, trinkets, 
 &c., by the natives and our metallic currency is 
 little assisted by a paper currency, which cannot 
 enter largely into the very minute transactions of 
 the native population, and which is liable to expose 
 them, from their ignorance, to frauds and imposi- 
 tions. Under these circumstances, I can state con- 
 fidently that we cannot often have recourse to a re- 
 mittance in specie, or bullion, from India, without 
 the risk of financial derangement. The wealthy na- 
 tives, under any alarm, are very apt to withhold 
 specie from circulation, and its abstraction is liable 
 to affect public credit, and to prevent the Govern- 
 ment from raising the funds that may, from time to 
 time, be required for the public service at a mode- 
 rate rate of interest. 5 * 
 
 Should the trade from India fortunately revive, 
 we may look forward to extend our remittances in 
 the ensuing season of 1848-49, by means of our ad- 
 vances on hypothecation ; and I consider this not 
 only a legitimate source of supply, but I must main- 
 tain that the operation is highly useful and bene- 
 ficial to the Indian producer and manufacturer; 
 and that it is calculated to take him out of the 
 hands of those whose agency has not always been 
 found to be safe, or to afford the necessary facilities 
 in carrying on the export trade from India. To 
 borrow from the fund set apart under the last 
 Charter Act for the ultimate redemption of our 
 stock, can never, I think, be desirable, or even justi- 
 fiable ; for it would tend to affect the value of that 
 
 2c2
 
 388 FINANCE. 
 
 stock; and it would in reality be to trench upon 
 what I am disposed to regard as a trust-fund, which 
 should be held inviolate. 
 
 Nor can it be prudent, during a time of general 
 peace, to continue to borrow, either in this country 
 or in India; although, under particular circum- 
 stances, it may, no doubt, be found sometimes neces- 
 sary to extend the issue of our bonds, in order to 
 provide temporarily for the exigencies of the ser- 
 vice. 
 
 There are two important objects which should 
 engross our earnest attention. 
 
 The primary one is, to realise a surplus revenue 
 in India sufficient to meet the home expenditure 
 and the other demands of the service ; and this ob- 
 ject has not yet been accomplished, although much 
 has been done to effect a reduction in the military 
 and other charges of our Indian Governments. 
 
 The other, and more immediate object is, to pro- 
 mote, as far as possible, the means of effecting the 
 remittance of that surplus to England ; and this can 
 only be done by encouraging and extending the agri- 
 culture, the manufactures, and the external com- 
 merce of the country. It is well known that no in- 
 considerable portion of our annual remittance is 
 effected through China ; the consignments of opium 
 from Calcutta and Bombay furnishing a fund for the 
 purchase of tea, a very important article, as applica- 
 ble to the purpose of remittance to this country. The 
 late fall in the price of our opium, which must 
 seriously affect our revenue, may also circumscribe,
 
 REMITTANCES. 389 
 
 eventually, this source of supply. A remittance to 
 a small amount was also obtained, heretofore, through 
 the Mauritius : rice and other supplies sent from 
 Bengal, for the consumption of that island, being 
 ultimately paid for by bills on England ; but here, 
 too, the impoverished state of the colony may tend 
 to curtail this indirect remittance. 
 
 I have no satisfaction in referring to these unpropi- 
 tious circumstances ; but it is not the part of wisdom 
 to keep facts out of sight, and we cannot hope to 
 remedy an evil until we have ascertained its cause. 
 There are two Committees of the House of Commons 
 employed at present in inquiring into the state of our 
 colonial and Indian trade particularly in the articles 
 of sugar and cotton and I am willing to anticipate 
 much good from their labors. 
 
 Much has been done by the Court to improve and 
 extend the cultivation of cotton in our Indian terri- 
 tory ; and this national object will, I trust, sooner 
 or later be accomplished ; but we have not yet been 
 able to compete successfully with the United States 
 in the production of the article. Still, I look to it 
 ultimately not only as a valuable source of supply to 
 our manufactures, but as a fruitful source of remit- 
 tance from India to this country. 
 
 But sugar, in my opinion, is the most promising 
 article to which we can look forward; and if the 
 wisdom of the Legislature should extend to us and 
 to the British colonies suitable encouragement and 
 protection, I would confidently predict that our diffi- 
 culties with regard to remittances would soon be at
 
 390 FINANCE. 
 
 an end. In 1846 the quantity of sugar imported 
 from India was 1,432,274 cwt. ; and the gross value, 
 at 33s. 2-| d., was stated at 2,379,664. sterling ; and 
 if this price had heen maintained, or if a differential 
 duty in our favor, as against foreign produce, had 
 been continued, there cannot exist a doubt that the 
 importations from India would largely and rapidly 
 have increased, to the great benefit of our agricultural 
 population, and with great advantage to our finan- 
 cial interests. I have given my evidence before one 
 of the Committees under this impression ; and I have 
 ventured to add that the manufactures of this coun- 
 try are directly interested in promoting the export 
 trade from India ; for if Great Britain will not take 
 our sugars and other produce, India cannot purchase 
 her cottons, woollens, and metals. 
 
 I am aware that I am touching upon tender 
 ground ; and I may be thought to oppose myself 
 somewhat officiously to a popular theory ; but as the 
 doctrine which has found favor with the British 
 public within the last two years has not yet obtained 
 the sanction of experience, I may be permitted to 
 retain my own opinions. The time has, I think, 
 arrived, when our existence as an independent body 
 may depend upon the successful administration of 
 our finances. 
 
 The simple truth is, that we cannot expect to 
 replenish our home treasury by successive reduc- 
 tions in the exchange ; and if England shall declare 
 to India that she cannot extend encouragement and 
 protection to her commerce, she must be prepared
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 391 
 
 to learn that India can no longer continue to pay her 
 accustomed tribute; nor longer continue to pur- 
 chase and consume the manufactures of the mother 
 country. 
 
 INDIAN BANKS AND PAPER CURRENCY. 
 
 [In the following paper, written in 1836, Mr. Tucker refers to a project 
 entertained, about that time, for the foundation of a gigantic Banking esta- 
 blishment, under the immediate patronage of the Company, whereby all the 
 financial operations of Government might be carried on through the medium 
 of an extended paper currency. Mr. Tucker was of opinion that this exten- 
 sion of the paper currency would be fraught with the most mischievous 
 results, and that any closer connexion between Government and a Banking 
 establishment, than that already existing in the case of the Bank of Bengal, 
 in the foundation of which he himself had aided, would greatly embarrass the 
 administration and evolve a host of practical evils. He earnestly, therefore, 
 resisted the project, and it was not entertained by the Court.J 
 
 . . . . It is not only the high privilege of 
 sovereignty to supply the current coin, and to 
 stamp its value, but it is one of the most imperative 
 duties and obligations of a Government, in every 
 country, to supply, or cause to be supplied, a safe 
 and convenient medium of exchange, suitable to the 
 wants and condition of the particular community, 
 and to the general purposes of commerce. 
 
 I am willing to admit, at the same time, that 
 banking establishments, formed upon sound and safe 
 principles, may be rendered useful in every com- 
 mercial country; and that if such establishments 
 would have the effect of permanently adding to, and 
 promoting the growth of, productive capital in India, 
 they would answer a beneficial purpose. But the 
 question which the Court have to deal with at pre-
 
 392 FINANCE. 
 
 sent, is practically, whether we ought to aid and co- 
 operate in the establishment of the particular plan 
 which has been submitted to us. 
 
 As far as I can judge from the prospectus, the 
 plan before us contemplates the following objects 
 viz. : 
 
 1st. The supercession of the Government treasuries 
 or general treasury at the presidency. 
 
 2nd. The employment of the Bank to facilitate the 
 realisation of the public revenue. 
 
 3rd. As a consequence, the circulation of the 
 Bank paper throughout the country. 
 
 4th. The supercession, or incorporation of the 
 Bank of Bengal, and the consequent establishment 
 of a monopoly, or an exclusive privilege, for the 
 supply of a paper currency in India. 
 
 5th. The intervention of the new Bank as a gene- 
 ral instrument for effecting remittances to England, 
 direct and through China : that is, the Bank pro- 
 pose, I presume, to advance to the indigo, silk, and 
 other manufacturers, sums to be repaid by bills on 
 their consignments to England, and these bills (or 
 counter-bills drawn by the Bank) would be sold to 
 the Government at a profit. In the same manner, 
 the Bank would advance on consignments of cotton 
 
 O 
 
 and opium to China, purchasing with the amount at 
 Canton bills to be drawn on consignments of tea, 
 &c., to this country. 
 
 Now, it appears to me that it would be very 
 unsafe to concur in, or to countenance any of, these 
 projects. We have managed, and can continue to
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 393 
 
 manage such operations perfectly well ourselves; 
 and I can perceive no reason whatever for setting 
 up another and a very powerful party to take our 
 place ; and for conferring on it privileges which may 
 enable it to compel us, as remitters, to become its 
 customers for bills on its own terms. 
 
 The monopoly granted to the Bank of England as 
 a national establishment has always been much 
 questioned; but the new Bank evidently contem- 
 plates a monopoly much more comprehensive ; and 
 such an establishment would possess in India a 
 much greater power over the circulation and the 
 money market, than is enjoyed by the Bank of 
 England. 
 
 If it were not premature to enter into details in 
 this stage of the question, it could easily be shown 
 that the Government of India possess great facilities 
 for managing the operations which the new Bank 
 proposes to undertake; and that we have gained 
 considerably, and, under proper management may 
 expect still to gain, upon our exchange transactions. 
 A large portion of the land-revenue was heretofore 
 actually realised in the treasury of Calcutta before 
 the collections were made in the interior ; and upon 
 our remittances to Bombay and to England through 
 China a profit has generally been realised 
 
 As a general proposition, I am disposed to main- 
 tain that a metallic currency cannot be dispensed 
 with in India that a paper currency is unsuitable 
 to the minute pecuniary transactions of the natives 
 and that from their ignorance they are peculiarly
 
 394 FINANCE. 
 
 exposed to fraud and impositions by means of forgery 
 and otherwise. This must always operate as an 
 objection to the general substitution of paper for 
 specie ; but so far from objecting to the former as 
 an auxiliary, I myself proposed, and was instru- 
 mental in establishing and conducting the Bank of 
 Bengal ; and I am satisfied that it has answered a 
 very useful purpose. If there be any defect in its 
 constitution, I am disposed to think that the in- 
 fluence of the Government over its operations was 
 too limited rather than too direct and extensive. 
 
 As India possesses no mines, and is in consequence 
 dependent upon other countries for a supply of the 
 precious metals, and as it incurs annually a large 
 political debt which must be remitted to England 
 any derangement of currency by over-issues of 
 paper, by the encouragement of over-trading, or by 
 other acts of mal-administration on the part of a 
 Bank, might produce the most serious consequences. 
 Prices would be liable to be affected materially the 
 confidence of the natives in our monetary system 
 might be destroyed or shaken and all the financial 
 operations of the Government might be impeded and 
 deranged. I cannot, therefore, regard a project 
 embracing such an extensive field of speculation 
 without a feeling of distrust ; and I cannot consent 
 to supersede an existing establishment which, if 
 not sufficiently large, can easily be extended with- 
 out much stronger grounds than have yet been ad- 
 duced to justify its annihilation, or its enforced in- 
 corporation with the new institution.
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 395 
 
 In Europe, the great bullion markets, I may ob- 
 serve, are within reach, and can be resorted to upon 
 any emergency when supplies may be required : the 
 ebb and flow of the precious metals can be calcu- 
 lated with some degree of certainty, from the know- 
 ledge which the Bank of England and our great 
 capitalists possess with respect to the commercial 
 transactions and money relations existing between 
 different countries. But in India the sources from 
 which we obtain our bullion are more remote : it is 
 usually brought from America and China and the 
 Eastern Archipelago ; the supply is uncertain we 
 are liable to a perpetual drain* for the discharge of 
 a political debt ; and the consequence has been that 
 a scarcity of the precious metals is from time to time 
 experienced in that country, and to an extent which 
 has been productive of public inconvenience ; nor 
 can I perceive that the establishment of the proposed 
 Bank will have any tendency to produce a more re- 
 gular and abundant supply of the precious metals ; 
 while it is perfectly clear that the more general sub- 
 stitution of a paper currency for specie must have the 
 effect of aggravating the evils of a scarcity, if, from 
 whatever cause, a large and sudden demand for the 
 precious metals should arise for the discharge of a 
 foreign debt. 
 
 And, let me ask, what guarantee have we for the 
 stability and for the successful management of the 
 
 * The country could not long bear this drain if the people were not great 
 producers and small consumers. The great mass, from their simple habits, re- 
 quire little from without ; and have fortunately much to give to their foreign 
 rulers, who claim as landlords the entire rent of this vast territory. H. St.G. T.
 
 396 FINANCE. 
 
 proposed Bank ? The gentlemen who have brought 
 forward the plan are of the very highest respectabi- 
 lity ; but what assurance have we that they will con- 
 tinue co-partners in the concern for a single year ? 
 and how is it possible for them, or for other parties, 
 to superintend and regulate the operations of a Bank 
 at a distance of twelve thousand miles ? I may be 
 told that a very large capital will be subscribed. 
 True but it is the very essence of banking to issue 
 notes, or to contract other obligations, to an amount 
 far beyond its capital, or the Bank could have no 
 profits. And have we not seen the largest and appa- 
 rently the most prosperous establishments suddenly 
 swept away, scarce leaving a wreck behind, and in 
 the fall annihilating a capital of many millions ? 
 The fact is, that in India the high rate of interest 
 on private security has heretofore operated, and may 
 still operate, as a great temptation to individuals to 
 lend their money upon commercial adventures. The 
 borrower, in order to pay this high interest, is 
 tempted to engage in precarious speculations, and 
 hence an unsound state of trade, which renders it 
 necessary that the utmost caution should be observed 
 in forming and conducting any Banking establish- 
 ment in that country. 
 
 I shall be glad to see British capital flow to India ; 
 but I would leave the parties to act upon their own 
 judgment and good discretion ; and I would not en- 
 courage the public to embark their funds in commer- 
 cial or other projects, connected with a quarter so 
 remote, by holding out that the Company's Govern-
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 397 
 
 ment are parties to the undertaking. And it appears 
 to me that we ought at once to apprise the highly 
 respectable individuals who have addressed us, that 
 we can give no countenance to their project, in so 
 far as it assumes that the proposed Bank will be em- 
 ployed as the financial organ of the Government, or 
 as the exclusive channel of its remittances to Eng- 
 land ; or that its paper currency will be received in 
 payments, and be circulated generally throughout 
 the public treasuries of India.* It will be necessary, 
 at all events, I apprehend, to do one of two things 
 either to abstain altogether from taking any part 
 
 * It would be easy to show the practical inconvenience likely to result from 
 receiving the notes of the Bank in payment at the provincial treasuries. 
 Suppose, for example, that the Government require specie at Agra for the 
 payment of the troops, and that the private merchants require it in the same 
 quarter, to make advances for indigo, cotton, sugar, &c. The latter would 
 send up bank notes ; and, by an easy arrangement with the Zemindars, ex- 
 change them for the specie which the latter would otherwise pay into the 
 public treasury. But bank notes not answering for the pay of the troops, the 
 Government must bring them down to Calcutta to be cashed, and then send 
 up the specie to the station where it may be wanted, at considerable expense 
 and inconvenience. The bank note is thus converted into a bill of exchange, 
 at or near par, while a real difference of two or three per cent., or more, may 
 exist in the exchange between the two places. The same sort of process was 
 at one period carried on in Bengal, when gold and silver were received indif- 
 ferently. The gold would not answer for paying the troops, or for small ad- 
 vances to the weavers, molungees, and others; and being, inconsequence, less 
 convenient, it bore what we call a batta. Individuals had accordingly a motive 
 for paying it into the public treasury rather than silver. The Government 
 were then compelled to purchase silver from the shroffs, or bankers, who 
 again exchanged the gold with the Zemindars and others having payments to 
 make into the public treasuries; nor was this difficult, for the Zemindars were 
 usually in their debt, and were accustomed to pay in their revenue through 
 the shroffs who made them advances. In this, to us, vicious circle, we pro- 
 ceeded for some time, the Government being exposed to a heavy charge for 
 batta, or discount, on every revolution. The batta rose during the adminis- 
 tration of Sir John Shore as high as G per cent. (See his minute of the 29th 
 of September, 1796.) Circumstances have since changed; and gold bore lately 
 a high premium in Bengal. II. St.G. T.
 
 398 FINANCE. 
 
 in the execution of the plan which has been an- 
 nounced, leaving the parties to take their own. 
 course, without any assurance of co-operation from 
 us ; or to take that decided part which may lead to 
 the establishment of the proposed Bank, and the 
 regulation of its future operations under the imme- 
 diate control of the Government. 
 
 There would seem to be a feeling that the opera- 
 tions of the Government for effecting our remit- 
 tances from India direct and through China are 
 calculated to interfere with and to prejudice the 
 general commerce of the country; but this is a 
 gratuitous assumption, which the Court, I trust, are 
 not prepared to admit. Our advances upon con- 
 signments of indigo, silk, tea, and other commo- 
 dities, have proved, and, I doubt not, will continue 
 to prove, a very great accommodation to the manu- 
 facturers and exporters, and may not only render 
 them more independent of the private capitalists, 
 but these advances may, on particular occasions, be 
 highly essential in enabling the parties to carry on 
 their trade. We do not compel them or wish them 
 to resort to us, if they can obtain better terms in 
 any other quarter ; and so with respect to our draw- 
 ing upon India and China from this country, our 
 bills may be an accommodation to the remitter, but 
 they cannot be forced upon him. We do not tamper 
 with or attempt to regulate the exchanges ; we fol- 
 low the exchanges which the money concerns of the 
 two countries establish, and avail ourselves of any 
 state of things which may favor our own objects.
 
 PAPER CURRENCY. 399 
 
 We are remitters from India to the extent of above 
 three millions annually, and we must effect that re- 
 mittance in the best manner we can ; nor would it 
 be prudent or safe for the Government to place itself 
 in a state of dependence upon any Bank, or any body 
 of men whatever, in the course of effecting the great 
 national object of bringing home the annual tribute 
 from India with the greatest convenience and ad- 
 vantage to the two countries. So far from aban- 
 doning our present plan of remittance, I have a 
 firm conviction that, if the Court of Directors had 
 adopted the arrangements proposed to them by the 
 Supreme Government in their financial despatch of 
 the 23rd August, 1809, for constituting the Com- 
 pany the great organ of remittance to and from 
 India and China, Europe and America, a financial 
 object of vast magnitude and importance would have 
 been accomplished, the capital of our servants and 
 others would not have been forced into private 
 channels, and much of the mischief which has re- 
 sulted from hazardous speculations and consequent 
 failures might probably have been avoided. 
 
 I cannot venture to predict what may be the imme- 
 diate or the more remote effects of that disposition to 
 engage in banking concerns upon a large scale, which 
 is so prevalent in this country and in the United 
 States of America at the present moment. Men ex- 
 perienced and sagacious contemplate these under- 
 takings evidently with some uneasiness; and it is 
 quite certain that the unrestrained extension of a 
 paper currency may produce effects, whether for good
 
 400 FINANCE. 
 
 or for evil, upon the property of the country, and 
 upon the general interests of the community and the 
 Government, in the last degree important. A pru- 
 dent Government will carefully watch such under- 
 takings, and will not hastily lend its countenance to 
 them. This cautious reserve is highly necessary in 
 every country ; but I know not any country where 
 the general introduction of a paper currency, in 
 substitution for the precious metals, ought to be 
 viewed with more circumspection, if not distrust, 
 than it should be, I think, in British India. 
 
 The projectors of the scheme may not, perhaps, 
 have extended their views beyond the institution of 
 a substantial Bank ; and may not be fully aware of 
 the inherent capacity or aptitude for expansion 
 which their projected establishment would possess ; 
 but if the Bank be invested with the functions and 
 privileges which the prospectus points at, I must 
 maintain that, under skilful management, it would 
 soon acquire a paramount influence, calculated to 
 give it the absolute command of the money market 
 of India, and to place the Government itself in a 
 state of abject dependence. I repeat, then, that we 
 should either decline at once, fairly and candidly, to 
 give our sanction to the establishment of this power- 
 ful machine on the footing aimed at ; or we must, 
 as a Government, interpose directly and perempto- 
 rily to regulate and circumscribe its functions and 
 movements.
 
 BANKS. 401 
 
 BANKS. 
 
 [This paper may be regarded as a sequel to the foregoing. It was written 
 in 1838, and was called forth by the proposal to establish a Bank in Bombay 
 similar to the " Bank of Bengal." It is valuable not only for the opinions it 
 contains, but for the historical references to the financial operations of the 
 Indian Government at the commencement of the present century, and to the 
 circumstances under which, in no small measure through the instrumentality 
 of Mr. Tucker, the Bank of Bengal was established. Some of the apprehen- 
 sions entertained by Mr. Tucker relative to the evils likely to arise from a 
 multiplication of Banks, have been unfortunately realised.] 
 
 . . . This is not an insulated question, having 
 reference merely to the establishment of a single 
 Bank at Bombay. If we grant the charter which 
 lias been applied for, we must be prepared for many 
 applications of the same kind, which we cannot de- 
 cline without exposing ourselves to the imputation 
 of partiality and inconsistency. A Bank has already 
 been set on foot in the Western Provinces, two 
 Banks have been established or projected in the 
 Lower Provinces of Bengal, and it is probable that 
 an establishment of the same kind will be attempted 
 in the opulent and populous city of Benares, and in 
 other places, where the projectors may allege the 
 same grounds, and where they will be actuated by 
 the same motives which have influenced the parties 
 who now apply for a chartered Bank at Bombay. 
 The community at Madras may also prefer a similar 
 application, especially if they should find that the 
 shares in the Bombay Bank bear a high premium, 
 wliich I am persuaded they will do at an early 
 period. 
 
