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 A 
 
 SHORT HISTORY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 EAST INDIA COMPANY: 
 
 EXHIBITING 
 
 A STATE OF THEIR AFFAIRS, ABROAD AND AT HOME, 
 POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL; 
 
 The NATURE and MAGNITUDE of their COMMERCE, 
 AND ITS RELATIVE CONNECTION 
 
 WITH 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT AND REVENUES OF INDIA; 
 
 AND A 
 
 Difcuflion on the Queftion of Right to the Conquered Territories in India ; 
 
 ALSO 
 
 Remarks on the Danger and Impolicy of Innovation, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 Praftical Means of enfuring all the good Effefts of a Free Trade to the 
 
 Manufadturers of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 
 B y 
 
 MATTER OF REGULATION, WITHOUT DISTURBING 
 
 THE ESTABLISHED SYSTEM. 
 
 THE SECOND EDITION, WITH SOME ADDITIONS, 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 AN ABRIDGMENT OF THE NEW ACT. 
 
 RR. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR JOHN SEWELL, CORNHILL, AND JOHN DEBRETT, PICCADILLY, 
 
 1793' 
 
 7745 1
 
 ^3 
 
 O N T E N T S. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. ^ — — — p. i 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 T/je Origin of the Old and New Companies, with their Union. — 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Origin of the -2^ per Cent. Annuities transferrable at the India 
 Houjey and the Funds chargeable with the Payment of them. — 7 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the Forts, Fa5iories, and Territories in India, diflingtiifmig thofe 
 which are the Property of the Company by Purchale, from thofe 
 acquired by Con que ft. — — — — p 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Expences ijicurred by the Company in the Indian Conquejls. — 13 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Rights permanent and temporary of the India Company, — 15
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 How far the appellation of a Chartered Monopoly is applicable to the Eajl 
 India 'Trade. — — - — — P- ^7 
 
 C H x\ P T E R Vir. 
 
 Plans formerly recommended for 'varying the Mode of conducting the 
 
 Tirade to the Eaft Indies. — — — 20 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The preferd State of the Trade of Foreign Countries with India and 
 
 China. — — — — — 31 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 J he Returns of the Company s Trade a?tterlor to their arrpiiring the 
 Territories Abroad ; the Effect produced by the Acqulfitlon on their 
 Exports and imports ; the prejent Amount oj their Debfs^ and their 
 Claims upon the Public for an Indemnification of their Expences 
 incurred In acquiring and prefervlng the conquered Provinces. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Nature and Extent of the Trade of the Company to India and 
 
 China, ivith an Account oj the Shipping employed m It. 26 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Refpecling of the Profits derived by the Company from their Trade. 32
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 J concife Viezv of the Company s J fairs in their diJlinSl Capacities of 
 Sovereigns and Merchants. — — — ' P- 3S 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Recapitulation of the prefe?ii State of our Trade with India and China, 
 and the Rights oj the Eafl India Company. 1 he Nature and 
 Grounds of the various Objecliofis expeSled to be made in Parliament, 
 to the Co7itinuation of the Trade on its prcfent S)fem. Refec- 
 tions on the hffeBs of Innovation. — — ^y 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Pradiical Means of fe curing to the Private Merchant and the Public,, 
 the ultimate Benefits of Trade within the Company's frefent ex- 
 clufive Limits, without endangering the Chain of our political Con- 
 nexion with Itidia, or materially difurbing the pre jent Syfiem. 47 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. ______ 51 
 
 ADDITIONAL CHAP. XV. 
 
 The Manner of obtaming Part of the Territories, and a Difcujfion of 
 the Sluefiion at Law between the Crown and the Company, in rela- 
 tion to their refpeSlivc Claims thereto. — — 5 j; 
 
 Account of the Imports, from the Laft Indies and China, fold at the 
 Company's Sales in the laf Four Tears, the Duties and Cufoms 
 paid on the fame ; together with the Amount exported in each 
 Tear, and of the Drawbacks allowed on Exportation. — 73, 
 
 Abridgment of the Act for fettling the Government atid Trade of hidia, 
 and for the Appropriation of the Territorial Revenues and Profits 
 oflrade. — — — — — 75;
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 x\M0NGST the many fuperior advantages derived to the com- 
 munity from a Government conftitutcd like that of Great Britain, 
 the means which it affords, through the Liberty of the Prefs, for a 
 free difcuflion and communication of fentiment on every national 
 concern, and more particularly fuch as in their nature muft pafs the 
 Ordeal of Parliament, is one of the firfl in utility and eminence. 
 It is by communications of this nature alone, that pra6lical know- 
 ledge and experience can be conveyed to the uninformed, and their 
 benefits diffeminated and fecured to future generations. Hence the 
 Senator is furniftied with information the mod to be relied on, be- 
 caufe the mofl expofed to fcrutiny and expofition ; and, by com- 
 paring and weighing in his clofet all facls, arguments, and opinions 
 thus fubmitted to public view, with what he may collect from pri- 
 vate quarters, he is enabled to form an impartial judgment, and to 
 decide upon juft principles and intrinfic merits; and thus topics 
 otherwife abftrufe and difficult become eafy and familiar. Under 
 the influence of this impreffion, the Editor of thefe (heets, whofe 
 ^particular fituation and line of life has, he conceives, afforded him 
 the means of fctting in their true lights the Nature and State of our 
 India and China Trade, in a way that may be ufeful, at a jundure 
 when that very important and valuable branch of our Commerce is 
 at the eve of undergoing the moft ferious invefligation, would have 
 thought himfelf remifs in his duty as a good citizen, had he re- 
 mained filcnt. 
 
 A As
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 As the main obje6l of this Treatife is to furnilTi ufeful information 
 relating to the Afiatic Trade, to fuch, as either by their avocations, 
 or the want of better means, have been prevented from obtaining 
 it elfevvhere, rather than with a defire to'enter the lifts with thofe 
 already converfant on the fubjeft, and who may be difpofed to be- 
 come difputants with refpe6l to the beft means for condu6ling it, 
 we have thought it right to give a connected, but very brief, account 
 of the Origin and Progrefs of the Trade, and the Hiftory of the 
 Companies ere6lcd for carrying it on, previous to our entering into 
 the confideration of the flate of it, as at prefent circumftanced. 
 
 The favorable Reception of this Tra6l by the Public, under the 
 former Edition, has induced the Editor to permit this fecond Edition 
 to be printed. The Juftice of the opinion he had ventured to 
 obtrude in the 3d Chapter, relative to the Claim of the Company to 
 the exclufive Property and Revenue of the five Northern Circars, 
 having been in fome degree queftioned by refpe6lable Chara6ters, in 
 high official Situations, he has added a Seftion on that Subjedl, to 
 fhew the Grounds on which that Opinion was formed. If it be a 
 wrong one, he is open to Convidtion, and will not hefitate to ac- 
 knowledge his Error. The Fa6ts he has ftated may at leaft lead to 
 a further Elucidation of feveral particulars which, however impor- 
 tant, are at prefent little known to the Community. 
 
 CHAPTER
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Origin of the Old and New Eajl India Companies, with their Union. 
 
 1 HE paffage by Sea to the Peninfula of India, and the Eaftward part of 
 the Continent of Afia, the prcfent feats of our Afiatic trade, was not difcovered 
 till about the latter end of the 15th Century; and of the various attempts made 
 from hence by individuals to open a Trade thither, none proved fuccefsful, 
 until * Queen Elizabeth eftablifhed the firft Incorporated Company by the 
 Name of The Lotidon Eajl India Company. After a long feries of Difafters and 
 Loffes this Company obtained from the Country Powers, at a great expence, the 
 Privilege of a limited Trade in certain parts of India and Perfia, and of making 
 fmall Settlements or Houfes of Trade called FaElories, for the refidence of their 
 Faftors and Servants. In thofe early times the -j- Charters of the Crown, and 
 the Powers which they conveyed, were not thought to require Parliamentary 
 Sandion ; nor was it until after the Reftoration of Charles II. that the Rights 
 or Authorities derived under them, though refting on Prerogative alone, were 
 fiill called in queftion. 
 
 The Science of Navigation, and the true Principles of Foreign Trade, dur- 
 ing the exiftence of thofe Charters, were but beginning to dawn upon us. At 
 the time of their ceffation, we could be faid to be only in a flate of Commercial 
 Infancy. We are therefore not to be furprized at finding, that by the in- 
 terruptions of fpeculative Adventurers, called Interlopers, who had begun 
 to refift the exclufive Claiins of the Old Company, derived by their Charters, 
 on the ground of their wanting the Sanftion of Parliamentary Authority, and 
 by occafional failures of inveflments of goods from abroad, and the not unfre- 
 quent lofles of Ihips in their patiage, the Commerce of the Company was often 
 chequered with difafters and difappointments. 
 
 Notvvithftanding thefe viciffitudes and difcouragements, the Company, with 
 many hard itruggles and heavy expences, formed by degrees various % Fadiories 
 and Houfes of Trade both in India and Perfta ; and at length becoming more 
 
 * The Charter was dated the 31ft December, 1600. Printed Afts and Charters, Part J, 
 Page 3. 
 
 if See Anderfon's Hiftory of Commerce. 
 
 1 Forts: Mazagom, Mahim, Syon, Syere, Warlee, Carwar, Angengo, Tellicheny, Calicutt, 
 Fort St. George, Fort St. David, Vizagapatam, York Fort or Fort Malbro', Fort William, 
 Bombay, and St. Helena. 
 
 FaHories: Sural, Swally, Broach, Amadavad, Agra, Lucknow, Gombron, Shyraz, Ifpahaun, 
 Chingu, Orixa, Cuddalore, Porto Novo, Pettipolee, Mctchlepatam, Madapollam, Indrapoiir, 
 Tryamong, Sillebar, Tonqucen, BcUafore, CoiTimbuzar, Dacca, Houghley, Malda, Rajamaul, 
 and Patna, with the Cuftoms of Trade, and a Rent of 3333/. 6^. 8rf, granted by the Sophy of 
 Perfia. 
 
 A 2 fuccefsful.
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 fuccefsful, their profperity began to excite that fort of envy in Individuals, 
 which is too apt to refuk from the beneficial Commerce of Great Bodies. 
 Various attempts were in confequence made to induce the Crown, and even 
 Parliament itfelf, to interpofe and revoke the Charters of the Company ; feme 
 on pretext that every man had an equal Right to trade in the Eajl as well as the 
 IFeJi Indies, whilft others hoped to efiedt it on propofals of Terms of Advan- 
 tage in point of Publick Finance, that they might themfelves be eredled into 
 an excluiive Company, to the downfall of that which exifted. 
 
 Such was the ftate of things in 1693, when the Company, by an accidental 
 Failure in the Payment of a paltry Duty which had been impofed on their 
 capital Stock, gave an opening to Government to determine their Charters : 
 For, by the * Aft which impofed that duty, any default in payment, withia 
 the time therein limited, rendered their Charters void: And though, in the 
 fame year, the Crown, to obviate all doubts, revived their Powers and ex- 
 clufive Privileges by a new Charter, the Company were obliged to fubmit to a 
 eondition that their Capacity and Trading fliould in future be determinable on 
 Three Tears Notice. The legal obftacle to the erefting a new Company being 
 thus removed, an -}~ Aft was pafled in 1698 for borrowing Two Millions on a 
 Loan at 8 per Cent, towards carrying on the War; and as an encouragement 
 to Subfcribers, it was declared, that they fhould be incorporated by a Charter 
 from the King into /z General Society, with liberty for each individual Member 
 to trade to India and the other Limits of the Old Company's exclufive Charter; 
 fo that the value of his Exports exceeded not his Share of this Loan or Capital j 
 and that fuch of the Subfcribers as fhould choofe to convert their Subfcriptions 
 into a joint Stock, fliould be at liberty to do fo, and be incorporated by a fcparate 
 Charter by the name of " The EngUJI: Eajl India Company," with the privilege of 
 trading with and to the amount of fuch joint Stock. All perfons but thofe 
 incorporated, and fuch as they fhould licenfe, were prohibited from this Trade, 
 except the Old Company, who had time given them to wind up their Com- 
 mercial Afliiirs. The Aft referved a power to determine the Charters both of 
 the General Society and the New Company after September 1711, on Repay- 
 nient ef the Loan, and Three Tears Notice. 
 
 The bulk of the Subfcribers having agreed to trade as a fcparate Company 
 with a joint Stock, the Old Company, in whofe prejudice the two New Cor- 
 porations were to be erefted, found means to become IVIembers jor a very large 
 proportion of the Loan of Two IVIillions. With an interell thus acquired, they 
 joined with the Englifli Company, and with the fuperior Knowledge of the 
 Trade, which they had gained by experience over the other members, and 
 poUeffcd as they were of Shipping, Stores, and Stock at home, and of the 
 Settlements and Faftories neccffary to the Trade abroad, they obtained a de- 
 cided influence in the general Courts of the New Company, and thus paved 
 
 * Aft 4 and 5 Will, and Mary, ch. i j, f. ;o and u. 
 t Aa 9 and 10 Will. 111. ch 44. 
 
 the
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 tlie way to that Union which afterwards took place in 1702, and which, under 
 the aiifpiccsof Lord 1'reafurer Godolphin, in 1708, was confirmed by Parliament. 
 By the terms of this Union, the Warelioufes at home, and Shipping, and alfo 
 all ike Settlements and FaBories of the Old Company in the Eajl Indies, Perjia, and 
 China, includinj^ the IJlands of Bombay and St. Helena, wiih their Dependencies, 
 and all their Rights and Privileges, however derived, became veiled in the 
 United Company, except their Body Politic, which they fiirrendered to the 
 Queen. 
 
 The curious Reader willwifh to learn what became of the ^^wra/ Society, 
 whole Members were individually authorized to trade, as far as the value of their 
 Subfcriptions in Goods, exported from hence. All we can difcover of them is, 
 that though they were adtually incorporated by the King's Charter, and were 
 therefore legally authorized to fend fhips to India or China, it does not with cer- 
 tainty appear that any one fhip was ever fitted out by them : and that the fupe- 
 rior advantages of being concerned in the Trade to be carried on with a joint 
 Stock were fo evident, that at the rime of the Union of the Two Companies, 
 out of the whQle Loan of Two Millions*, only £ 7,000 then remained the 
 property of The fepnrate Traders of the General Society, and that this fum alfo was 
 foon abforbed in the United Company, whofe capital or trading Stock, by 
 which their Dividend of Profits was to be governed, thereupon became fixed 
 at Two Millions. 
 
 Having thus briefly traced the general Hiflory of the two Companies to their 
 perfeft Union, we fliall refer our Readers to the -{- Colleftion of Statutes, 
 Charters, and Bye-laws of the India Company, lately printed and publifhed, 
 for any further particulars they may defire on that part of the fubjedt, and clofe 
 this Chapter, with a Ihort recital of the Afts of Parliament, by which the 
 United Company have been continued in the exclufive Trade to the prefent 
 time, and of what were the conditions of the compads made with the Public on 
 thofe occafions. 
 
 The firft enlargement of their term took place in 1708 %, when the United 
 Company bargained with the Public to advance ;^. 1,200,000 as a loan, but 
 without any intereft, (or, which operated as the fame thing, at a reduced 
 intereft of 5 per cent, on the two loans conjointly), for an extenfion of their 
 term in the exclufive Trade of fifteen years, and thus/Zw nominal trading capital^ 
 on which the dividend was made, became advanced to £. 3,200,000. 
 
 In 1712 II the Company petitioned Parliament, on the ground that the term 
 which remained unexpired in their trade was too ihort to admit their rilking 
 
 * Aft of 6 Anne, ch. 17. f. 7. 
 
 t By Francis Russell, Efq. of the India Board, and printed by Eyre and Stbahan, His j 
 Majefty's Printers. 
 
 X A'a 6 Anne, ch. 17. 
 11 Commons Journals, 
 
 3 thi;
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 the further neceflary expences of regaining and fecuring the Pepper Trade, which 
 had been engroffed by the Dutch, that their corporate capacity might be con- 
 tinued, the' the debt due to them from the Public fhould be redeemed. In 
 confequence of this petition -j-, an ad: paffed for repealing all former provlfoes 
 and powers of determining their trade or incorporation, but with power for the 
 Public to redeem the debt at any time after September 1733; and thus the 
 United Company were fuppofed to have obtained a perpetidiy as well in the 
 exdufive trade, as in all their chartered rights and capacities. They however fub- 
 mitted themfelves in that refpeft to the pleafuie of Parliament in 1730, when 
 an adlj; was paffed for continuing to them their exclufive trade 'till 1766, for 
 which they gave the Public a premium of £. 200,000 without any return of 
 either principal or intereft, and alfo agreed to a reduction of the rate of intereft 
 to £. 4 per cent, on the debt of ;^. 3,200,000, and to accept of payment of the 
 principal by inftalments of £. 500,000 at a time. 
 
 In 1744 II they contrafted for, and obtained a further addition of fourteen 
 years in the exclufive Trade, for which they lent to the Public one million at 3 per 
 cent.; and in 1750 § they agreed to a further reduction of the rate of intereft 
 on the former debt to 3 per cent. 
 
 Thus grew the prefent debt of ^.4,200,000 from the Public to the United 
 Company, carrying with it an annuity of £. 126,000. But the Company's 
 capital or nominal fum, by which their dividends were governed, continued as 
 before at ^.3,200,000, the million \aA lent having been raifed by their bonds, 
 and therefore not added to their former capital. 
 
 The laji renezval was made by contradt with the Public in 1781 *, when a 
 further Term determinable in 1794 was granted in the exclufive Trade, on 
 payment of ^T. 400,000 in difcharge of all claims on the Company by the 
 Public, previous to ift March, 17S1. But it was provided by Parliament, 
 That after payment of a yearly dividend of £. 8 per cent, to the holders 
 of India ftock, the furplus of all the net proceeds of their trade and revenues 
 fhould be applied, three fourths to the ufe of the Public, and the remaining fourth 
 to the ufe of the Company, > 
 
 The debts incurred by the Company in the wars fubfifting in India at and 
 after that period, have hitherto prevented any fuch furplus from arifing, and 
 therefore no participation of revenue hath taken place under this aft. On the 
 contrary, the prcfflire of thofe debts, and the compulfory claufes of an adt of 
 1784, by which the Company are obliged to keep a flock of teas always in 
 their warehoufes fuflicient for one year's confumption, have rendered it necef- 
 fary for them to enlarge their aftual trading capital, by new fubfcriptions, to five 
 millions, for which they had the fandion of Parliament granted them by two 
 ads of the years 1786 and 1789. 
 
 + Aft 10 Ann. ch. 28. J 3 G- 2- ch. 14. H Aft 17 G. a. ch. 17. 
 
 % Ad 23 G. i. ch. 22. * Aa 21 G. 3. ch. 65. f. 9. 
 
 Ill
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 In order to determine the exclufive Trade, it is neceflary that the Pub- 
 lic fliould firft make provifion for the debt of j^. 4,200,000 which is flill 
 due, partly to the Company and partly to the Annuitants. I'he nature of their 
 refpedive intercfts in this debt we will endeavour to fliew in the fucceeding 
 Chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Origin of the 3 per Cent. Annuities transferrahle at the India Houfe, and the Funds 
 
 chargeable zvith the Payment of them. 
 
 W E have fhewn in the preceding chapter, the origin and progrefs of the 
 Debt of ^.4,200,000 incurred by the Public to the Eaft India Company, and 
 that in 1750 the interejl or annuity payable on it was reduced to the rate of 
 3 per cent, or £. 126,000 per annum. 
 
 The fecurities pledged by the Public for tlie payment of the annuities were 
 thefe : Certain Salt Duties and Stamp Duties were, in the firfl: inftance, made 
 chargeable for the intereft oi £. 160,000 on the two firft loans of ;^. 3,200,000, 
 and when in 1730, the intereft was reduced to ^T. 128,000, it was made a 
 fpecific charge on the Aggregate Fund. 
 
 The £. 30,000 per annum for the intereft of the One Million Loan was charged 
 on certain Duties upon Spirits, and upon the Sinking Fund. 
 
 The terms upon which the Company agreed, in 1750, to reduce the rate of 
 their annuity to 3 per cent, were (as is fpecified in the adt for that purpofc) that 
 they Ihould be permitted to raife jT. 4,200,000 by fale of annuities at the fame rate 
 of intereft which the Public were to pay to the Company; and it was declared 
 that the annuities fo fold fhould be paid half-yearly at the India Houfe (where the 
 transfer books were to be kept and managed) out of the fame duties and revenues as 
 flood chargeable with the payment of the intereft of the debt due by the Public 
 to the Company, fubjeft neverthelefs to the like provifo of redemption by the 
 Public zs the faid loans were fubjeCt or liable to. 
 
 Under this power the Company fold * annuities to the amount of 
 j{;. 2,992,440 : 5 J. carrying an intereft or dividend of 3 per cent, per ann. 
 amounting to £'Sg,'j-j^ : 4^. which fums conftitute what are called Eaf India 
 Annuities, the half-yearly payments of which are regularly made at the India 
 Houfe, out of the annuity of/". 126,000 received by the Company at the Exche- 
 quer, the remainder being dill the property of the Company. 
 
 Some doubt having been entertained whether the Company's power to fell the 
 remainder of thefe annuities continued in force under the acSt of 1750, they were 
 5 
 
 » Aa 26 G. 3. ch. 62, 
 
 again
 
 C 8 ) 
 
 again impowered to fell it by an aft of the year 1786, in which it was provided, 
 that the purchafers thereof Ihould hold their annuities upon the like terms as the 
 former purchafers ; and that what fhould be fo fold fliould be confolidated with 
 the annuities formerly fold, and that the debt of ;^. 4,200,000, due by the 
 Public to the Company, fliould be a collateral fecurity to the holders thereof, 
 but fubjedl to redemption. 
 
 The Company however have not availed themfelves of their power to alienate 
 the remaining part of this annuity, amounting to £. 1,207,559 : 15 j. producing 
 jT. 36,226 : 16 s. per ann. but ftill retain it in property ; and over and befides 
 that income, they alfo receive from the Exchequer, by virtue of an asft * of 
 1751, £. 1687 per ann. for the receiving, paying, and managing, the amount for- 
 merly fold to the annuitants, being in proportion to the allowances made to 
 the Bank for the management of Bank Annuities. 
 
 The India annuities are therefore part of the National Debt, charged upon 
 public revenues alone, 2nd redeemable only by the Public; and being fo, provifion 
 is made by the aft of 1786 " for redu^ion of the national debt," that when and 
 as the annuities fliall be purchafed or paid off by the Comm'-Jjioners, the Direftors 
 of the Eaji India Company Ihall permit Transfers thereof ro be miide in their books 
 into the names of the Comniiffioners, fimilar to what is done at the Bank and 
 South Sea Houfe, and the Bank are impowered to receive the annual dividends 
 thereof for the ufe of the Public. 
 
 By the Confolidition Adl -f- of 1787 the Annuity of £ 126,000 per ann. 
 payable by the Public to the Company, (and out of which they pay the An- 
 nuitants) is charged upon the Confolidated Fund. 
 
 The India Annuity has been for feveral years at a price inferior to the annuities 
 of an equal rate transferable at the Bank. This difference has been probably 
 occafioned by the diftance of the place of its transfer from the Stock Exchange, 
 and its fnall annual amount, preventing that frequency of its being brought to 
 market, which is neccffirv to a quick demind, and where the magnitude of 
 other redeemable annuities renders this of but little confideration. The ccnfequence 
 has been, th it not a fmgle purchafe has been mide of the India Annuity by the 
 Commifjloners for the reduttion of the National Debt, though, when brought in 
 fmall fums (as it ufually is) to market, it has been generally fold at the rate of 
 from 3 to 4 per cent, lefs tlian the Bank reduced Annuities, and perhaps the ge- 
 neral knowledge that the CommiJJioners have made no purchate in it, may have 
 eperated as an additional caufc in deprelling its price. 
 
 It would be better if this annuity were confolidated with the Bank Annuities. 
 The allowance of ;^. 1687 per ann. might be faved to the Public ; the value 
 of the annuity would be improved in the hands of the Proprietors, and the 
 
 * Aft i<^G. 2. ch. 56. t 2; <T. 3. ch. 13. f. 54. 
 
 Public
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 Public in no refpeft injured, while the Compan*/, if they choofe to part with 
 their fhare of ir, would find it more marketable, and obtain a higher price. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 'Of the Forts, FaBories, and Territories in India, dijlinguijlmig thofe zvhich are iToe Pro' 
 perty of the Company by Purchafe, from thofe acquirea by Conqueft. 
 
 X R E V I O U S to fuggefting any regulations for the future Trade from Great 
 Britain to the Eafl Indies, it appears neceflary, on account of the relative connec- 
 tion that fubfifts between the Revenues of our Afiatic Poffeffions and the * Invefi- 
 ments of India Goods for China, as well as for Europe, to afcertain what Fortrejh, 
 Torts, or other Places of Importance to the Trade of India do of right belong to the 
 Company in perpetuity, free from the claims of the Public, to examine what 
 thofe poffeffions are, and to diftinguifh fuch as were acquired by aftual Con- 
 queft or influence of arms, and to which the Nation have made their claim, from 
 fuch as were the Property of the Company before the making of any conquefts, 
 by purchafe from the Native Powers. 
 
 The rcfult of this inveftigatlon is, that Fort St. George, Madras, and Vizaga- 
 patam, and every other valuable fea port poffeffed at this time by the Company 
 on the Coajl of Coromandel, and vifited by their fhips from hence, together with 
 their Settlements of Fort fVilliam and Calcutta on the Ganges, Fort Marlbro* or 
 Tork-Fort at Bencoolen, and the Iflands of Bombay and St. Helena, were purchafed 
 by the Old Eafl India Company -^i and conveyed by them to the prefent Company, 
 in full right for ever. In this defcription Mafulipatam alone is meant to be 
 excepted. 
 
 At thefe Ports, and above all at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, the Company 
 are equally intitled to Port Duties and Cujloms on Imports and Exports, as they 
 are to the places themfelves, and have been in the conftant exercife and enjoy- 
 ment thereof at all times. The Toivns of Madras and Calcutta as well as the tzvo 
 Forts, are built chiefly, if not entirely, upon the lands of the Company, under 
 annual Ground Rents. By Grants obtained from the Native Powers, thev are alfo 
 
 * Though the provifion of Inveftments is generally aided by the g.evenue, In the firft inftance, 
 it has frequently happened in time of war, that Bills of Exchange, to a greater amount than the 
 prime coft of the goods, have been drawn upon the Company to reimburfc the Treafuries abroad, 
 for the money advanced from the revenues. 
 
 t Fort St. George was made a Settlement by the Old Company in i5io; St. Helena in i6ji ; 
 Calcutta and Fort William in 16^9; and Bombay in 1668. 
 
 B poffeffed
 
 ( 10 ) 
 
 pofTcfled of, and intltled in perpetuity to * the Five Northern Circars, the Pnrgun:- 
 nahs and Jagkire Lands, and fundry valuable Faftories and Houfes of Trade on 
 different parts of the Continent of JJla, and in the Afuitk IJlanJs. To thefe 
 therefore the Public have no Claim whatever. 
 
 But with regard to the Provinces (or Kingdoms as they are called) o{ Bcngaly. 
 Bd'iir, and OriJJa, the Country of Benares, and the Country newly acquired from 
 Tippoo Sultaun, the right of property to them ftands on a very diiferent ground, 
 and were it not for thofe equitable CX^ms which the Company and their Creditors 
 feem to have, to be firft repaidox indemnified ior the expences and debts unavoidably 
 incurred in the Conquell of thofe countries, and in their fubfequent defence and. 
 protection, little doubt could be entertained in refpefl to them ; for the right,, 
 fubjecfb to thofe claims, is indifpurably in the Public ; nor have we been sbXs to 
 difcover from what fource the doubt, which has been by fome perfons entertained 
 regarding it, has arifcn. As far as our refearches have gone, neither the Court 
 of Proprietors nor the Court of Dire(5lors, nor any of their Committees, ever 
 laid claim to the property of thefe conquered Territories, either by any formal 
 Refi}lutions, or by any of their Petitions to Parliament, although the appropriation 
 of the revenues of thofe territories, underwent full and ferious difcuffions both 
 there, and zxihc General Courts on many occafions, and particularly in 1766, 
 1767, 1769, 1773, 1779. 1780, 1781, and 1784; and the Company having 
 for a feries of time agreed to become participants of the territorial revenues 
 with the Public, and having alfo paid annually to the Exchequer %, for the ufe of 
 the Public, their ftipulated fliare of ;^. 400,000 per ann. until prevented by the 
 prefflire of new debts incurred by the expences of fupporting wars in India, it 
 would be fuperfluous to create a doubt on the right of the Public at this 
 day. 
 
 We are aware, that in the temporary Aft of 1779, as well as in the Afts of 
 1780 and 1781, a claufe was inferted declaring that the appropriation of this 
 revenue made by thefe Afts fhould not prejudice the Rights either of the Public or 
 the Company : but, if we miftake not, there was no fuch faving claufe offered, 
 much lefs inferted, in either of the former Afts of Appropriation. 
 
 Lefl, however, any perfon fhould, for want of being better informed, he- 
 fitate to pronounce the right to thefe extenfive and valuable territories to be in 
 the Public, (fubjeft, however, to the equitable and jufl claims for indemnity 
 
 * The Circais being held merely as a Farm under Nizam Ally, at a yearly rcntof fcven lacs of 
 rupees, or about ;f. 70,000 per ann. Sterling, with an exception of tbc Diamond Mines, and under 
 othcrfpccial conditions, we apprehend, but with fnbmiffion to better judges, that the Circars Hand 
 on a fimilar footing with the Jaghire Lands. Sec Chapter XV for the Hiftory of fome of thefe 
 acquifitions, and parlicularly Matulipatam and the Northern Circars. 
 
 X Thefe payments, between 1766 and 1782, amounted to upwards of Two Millions Sterling. 
 
 both
 
 ( II ) 
 
 both of x.\\c Company and their Creditors), we fliall briefly ftate what we conceive 
 fufficient to obviate every doubt. 
 
 It will be remembred, that our conqucfls in India immediately followed 
 that memorable and ever to be lamented adt of barbarity, committed on the 
 Company's fervants in the Black Hole of Calcutta, by the then Nabob of Bengal. 
 This happened in 1756, and the Company, after having directed their fervants 
 abroad to take the moft fpecdy and vigorous meafures for recompenfing thcm- 
 felves, preferred their * Petition to the King, ftating the doubt " whether the 
 *' la/ids, plunder, and booty which might be conquered or taken by their forces 
 " upon any occafion, ivould not belong to His Majejly; and praying that in con- 
 " fideration of their expences and lofles, the King would grant them the plunder 
 " and booty, and that the Company might be permitted to hold and enjoy to 
 " them and their fucceffors, fubjedl to His Majefty's right of Sovereignty 
 " therein, all fuch Fortrejfes, Dijlri^ls, and Territories, as they had already ac- 
 " quired, or might acquire from any Nation, State, or People, by treaty, grant, 
 *' or conquejl, with power to reftore, give up, and difpofe of the fame, as they 
 *' might fee occafion, fubjedt to His Majefty's difpofition as to lands acquired 
 *' by conqueft from the fubjedts of any European Power." 
 
 The Petition being referred to the confideration of the Attorney and Solicitor 
 General, (the prefent Lord Camden, and the late Chancellor Mr. Charles Yorke), 
 they made their report dated the 24th December, 1757, of which the following 
 is a literal extradl : 
 
 ** In refped: to fuch places as have been, or Ihall be acquired by Treaty or 
 " Grant from the Mogul, or any of the Indian Princes, or Governments, Your 
 *' Majefty's Letters Patent are not neceffary ; the property of the foil vefting 
 *' in the Company by the Indian Grants, fubjeft only to Your Majefty's right 
 " of Sovereignty over the Settlements, as Englifli Settlements, and over the 
 *' Inhabitants, as Englifh Subjedts, who carry with them Your Majefty's Laws 
 *' wherever they form Colonies, and receive Your Majefty's protedtion, by 
 *' virtue of Your Royal Charters. In refpedt to fuch places as have lately been 
 *' acquired or fhall hereafter be acquired by conqueft, the property, as well 
 ** as the dominion, vefts in Your Majefty, by virtue of Your known Prero- 
 ** gative; and confequently the Company can only derive a right to them, 
 *' through Your Majefty's Grant. But we fubmit our humble opinion to Your 
 " Majefty, that it is not warranted by precedent, nor agreeable to found po- 
 " licy, nor to the tenor of the Charters, which have been laid before us, to 
 *' make fuch a general grant, not only of part, but of future contingent con- 
 *' quefts, made upon any Power, European or Indian, to a Trading Company. 
 " Many objedlions occur to it, more material to be weighed than explained. 
 " If at any time the Eaft India Company, in the profecution of their juft rights, 
 " Ihall chance to conquer a Fortrefs or Diftridt, which may be convenient for 
 
 * Vide Appendix to ift vol. Bolt's Hiftoiy, for this Petition and Report. 
 
 B ^ '^ carrying
 
 ( IZ ) 
 
 " carrying on their trade, and Is afterwards either ceded to them by treaty, 
 " or proper to be maintained by force, it is time enough to refort to Your 
 " Majcfty for Your Royal Grant, whenever the cafe arifes. At the fiune time 
 " we muft do jufi:ice to the honourable intentions of thofe v/ho preferred this 
 " Petition to Your Majefty, in faying, That as foon as the objeftions were 
 *' intimated, tbey readily acquiefced, and exprelTed themfelves niuch more 
 *' anxious for the fake of obtaining a clear rule for the direftion of their officers 
 " in India, to have their doubts explained, as to their powers of rcftoring oc 
 *' furrendering places conquered ; and to know whether the Company is ena- 
 ♦' bled, by any of their prefent Charters, to yield up conqueils made on the- 
 •' Indian Princes or Governments by treaty, without Your Majefty's Licence 
 " in every inftance ; the procuring of which might be attended with great 
 " delay in preffing exigencies. In anfwer to this doubt fo ftated, we are 
 " humbly of opinion, that the Royal Charters, granted to the Company, 
 " having repeatedly given them the Powers of making Peace, as we41 as War, 
 " with the Indian Princes or Governments, it is incident to the Power of 
 *' making Peace to be enabled to reftore conq,uefts, or things taken in war, 
 " otherwife they would have the Power to make Peace, without the means 
 ** of obtaining it. But to remove all poffible doubts, we think it will not be 
 •* improper (if it fhall be Your Majefty's pleaXure) to explain their Powers 
 " of making Peace, by a claufe to be inferted in the Letters Patent propofed, 
 " enabling them to make ceflions of new Conqueils, acquired from any oF 
 " the Indian Princes or States, during the late troubles between the Eaft India 
 *' Company and the Nabob of Bengal, or which fliall be acquired in time 
 " coming; with an exprefs exception, agreeably to the Prayer of their Pe- 
 " tition, of any Settlements or Territories conquered from the Subjefts of 
 " any European Power, leaving the fame open to be difpofed of in all cafes, 
 " according to your Royal Wildom." 
 
 Upon this Report, the King granted zW plunder and booiy Xxy the Company, 
 under certain reftridtions ; and alfo licenfed " the Company and their Servants, 
 " by any Treaty of Peace with any Indian Princes or Governors, to cede, reftore, 
 *' or difpofe of any Fortre^ffes or Territories acquired, or thereafter to be acquired 
 *' by conquefi, except Settlements conquered from any European Power, which 
 ** they were not to difpofe of without His Majefly's Perraiffion *." Which 
 Licence, thus reftridted, was accepted by the Company. To add to all this, 
 the Houfe of Commons in 1773 (which was Nine Years after the Company's 
 pofleflion had been eflabliftied by a Grant from the Mogul in the Dewanneefhip 
 of Bengal) came to a decifive Refolution, " That all acquifitions made tinder the 
 *' influence of a Military Force, er by Treaty with Foreign Princes, do of right belong 
 «« to the State" 
 
 * Coll. of Statutes aad Charters, ad Part, p. xliv» 
 
 CHAP-
 
 C li ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Expences incurred by the Company in the Indian Conquejl'si 
 
 Jrl AVING mentioned the Expences of the Company incurred In the conqueflf. 
 and fubfequent defence of the territories in India,, it will be expefted that, a^ 
 fuller explanatioalhould be given on that head. 
 
 It has been aflerted, with more Confidence, perhaps, than truth, that the 
 'Territorial Revenues have been fo blended in India with the Commercial Funds of 
 the Company, as to render every attempt to difcover the amount of the ex- 
 pences fuftained in the acquifition and proteftion of thofe Territories, beyond 
 the net revenues they have yielded, fruitlefs and nugatory : And that no In- 
 juftice will be done by fetting the Receipts againft the Payments, and thus 
 clofing the account for ever. 
 
 Were the Revenues fo be continued under the coUedlion of the Company 
 xintil their debts abroad and at home were difcharged, and the value of their 
 commercial aflets become fufficient to cover their Capital Stock, there probably 
 would be no difficulty in acceding to the final adjuftmcnt of the Account in the 
 manner propofed. But burthened as the Company are with debts, and after having . 
 fo recently advanced large fums by new fobfcriptions to their Capital Stock, 
 it behoves them, -in Juftice to their Creditors and to themfelves, as well as 
 for the fupport of their honour and charafter,. to (lievv that the Revenues 
 of India have fallen fJoort of reimburfing the excefs of their difburfements in refpeft 
 of the territories, by the full amount of the debts owing abroad and at home, 
 the current debts incident to their commerce excepted. And though it may. 
 be true, that the Land Revenues and the Commercial Funds have been in fome 
 refpeft mixed together, fo as to render it a fruitlefs attempt to feparate them at 
 this day, yet as the Company are well known to have received no other re- 
 inittances from, abroad, than by the medium of their inveftments, we may 
 venture to affert, that if an account were taken at home, after the following 
 method, the out turn of it would be fufficiently correft. for every ufeful pur- 
 pofe, and afford, all the fatisfaction the nature of tKe cafe feems to require. 
 
 1.11. Let an account be taken of the prime cojl, outfit, freight, and charges of 
 vjerchandize, of all bullion, goods, and fiores exported by the Company to India, for any 
 given time; and add thereto the profits derived by their fdcs there (thofe being, 
 confidered as the exclulive right of the Company). To this, add alfo the 
 expences of the commercial eftablifhments, and other charges of merchandize 
 in India, and' the amount of bills of exchange, and the expences of fiirces and reauits 
 piiid by the Company in London, and the money paid into the Exchequer for the 
 
 ule
 
 C 14 ) 
 
 -ofe of tlie Public. — The Mgprgate of thefe will (liew what India ma)' be debited 
 to the Compan}'. 
 
 2nd. In contrafl: with t\\zi. debit fliould be placed the amount, at t\\t\r prime cojl 
 in India, of all invejlments fhippcd there both for Europe and China, and all 
 remittances from India to China within the fame period. 
 
 If the aggregate of the Payments at home have exceeded the receipts by 
 remittances from India to China, and by the inveflments frotn India to China 
 and Europe at their prime cofl, then will the Company have a right to place 
 the difference i7i rt debt againft the territories in India ; but if their receipts by 
 thofe remittances and inveflments fhali be found to exceed their payments at boKe, 
 then will the Company be Indebted to that amount to the territorial revenues. 
 
 There will however remain another fmall account to be adjufled, to bring 
 the intended itatement to a nearer degree of accuracy. We have already ob- 
 ferved, that the Company had forts and faBories in India before the conquejl of 
 Bengal; and doubtlefs thefe were attended with feme, but it is prefumed not 
 much, expence to the Company, beyond what were properly included under 
 the head of their mercantile ejlablifiments. We have alfo fhewn that the Company 
 had Land-rents, port-duties, and cujioms. Neither of thefe articles are included in 
 them anner above recommended for taking the foregoing account. But as the 
 Company's receipts by rents, duties, and cujioms in India were very confiderable, 
 even at an early period, as will appear by the Reports of the SelcB Cmimittee 
 of the Houfe of Commons of the year 1773, and as the extra expences of the 
 forts are fuppofed to have been but trivial, antecedent to the war of 1756, there 
 fecms reafon to expeff, that this part of the computation might ultimately 
 terminate in the Company's favor. 
 
 It is well known, that in 1780, an account on the foregoing datum, or fotne- 
 thing very near it, was taken with very great precifion by a worthy and in- 
 telligent rpembcr of the Company, then and {till a Direftor. It was printed 
 and diftribnted under the title of " Remarks on the Eajl India Company's Balances 
 in Enyhind from their Trade and their revenues," and the refult of it was, that 
 the Company had adlually paid on the account of the Territories, more than 
 had beeJ3 returned from thofe Territories, by the fum of ^T. 3,622,969, exclu- 
 five of interefl ; and if that account, accurately continued to the prefent time, 
 were laid before the Public, it would Ihew that the balance above (fated, 
 has been confiderably increafed, befides the debts ftill due for the expences of 
 the two laft wars. The arguments and obfervations annexed to the account 
 here referred to, are highly worthy the ftudy and attention of every one who 
 wifhes to be informed of the particulars of this part of the Company's 
 concerns. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 CHAPTER v.. 
 
 The Rights permanent or temporary of the India Company, 
 
 i. O undeceive fuch as have fallen into the prevailing error, that the Com- 
 pany's chartered Rights, their Corporate Capacity, and their Liberty of trading with 
 z joint Stock, are one and all determinable in 1794. (iinlefs their Charter be 
 previoufly renewed), as well as to evince how far the exifting Rights of the 
 Company, over the principal Seats of Trade, and other Settlements abroad, 
 may ftand in the way of laying the trade open to individuals wit'n a profpedfc 
 of fuccefs, it becomes neceffary to bring into a colieftcd point of view, what 
 thofe Rights are, and to dlft inguilh fuch as are only of a temporary nature and 
 require renewal, if proper to be renewed, from fuch as are lawfully veiled in 
 them in perpetuity. 
 
 Their temporary Rights confift, Firft, of the fole and cxclufive Trade with 
 India and * other Parts within the Limits defcribed in their Charter, fo that none 
 other of the King's fubjefts can go thither or trade there, except it be by Leave- 
 of the Company. 
 
 And Secondly, they have the Adminiftration of the Government and Revenues' 
 of the Territories in India acquired by their Conquefts during their Term in the 
 Exclufive Trade, fubjeft neverthelefs to the various Cheques and Reftriiffions 
 contained in the feveral Adls of Parliament which veft that Adminiftration in 
 them. Thefe feveral temporary Rights are determinable by Parliament in 1794,, 
 under the Notice given by Order of the Houfe of Commons, in the. Year 179.1. 
 
 The Rights which they poflefs in Perpetuity are. 
 
 To be a Body -f- Corporate and Politic, with perpetual SucceJJion.- 
 
 To purchafe |:, acquire, and difpofe at v/ill of lands and tenements In Great 
 Britain, 
 
 * " In, to, and from the Eaft Indies, in the Countries and Parts of Afia and Africa, and in, 
 •♦ to, and from the lilands, Ports, Havens, Cities, Creeks, Towns, and i'!:;ces of Alia, Africa, 
 *' and America, or any of them, beyond the Gape of Good Hope to the Straights of Magellan, 
 " where any trade or traffick of merchandize is or may be ufcd or had, and to and from ever v of 
 " them." 
 
 f By the Statutes 3 Geo. II. ch. 14. — 17 Geo. II. ch. 17. — and 21 Geo. III. ch. 65. 
 
 J In their Charter of 10 William III. the value in Great Britain was not icftridled, but by 
 Aft of 3 Geo, II. the value therein is not to exceed £. 10,000 per aiuiuni. 
 
 3 Ta
 
 . ( i6 ) 
 
 'To make * Settlements io miy Extent within the Limits of their Exclufivc 
 Trade, build 'Forts znd Fortifciiliom, appoint G():v;;,'or5, t\:c&. Courts of Judicciturc, 
 coin Moncy^ raife, train, and mufter Forces -j~ at Sea and Land, repel wrongs 
 -and injuries, make reprizals on the invaders or difturbers of their peace, and 
 continue to trade within the fame limits, zviih a joint Stock for ever, although 
 their Exclufive Right of trading ihall be X .determined by Parliament. 
 
 roffcfTed, therefore, as the Company is, of all the fca ports and places of 
 fTrade in the Eaft Indies in perpetuity acquired ty grants from their for- 
 mer owners, the Native States of India, and held by the bell of titles, namely, 
 upon Rights and Powers granted upon formal compaSls for full and valuable con- 
 fulerations paid to the Public, and ratified and eftablifhed by fundry a£Is of Par- 
 liament, it feems evident, that although the exclufive Trade of the Company w^ere 
 to be determined, yet that no private merchant of this or any other country 
 could juflify entering any of thofe ports .or places for the purpole of Trajft^k, but 
 by the Company's permiffion, unlefs the Forts and Factories, as well as the 
 Trade, were to be thrown open. This would, however, be an innovation on 
 private rights and private property, of which rhe records of Parliament afford 
 no inftance, except in cafes merely 'Municipal, and where their extreme urgency 
 for effeftingfome great and approved defign manifeflly tending to fecure or 
 promote the general interefls of the empire, have impelled the Legiflature to 
 the exercife of fo extraordinary a ftretch of their authority. On fuch occafions, 
 however urgent or important they may have been, the greateft circumfpcftion 
 has been always ufed, and care taken, as far as the nature of the cafe would 
 admit, to affeft the private property of the individual, be his condition what 
 it might, as little as poffible ; and in no cafe have the applications for fuch 
 like purpofes proved fuccefsful, where every party was not confenting, but on 
 the fulleft proof and convidion, that the interefts of the country required the 
 facrifice, nor without ftri(3: provifion being made for giving ample compcnfathn 
 to the owners of the property to be affedted, and which it has been the praftice 
 to apportion, not merely to its intrinfic worth, but according to that degree 
 •of profit which, under all exifting circumftances, its exclufive poffeffion af- 
 forded, or might in reafon be in profped to afford, to its former proprietors. 
 This falutary principle is fo confident with juftice, and the common rights 
 of mankind, and is become fo rooted and interwoven by pra6tice into our 
 Conftltution, that we may with confidence affirm, it will never be fliaken nor 
 departed from by the Parliament of Great Britain. On the other hand, cir- 
 cumfianced as the cafe is with refpcdt to the importance of the Company's 
 exchfi-ve Right to the Ports and Places of Trade in India, whereby to fecure the 
 peculiar advantages they will afford to the Company trading with a joint flock, 
 after the trade of individuals fliall be brought in competition and rivallhip with 
 them ; and when it is confidcred how vaft is the number of perfonsj ^'lemhers 
 
 * By tlie Charter of King Williain. 
 
 f By Acts of Parliament, 27 Geo. JI. ch. 9.— 1 Geo. III. cTi. 14. — and ii Geo, III. ch. 65. 
 
 X By the Three Statutes mentioned in Note (f ) in the preceding page, 
 
 or
 
 C 17 ) 
 
 or Creditors of the India Company, whofe propert)' is embarked in, or colla- 
 terally dependant upon the future fuccefs of their Commerce; and that many 
 other del'criptions of perfons are alfo individually interefted in whatever relates 
 to the feats of Trade eftabliflied with fo much expence, and fo neceflary for 
 conducing it in future, it appears no eafy matter to dcvife any practicable means 
 by which a proper compcnfation for the privileges to be wrefted from the Com- 
 pany, in oppofition to their wiChes, and fo apparently to their injury, can be 
 adjufted or computed ; or in what manner, if the quantum were fixed, it can be 
 properly paid or raifed. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 How far the Appellation of a Chartaed Monopoly is applicable to the Eaji India Trade. 
 
 X H E appellation of a chartered Mo>iopoly, given on various occafions to the 
 Eaft India Company's exclufive Trade, can be meant only to excite popular 
 odium, and bring it into general difrepute. We have, in a former chapter, 
 fhewn the origin of the two Eaft India Companies, and that the former held 
 their exclufive trade by the voluntary grant of the Crown, founded folely on its 
 prerogative, while the latter, or prefent Company, derive their rights by aftual 
 purchafes from the Public, upon folemn compad:s authorized and confirmed by 
 acts of Parliament. True it is, that King William granted a Charter of Incorpora- 
 tion to the prefent Company : but it was a Charter conceived in the very terms 
 of the agreement previoufly made with, and ratified by Parliament, and can 
 therefore be confidered in no other light, than as an inftrument of invejlittire, 
 ifTucd under the Great Seal of Great Britain, in compliance with the letter of 
 the adt, in order to perpetuate the agreement, by inrollment (as aWCharters are, 
 though J<??i of Pcirliamtnt are not) upon the public archives of the kingdom, 
 kept in the High Court of Chancery, whereby to eftablifli, more firmly, if it 
 were pofTible, the tenor of the bargain, the origin of the incorporation, the 
 extent of the rights and privileges meant to be conveyed, and the reftridtions 
 with which they were accompanied. In thefe important refpecls, did this 
 Charter differ from all otliers, that it was not only the firft ever granted by 
 limilar authority, but was free from every legal queftion which had attached on 
 others, becaufe it fpritng from anaEl of the BriiifJj Parliament, and was made in all 
 things to correfpond with it. How far the learned * gentleman, who, in 1783, 
 madefo light of Charters, and of this Charter in particular, by defcribing it as 
 of no other value or virtue, than fo much " parchment with a bit of wax dang- 
 ■*' ling at its tail," had informed himfelf of thefe particulars, or whether he 
 really confidered (as from the very high opinion we entertain of his virtue and 
 
 * In a debate in the Heufe of Commons on the famous India Bill of Mr. Fox, 
 
 C integrity,-
 
 ( IS ) 
 
 integrit}', we hope, and believe he did), that the Charter from King William 
 had been a mere gratuitous bufinefs, flowing, like many others, from royal 
 bounty, and dependent on the authority of prerogative alone, we fhail not pre- 
 tend to determine; but we may boldly affirm, that the Eaft India Comp;my 
 derive no rights, whatever, under their Charter, other than what they fairly 
 purchafed, nor any but fuch as are fandlioned to them in the moft clear and 
 diflincfl manner by the act of Parliament under which the Charter was made, 
 and thofe fubfequent adls by which the exclufive Trade has been continued t» 
 them, upon new bargains with the Public, to this day. And when it is recol- 
 ledled, that the continuance of their exclufive Trade is not dependent on anv Char- 
 ter (for they have had none for their trade fince 1698), but on -j~ Ads of Parlia- 
 ment only, we cannot but be forcibly ftruck with the impropriety of this appel- 
 lation " The Chartered Trade," as generally applied to the exifling exclufive 
 Trade of the Company. 
 
 A monopoly, according to its literal, as well as enlarged fenfe, undoubtedly 
 means the ingrofling and getting into the power of any individual, or of two 
 or more perfons combined for the purpofe, any particular commodity, whereby 
 to command the time and manner of its fate, and to w'ith-hold It from the market, 
 or deal it out at pleafure, at an arbitrary or extravagant price. 
 
 Though the fplrit of our laws, at all \ periods, declared that trade fhould be 
 free, and forbad all monopolies; yet fuch was the Influence of prerogative, and 
 the fubmlffion of the people to it In early times, that it was not until the 
 2ift James I. that all grants of monopolies by the Crown, were declared null 
 and void by flatute. And in that aft is contained * a provifion that it fhould not 
 extend " to Companies or Societies of Merchants erefted for the maintenance, 
 " encouragement, or ordering of any trade of merchandize." 
 
 What, therefore, conftitutes the fpirit and eflTence of a monopoly Is, the hav- 
 ing the fole command and power over fomeneceflary article or commodity, in 
 the mode of its faleand difpofal, by which to enhance the value, and impofe on 
 the confumers an arbitrary price. Surely no one will gravely pronounce this fort 
 of monopoly to apply to the Trade of the India Company, either In theory or 
 praftice : for fo far were the Company from purchafing from the Public, and 
 the Public from granting or legalizing any thing approaching to a monopoly 
 of this kind, that it has, in the moft pofitive terms, enjoined that the files of 
 goods by the Company fliould be made openly and pviblicly by Inch of Candle, 
 or by way of Auftion, within twelve months" after the importation thereof §, 
 The pradtice at the Company's fales has ever been flriiftly confonant to the law ; 
 and fo far from the Company, or any of the individual members of it, haviag 
 
 ■f 3 G. J. cli. 14. f. 10. t; G. 2. ch. 17. r. 12. 21 G. -5. cli.65. f. 4. 
 
 * bee Statutes, 9 H. 3. ch. 30. 25 E. 3. ch. 2. 2 R. 2. ch. 1. 1 1 R. 2. ch. 21. 
 
 * 21 J. I. ch. 3. f. 4. 
 
 § The Charter limits the lots to ;f.i,coo in value; they rarely exceed /'.300 ; and abundance 
 of lots arc made very l'in;ill to accomodate Individuals. A further latitude in rcfpcft to the time of 
 LJe, after importation, was given by an Aft of 7 Geo. i. ft. i, ch. 21. f. jo and 11. 
 
 t been
 
 ^ ( 19 ) 
 
 been monopolizers of India goods to their own aggrandizement, it will be 
 found upon a {tri(ft fcrutiny of the profit divided amongft them for fourfcore 
 years pajl, that their dividendsy taken for the average of any rcafohable i)eriod, 
 have been fometimes lefs than,, and feldom exceeded the legal current rate of interejl 
 of money, computed by the value or market price of their Stock ; a fa(5t, which 
 alone affords an unequivocal proof, that what might otherwife have conftituted 
 a mercantile profit on the India Trade (beyond the common intereft of the 
 capital employed) in the hands of individuals, has been funk in the reduced 
 prices of Aliatic merchandize, and become a laving to the confunier ; and thus* 
 have the Public reaped the real profits of the India commerce, whilft all the 
 rifque has been fuftained by the Company. 
 
 There is alfo fome advantage derived from the peculiar nature of the conjiitu- 
 t'ton of the Eaft India Company, beyond what would refult were the Trade in 
 the hands of private merchants. The books are at all times open " for the 
 *' admiffion of every delcription of perfons who may defire to become mem- 
 *' bers, and have money to adventure." It knows no diftindtion of profeffions, 
 religions, or even fexes, and in the General Courts there is the mod perfect 
 equality : every one prefent has the fame right with another to fpeak his fenti- 
 ments, and give his advice. A difference is made only in voting, which, when 
 taken by the holding up of hands, requires £. 500 ftock, and when by ballot 
 ;^. 1 ,000 flock, for a fingle vote; ;(?.3,ooo for two votes; ;^. 6,000 for three 
 votes ; and£. 10,000 for four votes ; which is the largeft number of votes any 
 m.ember is allowed to poffefs ; whiltl ^.2,000 flock qualifies any member to 
 become a candidate for the office of a Diredlor, or Chairman. Hence any 
 perfon without being bred to commerce, who has Money, and chufes to ad- 
 venture it in this Trade, has the power of doing io. 
 
 It is admitted, that the Old Eaft India Company might properly be termed 
 Monopolijls : tor they were under no parliamentary reftrlclions, and in the year 
 16S4, their trade was declared, upon a trial with Mr. Sands, an interloper, to 
 partake of an unlawful monopoly. But it is material to obferve, how widely 
 different the ftate of that Company was from the prefent. They held their 
 exclufive Trade folely by a gratuitous Charter from the Crown. The prefent 
 Company hold it by purckafe from the Public. The Trade of the Old Company 
 was managed by a fmall Committee, and the major part of the profits were 
 divided amongft % about forty perfons. The Trade is now managed by twenty- 
 four Diredtors, and the number of regidered Proprietors, partaking of the 
 trading capital, is upwards of two tkotijand [even hundred, and the private, or 
 privileged Traders, make at leaft three thcufand more, befides thofe who trade 
 illicitly or clandeftinely, and whofe number is very confidcrable, but whofe con- 
 dud: is not often fcrutinized, becaufeit might difcourage the Trade in Export?, 
 of which illicit adventures chiefly confift : fo that we may fairly compute on f%t 
 ihoufand perfons who partake of the diredt benefit of the export, and of the firjl 
 
 X Andcrfon's Hiftory of Commerce, 2d Vol. p. 171. 
 
 C 2 returns
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 returns of the import Trade from Jndia and Chin3. Befides, the Old Compnny 
 could hold back their goods from the market, and fell them privately, juft as 
 fuited their own purpofes : The prelent Company can fell only to the bed 
 bidder, and were never known to keep back any goods, when a bidder could 
 be found for them; their faies are conftant and uniform; and, above all, the 
 magnitude of th/5, Trade, and the appropriation of its produce, amongll fo 
 great a number of perfons, mud ever fecure the Public from every apprehcn- 
 lion of its being converted to any of thofe bafe purpofes, which, by their com- 
 bination alone, can create the ell'ence of a monopoly. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Plans formerly recommended for varying the Mode of conduSi'ing the Trade to the Ead 
 
 Indies. 
 
 A.MONGST the fchemes devifed in preference to that of a Joint Stock 
 Company, for fecuring a beneficial Trade with India, we do not find any one 
 to have been gravely propofed for throwing it wholly open to chance. The 
 only plans that feem to have been thought worthy of ferious deliberation, were 
 fuch as had in view (though perhaps not all on the fame model) a Regulated 
 Open Company. Such was the firjl Company cftablilhed in the year 1600, and 
 fuch was the general Society, both of which we have feen to have grown into 
 Joint Stock Companies. The diiference confifts in this : In a regulated Com- 
 pany, every merchant qualified according to the Rules prefcribed, and con- 
 forming to them, may become a member, and may trade with his own feparate 
 capital ; whereas, in a Joint Stock Company, the whole capital is thrown into 
 one common mafs. In the former cafe, the number of members, and the 
 extent of the trade, are indefinite; in the latter, though the number be not, 
 the extent of the trade is limited by the amount of the joint flock employed 
 in it. 
 
 Although no general plan for throwing the Trade open has been fuggefted, 
 hiftory furnifhes us with various inftanccs of attempts made by individuals to 
 trade on their own capitals, with India and China, as well before the Inllitution 
 of the firft India Company, as fince ; but fuch attempts feem one and all, to 
 have been attended with little better than ruin to the adventurers : and, indeed, 
 when the diflance from India, the nature of the intercourfe with the natives, and 
 the want of ports and fettlements, are confidered, our furprize cannot but be 
 excited at the raflincfs of thofe who made the trial. The moft flattering pro- 
 fpedt to adventurers of this dcfcription was held out in the time of the Uiurpa- 
 trion, when Oliver Cromwell fufpendcd the Trade of the Company, to give to 
 
 all
 
 C 21 ) 
 
 all perfons a fair opportunity of trying tlie effeft of an Open Trade. The ex- 
 periment ended, as might be expefted, in ruin ; and, after an interval of four 
 or five years, the Comixiny were reftored, and the imfuccefsful adventurers weie 
 amongft the fiift of thofc, who applied to the Protedtor for liberty to trade 
 with a Joint Stock. Many other inftances might be adduced of faiiiires by 
 private adventurers, but none have come within our obfervation, that were 
 attended with fuccefs. A remarkable inflance of the inconveniences with which 
 experiments of this fort have been attended, happened in the reign of Charles- 
 II. Many private fliips had ventured to trade in India in defiance of the Com- 
 pany, and if fome of them found their account in it, a contrary fate attended 
 the majority. Their loflcs were, however, the lead of the inconvenience; the 
 ofncers and men condufted themfelves with fo much arrogance and impropriety, 
 and created fuch difturbances, as at length to excite the general indignation of 
 the Natives, and draw upon the Englifh in general, the refemment of the 
 Mogul, and other native powers; who, making no diftindion betwixt the 
 interlopers and the agents of the Company, waged war and feized on the Com- 
 pany's faftories, and were on the brink of totally extirpating them from India, 
 to the utter lofs of the interells of the Englifli nation there : And it was only 
 by the interpofition of Government, who fent a fliip of war to feize on the in- 
 terlopers, ivith a Proclamation to compel them to repair to the Company's 
 fadories, and fubmit to their jurifdiftion, that after an interruption of five 
 years, and the incurment of a heavy expence by the Company, the Countrv 
 Powers were pacified, and order reftored. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 The Prefent State of the Trade of foreign Countries with India and China. 
 
 X HE Pcrtuguefe, the Spaniards, the French, the Danes, and the Dutch, have 
 all, in their turn, participated in the benefits of the Eafh India Commerce, 
 each of them having obtained from the Country Powers the privilege of a Free 
 Trade, and of making Settlements and Fadories on the Peninfula of India, 
 and the Iflands contiguous, for the carrying it on. The Trade of the three 
 laft named has, for the moft: part, been conduced by a regular Trading Com- 
 pany nearly fimilar to our own ; that of the Portuguefe by Houfes of Trade, 
 or private Companies, and fometimes by rich Individuals, fingly on their own 
 Capitals. That of Spain has fo dwindled, that of late we have fcarcely heard 
 of it. Szveden alfo has her India Company, lb called ; but we know of no 
 Settlements poflelfed by her on the Afiatic Continent, and her Trade of late 
 times has been chiefly, if not wholly confined to China and other parts to the. 
 Eaflward of the Ganges. 
 
 For
 
 ( i^ ) 
 
 For fome years previous to and until the paffing of the Commutation Adt 
 in I "84, and for fome time afterwards, fevcral of thefe Foreign Companies 
 partook of the prolits derived by the fmuggling of teas into this Kingdom, 
 by uipplving it either direft from China to OHend, Dunkirk, and other con- 
 venient places, or by felling it to others for that purpofe. In confequence of 
 the Commutation Aft, and of lowering the Duties on Tea, the India Company 
 were enabled to underfel the fmuggler, and in a great degree to put an end to 
 his trafRck in that article. Our own regular imports in tea have fince become 
 more than doubled in quantity, to the diminution of the Carrying Trade of 
 the Swedes^ Banes, and the India Company of Embden, infomuch as almoft to 
 annihilate thofe Companies. That of Embdoi, if not wholly difcontinued, is 
 faid to be on the eve of becoming fo, and another India Company in the Low 
 Countries, called the Triefte Company, has, after very great aids afforded her to 
 fupport her finking credit, and after lofing or fpending her whole capita), 
 Intlrely flopped trading. 
 
 The Dutch Company poffefs not only valuable and convenient Faftorles, and 
 confiderable poffeffions In India and other parts of Ada, but alfo the whole 
 of the fplce trade, pepper excepted, and were for a long time the envy of their 
 mercantile neighbours. At the commencement of the American war, the 
 Dutch Company were rich, profperous, and flourifliing; but in the rupture of 
 that nation with England the fuperior power of the latter enabled them to feize 
 their Settlements in India, and interrupt their Commerce, which brought their 
 affairs into fuch diftrefs, that they muft have been utterly ruined, if they had 
 not been fupported by loans from the States General to a very large amount, 
 and from that period doubts have been entertained of their ever being able, 
 with all the aid of their Spice monopoly and land revenues In Afia and Africa, 
 to difcharge their Debts and reftore their Credit. 
 
 The failures of fucceffive India Companies In France are too notorious to re- 
 quire any particular detail, notwithftanding the advantageous Settlements of 
 Pondicbenjy \.\\t Mauritius, and other parts. Their prefent Company, by con- 
 fining their whole attention to Trade alone, and by taking part of their fupplies 
 for the confumption of France, by purchafe of the Englifh Company, have 
 hitherto maintained their ground ; but a war mull inevitably throw them oa 
 the mercy of England. 
 
 Befides the Trade carried on by thefe feveral Companies (for they were not 
 always in the exclufion of the private merchant), there have been fliips fitted 
 out by private Adventurers from Sweden, Denmark, Ojlend, France, Portugal, 
 and America. Some amongft them may probably have been gainers ; but we 
 know the greater part have been great fufferers, and upon the whole afford an 
 ufcful Icffon to fuch mercantile fpeculators if they were wife enough to benefit by 
 the experience or misfortune of others, who have wildly engaged in the dIflanC 
 and hazardous commerce of Afia on fmall capitals. As to America, if we may 
 he allowed to judge by her prefent ilackncfs in the profecution of her commerce 
 
 with
 
 ( =^3 ) 
 
 with India and China, or by the purcbafes (he has been of late In the habit of 
 making in Europe of Afiatic goods, and the lofles fhe is known to have fuf- 
 tained by her cargoes of tea from Canton of the year 1789, there feems little 
 probability of her carrying her commercial intercourfe with thofe remote re- 
 gions, at prefent, to any confiderable extent. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 7}>e Returns of the Company's Trade anterior to their acquiring the Territories Abroad; 
 the Effect produced by the Acquifttion on their Exports and Imports; the prefent 
 Amount of their Debts, and their Claims upon the Public for an Indemnification of 
 their Expences incurred in acquiring and preferving the conquered Provinces. 
 
 JxNTECEDENT to the year 1757, the fale amount of the Company's Im-- 
 ports had rarely, if at any time, exceeded two millions in any one year. Their 
 foreign inveftments were provided for by fales or barter of their exported goods 
 and bullion, and by money lent them by their fervants in India on bills payable 
 in London, which was the old method of remittance of money acquired in the 
 Company's fcrvice. Thus we find the annual fales of the imports by the Com- 
 pany for fixteen years next preceding 1757, amounted to about f.%,oc^c,,ooo 
 on the average; and that, for the fame period, their exported goods and llores 
 amounted annually, at their prime coft, to £. 238,000, and bullion, ;^. 690,000; 
 and that they paid in difcharge of bills of exchange, ;f. 190,000. If during 
 that period the prime colt of the goods imported exceeded the amount of thofe 
 three fums, the difference mull have been paid by the profit on the fales of 
 the goods exported, and by land rents and cuftoms arifmg at their principal 
 fettlements. During the fucceeding ten years, it fliould feem that the revenues 
 of the new acquifuions afforded no profit to the Company ; for though the 
 produce of the fales of imports became incrcafed to the amount oi £. 2,150,000 
 annually on the average, and though the quantity of bullion exported was 
 reduced to about ^T. 120,000 per ann. yet we find that the exports in goods 
 and flores, and the money raifed upon bills of exchange, were increafed in a 
 greater ratio, compared with the returns from abroad, the annual amount of 
 each being as high as ^.430,000. From 1767 to 1777, the exports of bullion 
 were about ;f. 110,000; of goods jT. 490,000, and the fums raifed on bills 
 /. 458,000 per annum; and by the aid afforded from the revenues, the inveftments 
 became fo increafed as to produce about £. 3,330,000 annually. From 1777 to 
 1784, the average fales of imports, notwithrtanding the war, fell off in the pro- 
 portion only of about £. 200,000 annually ; the export in bullion was for that pe- 
 riod very trifling ; but the goods and ftores exported were increafed to about half 
 a millionj and the money raifed upon bills to about ^.761,000 yearly. For 
 
 the
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 I'ne laft eight years, the (Ac amount of imports has been /. 4,768,242* 
 aiinually on the medium ; 4:he amount paid for bullion ^T. 560,223, for goods 
 and ftores exported £. 753,976 -j-, and for bills of exchange £. 1,258,870 per 
 annum. During the laft 3 years the Sales have amounted to £. 5,094,535 ; the 
 fums paid for bullion ;^. 464,046, for goods and ftores £. 952,027, and for bills 
 £. 737,465 per annum on the average. 
 
 The comparative profits of the Company's Trade were certainly more con- 
 fiderable before they made their conquefts, in proportion to the amount of the 
 capital employed, and the aggregate of the Sales of Imports, than at any time 
 fince. '\Vhile their cargoes were lefs they were purchafed at more moderate 
 prices abroad, and came to a more profitable market at home. But, by doubling 
 the Inveftments in India, as in facft they have been, their prime coft, by the 
 increafed demand, became enhanced, while their lale prices at home, by the 
 increafed quantity brought into the market, became reduced. The Company 
 had however no choice ; the furplus revenue in India could no otherwife be 
 realized at home than through the medium of commerce; and although, on a 
 itrift fcrutinv, it may probably be found, that many articles from Bengal have 
 not produced in England the amount of their invoice prices and other charges 
 upon them, fo that in the hands ot a private merchant, a lofs would have been 
 fultalned, vet viewing the tranfadlion as affedting the community, it will be 
 found that whatever inveftments were produced from the territorial revenue^ 
 were a clear gain. With refpedl to the Coall Goods, and thofe from China, 
 they have been chiefly purchafed or bartered for as in former times ; and by 
 the influx of teas fince the Commutation a.&, through the medium of fair trade, 
 -a, larger profit has been derived. 
 