 VOL. i. 2 D
 
 402 FINANCE. 
 
 The question, therefore, is one of great magnitude, 
 since we are called upon, in this first stage of it, to 
 pronounce whether we are prepared to sanction the 
 establishment of numerous Banks, and to encourage 
 the substitution of a paper for a metallic currency 
 in British India. 
 
 Now, there is no proposition upon which I have 
 less douht than that a paper currency is not gene- 
 rally suited to the condition of the great "body of the 
 people of India ; and that its substitution for a me- 
 tallic currency, far from being desirable, would be 
 liable to the most weighty objections. 
 
 I am quite aware that such a substitution cannot 
 be effected without the aid and instrumentality of 
 the Government and its officers. If we determine 
 that bank notes shall not be received at the public 
 treasuries, their circulation must necessarily be very 
 confined, and will be altogether conventional. Ex- 
 clude them from this great artery, and they will be 
 used only by those who find them meful ; and to 
 this, their proper office, I have not the slightest ob- 
 jection. We cannot, moreover, prevent the esta- 
 blishment of private Banks in India ; nor should I 
 propose to interfere with such establishments ; but 
 we can refuse to give circulation to their paper ; and 
 this, in my opinion, we are bound to do, both from 
 a regard to our own security, and for the purpose 
 of protecting our native subjects and others, who will 
 naturally place confidence in any currency which 
 may appear to have obtained the countenance and 
 support of the Government. It is also unquestion-
 
 BANKS. 403 
 
 able that private Banks may afford sufficient security 
 to the public, if the subscribed capital be paid up, 
 and the partners be held liable in their private for- 
 tunes; but this is not the kind of establishment 
 aimed at by the parties at Bombay, and the Court's 
 despatch sanctions the formation of a public Bank, 
 in which the East India Company will be principal 
 sharers, and for which the Company will be respon- 
 sible to the public, to the full extent of the obliga- 
 tions contracted by the Bank. 
 
 The Court have manifestly proceeded, on the pre- 
 sent occasion, on the precedent furnished by the 
 Bank of Bengal, and my prepossessions may natu- 
 rally be supposed to be in favor of an establish- 
 ment which was my own work ; but I am bound to 
 examine carefully how far the circumstances which 
 gave occasion to that undertaking exist at the pre- 
 sent period, and whether that which was necessary 
 and useful forty years ago, is required, or is likely to 
 be useful, under existing circumstances. 
 
 Now, it is quite certain that the circumstances of 
 the two periods are widely and essentially different ; 
 and it may, therefore, be neither prudent nor safe to 
 create new Banks at the present moment, merely be- 
 cause one Bank was found to be useful under a dif- 
 ferent state of things. 
 
 In 1801 public and commercial credit can scarcely 
 be said to have had an existence in India. There 
 was a large capital, it is true, in the hands of the 
 native bankers of Benares, Moorshedabad, Calcutta,
 
 404 FINANCE. 
 
 and some other places ; but there was a total want 
 of confidence both in the Government and in the 
 commercial community ; and this capital, when par- 
 tially brought forward, was employed in the opera- 
 tions of exchange, in trafficking in the different coins, 
 and in advances to the landholders and others at an 
 enormous rate of interest. 
 
 About the period to which I allude, the gold coin 
 was sometimes at a discount of six per cent. y and 
 the Government were obliged to purchase silver 
 from time to time, in order to supply a suitable 
 currency for the pay of the troops, and for making 
 advances to the molungees, manufacturers, and 
 others in the interior. 
 
 In their remittances to particular districts in 
 which funds were required for these purposes, a 
 difference of exchange was almost invariably paid by 
 the Government to the shroffs, or native bankers, 
 from whom hoondees, or bills, were obtained. 
 
 So late as the month of March, 1801, the treasury 
 notes of the Government, bearing an interest of 12 
 per cent, per annum, and payable in the ensuing 
 month of August, were sold in Calcutta at a dis- 
 count of from 3 to 4 per cent., thus yielding an in- 
 terest on Government security of 18 or 20 per cent, 
 per annum. 
 
 I felt very strongly that this was a state of things 
 which, if allowed to continue, must end in a total 
 derangement of the public finances ; and I accord- 
 ingly proposed the establishment of the Bank of
 
 BANKS. 405 
 
 Bengal as one means of remedying or alleviating the 
 existing evil. Nor was I disappointed ; for we suc- 
 ceeded by this and other means in restoring order 
 in our finances, at a much earlier period than I had 
 ventured to anticipate. 
 
 Confidence was gradually established the capital 
 of the native bankers and others was brought for- 
 ward in competition with that which was supplied 
 by the Bank and what is termed "public credit" 
 began to appear in India. 
 
 The batta, or discount on gold, ceased at an early 
 period ; and it was only matter of surprise that it 
 should so long have been permitted to exist. 
 
 The exchanges were regulated on such plain and 
 simple principles, that the intervention of the shroffs 
 was dispensed with ; and the Government remit- 
 tances in general realised a profit, instead of being 
 attended with a charge. 
 
 The rates of interest were reduced from time to 
 time, until they have approached very nearly to the 
 standard of those countries in which public credit 
 has been most firmly established. The public debt 
 and the operations of commerce have in consequence 
 been relieved from a heavy charge ; and although 
 the Bank of Bengal did not effectuate these bene- 
 ficial changes, I admit, and I have the utmost satis- 
 faction in reflecting, that it assisted in giving the 
 first impulse to public credit, and in facilitating the 
 great operations of commerce. 
 
 But here, as in other cases, the good was not 
 quite free from an attendant evil. The spirit of
 
 406 FINANCE. 
 
 commercial speculation characterises the present 
 age ; and its sphere of action is manifestly enlarged 
 by the instrumentality of Banks. In this country 
 and in America the mischief occasioned by the ex- 
 tension of a paper currency has been, of late years, 
 most calamitous ; and in Bengal we have witnessed 
 the same disastrous effects from the prosecution of 
 commercial operations on a large scale without capi- 
 tal to support them. The destructive failures which 
 have taken place in Calcutta cannot fairly be charged 
 to the Bank of Bengal ; but every Bank has a ten- 
 dency to promote commercial speculation ; and al- 
 though highly useful in furnishing accommodation 
 for carrying on a safe and legitimate trade, it is not 
 possible at all times for a Bank to prevent the appli- 
 cation of its funds to objects of a different character. 
 
 The question under consideration is not, however, 
 whether there were originally good grounds for esta- 
 blishing the Bank of Bengal, or whether the good or 
 the evil incidental to its establishment has prepon- 
 derated. I am the last person to deny that there 
 were good and sufficient grounds at the time ; and I 
 rejoice to think that the Bank has performed a useful 
 office. 
 
 But we are now called upon to pronounce whe- 
 ther, under the circumstances of the present tvnie, 
 there are sufficient grounds for chartering public 
 Banks at Bombay, Madras, and other places ; and 
 here let me observe that some of the most respect- 
 able commercial houses at Bombay are decidedly and 
 publicly opposed to the institution of a Bank at that
 
 BANKS. 407 
 
 presidency, on the ground that it is not required, and 
 that, by encouraging a speculative trade, it must 
 tend to derange the sound and wholesome commerce 
 of the country. 
 
 To the extension of a paper currency in India I 
 have already stated my objections ; and these objec- 
 tions, of course, apply to the establishment of a 
 chartered Bank at Bombay or elsewhere. Par from 
 thinking it desirable to promote the circulation of 
 bank notes in the interior, I am of opinion that the 
 Bank of Bengal ought to be placed under greater 
 restrictions that its notes should be returned from 
 the general treasury to be cashed whenever they 
 may accumulate beyond a very moderate sum and 
 that their receipt at the Mofussil or Provincial 
 treasuries should for the future be prohibited alto- 
 gether. They are not, I repeat, required by the 
 great body of the people, who have been accustomed 
 to a metallic currency they cannot enter into the 
 minute transactions of the lower orders : they may, 
 through the ignorance and helplessness of the na- 
 tives, be forced (as the gold* was heretofore) into 
 channels for which they are not at all suited they 
 will expose the holders to frauds from forgery and 
 they may, by the connivance of our officers, be 
 allowed to accumulate in the public treasuries to 
 an amount which may occasion inconvenience, and 
 eventually a heavy loss to the Government. Our 
 orders of 12th March, 1834, restrict the accumula- 
 tion of bank notes in the treasury to 50 lacs ; but 
 
 * This is not mere supposition I had evidence of the fact. H. St.G. T.
 
 408 FINANCE. 
 
 these orders have not been strictly obeyed, for I 
 find, on reference to the latest treasury account re- 
 ceived from Calcutta (that for January, 1838), that 
 we had in the general treasury alone, bank notes to 
 the amount of 62,25,000 rupees, out of a balance of 
 95,00,000 rupees ; and, although I have no means 
 of ascertaining the amount of notes in the Mofussil 
 or Provincial treasuries, there cannot be a doubt 
 that it is considerable, and that a large proportion 
 of the Bank issues usually remains dormant in the 
 Government treasuries. 
 
 The funds of the East India Company, which 
 these notes represent, are consequently employed 
 by the Bank, to a certain extent, upon commercial 
 accommodations ; and although the capital may be 
 safe, and we may have no reason to apprehend com- 
 mercial liabilities, it is clearly from the usufruct of 
 our money that the Bank is enabled to supply such 
 large dividends to the proprietors. If these notes 
 were sent into the Bank to be cashed, what would be 
 its situation ? From the latest accounts which I 
 have seen, the cash reserve fluctuated between 25 
 and 30 lacs of rupees ; and although, upon the prin- 
 ciple of banking, the circulation ought greatly to ex- 
 ceed the reserve of specie, still it appears to me that 
 the Banks depend mainly upon their notes being ab- 
 sorbed in the public treasuries. 
 
 Then, let me ask, what would be the situation of 
 the Government if it became necessary to make re- 
 mittances in bullion to England, or to the other pre- 
 sidencies, or to send forth military armaments re-
 
 BANKS. 409 
 
 quiring large supplies of specie ? Bank notes would 
 not answer for these purposes ; and if any large por- 
 tion of the 62 lacs were called for, in what situation, 
 I repeat, would the Bank be placed ? The truth is, 
 that the Bank has been allowed to lean too much upon 
 the public treasury, and that its circulation would 
 be confined within very moderate limits, if the in- 
 dulgence which it experiences were confined within 
 more prudent limits. I think it right to advert 
 particularly to this circumstance, as the Bank which 
 is to be chartered at Bombay will, no doubt, expect 
 to receive similar accommodation at that presidency. 
 
 In my minute of the 18th June, 1836,* I have 
 explained that the notes of the bank, if received at 
 the provincial treasuries, can be used as bills of ex- 
 change, to the great detriment of the Government ; 
 and although I was naturally desirous to promote 
 the success of the Bank, it appeared to me always 
 necessary, while I was employed in the administra- 
 tion of our finances, to guard against their applica- 
 tion to such a purpose. 
 
 It is not difficult to understand that the projectors 
 of the Bank at Bombay may have very sufficient 
 motives for forming such an establishment. It will 
 create offices and patronage the shares subscribed 
 for may be disposed of at a profit, or they may yield 
 a high rate of interest on the capital and the Bank 
 will be able to afford accommodations for carrying 
 on trade to those who are without capital ; but 
 these, although fair objects of pursuit to the indivi- 
 
 * See preceding paper, ante, p. 391.
 
 410 FINANCE. 
 
 dual, are not objects which a Government is called 
 upon to promote by direct co-operation, or by the 
 grant of exclusive privileges. I see no reason to 
 believe that a public Bank is required at Bombay for 
 any national purpose, or for the support of that safe 
 and well-regulated commerce which alone a Govern- 
 ment ought to countenance and encourage. 
 
 And in what manner, I would ask, is the capital 
 of the new Bank likely to be raised in the first in- 
 stance, and subsequently to be employed ? 
 
 Our servants, civil and military, will, I presume, 
 be the chief contributors ; and their capital will be 
 employed in making advances upon indigo, cotton, 
 silk, sugar, salt, opium, and other articles of trade, 
 and possibly upon the security of factories, ships, 
 machinery, and other stock, used in the operations 
 of trade. 
 
 But was not this precisely the way in which the 
 houses of agency heretofore employed the funds of 
 our servants and others ? Unquestionably it was. 
 The new Banks will, in my opinion, occupy, in a 
 great measure, their place will perform the same 
 intermediate office and be liable, sooner or later, to 
 the same risks. If such be the case, we are bound to 
 protect, as far as we can, our servants and the coni- 
 niunity at large from the contingencies incidental 
 to undertakings which may prosper for a time, but 
 w T hich, if mismanaged, may in the end fail alto- 
 gether. The intervention of Government will, no 
 doubt, operate as a guarantee to the public ; but 
 against such intervention, as subjecting the East
 
 COPPER CURRENCY. 
 
 India Company unnecessarily and improvidently to 
 commercial liabilities, I formally protest. If indi- 
 viduals allow themselves to be led away by the 
 temptation of large dividends, they must be content 
 to undertake the concomitant risk. 
 
 Erom these premises I deduce that a chartered 
 Bank is not required at Bombay that there is 
 great danger to be apprehended from the undue 
 extension of a paper currency in India, to the ex- 
 clusion of its metallic currency ; and, finally, that 
 the Court of Directors cannot be too cautious in 
 withholding their countenance from projects how- 
 ever specious, whose object or tendency may be to 
 uphold an artificial state of credit, and to foster a 
 spurious trade, alike hazardous to the parties en- 
 gaged in it, and injurious to the public. 
 
 THE COPPER CURRENCY OF INDIA. 
 [Written in 1836.] 
 
 The despatch to the Government of India regard- 
 ing the copper coin, contains many just remarks, 
 proceeding, as I think, generally upon correct views 
 and sound principles, which are calculated to set 
 the Government right on different points where they 
 have fallen into error. But I am not satisfied that 
 their present orders reach the root of the evil, espe- 
 cially with relation to Bombay. 
 
 That evil consists, primarily, in an over-valuation 
 of the copper coin ; and, next, in an over-supply of 
 that coin. 
 
 The Bengal Government, with the concurrence of
 
 412 FINANCE. 
 
 the Court, erected some years ago a very costly Mint 
 at Calcutta, with most expensive apparatus and ma- 
 chinery; and this was done at a time when the 
 importation of the precious metals had greatly de- 
 creased ; and when, consequently, there was, com- 
 paratively, little work to he performed hy such a 
 Mint. 
 
 Concurrently, or nearly so, with the erection of 
 this expensive Mint, the price of copper experienced 
 a considerahle fall in Calcutta ; and the Mint having 
 little work to execute, and a great temptation pre- 
 senting itself to realise a large profit on copper, as a 
 means of defraying the very burdensome charge of 
 the establishment, a coinage was undertaken on a 
 scale greatly disproportioned to the wants of the 
 community, and the coin was urged into circulation 
 hy measures highly injudicious and objectionable. 
 
 When the price of copper was from 65 to 70 
 rupees per rnaund, which was the case at a period 
 not very remote, there was a fair and just propor- 
 tion between the current value and the metallic 
 value of the Bengal pysa, weighing troy grains 100 ; 
 and no difficulty could occur in maintaining its cir- 
 culation to the full extent of the wants of the 
 community. 
 
 But when copper fell to 35 or 40 rupees per 
 maund, this proportion was destroyed : the Govern- 
 ment actually realised a profit, or seignorage, exceed- 
 ing 100 per cent. ; and coins from other quarters 
 (and especially those which individuals were per- 
 mitted most unadvisedly to fabricate at the Mint at
 
 COPPER CURRENCY. 413 
 
 Saugor) flowed in ; and not only maintained a com- 
 petition with the established coin, but produced 
 great derangement and confusion by the multiplica- 
 tion of the currency. 
 
 It is, certainly, possible to maintain a copper cur- 
 rency at a very high valuation, if the manufacture 
 be so perfect as to render it difficult and expensive 
 to counterfeit the coin ; and, indeed, a high valua- 
 tion ought to be taken to cover the ordinary fluctu- 
 ations in the price of the metal ; but still it must be 
 difficult always to give an artificial value of above 
 100 per cent, to a currency; and this cannot be 
 done unless all competition be effectually excluded. 
 
 But what do the Government of India now pro- 
 pose to do ? and how am I to understand the fol- 
 lowing passage in the Court's letter ? " Secondly, 
 That it was expedient immediately to issue a copper 
 coinage adapted to the changes which had taken 
 place in the silver. On the latter point, we agree in 
 your latest decision. It was certainly desirable that 
 the copper currency, at the earliest possible period, 
 be adjusted in conformity with the coin which was 
 in future to be both the medium of circulation and 
 the standard of account." 
 
 If I correctly apprehend the intentions of the 
 Government, and the import of this passage, it is 
 proposed to reduce the standard of the copper coin 
 to the extent of 6J per cent., in order to accom- 
 modate it to the reduced standard of the silver 
 currency. 
 
 This may be done in one of two ways either by
 
 414 FINANCE. 
 
 reducing the weight of the pysa from 100 grains 
 troy to 93f grains or by reducing the number of 
 pyce representing the rupee from 64 to 60. 
 
 If the former alternative be adopted, the present 
 copper coin must be called in, at an enormous 
 expense, and at very great inconvenience; and we 
 shall otherwise aggravate the existing evil. We 
 cannot continue to circulate two descriptions of 
 pysa, varying only 6^ per cent, in metallic value, 
 without producing great confusion and embarrass- 
 ment, nor without exposing the lower classes of the 
 people to exactions on the part of the shroffs, or 
 money-changers. Nothing can be more favorable 
 to the operations of these persons than the multi- 
 plication of the current coins ; for it rests with them 
 to produce fluctuations, even if fluctuations did not 
 necessarily occur in such cases ; and on every ex- 
 change the weaker or necessitous party will in- 
 variably be the sufferer. 
 
 But the expense of calling in the copper coin, as 
 shown by the Mint Committee, would be enormous ; 
 and would far exceed the value of 6j grains of 
 copper to be taken from the pysa of 100 grains. 
 Copper cannot easily be melted ; and if the fusion 
 be not conducted with the utmost care and atten- 
 tion, the metal becomes brittle. It cannot, more- 
 over, be laminated without great difficulty, in con- 
 sequence of the hardness of the metal; and, on 
 every account, the resort to a new coinage of copper 
 ought, in my opinion, to be avoided. It cannot be 
 an object with any Government to make so great a
 
 COPPER CURRENCY. 415 
 
 change, and to subject the community (the lower 
 classes in particular) to vexatious exactions for so 
 trifling a consideration. Why not allow 64 pyce 
 to represent the new rupee, as well as the old 
 sicca, which will soon disappear from circulation; 
 the haser currency being found almost invariably 
 to drive out that of superior value. 
 
 If it be intended to reduce the number of pyce 
 from 64 to 60, to represent the new currency, 
 another source of derangement will arise. We shall 
 have two rupees in circulation, exchangeable for 
 different quantities of copper; and the new rupee 
 will be considered as representing 15 annas, instead 
 of 16. The people will be extremely embarrassed 
 in all their little money transactions by this new 
 division of the silver coin, which cannot fail, I 
 think, to expose them to imposition. The natives 
 of India are not only familiar with the present 
 division of the rupee into 16 annas of 4 pyce each, 
 but it is practically convenient, the subdivision of 
 16 into halves, &c., running in integer numbers 
 down to the unit. Why, then, should we introduce 
 a chansre ? Such changes are inconvenient in all 
 
 o o 
 
 countries; but in India they are particularly ob- 
 jectionable, inasmuch as they run counter to the 
 feelings of a people remarkably attached to old 
 habits and established usages. 
 
 I would add a few remarks upon another matter 
 of detail. It has been usual of late years to coin a 
 third of a pysa of 33^ grains, in order to have some- 
 thing to represent the English pysa of account, <Jr
 
 416 FINANCE. 
 
 twelfth of the anna ; but the natives do not divide 
 the anna into twelve parts in their accounts, nor is 
 the division into thirds so convenient as that into 
 halves, and the half pysa of 50 grains appears to me 
 as small a copper coin as can conveniently be fabri- 
 cated and circulated. 
 
 The present pysa is usually, I believe, cut from 
 the sheet or sheathing copper, which is of a con- 
 venient thickness for the purpose ; but if we coin 
 below the half pysa of 50 grains, the copper must, 
 
 1 apprehend, be laminated, or beaten out, at some 
 trouble and expense. 
 
 Nor can we, after all, dispense with the use of 
 cowries or shells. How is a native, receiving only 
 
 2 annas per diem in the country, or 4 annas in 
 the principal cities (and these, I believe, are high 
 wages) how, I ask, is he to purchase vegetables, 
 fruit, and other trifling articles for the subsistence 
 of his family ? how is he to pay for crossing a ferry, 
 or such trifling services, in any copper coin ? Where 
 wages and subsistence are upon so low a scale, even 
 copper may be found too costly as a general medium 
 of exchange. In the district of Sylhet, cowries 
 constituted the general circulation ; and the reve- 
 nues of Government were paid in these shells. 
 
 I will here repeat, that it appears to me highly 
 inexpedient, and quite unnecessary, to reduce the 
 weight of the copper coin 6 per cent., in order to 
 accommodate it to the new silver currency. The 
 little difficulty which may be experienced while the 
 two rupees circulate together, will be temporary
 
 COPPER CURRENCY. 417 
 
 only ; and it is only one of the many inconveniences 
 long since foreseen and foretold, which must result 
 from the late reduction of the silver standard. Its 
 tendency to derange the established relations be- 
 tween the silver and copper currency, is matter of 
 very inferior consideration when compared with the 
 more serious evil which must be felt by the land- 
 holders, and their numerous under-tenants and 
 others, from the derangement of existing contracts. 
 Indeed, by allowing 6400 grains of copper to repre- 
 sent only 165 grains of fine silver, instead of 
 175-923 grains, as at present, we shall so far reduce 
 the disproportionate valuation of the copper coin. 
 
 The Court's orders that this coin should not be a 
 legal tender of payment beyond half a rupee, are so 
 far judicious, that the limitation will tend to check 
 a forced circulation ; but then we must be prepared 
 always with a sufficient supply of small silver ; and 
 as the expense of coming half and quarter rupees 
 is as great as that of coining the rupee, while the 
 ratio of charge is double and quadruple, there will 
 not be a disposition, I apprehend, on the part of our 
 officers, to furnish a liberal supply of the smaller 
 pieces. 
 
 With respect to the proceedings at Bombay, I can 
 only observe that they appear to me to have been 
 both impolitic and arbitrary in the extreme. The 
 pre-existing copper currency seems to have satisfied 
 the wants of the people ; and as its metallic value 
 considerably exceeds the intrinsic value of the new 
 coin, it was impracticable to force the latter into 
 
 VOL. i. 2 E
 
 418 FINANCE. 
 
 circulation, without calling in the former. They 
 could not circulate together; and unquestionably 
 the old coin ought to have been withdrawn by re- 
 ceiving it weight for weight (for a certain time at 
 least) in exchange for the new currency, or at a fair 
 valuation. The Government which does not act 
 upon this plain principle, and which is not strictly 
 just in its dealings with the public, must not be 
 surprised at the state of confusion which has taken 
 place at Bombay, to the great injury of the native 
 population in the districts under that presidency. 
 
 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE. 
 
 [From Notes, Financial, Political, &c., drawn up in October, 1841.] 
 
 FINANCE ACCOUNTS, &c. Accounts may be re- 
 garded as the machinery of finance ; and this ma- 
 chinery is either very defective, or very much out of 
 order at present in India. Our " General Books," 
 as they are called, are about three years in arrear ; 
 and it is impossible to exercise an efficient control 
 over our finances while those documents are want- 
 ing. I know, from experience, that the books 
 ending the 30th April can be closed in the Decem- 
 ber following, and be transmitted to England in the 
 course of February. Nay, if I recollect right, I 
 once had the general books closed so early as the 
 month of August, and forwarded to England before 
 the end of the year. It does not follow that the 
 multiplication of accounts necessarily causes delay, 
 although this has been urged as an excuse for the
 
 ACCOUNTS. 419 
 
 present arrear ; because, as in mechanics, it is only 
 necessary to increase the power. But, in point of 
 fact, our commercial accounts were those most diffi- 
 cult of adjustment, and they have now heen super- 
 seded, leaving our books the record of mere cash 
 transactions, as they ought to be. The military 
 accounts, I believe, usually produce the delay ; and 
 I have long been of opinion that they might be ad- 
 vantageously reformed. The estimates and books 
 of the military Auditor-General are most cumbrous, 
 and I would say, worse than useless ; for it is in the 
 power of that officer to bring forward, or retard, his 
 audits, and thus to shape the actual charge so as to 
 correspond with his estimate, which generally is not 
 brought forward until the end of the year, when 
 the actual disbursement has been nearly ascertained. 
 The simple remedy for this inconvenience would be, 
 to exhibit the disbursement as the actual charge, 
 which it is in a series of years, leaving the adjust- 
 ments upon audit to be subsequently effected. 
 
 As a means, however, of bringing up the existing 
 arrear, I am disposed to think that it would be very 
 desirable to send out from this House two or three 
 of our experienced accountants, who in the course 
 of twelve months would, I think, be able to bring up 
 the books outstanding. It is not very easy to com- 
 mand the services of good European book-keepers in 
 India ; and, although the natives are excellent ac- 
 countants, they require in this, as in other cases, the 
 moving power of the European. 
 
 DEFICIT. The deficit on the account of the Indian 
 2 E 2
 
 420 FINANCE. 
 
 revenue and charge, including the home charge, may 
 be estimated at present at one million and a half, or 
 two millions sterling ; and while our relations with 
 Afghanistan, Scinde, the Punjab, and China con- 
 tinue in their present unsettled state, it is quite cer- 
 tain that this deficit cannot be extinguished, nor 
 be materially reduced. Her Majesty's Government 
 have undertaken, it is true, to defray the charge of 
 the military operations against China ; but they will 
 of necessity involve the Indian Government in many 
 expenses which can scarcely be estimated, and which 
 cannot well be debited to the account of the Chinese 
 war, from the difficulty of discriminating and tracing 
 them to their particular source. Such, for instance, 
 as the higher rate of interest incurred on the public 
 debt the expense of our steamers and of the irre- 
 gular corps maintained to supply the place of regi- 
 ments employed on the Chinese expedition, &c. 
 
 It may be supposed that our Indian establish- 
 ments are susceptible of great reduction ; but I am 
 quite satisfied that any reductions which could pru- 
 dently and safely be effected, would scarcely make a 
 sensible impression on a deficit of two millions. I 
 have myself been a member of two finance com- 
 mittees in India ; and, although we worked dili- 
 gently to reform the public establishments, the re- 
 ductions effected were absolutely insignificant. 
 
 The judicial establishments cannot be materially 
 reduced, without withholding from the people that 
 which they have a right to expect -justice. 
 
 The revenue establishments cannot be reduced in
 
 THE DEFICIT. 421 
 
 any great degree without endangering the revenue 
 itself; and generally, I should say, that any material 
 reduction of the civil allowances would have a ten- 
 dency to re-introduce corruption, or to convert our 
 high functionaries into the condition *of scrubs, to 
 the great scandal of the service. Lord "W. Bentinck 
 made great changes with a view to economy, but 
 effected little, if any, improvement. We have since 
 resorted to a cheaper agency by the employment of 
 uncovenanted Europeans and Indo-Britons (or half- 
 castes), and by the more general use of native agency ; 
 but I doubt whether the public business has been so 
 well executed, and whether corruption has been so 
 effectually guarded against. Native agency is most 
 efficient and useful under vigilant European super- 
 vision ; but while the tenure of office is with them 
 precarious (as it is at present), we cannot possibly 
 expect that they will resist temptation, and display 
 generally that scrupulous integrity, upon which the 
 success of our judicial and revenue administration 
 so much depends. 
 
 Par from contemplating a diminution in the num- 
 ber of our European functionaries, the local Govern- 
 ments are perpetually calling for further reinforce- 
 ments (civil, military, marine, and ecclesiastical), 
 and the Court have lately been induced to make, 
 various additions to the public establishments, with- 
 out, as I was disposed to think, any very urgent 
 necessity. 
 
 Lord W. Bentinck did, it is true, propose a most 
 sweeping reduction of our military establishment (to
 
 422 FINANCE. 
 
 the extent of one-third in one arm, and one-fifth 
 in another branch of the military service) ; but he 
 would have rendered the army absolutely inefficient, 
 and probably discontented and mutinous. Sir Charles 
 Metcalfe took , a much more statesmanlike view of 
 the question ;* and Lord William's propositions did 
 not meet with the slightest countenance in this 
 country. 
 
 I may advert in this place to a practice which has 
 obtained within the last twenty-five or thirty years, 
 and which occasions unnecessary expense, although 
 this is not the only, nor perhaps the greatest, objec- 
 tion to what I consider to involve a great abuse of 
 patronage. 
 
 ACTING APPOINTMENTS, f It has become a very 
 common practice to give our civil servants acting 
 appointments, with the benefit of deputation allow- 
 ances ; and it will be found that a large proportion 
 of our officers are employed at stations to which 
 they do not properly belong. We had lately an in- 
 stance where five different moves were made, when 
 one was not perhaps required. B. was appointed to 
 act for A. ; C. for B. ; 3). for C. ; and E. for D. ; 
 when by the appointment of A.'s assistant, a very 
 competent officer, the whole move might have been 
 prevented. 
 
 The Court of Directors have strongly denounced 
 this abuse, which goes far to render the civil service 
 inefficient ; for our officers have not time to become 
 
 * See minute of Lord W. Bentinck, and propositions from Ootacamund. 
 t Or Yek-tung, one-legged system, as it is nicknamed.
 
 ACTING APPOINTMENTS. 423 
 
 acquainted either with the people or their own 
 Umlah ; and our native officers, seeing the frequent 
 changes of masters, are disposed to regard their own 
 situations as precarious, and to make the most of 
 their temporary tenure. I could cite the case of an 
 individual who has heen employed at four different 
 stations in the course of about two years ; and he 
 himself had the candor to acknowledge that, in 
 consequence of this rapid transition, his services 
 could not have been of any real utility at either of 
 those stations.* 
 
 * This is one of the gravest defects in the working of the present system of 
 civil administration. It results from the circumstance of certain fixed sala- 
 ries being attached to certain appointments, so that a civil servant, entitled 
 to promotion, must be removed to some new office before he can draw higher 
 allowances from the Company's treasury. There are some practical difficul- 
 ties in the way of the application of a sufficient remedy but the evil itself is 
 so great that the remedy ought to be applied, in spite of the inconvenience it 
 may involve.
 
 4,24 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 BOADS IN BENGAL. 
 
 [Written in 1832.] 
 
 I AM generally of opinion that roads are not abso- 
 lutely essential in Bengal Proper for commercial 
 purposes, as that fine province enjoys the advantage 
 of river navigation throughout nearly its whole ex- 
 tent; and as the annual inundation which takes 
 place in a large portion of it would render the con- 
 struction and preservation of good roads matter of 
 great difficulty, and would be attended with an ex- 
 pense disproportionate to the advantages likely to 
 be derived from them. We ought, no doubt, to 
 look rather to the improvement of the river and 
 canal navigation, as the best means of facilitating 
 the transport of commodities in that province. 
 
 But I cannot admit that good roads are not 
 essential, even in Bengal Proper, with a view to 
 political and military objects ; and in the Western 
 Provinces they are moreover highly necessary as a 
 means of promoting the operations of Commerce. 
 
 Eor example : the road from Kalpee to Cawnpore 
 across the Doab is used for the conveyance of a
 
 EOADS IN BENGAL. 425 
 
 large portion of the raw cotton which conies to the 
 Calcutta market for exportation to China and this 
 country ; and the road from Agra to Furruckabad, 
 which intersects the Doab in the same manner, is 
 not only used for the transportation of cotton and 
 other bulky articles, but it is the principal route by 
 which the western salt is conveyed from the Jumna 
 for the supply of our provinces west of Behar, as 
 well as the whole territory of "Oude. 
 
 The cross-road from Patna to Sherghatty, through 
 Gyah, is also highly useful ; both as it connects one 
 of our largest cities and the military cantonment of 
 Dinapore with the high road to Benares, but as it 
 facilitates the communication between North Behar 
 and the whole country south of the Ganges. 
 
 No person can for a moment doubt that it would 
 be extremely useful and desirable to have good roads 
 to connect the line of our principal military stations, 
 from Fort William to our western frontier, if we 
 possessed the means of defraying the expense. Nor 
 can any person doubt the expediency of connecting, 
 by means of a good road, the city of Delhi with the 
 presidency, with a view to political considerations. 
 A tolerable road, still bearing the inappropriate de- 
 signation of the " new road," was constructed about 
 fifty years ago, from Calcutta to Benares, by the 
 late Captain Charles Ranken ; and it was kept in 
 repair for twenty-five or twenty- six years by his 
 two brothers in succession, under a sort of contract, 
 at an annual expense, I think, of 16,000 rupees, or 
 20,000, as estimated by Lord William Bentinck.
 
 426 ROADS IN BENGAL. 
 
 This road was extended from Benares to Allahabad 
 not many years ago ; but I have learnt with con- 
 cern, from the Governor-General's and Mr. Blunt' s 
 minutes, that the repairs have of late been very 
 much neglected. 
 
 The road during a part of its course traverses a 
 hilly and desolate country; and it is not, in con- 
 sequence, so much frequented as it otherwise would 
 be ; but although a berter line might, perhaps, have 
 been chosen, it is impossible to deny that this road 
 has been productive of great convenience and ad- 
 vantage. Indeed, one means of civilising the rude 
 race of men who inhabit the hills and jungles of 
 Rhamghur, and who have lately been in a state of 
 insurrection, must be sought in those facilities 
 which would bring them into nearer communication 
 with the cultivated parts of the country. It is true 
 that, in a rude state of society, roads must, in 
 general, follow the track of cultivation ; but in its 
 more advanced stages, roads produce cultivation, 
 and in every stage they promote agriculture and 
 commerce in a greater or less degree. 
 
 I have the utmost .reliance on the prudence and 
 judgment of Sir Charles Metcalfe and Mr. Blunt; 
 and no two individuals in the service have, perhaps, 
 traversed the country more frequently; but these 
 experienced officers, as well as the Court, appear to 
 me to underrate the advantages of good roads, just 
 as much as the Governor- General has (it may be 
 suspected) overrated them. The argument, too, 
 which has been drawn from particular failures, is
 
 NATIVE AID. 427 
 
 not at all conclusive. We may have made roads 
 at a vast and disproportionate expense; but such 
 mistakes only prove that we have proceeded in 
 ignorance, and that we have thrown away money 
 which might have been applied to similar objects 
 with better success. 
 
 The opulent natives are well disposed to aid hi 
 the construction of roads, tanks, wells, serais, and 
 other works of public utility; and we ought to 
 encourage this disposition, even where it originates 
 in personal vanity. Rajah Sookhmoy, of Calcutta, 
 contributed 1,50,000 rupees towards the construc- 
 tion of the road to Jugernath : and Rajah Mittergeet 
 Singh, of Tikari, one of the most intelligent of our 
 Zemindars, undertook to make a substantial road 
 through his flourishing domain soon after he began 
 to reap the fruits of the Permanent Settlement. We 
 owe the work to this much calumniated settlement ; 
 as we do many other benefits which are now over- 
 looked and undervalued by us. 
 
 Our Government cannot assess the Zemindars and 
 Talookdars for the purpose of defraying the expense 
 of keeping up the public roads, as proposed by Lord 
 William Bentinck, because this would be an in- 
 fraction of the Permanent Settlement, the land- 
 holders not having made themselves liable by their 
 engagements to execute such works, except in the 
 single instance of Shahabad ; but it is a great re- 
 proach to the Rajah of Burdwan that, with his 
 princely income, he should not have maintained good 
 roads throughout his extensive Zemindarry ; and if
 
 428 ROADS IN BENGAL. 
 
 the Governor-General had intimated to him that 
 this was a duty, although not a legal obligation, I do 
 not think that his lordship would have overstepped 
 the bounds of propriety. 
 
 Several of our magistrates have succeeded in 
 making very good roads within then* respective dis- 
 tricts; hut this has resulted from the particular 
 disposition of the individual. The late Mr. John 
 Eliot was eminently successful, and was among the 
 few who have contrived to turn the labor of the 
 convicts to good account by a vigorous discipline ; 
 but we have never proceeded in the prosecution of 
 this object upon any systematic plan, and it is un- 
 questionably matter of serious reproach to us that, 
 with an annual revenue of twenty millions, and with 
 the power of commanding European skill, science, 
 and machinery, we have not yet succeeded in getting 
 our mails conveyed at a greater speed than four 
 miles per hour, although it is a well-known fact 
 that the native bankers have their expresses con- 
 veyed with much greater expedition.* 
 
 One of my motives for recording my opinions, in 
 the present instance, is to impress upon the Court 
 of Directors the expediency of our discouraging the 
 Governor- General in the prosecution of some regular 
 plan for accelerating internal communication. We 
 may disburse enormous sums in building " iron 
 tugs" and "accommodation boats;" but although 
 
 * See letter from the Commissioners in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, 
 of the 30th November, 1807, proposing a plan for the more expeditious con- 
 veyance of the public mails. H. St.G. T. [The transit of the mails has 
 been greatly accelerated since this was written.]
 
 ECONOMY OF TIME. 429 
 
 such costly vessels may minister to the convenience 
 of the great, they will not, in my opinion, contribute 
 one atom towards the comfort of the people of India, 
 nor relieve, in any degree, those useful animals, the 
 elephant, the camel, the horse, and the bullock, 
 whose painful labors are now prosecuted through 
 sloughs and heavy sands, under circumstances which 
 prevent their carrying the same burden, or tra- 
 velling with the same speed, as would otherwise be 
 practicable. 
 
 Good roads economise both time and labor : a 
 circumstance which has been illustrated in a very 
 extraordinary manner by railways now in general 
 use in this country. Mr. Trotter observes, that the 
 natives of India are perfectly well aware of the 
 advantage of carriage roads, the slightest experience 
 being sufficient to show that two bullocks will draw a 
 much greater weight than they can carry ; and that 
 the same animals will draw, on a good road, a much 
 greater weight than they can draw on a bad one, 
 with much less wear and tear, or waste of the animal 
 powers. We have done little or nothing in India to 
 effect this economy of time and labor (time always in 
 commerce representing value) ; and nothing but the 
 want of pecuniary resources can excuse our apparent 
 indifference towards an object which is equally re- 
 commended to us by considerations of duty and 
 policy. It is scarcely an exaggeration to maintain 
 that good roads would bring the great divisions of 
 our army into nearer contact, and render that army 
 (which at the present moment, at particular stations,
 
 430 EDUCATION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE. 
 
 can with difficulty supply a single battalion for extra 
 service) much, more disposable and efficient. These 
 are the considerations which evidently engross the 
 attention of the Governor-General. 
 
 THE EDUCATION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE. 
 
 [The following observations, extracted from a paper ou Haileybury educa- 
 tion, written in 1843, may be read with peculiar advantage at the present 
 time, when it is proposed to throw open to competition all the civil and scien- 
 tific appointments in the Company's service. Mr. Tucker was of opinion, as 
 many very able men are of opinion in the present day, that little is gained to 
 the service, in respect of its administrative effectiveness, by raising the scale 
 of scholastic acquirement, and over-educating the candidate for office. He 
 did not think that the vigor of the man was to be secured by sapping the 
 vital energies of the stripling. Nor can it appear to any one, who considers 
 the practicalities of the matter, that the forcing process, which under the 
 proposed competition system is sure to be brought destructively into use, can 
 really produce the most vigorous plants.] 
 
 Our excellent and accomplished professors at 
 Haileybury wish to send forth men, like themselves, 
 eminent and highly-finished scholars ; but this is not 
 what we want. We do not require literary razors to 
 cut blocks. Our service presents a vast deal of rough 
 hard work, for which intellectual hatchets are more 
 suitable. We want young men of sound principles 
 and good understanding and moral habits, with 
 minds fresh and pure, and with frames healthful and 
 strong to sustain the laborious duties of the service. 
 Mark the attenuated frames of some of our first-rate 
 scholars, and say if they are fit to undergo the 
 fatigues and annoyances of a suffocating cutcherry 
 for eight or ten hours successively. This was no un- 
 common occurrence with our judicial functionaries. 
 Before the College was thought of, the civil service
 
 QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE. 431 
 
 of India produced men of vigorous intellect, and of a 
 masculine character, fully equal in every attribute of 
 statesmen to those who have succeeded. Not that I 
 undervalue education ; on the contrary, I appreciate 
 it most highly ; although it may happen, now and 
 then, that the usefulness of the scholar is neutralised 
 hy the pride of the pedant. I must repeat, that we 
 do not require for our service deep theologians, pro- 
 found lawyers, erudite physicians or metaphysicians, 
 or subtle political economists. The men most dis- 
 tinguished in our service have gone out to India 
 before the age of eighteen ; and when they felt a defi- 
 ciency, some of them have educated themselves. I am 
 not, however, at all disposed to depreciate the value 
 of our College far from it ; I have myself too often 
 had occasion to regret that I did not enjoy the advan- 
 tage of a College education. Let us not, however, be 
 led away by visionary speculations so far as to sacri- 
 fice a substantial good, or to incur a contingent evil, 
 by giving an undue preference to scholastic learning. 
 If our first soldiers and civilians had possessed the 
 learning of the first James, India, I suspect, would 
 never have been conquered by us ; or, if conquered, 
 would not long have been retained by the force of 
 erudition. In fact, what we most want in India are 
 men of good under standing, of moral character, and 
 of industrious habits. There are some situations, no 
 doubt, where talents and attainments of a high order 
 are eminently useful ; but, in general, the substance, 
 and not the polish, is that to which we should, most 
 look.
 
 432 EDUCATION OF THE CIVIL SERVICE. 
 
 
 
 If I were satisfied that the judicial branch of the 
 service could he completely separated, I should he 
 disposed to make an exception in favor of a more 
 extended course of education for that branch, be- 
 cause a more particular knowledge of the principles 
 of law, of the rules of evidence, and of the practice 
 of our Courts, as well as a knowledge of our local 
 code of regulations, might be highly useful to our 
 judicial functionaries ; but this service is so blended 
 with the revenue branch (especially in the Ryotwar 
 provinces), that a complete separation could not, I 
 fear, be effected without inconvenience. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing remarks that 
 I am not an advocate for forcing up the standard of 
 qualification ; but whatever may be the statutes and 
 regulations of the College, they should be promptly 
 and peremptorily enforced with a firm hand ; and in 
 every case where, from idleness and dissipation, or 
 from refractory, immoral, and ungentlemanly con- 
 duct, a fair presumption shall arise that the indi- 
 vidual is not likely to become a respectable and use- 
 ful member of the service, he should at once be 
 summarily rejected. This we owe to the people of 
 India ; and a regard for our own reputation and our 
 own interests would also dictate the expediency of 
 excluding from situations of high trust all unworthy 
 objects. Lord Fitzgerald justly observes that " there 
 are still to be found individuals whom it should be 
 the object of a discreet but rigid discipline to cor- 
 rect, or to remove. It is to be regretted that in this 
 respect the system appears to fail, and that it affords
 
 THE ORIENTAL LANGUAGES. 433 
 
 no adequate test for the exclusion of the incompe- 
 tent or ill-disposed." This is quite true. 
 