 The Territorial Revenue, including fubfidies and the income of the Com- 
 pany's own property pofleired antecedently to the year 1756, may be 
 reckoned at nearly /even million of Pounds Sterling per ann. But as the countries 
 can only be governed and maintained, and the revenues coUefted, by keep- 
 ing up a large ftanding military force, and fundry civil eftablifhments ; and 
 as experience has proved it to be the bsft (Economy to allow libera! ftipends 
 to the principal officers and fervants, to place them beyond the reach of tempta- 
 tion to do amifs ; the net furplus, after providing for all civil and military charges, 
 ajid paying the annual intereft of the fubfifting debt, does not exceed, ac- 
 cording to a computation laid before the Houfe of Commons by the 
 Court of Directors, the annual fum ot £. 1,200,000. Be its amount what 
 it may, the Reader may be alFurcd that the fpecie of India has been fo ex- 
 tautled, that no part of the furplus, whatever may be its amount, can be 
 
 * Exclufive of fitles of privileged ami private trade, which on the fame averaj;c amounted 
 • to /• 755.757 per ann. bcfutcs what has been finuggled. For the prefent ftate of the trade, in 
 .other particulars, fee chap. lo. 
 
 \ Exclufive of private trade cariicd out in thirty fliips, which at ;^. 25,000 each, make 
 j^. 750,000 a year, bcfidcs illicit and tlandclliiic iradb by other ihljps. 
 
 3 brought
 
 C 25 ) 
 
 brought in fpecie, nor can it be realized in England otherwiTe than through 
 the medium of cargoes provided for the China or European markets. 
 
 With refpedt to the debts of the Company, their amount in India appears to 
 be about nine millions Jlerling, and there being available ajfets in India equal to 
 the dilcharge ot fomething more than two millions, there eemains about y«'y^«. 
 millions as a charge on the other aflets and future revenues. This debt was 
 incurred by war, and flands wholly unconncfted with the Company's commerce. 
 
 Their debts at home, beyond the value of affets applicable to their imme- 
 diate difcharge, amount to upwards of four millions, of which ;r. 3, 200,000 is 
 their {landing bonded debt, authorized by Afts of Parliament. 
 
 We have already taken occafion to obferve, that the claim of the Public to 
 the territories in India acquired by conqueft, is fubjeft not only to tlie out- 
 ftanding demands of the Company's creditors, but alfo to an equitable claim 
 by the Company themfclves. The juftice of that of the creditors manifefts 
 itfelf too ftrongly to require any illuftration or argument, and will doubtlefs 
 obtain from a Britifh Parliament, whenever it fhall exercife its wifdom in pro- 
 viding any New Syftem for the future adminiftration of India, a fultable in- 
 demnification. The claim of the Company appears alfo equally intitled 
 to the regard and fupport of the Lcgiflature, fince it is clear and evident, 
 that in confequence of the unavoidable expences they have been put to by the 
 wars in India, their Capital Stock has been twice increafed by new fubfcrip- 
 tions, as well as their Bond Debt, to enable them to carry on their Trade ; 
 at the fame time their dividends have continued only at £. 8 per cent. 
 
 Under fuch circumflances we can entertain no doubt but, from the candour 
 and juftice of Parliament, the territorial revenues of India will be fo appro- 
 pri5.ted, in any new arrangement that may be made, as to provide for the 
 exifting debts abroad, and fome reafonable compenflition for fuch part of the 
 debts at home as the Company (ball be able to make ajipear they have dif- 
 burfed in acquiring and protedting the provinces, beyond what has been pro- 
 duced to the Company from thofe revenues. 
 
 D CHAP-
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Thi Nature and Extent of the Trade of the Company to India and China, with an 
 Account of the Shipping employed in it. 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 W E had nearly completed the account we intended to have given of the 
 feveral fpecies, quantities, and values of the goods exported by the Company, 
 when the Houfe of Commons relieved us from that labour, by ordering * the 
 three very able and fatisfadfory Reports, lately made on the fubjedl to the Board 
 of Commerce, by the Court of Diredors, to be printed, Thefe Reports have 
 alfo, for their more extenfive promulgation, been again printed by order of 
 the Company. We fliall therefore avail ouriclves of the authentic ac- 
 counts they contain, by ftating a brief recital of their contents in general, but 
 with a recommendation to our Readers to have recourfe to the Reports them- 
 felves, as containing many matters, omitted by us, regarding the Trade of the 
 Company at large, highly important to be known. 
 
 From the firft of thefe Reports we callect thefe particulars; 
 
 That the Bulk of the Exports confifls of, 
 
 Camblets, cloth, and other woollens ; metals (particularly tin, lead, and 
 copper) ; naval and military {lores ; and fdver in bullion. 
 
 That the Company referve to themfelves the exclufive export of cloth, 
 woollens, copper, bullion, and military ftores ; and alfo clocks, toys, and other 
 articles ornamented with jewels. 
 
 That other articles -j~ exported from hence, are chiefly purchafcd in India 
 by Europeans for their own confumption, and are carried abroad in what is 
 
 called 
 
 * 3 J January i793- 
 
 f A Lift of Articles exported \w Private Tr.itle. 
 
 Anchors, Canvas, Copper, 
 
 Ear iron, Cutlery, Drugs, 
 
 Bulgia hides, Cards, Earthen ware, 
 
 Brandy, Cordage, Furs, 
 
 Beer, Cabinet \rare, Glals ware. 
 
 Boots and flioes, Clocks, CJimpowdcr, 
 
 Bra7,icr\', Cochineal, OlaCs beads, 
 
 Biimin,' Carriages, CJinfcng, 
 
 Block tin, Carpets, (irapnals, 
 
 Cyder, Cloth cuttings. Gold thread, 
 
 Clicrry brandy, Confeftionary, Gold lace, 
 
 Habcrdallicry,
 
 ( ^7 ) 
 
 called Private Trmk *, by the Commanders and officers of the Company's 
 fliips. 
 
 That befides what are exported by the Company, and the Private Traders, 
 regularly regiflered, abundance of Britilli goods find their way to India, both 
 by illicit Trade carried on diretftly from hence, and alfo by what is termed 
 CLmdcJlinc trade, carried on from various parts of the continent of Europe in 
 Britifli iliips, under foreign colours. 
 
 That with a laudable zeal for the public good, by promoting the cxten- 
 fion of exports of Britifli manufadlures, the Company have continued to export, 
 both to India and China, large quantities, particularly of woollens, though 
 the fale of them has not produced fufficient to repay the prime coft and all 
 charges -j- : have repeatedly commanded their commercial Boards in India, 
 io indent for as many as can be fold zvitbont an aclual lofs, making thefe com- 
 mands in cffeA their Jlanding order: have greatly enlarged the privilege of 
 their commanders and officers, in refpedt to export goods, making them 
 freight-free ; and ufed, and continue to uic, every endeavour to open new 
 channels for the introduftion of Britifh goods in various parts beyond the 
 peninfula of India ; the refult of which, as far as can be yet known, is given 
 in thefe Reports : And it may be fairly inferred, that the Company's warehoufes 
 in Bengal, Kladras, and Bo/iihay, are always fupplied with more zcoollens than can 
 be fold to a profit, from the circumftance of there having been great numbers 
 
 HiiberJafliery, Plate glafs, Turncn-, 
 
 Hnts, Perfumery, Tin ware, 
 
 Ploficiy, Pickles, Pig lead. 
 
 Hardware, Pruffian blue, Rod iron, 
 
 Ironmongery, Prints, Tin plates, 
 
 Lines nnd twine, Quick-iilver, Wine, 
 
 Lead fl)ot, Rum, Wooden toys, 
 
 INIillenery, Red lead, Window glafs, 
 
 Mathematical, and mufical in- Remnants of Cloths, AVrought plate, anJ 
 
 llruments, Snufl', White lead. 
 
 Manchcfter goods, Sadlcry, 
 
 Muftard, Steel, And to China, 
 
 Orfidew, Sheet lead, 
 
 Oil, Smalts, Skins, and furs, 
 
 I'crry, Sword blades, Jcwellciy, toys, watches, fome 
 
 Painter's colours, Stationary, woollens, and lilvcr. 
 
 Plated ware, Ship-chandlery, 
 
 * The Company may lawfully licence whom they pleafe to trade in the Eaft Indies. The 
 ■officers and fubord'inates of their Ihips, being Tlirry in number for ever)- fliip, arc alhnyed the 
 benefit of it, both in Export and Import, according to their dift'erent ranks or births. Tliis is 
 called Privint Trmie, and what they pay tor this permiffion, and in lieu of freight, is called Cj-h- 
 pany's Duties, and forms an article of t)ie Company's profits. The fervants abroad are alfq 
 frequently permitted to remit home their fortunes in merchandize, for which they pay a freight to 
 the Company. This latter Trade is dliHiiguiflied from the former bv the name oil'ri'y:leq^i'<l Trade. 
 
 f The lofs by woollens from 1784 to 1790, exported to India, after allowing for .ill cnargcs'oi;" 
 freight, infurance, interell of money, &c. is computed ;f. 37,790, and the lofs OH tbufe cxpo;rtcd to 
 China at ^•(^ifi'n in the fame period, 
 
 D 2 of,
 
 C 23 ) 
 
 of bales of different forts, remaining at all times in each of thofe vvarelioufes, 
 for want of purchafers, the total value of which in 1789-90 was ^. 167,761 ']-, 
 
 The Report on the India Trade, does not give the particulars of all the 
 Exports of the Company thither, but of woollens and metals, and fuch part of 
 the Private Trade as is regiftered. It does not give the quantity or invoice of 
 naval and military ftores, lent either as merchandize, or as fupplics for the 
 navy, army, and garrifons abroad; nor of what may be taken thither from 
 Europe illicitly or clandeflinely, beyond what is regiftered : it is admitted, 
 that the excefs is fo different in every fhip, and fo fluftuating, as to baffle all 
 computation. We are however, by other authentic documents *, enabled to 
 flate, that the prime coft or invoice of goods and merchandize of the growth, 
 produce, or manufacture of Great Britain and Ireland, annually exported to 
 India and China, by the Company alone, including naval and military ftores, 
 which are alfo of our own manufacture, taken for the average of the laft fix 
 years, have amounted to upwards of ;f. 900,000 per ann. exdufivdy of bullion; 
 and that the export of goods to China, in barter for teas, has in that period 
 been greatly incrcafed, v/hile that of bullion has decreafed in an equal or 
 greater proportion; and it is computed that the Private Trade, regiftered and 
 not regiftered, has amounted, for the fame period, to £. 750.000 per ann. 
 at the leaft, taking it only at the low computation for thirty ihips annually, of 
 jf. 25,000 each; fo that the exports of Britifti goods to India and China may 
 be computed at £. 1,650,000 per annum. 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 The goods imported by the Company from India confift chiefly, of muflins, 
 callicoes, and other piece-goods ;!;, raw-filk, cotton, indigo, pepper, faltpetre, 
 ophium, and various forts of drugs ; and from China, tea, coffee, and japan 
 and China ware : other articles are doubtlefs brought both from India and 
 China, but they are of a trifling comparative value : Sugar has occafionally 
 been imported in fmall quantities, but it has been the policy of Government, 
 in order to difcourage (as it is thought) the introduftion of fugar from the 
 Eaft Indies, as an article either of commerce, or for confumption, to the in- 
 jury of the Wejl India Planters, to lay a protefting duty on it of J^.o,"] 16 J. 5 d. 
 at the felling price, while the Weft India fugars pay only after the rate of 15^-. 
 
 ■^ The Fiift Report is confined to the Trade with India ; the Second, to that of China ; and 
 the Third, to Japan and Perfia. In the two laft arc contained conneftcd narratives of our com- 
 mercial intcrcourfe in thofe parts, the nature and extent of our trade with China, and the delicate 
 footing on which it ftands ; witli Remark?, fliewing the dangerous tendency of making new ex- 
 periments with the Chinefc : And in the third Report arc fliewn the difficulties which obftruift 
 the txtcnlion of Britifli commerce with Pcrfia and Japan. 
 
 * Accounts prefcnted to the Houfe of Commons in February 1793. 
 
 X lyroui^ht Silks, Bengal Stuffi mixt with Silk, or Herla, and printed Callicoes, brought from Iniliir, 
 China, or r<rjta, arc prohibited from being worn in Great Britain. But they pay a dut}, though 
 they are again exported. The importation of Thrthvjrt Silk is alfo prohibited. 
 
 fcr
 
 C 29 ) 
 
 per one hundredweight. This difference in the duty at the prefent enhanced price 
 of fugar, with the high freight paid by the Company on their Bengal iliips, 
 virtually deftroys all competition, and amounts in effedt to a prohibition : 
 Otherwi fc, it is aflerted that, Bengal alone, might, in a few years, be made 
 to furnifh far more fugar than would fupply our own confiimption ; and that, 
 fetting afide the duty, the fugars of the Eaft Indies might be imported, both 
 for conlumption and exportation, to the profit of the importers, and redudtion 
 in the prefent enormous price of that ufeful, not to fay neceflary article of life. 
 But if any great quantity were to be brought from Bengal, until pioduced by 
 new plantations, it would doubtlcfs be felt by the Natives as a grievance, 
 depriving them of a principal means of rearing their children, whofe fupport, 
 while young, depends very greatly upon the fugar-cane. 
 
 To fhew the immenfe gain derived to this Country, by the import trade of the 
 Eaft India Company, (a gain which difTeminates itfelf through every branch 
 of manufadure, and affords, in all its confequences, a conftant employment 
 to fome thoufands of our valuable artificers and workmen,) we will endeavour 
 to ftate the whole in as clear a point of view as poffible, taken on the average 
 of the years 1788, 1789, and 1790, and alio on the average of the years 1791, 
 1792, and 1793, giving diftindly the totals of the fums paid by the Company 
 for prime coft, and the cufloms and excife thereon, and the freight and de^ 
 morrage, and charges of merchandize, with the total of thofe articles col- 
 ledted ; and laflly, the amount of fales for the fame period. But it muft be 
 remembered, that though the gains to the community may be computed from 
 this datum, thofe of the Company cannot, as they depend on various cir- 
 cumftances, which require a dillindt inveftigation. 
 
 Average of the Company's own Trade, from \Jl March 1787, io Ditto, 1790, 
 
 Invoice, 
 
 or Prime Coft 
 
 abroad. 
 
 Cuftoms. 
 
 Freight and 
 Dcmorrage. 
 
 Charges 
 of iVIer- 
 chandize. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Amount 
 of Sales. 
 
 I' 
 
 I- 
 
 £• 
 
 I- 
 
 I' 
 
 £• 
 
 2,547,848 
 
 521,883 
 
 736,275 
 
 270,675 
 
 4,076,681 
 
 4,511,262 
 
 Average of the Company s own Trade, from \fl March 1790, to Ditto, 1793. 
 
 £■ 
 
 £• 
 612,231 
 
 £' 
 
 717^453 
 
 £• 
 
 306,185 
 
 £• 
 4,186,597 
 
 £■ 
 
 5,103,094 
 
 JV. B. The Company do not infure their Ships or Merchandize, and 
 therefore no premium of infurance is included in the charges of 
 Merchandize, nor any interelt for the capital employed. 
 
 To
 
 c 
 
 ) 
 
 To the preceding are to be added the imports on the Prhaie and Privik^edTtiiCit. 
 The freight and demorrage, and charges of merchandize are included in the 
 above account. Their prime coft can be known only to the parties concerned ; 
 but their fale amount, and the cuftoms paid, taken on the average for the fol- 
 lowing periods, were as follows : 
 
 The annual average of Private and Privileged Trade, 
 
 from 1787 to 1790, being three years, was - 
 Ditto from 1790 to 1793, average of three years. 
 
 Cuftoms. 
 I' 
 
 I 150,482 
 100,873 
 
 Sale Amount. 
 I' 
 
 85i»796 
 773'376 
 
 Befides the duties of cufloms contained in the above accounts, the following 
 further duties were paid, amounting, on the average of each year, taken for 
 five years from ift March 17S7 to ditto, 1792, to the fums following: 
 
 Excife on 
 Arrack, &:c. 
 
 • £' 
 
 Inland Duties on 
 Pepper con- 
 i'umcd in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 14,9: 
 
 Cuftoms and In- 
 land Duties on 
 Tea and Coftee. 
 
 £■ 
 
 334,960 
 
 Cuftoms on 
 Wines. 
 
 i- 
 
 6,894 
 
 Total 
 
 I- 
 
 438,549 
 
 The whole average amount of the cudoms, and inland duties on the import 
 trade of India and China to Great Britain, may therefore be fairly eftimated 
 at jT. 1,050,000 per annum, and the fale amount thereof at /". 5,850,000 per 
 annum. It is computed, that the fale amount of the Company's own imports, 
 for the current year, will amount to 5 I millions. 
 
 The duties, however, here flated, do not wholly ftop at the Exchequer. 
 A great proportion of the merchandize from India, and probably about one 
 tenth part of the tea imported from China, is exported to Ireland, and foreign 
 parts; the drawbacks and bounties on which, confiderably diminilh the 
 a'.riount of the duties paid by the Company on their importation. It would, 
 for many obvious reafons, be extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to dif- 
 cover with cxadl certainty, the nett amount of the duties on the merchandize 
 ef Inaia and China, which has remained after thofc dedudions. An account 
 S of
 
 ( 31 ) 
 
 of this nature was made for the 3'ear 1788, and by an a£lual and very laborious 
 colledlion from the books of the cultom houfe, it was computed that out of 
 /. 750,000 paid by the Company for cufloms, on the imports fold at their 
 fales, £. 330,000 had been repaid for drawbacks and bounties*. We arc not, 
 however, to conclude, that either the revenue or the country are ultimatelv 
 injured by the diminution. The export of India goods forms no inconfiderabJc 
 part of our carrying trade to other countries, giving additional employment to 
 our fhipping, and affording commercial profits to our merchants, who, in 
 return for the India goods exported, bring other valuable commodities, fuf- 
 ficient to return in culloms, a fum probably equal to that, which may have 
 been paid in drawbacks and bounty. Other advantages alfo refuk to the dealers, 
 and others, by the profits on the re-fales, by carriage and agency ; and the 
 Port of London being thus made the chief depot for the fujjply of Europe, 
 and of many parts of Africa and America, of the merchandize of the Eaft, 
 is neceffarily reforted to bv foreign merchants for its purchafes, who, at the 
 fame time, buy various commodities of our own manufafturc, which would 
 probably not otherwile have been called for, by all which the national prolpcrity 
 is promoted. 
 
 S II I P P I N G. 
 
 Ninety-two Ships are at this time employed by the Company, abroad and 
 at home, in the Carrying Trade to India and China, the meafurement of which 
 is 81,179 Tons. The average complement of Officers and Subordinates is 30, 
 and of Seamen 100 for each Ship, making 2,760 Officers and Subordinates, 
 and 9,200 Seamen. Befides thefe, the Shipping employed in the Afiatic Seas, 
 in what is termed " tbc Couiitry Trcitk," is very conhderable. The Reader will 
 readily conceive, that to keep fo numerous a Fleet of large Merchantmen alloat, 
 for fuch long voyages, mull; create employment for a vafl: number of artificers 
 in various branches of trade, and alfo occafion the confumption of a great 
 quantity of materials iTianufai5i;ured and unmanufaftured, not to mention the 
 expences of viiftualling, Sec. The extent of the employment it affords, and 
 of the materials it confumes, may be ellimated by the amount already given, of 
 what has been paid by the Company under the head of Freight and Demorrage. 
 
 * It may be taken for granted, that, upon the averrvge of five years, the annual returns of 
 duties in drawback and bounty, are equal to two parts in five of the whole amount ot cullonis 
 and inland duties paid on Eail India and China goods. 
 
 bince the former Edition of this Tract, we haie been favored with a moll comprehenfive'and 
 fatisfac^tory detail of the fales of the Company's imports, including private Trade, the fiuantitics 
 thereof exported, and the cjuantities rciaincd tor home confumption for four years, with the totals 
 of the drawbacks. A paper fo ufcful, and coming as it docs from the moll refpcclablc authoritv, 
 cannot fail of bemg highly acceptable to the reader; we have therefore given it a place at the 
 end of thefe flieets. To this the Public are indebted, as indeed they are to the many impiove- 
 ments Introduced in the mode of keeping the accounts of the King's duties, by which alone 
 fatisfaftory information on limilar fubjefts of intricacy can be obtained, to the zeal talents and 
 afliduity of Mr. Irving, the Infpe^'tor General of the Cullom;. 
 
 In
 
 C 5^ ) 
 
 In bringing forward the foregoing Statements of the Import and Export Trade 
 and Shipping of the India Company, which, it is trufled, will ftand the teft of 
 the ftricieft fcrutiny. The Writer is not influenced by any feUifli or partial 
 motives, but purely by a defire of communicating to his Readers a faithful 
 account of the nature and extent of this branch of Britiih Commerce, that 
 every man, by knowing its nature and magnitude, may be properly imprefled 
 with a juft eflimate of its immenfe value and importance, in whatever view it 
 be confidtred, whether as furniiliing a regular permanent fupply of raw mate- 
 rials, for our Manufadturers, and a uniform annual export of their productions, 
 or as affording conflant employment and livelihood to a confiderable propor- 
 tion of the inhabitants of this country, or as aiding our public revenues and the 
 Carrying Trade of the country in re-exportation to Foreign Parts, and furnifh- 
 ing various articles of comfort and luxury to all ranks and degrees of people, 
 of the production of the Eaft, at reafonable prices ; from which it is eafy to 
 perceive the neceffity there is' for the greateft degree of circumfpeftion 
 being ufed in the introducing of any Change of Syftem, which might hazard 
 the lofs, or divert the channels of this very valuable and important branch of 
 Britifh Commerce. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 RefpeSling the Profits derived by the Company from their Trade. 
 
 J. HE accounts which have been publiihed do not furnifli the means of com- 
 puting, with any degree of accuracy, the Profit and Lofs upon the Export 
 Trade. This defecfl is occafioned by the merchandize being blended with 
 military and warlike flores, and the want of a fpccification what part of 
 the flores was fold or what part of them was converted to the ufe of the 
 forces and garrifons. The charges of merchandize are alfo blended with 
 the expences of raifing and maintaining recruits, and conveying them to India ; 
 and with gratuities, penfions, law charges, and other difburfements of various 
 kinds. In the year 1780 it appeared, that the Export Trade, and the Com- 
 pany's duty on Private Trade, had, upon the medium for fome years before, 
 cleared a profit equal to an annual dividend of jT. 2 izs. 6d. per cent, on the 
 old capital of ^T. 3,200,000 ; the profits derived by the Exports to China * 
 fincc that time have not been afcertained ; and with refpeiff to the Exports to 
 .India, it may be doubted if they now yield any real profit. For although 
 warlike ftorcs, and metals, ammunition, and other articles, produce fomcthing 
 confiderable, that profit is, in a great degree, if not intirely nbforbed in the 
 lofl'es on other goods, damages and charges of merchandize, and interelt of the 
 money paid on the outfit. 
 
 * The profits on thcfc have been computed at ;f .65,000 per annum, 
 
 Of
 
 '( 33 ) 
 
 Of the -f- Import Goods (['om India and China for the years 1791, 1792, and 
 1793, the produce of the Sales appears to have exceeded the invoice theieof, 
 with the cufloms, freight, and charges of merchandize paid thereout, by 
 jT. 2,749,491, the yearly average whereof is £. 916,497. 
 
 The next article of profit arifes from a duty fo called of j^. 5 per cent, which 
 the Company are authorifed by law | to take towards the expences of fupporting 
 the Fadtories, maintaining AmbafTadors, &c. in India, on the value of India Goods 
 imported by the Private 'Traders. Tht privileged as well as x.[\q private Trade oi the 
 Company's Officers pay this duty, and alfo 2 per cent, more advalorem for ware- 
 houfe room and in lieu of other charges of merchandize on thefe goods, and the 
 privileged Trade pays the Company at the rate of ;^. 1 5 per ten homeward for freight 
 and demorrage ; from hence the Company derive about £. 70,000 a year, be- 
 lides the /. 15 per ton for freight, and although the fum produced may in 
 appearance form part of their mercantile Funds, as an article of profit, it has 
 not in reality a feature of real profit in it ; becaufe if the private and privileged 
 Trade were to be charged with a due (hare of the expences of fupporting the 
 Settlements and Ambaffadors abroad, and warehoufes, &c. at home, appor- 
 tioned by its amount advalorem to the Company's own Trade, the Sum falling 
 on the private and privileged Trade would be much larger than it is*. And it 
 is owing to the manner in which this duty making 7 per cent, is charged in the 
 Company's Accounts, that gives it the appearance of a profit, when in reality 
 it is only part of the ium charged againft their own Trade, under the heads of 
 Freight and Charges of merchandize, and ought more properly to be fubtracfted 
 from them. We have been thus particular in explaining the nature of this 
 duty, becaufe the cuflom houfe officers have complained of it as holding out 
 an additional temptation to the fmugglers of private Trade, to avoid the 
 cuftoms and this duty likewife. And we mufl confefs, that if the private and 
 privileged Trade were to be charged, in lieu of freight and other charges, a 
 duty of tonnnge, which fhould not depend as the Company's duty now does 
 upon the adtual lodgment of the goods in the Company's warehoufes, the 
 excitement to running the goods would in fome degree be Icllened. 
 
 The only further article of profit at home is the unfold part of the Com- 
 pany's Annuity from Government, and the Allowance for Management, making 
 together _^'. 37,913 i6i. per annum. 
 
 The old Settlements of the Company in India properly form a part of their 
 Commercial Eftate. But the revenues of them, fince the obtaining the Dewan- 
 nee of Bengal, have been fo blended with thofe of the Dewannee, and other 
 conquered or ceded territories, as to make it imprafticuble, to Itate what 
 they amount to at prcfent. it does, however, appear, by the printed Reports 
 
 f Printed Papers, No. 28. j By ai5l 9 & 10 W. 3. ch. 44. f. ;6. 
 
 * The Commercial Charges, at the feveral Settlements in India, amount to 8 per Cent, on 
 the Coft of the Inveftmcnt ; and the Charges of Merchandize at Home to 6 per Cent, on the 
 Sale. Printed Accouats No. 3. & 4. of 20th February, 1793. 
 
 E of
 
 '( 34 ) 
 
 of 1772 and 1782, made by different Committees of the Houfe of Commons, 
 that the Company's oivn landed Property, Cujloms and Port Duties, produced fo 
 late as 1780, a grofs revenue of at lead ^T. 590,000 a year, from which there 
 muft be dedufted £. 70,000 a year paid to the Soubah Nizam Ally, for the rent 
 or Farm of the Circars. Suppofing thefe poffeflions were to contribute to the 
 general expence of the Empire in India, on a proportionate footing with thofe 
 of the Company and of Arcot and Tanjore, there would flill remain a very 
 laro-e annual income from them, probably to the * amount of more than four 
 per cent, per annum on the Capital Stock of Five Millions. 
 
 The refult of the enquiry into the annual profits of the Company appears to 
 be, tha<, with a temporary ufe only of part of the furplus of the public Reve- 
 nue of Bengal towards the purchafe of their goods, the Company are in poflef- 
 fionof a yearly income derived by Commerce, and by Rents and Cultoms, as 
 follows : 
 
 The profits by import goods from China and India — 
 
 By the contributions of Private and Privileged Traders, towards"! 
 
 current expences — — — — j 
 
 By their annuity from the Public for their unfold part of thel 
 
 debt of ;^. 4,200,000 — — — — J 
 
 And by rents, culloms, and port duties in India, at the leaft 
 
 I. 900,000 
 70,000 
 
 38,000 
 250,000 
 
 Total per armum — ;^. 1,258,000 
 
 * Third Report Committee of Secrecy, 1772, p. 6i. 
 before 1757, produced in ten years (as follows): 
 
 Bengal — — — — 
 
 Madras _- _ .^ — . 
 
 Bombay ~ — — —^ 
 
 Bencoolen — _ — — 
 
 Company's Lands andCuftoms poffefled 
 
 £- 
 
 235,8821 Clear of Charges of CoU 
 641,440 I Icdion, Commiflion to 
 565,075 I Servants, Jagheers and 
 2 1, 45 7 J Stipends. 
 
 1,463,854. 
 
 The annual average — — — — 
 
 Purgunnahs, fourth Report, 1772, p. 100 — — 
 
 Four Northern Circars, fix lacs pagodas, fourth Report, 1782, p. J9 
 
 Add GuntoonCircar, at nine lacs of rupees — — 
 
 Dedu£t the rent to the Nizam 
 
 Remains 
 Siippofe expences of all forts 
 
 Nett - 
 
 £. 146,38-5, 
 
 1 1 5,ooo- 
 
 340,000 
 
 go, 000 
 
 70,000 
 - 271,3,85 
 
 ;f. 250,000 
 
 Which
 
 C 5$ ) 
 
 Which income (except the temporary ufe of the fnm neceflary to be realized 
 in Great Britain for the benefit of the Public, through the medium of the Com- 
 pany's Commerce) is unconneded with, and independent of, the Dewannee 
 revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Oriffa, and the new acquifuions from Tippoo 
 Sultaun in the Carnatic, all belonging to the Public; and the only deductions 
 to be mace from it are, the interelt on the bond debt, and on bills of exchange 
 and occafional loans, and fuch other articles of difburfement, as have not been 
 already placed under the head of Charges of Merchandize, the whole of which 
 cannot exceed, communibus annis, on a very liberal eftimate, £. 200,000 per 
 annum. ' 
 
 We are unable to ftate with certainty the profit on goods exported to China; 
 it muft, however, be obferved, that the amount of that profit can be realized 
 only by the fales of the Teas in England ; although it has been eftimated that 
 there is a profit on the fale of thofe exports of jT. 65,000 a year, nothing is in- 
 cluded, on that account, in thefe fiiatements, there being no official document to 
 refer to. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A concife Fiezv of the Company's Affiihs, in their diJlinB Capacities of Sovereigns and 
 
 Merchants. 
 
 UN the Compad * of 1781 for enlarging the term in the exclufive Trade, 
 the funds arifing by the 7iet finplus of the Territorial Revenues and profits of Trade, 
 after payment of a dividend ot S per cent, to the Proprietors of India Stock, 
 were to be applied, three fourths to the Public, and the remaining fourth to the 
 Company. By the continuation of the war, and the increafed eltablifhments, 
 civil and military, in India, between 1779 and 1782, thofe funds fell greatly 
 deficient to defray the cxpences. In 1783 the Public agreed to forego an v 
 participation of the above funds until certain debts fhould be difcharged ; and 
 hy the Relief Acl oi 1784 the participation, as fettled in 1781, was to be re- 
 fumed, as foon as the debts therein fpecificd were paid, and the bond debt 
 reduced to £. 1,500,000. The Peace with Tippoo Sultaun was not concluded till 
 March 1784, and it was a confiderable rime after the treaty before the troops 
 were completely reduced to the peace eftablifhment, and properly ftjtioned. 
 It has fmce proved, that if the whole of the debt incurred by the war, beyond 
 the revenues which had been received, coi^ld have been brought forwards at an 
 early period, they would not have fallen much Ihort of Eleven Millions. Up- 
 wards oiFcur Millions of it have been fince difcharged or transferred home, and 
 from the accounts lately printed by order of the Houfe of Commons, it may be 
 
 * A«5 21 Geo. III. Ch, 65 23 Geo. III. Ch. 83 24 Geo. III. Ch. 34. 
 
 E2 colle(5ted
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 coUedted, that after allowing for tie cafh in the treafuries abroad, and bills of ex- 
 change due, and fuch other affets as may be deemed good and available, there will 
 ftill remain a debt of upwards of Six MiUions, befides £. i ,384,050 due on bills 
 granted on account of the IiidiaDebr upon theCompanyat home, including interefl; 
 thereon, to March 1794. The Political or Jf^m Df/'/ of the Compan)- remaining 
 to be paid, or provided for, may therefore be taken at about Seven AiilUons and 
 an Half Sterling. From the Ctrcumftance of the Paymafter of the Forces lay- 
 ing bt-fore the Houfe of Commons an j| Account of lums advanced relative to 
 the Forces of His Majefty ferving in India, it is not improbable but the debt 
 will be increafed by the Demands of Government under that head. The total 
 of the fums advanced on this account, for four years, is £. 258,994. 
 
 The Commercial Affets in India alone, without taking into the account the 
 value oi Stores, or Sums owing to 'he Company of a doubtful nature, appear to 
 exceed their mercantile debts there, by One Million Sterling or more, and the 
 balance of Affets in their favour in China is £.'] -10,000. Their bond debts, 
 and other debts at home relating to their trade, amount to about £. 6,250,000. 
 I'heir available Affets in merchandize and good debts, including the unfold 
 part of their annuities, to about £. 8,500,000, leaving an overplus of 
 ^.2,250,000, which, with One Million of Affets in India, and the f^."]-] 0,000 
 in China, makes a balance in favour of the Company, after providing for their 
 Commercial Debts, of ^T. 4,000,000 towards fecuring their Capital Stock of Five 
 Millions. 
 
 In addition to this fum, the Proprietors of India Stock have the following 
 further fecurity for their property, viz. 
 
 ift. The Military Stores abroad, valued at £^. 980,910 *. 
 
 zdly. The Buildings -j- and Fortifications at the feveral Settlements, includ- 
 Ing St. Helena, which appear to have coft the Company £. 7,320,559. 
 
 3dly. In Plate, Houfehold Furniture, Plantations, Farms, Slaves, Sloops, 
 Veffels, and Stores, in India, £. 1,091,705"]:. 
 
 4thly. All their Landed Eftates and Cnfhoms, (viz.) : Calcutta and its Pur- 
 gunnahs, Madras and its Jaghecr, the Five Northern Circars, the Iflands of 
 Bombay and St. Helena, Cuddalore, Pinang, and Bencool.n, producing a 
 grofs income § of _£. 520,000 a year, or ^,400,000 a year net income, being 
 at lead ;^. 250,000 a year after allowing its due proportion for the general de- 
 fence, as before ftated. 
 
 5thly. The Produce of the Cargoes of the India and China Ships already 
 cleared fiom England, beyond their prime coft. 
 
 II Printed by Order of the Tlourc, the 12th I'\bruary 1783. 
 
 * Piiiited fapers, Houl'e of Conimuns, No, 2. 
 
 •j- Stock by Computation, No. 17. t Ditto- § Ditto, 
 
 4 6lhl3'»
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 6thly. The produce of the Cargoes above their invoices, which fhall here- 
 after arrive from India and China. 
 
 ythlv- The India-Houfc, Warehoufes, and other Buildings in London, 
 valued at £. 355,780 ■]-, and their Ships and VeifeJs, vahaed at ;^'37'°5°' 
 
 Laflly. The Sum on Balance, juflly chargeable to the Ufe of the Company 
 on the Dewaimee Revenues in India, which fhall be found to have been paid by 
 them out of their Commercial Funds, beyond what has been produced from 
 the Dezoamee Revenues. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Recetpitulat'wn of the prefent State of our Tirade zv'iih India and China, and the Rights of 
 the Eajl India Company, the Nature and Grounds of the various ObjeElions expecled 
 to be made in Parliament, to the Continuation of the Trade on its prefent Syjlem. 
 ReJlcBions on the EffeSts of Innovation. 
 
 XxT a time when the Company are threatened with a ferious oppofition to the 
 continuance of their exclufive Trade with India and China, it is of importance, 
 that not only the Members of the Legislature, but every individual in fociety, 
 fliould have a competent knowledge ot the nature and extent of the Company's 
 acknowledged Rights, and the manner and authority, whereby they were 
 obtained and are upheld, and, above all, of the extent to which their Trade 
 has become advanced, that it maybe clearly fecn how far the interefts of the 
 Nation are more immediately concerned in ics fupport, or connected with it. 
 It was to that intent that we have gone into the detail ; and we lliall beg the 
 indulgence of our readers, while we endeavour to bring the whole into a con- 
 cife, but more connedted view, conceiving that a concern fo momentous and 
 weighty cannot be too well underftood, or too firmly imprefied on the mind. 
 
 The Rights of the Company are held under the immediate authority of Par- 
 liament, and embrace all thofe of the Old Chartered Company, which fubfiiled 
 from the year 1600 to 1708, when they became vefted or abforbed, with all 
 their Fortrefles, Settlements, and Fadlories, and other property, real and per- 
 fonal, in the prefent United Company, (their body politic, and their power of 
 converting the Trade into a mifchievous monopoly excepted). They are a per- 
 petual Corporation ; and although their exclufive Right to the Trade, and 
 their power ot adminiftcring the government and revenues of India, were to be 
 determined (both which it is in the power of Parliimenc to do after March 
 
 t Printed Papers, No. 34. • - ^ 
 
 1794)* 
 
 vS4iV239
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 I794)> the3''u-ould {1111 remain an incorporated Company InpcrpeluUy, with tbe 
 exclufive property and poffeffion of Cakutla, and Fort fVillicini, Madras and Fort St. 
 George, Bombay, Bencoolcn, and St. Helena, ai^.d various other Settlements and 
 landed Eftates in India, and alfo a right of trading thither, with a Joint Stock, 
 together with all their repofitories and other conveniencies adapted to their 
 commerce, and the prefervation of their merchantlize, both abroad and at 
 home. The only privileges they can be conflitutionally deprived of, are thofe 
 of trading to the exclufwn of others, and oi governing the cotintries, and colledting 
 and appropriating the revenues of India. Whether, in the event of the file 
 Trade being determined, individuals would be able to carry on a fuccelsful 
 trade to India, if the Company were to debar them the ufe of their Ports and 
 Futlories, may require a ferious confideratioa. 
 
 The exports of the Company in woollens, metals, warlike (lores, and other 
 goods, of the growth, produce, or manufatlure of Great Britain or Ireland, 
 have gradually increafed fince 1757, from _£. 230,000 to 900,000 a year, and 
 the private trade is computed at j^. 750,000 more, making together £. 1,650,000. 
 Great exertions have been made, and are ftill making, to open new channels 
 in the Eaftern Seas for a further increafe of exports of our manufadures. 
 The imports have been extended in a greater proportion than the exports. 
 Before the year 1757, the fales of imported goods produced only about 
 jf. 2,000,000 a year ; and in 1767, not more than £. 2,300,000 a year including 
 the duties on teas. During the iaft eight years the imports have amounted to 
 nearly five millions a year, exclufively of thofe duties, befides Private Trade, 
 which has produced £. 800,000 per ann. ; and this year the Company's fales are 
 ellimated at * upwards of 5 I Millions, exclufively of all private and privileged 
 Trade. The annual payment to Ihip owners, for freight and demorrage, have 
 been extended in an equal proportion ; and on a yearly average for the lafl; four 
 years, it has exceeded £. 800,000 a year, and other charges of merchandize paid 
 to individuals have exceeded ;^. 360,000 a year. The grofs annual amount of 
 cuftoms and excife on the goods imported by the Company's fliips, including 
 the Private Trade, has exceeded ;^. 1,000,000 a year, and though probably 
 £. 400,000, or £. 430,000 a year of that fum has been repaid in drawbacks 
 and bounties, on the exports of goods, partly unmanufaftured and partly ma- 
 nufadlurcd in England with the raw materials of India, it hath been amply 
 repaid to the Community by the employment afforded to our own manufadiu- 
 rers, by the gains made by exporters and dealers, by profits arifing from car- 
 riage and agency, by the means to which the exports from hence of Afiatic 
 merchandize have contributed, towards fecuring the general Balance of Trade 
 in our favour; and, laftly, by the returns brought back of valuable articles of 
 merchandize, liable to cuiloms and inland duties. 
 
 * Printed Paper, N° 10, computes the fam to be received by fales between March 1793 and 
 March 1794 at ,^.5,400,000. The fule amuuut cannot ihcrcfori; be eftimateJ at much fliort of 
 5 ^ Millions. 
 
 The
 
 C 39 ) 
 
 The Britifli fliipping employed at this time by the Company, exceeds 8r,ooo 
 tons; the number of fliips is ninety-two; their whole complement in officers 
 and fubordinates 2,760, and of feamen 9,200; of the latter, not lefs than 
 7,000 are in conftant employment. 
 
 Each of thefe officers and fubordinates has a limited privilege of trading, 
 both outward and homeward, according to their rank or birth in the fhip, and their 
 number being added to the Proprietors of India Stock, (confining of more 
 than 2,700 perfons) and to the fervants of the Company abroad, who have 
 aifo indulgences of trading, the whole number of perfons, who participate 
 direftly and immediately in the India and China Trade by the Company's fliips, 
 may be fairly computed at 6,000 ; and whilH: this immenfe TracJe has been 
 maintained and fupported at the fole rifk of the Company, whofe Members 
 have received no other benefit, than moderate intereft for the capital employed, 
 the Public have derived, in diredt revenue, and in various different fhapes, 
 every other * fpccies of profit and advantage produced by it. 
 
 The fuperior advantages refulting from the fyftem of regularity, eflablifhed 
 for the conduft of the Company's Trade, over a looie precarious outfit, are 
 alfo numerous. The demand for manufactured goods is regular and uniform 
 affording conftant work to the hands employed in the making of them. Thofe, 
 with whom the Company have dealings, are certain of liberal treatment, and 
 pundlual payment. Tradefmen, artificers, and manufadurers, emulate for 
 their cuflom. The number of families in London and its environs, whofe 
 whole fupport is dependent on the Company's Trade, is great beyond concep- 
 tion. Their mercantile eftablifhments in England and Abroad, though con- 
 duced (if we except the article of freight) upon flrift rules of economy, are 
 immenfe. The India Houfe, and their numerous warchoufes, are filled with 
 perfons bred up to the bulinefs from their infancy ; and if they were to be 
 deprived of it, the greater number, men of rcfpedlable charadlers and irre- 
 proachable conduft, muft be reduced to want or dlftrefs. It would be almofl 
 endlefs to enumerate the tradefmen, artificers, and others, who, by the means 
 of this regular, and as it were, fixed trade, earn and obtain honcft livelihoods in 
 building, rigging, and careening of Qiips, and furnilhing guns, anchors, 
 
 * The Company's profits by a dividend of eight per cent, on a capital of five millions, is pei 
 snn. ;f. 400,000 only. 
 
 Paid to the merchants and fliip owners on an average of five years 800 00a 
 
 Paid for charges of merchandize ditto ditto — 360,000 
 
 Paid for export goods fcnt abroad, including Private Trade — 1,650,000 
 
 Paid for cuftoms and excife on an average of four yeais — r,c6o,ooo 
 
 Annual benefit to the nation — 3,870,000 
 
 Exclufively of the advantages derived by the raw materials of India manufaiftured in Great Fritain, 
 snd the profits by exporting India and China merchandize. 
 
 s timber.
 
 C 40 ) 
 
 timber, iron, fails, cordage, and various otlier forts of implements and tackle 
 ufed therein. 
 
 ^Yell calculated, however, as the prefent fyfiem may appear, for fecuring a 
 continuance of the advantages, we have endeavoured to delcribe, the Company, 
 when they come to Parliament with their Propofals for an extenfion of theii term 
 in the exclufive Trade, will probably iind thfmfelves furrounded by many 
 opponents, and on various grounds. Merchants and fliip owners from different 
 quarters, but more particulary from the Out-ports, may urge, that their cxclu- 
 lion from a participation in the benelits of the Afiatic Trade, is repugnant to 
 the fpirit of the Britifh conftitution, which declares, that the feas fliall be free 
 and open to all; and that it is highly injurious to the commercial interefls of 
 the reft of the Three Kingdoms, that this Trade fliould.be limited, in all its 
 imports and exports, to the metropolis alone. Manufafturers of various de- 
 Icriptions may think it for their intereft, to unite their fupport with the mer- 
 chants, on thefe general and plaufible grounds, for an Open Trade. They 
 may likewife, according to their different views of aggrandizement (in the event 
 of the failure of their moll favourite plan) infill on the juflice and expediency, 
 of laying the Company under various reftridiions and prohibitions. The cotton 
 manufaiflurer may be anxious to deftroy all competition and rivalHiip to his 
 trade, both at home and abroad, more particularly in the article of muflins ; 
 to what extent he will claim or expect this indulgence, whether to the putting a 
 Hop to the making of mullins in India, or only a prohibition againft their being 
 worn in England, time will difcover. The woollen manufafturer may com- 
 plain of the partiality, which he experiences (a partiality infeparable from an 
 exclufive Trade), by the option it leaves in the conduftors of it, to deal with 
 particular cuftomers to the cxclufion of others. The fliip owners may, on 
 limilar grounds, revive their complaints, and urge the propriety of laying the 
 Company under an obligation, to charter their fliips according to the loweft 
 offers. And as the Company, like other exporters of woollen cloth, are in the 
 habit of buying it, in an unfinifhed ftate, and employing prelfers and packers to 
 perfedl it, the manufadturers of it may pofTibly think, that the Company ought 
 to be reflricled, in that refpeft, in order to add to his profits, thofe of the 
 packer and prelfer. The tin merchant, and miners in Cornwall (regardlefs of 
 the fervices fo recently afforded them, through the medium and at the rifk of 
 the India Company, whereby alone their diftrclfcs could be effedtually * relieved), 
 may think it but a llnall and rcafonable facrifice, for the Company to make in 
 their favour, to be laid under an obligation, to purchafe and export all the tin 
 they may raifc, at fome fixed price, or in the alternative, that the fhips of indi- 
 viduals may be liccnled to take it abroad, and barter it for teas and other China 
 commodities. Other defcriptions of perfons, on fimilar grounds of profit and 
 aggrandizement, may, in like manner, come forward, and urge pretenfions for 
 
 * Alluding to the immcnfc export of Tin by the India Company to Chin;i at a time when moft 
 of the miners, for want of emphnment, were in great ililh'cfs, and tlic rcpofitories of the tin mer- 
 chants filled with tin without any profpcCt of their finding purchafcrs for it. 
 
 Other
 
 C 41 ) 
 
 other regulations or rcftridions, not yet forefeen. We know, by every clay's 
 experience, tliat nothing is more cafy than to procure hands to Petitions, and 
 when prtfcnted to Parliament, the petitioners have, one and all, a right to be 
 heard, and have an equal claim to its patience, its candour, and its juflice; 
 nor can any doubt be entertained, but their petitions, and the i)rdofs they fhall 
 adduce, will have every confideration paid to them, that may be found due to 
 their merit. 
 
 On the grand point, that of opening the Trade altogether, we have as yet 
 feen no fpecific well digefted plan offered to the public eye. It, however, 
 can hardly be fuppofed, that even the moft zealous advocates for a new fj'flem, 
 can be defnous of feeing the prefent mode of condufting the Trade determined, 
 and the future Trade left to hdznrd and chance. A mealure more prcpoflcrous and 
 abfurd, nor any fo fraught with ruin and mifchief to the general intcrefts of the 
 empire, as affedting the /)o/;7/V<r/, xht mercantile, and the _/7;/(7;/ir/if/ concerns, both of 
 Creat Britain and Lidia, could not be devifed or imagined by an enemy to both. 
 A new exclufive Joint Stock Company (without adverting to the confideration, whe- 
 ther any better than the prefent could be framed) could not, we think, be 
 eftabliflied, but in direft fubverfion of thofe principles of jufticc and public 
 ceconomy, which, by analogy to other^ cafes, where the property or interefls 
 of individuals are made to give way to the accomplifliment of great and im- 
 portant defigns, effential to public convenience and utility, have ever guided 
 and governed the condudl of the Britifh Senate. To fuch as may contemplate 
 a new Joint Stock Company, it may be alked, if the public purfe can be made 
 chargeable for the value and amount of the property and immoveable effedts 
 of the prefent Company, abroad and at home ? Or, can a new fubfcription be 
 expedted to fucceed equal to the amount both of their Value and Capital neccffary 
 and fufhcient for a trading Stock? And, how or by what Trihnal, or after 
 what Datum fhall a Falue be fixed on the anticnt pofTeflions and eflates of the 
 Company in India, and on thofe indefinite Rights, which mufl: unavoidably be 
 made to ceafe, upon the creation and inveftiture of any new exclufive Joint 
 Stock Company; and in what refpeft have the prefent Company fo forfeited that 
 preference to the public favour, which their long pollefTion of the Trade, and 
 the fervices they have rendered to the community, fecm fo juflly to intitle 
 them to, if they fhall be defirous of continuing it ; fubjeft, however, to any 
 further regulations and reftridtions, which may be thought needful, and not 
 being degrading to the charadlcr and pre-eminence, they have fo long held and 
 fupported in India ? 
 
 With regard to a regulated Company, unlefs it were known on what prin- 
 ciples it were intended, and whether to the exclufion of the prefent Company, 
 or for the purpofe of rivalfhip and competition, it would be premature to offer 
 any remarks upon it. 
 
 We have hitherto confined our obfervations to what has relation only to the 
 Mercantile Character and Concerns of the Company ; but in deciding on the 
 
 F expediency
 
 ( 42 ) 
 
 expediency of the queflion, whether any change or innovation (beyond mese 
 matter of regulation) can '.vith fafety be adopted, it is eflentially neceffary to 
 inquire, in what degree it might have a tendency to (liake Public Credit, by 
 rendering the revenues derived from the Trade of Afia precarious and uncertain. 
 At prefent, as far as the Company's nzvn mcvclanAlze is concerned, the Duties and 
 C.'iJ}o»is have been and will doubtlefs continue, fecure from all poflibility of fraud. 
 By a few vvholefome provifions, the Duties on the pri-vatc and privileged Trade, 
 v\'e think, may be equally protecfled. Some of the moft valuable of the articles, 
 and on which the Dirties are higheft, lie within fo narrow a compafs, as to make 
 themeafily portable ; and if thefadt be true (as it has been alleged and is generally 
 believed) that a major part of thefe articles, and often others, though more bulky, 
 are clandeflinely imported from the Continent, by which the Public are defrauded 
 of duties, to a large amount, it mull be left to our Readers to judge, what per- 
 nicious efFeifts might not be produced on the Revenue of Cufloms, if the Trade 
 was to be fo far laid open, as to admit of the landing the goods of India and 
 China at any of the ports of Great Britain or Ireland, at the option of the 
 owner or mafter. Under any other mode of Trade, whether open, or under 
 a regulated Company, there feems to be but one way of guarding againft this. 
 evil, and in that the remedy would probably be deemed worfe than the difeafe. 
 It is by lowering the duties, fo as to render them unequal to the rifque and 
 infurance of the fmuggler. This, however, might obvioufly defeat the very 
 intent of impofing the prefent duties, whether prohibitory or protecting. And 
 here we cannot help adverting to the complaint of fome of the Cotton Manu- 
 fafturers, who vainly think, that by prohibiting the importation of India 
 Muflins, their confumption here might be prevented. To encourage that new 
 branch of Trade, ram Cotton is already allowed to be imported free from duty i 
 nor is Britifh Aluflin liable to any (unlefs dyed of more than one colour), whilft 
 India Muflins pay a protecting Duty of eighteen per cent, ad valorem, on importation i 
 raid if they are exported, only ten of it is returned in drazvback. This Duty 
 has at all times been more than * fufficient to cover infurance by the fmuggler 
 to the dealer. It is therefore obvious, that if the confumption of India Muilins 
 is at prefent injurious to our own Manufadture, the lowering the duty, though 
 it may be the means of fecuring and increafing the Revenue on Muflins, muit 
 have the effedt of increafing the confumption, and of courfe the evil com- 
 plained of will remain unremedied. And fuch we think (in deference to the 
 better judgment of thofe who complain) muft for ever be the cafe, until Bri- 
 tifli Muflins can obtain a preference in the Market to thofe of India in their 
 texture and price; or unlefs the poor Natives of India (hall be forbid to reap 
 any fruits by their ingenuity and induflry. For undoubtedly, while the Na- 
 tives are not prohibited from making Muflins, and while their Goods arc 
 
 * It is univcrfally known, tliri^ tlie infurance on Inill.i Muflins, fim.ggled from OflinJ or 
 Dunkirk into a dealer's lliop in London, nircly exceeds £. 14 per cent, in wliich every cxpence 
 is covered. It is computed that we pay four millions of pounds fterliug per annum for cot- 
 ton, and that the goods manufartured with it fell for fixteen millions, while the whole quantity 
 of India Muflins fold for Confumption, has fallen conliderably fliort of ;£■. 400,000. It is the 
 iiuenefs and excellence of ihe Indian Goods that can alone prcfcrve the fatliion. 
 
 preferred
 
 C 4.^ ) 
 
 preferred to Britifli Mullins, they will find their way to Europe in fpitc of any 
 laws we can make ; and prohibitions will only have the efFecl of transferring 
 the btneiit now derived by the Trade in India MuJIins from the Company and 
 the dealers and exporters of them, into the hands of Foreigners. The pro- 
 hibition might alfo have the efFcdt of making Muflins unfafliionable to the utter 
 ruin of the Trade. 
 
 That under a regulated Company, it would be impradicable to frame pro- 
 vifions, for feeuring the Duties in general from frauds, we by no means alTert. 
 It feems fufficient, to point out in what refpeft they may be improved under 
 the prefent Company, and on the other hand how they may become more 
 expofed than at prefent to evafion and fraud, and more particularly if the 
 Trade fliall become diftufed, and conducted at many diiferent ports by 
 various hands. 
 
 Above nil, it will be expedient to confider how far any material innovation 
 on the prefent fvftem of our Afiatic Commerce, may have a tendency to affeft 
 the political connexion between Great Britain and India. It is well known, 
 that the affairs of Government, Revenue, and Commerce, in the Provinces 
 abroad, are become blended and intimately connected, each in its turn aiding 
 and fupporting the others, and that they cannot be feparated without putting 
 the whole to hazard, nor in any event without incurring confiderable incon- 
 venience and certain lofs. At the time of our firft obtaining thefe territories, 
 it required no extraordinary degree of penetration to forefec, that ten or eleven 
 millions of people, fituate at fo diflant a part of the globe, attached to laws 
 and inftitutions founded on fuperflition, and widely differing from thofe of 
 their Conquerors, were not likely to fubmit to a New Government, and New 
 Laws, adminirtered in the Name of a Chriflian Prince, as their Conqueror, 
 refident they knew not where but by name. To reconcile their minds, by 
 quieting their fears and apprehenfions, and to prevent, as much as poflible, 
 their feeling the change of their condition, the wife and politic as well as 
 benevolent medium, was adopted of furrendering back, in appearance, the 
 conquered territories to their native owners, and accepting, as a kind of truft 
 from the reigning Mogul, the ofiice of Duan, or High Treafurer and Collector 
 of the Revenues arifing from them, upon an engagement to protedt the Coun- 
 try from enemies, to pay the expcnces of the naiivc Civil Government, and 
 to contribute to the fplendor and authority of the Alogul's Court, and the 
 Defence of his Empire, leaving the Civil Government to go on and be ad- 
 miniflered in the name of the Mogul and his Subah or Nabob. Conformably 
 to this engagement, the Government of the Provinces has been continued to 
 the prefent time. The Britifli influence is indeed paramount, but in the public 
 Archives of the Country, all m^iiKxs \vh\ch YcXtite. to civil cind criminal Judicalurc 
 appear as if conduced folely by, and in the name of, the Mogul or his native 
 officers; and all municipal concerns are decided by the Laws of the Natives, 
 thofe between MufTulmen by their Magiflrates, and according to the Laws of 
 the Koran, and thofe bctv.een Hindoos and Gcntoos by the Shafter; nor of 
 
 F 2 late
 
 C 44 ) 
 
 late time have the Company's Officers interpofed their authority over the- 
 Native Magiftrates, but with a fparing hand, and on urgent occafions. 
 
 The revenues of thefe territories, namely, of Bengal, Bahar, Oriffa, Be- 
 nares, Madras, and Bombay, with the fubfulies of the feveral Nabobs and 
 Rajahs, received by the Company, have amounted yearly, taken on an 
 average of three years from 1787 to 1790, to about jT. 6,900,000 Ster- 
 ling. The expences, civil and military, paid out of thofe revenues, and the 
 interefl: of outflanding debts, with the expences of the eftablifliments at Fort 
 !Marlbro^, Pinang, and St. Helena, are computed at about £. 5,800,000, leav- 
 ing a net annual furplus of about £. 1,100,000 *. Of the grofs income, part 
 of it arifes from the Company's own proper territories and revenues, as before 
 is flated ; the remainder of it from the Devvannee lands, and by fubfidies. It 
 is univerfally admitted, that India having been already in a great degree ex- 
 haulted of its fpecie, it is not poflible for any part of this furplus tcx 
 be realized in Great Britain, but through rhe medium of commerce; nor could the 
 revenue itfelf b -made good, but through the aid given to the colledlion of it, 
 by articles of Indian manufacture, annually provided for the China and European 
 invefiments. It would anfwcr little purpofe to go much at large into an ex- 
 planation, of what in itlelf is intricate and tedious. Suffice it to obferve, that 
 the Company employ overfeers at their Aurungs in India, and in providing 
 their manufactured goods. The coUeftors of the revenue advance money to 
 thofe people out of the colleftions, for the purchafe of raw materials, and for 
 fupporting the manufadlurers and workmen employed. The money has a rapid 
 circulation ; it paffcs inllantly from the Manufaifturer to the Ryot, or cultivator 
 of the lands, for rice and other food ; from thence to the Native Collcdtors 
 of the village for rent, who pay it over to the fuperior Landlord or Zemindar, 
 through whom it again reaches the Company's Collcftor. What is paid for the 
 raw material reaches immediately the occupier of the Cotton Grove or Poppy 
 Garden, and is circulated through a like medium till it comes to the Englifh Col- 
 le(ftor. Such being the courfe of circulation eftabliflied in all thofe parts of 
 India, where piece goods, ophium, indigo, or other articles of merchandize, 
 are manufadlured, and the condition of the Natives employed in them, being 
 fo abjeft as to require a regular fupply, to keep them from emigrating or 
 ftarving, it fiiould Teem that either in cafe, of diverting the revenue to any 
 other purpofe, or depriving the inhabitants of this means of fupporting their 
 families, neither Revenue, nor manufadtured Goods, could be obtained; and 
 if revenue could not be obtained, there mufl foon be an end to the influence 
 of tlie Britilh government in Hindoftan ; the political conned:ion between the 
 two countries would be deftroyed, and all commercial intercourfe would moflt 
 probably periih with it. 
 
 * N. B. According to t)ie Memoir of the Carnatic, juft j)|i!)linicj by Major Reynell, the 
 revenue of thv; countries ceded by 'J ip poo Sultaun, amount to /". 4 1 i,coo per ann. Whatever 
 Bitt income is produced fiop.i thence mull be added to this lurplus of j^. i,ioo,coo. 
 
 Under
 
 ( ^ ) 
 
 Under thefe circumftances, it fliould feem that every man, whofe mind h 
 not biafled by an undue prejudice, or by views of peifonal aggrandizement, 
 will perceive the imminent danger to which our Poireffions, our Trade, and 
 our Revenues in India, may become expofed, by abolifliing the prefent fyf- 
 tem, and fubllituting another, which may prove unfucccfsful. All material 
 innovations upon eftabliflied ufages and forms, more particularly in fuch as 
 relate to matters of Government, Public Revenue, or Commercia.1 Connexion, 
 are ever attended with inconveniences and difficulties, and can only be juitified 
 upon the ground of unavoidable neceffity. The flighted difcontent amongft 
 the natives may lead to fuch extremities, as we may be neither prepared to 
 meet, nor have ability ultimately to repel ; and we may have to lament, when 
 it is too late, that we have fufiered our reafon to be led aftray, by the plaufible 
 arguments and falfe reafonings of interefted fpeculators ; and, what will not 
 add much to our confolation, will be the refleftion of havin'r fuffered ourfelves 
 to be deluded, although warned of the impending danger, by every fucceffive 
 Governor of Bengal, and particularly by Mr. Haflings, who emphatically 
 tells * us, that " our exiftence in India has, on maay occafions, vibrated to 
 " the edge of perdition • and that it has at all times been fulpended by a 
 " thread fo fine, that the touch of chance might break, or the breath of 
 *' ooinion diUblve it." 
 
 In this difcuffion we have carefully avoided quoting any of the arguments -}- 
 ufed upon former occafions, for and againft an exclufive Trade, becaufe, by 
 the acquifition of Kingdoms and Provinces, the Afiatic Trade has, fince thofu 
 times, undergone an entire change, infomuch that the order and fyftem, which 
 formerly obtained in the condud; of it, feem now to be perfeftly inverted. The 
 point contended for on thofe occafions wasHmply mercantile. The fubjecl now 
 fpreads itfelf into a wider field ; it attaches to it political concerns of high im- 
 portance, as well as thole of Commerce and Finance. At thofe times, a change 
 in the exifiing fyltem was of little comparative confequencc; the Exports and 
 Imports were f'liall, and the Revenue by Cujloms, if it had fuffered, could 
 have been eafily made good ; for the National Debt was then moderate, the 
 objedls left for taxation were numerous ; and the real and perfona! alfets of the 
 Company were more than fufficient, after the difcharge of their debts, to 
 make good the value of their capital Stock ; it became therefore a quellion, 
 fairly determinable by the weight of public opinion, how the India Trade 
 might be belt condudVed, without involving in its confequences, thofe im.por- 
 tant rights and intereils, which feem now to depend on the continuance of the 
 prefent fyflem of conducting the Government, Revenues, and Trade in all its 
 elfcntial ports. It may be alfo material to obferve, that although the Eafl 
 India Company have a clear inriifputable right to continue to trade for ever to 
 India, zvilh a joint Stock, in common with the rift of his Majejtfs SuhjcSis, it does not 
 follow as a neccflary confecpence, that they will continue to do fo, furcher 
 
 * Sse his Review of Bengal, 17F5. 
 
 I They arc infened very much ut large in Anderfoji's Hif.ory of Commerce.. 
 
 than
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 than may be neceflary for winding up their niiairs, unltfs fuch terms are granted 
 ■them as they may think it for their intereft to accept. They have certain! v an 
 option, and can in no refpecft be compelled, or indeed be expedled to continue the 
 refponfible Agents of the Public, in the Adminiftration of the Government of 
 India and its Revenues, if individuals be authorifed to ftart up in every part of 
 Hindoftan, even at tiieir ov\'n Ports and Factories, as their rivals and compe- 
 titors ; or if laid under unrcafonable reftri(£tions at home, by which the ibip 
 owner, the manufacturer and the tin miner may become the diftators, what 
 fhips they are to employ, rates of freight they fhall pay, in what ftate or condi- 
 tion they fliall purchafe their commodities, what forts they fli ill be refcriiffcd 
 from importing, and what quantity of metals they fliall be compelled to take, 
 and after what rate of price; it reftridfions of this nature be impofed, the 
 Company may think it for their intereft to withdraw, and after difpofing of their 
 property to others, may relinquifb the important truft. The confequenccs of 
 their doing fo, are more proper to be weighed by others, than to be defcribed 
 by us. 
 
 Upon the whole, we mufl: confefs, that until a better plan than any we have 
 hitherto feen, or are capable of fuggefting, fhall be devifed as a fublf itutc for that 
 which exifts, whereby the true interefts of the Public may be man'.feitly and 
 fubftantially improved, and permanently fecured, in unifon with thofe of our 
 fcllovv-fubjedfs, the Natives of India, we hope to fee no changes introduced to 
 Ihake the prefent fyftem; and that if any well digefted plan, fuch as we have 
 defcribed, fhall hereafter be brought forwards, deferving public approbation, 
 the well known iuftice of Parliament may be relied on for an indemnification to 
 the Eaft India Company, and their <:reditors, in conformity with thofe prin- 
 ciples which have ever guided and governed the condud; of the Britllh Senate, 
 when it has judged it neceflary to facrifice private Rights to public Utilitj\ 
 
 It has been faid that the Merchants of IrcLmd have a plan for opening a free 
 Trade in the Indian Ocean. Not having feen it we forbear to make any com- 
 ments on that fubjed:. She has certainly emancipated and feparated herfelf from 
 Great Britain and her laws ; and, as far as we are capable of judging, has as 
 niuch right to try her fortune in the India Trade as any other foreign nation. 
 But if her Trade fliould be carried on with Britijh Capitals, and on the rifque and 
 account of Bri/lfJj SubjcSls, thofe fubjcdls will do well to look to the Lazes and 
 Statutes, which inflift fevere penalties on fuch as have any dealings or concerns 
 with Foreigneis of any denomination in the Afiatic Trade : both they, and his 
 Majefty's Irifli fubjcfts, will alfo do well to confider, ere they begin, if their 
 means of carrying on a Trade to fuch diftant regions, are more efficient, than 
 were in the power of thofe other foreign Companies or individuals, who, though 
 poflcflcd of long eflabliftied Settlements and Faftories, and the other advan- 
 tages, we have before defcribed, appear to have been ruined in the attempt. 
 If LiJJj fliips ftill partake of the privileges of Brilifi fliips as formerly, then will 
 they be liable to feizure and confifcation for trading to India, as Britifli fliips are, 
 and the penalties of the law will attach upon their owners and others concerned. 
 
 If
 
 C 47 ) 
 
 If they are not deemed Bntif} fl.vps, then will thofe concerned, benig Britijh 
 fubje£ls, incur the penalties of the law, for becoming adventurers in foreign JJoipi 
 employed in the India Trade. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 TraWcal Means of fi curing to the Private Merchant and the Public, the ultimate Benefits 
 of Trade zvlthin the Company's prefent exclufti^e Limits, without endangering the Chain 
 of our political Connetllon luith India, or materially dlflurblng the prefent fyflem. 
 
 J^REIGHT. The advancement of the India Trade, both Export and 
 
 Import, fecms greatly to depend on the attainment of what has been long 
 fruitlellly attempted, namely, a conveyance of goods to and from the Eafl Indies 
 at a reafonable and moderate rate of Freight, fuch as may encourage the Manufafturers 
 and Merchants, on their own rifque and account, to adventure therein. It will be 
 difficult for the Direftors of the India Company to perfuade the Bvitifli Manu- 
 fadurtrs that they do not know what is moft for their own advantage, or that the 
 Diredtors know it better than themfelves. It is at the fame time but reafonable, 
 that the Manufacturers and Merchants fliould have the liberty of making the 
 experiment they fo ardently defire of opening new Channels of Trade for an 
 increafed Export of Britifh Manufadlures, and that thofe, who are willing to 
 fupply the (hipping, at an eafy rate, fhould be encouraged to do fo. »The good 
 effefts, which mult refult by the carriage of goods at a reduced and moderate freight y 
 are very obvious and very numerous. Amongll other advantages, it will fccure 
 to us the benefit of the Carrying Trade to and from the Eaft Indies to a greater 
 extent than we have hitherto enjoyed it, to the exclufion of Foreigners, who 
 have notorioufly participated in it in an unreafonable degree : The public 
 Revenue * will become improved, by the duties left on the goods exported 
 from hence : Both the Public and the Company will be benefitted by the f;iving 
 of expence -.-^ The quantity of India goods for foreign markets will be increafed, 
 and, by the reduced price of the carriage, our competition in the fale of the pro- 
 dudtions of Afia in the markets on the Continent of Europe may become the 
 more fuccefsful. There is, however, fome difficulty in efiedting this defirable 
 objcdt, in a mode that may be confiRent with the general Freedom of Trade, 
 and the common Rights of Mankind. To make it obligatory upon,^ and not 
 optional with, the Managers for the Company, to. charter fhips, of a particular, 
 defcription, at the loweft rates that may be offered, might be thought a con- 
 ftraint, degrading on the mercantile charader of the Company ; might expofe 
 
 * On the Export of fome of the India Maniifa!?>urcs little more than half the Cuftoms are 
 returned in Drawbacks, and on fome olhers no Drawback is allowed. 
 
 f We have before ftated, that b\' the Acls of 1781 and 1784, the Public are iutltlcd to three 
 fourths ot the nett furplus by Trade, as well as Revenue. 
 
 them
 
 C 48 ) 
 
 them to frauds and perpetual controverfies ; might prove Injurious to the Com- 
 merce itfelf, and might, perhaps, in the end be produftivc of fo many unfore- 
 feen inionvcnie/uics as lo drive the Company to the expedient of building their 
 own fliips. To preclude them from the power of doing fo, we are perfuaded 
 can never be intended. And yet fomething mud be done, to put an end tn the 
 improvident practice, which has but too long prevailed, through ihe powerful 
 influence of what is called The Old Shtpping latereft, in the extravagant rates 
 given for Freight, to an amount probably of £. 150,000 a year, if taken on a 
 medium or annual average, from the end of the lafl war. The rejetfted offers 
 at lower rates have been pubhflied, and the prices at which fhips can be afforded, 
 equally adapted to the convenicncy and fafety of the Trade, both of India and 
 China*, as thofe which the Company have taken up, are well known. No 
 reafonable man w ill wifh to introduce new plans to the injury of the owners of 
 fliips already built or employed. The Public, as well as the Company, being 
 doubly intcrefted in the effeft to be produced by lowering the freight, it fliould 
 feem expedient and ufeful, that fome of the members of the executive Govern- 
 ment fliould be invefled with an appellant authority. Care being firft taken to 
 fccure the owners of Ihips already engaged from lofles, we would recommend 
 that the highelf price of Freight to and from India, and to and from China, 
 diflinclly, which fhall in future be given by the Company, fhall be fixed by the 
 new A&, as well for time of war as of peace, leaving to the Company a latitude 
 and option of contra(5ting with any Ship Owners they plcafe, lb that they ex- 
 ceed not thofe prices. Let all pcrfons be permitted to make their offers of fhips, 
 upon previous notice of the number and tonnage wanted, to be given by the 
 Company in the London Gazette; and let the Direftors be obliged to keep a 
 -_Book of Orders for their Affairs of Skipping, diftinft from ali oiher bufinefs ; 
 in which fliall be entered the fubfumce of every offer, and the caufcs for reje<fi:ing 
 fuch of them as fliall not be admitted ; let this book be opt n to public 
 infpedtion ; and if any fhip owner fliall think himlelf aggrieved by the Direc- 
 tors, let him have his appeal to the members of the Executive Government, who 
 fhould be either ile Board for India, or the Board of Commerce, whofc order, in a 
 fummary way, might be made conclufive and binding. 
 
 EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.— Let all merchants and manufadurers have 
 permiflion to export, in the Company's fliips, any goods of Britijb or IriJ}} pro- 
 duce or manufafture, with an exception on\Y oi ammunition, and military or tvar- 
 like fiores, and the heavier articles of marine Jlores, (both which fhould, 
 for obvious realbns, be ever referved to the Company,) fb that notice be given 
 to the Company of the quantity of tonnage, both out and home, at or before a 
 certain day in every feafon, to be fixed in the aft. The tonnage homewards 
 ought never to exceed the quantity engaged for oulzvards. The rate of Freight to 
 be the fame, which the Company fhall pay, over and befides a reafonable con- 
 
 * It being adinittedon all hands (as we conceive) that the China Trade cannot be opened, but 
 mud of neccffity remain cxclufivcly with the Company as at picfent, we have confined our view* 
 entirely to the Trade of the Eafl Indies, in the Rcguhttions we have ventured to recommend. 
 
 4 tribution
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 tribution for the expences of warehoufes, wharfage, fupport of fa^lories and 
 fectlements, &c. &c. which may be put on a footing fimilar to the prefent Pri- 
 vate Trade. One third at the leaft of this fum ought to be paid down, and a 
 fecurity given for the payment of the other two thirds at the (hip's return. The 
 import trade to be confined to fuch raw materials, and other arcicles to be enume- 
 rated, as fliall not too much interfere with the Trade of the Company. The Com- 
 pany to be in no refpedt liable to adlions for damages or lojfes in refpeft to the Pri- 
 vate Trade, but their officers and fervants to be liable. All Private Trade to 
 be brought into the Company's warehoufes, and put up to fale by inch of candle, 
 as other India and China goods are at prefent. An appeal might be given to the 
 fame Board, as is propofed in the cafe of freight, to fettle or adjufl; any dif- 
 putes that may arife under this head. 
 
 PRIVATE AND PRIVILEGED TRADE.— Let this remain on its pre- 
 fent footing, with the fingle variation in the mode of payment of the Company's 
 Duty of £. 1 per cent, which Ihould be converted into a Tonnage Duty, and 
 paid by the parties, without any regard to the quantity or value of the goods 
 imported, as a means of effedtually deftroying the temptation of running the 
 goods, to avoid the payment of that duty. 
 
 FACTORS. — Let the Company be obliged to licence any reafonable num- 
 ber of perfons to refidc at their Settlements abroad, for the management o^f the 
 concerns of private merchants trading thither, on their entering into covenants 
 limilar to thofe of licenfed Free Merchants. This matter alio may be fettled 
 by appeal, if the Direftors and the Merchant fhould difagree. 
 
 DIVIDENDS OF THE PROPRIETORS.— As the Company''s pioperty 
 muft ever be at hazard, to a very large amount, it feems highly reafonable and 
 juft, that their Dividends ^o\Adi bear fome moderate proportion to the net income 
 of their own Landed Property in India, and to their Profits of Trade; and this the 
 more efpecially after the latter fliall have been opened to the extent propofed, 
 for the benefit of the private Trader. The Company are alfo in a great meaiure 
 refponfible for the Adminiftration of the Government abroad, and the due col- 
 le&ion of the Dewannee Revenues ; what furplus they afford, or a great fliare of 
 it, is intended to be drawn home to this Country, through the medium of the 
 Company's Commerce. It has been fliewn that after every allowance whatever, 
 and after bearing the due proportion of the expence of the general defence of 
 Britifh India, the Landed Eftates and Cuftoms properly belonging to the Com- 
 pany may produce a net income of ;^. 250,000 a year at the leaft ; which with the 
 net annual profits of their Export and Import Trade, after making fome allow- 
 ance for the injury it may be fuppofed to fuftain from the private Merchants,, 
 may be fairly rated zt One * Million Sterling per annum, clear of every charge 
 
 * Landed Revenues — — — /". 250,003 
 
 Export and Import Trade (as before explained, page 33 and 35.) - 700,003 
 
 Private and privileged Trade ■ — — 70,000 
 
 Annuity ■ — — « 38, 000 
 
 1,058,000 
 ' Allow for leflenlng of profits by the Trade of Private Merchants — t;8,ooo 
 
 The Company's own Income clear £. 1,000,000 
 Dewannee Revenue — £. 750,000 
 
 Total ;f. 1,750,000 
 
 G" whatever.
 
 ( 50 ) 
 
 whatever, unlefs indeed the expence of Infurance were to be calculated, which 
 is not done, becaufe the Company are their own Infurers. 
 
 It is pretty well known now, with refpedl to the Debts owing in India, that 
 the greateft part is due to the Natives, which accounts for no more of it having 
 been drawn home upon the Transfer Plan. It is evidently wife and politic to 
 leave a confiderable debt amongft the Natives, at an annual intereft. If the 
 Revenues produce a net furplus of;^. 1,100,000, they will aflbrd one million a 
 voir to be drawn home by inveftment of goods, over and befides the produce 
 of our ovvn Exports, and Certificates given to the officers of the Company's 
 Ihips, payable in England, and leave enough to accumulate in the Treafuries 
 in India, either as a fund for the fupport of wars, when they fliall be inevitable^ 
 or if it be thought better, the overplus may be applied as a finking fund for the 
 the difcharge of the debt there. 
 
 Thus will there be £. i ,"] e,o ,000 per annum brought into this country, which, 
 if divided according to the adts of 1781 and 1784, and the fubfequent adts for 
 the increafed capital, would ftand thus : 
 
 I' 
 
 A dividend on five millions, at 8 per cent. — '^— 400,000 
 
 The furplus left would be — — — — i,350,oo» 
 
 One fourth o[ that fum would belong to the Company, 
 
 being — — _ —I- 337^500 
 
 An^ three fourths 10 (\\QY\i\)X\Ci being — jf. 1,012,500 
 
 1,350,000 
 
 But before the Public are to participate in this fund, thefe adts provide, that 
 the Bond Debt fhall be reduced to j^. 1,500,000, and Bills of Exchange to 
 £. 300,000. Provifion might be cafily made out of this immenfe income for fucK 
 redudlioH, without poftponingthe whole of its benefit to the Public or the Com- 
 pany to a future time. Each might contribute its due proportion, to be (et. 
 apart as a finking fund, for the redudlion of the debts, and ample means would 
 be left of adding to the public revenue, and to the Proprietors dividends. The 
 Exchequer might be content with receiving _jr. 450,000 a year, and the Proprie- 
 tors ^T. 150,000 a year in additional dividends, until thofe debts ih;dl be re- 
 duced to their proper ftandard, which the remaining fund would efFecft in a 
 fhort fpace of time. Thus might the dividend be extended to Eleven per cent, 
 and according to the income by revenue, and profits of Trade, beyond thofe 
 fums, fo fliould be the proportionate future payments to the Public, and to 
 the Eafl India Proprietors. 
 
 However flattering this conclufion of our labours may appear to our Readers, 
 in favour of the Public and the Eajl India Stockholder, it is no more, than we arc 
 fully warranted to give, by the authentic documents we have had occafion to 
 quote or refer to in the courfe of this work, as well as by our own knowledge 
 of the Financial Concerns of the Company. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT.
 
 ( S' ) 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 .As given in the former Edition in February ^ 1 793. 
 
 o I N C E the foregoing fheets went to the prefs, the Company have publilhcd 
 a Statement of their Affairs, to Ihew what will be the probable net annual fur- 
 plus of the territorial Revenues in India, and the profits on their Trade, 
 in times of profound Peace. In forming this Statement, they have not 
 been governed by the medium or average, either of actual receipts or 
 aftual difburfements for any former period, but have given their reafons for 
 departing both from the one and the other. In confequence, the receipts are 
 not increafed, though the new ceded Countries of Tippoo Sultaun are brought 
 into the account, whilft the probable difburfements are augmented. The refult 
 of the whole is, that the probable net Revenues, of the Indian poffeflions, includ- 
 ing the new ceffions, are eftimated only at ;f. 1,621,050, from which ^^.561, 923 
 per annum is to be dedudled for the Interell of the Indian Debt, leaving a net 
 furplus of ;^. 1,059,127. To this fum they add ;^. 350,000 a year for the pro- 
 duce of Imports and Certificates in India, making j^. 1,409,127, from which 
 fum they tzkt £. 1,127,000 for an Inveftment of Indian Goods, and j^. 250,000 
 towards an Inveftment of China Goods, leaving a furplus in India oi {^.■^%,iz^ 
 a year. With thefe aids they compute on fuch yearly Sales, as with their 
 Annuity, and Profits on Private Trade, will produce a net furplus in England 
 of ;f. 1,207,114, after payment of a Dividend of ;^. 8 per cent, on the prefent 
 Capital Stock, of 5 Millions, and the Intereft of their Bond Debt, the expences 
 of Recruits, and all other current charges at home, and the Eftablifhment for 
 St. Helena. 
 
 The difference, however, between the Surplus, according to the Diredtors* 
 Statements and our own (theirs being ;^. 1,207,114, whilft we make it 
 jf. 1,350,000) ought not, in any degree, to vary or affect the Rule eftablifhed 
 by the Legiflature for its appropriation. If the Public take ;^. 430,000 a year 
 of it, the Proprietors, under the participation fettled by the Adls of 178 1 and 
 1784, are intitled to ;f. 150,000 a year; and any increafe to the Public ought 
 to be accompanied by an increafe of Dividend to the Proprietors of India Stock, 
 after the fame proportion. 
 
 The
 
 ( 5i ) 
 
 The Directors, in forming their eflimate of the net Surplus, have, from pru- 
 dential motives, computed on the loweft probable receipts, and on the higheft 
 probable difburfements, the fureft way of preventing difappointment ; while 
 that which we have given, is the refult of actual receipts and aftual difburfe- 
 ments on the average of three years. The Directors have in particular 
 rated the Sales at half a million per annum lefs than the Ellimate of their 
 own Officers in other accounts before Parliament. They have, however, 
 fairly admitted a profpedt of increafing the Surplus, by leffening the Intereft of 
 the Debt in India. Under thefe circumftances, and by the Savings in the Rates 
 of Freight, wc truft we fhall not be found too fanguine in our expeftations, 
 that a Surplus will hereafter be realized to juftify our own Eflimate of it at 
 ;f. 1,350,000 per annum. And, indeed, one of the mod experienced of the 
 Gentlemen in the Diredtion, whofe prudence and caution will fecure us from 
 being milled by any thing he would advance, has publicly declared in Debate, 
 that the Surplus is more likely to exceed than fall ihort of £> 1,500,000 per 
 annum.
 
 C 53 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The ^uejlofi as letween the Crown and the Eajl-Tndia Company, in refpeB io the Pro- 
 perty of the Town, Port, and DiJlriB of MafuUpatam, and alfo in rejped, to the 
 northern Circars., on the Coajl of Coromandelt fiated and difcuffed. 
 
 JL HE period of the compaft, made with the Public in 1781, whereby the 
 Eaft-India Company were continued for a further time in their Exclufive 
 Trade, as well as in the Government of the Countries acquired in India, being 
 near its expiration. His Majefty's Minifters, with a view of continuing the 
 prefent fyftem of Government and Adminiltration in India, have recently offered 
 certain propofitions to the Company for that purpofe, and for making a new 
 partition between the Public and the Company, of the net revenues of the 
 Territories in India, as well of thofc acquired by conquelf, as of thofe which are 
 the independent property of the Company, and alfo of the net furplus, arifing 
 from the profits of the Company's trade. 
 
 The reafonablenefs of this partition, upon the terms propofed, mufl depend 
 in fome degree on the rateable proportion, which the Revenue of the conquered 
 Territories bears to the Revenue produced by tbe Company's own proper Eilates 
 in India. It therefore feems highly effential, if not abfolutely neceffary, that 
 means fhould be ufed, to difcriminate betwixt the Revenues of the Public and 
 thofe properly of the Company, antecedent to the eftablilhment of any fpecific 
 appropriation ; for unlefs that is done, the Company mud: be adting altogether 
 upon conje(5lure. 
 
 The Territories and Revenues of India, may be properly clafled under three 
 defcriptions. Firft, Thoie which the Company pofleflcd, prior to the year 
 1755, with refpeft to which their exclufive right has never been queftioned, nor 
 can it be in any degree liable to impeachment: The extent of them is known 
 to a certainty, and their income was fully invefi;igated by the Secret Com- 
 mittee of the Houfe of Commons of the year 1772, as will appear upon reference 
 to Third Rtpurt of that Committee, wherein their annual produce, for a feries 
 of time, will be found amply detailed. 
 
 Secondly, The Territories and Revenues ceded to the Company by the Mogul, 
 the Nabob of Bengal, the Soubah of the Decan, and the Nabob of Arcot, by 
 Grants and Treaties after the year 1755. Thefe confill chiefly of the Pergun- 
 nahs at Calcutta, the ceded Lands fo called in Burdwan, Midnapour and Chit- 
 tagong, the Town and Diftridl of Calcutta, the Town, Fortrefs, Port and Diftrict 
 of Mafulipatam, the Five Northern Circars, and the Jagheer Lands at Madras. 
 The property of thefe may be debated on diflind grounds, each having been 
 acquired by the Company in confequence of the influence refuUing from their 
 
 H Military
 
 < 54 ) 
 
 ; 
 
 Military Eflablifhments, and the valour and fuccefs of their arnns after that 
 period. 
 
 Laftly, The Provinces of Bengal and Bahar, and that part of Orifla which is 
 terminated on the South by the Cattack Countries belonging to the Maratta 
 States, the Diftriifb of Benares, and the Countries in the Carnatic, and on the 
 Malabar Coaft, lately obtained by the Treaty vi'ith Tippoo Saib. Thefe are 
 claimed on the part of the Public, as the property of the State, on a maxim 
 of Law, that all Territories acquired by conquell: veft in the Crown. 
 
 Although it fhould feem eflential to the Company, that their exclufive Claim 
 to each of the debatable Diftrifts fhould be inveftigated and finally decided upon, 
 we fliall, for the prefent, confine our inquiry to the merits of what relates only 
 to the Town, Port, and Diftridts of Malulipatam, and to the Five Northern 
 Circars. We have given thefe a preference, from a perfuafion that in point of 
 Revenue, Extent and Situation, they will be found to be intrinfically of greater 
 importance than any of the others with which they are clafTed ; and becaufe, by 
 a full and minute invefligation and difcuflion of the merits, whereon the legal 
 right to thefe Dirtridls feems to depend, it is not improbable, but fome rule or 
 principle may be eftablifhed with regard to all, or fome of the others. 
 
 The magnitude and importance of the queftion of Right between the Pubfc 
 and the Company, whether as applicable abftracledly to the Revenues of the 
 Circars, or as eltablifhing a precedent in Law for determining the Claims of 
 the Company upon other Territories ah eady, or which may in future be ob- 
 tained and held upon titles of a like fort, have induced us to think it more pru- 
 dent to hazard the imputation of prolixity, in the Statement we are about to 
 give, rather than by curtailing it of circumllances, which might otherwife have 
 been deemed inapplicable, or not pertinent to the merits of the qiielHon, 
 incur a charge of partiality or negligence. 
 
 For the eafe of our Readers who may be defirous of applying the Law to 
 the fafts, in the order of their detail, according to the R'ghts of the rcfpedlive 
 Claimants, we propofe to arrange our Tradt after the following method : 
 •Firfl, To ftate what we conceive to be the legal and acknowledged Rights of the 
 Crown, by virtue of its known perogative, in fo far as they relate to the prefent 
 fubjcct. Secondly, The power of the Crown to transfer its Rights to others. 
 Thirdly, How far the Crown has transferred its Rights to the Ei(t-India Com- 
 pany, or otherwife enabled them by Law to acquire, hold, defend and difpofc 
 of Lands and Territories within the limits of their Trade. Fourthly, A fug- 
 cindl narrative of the fadls and circumrtanccs which preceded or accompanied 
 the acquifuion of Mafulipatam. Fifthly, A fimilar narrative in refpedf to the 
 acquifition of the Circars. And laf^ly, VVe fhall conclude with fome remarks 
 on the merits of the Qutflion in point of Law, 
 
 5 Trerogative
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 Prerogative Rights. 
 
 AMONGST the numerous Rights appertainino; to the King's Prerogative, 
 arifing to him " from the reafon of the Common Law," (as we find it aptly ex- 
 prefTed in a great * authority) are thofe of making War and Peace ; an intereft 
 in his Subjedts, and a Plight to their fervice ; the 'command of all fortrefles 
 and places of (Irength ; fo that none but by the King's Licence can legally 
 build, crc£l-, or fortify a caftle or other place of defence ; the fole Coinage of 
 Money; the Property in all Mines of Gold or Silver wherefoever found; the 
 crf-diing of Courts of Judicature ; a general Right of Sovereignty over the Lands 
 of all his Subjcfts, and a Right to the abfolute Property, as well as Sovereignty 
 over foreign Territories acquired by conqueft, whether it be by his own regular 
 Forces, or by any of his Subjedfs not trained or fo employed, but afting on 
 their own will ; or acquired by Grant or Treaty obtained by Influence of 
 Arms, or even by any Treaty or Grant of Dominion made to any of his 
 Subjefts by a foreign Potentate. It is alfo a Right coeval and inherent in the 
 Prerogative of the Crown, to delegate to, and invefl: its Subjefts with fuch 
 Powers and Rights as may be deemed necefTary to be exercifed for giving 
 vigour and effedt to the protedlion and fecurity of the Empire, the Extenfion 
 of its Dominions, and the enlargement of its Commerce. Neither the Power 
 of Delegation, nor the Right of Granting, has ever, that we can difcover, been 
 denied, or queftioned, or limited, where the known Laws of the Land have 
 not been impugned or exceeded. It was under Delegations of this defcription, 
 that many of our foreign Dominions were obtained i and it is under Grants, 
 flowing from the Prerogative, that our Nobility and Gentry, at this day, de- 
 rive their titles to their landed Property in the Three Kingdoms. The pro- 
 prietary Diftridts of America, and the Lands in the Wefl: India Iflands were 
 thus conveyed ; nor is the Crown debarred (that we know of) from alienating 
 any of its foreign Territories, either in pofTeflion, or reverfion, or dependent 
 on any expectancy or contingency. The Reflraining Afl of Queen Anne, and 
 the Civil Lift Adt of His Majefty, are limited to the demefnes and hereditary 
 Revenues of the Crown at home. 
 
 Company's Rights, 
 
 WITH refpedt to the Rights and Privileges of the United Company, it 
 will be found that the Old Company, eredted and incorporated by Queen Eliza- 
 beth, were legally feized of the Iflands of St. Helena and Bombay, and of fundry 
 Forts, Fadlories and Settlements, and were alfo poflTeflfed, and in the exercife 
 of extenfive Authorities and Privileges in India ; all which, on the Union of 
 the two Companies in 1702, were transferred to the United Company. Their 
 Union was ratified by Queen Anne, under the great Seal of England, and the 
 
 * Staundf, Preiog. Reg. Plowden3i4. 
 
 H 2 Rights
 
 - ( 56 ) 
 
 Rights and Powers thus conveyed, together with thofe which had been granted 
 to the New Company, have been repeatedly fanctioned by fiibfeqiient Afts of 
 Parliament made on the feveral compadls between the Public and the Company, 
 for the continuation of their Lxclufive Trade ; on which occafions, the Com- 
 pany paid to the Public fuch pecuniary confiderations, as at the time were 
 deemed adequate in value to the Rights and Immunities purchafcd, or agreed 
 to be held and enjoyed by them. Amongft which are thefe that fullow : 
 
 To be a Corporation or Body-politic, and to have perpetual fucceffion, with 
 ability to hold and retain Lands and Tenements of any kind, nature, or qua- 
 lity whatever, and again to fell, alien, or difpofe thereof ; to make Sectlements 
 in India, without any limitation in their value and extent; to build Caftles, 
 Forts, Fortifications, or other Places of Strength ; to appoint Governors and 
 Commanders ; raife, train, and mufter Forces ; repel Wrongs and Injuries on 
 their Property ; make Reprilals on their Invaders, or Difturbers of their Peace ; 
 coin Money, and eredt Courts of Judicature. So * ample were the powers for 
 enabling the Company to preferve Difcipline amongft their Military, that they 
 were authorized in all their Settlements, in cafes of Rebellion, Mutiny or Se- 
 dition, or refufing to ferve in War, flying to an Enemy, forfaking Colours or 
 Enfigns, or other offences againft Law, Cuftom and Difcipline Military, to 
 ufe and exercife all the Povvers of Captain General, And by one of the Charters 
 ic was exprefsly declared, that thefe Powers and Iramunitits fhould extend to 
 all Territories which the Company fhould at any time purchafe or acquire 
 within the limits of their Trade ; and by another -|~ Charter it was granted, that 
 the Company fhould have the fole Rule and Government of all Forts, Faftories 
 and Plantations, already, or which fhould thereafter be fettled by or under 
 them, and exercife Martial Law therein ; and by ;[' another, they are impowered 
 to fit out Men of War in times of hoftility. In thefe Charters and Grants the 
 Sovereignty of the Crown alone is refcrved. 
 
 Under the Rights and Powers thus conveyed, the Company acquired by pur- 
 chafe from the Moguls, or other of the Native Princes and States, fundry fpots of 
 ground on the Peninlula of India, on which they ereded Fadlories and Houfes of 
 Trade; and for the better defence of their property againfl the incurfion of banditti 
 and cafual depredation, they had long anterior to the conqucfl: of Bengal, fortified 
 the Ifland of Bombay, and their Fa<flories at Madras, Vizagapatam, St. Davids, 
 and on the river Ganges, and garrifoned them with their forces •, and in ge- 
 neral exercifed the feveral other authorities and privileges derived from their 
 Charters. The mildnefs of their Government within their Faftories, the equal 
 adminif^ration of Juflice at their Courts, the piinduality and uprightnefs ob- 
 ferved by their Servants in their dealings, the (impliciry of their manners, and 
 their quiet and inoffenfive deportment, endeared them to the Natives, and in- 
 duced many of the Hin foos to fettle within, or near their diltrifls. The Sou- 
 bahs of the country bcftovved on them exemplary marks of their favour, until 
 
 * Charter of 27th September-, 1669. f 9th April, 1683. J 12th April, 1686. 
 
 at
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 at length the Company had obtained Territories which produced in Land Rents 
 and Port Duties, a confiderable income, fufficient at lead to defray their efta- 
 blifhnients, as long as they were permitted to obferve a ftritft peace or neu- 
 trality amongfl the Native Stares ; nor from the firft ere(fi:ion of the Company 
 by Queen Elizabeth, till the accidental Conquefl of Bengal, had the Right of 
 the Company been called in queflion, to acquire, by any means they could devife, 
 Settlement, Territory, or other Property in India for their own benefit. It was 
 the magnitude of that conquefl;, which firft excited Public attention, and a ge- 
 neral maxim of law, of which, perhaps, no inftance or occafion for its being 
 exerted or afted upon had happened for centuries, if ever, in this Kingdom, 
 was now enforced by Parliament, with a faving however of Rights, fo as to 
 leave the queftion open to litigation at fome future period. 
 
 Situation of Aiafulipatam and Circars. 
 
 Before we proceed in our narrative, it may not be amifs to give the Reader fome 
 idea of the extent, fituation, and income of iVTafulipatam and its diftridts, and 
 we cannot do this more fatisfaftorily, than by reference to Mr. Orme's Hiftory 
 of Hindoftan. The following is a literal quotation * from his work. 
 
 *' Thefe + acquifitions added to Mafulipatam, and the Province of Con- 
 ' davir i, made the French maflers of the Sea Coaft of Coromandel and 
 ' Orixa, in an uninterrupted line of 600 miles from Medapilly, § to the 
 
 * Pagoda of Jagernautl|. Thefe countries are bounded by a vaft chain of 
 ' mountains, which run nearly in the fame diredtion as the Sea Coaff, and are 
 
 * in mod places about 80 or 90 miles diftant from it, although in fome few noc 
 ' more than 30. They are covered with impenetrable forefls of bambocs, and in 
 ' the whole extent there are not more than four pafles which, according to 
 ' Mr. BufTcy's account, may be defended by 100 men againil an army. 
 
 ** The Province of Condavir extends between the River Kriftna and Gon- 
 *■' degama, which gains the fea at Medapilly. The limits of the other Four 
 *' Provinces are not exactly afcertained ; neverthelefs it appears, that Mufta- 
 " phanagur joins to the North of Condavir ; that Elore lays to the north weft 
 " uf Muftaphanagur ; that Rajahmundrum is bounded to the fouth by thefe two 
 *' provinces, and that Chicacole, much the largefl: of the four, extends 250 miles 
 *' from the River Godaveri to the Pagoda of Jagernaut. The revenues of the 
 " Four Provinces were computed at 31,00,000 rupees; of Condavir at 6,80,000; 
 *' and the dependencies of Mafulipatam were fo much improved tiiat they pro- 
 
 * Firft Vol. p. 334. 
 
 ■f The Circars of Muftaphanagur, Elore, Rajahmundrum and Chicacole. 
 
 X Another name for the Guntoor Circar. 
 
 § The northern extremity of the Carnatic on the Coaft of Coromandel. 
 
 II The fouthern extremity of the Mahratta dominions in Cattack, lately under Modajcc Boofla 
 one of their chiefs in Orixa. His dominions extend northwards upon the Coaft, to the extent of 
 about 240 miles, where they adjoin to that part of the Britifll poffcffions in Orixa which are 
 under the Prefidency of Bengal. 
 
 " duced
 
 ( 58 ) 
 
 *' diiced this year C1753) 5,075000, in all 42,87,000 rupees equal to more 
 " than ;^. 535, 000 {lerling per annum. All thefe rents, excepting thofe of 
 " Mafulipacam and its dependencies, which feemed already to be carried 
 *' to the height, might be greatly improved ; fo that thefe territories ren- 
 " dered the French mafters of the greateft dominions, both in extent and 
 " value, that had ever been pofTcfTed in Hindoftan by Europeans, not ex- 
 •' cepting the Portuguefe when at the height of their profpcrity •, nor were 
 " commercial advantages wanting to enhance the value of thcle acquifitions ; 
 " for the manufa(flures of cloth, proper for the European markets, were made 
 *' in this part of the Decan of much better fabrick and at much cheaper rates 
 ** than in the Carnatic. In Rajahmundrum are large forefls of teak trees, a 
 " wood in every refpeft equal to oak, and produced in no other part of the 
 *• Coaft of Coromandel and Orixa. Chicacolc abounds in rice and other grain, 
 •' of which gieat quantities are exported every year to the Carnatic." 
 
 And fpeaking of the Soubah's propofals to the Madras Government in 1756, 
 for their afliftance againft the French in the Decan, he fays,* " Nothing could 
 *' be more acceptable to the Prefidency than this invitation ; for fince the dif- 
 *' appointment of the expedition which the Company had projedted to be 
 " carried on from Bombay, they defpaircd of having another opportunity of 
 " ftriking at the French influence in the northern parts of the Decan, on whicli 
 *' neverthelefs the very exiftence of the Englifh, on the Coaft of Coromandel, 
 *' feemed to depend. 
 
 Monfieur Dupleix, fpeaking of the nature of the Soubah's laft grant, to Mr. 
 Bufiey, in his famous IVIemoir fays, " I perfifted in demanding the four beau- 
 *' tiful provinces of Ellore, Murtaphanagur, Chicacole, and Rajahmundry, 
 *' which fuited us in every refpe<51:, and I obtained them. They were given in 
 " full fovereignty to the Company, at the charge of keeping with the Nabob, a 
 *' body of French troops, after the manner of the Mogul Lords or Mahrattas, 
 " to whom the Emperor or the Nabob grants Jagheers.'' 
 
 Narrative of the Acqw/ition of Mafulipatam a7id its Dependencies. 
 
 The war which broke out between France and England in 1745, foon fpread 
 itfelf to India, where the Companies of the two nations had raifed native 
 corps of troops, and facked or befieged the Settlements of each other. Advices 
 of the peace, concluded in 1 748, reached India jufl at the time of our raifing the 
 ficge of Pondichcrry. TheBritifh fquadron, under Admiral Bofcawen, foon return- 
 ed to England ; but neither of the Companies difcharged their troops. Chunda 
 Saheb, competitor with Anawarden Caun, and afterwards of his fon Mahomed 
 Ally, for the Nabobfliip of Arcot, had agreed to take thofe of the French into 
 his pay, and they waited his arrival in the Carnatic to be united with his army. 
 It was not long after this period that the two Companijes became auxiliaries 
 on oppofite fides to thele rival Chiefs. 
 
 * Firft Vol. p. 434. 
 
 The 
 
 1
 
 e 
 
 C 59 ) 
 
 The Carnatlc forms part of the Mogul Empire, conftituting one of the Pro- 
 vinces, or a Nabobfliip of the Decan, which had been long governed by the 
 Soubah Nizam ul Mulk, as the Viceroy of the Mogul. To him belonged the 
 nomination of the Nabob. On the death of that Soubah in 1748, different 
 competitors, his fons or delcendants, had laid claim to the Government of the 
 Decan ; the Mogul was not in fttength to interpofe his authority with effeftj 
 otherwife there can be but little doubt but the Nizam's elded fon, Ghazi ul Dien, 
 who was at that time the principal Minifter to the Mogul at Delhi, and had been 
 named as fucccffor to his father in the Government of the Decan, would have 
 been eftabliflied in It, Nazir Jung, another fon of the late Soubah, (but ftiled by 
 the French a baflard) and who ac that period commanded his father's army, had 
 taken pofleffion of his immenfe trealures, and pretending that Ghazi ul Dien had 
 ceded to him the Soubahfliip, (preferring a relidence at the Court of Delhi) he 
 afiumed the reins of Government, keeping his three younger bro'hers little better 
 than his prifoners ; whilft Muzafa Jung, a favorite grandfon of the deceafed Sou- 
 bah, claiming the right, under a pretended will of his grandfather, appointing 
 him his fuccclfor, railed an army in the Country weft of Golconda, and claimed 
 the Soubahfliip. 
 
 Such was the ftate of parties and of the country when a cefTation of hoflilities 
 ■between the two Companies took place in 1749. It was about this time that 
 Chunda Siheb and Muzafa Jung had united their Forces under a folemn ftipu- 
 lation, never to fhcath their fwords 'till the one was put into compleat poflef- 
 fion of the Carnatic, and the other eftabliflied in the Government of the Decan. 
 They foon after fought the famous battle of Amboor, where the iupcrior 
 difcipline of the French army overcame all obfl:acles, and obtaiijed a decifive 
 vicflory for their employers over Anawarden Caun, Nabob of the Carnatic, who 
 was himfelf flain, and his eldefl: fon Muzafa Caun taken prifoner; Mahommed 
 Ally his younger fon, the prefent Nabob, narrowly efcaping the fame fate. 
 
 Muzafa Jung was immediately proclaimed Soubah at the head of his vic- 
 torious army, and Chunda Saheb declared Nabob of the Carnatic. The Englifli 
 forces had not hitherto interfered in thtle difputes, but the news of the vitStory, 
 and the preparations making by the French and their allies for extending tlie 
 influence of their arms through the Decan, brought down the Soubah Nazir 
 Jung into the Carnatic ; nor did he flop 'till he encamped with his army ac 
 Velflour, within a fmall diflance of Pondicherry, where he was met and op- 
 pofed by that of his nephew and his auxiliaries. The Madras Government, now 
 perceiving for the firft time with certainty, that Nazir Jung was the adtual 
 reigning Soubah, they fent Meflrs. Lawrence and Dalton, with a fmall corps of 
 Englifli troops to pay him their homage ; they were received with polirenefs, and 
 permitted to encamp near him. A parley took place between the uncle and the 
 nephew, which naturally occafioned alarm to the French, lett by a reconciliation 
 the Native Chiefs fliould unite their forces and turn their arms againft them. 
 They therefore fuddenly withdrew themfelves from the camp, and retired towards 
 their own Settlement. It was in vain that Chunda Saheb endeavoured to (.iiflu.de 
 Muzafa Jung from liftening to the propofals of his uncle. That Chief therefore 
 
 withdrew
 
 ( 6o ) 
 
 withdrew himfclf to Pondicherry, and the infatuated nephew, allured by the 
 folcmn proteftations of the Soubah, both of affording proteftion to his perfon, 
 and of placing him in the Government of certain Provinces of the Deccan, pro- 
 ceeded to the Soubah's tent ; where, in violation of the ties of honor, juftice, and 
 his pledged faith, the Soubah inftantly loaded him with irons, and falling fud- 
 denly on his unfufpeding adherents, both they, and fuch of the French as could 
 be overtaken were miferably butchered. 
 
 At this period neither the Engli(h nor French pofleffed any thing more at Ma- 
 fulipatam than their Fadtories or Houfes of Trade. The French, fenCble of the 
 importance of that Port for the piirpofes of commerce, had obtained a promifc 
 from Muz-fa Jung of a grant of it with its dependencies, a circumftance which 
 probably had reached the ears of Nazir Jung -, for fhortly after the affair at Vel- 
 dour, he caufed his Officers to feize the French Fadlory and efftfts at Mafuli- 
 patam, though it does not appear he meddled with any other, (^for they had 
 other Fadlories in his dominions) ; and Dupieix, highly exafperated at this aft of 
 tyranny over the private property of innocent and helplefs individuals, vowed 
 fevere vens;eance. 
 
 't)^ 
 
 The Soubah with his army took up his refidence at Arcot for the Mon- 
 foon. In the mean time Chunda Saheb and Dupieix were indefatigable in their 
 ® preparations for war. Before the Soubah began to ftir, they made themlelves 
 
 mailers of Gingee, and alfo of Mafulipatam, and appeared in fuch force in the 
 Carnatic, that the Soubah, as the condition of being permitted quietly to with- 
 draw himfelf from its confines, found it prudent to grant to the French the abfo- 
 lute property of Mafulipatam and its dependencies ; and to make them other con- 
 ccffions. He however iVill kept Muzafa Jung a prifoner, which Dupieix highly 
 refenting, found means to corrupt certain of the Patan Chiefs, who formed the 
 body guard, and agreeably to a plan concerted, the French attacked his camp 
 by furprize, when the unfortunate Soubah, quitting his tent, fell a vidimi to 
 French treachery, and the villainy of his own people. His head having been 
 expofed, Muzafa Jung was taken from prifon, and proclaimed Soubah by the 
 uninimous voice of both armies; and one of the firll adts of the new Soubah, 
 in gratitude for his releafe and advancement, was to confirm the grant of Ma- 
 fulipatam, with its dependencies, to the French. According to Mr Orme, they 
 were to beheld in vafTalage ; though, if we may credit the relations of Mr. BufTcy 
 and Mr. Dupieix, they were granted in compleat fovereignty for ever. 
 
 In the Appendix to Mr. Dupleix's celebrated Addrefs to the French Nation, 
 will be found an accurate account of the revenue produced from Mafulipatam, 
 dillindl; from the places dependent on it, as well as from their fublequent ac- 
 quifitions in the Northern Circars. If they had been otherwife before, it is 
 evident that, from this time at leaft, Mafulipatam and its dependencies formed 
 a diftincl diftrift from the Five Circars, producing a revenue of about ^T. 38,000 
 a year. 
 
 4 
 
 A few
 
 ( 6i ) 
 
 A few months had only elapfed before Muzafa Jung alfo fell a facrifice to 
 the treachery and avarice of the fame Patan Chiefs, who had aflaffinated his uncle. 
 Three other of his uncles', Salabut Jung, Nizam Ally, and Bazalet Jung, had 
 been continued prifoners in his camp. Mr. Dupleix kt them at liberty, and 
 raifed Salabut Jung, the eldeft nf the three, to the Mufnud of the Decan ; and 
 for a confidcrable time after, the influence of Mr. Dupleix wholly prevailed over 
 the Councils of the Soubah. His perfon was conftantly guarded by the French 
 foldiers, who fought and conquered by his fide in feveral confliifts with the 
 Mahrattas ; the French commanders dictated the terms of the fucceflive con- 
 ventions, for fufpenfion of hollilities; and in 1753, they planned the triumph- 
 ant entry of the Soubah into his capital of Aurungabad, where he rewarded the 
 French Company with grants firft, of the Guntoor, and foon afterwards of 
 the other Four Circars ; and although by an invitation of JafFeer Ally, one of 
 the difcarded Zemindars in the Circars, fome of the neighbouriug Mahrattas 
 broke in and devaftated the molf fruitful parts of the country, they ibon retired, 
 and in 1754 the French were left to enjoy, without interruption, the fruits of 
 thefe valuable acquifitons. 
 
 The Company's troubles in the Carnatic and in Bengal, at the time of the 
 rupture in 1756 with France, had obliged them to v/eaken their little garrifoa 
 at Vizagapacam. The Fort and Fadtory at that place, and alfo Mndepollam, 
 Bandermalanka, and Ingeram, fell an eafy prey to Mr. BufTey, and the forces 
 he kept in the Circars. In the mean time, by the intrigues of Nizam Ally, and 
 Bazalet Jung, alTifted by Shanavefe Khan, their brother's Duan, the influence 
 of the French became weakened at the Soubah's Court. The French detach- 
 ment however ftill accompanied him, and mofl: probably faved his life, ac the 
 time the two brothers poflefl"ed themfelves of his Seals of State, and aflTumed to 
 themfelves the reins of the Government, which, however, they adminiftercd in his 
 name. This revolution muft have have happened about the time of Bufl^ey's cap- 
 ture of the Englifh Company's Factories. He had no fooner accomplifhed that: 
 object, than he haftened, with what force he could colledt, to the alTiftance of Sa- 
 labut Jung at Aurungabad. It confided of 700 Europeans, 500 Sepoys, and 10 field 
 pieces ; and though at his arrival he found the Soubah furroundcd by three ar- 
 mies under the command of his two brothers, to whom he could be confidered as 
 little better than a prifoner, he fo managed as to procure the Seal to be reftored. 
 Nizam Ally, unable to brook what he feared openly to refift, but refolving in 
 fome degree to avenge himfelf for what had happened, procured the afTafTination 
 of Hyder Beg, (the new Minifter) impofed on his brother by BuflTey, and then 
 fled to Brampour. The friends of Hyder Beg immediately revenged his death 
 by the murder of Shanavefe Khan, and his fon Mahommed, the Emperor's Duan, 
 and all their adherents; fo that BuiTcy was again left to direift the Councils of 
 the Soubah. He was, however, fhortly after called to Pondicherry with his ^ 
 forces for the relief of that place then befieged by the Englilh Company. He 
 quitted the Soubah, leaving a force for the defence of Malulipatam and the 
 Circars. 
 
 I After
 
 C 62 ) 
 
 After the death of Vizeram Baiize (the Zemindar who had fuperceded JafFeer 
 Ally in the Rajahmundrum Circar, and who had alfo been manager for that 
 of Chicacole) Bullev had impofcd fuch new arrangements and conditions on his 
 nephew and fucceflbr the Rajah Anunderawze, as to excite his refentnient. 
 He therefore cook the opportunity of Buflcy's departure to avenge the fuppofed 
 injury, and to recompencc hitnfelf by feizing on the gariifon of Vizagapatam. 
 Fearing his own ability to retain it, he fer.t advice of what he had done to 
 Madras, offering a furrender ol it to the Company. He afterwards made a like 
 offer to the Prefidency of Bengal, propofing to join his forces vvith any detach- 
 ment they fliould fend for driving the French from the ceded provinces. Lord 
 Clivc accepted of the offer, and immediately re ellablillicd the Englifli Fadlory 
 ac Vizagapatam. He likewife fent 500 Europeans, and 2500 Native troops, under 
 the command of Col. Ford, to unite with the Rajah againll the French. It was 
 agreed between the Colonel and the Kajah, that all plunder fhould be equally 
 divided, that all the inland countries which ftiould be conquered fhould be 
 delivered to the Rajah, who was to collect tlie revenues ; but the lea ports and 
 tov;ns at the mouth of the rivers, with the revenues annexed to them, were to 
 belong to the Englifh Company ; no treaty for reftitution was to be made but 
 by mutual confent -, and the Rajah was to fupply half a lack of rupees monthly 
 for the expences of the troops ; and 6000 rupees, to commence-fiora their arn~ 
 val at Vizagapatam, for the particular expences of the officers. 
 
 In December 175S, the united forces gained a complete vI(5bory over the 
 French commanded by M. Conflans, who retreated firft to the city of Rajahmun- 
 drum, and afterwards to Mafulipatam, followed by Colonel Ford ; and the cam- 
 paign ended with the fiege and capture of that place by ftorm, in April 1759. 
 
 The tardinefs of the Rajah in bringing forward his troops from Rajahmun- 
 drum to Mafulipatam, and his backwardnefs to advance the money for the de- 
 tachment, had induced Col. Ford to agree to the following variation in the agree- 
 ment which had been made with him in the preceding November, (namely) 
 that whatever fums the Rajah might furnifb, fhould be confidercd as a loan ; 
 and that the revenues of all the countries which might be reduced on the 
 other fide of the Godavery, excepting fuch as belonged to the French, either 
 by ellablilhment or grant in propriety, fhould be equally divided between the 
 Rajah and the Englilh. 
 
 Whilft Colonel Ford was before Mafulipatam, the Soubah, at the en- 
 treaty of Conflans, brought an army into the Circars, of fuch a force, as united 
 with the French, might have eafily raifcd the ficge, and compelled the Englilh 
 detachment to have laid down their arms. The Soubah, however, neither joined 
 the French nor interrupted Col. Ford, Init encamped about 40 miles from the 
 fort, waiting the event of the fiege. All he did was to call v[->~m the Rajah 
 and the Zemindars, that were with Ford, to repair as his valfals to his ftandard ; 
 and it was not without difficulty they were prevailed on to difregard the fum- 
 nions. Some part of the French forces, after their defeat, had feparated from 
 
 4 thofe
 
 ( H ) 
 
 thofe who took' refuge in Mafulipatam, and being formed into afmall army of ob- 
 fervation, were encamped at no great dillance from the Soubah. Colonel Ford 
 perceiving his danger, and in defpair of efcaping, planned the bold effort of 
 ftorniing the fort, though with little cxpeftation of fuccefs ; To amufe the Soubah 
 in the interval, he fent Mr. Johnftone to pay him his homage, which the 
 Soubah took in kind part, and received him in his camp. On the place failing 
 into the Colonel's hands, the Soubah advanced within 15 miles of the fort, and 
 the Rajah and Zemindars not doubting but the Soubah intended to reduce ir, 
 feparated from the Englifli and retired into the country; but Salabur, after 
 fome conference with the commander of the French army of obfervation, agreed 
 to receive Colonel Ford in his tent, and to grant him certain requefts, and to 
 Iwear to the performance of them. 
 
 This engagement has been treated as a grant, and erroneoufly confidered as 
 the foundation of the Company's title to the Five Northern Circars. It may, 
 however, admit of a doubt, whether aided as it was by the Soubah's oath for 
 its obfervance, it had the efficacy of a grant or treaty. The power of the 
 Soubah to make any grant of, or to alienate a part of the Soubahfliip, is 
 in the fiift place very quefiionabie. Secondly, He had already granted 
 the fame diftridis to the French. Thirdly, The Sunnuds promiied by it, 
 and which by the Conftitutions of the Empire (admitting the power) would 
 be a mere nullity, unlefs paffed under the Seal of State accompanied by 
 a variety of ceremonies and regifterations, do nut appear to have been ever 
 obtained. Fourthly, In military or feudal tenures, (and this at befl; could 
 be confidered in no other light) a new inveftiture becomes ncceffary on every 
 change of the fupreme power who makes it, fo, that in no event could the Sun- 
 ruds have been valid beyond the life or removal of Salabut Jung. And laftly, 
 therequeft extended only to a diftindl part of the Circars. The form in which the 
 Soubah's engagement is printed by the Company, differs materially from, and is 
 far more extenfive in refpeft to tlie territories defcribed in it, than what is given 
 as the agreement by Mr. Orme ; his again far exceeds what the Madras Govern- 
 ment, at the time, defcribed to be the extent of it, in their advices to Bengal of 
 July 1759. The Company's printed copy contains a promife of Sunnuds, for 
 giving to the Company the Circar of Mafulipatam with eight diftrids, and 
 the Circar of Nizampatam, and the diftrids of Condavir and Wacalmanncr, in 
 the fame manner as was done to the French. Mr. Orme defcribes the grant to 
 be of the whole territory dependent on Mafulipatam, with eight diftrids and 
 jurifdidion over the territory of Nizampatam, and the diftrids of Condavir and 
 Wacalmanner, all which were to be held without the referve either of fine or 
 military fervice. The Governor and Council of Madras, immediately after the 
 communication to them by Colonel Ford of his interview with the Soubah, de- 
 fcribe the grant to be no more than " of the port of Mafulipatam, with the 
 " dependencies thereto belonging ;" recommending it to Lord Clive to obtain a 
 confirmation of it from the Mogul, or at leaft a renewal of the Company's old Fir- 
 maund for Divi Ifland, and their fadory in the town of Mafulipatam. What- 
 
 I 2 ever
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 ever might be the extent, it is evident that the port, town, and citadel of Ma- 
 fiilipatam were all that the Company retained. The Circars at large, were left 
 in the Soubah's pofl'effion as their immediate fuperior, under a promife that 
 Anunderauze fhould be continued in the management of the Chicacole Lircar, 
 upon the terms which his anceftors had held it from the former Soubahs. Colo- 
 nel Ford with the Engiilli forces were foon after withdrawn from the Circars, a 
 very fmall number only being left in the garrifon j and fo far were the Com- 
 pany from retaining the pofleffion of any thing beyond the port and town, 
 and dependencies, that it appears that fo early as June 1760, Nizam Ally, who, 
 in confequence ot his brother being drfertcd by the French, had aflumed the 
 Soubahfhip, vifited the Circars, and was attended at Rajamundrum by Mr. Altrx- 
 andcr, the Chief of Mafulipatam •, where he urgently requefted a body of the 
 Cotnpany's troops to aft againft the Mahrattas ; offering to pay one lack of 
 rupees monthly, and if they beat the Mahrattas, and diip./ffcfred them of the 
 country belonging to him, he would then agree to give the Englilh the Circars 
 of Rajahmundrum, Ellore, and Muftaphanagur ; and tha% on the propofal not 
 being accepted, he had left thofe Circars under the management of HufTcin 
 Ally, and had granted the Guntoor or Condavir Circar, in Jaghcer, to his bro- 
 ther Bazatet Jung ; continuing Vizeram Rauze (fon of Anunde Rauze) in that 
 of Cicacole ; and in a letter from Madras of April 1766, it is exprefsly 
 faid, that after Colonel Ford had taken Mafulipatam, and put an end to th« 
 authority of the French in the Decan, all the Five Circars were reftorcd to. the 
 dominion of the Soubah. 
 
 It is obfervable, that Salabut Jung's firft grant to the French was of Mafuli- 
 patam only. Mr. Orme has given us the income of it, diftindly from that of 
 the Circars. It was the only part of the country which the Company retained 
 from 1759, till they obtained the grant of the Circars in 1765, From thefe cir- 
 cumftances it is pretty evident, that Mafulipatam was conlidcred as a diflridl 
 of itfelf from any of the Circars, or perhaps as forming a Sixth Circar. The 
 other Five take their names from the capital of each. Condavir or Guntoor 
 from the towns bearing thofe names. Ellore from that town, and lo of the 
 reft. And hence it was that Huflcin Ally's authority over Ellore, as the ma- 
 nager or renter thereof to the Soubah, might be perfcdlly compatible with the 
 Company's enjoyment of Mafulipatam. 
 
 From thefe fafts we think ourfelves warranted in the following conclufion 
 (namely) that the diftintft diftridt of Mafulipatam, with the fortrels and port 
 belonf^ins to it, were obtained by conq^test; and from the moment of the 
 capture of the fort by Colonel Ford, they became vefted in full and intire pro- 
 perty as well as fovereignty in the King; and at this day continue the eftate of 
 the Crown, to be kept or granted as His Majefty may think fit. 
 
 Should it be objcded that becaufe Mafulipatam had been held by the French 
 as a fief of the Indian Empire, and that the cl^ange of hands could not alter 
 
 the
 
 ( 65 ) 
 
 the rights of the Mogol or his Soiibah, as the paramonnt lorcf^, v/e are ready to 
 admit that the Kin^^, by his prerogative, mult of neceflity be the fumnun domi' 
 mis fiipra omnes ovtr all territories heKi by l-im-, that lands in his poflcffiun are 
 free from every tenure ; that he can neither be a joint tenant with another, nor 
 hold of another. But witli this a imifllon, and though in faft the Suubah had 
 taken no part in the hoililities between the Englidi and the French, yet we cm- 
 ceive that the levying war in the Decan againft the French, they being feuda- 
 tories of theSoubah, mull, to every legal intent, be held as levying war againft 
 that power alfo; and that by the conqueft, the fovereignty as well as the loil 
 became inftantly annexed to the Crown of England. If the French had them- 
 fclves the fovereignty, the legal etreft would have been the fame. The fubfe- 
 quent agreement by Col. Ford with Salabut Jung, could not change or vary the 
 nature of the King's title to Mafulipatam once acquired, nor under the Charter 
 of 17 1^7 could the Company reltore ir, becaufe they were rcftrained from ceding 
 back any acquifitions belonging to the Europer.n dates. The treaty of Peace, in 
 1763, completely eftablifhed the right of the King; the French having thereby 
 renounced all their acquifitions on the Coail except their Factories, which alone 
 were reftored to them. 
 
 The Acquijilkn of tf'f Ctrcars. 
 
 THE new Soubah Nizam Ally, derived his right to the Government of 
 the Decan under a grant from the iMogul ; he was prefled on all fides by the 
 armies of the Mahratta States and of Hyder Ally, and was in the utmoft diflrefs 
 both for money and fuccours. He appears from the firft commencement of his 
 acceffion, to have anxioufly courted our alliance, as the furert means of furnifh- 
 jng himfelf with protedtion againft the French, whom he both feared and had 
 ofi'ended, and againft the ambitious views of his troublelome neighbours. We 
 have already feen that he made his firft overtures to Mr. Alexander at Rajah- 
 mundrum in 1760, immediately after he had depofed his brother. In 1761 he 
 repeated them, with an earneft defire to be affifted with troops, and an offer of 
 the Circars by way of fubfidy. At this period it would on many accounts have 
 been defirable for the Company to have complied ; but the period was critical, 
 and European forces could not be lafely fpared. In the mean time many of the 
 Zemindars and Renters in the Circars, taking advantage of the weaknefs of the 
 Soubah's Government, and the unfettled ftate of the Decan, had become re- 
 fraftory, had with-held their tribute, and had bid defiance to the authority of 
 HufTein Ally the Soubah's manager ; and to render the anarchy the more general, 
 the more powerful of the Zemindars had waged war againft each other. Unable 
 to fend affiftance from Hydrabad, the Nizam, in the autumn of 1762 deputed 
 his Minifter Huffein Ally, to the Prefidency of Fort St. George, with grants or 
 Junnuds for the Four Circars in the nature of a fubfidy, again repeating his requeft 
 for a European force. The war with Spain had been juft commenced, and the 
 expedition againft Manilla undertaken, fo tiiat the Madras Government were 
 unable co comply. T hey, however, did not chcofe to hazard the giving the Soubah. 
 
 offence^.
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 off-nce, by an abrupt reje(5\:ion of the Sonnuds, nor a pofitive refufal, fearing 
 lie would admit the French again to their pofleffion of thole diftridts ; preficd 
 by HufTein Ally to lend him a fmal! body of Native troops to fiipport his au- 
 thority in the Circars, and perfiiaded that it was the general difpofnion of the 
 Zemindars and Renters, to fubmit to any realonable propofals if fanftioned by 
 the Company's authority, and that their name alone would go far in drawing 
 them back to their allegiance, the Madras Government, with HuiTcin's confcnt, 
 proceeded to publifb the Sunnuds in the Circars, and though no force was ufcd, 
 the Zemindars and Renters came immediately in and fettled for their rents with 
 Huflein Ally and the Company's civil officers. It appears however, that a fmall 
 body of Sepoys was fent from Madras to Mafulipaiam, to have enforced obe- 
 dience to the Sunnuds if it had been found necelTary. But the fubm.iHion of 
 the Zemindars was fpontaneous and iinmediate, and it does not appear that thefe 
 Native troops had occafion to flir from their place of landing. 
 
 In the meantime the Soubah defpairing of our afTiflance, found means to ap- 
 peafe, in fome degree, the Mahratta army. Full of refentment at the conduct of 
 the Company, for their breach of the confidence he had repofed in them by the 
 publication of the Sunnuds, without a compliance with the condition annexed 
 to them, he meditated revenge both on the Company and on his own iVlinifler. 
 The Madras Government therefore fubmitted to reftore both the Sunnuds and 
 the country ; and as foon as the expences of the troops had been difcharged, 
 they were withdrawn. The Nabob of Arcot interpofed his mediation with the 
 Soubah for his forgivenels of Huflein Ally, who by dint of a large prelent lent 
 for the purpofe to Huffcin by the Nabob, or advanced by the Company's fer- 
 vants, was reinftated in his mailer's favor; and, recovering his former influence, 
 he returned into the Circars, cloached with efficient powers for the Government 
 of thofe diftrifts. 
 
 No fooner had the Company withdrawn their fuccours, than the Zemindars 
 and Renters again fell from their allegiance to the Nizam, who finding that no- 
 thing but the Company's influence could keep his fubjects there in any degree 
 of fubordination, now came forward with a direft requifuion for their affiftance, 
 and an agreement being fettled for the fubfidy to be paid for their hire, wherein 
 the charge of the garrifons of Mafulipatam and Vizagapatam was included, a 
 body of torces with artillery was again fent from Madras upon that fcrvice, and 
 they no fooner made their appearance, than all the Zemindars and Renters 
 quiet'y fubmitted ; order was rellored, and Huffein Ally's authority was fully 
 re-eftabliflied. 
 
 The French had lately returned to their factories on the Coaft, and a general 
 rumour prevailed that they were preparing to re-affijme their pofleffions of the 
 Circars under the article in the treaty of Verfaillcs for mutual rcftor.ition * ; the 
 Fiench miniflry having rcfufed, as it was faid, to admit the propolitions of the 
 Duke of Bedford, relating to India into the final treaty. 
 
 * The affairs of India had efcaped notice 'till fome time after the preliminaries were fip^ncd. 
 
 Although
 
 ( 67 ) 
 
 Altliough this report had no foundation in fafl, it neverthelefs, for the time, 
 was believed, and gave great alarm to the Company's fervants ; who, well know- 
 ing that if the French were to be re-en:abliflii.-d in their authority and influence 
 in the Dccan, former contentions would inftantly be renewed, came to the refulu- 
 tion in any event, of refifting any attempt that might be made for that purpofe. 
 At the end of 1764, they opened a new negociation with the Soubah fur a grant of 
 ihe Ci'cars, upon payment of a ftipulated fum annually. 'Ihey knev/ that he had 
 hitherto realized but a trifling income from that part ofhis dominions, and they flat- 
 tered thcmCelves that as the Zemindars had ever refifted his authority, while they 
 had fliewn an anxious ditpofition to remain under the Company's proteiflion, the 
 Soubah might be induced to yield to their application, at a rent inferior to what 
 the Zemindars could afford, and were willing to pay to him. In their firft overtures 
 they offered him five lacks of rupees for the firft year-, ten for the fecond •, and 
 fifteen every year after. But fo great was their anxiety to feclude the French, 
 that without waiting the event of their firH: offer, they fent a fecond meflenger 
 with a new one, of a prompt payment of five lacks, and to give fifteen lacks 
 per annum from the commencement. The Soubah flood for twenty lacks, 
 which exceeding the authority given to treat upon, was rejedted ; whereupon the 
 Nizam immediately granted a Sunnud of them to Huflcin Ally, at that or fome 
 other large rent, as we have before obferved. The zeal of the Madras Govern- 
 ment to obtain pofleffion of the Circars, kept pace only with the inflrucftions 
 from the Direftors and the advice of Lord Clive. The difficulty was how to 
 aff(?(5t it without a rupture. The Company had in 1762, 1763, 1764, and 
 1765, repeated their earneft wiflies to obtain them, but at the fame time deprecated 
 new wars and trouble?, and in particular cautioned their fervants how they in- 
 frafted the treaty of peace, even in the event of the FVench procuring a new 
 grant of the Circars ; and in fome of their letters they expreffed their concur- 
 rence to any agreement with the Nizam, though attended with an engagement 
 to furnifh him with the forces he wanted, if weighty reafons or the neceffity of 
 the cafe fhould require it. Lord Clive was in the mean time anxioufly contem- 
 plating on the means of effedting the favorite plan he had formed^ of uniting. 
 our poffeflions on the Coaft with thofe in Bengal. The reluftance of the Sou- 
 bah to accept the Company as his tributaries on reafonable terms, with the ab- 
 folute neceffity there appeared for fecluding the French, drove that able com- 
 mander to folicit a grant from the Mogul, conveying to the Company the intire 
 property of the Five Circars ; and in 1765 he obtained it. At the time of the 
 grant reaching Madras, the troops we had lent to the Nizam were ftill in his 
 pay and fcrvice in the Circars, and the Madras Government, with the concur- 
 rence of Lord Clive, came to the decifive refolutionof availing themfelves in any 
 event of the grant. Their forces were already on the fpot to maintain or en- 
 force the claim. War however, was if poffible to be avoided ; treachery, chi- 
 cane and bribery were fubftituted as the fafer inflruments. FJuffein Ally, the 
 manager for the Soubah, was in the firfl inllance dealt with, and fuccefsfullv, tO' 
 betray the interefts of his mafler, and for the promife of a Jagheer (which was 
 actually fettled on him afterwards by the Company) and a promife of fupporc 
 
 and.
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 ai^d protLv^ion, and alfo of being continued in his renterfhip. he agreed to aft 
 with i!ie Company. A very fm.dl additional force to what was already there, 
 was then fent into the Circars The Soo Native troops under Ibraham Beg the 
 Soubah's military commander were, by the management of Huflein Ally, in- 
 Jlfted into rhe Company's pay. Vizeram Rauze was alfo brought over by aflur- 
 nnces of Icffening his rents, and having traitcroufly delivered up the Forts of 
 Raj^hmundrum and Coffirn Cctah, which had been in his charge, he retired to 
 his own Circar of C hicaccje. In the mean time a deputation was fent to Hy- 
 diabad, again to ofFer terms of becoming tributaries for the Circars to the Sou- 
 bah, who was as yet a ftranger to the grant cf the Mogul. The Fort of Condi- 
 pilla was deemed a neceflary poffeffion to cover the principal pafs from Ellore 
 to Hydrabad ; and, while the deputies were negociating with the Nizam, General 
 Calliaud ieizcd upon it. This place is fituate between the mountains bordering on 
 the Ellore diftrift, and was taken by florm ; four Sepoys being wounded upon 
 the occafion. This was molf probably a devife concerted to create a panic in 
 the Nizam ; for by the agreement then fubfifting, our troops were to have 
 poffeffion of any of the Soubah's Forts as the means of fubjeding the inhabi- 
 tants, and HufTein Ally was fole governor. So little was the refiltance at this 
 Fort, that if there was any, it was deemed too trifling to be worthy of notice 
 by the commanding officer in his letters of the time mentioning the capture of it. 
 The Mogul's Sunnuds were now publiflied, and every Zemindar immediately ac- 
 knowledged the Company as their fovereign. After a tlow and tedious negocia- 
 tion ac Hydrabad, and by dint of money advanctd to the Soubah and prefents to 
 his * minillers and officers, his own grant of the Circars was obtained for the 
 Company at a rent or annual tribute or gift of nine lacks of rupees, and under 
 an engagement to furniffi a body of forces when called upon ; and thus was 
 the Company firmly eflablifhed in the poffiffion of the Circars, except of the 
 Guntoor, for which they were to wait either the death of Bazalet Jung or his 
 breach of faith, in either of which events the Company were to have the pof- 
 feffion of that Circar alio-, and in the interval two lacks of the rent was to be 
 abated. The Nizam referved to himfelf the diamond mines and the villages 
 near them, and alfo the Kildarry and Jagheer of Condapilly. 
 
 It had been agreed that our troops (hould join thofe of the Nizam and the 
 Mahrattas, and proceed to the cnnqueff of Hyder Ally's dominions. The 
 troops were accordingly fent, and they remained with him fome months ; but 
 Hyder by a large bribe brought the Soubah over to his own purpofes, and our 
 troops were in confequence withdrawn. Before they quitted the Nizam, a promife 
 was obtained that the tribute (for fo it is called) of two lacks per annum for the 
 Chicacole Circar fhould be relinquiflied ; and in July 1767, the Soubah gave a 
 Sunnud for the remiflion of it. In Augul following the Nizam threw off 
 the mafk, and openly joined Hyder's army at Bangalore ; from whence their 
 
 * One lack was given to the chief minillcr, half a lack to the fccond, and prefents to the 
 inferlorSt 
 
 horfe
 
 ( 69 ) 
 
 horfe made excurfions and ravaged the Carnatic as far as Arcot. In September^ 
 Colonel Smith drove them from the Carnatic, and in December following, 
 the Nizam feparated from Hyder Ally, and foon afterwards confirmed, by a 
 new treaty the Mogul's grant of the Circars, and alio his own Sunnud for the 
 remiflion of the tribute for Chicacole, referving the other tribute of five lacks, 
 and two more for the Guntoor Circar, payable only when polfenion Ihould be had ; 
 agreeing alfo to allow out of thofe tributes 25 lacks of rupees for the expence of 
 the war. 
 
 After the death of Bazalet Jung, Lord Cornwallls liquidated all accounts with 
 the Nizam, and obtained pofleflSon of the Guntoor. The Company paid him a 
 large balance for arrears, and entered into engagements for the regular paymenc 
 of the whole annual tribute of feven lacks. 
 
 In deciding the queftion of right to the foil and revenues of thefe Circars,^ 
 •under the peculiar circumftances by which they were obtained, it is neceffary to 
 have recourfe to firft principles ; for the right of fovereignty in the prefent cafe 
 feems equally difputable with the right of loil. The reafon or principle whereoii 
 a right attaches to a fovereign over conquered territories, bears a flrong analogy 
 to the cafes of efcheats. By the operation of law, the legal eftate (as it is 
 called) in the lands of a baftard or other perfon dying intefiate without heir, 
 devolves upon the Sovereign, becaufe in the very nature of the cafe, the legal 
 eftate can go no where elfe, and it mufl: be vefted fomewhcre. So of a conqueft, 
 the former owners are driven out, and the legal ownerfhip muft, by the ne- 
 ceflity of the thing, veft in him who has tlie right to the fervices of his fubjefts 
 the conquerors ; and as is before fhewn, the Sovereign has a right to their 
 fervice. In fuch a cafe, the legal property could otherwife exift in no one ; 
 a fluftuating body being by Law incapable of taking an interefl in lands. On 
 the other hand, if there be any thing intermediate that prevents the property 
 palTing in a dire6l channel to the Crown, that circumflrance complcatly interrupts 
 the operation of the principle we have defcribed. Tlius, if a baftard dies in- 
 teftate, feized of a copyhold of inheritance, it fhall not go to the King, but to 
 the Lord of the Manor ; and fo on an attaint of blood, if the convidl has pre- 
 vioufiy transferred the legal intereft in his inheritance over to another the King 
 is barred, and ftiall not take it by his prerogative. 
 
 Thequeftion then becomes reduced to the fimple fad, whether at the time of, 
 and anterior to the Company's taking poftefllon of the Circars, the legal eftate 
 in the foil was in them. If it was, it remains fo ftill, and the term of conqueft 
 in fo far as it has any relation to, or connedlion with the qucftion of right, is 
 inapplicable to the fubjedt. Every force ufed however necelTary and juft, to help 
 any lawful owner to his own, might equally be termed a conqueft. In viewing and 
 comparing the cafe of the Circars with thofe of Mafulipatam and the final con- 
 queft of Bengal, for the purpolc of difcoveiing the operation of law with refpeft 
 to the proper4:y in the foil, the difference (and a very great one indeed it is) 
 confifts in this, that in the former inftance the grant was antecedent to the 
 poireftion; it. \y&% made by the lawful owner to a party (the Eaft-India Com- 
 
 K P^ny)
 
 (■ 70 ) 
 
 pany) capable and authorized by law to accept and hold the lands fo granted, 
 whereby the legal eftate and title became transferred to the Company in thefirfl 
 inftance, and they have done no adl whatever todiveft themfelves of it, but have 
 obtained poireflion as they lawfully might, and have ever fince retained it. Whereas 
 in the other cafes, the grant being made fubfequent to the conqueft, the law in- 
 flantly caft the legal eftate by the conqueft upon the King -, and any grants made 
 fubfequent to the King's title once acquired, though made by the conquered 
 party and former owner to the real conqueror, are unavailable, and cannoc 
 operate to diveft the King of what he had previoufly been invefted with. 
 
 To raife a queftion at this day upon the efficacy of the Mogul's grant to the 
 Company, would be abfurd and prepofterous, as ftriking at the very root of 
 their titles to various parts of our poffefiions in India, and particularly to the 
 fettlemenrs of the Company ; and becaufe if the grant be bad, it will not make 
 a title in the King. 
 
 With refpeft to the means ufed for obtaining the grant in queftion, it will 
 be alfo nugatory to enter upon the enc^uiry, fince no part of the claim of the 
 Public is founded upon an imputed forfeiture; and becaufe by the jurifpru- 
 dence of England, the King muft fliew a legal title in himfelf to fupport his 
 right; no equitable circumftances can avail him in fuch a cafe againft his fub' 
 jefts. Befides which, if a fraud, however grofs and atrocious it may have been, 
 were to be proved or admitted in refpedt to the means ufed to obtain the grant, 
 it could give no right of refumption here, nor aflift the claim of the Crown or 
 the Public. If by the enormity of the fraud, the grant could be vitiated and 
 fet afide, the lands muft revert to the grantee upon whom the fraud was com- 
 mitted. 
 
 That the Company were capable, and muft fo continue 'till the law is 
 altered, of acquiring landed property by grants from the country powers to an 
 indefinite extent, is evident both in the letter and the fpirit of their Charter, 
 and no man will be hardy enough to deny it, after the high legal authority we 
 have before quoted at large in the Third Chapter upon that very point. 
 
 Left what we have already faid fliould not be thought fufficient for fupport- 
 ing the exclufive claim of the Company to the Circars ; and left the claim of 
 the Public fhould be again brought forward as for a country obtained by con- 
 queft, it may be right further to difcufs the fadt. 
 
 That fraud and every fpecies of corruption, chicane and artifice, were prac- 
 tifed to create fears and apprehenfions in the mind of the Soubah, as the means 
 of influencing and bringing him into our views for effefling our purpofes ; 
 and that we corrupted his minifters and commanders to gain them over to our 
 interefts, will not be denied. Pradtices of a nature which would never have 
 been admitted in the Councils of the Company's fervants, under other circum- 
 ftances than the very peculiar ones which at that critical jundure exifted. But 
 i, we
 
 C 71 ) 
 
 we fee in this nothing like coitque/i. The forces we had in the Circars, except 
 a very few that had been added for fliew more than actual fervice, to attend the 
 publication of the Mogul's grant, were at that time in the pay and fervice of the 
 Soubah himfclf, and we were in perfect amity with him. The bare aft of taking 
 pofTeffion of the defencelefs Fort of Condapilly and the pafs, cannot furely be 
 deemed a conqiieft of the Circars. It is much to be doubted, if that Fort is 
 deemed a part of the Circars, nor does it clearly appear that it was garrifoned 
 by the Soubah's forces. Ic may rather be prefumed to have been held by a Ze- 
 mindar, as thofe Forts were which we obtained by corrupting Vizeram Raufe. 
 But admitting it was the Soubah's, it will be found fituate at the extremity of the 
 Circar of Ellore, between the hills, which form the north-weft boundary of it. 
 As well might it be argued that by the capture of Breda, the French had accom- 
 plifhed the conquefl: of the United Provinces, as that a country fix hundred 
 miles in length on the lea coaft, was conquered by taking this hill fort, fituate 
 at the Welkrn extremity of it. The Government of Fort St. George, the 
 moment they knew of the Mogul's grant, had undoubtedly refolved to feize 
 and keep the Circars upon many confiderations both political and commercial, 
 and had concerted and taken their meafures to meet the event of the Nizam 
 ultimately rejeding their propofals, or of his refilling their attempts to keep 
 them by force. But both juftice and policy dictated the propriety of holding 
 them as fiefs of the Empire under the Native Sovereigns, by a rent and military 
 tenure, rather than to involve the country in a new war; and their plan fuc- 
 ceeded. They purchafcd, of the Soubah, a confirmation of their polTeflion by 
 a fine, a yearly rent or tribute, and an engagement to furnifli a body offerees 
 when required. They afted upon this agreement by an adual fupply of troops 
 immediately after, and they have paid the If ipulated rent. It may be faid, and 
 perhaps truly fjid, that the Soubah's mind was influenced in making the grant 
 more by panic and the fear of refentment if he fliould refufe, than by any 
 advantages he could expedt to derive by his compliance. But the motives for 
 his conduft can in no way be admitted to affecfl the decifion on the queftion of 
 right, nor will they admit of proof j Itill lefs ought we to prefume that becaufe 
 the Company's fervants purfued improper means to gain their point, thofe 
 means failing, the conqueft ot the Circars muft of neceflity have followed ; as 
 well might it be argued that though the grant was obtained, the Company in- 
 ftead (jf being permitted to take the fruits of it, fliall be confidered as having 
 done that, which they did not in fa£l dO; and which their ability to have done, 
 mull: have depended altogether on the precarious events of war. 
 