 The new statutes still prescribe the study of three 
 of the Oriental languages to the Bengal student. 
 This I consider to be unreasonable and unnecessary. 
 It is impossible to make any useful progress in the 
 study of three of those languages, in addition to the 
 Latin and Greek, to mathematics, theology, law, 
 history, and geography, political economy, and Eng- 
 lish composition. The student is confounded by the 
 multiplicity of the subjects presented to him, and he 
 can only acquire a superficial knowledge of any 
 branch if he endeavour to embrace the whole ; and 
 in this vain attempt our most promising youths, 
 whom a sense of duty and a laudable ambition may 
 prompt to the unnatural effort, are liable to break 
 down and ruin their constitutions. 
 
 I would then dispense with the Persian language, 
 for, although it is the French of India, it is still a 
 foreign language, and the use of it has been very 
 generally discontinued in Bengal, in favor of the 
 vernacular dialects. If it be objected that we must 
 continue the study of it here, while our students are 
 examined in it abroad, the reply is simple discon- 
 tinue the study of it prospectively at both places at 
 the same time. 
 
 On one point we are, I believe, all agreed that if 
 the College is to be continued, every means should be 
 adopted to render it efficient for its ends and objects, 
 and that the exertions of those learned and eminent 
 
 VOL. i. 2 F
 
 434 SLAVEKY IN INDIA. 
 
 men who are charged with its administration should 
 receive our cordial and uniform support and co- 
 operation. 
 
 SLAVERY IN INDIA.* 
 
 I cannot perceive the advantage of legislating in 
 this country for the abolition of slavery in India ; 
 for if it be necessary or expedient to make so great a 
 change in the state of society in that country, it can 
 be done most safely by the local Legislature. Do- 
 mestic slavery exists in Bengal; but the slave, or 
 bondman, is in reality a servant, who sometimes 
 occupies a station of trust, and even of influence. 
 Abyssinian slaves have at different times been intro- 
 duced in small numbers in Arab ships, and they are 
 much prized by the more opulent Mahomedans ; but 
 the existence of slavery may be traced chiefly to 
 those famines with which India has unhappily been 
 visited. The parent, during these seasons of dis- 
 tress, is willing to part with his child for food, to 
 prolong the existence of both; and the child be- 
 comes domesticated in the family of the purchaser. 
 The natives are not severe masters ; but although we 
 see little of what passes in their household, and 
 although cases of mal-treatment of the slave have, 
 in the course of my own experience, been judicially 
 
 * These remarks form part of a paper reviewing the clauses of the last 
 Charter- Act, one of which related to the abolition of slavery. Many of Mr, 
 Tucker's objections, however, were removed by the manner in which the 
 provisions of the Act were carried into effect. The slave was not " forcibly 
 manumitted ;" but by conferring on him the same civil rights as other men, 
 and giving him equal protection, in all the Company's Courts, we gave him 
 the means of emancipating himself.
 
 EVILS OF FORCIBLE EMANCIPATION. 435 
 
 established, I consider it an act of justice to the 
 people to express my belief that such instances are 
 rare, and that when they do occur, they are not 
 likely to obtain impunity under our existing laws. 
 Predial slavery exists on the Malabar coast, and in 
 some other parts of the country with which I am 
 not sufficiently acquainted to be enabled to pro- 
 nounce upon its effects. But we must not forget 
 that slavery is expressly recognised and regulated by 
 the Mahomedan law ;* that it has been long tole- 
 rated by our own Government ; and that it has ex- 
 isted in India from time immemorial. 
 
 Considering, then, that we have by the most 
 formal enactments guaranteed to our native subjects 
 their laws, usages, properties, and rights, we surely 
 ought to pause before we proceed peremptorily to 
 supersede a state of things which the people may 
 regard as part of the compact subsisting between 
 them and their rulers. If it be intended only to 
 allow the slave to claim manumission whenever mal- 
 treatment can be established, the natives would, I 
 think, submit to such an enactment ;t for they will 
 have little reason to apprehend that the slave will 
 
 * See Hamilton's " Hedaya." The various questions relating to slavery 
 are treated at great length in that work. Slavery is also recognised by the 
 Hindoo law. Menu says, ch. viii., sec. 415: "There are servants of seven 
 sorts ; one made captive tinder a standard, or in battle ; one maintained in 
 consideration of service; one born of a female slave in the house; one sold, or 
 given, or inherited from ancestors; and one enslaved by way of punishment 
 on his inability to pay a large fine." H. St.G. T. 
 
 f Even an enactment to this effect must, however, be framed with great 
 caution and delicacy. An Afghan would proceed to the most desperate ex- 
 tremities if an attempt were made to violate his Zenana by releasing a 
 female slave. Are we prepared, moreover, forcibly to emancipate the slaves 
 of our Soubahdars, and other native officers, and without an indemnifica- 
 tion ? H. St.G. T. 
 
 2F2
 
 436 SLAVERY IN INDIA. 
 
 often avail himself of the means of obtaining his 
 freedom. If, on the other hand, slavery is to be 
 denounced, and authoritatively put an end to, a 
 great change will be produced in the state of .society, 
 the feelings of the people will be Mghly excited, 
 and our Government will be considered to act in a 
 very unjust and arbitrary manner. Who, let me 
 ask, is to be charged with the care and maintenance 
 of the infant slave; or of those who are old and 
 infirm, and incapable of work ? And in other cases, 
 where the services of the slave are of value, is it 
 proposed to grant a pecuniary indemnification to the 
 master ? If not on what principle do we proceed 
 in forcibly depriving a Mahomedan of that which 
 he has acquired and held under the sanction of his 
 law and his religion? It cannot be urged, I ima- 
 gine, that the slave in India enjoys no civil rights, 
 or that he is excluded from the protection of the 
 law, or that his condition, physical or moral, is 
 worse than that of our infant manufacturers or our 
 paupers, upon whom neither the loom nor the land 
 can bestow more than a bare subsistence. If it 
 were wise to legislate upon theoretical evils, it is 
 still unsafe to frame laws in this country for the 
 people of India, without knowing how far they will 
 harmonise with the feelings, habits, and usages of 
 those for whose benefit they are intended, and whose 
 hostility may render them inoperative. If slavery, 
 as existing in India, be attended with real evil 
 either to the individual or to the community, it will 
 be quite competent to the local Legislature to apply 
 the appropriate remedy; but I strongly deprecate
 
 CIVIL AND POLITICAL EMPLOYMENT. 437 
 
 the idea of any premature declaration by Parliament 
 requiring its peremptory abolition. Such an enact- 
 ment may be very grateful to the feelings of the 
 philanthropist, and may produce a momentary popu- 
 larity; but let us not legislate in ignorance; and 
 let us have some regard for the feelings and the 
 interests of the people who are expected to obey our 
 laws. 
 
 CIVIL AND POLITICAL EMPLOYMENT.* 
 
 1st. Offices purely civil should be occupied exclu- 
 sively by the civil servants, who are specially edu- 
 cated and prepared for their duties. 
 
 2nd. If it be found advisable to employ military 
 officers in the Thuggee department, or other similar 
 selections (in the Saugor and Nerbudda territory, 
 &c.), their duty should be confined to apprehending 
 and committing ; but the accused should be tried by 
 the civil magistrate. 
 
 3rd. The political offices (foreign residencies, &c.) 
 should be open, as heretofore, to both branches of 
 the service. At present there are only, I believe, 
 two civilians and one medical man employed in this 
 department. In what manner are we to obtain 
 political knowledge in the Governments of India, if 
 our civil servants be excluded from this department? 
 
 4th. The duties to be performed by some of our 
 residents (at Prince of "Wales' Island, in the Tenas- 
 serim province, &c.) are not political, but adminis- 
 
 * Written in 1844. See preceding paper on the same subject at page 63. 
 The importance of the subject, at the present time, seems to justify this 
 addition.
 
 438 CIVIL AND POLITICAL EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 trative, and require experience in the civil depart- 
 ment of the service. 
 
 5th. The restriction imposed by the Legislature in 
 regard to the extent of allowances to be drawn by 
 the civil servants of a particular standing, or resi- 
 dence, should be applied equally to the military. 
 
 6th. The oaths of office required to be imposed on 
 civil servants appointed to judicial, revenue, and 
 other offices of trust, should be equally imposed 011 
 the military holding such situations, if they are to 
 be so employed. 
 
 7th. Military officers aspiring to be employed in 
 the civil department of the service, should be re- 
 quired to pass an examination in two of the native 
 languages, and otherwise to give the same evidence 
 of qualification as may be required from the civil 
 servants. This supposes their appointment to situa- 
 tions of a mixed character, as in the instance of the 
 Tenasserim residency, &c. The duties of the assist- 
 ants in the Saugor and Nerbudda territory appear 
 to me to be "purely civil." The resident, Colonel 
 Sleeman, alone, I believe, is invested with a political 
 charge. 
 
 8th. The number of military to be detached from 
 their regiments should be peremptorily restricted, 
 and the limitation be strictly enforced. The military 
 service is otherwise made quite a secondary object. 
 
 9th. No military officer should be eligible to a 
 political situation until he shall have served with Ms 
 regiment for a given number of years (say six), suffi- 
 cient to make him familiar with his regimental and 
 other professional duties. This would operate as
 
 THE GOVERNOR-GENERALSHIP. 439 
 
 some check against the abuse of patronage, and fur- 
 nish some presumption in favor of qualification. 
 Instances might be cited where very young officers 
 have been employed in political and civil situations 
 before they can have had any opportunity of acquir- 
 ing the necessary experience. 
 
 . . . . The foregoing suggestions, if adopted, 
 would go far, I trust, to place matters on a more 
 satisfactory footing. I have not referred to Scinde, 
 because we are officially uninformed with respect to 
 the course of administration in that country, which 
 seems to have been assumed by the Crown; but 
 enough is known to satisfy me that the affairs of the 
 province are not likely to be successfully conducted 
 until it be placed under regular civil and responsible 
 government. 
 
 THE STJPERCESSION OF LORD HETTESB1 T RY POWER 
 OF RECALL. 
 
 [This paper was called forth by the revocation of Lord Heytesbury's ap- 
 pointment to the Governor-Generalship of India, on the accession of the 
 Whig Ministry in 1835. Mr. Tucker protested vigorously against this 
 stretch of authority, and pointed out the evils resulting from such exercise of 
 party influence.] 
 
 The long experience, the acknowledged talents, 
 and the peculiar qualifications of Sir Charles Met- 
 calfe, are a guarantee that his temporary or perma- 
 nent charge of the important office of Governor- 
 General, might be most advantageously confided to 
 that distinguished servant of the Company ; but the 
 great interests of the Indian Empire, especially at 
 the present period, require that it should not be left 
 without a settled and permanent Government. The
 
 440 THE SUPERCESSION OF LORD HEYTESBURY. 
 
 present incomplete measure of a Provisional Govern- 
 ment has been occasioned by the exercise of a power 
 which is believed to have been created for a purpose 
 wholly at variance with that to which, under the 
 advice of his Majesty's Ministers, it has lately been 
 applied, viz., in revoking the appointment of a 
 Governor-General an appointment which had been 
 made at the express desire of his Majesty's Minis- 
 ters, who, in the month of October last, informed 
 the Court of Directors " that to leave India under a 
 provisional appointment would be to apply such a 
 nomination to a purpose for which it was not con- 
 templated."* And yet, without any altered circum- 
 stances, they now\ consider that India may be left 
 to such provisional appointment. 
 
 The circumstances which gave rise to the power 
 of recall, or of vacating appointments under the 
 Company, was first vested in the Crown in the year 
 1784 ;J and afford ample proof that such power was 
 
 * Letter from Right Hon. C. Grant, President of the India Board, 
 1st October, 1834. 
 
 f Letter from Sir J. Hobhouse, President, &c., 4th May, 1835. 
 
 j The power of recall, &c. (Act 24 Geo. III., cap. 25, sec. 22), originated 
 in the course pursued by the Court of Proprietors in opposition to the reso- 
 lution of the House of Commons (votes 28th May, 1782), as well as to that 
 of the Court of Directors, for the removal of Mr. Hastings from the office of 
 Governor-General (20th Nov., 1782); and those proceedings having, at the 
 King's command, been laid before Parliament, the necessity of altering the 
 constitution of the Company, in reference to the case of Mr. Hastings, was 
 accordingly insisted upon, when the India Bills were brought forward in 
 1783 by Mr. Dundas and Mr. Fox; when it was observed that if the Directors 
 intended to "punish" ("Hansard's Debates," House of Commons, 18th Nov., 
 1783), they were obliged to apply first for his Majesty's sanction to the 
 despatch, which, after it had been approved, was liable to revocation by the 
 Proprietors. A clause, conferring the power of recall upon the King was 
 accordingly introduced into the Bill, upon which the Act of 1784 was 
 founded ; but that power being confined to the Crown, the Court of Directors 
 remarked, " That the power of recalling every officer appointed by the Court,
 
 THE POWER OF RECALL. 441 
 
 intended as a provision against misrule, and that it 
 was never in the contemplation of those who framed 
 it that it should be exercised in this country, unless 
 in the case of actual delinquency. This view is con- 
 firmed by the case of Sir George Barlow, whose ap- 
 pointment as Governor- General was vacated* by 
 the Crown, in 1806. In order, however, to avoid 
 for the future the invidious character which at- 
 tached to such a proceeding, a resolution was moved 
 by the Minister in the House of Commons, on the 
 discussion of the Charter in 1813, by which the 
 appointments of Governor were to be subject to 
 approval under the sign manual. On that occasion 
 his lordship observed, " Whether or no the power 
 of recall was originally designed to apply to cases 
 of misbehaviour only, it was an invidious icay of 
 exercising the power of disapproving of appoint- 
 ments." Viscount Castlereagti 's speech. " Han- 
 sard's Debates," 22nd March, 1813. The power 
 of recall consequently became unnecessary, except- 
 ing in cases of misconduct or delinquency. 
 
 When the appointment of Sir George Barlow, who 
 was then in India, was vacated by the Crown, the 
 Minister of the day with the President of the Board, 
 
 is, in their opinion, essential to the existence of their authority over their 
 servants abroad, and that it ought not to be taken away. They have no 
 objection to the same power being vested in the Crown, respecting the Presi- 
 dents and Members of Council at each Presidency." Court's Minutes, 
 15th July, 1784. The clause was accordingly altered, in conformity with 
 the suggestion of the Court. H. St.G. T. 
 
 * The power of vacating being also given, to prevent the necessity of the 
 party coming away from India. Sir George Barlow being a Company's 
 servant, a recall would have brought him home. Hence both modes were to 
 be exercised in India and not in this country. H. St.G. T.
 
 442 THE SUPERCESSION OF LORD HEYTESBURY. 
 
 in addition to an unreserved correspondence, held 
 full communication with the Chairman and Deputy * 
 Chairman, who, at one of the conferences, were also 
 accompanied by the Directors who had passed the 
 Chair : and when the subject of what had passed at 
 such conferences, together with the correspondence, 
 was communicated to the Court, a motion was made 
 by a member of the Court of Directors to revoke 
 Sir George Barlow's commission. That motion 
 passed in the negative ; nevertheless, an interval of 
 seven weeks from that date took place, during which 
 a further unreserved expression of the sentiments 
 entertained by his Majesty's Ministers and by the 
 Court of Directors were interchanged,* before the 
 Crown was advised by the Ministers to exercise its 
 power of vacating the appointment. The course 
 which has been now adopted presents a singular 
 contrast to that course of proceeding. Lord Heytes- 
 bury was appointed by the Court on the 28th 
 January the approval of the Crown was given on 
 the 5th February his lordship was sworn in on the 
 4th March and at the close of the month of April 
 his preparations for embarkation were complete; 
 but at the first interview which the Chairs had with 
 the President of the India Board, after that right 
 honourable gentleman had assumed office on the 
 30th of that month, they were informed, under the 
 injunction of strict confidence, that his Majesty's 
 Ministers intended to recommend the revocation of 
 
 * Vide Proceedings of Court of Directors, 1806; Secret Court, 8th April; 
 and Court, 20th May, 1806.
 
 PRECEDENTS. 443 
 
 Lord Heytesbury's appointment; and the Chairs 
 were not released from this injunction of confidence 
 (which, indeed, was repeated at the instance of the 
 President through one of the Board's Secretaries) 
 until the Cabinet had resolved upon the measure, 
 which was accordingly first officially announced in 
 the President's letter to the Chairs of the 4th instant. 
 Not one reason, however, was given for setting aside 
 in so abrupt and unprecedented a manner the ap- 
 pointment of a nobleman who was selected for the 
 office of Governor - General, * solely upon public 
 grounds, and free from all party bias or political 
 feeling. 
 
 The nominations which more particularly bear 
 upon the present question are those of Earl Minto 
 and Lord William C. Bentinck. Lord Minto was 
 appointed under Lord Grenville's administration, in 
 July, 1806; he did not sail from England until 
 February, 1807, and in the following month of 
 March, Mr. PercivaTs administration came into 
 office ; but no change was made in the appointment 
 of Lord Minto. Lord William Bentinck was nomi- 
 nated Governor-General by the Court of Directors 
 during Mr. Canning's administration, in July, 1827 ; 
 he did not sail until the February following; and, 
 although the Ministry was twice changed subsequent 
 to his lordship's appointment, and although he did 
 not sail until a month after the accession of the 
 Duke of Wellington as Premier, his nomination re- 
 mained undisturbed. 
 
 * Vide Court's Minutes, 6th May, 1835.
 
 444 THE SUPERCESSION OF LORD HEYTESBURY. 
 
 The appointment of Lord Heytesbury was in every 
 point complete ; it had been made as the President 
 of the Board suggested it should be made, " with 
 the full confidence both of the Company and the 
 King." * Scarcely three months had intervened 
 between his lordship's appointment and his being 
 ready to embark for India ; while, in the instances 
 of Lord Minto and Lord "William Bentinck, six 
 months had elapsed from the time of appointment 
 to the period of sailing. 
 
 The foregoing facts necessarily lead to the con- 
 clusion that the change in his Majesty's Councils 
 occasioned the revocation of Lord Heytesbury 's 
 appointment. It is an act which virtually invests 
 the Board of Commissioners for the affairs of India 
 with a character of political influence, whilst it ought 
 only to possess that of political control. 
 
 It must be admitted that the party proceeding to 
 fill the office of Governor-General should possess 
 the confidence of his Majesty's Government; but 
 do not long and acknowledged public services in the 
 highest diplomatic stations at the various Courts of 
 Europe soundness of judgment firmness of pur- 
 pose and a character irreproachable both in public 
 and private give the best claims to that confidence ? 
 If the expression, " confidence of his Majesty's Go- 
 vernment," be intended to imply a concurrence of 
 sentiments on public questions with the Minister of 
 the day, what security is there for any permanence 
 in the Indian Councils ? or, to use the words of Mr. 
 
 * Letter from the President of the Board, llth October, 1834.
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL CHECKS. 445 
 
 Fox, " if the dispenser of the plan of governing 
 India have not a greater stability in his situation 
 than a British Ministry,"* what hope is there of 
 the affairs being administered with advantage to 
 the interests either of India or of this country ! 
 
 For all political objects which require confidence 
 or secrecy, the Secret Political Committee, pre- 
 scribed by Parliament, is the constituted channel of 
 communication ; but if the Minister of the Crown is 
 to carry on a confidential communication with the 
 Governor-General of India, by which measures of 
 Government are to be framed or guided, it is a prin- 
 ciple which cannot be too strongly deprecated. It 
 is also unconstitutional, and experience has shown 
 it to be inconvenient ; moreover, the most dangerous 
 effects may result to the characters of functionaries 
 abroad, from such confidential correspondence. 
 
 The great redeeming quality in the anomalous 
 character of the India system, is its being one of 
 record, and consequently one of check, and it cannot 
 be one of too much publicity. 
 
 In the course of the discussions on the Company's 
 affairs in Parliament in 1813, it was remarked that 
 the system under which India had reposed for a suc- 
 cession of years, had not been formed upon narrow, 
 selfish, and temporary principles, but upon princi- 
 ples comprehending the whole variety of reciprocal 
 duties, and the whole train of interests remote and 
 immediate. Amongst the latter was the care with 
 which Parliament had disposed of the patronage. It 
 
 * " Hansard's Debates," 1st December, 1783; Mr. Fox on his India Bill
 
 446 THE INTEGKITY OF THE COMPANY. 
 
 was observed by the present Lord Glenelg, that " to 
 have placed it mediately or immediately in the hands 
 of Government, would be fatal to the Constitution is 
 universally agreed* no part of it should fall under 
 the command of Government." Will it not, then, 
 be utterly hopeless to expect that the patronage of 
 India will be preserved from ministerial influence, if 
 the highest post in that country is made subservient 
 to political power at home ? If the principle but 
 once obtains, it is not difficult to foresee the various 
 methods by which the appointments abroad will 
 at length be wielded by the servants of the 
 Crown. 
 
 It was the declared intention of his Majesty's Go- 
 vernment, at the opening of the negotiation of 1833, 
 that " the Company should commence the exercise 
 of their resumed functions in the utmost possible 
 state of efficiency." Negotiation papers, 1833, p. 36. 
 Yet, upon the first occasion, when they have dis- 
 charged the most important of those functions, in 
 making choice of a nobleman, against whom not a 
 voice was raised, that choice is set aside, and the 
 appointment is revoked before the Court is per- 
 mitted to urge one word in proof that it had not 
 exercised its functions unworthily. The inevitable 
 effect will be to lessen its influence and considera- 
 tion in the eyes of the Indian community, both 
 native and European, and to narrow the few re- 
 maining privileges which were supposed to be 
 
 * "Hansard's Debates," vol. xxvi., p. 442. On East India Company's 
 affairs 31st March, 1813.
 
 EVILS OF PARTY INFLUENCE. 447 
 
 secured to the executive body under the late agree- 
 ment between the public and the Company. 
 
 The revocation of Lord Heytesbury's appointment 
 is, in fact, a measure unprecedented in its character 
 uncalled for by circumstances dangerous in its 
 effects to the constitution of this country and 
 deeply injurious in its consequences to the welfare 
 and interests of India. 
 
 EVILS OF PARTY INFLUENCE LORD HEYTESBURT. 
 
 [The following paper relates to the same subject, and enters more fully 
 into the great constitutional question which the supercession of Lord Heytes- 
 bury involved. This, as well as the preceding paper, may be read with 
 especial advantage at a tune when it is proposed to increase the power of the 
 Crown, and to render not only the Indian Governors, but a certain number of 
 the Directors of the Company, dependent upon the will and pleasure of the 
 Ministry of the day. The supercession of Lord Heytesbury was a signal 
 instance of the manner in which political influences may affect the destinies 
 of India. It indicates that where the power exists it is likely to be exercised, 
 .and that no great forbearance is to be looked for from a political party re- 
 cognising no duty so imperative as that of strengthening itself.] 
 
 I had indulged a hope that the circumstances 
 which have led to the supercession of Lord Heytes- 
 bury, who stood appointed to the high office of 
 Governor-General of India by the Court of Direc- 
 tors, with the approbation of his Majesty, would 
 have been publicly explained; and that the corre- 
 spondence which is understood to have taken place 
 on the subject between the Court and the President 
 of the Board of Commissioners for the affairs of 
 India, would have been laid before the Court of Pro- 
 prietors, in order that they might be made fully ac-
 
 448 EVILS OF PARTY. 
 
 quainted with the circumstances attending a very 
 unusual proceeding, which may affect their interests, 
 and that your Honorable Court might have an op- 
 portunity of explaining the part which you may have 
 taken on the occasion. That your Honorable Court 
 have felt all the importance of the proceeding, and 
 have been anxious to maintain your rights and inde- 
 pendence, I cannot for a moment doubt ; but the 
 facts of the case not being yet officially before the 
 Proprietors, or the public, the supercession of Lord 
 Heytesbury bears the appearance of the undisguised 
 exercise of an arbitrary power on the part of the Go- 
 vernment, in opposition to the will and the remon- 
 strances of the Court. 
 
 In this view I cannot regard the measure other- 
 wise than with feelings of deep concern and alarm ; 
 for it is manifestly an attempt to render the high 
 station of Governor-General of India subservient to 
 political purposes in this country, contrary to the 
 clear and express intentions of the Legislature, 
 which has carefully provided against the assump- 
 tion of the patronage of India, directly or indirectly, 
 by the Minister of the Crown. 
 
 The appointment of Lord Heytesbury to the office 
 of Governor- General was formally and deliberately 
 made by the Court of Directors, under the provi- 
 sions of the existing law, with the full approbation 
 of his Majesty ; and if that appointment can be can- 
 celled without the plea or pretence of incompetency 
 or other sufficient cause assigned, it is perfectly
 
 POWER OF RECALL. 449 
 
 clear, either that the right to appoint, conferred on 
 the Court by the law, is a mere mockery, or that 
 this right has been violated in a way calculated to 
 degrade the Court of Directors in the eyes of their 
 servants and of the public, and so far to weaken 
 their legitimate influence and authority. 
 
 The Act of 1784 gave the Crown, for the first 
 time I believe, the power to recall the servants of 
 the Company; and this power might be necessary 
 and useful, while the Crown had no share in the 
 selection of those high functionaries, to whom the 
 destinies of India, and the interests of the empire at 
 large, might be confided. But the Act of 1813 ren- 
 dered it necessary that the appointment of the Go- 
 vernors of India should receive the previous appro- 
 bation of the Crown, and so far superseded the ne- 
 cessity for the power of recall given by the Act of 
 1784, except in cases of delinquency, mal-adminis- 
 tration, or other circumstances, tending to establish 
 the incompetency of the party selected. 
 
 The Court of Directors possess the same power 
 over the public functionaries and their servants 
 abroad ; but it can be exercised only upon the 
 ground of misconduct, or other sufficient cause as- 
 signed ; nor has the power of recalling a Governor 
 in any one instance been exercised by the Crown 
 since the passing of the Act of 1813. 
 
 Lord Heytesbury's appointment was the free and 
 unbiassed act of the Court. It devolved upon me to 
 have the honor of proposing him to my colleagues ; 
 and I did so, not hastily, not under the domineering 
 
 VOL. i. 2 G
 
 450 EVILS OF PARTY INFLUENCE. 
 
 influence of the Government, but deliberately, after 
 inquiry, and after satisfying myself that his lordship 
 was likely to do ample justice to the high and re- 
 sponsible trust which it was proposed to confide to 
 him. Sir Robert Peel's Ministry, I can declare, 
 acted most honorably on the occasion : the great ob- 
 ject seemed to be to make the most judicious selec- 
 tion for the office ; and if it were permitted me to 
 enter into the details of what passed on the occa- 
 sion, I could establish beyond all dispute that the 
 late Ministry were prepared to concur in the appoint- 
 ment of one totally unconnected with them in party 
 politics. 
 
 In justification of an appointment in which I my- 
 self took a responsible part (Lord Heytesbury re- 
 quires not my testimony), I must say that I received 
 from high authority the most satisfactory assurance 
 of his eminent qualification for office. 
 
 I have been assured that on the Continent he is 
 held in the greatest estimation, not merely as an able 
 diplomatist, but as possessing those high moral and 
 intellectual qualities, which distinguish some of our 
 statesmen, and which, when found, have disarmed 
 national prejudice, and commanded for our country- 
 men the involuntary respect of foreigners. 
 
 Lord Heytesbury, on the ground of his services, 
 and more particularly his services in Portugal during 
 a season of peculiar difficulty, was recommended by 
 the late Mr. Canning for the honors of the peerage, 
 and effect was given to that statesman's intentions 
 by his illustrious successor.
 
 LORD HEYTESBURY. 451 
 
 And what was the feeling of the Cabinet of 1830 
 with respect to the merits and services of Lord 
 Heytesbury ? I may be allowed to quote a letter 
 from the present Secretary for Foreign Affairs, on 
 his coming into office, dated in November of that 
 year: 
 
 "I have sent you by this messenger, copies of 
 several despatches, which together with that ad- 
 dressed to yourself, will put you in possession of the 
 views of his Majesty's Government ; and I am con- 
 vinced that the execution of those views, and the 
 interests of the King's service in Russia, could not 
 be in abler hands than yours, nor in any in which I 
 should prefer to see them." 
 
 Lord Heytesbury was detained for about two years 
 at St. Petersburgh, at the express desire of his Ma- 
 jesty's Ministers, some of whom are the leading mem- 
 bers of the present Cabinet; and it was not until his 
 health had failed, and his life was considered in 
 danger, that he was permitted by the Government, 
 in July, 1832, to resign his diplomatic situation, and 
 to return to this country. 
 
 I subjoin a copy of the very nattering letter which 
 his lordship received from Lord Palmerston on the 
 occasion : 
 
 " I have received the King's commands to express 
 to your Excellency, upon the termination of your em- 
 bassy, his Majesty's gracious approbation of your 
 conduct during the whole of the period that you 
 have held the office of his Majesty's Ambassador 
 Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the 
 
 2o2
 
 452 EVILS OF PAKTY INFLUENCE. 
 
 Court of Russia. The ability with which your Ex- 
 cellency has performed your public duties, and the 
 conciliatory manner by which you have so fully suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining the good- will and confidence of 
 the Government of his Imperial Majesty, cannot but 
 have proved highly advantageous to his Majesty's 
 service. It is with great pleasure that I find myself 
 the instrument of conveying his Majesty's gracious 
 sentiments to the knowledge of your Excellency. 
 " I have the honor to be, &c., &c., 
 
 (Signed) " PALMERSTON." 
 
 But the case of the individual, however eminent 
 and respectable, is of minor consideration. It is a 
 public principle for which I desire especially to con- 
 tend. The Court of Directors have virtually been 
 set aside as a useless organ of administration ; and 
 the spirit, if not the letter of the law, has been vio- 
 lated. And what will be the probable consequence ? 
 That body which the Legislature has wisely placed 
 as a barrier between India and political parties in 
 this country, henceforward must become political 
 partisans. An open attempt has been made to 
 cancel an unobjectionable appointment for mere 
 party purposes. By rendering the Governors of 
 India the mere dependent nominees of the Ministry, 
 holding office during pleasure, the administration of 
 the day will acquire a power and influence which 
 will enable it to assume and dispense the local patron- 
 age of India clandestinely, without responsibility, 
 and (when bad men bear sway) for corrupt purposes 
 for the purpose of obtaining political power in this
 
 PARTY GOVERNORS. 4*53 
 
 country, in utter contempt of the provisions of the 
 Legislature, both as they relate to Indian patronage, 
 and to the objects of those more recent enactments 
 which profess to secure the purity of Parliament. 
 
 And what will be the situation of the Governor 
 who holds under this precarious tenure ? Will he 
 command the same authority and influence abroad ? 
 Certainly not. Will he be able to govern and keep 
 in order that large and mixed community, among 
 whom are found so many elements of discord ? I 
 fear not. Will he not be regarded as the mere 
 pageant of the administration at home ? as the ser- 
 vile instrument for dispensing its patronage ? Will 
 any man of honor, of high spirit, of independent 
 principles, and independent fortune, be found to ac- 
 cept the office, and to embark for a distant country, 
 when liable to be superseded upon considerations of 
 political conveniency, or any of those changes of ad- 
 ministration which have been so frequent of late 
 years ? No doubt the station will still be the object 
 of desire to the mercenary and ambitious, but not 
 to those eminent and disinterested men, who alone 
 ought to be selected for so great a national trust. 
 
 And what will be the consequence of this attempt 
 to introduce the distinctions of party into India ? 
 What will be its effect upon the public servants, the 
 European community, and the native population, 
 which is rapidly acquiring European notions and 
 habits ? Our servants, much to their honor, have 
 hitherto looked fo distinction and promotion as the 
 reward of merit and useful service. They have known
 
 EVILS OF PARTY INFLUENCE. 
 
 no party. They were actuated by an ardent desire 
 to promote the public interests, well assured that 
 their political opinions would never be questioned 
 or thought of. They acted together with perfect 
 cordiality to promote one great end the public 
 good without reference to political principles, or 
 party connexions in this country. India was of no 
 party ; and the Court of Directors were considered 
 to be perfectly independent of all political influence. 
 But we are now to introduce the badges of party 
 into India. The European community is to be 
 broken into those factions, which so often agitate the 
 public mind in this country, which so often breed 
 discord and disturbance, and cause public principle, 
 the public interests, and the feelings of patriotism, 
 to be sacrificed to party objects. That union which 
 has hitherto constituted our main strength and 
 superiority in India will be at an end; and our 
 native subjects will learn to place confidence in 
 their own numbers and resources, as they perceive 
 the foundations of our power to be shaken. Pro- 
 motion in the service will be sought as the reward 
 of political subserviency ; and distinction and office 
 will be bestowed to purchase the base and sordid 
 services of political partisans in England. That 
 high and independent tone of character which has 
 hitherto distinguished our service, will degenerate 
 into selfishness; while the business of managing 
 adverse parties will be super-added to the multitu- 
 dinous and arduous duties which already bear so 
 heavily on our Governors, and which seem almost to
 
 SUPERCESSION OF LORD HEYTESBURY. 455 
 
 transcend the ordinary powers of man. Greatly 
 must the difficulties of the situation be aggravated 
 by the want of permanency in the tenure, by the 
 want of confidence on the part of the public, by the 
 diminution of that influence which independence 
 usually bestows ; and serious will be the injury to 
 the public service, if the high functionaries of India, 
 feeling that their situations are held only from day 
 to day, should be discouraged from undertaking 
 those extended works of improvement which require 
 time and persevering labor to bring them to ma- 
 turity. 
 
 My principles would lead me to regard the royal 
 prerogative with profound respect; but he lowers 
 the prerogative who abuses it. The supercession of 
 Lord Heytesbury is the act of the Minister, for 
 which he is responsible to the country. The ap- 
 pointment was formally made and completed by the 
 Court of Directors, with the approbation of his 
 Majesty, upon public considerations, without refer- 
 ence to party objects ; and to cancel that appoint- 
 ment wantonly and capriciously, is to disparage the 
 royal prerogative, and to set at naught the functions 
 and powers which the law has assigned to the Court. 
 The opinion of the humble individual who has now 
 the honor of addressing you, has been referred to, 
 and misapplied. I fully admit that the selection for 
 the high station of Governor of India must be made 
 by the Court concurrently with his Majesty's Minis- 
 ters, because the law assigns to the Crown the power 
 of rejection, and because not merely the welfare of
 
 456 EVILS OF PARTY INFLUENCE. 
 
 India, but the security of the national interests, may 
 be affected by such appointments ; but I never can 
 admit that, after the appointment has been made by 
 the competent authorities, it can be arbitrarily set 
 aside at the will of a Minister, merely because the 
 party does not stand towards him in the relation of a 
 political adherent. This is to render the act of the 
 Court a perfect nullity, and to bring its authority 
 into contempt. 
 
 So far from considering his Majesty's Ministers 
 to be supreme, as regards the selecting of our 
 Governors, the Right Honorable the President of the 
 Board might have learnt from the head of the 
 present Government, that, both in theory and in 
 practice, I insisted upon the right of the Court to 
 exercise a sound discretion in selecting for the office 
 of Governor- General ; and no Minister, no human 
 power, could have compelled or have persuaded me 
 to propose to my colleagues for that important sta- 
 tion, one whom I did not believe to be qualified for 
 the trust. Lord Heytesbury was proposed by me 
 under a conviction that his known talents, his ac- 
 quired knowledge, his experience, his prudence and 
 firmness, his high character, and his eminent ser- 
 vices in various public situations, furnished the most 
 satisfactory assurance that, in the high office of 
 Governor-General of India, his lordship might be 
 expected to promote, not only the well-being and 
 prosperity of our Indian subjects, but the great 
 interests of the empire at large. In this conviction 
 I am confirmed by everything which I have since
 
 THE COURT AND THE BOARD. 457 
 
 heard and seen in the course of a personal inter- 
 course with his lordship ; and it is to me matter of 
 deep concern that an appointment which appeared to 
 have met with such general approbation, and from 
 which such favorable results might reasonably have 
 been expected, should have been set aside from party 
 motives. But, anxious as I feel to do his lordship 
 justice, I should not have been justified in addressing 
 the Court of Directors solely for this purpose. 
 
 The question involves public considerations of 
 vital importance ; and although the Court of Direc- 
 tors may be more competent than myself to appre- 
 ciate justly those considerations, I shall not, I hope, 
 be charged with presumption in laying before them 
 a vindication of my own conduct as their late chair- 
 man. I am called on more particularly to do so by 
 the speech of Sir John Hobhouse in Parliament, 
 which has come under my notice, and in which I am 
 personally alluded to. The subjoined extract from 
 what the honorable baronet is reported to have said, 
 contrasted with the extract from the dissents to 
 which, I presume, he referred, will, I trust, satisfy 
 the Court of Directors that I have not compromised 
 their rights by admitting the power of the Govern- 
 ment to appoint, by its sole authority, to the office 
 of Governor of India ; and still less can I be sup- 
 posed, even for a moment, to have contemplated that 
 an appointment, formally made and completed under 
 the provisions of the law, could be set aside by the 
 Minister of the day, in opposition to the Court of 
 Directors, upon no other ground than party con- 
 siderations.
 
 458 APPOINTMENT OF COUNCILLORS. 
 
 APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. 
 
 [The following brief passage relative to the selection of members of the 
 Indian Councils, is extracted from a paper written in 1833. The Act of that 
 year left the power of appointment uncontrolledly with the Court of Directors. 
 Many of the observations in the preceding paper, relative to the evils of 
 party influence in the appointment of the local Governors, are equally 
 applicable to the present case. The additional arguments here used are 
 worthy, also, of consideration. It would be difficult to furnish any sufficient 
 reason for interfering with the existing system and increasing the power of 
 the Crown.] 
 
 But I must observe upon the proposal to subject 
 the appointment of Councillors to the approbation of 
 the King, or in other words, to transfer the patron- 
 age to his Majesty's Ministers, that the best security 
 which we possess at present for good government in 
 India depends upon the judicious exercise of the 
 power to select from the service at large the mem- 
 bers of Council at the different presidencies. We 
 do not exercise the same independent power in ap- 
 pointing the Governors of India : his Majesty's 
 Ministers must, for obvious reasons, be parties to 
 such appointments. These high functionaries have 
 generally been political characters of distinction, 
 connected with the administration, and they must 
 possess the confidence of the national Government ; 
 but the Court of Directors are better acquainted 
 with the merits and pretensions of their own 
 servants, and it is of importance that the whole 
 service should look up to them for protection and 
 advancement. The high station of a member of 
 Council is looked to as the reward of distinguished
 
 THE COASTING TKADE. 459 
 
 service, and it operates as the great stimulus to 
 exertion ; but if his Majesty's Ministers be allowed 
 to appoint their own partisans, or individuals not 
 connected with the service, this fair and legitimate 
 object of ambition is at once removed, and those mo- 
 tives and feelings which have heretofore produced 
 such devotion to the public service, will necessarily 
 be weakened, if not extinguished. 
 
 COASTING TRADE OF BRITISH INDIA. 
 
 [Written in 1849.] 
 
 It has been proposed " that, if it should be deter- 
 mined by the Legislature that the ships of foreign 
 nations should be admitted to engage in the coast- 
 ing trade of her Majesty's colonial possessions gene- 
 rally, the Court would not oppose the extension of 
 that principle to the coasting trade of British 
 India." 
 
 I am not prepared to concur in any such conces- 
 sion ; for I anticipate great inconvenience and mis- 
 chief from throwing open the coasting trade of India 
 to our commercial rivals, just as her Majesty's 
 Government wisely foresee that to throw open the 
 coasting trade of Great Britain to those encroaching 
 rivals, would be regarded as a suicidal policy in this 
 country. Else why insert in the proposed Bill 
 clauses 2, 3, and 4, excluding foreign vessels from 
 our coasting trade ? Would, indeed, the most in- 
 fatuated of our free-traders propose to supersede our
 
 460 THE COASTING TRADE. 
 
 colliers, the great nursery of our seamen and the 
 support of our navy, in favor of men who at any 
 time may become our most dangerous enemies ? 
 
 And if it be right to protect our coasting trade, 
 is it not right to foster and protect every branch of 
 our commerce ? There may be a difference in de- 
 gree ; but there can be no real distinction in the 
 application of the principle of protection. 
 
 The Court seem to consider that if the coasting 
 trade of the British colonies be set free, that will be 
 a sufficient ground for opening the coasting trade of 
 India; but there is not the slightest resemblance 
 between the two cases. The West Indies, and our 
 other colonies, have little or no coasting trade. They 
 have few ports, and only some half dozen articles of 
 produce (sugar, coffee, spices, &c.), which are sent 
 to the mother country, heretofore as rent chiefly, but 
 now as a return for stores and articles of consump- 
 tion received from Great Britain. 
 
 India, on the other hand, has an immense and 
 very miscellaneous produce an extensive shipping 
 and numerous ports from Singapore round the 
 Bay of Bengal and the Peninsula to the coast of 
 Cambay Cutch and Scinde, the Persian Gulf and 
 the Bed Sea. Here is a vast expanse of coast, and 
 the materials for an almost unlimited trade, as dif- 
 ferent from the localities and circumstances of our 
 western colonies as can well be imagined. And why 
 should we consent to make a valuable concession in 
 the one case, because a nominal or trifling boon may 
 be conceded in the other ? If the Court had stipu-
 
 INDIAN SHIPPING. 461 
 
 lated that our concessions should be made dependent 
 on the British coasting trade being thrown open to 
 foreigners, we should have had something like a 
 precedent for our justification ; but I hope and be- 
 lieve that her Majesty's Government are too pru- 
 dent to furnish us with such a precedent. 
 
 I will now briefly submit those considerations 
 which appear to me to demand the preservation of 
 the native shipping of India. 
 
 I will only cursorily allude to those noble vessels, 
 the teak-built ships of Bombay, which heretofore 
 engrossed a large portion of the carrying trade be- 
 tween India and China and the Eastern Archipelago, 
 and which also navigated occasionally between India 
 and this country. They were perhaps the safest and 
 most durable of our commercial marine; and let 
 it be remembered, that when an army was to be 
 transported to Egypt and the Mauritius, their ser- 
 vices were found eminently useful. They are, I fear, 
 fast disappearing ; but is there any man so unobser- 
 vant of what has been passing of late in Egypt, as 
 to feel satisfied that events may not again arise to 
 render it necessary that another armament should 
 be sent forth from India to secure our communica- 
 tion with that country ? Alexandria has been most 
 elaborately fortified by the subjects of a European 
 Power, whose views have long been directed to this 
 quarter, and who are now in a position to carry out 
 those views under more favorable circumstances. 
 
 But what I would earnestly enforce is, the neces- 
 sity of maintaining the native craft employed in the 
 coasting trade of India.
 
 462 THE COASTING TEADE. 
 
 There is a large fleet of " Dhoneys" which navi- 
 gate between the coast of Coromandel and Bengal, 
 and convey salt to Calcutta from that coast, return- 
 ing with cargoes of grain. The chief place of resort 
 for equipment and repair is the Bay of Coringa ; and 
 from this quarter the grain can be distributed, not 
 only throughout the northern Circars, but for the 
 supply of his Highness the Nizam's territory. 
 