 With refped: to the treaty of 1768, whereby the Soubah in effecH: ratified the 
 two former agreements ; nothing material appears to us to arife from it to alter 
 the queftion of right, and therefore we forbear to enter into any difculTion of 
 it. The Company's tenure and their poflelTions remained as before. 
 
 It has been noticed that by conqueji, the fovereignty, as well as the foil, pafTes 
 to the Crown. If the Law Officers in India had conceived that the Circars were 
 
 held.
 
 ( 72 ) 
 
 held in right of conqueft, they could have had no difficulty in advifing their 
 conftituents to have obtained from the Crown a Charter of Juftice for thole parts 
 of their poflefiions. The want of Courts of Judicature there, has long been 
 a fubjeft of very ferious complaint. That none have been inftituted, can alone 
 be afcribed to the circumftance of our not holding the Circars by right of con- 
 quefl, but as Jagheerdars and tributaries to the Native Princes. The Law 
 officers of the Company have given it as their opinion, that the fovereignty re- 
 mains in the country powers, and that no Courts can be inftituted but by the 
 authority of the iVIogul or his Soubah. If the fovereignty is not in the King, 
 it muft follow that the property in the lands or revenues cannot be vefted in 
 him ; and although the Crown cannot hold by the tenure of another, it is very 
 confiftent for the Company to do fo, and in fafb they always have fo held from 
 the time of their obtaining their firft Firmauns from the country powers. 
 
 Upon the whole, we retain the opinion formerly given in the Third Chapter,* 
 that in point of law the Crown or the Public have no claim againft the Com- 
 pany in the northern Circars, and that they are held by the Company as Jag- 
 heerdars to the Mogul, (a fpecies of military tenure, by which they are to fur- 
 nifh a number of cavalry, determinable by the Emperor's books) paying at the 
 fame time by voluntary compaft, a fixt tribute to the Soubah ©f the Decan, 
 who is the nominal viceroy and reprefentative of the Mogul in thofe parts. 
 
 How far fo large a territory may be necefTary for the purpofes of commerce, 
 and in that refpeft proper to be kept by the Company, or for any political pur- 
 pofes to be taken from them and placed in the Crown, it is not our province to 
 determine. The Legiflature are the proper judges in that refpedt. All that 
 we mean to contend is this, that the Circars never were conquered by the Eaft- 
 India Company ; that their title to them is by grant, and that there is no law 
 exiftino- by which they can be taken out of their hands, or by which they are 
 liable to account for the revenues of them to the Public, otherwife than according 
 to the terms and conditions of their exifting compadt for the continuance of their 
 exclufive trade, by which a temporary participation has been eftablilhed of the 
 Revenues of the Britifli Territories in India at large, of which Mafulipatam and 
 the Circars form a part, with a mutual faving of Rights from being prejudiced 
 by that partition. 
 
 * Vide the opinions of ihe Company's Advocate General and Solicitor General at Fort St. 
 .'fjeorgc, ^iven in July, 1783.
 
 As ACCOUNT of the Value of the Good., diaingmfi^ng ^'^^ P''"^'P^^' "^'^'p ^„^'"' °^,^^ 
 of Eaft India Goods, clUniaccd at the lame Rate as the imports ; n ot 1 our 1 ears. 
 
 Exports 
 
 Value of Goods fold at the Company's Sales 
 
 Total Value fold in the Four Years 
 
 Medium Anual Value fold 
 
 Ditto exported 
 
 Years. 
 
 Walk- 
 ing 
 Canes. 
 
 Medium Annual Value remaining for Home Confumption 
 
 £■ 
 
 . 3,66fc 
 4.42^ 
 
 35,760 
 
 Medium Annual Value retained for Home Confumption, 
 excluding the Duties 
 
 8,041 
 
 2,587 
 
 China 
 Ware. 
 
 30," 24 
 3^,959 
 S4.5SC 
 45,201 
 
 177,83^ 
 
 44,45^ 
 12,68.1 
 
 3i,774 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 Stuffs 
 I^PP^""- digo. 
 
 £. £. C- 
 
 29,720 t;5,438),5b9 
 14,928 163,0977,107 
 54,015 1 75,223^,564 
 47,919, 149, ''^'■^'3 5 I 
 
 Red 
 Sanders. 
 
 146,582 582,9473,611 
 
 16,682 
 
 36,645 145,7362,152 
 
 '4,5°3 
 
 22,142 
 
 100,4725,01 1 
 
 45,2643,141 
 
 12,278 25,i94>,i4i 
 
 £• 
 
 4,847 
 3,441 
 2,279 
 
 10,567 
 
 2,641 
 812 
 
 1,829 
 1,829 
 
 Shel- 
 lack. 
 
 4,152 
 609 
 
 1,296 
 
 6,059 
 
 1,514 
 3,365 
 
 Saltpetre. 
 
 £• 
 
 100,067 
 87,041 
 85,692 
 
 160,913 
 
 433,713 
 
 108,428 
 5,434 
 
 102,994 
 
 F6,5i4 
 
 Value of Goods fold at the Company's Sales 
 continued . - - - - 
 
 Total Value fold in the Four Years 
 
 Medium Annual Value fold 
 
 Ditio exported 
 
 Years, 
 
 Mother of 
 Pearl Shells 
 
 £■ 
 3,323 
 
 2,322 
 
 
 Medium Annual Value remaining for Home Confumption^ 
 
 Medium Annual Value retained for Home Confumption, 
 ex-clufive of the Duties - - 
 
 5,645 
 
 1,411 
 720 
 
 691 
 
 57^ 
 
 Silk. 
 Bengal 
 Raw. 
 
 " £■ 
 
 289,271 
 
 302,991 
 321,882 
 318,440 
 
 1,232,584 
 
 308,146 
 46,620 
 
 261, 526 
 
 bilk. 
 Cliin; 
 Raw. 
 
 £■ 
 
 235,5 
 217,7 
 236,1 
 
 14^,5 
 837,'- 
 
 233,883 
 
 209,il 
 
 14,-^ 
 195,^ 
 
 145,' 
 
 Value of Eaft-India Goods exported 
 
 Total Value exported in the Four Y'ears 
 
 I\Tedium Annual Value exported 
 
 „ Stuffs. 
 
 P^PP^'di-o. 
 
 £■ £■ 
 92,1 li, 402 
 
 95, 5^;, 280 
 125,17,365 
 
 89,c(- 
 
 401,85,047 
 
 io%4t,o I I 
 
 Red 
 
 Sanders 
 
 889 
 
 '37 
 
 2,076 
 
 148 
 
 3,^5° 
 S12 
 
 Shel- 
 lack. 
 
 6,787 
 
 3,078 
 
 3,271 
 
 326 
 
 13,462 
 
 3,3^5 
 
 Saltpetre. 
 
 £■ 
 
 7,5:5 
 
 7,921 
 
 S>397 
 21,738 
 
 5,434 
 
 Value of Eaft-India Goods exported, commued 
 
 Total Value exported in Four Years 
 
 Years. 
 
 Mother of 
 Pearl Shells. 
 
 £■ 
 
 1,792 
 897 
 
 194 
 
 2,883 
 
 hilk. 
 
 Bengal 
 
 Raw. 
 
 ~~£- 
 65,481 
 
 55, '74 
 50,9' 3 
 14,913 
 
 bill 
 Chi 
 Ra 
 
 ~? 
 
 3' 
 1 1 
 
 9 
 5 
 
 _2^tLl ^1 RECAPITULATION
 
 As ACCOUNT of the Value of the Goods, diainguidiing the principal Articles fold by the Kast India Compaxv in the lad Four Years, agreeablv to the Company's Sale Prices • andalfooflhe 
 of Eaft India Goods, clliiiiatcd at tlic fame Rate as the Imports ; together with the Value, inclmlmg the Duties of that Part which remains for Home Conlumption taken upon a Medium of 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 ( 73 
 
 Value of the 
 Four Years. 
 
 Exports 
 
 Years. 
 
 \V;.lk- 
 
 ing 
 
 Cincs. 
 
 ~~ 
 
 I3,66i 
 
 4>4J5 
 
 9'* 
 
 35.76'^ 
 
 China 
 Ware. 
 
 C- 
 39. '=4 
 38,959 
 S4 5!' 
 4S.*°' 
 
 '77,831 
 
 44.455 
 
 3". 774 
 
 i6,6S2 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 Pepper. 
 
 Sago. 
 
 Tea. 
 
 Turme- 
 ric. 
 
 Miinulac- 
 
 turcd 
 Articles. 
 
 Unmanu- 
 lac'turcd 
 Articles. 
 
 Cowries. 
 
 Dru^s. 
 Beiija 
 mill. 
 
 Borax, 
 refined and 
 unrefined. 
 
 Carde- 
 moms. 
 
 Callia 
 Buds. 
 
 CalTia 
 Lignea. 
 
 Camphirc 
 unrefined. 
 
 Myrrh. 
 
 Quick- 
 lilvcr. 
 
 Rhubarb. 
 
 Dye Siuffi. 
 Indigo. 
 
 Red 
 Sanders. 
 
 Shel- 
 lack. 
 
 Saltpetre. 
 
 • 1789 
 Value of Goods fold at the Company's S.ilcs - ■ ^ ^ ' 
 
 , 1792 
 
 29,720 
 14,928 
 S4.01! 
 47.9"9 
 
 95,438 
 l6;,C97 
 
 175,^-3 
 149,189 
 
 2,990 
 <'.994 
 7,330 
 
 5.;''3 
 
 I. 
 
 2,843,386 
 2.9'7.23S 
 2,985,070 
 
 3.047.<'93 
 
 1,993 
 
 4,198 
 
 if- 
 
 2,666 
 ■+,250 
 
 37,839 
 18,210 
 
 I- 
 
 19, '77 
 1,238 
 
 853 
 
 6,087 
 
 5.3 3" 
 8,919 
 
 8.718 
 
 5, 166 
 4.201 
 
 3.03? 
 296 
 
 3,42 = 
 3.440 
 
 £■ 
 
 4,377 
 '.943 
 
 2,24; 
 
 '0,972 
 
 231 
 
 1,156 
 
 2,436 
 
 if. 
 16,285 
 4.4" 
 3>7>9 
 4.257 
 
 if. 
 8,148 
 
 if- 
 
 2,710 
 1,989 
 
 478 
 
 if- 
 
 17,982 
 4,983 
 1,126 
 
 '4,303 
 
 '5.584 
 988 
 
 if- 
 110,569 
 '37,'07 
 209,564 
 
 ■83.351 
 
 T7 
 3,44 ■ 
 
 2.279 
 
 C- 
 4.152 
 
 609 
 
 1,296 
 
 100,067 
 87,041 
 85,692 
 
 160,913 
 
 Total Value fold in the Four Years 
 
 146,582! 582,947 
 
 23,077 1 1,803,392 
 
 6,774 
 
 7=,973 
 
 21.986 
 
 2=,337 
 
 18,085 
 
 10,197 
 
 8,565 
 
 14,796 
 
 28,7.2 
 
 8,148 
 
 5,'07 
 
 38,394 
 
 16,572 
 
 640,61 1 
 
 10,567 
 
 6,059 
 
 433,713 
 
 Medium Anual Value fold 
 
 Ditto exported - . - 
 
 8,04' 
 5.65- 
 
 ^587 
 
 3'','4S 
 ■4,503 
 
 ■45,736 
 100,472 
 
 5,769 2>9So,848 
 773 330.8=5 
 
 1,693 
 694 
 
 ■8,243 
 4,180 
 
 5.496 
 1,320 
 
 5,084 
 3.653 
 
 4.5 = > 
 9.874 
 
 2,549 
 96 
 
 2,141 
 2,275 
 
 3.699 
 2,64 = 
 
 7,'78 
 11,919 
 
 2,037 
 1,940 
 
 1,301 
 644 
 
 9.598 
 90. 
 
 8,691 
 7. '51 
 
 4. '43 
 6 162 
 
 160,15a 
 34.'" 1 
 
 2,641 
 812 
 
 ■■5'4 
 
 3.365 
 
 108,428 
 5-454 
 
 Medium Annual Value remaining for Home Confumption 
 
 22,142 
 ■2,278 
 
 45,264 
 25.'94 
 
 4,996; 2,620.023 
 
 799 
 
 '4,05s 
 
 4,176 
 
 1.43' 
 
 - 
 
 2.453 
 
 - 
 
 '.057 
 
 - 
 
 97 
 
 657 
 
 — 
 
 116,141 
 
 1,829 
 
 
 101,954 
 
 Medium Annual Value retained for Home Confuinption, 
 excluding the Duties 
 
 3,900 2,288,104 
 
 605 
 
 8,741 
 
 2.997 
 
 978 
 
 - 
 
 i.Sio 
 
 - 
 
 95' 
 
 - 
 
 86 
 
 3,0 
 
 - 
 
 126,141 
 
 .,829 
 
 — 
 
 86,5.4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 M 1 
 
 ' 
 
 R T S 
 
 CON 
 
 T I N U 
 
 R n. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Valje of Goods fold at the Company** Sales 
 continued . . . . - 
 
 Tulal Value fold in ihc Four Ve; 
 
 .78., 
 1790 
 i;9i 
 1792 
 
 Medium Annual Value fold - - . . 
 
 Dino exported • - - 
 
 Medium Annual Value remaining for Home CunfunipfK 
 
 Medium Annual Value retained for Home Confumption, 
 c\clutivc of the Duties ■ , , . 
 
 Mother of 
 I'carl Shells, 
 
 if- 
 3.323 
 
 1,322 
 
 5.645 
 
 1,411 
 720 
 
 691 
 
 billt. 
 Bengal 
 Raw. 
 
 if- 
 
 289,271 
 302,991 
 321,882 
 318,440 
 
 '.232.584 
 
 308,146 
 46,620 
 
 261,526 
 
 233,883 
 
 bilk. 
 China 
 Ran. 
 
 "7 
 
 235,506 
 
 '■7.735 
 236,179 
 
 '4^,547 
 837,967 
 
 209,491 
 14,480 
 
 '45.353 
 
 Cotton 
 Wool. 
 
 267 
 2,9;6 
 '5, =35 
 
 ■S,4 ?8 
 
 4,619 
 25 
 
 629,949 
 8!S,S99 
 866,5^9 
 820,1 14 
 
 3.'55.47i 
 
 786,867 
 674,342 
 
 "4,S'> 
 
 77.877 
 
 MuQins. 
 
 if- 
 
 793,166 
 
 1,208,384 
 
 -,80,729 
 
 840,879 
 
 3,623,158 
 
 905,789 
 516,240 
 
 359.549 
 294,831 
 
 £■■ 
 40.327 
 
 4S.5'6 
 35.783 
 ■S.=34 
 
 .36,860 
 
 34.215 
 7,606 
 
 26,607 
 
 21,810 
 
 Prohibited 
 Goods. 
 
 "T- 
 
 2 36,r',68 
 282,598 
 272,321 
 242,622 
 
 034,109 
 
 258,55-' 
 258,552 
 
 Mllcclla- 
 
 neous 
 .-irtielcs. 
 
 2',3'4 
 31,000 
 49,848 
 25,650 
 
 127,822 
 
 3'.9!S 
 10,73s 
 
 Grand 
 Total. 
 
 I- 
 t,6i4,64t 
 6,359.257 
 6,210,469 
 6,1 19, 111 
 
 24,303,488 
 
 6,075,871 
 2,114,378 
 
 3,96 ',494 
 
 X 
 
 o 
 
 T 
 
 S. 
 
 Years. 
 
 W alk- 
 
 iug 
 
 Canes. 
 
 China 
 Ware, 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 Pepper. 
 
 Sago. 
 
 Tea. 
 
 Furme- 
 ric. 
 
 iManutac- 
 
 turcd 
 Articles. 
 
 Unmaiiu- 
 faclured 
 
 Articles. 
 
 Cowries. 
 
 UrUK!. 
 Ecnja- 
 miu. 
 
 refined and 
 unrefined. 
 
 Carde- 
 moins. 
 
 Calha 
 Buds. 
 
 Calfia 
 X-ignea. 
 
 .Cainphire 
 uurc tilled. 
 
 Myrrh. 
 
 (Juick- 
 filvcr. 
 
 Rhubatb. 
 
 Dye StuSi. 
 Indi^u. 
 
 Red 
 Sauders 
 
 Shrl. 
 lacil. 
 
 Saltpetre. 
 
 Value of Eaft-India Goods expoitcd - ■ 1 .-^^ 
 
 L 1J92 
 
 if. 
 
 8,796 
 S.3°4 
 5,3"' 
 3.2'4 
 
 if- 
 12,721 
 
 '2,45-- 
 11,510 
 14,046 
 
 12,476 
 
 5,968 
 
 661 
 
 38,909 
 
 if. 
 92,115 
 
 95.5'7 
 125,129 
 69,c6.- 
 
 if. 
 1,063 
 
 '5' 
 
 1,88. 
 
 if- 
 342.3" 
 
 307,093 
 33.3,029 
 340,86s 
 
 if- 
 1,256 
 
 '.54" 
 780 
 
 666 
 3,065 
 
 if- 
 
 4.791 
 309 
 '79 
 
 1 1,1 69 
 
 2.477 
 302 
 167 
 
 if- 
 
 10,432 
 4,962 
 8,131 
 
 'S.974 
 
 if- 
 
 6+ 
 
 3' 
 
 291 
 
 if- 
 
 :;'5?^ 
 2,638 
 2,527 
 
 I- 
 2,699 
 
 3.;o4 
 ',96 
 
 3,'7' 
 
 16,567 
 ii,39» 
 
 8,895 
 ic,8io 
 
 if- 
 
 6,096 
 1,666 
 
 7,762 
 
 if- 
 
 4-6 
 
 755 
 
 if- 
 
 4611 
 2,1 4t, 
 
 84- 
 
 144 
 
 C- 
 
 11,674 
 
 6,824 
 
 4,668 
 
 484 
 
 24,650 
 
 c- 
 
 3.<"2 
 4S,i«o 
 87,365 
 
 689 
 
 "'! 
 
 2,076 
 
 .48 
 
 C- 
 
 3.078 
 
 3.271 
 
 326 
 
 £■ 
 905 
 
 -.5'S 
 7.92' 
 S.397 
 
 Total V4I0C exported in llie Four Years 
 
 22,63c 
 
 t.657 
 
 50,739 
 12,684 
 
 58,014 
 '1,503 
 
 401,889 
 10^,271 
 
 3.0951 '.323. 30! 
 
 3,577 
 
 16,752 
 
 5,282 
 - 1,320 
 
 14,615 
 
 39.499 
 
 387 
 
 9,100 
 
 .0,57c 
 2,642 
 
 47,676 
 
 2,576 
 
 3,6ofc 
 
 136,047 
 
 S.'SO 
 8.2 
 
 13.462 
 
 21,738 
 
 Medium Annual Value expotlcd 
 
 773 3-0.82; 
 
 894 
 
 4,i8ft 
 
 ■,653 
 
 9.874 
 
 06 
 
 2,17; 
 
 11,9 9 
 
 1,940 
 
 6*4 
 
 902 
 
 6,i4i 
 
 34, o. 1 
 
 3.365 
 
 5.434 
 
 EXPORTS 
 
 C O N T I N U F. D. 
 
 ^ aliie of Eaft-India Goods exported, commucd 
 
 f '789 
 
 I 1790 
 
 I '79' 
 
 v '792 
 
 Intal Value exported in Four Years 
 
 Mother of 
 I'carl Shells. 
 
 if- 
 
 '.792 
 
 897 
 
 '94 
 
 1,883 
 
 .-ilk. 
 
 Bengal 
 
 Raw. 
 
 ~~£- 
 
 65,481 
 55.'74 
 50,913 
 >4.9'3 
 
 186,481 
 
 Silk. 
 
 China 
 
 Raw. 
 
 f- 
 
 31,602 
 
 11,1:95 
 9.05' 
 5,595 
 
 S7,9'3 
 
 Cotion 
 Wool. 
 
 if- 
 
 Callicoel. 
 
 /■- 
 
 
 588, 
 
 786 
 
 650, 
 
 820 
 
 640,055 1 
 
 817, 
 
 710 
 
 2,69" 
 
 37' 
 
 
 
 6-4, 
 
 1J2 
 
 Nankeens. 
 
 if- 
 
 596,814 
 478,940 
 .188,128 
 611,079 
 
 2,184,961 
 
 ^46,240 
 
 if- 
 
 6,647 
 8,26s 
 
 7,0 '7 
 8,49' 
 
 30.414 
 
 7,6 5h 
 
 Prohibited 
 (iuods. 
 
 if- 
 
 23 ,668 
 281,593 
 272,321 
 
 242,622 
 
 .,034,209 
 H8,;C2 
 i 
 
 Mileella- 
 ncous 
 Articka. 
 
 ~7~~ 
 
 7,'oS 
 10.333 
 16,949 
 
 _8,550_ 
 
 4'.940 
 
 Grand 
 Total. 
 
 7- ' 
 2.085.5S3 
 2,021,695 
 2,099, l&{ 
 2,25. ,07} 
 
 8,1S7,5'» 
 
 RECAPITULATI 
 
 4
 
 RECAPITULATION of the preceding Account. 
 
 Medium Annual Amount of Eaft India Sales, including Duties paid by the Company and 
 the Purchafers, viz. in Goods £. 5,015,180 ; in Dutics^T. 1,060,692 ; in all /. 6,075,872. 
 
 The above Sum of ^.6,075,872 confifls of the following Articles, including the Duties. 
 
 ift. Walking Canes, China Ware, Coffee, Pepper, Sago, Tea, Turmeric, manufaftured 
 and unnianufadured Goods, and fundry fmall Articles £. 2,756,262 
 
 2dly. Drugs and Cowries - - ... •4)391 
 
 3dly. Indigo, Red Sanders, Saltpetre, Mother of Pearl Shells, Ben- 
 gal and China Raw Silk, Cotton Wool, and fundry fniall Articles - 704,256 
 
 4thly. Callicoes, Muflins, and Nankeens ... . 500,683 
 
 Total Amount retained for Home Confumption, including the 
 
 Duties ..... 3,975,591 
 
 Goods exported, including the Duties - - . 2,114,378 
 
 Total . . . . . . 6,089,970 
 
 Deduft the Amount of thofe Articles, the value of which on expor- 
 tation exceeded the value fold, arifing from a greater quantity 
 of thefe Articles having been on hand at the time the Account 
 commenced, than at the period in which it terminated . 14,098 
 
 -6,075,872 
 
 RECAPITULATION, exdufive of the Duties. 
 
 Medium Annual Amount of Eaft India Sales, exdufive of the Duties - ;f- 5,013,239 
 The above Sum of ,^. 5,013,239 confifls of the following Articles, exdufive 
 
 of the Duties, 
 ift. Walking Canes, China Ware, Coffee, Pepper, Sago, Tea, &c. 
 
 as above - - - ... ;C- 2,370,027 
 
 2dly. Drugs and Couries - - - . 11,288 
 
 3dly. Indigo, Red Sanders, Saltpetre, Mother of Pearl Shells, &c. 
 
 as above .... . 606,201 
 
 4thly. Callicoes amounting to j£- 77,877; Mudins £.294,831; 
 
 and Nankeens ,r. 21,820 ; making in all ... 394,528 
 
 Total ..... 3,382,044 
 
 Dedud: the Amount of thofe Articles where the Export exceeds 
 the Sale - ..... 14,098 
 
 Medium Annual Value of Goods retained for Home Confumption 3,367,946 
 Amount of Goods exported - . £.2,114,378 
 
 Dedud Drawbacks repaid to the Exporters - 433,601 
 
 1,680,777 
 
 Total ..... 5,048,723 
 
 The difference between the Value fold, exdufive of the Duties, and the Value, thus 
 accounted for, amounting to £. 35,484, arifes from a variety of circumftances, a detail of 
 which, in figures, would greatly tend to complicate the Account.
 
 RECAPITULATION of the preceding Account. 
 
 Medium Annual Amount of Eaft India Sales, including Duties paid by the Compan 
 
 the Purchafers, viz. in Goods £. 5,015,180 ; in Duties^. 1,060,692 ; in all £. 6,075 
 
 The above Sum of ,^.6,075,872 confifts of the following Articles, including the D 
 
 ift. Walking Canes, China Ware, Coffee, Pepper, Sago, Tea, Turmeric, manufao 
 
 and unmanufaclured Goods, and fundry fmall Articles ^. 2,756,262 
 
 zdly. Drugs and Cowries - - . - ■ 14539 1 
 
 3dly. Indigo, Red Sanders, Saltpetre, Mother of Pearl Shells, Ben- 
 gal and China Raw Silk, Cotton Wool, and fundry fmall Articles - 704,256 
 4thly. Callicoes, Muflins, and Nankeens - - . . 500,683 
 
 Total Amount retained for Home Confumption, including the 
 
 Duties .".'." ■ ' 3'975>592 
 
 Goods exported, including the Duties - - - 2,114,378 
 
 Total - - - - . - - 6,089,970 
 
 Dedudt the Amount of thofe Articles, the value of which on expor- 
 tation exceeded the value fold, arifing from a greater quantity 
 of thefe Articles having been on hand at the time the Account 
 commenced, than at the period in which it terminated - 14,098 
 
 6,075, 
 
 RECAPITULATION, exdufive of the Duties. 
 
 Medium Annual Amount of Eaft India Sales, exclufive of the Duties - £>' St^^Z' 
 The above Sum of £. 5,0 13,239 confifls of the following Articles, exclufive 
 
 of the Duties, 
 ift. Walking Canes, China W^are, Coffee, Pepper, Sago, Tea, &c. 
 
 as above - - - ... jC- 2,370,027 
 
 2dly. Drugs and Couries - - - - 11,288 
 
 3dly. Indigo, Red Sanders, Saltpetre, Mother of Pearl Shells, &c. 
 
 as above . - - - - 606,201 
 
 4thly. Callicoes amounting to £.. ^ 1,^11 i Muflins ^.294,831; 
 
 and Nankeens ^T. 21,820 ; making in all ... 394,528 
 
 Total ... - - 3,382,044 
 
 Dedudt the Amount of thofe Articles where the Export exceeds 
 
 the Sale - .... - 14,098 
 
 Medium Annual Value of Goods retained for H'^me Confumption 3,367,946 
 Amount of Goods exported - - ,^.2,114,378 
 
 Dedud Drawbacks repaid to the Exporters - 433,601 
 
 1,680,777 
 
 Total .... 5,048, 
 
 The difference between the Value fold, exclufive of the. Duties, and the Value 
 accomited for, amounting to £. 35,484, arifes from a variety of circumftances, a deta 
 which, in figures, would greatly tend to complicate the Account.
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 An Abridgment of the Act for fettling the Govern- 
 ment and Trade of India, and for the Appropriation 
 of the Territorial Revenues and Profits of Trade. 
 
 THE CONTROUL AT HOME. 
 
 JL H E Acl provides for the continuation of the Board of Controul 
 for the Affairs of India in all its parts, except, that inftead of the 
 Secretary of State being the Prefident, the perfon firft named in the 
 King's Commiffion is to be the Prefident ; and, inftead of the Com- 
 miffion being limited to fix Privy Counfellors, the number is inde- 
 finite, refting on the King's pleafure ; of which, however, the 
 two principal Secretaries of State and the Chancellor of the Exche- 
 quer are to be three : and His Majefty may, if he pleafes, add to 
 the lift two Commiflioners, who are not of his Privy Council. 
 
 By the former Adt, no falaries were given to the Commiflioners 
 for India ; and thofe of their Secretary and other Officers were to 
 be paid out of the Civil Lift. By the new Aft, the King may 
 give £. 5,000 a year amongft fuch of the Commiffioners as he 
 pleafes ; which, together with the falaries of the Secretary and 
 Officers, and other expences of .the Board, are to be paid by the 
 India Company, and not by the Civil Lift. The whole is not to 
 exceed £. 16,000 a year, the Commiffioners Salaries included. 
 
 Oaths are prefcribed for thj Commiffioners and their Officers. 
 The office of a Commiffioner or Chief Secretary, is not to be 
 
 Li deemed
 
 ( 76 ) 
 
 deemed a new office, to difable their fitting in Parliament. The 
 appointment of a Commiflioner not having a falary, or of a Chief 
 Secretary (if a Member of the Houfe of Commons) is not to 
 vacate his feat ; but the appointment of a Commiffioncr, with a 
 falary, will vacate his feat. Three Commiffiohers hiuft be prefcnt to 
 form a Board. 
 
 The powers of the Board are, In fubftance, the fame as under 
 former Afts of Parliament. They are to fuperfntend, direft and 
 controul all adts, operations and concerns which relate to the Civil 
 or Military Government and Revenues of India, fubjed to the 
 reftridlions hereafter-mentioned. They and their Officers are to 
 have accefs to the papers and records of the Company, and to be 
 furniflied with copies or extrads of fuch of them as fhall be re- 
 quired. They are alfo to be furniflied with Copies of all proceed- 
 ings of General Courts and Courts of Dired:ors, within eight days; 
 and with Copies of all difpatches from abroad, which relate to 
 Matters of Government or Revenue, immediately after their arrival. 
 No orders on thofe fubjefts are to be fent by the Company to India 
 until approved by the Board, and when the Commiffioners vary or 
 expunge any difpatches propofed by the DiredVors, they are to give 
 their reafons ; and all difpatches are to be returned to theCourt of 
 Diredtors in fourteen days. The Dircdlors may ftate their objedlions 
 to any alterations, and the Commiffioners are to reconfider them, and 
 if they interfere with what the Direftors may deem matters of Com- 
 merce, the Diredtors may apply to the King in Council to determine 
 betwixt them. But the Board are reftridted from the appointment of 
 any of the Company's Servants. If the DiredVors, on being called 
 upon to propofe difpatches, on any fubjedl relating to Government 
 or Revenue, ffiall fail to do fo within fourteen days, the Board 
 may originate their own difpatches on that fubjedt. 
 
 The
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 The Board are not to authorize any encreafe of falaries, or any 
 allowance or gratuity to be granted to perfons employed in the 
 Company's "fervice, except the fame (hall be firfl, propofed by the 
 Company, and their intention and reafons for fuch grant are to be 
 certified to both Houfes of Parliament thirty days before the falary 
 can commence. 
 
 The Diredors are to appoint three of their members to be a 
 Committee of Secrecy, through whom difpatches relating to 
 Government, war, peace or treaties, may be fent to, and received 
 from India. The Secret Committee, and the perfons they employ 
 to tranfcribe fecret difpatches, are to be fworn to fecrecy. 
 
 Orders of Direftors concerning the Government or Revenues of 
 India, once approved by the Board, are not fubjecl to revocation 
 by the General Court of Proprietors. 
 
 THE GOVERNMENTS ABROAD. 
 
 The prefent Forms of Goverment over the Prefidencies of 
 Bengal, Fort St. George and Madras, are continued in all their 
 effential parts. For Bengal, by a Governor General and three 
 Members of Council. For each of the others, a Governor 
 and three Members. Thefe latter, in refpcifh to treaties with the 
 native Powers of India, levying war, making peace, collediino- 
 and applying Revenues, levying and employing forces, or other 
 matters of civil or military Government, are to be under the 
 controul of the Government General of Bengal; and are, in all cafes 
 whatever, to obey their orders, unlefs the Directors fljiall have lent 
 to thofe fettlements any orders repugnant thereto, not known to the 
 Government General ; of which, in that cafe, they are to give the 
 Government General immediate advice. 
 
 The Court of Diredors are to appoint to thefe feveral Govern- 
 ments; namely, the GovernorGenerAl^ the two other Governors, 
 
 L 2 and
 
 ( 7^ ; 
 
 and the tlie Members of all the Councils; and likewise the Com- 
 mander in Chief of all the forces, and the three provincial Com- 
 raanders in Chief. None of the Commanders in Chief are, a" offi- 
 cio, to be of the Council ; but they are not difqualified from being 
 fo,, if the Diredlors fhall think fit to appoint them, and, when they 
 are Members of the Council, they are to have precedence of 
 the other Counfellors. The civil Members of Council are to be 
 appointed from the Lift of Civil Servants, who have refided twelve 
 years in the fervice in India. 
 
 The Diredlors may appoint to- any of thofe offices- provifionally, 
 but without falary, till the perfons appointed fliall a(5lually fucceed. 
 in pofTeffion. Any vacancy of Governor General, or Governor, 
 when no provifional fucceffor is on the fpot, is to be filled by the 
 Senior of the civil Counfellors, till a fuccefloF Ihall arrive, and 
 the vacant feat in Council, thereby occafioned, fliall be tem- 
 porily fupplied from amongft the Senior Merchants at the nomina- 
 tion of the adling Governor General, or Governor, if only one 
 Counfellor fliall then remain. The Governor General and Governors 
 may fupply vacancies in Council from the Lift of Senior Merchants, 
 until fucccfTors, duly appoint ?d, fhall arrive to take their feats. 
 In all thefe cafes, the falaries and allowances are to follow the a<fting 
 Members while In office. If the Direftors fail to appoint to va- 
 cancies in two calendar months after notification thereof, the King 
 may fupply them, and the Direftors fhall not remove any perfon 
 fo appointed. In all other cafes the DIredors have the power of 
 recalling or difmiffing any fervants ; and the like general power is 
 vefted in the Crown. Appointments made before the Ad arc not 
 to be thereby diflurbed. 
 
 The Commander in Chief of all the forces, when at cither of the 
 fubordinate fettlcments, is to have a feat at the Council Board, but 
 is to have no falary in refpedt thereof; and if the Provincial Com- 
 mander is a Member of that Council, he may continue to delibe- 
 rate
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 rate, but his voice fhall be fufpended, as long as the other fhall 
 remain. 
 
 Provifion is made for fupplying the place of any Member of 
 Council, difabled from attending by any cafual illnefs or infirmity. 
 
 The departvire of any Governor or Member of Government, or 
 Commander in Chief from India, with intent to come to Europe, 
 ur any written refignation delivered in by them fhall be deemed an 
 avoidance of office, and the coming into any part of Europe fhall 
 be a fufficient indication of that intent. No falary fliall be paid or 
 payable to any Officer, or his Agent, during abfcnce, unlefs em- 
 plo3'ed on aftual fervice ; and if any officer, unlefs abfent on fer- 
 vice, never returns, the falary is to be deemed to have ccafcd from 
 the day of his cpitting the fettkmcnt. 
 
 The AQ: prefcribes the order and method of conducing bufi- 
 nefs at the feveral Council Boards. Matters propounded by thePre- 
 fideat, {hall be fiift proceeded upon. He may adjourn the difcuffion 
 of queftions put by the Members of Council, but not more than 
 twice, nor beyond forty-eight hours each time. All orders are to be 
 exprefled to be made by the Governor General /« Council, or Gover- 
 nor in Council. Powers are given to the Governor General or Gover- 
 nors, to a(5t contrary tathe opinions of the other Members of Coun- 
 cil, taking upon themfeives the fole refponfibility. On fuch 
 extraordinary occafions, the Governor General, or Governor, and 
 Counfellors are to communicate to each other their opinions 
 and reafons bv minutes, in writing, and to meet a fecond 
 time; and if both retain their firft opinion, the minutes are to be 
 entered on the confutations, and the orders ot the Governor Gene- 
 ral, or Governor, are to be valid, and put in execution. 
 
 If the Governor General (hall vifit any fubordinate prefidency, 
 he iliall appoint a Vice Prefident to aft in B.'ngal during his ab- 
 
 fence
 
 ( So ) 
 
 fence, who, with the Council, may ad for that Prefidency alone. 
 The Governor General's authority, and that of his Council over fuch 
 fubordinate fettlement, fhall be transferred to the Council Board of the 
 Prefidency where he fliall be prefent; except in judicial cafes. Andwhilft 
 he is in a fubordinate Prefidency, the Governor thereof fhall have 
 only a voice in Council. His other authorities, except in regard 
 to judicial matters, fhall be fufpended. If the Governor General fliall 
 be in the field without a Council, all the Governments and Officers 
 Ihall obey his orders, and he alone fhall be refponfible. 
 
 Thefe extraordinary powers fhall not extend to the impofing any 
 tax, nor to any adt which might not be done by the whole Council, 
 nor to any judicial cafe, nor to the fufpenfion of any ftanding order 
 of Government, nor fliall thofe'powers be exercifed by perfons cafu- 
 ally fucceeding to the temporary Government; and the Direftors, with 
 the approbation of the India Board, may fufnend thefe extraordinary 
 powers, and again revive them ; and all the Governments are laid 
 under reftridtions to prevent war or extenfion of dominion in India, 
 unlefs hoftilities againfi: the Company, or their allies, fhall render 
 war unavoidable ; and the Members of the fubordinate Govern- 
 ments, adting contrary to this A(fl, or to the direftions of the Go- 
 vernment Genera], may be fufpended or tlifmifTcd by that Go- 
 vernment, and further punifhed. The fubordinate Prefidencies 
 are alfo required to communicate all matters of importance to the 
 Superior Government, with all difpatch. 
 
 The Governor General, and the other Governors, are veiled with 
 powers of apprehending perfons fufpeded of illicit correfpondence. 
 WitnefTes are to be examined and crofs examined, and their evi- 
 dence recorded ; and the parties may be tried either in India or 
 fent home : in the latter cafe, the depofitions of the vvitnefTes are 
 
 alfo
 
 ( 8i ) 
 
 alfo to be fent home, and are to be received in evidence, fubjefl to 
 impeachment in refpeft to the competency of the witnefTes. 
 
 To the adling Prefident of the feveral Council Boards, is given 
 a cafling vote in all cafes of equality of voices. 
 
 PATRONAGE AND RULE OF PROMOTION. 
 
 The Direcftors are to appoint fo many Cadets and Writers only, 
 as to fupply vacancies according to returns from abroad. Their 
 ages fliall not be under fifteen, not exceed twenty-two, unlefs any 
 Cadet fliall have been one year in the King's fervice, and then his 
 age is not to exceed twenty-five years. All fliall have promotion by 
 feniority of fervice only. Three years fervice qualifies a civil fervant 
 for a place of ^.500 a year; fix years for one of ^.1500; nine years 
 jf .3000 ; twelve years ;,^.4ooo a year or upwards. None to take two 
 offices, where the joint emoluments fhall exceed this rule. All Col- 
 leftors of the Revenue are to take the oath prefcribed in the Adt 
 againft the acceptance of prefents, and for faithfully rendering to 
 the Company all they fliall receive. 
 
 The acceptance of any prefent, by any fervant of the Crown, or of 
 the Company in India, is made punifliable as for extortion (with a 
 faving of fees to profefllonal men) and the Court, before whom 
 fuch offence is tried, on any convidtion, may return the prefent to the 
 party who gave it, or difpofe of any fine in favour of the profecutor. 
 
 Difobedience of orders of the Directors by fervants abroad, is 
 made punifliable as for a mifdemeanor, and fo is any breach of 
 truft or duty, or making or being party to any corrupt bargain 
 concerning any office or employment, whether by a King's or 
 a Company's fervant ; and all the King's fubjects in India are made 
 
 amenable
 
 i 82 ) 
 
 amenable to all Courts of competent jurifdidtion abroad, and at 
 home for all crimes committed by them in India. The Company- 
 may compound civil adlions, now depending, or hereafter to be 
 brought at any time before judgment, but in criminal cafes they 
 are ablolutely reftridted from compounding or remitting any judg- 
 ment or fentence whatever. 
 
 Servants of the Company, after five years abfence, cannot re- 
 turn with their rank, nor ferve again, unlefs detained by ficknefs ; 
 or unlefs it be by leave of the Company on a ballot of three parts 
 in four of the General Court. In cafe of ficknefs, the Direftors 
 are the judges in the Civil Service, atld in the Military the Di- 
 rectors and the Board of Controul jointly are the judges. 
 
 THE TRADE. 
 
 The Company's term is extended for 20 years, from the ift of 
 March 1794; fubjefl to be determined at, or after that period, on 
 three year's previous notice by Parliament, fignified by the Speaker 
 of the Houfe of the Commons ; fubjeft, however, as to the trade to 
 and from Indid, to the following limitations in favour of fuch pri- 
 vate Merchants, as may choofe to trade thither. In other re- 
 fpedts, and to and from Chim, and other places beyond the Cape 
 of Good Hope, the former reftricftions againft private Traders are 
 continued in force ; and if the exclufive trade thus limited, (hall 
 be hereafter difcontinued, the Company are ftiil to retain their 
 corporate capacity, with power to trade with a joint ftock in 
 common with other people. If, however, any new fcttlement 
 fhall be obtained from the Chinefe Government, feparate from the 
 Continent of Afia, an export trade thither is referved to private 
 Merchants, under certain conditions and regulations ; and there is 
 alfo a claufe to prefcrve the Southern Whalers in the benefit of 
 
 ^ . their
 
 C S3 ) 
 
 iheir carrying trade Into the Pacific Ocean, by the way of Cape 
 Horn, to the northward of the Equator, limited to 180 degrees 
 weft longitude from London ; and fhips from Nootka Sound are to 
 be licenfed to trade from thence with Japan and China, but are 
 not to bring any goods of the produce or manufafture of tliofe 
 Countries to Great Britain. 
 
 LIMITATIONS ON THE EXCLUSIVE TRADE TO 
 AND FROM INDIA. 
 
 All perfons may export and import goods to and from India in 
 the Company's fliips, except that they fhall not export military 
 flores, ammunition, mafts, fpars, cordage, anchors, pitch, tar, 
 or copper ; nor import India callicoes, dimities, muflins, or other 
 piece goods, made or manufadlured with filk or cotton, or with 
 filk or cotton mixed, or with other mixed materials, unlefs it be 
 done by leave of the Company. If the market fhall not be fuffici- 
 ently fupplied with the excepted articles of import or export, 
 with an exception of military ftores and copper, the Board of 
 Controul may open that trade alfo to individuals. If the Company 
 fhould not export 1500 tons of copper annually, private Traders 
 may export copper, in the Company's fliips, to the amount of the 
 deficiency. 
 
 The Company are tofurnifli private Traders, till 1796, with 
 3000 tons of Ihipping yearly, computed on the fame principle as 
 the Company's own tonnage is computed. The quantity may be 
 increafed by order of the Board of Controul, to meet the demands 
 of the private Traders; and if the Board order more than the 
 Company approve, they may appeal from the order to the 
 King in Council. And the Company are reftrifted from 
 charging any higher freight than £.c, per ton outwards, and ^.15 
 
 M per
 
 C 84 ) 
 
 per ton inwards, except in time of war, or in circumflances inci- 
 dental to war, or preparations for war, when they may charge an 
 increafed rate of freight, in a due proportion to the rates at which 
 they Ihall take up their own fliipping, but the propofed increafe can 
 only be made by the confent of the India Board, to whom the 
 Diredtors are alfo required, in 1794, and in every third year af- 
 terwards, to lay a ftatement of the affairs of fhipping, and to abide 
 by their order, touching any continuance, encreafe, or abatement 
 of the rate of freight on private trade. 
 
 Private traders are required to notify to the Company's Secretary, 
 at home, and to the proper officers in India, at a time limited,. 
 the quantity of tonnage wanted by them for the enfuing feafon, 
 with the place of deltination,,and the time when the goods will be 
 ready for Shipping. At home, this notice is to be given before the 
 31ft Auguft for the fhips of the enfuing feafon, and before the 
 ijth September they are to depofit the fum for the tonnage, or 
 give fecurity to the Diredtors for payment of it. Before the 30th 
 of Odtober, they are to deliver a lift of the forts and quantities of 
 the goods intended to be fent. In failure of having them ready, 
 by the day fpecified in the notice, they are to forfeit their depo-. 
 fit or the fecurity, and alfo their tonnage for that turn. Similar rules 
 are prefcribed for fliipping, &c. goods in India ,• but it is left to the 
 Governments there to fix the times, and to name the officers, to 
 whom notices are to be given. The Company is to have the bene- 
 fit of all forfeited and vacant tonnage, and if more is demanded 
 for private trade than the quantity limited, every perfon is to 
 have his due proportion; and notice is to be given him thereof, 
 fevcn days before the day for making the depofits. All Private 
 Trade is to be rcgiftered in the Company's books, and, in 
 default of being regiftcred, it is to be confidered as illicit trade, and 
 punifhable accordingly. 
 
 The
 
 ( 8^ ) 
 
 The reftridions of the law againft the Company's Servants, or 
 others, from afting as fadtors for foreigners, or lending money to 
 foreign Companies, or on bottomry of their Chips, or affi fling them 
 with remittances by bills, are repealed. And all legal impedi- 
 ments to the recovery of debts, under any pretence that they were 
 incurred illicitly, and againft the letter of thefe abrogated laws, are 
 removed ; and all perfons in India, not fpecially prohibited by the 
 Company, or reftridted by their covenants, are authorized to ad: as 
 mercantile agents for any who may choofe to employ them ; and 
 if there ftiall be a want of Faftors (properly qualified and authorized) 
 the Company are to licenfe free merchants, with the approbation of 
 the India Board, fo that there may be always a proper fupply of agents 
 for conducting the PrivateTrade abroad. But the becoming faftors is 
 not to exempt any perfons from being amenable to the general au- 
 thorities of the Governments in India; and all Agents are reftridled 
 from going beyond ten miles from fome principal fettlement with- 
 out fpecial leave. 
 
 As a further relief to Private Traders, the duty of 5 per cent., 
 granted by an Ad: of King William, on Goods imported in Private 
 Trade, is, in refpedl to the India Trade, repealed ; and the Com- 
 pany's ufual charge of 2 per cent, difcontinued, and in lieu of thefe, 
 and in fatisfadtion of the expences of unfhipping, hoyage, cartage, 
 warehoufe room, forting, lotting, and felling private goods, the 
 Company is to have £. 3 per cent, on the grofs amount of the fales 
 of Private Trade, the cuftoms thereon included. The repeal, or 
 the allowance thus fubftituted, is however not to extend to fpecial 
 engagements made between the Company and any of their Officers, 
 touching their privileges. 
 
 For the eafe of manufadlurers, who may import any articles of 
 raw materials. Rules or By-Laws are to be framed and ellablifhed 
 
 M 2 for
 
 ( S6 ) 
 
 •for bringing tiiem to as early a fale as poflible, and for preventing 
 any undue preference in the fales of the fame commodity amonglt 
 any of the importers, whether the goods belong to the Company or 
 to Individuals, the fales are to be open and public, by inch of candle; 
 and the who-le confignment bought in by the private importer, is to 
 be delivered out to him, on payment only of the duties and other dues 
 thereon. All other goods imported in Private Trade are to be fold, 
 and treated' as heretofore, according to the By-Laws of the Com- 
 pany ; and all goods in Private Trade are to pay to Government 
 the fame cuftoms as goods imported by the Company on their own 
 account. 
 
 And Inafmuch as the allowance of 3 per cent., and the rates of 
 freight, will be infufEcient to indemnify the Company their ad;ual 
 charges upon Private Trade, the Legiflature hath thought it juftto 
 exempt the Company from adlions for lofTes or embezzlements, 
 which a common carrier might, in ordinary cafes, be liable by law 
 to make good to the owner. But the Aft provides that the Com- 
 pany's Officers, and nil perfons through whofe means or negligence 
 any lofs fhall happen, fliall be liable to make it good to the owner, 
 and it gives a further remedy to the owner, in certain cafes, to re- 
 cover fatisfadtion, by enabling him to profecute under the writtea 
 engagements orfecurities taken by the Company for the fafe keep- 
 ing of their own merchandize. All the laws prohibiting the im- 
 port of goods from any other place than that of their growth, and 
 for continuing all prohibitory laws in refpedt to the confumption or 
 wearing of foreign manufaftures are continued. 
 
 APPROPRIATIONS. 
 
 Firfl: ; in India. The territorial revenues are to be applied, in the 
 iirft place, in defraying all charges of a military nature. Secondly;
 
 ( S7 ) 
 
 In payment of the intereft of the debts there already, or hereafter to be 
 inclined. Thirdly ; In paymcntof the civil and commercial cftablifh- 
 uients. Fourthly ; In payments of not lefs than one million per annum 
 for the Company's inveftments of goods to Europe, and remittances 
 and inveflments to China ; and the furplus, if any fhall remain, is to 
 be applied in the difcharge of debts, or fuch other purpofes as fhall 
 be direded from home. The fum allowed for inveflments, may 
 from time to time be increafed to the extent of the diminution 
 made in the annual amount of the interefi: of debts which fliall be 
 paid in India or transferred home ; for which transfer, provlfion is 
 made to an extent of ;^.5oo,ooo a year, by bills of exchange to be 
 drawn upon the Company : and if the creditors fhall not fubfcribe to- 
 that amount, other perfons may fubfcribe, and the money advanced 
 by them for bills is to be applied in difcharge of fuch debts ; and this 
 rule is to be continued till the India debt Qiall be reduced to two mil- 
 lions. The Company may increafe thefe transfers home, but the Go- 
 vernments abroad are reflridled from exceeding the above amount^ 
 ■without their orders. 
 
 Secondly at Kome. The net produce of the Company's funds: 
 at home, after payment of current charges, are thus appropriated : 
 Firft; In payment of a ten per cent, annual dividend, on tlie pre- )/ 
 
 fent or any increafed amount of the capital flock of the Company.. 
 Secondly ; Of ,{.500,000 per annum to be fet apart on the firfl 
 March and the firft September, half yearly; and applied in the dif- 
 charge of the before-mentioned bills of exchange, for the aforefaid 
 reduftion of the India debt. Thiidly; Of a like annual fum of 
 £.500,000 to the Exchequer, to be applied by Parliament for the ufe 
 of the Public, and to be paid on the ifl of January and firft of July, 
 half yearly, by equal inftalments. And, laftly ; The furplus may be 
 applied in the more fpeedy reduftion of the India debt, till reduced 
 
 to
 
 ( 88 ) 
 
 to two millions ; or in dlfcharging debts at home, fo as not to dim! 
 nifli the bond debt below j^, 1,500,000. Subjedl to thefe appropria 
 tions, and after the debt in India is reduced to two millions, and the 
 bond debt at home to ;^. 1,500,000 ; one ftxth part of the ultimate 
 furplus, is to be applied to an increafe of dividend on the capital 
 ftock, and the remaining five fixtks, is to be made a Guarantee 
 Fund, or collateral fecurity for the Company's capital flock, and 
 their dividend of ten per cent, until fuch Fund, by the monies 
 paid by the Company, and the intereft thereof, fliall have amounted 
 to twelve millions ; and after that time, the faid five fiixth of the 
 furplus is to belong to the Public in full right. Thefe five ftxths 
 are to be paid into the Bank, and laid out in the purchafe of re- 
 deemable annuities, in the names of the Commiffioners for the re- 
 duction of the National debt, who are alfo to receive the dividends, 
 and lay them out in like manner, until twelve millions have been 
 invefted. That being accomplifhed, the annual dividends of the 
 Hock purchafed therewith, are, in the firfl place, to make good any 
 defalcation in the Company's revenues, to pay the ten per cent, 
 dividend, and fubjeft thereto, thofe dividends are to belong to the 
 Public. If on the Company's exclufive trade being determined, 
 their own aflets fliall prove infufficient to make good their debts, and 
 alfo their capital flock rated at 200 per cent., the excefs of fuch 
 Guarantee Fund is to make good the deficiency, as far as it will ex- 
 tend, and in the event of the Company difcontinuing their trade al- 
 together, the excefs is to belong to the Public. But if the Com- 
 pany Ihall continue to trade with a joint flock, then the overplus, 
 and the annual dividends thereof, are to remain as a like guarantee, 
 for a dividend of ten per cent, and the capital rated at ;^.2oo per 
 cent, as long as the Company lliall trade with a joint flock; but 
 fubjedl to the making good any fuch deficiencies the faid Fund is 
 to be deemed the property of the Public. 
 
 4 If
 
 ( 89 ) 
 
 If the bond debt at home, or the debts abroad, after being re- 
 duced to the fums before limited, fhali be again increafed, the 
 former appropriation is to be revived, until thofe debts Ihall be 
 again dirainiflied to their refpedlive ftandards before limited. 
 
 Any deficiency in the Funds to make good the ;^.5oo,ooo to the 
 Exchequer in any year, is to be made good in the excefles of fub- 
 fequent years, unlefs it happens in time of war, or by circumftan- 
 ces incidental to war, in which cafe the deficiencies are not to be 
 carried forward as a debt on the annual funds of the Company, nor 
 be brought forward as a debt to be paid by the Company, unlefs 
 only in the event of their affets, on the conclufion of the exclufive 
 trade affording more than fufficient to make good the capital flock, 
 rated at ;^.2oo per cent, but any excefs of fuch affets beyond that 
 amount, is liable to make good the deficiency of any fuch pay- 
 ments to the Public ; no intereft is to be computed in the mean time 
 on fuch deficiency. 
 
 The fecurlties given by the Cafliiers of the Bank, are to extend 
 to the monies they may receive under this Adl, and the Treafury 
 is to direft the allowances for management; and if the India Com- 
 pany make default in any payments dire<5ted by the Act, they may 
 be fued, and fliallpay ^. 15 per cent, damages with cofls of fuit. 
 
 The Aft diredts the manner in which receipts fhall be given, and 
 a power is lodged in the Treafury, to give the Company further 
 time for payment in cafes of .exigency. And it is declared, that 
 neither the claims of the Public, nor of the Company, to the ter- 
 ritories in India, fhall be prejudiced by the Aft, beyond the pro- 
 longation of the term in the Exclufive Trade. The aft alfo con- 
 tains a claufe of mutual acquittal of all outflanding demands be- 
 tween the Crown and the Company, to the 24th Day of December,, 
 1792. 
 
 The
 
 < 90 ) 
 
 The Aft recognizes the rights of the Company to a fuiai of 
 ^467,896 y.r. 4^-/. in money and j^9, 750 Eaft India ftock; (which fums 
 conllitute the feparate Fund of the Company, efhablifhed under the 
 Aft of 1781 ;) and it is obferved, that it will be more for the ge- 
 neral intereft of the Company to continue that money employed in 
 trade, computing an intereft upon it, and to make it a fund for a 
 permanent increafe to their dividend, of 105. per cent., than to draw 
 it from their trading capital for any fudden diftribution. And it 
 then authorizes and limits the Company to make a dividend from 
 this feparate fund, and the intereft thereof, after the rate of 10s. 
 per cent, per ann. during their further term in the exclufive trade ; 
 and at the end of the term, it gives them a power of difpofing of 
 the remainder of this fund as they Ihall thhik fit. 
 
 The Company are not to grant any penfions, or new falaries, 
 beyond ;^.2oo per ann. to any one perfon, without the confent of 
 the Board of Controul ; and they are to lay before Parliament, an- 
 nually, a lift of all their eftablifhments abroad, and at home, in 
 which all penfions and new falaries are to be particularly noticed ; 
 and alfo complete accounts of all their affairs, receipts and out- 
 goings of the precding year, wi;h eftimates for the following year. 
 
 All the old Laws for preventing clandeftine trade with India, 
 
 and from lending to or alTiiting, or being concerned with Foreign 
 
 Companies, or Foreign Traders, are wholly abrogated, and the 
 
 following provifions are fubftitutcd in their place, obfcrving that 
 
 the penalties are made to extend only to fuch of His Majefty's fub- 
 
 jedls as belong to Great Britain, Guernfey, Jerfey, Alderney, Sark, 
 
 Man, Faro Iflcs, or to the Colonies, Iflands, or Plantations in 
 
 America or the Weft-Indies ; and that all vefTels and goods forfeited, 
 
 may be feizcd by any of the Company's Officers in India or China. 
 
 3 
 
 Perfons
 
 ( 91 ) 
 
 Perfons going unlawfully to India, and trafficking there, forfeit 
 fhips, vefTels, goods, and merchandize, and double the value there- 
 of ; one fourth to the Informers, and three fourths to the Company, 
 they paying thereout the cofts of profecution. 
 
 Perfons unlawfully going to India, fhall be deemed unlawful 
 Traders, and fubjedt to the foregoing penalties and forfeitures, and 
 may alfo be profecuted as for a crime and mifdemeanor, and be 
 liable to fine and imprifonment. One moiety of the fine goes to 
 the King, the other to the Company, if they profecute, or elfe to 
 any other informer. 
 
 Perfons unlawfully reforting to India, may be feized and fent 
 home for trial ; and, on arrival, they are to give bail, or be com- 
 mitted to prifon. 
 
 Perfons difmiffed the fervice, or whofe licences fhall have expired, 
 if they continue in India, are to be continued as illicit Traders, and 
 are made fubje(5t to penalties and forfeitures of goods, &c. as fuch. 
 
 Goods ihipped clandeftinely, or fuch as are reftrided by the AdV, 
 and goods unlbipped at fea, fhall be feized and forfeited, with 
 double the value, and the Mailer, or other Officer, knowingly 
 permitting or fufTering the fame, iliall forfeit all his wages to the 
 Company, to be deducted out of the monies payable to the owners, 
 and be difabled from again adting in the fervice. 
 
 Any who fhall folicit for, or accept a foreign commiffion, to fail 
 to and trade in India, ffiall forfeit £. 500, half to the Company, 
 and half to the Profecutor, or the whole to the Company, if they 
 Ihall profecute. 
 
 All Governors and Counfellors are prohibited from trading, ex- 
 cept for the Company ; and all CoUeiflors, Supervifors, and 
 
 N otherg
 
 ( 9^ ) 
 
 others employed in the Revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and OrifTa, 
 or their Agents, or any in truft for them, are prohibited from 
 inland trade, except for the Company. The Judges of the Supreme 
 Court of Judicature in Bengal, are abfolutely prohibited from 
 traffick ; and none, without the permiffion of the Company, fhall 
 trade in Salt, Beetle Nut, Tobacco, or Rice, on pain of forfeiture 
 of the goods, and treble the value, one moiety to the Company, 
 and the other to the Profecutor. 
 
 None fhall fend goods from India to the Continent of Europe, 
 by any other channel than as allowed by the Acft, on pain of for- 
 feiture of double the value; but this reftriction is not to extend to 
 matters of agency, only on the account bona fide of any foreign 
 Company or foreign Merchant. 
 
 The Adt then prefcribes the method of fuing for forfeitures and 
 penalties, and determining the legality of feizures. It gives a right 
 of fuing by A6tion, Bill, or Information, in any of the Courts of 
 Weflminfter (in which cafe the venue is to be laid in London or 
 Middlefex), or in the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bengal, or 
 the Mayor's Court at Madras or Bombay ; and in fuch fuits the 
 legality of feizures of perfons, fliips, or goods, is made cognizable. 
 In cafes of mifdemeanors, the offenders are punifhable by fine and 
 imprifonment, and if abroad, they may be fent home, as part of the 
 punifliment; and a capias, for arrefting the accufed party, is given 
 in the firft inftance, which may be compounded for by bail. 
 
 For fecuring to the Crown the duties for goods unlawfully traf- 
 ficked with, in the cafes of forfeiture of goods, the Attorney 
 General may profecutethe offenders, or their partners, by bills in a 
 Court of Equity, waving penalties, and the defendants (liall make 
 full difcovery of their illicit traffick upon oath, and fhall be decreed 
 to pay all the duties thereupon to Government, and £. 30 per cent. 
 
 on
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 on the value of the goods to the Company, and {hall be relieved 
 againft all other forfeitures. The Company may, in like manner, 
 proceed againft offenders by Bill in Equity, and if they fail they 
 ihall pay cofts. Defendants are to pay cofts to the Crown and to 
 the Company, when the decree fhall be againft them. 
 
 If a common informer, before any fuit is commenced, (hall 
 make known any offence to the Company, or the Attorney General, 
 and either of them (hall prefer a Suit in Equity, in that cafe the 
 informer Ihall be entitled to one third part of the fimple value of 
 the concern which fliall be recovered. But if the Diredtors prefer 
 a profecution at law, the informer may proceed, but fliall not dif- 
 continue the fuit without their confent. 
 
 When the Company are the firft informers, the whole of the 
 informers Ihares of penalties and forfeitures fhall belong to the 
 Company, although the fuit be commenced after the time elapfed 
 for common informers to fue or profecute the offence. 
 
 On any fuit againft the Company or their Servants for feizino-, 
 he. the defendants may plead the general iffuc, and give the Aft 
 in evidence, and the burthen of proofs fliall be on the plaintiffs, 
 that the feizure, &c. was unlawful ; and on nonfuit, verdidt, or 
 judgment, the plaintiffs fhall pay treble cofls. 
 
 The Adts or parts of Adls repealed, are as follow : 9 and 
 10 W. 3. ch. 24. f. Si. The whole of the temporary Adl of 
 5 Geo. I. chap. 21. and fo much of the feveral Ads as continued 
 it in force. The 7 Geo. i. ch. 21. f. i. to f. 9. The whole of 
 9 Geo. I. ch, 26. The 3 Geo. 2. ch. 14. f. 9. Tlie 17 Geo. 2. 
 ch. 17. f. It. The 10 Geo. 3. ch. 47. f. 1 and 2. The 13 Geo. 3. 
 ch. 63. f. 23 to 29. and f. 32 to ^^. The 21 Geo. 3. ch. 65. 
 f. 29. The 24 Geo. 3. ch. 25. f. 3, 13, 29 and 31. The whole 
 
 N2 of
 
 C 94 ) 
 
 of the 26 Geo. 3. ch. 16. and the 32 and 33 f. of 26 G. 3. 
 ch. 57. The repeal is not to extend to offences committed be- 
 fore the commencement of the Adt, nor is it to affedt the powers 
 of the prefent Board of Controul, until a new one fhall be ap- 
 pointed ; nor to affedt the powers given to the India Board by 
 certain Adls of the 28th and 31ft years of the King, concerning 
 the forces in India. 
 
 The jurifdiftion of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort 
 Williamj in caufes of Admiralty, is made to extend to the High 
 Seas at large, whereby a defedt in the Aft of 1773 for conftituting 
 that Court is cured. 
 
 For increafing the number of Magiftrates in Bengal, Madras, 
 and Bombay, the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bengal is to 
 iffue commiffions of the peace, in purfuance of orders iffued in 
 Council for that purpofe ; and any of the Juftices, fo appointed, 
 may by order in Council, fit alfo In the Courts of Oyer and Ter- 
 miner, taking the oaths of Juftices in England, excepting the 
 oath prefcribed by the A£l of the iS Geo. 2. (relating to qualifi- 
 cation by eftate.) The proceedings and judgments of juftices 
 may be removed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer by Certiorari, 
 as may be done into the Court of King's Bench in England, 
 and on fimllar conditions, but cannot be fet afide for want of form, 
 but on the merits only. The Juftices may alfo affociate with 
 the Judges in caufes appealed, when called upon fo to do. 
 
 The Governments abroad may appoint Coroners to take inquefts 
 upon the bodies of perfons coming to an untimely end, and appoint 
 fees to be paid for that duty. 
 
 The Juftices of the Peace may appoint Scavengers, and raife 
 
 money by affclTmcnts for clcanfing, watching, and repairing the 
 
 ^ itreets
 
 ( 95 ) 
 
 ftreets of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay : they may alfo licenfc 
 houfes for retailing fpirituous liquors, and fix the limits of thofe 
 towns ; and none are to retail fpirits but fuch as they fhall fo 
 licenfe, under the penalties of the laws of Great Britain. 
 
 A fpecial oath is prefcribed to be taken in future by the Di- 
 redtors of the Company, prohibitory of their afling as Directors, 
 when concerned in buying from, or felling to the Company any 
 goods ; and prohibitory of their being concerned in any lliipping 
 employed by the Company, or accepting any prefent for any 
 appointment of office, or of being concerned in any Private Trade 
 contrary to the Aft. 
 
 The Days and Hours fixed by former Ads of Parliament for 
 Purchafers of Teas to make their Depofits, having been found incon- 
 venient to the Trade, the Adt has, with their Approbation, fixed 
 Tuefdays and Saturdays at the Hour of THREE for making their 
 Depofits in future. 
 
 Profecutions for any thing done under the A(5t are limited to 
 three years, or if the party aggrieved be abroad, then in three 
 years after his return. 
 
 The Adt is to commence in Great Britain as foon as it fhall 
 receive the Royal aflTent, and in India on the ift of February, 
 1794, except when any fpecial commencement is prefcribed in 
 it.
 
 By Permlfl'ion of the Right Hon. HENRY DUNDAS. 
 
 This Day is publified. 
 
 In One Volume Quarto, Price One Guinea in Boards. 
 
 I. 
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 
 
 OF PLANS FOR THE 
 
 GOVERNMENT of BRITISH INDIA, and REGULATION 
 of T R A D E to the EAST INDIES; 
 
 And Outlines of a Plan of foreign Governmenr, of Commercial 
 Economy, and ofDomeftic Adminiftration for the Afiatic Interefts 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 Printed for J. Sewell, No. 32, Cornhill ; and J, Debrett, 
 
 Piccadilly. 
 
 This Work is explanatory of the Syftem for Indian Affairs which 
 has been fubmitted to the Eegiflature. The Authorities have been 
 obtained either from the Records of the Company and from the 
 Archives of the State, or from the Communications of thofe, whofe 
 official and local Knowledge qualified them to aid their Country 
 upon this important Occafion. 
 
 OF WHOM ALSO MAY ES HAD, 
 
 II. A HISTORY of the GOVERNMENT of the ISLAND 
 of NEWFOUNDLAND. With an Appendix, containing all the 
 A(fts of Parliament made refptdting the Trade and Fifhery. By 
 John Reeves, Efq. Chief Juftice of the Ifland. Odtavo, Price 6s. 
 in Boards. 
 
 N. B. The Profits of this Publication are given by the Author 
 for the Relief of the Suffering Clergy of F'rance, Refugees in the 
 Britifh Dominions. 
 
 HI. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. A COLLECTION of 
 PAPERS on thefe NOBLE SIRUCTURES, from the EURO- 
 PEAN MAGAZINE, where the Subjeft will be continued, with a 
 Catalogue of Authors Ancient and Modern, Englifli and Foreign. 
 Part I. Price 2s. 6d. 
 
 Alfo, jufl: publiffied, the Second Part of a Colli:ction of 
 Papers on Naval Architecture. This Part contains an en- 
 larged defcriptive Catalogue by a foreign Gentleman, with feveral 
 intercfting Papers, new and old. Part III. Price 3s. 
 
 IV.
 
 IV. A VIEW of the NAVAL FORCE of GREAT BRI- 
 TAIN; In which its prefent State, Growth, and Converfion of 
 Timber; Conftru(flion of Ships, Docks, and Harbours; Regu- 
 lations of Officers, and Men in each Department, are confidered 
 and compared with other European Powers. To which are added, 
 Obfervations and Hints for the Improvement of the Naval Service. 
 By an Officer of Rank. Price 5s. 
 
 " When profcfTional men of rank and fortune, pofTeflTed of an 
 independent fpirit, will ftep forth and communicate the fruits of 
 their knowledge and experience to the Public, we feel ourfelves 
 under a particular obligation to them. The Author of this Treatife, 
 on a fubjed: moft interefting to Englifhmen, as a great maritime 
 and commercial nation, feems to have no objecfl in view but the 
 public good. 
 
 " It is clear, by the ftyle and manner of this work, that the 
 Author is not a writer by profe/Iion. We have therefore forborn 
 all minute criticifm. But his intentions are certainly laudable, and 
 his work abounds with ufcful hints and obfervations, which will, 
 we hope, be attended to. 
 
 Analytical Review, July 1791. 
 
 V. A TREATISE on PRACTICAL SEAMANSHIP; with 
 new and important Hints and Remarks relating thereto. Defigned 
 to contribute fomething towards fixing Rules, upon philofophical 
 and rational Principles, tor the Form and proportional Dimenfions 
 in Length, Breadth, and Depth of Merchant Ships in general, and 
 the Management of them ; and alfo to render Navigation in general 
 more perfect, and confequently lefs dangerous and deftruflive to 
 Health, Lives, and Property. By William Hutchinson, 
 Mariner and Dock-Mafter, at Liverpool. Quarto, iSs. Third 
 Edition, confiderably enlarged. 
 
 This valuable book contains a treafure of naval knowledp-e of 
 every kind (prefented to the world by a moft experienced, able 
 feaman, who is at prefent finishing his honourable career as Doclc- 
 mafter at Liverpool, as a legacy of what he gathered of ufeful 
 knowledge from a very extenfive experience), and includes, amono^ 
 many other moft ufeful remarks, very ingenious counlcls on the 
 conftrudtion of merchant-lhips and their management. 
 
 Capt. Muller. 
 
 VL THE SHIP-BUILDER's REPOSITORY; or, A Trea- 
 tife on Marine Architefture. Wherein are contained the Principles 
 of that Art, with the Theory and pradtical Parts fully explained ; 
 
 and
 
 and every Inftrudllon required in the building and completing a 
 Ship of every Clafs, from the forming of the Draught to the 
 launching into the Water, calculated to the Capacity of young 
 Beginners. Compiled and digcfted in a Manner entirely new, and 
 kid down different from what has hitherto appeared onthe fubjeft. 
 The whole being intended as a complete Companion for thofe 
 Naval Architedls defirous of attaining a competent Knowledge of 
 that important Art. London, printed for the Author (without the 
 year), 4to. and a large copper-plate, il. £s. 
 
 The theoretical part gives a concife view of the moft effential 
 parts of the more ancient theories on the calculations of the refift- 
 anre of Ihips, and of the fituations of the centre of gravity of the 
 immerfed part, confidered as an homogene compofition, with fome 
 general remaiks on the form of fliips. The practical parr, by far 
 the largeft and moll valuable, is diftinguilbed and remarkable prin- 
 cipally tor a very extenfive table of the fcantlings of every fingle 
 piece entering into the conftruftion of a fhip ; and is preferable to 
 many others, as it contains the dimenfions of the bolts and iron- 
 work : but the ufe of this table has this inconvenience, that it is not 
 arranged in an alphabetical or any other manner which renders the 
 finding of the fingle articles contained in it eafy •, fo that it requires 
 a kind of familiarity with it to get diredlly at the inftruction wanted 
 in a particular cafe. Very valuable are the dimenfions of a great 
 variety of Ihips (from the largeft to the fmalleft fize) given in it, 
 for laying down the body-plans of them on the mould-loft. The 
 jnftrudlion for forming the draughts of fliips, exemplified on the 
 plan of an eighty gun Ihip, is very plain and fatisfadory ; and the 
 explanation of the draught of the inner parts ot a fliip, moftly neg- 
 ledted in other works of the fame kind, deferves to be mentioned 
 as a particular merit in this work. The laudable defign of the 
 Author to render it more ufeful by a low price, did not allow 
 him to give more copper-plates.
 
 CONSIBERATIONS 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 TRADE WITH INDIA, 
 
 Sec. SfC.
 
 C. Merrier and Co. Printers, 
 Cing't Head Court, St. Paul'i Church-yard.
 
 CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 TRADE WITH INDIA; 
 
 AND THE 
 
 POLICY OF CONTINUING 
 
 THE 
 
 COM Fj^MY'S MOA'OFOILV, 
 
 " Most ot' the Statutes or Acts, Edicts, Arrets, and Placarts of Parliaments, Princes, and Slates, for regu- 
 kiting, directing, or restraining of Trade, have, we think, been either political blunders, or jobs obtained by 
 artful men, for private advantage, under pretence of public good.'' 
 
 Dr. Franklin's fForki, vol. ii. p. 415. 
 
 lonuon : 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, m THE STRAND; 
 AND ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH. 
 
 1807.
 
 C ©NSIBJER ATIOHS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 TRADE WITH INDIA, ^e. 
 
 The trade of India has, from the earliest period of commerce, been 
 cuhivated as a source of wealth, and the possession of it has, in modern 
 times, been eagerly disputed by the different nations of Europe. 
 
 Although some prejudices appear to have existed against tins branch 
 of commerce, it Avill hardly be denied that a trade which supplies 
 commodities, for which there is an extensive and efficient demand, 
 may be a source of profit and riches to those who engage in it. 
 Whether such commodities serve for luxury, or as the raw materials 
 of those manufactures, which are most necessary to the comfort of 
 life, the trade may merit protection and encoui'agement, if it re- 
 turn, with a profit, the capital and labour it employs. That is 
 the great test of its utility or inutility ; and by that test the adven- 
 turers in it may safely be allowed to regulate their conduct. 
 
 Moralists and statesmen have sometimes given themselves the trou- 
 ble to decide, what commerce should be proscribed as generating a 
 baneful luxury, and what encouraged as beneficial. This interfe- 
 
 B
 
 rence, however, has generally failed in its object ; and merit*, at the: 
 most, the praise of that honest, good intention, wliich, unfortunately^ 
 is too often connected with narrow views and slender capacity. 
 
 In the complicated order of human society^ it is difficult to ascertain 
 and distinguish what division of industry deserves peculiar encourage- 
 ment. Whenever we admit something beyond what is barely necessary 
 (a thing indeed of itself very vague, because it is wholly comparative,) 
 and advance to what is convenient for human life, we open an un- 
 bounded field. A state of extensive industry must be a state of ex- 
 tensive consumption ; and that consumption necessarily supposes in- 
 finite varieties of taste, of fashion, oi elegance, and refinement in the 
 objects. In this variety it is curious and interesting to trace, as far 
 as it can be traced, how the taste for enjoyment furnishes the stimulus 
 to industry, by creating the demand for its produce. Througliout 
 the whole society, labour is set at work in a thousand diiferent ways. 
 All ranks wish to share the comibrts which circulate ; and industry, 
 among the lowest, is excited by the desire of possessing conveniences, 
 unknown or despised, or unattainable in ruder times.. 
 
 As it is very difficult, it probably is not very necessary, for statesr 
 men to decide what species of commodities ought to be forbidden, or 
 what kinds of commerce ought to be discouraged. It is clear that a 
 desire to possess luxuries, the produce of foreign countries, may excite 
 and encourage our domestic industry, and may conduce to domestic 
 improvement. In the extensive circle of society, and its refined en- 
 joyments, there is room, nay there is a demand, for variety; and it 
 may be considered certain, that the introduction of new commodities 
 from abroad, will produce new equivalents at Immc. The mass of 
 exchanges is increased. Perhaps there never was much danger at 
 any time, there is none surely in the present state of our society, that 
 we should consume more of foreign commodities than wc have means to 
 pay for, or that our domestic manufactures should be injured by tlieir
 
 3 
 
 competition. Whenever we begin to think that we oTight to sell and 
 never to buy, we get into the absurdities of the mercantile system ; 
 we strike at the root of commerce, by impairing that taste for enjoy- 
 ment, and that tarn for consumption, which are its source. 
 
 It is not therefore requisite to justify the commerce of India to an en- 
 lightened people, whether that commerce procure objects for our 
 home consumption, or for that of other nations. It may be highly 
 useful in either way ; though doubtless the opportunity of laying our 
 neighbours under contribution, and drawing from them a balance in 
 cash, is that which affords most delight to a certain class of states- 
 men. 
 
 Political -writers have justly considered a trade, of which the profks 
 are small and the returns quick, as most beneficial, because it sets in 
 motion the greatest quantity of productive labour, and affords the 
 greatest quantity of revenue to the industrious inhabitants of a country. 
 But in the progress of society there is a stage in Avhich capital is pre- 
 pared to go into the trade of distant returns and large profits ; and that 
 division of employment is necessary to the perfection «f the social and 
 commercial system. It is needless to inquire, therefore, whether or 
 not the trade with India is a roundabout trade of consumption, and 
 therefore not so advantageous as a direct trade of consumption. There 
 is no danger that an undue proportion of our capital will o-o into 
 that employment. It is the tendency of,a monopoly to force more 
 capital into a particular branch of trade, than would otherwise go ; 
 and Dr. Smith thinks that such has been the effect! ^^ ith regard to 
 the colonial trade in this country. It is possible, indeed, that capi- 
 tal, by means of monopolies, Avas prematurely directed to the trade 
 of India. In the present circumstances, however, and particularly 
 if the trade is left free and open, there is no danger whatever of too 
 much capital seeking that direction, or i-tarving any more important 
 branch. We are in that state in which the accumulation of the 
 
 B 2
 
 capital we possess ought to have every facility to go into any new 
 channel in which it can profitably be employed. 
 
 K then the commerce of India is to be cultivated at all, every one 
 will agree that it ought to be prosecuted in the manner calculated ta 
 afford the greatest advantage to the natron. 
 
 The Charter of the East India Company will, upon the usual three 
 years'" notice, expire in March 1814, and it is probable that some 
 years, at least, before that epoch arrive, the prapriety of renewing 
 the monopoly will be considered and decided by the legislature. The 
 Avisdom and policy of that renewal, under any modification of the 
 present system; or, if that system is to be retained, what limitations 
 and conditions ought to be annexed to it; are questions that' deeply 
 involve the national interests, and demand the most careful inve^ti■^ 
 gation. 
 
 "From the commencement of our intercourse with India, it has un- 
 fortunately happened, that almost every question concerning it has 
 been the object of party contest. It was the ground on which Whigs 
 and Tories fought their battles more than a century ago; and a question 
 which, as Anderson, in his History of Commerce, justly obser\es, 
 " should have been of no party," divided the two great contending 
 factions in the state. 
 
 These political feuds however, if they have sometimes increased the 
 temporary importance of India afiairs, have, upon the whole, diverted 
 men's minds from the sober discussion of them. Subjects which have 
 been rendered interesting by the association of party zeal, appear 
 vapid and tasteless when destitute of that seasoning. For this rea- 
 son perhaps, as much as any other, the affairs of India are very little 
 understood in England, and it is a just and common complaint, that 
 they do not command the attention even of those who, by every obli- 
 gation of public duty, arc bound to study them.
 
 Wc have long been amused with the most flattering hopes of wealtlj 
 and power from our Indian possessions : they have been represented 
 as sufficient to compensate all our political losses, and to remove all our 
 financial difficulties. But these benefits seem as yet to have been in 
 speculation, not in enjoyment. India, to use the words of Dr. Smith 
 on another occasion, has been " not a gold mine, but the project of j 
 
 a gold mine." If the mine exists, it is time to prove its value. I 
 
 If the advantages, which so vast a domain as India is calculated to 
 yield, have not hitherto been realized, it probably is owing either to 
 the impolitic monopoly under which the commerce is carried on ; or the 
 disgraceful and ruinous system by which an immense empire is farmed 
 out on lease to a Company of Merchants.. 
 
 In the following inquiry the author proposes to consider, 
 
 • I. The general policy of granting any branch of trade to an exclu- 
 sive joint stock company. 
 
 II. The principles and views which led to the establishment of 
 the English East India Company, and how far they apply to our pre- 
 sent situation. 
 
 III. What is the state of the trade with India, and its capacity of 
 extension. 
 
 IV. What is the commercial situation of the Company, and the 
 means by which it carries on its commerce. 
 
 V. The state of the private trade. 
 
 VI. The share which foreigners possess, or are likely to acquire; 
 and the consequences of their competition, if the trade continue to be 
 confined to an exclusive joint stock company.
 
 6 
 
 Lastly, To examine the commercial objections raised against 
 laying open the trade; viz. Danger of losing the trade, if it is left to 
 individual exertion, &c. : The political objections; viz. Danger of a 
 free intercourse with India ; colonization ; objections on constitutional 
 principles, &c. 
 
 I. At the time when our intercourse with India began, it was not 
 only the vice of government, but it was the error of the times, to render 
 almost every species of commerce and manufacture the object of 
 a monopoly. In the most insignificant undertakings mono})olies were 
 granted to individuals; and not unfrequently on corrupt considerations. 
 The Crown exercised an unbounded discretion in these grants. The 
 abuse of them Avas one of the most odious gricA-ances in the days of 
 James I. and his son, and not one of the smallest sources of the 
 im popularity with which the family of Stuart was overwhelmed. In 
 those days, however, the establishment of mercantile companies was 
 naturally encouraged at court, because it gratified the ro}Til pre- 
 rogative, and fed a needy and rapacious treasury*. 
 
 But this was not the only source of the mischief. The principles of 
 commerce being very imperfectly understood, it was thought the wisest 
 and the most effectual mode of prosecuting trade, to place it under the 
 management of a company of some kind or other. It was never sus- 
 pected that individuals were capable of conducting affairs Avhich 
 appeared of vast complexity and boundless risk. It seemed to be as 
 necessary that men should unite their talents to secure wise administra- 
 tion t>f the concern, as to club their joint stock to supply the fund for 
 carrying it on, or to guard the adventurers against the danger of 
 untried experiments. 
 
 • Down to the Revolution it was customary for the Eist India Company to pay annual 
 jpresents, of very large fums, to the King and lo the lead iig mi. liters : the King had lOjOOOl. 
 at least a year — a very large sum then. See Buiinlt, vol. ii.
 
 The revival of civilization, and the improvement of human society, 
 in modern Europe, had been considerably advanced by the privileges 
 granted to boroughs, and by the establishment of corporate bodies*. 
 But unfortunately these associations, so useful in the progress of society 
 from lawless violence to civil order, and from warlike pursuits to those 
 of peaceable industry, have in the end become, in many instances, 
 grievous restraints upon tlie natural liberty of mankind, and the free 
 exercise of that labour which is their right, because it is the source of 
 their subsistence. The erection of almost every branch of trade or 
 labour into a privileged company fixed a deep root of oppressive mo- 
 nopoly in the political body. The acquaintance men had with these 
 associations, of the mischievous tendency of which they were not yet 
 aware, naturally influenced their conduct in every thing connected with 
 trade. The spirit which arranged the petty detail of handicraft occu- 
 pations, infected the more enlarged enterprises of liberal commerce. 
 Companies for foreign trade were considered as necessary as for the 
 most trivial subdivisions of m.echanical employment. 
 
 .1 " In longnm tanicn fevum 
 
 Jlauseruiit, lio(lie(]uo maueiit vestigia ruris."' 
 
 It is not surprising, therefore, to find that every branch of trade was 
 engrossed by a company, sometimes regulated like a corporative asso- 
 ciation, sometimes joint stock. The history of our commerce, from the 
 reign of Henry Vll. to tlie present day, furnishes examples of several 
 hundreds of these companies, happily now remembered no more. At 
 one period, the Exeter Company of Merchant Adventurers had an 
 exclusive charter to carry on the trade with France. There was a 
 Southampton Company of the same description. The privileges of the 
 Exeter Company were confirmed by an Act of Parliament so late as 
 the 4th of James I. It was a monopoly against the rest of the inhabit- 
 ants who were not free of the Company, and the reason given for it iu 
 
 * Sec Robertson^ Ht mEj. &c,
 
 8 
 
 the statute is, " the inconveniences thai had arisen from the e.vces- 
 sive number of ignorant artificers, &c.-' who in that city took u\)oa 
 them to " use the science, art, and mysterrj of merchandise^"^ 
 
 This has been the language of all companies down to the present 
 day. They pronounce it impossible that private individuals can 
 understand the science^ art, and mystery of merchandise, or practise 
 it with effect. Happily for this country, one of the grca^ advantages 
 derived from the political struggles, which continued from the reign of 
 James the First to the Restoration, Avas the exposure of the pernicious 
 principles and dangerous tendency of monopolies. Those who con- 
 tended for the freedom of the constitution were the advocates for the 
 freedom of commerce. The discussions of those days, though not fully 
 successful, or even perfectly enlightened, were of infinite utility*. The 
 service is worth acknowledging, though, while we enjoy the benefit, 
 we are apt to forget the source fi'om whence it flows. 
 
 The most esteemed writers upon political economy have so clearly de- 
 monstrated the establishment of joint stock companies to be injurious 
 to the interest of commerce, that it may seem superfluous to insist 
 upon the point ; yet there is such a disposition to solicit an exception, 
 even where the principle is admitted, that the justice and wisdom of the 
 law cannot be too much enforced. 
 
 Dr. Smith hardly admits a case in which joint stock companies can 
 be profitably employed in any undertaking that is not of routine. If 
 they are useful for a banking establishment or an assurance company, 
 or necessary in the imdcrtaking of a canal, or any work in Avhich 
 private capital could not embark, there seems scarcely any other case 
 in which they deserve to be tolerated-f. 
 
 * In 1640, the House of Commons expelled several of Its members, for being concerned in jun- 
 )wpolies znA projects, by which tlio industry of their follow citizens would have been depressed. 
 -)• Sir Jaines Stuart says, that companies ajc good in tin- fun-igii viurkct, for preventing the
 
 9 
 
 Indeed, the very principle of the human mind, which prompts men 
 to the pursuit of commerce, seems to make it impossible that it can 
 flourish under the management of a company. The feelings of the 
 merchant have not changed since the days of Horace : — ■ 
 
 " Impiger extrcmos curris mercator ad Indos 
 Per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignes." 
 
 Yet if the principle of trade be selfish, it is strong because it is sel- 
 fish. No one, however, doubts that the pursuit of gain may be libe- 
 ralized into an honourable employment. Its importance, at least, can- 
 not be questioned. He who, for his own advantage, promotes the 
 exchange of commodities between different countries, or different parts 
 of the same country, is a benefactor of the human race, for he pro- 
 motes that which is the parent of industry, and the source of enjoy- 
 ment. But that active love of gain which inspires exertion, and 
 which regulates its direction, is properly an individual sentiment. It 
 cannot animate bodies, because in bodies there is no real moral per- 
 sonality. Though, in the fiction of law, a corporation may be a 
 person, it but faintly resembles the individual charactei-, and never 
 does approach to it but mischievously. If such bodies were animated 
 with the feelings of real persons, they w ould be too powerful : they 
 would be Brobdignagians among the Liliputians. It would be impos- 
 sible to live near them. They are only tolerable when they are tor- 
 pid and impotent. 
 
 Of all undertakings, in which men can engage in common, trade, 
 too, is that for which perhaps an association of great numbers is least 
 
 competition among citizens of the same state; and bad, because they prevent competition ia 
 selling the commodity at home. These positions might justify a doubt of the weight 
 of Sir J. Stuart's authority ; yet his argument is against companies. See his opinions at 
 large, \ol. ii. p. 182, of his works. 
 
 e
 
 10 
 
 fitted. The inlerest is too dispersed, and the managers, if they have 
 no interest distinct from that of the other members, neglect their duty. 
 An undertaking, the object of Avhich is not gain, may succeed under 
 a common management. Political associations, in Avhich a social feel- 
 ing, an esprit de corps, may exist, can prosecute their ends success- 
 fully ; but the love of gain is not a social sentiment. If gain then be 
 the object, success is impossible, because the body never can be ani- 
 mated by that which is an individual feeling, and if the undertaking 
 be of imperial magnitude, v»'ho can expect success? How can it be 
 imagined that they who discharge functions of a dignity and extent 
 equal to those of the Roman senate in the height of its glory, shall 
 descend to the paltry details of economy, in laying in investment-, or 
 in the assortment of cargoes? How can it be expected that the agents 
 of such a company, who rival the wealth and splendour of prime 
 ministers and ambassadors, should submit to the detailed economy 
 which governs the operations of a private merchant, and ensures their 
 success ? 
 
 A very ingenious Italian writer (Denina*) observes, that when the 
 family of Medicis addicted themselves to political pursuits, their com- 
 merce was ill-managed, and became dependent on their political power. 
 One passage is curious :• — speaking of Tietro, father of Lorenzo de 
 Medicis, he says, " The affairs of Peter were indeed at this time in 
 such a situation, that he must have lost his mercantile credit had he 
 lost the resource for supporting it in availing himself of the public mo- 
 ney." Trade cannot consist with negligence, or dispense with the direct 
 impulse of immediate interest. It is extremely well known that West 
 India property rarely thrives under the management of agents : yet 
 the trade of the East India Company, less under control and inspection, 
 
 • Denina, Origine e Principio di Potenza della casa de' Medici.
 
 n 
 
 is to thrive under the management of a tliousand irresponsible agents ! 
 It seems, therefore, contrary to the nature of man that commerce 
 should be well conducted by a joint stock company. 
 
 It is notorious, that no joint stock company ever carried on trade, for 
 any long period, with success. The possession of a mono{)oly may, 
 indeed, support the affairs of such a company ; because it often enables 
 them to impose whatever price they please on the commodities in 
 which they deal. But their ^ery prosperity is, in such cases, at the 
 expence of the country that permits their existence. They exact from 
 their countrymen a monopoly price for their goods ; thev therefore 
 impose a real tax on the community. They draw from the pockets 
 of the consumer the exorbitant profits which enable them to trade 
 advantageously, in spite of waste, prodigality, and neglio-ence. 
 
 The wise and salutary maxim in commercial policy, Laisser faire 
 seems to be the last which statesmen will acknowledge. The rage 
 for governing is so powerful, and the conceit which ministers of 
 state have in their superior wisdom so great, that they are excessively 
 prone to regulate and guide that which succeeds best without guidance and 
 direction. In other countries, as well as our own, colonial commerce and 
 the commerce of India have been committed \o exclusive joint stock 
 companies. The French government at one period consigned the 
 West India trade in all its branches to an exclusive company : but 
 after the si/steme reglementaire of Colbert had produced infinite 
 loss and dis-appointment, the trade ta the Antilles was made free 
 and the unparalleled prosperity of St. Domingo was the consequence *. 
 
 • The French Council of Commerce, constituted about the year 1700, appears to have 
 hud the most just and liberal views. In a very detailed report they condemn the 
 conduct of all the Companies which then depressed the French colonies. They add 
 " it is a most certain maxim that nothing but competition and liherty in trade can render commerce 
 beneficial, and that alt monopolies, or traffic appropriated to cojnpanies exclusive of others arc 
 inconceivably burdensome and pernicious to it." I wNsh that a certain Council of Commerce 
 1 could name, entertained such enlightened riews of trade. 
 
 c 2
 
 12 
 
 In France, too, the trade of India was, with occasional intervals of 
 unsteady wisdom, committed to an exclusive company, and the history 
 of the French East India Company, under which the trade was almost 
 wholly extinguished, is a series of disasters and of disgrace. 
 
 Even the Dutch, with all the sobriety and caution of their national 
 character, have, like their neighbours, contributed to demonstrate 
 the folly of joint stock companies, although the constitution of the 
 Dutch East India Company was in many respects superior to that 
 of similar establishments in other countries, particularly in the dis- 
 tribution of the trade among their six principal ports. Although, 
 too, its conduct was as free from the inevitable vices of such insti- 
 tutions as any can ever expect to be, it had, even before the late con- 
 quest by the French, expired, after a long period of hopeless decay, and 
 the vain endeavours of the government, by loans, to support its credit 
 and retrieve its prosperity. 
 
 No institution of this sort indeed can have a durable success in 
 the management of commerce, and if successful, by means of the 
 monopoly, that success, as has been shown, is purchased at the ge- 
 neral expence of the whole state. Such companies either mis- 
 manage the trade, to the danger of losing it altogether, by the com- 
 petition of foreigners, or, if successful as merchants, it is by the enormous 
 prices the raonoply enables them to impose. It is difficult to say, 
 then, whether such a monopoly is most mischievous in its prosperity 
 or adversity. 
 
 The monopoly which every European nation has established, in 
 favour of its own subjects, with its foreign dominions, has, as Dr. Smith 
 states, " sacrificed the interest of the colony to the supposed interest 
 of the mother country. The monopoly of the colony trade therefore, 
 like all the other mean and malignant expedients of the mer- 
 cantile system, depresses the industry of all other countries, but
 
 13 
 
 chiefly that of the colonies, without in the least increasing, but, on 
 the contrary, diminishing that of the country in whose favour it is 
 established." 
 
 How much more mischievous must that monopoly be which is 
 given to a company to the exclusion of all the other adventurers 
 of the state! It depresses the industry and prosperity of the country 
 with which the trade is carried on, and the industry of all the 
 people of that country, who are dependent upon the monopoly for the 
 supply of the articles in which it deals. Indeed Dr. Smith states this 
 point so strongly that 1 must quote his words. " A temporary monopoly 
 of this kind may be vindicated upon the same principles upon which 
 a like monopoly of a new machine is granted to its inventor, and 
 that of a new book to its author. But, upon the expiration of the term, 
 the monopoly ought certainly to determine; the forts and garrisons, 
 if it was found necessary to establish any, to be taken into the hands of 
 government, their value to be paid to the company, and the trade to 
 be laid open to all the subjects of the state. By a perpetual monopoly, 
 all the other subjects of the state are taxed very absurdly in two diffe- 
 rent ways; first, by the high price of goods, which, in the case of a 
 free trade, they could buy much cheaper; and secondly, by their 
 total exclusion from a branch or business, which it might be both conve- 
 nient and profitable for many of them to carry on. It is for the most 
 worthless of all purposes, too, that they are taxed in this manner. It 
 is merely to enable the company to support the negligence, profusion, 
 and malversation of their own servants, whose disorderly conduct 
 seldom allows the dividend of the company to exceed the ordinary 
 rate of profit in trades which are altogether free, and very fre- 
 quently makes it fall even a good deal short of that rate. Without 
 a monopoly, however, a joint stock company, it would appear from 
 experience, cannot long carry on any branch of foreign trade. To 
 buy in one market, in order to sell, with profit, in another, when there
 
 14 
 
 are many competitors in both; to watch over, not only the occasional 
 variations in the demand, but the much greater and more frequent 
 variations in the competitors, or in the supply which that demand is 
 likely to get from other people, and to suit with dexterity and judg- 
 ment both the quantity and quality of each assortment of goods to all 
 these circumstances, is a species of warfare of which the operations are 
 continually changing, and which can scarce ever be conducted success- 
 fully without such an unremitting exertion of vigilance and attention, 
 as cannot long be expected from the directors of a joint stock company. 
 The East India Company, upon the redemption of their funds, and the 
 expiration of their exclusive privilege, have a right, by act of parlia- 
 ment, to continue a corporation with a joint stock, and to trade in their 
 corporate capacity to the East Indies in common with the rest of their 
 fellow subjects. But in this situation, the superior vigilance and at- 
 tention of private adventurers would, in all probability, soon make 
 them weary of the trade*." 
 
 It is impossible to add any thing to arguments so invincible. Were 
 I disposed to enter upon a discussion of the policy of the European 
 states towards their colonies, it would throw much light on the mischie- 
 vous effects of monopolies. The example of the errors into which thev 
 have fallen is highly instructive, and affords the most practical illustra- 
 tions of the true principles of commerce. The narrow monopolising 
 spirit which has, with so few exceptions, governed the colonial interests 
 of Spain and Portugal, is sufficient to account for the little comparative 
 advantage those countries have derived from the large and fertile pro- 
 vinces of South America. The less severe though jealous spirit of the 
 Dutch, the more liberal though imperfect system of the French and 
 English, afford striking examples of the effects of liberal policy, and 
 the pernicious tendency of monopoly. They demonstrate, by indis- 
 putable facts, how inseparably the prosperity of the colonies and the 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, Vol. iii. p. 141.
 
 15 
 
 mother country is connected with the freedom of trade, and how in- 
 evitably the baleful influence of monopoly operates to retard the ad- 
 vancement of both in wealth, population, and power*. I forbear, 
 however, to go at large into the subject in a brief treatise of this kind, 
 though the detail would afford tlic most decisive evidence of the ill 
 eflccts of colonial monopoly, and particularly of the impolicy of ex- 
 clusive companies. 
 
 II. The English India Company was formed upon the principles 
 which prevailed in the age in which it was established. It has, through 
 a long career, however, maintained itself after the principles to which 
 it owed its origin have become obsolete, and the alleged necessity 
 for it has ceased. 
 
 It cannot be uninteresting, therefore, to take a view of those princi- 
 ples. The discussion does not involve merely a dry historical detail, 
 but it will serve to make us intimately acquainted witii the maxims 
 and opinions of the friends of the Company at the present day. A 
 slight review of the rise and progress of the Company will be a sufficient 
 answer to those who think that the patronage it has received from goA ern- 
 ment is a clear proof of the policy of its establishment. This cursory 
 review, with the reflections which the facts naturally suggest, will 
 throw a great light upon the causes by which the Company have 
 so long maintained their chartered monopoly against all opposition. 
 
 It is not my intention to state chronologically the different renewals 
 of the Company's Charter. I mean only to indicate the principal cir- 
 cumstances attending such renewal, and the grounds on which it was 
 supported and opposed. The connexion of matter is, perhaps, more 
 important than the order of time. 
 
 It is certain that the East India Company was very unpopular for 
 
 * See the subject admirably treated in Brougham's Colonial Policy.
 
 16 
 
 a very long period after its first establishment; and during the civil 
 disturbances, between 1630 and 1650, is not much heard of. We 
 know, however, that it durst not venture to assert its privileges, founded 
 on royal charters, during some part of the above period. 
 
 In the year 1681 the public appears to have been a good deal 
 divided respecting the policy of the Company's establishment, and va- 
 rious tracts were published by the adherents of the Company, and 
 the advocates of a free trade. But the Company were put upon their 
 defence before the privy council, in consequence of a complaint by the 
 Levant Company. The latter, it is hardly necessary to observe, was one 
 of those regulated companies which then existed, and exists now ; 
 the greatest praise of which, according to Dr. Smith, is, that they have 
 been perfectly useless and harmless. 
 
 In their answer to the complaint of the Levant Company, and to 
 the objections against their monopoly, in the year 1681, the Company 
 defended themselves by an argument exceedingly curious and worth 
 quoting. 
 
 " It cannot be denied, by any reasonable man, (say they) that a 
 joint stock is capable of a far greater extension, as to the number of 
 traders and largeness of stock, than any regulated company can be; 
 because noblemen, gentlemen, shopkeepers, widows, orphans, and all 
 other subjects, may be traders, and employ their capital in a joint 
 stock; whereas, in a regulated company, such as the Turkey Company 
 is, none can be traders but such as they call legitimate or bred 
 merchants." 
 
 2. " The consequence whereof is, that if the trade for India were 
 laid open, (he adventurers would be fewer, by three quarters, than they 
 are now, because those who have skill, would run <ncay uilh the whole 
 irade, as, in /act, they did between the years 1653 and 1657."
 
 17 
 
 This is a ciunous morsel of reasoning to be sure. It will be observed, 
 however, that it contains an important admission : " Those who had skill 
 had run awajj mlh the trade.'*'' 
 
 It were a waste of time to demonstrate the absurdity of calling the 
 holders of shares in a joint stock company Traders. The true cha- 
 racter of joint stock shares, particularly those of the India Company, 
 we shall explain hereafter. It certainly is very probable, that if the 
 trade had been laid open, there would have been ye^tter traders in the 
 sense of the memorial just quoted; for noblemen^ shopkeepers, widows, 
 and orphans, would not have been traders, if they can be called such as 
 holders of a company's stock. But it is worth while to dwell a little 
 upon the instance alluded to, of 1653 to 1657. At that time the trade 
 was laid open ; and at every period, when the renewal of their Charter 
 has been solicited, to the present day, the directors have assumed, as 
 decisive of their case, that the adventurers between 1653 and 1657 
 were all ruined. The authors of the Third Report on the private trade 
 in 1802, in allusion to this aera, say, " this bold experiment terminated 
 as might have been expected ; it confirmed the Protector in the wis- 
 dom of that policy which he doubted. The monopoly was re-esta- 
 blished, and the Company's temporary abolition became, in its conse- 
 quences, their triumph." This Third Report, in every page, betrays the 
 same gross ignorance or misrepresentation of facts. It is material, 
 therefore, to contradict assertions so frequently brought forward, and 
 which must have deceived those who were not at the trouble to 
 inquire. 
 
 The truth is, that the private adventurers, between 1654 and 1657, 
 carried on their trade with great success, notwithstanding the opposition 
 they experienced from those interested in the monopoly at home, and 
 from the Dutch and other foreign rivals. It was natural they should 
 experience such hostility, for they were eminently successful. They 
 
 D
 
 18 
 
 " run away with the trade," during the time the trade was open, as 
 the Company in 1681 admitted. 
 
 Nothing indeed was more alarming than the idea of a free trade, not 
 only to our own monopoly Company, but to the Dutch Company. 
 Those who were rivals in every thing, agreed in this alone, that a free 
 trade would ruin them both. THURLOE,Cromweirs secretary, informs us, 
 in his Letters*, that " the merchants of Amsterdam, having heard that 
 the Lord Protector would dissolve the East India Company at London, 
 and declare the navigation and commerce to the Indies to be free and 
 open, were greatly alarmed, considering such a measure as ruinous to 
 their own East India Company.^'* 
 
 This passage presents matter for very important reflection. There 
 is no doubt that the alarm was well founded, and the event corre- 
 sponded with the fears of the sharp-sighted merchants of Amsterdam. 
 Notwithstanding the success of the private traders, they were, however, 
 deprived of their privileges by Cromwell, and the monopoly re- 
 established. There is little reason to doubt that the usurper, who was 
 a lover of his country, was deceived by the persons to whose represen- 
 tations he listened, and who were corrupted by the agents of the 
 Dutch and English Companies. 
 
 That it was not because the experiment of laying open the trade had 
 failed, that the Company was restored, is evident, because the period, 
 between 1653 and 1657, could afford no fair test of the measure, even 
 if the adventurers had at first been unsuccessful. But they had not 
 failed. 
 
 A tract, written in the year 1680, informs us, that, "during the 
 years 1653-4-5-6, when the trade was laid open, the English traders 
 
 * Vol. iii, p. 80.
 
 19 
 
 afforded the India commodities so cheap^ that they supplied more 
 parts of Europe^ and even Amsterdam itself theremlh^ than ever was 
 done after ; whereby they very much sunk the Dutch East India Com- 
 pamfs Actions*. This fact sufficiently accounts for the alarm of 
 the Dutch, at the freedom of the trade in England, and its truth is 
 confirmed by the admission of the Company above quoted, that the 
 skilful traders run away with all the trade. It is material to keep 
 these facts in view, because they prove that the privileged companies 
 were unable to cope with the private traders, though the latter were 
 exposed to every species of hostility and opposition. 
 
 It must appear extraordinary, then, that when the success of the 
 private traders was so distinguished, there should have been any 
 hesitation, in an enlightened government, to abolish the monopoly for 
 ever. 
 
 The solution of this difficulty depends upon two principal circum- 
 stances ; the ignorance which then prevailed of the principles of 
 commerce, and the influence and corruption which, as a united 
 faction, the Company were able to employ to gain their end. Such 
 was the ignorance of men in general, and of governments in particular, 
 in regard to commerce, in those times, that the very circumstance of 
 supplying the market cheaply appears to have been considered as a 
 proof that commerce was ill conducted. It Avas the object of regulation 
 to prevent all competition in trade, as competition was thought mis- 
 chievous. A very amusing instance of this mercantile spirit is to be 
 found in a Defence of the Company, Avritten in the year 1681 by some 
 of the literary Swiss whom they are known to have employed. 
 
 " For who is there that hath, in any competent degree, studied and 
 considered trade, in reference to the kingdom's interest, but knows 
 
 * Anderson's History of Commertt; 
 D 2
 
 20 
 
 that all buying and selling at home, from one to another, is but a mere 
 changing of hands, neither adding to, nor diminishing, the nation's 
 stock or wealth. It is dear selling, or rather the selling of great quan- 
 tities of our native commodities and manufactures in foreign parts, and 
 our cheap purchasing of commodities in foreign countries, whereby our 
 kingdom is enriched. For if we do but consider the consequence of 
 this Barrister's* position, it will clearly appear, that particular Eng- 
 lishmen, traders to India, vying upon one another in the buying of 
 cloth, &c. in England, may, for a year or two, raise the prices in 
 England; and, on the other hand, they may lower the prices, and 
 undersell one another, to get off their goods in India, and make re- 
 turns; some, perhaps, selling cheaper than the prime cost, whilst others 
 may not be able to put off their goods, and so, perhaps, let their ships 
 return dead freighted, &c. What probability is there then of their 
 continuing to send any thereafter, or that the exportation of our English 
 manufactures should increase? Avhercas the present joint stock company 
 have so well managed their trade, that from one hundred to four hun- 
 dred cloths, at most, formerly exported, they now annually export four 
 thousand whole broad cloths and upwards. And with respect to goods 
 imported from India; the multitude of buyers in India raising the 
 prices tliere, and of sellers in England lessening the prices here, can- 
 not but be very contrary to the kingdom's interest. Because not above 
 one fourth part of the India goods imported are consumed in England, 
 the other three fourths being exported to foreign parts. Now, if the 
 prices of what is consumed in England be lowered, the like must in- 
 evitably follow for the other three fourths exported : so that the nation 
 really loses by the cheap selling of India commodities in England, and 
 our real interest is to buy cheap in India, and sell dear in Europe." 
 
 It is not necessary in this age, we hope, to point out the falsehood 
 of these general principles of commerce. Nothing is in theory better 
 
 * An advocaic for the fi'ce trade. 
 
 I
 
 21 
 
 established than that competition excites demand, and therefore secures 
 supply ; and tliat by the joint operation of these causes, efficient demand 
 and efficient supply, the common interest of consumers and growers is 
 promoted. But it is the principle of all monopoly to limit the sup- 
 ply and augment the price. We wish the sentiments of this author 
 of the seventeenth century, and his patron Directors, just quoted, 
 were really as unfashionable as they are old and absurd ; but we shall 
 see by and by, that they are the principles of Leadenhall-street at 
 this hour. 
 
 It is no wonder then that the private traders were held in disrepute 
 for that which we hope would now be considered merit ; because they 
 would have alTorded the commodities in which they dealt at a cheaper 
 rate. When it was the principle of commerce to enhance the price, 
 it was only consistent to confide the business to the monopoly of a joint 
 stock company. Relatively to that view the contrivance Avas admi- 
 rable. 
 
 Those called interlopers, however, were so obstinate in " seeking 
 their own ruin," that they could not be prevailed upon to abandon a 
 trade in which, by their competition, " (hei/ lessened the prices here 
 contrary to lite kingdoni's interest^'' The Company, and their hired 
 advocates, could not convince these unfortunate persons to give np 
 ruining themselves. The Company, indeed, in their great liberality, 
 spared no expence to convince them, either by argument or authority, 
 of their error. The vindictive and oppressiA'C proceedings against the 
 interlopers, and the enlightened arguments of PoUexfcn, in the case 
 of Sands, against the policy and legality of the monopoly, are well 
 known. The Company, however, availed themselves of the preroga- 
 tive claimed by arbitrary power, and of the authority of Judge Jefferies, 
 to oppress their fellow-citizens. 
 
 But there was another reason in those days (not surely remaining
 
 22 
 
 in ours) for keeping up the monopoly, and it was that the Directors 
 of the Company found a private interest in the speculation. They 
 did not indeed, like modern Directors, exercise funC^ions of power 
 greater than those of a Roman senate, but they had objects of ambi- 
 tion suited to the mediocrity of the age in which they lived. They 
 were merchants themselves, and they were nothing elie> To be at the 
 head of a joint stock company, was to have the means of carrying on 
 trade, not merely for the joint stock, but for their own private advan- 
 tage. 
 
 In fact, such was the division of stock, that out of six hundred shares, 
 same individuals had sixty or eighty, and votes accordingly. These 
 active members always being in the direction, they carried on a double 
 traffick, trading on their own private account, and receiving dividends 
 also on the amount of their stock ; advantages which the noblemen^ 
 mdows, and orphans in the Company undoubtedly did not possess. 
 
 The opposition to the renewal of the Charter of the Company, soon 
 after the Revolution, very nearly proved successful, but by large bribes 
 the Court of Directors contrived to buy off some of the principal pri- 
 vate traders, who were merchants of eminence in London. This bribery 
 was not confined to the rivals of the Company. The most shocking 
 corruption of members of Parliament, and of the highest officers of 
 state, was carried on. No less than 170,000/. was employed in bribing 
 members and ministers. 
 
 The following account of these villainous proceedings is so curious, 
 that I cannot help extracting it :■ — 
 
 a 
 
 By the new subscrij)tion of 74 1,000/. which added 781 members 
 to the Engli.-h East India Company, it might have bce-n imagined, that 
 they had now efl'ectually secured themselves again^t the luture attacks 
 of opponents. But, as this Comj)any liad expended vast sums of money
 
 23 
 
 to courtiers^ members of parliament, and others, as well/or obtaining- 
 the last three Charters, as in endeavouring to divide and buy off the in- 
 terlopers ^ and more especially in endeavouring to obtain an act of 
 parliament for their absolute legal establishment, their enemies found 
 means to influence the House of Commons so far against them, as to 
 enter upon a strict examination of their practices. In the course of the 
 inquiry they discovered, that in the year 1693 alone, whilst Sir Thomas 
 Cooke was governor, and Francis Tyssen, Esq. deputy governor, 
 upwards of 80,000/. were expended for secret services by the former, 
 and by Sir Basil Firebrass (lately brought from the interloping interest), 
 which two last-named gentlemen, refusing to discover to whom the said 
 secret service money was given, were, together with Mr. Charles Bates 
 and Mr. James Craggs, committed to the Tower of London by the House 
 of Commons in the year 1695. And although, in obedience to an act 
 of parliament of this year, Sir Thomas Cooke made a discovery of many 
 things to both houses of parliament, yet it did not give entire satisfac- 
 tion, as may be more fully seen in a printed collection and supplement 
 of the debates and proceedings of parliament of the years 1694 and 
 1695, upon the inquiries into the late briberies and corrupt practices, 
 (quarto, 1695,) concerning which we shall just observe, that sundry si- 
 nister arts, at that time used, were afterward practised on a similar occa- 
 sion in the famous year 1720 ; such, for instance, as Sir Basil Firebrass's 
 contracting with the East India Company to put (i. e. to oblige that com- 
 pany to receive of him) 160,000/. India stock at 150 per cent, when the 
 Charter should be granted, although their stock was then only at 100 per 
 cent.: whereupon the Company paid him the difference, being 30,000/.; 
 the disposal of which last sum Sir Basil Firebrass could never be brought 
 to discover. Great sums were also paid out for the refusal of stock at cer- 
 tain prices on the same supposition. Refusal of stock was a contract for hav- 
 ing the option of demanding stock, at a fixed price ; as the put of stock 
 was a contract by which, for a premium paid down, the contractor obliged 
 himself to take a fixed quantity of a stock, at a future time, for a fixed
 
 24 
 
 and higher price therein specified. These new-fangled or cant terms 
 were first brought into use by this Company ; and in this way of stock- 
 jobbing daily bargains were made for many succeeding years, so as to 
 be since reduced to a kind of science ; but most eminently in the fa- 
 mous year 1 720, and some years after, till all such time-contracts and 
 bargains for stocks were made penal by act of parliament. Great sums 
 were also laid out by the managers to answer the Company's contracts 
 for sale of stock, &c. The House of Commons had also impeached the 
 Duke of Leeds, then Lord President of tlie Council, on the said ac- 
 count ; but the prorogation of the Parliament put an end to it. Some 
 years after all this bustle was over, Sir Thomas Cooke had 12,000/. 
 beslowed on him by the General Court of this Company, by uay of com- 
 pensation/or his former siiffei'lngs on their account*.'^'' 
 
 Such were the profligate and corrupt arts by which a great na- 
 tional benefit was prevented, when the liberty settled by the 
 Revolution ought to have confirmed to the country the full enjoy- 
 ment both of its commercial and civil rights.- That it was solely for 
 the private purposes of the Directors, and their jobbing connection, 
 that so great a struggle was made to secure the privileges of the 
 Company, no one can entertain a doubt. At the very moment 
 when the Directors had corruptly expended I7i'^,000/. for the renewal 
 of their Charter, and to purchase the protection of government, they 
 were not able to make a dividend at all. When the contests between 
 the projectors of a new, and the managers of the old Company, 
 were renewed in 1698, the latter had not, according to Anderson, 
 been able to make a dividend for " sundry preceding years f"." The Di- 
 rectors, however, carrying on a beneficial monopoly for themselves, un- 
 der the cover of that of the Company, were naturally unwilliig to 
 abandon a job, and, though the great mass of their stockholders must 
 
 • Anderson's History of Commerce. f Ibid.
 
 25 
 
 have been sufferers, the managers contrived to pre>"ervc their own 
 interest, by admitting their opponents of the new Company into the 
 seheme of plunder. This scheme was ratified and sanctioned in 1702, 
 and was carried into effect in 1708, under an award of Lord Godol- 
 phin. 
 
 Sut, notwithstanding the intrigues, the corruption and fraud by 
 which the national interests were sacrificed to a corporation of jobbers, 
 it was impossible to prevent the enterprise and the capital of the couri- 
 try from attempting to acquire a share in the trade of India. In the 
 year 1714, the Emperor established the Ostend East India Company. 
 The ships, the commanders, the capital, with which this undertaking 
 was carried on, were procured from England and Hollanr*. 1 he 
 English and Dutch Companies remonstrated against the Ostend Com- 
 pany, by the competilion of which, conducted by the skill of individuals 
 in the spirit of a free trade, they would infallibly have been ruined. 
 These remonstrances, as is well known, succeeded after a struggle of 
 near twenty years. Before they finally prevailed, however, the two 
 Companies obtained the most sanguinary laws against their fellow sub- 
 ject!=, who should embark, under foreign auspices, in a trade from which 
 they were excluded by the injustice and folly of their own country, 
 hi Holland the penalty of death was enacted against such as should be 
 concerned, in any manner, in the trade carried on from Ostend. 
 The British Parliament was not so bloody ; but, by the 7 Geo. I. c. 20, 
 very heavy penalties were inflicted upon those who should be guilty of 
 trading to the East Indies under foreign commissions. So little able, 
 too, Avas the Company to sustain the competition of the free trade at 
 Ostend, that it was found necessary to protect their monopoly, by pro- 
 hibiting the importation of tea from other parts of Euiope, thereby 
 enabling them to extort from their fellow subjects whatever prices they 
 could get for the commodity. 
 
 But the penalties enacted against embarking in the trade to India,
 
 26 
 
 in foreign bottoms, were ineffectual. It was necessary to increase th& 
 code of severity, for the benefit of the Company's monopoly. By the 
 9 Geo. I. c. 26, not only were British subjects prohibited from being 
 concerned in the Ostend Company, but " British subjects found in In*> 
 dia, unless lawfully authorized, or within our East India Company's 
 limits, are declared guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor, and liable 
 to such corporal punishment or imprisonment, or for such times, as the 
 court, where they shall be tried, shall think fit." Yet all these dis- 
 graceful severities, for the protection of injustice and absurdity, were in- 
 adequate to the end. The competition of the Ostend Company com- 
 pelled the East India Company to reduce their dividend from eight to 
 six per cent, and if the English and Dutch governments had not pre- 
 vailed on the court of Vienna to abandon the Ostend Company, the 
 Dutch and English monopolies must have died a natural death. 
 
 It is not uninteresting to remark how nugatory, and yet how vexa- 
 tious, penalties and prohibitions, in matters of commerce, are, when 
 strongly opposed by the private interests of men. Capital, both Eng- 
 lish and Dutch, nay, the individuals of those nations, could not be 
 deterred from engaging in the India trade, under the protection of the 
 Ostend Company. Let it be remembered, too, that if our own sub- 
 jects are still to be excluded from the East India trade, the Ostend 
 Company may be revived ; at any rate Ostend, or some other port, 
 will be established to carry on Eastern commerce. It is not to be ex-^ 
 pected now, however, that the Company will be rescued from the com- 
 petition of a rival, as it was in 1729, when the abolition of the Ostend 
 Company was procured. Those times are gone. We cannot expect to 
 shield ourselves from the consequences of our own folly, by extorting 
 fcuch concessions from our rivals or our enemies. 
 
 The Company, however, had now obtained a complete victory over all 
 direct opposition at home, and, though many still doubted the policy of 
 the monopoly, the administration was induced to patronize the institu- 
 
 I
 
 27 
 
 lion ; and the money which the Company advanced for the renewal of 
 their Charter was considered an important financial resource. 
 
 In the year 1730, when their Charter was under consideration, the 
 Company employed the following curious arguments : — 
 
 " The Company at present employ a vast stock in trade, their sales 
 amounting to about three millions yearly. And the customs accruing 
 to the public are prodigiously great, and answer the appropriations 
 made of them by Parliament, better than most other duties; they 
 bringing in net money, clear of all drawbacks and debentures, three 
 hundred thousand pounds yearly. Would it then be prudent in the 
 legislature to let these customs fall, without a certainty of at least as 
 much in the room of them ? The forts and factories at present cost 
 the Company 300,000/. yearly ; and doubtless the government could 
 not maintain them for so little. Those forts and other buildings are 
 unquestionably the property of the Company, who actually purchased 
 them of the old Company, and are of very great value. Who, then, 
 shall set an equitable price on them ? What certainty have the go- 
 vernment, when they are in their hands, that the proposed open trade 
 will be always sufficient to maintain so vast an expence of customs and 
 forts as 600,000/. yearly ? For, as every man is, by the proposed 
 scheme, left at liberty (and will doubtless make use of it) to trade, or 
 not to trade, thither, as it may suit his interest, it my happen that one 
 year there may go fifty ships for India, and another year, perhaps, not 
 five : and these being all separate traders, the government can have 
 no certainty nor security from them, nor indeed from any other but 
 an incorporated body, who have a great deal to lose, and who are able 
 to bear the ill fortune of some particular years trading, without pre- 
 sendy laying it aside. By the competition of the separate traders in 
 India, for the sake of dispatch, the prices of goods there would be raised 
 so high as at length not to be worth buying. And for the like reason, 
 at home they would so undersell each other, till the goods would not be 
 
 E 2
 
 28 
 
 worth selling ; which was the case for the small time that ttie two Com- 
 panies (the old and the new ones), and the separate traders, contended 
 against each other ; whereby they all did very much hurt to the 
 trade." 
 
 On the other hand the following objections were urged : — 
 
 *' That the government should take the support of the forts, factories, 
 embassies, &c. in India, into their own hands, out of the large customs 
 on the India trade, which should thenceforth remain free and open to all 
 British subjects. For (say they) the more free and open that trade is, 
 the more profitable it will be to the nation. And though it may be true 
 that laying the East India trade open would lessen the profit of indivi- 
 duals in that trade, by their striving to outdo and undersell one another, 
 yet the gain to the nation would be vastly greater, as the emulous pri- 
 vate adventurers, by thrusting themselves into new ports and countries 
 in Arabia, Persia, India, China, &c. would undoubtedly occasion the 
 exportation of much more of our manufactures and product than the 
 Company can do. And, on the other hand, a joint stock company 
 can never trade so frugally and advantageously, either for them- 
 selves or for the nation, being in fact but one buyer and one sel- 
 ler ; who, moreover, manage their trade with a pride and expenoe 
 more becoming the state of kings than of merchants ; and their gover- 
 nors and agents in India live like princes. They also expect to be fol- 
 lowed by the markets, and therefore do not stir from their warehouses* 
 Whereas, on the contrary, private traders would follow the markets, 
 would push into every creek and corner, and would narrowly look into 
 the conduct of their agents in India. I'hat the abolition of the present 
 Company would moreover destroy the pernicious practice of stock-job- 
 bing, so fatal to persons and families. That when almost all the mari- 
 time nations of Europe are now running into this trade, which will 
 doubtless diminish our own cotnmercc thither, it seems the most effectual 
 means for driving them out of this trade to lay it open to all our people."
 
 2& 
 
 On this occasion also it was stated by the Company, that those who 
 had petitioned (the merchants of London, Liverpool, and Bristol,) for 
 an open trade "were not in the secret of the trade, and that if the Com- 
 pany could not be prevailed upon to communicate their light?, the trade 
 must be wholly lost to the nation." 
 
 Upon the arguments employed by the Company on this occasion, Dr. 
 Smith remarks,' — 
 
 " In 1 730, when a proposal was made to Parliament for putting the 
 trade under the management of a regulated company, and thereby 
 laying it in some measure open, the East India Company, in oppo- 
 sition to this proposal, represented, in very strong terms, what had been 
 at this time the miserable effects, as they thought them, of this com- 
 petition. In India, they said, it raised the price of goods so high that 
 they were not worth the buying ; and in England, by over-stocking 
 the market, it sunk their price so low, that no profit could be made 
 by them. That by a more plentiful supply, to the great advantage 
 and conveniency of the public, it must have reduced very much the 
 price of India goods in the English market, cannot be well doubted ; 
 but that it should have raised very much their price in the Indian mar- 
 ket seems not very probable, as all the extraordinary demand which that 
 competition could occasion must have been but as a drop of water in the 
 immense ocean of Indian commerce. The increase of demand, besides 
 though in the beginning it may sometimes raise the price of goods, 
 never fails to lower it in the long run. It encourages production, and 
 thereby increases the competition of the producers, who, in order to 
 undersell one another, have recourse to new divisions of labour and new 
 improvements of art, which might never otherwise have been thought 
 of. The miserable effects of which the Company complained were, the 
 cheapness of consumption and the encouragement given to production, 
 precisely the two effects which it is the great business of political oeco- 
 nomy to promote. The competition, however, of which they gave this 
 doleful account, had not been aJlowed to be of long continuance."
 
 30 
 
 The Company, however, procured the rejection of the propo:-al of 
 an open trade, though recommended by the abilities and authority of 
 Sir John Barnard, and many of the most eminent merchai.ts of London. 
 Indeed, the objections against the Company's monopoly were urged 
 with [a force of reasoning which we should think nothing could 
 have resisted, except arguments similar to those employed in 1694 and 
 1702*. 
 
 From this period, to the acquisition of the continental dominions, 
 nothing deserving of remark relative to commerce occurred. From the 
 cursory view we have taken, it seems evident that the trade might 
 have been perfectly well carried on by individuals : we have seen that 
 the Company never could sustain the competition of the interlopers, 
 and that had the Ostend Company, or a free trade at that port, con- 
 tinued, both the Dutch and the East India Companies must have been 
 ruined. It is manifest, therefore, that a joint stock monopoly company, 
 instead of being well qualified to carry on the trade of India, could not 
 carry it on at all, without sanguinary and oppressive penalties against 
 the competition of their fellow subjects, and without the means of sup- 
 
 * Of these practices take the following additional illustration. " Reports were brought to 
 the House of Commons of ek'ctioiis that had been scandalously purchased by some who were 
 concerned in the new liast India Company. Instead of drinking and entertainments, by which 
 elections were formerly managed, now a most scandalous practice was brought in of buying 
 votes with so little decency, that the electors engaged themselves by subscriptions to choose a 
 blank person, before they were trusted with the name of their candidate. The old East 
 India Company had driven a course of corruption within doors, with so little shame tiiat the 
 new Company intended to follow their example, but with this ditlerencc, that, whereas the 
 former had bought the persons who were elected, they resolved to buy elections. Sir Edward Sey- 
 mour, who had dealt in this conuption his whole life-time, and whom llie old Company was 
 said to have bought before at a very high price, brought before the House of Commons the dis- 
 covery of some of the practices of the new Company. The examining of these took up many 
 days. In conclusion, the matter was so well proved, that several elections were declared void ; and 
 some of the persont so chosen ivere for some time kept in prison, after they had been expelled the 
 house." 
 
 Tjndal, vol. XV. p. 79.
 
 31 
 
 pressing the free competition of foreigners. But in addition to all these 
 circumstances, the state of this country, tlie state of Europe, and tho 
 state of India, has altered so much since the first establishment of the 
 Company, that the arguments on which their monopoly was formerly 
 justified, even had they been well-founded then, would now ap- 
 pear supremely ridiculous. 
 
 When the Company first was established, the Portuguese were, 
 though indeed in considerable decline, in possession of the trade to 
 India. To attempt opening a trade with a country then liltle known 
 to us, under the disadvantages of a competition with the Portuguese, 
 who had extensive and flourishing settlements on different parts of the 
 coast of the peninsula, w^as an enterprise of great risk. I'he adventurers 
 had to encounter, not merely the commercial rivalship, but the military 
 force of the Portuguese in India. They had to encounter the oppo- 
 sition of the Dutch afterwards upon the same principles, for it was the 
 custom of those days to fight for trade as for a prize. Commerce was 
 wholly militant, and the Indian seas were stained with the blood of the 
 parties contending for that which is the offspring, and ought to be the 
 bond, of peace. 
 
 If any thing could justify a joint stock company, it seemed to be a 
 state of things which rendered all private adventure impossible; but yet 
 in a few years we have seen private traders labouring to establish them- 
 selves, not only against the competition, and the hostility of other 
 nations, but against those of their bitterest enemy, the English chai- 
 tered Company. The smallest military protection from the govern- 
 ment would have supplied all that was necessary to enable the private 
 traders to manage the commerce of India with complete success. Those 
 unfavourable circumstances are now at an end. The government of 
 this country is both able and willing to protect its commerce in every 
 quarter of the globe. Commerce may now lay aside the sword and 
 become peaceful. The government will give it security, and if, on
 
 32 
 
 extraordinary occasions, it must defend itself, it can do so without the 
 aid of a monopoly. 
 
 After the acquisition of the territorial dominions, a new sera in the 
 history of tlie Company commenced, and this country became distracted 
 with disputes about Indian affairs, as it had been at the end of the 
 preceding century. Tlic disorders committed in India, and the 
 distresses of the Company, brought their conduct before parliament, 
 and scarcely any public question ever excited so much faction and di-r 
 vision in the state. I purposely forbear from any discussion of the 
 transactions between 1767 and 1785. Commerce seemed to be little 
 in view. During that period, the Company was, at ditl'erent times, 
 brought to the bar of the nation as a criminal and a delinquent. Though 
 they escaped the forfeitures they had incurred, they were always dismiss- 
 ed under strong, though inadequate, securities for their good behaviour. 
 
 Thefr affairs, since 1785, have fallen into a form of more quiet and 
 regular mismanagement. Their misconduct and their embarrassments, 
 now excite less eclat. They seem, indeed, to have required a sort of 
 prescriptive right to dilapidate the national resources and their own. 
 Their affairs, too, are involved in a degree of obscurity, notwithstanding 
 the parliamentary review to which they are annually subject, that few 
 understand them, and almost all revolt from the attempt to learn. 
 People indeed seem to wait quietly for that inevitable crash which will 
 rouse attention, or, for some measure which, proposing to apply the 
 national resources to the Company's aid, will display the juggle and the 
 fraud of that institution to every man in the empire.^ — That period is 
 very fast approaching. 
 
 Leaving these things to their natural course, I now proceed to con- 
 sider the present state of the trade with India. 
 
 III. Previous to the Company's acquisition of the territorial * domi- 
 
 * Before the war in 1757, the Company had, on the coast of Coromandel, Tort St. George,
 
 53 
 
 nions during the seren years' war, their relations with India were 
 purely conuiiercial. The trade was carried on with funds raised by the 
 credit of the Company, and fed by the profits which were made. It 
 appears that, upon the whole, notwithstanding the extravagance, the 
 uegh'gence, and the ill management incident to a joint stock company, 
 the trade being at last reduced nearly to a strict monopoly as to British 
 subjects, and the foreign companies being still more mismanaged than 
 our own, yielded a profit, and enabled the Company to pay a moderate 
 dividend to the proprietors of stock. 
 
 The trade with India was at that time carried on chiefly by exportation 
 of bullion, the exports of English commodities being then more incons- 
 siderable than at present. The Directors, in their Second Report on 
 the Private Trade, say, " From the remotest times of which we have an 
 account, down to our own days, the manufactures of India, fit for the 
 European market, were set on foot by money imported into that coun- 
 try." This certainly appears to have been the case ; but it proves the 
 wTetched system of government in a country possessing great industry 
 and resources. It proves that, with great means of producing capital, 
 so baneful was the system of the government, that the accumulation of 
 stock was prevented ; and the most abundant springs of wealth which 
 nature, and industry, and art could furnish, were choaked up and 
 destroyed. At this hour no steady, regular capital is employed in 
 those articles of manufacture which come to Europe. Advances are still 
 made by the agents of the Company, or by private merchants, to the 
 native manufacturers, to enable them to furnish the articles in demand. 
 
 It is perhaps impossible to fix upon any criterion which could more 
 
 Madras, and Vizagapatam ; the settlements of Fort William and Calcutta on the Ganges. On 
 the Malabar coast, Bombay. They had also the four northern Circars, the Jaghire lands, and 
 Perguunahs, together with some other factories of less importance. Since 1757 the territorial 
 acquisitious are of a magnitude hardly credible; but they unquestionably belong to the 
 «rowu. 
 
 P
 
 34 
 
 strongly evince the miserable state of the people of India, who, indus- 
 trious in a high degree, and distinguished for ingenuity in the finest 
 manufactures of the loom, are yet so beggarly and poor, that they are 
 supported by the precarious advances made by their employers. Capi- 
 tal has never, among tliem, been steadily vested in the manufactures 
 which Europe consumes. There are artificers, but no persons of capital 
 to employ and direct their industry. Nothing can show more strongly 
 the want of confidence which prevails, and the active oppression which 
 prevents the natural union of capital and labour. This state of things 
 reminds us of that barbarous situation of agriculture in some countries, 
 where the mendicant farmer sows the ground with seed advanced by 
 the landlord, and whose stock, and even instruments of labour, are his 
 master's. When such things exist, we may be assured that there are 
 radical vices in the constitution of the society and the character of the 
 government. 
 
 The new interest, which, as lords of the soil, the Company obtained 
 in the prosperity of Hindustan, ought to have inspired them with more 
 liberal views of traffick, and have led them to consider commerce, not 
 merely as a source of wealth to themselves, but as the means of im- 
 proving their territories. Their views, however, do not appear to have 
 extended with their situation. The characters of sovereign and mer- 
 chant have been strangely blended ; and, without being a beneficent 
 sovereign, the Company has become a worse merchant than ever. The 
 wars of India, the impolitic administration of the territories, the Com- 
 pany's affairs often on the verge of bankruptcy, form the eventful his- 
 tory of the period in which the monstrous junction of commerce and 
 sovereignty has subsisted. 
 
 Tn the character of sovereign of the soil, the East India Company 
 ought to lament the miserable and depressed situation of their subjects. 
 But as merchants, we find (hem jealous of the trade, which would im- 
 prove the resources and encourage the industry of Hindustan. They
 
 S5 
 
 are blind (o the advantages to be derived from enlarging and im- 
 proving the productive powers of their dominions, lest rival traders 
 might interfere with the paltry profits of their own shop. 
 
 The Company have at different times complained, that if competi- 
 tion of British subjects existed, the trade would be ruinous to those who 
 embarked in it. That is, they complain of that which it is the policy 
 of every wise government to encourage. The wretched argument 
 against competition, which, as has been stated. Dr. Smith treats with 
 such merited scorn, occurs again in the Reports of the Directors, 
 respecting the private trade. In the Second Report they make the fol- 
 lowing remarks: 
 
 " Thirdly, with regard to the competition which a great enlarge- 
 ment of private trade may occasion in the India conmierce — That the 
 law of every market should be a free permission to those who enter into 
 it, to buy and sell, need not to be disputed ; but it is a question, not 
 of commercial principle, but of the policy of states, whether their sub- 
 jects shall be encouraged to enter into competition with each other at 
 any particular foreign market. There can be no doubt that a great 
 increase of demand and of purchases in India would enhance the cost 
 of commodities there, and that a like increase of the quantities sold 
 here, though this mart should be the largest, would, on the Avhole, 
 lou-er tlie prices. The consequence from both branches of competition 
 would therefore be evident and direct disadvantage to this counlrv, 
 and disadvantage, not to be compensated, in this case, by the extent 
 of the trade." 
 
 The spirit displayed in this quotation, ought not to escape without 
 censure. I do not insist upon the ignorance of the true principles of 
 commerce which it betrays. We have seen what Dr. Smith thinks of 
 such reasoning. But let it be remembered, that the people of India 
 are our subjects. We exact the fruits of their toils, and surely we 
 
 F 2
 
 36 
 
 are bound to encourage the industry which supplies the ability to pay. 
 But the Directors seem to be afraid lest their own subjects should 
 derive any advantage from an increased demand for their produce. 
 They would sacrifice the people of India entirely to the supposed in- 
 terest of this country. They would sacrifice the grower wholly to the 
 selfishness of the sovereign consumer. Can any thing, in the spirit 
 of monopoly, be more flagrant and more odious than this? 
 
 Let it be considered, too, that the state of the people of India 
 seems particularly deser\'ing of encouragement and aid from every 
 mercantile source. 
 
 It is admitted by the Directors, that the Company's commerce 
 was intended to be carried on chiefly by the tribute, though in 
 fact there has been no clear surplus tribute. They tell us in 
 their Reports that, besides the surples tribute, and the fortunes of 
 British individuals, there is at this day " no capital in those territories 
 applicable to an extension of their exports to Europe." They take it 
 for granted, that there are no means of extending the connnerce of 
 India upon any great scale, " consonant to the ideas held out of im- 
 proving our possessions, but by capital transferred thither in bullion 
 from this country.'''* They then decide peremptorily that it would not 
 be good policy to employ British capital in • such enterprises. 
 
 The worthy Directors do not seem to have been aware how pointed 
 a condemnation they pass upon the India trade, such as it was car- 
 ried on before the territorial acquisitions, nay, such as they are obliged 
 now to carry it on themselves. They have just told us that it was 
 supported by importations of bullion from Europe. Do they mean 
 to say, however, that the trade was a bad one, because it was carried 
 on by means of bullion exported? The trade that is carried on ■with 
 bullion may be gainful, and to suppose the contrary, were to re- 
 cognise as truths, the most exploded errors of the mercantile system.
 
 37 
 
 At the worst it is only a: round-about trade of consumption. If the 
 goods brought from India are sold in Europe at a price which fully 
 replaces, with a profit, the stock, and pays the wages of the labour em- 
 ployed in bringing them to market, there is no danger that the mer- 
 chant shall want that supply of bullion, which is the instrument by 
 which the trade is carried on. If the people of this country have a 
 taste for the commodities of India, they must procure the means of 
 indulging that taste by an increase in their own industry and produce. 
 They are thus stimulated to exert themselves to procure equivalents 
 for those things they wish to enjoy. We do not necessarily lose, 
 therefore, upon the whole, by such a trade. On the other hand, if 
 a great surplus of the goods imported from India be re-exported to 
 foreign countries, the bullion is supplied to us by foreigners, to the 
 infinite comfort of those miserable valetudinarians of commerce, who, 
 like the man in the Spectator, are perpetually weighing the exports 
 and imports of the country in their mechanical chair, and watching 
 the changes of the balance of trade with such sickly anxiety. 
 
 What may be the amount of the trade in the commodities of British 
 India, or of what extension it is susceptible, it may not be easy to 
 ascertain. The demand for those commodities we knoAv has been, and is, 
 very great in Europe. We know that it is considerable in America and 
 the West Indies, and there is every reason to belie\c that it is capable 
 of being greatly extended, if not in the articles now considered tlie 
 staples, at least in others. That it can be extended under the ma- 
 nagement of the Company is not to be expected. 
 
 The policy of employing British capital in the trade of India must 
 depend solely upon the returns which the trade affords. If the trade 
 is a lucrative one, there can be no reason for not employing capital in 
 it as well as in any other. The Directors know perfectly well, that 
 the employment of capital in a nation like this, where every part of 
 commerce is well understood, must be regulated by the advantages
 
 38 
 
 of the trade. If private capital would not of itself embark in the 
 India trade, or ought not to engage in it, what is this but a confession 
 that the trade of the East India Company has attracted capital from 
 better application, and that the trade is a bad one? What is it, 
 but to tell us, that the monopoly has withdrawn capital to a non-pro- 
 ductive application from a productive? Every sixpence, therefore, 
 which was employed in the Company's trade, while they were only 
 traders, or which they now borrow to lay out in trade, is mis- 
 employed, and the nation suffers accordingly. It is true that indivi- 
 duals are not ruined, because the loss may be divided, but the nation 
 loses upon the whole aggregate capital so employed, if that mass 
 of capital do not produce the fair return which conmiercial capital, in 
 its beneficial application, ought to afford. In as far as the capital 
 employed in the East India trade produces less, it is wastcfuUy and 
 unprofitably employed *. 
 