 Those, who have witnessed the fearful ravages 
 of famine in India, must feel that anything which 
 can tend, even remotely, to aggravate the calamity, 
 ought to be carefully avoided by every friend of 
 humanity. Admit the Americans into our coasting 
 trade, and there cannot be a doubt that this enter- 
 prising people will speedily become carriers of salt 
 on their outward voyage to Calcutta ; and although 
 they might not, under ordinary circumstances, 
 engage in the trade in grain, yet, by depriving the 
 " Dhoney" owners of one of their freights (the 
 voyage now yielding two), they would, at no distant 
 period, cause those vessels to be gradually disused 
 and set aside. The property of the owners would 
 be thus destroyed, a large body of native seamen 
 would be deprived of their employment, and if a 
 famine or scarcity should unhappily arise, we should 
 no longer possess the same means of furnishing the 
 necessary supplies of grain from the fertile districts 
 of Bengal. 
 
 And who would benefit by this unnatural change ? 
 Certainly not any class of our own subjects, either 
 as consumers, or producers, or merchants, or naviga- 
 tors, or capitalists, or others. The only parties who
 
 EVILS OF FREE TRADE. 463 
 
 would gain would be the indefatigable Americans, 
 who will never willingly make any adequate conces- 
 sion to us in return. 
 
 I was not a party to our Free-trade despatch to 
 India in April, 1846, for it had passed the Court 
 before I resumed my seat in that month ; but I 
 shall never cease to deplore the fatal infatuation (as 
 I consider it) which has caused this country to de- 
 part from its ancient policy in a way to involve large 
 classes of our people, and many valuable interests, in 
 bankruptcy and ruin. 
 
 When I see the enterprising and intelligent Ame- 
 ricans, or any of the commercial nations of Europe, 
 adopt our policy and fairly reciprocate " the advan- 
 tages of Free trade," I shall be content to revise my 
 opinion. In the mean time, our commercial rivals, 
 no doubt, regard with extreme complacency that 
 liberality which is ready to make gratuitous conces- 
 sions and national sacrifices without the slightest 
 prospect of a return. 
 
 Yes, the expected return is to be cheap ships and 
 cheap mariners, in substitution for our superb marine 
 and our discarded seamen, unequalled though they 
 be in every quality of the profession. 
 
 Rough is the life of a sailor, and short, and oft- 
 times perilous ; and yet we would grudge him his 
 hard-earned pittance. These noble fellows were once 
 the pride and boast of a grateful country ; but that 
 country is now become an unnatural mother, bent 
 upon destroying her own offspring I Are we pre- 
 pared to see these men parading our streets as men-
 
 464 THE COASTING TRADE. 
 
 dicants, or consigned to our already over-crowded 
 workhouses ? or do we desire to see them transfer 
 their services to a rival Power, for the purpose of 
 strengthening its naval force and extending its com- 
 merce ? I remember, some years ago, to have heard 
 of three hundred of these fine fellows embarking in 
 a body from Liverpool to the United States. An 
 attempt was made to dissuade them, by one of our 
 officers on the spot ; but they stated that their only 
 reason for abandoning their country was, that they 
 could no longer find employment in its service. 
 Can we expect to find substitutes for such men in 
 foreigners? "Will they fight our battles with the 
 same ardor and spirit ? "What has given us supre- 
 macy on the seas ? and where have we been defied 
 and defeated at sea, except by a navy manned in 
 part by our own native seamen ? And yet we coolly 
 propose to discard our gallant sailors to promote 
 some sordid object ; and the proposition is supported 
 by those who never encountered a danger, or suffered 
 a privation ! 
 
 Our Indian seamen, or Lascars, are also, I must 
 contend, entitled to our protection. They do not 
 possess the physical powers, nor the energy of Bri- 
 tish sailors, nor can they bear up against the seve- 
 rity of a northern climate ; but they are orderly and 
 industrious, and their displacement by foreigners 
 would not only be a hardship to a large body of our 
 own subjects, but would involve loss to the country. 
 
 It was urged that the consumer of salt in Bengal 
 would be benefited by the relaxation of our com-
 
 EFFECTS OF FREE TRADE. 465 
 
 mercial restrictions, and that freedom of commerce 
 and navigation must tend generally to promote the 
 prosperity of the country. All this I am prepared 
 to deny. The price of salt to the consumer is re- 
 gulated in Bengal hy the Government-tax; and 
 whether the salt be imported, as heretofore, on 
 " Dhoneys," or on American vessels, the consumer 
 will have to pay the duty of 275* rupees per 100 
 maunds, plus the prime cost of 15 rupees charged 
 by the Madras Government, and the freight from 
 the coast. The only difference will be, that the 
 Americans may obtain the freight instead of the 
 owner of our native craft. 
 
 As to the happy results of unrestricted trade, I 
 shall only observe that it is easy to deal in gene- 
 ralities, when there is no question as to their prac- 
 tical application. Have these results been mani- 
 fested in the prosperous condition of the Mauritius, 
 or of Ceylon ? Has Jamaica, and our other West 
 Indian colonies, felt the invigorating influence of 
 unrestricted trade ? Can the fallen houses, hereto- 
 fore engaged in the commerce of India, be cited as 
 instances of national improvement ? Have the 
 people of India, the agriculturist, the manufacturer, 
 
 * Government-tax . . 275 rupees per 100 maunds. 
 Price on the coast . 15 
 
 Ordinary freight say . 55 
 
 345 rupees. 
 The price of Bengal salt may be stated at from 353 rupees to 375 rupees. 
 
 From the best account which I can procure, the coasting-trade employs 
 about 9000 vessels, giving an aggregate tonnage of about 500,000 ; but this 
 may include double voyages. Returns have been made, I understand, to the 
 House of Commons. H. StG. T. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 H
 
 466 THE COASTING TRADE. 
 
 the merchant, and the agent, become more pros- 
 perous and wealthy ? Have the East India Com- 
 pany sustained no loss or disadvantage by the late 
 change in our commercial policy ? Why, we can no 
 longer command, through commerce, a remittance 
 from India to defray the home expenditure. 
 Within the last twelve months we have been com- 
 pelled to resort to two large remittances in bullion, 
 and we have lowered the exchange on our bills from 
 Is. lid. to Is. 9d., making a difference against 
 India of about 10 per cent., or on the sum annually 
 required to be remitted to this country, of not less 
 than 300,000. This operates virtually as an ad- 
 dition to the annual tribute, which the people of 
 India must pay, or we must go on borrowing from 
 year to year without the prospect of ever being in a 
 condition to redeem the debt. 
 
 It has been alleged that the fall of the great 
 houses in this city, in 1847-48, was a coincidence, 
 and not a consequence of the introduction of Free- 
 trade ; but I must maintain, on the -contrary, that 
 the commercial derangement which took place at 
 that period is directly traceable, in various instances, 
 to the alteration in the sugar duties; a change 
 which has ruined the Mauritius, and which has 
 impoverished Jamaica and our other West Indian 
 colonies. The facts are notorious, and beyond 
 dispute. 
 
 It may be considered presumptuous in me to 
 engage in the discussion of a great national question 
 which at this moment occupies the attention of the
 
 THE NAVIGATION LAWS. 467 
 
 Legislature; but the Court have been called upon 
 to give an opinion on the proposition to open the 
 coasting trade of India to foreign competition ; and 
 I, as a responsible member of the Court, have not 
 only the right to record my individual opinion, and 
 the grounds on which it has been formed, but I feel 
 it to be a point of public duty to resist, by all legi- 
 timate and becoming means, a measure which I 
 honestly believe to be anti-national, and calculated 
 to be injurious to a country whose interests we are 
 bound to defend. * 
 
 * In connnexiou with the above subject, and bearing upon the general 
 question of the Navigation Laws, the following letter, written by Mr. Tucker 
 to the present Lord Derby, may be advantageously inserted : 
 
 " My Lord, I am not of sufficient importance from political connexions, 
 or otherwise, to take part in the public affairs of this country; and, indeed, 
 I have found abundant occupation in attending to the immediate duties of 
 the station which I have long held in the service of India. 
 
 " But I have not been altogether inattentive to passing events ; and being, 
 upon principle, what is termed a " Protectionist," I view with jealousy and 
 distrust every attempt to extend to India the application of those novel 
 doctrines, which, in my opinion, have already produced infinite mischief in 
 our own country. 
 
 " The Court of Directors have lately been called upon to state how far the 
 abrogation or relaxation of the Navigation Laws would be liable to affect the 
 commerce of India, with reference especially to our coasting trade ; and a 
 majority of the Court have expressed an opinion that, provided the coasting 
 trade of the British colonies generally be open to foreign competition, there 
 would appear to be no objection to the extension of the same policy to the 
 coasting trade of British India. 
 
 " But I could not concur in this opinion; and I have thought it right, as an 
 independent member of the Court, to record my protest against the projected 
 concession, 
 
 " I take the liberty of submitting a copy of this document for your lordship's 
 perusal, in order that it may not be supposed that the Court were unanimous 
 in their judgment, and that your lordship may have an opportunity of exa- 
 mining and weighing the facts and reasoning on which my opposition to the 
 proposition of the Government was mainly founded. 
 
 " It has always appeared to me that our recent commercial legislation must
 
 468 PRIVY COUNCIL APPEALS. 
 
 PRIVY COUNCIL APPEALS. 
 
 [The following paper, written in 1828, contains the substance of a proposed 
 letter to the Board of Control. As the letter was not adopted by the Court, 
 the Editor has substituted the personal pronoun for the collective designation 
 of the " Court of Directors," in whose name it was originally written.] 
 
 The measure contemplated by the Board of Com- 
 missioners of appointing a Registrar of Appeals, 
 coming from the Courts of Sudder Dewanny Adaw- 
 lut in India, involves questions which are attended 
 with some difficulty ; and I propose, therefore, to 
 take a preliminary review of the circumstances con- 
 nected with these appeals, in order to ascertain how 
 far, and in what manner, the difficulties apprehended 
 can best be obviated. 
 
 By the 21st Geo. III., cap. 70, sec. 21, the native 
 Courts in India, established by the authority of the 
 Governor- General in Council (the Sudder Dewanny 
 Adawlut being the highest civil tribunal), are con- 
 have a direct tendency to cause the transfer of the landlord's rent of the 
 farmer's earnings the wages of labor, and the profits of capital, from this 
 country to other states ; and the capital so transferred must, I apprehend, 
 sooner or later, be employed to promote the manufacturing industry of those 
 states. In this case, the parties who have been intent only to extend their 
 manufactures, may find, by-and-by, rivals, where they expected to find cus- 
 tomers ; while the country will have sacrificed some of its most valuable 
 interests, by giving way to their audacious clamor. 
 
 "Our colonies are notoriously reduced to the utmost distress, with their 
 affections, I fear, alienated from the mother country ; and although it is 
 pretended that the relaxation of the Navigation Laws is to become the means 
 of alleviating that distress, no reflecting person can seriously believe that it 
 will rescue them from impending ruin, or that the abrogation of those laws 
 will tend in any way to promote the prosperity of that country, which, in an 
 eminent degree, owes to them its rank, its power, and its safety. 
 
 " I have, &c., &c., 
 
 "H. Sr.G. TUCKER. 
 
 "5th March, 1849."
 
 THE REGULATIONS. 469 
 
 stituted Courts of Record ; and an appeal is allowed 
 by the same section from the decisions of those 
 Courts to the King in Council, in all cases where 
 the subject-matter in dispute may amount to the 
 sum of five thousand pounds. 
 
 Section 23 of the same Act, recognised and con- 
 firmed by the 37th Geo. III., cap. 113, sec. 8, em- 
 powers the Governor-General in Council to frame 
 regulations for the Provincial Courts, which regula- 
 tions his Majesty in Council may disallow or amend; 
 but which, " if not disallowed within two years, shall 
 be of force and authority to direct the said Pro- 
 vincial Courts, according to the tenor of the said 
 amendment, provided the same do not produce cmy 
 new expense to the suitors in the said Courts" 
 
 Under the authority of this statute, a voluminous 
 code of regulations has been framed by the Govern- 
 ments of India, for the administration of justice to 
 the native subjects of Great Britain, according to 
 their respective laws and usages; and in the pre- 
 amble to Regulation 41 of 1793, which may be re- 
 garded as the keystone of the code, it is expressly 
 declared that " it is essential to the future prosperity 
 of the British territories in Bengal, that all regula- 
 tions which may be passed by Government, affecting 
 in any respect the rights, persons, or property of 
 their subjects, should be framed into a regular code, 
 and printed, with translations, in the country lan- 
 guages ; that the grounds on which each regulation 
 may be enacted, should be prefixed to it ; and that
 
 470 PEIVY COUNCIL APPEALS. 
 
 the Courts of Justice should be bound to regulate 
 their decisions by the rules and ordinances which 
 these regulations may contain," &c., &c. 
 
 It appears to me, upon a careful consideration of 
 the system under which justice is administered to 
 the natives of India, that any regulation affecting 
 their rights or interests ought to originate with the 
 local Government, who must be most competent to 
 judge how far such regulation may be in accordance 
 with the laws and usages of the country, and with 
 the local code which has been framed, under the 
 authority of Parliament, for the express purpose of 
 securing to the people the full enjoyment of their 
 peculiar rights and privileges. 
 
 I am aware that the Privy Council is quite com- 
 petent to frame rules for regulating their proceed- 
 ings as a Court of Appeal, as well as to appoint a 
 " Registrar of Appeals," or any other officer, whose 
 services may be necessary to promote the due ad- 
 ministration of justice ; but, at the same time, I 
 entertain very serious doubts how far the East India 
 Company can be called upon to concur in the ap- 
 pointment of a Public Agent for conducting the case 
 of an appellant, or respondent, in appeal, without 
 the knowledge or authority of the party concerned ; 
 and still more reason have I to doubt how far it 
 would be expedient to employ such an officer in 
 the very new and anomalous situation of a general 
 agent for conducting the cases both of appellant and 
 respondent at one and the same time.
 
 PEIVY COUNCIL PROCEDURE. 471 
 
 I cannot, moreover, perceive the necessity of em- 
 ploying counsel in appeals from the Courts of Sud- 
 der Dewanny Adawlut, hecause the case is submitted 
 to the Privy Council in the exact state in which it 
 was decided upon written documentary evidence. 
 New evidence is not taken in this country, nor are 
 any fresh pleas admitted ; and as the decision of the 
 Courts of Adawlut is founded upon the Hindoo or 
 Mahomedan law, or the regulations of the local 
 Government, with which the Bar of this country 
 cannot be presumed to be generally acquainted, the 
 Court cannot perceive that the services of counsel 
 in conducting these appeals are likely to be often 
 either necessary or useful. 
 
 I am fully sensible that delays in the administra- 
 tion of justice are liable to produce very serious 
 evils ; and also see reason to apprehend that appeals 
 are not unfrequently preferred to the Court of last 
 resort for the purpose of gaining time, and of keep- 
 ing individuals out of their just rights ; but if the 
 appellant in a suit wilfully neglect to prosecute the 
 appeal, he is liable to suffer for his default, since it 
 is an inherent power in every Court to call on suits, 
 or appeals, in the order in which they may stand on 
 the file, and in the absence of parties committing 
 such default, to proceed to judgment without them. 
 I observe, indeed, that when it is proposed to com- 
 mit the case both of appellant and respondent to the 
 same individual agent, nothing more is probably in- 
 tended than to provide for the due observance of 
 certain forms of proceeding, not at all essential to a
 
 472 PBIVY COUNCIL APPEALS. 
 
 faithful and satisfactory development of the merits 
 of the particular case. 
 
 While I think it is necessary that the Company 
 should pause before they adopt a suggestion which 
 may subject parties in appeal from the native Courts 
 of India to a new expense, not at present contem- 
 plated by them, and which may be regarded by them 
 as violating the pledge formally given by the Indian 
 Government, that all regulations affecting their 
 rights shall be passed under certain prescribed sanc- 
 tions ; while I see reason, also, that they should 
 pause before they undertake to advance from the 
 territorial or commercial funds of the Company the 
 amount of expenses incurred in appeal, which it 
 may not be possible to recover afterwards from per- 
 sons suing in forma pauperis, as well as from re- 
 spondents generally who do not give security for 
 costs, I feel assured that the Court will most 
 readily and cordially co-operate with the Commis- 
 sioners for the affairs of India, for the purpose of 
 promoting the very important object of expediting 
 decisions in appeals from the Courts of Sudder De- 
 wanny Adawlut to his Majesty in Council ; and with 
 this view, I would propose that the Court of Direc- 
 tors should immediately prepare a despatch to the 
 Governments of India, calling their particular atten- 
 tion to the subject, and requiring them to take into 
 consideration the expediency of passing a regulation 
 in the manner prescribed by Regulation 41 of 1793, 
 for the appointment of one or more public officers, or 
 agents, to conduct cases of appeal before the Privy
 
 AFFAIRS OF THE PUNJAUB. 473 
 
 Council, and otherwise to give effect to those provi- 
 sions for the speedy and better administration of jus- 
 tice, which the Privy Council and the Board of Com- 
 missioners may have contemplated in the arrange- 
 ment at present under discussion. 
 
 The regulation so framed and passed by the local 
 Government, will, in regular course, come under the 
 consideration of his Majesty in Council ; and it will 
 then be competent to this high authority to sanction, 
 or in its wisdom to amend it in such manner as may 
 be deemed most suitable and most conducive to the 
 attainment of the objects which the regulation may 
 have in view. 
 
 THE AFFAIRS OF THE PUNJAUB. 
 
 [The annexed observations, on the state of our relations with Lahore, 
 written in 1843, were accidentally omitted from the series of political papers 
 to which they belonged. They are inserted here, in illustration of the con- 
 sistency with which Mr. Tucker set his face against all uncalled-for aggres- 
 sion and all impolitic extension of empire. The continued absorption of 
 principality after principality, which finds favor in the eyes of some poli- 
 ticians, was ever condemned and resisted by him. The native princes had no 
 steadier friend, and no more powerful advocate.] 
 
 I contend that the Government of India is not 
 called upon to interfere in the internal concerns of 
 the Sikh state of Lahore ; and that considerations 
 both of justice and of policy should restrain us from 
 any such interference. 
 
 The plea of " dum proximus ardet" cannot be 
 urged here ; for the Sikhs have no power to molest 
 us. We shall not necessarily be affected by the dis- 
 order and commotions which prevail in the Punjaub ; 
 and it may be safely asserted that not a Sikh will
 
 4/74 AFFAIRS OF THE PUNJAUB. 
 
 venture to cross the Sutlej* for the purpose of com- 
 mitting aggression on the British territory. 
 
 We are not bound by treaty to uphold the succes- 
 sion in the family of Runjeet Singh, or any other 
 family, or to aid in suppressing rebellion, or in 
 maintaining order and tranquillity in the Sikh terri- 
 tory. The treaty of the 26th June, 1838, contains 
 no stipulation of the kind ; and Runjeet Singh would 
 have scouted any proposition from us to afford our 
 assistance in controlling his subjects, or in settling 
 the internal affairs of his government. 
 
 The international law of Europe does not authorise 
 an armed interference to put down commotions in a 
 neighbouring state to suppress the spirit of revolt 
 or to punish outrage and assassination. 
 
 The Government of Erance does not dare at this 
 moment to interfere in the revolutionary movements 
 which have lately taken place in Spain; although 
 she would gladly send her armies across the Pyrenees 
 to establish a paramount influence in that country. 
 Nor has Turkey, or Russia, ventured to take part 
 in the late revolution in Greece, although the former 
 of those Powers was not long since despoiled of the 
 territory now constituting Greece, and the latter is 
 unquestionably anxious to extend her influence to 
 the shores of the Mediterranean. 
 
 But, it may be said, considerations of policy will 
 not permit us to neglect so favorable an opportunity 
 for acquiring a territory so highly desirable, and so 
 
 * Nor would they, if it had not been for our proceedings in Scinde and 
 Gwalior. H. St.G. T.
 
 MOTIVES OF POLICY. 475 
 
 valuable for giving strength and compactness, and 
 an impenetrable frontier to the British possessions in 
 India. 
 
 There is not a highwayman who may not use this 
 plea, or who would have any difficulty in showing 
 that the purse which he seizes is more necessary and 
 useful to him than to its original possessor. But it 
 is not clear to me that considerations of mere policy 
 would dictate the forcible seizure of the Punjaub by 
 the British Government. "We cannot stop at any 
 particular point we must take the whole territory 
 of the Sikhs we must advance to Peshawur, Kash- 
 meer, and Ladak. We must appropriate Moultan, 
 and the strip of country on the right bank of the 
 Indus. 
 
 Now, it is well known that the Afghans claim 
 Peshawur, and covet Kashmeer, which was heretofore 
 possessed by them; and our advance beyond the 
 Indus must inevitably bring us again into collision 
 with that people. 
 
 Our advance into Ladak and the hill districts, 
 over which the Sikhs at present exercise authority, 
 would bring us to the confines of Chinese Tartary, 
 where we should find an enemy by no means con- 
 temptible; for we have seen on a recent occasion 
 that the Tartar troops in that quarter signally de- 
 feated and drove back the Sikhs who attempted to 
 penetrate into their country. Nor can it be doubted, 
 I think, that the Government of Pekin would take 
 the alarm if they found us on their western frontier 
 so soon after our attack upon their southern and
 
 476 
 
 AFFAIRS OF THE PDNJAUB. 
 
 eastern coasts. It will be difficult enough to pre- 
 serve friendly relations with China under any cir- 
 cumstances; but the difficulty will be greatly in- 
 creased if any cause of jealousy should be super- 
 added in another quarter. 
 
 And where is our grasping policy to end ? "We 
 have just seized and appropriated the territory of 
 Scinde, without the slightest plea or pretence for 
 this act of aggression. 
 
 The Gwalior state is distracted ; and we shall find 
 little difficulty in reducing it to subjection, if we 
 seek an excuse for this purpose; but we cannot 
 expect that the Mahrattas will long remain indif- 
 ferent spectators of our encroachments. 
 
 The death of Maharajah Maun Singh will afford 
 us a similar occasion for invading the territory of 
 Joudpoor; but here, too, we must be prepared to 
 encounter, sooner or later, the hostility of the 
 Uhatore Thakoors, and other tribes of Rajpoots. 
 