 In their Reports upon the subject of the private trade, the Directors 
 
 have given us their sentiments at large upon the sul)ject. They tell 
 
 us, that if the productive powers of India are to be cultivated, capital 
 
 must be exported from Europe. The truth is, if the Company 
 
 themselves are to carry on tlie trade, they must export capital, for 
 
 there is not only no surplus revenue, but there is a perpetually growing 
 
 debt in India, and it surely would be much better to borrow at 
 
 English than India interest. But if private traders did export capital, 
 
 what, upon commercial principles, is the evil of that, if it returns 
 
 with an adecjuate profit ? They say, too, that it must be withdrawn 
 
 from other branches of trade nearer home. Is that at all necessary ? 
 
 If the trade of this country, indeed, were like that of the Company, 
 
 a trade in which the capital is wasted, not increased, there certainly 
 
 would be no capital to be employed in a new branch of trade. But, 
 
 when so nmch commercial capital is beneficially employed, there must 
 
 be a perpetually accumulating excess springing out of that beneficial 
 
 * Smith's Wealth of Nations.
 
 39 
 
 employment, and applicable to new adventure. There is no ne- 
 cessity, therefore, for impoverishing any other profitable branch of 
 trade by the investment of capital in that of India. 
 
 Lord Wellesley, upon this subject, is of an opinion directly con- 
 trary to that of the Directors *. lie says, " If the capital of the 
 merchants in India, and the remittance of the fortunes of individuals, 
 should not afford funds sufficient for the conduct of the whole private 
 export trade from India to Europe, no dangerous consequences would 
 result from applying to this branch of commerce capital drawn di- 
 rectly from the British empire in Europe." 
 
 " Beneficial consequences, of the utmost importance, would certainly 
 result to the British empire in India, from any considerable increase 
 of its active capital, which is known not to bear a just proportion to 
 the producti\ e powers of the country." 
 
 Both for the authority, and the reasons of this opinion, it deserves 
 a decided preference over that of the Directors. Mr. Dundas, now 
 Lord Melville, however, has given an opinion in favour of the 
 Directors on this point; and though in almost every thing else he is 
 at variance with them, on the subject of the private trade, they quote 
 this opinion with triumph. If it were even true, that, relatively to the 
 Company's monopoly, it would be improper to encourage any employ- 
 ment of British capital in India, because such employment would 
 create that competition in India against the Company, of which they so 
 bitterly complain; this, however, would form no argument against such 
 an application of our capital to support an open, free, and profitable 
 commerce. But, in whatever light it is viewed, the argument is 
 founded on the most pitiful principles of mercantile monopoly. 
 
 * Letter to tlie Court of Directors, 30th September, 1800.
 
 40 
 
 If Britis^h ca})it;il were to be sent out to India, it would be sent out to 
 increase the active capital which in that country is so much wanted. 
 But perhaps there is none of the instruments of trade, which tends so 
 much to fructify and improve both agriculture and manufactures, as 
 adequate share of capital. Price is regulated by the combined circum- 
 stances of effective demand and effecti\ e supply. But nothing contri- 
 butes so much to supply as capital, Avhich by affording the materials of 
 industry, by advancing to the manufacturer those materials, and that 
 subsistence Avithout which his abilities would languish, and by pro- 
 ducing the most convenient distributions of labour, tends to bring 
 to market every commodity at the cheapest rate to the consumer. 
 But what must be the surprise of the enlightened manufacturers of this 
 country, when they are informed by Lord Melville, "that the manu- 
 factures of the finer and more valuable fabrics of India have always 
 been produced by advances from government, or individuals, for whose 
 behoof those fabrics are manufactured ; and if the dealing with those 
 manufacturers was to be laid open to the uncontrolled competition of 
 every individual, the consequence would be a boundless scene of con- 
 fusion and fraud, and ultimately the ruin of the manufacture." 
 
 This statement is every way extraordinary. Is it then advantageous 
 for the manufacturers of India, that the capital which supports their 
 fabrics should be doled out, like an eleemosynary gift, at the pleasure of 
 the government? Is it favourable to improvement in any fabric that the 
 capital should be fluctuating and precarious, that the manufacture should 
 depend upon such a beggarly system of occasional advances ? Is this a 
 state of things in which cheapness of supply is likely to take place ? 
 Was ever the picture of monopoly, grinding a country, depressing the 
 industry of whole nations, exhibited in more striking colours ? 
 
 The Company grudge their unhappy subjects the benefit of being 
 encouraged by the competition of new purchasers. They would con-
 
 41 
 
 demn Englishmen at home, to buy under tlie limited supply of tlicir 
 monopoly, and they condemn the people of India, as far as possible, to 
 depend on their exclusive demand. This system, however, is not less 
 short-sighted than it is detestable. The first effects of competition, 
 doubtless, may be as Dr. Smith has well observed in a passage already 
 quoted, to enhance the price, but the second and the certain effect is to 
 lower it. By exciting emulation in the producers, and by teaching eco- 
 nomy and judicious distribution in the different stages of the work, the 
 consumer is l)etter supplied, w hile the situation of the producer is like- 
 wise improved. It is thus that, throughout this prosperous emjiire, wc 
 see the interest of the consumer and the manufacturer conciliated. It 
 is thus we see competition prevail, ftibrics improve, the manufacturers 
 grow^ rich, and the public cheaply supplied. Capital, which facilitates 
 and suggests judicious division of labour, is, perhap.^, one of the most 
 active agents in effecting these happy results. The introduction of ca- 
 pital into India, to fructify industry and encourage produce, ought to be 
 eagerly desired by the Company, both in their character of merchants 
 and of sovereigns. The advances Avhich they or others are obliged to 
 make, clearly show that one of the most natural and necessary divisions 
 of stock has not taken place in India. The Company is at once the mer- 
 chant dealer in the commodity, and the manufacturer of it. They 
 nmst therefore have tw o capitals ; one for supporting the manufacture, 
 the other for circulating it when produced. But every one in the least 
 acquainted with the nature of commerce, know^s that such an union of cha^ 
 racters is not beneficial. It is very likely that the two capitals emploved 
 by those who act in this double capacity, will not be so well managed 
 as if each belonged to a separate interest, and were managed under a 
 separate direction. In all countries where manufactures and commerce 
 have made considerable progress, such a separation has taken place. 
 It surely therefore must be important to bring India to that state. The 
 Company, as a merchant dealing in the produce of India, has an inte- 
 rest in that separation. They would be cheaper supplied, if there be 
 truth in those great principles of trade, w hich Smith and others have 
 
 G
 
 42 
 
 proved to demonstration, and of which principle?, as well as of all ex- 
 perience, the Company and their advocates must have fallen into the 
 most perfect oblivion. 
 
 But it is only British capital which the Company are unwilling to see 
 employed in the trade with India. They tell us in the Third Report,, 
 that the trade of foreigners with our dominions should be encouraged, 
 because that trade, if bona fide^ introduces specie, of which India stands 
 much in need. This argument would prove more than the Company 
 intend. It would prove that for India at least, the bona fide trade of fo* 
 reigners is beneficial, but that the trade of the Company cannot be so ; 
 as the latter, were it not for the mal-administration which prevents a 
 surplus of tribute^ would trade only to carry away that tribute, and not 
 in any manner to promote the prosperity of their territories. But if the 
 merchants of this country, by means of vested capital, knowledge of the 
 trade, and economy in its prosecution, could supply foreign nations with 
 India commodities as cheap as those nations could supply themselves, 
 it is evident that the bullion derived from the trade with foreigners, 
 and imported by our own subjects, would be just as beneficial to India 
 as if it were imported in Porlugueze, Swedish or Danish ships. The 
 question then comes to this — Could the mercliants of this country sup- 
 ply other nations, and even partly those mentioned, as cheaply as they 
 can themselves, or other nations ; for part of their trade, and almost all 
 that of the Americans, is for the supply of different parts of Europe? 
 If the question be answered in the affirmative, it is manifest that 
 British merchants would then fructify India with specie precisely in 
 the manner the trade of those foreigners now does. There is no 
 occasion then, that foreigners should be invited to trade, if, by the 
 fair encouragement of our own subjects, the commerce of India can be 
 brought into an English channel. Thus, by pouring in capital into 
 Bengal, and carrying bullion, tlie produce of their successful trade 
 with other nation*, the industry of India Avould be encouraged, capital in 
 that country would be increased, circulation, impeded by the enormous
 
 43 
 
 quantity of the Company's paper, would be revived, and trade, 
 oppressed by the high rate of interest, would be improved and ex- 
 tended. 
 
 But, besides the fabrics of the finer kind, there are various other pro- 
 ductions in India which, by due encouragement, might be improved and 
 enlarged. The article of indigo alone, Avhich is now imported to the / 
 
 value of more than a million sterling, is but of late cultivation in India, 
 and the rapid success it has obtained may fairly be ascribed to its being 
 left to private adventure. The raising of sugar, were it not the policy 
 to discourage it in favour of West India produce, might be carried to 
 any extent. This could be demonstrated beyond contradiction ; but if 
 the monopoly is to be reserved to the West India planters, whose inte- 
 rests, at the present moment, seem peculiarly deserving of considera- 
 tion, it is not necessary to discuss in detail a question in itself un- 
 doubtedly very important. 
 
 The extension of the British dominions in the Bombay Presidency, 
 has afforded additional facilities for the supply of cotton, an article now 
 so necessary to our domestic manufactures. To suppose that so bulky 
 an article can be conveyed to Europe in the princely vessels of the Com- 
 pany, at the enormous rate of freight Avhich they pay, or on the scale of 
 royal extravagance, which distinguishes every branch of their commerce, 
 is to tride with the subject. The thing is impossible. The Company 
 know it full well ; and as a proof of their liberality, they make the offer 
 of letting the Lancashire manufacturers supply themselves. In the 
 Third Report*, they say, " The Company however have abandoned 
 the importation (of cotton) in consequence of the loss which has been 
 suslained^ but they are reachj to grant free permission to the mamifac' 
 turers of Lancashire and elsewhere to send out ships^ and lo import 
 for their own account on the usual regulations for private trade, pro- 
 vided the ships to be employed are British built or India built." 
 
 • See Asiatic Annual Register for 1802 ; State Papers, page 08. 
 
 . G 2
 
 44 
 
 This, to be sure, is wonderful condescension. It seems to be of the 
 same species of facetious liberality with that recorded by Lord Bacon, 
 in his Apothegms, of the scholar, who could not spare his bellows out 
 of his chamber, but was ready to permit his neighbour to come and 
 blow there as much as he pleased. The invitation, at any rate, is 
 given only because it cannot be accepted. 
 
 It may be very possible to get cotton from India, though it might not 
 be wise in the manufacturers of Lancashire to divert their capital from 
 its proper application, to that of merchant adventurers, in the import- 
 ation of cotton. Their capital and their industry have occupation 
 enough without this diversion. They have a right to expect that the 
 India Company's monopoly shall not interfere with the fair supply of 
 the market, in an article of the first necessity to their manufacture, 
 particularly when the company formally announce, that " they have 
 abandoned the importation." 
 
 The fact is, that, were it not for the jealousy of the Company, cot- 
 ton might now be, and might for years have been, imported in very 
 large quantities. But to imagine that cotton, or any other article which 
 must come here to a competition with the same article from other parts 
 with which the trade is free, can be brought while the Company's bur- 
 densome and oppressive system continues, is to be utterly ignorant of 
 the nature of commerce. Were the whole trade of India open and free 
 to be followed in all its branches, according to the demand of circum- 
 stances, and the dictates of enlightened acquaintance with markets at 
 home and abroad, there cannot be a doubt that great quantities of cot- 
 ton would be im{)orted. But can it be expected that any set of mer- 
 chants Avill accept the offer of the Directors for importing cotton solely ? 
 In so bulky a commodity, freight constitutes a most essential charge ; 
 but upon an assorted cargo, a bulky article, which of itself could hardly 
 pay, might enter very usefully into the bill of lading. Do the Di- 
 rectors offer to let ships go to Surat or Bombay, to bring home cotton, 
 or any other commodities the freighters chuse to ship ; or do they
 
 45 
 
 propose to allow them to export wha.t they please in their own way, 
 and with an entire freedom from the burdensome formalities and 
 restrictions of the Company's monopoly? Not at all. 
 
 But it is not necessary to rely on mere speculation as to what might 
 be done, if the trade were open, or if it were allowed to be carried on 
 in the manner which British merchants would now carry it on, if the 
 Company would but wave a monopoly which, as to this article at least, is 
 prohibitory to others, not exercised beneficially, or even at all for them- 
 selves. In the year 1799' — 1800, thirty-four thousand bales, each three 
 hundred and ninety-two pounds weight, were imported into this country, 
 in eleven thousand five hundred tons of shipping, belonging to the pri- 
 vate traders ; and if the facilities for importing at a cheap rate were 
 afforded, not only the quantity in demand would regularly be supplied, 
 but the quality would be adapted to the English market. The cotton 
 in India, it is calculated, can be raised by the grower at about three 
 halfpence a pound, whereas, cotton, raised by the labour of slaves, 
 cannot be raised at less than a shilling*. The difTercnce of freight, 
 therefore, constitutes the difference of price. But if the Directors 
 make the whole expence fall upon the homeward cargo, it is absurd 
 to think that the article can pay. Sir Robert Peel, in a letter to the 
 Court of Directors, dated November, 1797, accuses the Company of 
 a positive breach of contract, in refusing themselves, and denying 
 permission to others, to bring home cotton at a reasonable freight. 
 He expressly states, that the discouragements to this great national 
 object had caused a rise in the -price of collon of 100/. j)er cent. 
 Such is the encouragement given by the Company to our domestic 
 manufactures, by supplying them with raw materials! It is of the 
 same kind with that mentioned by the merchants of Liverpool, in 
 1792, when they petitioned for laying open the trade. They 
 assert, truly, that the Company did every thing in their power to 
 
 * See Henchman's Obseryations, page 23.
 
 46 
 
 ruin our cotton manufactory, on its first establishment, because it was 
 likely to interfere with some of the articles of their monopoly. 
 
 But the reason given by the Directors for discouraging the cotton 
 trade, in the Second Report, is particularly deserving of attention. 
 They say, " That the cotton of India cannot succeed; that the rate of 
 freight is too high; that the cotton from the east is not the produce of 
 British India, (since that time the cotton country has been annexed to the 
 British dominions,) that enough is not raised in the Company's provinces 
 for the employment of their manufacturers; that a large quantity is 
 every year sent to China, as a means of providing the Company's 
 investments of teas; that none has of late years been imported into 
 Bengal by sea ; that by vast importations into this country, part may 
 again be exported, and minister to the support of foreign manufac- 
 tures, which affect our own." 
 
 The abominable spirit of monopoly, which pervades this passage, 
 ought not to escape without indignation and censure. It is the dread 
 that some way or other their monopoly may be injured, which CAcr 
 influences them; and that sentiment is in every instance as ignorant 
 as it is odious. The fact is, that owing to circumstances, perfectly 
 well known, Bengal now raises the supply itself, and it affords 
 large quantities for exportation; such is the facility with which that 
 happy soil lends itself to every sort of produce. But, perhaps, an 
 exportation from Surat and Bombay would raise the price of cotton, 
 to the prejudice of that part of the investment which goes in cotton 
 to buy teas? Good God! and is the interest of India committed to 
 such rulers? Is the interest of Englishmen dependant on such fellow- 
 citizens? The Directors surely cannot be ignorant, tluvt in an article, 
 the cultivation of which is unlimited, the supply will meet the de- 
 mand; and that the increase of demand, by a natural and invariable 
 law of free commerce, tends to reduce the price. Yet, u[)on the ma- 
 lignant apprehension of a possible loss" to themselves in their invest-
 
 47 
 
 ment for teas, the cultivation of an article, raised by people entitled 
 to British protection in India, is to be sacrificed to the Company's mo- 
 nopoly; and the manufacturers of this country are to be deprived of 
 the raw material of a fabric of vast national importance. The Di- 
 rectors are wonderfully alarmed for the interest of our manufacturers! 
 Their charity, to be sure, begins at home. They begin with fears 
 about their own investments to China, but they afterwards feel for 
 our manufacturers, and anticipate their ruin, should cotton be so 
 cheap in the port of London that they will not buy it ! It is not very 
 probable, that the manufacturers of Lancashire will be very uneasy 
 about Avhat may become of the cotton, of which they get the first 
 offer, and the very importation of which will secure them a cheap 
 and constant supply of the commodity. 
 
 It is not my intention to go into a detailed consideration of the dif- 
 ferent articles with which India is capable of supplying us; but I 
 cannot help taking notice of one which is extremely itnportant to our 
 home manufactures. I mean Silk ; and as the cotton fabrics of India 
 are discouraged, for the protection of our OAvn, it is our duty to com- 
 pensate India, by favouring the production of silk, in which the in- 
 terests of both countries would coincide. At present, we are dependent 
 chiefly upon France and Italy for the supply of this commodity, and 
 the East India Company, with tlie means of affording the supply, have 
 been at no pains to bring the article to that degree of perfection that 
 "would enable it to compete with the produce of Italy and France. 
 On the contrary, the Company have neglected the business entirely: 
 Bengal silk has for some years been growing worse; and the only 
 improving part of it is that which comes in the private and privileged 
 trade. But to do. justice to this resource to which our silk manu- 
 facturer is entitled to look, skill, and probably capital too, must be 
 suffered to go to India, and must be directed by the zeal and intel- 
 ligence of private interest. Were the enterprise and skill of indi- 
 viduals suffered to engage freely in this supply, there is no doubt the
 
 48 
 
 object would be ?oon obtained. Silk of the best quality might be 
 procured from our eastern dominions; but, in order to suit the demands 
 of the home manufacturers at a reasonable price, the silk ought to 
 be organzined in India. A greater degree-of attention on the prepa- 
 tion of it there must be bestowed ; and that cannot be expected 
 from the Company and their agents. Were the silk organzined in 
 India (that is imported here ready for the loom), we should be able 
 to preserve a large share in that important manufacture, which now 
 is very precarious, and gained as much, through the disorders which 
 have prevailed in France for these last sixteen years, as from our own 
 resources ax superiority. But till individuals are permitted fieely to 
 engage in the supply of this article in every stage, the British manu- 
 facturer will be dependent on our enemies, to whom we may pay 
 more than two millions annually, for silk alone. Yet, with the re- 
 medy in our power, this mass of national interest is sacrificed to the 
 East India Company's monopoly! 
 
 The Directors have uniformly asserted, that the trade with India, nei- 
 ther as to import nor export, is capable of extension. They have claimed 
 the praise of giving " full scope to the internal powers of their territory in 
 agriculture and commerce.*" To state, however, that the sovereign of a 
 country, of near fifty millions of people, wishes to have an exclusive mo- 
 nopoly in the commerce of that country, of itself announces a preten- 
 sion not very compatible with " giving full scope to the internal poieers 
 of a country.'^'* There is something absolutely shocking in the union 
 of the character of sovereign and monopolist merchant. That the 
 same persons should at once exact the revenues of the sovereign, and 
 seek to monopolize the commerce of the merchant, is the condemna- 
 tion of the system. This rapacity of power, and this meanness of 
 monopoly, compose, indeed, a nauseous and disgusting mixture. Is 
 it in the nature of things, that the internal powers of the territory 
 should be encouraged and developed, under a government which unites 
 xharacters so irrcconcilcable with those objects? In the mechanical
 
 49 
 
 routine of the Company's commercial operation.^, there is no room 
 for the enterprise, the discernment, tlie invention, and the discovery 
 which are the sure results of fair competition, and an active 
 and enlightened emulous private interest. In the Company's trade, 
 every thingis languid and formal. It is conducted by agents who, indeed, 
 may perform their task with fidelity, but not with zeal. Every trans- 
 action drawls on the lifeless routine of office; without spirit, Avithout 
 energy. It is not consistent with the nature of man, that under such 
 a system, the full development of any branch of commerce can be 
 obtained. 
 
 When we consider the enormous number of men now subject (o the 
 British dominion in India, when we consider the immensely rich and 
 populous empires which are included within the limits of the Com- 
 pany's Charter, it will be difficult to persuade us, that the full com- 
 mercial resources of those regions, almost equal in population to half the 
 globe, have been explored and ascertained. And when we reflect on 
 these things, it is impossible to contain our astonishment, that a natfon, 
 boasting itself enlightened, and pursuing trade as one of its favourite 
 objects, should have restrained its subjects from exploring these fertile 
 regions of trade, and should have conferred the privilege upon a 
 monopoly Company, which from its Acry nature must be disqualified 
 either to draw the proper benefit from the branches we know, or to 
 enlarge the sphere of intercourse by new discoveries. 
 
 Indeed, it is very obvious, that in every respect the Company, 
 since the territorial acquisition, are much less enterprising in com- 
 merce than when they were merely merchants. Their voyages re- 
 semble the dull regularity of the Spanish galleons, or register ships. 
 It is observed, that when the Company were only merchants, they 
 had upwards of eighty factories at different parts, from the Persian 
 Gulph to China. There are not above four or five of them re- 
 maining ; and the Company, in the sluggishness of a monopoly, 
 
 H
 
 50 
 
 pronounce that these four or five ai'e sufficient for the commerce of all 
 India. It is verv probable that they who really are not merchants, they 
 who can do nothing- tolerably but business of mere routine, would find 
 any addition to their trade, addition to their loss. They do not wish 
 for new branches of trade. They are contented with mismanaging 
 what they choose to undertake, and excluding their fellow citizens from 
 any competition with them. 
 
 In the year 1792, previous to the renewal of the Company's Charter, 
 the spirited, intelligent, and enterprising merchants of Liverpool were 
 of opinion that most extensive fields of trade might be formed beyond 
 the Cape of Good Hope. They knew that the chief access to the 
 j)opulous empire of Persia is shut up by the Company's Charter 5 that 
 the countries around the Red Sea ; that the innumerable islands and 
 the populous empires of the East, can furnish valuable objects of 
 trade, and would, if cultivated, present profitable markets to the infinite 
 variety of our manufactures. 
 
 It has been objected by the Company, that a trade with India never can 
 be beneficial to the merchants of this country; because, from moral and 
 religious causes, the consumption of British commodities in Hindostan 
 must be greatly limited. They have even asserted that " the emergencies 
 of Government, or a prudent sacrifice to popular prejudice, may at times 
 have favoured the views of private adventurers; " but Ihey onltj bought 
 al a high price^ from the -poverty of the stale or the venality of its 
 members.^ permission to ruin themselves,'^'' 
 
 We have seen in a preceding part of this inquiry who were the real 
 parties, who " bought from the poverty of the slale^ or the venality of 
 its members^'''' permission to ruin themselves. We have seen in 1094, 
 the Company paying 170,000/. in bribing ministers of state, and mem- 
 bers of parliament. We have seen their Directors committed to the 
 Tower, and the whole nation animated Avith a conunon sentiment.
 
 51 
 
 of indignation against them. At' a later period we have seen 
 them carrying on a wholesale trade of corruption; bribing many 
 boroughs, their practices detected, and tlieir members expelled and 
 imprisoned. It was the Directors of the Company who bought from 
 the " poverty of I he slate^ or the venalUy of Us members,'''^ a permission 
 not to ruin themselves, (for they were sure of their OAvn job) but per- 
 mission to deceive their subscribers with hopes of profit never realised ; 
 to mismanage the commerce of India, and to strip their fellow citizens of 
 the natural and almost indefeasible right to exercise their talents, their 
 industry, their capital for their own advantage ; and, by an inseparable 
 connection, for the advantage also of their country. 
 
 But when we hear the Company, the sovereigns of India, constantly 
 inidervaluing the commerce of that country, and see them inexorably 
 obstinate in excluding from it all their fellow citizens, it is easy to 
 discern their apprehensions of losing the monopoly. Yet what kind of 
 sovereigns must they be who thus labour to narrow and restrict the 
 commerce of their subjects? How despicable, how odious, that cha- 
 racter of sovereignty so jealous of a commercial intercourse which an 
 enlightened Government would cherish and invite? Their character 
 indeed is uniform : " By a strange absurdity," says Dr. Smith, " they 
 regard the character of the sovereign as but an appendix to that of 
 merchant ; their mercantile habits lead them in this manner, almost ne- 
 sarily, though perhaps insensibly, to prefer, upon all ordinary occa- 
 sions, the little transitory profit of the monopolist to the great and per- 
 manent revenue of the sovereign." 
 
 But obstinate as the Directors are, in excluding their fellow citizens 
 from all share in the India trade, even from that which they do not pre- 
 tend to carry on themselves, they can persuade no man that their re- 
 presentations of that trade are just. It certainly is true that, in propor- 
 tion to the extent of the population, and the wealth of the British 
 
 H 2
 
 52' 
 
 dominions in India, they do not furnish a considerable market 
 for the produce and manufacturies of this country. But, allow- 
 ing much for the religion, the habits, the immoveable customs, the 
 permanent moral character of the Hindus, it still appears wonderful 
 that the latter should have imbibed no taste, if not for the ca- 
 pricious fashions, at least for the solid improvements, which their masters 
 might be capable of furnishing them, in almost every thing connected 
 with mechanical contrivance?. Mr. Orme informs us, that nothing can be 
 more rude than the tools and implements with which the Hindus work. 
 It is personal industry, and minute dexterity, that supplies among them 
 that which among us is performed by well contrived tools and skilful 
 machinery. Yet it is almost incredible, notwithstanding the adherence 
 of those people to old customs, that they should not be capable of 
 seeing the infinite superiority of European contrivances, for abridging 
 or facilitating labour, and for executing every mechanical task. From 
 the immense sums which India has furnished to the rapacity of its 
 different conquerors, we know that great industry, great circulation, 
 very considerable consumption, must exist among this people. They 
 are, in a state of agriculture, of manufactures, and of refinement, a ery 
 considerably advanced. The frequent devastation of war, the perpe- 
 tual revolutions in government, and the long series of oppressive ad- 
 ministration they have suffered, must have limited their productive 
 powers, and deranged their industry. But under a steady protective 
 government their powers of production, and their ability to consume, 
 slwuld be increased. It seems almost certain that they might furnish 
 a demand for many articles of English produce and manufacture, wliich. 
 they do not now use. The infinite variety of our manufacturies in 
 iron and steel, in gold and silver, in jewellery, in elegant furniture, in 
 glass; particular kinds of woollens, might very well be adapted to the 
 taste and the demand of Eastern luxury and magnificence. The Com-> 
 pany deny tliis. They discourage the attempt, because they are not 
 merchants. That they have made so little progress in introducing any 
 thing English into their territories, capable of so much consumption, will
 
 53 
 
 be considered by intelTigent men more as a proof of their unfitness or 
 indisposition fcr pushing such active enterprises of commerce, than to 
 the impossibility of succeeding in the object. Besides, there are other 
 classes of people in India, not inconsiderable in point of numbers, and 
 very considerable in point of wealth, particularly the Mahomcdans. 
 Why should the Mahomedan be unwilling to adopt the elegance of 
 European arts ? Why should they be averse to those manufac- 
 tures which contribute to the comforts of life and to the embellish- 
 ment of high condition? Other objects have been in view with the East 
 India Company than to advance these purposes. Nothing has been done 
 to facilitate the introduction of our manufactures, but every thing has 
 been done systematically to discourage it. It could not be done by 
 the Company, nor by any body else under the cumbrous regulations 
 and the expensive detail to which all their traffic is subject. Our ma- 
 nufactures have not had a trial. The interest of England, as a pro- 
 ducing country, has never entered into the views of the Company at 
 any time, far less since they became territorial sovereigns. 
 
 The trade Avith India, and with the countries eastward of the Cape, 
 has hitherto been depressed and confined by the influence of the mono- 
 poly. No fair experiment has has been made, either what commodities 
 those regions might add to the objects of commerce for European con- 
 sumption, or what demand they are capable of affording for our own 
 manufactures. It is believed, that many articles of the first necessity 
 might be cultivated in our Indian territories. For instance, I am posi- 
 tively assured, and indeed partly know the fact, that hemp*, of an ex- 
 
 * The article alluded to is called Sunn, and i.-; to be found in the INIuLibai- provinces. It 
 slightly diflers from European hemp, Lut can be applied with advantage to all the purposes 
 for which hemp is used. Not long ago experiments were made in this country, to ascertain 
 how far it could be employed to make ropes and canvass. The result was, that it was found 
 capable of being wrought into both articles of a very supeiior quality. The Company and 
 their servants, however, have given no facility to the proper cultivation of this article, and its 
 introduction into this country. On the contrary, they have neglected or opposed this object; 
 uot to mention the impossibility ef transporting such a commodity at their rate of freight.
 
 H 
 
 celleiit quality and to any extent, might be raised in India, and might 
 be brought to Europe for the supply of our military and commercial 
 navy, were sufficient facilities allowed for importing it. It is probable 
 that it can only be brought over, however, in a mixed cargo, as its bulk 
 might render the transport of it as a single article too expensive, and 
 it can never be done therefore till the trade is laid open or the mono- 
 poly modified. Very little, however, has yet been attempted towards 
 deriving such advantages from the territorial dominions, by encouraging 
 their productive powers. 
 
 Should the attempts of the British government to obtain a footing 
 in Spanish America be successful, they will furnish additional reasons 
 for rescuing the navigations of those seas from the present tyranny 
 of the East India and South Sea Companies, and for opening the trade 
 to India, for which the possession of South America would afford 
 additional encouragement. 
 
 It is no wonder that the manufactures of this country have seen 
 with dissatisfaction the renewal of the Company's Charter. The prin- 
 cipal trading towns have evinced the same disapprobation of so impo- 
 litic a measure. The liberty of employing their talents, their industry, 
 their capital, is one of the great objects which men expect to secure in 
 a state of society, and to take that liberty from the many, to vest an 
 exclusive privilege in a few, may indeed be consistent with legislative 
 competence, but is hardly reconcileable to the great ends of govern- 
 ment. No government has a right to interfere with those objects, unless 
 when the paramount interests of the community dictate a modification or 
 a suspension of them in favour of a system more generally beneficial. 
 Unless, however, the establishment of such a monopoly, as that enjoyed 
 
 There are some other productions similar to liemp and flax (o be found in India, capable of 
 being wrought up into manufactures equal to the finest cambric. But these and a thousand 
 improvcmcntB are stifled and overlaid by tlie dead weight of the Company and their mono- 
 poly.
 
 55 
 
 by the East India Company, be demonstrably advantageous to the na- 
 tion at large, and not merely an expedient of administration, as it has 
 almost always been, the regulation is not less unjust than impolitic, 
 which restrains the natural course of industry, labour, and capital. 
 
 IV. The commercial situation of the company itself will next deserve 
 our attention. We have already seen, from the view of the Company's 
 institution and progress, how unfit and incapable it is for the manage- 
 ment of commerce. The Directors, however, tell us that the phrenzy 
 of sharing in the trade to India, will ensnare unAyary persons, whose rage 
 for adventure will be productive of their ruin before they are aware of 
 their error. 
 
 This is indeed a terrible denunciation, and, if it came from a discreet, 
 prudent, and successful merchant, it would ha\ e weight, but we shall 
 see, by and by, what sort of merchants the Company is. In one of their 
 reports (and in a letter of Mr. Dundas) we are told that the public funds 
 and the tribute constitute the trading capital with which the Company's 
 commerce is carried on*. In the Third Heport, we find the Directors 
 stating that this tribute, admitted in the First Report to be one part of 
 their capital, was not applied to that object, because it did not exist. 
 "It is true (say they) that in the year 1 793, there was a surplus of tribute 
 in India of 1,1.59,000/. per annum, to be brought home through the 
 medium of commerce, but that sum has been exhausted, either in 
 establishments under the authority of the board of commissioners, or 
 in political expences, neither of which were incurred by, or belong to the 
 commerce of the Company." From the source of tribute it is acknow- 
 ledged, then, that the Company have no aid at all. 
 
 As to the fortunes of individuals, we find them complaining, as if a 
 most grievous injury, that these funds are intercepted by the private 
 
 * First Report of Select Committee on the India Trade.
 
 56 
 
 traders. If they be so intercepted, there milst be some good reason for 
 it. It is, however, the opinion of many, that these funds are in part 
 vested in the Company's Indian paper. At present let us hear the 
 complaint. 
 
 " Individuals have not complained of the want of means to remit 
 their fortunes to Europe, since the year 1 793. It is the Company who 
 complain^ that it is the British merchants residing in India who are com- 
 petitor for those funds, and who interce{)t a considerable portion which 
 would otherwise flow into their treasury^ to enable the Company to 
 purchase their own investment.'^'' 
 
 This passage is worth notice for several reasons; but suffice it now to 
 remark the light which it throws on the trading resources of the Com- 
 pany. First, we fmd a tributewhich has not been realized, and, secondly, 
 a remittance of fortunes which individuals are not well inclined to remit 
 through the Company. Is it possible that any merchant can trade to 
 advantage when his proper peculiar trading capital is thus fluctuating 
 and precarious, beyond his own dispo'al and controul ? How then does 
 the Company j)rocure its trading capital? By the sale of its outward car- 
 goes almost always sold at a loss ; and by borroAving money at very 
 high interest ; and in such cases their investment is sure to ])roducc, not 
 a mercantile profit, but a positive loss ? 
 
 As to the complaint, that the fortunes of individuals are intercepted, 
 the truth is, tliat, whether these funds are obtained by private British 
 traders or not, they never will seek the Company's treasury. They seek 
 either the employment of other European traders, or that of the Ame- 
 ricans, whose India trade has been raised into its present magnitude, 
 by the oppressive monopoly of the Company, against the interest of 
 British subjects^ 
 
 That the trade of India is not a gaining one for the Company, is
 
 57 
 
 ascertained l)y various facts, and by the opinions of the most competent 
 judges. No trade can bear the extravagance of freight under which 
 the Company import, and the heavy charges under which their cargoes 
 must be collected in India, where nothing of the diligence and economy 
 of private merchants is observed. 
 
 They are said indeed to gain in the China trade, in which their sole 
 gain arises from their oppressive monopoly at the expence of their 
 countrymen. ■ ». 
 
 The trade of the Company from India has been called a remittance 
 trade, but be the name what it may, the mercantile charges, and profits 
 of the trade, must be considered before we can ascertain whether they 
 gain or not. As a merchant, the Company cannot gain, unless 
 the money brought into their treasury, in the shape of tribute, is so 
 laid out in India, as to afford a fair profit on the first cost, charges^ 
 freight, insurance, &c. of the goods invested. If they do not realize 
 the principal sum, with all the various charges, there is a mercantile 
 loss. On the other hand, if the Company act as the banker remitter 
 of the fortunes of individuals, unless the sum they receive in their 
 treasury in India can be realized in Europe at the fair rate of exchange, 
 they are losers on the principal sum brought into their treasury. They 
 would diminish the amount of their own tribute in the one case • they 
 would lose as bankers remitters in the other. But if it be manifest 
 that the Company, as merchants and as bankers, lose on their transac- 
 tions, why should they continue the trade ? It is demonstrable that 
 whatever they lose might be gained to the nation. The tendency to 
 trade between this country and India is powerful, nay, irresistible • 
 when individuals are chased out of one channel, they find another. Does 
 not this point out to us what is the course to follow, and what we ought 
 to do ? That trade, which the company vainly and absurdly attempt 
 to carry en, should be left to the enterprise of individuals. If there be 
 any surplus tribute to be remitted, it will be realized in the specula- 
 
 I
 
 58 
 
 tions of individuals. The trade of the private merchant will bring it 
 home cheaper 'ii the shape of merchandize than the Company can do, 
 and will bring into the coffers of the sovereigns in England, be it the 
 Companj', be it the government, every farthing of tribute which is to 
 be received. 
 
 The tribute, therefore, will be realized safer and more commodiously 
 through the channel of private commerce, while it will fructify a 
 gainful trade, instead of being diminished, as now, in a losing one. 
 There is no reason that the Company should be a merchant for the re- 
 mittance of tribute. It can be remitted through the channels of trade, 
 and the mutual intercourse of nations. If the Company's revenues were 
 paid in kind, there might be an apology for remitting them to a market 
 in kind. But when they are realized, if realized at all, in money, and 
 afterwards converted into commodities by the Co?npany-Sovereign, 
 surely this process is the most unnatural and superfluous that can be 
 conceived. We see that individuals of all nations endeavour to obtain 
 this traffic : will not, then, the private merchants be very willing to 
 pay the Company, in London, the amount of the sums which they 
 receive from them in India ? and such is the expensive system of the 
 Company's trade, that no rate of change could diminish the amount so 
 much as the loss upon their mercantile enterprises. There appears no 
 reason, therefore, to admit with some, that the Company ought to be 
 merchants, even to the extent of the tribute they might have to remit. 
 That remittance through trade can be made better by private mer- 
 chants, and if the Company be unfit for commerce in any other way, 
 they are unfit for it in this way. Nothing but necessity could justify 
 their remitting their tribute in kind or in commodities. There is no 
 necessity for it, and they lose by the adventure. 
 
 As to the fortunes of individuals, of whicli they wish to be the re- 
 mitters in goods, they lose on a ca[)ital which is not their own, but 
 l)orrowcd, because they give bills in India to be paid in England, and the
 
 59 
 
 funds, out of which alone they can be able fairly to pay, arc the returns 
 on the commodities invested with the money, for which they so give 
 bills. But, if the trade is a losing one, the trade of remittance for 
 others is, a fortiori^ more losing than when they remit their own tri- 
 bute. If, however, they borrow money at a very high rate of interest, 
 (perhaps 12/. per cent.) in order to lay in an investment, on which it 
 is notorious they do not, when the money is their own, gain a mer- 
 cantile profit, it is clear that, in addition to all other loss, they lose 
 this very high interest, which seems of itself to preclude profit, and 
 they accumulate in India a debt, which preys not only upon them, 
 but upon the commercial resources of that country. In England, our 
 public debt is, in some measure, a facility for commerce; but in 
 India, the necessities of the Company withdraw capital from be- 
 neficial employments, and make it active only for the purposes of 
 stock-jobbing, and the gains of brokerage ; as their debt is large beyond 
 all proportion to the active commercial capital of their territories. 
 
 It will be proper to consider, a little more in detail, the advantages 
 which the Company derive from their commercial operations. The . 
 rate of profit, indeed, or rather loss, at which the Company trade, is 
 much disputed. In the year 1805, the accounts, containing the follow- 
 ing statements, were laid before the House of Commons. 
 
 In ten years, up to 1804 inclusive, the whole costs and charges on 
 the India trade, separate from the China, are stated at 27,112,495/. 
 Sale amount 31,467,287/. Balance 4,354,792/. In the same paper 
 we find the following statement of the China trade: Cost and charges 
 25,964,342/. Sale amount 33,066,301/. Balance 7,101,959/. The 
 difference between the amount of profit on the China trade, in the 
 same number of years, and upon a quantity of sale, less by two mil- 
 lions, is well worthy of attention. The cause of this difference has 
 been repeatedly pointed out. The China trade is a close monopoly, 
 for which the Company oblige the people of this countr)' to pay, in 
 
 I 2
 
 60 
 
 proportion to their demands, which are great, and to the supply of 
 the article, which is limited. The Company, therefore, gain more on 
 the one branch, tlian they can on the other ; and it surely requires 
 little address to defraud a customer, who must buy, and has no choice 
 of his market. 
 
 But, upon their profits for ten years, as stated by themselves, it is, 
 proper to make a few remarks. 
 
 The whole balance of profits, including the charge and duty on the 
 private trade; the amount of annuity at the bank; and a pretended 
 profit on exports, amounting to 678,486/. ; is 13,779,577/. But, in 
 fact, all these sums should be deducted, for as to profit on exports, 
 no such thing exists; nor, indeed, any profit, if the account were 
 dissected on mercantile principles. In the Reports, in 1792, it is 
 admitted, that there was a loss on the India exports; and there is no 
 reason to suppose there is a profit now. Take this account, however, 
 as it is given: there are various payments, part of which are called 
 political; but in the whole, including e^ery charge, and comparing 
 the payments and profits, (including in the latter the articles men- 
 tioned,) there is the following balance: — 
 
 Total profits .€13,779,507 
 
 T'^ ■ A payments 1 2,797,796 
 
 Total surplus in ten years. . . . ^981,781 
 
 in this account there are many articles which are not commercial 
 profits. Such are the [)rofits on private trade, amounting in ten years 
 to 1,482,056/.; and the amount of annuity from government, in ten 
 years, above .362,000/. Thus we have near two millions, which do 
 not arise from trade ; and were not this included, there would be an 
 excess in tlie payments of more tlian a million, instead of a surplus
 
 61 
 
 of profit of 981,781/. It appears, likewise, by the papers laid before 
 Parliament, that the profit on sales, in the year ending 1st March, 
 1805, was 
 
 ^1,172,779 
 Charges 1,591,319 
 
 Leaving a deficiency of. ^418,540 
 
 And though several articles of a political nature, such as the charges 
 for St. Helena, other charges on account of the territory, be de- 
 ducted, there still remains a deficiency of 25,000/. by the admission 
 of Mr. Grant, the late chairman*. But, the fairness of such de- 
 ductions may be questioned, because the charges here, called territorial, 
 are particularly connected with commerce, and not with the power of 
 the sovereign. This statement, clearly proving a deficiency, is more- 
 over liable to the remark already made: that the Indian charges are 
 not fully brought forward; and the interest, not at all. It is clear, 
 however, that three years India interest, on every transaction, (for 
 that is the time it fills up,) should be charged, and it is needless to 
 point out to merchants how that would afi'ect the result. 
 
 The Company set out, in 1793, with the childish expectation of 
 a surplus tribute of a million from the territorial revenue, as a trading 
 capital. This was a bubble, not so bad in immediate effect, but as 
 delusive in principle, as Mr. Law's Mississippi scheme, which was 
 founded on India trade too. There was no such capital to trade 
 withal. It was a delusion, if not a deception. The Company were 
 obliged, therefore, to trade on a borrowed capital, under whatever 
 name that borrowing was disguised. It was substantially borrowing, 
 jf thev gave bills to private individuals remitting their fortunes. It 
 
 "^ See Cobbett's Debates, vol. vii. page 1153.
 
 62 
 
 ■was borrowing, more openly, if they created a floating debt in India, 
 to furnish investments. The latter resource, in addition to the sale 
 of exports, has been their only trading capital. One cannot help 
 being astonished that any such scheme of setting a trading company 
 afloat should have been listened to, but it did obtain approbation ; 
 government even got the first 500,000/. [participation money, and got it 
 for the first and last time. 
 
 How could it be expected that so great a trade as that with India 
 and China could be carried on, without a real bona fide capital ? The 
 capital of the Company arising from the subscriptions was sunk and 
 gone. They paid interest for it to their subscribers, but it was not ac- 
 tive and productive in their aff"airs, as the borrowed capital of a private 
 merchant, for which he pays interest, is. The project deserves no other 
 name than that of a bubble. The intricacy of the accounts, indeed, the 
 distance of the object, and various other circumstances, create a fog and 
 mist, through which common people cannot see; but a bubble it is, 
 with the loss on which the nation, the great patron of it, must 
 finally be burdened. 
 
 The Company themselves say, that their wars in India have absorbed 
 their means of investments. If there is any sense in this apology, it 
 serves to show, that governmenl and commerce form a bad association; 
 and that government, like the lion, takes the lion's share, and leaves 
 commerce to shift for itself. Every one knows that this is likely to 
 happen always. It must be so; and unless commerce be placed on a 
 different footing, it must be sacrificed to government. But the worst 
 of the matter, even by the Company's own account, is, that the govern- 
 ment, that is, the wars of India, have absorbed the surplus revenue^ 
 that visionary capital, on which the whole superstrucJive of the act 
 of 1 793 is built. 
 
 Let any man, however, take the trouble to look over the accounts
 
 65 
 
 annually submitted to -Parliament under the name of the India Budget 
 and he will see good reason to dispute this plea; he will see that the' 
 revenues of India, up to 1802-3, for ten years, were — 
 
 ^94,756,281 
 The Charges 83,253,417 
 
 ^11,503,864 
 Being more than eleven millions above the actual charge. 
 
 It is, however, a thing not to be disputed, that, in the year 1798, the 
 
 revenue of India was about ^8,039,880 
 
 In the year 1806 * 15,600,000 
 
 Increase ^7,560,120 
 
 The debts of India, in the year 1796, were ^1 1,032,645 
 
 Debt in April, 1806, by computation 28,500,000 
 
 Increase j£17,467,355 
 
 Mr. Grant calculates that, on the 30th April 1806, the India debt, 
 deducting the amount of sinking fund, would be thirty millions, and 
 consequently the increase of debt near nineteen millions. 
 
 This increase of debt would be nothing very formidable under 
 good management, when compared with the increase of revenue. Even 
 putting the whole increase of debt to the score of government and 
 conquest, it is little more than two years purchase. Even that 
 is injustice to the administration of India. But of the India debt, the 
 
 * ]\Ir. Francis, in a speech in Parliament in 1805, says, the revenue is much under-rated at^ 
 fifteen milhons. Mr. Francis is a great authority for that fact.
 
 61 
 
 Company claim, and will get^ three or four millions *, for the 
 conquest of Ceylon, for expeditions projected or executed to Batavia, 
 the Moluccas, the capture of the Cape, Egypt, &c'\-. 
 
 To this there is to be added, that the funds with which the Company 
 laid in their investments, over and above the proceeds of their exports, 
 were to be procured by borrowing, and that at India interest, and 
 therefore have swelled the mass of debt. The precise amount, in which 
 the debt in India has been created by the demands of commerce, 
 could not be ascertained without the examination of a vast number of 
 accounts, to which very few have access, and also without a cautious set-- 
 tlement of the principles on which the computation is to be made. It 
 is for want of settling this principle of computation that the superfluity 
 of arithmetical statements, laid before the public, affords so little useful 
 information or accurate inference. 
 
 Some persons, extremely intelligent in India affairs, have asserted, aj)- 
 parently on strong grounds, that a very large proportion of the. India 
 debt arises from money borrowed at Indian interest, to purchase invest- 
 ments. That this is the case, to a very considerable ..extent, is clear 
 beyond contradiction. Lord Castlereagh, in the House of Couimons, 
 last July, admitted that, of the increased debt since \T93, 8,09,*3,6.31/. 
 was assignable to commerce ; but there cannot be a doub,t but much 
 more belongs to that account. The investment, both for the .China and 
 for the India trade, for many years past, has been laid in with money 
 borrowed in India, and the accumulating interest on the debt there* 
 composes a considerable pi oportion of the gross amount. Lord Welles- 
 ley, so early as .lunc 1 798, states the fact beyond dispute, that investment 
 ■was laid in with borrowed money. In a minute of that date, he says: 
 
 * See the curious documents on this subject in the As. An. Reg. 1805. 
 
 •}■ It is to bo observed that the CoinpaDy make government pay for all their acquisition, and 
 even those on the peninsula.
 
 6.5 
 
 " Tlie iavcstment, at once the most foxserful cause of our temporary 
 distress, the main spring of the industry and opulence of the people com- 
 mitted to our charge, and the active principle of the commercial interest 
 of the Company, is more likely to be increased than to be diminished in 
 any future year, and consequently the embarrassment of our finances 
 must be progressive, if some means be not devised for aiding the 
 resources of this presidency, Avhich must now be considered as the ge- 
 neral treasury and bank of our Eastern empire, furnishing supplies 
 for all our other possessions in India, as well as a large and increasing 
 proportion of the capital employed in the trade to Europe and to 
 China.^'' 
 
 Here is a distinct warning given at the very commencement of Lord 
 Wellesley's administration, of what was sure to happen, unless the Di- 
 rectors took some means to procure capital from other sources. There 
 was no surplus tribute. The fortunes of individuals, of which they 
 speak so much, were probably in a considerable degree absorbed in the 
 Indian floating paper. 
 
 It was manifest, therefore, that either funds for investments Avere to be 
 sent from Europe, or that they must be borrowed in India. The latter 
 has been the case, for the Company have not sent funds from Europe to 
 any considerable extent. It is undeniable, therefore, that all the dif- 
 ference annually between the produce of outward sales, and the amount 
 of the investment to China and to Europe, has been borrowed at India 
 interest, and must have formed a very great proportion of the Indian 
 debt, because the very interest of Indian debt adds so rapidly to the 
 amount of the principal. What is the precise amount of the share, it may 
 not be easy for an individual to fix. The subject ought to be referred to 
 a select committee of the House of Commons, to investigate and state 
 the result clearly. The public is deeply interested in the question, for 
 all this accumulation of debt by a ruinous commerce defrauds the na- 
 tion of the benefits of the participation, stipulated in the Act of 1793. 
 
 K.
 
 66 
 
 The Company ought to be restrained from pursuing a trafEck so mis- 
 chievous to themselves and to the state. 
 
 Much has been said of the increase of the Company's assets, as a 
 set-off to their debt ; but many things are put into the stock by com- 
 putation which cannot bear examination. The result upon the whole 
 seems to be, that the Company have not means to pay their debts ; and 
 if the debts in India, payable in Europe next year, are actually de- 
 manded, there cannot be a doubt that the aid of government will be 
 absolutely necessary. Such is the state of the Company's finances, that 
 they were lately obliged to obtain from government a prolongation of 
 the term for the payment of the tea duties now due ; a thing that in 
 a private merchant must have ruined his credit. 
 
 Indeed, by the Company's own statement in what is called the stock, 
 by computation they assume a balance in their favour of 6,181,267/. 
 but it is manifest that the sum due to the stockholders must be paid 
 before they can state a bahmce in favour. That sum is not included ; 
 but taking what the Company's capital actually cost (which is not dis- 
 puted) at 7,780,000/. the balance against them is 1,598,733/. on their 
 own showing. To balance that, they state nine millions worth, and up- 
 wards, of fortifications, and other dead stock, which it is manifestly 
 absurd to estimate at such an exchangeable value. Indeed, many of 
 the items in that statement arc perfectly ridiculous. Nearly two mil- 
 lions consist of household furniture, farming stock, pleasure boats, 
 plate, and table-linen ; such a list as might be expected to com- 
 pose the stock of a concern in Duke's Place. If the articles in- 
 cluded in the assets were to be fairly estimated, and allowance made 
 for bad debts, &c. there would be found a deficiency of above five 
 millions. 'J'his, added to the amount of capital, would give a balance 
 of deficit, even admitting the nine millions for buildings*. 
 
 • See Gobbet's Debates, for July, 1800,
 
 67 
 
 It has been stated that the debt in India, on the .'iOth April, 
 1806, was probably not less than thirty millions, at any rate above 
 twenty-eight ; the interest, payable on that part bearing interest, would 
 be considerably above two millions. Such has been tlie accumulation 
 of the debt, by means of the Company borrowing to carry on a trade, 
 which is a losing trade lo them in any circumstances, but when carried 
 on with a capital borrowed at from eight to twelve per cent, abf'olutely 
 ruinous. 
 
 .sbaam 
 The situation of the revenues in India, viewed as conn ectpd with 
 
 government, may be considered flourishing, notwithstanding the debt ; 
 but what man is sanguine enough to think that the Company ever can 
 regularly draw commercial capital out of those dominions ? Neither 
 ought it to be. The project of embarking the revenues of a govern- 
 ment in traffick, which is the basis of the Act of 1 793, is the naost 
 extraordinary imagination man ever indulged. Let the .state take 
 upon itself the whole responsibility and management .Qf ^tll^ ci\;^^sjo- 
 vernment, and give its subjects the right of trading to India. Thp 
 productive powers of that country will then be promoted ;,tjj9, ti'^^f 
 will be supported by capital, independent of political events, ,J^|ii,q[ if 
 there be surplus revenue, it will come to England through natural 
 channels, instead of that clumsey, ill-contrived vehi<^le Y>f if raitlaJKfirpr 
 the monopoly trade of a joint stock company. , i 
 
 It has sometimes been proposed, that the Indian debt should be 
 transferred to Europe, and in some shape or other converted jnto 
 stock here. This project, though undoubtedly calculated to alleviate 
 the pressure, is liable to many very grave and serious objections. In a 
 constitutional view it seems a matter of very doubtful policy to ccynsoli- 
 date the existence of the Company still further, by giving it so formi- 
 dable a mass of influence distinct from the government. The national 
 debt is said to have owed its origin to a desire to identify the interest 
 of multitudes with the new establishment at the Revolution. The fur- 
 
 K 2
 
 68 
 
 ther extension of any principle of influence or support, independent of 
 the government, or, perhaps, different from that of the government, 
 seems calculated to produce something of a similar effect, and to give 
 the East India Company a more rooted and decisive hold of the com- 
 munity, founded upon an interest, which may be altogether separate 
 fi-om that of the nation at large. To create such a body of European 
 debt, solely under the authority and responsibility of government, in 
 the first instance, might be adviseable, as preparatory to the abolition 
 of the Company; but if it is to be a Company's debt, and to create 
 a new and more extensive body of adherents and dependents to 
 it, without relation to the utility or inutility of the institution in 
 other respects, it is a plan highly dangerous. The East India Com- 
 pany, as an imperium in imperio^ are already too powerful, and per- 
 haps too dangerous ; but will any wise minister, or reflecting man, 
 choose to allow them to inlist recruits or dependents, to the number 
 of subscribers requisite to fund in Europe twenty or thirty millions 
 sterling of India debt; or augment their democracy at the India House 
 by such an accession of new citizens ? 
 
 Perhaps, too, it is worth while to consider what might be the effect 
 to public credit, of so large a fund, under the auspices, and fluctuating 
 with the fortunes of an institution like that of the East India Com- 
 pany. The past management of that body gives no great security 
 for better in future. It will be in vain to look to the Company's 
 commerce for aid ; let the authors of such a proposal, be who they 
 may, count solely on the wisdom and economy of the Company's 
 Indian administration. If there be any solid security, it is solely 
 the Indian territories. Let sober-thinking men consider Avhat may 
 be the consequence to our funds at large, of the fluctuation that 
 must inevitably arise in the Company's stock, if it is to vary with 
 their commercial success, and their military entcr{)riscs. South Sea 
 schemes and bubbles ought to have cured us of the insanity of grant- 
 ing privileges and power to any Company, capable of shaking the
 
 69 
 
 pillars of national credit. No man, who lores the constitution, and 
 who respects the prerogative of the crown, will concur in a measure, 
 so dangerous to the purity of the one, and the lawful authority of the 
 other. 
 
 If it be necessary to save the India Company from ruin, by trans- 
 ferring the debt to Europe, the government ought to resume its rights; 
 because, such a state of the Company, of itself, forfeits their Charter, 
 and defeats the ends of their institution. The guarantee of government 
 would, at all events, be necessary; but, in undertaking the ultimate 
 risk, let us have a real security on the estate which is to pay the debt, 
 and let us trust nothing to the bankrupt tenant, who has mortgaged our 
 property, which he held only upon lease, and who has forfeited his 
 rights, by the breach of every covenant into which he had entered. 
 It is in vain to think, that tlie Company can retrieve their affairs 
 in India, or alTord any security for the permanent interest which 
 the public has in that estate. ' ^''^'^ ' 
 
 V. Having now taken a general view of the Company's commerce, 
 and the enormous debt they have contracted, in order to carry it on at 
 a loss, it is necessary to call the attention of the public to the private 
 trade; because, till something better is done, the encouragement of 
 that trade seems the only expedient for securing to the country the . 
 
 commerce of India. The encouragement of that trade is perfectly con- 
 sistent with the Company's rights, and therefore it appears preferable 
 to do so, rather than excite any clamour, by proposing to resume, 
 before the expiry of the Charter, the privileges which the Company 
 have used so little to the public advantage. 
 
 It is not the purpose of this tract to advocate the claims of the 
 private traders, or even to discuss them, except in so far as they serve 
 to illustrate the larger principles on which I contend for the general 
 rights of the subjects of this country to a share in that trade, from
 
 70 
 
 which their capital, their talents, their industry, their enterprise, arc 
 excluded by the Company's monopoly. The private traders have gone 
 no further than propose compromises and temperaments, founded 
 upon the entire recognition of the Company's monopoly. Perhaps, 
 indeed, the private traders may not wish the trade of India to be laid 
 open; and the folly of the Company, in irritating and oppressing a 
 class, vrho would probably have joined with them in supporting the 
 monopoly, is fortunate for the country. Private traders may have 
 their particular narrow views, their false conceptions of advantage in 
 a secondary and subordinate monopoly. In the present circumstances, 
 however, they contend for nothing but that which it is the interest 
 of the State and of the Company to grant. Nay, what they ask 
 ought to be granted speedily, unless the trade of India is to be di- 
 verted into foreign channels, from which it may be impossible to 
 recal it, 
 
 ■ Ho^q hap Mftta? t- 
 
 At the time the Company's Charter was last renewed, a good deal 
 of discussion took place, on the subject of laying open the trade, and, 
 as before stated, several petitions were presented praying for that mea- 
 sure. The proposal unhappily was overruled. It was thought necessary, 
 however, to do something in favour of the public, and to adopt some 
 modification of the monopoly. 
 
 It seemed particularly to be felt on all sides as absolutely necessary 
 to secure some channel, by which private individuals in India might, 
 to a certain extent, be allowed to trade Avith this country*. A disease 
 existed in the body politic, arising from obstructions, caused by the 
 Company's monopoly; but the state doctors, though they perceived the 
 mischief, either had not discovered the cause, or would not apply the 
 proper remedy. Indeed, all the foolish and violent methods taken 
 to force trade into particular channels, and exclude them from the 
 
 • See Historical View of I'laus for tiie Government and Coniintrcc of India^ &c, page 582.
 
 71 
 
 natural vessels of circulation, inevitably cause similar disorders. Men 
 who possess the means of carrying on a trade, which the unreasonable 
 will of the government attempts to force into one course, cannot be 
 prevented from following the bent of their interest and the nature of 
 things. It is in vain to complain of this. Whether called illicit trade, 
 or smuggling, or interloping, it will continue as long as the temptation 
 remains. 
 
 What was called an illicit trade, existed in India long before the 
 Act of 1793. The British settlers there found out that they could 
 trade to Europe, Avith great advantage, in foreign bottoms, and they 
 were assisted in these speculations by the funds, which individuals 
 were remitting home, and for which the Company would not furnish 
 bills but on the most disadvantageous terms. 
 
 *t3^ 
 
 After a good deal of negociation, it was at last settled and provided, 
 by the Act of 1793, that 3000 tons of shipping in the Company's 
 ships should be set apart for the private export and import trade, ac- 
 cording to certain regulations specified. The restrictions of the law 
 against the Company's servants, or others acting as factors for foreigners, 
 or lending money to foreign Companies, or on bottomry of their ships, 
 or assisting them with remittances by bills, was repealed *. 
 
 This repeal is a sufficient censure of such prohibitions. The object 
 of this recognition of the private trade was to render it unnecessary for 
 British individuals to embark their capital in a trade carried on by 
 foreigners, and to afford them the means to bring that trade to their own 
 country. 
 
 We cannot, however, praise much in the arrangement, except the in- 
 tention it professed. The provisions for realizing it were not well 
 
 * 33 Geo. Ill, cap. 52.
 
 72 
 
 contrived. It is universally admitted that they have failed, and Lord 
 Melville, the author of the act, has candidly acknowledged it. 
 
 Indeed, the failure can excite no surprise. It was perfectly impossible 
 that private traders, who carry on commerce for a mercantile profit, 
 and who therefore must carry it on with economy, and in that course 
 which seasons and markets require, could carry it on under the same 
 disadvantages as the Company, who do nothing upon the principles of 
 ordinary trade. To tie them to the Company's system, and prescribe 
 the same circle of operations to both, was like chaining a living body to 
 a dead carcase. 
 
 Every man, in the slightest degree acquainted with commerce, knows, 
 that nothing is more essential to it than that it should be entirely under 
 the command of him who engages in it, to carry it on in the way he 
 deems most advantageous. A merchant must have an opportunity to 
 ascertain the state of markets, and to adapt the cargo he exports to the 
 demands of the distant market ; and to calculate, on the other hand, 
 what in return will be most suited to his home market. But to 
 prevent, as much as possible, the uncertainty of such calculations 
 (always uncertain) it is important that the 'time in which the M'hole 
 operation is to be completed should be as short as possible. 
 
 If, however, he is compelled to ship his goods on board of vessels 
 which are not under his own direction, as to the time and course of the 
 voyage, it is perfectly manifest that he ought to be wholly independent 
 of mercantile profit, or he must be ruined. Indeed, nothing but a very 
 strict monopoly can support that mode of doing business. It was the 
 mode pursued in Spain, and under which, subject to the controul of the 
 Casa de Contraccione, individuals were allowed to ship goods for South 
 America in the privileged ports*. These ships at that time used to 
 
 * BroughaiTij vol. i. 415.
 
 73 
 
 sail once in three years. Our Company do not intcrpo?e quite so long 
 an interval; but, it is undeniable that their voyages last much longer 
 than the voyages of private ships would do; not to speak of the 
 interruptions and deviations to which their ships are subject from the 
 political character of the Company. 
 
 It must be evident to every man, that nothing but a close monopoly 
 could render a trade so carried on profitable ; and even if it were 
 a gainful trade to (he Company, it would be for the interest of the 
 nation to abolish such a monopoly, because in proportion to the trade 
 being gainful must the nation itself be taxed in the price of the 
 commodities consumed at home: or lose, inasmuch as the mono- 
 poly, by causing high price, prevents re-exportation for the foreign 
 supply. 
 
 But individuals trading for profit cannot support these multiplied 
 inconveniences. Their whole operation is i-endered uncertain, by 
 the time consumed in it ; and also the quantity of capital, necessarily 
 employed io it, is increased, from being so lo)ig tied up in one 
 transaction. The ca}>ital is not replaced, and the profits realized, 
 probably in less than three years. It is manifest, therefore, that a 
 greater quantity of capital is occupied in circulating a smaller number 
 of goods than need be employed ; the quantity of business done is 
 lessened ; and the profits of the merchant are smaller, more distant, and 
 
 uncertaiii.03 hns »p 
 
 This will be evident from a few considerations. The extra ships, which 
 sailed from Portsmouth on the 10th of August, 1805, are stated to have 
 arrived at St. Helena, on their return to this country, about the middle 
 of January, 1807; probably they are now arrived, being expected 
 about the middle of April. Their cargoes will be sold in August or 
 September ; so that, allowing nine months for the prompt or payment. 
 
 L
 
 74 
 
 the proceeds will not be realized by the merchant till November or 
 December, 1807. 
 
 Thus very nearly three years are necessary from the commencement 
 of the transaction to its final close. It is evident to every practical mer- 
 chant, that three capitals, at the least, are requisite to carry on the busi- 
 ness ; — one in India, to provide the goods ; one to pay the bills drawn 
 against them before they arrive (always the case) ; and another, sup- 
 posing it a British capital, to remit to India for the succeeding year's 
 investment before the preceding ones are realized. 
 itnrii gOiuao- . ru.qiu^jj auj :j iv.i.,r.i_ rv. ; 311, jj:. 
 
 'This is the train of the Company's trade, and fully justifies the 
 assertion that, it .requires three capitals: some indeed assert it is nearer 
 four, ni bono -o! dor^ An t 3- ';:'. 
 
 'loorro'^ 
 
 The waste and expence of this system will appear at once, by com- 
 paring it with the course of the American trade to India.' T=1t"fe per- 
 fectly well ascertained, that the Americans perform their voyage from 
 the ports of their own country, and back again, in nine or ten monthsi " 
 They come to Calcutta, take in their cargo, and sail again, sometimes^ 
 in five and twenty days ; this is a fact well known. 
 
 It is clear, however, that with the panic capital necessary tb cutty 6ft 
 the Company's single voyage (or that of the private trader under the 
 oppression of the Company's system) to the same extent, the Ame-' 
 rican can perform two operations at least. Suppose that he gets credit 
 at Calcutta, by giving a bill upon an opulent merchant in London, per- 
 haps Baring and Company, payable in six months. He returns to 
 America and realizes his profit there, or perhaps at Hamburgh or 
 Amsterdam, in cash or good bills; and this fully enables him to meet 
 the bill on London, for which he got his cargo at Calcutta. He is 
 ready immediately to proceed on another voyage. Probably the second
 
 75 
 
 time he goes to Bombay direct; to Mhich he carries Madeira wiin^, (6p 
 any other articles that suit the market : he then takes in a cargo of 
 cotton, and proceeds to China to take in tea, if he thinks that operation 
 more advantageous than going to Calcutta, and renewing the fn>t 
 transaction on which he has made a large profit. All this he shall do 
 before the Company can once realize a single outward and homeward 
 voyage to their own territories. 
 
 The Americans, it is tEuesj have the advantage of peace insurance^] 
 and other circumstances which press upon us in time of w'ar;- but is it 
 not evident that the very system of the Company's trade secures them 
 a much superior and more certain advantage over us, in the quantity of 
 capital employed, the quickness of the return, the economy on the 
 whole transaction, the cxpence of which is so much lessened by the 
 shortness of the voyage and all the concomitant circumstances? 
 
 It is absurd, therefore, to expect that the Company can contend withq 
 the, Americans ; but how then stands the private trader, who shipsi(k»iel 
 board the Company's vessels; has he any chance of trading to ad*tJ 
 vantage? ' sinoo xedT 
 
 a ci cuti f >;^iili vJaawJ ban 971} .'•' 
 
 In the first place, he is obliged to apply for the tonnage he thinks he 
 may require, long before it is really Avanted. After repeated applica- 
 tions, he is left quite uncertain on board of what vessel liis goods mayn* 
 be shipped, or when she will sail. Before the voyage begin, his risk ' 
 commences as to almost every thing that constitutes the real adventure 
 of a merchant. He ships to a country, as to the state of the markets, 
 of which he cannot even make a conjecture at the time his cargo 
 may arrive ; because the vessel may be detained, or may be obliged 
 to deviate, or may be converted into a ship of war. In a word, the 
 veaseVtin her voyage, is subject to none of those essential conditions 
 which every merchant who ships goods would insert in his charter 
 party. 
 
 L 2
 
 76 
 
 Let any merchant look back at the quickness and certainty of t\W- 
 Americans, in all their Indian transactions, and then let him pronounce 
 whether a trade, carried on in such a manner as ours, can thrive, unless 
 it is supported by the advantage of a very close monopoly. 
 
 The reservation of 3000 tons in the Company ships, for the benefit 
 of the private trade, is one of the most extraordinary measures that 
 ever was gravely proposed to a legislative assembly*. It carries its own 
 condemnation with it. How it could even have been thought of is 
 truly amazing. The Directors-f triumphantly inform us, that it never 
 has been used by the private traders, and that the Company have lost 
 70 or 80,000/. by providing the tonnage. This is not surprising. It 
 would indeed have been wonderful if sensible practical merchants had 
 condescended to trade on such terms. 
 
 Had the Company been carriers, going backward and forward, 
 between London and Calcutta, with a power to charge what freight 
 they pleased, this reservation on the part of others, to have a certain 
 quantity of goods carried at a moderate rate, might have been prudent 
 and proper, if the things carried had no reference to commerce, and 
 if the provision had been merely a security against the overcharge 
 for the carriage of a certain quantity of luggage. The owner of the 
 goods in this case, like the passenger in a stage coach, would have paid 
 the price, submitted to the inconvenience, and considered the matter 
 no more. But a merchant, whose object is to bring his goods to market 
 as cheap as he can, regularly, systematically, and in fifty successive 
 instances, is compelled to look to the means he has of carrying his 
 produce, as much as to the means of raising it. Indeed, it is just as 
 important that he should have the means of sending the goods to 
 
 * It is quite amusing to see in what flattering terms this project is opened in the ILstovic-al 
 View already quoted. See page 580, et seq. 
 t See their Three Reports.
 
 77 
 
 market, as the means of providing them in the first instance. Then, 
 what sort of a conveyance is that which this stipulation secures him? 
 
 The law says, that the rate of freight is to be moderate. Very well. 
 Granting it is moderate, how small a matter is that, compared with 
 the other disadvantages! It is not said, that the freight in the extra 
 ships is of itself extravagant ; and the fact is, the Company, against 
 their will, and to remove one complaint, provided these ships, at a great. 
 loss to themselves, charging much less to the shippers than they pay to 
 the owner. But is the freight all? Suppose that a merchant pays 
 20/. 30/. or 40/. per ton, on a four-months voyage: if, on paying 
 that tonnage, his goods are immediately brought to the market for 
 which they are destined, is it not evident, that he may be more a 
 gainer on the adventure, than if they were carried much cheaper, 
 but did not reach the market till six or twelve months after he has 
 them shipped, or ready for shipping? The freight is but one, though 
 an important article. The interest of money, the uncertainty and 
 inconvenience of every sort, when added to the account, may renderi' 
 a particular mode of conveyance an absolute prohibition of the trade, 
 independently of mere freight. l . 
 
 oiq sA' 
 What good roads are to the internal communications of a country, 
 
 quick intercourse by sea is to the inhabitant of different countries.,; it, is 
 
 no matter however that the road is good, if the journey is not per-(v 
 
 formed with dispatch. The East India Company is an obstacle to our 
 
 rapid intercourse with India, as bad as the most boisterous oce^n,, ,or 
 
 the most impervious desert. o■^.■-^nT.■ 
 
 Every man, acquainted with human affairs, must be sensible how much 
 commercial intercourse is promoted by an easy, regjilar, and spcedv com- 
 munication. To take a familiar illustration. It will be remembered bv 
 many) that the trade between London and Leith, and indeed most
 
 78 
 
 parts of Scotland, formerly resembled the phlegmatic dulness of the 
 Company's voyages to India. They were rare, and took up six weeks 
 or two months each time. Within a few years past, a system has been 
 introduced, by which the ships perform the voyage with the quickness 
 and regularity of a mail coach, not only to Leith, but every other 
 sea port, and the beneficial effects to both parts of the island have 
 been astonishing. This single improvement has annihilated the 
 distance that divides the two countries, and has made the advantages 
 of each common to both. The principle is the same when applied 
 to larger transactions. Rapid intercourse abridges expcnce; augments 
 capital, by facilitating the business it can perform; and renders, com- 
 modities cheap, by promoting their circulation. 
 
 The regulation, proposed in 1793 in favour of the private trade, 
 must'^have proved nugatory, because it furnished the merchant with 
 a channel of conveyance v»hich it was impossible for him to employ. 
 S5(^ii a ^conveyance never could be used for a trade to be regularly 
 catrhed on, paying its exp^nces on commercial prmciples. It was 
 sobii* ^tb'iindj therefore, that the plan of providing tonnage on board^. 
 thfe'^'^ompany's ships, for the private trade, could not answer the. end 
 proposed. Indeed, Lord Melville, the author of the arrangement, 
 frankly OAvns that it has failed. " Although,*" says he, " I proposed 
 the measure, I should be uncandid if I did not fairly acknowledge, 
 that experience has proved it to be inadequate to the purposes for 
 which it was intended*." 
 
 3n.! 
 
 Thfe Directors^ iri the First Report, say, " Nevertheless, after 
 making these proper distinctions, your Committee are ready to alloic^ 
 thai much uncerlainty^ in the limes of arrivals and departures of 
 ships^ and in respect to procuring freight on them, with long deten- 
 
 • Letttr to the Chairman, April 2, 1800,
 
 79 
 
 Hon and circuitous routes^ may naturally and justly be a ground of 
 objection with individuals, who are required to depend on them Jor 
 freight* P 
 
 But the admission, in the preceding Reports, that a remedy was 
 necessary, appears abandoned in the Third Report. The whole private 
 trade is there reprobated as mischievous, and treated as an invasion 
 of the Company's monopoly. There is not a single passage which, 
 allows it to be deserving of any encouragement. Indeed, the persons 
 employed in it are treated with a licentiousness of invective, which 
 could hardly have been expected in a document signed by eight 
 Directors of the East India Company. The Directors, and particularly 
 the authors of this libellous Report, consider it as the most intolerable 
 presumption in any British subjects to desire to have the opportunity 
 of employing their industry and their capital in the India trade; 
 in which, be it remembered, all foreigners in amity with us are, 
 freely permitted to engage. The private traders are represented as 
 guilty of something little short of rebellion and treason, because , 
 they presume to solicit permission to do that which the Company 
 cannot and will not do. In this Report, indeed, such decisive 
 and universal hostility to the private trade and private traders is 
 avowed, that nothing could be looked for, but that the latter should 
 in every way be thwarted and opposed. 
 
 The Directors say, " they have too much reason to fear, that the 
 exclusive trade, as regulated by the Act [of 1793, is not only neces- 
 sary, but indispensable, as a resource to save the Company from 
 destruction.'''^ 
 
 From what has been already stated however, on the evidence of 
 
 * First Report on Private Trade. 
 
 D
 
 80 
 
 their own accounts, it is demonstrated, that the more the Company 
 trade on their present system, the more rapidly will^tjjieir Iqdian 
 ' debt accumulate, the faster will their ruin advance*. 
 
 It cannot be denied, that the Act of 1793 was intended as a 
 
 facility to private trade; and the spirit of that Act requires, that the 
 
 .■ fecility should be provided, though the letter of the law has been found 
 
 not to accomplish its intention. The Act of 1793 appears to limit 
 
 the amount of the Company's investments to one million, for such is 
 
 the appropriation of a supposed surplus of tribute directed to be so 
 
 • applied^ For want of such surplus, however, the Company is obliged 
 
 \ to borrow; hence, as we have seen, their large India debt. 
 
 gnlTrt Now, then, it is manifest, that there is a quantity of Indi^^. pro- 
 duce, which the Company's capital, on this ^cale, would not have 
 embraced. The Directors say, in the Third Report, that it is better 
 that such surplus produce should be taken up by for^^guer^ . by the 
 ^i Americans, than be brought to the port of London. One of their 
 yni^ reasons for this avowedly is, that the private tradpr^ intercept the funds 
 v'irff of British individuals in India, which othervyise would come jnto their 
 '"' treasury, and supply the means of their investmeatf. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
 lo aohb9qxno5 orfl moil bj^^ gt^g-ftg vigy 
 
 The Report says, that " the British merchants residing in India are 
 competitors for those funds, which would otherwise flow into their 
 treasuries, to enable the Company to purchase their own. investment." 
 In a very few paragraphs after, it is stated, that " the iwivate trade 
 already exceeds the extent of the Indian capitaly-r,^^n ^^ ^ ^^T 
 considerable " British capital enters into the trade." 
 
 It has already been shown, that there can no inconvenience arise 
 
 -:rf .T 
 • See antea.
 
 81 
 
 from the employment of British capital in the trade. If such British 
 capital were employed, must it not answer all those good purposes which 
 the Directors think would flow from the encouragement of the bona fide 
 trade of foreigners with British India? 
 
 It is proper now to take notice of the complaint of the Directors, 
 that the private traders intercept their funds, and reduce t^eni to the 
 necessity of borrowing money with which to lay in their investments. 
 
 ' It is indisputable that, ever since the year 1802, the Company 
 have acted on the principles of the Third Report, throwing every 
 obstacle in the way of the private trade. Have they by this conduct 
 obtained any facilities for laying in their investments? or, by suppressing 
 the private trade, have they increased their own ? 
 
 The fact, on the contrary, is, that the foreign trade with India, par- 
 ticularly that of the Americans, has continued to increaj^e rapidly. If 
 there be any funds arising from private fortunes, to be invested in any 
 shape, they either go into the Company's Indian paper, or they 
 are tempted into the American service. But, be this as it may, the 
 very effects which the Company complained of, from the competition of 
 the private traders, meet them in the trade of foreigners. By the 
 encouragement of the latter, the trade is carried to foreign channels. — 
 This is all the difference. 
 
 It is perfectly well known, that at all times a considerable portion 
 of illicit trade was carried on, with the funds of British individuals, in 
 foreign bottoms. That trade is no longer illicit. The act of 1793 
 completely legalizes it. The Americans and other foreigners, 
 therefore, have derived all the benefit from that Act. The 
 British residents in India may lawfully be the agents of foreigners. 
 The consequence, under the present system, is obvious. Those British 
 
 M
 
 82 
 
 residents would pi'efer English connections. They would prefer 
 sending their goods to the British market : but (hat is rendered impos- 
 sible by the Company. They naturally, therefore, must be driven into 
 the connection of the Americans, who can carry on the trade much 
 more advantageously. The sole effect, therefore, of the repeal of the 
 prohibitory regulations against illicit trade, enacted in so many laws*, 
 has been to shut the trade against Great Britain, and to open it to fo- 
 reigners. Is it to be endured, however, that foreigners should have the 
 advantage of a free, open, lucrative commerce with British ter- 
 ritories, in which native British merchants dare not engage, in order 
 to bring it to the ports of their native country ? tl 
 
 >no> Ot8,tOf bnf 
 When the Americans first entered into this trade, they were sup- 
 ported by British capital or credit ; and the houses in London that gave 
 them the credit, and which now give it to them, are perfectly well 
 known. The Americans, indeed, have now raised a large capital out 
 of their profits. They take out silver for part of their investments ; 
 but a very large share of the commerce they carry on is supported by 
 bills on London ; which, after getting their cargoes upon them, from 
 thq quickness of their operations, they are able to discharge from the 
 proceeds beifore the bills fall due. .orfj ■o.mA) 
 
 Indeed, tlie share which the Americans have obtained in the trade, 
 is an evil which is growing daily, and it has risen through the impolicy 
 of the government, and the Company cherishing this foreigner at the 
 cxpence of Englishmen. But tlicy will one day repent this unnatural 
 turn of their affections., ^^Ii]y^,Toitj w^jild4^ — 
 
 The lieilgc-sparrow ie^ the cuekoo_sc» long, 
 That she had'hei- jielxT bit ofJliy her young. 
 
 nrrorV srsraotoll 9 
 * .See anlca. 
 
 -. .' Y'h
 
 83 
 
 Our present system of India trade has nourished a rival whidi 
 threatens to destroy it. 
 
 The number of American ships which entered the port of Calcutta 
 alone, in the year 1800-1, was twenty-six ; in 1802-3, thirty-two; in 
 1803-4, twenty-seven ; in 1804-5, twenty-nine ; together with ten Por- 
 tugueze, two Danish, and one Swede. The number in 1805-6 shows 
 an increase, and it is to be observed, that the American ships, which at 
 first were small, have now become much larger ; and that the increase' 
 of tonnage is much greater than the number of ships. This is evident 
 from the increased tonnage entered in the port of Calcutta, which in 
 the year 1801-2, was 493 vessels, and 104,870 tons ; and in the year 
 1804-5, itwas581 vessels, and 147,176 tons. Dliring these years the 
 trade of the Company has declined according to the unquestionable 
 evidence of their sales. It is clear, therefore, that the foreign trade with 
 British India has increased, while our own has fallen off. 
 
 fft tf^f^sJBlt*, thdlf, B'5eonceire^£iiylfilHg'^ri!il)re^cffelfi%^^^^ 
 and absurd, than for a nation to undertake the government and defence 
 of a distant Empire ; the commerce of which (and that is the only 
 thing those territories have yet afibrded) it thus gives, not merely by 
 negligence, but by absolute choice, to other nations ? Among the fol- 
 lies of states, fighting for commerce has been one ; but this is the first 
 instance of a government absolutely restraining its own subjects from 
 that commerce which it freely indulges to others I 
 
 The people of this country, we suspect, however, will entertain dif- 
 ferent notions of the policy of encouraging foreigners in a trade which 
 it is in our power to bring to the ports of England. 
 
 Is it proposed, then, to exclude foreigners from all share in the com- 
 merce of India ? By no means. All that, with respect to this, and 
 for the present, is required, is that the subjects of this country should 
 
 M 2
 
 QJ tr CO CO t-i >— ' <0 
 
 S4^ 
 
 \ 
 
 be enabled to carry on that trade which the Company do not carry on, 
 and which their capital cannot embrace* , ^ 
 
 >-r »- >-, ^4 O rO (Tli 
 
 oc *" o *o r:< \!c *" 
 
 The loss already sustained by the Company is very great. In the 
 following years the amount of their India and China sales stands 
 thus : — 
 
 W9:. . .-r. , .!. . ^.:^8,345,673 
 
 ^,0 1800..^.5S.i«s 
 
 1/^ rt^ >■ *«^ ''■^>'' 
 
 co^'1803-.-r^.., 
 ' 1804. ~" 
 
 
 
 iso5.g;^^jp... 
 
 Of; a; fo .O t^ i-' C^ 
 
 |.| ,7,359,676 
 i-^T,595,181 
 6,626,347 
 
 "~ 5,866,075 
 I 5,267,578 
 
 Thus it appears, that the sales of 1805 fall more than three millions 
 below those of 1799-1800. 
 
 
 The following ^ec^nt ofihie sales of the Company's piece goods, for 
 the years mentioned in it, will prove, that not merely the amount, but 
 the profit has declined, ^^ **^ 
 
 Oj ^ 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
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 fr<T V 
 
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 "53 r-H ^< 
 
 CO 05 "i* -t «0 Oi 00 
 
 ■^ -H CO -- CNJ -f 't 
 CuvOfOO-f— '— t^ 
 Ttj CM CN> — — 0.1 CM "" 
 
 prrrnfi, I 
 
 ^'^ I 
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 — ' -— 05 Oi -T CO 
 
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 !>. csj'cd 00 -^ •<r■ 
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 esj (>j — 
 
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 CO "^ rf Cj CO 00 
 
 ^^ _ 00 t^ 
 
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 ^ CO -t* c<j O 
 St{ CO X ovcrj- 
 
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 00 O CO —I 
 
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 ^ if^ _ ■-. _ 
 
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 wj l-^ iC 
 
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 '^ -T CM 
 
 " 00 ov 
 
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 to O CV o 
 
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 t^ Ci CO i^ 
 
 r> r-i «^ rN 
 
 ri CO CO o 
 
 irj « -f O 
 
 JQ CO l-^ 
 CO »0 CO 
 *0 CO »o 
 
 rv #^ r\ 
 
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 CN^ CO 00 
 
 M'te'-a 
 
 
 -^:^ ^iy^ef^3%^qBii aUflT 
 
 . I— I CM O t^ ^ <>J X 
 
 t<5 ,— < ,-, _l f— I P-. 
 
 orij wolsd 
 
 , -^ t CO 00 O' »r5 — ' 
 
 Sii Oi .O G»o oc ir: CO --i ,,• -, jrn 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 C5 
 
 n! o § ?2 ?i % ■- ^"^^^^ ^^^" 
 
 l--«. lO "^ "^ lO "— I 
 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 CO 00 O C>i CO o 
 
 05 O CM i>. »-0 Ci' 
 
 CO -r CO — -M o 
 
 r\ #^ r% ^1 C^ ^> 
 
 t-. t^ CM ex O »1 
 
 CO rf CM c: Ci CO 
 
 cr> CM CM C>? CO -H 
 
 "S> 3 
 
 
 «^ JO so ao i-vi CO 10 Ti< 
 
 ^O «0 00 CO CO O CO 
 
 ^ -x 
 
 ^^< 
 
 % 
 
 CM I--, cr- CM — '^ CO 
 
 ^j Oj Oj O lO -^ CO 
 
 ^ 
 
 C35 1^ C^ — I T ^ ■T' 
 b*. -r -^ so CO iO —I 
 00 ri* O © C5 — • ^>- 
 
 e^ c> T' ^ r^ •^ '^ 
 
 CO C5 O CNJ X O C5i 
 O l^ CO t^ CO CN C3i 
 -n — CO CO "^ CO "^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 c:::? o o o o o o 
 
 t^ Oi -^ CO l>. CNJ u-j 
 
 t^ CO "^ — * CO Ci X 
 
 ^ »N ^ *^ CS CN *\ 
 
 OJ CO X O O -^ CO 
 
 CN< Oi ~r "^ C5 CM b«- 
 >>. 1^ •ro -^ CM --< CO 
 
 
 CO — > CMI <i':j ~T *0 '>0 
 
 o o o o o o o 
 
 00 X X X X X X
 
 86 
 
 The following will give us a view of the private trade :— 
 
 o 
 
 00 
 
 ^adt 1? 38^3if 
 
 
 
 
 "^ 
 
 OC Oi 00 
 ■^ 5^ O 
 •^ t>. 00 
 
 «"• »^ «^ 
 
 oc -^ cc 
 
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 OJ CM 10 
 
 CN» u^ N. ifj 
 
 O CM Oi 05 
 
 r^ CC Oi — 
 
 •-■ •■- rN r 
 
 ^ X3 o -r 
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 9tjE7i7«£^ sri7 
 
 1B9 
 
 - T- 
 
 ni£ 
 
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 eo o? ci 
 
 "^ CO 00 
 
 cu eo cc — 
 
 ^so'io'co'c^ oj'co"-^' 
 
 ^ CO — < 
 
 o --< c o 
 
 'O l^ 05 CO 
 
 Oi o o t>. 
 
 ^ 
 
 O CO — 
 "^ 00 <: 
 
 -r CO CN) 
 
 ex so c^ 
 
 'O -^ 
 
 0> CTi 
 -r CO 
 
 rp cc 
 
 ^, 53 00 '-0 
 
 » ■ O ^T C^ 
 
 ^, CO CM 1-, 
 
 O -»??< 0& 
 
 w^^v 
 
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 CO Oi >f^ 
 l^ 1^ -T 
 
 O uo O 
 »^ •- #^ 
 
 i>. b- CO 
 
 CO -^ CM 
 
 -- _■ -~ ~— ~i I- 
 
 CO 
 
 "0 
 
 <x 
 
 CM 
 
 Hi-- 
 
 
 c3 
 
 ■ o 
 
 Qi 
 
 t»Ifi3 aVfiJsqaio'.. 
 
 t>. rr 'O 
 irj i^ i^ 
 
 f- CO — 'O 
 
 3 Slj CM »n 00 
 
 t>- © 00 X 
 
 CO 'T* »0 00 
 
 — — 00 CO 
 
 r- «r #N ^^ 
 
 —< — CM -T 
 t^ 00 Ci K. 
 N. O CO Iv. 
 
 /fr>l 
 
 tn 
 
 Q, 
 
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 w 
 p 
 
 Oh 
 
 rt^is 
 
 »?0, 
 
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 <0 CO O) 
 
 r- o: cc 
 
 cc OJ 
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 '— CO 0:1 -t 
 
 CM C^ l^ — 
 
 'tr 00 CC t^ 
 
 ^S «^ r^ r 
 
 CO «r, -r- t^ 
 
 CO cc O -T 
 -^ OJ CO 
 
 -Or 
 
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 ^dt ni bnjs 
 
 
 
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 "-• o -^ ;j c/j ^ Q 
 
 i^ »o CO 
 
 cr^ 05 t^ 
 — 1^ 'o 
 
 CO 1^ ^r-j 
 
 0» CO Oi 
 
 f — 00 — 
 CO 00 CO cc 
 OC C X l^ 
 
 •^ #^ J^ r 
 
 — 00 1^ c 
 
 o cc CO »n 
 
 O; iiO -T — . 
 
 OV ar^ 
 
 :08r •IG^^■' 
 
 aoooofi 
 
 gnibso?^ 
 
 ^ o — c c^^ 
 
 5^000 
 0: 00 00 00 
 
 CO —r »0 CO 
 
 o o c o 
 
 QC 00 00 00 
 
 05 »0 02 — o »f^ T* 
 
 ■^ ;:::* sj C5 1-. CO -- 
 ■2 g i^ ?o CO cS ^ 
 
 :0 — CO -H ^-^ 
 
 Tnu Ho nsllfit 
 > jfiriiJ 9mil anijs:! ori.^ 
 
 u 
 
 if: 
 
 5 
 
 _ ^ 

 
 87 
 
 These documents are important in another view : they show, that in 
 proportion as the private trade has been restricted, that of the Com- 
 pany has suffered, and it is not therefore the success of the British 
 private trade that hurts the Company, but the undue share the Ame- 
 ricans have obtained in the India trade, by which the latter now 
 supply our West India colonies with coarse piece goods, and the 
 greatest part of Europe with the different products of India. 
 
 In the year 1799^ — 1800, theamdunV df the Compahy's sale was 
 7,359,676/. The amount of private trade that year was, 2,336,980/. 
 In the year 1801-2 the Company's was 6,626,347/. The private 
 trade 2,304,725/. In the year 1803* there was a falling off in the 
 Company's sale, below the amount ""b?^ i^e. J preceding yeat, by 
 170,000/. and in the amount of private trade of 970119/. In the year 
 1804-5, the Company's sales were less by 609,991/.; the private trade, 
 however, was more than the preceding year by 229,115/. i §" ^ 
 
 We see here that the private trade, after having^ by tl^ discou- 
 ragement of the Company's regulations, expressed so cteafly in 
 their manifesto of 1802 sunk from 2,304,728/. whichTt ^s in the 
 year 1801-2, down to somewhat more than 1,300,000/. got up again 
 by 200,000/. or more; but it has since declined still further, as the 
 preceding accounts show. 
 
 . .-^^ p "^ «?:}* $51 '-*'?? T t: ^: C' ■- - 
 
 Let any man, however, look over these statement-, or the more ex- 
 tended papers to which the reader is referred, and he must then see how 
 much the trade of the Company, particularly in respect to India, has 
 fallen off since 1801-2. It is above three millions value a year; and at 
 the same time that of the private trade has declined a million. In all 
 
 • See the Budget iu the Asiatic Annual Register for 1S04. ' In the statements of the Ac- 
 counts of the Company, and in the India Budget, there are trifling differences in the figures, 
 probably errors of the press, or transcribers.
 
 88 
 
 ■:nl-, i- j.jn ^<i(ii /iJiiV ba^ 
 
 four millions Tof trade is lost to Great Britairr." -Gov^rninent loses; the 
 duties, individuals the profit, and industry the encouragement, afforded 
 by transactions to so large an amount. The reason is quite simple 
 and obviousj ;!" rj-r-- roitri'-;^- ?:?^i ariJ fViolarjrl) (33^ otysBSka jt 
 
 f:, While encouragement was given towards bringing the trade of I^dia 
 to the market of England, the states on the continent used to trust for 
 t?,i.heir supply to England. The merchants of Germany used to visit this 
 country at the time of the India sales, as they still do their own great estab- 
 lished fairs of Frankfort, Leipsic, &c. Such fairs are not novvknoAvn in 
 -. JEngland; but on the continent they were, and still in part are, the 
 ^-if'great marts of exchange for all commodities. But, on coming to 
 ?fi(.buy India goods, they bought many of our own manufactures. They 
 acquired a taste for our produce, and discovered its fitness to supply 
 their own Avants. All this we have forfeited. The Americans, wit!) 
 their usual assiduity and good fortune, getting in to the channel^ have 
 '.djbeen labouring hard to secure the market of the contin^^bsItBy degrees 
 .'{tiheir cffoi'ts hare succeeded, m lajjBra js nr iaara i3}?BiJsrf3 ecri ^n&m 
 -iib iJioiidoq oj teniiii Lujjh a 1<> ao^iaq js bbw -^anoJluSl muilliW ii8 
 ^it is said,' hoiv ever, that the war has shut thb markets of the con- 
 tinent. This may be true to some extent, but it is not the cause of 
 the falling off of the CompanY''s trade; and, be it ol)served, that the 
 falling offis solely in articles of the India trade, for the China tradehas 
 its consumption chiefly in the Brit sh dominions, and is not so greatly af- 
 fected by the war. But, during the year of the greatest sales of the Com- 
 pany, the years of 1799, 1800, we wet-e at wan, and with Bonaparte; 
 and the interruption to our commerce, particularly in the subsequent 
 year, existed in tlie north of Europe to their full extent. What, then, 
 has caused the vast falling off? Evidently the sujjply of the Americans, 
 who have got into the trade, certainly not for their own consumption, 
 but as the carriers and suppliers of Europe. By this supply the British 
 market for India articles is anticipated, and all the commercial ad- 
 vantages we now might have from our Indian empire are sacrificed.
 
 The exclusive supply of ourselves with tea, indeed, remains (o the 
 Company, and with this, were they allowed, the Americans would 
 supply us much cheaper ; aaid they will supply , us in time of peace, 
 . 'irJicther they are allowed ob not. sri) -.u 
 
 j^ja'ii -id'i .utuown as ars^ni o;? oJ ^r-^ 
 It is easy to see, therefore, the loss the nation sustains by the competi- 
 tion we have enabled the Americans to make against us in the foreign 
 market. Indeed, we must completely sacrifice the commerce of India, 
 distinct from that of China, if the present system is allowed to continue. 
 The Company, as their own accounts show, lose by it, and they must 
 lose ; 4)ut individuals would gairu if they 'had fair play^ ^-i' jw^juhjjou 
 
 ' -' -In November, 1801, Sir William Pulteney, a person as free from party 
 ^irit, from fanciful theory, from the delusions of false representations, 
 
 'O-ki any man ever was, made amotion, in the House of Commons 
 'If Inspecting the pi-ivafetl-adel^ ban ^ooubo'iq luo lol 9t8Bt & bsiiupDB 
 
 dhw j^nB»h3rnA arlT .bsjialiol a/Bri 9w aidj HA .sinBW nwo iiarij 
 
 )/ijfi l^i^ifid^ finimportaflt to advert to the character of the mover, because 
 '>ig1s> a pledge for the sobriety of the motion. To those who knew the 
 man, his character must in a matter of this sort carry great autlwrity. 
 Sir William Pulteney was a person of a mind turned to political dis- 
 quisition, and fitted to comprehend the most abstruse theories ; which, 
 however^ he had the patience to verify by the most minute practical 
 
 > Uirtii^GStigationi Capable, therefore, of estimating the value of theories, 
 
 ;n/il»i)i«!4stpeculiarly qualified to sift them, and to separate the plausible 
 from the -real. 1 His judgment Avas never misled by his passions, nor 
 did. his opinion ever precede inquiry. To find suoh a man make a 
 motion in parliament in favour of the prrvate trade^ is of itself a 
 proofthat there was nothing factious, nothing showy and unsubstantial, 
 
 liiiBotbing delusive, in the proposition. ' lujou uiij m 
 
 -.ut! The question he wished to have examined was not decided; for it 
 'ijmas the fashion of that day to decide nothing, and a vaiu and nominal 
 
 -*'jB Ik'*)" ■• .'•'"■'' N *' i;ff>(i|f 'rol ^'nf'^rtv
 
 90 
 
 promise was offered. There was no security for the execution of 
 the compact, had it been favourable to the oppressed party, which 
 it was not. But, in consequence of the complaints against the Com- 
 pany, something was to be done, and the ministry stepped forward to 
 give redress. No effectual security, however, was provided for the exe- 
 cution of the arrangement, and the private traders got nothing by 
 their complaint but the renewal of their ill usage, and the abusive 
 scurrility of the Third Report. J bsoi^iaofig od ot n 
 
 ■ What the private traders have chiefly contended for, is the liberty of' 
 sending home their goods in India built shiptjniixi iicm liiw art ,no§^-w 
 
 - lOiarjqoiq oiii oi loAJi^ sun 
 
 , Theii- application for that object was entirely approved by Mr. Dun- 
 das, by Lord Wellesley, nay by all the governors who have presided'- 
 over the Company's affairs in India ; and Lord Wellesley has more thaft^ 
 once been compelled to allow ships to be taken up i« India,' to ansiiH'eSf*^ 
 the pressing exigencies of commerce. a39)o*.q sriT .laiBsb ari) ot 
 
 -169 'lo' aborrt tfiluoiJiBq JS yd ^Edhibomtnoo iMt tnROm. si noUDSibiq 
 
 •>iThe. Court of Directors, however, have shown a most decided hosS&J'^ 
 tility to this measure, although they have been obliged, on some occa- ' 
 sioas, to suffer India built ships to be taken up for bringing home' 'fcfelf^i^'* 
 goes. The want of a proper mode of conveyance for the; tr^i^^'BiftfH^^ 
 notorious, (for that it cannot be carried on in the Company's sh7ps,'bii''' 
 the same system with i/ieu' trade, is demonstrated) it is matter of asto- 
 nishment that the Directors did not perceive, that it was for the 'iMt^i*' 
 rest of their own monopoly to allow that mode to be pursued. It fei^' 
 tained the private merchants in the most complete dependence on the ^ 
 Company, and gave them an additional interest in its continuance. '''^^ ^ 
 
 The Directors contended, however, that to admit such ships would 
 be to injure the rights of British built vessels ; and that, if a new clans' 
 of ships was to be introduced into the trade, British ships should be ' 
 preferred.
 
 9t 
 
 -With me, this dispute about India built slu'ps or British bui it ship> 
 J^^of no importance, except in as far as tlie trade may: be carried on 
 .clieaper in the one way than the other. Facility^ and chcaj)nc»s of con- 
 ;v«yance/ are circumstances the most essential to commerce; but the 
 thing carried piust. always be the principal object; the vehicle is onljj 
 the sepcMid.r ^^he. carriage in every view is a charge upon the commo- 
 ditj^Mic'it ought, therefore, to be as cheap as possible, unless the end 
 is to be sacrificed to the means. The merchant, who sends goods 
 ■between Manchester and London by the waggon, can consider nothing 
 but the expcnce; and if there is a cheaper conveyance titan the 
 .waggon, he will avail himself of it. The carriage enhances the price of 
 his goods; and if he is compelled, in deference cither to the proprietors 
 of a waggon or a canal, to use the vehicle of the one which is dearest, 
 hggi^[taxedj or rather the public is taxed, for the advantage of such wa^ 
 gpt^fPTHeaBaV proprietor. In general, water carriag-eis for; cheapness pre-** 
 f^Tcd to land cai'riage^aflidf thCi cheaper w-ater. carriage is preferred 
 to the dearer. The protection of the carrying trade, if by such 
 protection is meant that commodities, by a particular mode of car- 
 .riiig^rfa(r^fJt<3i Ji>e raised in price,ois,i in effect, laying a tax on one class 
 oC^^e community to the benefit of the other, it discourages the 
 Hiaiiufaeture or production of the thing carried; and it condemns the 
 •consumer to. pay, in the price of the article, for the unnecessary cxpence 3 
 of, its carriage. The shipping trade of this country has, by the Act ofa 
 K^vigationj ft monopoly, to the manifest prejudice of the labour and 
 iadustryv^' i^reat Britain. Probably that law is pohtie; and wise ; butr 
 u,nles6TBri|i^hp«hips carry cheaper than other ships, the law imposes a ' 
 realitaJv OHnthe grower and consumer of all commodities liable to be 
 so carriedj-fjif niJrfoa g)i m ^m&lai teaoH mbis hb, ^raarii 37j^§ bnti , '} 
 
 Jt was for the pur|)ose of exciting jealousies in the minds of a most 
 jealous , and irritable class of men, the British ship owners, that the 
 Directors threw in this hint about British built vessels. } 
 
 N 2 :q
 
 92 
 
 But whether the ship owners of this country would have any right 
 to complain of East India built ships being introduced into the India, 
 or any other trade, may very well be doubted. East India ships, 
 built by British merchants, are in no sense foreign ships. Where is 
 the law that deprives them of the privileges which ships built in all 
 British settlements and colonies possess? Nothing but the omission of a 
 clause in Lord Hawkesbury's Act, with respect to certificate of registery, 
 •can have raised any doubt on the subject. The dominions in India 
 belong to the crown of Great Britain. British merchants, there, never 
 cease ifo be the King's subjects ; and upon what pretence, therefore, 
 India should be excluded from a benefit which all other colonies and 
 settlements possess, is perfectly incomprehensible. 
 
 '"^ m^H^tlife'^^^fti'^ttfei^^MBittes belonged to this country, it is 
 
 '-wtll known that the building of ships for sale was a considerable branch 
 
 t)f industry in that country. 'The ships were brought to England and 
 
 "sold. In lact, it appears, from Mr. Chalmer's Political Eslimate^ that, 
 
 ' lii' the; year' ITT'^, the'quantity of American built ships and tonnage 
 
 'i^'Me %a^e'df-feir eduhtr^^xvzts^ 223,489 tons. It 
 
 ^wa^ never ^ctitisidered prejudicial to our interests, that we were enabled, 
 
 by cheapness of ships, to carry our produce cheaper. On the contrary, 
 
 nothing more contributes to encourage the industry, and to increase the 
 
 ' wealth, of a country. 
 
 It might perhaps be maintained, beyond contradiction, that it would 
 be for the intcre-t of this country to encourage the building of ships in 
 India, if by that means we could be enabled, through the cheapness 
 of the vehicle, to diminish the price of the articles carried. In carry- 
 ing more under the British flag, we should extend the nursery for 
 British seamen, which the monopoly of British built ships at a dear 
 rate evidently tends to destroy. In regard to saving our native oak, 
 (with respect to a scarcity of which much apj)rehension has been enter-
 
 tained) perhaps the measure would be wise, pajrticularjy since the lo.s» 
 of supply in American built ships has compelled us to consume our 
 oak so much the more largely. This is a question not absolutely ne- 
 cessary to be discussed here; but it is of great importance. It.Js 
 worthy of remark, however, that, in 1772, such was the alarm respect- 
 ing the consumption of timber, (though the resources of American built 
 ships then existed) that the Company was by law * prohibited from 
 building more ships in England, though they were permitted to build 
 in India or tl^e colonies, or to hire ships built tJicre. It is very strapge, 
 .then, to hear them exclaim againstj,thejj^jibympt^fg^s^^In|ia^^^^ 
 ,:.?hips, as a dangerous ianovalion. .^j ^ ^„^^^ b^bofoxa ad fa/uo/fa fiibnl 
 
 Certain it is, that the introduction of East India built ships would 
 
 gfcause no loss whatever to the ship-builders of this country, because for 
 
 j^^.this particular trade not a single ton would be built the jmore herjs, hy 
 
 Kj^ontinuing to drive the trade of India into American and other foreign 
 
 ^jphannels. On the contrary, every Indian ship that comes here fur- 
 
 g^ishes employment to our shipwrights, which they Avould not have had. 
 
 In one of the years, in which the East India built ships brought cargoes 
 
 to London, the outlay in repairs, &c. was above 200,000/. the profit 
 
 ,rQn which. was all so much gain to that class of men,- j ^ 
 
 «•£"■*' *-''*^ -'"- '^'-' ° ■:■; e*qina To 2?9nq/59rio '(t 
 
 sill 9gJS9'!0nT 01 bf_ >,,,f;^».,^^ o-:>-^- -^r'rr[> .'1 
 
 If then the East India built ships can be employed cheaply, , there is 
 no reason whatever why they should not be employed. The Directors 
 £,fj5pntend they neither can be built nor employed so cheap as. British 
 j^jbujlt ships,*;; The merchants say they can; and, in a matter which con- 
 adeems their own immediate interest, the jatter^^Hl Pfohably be con- 
 ..sidered the best iudges. 
 
 j^^Ti is to be remembered, too, that there may be a considerable recom- 
 ,j mendation to the employment of India built ships, from the very na- 
 
 * 12 Geo. III. cap. 54,
 
 94 
 
 ture of the trade. India is admitted to be the great exporting country, 
 and the quantities of the commodities it is capable of sending must 
 depend upon circumstances which the merchant resident in India must 
 best understantfr-'lf he find that he can lay in a cargo of cotton at 
 Bombay, OT ^ mixed cargo at Madras or Calcutta, advantageously, he 
 willdo TtJ'^l^he inconvenience of sending to Great Britain for a vei 
 hide on which to export th« commodity, must be perceived by every 
 person ; nor is it easy to see what pretence there can be for depressing, 
 by such discouragements, the industry and produce of our own terri- 
 tories in the East, and the enterprise of British subjects who are there 
 settledi- -■-- -i^raq^-po 
 -nr odi Ilfi ot gqiffa 9?offt -p 
 
 '^l?Ki^&^^^6Wt)pseMirig btit ships taken up here to India is obvious, 
 and has -be^h satisfactorily proved by the agents, in their observations 
 o&the Eleven Propositions of the Directors*, in the beginning' of 1802. 
 They shoAV cfekrly^th^t thie tonnage sent out may either be redundant 
 or insufficient^ they show that, iii order to prosper, the private traders 
 nrSfPbe permitted to send out their ships sit any time they judge con- 
 vemerit, and that they ought not to be confined to the fixed and detei-- 
 mined seasons, to which the Company confine themselves. A proposal 
 more reasonable cannot be conceived. The idea of the Company 
 condemning others to the absurd system they pursue is monstrous. 
 No fair and legitimate trade can live under such a systeml ^ ^ 
 ..noiJisioqo larf 1 i9w ^c^ri^ 
 
 The merchants complain, too, that the Company endeavour to rcsiricr'^ 
 and limit them as to the assortment of their own cargoes fri'lildia-^ir' 
 regulation wliich, on the face of it, shows that it can be made'witlv nxr 
 other view than to harass. What merchant is unacquainted with the 
 importance of arranging and laying in his cargo? Surclj', of lill 
 things on earth, a merchant may be safely indulged with this liberty, 
 especially if he and his friends undertake to load the whole shipT 
 
 -'lioArf Off llaih by* S^elhe prioted Papers.
 
 oii which their goods are to be carried. But it was the Company's 
 purpose every way to embarrass and to create delay. Nothing can be 
 better calculated to defeat the best concerted commercial plans, than- 
 uncertainty as to the ship on which goods are sent, the time of.gailingy 
 the making insurance incident to that system, which indeed was pre-, 
 
 '^^59^^<^i%ffi5?5?f^;?A*c? ^^°'^^''^^.#.».A^ nam/, ao. ^i^m 
 . . . . ' ^ - , ■ - - ■ ' -. ^. «^/-f 
 
 jThe same principles of objection apply to all the proposals of the. 
 Directors, either for building British ships, or hiring for eight voyage&j 
 India built ships, on an inferior scale of equipment. The Direc- 
 tors persist in exposing the merchants using those ships to all the in- 
 conveniencies of protracted voyages, of deviatijons, of irregularity and' 
 uncertainty in arrivals and departure, and indeed of every thing neccs-Tu 
 sary to enable a merchant to trade, or authorize him to decide whcther-,y 
 ia^^Uthe circumstances, (Oj^jtl^g^j;afg^Jig,pught to trade a^,i^y*^^ fiod-. xodt 
 
 In a word, tlic Avholc efforts of the Company arc employG4'tO(m^ji 
 nacle and fetter the private merchant, and to compel him to trade , 
 under all the inconvcnieixcies to which their mode pfbutiiacss is subiect,.! 
 
 mBqixioO edi Vy tMm od'V .bo-n', nn£0 afdeftopi'^- STom 
 
 •' It IS not triie that the private traders particularly preferred the East 
 
 India built, provided that, in the extra ships supplied by the CompaTiy^>l 
 
 they were to have the same command over the vessel and her operations 
 
 which every merchant secures by his charier parly with the owner of a 
 
 ship, and that direction, as to the whole assortment of cargo, which is of 
 
 But in fact the Directors never have complied with the terms of their 
 own conciliatory proposition of 1801, as it was called. Their second 
 proposition is — - 
 
 " That the shipping to be thus annually employed diall be wholly 
 
 * See the Proposals.
 
 96 
 
 applied to the use of the private traders, and shall neither be destined 
 or detained for any jwlitical or warlike services in India, but sail from 
 thence directly for the port of London, at fixed periods, within the fair' 
 
 weather season.'''* 
 
 f- 
 
 It has been proved how inadequate this system is at the best, and how 
 contrary to the true principles of mercantile adventure. But the mer- 
 chants of India take issue with the Directors on this point, and deny 
 that this proposal, such as it is, has been faithfully executed. 
 
 They now complain that ships provided for the private trade have 
 neither sailed in the proper season, nor arrived at Calcutta at the time 
 when it ^vas possible that they could be di-patched home again in the 
 fair-weather reason. In the season of 1806, only two arrived in time; 
 and in the year 1805, it was impossible to dispatch the ships from Cal- 
 cutta till the month of June and July, by which they were dispersed over 
 tlie bav, and exposed to every sort of danger. In fact, they had only to 
 choose between the voyage at the bad season, with all its risks, or the 
 immense loss of interest on the cost of goods provided, by postponing 
 the voyage. It is a fact, that several of the extra ships, loaded at Cal- 
 cutta in May 1806, did not sail from Bengal till September following. 
 The inconveniences of such a system need only be stated : they cannot 
 be exaggerated. 
 
 This hostility of (he Directors to the private trade, and their encou- 
 ragement of foreigners, can be ascribed to nothing but the worst spirit 
 of commercial jealousy or malignity, for it is easy to demonstrate that 
 the private trade is a source of great revenue to the Company. 
 
 It is well known that the private trade pays a duty of three per cent, 
 on the sale amount. In fact, this is perhaps the only clear source of rc- 
 enue the Company have, though undoubtedly the whole three per cent, 
 is not gain, nor is the charge considered as exorbitant. 
 
 V
 
 97 
 
 V*^ By the accounts laid before Parliament for ten years, up to 1801 in- 
 
 s'clusive, it appears the Company had received, for charges and profit 
 
 -'on private trade, 1,482,056/. being ncfirly 150,000/. per annum. But 
 
 it appears, by the same authority, that, including all (he payments 
 
 out of these commercial sources, the clear surplus in ten years is' oiily 
 
 981,781/. So that, had it pot been for this resource of the private 
 
 --ftrade (included in the receipt), there \yould have been a large deficiency 
 
 instead of a surplus. 
 
 so considerable a, source of clear gam from the private trade ought 
 ,. to induce the Company to encourage, instead of persecuting it ; and 
 ■j^when it is known that the merchants only trade in such articles as the 
 'ifCompany do not choose to deal in, and particularly when they only trade 
 ,' 3P piece goods ,^nd saltpetre by licence, the hostility Jfs the more ex- 
 ..^traordinary* The goods brought home by the private trader do hot 
 anticipate the Company's market. They are exposed at the Com- 
 ofpany''s sale.'^ip.ndf ;do not ititearfere with the monopoly of the Com- 
 ')f|>any, as to their sales of goods ; for the Company's goods anticipate 
 'artfeose of the private trade. It has been shown, too, that the 
 -Ig^ears in which both the sales of the Company and of the private 
 .gtrade were the greatest, the trade was most beneficial to both. Since the 
 •oquantity of the private trade has been greatly diminished, the Company's 
 have fallen off in amount, and still more in profit. In fact, both the 
 Company and the private traders are driven out of the foreign market 
 'fiby tlie Americans, and the Company, in burdening the private trade 
 tiwith such discouragement, cause a loss to the country of all the cus- 
 toms, and to themselves of a proportion of the three per cent, on aU 
 the sales of the private trade. In the year 1805, they lost the whole 
 charges and profit on a million's sale of private goods. Their loss then, 
 whether as warehousemen, or as government imposing a tax or toll, 
 iS V erv considerable. 
 
 Such however are the inconveniences arising from the present system, 
 
 o
 
 98 
 
 that, provided the Company would allow the private merchants to 
 ship, load, &c. in their own way, as all other merchants do, they would 
 pay yb//r, or even five per cent, to the Company, on the amount of 
 their sales. If the Company would give up trade altogether, and con- 
 tent themselves with such a duty, paid to them as sovereigns, besidesthe 
 duties to the state, their affairs would be in a better situation. Had 
 they done so sooner, they would not have loaded themselves with a debt 
 in India of thirty millions, at ruinous interest, contracted in great parfe 
 to carry on a losing trade. 
 
 An objection has been urged to the employing of Lascars in Indizt 
 built ships. But it is notorious that Lascars wouM only be employed 
 when British sailors could not be obtained. Besides, does not every 
 body know that, in time of war, Danes, Swedes, Germans of every 
 tribe, navigate our ships. What objection, then, can there be to em- 
 ploy Lascars ? The Company employ natives of India to fight their bat- 
 tles ; can they object to let them be employed to navigate our ships ? 
 But, in truth, the objection is too despicable for notice. 
 
 The question, however, is so urgent, that it deserves the immediate 
 attention of government. It is different from the great question of 
 laying open the trade at the expiry of the Charter, and ought not to be 
 a moment deferred. In time of peace, the evil will be more dangerous, 
 for the trade, being fixed in the foreign channel, will not only supply 
 foreigners independently of us, but will dispute with us our own 
 supply. 
 
 VI. I now proceed, therefore, to consider the share which fo- 
 reigners now possess, or will acquire, in the trade, restricted to the Com- 
 pany's monopoly, and the consequences of their competition, shou^ 
 that exclusive Company be continued. 
 
 The situation in which we stand with regard to our Indian posses-
 
 99 
 
 fjion, even since the territorial acquisition, renders it extremely neces- 
 sary to consider what may be the effect of the competition of other 
 nations. We have conquered India by the valour and with the blood 
 of our fellow citizens. It is maintained by the .^ame sacrifices against 
 continual danger ; and surely we are entitled to every advantage which, 
 without injury to others, we can derive from it. 
 
 The relation, in which Great Britain stands with her possessions in 
 the East Indies, is not that of a mother country with her colonies. The 
 circumstances which led to our territorial acquisitions in Hindustan, the 
 tenure on which some important parts of them were obtained and have 
 been held, oblige us to consider that branch of our empire in a different 
 light, if then the impolicy of our government shall determine to 
 cramp the exertions, and to restrain the enterprise, of its own subjects 
 in favour of a privileged Company, it cannot establish the same exclu- 
 sion against other nations who have possessed, or have been struggling to 
 obtain, a share in the commerce of the East. Our monopoly, there- 
 fore, is AvhoUy against our fellow citizens at home ; only in part against 
 our native Indian subjects abroad. Even, since Great Britain and the 
 Company have become real sovereigns, they have not ventured to ex- 
 clude the other nations of Europe from a participation in the commerce 
 of India. The Directors, in the reports on the subject of the private 
 trai'e, admit the right of other nations in amity with us to trade to India 
 as unquestionable. Nay, not many years ago, when the trade was laid 
 open to all the subjects of France, a French merchant at Calcutta re- 
 fused to pay a duty of 4 per cent, demanded in that port, saying, that 
 2i was the sum paid under the Nabob of Bengal. The demand was not 
 enforced. The Americans, though unable to plead any use or prescrip- 
 tion, have, by Mr. Jay's treaty, been admitted to trade with the British 
 settlements in India. The share then which foreigners can have in the 
 trade of India is, whatever their capital can embrace, and the markets 
 to which they have access require. If they can furnish other nation? 
 
 o 2
 
 100 
 
 cheaper than we can, they may engross the supply and the carrying 
 trade for those nations. It is only against British subjects that the mo- 
 nopoly of the Company is established ; it is established, therefore, in 
 favour of other nations, for it affords them the incalculable advantage 
 of entering into competition, not with the capital, the skill, the enterprise, 
 of British merchants, but with the negligence and prodigality of a joint 
 stock company. 
 
 This is a consideration of the greatest importance. There have- 
 been times in which the expensive and extravagant absurdity af 
 joint stock companies for carrying on trade might perhaps have been 
 indulged, if not with less injustice, at least with less mischief to the 
 community. They might have been endured, when we had to sustain 
 the competition of joint stock companies as prodigal, as wasteful, as 
 ill qualified for the management of trade, as our own. The circulating 
 stock of folly was so equally distributed, that sometimes the balance 
 was in favour of England, of France, of Holland. The only formidable 
 competition, that of a free trade, and of individual merchants being 
 out of the question, the companies, at home and abroad, might 
 perhaps have been left to rival each other in misconduct. But 
 the case is jnow very different: America has started in the career, 
 and will carry off the palm from all the competitors for the trade 
 of India, who do not qualify themselves to run the race with her on 
 equal terms. The Americans arc not oppressed by the delays, the 
 uncertainty, the extravagance, disorder, and incapacity of a joint stock 
 company. Nourished and supported in the outset by the British capi- 
 tal, which the impolicy of our government and the blindness of the 
 Company forced into their hands, or which the temptation of a lucra- 
 tive traffick led them to borrow on any terms, they have now created, 
 from their immense profits, a caj)ital adequate to carry on their in- 
 creasing share of the trade. By the rapidity of their voyages, their 
 skilful observance of times and seasons and markets, in the wise spirit
 
 JOl 
 
 of mercantile economy, they far surpass all their competitors. The East 
 India Company cannot support their rivalship. In time of war, which 
 is represented as favourable to us*, it has been shown that the amount 
 of sales has already sunk below that of 1799 — 1800, to the extent of 
 four millions sterling. Still further reduction must we expect under the 
 present system. The Americans are driving this country from the 
 supply of the rest of Europe. In time of peace, more certainly they 
 will supply all the markets of the continent with India commodities, 
 unless other nations choose to avail themselves of the same liberty of 
 trade which the Americans enjoy ; and unless we avail ourselves ©f 
 the cheapest mode of carrying on the trade, in order to sustain the com- 
 petition. Nay, the Americans, or other traders under the protection of 
 foreign flags, will, by means of smuggling [from the (free ports on the 
 continent, which are already projected, interfere with the supply of our 
 home markets. 
 
 The China trade is that on which the Company are supposed to be 
 enabled to support the loss occasioned by their India trade, and the pro- 
 fit of which recompences them for part of their other losses. But it is 
 very important to consider that this branch of their trade is, of all others, 
 the most precarious. It rests upon a close monopoly. The duties 
 levied on their grand staple, teas, are perhaps, during Jt time of war, 
 necessary and proper, but no government, which the people of this 
 country can endure, will be able, when peace arrives, to protect the 
 Company's monopoly, and the high duties — those two mighty causes 
 of high price. Whole navies would be necessary to collect them, and 
 the duties would be spent in the charges of levying them. 
 
 The necessities of the state, and the possibility of levying duties, fre- 
 
 * In the Third Report, the Directors say, " And as tl>e Indian trade to tlis River Thames 
 must be considerably diminished in the event of [leace, whether that reduction fails on the 
 Company or on private individuals, it must operate to lessen the means of employing those 
 British ships that are already in the service."
 
 102 
 
 quently form the on!y circumstances which regulate their amount. But 
 the possibility of levying them imposes a limit much short perhaps of 
 that at which financial avarice or legislative competence would stop. 
 We may save ourselves the trouble of railing at the obstinate perverse- 
 ness of mankind, but they will buy cheap, if they can, the articles they 
 want, and they will sell their articles, if they can make a profit on them. 
 Wherever, therefore, duties are so high as to tempt smuggling, smug- 
 gling will be carried on. Every one knows the history of the Commuta- 
 tion Act, and its happy effects both to the East India Company and to 
 the revenue. But we are fast approaching to the state in which we 
 shall require commutation acts for almost every commodity sold at the 
 India House, as well as teas. 
 
 A free port at Ostend or Flushing would baffle all our custom-house 
 regulations, and put an end to our revenue. Our enemies and our rivals 
 would set up the China and India trade against ,us, and will do it, as in 
 di\\ former limes, with British capital. The monopoly of the Company and 
 high duties cannot io//i be maintained ; perhaps both must be mitigated 
 and modified. In as far as the monopoly of the Company tends, as it most 
 unquestionably does tend, to render the supply of a commodity dearer 
 than the price at which the article can be furnished by a free trade, in 
 so much the danger of rivalship is increased ; and to preserve that mono_ 
 poly, the government must sacrifice its share of the profit, viz. the duty, 
 in order to give it to a useless, prodigal, and mischievous Company. If 
 a certain duty is to be levied, the cheaper the commodity can be sup- 
 plied, the greater is the duty government may touch. That cheap 
 supply never can be afforded by the Company. 
 
 That the different nations of the continent will endeavour to obtain 
 a share of the India trade, when peace enables them to resume com- 
 mercial pursuits, cannot he doubted ; and, instructed by the example 
 and success of the Americans, they will not embarrass them elves with 
 the expensive incumbrance of joint stock companies. All they have to
 
 103 
 
 do is to declare the trade free to their subjects, and to make one or two 
 of their most convenient havens free ports. Suppose Antwerp, or 
 Flushing, or Dunkirk, were declared free ports for India produce, could 
 the East India Company maintain a competition with the spirit, the ad- 
 venture of a free trade, or could they prevent British capital engaging 
 in such undertakings ? 
 
 The following remarks upon this subject, from an official publication 
 in 1793, entitled, " Historical View of Plans, &c." already alluded to, 
 are very deserving of atten tion. 
 
 " It is suggested that the 9th Geo. I. which established certain 
 penalties against those concerned in the Ostend East India Compa- 
 ny, shall be explained and amended. Though this Company was 
 abolished by a treaty subsequent to that period, the trade has, of 
 late years^ assumed a new and formidable aspect. It has been a 
 practice with private adventurers in London to purchase old India 
 ships : after giving them a thorough repair, the«e ships are sent to 
 Ostend, and loaded Avith goods from Holland, the Austrian Nether- 
 lands, and France, with a small quantity of British produce, such as 
 the Company send out, but chiefly with military stores, to be disposed 
 of to the country powers. On a British capital, in this manner, and 
 with a British supra-cargo, though with a nominal foreign captain, and 
 under a foreign flag, the vessels employed in this trade have resorted 
 to India and to China. Such part of their exports as are Dutch, 
 French, or German, as spirits, wines, &c. give advantages in the Indian 
 markets to foreign nations, and check the Company in their sales of the 
 same articles. Did their exports of British produce consist of British 
 woollens, hardware, &c. only, there might be reason for encouraging 
 them ; but as they chiefly consist of military and naval stores, to be 
 disposed of among the native powers, allowing these ai'ticles to be fur- 
 nished by Britain, the trade is only calculated to injure the British 
 provinces in the ports in which these nominal foreigners, but really
 
 104 
 
 British subject?, find protection*. Upon the return of the vessel from 
 India or from China, under pretext of touchi g at Britain, one part 
 of the import cargo is smuggled, and another part has been carried to 
 Ostcnd, either to be disponed of in Flanders, German)^ and the north 
 of France, or lo be kept in warehouses^ to be smuggled ; as part of a 
 contraband cargo of European goods^ into Britain or Ireland^ or lo be 
 sent to our American and Jf'est India dependencies^.'''' 
 
 Agreeably to these views the Act of 1793 was framed. But has if 
 removed the danger likely to arise from the causes above enumerated ? 
 On the contrary, the pernicious system of the Company only affords a 
 bounty to all such adventurers, by giving new advantages to the com- 
 petition they will set up. What passed between 1714 and 17.30, while 
 the Ostend Company existed]:, ought to instruct us what we are to expect 
 in future. 
 
 The relation in which the country stands with regard to its eastern 
 possessions, therefore, is of the utmost importance in the preseit discus- 
 siont It deserves the most serious consideration, whether this country 
 can retain the trade at all, if it is still to be committed to the care and to 
 the management of a joint stock monopoly company. It is to be con- 
 sidered, too, that it is not merely the share of the trade of India neces- 
 sary for our doniestic consumption which we have to guard. Some time 
 ago we possessed a very large share of the supply which the rest of 
 Europe requires. That share indeed is daily growing less, thanks to 
 the encouragement given to the Americans, and the discouragement 
 thrown in the way of private traders. But it is well known, and is 
 proved by the custom-house books, that at least thr€c-fourths of the India 
 
 • " It has of late been a practice with the owners of these ships^ to purcliase Frencii woollens 
 at Abbeville, and Fr<fnch imitalions of the British hardware, for this trade, at a lower price, and 
 of an inferior ((Uality, llian they can find them in Britain." 
 
 •J- Historical View, &c. p. 580. — Since the above was written, the Americans themselves 
 have sewed on the last branch of the supplj. j See antca.
 
 105 
 
 imports (exclusive of tea) imported, were re-exported to different parts 
 of the continent. If, then, the mode in which we carry on the trade 
 through the Company is so expensive and so inadequate, we not only 
 endanger the interference of an illicit trade with our home consump- 
 tion, but we absolutely abandon every foreign market to our com- 
 petitors. Let any man consider the quantities, not only of piece goods, 
 but indigo and other articles, we used to export, and he will see how 
 great a stake the nation has in the preservation of the trade, both in 
 the mercantile profit and the sources of revenue which it affords. We 
 have long been taught to look at India as a source of vast wealth; we 
 3tnow, at least, that it has been maintained and defended with the 
 national blood and treasure, as a national object. It is fit we should 
 know whether it be a national object or not. 
 
 From the view already given of the present state of the trade, and 
 of the private trade, this branch of the subject has been incidentally 
 treated, and requires no further illustration. It is sufficient to have 
 pointed out the circumstances of foreign competition, by which the 
 trade in our hands nmst be influenced. It is not merely a matter of 
 policy, therefore, but of necessity, to improve our system of India 
 commerce, and to place it on the best footing. 
 
 Such, then, is the situation in which the vast stake this nation pos- 
 sesses in the commerce of India is placed, through the misconduct of 
 the Company. It is proved indisputably, that the Company have 
 created an immense debt in India — a debt, the amount of which 
 our ancestors would have been confounded, even as the accumulation 
 of long expensive national wars; but in this instance, contracted for 
 the purpose of a single branch of commerce. 
 
 Is this, then, a state of things in which we ought to feel much gra- 
 titude for the commercial services of the East India Company? Doe* 
 the experience of the past, or the prospect of the future, authorize
 
 106 
 
 us to renew the Charter, and shut the commerce of India against ail 
 other British subjects? 
 
 On what pretence, then, could this be done? This leads me to the 
 second branch of this tract, viz. A consideration of the objections 
 against a free and open trade. 
 
 The objections against laying open the trade, are both commercial 
 and political. I shall touch upon such as appear to have been most 
 relied upon, though the answer to some may have been already in- 
 volved in the argument upon other branches of the subject. 
 
 I. The commercial objections seem to be; 1 st, the connection between 
 the trade and the revenue, and the differences of remitting the tribute: 
 2ndly, the inability of individuals, for want of capital to carry on the 
 trade with r^ularity, and the danger therefore of losing the trade 
 altogether: 3dly, the connection of the India and the China trade, 
 and the unfitness of individuals for the latter branch. 
 
 II. The political objections seem to be; 1st, the advantage now 
 arising from the union of trade and political power; the danger of 
 an influx of strangers into British India, and consequently of colonization 
 if the trade were laid open; an objection indeed which has been urged 
 also against granting any facilities to the private trade. 
 
 III. The objections as to the system of government for India, if the 
 Company were abolished. 
 
 I. It is necessary, however, first of all to remark that the present 
 system, that of 1793, was adopted after a variety of plans of administra- 
 tion for India had been proposed and considered. I have already had 
 frequent occasion to quote the official review of these plans, introductory 
 and explanatory of the act of 1 793, which professed to be no longer an 
 experiment^ but a system of government and commerce for India. In.
 
 107 
 
 perusing that work, published for the very purpose of recommending the 
 scheme of 1 793, I have, from the facts and reasonings it contains, been 
 led to doubt the policy on which that scheme was founded. I therefore 
 have no hesitation to recommend the book to every intelligent man as 
 supplying the strongest arguments in favour of the principles I have 
 ventured to urge. 
 
 Indeed we have the advantage of comparing the principle and the 
 hopes held out in 1 793, with the system and with its effects. Surely 
 then, after what we have seen of the state of the Company's trade their 
 debt, their government, few will be so bold as maintain that the system, 
 such as it stands, is sufficient to answer all the purposes for which it was 
 intended. If any change be proposed, it cannot be pretended that things 
 are well as they are, and that no change is necessary. 
 
 We have seen that, though the plan of 1 793 stipulated for the pub- 
 lic a participation in the revenues to the amount of 500,000/. a year 
 there has been but one payment (that of the first year) received. We 
 have seen that, instead of a surplus tribute to carry on the trade the 
 trade has^ to a very great extent, been carried on with money borrowed 
 at India interest ; and we have seen that foreigners have now obtained 
 that large share of the commerce of India which the Company and pri. 
 vate merchants have lost. The whole system has completely failed. 
 
 1st, It has been urged that the revenue and the trade are so inter- 
 woven, that they ought not to be separated. 
 
 If this were true, I should not hesitate to assert, that every effort ouffhl 
 be made to separate them; because it is contrary to the very nature of 
 things that commerce, so blended with public revenue, can be carried 
 on with any regularity, economy, or prudence. The very idea of such 
 an union is contrary to the character of trade on the one hand, and with 
 the objects of political government on the other. 
 
 p 2
 
 108 
 
 "We have seen, however, that in point of fact, the Company's trade 
 has for many years been carried on without any surplus revenue. I'he 
 example of the past foibids us to believe that things for the future will 
 be very differently managed. A commerce de[X^ndent for capital on the 
 revenues of the sovereign, who is also the merchant, cannot thrive as 
 commerce. 
 
 Nothing but absolute necessity, then, could justify such a system of 
 trade; and, indeed, its friends disclaim the ordinary character of trade,, 
 and plead necessity. It is stated with considerable force, in. many parts 
 of the book already alluded to*, that the Company gain nothing by 
 their India trade, and only, if at all, as connected with the China trade ; 
 though in neither would the undertaking, on mere mercantile princi- 
 ples, be considered as a profitable employment of capital. 
 
 If that view be correct, the Company, then, is considered, not as a 
 merchant, but as an instrument for bringing home a surplus tribute, 
 of which whatever is brought home is gain ; though were that tribute 
 a capital employed on mercantile principles, the trade would be a most 
 ruinous one. If there be no surplus tribute, all this argument goes for 
 nothing. When there shall be a surplus tribute in India, who will ven- 
 ture to predict, far more to assure us? The trade of India, therefore, 
 ought not to be calculated on such a baseless fabric. It is a good trade, 
 however, independent of the revenue, and it ought to be cultivated as a 
 trade. Government and trade will thus, as they always ought, be kept 
 distinct. 
 
 But, supposing there were a surplus revenue to be remitted, what is 
 to hinder its being remitted through the hands of individual mer-- 
 chants? What are the objections? 
 
 » See page 230, ct seq.
 
 109 
 
 The official author, so often quoted, says, " If the surplus tribute 
 had been entrusted to the credit of the private merchant, what security 
 could government have obtained, that the amount would be realized in 
 the treasury of Great Britain ; or what security could individuals have 
 given that they would bring the goods to England, pay the duties to go- 
 vernment, or that they would not have carried them to foreign markets, 
 to evade the payment of these duties ? Had the surplus of the revenue 
 been entrusted to such merchants, they would have had it in their 
 power to make their own terms, and might have reduced the value ta 
 the public, either by offering a depreciated rate of exchange, or by de- 
 manding an unreasonable length of credit *." 
 
 Such are the objections on this ground against a free and open trade. 
 I am glad to find them put so clearly, for they admit of the easiest 
 answer. 
 
 If the trade of India were free and open, presenting to the mer- 
 chants of Great Britain a vast field for the employment of their capital 
 and industry, would it be difficult to find men of credit, whose 
 bills upon their correspondents or houses in England it would be so 
 very unsafe to take? Is such the character and credit of British mer- 
 chants? Would there be any difficulty or danger on that head? It 
 will hardly be maintained that there would. 
 
 But the merchants (whom this official writer seems to consider ca- 
 pable of every fraud) might take the goods to other markets. Was 
 ever any thing so extravagant as this? What security is there that a 
 West Indiaman shall not carry her cargo to Hamburgh direct, instead of 
 coming to London ? Does our custom-house possess no means to prevent 
 such frauds, and to ascertain the delivery of the cargo at the destined 
 port, according to documents given at that where a vessel is loaded 2 
 
 ■» Page 24.1.
 
 110 
 
 Nor would there be any danger of government being cheated as to 
 the rate of exchange. On the supposition of an open trade, the mer- 
 chants would be numerous, and they would be competitors for the go- 
 vernment funds or surplus tribute in India, for which they gave bills. 
 It would be easy for government, therefore, to fix the rate of ex- 
 change on terms as advantageous as they ought to be. 
 
 Perhaps, however, my readers may think that objections, founded 
 upon the probabilily of a large surplus tribute to be remitted to 
 England, need not have been so anxiously refuted ! 
 
 2ndly, That there is an intimate connection between the Indian 
 trade and the China trade, no one denies, though there is no necessarrj 
 connection between them. The China trade is carried on either with 
 bullion wholly, or with certain kinds of woollens called camlets, and 
 various other British commodities; or with a cargo partly consisting 
 of cotton from Bombay or Calcutta. It is now understood that much 
 less bullion is required ; the Chinese finding it as advantageous to 
 take commodities, for which their country furnishes a demand. It 
 is considered adviseable to procure as considerable a vent of our 
 home manufactures as possible, and to carry out as little bullion. 
 
 If the trade were open, there appears no difficulty in a private mer- 
 chant performing the business, whether the operation be direct or 
 roundabout, just as well as the Company. It is stated by the 
 Company*, however, in order to deter individuals from engaging in 
 the trade, and to afford a popular argument in their own favour 
 that they (patriotic souls!) export woollens, and merely for the ad- 
 vantage of the Yorkshire and JVillshire manufacturers; and that it 
 js more lucrative to carry on the trade with bullion. 
 
 * See the Reports in 1792, and llie " Historical View, page 550.
 
 Ill 
 
 There is something very suspicious, if not deceitful, in this kind 
 of appeal to the woollen manufacturers. It is liable, however, to 
 different observations. 
 
 Granting that the Company lose on that part of their outward 
 cargo, it does not follow that individuals would lose. The Americans, 
 who deal very largely in the China trade, find it advantageous to 
 carry out camlets and other British maaufactures. 
 
 In the next place, granting that it is a national object to force the 
 exportation of British manufactures to China, individuals might be 
 obliged to do it in that manner to a certain extent, as well as the 
 Company ; and probably they would be indemnified on the rest of the 
 outward or on the home cargo for that loss. If the Company are not 
 so indemnified, the trade is a losing one. 
 
 If they are indemnified by putting a higher price on the home carga^ 
 for the loss in exporting British manufactures, to what conclusion do 
 we arrive at last, but that in order to sell a particular article in China, 
 every man in England who drinks tea pays so much the higher price 
 for it ? That is, in plain words, the nation lays on itself a tax to the 
 amount of a supposed loss, in driving the sale of an article, and then 
 we think ourselves very wise in manufacturing or selling on such terms. 
 We repute the whole sale of the article so forced as clear gain !. 
 Such are the absurdities to which the mercantile system always leads I. 
 
 Merchants, however, ought always to be allowed to carry on their 
 trade in the cheapest way they can, and in doing so they will carry it 
 on most benificially for the country. And as to this particular case, we 
 may be assured that private merchants are always anxious to have a 
 profit on the whole of their cargo and the whole of a voyage, instead of 
 trusting to one part of the cargo or \ oyage only. They will, therefore, 
 be disposed to sell commodities if they can, which the Company
 
 112 
 
 fi/\. '■<•<..'■' ■■■ '"'-; ---,-,■' ■ ■ . , 
 
 .undoubtedly feels less interest to do. The Company's assertion is 
 either a vain glorious pretension to patriotism, for which there is no 
 ground, or a paltry appeal to vulgar prejudices. 
 
 It is further objected that, if individuals were to be allowed to go to 
 China, they would, by their ignorance of the customs of that country, 
 ,, land the mode of carrying on the trade, expose themselves to ruin, and 
 all those who speak their language to be driven out of it. 
 
 * ^here,' doubtless, may be a certain degree of caution and delicacy 
 necessary in the China trade, on account of the singular character of 
 that government, and a very few simple regulations would gain the end. 
 'Would there be any difficulty in keeping up a factory at Canton for the 
 trade, under the authority of government, as now under that of the 
 * Company, the persons composing it to be paid by a tax ad valorem on 
 those who engage in the trade? At present, as has alreiady been stated, the 
 Americans embark to a vast extent in the China trade. They have 
 no factory at Canton, but their business is chiefly transacted by the 
 English Company's agents. Has any inconvenience arisen from the 
 Americans going to China, as individuals wholly unconnected with 
 each other? Could not a British factory then transact the business 
 of British individuals, and the latter carry on that commerce upon 
 the footing of an open trade, as the Americans now do? By this means, 
 Englishmen would have their favourite beverage cheaper, government 
 could levy as high or higher duties, and large commercial profits would 
 be gained by the private merchants. aldjs.ofq ^'ofii3jtx3 al il 
 
 rfs^noa ,3iol3i9iiJ .wribovnmoa ^m, toI bn-Rmah 
 There is an objection urged by the Company aiid their advocates 
 on this head so curious, that it is impossible to j)ass it over unnoticed. 
 In fact, it is a summary of the whole argument in favour of the mono- 
 poly, whether of the India or of the China trade. 
 
 They repeat) whenever they have an opportunity, the old *' doleful 
 
 ha
 
 113 
 
 tule^ about the mischiefs of open competition in matters of commerce. 
 Terrified at the idea of a free trade, they assailed the Privy Council, or 
 Board of Trade, in 1792, with the following lamentable story, which ap- 
 pears to have had its weight with the right honourable and intelligent 
 persons who compose that body. 
 
 They tell us*, that " when the Company sent each ship under sepa- 
 rate management, European goods fell,, and those of China rose." In 
 proof of this they add, " The Americans now carry ginseng in such 
 quantities that the Chinese allege it has no virtue^ and refuse to give 
 any price for it." 
 
 This illustration is, indeed, worthy of the argument. These grave 
 doctors of the school of commerce are not a bit more scrupulous in ad- 
 ministering provocatives than the grave physician that Chaucer and 
 Pope celebrate-f: but it is to be suspected, that the argument of these 
 practitioners is not more infallible than their medicine. They surely 
 do not mean seriously to tell us, that because the effete sensuality of 
 their patients has discovered the vanity of provocatives, and found 
 that the quality of ginseng is not aided by its quantity, the eternal 
 laws of commerce are overthrown ? Surely it might have occurred to 
 these sage doctors, that ginseng may fail, and the principles of com- 
 merce hold true. Nay, on the basis of their own illustration, their 
 conclusion is false. 
 
 It is extremely probable that, when a trade is just begun, when the 
 demand for any commodity, therefore, somewhat exceeds the supply ; 
 when the channels of supply arc not sufliciently replenished by the at- 
 
 • See tilt RcporlSj and Historical View, page 5iS. 
 
 (- But first thought fit Ih' assistance to receive 
 Which grave phyjsicians scruple not to give, &c. &c, 
 
 January and Muj. 
 
 Q
 
 114 
 
 traction and the expectation of regular demand, a very small additional 
 demand will cause a considerable augmentation of price. 
 