 We are by degrees appropriating, as escheats, the 
 independent Sikh principalities on the left bank of 
 the Sutlej ; and in advancing our military line of 
 cantonments from the Jumna to that river, the 
 Sikhs will naturally have concluded that it was 
 done for a hostile purpose; and that, even before 
 the late commotions at Lahore, we meditated the 
 conquest of their country. At Hyderabad we are 
 pursuing the same aggressive policy by different 
 means. "We have lately submitted to his Highness 
 the Nizam a short treaty, by which he is called upon 
 to surrender his territory to the management of the
 
 CASE OF THE NIZAM. 477 
 
 British resident, as " Dewan" in consideration of 
 our advancing a sum of money " at five per cent, 
 compound interest" for the discharge of his High- 
 ness' debts. To whom this functionary, or "Dewan" 
 is to he responsible, I do not exactly know ; hut he 
 will have to administer a country yielding an annual 
 revenue of 1,73,00,000 rupees ; and if any surplus 
 should he realised, the last article of the treaty pro- 
 vides that it shall he at the disposal of the British 
 Government. 
 
 Now, I would observe here that it may be clearly 
 shown that the financial difficulties of the Nizam's 
 Government have been produced mainly by the 
 British authorities, who have compelled him to 
 maintain an expensive* military force, contrary to 
 treaty, for our own purposes, and not with any view 
 to his Highness' interests or wishes. 
 
 Under such circumstances, can we be surprised 
 if the attachment of the people of India has been 
 alienated from us ? I may venture, indeed, to 
 assert that there is not now a single chief in India, 
 or any man of rank and consideration (a few Hin- 
 doo capitalists excepted), who would not draw Ms 
 sword against us on the first favorable occasion, and 
 who is not at this moment anxious to drive us out 
 of the country. 
 
 This feeling did not prevail heretofore, except, 
 perhaps, among the higher class of Mahomedans^ 
 whom we have superseded in the administration of 
 
 * 40,00,000 rupees per annum.
 
 478 AFFAIRS OF THE PUNJAUB. 
 
 the country ; but I believe it now to be general ; 
 and a prudent statesman would be careful not to 
 call it into action. 
 
 But if our present councils continue to prevail, there 
 will not be found an independent native state, in the 
 course of a few years, throughout India; and our 
 colossal empire will exceed in extent and magnitude 
 that mighty fabric which fell to pieces by its own 
 bulk in the last century. 
 
 And yet we cannot manage well our present ex- 
 tensive possessions. "We were engaged during three 
 years in putting down the Cole insurrection; and 
 about the same period has been occupied in the 
 attempt to suppress, by a large military force, the 
 disturbances which still prevail in the province of 
 Bundelkund. 
 
 An immediate consequence of the occupation of 
 the Sikh territory will probably be the augmenta- 
 tion of the regular army ; and if our establishment 
 of European officers be once increased, it cannot be 
 again reduced without certain inconvenience. "We 
 cannot throw a large body of officers out of employ 
 without manifest injury to the individuals and to 
 the public service; and they cannot be seconded 
 upon the existing corps without putting a stop to 
 promotion ; and nothing tends more to dispirit and 
 enervate our army in India, than a stagnation of 
 promotion. In England, regiments are reduced 
 from the war establishment without a murmur; 
 and although individuals undoubtedly suffer, they
 
 EVILS OF INTERFERENCE. 479 
 
 are absorbed in the mass of society, and their 
 grievances produce no public disorder. 
 
 I would deduce from the foregoing remarks that 
 even motives of policy do not recommend an inter- 
 ference in the domestic strife of a barbarous people, 
 who hold us in detestation, who are not to be 
 trusted as friends, and who are not to be despised as 
 enemies. 
 
 There is no necessary connexion between the pre- 
 sent state of affairs in the Punjaub and our late occu- 
 pation of Scinde ; but if it be contended that the 
 Scinde question cannot be safely entertained while 
 the Governor-General is engaged in another quarter, 
 and that he must be left to finish the work which 
 he has begun, then I would submit that the present 
 Governor-General will never be without work of the 
 kind while a native state exists in India ; and to sus- 
 pend the consideration of the case of the Ameers 
 until the country settles down into a state of com- 
 posure, will be to postpone it to a term which may 
 never arrive. 
 
 I would, in conclusion, submit that those who 
 have condemned his lordship's councils in Scinde, as 
 wanting in policy and justice, are bound to show 
 that there are now just grounds of confidence, which 
 should determine us to commit the arrangement of 
 our affairs at Lahore, Gwalior, Joudpoor, Hyder- 
 abad, and throughout the vast continent of India, to 
 the same hands whose proceedings in Scinde have 
 been formally disclaimed by the Court of Directors.
 
 480 CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES OF INDIA. 
 
 [From a letter addressed in 1821 to the Right Hon. J. C. Villiers.] 
 
 It appears to me unnecessary, injudicious, and 
 even unjust, to stigmatise the whole Hindoo race as 
 a degraded people. It is extremely difficult, if not 
 quite impossible, to characterise any nation by a 
 few epithets ; and I certainly could not undertake 
 to describe the great body of Christians in any terms 
 which should be justly and universally applicable. 
 The moral and intellectual condition of the people 
 of India, it must be admitted, is generally degraded 
 when compared with the moral and intellectual con- 
 dition of the inhabitants of this favored island ; it 
 is susceptible, no doubt, of great improvement, and 
 it is a legitimate and laudable object of the Society 
 to assist in effecting this improvement. But let us 
 not offend the Hindoos at the very threshold by the 
 use of opprobrious terms ; and let us always hold in 
 mind that we come forward as auxiliaries, and not 
 as pt^mcipals that it is our object to aid and en- 
 courage them in their own spontaneous efforts to 
 emancipate themselves from a lamentable state of 
 ignorance, and not to sit in judgment upon their 
 national character, or to dictate to them the appro- 
 priate remedy for their real or supposed vices and 
 defects. Such a proceeding would probably damp 
 their own ardor, impress them with doubts and 
 apprehensions with regard to the intentions of the 
 Society, and perhaps determine them to abandon at
 
 CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. -181 
 
 once the very useful undertaking in which they 
 have so unexpectedly engaged for their own im- 
 provement. Moreover, it is, in my opinion, unjust 
 to condemn this people indiscriminately. Among 
 the Brahmins are to he found men of a simplicity 
 and purity of life and manners scarcely to be sur- 
 passed by the genuine professors of Christianity in 
 its purest form ; and even the errors of such men 
 deserve to be treated with tenderness and forbear- 
 ance. 
 
 The Hindoos are frequently reproached with false- 
 hood, meanness, and deceit. But falsehood and 
 deceit are the arms resorted to by the weak against 
 the strong. Servility and meanness are the natural 
 offspring of an arbitrary and oppressive Govern- 
 ment. It is the misfortune of this people that they 
 should have been exposed for ages to the injuries, 
 the exactions, and oppressions of successive con- 
 querors; and until lately, they have had no ex- 
 perience of the security and the blessings enjoyed 
 under a wise, just, and paternal Government, ca- 
 pable of affording them protection against foreign 
 invaders, as well as against the instruments of its 
 own power. 
 
 In the little experience which I had in the admi- 
 nistration of justice in India, I certainly found it 
 extremely difficult to satisfy my mind on the evi- 
 dence which was produced. The witnesses were 
 often contradictory, and their testimony was some- 
 times highly improbable and irreconcilable with 
 my view of the facts. But, although the crime of 
 
 VOL. i. 2 i
 
 482 CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 perjury is certainly not uncommon, the difficulty in 
 these cases partly originated -with myself, and the 
 apparent defects in the evidence were sometimes, I 
 believe, to be referred to the deficiencies of the judge. 
 Pew Europeans succeed in acquiring that accurate 
 knowledge of the languages which is essential to the 
 due administration of justice, and few possess that 
 knowledge of the manners and habits of the natives 
 of India which is necessary to enable them to enter 
 into the feelings of this people, to understand their 
 character, to appreciate justly their motives, and to 
 deduce the true value and import of their evidence. 
 On this subject the Committee might, I think, with 
 great advantage consult the official reports of Sir 
 Henry Strachey, and other gentlemen who have 
 distinguished themselves in the judicial department 
 of our service. 
 
 But it is with the ignorance of the population of 
 India that we have to deal more immediately. The 
 Hindoos are little acquainted with any of the 
 sciences their knowledge of astronomy is under- 
 stood to be very limited they have not, I believe, 
 any knowledge of natural history, anatomy, or the 
 important art connected with it; to chemistry, 
 optics, and other branches of science in which so 
 rapid and extraordinary a progress has been made 
 of late years in Europe, they are utter strangers ; 
 and although I do not profess myself to be in any 
 respect a competent judge of their attainments or 
 their deficiencies, I am disposed to join in the com- 
 mon opinion that there is an absolute want of all
 
 DANGEES OF RELIGIOUS INTERFERENCE. 483 
 
 useful knowledge among them, and that we should 
 perform a most valuable and praiseworthy service in 
 assisting to raise them from their present state of 
 ignorance. To this great object our labors will, I 
 hope, be directed, and, for a time at least, be exclu- 
 sively confined. 
 
 It appears to me absolutely necessary that we 
 should scrupulously avoid all interference with the 
 religion of the Hindoos, which is so interwoven and 
 blended with all their social habits and affections, 
 that it cannot be assailed without giving immediate 
 alarm to the whole Hindoo population. The politi- 
 cal consequences to be apprehended from such an 
 alarm I will not enlarge upon ; but as I firmly be- 
 lieve that the establishment of the British empire in 
 India is conducive to the welfare and happiness of 
 many millions of human beings as I am persuaded 
 that its subversion would be followed by a pro- 
 tracted state of anarchy, bloodshed, and misery as 
 I am convinced that, upon its preservation, our best 
 hopes of introducing the lights of Truth by human 
 means must be founded and that, in its dissolu- 
 tion, we must be prepared to witness the wreck of 
 every project which aims at ameliorating the moral 
 and intellectual condition of the people of India 
 I am, I confess, at all times alive to the dangers 
 which threaten this noble structure, and at all times 
 unwilling to hazard a certain good in the prosecu- 
 tion of attempts whose failure would be attended 
 with certain and wide-spreading mischief. 
 
 It may be admitted that some of the superstitions 
 2i2
 
 484 CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 of the Hindoos are absurd and extravagant, and re- 
 volting to humanity ; but no good purpose will be 
 answered by branding them with this reproach. 
 Let us hope that, by opening and cultivating the 
 mind by exercising and directing it to the proper 
 objects of study and by familiarising it with the 
 demonstrations of Truth which the exact sciences 
 supply, the errors of superstition will be gradually 
 dispelled in India as they have been elsewhere, and 
 that sound principles, and a purer system of morals 
 and religion, will succeed to that intellectual dark- 
 ness which we at present deplore. . . ;''. / J : 
 
 It is not easy to analyse the nature and sources of 
 the British power in India ; but one of the elements 
 in it is our union, or the faculty of acting in concert 
 under the guidance of a single mind. The wisdom 
 and energy of our councils the intelligence, and 
 vigor, and enterprise of the British character the 
 justice and good faith usually observed towards our 
 soldiery and subjects, as well as in our public trans- 
 actions generally, constitute a solid foundation of 
 strength; but the effect of these in India is 
 heightened by the imagination. The natives of that 
 country perceive extraordinary results proceeding 
 from some remote source, which is entirely removed 
 from observation. Under circumstances of the 
 greatest difficulty they see us extricate ourselves and 
 command resources which seem to be inexhaustible : 
 if arms, men, and money be wanting, they appear 
 and they are employed and directed, with the preci- 
 sion of machinery, to the accomplishment of any ob-
 
 PRESTIGE OF BRITISH AUTHORITY. 485 
 
 ject which we propose to ourselves. They contem- 
 plate these effects of an unknown agency with some- 
 thing of the same sentiment with which they re- 
 gard the operations of Nature as manifested in the 
 thunder and the lightning, without comprehending 
 the cause. I would not wish to have recourse to hyper- 
 bole, or to the language of exaggeration, or I should 
 say that the British power has hitherto been re- 
 garded in India with something of the same feeling 
 of awe and reverence which is felt towards the en- 
 shrined idol of the temple, which is veiled from the 
 profane gaze of the multitude. Some persons may 
 consider this an evil, because it is not founded in 
 reason and truth ; I am disposed to consider it as a 
 good, because it imparts influence to our government 
 and national character, and influence is power exerted 
 in a milder form. Destroy this influence, and we 
 must then depend upon the exertion of actual force 
 we must govern with an iron sceptre, instead of 
 leading and directing an immense population by the 
 
 movements of a wand 
 
 The natives of India are not generally deficient in 
 personal courage. Some classes of them are remark- 
 able, indeed, for possessing this quality in an eminent 
 degree ; and it should always be held in mind that 
 our own military force is composed chiefly of this 
 people. Still less are they deficient in natural saga- 
 city; but these elements of strength are scattered 
 and dispersed, and cannot be brought to bear upon 
 any one point from the want of union and of con- 
 fidence in each other. But give them, by means of
 
 486 THE ABKARRY ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 a free press, a chain of communication and connexion, 
 and we unite these dispersed fibres, and convert 
 them into a cable of strength. On the political in- 
 convenience which may be experienced from an ill- 
 disposed press, during a period of war with the 
 native Powers, it is quite unnecessary to insist. 
 
 THE ABKAKRY ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 [The subjoined remarks, written in 1841, form the substance of a docu- 
 ment in which Mr. Tucker declared his opinions regarding the impropriety of 
 an extension of the Abkarry Establishment. The Abkarry is a source of 
 revenue somewhat resembling our own Excise. It is, in fact, a tax on spirit 
 licenses. The right of opening shops for the sale of spirituous liquors is sold 
 to certain contractors or farmers, who, again, underlet the privilege. There 
 is no doubt that the sale of intoxicating drinks has greatly increased of late 
 years in India, and that many of the evils anticipated by Mr. Tucker have 
 actually come to pass.] 
 
 In authorising a large addition to the Abkarry 
 Establishment (estimated at about 5 lacs of rupees 
 per annum), we incur a certain evil, without any 
 sufficient or satisfactory assurance that there will be 
 a commensurate increase of revenue. It is proposed 
 to quadruple the public establishments upon a mere 
 speculative project of augmenting the receipts into 
 the public treasury. 
 
 I object to this ; 
 
 1st. Because I consider the deputation of a vast 
 number of petty excise- officers into the interior of 
 the country, as likely to be productive of much 
 oppression to the people, who will be harassed by 
 their vexatious exactions. 
 
 2nd. Because I consider the Abkarry-tax generally,
 
 EVILS OF THE SYSTEM. 487 
 
 and our retail opium shops in particular, as a most 
 disreputable source of revenue. This tax is justi- 
 fiable only in so far as it may have the effect of 
 checking the consumption of intoxicating liquors 
 and deleterious drugs, and of promoting the pur- 
 poses of an efficient police ; but we now come for- 
 ward with the avowed object of rendering the Ab- 
 karry a productive source of revenue to the Go- 
 vernment. 
 
 This can be effected only in two ways : either by 
 encouraging and increasing the consumption of a 
 noxious article, injurious to health, or by imposing 
 such efficient checks as shall prevent an evasion of 
 the tax. 
 
 The first mode of producing an increase I should 
 consider discreditable to any Government ; but most 
 particularly to our Government in India, where the 
 people regard with greater disgust the degrading 
 habit of intoxication, than is felt in this and some 
 other countries. The Abkar is always a person of 
 very low caste ; and it was heretofore held to be a 
 pollution to any respectable Hindoo to enter his 
 shop. Before the year 1790 few shops were tole- 
 rated in a Hindoo district; and in the extensive 
 Zemindarry of Nuddeah, there was not, I have 
 reason to believe, a single shop to be found. In this 
 particular, the natives of India evinced a nicer sense 
 of propriety, and a greater solicitude to preserve 
 decency and correctness of conduct in the lower 
 classes, than their more civilised conquerors. 
 
 If the present tax be evaded by the Abkar, or if
 
 488 THE ABKARRY ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 the collections made from him have found their way 
 into the pockets of our native servants, instead of 
 flowing into the public exchequer, these are abuses 
 which call for greater vigilance, and a more efficient 
 superintendence ; but our establishments are already 
 very large, the present charge amounting to 1,27,280 
 rupees, upon a revenue of 17,19,568 (exclusive of 
 the collectors' salaries) ; and if these establishments 
 be not sufficient to suppress the illicit vend of spi- 
 rituous liquors, what reasonable ground of assurance 
 have we that a greater number of petty officers will 
 be more successful ? 
 
 On the other hand, if the deficiency of revenue 
 result from their corruption and peculation, what 
 assurance have we that the new officers will be more 
 honest and trustworthy than those at present em- 
 ployed ? 
 
 But it is scarcely concealed that our object is to 
 increase our resources by enlarging the sphere of 
 taxation;* and a more impure source of revenue 
 could not well be devised, if it be viewed without 
 reference to objects of police, and to the duty of 
 
 * The following extract from the Asiatic Journal for May, will show that 
 similar means have been adopted to extend the Abkarry at Fort St. George: 
 
 " The report of the Madras Temperance Society complains of the many 
 obstacles the friends of temperance in India have to contend with, in the 
 many thousands of arrack shops established under the sanction of Govern- 
 ment, by the Abkarree contractors, all over the country. The Abkarree 
 contractor, it is stated, was enabled to give upwards of 68,000 rupees for the 
 exclusive sale of intoxicating liquor in the Chingleput district, only for the 
 year 1840. This will give an idea of the consumption of liquor there must 
 be among the natives; and the arrack farmer will not confine himself to the 
 exclusive sale of ardent spirits or intoxicating liquors to the inhabitants, but 
 will also find the means of selling clandestinely to European and native 
 soldiers."
 
 EVILS OF THE SYSTEM. 489 
 
 checking the consumption of a pernicious article. 
 The Abkarry shops are the resort of the idle and 
 the dissolute of vagrants and thieves, who rendez- 
 vous at these places for the purpose of concerting 
 plans for carrying on their depredations upon the 
 community ; and the project which has been coun- 
 tenanced by the Court must have the effect of in- 
 creasing the number of those odious haunts of vice. 
 They were heretofore shunned by all who had the 
 slightest pretensions to character; but now that 
 they are sanctioned and patronised by the Govern- 
 ment, the same degree of opprobrium does not attach 
 to those who frequent them. 
 
 Ever since I have had the honor of being a 
 member of this Court, I have uniformly and steadily 
 opposed the encouragement given to the extension 
 of the manufacture of opium ; but of late years we 
 have pushed it to the utmost height ; and dispropor- 
 tionate prices were given for the article in Malwah. 
 We contracted burdensome treaties with the Rajpoot 
 states to introduce and extend the cultivation of the 
 poppy we introduced the article into our own dis- 
 tricts where it had not been cultivated before, or 
 where the cultivation had been abandoned ; and we 
 gave our revenue-officers an interest in extending 
 the cultivation in preference to other produce much 
 more valuable and deserving of encouragement; 
 finally, we established retail shops for the sale of 
 the drug, which brought it home to every man's 
 door. 
 
 How different was the policy of those statesmen
 
 490 THE ABKARRY ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 (Lord Cornwallis, Sir John Shore, Lord "Wellesley, 
 and Lord Minto) who circumscribed the produce 
 within the narrowest limits, confining the cultiva- 
 tion of the poppy to two of our provinces,* and 
 actually eradicating it from districts where it had 
 been previously cultivated. And how fatal have been 
 the consequences of a departure from this wise and 
 humane policy ! Is there any man still so blind as 
 not to perceive that it has had a most injurious 
 effect upon our national reputation ? Can any man 
 be found so hardy or perverse as to deny that it has 
 led to the total derangement of our trade with 
 China, which was heretofore the source of wealth 
 and prosperity both to India and to the mother 
 country ? 
 
 In conclusion, I would call attention to a state- 
 ment which I have prepared, exhibiting an abstract 
 of the Bengal revenue and charge at four different 
 periods or intervals of ten years ; and from this com- 
 parative review it will be seen that the revenue has 
 not increased with the increase of establishments 
 (the speculation indulged in with respect to the 
 Abkarry) ; that the ratio of charge has in most 
 cases greatly increased, and especially in the in- 
 stance of the opium revenue ; and that the utmost 
 care and vigilance on the part of the Court will 
 be required, to prevent the charge of collection from 
 absorbing a large and an undue proportion of the 
 public income. 
 
 * See my remarks of the 1st of October, 1829, to which I would willingly 
 call attention, as applicable to the present question. H. St.G. T. [.Ante, 
 p. 149, et seq.~]
 
 DECLINE OF INDIAN MANUFACTURES. 491 
 
 DECLINE OF INDIAN MANUFACTURES.* 
 
 [Written in 1831.] 
 
 One great argument urged against the East India 
 Company has always been, that those who conduct 
 this multitudinous concern, having no immediate 
 interest in its success, are accustomed to disregard 
 those prudential considerations which regulate the 
 conduct of other merchants; that they purchase 
 dear and sell cheap, with little reference to the 
 state of supply and demand; and that, by thus 
 deranging prices, they destroy the equilibrium which 
 ought to exist between the markets of supply and 
 those of consumption. 
 
 As far as India is in question, the charge must, to 
 a certain extent, be admitted ; for the trade of late 
 has not only been one of a forced remittance, but 
 the Company, in its commercial capacity, has been 
 accustomed to perform the office of benevolent 
 rulers. We have continued to support the expiring 
 manufactures of India long after they ceased to be 
 supported by the demand of the consumer ; and we 
 have carried on the trade (injudiciously, no doubt) 
 long after it ceased to be profitable to us as mer- 
 chants. "We have done this, moreover, in the face 
 of great discouragement; for the British Legisla- 
 ture, far from participating in those feelings and 
 views by which the Company were actuated, have 
 virtually excluded the manufactures of India from 
 
 * From a paper on the subject of Investments of raw silk from Bengal.
 
 492 DECLINE OF INDIAN MANUFACTURES. 
 
 the home market by high and oppressive duties, 
 while every encouragement is given to the intro- 
 duction of British manufactures into our Eastern 
 possessions. Even a raw commodity (sugar) bears 
 at this moment a fixed duty, which operates gene- 
 rally as an ad valorem tax of not less than 100 per 
 cent, on the sale proceeds. And yet, under all these 
 circumstances of disadvantage, the Company are 
 required to furnish a territorial remittance, at an 
 exchange which neither corresponds with the cur- 
 rent rates for bills, nor with the bullion value of the 
 coins interchanged. Our commercial loss is thus 
 aggravated ; but as the facts of the case have been 
 fully and ably set forth by the Court in their cor- 
 respondence with the Board of Commissioners for 
 the affairs of India, I shall not in this place advert 
 more particularly to the question. 
 
 In extending the order for the silk investment to 
 the utmost, the Court are, no doubt, influenced by the 
 desire to secure the necessary supply of funds to the 
 home treasury ; and this, I am aware, is an object of 
 importance at all times ; but it does not follow that, 
 by increasing our purchases abroad, we shall, in a 
 corresponding degree, increase the produce of our 
 sales at home. Six thousand bales disposed of at the 
 rate of 15s. per lb., will realise a greater value than 
 seven thousand bales at the price of 12s. per lb. ; and 
 so, too, a difference in the rate of purchase abroad 
 will make a great difference in the out-turn of the 
 investment at home, although it may not augment 
 the scale of the remittance. What, however, I
 
 MEANS OF REMITTANCE. 493 
 
 would take the liberty of impressing upon the Court 
 is, the expediency of circumscribing our investments 
 as much as possible ; for the time is arrived when it 
 is become absolutely necessary that we should care- 
 fully examine our commercial situation, and when 
 we must determine to act upon principles and views 
 in strict accordance with our commercial character. 
 In reviewing the question of effecting the terri- 
 torial remittance from India, the articles of raw silk, 
 indigo, cotton, saltpetre, and perhaps some minor 
 objects, must no doubt be looked to as a means of 
 obtaining a portion of the supply required ; but the 
 trade from China has constituted, and must consti- 
 tute, the great and productive channel of remittance 
 for political purposes. It would be worse than 
 useless to keep this fact out of sight. As long as the 
 East India Company shall be permitted to enjoy the 
 exclusive privilege of supplying the consumption of 
 Great Britain with the article of tea, under any 
 judicious modification of the existing system, this 
 great body can continue to act as the organ of the 
 territorial remittance, with great benefit, as I pre- 
 sume to think, to the various interests concerned ; 
 but, divest it of the privilege, and no person will, I 
 apprehend, be found to maintain that it can continue 
 to exercise this important function, by carrying on 
 as heretofore the trade of India, without risking and 
 gradually exhausting its commercial capital. We 
 cannot, indeed, go on for another season with safety, 
 unless this preliminary question be decided in our 
 favor. We cannot give an order for the provision of
 
 494 COMMERCIAL INJUSTICE. 
 
 another investment, without the danger of injuring 
 those whose property and interests are confided to our 
 care ; and if the wisdom, or the will, of the Legis- 
 lature should finally adopt the policy of throwing 
 open the China trade to general competition, we 
 cannot too soon prepare to close our books, since 
 such a decision must inevitably operate as a sentence 
 of annihilation to the East India Company as a com- 
 mercial body. 
 
 COMMERCIAL INJUSTICE TO INDIA THE CLAIMS OF 
 BRITISH INDIA. 
 
 [From a letter to Mr. Huskisson, written in 1823.] 
 
 I fully admit that our administration abroad has 
 been conducted on just and benevolent princi- 
 ples. No Government ever manifested, perhaps, a 
 more constant solicitude to promote the welfare of a 
 people ; and it is with satisfaction and with pride 
 that I can bear an almost unqualified testimony in 
 its favor. 
 
 On the other hand, what is the commercial policy 
 which we have adopted in this country with relation 
 to India? The silk manufactures, and its piece 
 goods made of silk and cotton intermixed, have 
 long since been excluded altogether from our mar- 
 kets ; and of late, partly in consequence of the 
 operation of a duty of 67 per cent., but chiefly from 
 the effect of superior machinery, the cotton fabrics, 
 which heretofore constituted the staple of India, 
 have not only been displaced in this country, but 
 we actually export our cotton manufactures to sup-
 
 COMMERCIAL INJUSTICE. 495 
 
 ply a part of the consumption of our Asiatic pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 India is thus reduced from the state of a manufac- 
 turing, to that of an agricultural country ; hut are we 
 content to stop here ? Are we content to exchange 
 our manufactures for the produce of its soil? to make 
 that exchange which naturally takes place between a 
 manufacturing and an agricultural country? No. 
 We impose a duty equal to ahout 200 per cent, on 
 the prime cost of the sugars of India. In the 
 course of excluding sugar, we pursue measures 
 which have a tendency to exclude cotton, another 
 article of raw produce ; and we deliberately tell our 
 Asiatic subjects that they must receive and consume 
 whatever we are pleased to send them, but that 
 with some few exceptions we will receive nothing 
 from them in return. 
 
 This would be sufficiently absurd if we were no 
 more than commercial dealers with India ; but the 
 absurdity is carried to the extreme when, in quality 
 of sovereign, we come forward to demand a tribute 
 from our territorial possessions. Here we are cre- 
 ditors, requiring payment of a debt amounting to 
 between four and five millions per annum (public 
 and private) ; and this debt, with a sort of caprice 
 and perverseness quite unaccountable, we resolve 
 not to receive in that way in which alone it can be 
 paid by the debtor. India tenders her produce and 
 manufactures absolutely gratuitously, and you will 
 take neither. Even her very gifts are urged as an 
 argument against her. Because she sends you seven
 
 496 COMMERCIAL INJUSTICE. 
 
 and a half millions in return for three, we are told 
 that this is a demerit, and that such a state of the 
 trade must be disadvantageous to the mother country, 
 I will not stop to point out the ignorance, both with 
 respect to facts and principles, on which this objec- 
 tion is founded. The excess of imports into this 
 country is not a balance of trade such a balance 
 could not exist for any length of time. It represents 
 the public and private tribute paid annually by India, 
 and it is a perennial stream of wealth which flows 
 into the mother country. "Were it necessary to 
 enter into details, I could easily show that the ex- 
 cess of imports from China constitute a portion of 
 the tribute paid by India to Great Britain. 
 
 And for what end, and in favour of whom, is this 
 stream to be dried up ? We are called upon to pro- 
 tect a particular interest which cannot be supported 
 without artificial props. And is it practicable to 
 support this interest by the means adopted for that 
 purpose? I believe that it is not. The West Indians 
 may embarrass the trade of India, but they cannot 
 prevent the growth of sugar in that country, nor can 
 they ever obtain the effectual monopoly of the home 
 market while they produce and import more than 
 that market can or will consume at the present 
 prices. The surplus connects this market with the 
 market of the world, just as a canal may connect 
 two lakes or rivers ; and it tends directly and irre- 
 sistibly to reduce prices to one common level. 
 
 I am not disposed, however, to dwell upon the 
 commercial branch of the question, because you, sir,
 
 THE VALUE OF INDIA. 497 
 
 are better qualified to take a just view of it than I 
 can pretend to be. Had this question no other 
 bearings, I do not know that I should have inter- 
 meddled with it ; but it appears to me to involve 
 political considerations of the highest importance, 
 and I am led to apprehend consequences which I 
 would most earnestly deprecate, should the Govern- 
 ment proceed upon a partial and narrow view of the 
 interests at issue. 
 
 The value of India seems scarcely to be known, or 
 if it be known, it seems scarcely to be regarded in 
 this country. It is certainly better understood on 
 the Continent, where our possessions in the East are 
 not only viewed with envy, but with feelings which 
 distinctly show that those extensive possessions are 
 considered as one main source of our national 
 strength. In fact, it is most strange that any doubt 
 should exist with respect to the value of a territory 
 which yields a revenue of twenty millions per 
 annum, which does much more than defray its own 
 charges, and which adds an efficient army of 150,000 
 men to the military power of the country. Allow 
 me to draw a hasty contrast between our possessions 
 in the East and the West. The one defends itself; 
 the other must be defended at a heavy expense. The 
 one adds to the revenue of the State, after defraying 
 its charge ; the other is a drain upon that revenue. 
 The one places military strength in the national 
 scale ; the other takes from that force. The one can 
 exist without protecting duties ; the other must be 
 
 VOL. i. 2 K
 
 498 COMMERCIAL INJUSTICE. 
 
 supported by artificial props, at the expense of the 
 nation. The one can supply the British consumer 
 with the article of sugar at thirty shillings per cwt. ; 
 the other cannot, it is alleged, at less than sixty. 
 The one can be preserved to the mother country by 
 the simple application of just principles of govern- 
 ment ; the other may be wrested from it by a 
 foreign enemy, in spite of every effort of prudence 
 and every exertion of military prowess. And yet 
 the former is to be endangered, in a vain attempt to 
 uphold the interests of the latter ! 
 
 And what would be the condition of this empire, 
 if we should unhappily be deprived of British India? 
 The separation can never take place without a vio- 
 lent struggle, nor without having those angry feel- 
 ings which, at the present day, are scarcely eradicated 
 from the minds of the people of the United States of 
 America. "Would India, in that calamitous event, 
 receive your manufactures at a duty of 2| per cent., 
 while you imposed a duty of 67 per cent, on her 
 fabrics while you declared some of them actually 
 contraband and while you even excluded her raw 
 produce by prohibitory duties ? Would she receive 
 your manufactures at all? And, with the simple 
 habits of her population, would she not be perfectly 
 independent, and be in a condition to cut off all 
 commercial intercourse, without experiencing the 
 slightest inconvenience ? 
 
 I consider the grandeur and power of this empire 
 to depend in so great a degree upon the possession
 
 LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 499 
 
 of India, that I cannot too strongly urge the neces- 
 sity of guarding against the most remote contingen- 
 cies which can affect the security of our Eastern 
 dominion. The separation of India would leave 
 this country dismembered the finest branch would 
 be violently severed, and the trunk itself would not 
 escape without injury from the shock. 
 
 If it be asked what are the dangers which I 
 apprehend, I reply that the people of India are 
 advancing in opulence, and knowledge, and civilisa- 
 tion that the number of Europeans is increasing 
 that the mixed race, or Creoles, are already very 
 numerous, and are rapidly increasing and that our 
 Government, or rather my Lord Hastings, has lately 
 (most unwisely, as I think) bestowed upon this 
 varied population the " liberty of the press," a boon 
 which could not fail to excite new feelings among 
 them. This powerful instrument has already been 
 put in operation, and it will be made use of to con- 
 nect together the different parts of the population, 
 whenever they are led to propose to themselves one 
 common object. If I mistake not, you will be told 
 in a very few years, and perhaps in a very few 
 months, that protection and allegiance are reciprocal 
 duties, and that where the one is withheld, the other 
 is not due that whatever system of commercial 
 policy it may be thought expedient to adopt with a 
 view to the general interests of the empire, it can 
 never be right or justifiable to place restrictions on 
 one colony or dependency for the benefit of another,
 
 500 COMMERCIAL INJUSTICE. 
 
 &c., &c., &c. I clearly perceive symptoms of such a 
 spirit already; and the time is certainly arrived 
 when the Government must decide not only upon 
 the commercial policy to be observed towards India, 
 but upon the political principles which should be 
 applied to the government of that country. 
 
 And, in truth, what could show in a stronger light 
 the necessity of a decided line of conduct, than an 
 occurrence which is very likely to take place ? The 
 Court of Proprietors of East India Stock, who are 
 apt (somewhat strangely) to consider themselves the 
 sovereigns of India, determined on Eriday last, by a 
 great majority of voices, to petition Parliament for 
 an equalisation of the duties on sugar, or rather to 
 ask for inquiry into the subject, for we offered to 
 modify our proposition to that effect; but certain 
 individuals, for the avowed purpose of setting aside 
 this vote, thought proper to call for a ballot ; and it 
 is by no means improbable that they will succeed on 
 this appeal in overruling the resolution. In this 
 case, it will result that individuals exercising the 
 functions of Proprietors of India Stock, may apply 
 their powers, as such, against the interests of India, 
 to favor the interests of the West Indies that our 
 possessions in the East are to be governed, not with 
 any view to what is right and fitting with relation 
 to India, but with a view to what is convenient and 
 advantageous with relation to the West Indies 
 that a great question of political rights, and of com- 
 mercial policy, is to be decided, not by those who
 
 THE EAST AND WEST INDIES. 501 
 
 attended the debate for the purpose of becoming 
 acquainted with the merits of the case, but by 
 certain sovereigns of a day, who openly avow that 
 their decision is governed by considerations which 
 have no relation whatever to their own interests or 
 duties as Proprietors of East India Stock. Such a 
 state of things is so little reconcilable with reason 
 and common sense, that I am willing to hope il 
 cannot long be suffered to exist. At all events, if it 
 is to be continued, the Government have not a mo- 
 ment to lose in putting a termination to " the liberty 
 of the press," and in applying in the administration 
 of India principles more suitable to the situation in 
 which the West Indians seem disposed to place that 
 country. 
 
 I have no personal interest in the question which 
 weighs a feather in the scale ; and if I had a greater 
 interest in it, I should still say that the man who 
 cannot abstract himself from himself on a great 
 public question, is not qualified to take even that 
 humble part in public life which has devolved upon 
 me. All wliich is asked or wished, by myself, and 
 those with whom I concur, is a fair and impartial 
 inquiry by the Legislature ; and such an inquiry 
 cannot now be refused without retracting the pledge 
 which was given by the Government in the last 
 session in Parliament, nor without furnishing an 
 inference that the case of the "West Indians will 
 not bear a scrutiny, even by those who are most 
 anxious to view it favorably. In truth, as was justly 
 observed by Mr. Baring in the House of Commons, 
 if there were no other reason for the inquiry, it is
 
 502 COMMERCIAL INJUSTICE. 
 
 proper to institute it for the purpose of setting the 
 question, if possible, at rest. The property at stake 
 is so large the interests involved are so -extensive 
 and various, that they cannot be allowed to remain 
 in an unsettled state without serious inconvenience. 
 In this remark I concur, confined as it was to com- 
 mercial objects ; but it acquires great additional 
 force when its application is extended to the political 
 bearings of the question. 
 
 I myself am no uncompromising theorist, nor am 
 I much of a political enthusiast. My life has been 
 passed in assisting in the administration of public 
 affairs ; and in this school a man not only finds his 
 enthusiasm moderated, whatever may happen to be 
 his natural temperament, but he also learns to re- 
 duce theories to their practical value. I lament the 
 distress of the West Indians, some of whom, as indi- 
 viduals, I highly respect and esteem ; and I would 
 not willingly do anything to aggravate that distress ; 
 but I cannot overlook the situation, and disregard the 
 claims of other parties, and I feel perfectly satisfied 
 that, if the concessions which the West Indians 
 demand were absolutely granted by the Legislature, 
 such concessions would have no other effect than to 
 embarrass and divert the trade of India into a 
 foreign channel, without affording the relief which 
 the West Indians expect. In fact, if relief could 
 have been obtained by commercial restrictions, it 
 ought to have been obtained in the course of the 
 last nine years, during which they have enjoyed the 
 full benefit of protecting duties.
 
 503 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 [With the two following brief extracts from papers written at the time of 
 the Charter discussions of 1833, this series of selections from Mr. Tucker's 
 writings may be appropriately brought to a close. The first contains a just 
 tribute to the general government of the East India Company.] 
 
 GENERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 The Court of Directors feel satisfied, indeed, that 
 no unnecessary change will take place in the leading 
 features of the existing system, under which the 
 Empire of India has heen acquired and preserved to 
 the British Crown by the East India Company. 
 All human institutions may he susceptible of im- 
 provement, and must be modified to accommodate 
 them to those changes which tune and circum- 
 stances may produce ; but the Court cannot believe 
 that, with a view to any untried theory, however 
 specious, a rash hand will be applied to subvert a 
 structure which has been raised in a distant and 
 foreign land, by the most signal efforts of political 
 wisdom and military virtue, and under circum- 
 stances of extraordinary difficulty; and which in 
 magnitude and moral strength transcends anything 
 of the kind to be found within the whole range of 
 authentic history. 
 
 The Court do not merely express the sentiment of 
 the humble individuals who compose it, when they 
 affirm that the remote empire acquired by the East
 
 504 CONCLUSION. 
 
 India Company in India has been administered for 
 half a century with wisdom and prudence, with 
 moderation and justice, with purity and disin- 
 terestedness. It is the concurring sentiment of the 
 intelligent portion of the people of this country and 
 of India. It is the sentiment of the civilised world, 
 which has done homage (and in some instances, 
 perhaps, reluctant homage) to the character of the 
 Company's Government. That body has stood firmly 
 as a barrier for the protection of the people of India 
 against commercial cupidity and political rapacity ; 
 and it was also considered by this nation, on a 
 memorable occasion, to be a necessary bulwark 
 against a dangerous inroad upon the British Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 ACCEPTANCE OF THE BILL. 
 
 [The following extract contains Mr. Tucker's recommendation to the Court 
 of Proprietors to accept the India Bill of 1833. The circumstances under 
 which, in 1853, a similar recommendation might be made, differ considerably 
 from those set forth on the opposite page; but the two last paragraphs of this 
 paper are as applicable to the state of things in the latter as in the former year, 
 and fitly close the present volume.] 
 
 Peeling, as I do, such weighty objections to parts 
 of the Bill before me, what is the duty which I owe 
 to my constituents and to the public ? Ought I to 
 advise the Proprietors of East India Stock to reject 
 the plan of the King's Ministers, and to stand upon 
 their chartered rights? This is a question which 
 must not be lightly treated ; and we must look for- 
 ward to the probable consequences of such a decision 
 with that deliberation and forecast which become 
 men who have valuable interests at stake. We must
 
 EVILS OF REFUSING THE BILL. 505 
 
 examine cautiously and carefully our situation, to 
 determine in what scale the good or evil may be 
 expected to preponderate. 
 
 1st. By rejecting the plan, our Stock, which at 
 present bears a value approaching to fifteen millions 
 sterling, would probably fall back to twelve millions; 
 and it is not difficult to foresee that all arrange- 
 ments connected with India must be thrown into a 
 state of utter confusion. 
 
 2nd. We should be exposed to a destructive com- 
 petition in the course of conducting the Company's 
 trade; and the eager adventurers who would in- 
 stantly rush into the tea trade, would soon render it 
 the source of loss to both parties. 
 
 3rd. However unjustly, we should probably be 
 burdened with the Home Bond Debt, without having 
 any means of relief against the King's Government. 
 
 4th. That Government might even interpose diffi- 
 culties in the way of our obtaining reimbursement of 
 the large sum which has been advanced from our 
 commercial funds for territorial purposes. 
 
 5th. A question might be raised as to our right to 
 appropriate heretofore any commercial profits to the 
 augmentation of our commercial capital. 
 
 6th. The King's Ministers might demur to the 
 admission of our just claim to our lands and 
 estates, our forts, factories, and other buildings on 
 the territory and islands of India; and although 
 such a proceeding would be unjust in the extreme, 
 we must not conceal from ourselves that such a con- 
 tingency may occur; and that, if these and other 
 
 VOL. i. 2 L
 
 506 CONCLUSION. 
 
 arbitrary proceedings of the kind should be resorted 
 to, the value of our commercial property must be 
 materially affected, and it might be found difficult 
 to realise for the Proprietors even their capital of 
 twelve millions. 
 
 Let us not forget, moreover, that although the 
 Court of Directors will be very inefficient as an 
 administrative body, they will still retain powers 
 which may be beneficially exerted for the good of 
 India. 
 
 We shall retain, under section 27 of the Bill, the 
 power of appointing the members of Council at the 
 different presidencies ; and we shall continue to ex- 
 ercise, concurrently with the Board, the power of 
 appointing, and the absolute power of recalling, the 
 Governors of India and other high functionaries. 
 This must give us influence ; and it will constitute 
 an important security against mal-administration. 
 
 Under section 41 we shall be invested with the 
 power to repeal, alter, and amend the laws and re- 
 gulations enacted by the local Legislature ; and this 
 is, unquestionably, a very salutary provision for 
 securing to the population of India the benefit of 
 good laws. There are other judicious and useful 
 provisions in the Bill (that, for instance, in section 
 44), which ought not to be overlooked or under- 
 valued by us. 
 
 And if we throw up and withdraw, what will be 
 the result ? It is to be apprehended that the admi- 
 nistration of our Eastern possessions will fall into 
 less experienced hands that India will be overrun
 
 ACCEPTANCE OF THE BILL. 507 
 
 and disturbed by commercial and political adven- 
 turers and that the integrity of the British Con- 
 stitution will exist only by the sufferance of the 
 Minister who should hold an uncontrolled sway over 
 twenty-two millions of annual revenue. If (I must 
 repeat) we should determine to abdicate our func- 
 tions, those evils to India which are most to be depre- 
 cated and dreaded will probably be aggravated ; for 
 the Ministers will be justified in assuming the entire 
 administration and patronage of that vast empire, 
 to gratify their political adherents, and to strengthen 
 their Parliamentary influence. 
 
 Upon the whole, then, after long and anxious 
 reflection, I am compelled to say to our constituents 
 (not with perfect confidence, I own), accept the Bill 
 with all its defects ; and let us, by our prudence and 
 firmness, remedy, as far as we can, the disadvantages 
 of our situation ; and, by the faithful and zealous 
 fulfilment of our duties, promote to the utmost the 
 prosperity and happiness of the people of India. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 C. \VHITINC, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND.

 
 A 000996575 7