 This, in the instance of the ships alluded to, was the effect, not of 
 competition, but the want of competition ; not of demand, but the 
 want of demand; as is proved by the different result which took 
 "place when the full effect of the Company's demand was anticipated, 
 and provision was made for it. The enormous demand for tea has not 
 raised the price at Canton, since the time when a single chest would 
 have supplied all Europe, in proportion to the vast consumption that 
 has arisen. Is not this, even allowing all the absurdities of the Chinese 
 system of managing foreign trade, a most decisive proof that demand, 
 whil^il ,j;vr<?cures,sg^gl§:,, lessens the price I 
 
 The Directors of the East India Company ought to know this. They 
 ought to know, too, that those improvements in the state of the China 
 trade, which they fondly ascribe to their wisdom and good management,, 
 ^re only the natural consequences of that tendency which exists in hu- 
 man affairs, and particularly in mercantile concerns, to come to a level 
 when wants are mutual, and when reciprocal exchanges are beneficial. 
 The worthy Directors in Leadenhall-street take vast credit for making 
 the Chinese buy four or five hundred thousand pounds worth of wool- 
 lens ; and we may believe that the Chinese mandarins claim no less 
 merit, for having, by their vast wisdom and boundless dexterity, made 
 the English nation consume, to the value of a million a year (prime 
 cost), of a paltry weed called tea ! Such is the nature of man ! He 
 ascribes every effect to his own foresight and exertion ! " It was pret- 
 tily devised of iEsop," says Lord Bacon*, "• the fly sat upon the axle-tree 
 of the chariot-wheel, and said, ' What a dust do I raise !' " So are there 
 some vain persons, that whatsoever goel/i alone ^ or movelh upon greater 
 
 • Work*,. voKi. page 518.
 
 115 
 
 meanSi if they hax)e evev so liUle hand in ii, they thifi^ ii'l^ ttiey tlial 
 carry itV' . 
 
 The China trade has always been the object of competition among all 
 the commercial powers of Europe, and the question is how shall we, as a 
 nation, be best able to maintain our interest in it against that compe- 
 tition. The Swedes had a large share in the China trade, but it was 
 destroyed by the commutation act. Since that time the Americans 
 have been extending their intercourse with China; nor has it everbe6n 
 found that they suffer any inconvenience from the want of a joint stock 
 company to " give them lights?'^ They can manage their own con- 
 cerns perfectly well without those establishments, which distinguish the 
 magnificent and aristocratic commerce of our Company. The trade of 
 China must be subject, like all other trades, to fluctuations, and it may 
 experience inconveniences from the jealousy of the Chinese govern- 
 ment ; but if it is lucrative to a Company, it must be lucrative to indi- 
 viduals, and the freedom of the trade would enable the people of this 
 country to consume at a reasonable price, instead of being wholly at the 
 Hiercy of a monopoly for their supply ; a monopoly which makes them 
 pay, in the price of a favourite article, for so much of the extravagance, 
 .^yvaste, and unskilful management of the joint stock company, 
 
 ''0\>i* ••^ ^iJ 
 
 ji^iiiS^alt' 4^ objected also, that individuals do not possess sufficient capital 
 *o carry on the trade of India (they include the China trade) with regu- 
 larity and success ; and that, if they failed, the country would lose the 
 trade, and government the duties. ^^^^ X^'ii&^^ x 
 
 ' How justly we can expect to retain the frade, if the present system is 
 continued, has already been considered. As to the capital requisite for 
 carrying on the trade, it would be just as reasonable to include the 
 surplus tribute as part of the capital, were the trade open, as i?^ it were 
 to remain in the hands of the Company. But it is not very creditable 
 to build a system on such an assumption. 
 
 Q 2
 
 116 
 
 'There '^k'ifet4'ho^e^ei^,''^irl^tlfis"dolkW>y^^ capital fully adequate td 
 ^arry on the trade of India upon the most extended scale. Indeed, it 
 was hardly to be expected that this objection would be urged at this 
 time of day. Such is the facility with which capital can be found for 
 any pronn'sing undertaking, that it should be our policy to afford every 
 facility for its employment. The very exuberance of capital is an argu- 
 ment for laying open the trade to India. Are we to be seriously told, 
 as we are so frequently in the official work alluded to, and in the Com- 
 pany's reports, that the merchants of Great Britain, who trade to every 
 part of tlie globe, who engage in every branch of commerce, are unable, 
 for want of capital or skill, to carry on this? 
 
 ^^Afferliaving eni£nc?|)^ted commerce in every other quarter, and in 
 every other direction, from the pupillage of government, and the 
 restraints of companies and monopolies ; must we submit in this alone to 
 th6se tutors and preceptors Avho, in ever;^ other have proved, not only 
 useless, but mischievous ? Are the merchants of Great Britain less rich^ 
 less discreet, less capable of procuring credit, or inspiring confidence, 
 than the Americans who now trade so largely and successfully both to 
 India and to China I If is impossible to hear such an objection \Jrged, 
 without feeling a sort of national reflection cast on us by the Companyy 
 who declare that our merchants would ruin themselves, that they cannot 
 carry on the trade of India, that the aid of " Iheir lights,''^ their expe- 
 rience, their talents, are necessary to preserve for the nation those 
 branches of trade, the monopoly of which they usurp. 
 
 -.(isuinieivog i)di HaufW ai aoii&nUt IJ! 
 
 nsThe capital of this country is now so large, the enterprise of its mer- 
 cTiants so great, their skill in every branch of commerce so extensive and 
 so complete, that it is universally acknowledged they far excel the indi- 
 viduals of every other countiy, in their capacities of successful com- 
 mercial adventure. All the former objections against an open trade, 
 that in the hands of individuals it would be unsteady and irregular and 
 liucertain, arc arguments that deserve no attention, for they are con-
 
 ur 
 
 trary to the experience furnished by every other branch of trade. ITie 
 
 same arguments might be applied to any branch of trade. They were 
 
 used in favour of (he Plymouth Company, and the London Merchant 
 
 Adventurers Company, in regard to the trade of the North American 
 
 colonies. They were employed in favour of the Royal African Company, 
 
 till it was ruined. They were used in favour of the South Sea Company, 
 
 which has not sent a ship to sea these fifty yearsit.naqo ^nivBi lo't insm 
 
 "i'-' .•< jiij ill yiJflsup^it o'i ^^ii 97/ ^fi 
 
 They would even prove too much. What reason is there to suppose 
 
 that a successful trade will not be prosecuted by individual speculation, 
 when we see capital and industry so promptly seeking new channels ? 
 If the trade is lucrative for a company it must be more lucrative for in- 
 dividuals. If it cannot be lucrative for individuals, it should not be fol- 
 lowed. If it is lucrative only in a certain medium, that medium will 
 soon be found. All branches of trade have so found their level. They 
 have discovered, without the least assistance and interference of gover^? 
 ment, the quantity of capital and industry they caji support ; and no 
 other criterion can be applied. aid^q^o aaal ,Jo9ioaiI> saal 
 
 ■in anBoiiSinA 9rit nfirii 
 What is to hinder the British merchant, like the American, Uf go to 
 
 India and lay in his investments which he will find provided by his cor- 
 respondent ? Nay, must he not trade with superior advantages in a 
 territory where the resident merchants and agents are his cauntryiuen 5, 
 
 i nobsn 9ff* -^ :B3S909n sib eSJnsIfit liarfj ,9011911 
 
 HI Vadt rfaidw "^o yloaonorn odi ^obsiilo 8f^d:>nmd 
 
 * It is impossible not to notice the disgracenil "Situation in which the government 
 of this country was lately placed, when the South Sea Company started up to com- 
 plain '•of an 'encioachmetit on their Charter. It Seeins''. that,: when Buenos Ayres was taken, 
 people forgot it was within the South Sea Company's limits, though I believe the South Sea 
 Whalers have licences from the South Sea House. The consequence was, that all insurances 
 on sliips for the Jtio Plata were legally void. "It mi^'t te contendfed, perhaps, that by non 
 user the South Sea Company's Charter was forfeited ; but if there can be a doubt on the case, 
 an TVct of j^a^rliament should be passed, declaring the South Sea Company's exclusive privilege 
 terminated. Those who have not traded for fifty years, forsooth, to assume the right to hinder 
 their fellow citizens ! To be obliged to take a licence from ihcm, is a shameful badge of ten- 
 vitude.
 
 118 
 
 where his credit is known, his conespoudences fixed, and every facility 
 of trade pre-arranged ? What is to prevent him from taking to Bom- 
 bay, Madras, and Bengal, his outward cargo ; there lay in his invest- 
 ment of cotton, or whatever else is requisite, in addition to his bullion, 
 his camlets, &c. to obtain a cargo of tea at Canton ? All the objections 
 against the fitness of individuals to carry on either the India or China 
 trade are visionary and unfounded. 
 
 vs^nfirfa arfj id baiofflo-Ki ad bli.tow iiSKuiati -i il*. 
 
 ;;As to the objections of mere detail, such as the difficulty of collecting 
 
 the duties, if the trade is spread over different ports, though they have 
 been gravely stated, they are too trifling to be anxiously refuted, and 
 they, have been in substance anticipated. It certainly has been the po- 
 licy of some countries, to force their colony trade to one port, for the 
 facility of collection of the duties, or for purposes less intelligible. Such 
 an arrangement is perfectly unjustifiable in anyyview* It is not extraor- 
 dinary that it was once adopted by Spain, the country of Europe which 
 ha^ been the most illiberal and unwise in its commercial policy* towards 
 its colonies, and which therefore has derived the least benefit Gc<mi 
 them. But even Spain has now departed from this absurd regulation. 
 In Holland, while the Company existed, the trade was divided betAveeii 
 the ports of Amsterdam, Middieburgh, Delft, Rotterdam, Enkhusen, anlt 
 Hoorn. Indeed there can no better reason be assigned for giving one 
 part of the country an exclusive privilege, than for giving one yet of mere 
 an exclusive privilege. The trade should be left to the skill and enter- 
 prise of those who choose to engage in it; and, with all deference to 
 London and its celebrated merchants, they ought not to claim so . unlkir 
 an advantage over those of Liverpool or Bristol, Cork or Gla.sgow«il asqo 
 
 nn ynEgmoO ^rfj lo esteoovb.. ;nJ fkis wti^i r^^^^^ "0<I" 
 
 As to the 'col recti on of duties, the objection is below ?iny gov€rnmert,t.T 
 
 The same argument might be used for bringing ail the trade to one o«3 
 
 two ports, as wasthec^se.formjBily. But surely the vast suqcess Qfi.aUir, 
 
 y *■ ' Mjoi;<i liii-'i'i -tilt' *. > 1^. •' 
 
 " Brougham, vol. i. 414..
 
 119 
 
 commerce, so widely difTused in extent, and so happily shared in its en- 
 joyment, ought to secure us against the influence of these narrow 
 views. 
 
 It frequently has been urged too, that all the persons the Company 
 employ, would be reduced to beggary, if the channel of trade were 
 changed. But surely, if there is the least truth in the foregoing 
 arguments, all kinds of industry would be promoted by the change; 
 more people would be employed, more duties paid, more wealth ac- 
 cumulated. It is pitiful argument ad miser icordiam^ therefore, to tell 
 us of ruining and beggaring the unfortunate dependents of the Com- 
 pany. The natfon will gain greatly; every source of industry, every 
 division of labour, will be invigorated; very few, if any, individuals 
 will suffer; and, in winding up the affairs of the Company, fair and 
 liberal indemnification would be granted to those who had any claim, 
 and, undoubtedly, every engagement of the Company, in provision for 
 past services, &c. would be strictly and punctually fulfilled. This 
 kind of appeal, however, (and it is seriously urged) might be made 
 in favour of those, who thrive by public abuses, who lose by every im- 
 provement in the collection of the revenue, who complain of the 
 abridgment of labour, and the economy of retrenchment. If they 
 were to prevail, no improvement could be introduced, because tliere 
 are some men interested in the abuses, or in the imperfections^ whicli 
 are established. i^iiynq svigniozs. n^ 
 
 II. The political objections which hav^ been ilrged against laying 
 open the trade, demand a diligetit and careful examination. It is 
 upon these, after all, that the advocates of the Company are com- 
 pelled to rest. To defend the Company, as an establishment useful 
 to commerce, is a desperate task. It has been attempted, indeed, 
 whenever the question has been argued on commercial grounds. But 
 at last the friends of the monopoly have taken refuge in a political 
 fitness or necessity.
 
 120 
 
 In the preceding part of this inquiry, it seemed necessary to consider 
 the importance of the trade very much at length, for, in reality, com- 
 merce, and not direct revenue, has been the only thing hitherto 
 gained. Great Britain has realized no tribute; and if the commerce 
 of India has not been the advantage derived from our eastern terri- 
 tories, we have gained nothing, except the fortunes which political 
 and military adventurers may have brought home. Commerce, there- 
 fore, is a consideration of the utmost importance; for the territory has 
 hitherto only been accessary to the commerce ; and a commercial 
 system ought to be established upon a different basis than that of 
 territorial revenue. 
 
 Finding, however, that the present system of Indian commerce will 
 not bear a scrutiny on commercial principles, it is alleged, that trade 
 and government are so blended that they cannot be separated, and 
 that the defects of the commercial system must be endured for the sake 
 of the political objects. 
 
 It is often alleged that, upon the present footing, the Company's 
 commercial navy is of a kind which, though ruinously expensive for 
 trade, is capable of affording assistance, in case of emergency, to our 
 fleets in the eastern seas, and of being a bulwark to the territories *. 
 
 It would not be difficult to show, however, that this scheme of 
 strengthening our defence in India is repugnant to every principle of 
 economy. It would be far cheaper to keep a constant naval force for 
 the defence of the vulnerable points, than to make the commercial navy 
 serve for both. Whenever it happens that the Company's ships are 
 diverted from their commercial purposes, the loss upon cargoes and 
 commercial operations, thus suspended and rendered up.certain, is enor- 
 
 * It ha=; been proposed, plausibly enough, to render tlie Lascars useful in the naval defence 
 of our liulian territories. Tlicre can be no objection to teach tiicm our naval tactics, if we vcn-. 
 ture to teach liie Sepnys tlic liuropcan discipline.
 
 moiis. In this way commerce is gaid to be subsidiary, to pov^rj^-bul, 
 in realty, commerce is sacrificed, and {)olitical powc^ is cojis.uJted, by a 
 very expensive and very inefficient expedients .^-i ^ • » 
 
 Suppose, however, that if the trade were open, th^|^|K^pmployed |?v,'' 
 individuals were to be of inferior equipmentj, and no,^ so convertible iuto^ 
 men of war as the Company's large ships, would not the encouragemepl , 
 given to our commerce and navigation furnish a nursery of seamen t}\at, 
 would indemnify the government for keeping up a more regular and 
 powerful naval force for the defence of India? ^Would not the nunil)or 
 of sailors, who could be obtained upon an emergency either at home or ^ 
 abroad, be a resource that would afford government the mean^ of giving 
 the most eifectual protectios%^tO/^ur commerce and territories in t^c 
 East?i tJiiris ridiculous to argue that any ships meant for commerce 
 ought to be convertible into- men -of wai,> Merchant ships >hould be 
 adapted to their purpo.?e, and to afford the cheapest niode of carriao;e. 
 It is then that navigation flourishes, that seamen are formed, and thence 
 military navies derive their strength and support. 
 a'^riisqmoO Aff+ r^r.u^o't ♦^.^r---.~ -'- ' . - . 
 
 ToTft-Uwftld. merchant ships therefoi-e, on the speculation th:!i ihey niav- 
 bei.-wastteti as ships of war, is really to sacrifiq^ tJie ^neans by wliich a 511^ 
 litarf jiaryife created. It is to ruin commerce, without promoting the, 
 objects of war. Whenever navigation thrives (and it can only thrive 
 by carrying tfeaply), government will easily, be .able to afford convoys, 
 anditojdefend foreign settlement^. ,r J^very thing else is an incongruouis, 
 mixtnreiof .things.inconipatible.^ ot laqfiarfa isl 9d bIr;ow il .^raonoas 
 Y'/fin Icio'iomnroo odl oA.im o3 aEfii .etnroq sUJBisnlij^ srfjlo soaalob arfj 
 STTorvitfcr^se and improve the commerce of India^is, then, to add to 
 due navigation, and to create new means of defending every part of the 
 
 empire. Petty local considerations ought t^u^^'^iRrM^uil/^iJfy^^fiMl^l 
 extended views. 
 
 2. it has been urged also, that our ascendency "hi lii'dia,' whicli 
 
 R
 
 122 
 
 depends so much upon the opinion of the natives, would be en- 
 dangered by the influx of adventurers, who would find their way 
 to that country, and by the colonization which would ensue, were the 
 trade laid open. This was not only urged in 1792 by the Company, 
 but it has been repeated in the different reports on the private trade, 
 as an argument against granting individuals any increased facilities for 
 carrying on that trade, particularly in India built ships. 
 
 As to the danger of adventurers flockingto India, and endangering the 
 safety of our dominions there, either by embroiling us with the native 
 powers, or in any other way, it is well known that while there existed 
 upon the peninsula sovereign princes, who could boast of any thing 
 like independence, it was considered desirable that English military 
 adventurers should be preferred to those of any other nation, and 
 a considerable number of these has been at different times in the 
 service of Scindia and other powers. In the present circumstances, 
 however, the system is utterly to prohibit any such adventurers being 
 entertained by the native princes. 
 
 It does not appear then, that laying open the trade would in 
 any degree facilitate the introduction of such persons into India; for, 
 however introduced, they would not be suffered to engage in any 
 military service but our own. When they did so engage, it is admitted 
 by Lord Wellesley that they had been encouraged to do it*. 
 
 But if it were necessary to prevent such a supposed mischief, it 
 might be done by preventing our own traders taking passengers, a thing 
 that would be very easy. Were our own ships, and no others, to visit 
 the ports of India, it would be easy to prevent any persons going 
 there without a licence. While foreign nations have so large a 
 share of the trade it is impossible. At present, any man may get 
 
 * Papers respecting war with Mahrattasj As. An, Reg. for 1802.
 
 123 
 
 to India on board a Dane or an American: the only check then, 
 at present, exists in India. Laying open the trade would make no dif- 
 ference. 
 
 Whether the government in India were exercised through a Gover- 
 nor General, appointed by the Company or by the Crown, any 
 danger on this head might easily be prevented. Whatever useful and 
 necessary powers are vested in the Company's governor and servants, to 
 prevent such a danger, would surely remain vested in the King's govern- 
 ment and administration. t, 
 
 .-If, then, any adventurers were to go out, and attempt to embroil 
 us, either with the native powers, or with our own subjects, they would 
 instantly be amenableto a controul, which they surely would respect and 
 fear fully as much as that of the Company. Were our Indian domi- 
 nions placed under the power of the crown, and the controuling supre- 
 macy of parliament, agreeably to fixed principles applicable to the pecu- 
 liar state of India, a thousand anomalies would be avoided, which the pre- 
 sent incongruous system produces. Numberless inconvcnicncies, w hich 
 weakenlawful government, and require a distempered and unnatural vio- 
 lence, would cease. The relation in which the country would stand to the 
 native powers would be more clear and simple. If British adventurers 
 chose now to go to India, and engage in the service of Holkar or 
 Scindia, there is no law of England by which the governor of India 
 can recall them. Lord Wellesley indeed did recall them, but he, 
 as the Company's governor, had no right by law to do it; thougli the pro- 
 priety of the invitation to quit the service of those powers no one 
 can doubt. But it is most improper, and of very pernicious example, to 
 delegate this, or any thing which belongs to the regalia of the sovereign, 
 to a Company of merchants and their nominees; and such dangerous 
 absurdities can only be prevented by lodging the authority directly 
 in the crown and its responsible servants. If then any British 
 adventurers chose to cuter the service of native powers, thev might be 
 
 R 2
 
 124 
 
 recalled by the King's prerogative, which it does not appear that they 
 legally can be by any the highest of the Company's servants. 
 
 3. But a still greater apprehension of danger is expressed from coloni- 
 zation within the bounds of our own territories, should the trade be laid 
 open, or a greater facility of communication be allowed. 
 
 At present it is well known that the Company are bound, by the 
 ninety-sixth clause of the Act of 1793, to licence agents in India, and 
 if they do not the Board of India Commissioners may compel them. 
 It is supposed, however, that if the trade were laid open, an additional 
 number of resident merchants in India would be the consequence, which 
 it is supposed would lead to colonizalion. This point has been so ear- 
 nestly insisted upon by the Company, in their different Reports, that 
 T am compelled to examine it at some length. 
 
 By colonization, the Directors no doubt mean that British subjects will 
 be tempted to go to India as their permanent residence, and adopt it 
 as their country. But if this be their meaning, they seem to apply the 
 term colonization in a manner calculated to mislead. The relation 
 which subsists between Great Britain and India, bears no resemblance 
 whatever, and never can have any, to that of colonies and the mother 
 country, either in ancient or modern times. 
 
 The Greek colonies in Asia Minor, Italy, &c. appear to have been 
 migrations, rendered necessary by an overflowing population at home, or 
 sudden occasional sallies of adventurers in pursuit of fortune and con- 
 quest. The Roman colonies were settlements of confiscated lands, 
 formed by numerous bands of adventures to ease the excessive popula- 
 tion of the city ; or they were founded on the spoliation of the peace- 
 able proprietors, whose lands were assigned as the reward of the veteran 
 troops of the republic. They were intended, in the later times of the 
 empire, as a barrier to the state, upon its exposed frontiers.
 
 125 
 
 The colonies of modern times are of a diflerent kind, and owe their 
 origin to di/Terent circumstances. They have been the fruits of com- 
 mercial enterprise, of domestic discontent, of religious fanaticism, or 
 that rage for distant adventure Avhich so eminently distinguished the 
 century that succeeded the discoveries of Columbus. The colonies of 
 every European state on the continent of America, or in the West 
 Indies, were strictly planUtlions^ as they are properly termed in our old 
 English, nay, indeed, in the technical language of acts of parliament, 
 and in our official style. They were settlements in waste lands, or 
 in thinly inhabited districts. They v.erc formed, and they have 
 flourisbed, upon the basis of agriculture ; and the colonists became in- 
 separably attached to a new country, not merely by moral habitudes, 
 but by interests which could not be transferred, and establishments 
 which could not be abandoned. 
 
 But is there any similitude between these cases and the colonization 
 of India, of which we have heard so much ? What is the situation of In- 
 dia? Is it inhabited by tribes of fishers, of hunters, or of shepherds? 
 Is it possessed by savages, who are willing to cede the banks of their 
 rivers for a present of rum,, and to sell their forests for beads and tovs ? 
 Is there any room in India for those agricultural occupations in which 
 the emigrants to America were forced to engage ? If such an employ- 
 ment of industry rewards the undertaker with the plenty, the com- 
 fort, and independence of rural life, surely it presents little to tempt the 
 impatient avarice of transitory adventurers? Is the establishment of 
 manufactures in Hindustan a pursuit in which the emigrants from 
 Britain are likely to embark ? 
 
 The apprehension of great numbers of Englishmen fixing their abode 
 in India, so as to approach to the nature of a colony, is visionary and 
 chimerical. India is more likely to resemble the form of a Roman pro- 
 vince than a Roman or English colony.
 
 126 
 
 The class of men who quit Britain for India are very different indeed 
 from the settlers of New England or Virginia. They leave their coun- 
 try in general through " that nece.^sity of owing a better fortune to 
 their own exertions," which is the parent of so much useful enterprise. 
 They are not the lowest members of the community. They have ge- 
 nerally enjoyed the advantages of education, or at least they have lived in 
 that society in which they have tasted the sweets of opulence or elegance, 
 and to acquire the means of emulating that splendour they have wit- 
 nessed is their motive in submitting to temporary exile. The de- 
 sire of making a fortune, to be enjoyed in their own country, is most par- 
 ticularly the object of all our Indian adventurers, military, civil, and 
 commercial. Great indeed must be the change of circumstances, and of 
 opinion, before our youth, the enterprising cadets of respectable or 
 wealthy families, can be induced to forego the prospect of revisiting 
 their native land. Ill success may dissipate their projects of ambition 
 and their dreams of future greatness ; but the same ill success would 
 equally defeat their projects of permanent establishment in a new coun- 
 try. A solitary instance indeed may occur, of an adventurer attaining 
 importance which he is unwilling to exchange, or of a merchant who 
 outlives the memory of his early connections ; but from such instances 
 (if there be such) can any one deduce the inference, that Hindustan 
 would become the spot where the natives of Great Britain Avould fix 
 themselves to perpetuate a name, an influence, and an authority ? Not 
 only the political or commercial situation of India, but every moral 
 cause, combines to dispel the strange apprehension of colonization. 
 
 The state of agriculture, the advanced progress of manufactures, the 
 abounding population of India, leave little or nothing for planlalion in 
 any sense of the word; "but the religion of the natives, their moral cha- 
 racter, renders a mixture of the races, beyond what arises from licentious 
 indulgence, highly improbable. A community of sentiment and feeling 
 cannot be expected to unite people of such opposite prejudices, man-
 
 127 
 
 ncr?, and character, as the natives of Enghmd and of Hindustan. No 
 ol)ject of ambition or pleasure can present itself to the mind of an Eng- 
 lishman in India equal to those enjoyments he has left behind him, and to 
 which he longs to return. The dull state and insipid magnificence of Cal- 
 cutta can weigh little, in his estimate of happiness, against the active in- 
 dependence and the real importance of an English gentleman. Little pro- 
 bable is it that even the enervating influence of an Asiatic climate, the 
 blandishments of Eastern luxurj-, or the easy and inelegant sensuality 
 of Eastern manners, will attract to India, or retain in it, those men who 
 have been taught to value other enjoyments, who have a relish for 
 a higher society in the one sex, and more dignified intercourses with the 
 other, than can be found in the country where they take up a tempo- 
 rary residence. Notwithstanding all the faults, and even crimes, with 
 which Englishmen in India have been charged, their hearts have always 
 been fixed on home. They have never met with that celebrated herb, 
 whose taste made the companions of Ulysses forget their country*. 
 
 But from the class of which I am now speaking no colonization 
 ever can take place. Wherever colonies, whether Greek, Roman 
 or English, have been formed, the common people have been 
 necessarily by far the most numerous class of adventurers. The 
 emigrants to America from Great Britain were of a class the most dif- 
 ferent which can be imagined from those who subject themselves to a 
 temporary absence in India in pursuit of fortune. The ends, the occu- 
 pation, the character, the nature of the pursuit, are totally dissimilar. 
 Of the class which Lord Bacon enumerates as proper to found a planta- 
 tion, there is hardly one that is in the least degree requisite in India, 
 
 * Tm } o<7Ti! >,UTo7o tpayoi fifAujJsa xa«ro» 
 
 Od. ix. V. OJ. 
 Ulysses was obliged to have recourse to violent measures to prevent these gentlemen from 
 colonization among the Lotophagi. He drove them to their ships much against their will, 
 " xAaic/ra;, avayxij." The Governor General of India claims and exercises the same power to 
 send back to Europe the British Lotophagi who wish to settle in that country.
 
 128 
 
 or who is by any accident carried thither. The English who go to the 
 East Indies, carry with them few of the inferior ranks but domestic 
 servants, and comparatively few of these. Sailors are not a race of men 
 likely to establish themselves on the coasts of the peninsula. How then 
 is the colonization to take place ? The very idea is repugnant to all 
 experience, and to the fixed order in which the human species is dif- 
 fused. The European population in India must be transient and fluc- 
 tuating. It cannot nmltiply by the ordinary process by which increase 
 is produced. The habits of the individuals, the circumstances of their 
 situation, the restraints and obstacles which their ambitious and money- 
 making views impose upon them, must ever render the increase of Eu- 
 ropean population in India very slow. The same restraints on marriage 
 exist there as in old coimlries^ and in the most refuied communities. 
 The facilities to population which new countries present are not to be 
 found in India. The British population, therefore, must be kept up by 
 new adventurers from home, in a degree, perhaps, beyond what could 
 be wished, for the solidity and permanent defence, .of our Eastern 
 empire. . „ 
 
 As a proof of the extravagant opinions broached upon this subject,' il 
 is sufficient to refer to the three Reports on the private trade, perform- 
 ances that afford the most decisive evidence of the narrow views of the 
 Directors, and their unfitness to govern an empire. There is to be 
 found however, in a speech delivered in the House of Commons last 
 .Tuly by a Director, so whimsical a statement of the perils of colonizafion 
 that"! cannot help quoting it. Speaking of the danger likely to arise 
 from encouraging the private trade^ this enlightened gentleman observes 
 as follows: 
 
 *' The svslcm would substitute in the Indian trade shins built in 
 India for ships built in England ; teak ships for oak ; the Lascar, or 
 Indian sailor, for the British tar; and the Ganges for the Thames. 
 Tlie home of his (the Indian agent's) trade, is India; and it would soon
 
 129 
 
 make India the house of thousands of artificers, agents, and adventurers 
 of all descriptions. At every outpost and subordinate factory, there 
 would be an European public, and in the space of sixty or seventy years 
 the number of Europeans in India would exceed the number of British 
 Americans in North America^ xshen that country declared its inde~ 
 Itendence,'''' 
 
 This is a specimen of what may be called John Bull logic, whicli 
 rivals any thing ever produced of the same kind. The worthy Di- 
 rector (Mr. Hudleston) seems very little acquainted indeed with 
 the principles and the progress of population.. It is well known, that in 
 the places he has mentioned, the population is kept up and increased 
 by emigrants from other quarters, and not so much from their inde- 
 pendent resources. It is in the agricultural districts of new countries 
 where population rapidly increases. Dr. Franklin, a very profund and 
 cautious observer, estimates, in his Thoughts on Population, afterwards 
 incorporated in the Quebec pamphlet, that not above 80,000 persons, 
 up to that time (1751), had emigrated to the American states from 
 Great Britain. Allowing that the statement errs on the side of dimi- 
 nution, still it is an approximation to the truth. The population of the 
 American provinces grew out of their own resources, stimulated by the 
 demand for hands occasioned by their agricultural advantages. Every 
 thing in that new country contributed to the utmost vigour and de- 
 vclopement of the principle of population. 
 
 But in Hindustan every thing is hostile to it, at least to Europeans. All 
 the facilities to British settlers in India, which the nature of things 
 could afford, probably would not produce 70,000 in the seventy 
 years, which are to give us three millions. The line of employment, 
 tiie low rate of wages, must discourage labourers from Europe, even 
 could they find their way and pay their passage. Besides, artificers are 
 not a class on whom population most depends : the number of agen/s, 
 brokers, clerks, &c. must be limited by the employment for them, and
 
 130 
 
 never can multiply to a very great extent. Indeed, such persons would 
 go to Calcutta, as an Englishman goes to Bourdeaux, Leghorn, or Cadiz, 
 with a view of returning as soon as he could; and in such a population, 
 transient or fixed, A^hat could there be dangerous? 
 
 The dread of colonization, therefore, is wholly chimerical, supposing 
 it were a thing to be dreaded. There is no room in India for that 
 species of adventure to which the colonies of North America owed their 
 origin. Hindustan presents even less temptation to a })ermanent re- 
 sidence than the West Indies, because the capital in the former is never 
 likely to be of so fixed and so immoveable a kind as that of the West 
 India planter. In any circumstances therefore, even of the most un- 
 bounded freedom of intercourse, there can be no danger that Englishmen 
 will ever become the willing permanent inhabitants of our Indian posses- 
 sions. The spirit of speculation in trade, as well as the hopes of military 
 or civil preferment, will always draw a certain number. But the military 
 and civil adventurers must, under every system of administration, be 
 subject to the inspection and controul of the government; and there 
 seems little danger indeed that, whether they seek other services or our 
 own, they ever can amount to that number, or maintain that connec- 
 tion, which could inspire dread or cause danger to the feeblest govern- 
 ment. The extent of mercantile adventure must be limited by its 
 object and its means. If the business should be over-stocked, the rage 
 for emigration will soon cease; and men, who are led by necessity to 
 seek new scenes for the exertion of their industry and talents, are much 
 more likely to prefer other countries to the rich, but full peopled, terri- 
 tories of the East. At any rate, the numerous class, those in whom, 
 if I may so speak, the great force of the principle of population resides, 
 never can direct their views towards India. The expence of the voyage, 
 as well as the little demand for their industry and talents, must discourage 
 them from looking to India, as the place where their fortune can be 
 pushed. If the spirit of emigration exist among that class, America is 
 likely, at least for a long time, to be the favourite resorts
 
 131 
 
 Having said so much to show the improbability of the British popu- 
 lation in India ever becoming very numerous, it v»ill not be necesj.ary to 
 say a great deal of the dangers which are anticipated from colonization. 
 These seem to T)e of a very opposite and contradictory nature. Either 
 the European population is to become dangerous to the state, by pro- 
 ducing a separation ; or our ascendency, which rests upon the opinion 
 of the natives, will be brought into question by the vices and degrada- 
 tion of our countrymen. 
 
 It is hardly possible that both these events should be realized, 
 and it would be extraordinary if either were to happen. The one 
 seems to be the phantom of a sickly imagination, and presents something 
 in its aspect alarming, did we not know that it is but a phantom. The 
 other might be supposed to be the argument of a schoolboy, illustrating 
 in his theme the effects of climate or of moral causes on the human 
 character. 
 
 By those who have studied the history of the world and the prin- 
 ciples of human nature, it would not, perhaps, be considered too 
 dogmatic an assertion, that no revolution can ever take place in 
 British India, at all resembling, either in its causes or its prin- 
 ciples, the separation of the American provinces from Great Bri- 
 tain. The elements of the two societies are in every respect different. 
 The separation of the American states from this country sprang from a 
 strong and characteristic similarity of temper and feeling between the 
 child and the parent. In both, an invincible hatred to every species of 
 arbitrary power, a love of independence, a detestation of foreign subjec- 
 tion or dependence, have been conspicuous. Admirable features these ! 
 But the native spirit of the offspring tended to the family schism which 
 ensued. An authority to tax the colonies was naturally claimed, and as 
 naturally resisted. Theforasfamilialed^ emancipated progeny, disputed 
 the patria potestas. The distance of the colonies, and their local inte- 
 rests, made it impossible to govern them as England was gOAcrned. They 
 
 s 2
 
 132 
 
 required a separate code ; and that was the fiscal code, which, of all spe- 
 cies of legislation, touches men most sensibly, and excites the greatest ir- 
 ritation. When that code began to be applied (and it threatened a 
 principle moi'e formidable than the actual application) the irource of sepa- 
 ration became visible and tangible. The spirit of liberty was deeply laid 
 in all the American provinces, and strongly animated their republican 
 forms. The people felt their own strength. They availed themselves 
 of a series of colonial measures, devised without policy and prosecuted 
 without vigour. The separation ensued, but it was an event which 
 judicious and profound observers had long predicted ; and though it 
 might have been postponed, yet it may well be doubted whether it 
 would have been possible long to maintain the ascendency of Great 
 Britain over a country of vast extent, covered by an immense popula- 
 tion of men, educated in the principles of liberty, under republican 
 forms of government ; men too, whose commercial interests were daily 
 growing into rivalship, if not with the true interest, yet with the invete- 
 rate commercial prejudices of the metropolitan state. 
 
 But the circumstances which rendered America difficult to govern 
 do not exist in Hindustan. The circumstances which prepared the 
 separation of America are totally inapplicable to the situation of British 
 India. In the latter there is no spirit of republican freedom, impa- 
 tient of controul or of dependence. The natives are passive so long as 
 their prejudices of mere opinion are not violated. Mere oppression and 
 mal-administration they will endure. The sovereign princes may be 
 impatient of our controul, but that touches upon a question of external 
 rather than internal policy. It is not among the people governed then, 
 according to this view, that we have to apprehend a rebellioii, but 
 rather among the agents of government that we have to fear a 
 mutiny. 
 
 But is tliis really a (error that can fall upon the mind of a firm and 
 rational man : Perhaps it may be said, that the army itself, the great
 
 133 
 
 instrument of government, may mutiny. That dissatisfaction, to an 
 alarming extent, has prevailed among the Company's officers is un- 
 questionable, aiul the very existence of such a mischief reflects full as 
 much discredit on the sovereign of that army, the Company^ as 
 upon the persons concerned. In that body, as composing a branch of 
 the British army at large, no such sentiment ever coxild have existed ; 
 for either the cause would not have been furnished, or the prevalence 
 of a common feeling with the army at large, of which they formed a 
 part, or reverence for the authority of a sovereign whom they could not 
 despise, and tlie sense of danger in the attempt, must have rendered 
 such an occurrence impossible. Perhaps, however, the danger from the 
 instance alluded to was much less than was apprehended. Certain it 
 is, that if the officers, whose notorious correspondences were, as to the 
 form at least, so inconsistent Avith military discipline and subordination, 
 had proceeded to extremities, they must have perished themselves in 
 the ruin they would have occasioned. ,qt4i^l£'^n oJni ?,awoig 
 
 But this incident, though it tends little to exalt our Ideas of the 
 respect in which the Company is held as a sovereign, or even of their 
 liberality to their servants, cannot in any degree support the argument, 
 that danger is to be apprehended from colonization. The arrange- 
 ments it produced have given the Indian officers additional motives to 
 fix their views upon home. They never showed any tendency to fix 
 themselves in India, nor is such a sentiment ever likely to influence 
 them. Grievances, real or supposed, may lead them to complain or 
 cabal, but their manners, their habits, are all averse from perma- 
 nent settlement in India. Nothing can be more unlikely than that 
 they should be seized with such rebellious views as to attempt an inde- 
 pendent empire in Hindustan, nor could their views, if so desperate, be 
 carried into execution, v.'hile the King's troops form so large a part of 
 the effective force in our Eastern don»inions. 
 
 But if such scandalous views could ever rje imputed by the Com-
 
 134 
 
 pany themselves to the able and meritorious officers of their own 
 army, what probability is there of such an influx of Europeans, or such 
 an increase by population, as to produce either an inclination or 
 an ability to dissolve the connection between England and India ? To 
 the British subjects, unless indeed under the controul of the mono- 
 poly government, what ground of dissatisfaction could ever be given? 
 If the trade with their native country was free, would the merchants 
 complain? It is now that this class are discontented, and with justice. 
 Would the army be discontented? Would the civil servants of the govern- 
 ment be discontented? What elements of discontent or separation 
 could exist? Would the English population increasing, and as natives 
 of that clim.ate degenerating, become hostile to the mother country, 
 and ambitious of the frantic importance of establishing an English 
 empire over Hindustan, independent of Great Britain, under all 
 the dangers both of resistance from the natives and of attack from 
 other European powers? A speculation so purely theoretical, so con- 
 trary to any example or tendency of human affairs, never was broached. 
 Countries have been conquered and subjected; India has been overrun 
 by the Mahometans, who, after a successful invasion, established them- 
 selves in the conquered territories, like the swarms from the Northern 
 hive in different parts of Europe; conquerors have at various tini^s 
 melted into the mass of the people they have subdued ; but the annals 
 of the world present no example of a state of civil government, like that 
 of British India, which by slow advances and gradual usurpation 
 became rebellious as a state towards the parent protecting power, and 
 yet remained perfectly distinct from the people over whom it set 
 up an independent sovereignty. No moral or political causes are 
 likely to produce such a disposition; no increase in the amount of 
 Jinglish population is likely to afford either the temptation or 
 •the means to such extravagant pretensions ; and reduced, iiulced, 
 must be the power of Britain, if she could not soon punish the pride 
 and presumption of a few rebellious citizens that should attempt so 
 desperate a design.
 
 135 
 
 A very few words will suffice, with regard to the degradation of the 
 British inhabitants in India, through their increase and their perma- 
 nent establishment, and the consequent overthrow of that opinion on 
 which our power is founded. It has been shown that, though the trade 
 were thrown open, and the most unbounded licence of emigration 
 were allowed, the emigration of the numerous class never could tend 
 to India. It has been shown, that the civil, the military, the com- 
 mercial adventurers, would continue to have the same disposition, as 
 now, to return home. It is possible indeed that, with the increased 
 facility of commercial speculation, a greater number of individuals 
 would find employment in India, but from the very nature of that 
 employment they would not fix themselves there. The supposition, 
 that idle useless adventurers would go to India, is contrary to all ex- 
 perience. The nature of that country is too wxU known, to make it 
 probable that any great influx of mere adventurers would take place. 
 In proportion as the means of fair commercial enterprise were af- 
 forded, Mould the respectable part of the English population be more 
 numerous. Mixuig among the natives in the pursuit of their com- 
 mercial objects, what danger could there be that they would expose 
 their inferiority, or dissolve that charm of mysterious awe on which 
 our empire rests ? 
 
 '. il. i.i'Ji i J ill 
 
 Perhaps it might be desired that the English population in India 
 were more numerous than it is. Certainly the chain of authority in 
 that country is slender enough. Never was so immense an empire 
 maintained by so small a number of those, by whose agency, and for 
 whose interest, near fifty millions of men are governed. If then the 
 British population, particularly in certain commanding situations, could 
 be increased, it would tend to secure our power against the danger of 
 sudden combinations and unexpected rebellion. In the present cir- 
 cumstances, however, it really appears more difficult to procure than 
 to prevent a considerable and efficient English population being esta*
 
 136 
 
 blished. Nor, if sufficient pronsion and encouragement could be 
 wivcn in India for British settlers, would there be any danger (as some 
 apprehend) that it would weaken the mother country by the drain 
 of its population. A proper vent for population, that is, facility of 
 obtaining provision and establishment for children, is the greatest 
 promoter both of a numerous and of a comfortable population, because 
 one of the greatest restraints to marriage which exists in cultivated 
 society is thereby removed. 
 
 I am almopt ashamed of ha>ing wasted so much time upon a point 
 apparently so clear; and the only apology I can offer is, the inveteracy 
 of the prejudices with regard to it which must be encountered. In 
 all the Reports of the Court of Directors, the subject of colonization 
 is treated as the strongest objection, not only to the laying open the 
 connection with India generally, but to the indulgence of allowing 
 the private trade to be carried on in India built ships. If this be 
 indeed the greatest objection, there can be no doubt of the verdict 
 of every impartial man. Never, indeed, was so weak an argument 
 employed on so grave and important a subject. ,, , 
 
 HI. I come now to consider the question of government, and how the 
 laying open the trade would affect tlic system by which our Indian ter- 
 ritories arc now administered. It must be agreed by c\ cry one that a 
 government for British India must be suited to the character, manners, 
 and prejudices of the natives. That is, whatever shape the political 
 presiding power may assume, no alteration oiiglit to be made in the 
 municipal institutions, no violence olfcred to the peculiar customs, no 
 change attempted in the religious opinions or establishments of Hin- 
 dustan. It was thus that the Romans left to the peofilc tlicy conquered 
 the undisturbed enjoyment of their laws and their religion. The 
 executive power was changed, tlie political relations of the state ^^s 
 a bodv were altered, but in the institutions, which distinguish diilerent
 
 157 
 
 nations, no forcible innovation was attempted. The exterior aspect, 
 not the interior constitution, was changed. If in the progress of time 
 the conquered people came more and more to resemble their con- 
 querors, it was the result of imitation, not of force. 
 
 It is thus that in India the British government ought to be modelled. 
 It should leave every thing in the peculiar structure and frame of 
 society as it is. The political character and direction of the state, as a 
 body, or confederation of separate bodies, are to be changed, but nothing 
 more. The Hindu, in private life, in his relationswith his neighbours, in 
 the management of his property, in the exercise of religion, should feel 
 no difference but that which results from a more paternal government 
 and a more enlightened administration. 
 
 Indeed, in the settlement of the present system these objects have 
 feeen carefully considered. The judiciary and financial departments have 
 been modelled upon the peculiar customs of the inhabitants. To 
 introduce the laws of this country, or the forms of our free government, 
 is impossible. The only part of the British constitution, from which 
 the people of Hindustan can derive benefit, is the spirit of it, which 
 considers the good of the subject as the end of government; and that 
 responsibility of all authority, which is the security against abuse. 
 
 These general principles are so universally admitted, that they re- 
 tjuire no argument to support them. It never, however, can be wholly 
 superfluous to impress the necessity of adhering to them as essential 
 maxims in the government of India, and to keep in mind that a de- 
 parture from them, in any instance, ought to be considered as an of- 
 fence against the state, of the most dangerous nature. 
 
 But keeping these objects in view, and enforcing them as far as possi- 
 ble by positive law and precise instructions, there appears no reason to 
 conclude that India would, in any respect, be worse governed if the 
 
 T
 
 138 
 
 Company, as an instrument employed by England for that service, were 
 abolished. It does not appear that any violent change would take 
 place in the government of India, though the Company, or the Direc- 
 tors, as the board at home for directing that government, were to be 
 deprived of all political authority. 
 
 The East India Company, viewed in all its relations and all its parts, 
 is certainly one of the most extraordinary institutions that ever existed in 
 any age or nation. We have frequently seen companies possessed of con- 
 siderable weight and property, but destitute of any direct political autho- 
 rity, far less any sovereign power. The Collegia and Corpora of the 
 Roman law are known to our own. They are the models on which mo- 
 dern corporate bodies have been formed. A monopoly of different 
 branches of trade has been often granted by the ignorance or the venality 
 of governments ; but like the East India Company nothing was ever 
 seen in human contrivance or politic institution. They have obtained 
 from the King and Parliament of England, not only the monopoly of 
 an immense commerce, but imperial and sovereign powers of the most 
 unbounded extent. Crowns have been bought and sold ; but what can 
 be compared with the majestic enterprise of a British Company farming 
 out on leasehold the functions of empire over a territory as large as all 
 Europe, and purchasing a right to dispose of the lives and happiness, 
 the property and industry, of fifty millions of men ? A right of go- 
 vernment, thus purchased, thus held by a company of merchants in the 
 city of London, far surpasses the wildest vagaries of political specu- 
 lation. 
 
 Nothing surely, in the history of mankind, was ever more extraordinary 
 than the relation in which an empire, at the distance of so many thousand 
 miles from our shores, stands to the superior government, which hires it 
 out for money like a tax or a toll. We are astonished at a band of ad- 
 venturers daring to farm out from their sovereign the right of cxerci ing 
 the functions of government over fifty millions of tiicir fellow creatures.
 
 139 
 
 as a mere speculation of commerce ; managing, and working, and task- 
 ing their wretched subjects through all the chain of their graduated ser- 
 vitude, in order to obtain the funds for paying an annuity or dividend 
 to five or six thousand English gentlemen and ladies ! To form an as- 
 sociation for such purposes, and divide the gains, as if it were the pro- 
 ceeds of a coal-mine, or a fishery, or a canal, is truly a singular pheno- 
 menon. It is either imperial commerce indeed, or it is a perversion of 
 the purposes; a systematic, regulated abuse of the sacred trust and duty 
 of government, beyond the guilt of the most capricious tyranny. 
 
 The folly and iniquity of this locatio-conductio of empire must strike 
 the mind of every man who possesses either feeling or under- 
 standing. It undoubtedly is something for doing which, if there be a 
 legal competence, it implies a moral wrong so to exercise it. The 
 government of our fellow creatures is a trust sacred beyond the 
 most solemn conventions of man. It cannot devolve upon us, or be 
 acquired, without bringing with it a relative obligation and an 
 awful responsibility. We have no right to make a compromise with it, 
 or to neglect the duties attached to the rank of sovereign, either for 
 interest, ambition, or indolence. 
 
 If it be true, as many have asserted, that there is no blacker page in the 
 history of England than that of India, our national guilt, perhaps, arise? 
 as much from permission as participation. But that is no apology. He 
 who intrusts another with the power to do evil, far more he who sells 
 that privilege, incurs a heavy load of blame, and ought to be answerable 
 for the abuse of the trust he delegates. 
 
 Attempts have been made at different times to remedy the evils which 
 India has suffered, from being sold as a job to a company of sjjecu- 
 lators. Almost from the first acquisition of the territories, the 
 attention of Parliament has been directed to this object; and, after 
 infinite contention, the Regulating Acts of 1784 and 1786, new-cast and 
 
 T 2
 
 140 
 
 amended in the Act of 1793, have made some advances towards a cor-- 
 rectioii of the system. But the mischief is, that the evil is deeply 
 inherent in the nature of the thing. The legislative remedy is practi- 
 cally inefficient. We may acquit the British government of a wish to 
 encourage the misconduct incident to the administration of India. Be 
 it so, But is there any thing in the arrangement, as it now exists, that 
 fulfils either the obligation of duty or the object of humanity ? 
 
 The system of government for India ought to have two leading objects 
 in view ; the protection and happiness of the people governed, and 
 the prosperity and power of the paramount government at home. The- 
 system, therefore, should be so framed as to secure both the subjects 
 and the allies of this country in India from the arbitrary exercise of the 
 authority with which the British resident government is invested. It 
 should be so constituted as to secure the direct dependence and the 
 perfect responsibility of India rulers in relation to the supreme controul 
 of the British governments 
 
 Perhaps never was a system more incongruous than the present. We 
 have a delegated trust without an adequate security against the abuse. 
 We have established in the East India Company a direct authority to 
 administer, and we have established in a go\ernnient board a direct 
 power to controul. We have set up jarring authorities which are irre* 
 concilcable but through the usurpation of ministeral power, or the cor- 
 ruption of ministerial influence. We enable the Court of Directors to 
 appoint the chief governors of India, and the government retains the 
 power to recall, or, in clfect, to annul the appointment. The Directors 
 propose measures, and the Government has the power to alter 
 and to amend. We, therefore, subject the governors of India to two 
 masters ; serving only one, perhaps obeying neither. We make the 
 Company the nominal sovereign. We give them authority to in- 
 struct and command their servants, but their servants are aware that 
 they have other masters to please, or to obey. By this complicated
 
 141 
 
 system, either the Company is nothing, or the Government is nothing, 
 and often both. The persons in authority, at the distance of so many 
 thousand miles, are thus under no controul. 
 
 They cannot respect the Court of Directors as masters. How can 
 it be? Can noblemen of high rank, politicians and statesmen, receive, 
 without a feeling of repugnance, commands from men in rank much 
 below them, whose abilities they do not esteem, whose power to censure 
 or punish they cannot dread? What is the consequence? An arbitrary 
 system in India naturally ensues ; neither that of the Company which 
 claims the right, nor of the governor who exerts the power, nor 
 of the government that possesses the controul. 
 
 The result is, that there is no system whatever dependent either on the 
 constituent or on the lord paramount, or on the established su- 
 perintending controul, to be found in the history, even the most recent, 
 of our Indian empire. We find wars begun and ended without the 
 least knowledge, concurrence, approbation, or censure of Parliament. 
 This is a monstrous anomaly in our constitution, and may lead 
 to the destruction of its very principles. It may not always be pos- 
 sible to consult Parliament in the Avars of India ; but it is a most 
 serious consideration that British subjects have, for now these fifty 
 years, undertaken and prosecuted wars without the leave of that 
 controuling body, to which our hereditary sovereign and his most pow- 
 erful and most popular ministers are subject. We do not know the Jtcici 
 of the war J we do not know the cause; we do not know the consequence; 
 we do not know what British blood, what British wealth or honour, 
 are engaged in the quarrel, till it is too late to recede or to remedy. 
 
 The late extraordinary transactions in the Carnatic, in Oude, and in 
 other places, have never been investigated. Perhaps the conduct of 
 the British government of India was perfectly justifiable in these 
 instances; but the government at home has never fully, or even formally,.
 
 142 
 
 examined and passed judgment upon acts apparently very question- 
 able both as to justice and policy. The policy or necessity of the wars with 
 the Mahratta states have never yet been submitted to the decision 
 of parliament. The conduct of the administration of India may have 
 beenright;butwhat I complain of is, that it has been a conduct of mere 
 discretion, subject to no efficient controul or real responsibility. It 
 may have been highly unjustifiable, but whether right or wrong is 
 matter of mere opinion, and no way settled by the judgment of that 
 authority to whose decisions the people of this country are accustomed to 
 submit. 
 
 As matters now stand, transactions, national as to their extent 
 and as to their consequences, wars in which the King's troops have 
 been cut off by thousands, and the reputation of the British government 
 has been loudly traduced throughout Europe, and compared to 
 the licentious despotism of Buonaparte, have as yet received neither 
 censure nor confirmation. Whether this be a system w'hich can last, or 
 ought to last, may be submitted to the plain sense and unsophisticated 
 judgment of the people of England. 
 
 But it may be said, that the necessity of such political revolutions, 
 and of such revolutionary wars, that to act without or against orders 
 are circumstances incident to the distance of our Indian dominion, and 
 to its situation. This may be questioned. It results from conflicting 
 authority, or from none. Were the governors of India directly com- 
 missioned by the government, and responsible to it, they would be 
 compelled to act right at their peril. At present, they act under no 
 superior; they get orders from the Directors which tliey despise; they 
 know that, between the Board of Controul and the Directors, all unity 
 of power is destroyed. They are not the servants of the King, whom 
 they would not dare to disobey, but of the Company, whom tliey are 
 ashamed to obcv. In the mean time, between the India House and 
 the Board of Controul, it is impossible to decide whether a man acts by
 
 143 
 
 the direction of one or the other, or according to the views of the 
 one or the other. The whole system, therefore, is of a complexity 
 which banishes unity of principle and consistency of object. No 
 one knows what is obeyed or disobeyed, where opposite and different 
 masters exist. Obedience is not enforced, when the one master is 
 afraid of giving to the rival master a right of interference, should he 
 insist on his particular mandate. No controul therefore exists, when 
 the executive authority is thus stripped of its power to direct. No re- 
 sponsibility exists for disobedience, when there is no regular command. 
 There is no remedy for abu:e of trust, where the administrative su- 
 periors are afraid of giving each other an advantage by preferring 
 accusations, and when they are content to murmur but have not 
 courage to correct*. The consequence is, that, without imputing blame 
 to individuals, the system itself leads to disorder, and at last we see 
 charges of malversation made, which only excite contention, without pro- 
 mising amendment; and justice is pursued through channels so im- 
 practicable, that thinking men must prefer the impunity of guilt ta 
 retribution so obtained. 
 
 Indeed, the attempt to correct the evils of a bad system by criminal 
 severity, instead of preventing abuse by a wise regulation, ought to be 
 resisted in every state. It is the worst species of tyranny, and it is of 
 a kind that more than any other tends to injustice ; because they who 
 must be conscious that, by their neglect of preventi\ e means, they are 
 accomplices in the mischief that springs from the facility of trans- 
 gression, are too apt to think that they exculpate themselves by 
 severity of punishment, however irregular, inflicted on those who are 
 accused of malversation. 
 
 If such are the pernicious consequences of the present system of 
 
 * It is very disgusting to see Directors, in the House of Commons, conniving at char<Tes,. 
 Vfithout the courage to state boldly their complaints or accusalions.
 
 144 
 
 governing India, can there be danger in any change ? Can any change 
 be for the worse ? The only good part in the present system is, that 
 there is an approximation towards putting India under the protection 
 of the British government, and the direct responsibility of its adminis- 
 tration and its parliament. But we are as yet far from the unity and 
 simplicity of the executive system. At present there is no sufficient 
 responsibility in law or in opinion for the government of India. It is 
 in every and in the worst sense arbitrary. I do not say that the Direc- 
 tors are not well-meaning respectable individuals, but that they should 
 be honoured as a supreme government is totally impossible. They are 
 not a potent republican assembly to which men must bend : they are 
 not a majestic wise aristocracy that inspires reverence : they are not a 
 monarchy invested with the prejudices and the authority of a long pre- 
 scription : they cannot be, as to personal qualification and talents, the 
 fit governors of an empire. By reverting then to the simple, direct 
 dependence of the government in India, or the government at home, 
 we destroy those pernicious anomalies that lead to the perversion of the 
 principles of the constitution. We attain that unity which is the perfec- 
 tion of executive power, and that responsibility which is the check of 
 delegated authority. We establish that direct controuling power of 
 parliament which is congenial to the spirit of the British constitution. 
 
 It would be easy to illustrate the necessity of a change by striking facts 
 and examples. But it is enough to have hinted at them. Sure it is 
 that every thing would be better conducted in India, for the advantage 
 of those whom Providence has made it our duty to cherish and protect, 
 than under the present anarchical and contradictory code. These things, 
 however, may become the sul)jcct of a separate discussion, should the peo- 
 ple of this country begin to perceive how their interests and their duties 
 concur in the establishment of the just and wise administration of India. 
 
 The machinery for the government of India which the Company em- 
 ploys, and which, it is not denied, is in many respects well contrived
 
 145 
 
 and well worked, may, with very little difficulty, be transferred to the 
 government. The inconvenience arising from the transfer would be 
 very inconsiderable, and there would be no derangement or convulsion 
 at all. The civil system of the Company would easily fall under the 
 regular authority of a Governor General, appointed by the Crown, ame- 
 nable directly to the King's government ; and the details of administra- 
 tion would be continued on the same footing as at present, unless some 
 improvements were found to be necessary. 
 
 Some difficulty may be supposed likely to arise from transferring the 
 whole military force of the Company to the entire direction of govern- 
 ment. But no change of system^ at least, seems necessary in this branch, 
 more than in the civil and financial departments. The military system 
 of the Company is well contrived, and upon the whole well conducted. 
 The Company have an army, and a good one. It is good, because their 
 officers study their profession ; and because it is their profession. No 
 offence to their countrymen in the British army — from these causes, 
 perhaps, the officers of the Indian army are fully as good as any other 
 description of British officers. Continuing the present system of 
 officering and disciplining the Indian army, great advantage would arise 
 from putting the whole under one direction, and opening to the officers 
 of that army the prospect of chief command which, as the servants of 
 the Company, they are now precluded from enjoying. The affairs of 
 the nation would profit by presenting this object of ambition to those 
 who are, as to all personal qualifications, entitled to aspire to it. 
 
 It is not to be denied, however, that unless some virtue and some 
 sagacity be exercised, in the appointments, both civil and military, 
 danger might arise from ignorant and improper persons being sent to 
 govern or to command men with whose feelings and character they are 
 totally unacquainted. The late unfortunate event at VcUore ought to be 
 a lesson how command, civil or military, is intrusted to persons who, for 
 
 u
 
 146 
 
 objects the most trivial and contemptible, are capable of outraging he 
 most sacred and invincible prejudices of nations. That affair, for the 
 sake of example, demands the most rigorous inquiry. If those engaged 
 in it, do not merit punishment, at least the act should not pass without 
 the most pointed and public reprobation. It is against similar miscon- 
 duct that we have most to guard; for in India mere folly may 
 prove as mischievous as the most enormous crimes. 
 
 Careful provision, therefore, ought to be made (whether indeed 
 the Company be continued or not) to secure a certain period for gain- 
 ing experience in every department, to persons intrusted with power. 
 This would be some security against the influence of favour, and the 
 choice of unqualified persons. 
 
 In the militaiy branch, the existing system, with regard to the native 
 troops, should be maintained ; the officers ought to be introduced 
 into the service on the same footing as now ; and the most anxious pro- 
 visions enacted, to prevent the native battalions being officered through 
 improper influence. It has often been thought that a distinct 
 colonial force is desirable for this nation. At present we have 
 an Indian army excellently disciplined and appointed. It must 
 be kept quite distinct from the detail of the other services, or it must 
 fall to pieces as an army, and perhaps with it the empire of India will 
 perish. 
 
 This branch, however, appears to be capable of very simple and efficient 
 checks to guard against abuse. I am perfectly sensible of the danger of 
 making India a mere job for patronage, but that is more or less an evil 
 incident to every system. The government may exercise its patronage 
 sometimes indiscreetly, and so, no doubt, may the Directors now. But 
 the abuse must be very vigilantly checked, and powerful preventive re- 
 medies enacted, to limit the abuse, and to guard against its greatest dan-
 
 147 
 
 gers. If it be contended that the government is more prone to abuse 
 in this particular than the Directors, the argument proves too much. 
 It would prove, that even the bad republic of Leadenhall Street is more 
 capable of wisdom, purity, and uprightness, than the British govern- 
 ment. No man, therefore, can maintain the Company better 
 qualified to rule India than the government, without passing a most 
 severe condemnation of that constitution which is the boast of this 
 country. 
 
 The objection of patronage is often stated in another view, viz. as 
 to its dangerous effects upon the constitution. 
 
 Did we consider this objection as well founded, we would say, 
 Perish every thing — let the constitution live I Not that India should 
 be committed to bad government, but that it should be given up and 
 abandoned. If we cannot reconcile our interests and our duties, we 
 must make the proper sacrifice. 
 
 The objection, however, of the augmentation of patronage, which the 
 government would acquire if the Company's Charter were suffered to ex- 
 pire, is made by a class of men who, in general, display so little jealousy 
 of the influence of the Crown, that their fears upon this occasion appear 
 somewhat suspicious. Every war, every conquest, must, to a certain degree, 
 augment the patronage of the Crown; but it does not follow that wars 
 must not be undertaken when necessary, or conquests made when 
 they are advantageous. If the government of India would create an 
 influence dangerous to the freedom of the constitution, we ought either 
 to erect some new bulwarks against that danger, or we ought altogether 
 to renounce the benefit that would be purchased at too high a price. 
 
 But we apprehend, that it is not fn the detail of Indian patronage 
 that the influence of the Crown or of a minister would acquire its 
 
 u 2
 
 148 
 
 principal aggrandizement. The constitution of the East India Com- 
 pany, as it now stands, givej the Crown and the minister an influence, 
 in the gross, much more formidable. The power of conferring favours 
 in the detail, would, to a certain degree, augment the patronage of 
 government, and, consequently, the influence of ministers. But at pre- 
 sent, that government must manage very ill indeed which does not 
 obtain some share of India patronage. Examples are needless. I speak 
 of what is notorious and undeniable. 
 
 But there is a much more dangerous influence, because, when it 
 exists, it is in the nature of a conspiracy against the public. The 
 East India Company, indeed, receives its lease from time to time from 
 the legislature; but the independence which it derives from the cer- 
 tainty of the period is not perfect and entire. The Company are to 
 exercise every part of their power under the legal superintendance 
 and controul of the government. TIius, with a lease for a term of 
 years, they are in a considerable degree tenants at will, and subject to 
 the interference of the landlord. The right of the Company, and the 
 eontroul of the government, sometimes clash ; the parties quarrel, however, 
 like Peacham and Locket in the Beggars' Opera, but they never 
 come to a rupture, for the same reasons that induced those honest 
 worthy gentlemen to bear with each others Immours. 
 
 Influence in a more formidable sliape than this, and more incompa- 
 tible in its nature with the principles of a free government, cannot well 
 be conceived. The influence acquired by conferring favours is scattered 
 and dispersed. It probably might not gain many votes in Parliament, and 
 decide very few elections. At any rate, if government had the patronage, 
 the influence it would produce would be over individuals unconnected, in 
 whom the favour or the expectation would cause no permanent indisso- 
 luble tie of dependence. But the East India Company are a regular or- 
 ganized body of agency and power, which the ministers may almost always
 
 149 
 
 guide, and which hardly dare rebel against them. A corrupt minister, 
 the enemy of his country and its liberties, could desire nothing more 
 useful than such an instrument, as a bad minister would find the greatest 
 facility in employing it. Look at the parliamentary history of the 
 Company, and the conduct of their servants for many years. Do we 
 find the Directors in the House of Commons in the ranks of opposition, 
 or thwarting a minister? On the contrary, do we not hear it laid 
 down as a general principle, that the Company must not quarrel xscilh 
 Government? Indeed, this is so clear and obvious, that it requires no 
 particular illustration. The mutual advantage of their good under- 
 standing, upon the whole, leads the Company and the Government to 
 conspire together, the former for fear of losing their Charter; the latter, 
 in order to secure a powerful body of adherents. A very strong mass 
 of influence in the state is thrown into the ministerial scale, ready to 
 support all measures, good or bad, of those who have power for the day. 
 There is no delectus j)erson<e in this prostitution. It is of the most 
 grovelling kind, and in no way does it associate with itself any public 
 spirit, or tend to any national interest. The virtuous minister perhaps 
 has it for his hour; but the most corrupt or the most feeble minister is 
 supported by it to-morrow; and, by his weakness or his crimes, enabled 
 to waste or endanger the commonwealth. 
 
 This view of the thing is so evident, to those who are acquainted with 
 the interior history of public affairs, and even to those who may have 
 observed what has passed openly, that they can be at no loss to perceive 
 which is to a minister the most eflcctual influence; and there is little 
 doubt whatever that this has been the chief cause ^vhy the Company 
 has been maintained on its present footing, notwithstanding its gross mis- 
 management of commercial alfairs, and its unfitness for exercising 
 political power. 
 
 Besides the danger to the constitution, from so servile an instrument 
 of influence as the Company has shown itself to be, perhaps there
 
 150 
 
 might be no inconsiderable danger if it were to become a power in the 
 state hostile to administration. The means which it possesses are very 
 great. It circulates in its commercial operations a great deal of money, 
 and employs a great number of people. It has contracts and jobs ta 
 bestow. The whole of this mass is under one direction. Were the 
 trade open, it would be dispersed ; and though as to commerce, larger 
 in extent, it would not have the force of concentration. If the Company 
 then were really independent of administration, and were to be ani- 
 mated by a spirit of faction, it would be an imperium in imperio^ 
 utterly incompatible with all good government. Nothing can prevent 
 this direction of abuse, but the dependence of the Company and their 
 precarious tenure. But suffer the present system to continue, and to 
 acquire an establishment, Avhich it would be very inconvenient or diffi- 
 cult to abolish, merely because it had long existed, and the East India 
 Company would constitute a mass of organized power in the state, per- 
 fectly anomalous, and in the highest degree dangerous. Suppose that 
 those, who have large armies in their pay abroad, who have establish- 
 ments at home, almost as considerable as those of many ancient and 
 powerful monarchies, and consequently could bring their influence to 
 act with united efiect, were to turn it against a minister, or perhaps 
 against a king, labouring under a temporary unpopularity ; suppose 
 that such a Company were led by fanatics in religion, or in politics, 
 and chose to take a side in questions of state, unconnected with the 
 object of their institution, what danger, what confusion might not arise? 
 Blind must the man be, who does not see the danger ; heedless must 
 that government be, which does not provide against it. Some striking 
 illustrations of this might be given, but it is not necessary for the present 
 purpose. It is enough to have laid down such principles, and stated 
 such reasons, as must show, tliat even the dependence of the Company 
 on the Government is a less evil than their independence. So long as 
 the Company has a precarious dependence upon Government, either 
 for the right under which they enjoy their power, or by the mode in 
 which the Government controuls the exercise of it, so long they must
 
 151 
 
 compromise, by being subservient to their masters. They will continue 
 to perform homage, and render service, for the fief which they possess. 
 An able and vigorous government will partly by law, partly by address, 
 retain them in that subjection ; but, like the feudal vassals of former 
 times, they may become refractory or rebellious. Unless they were 
 constantly kept in a subordinate state, they would naturally seek to 
 enlarge their authority, and to throw off dependence. They would 
 seek to render their Jeitd perpetual. They would endeavour to evade 
 the superiority of the liege lord. They would be seized with that love 
 of independent power, so natural to man, the moment they had secured 
 rights which the government could not withdraw, or which it had not 
 ability or spirit to controul. They would, from a servile tool, become 
 an organized faction. Such a body as the East India Company will 
 either be a tyrant or a slave. What they now are we know. With 
 such constitutional dangers around us, flowing either from the inde- 
 pendence or the subjection of the Company, are we to be frightened 
 with the clamours of danger to freedom, if the Company were deprived 
 of their rights, when they will expire at the end of their Charter ? We 
 ought to know the men who raise the objection better. They do not 
 speak from affection for our liberties, but from a dread of being stripped 
 of their own usurpations. 
 
 Without being deceived by such unfounded clamours, we are called 
 upon to consider, what is the best mode of governing our Indian empire, 
 and drawing from it all the advantages, commercial and political, it is 
 calculated to afford. Whatever men may think of the means by 
 which our dominions in India were obtained, all must agree, that it is 
 now the duty of the British nation to govern that extensile country with 
 justice, with wisdom, with a constant and zealous attention to its inte- 
 rests and prosperity. In an enlarged sense, all government is of divine 
 institution, for the good of mankind; and the abuse or neglect of the 
 power Providence has conferred upon us over any part of the human 
 race, must be exercised under an awful responsibility. We have no
 
 152 
 
 right whatever to rule India solely for our own benefit, and neglect 
 that of the men we rule. We have no right to abdicate the sacred trust; 
 far less to let it out for hire to those who are altogether incapable of tlie 
 high function they undertake. Of those who put the business of go- 
 vernment to auction, and those who purchase the lot, it is not difficult 
 to determine which are the most criminaL 
 
 If the official administration of this country, under the superintend- 
 ence and controul of parliament, i^ not equal to conduct the affairs of 
 India, the world has long been accustomed to pay a compliment to the 
 British constitution which it does not deserve. The organ and inter- 
 mediary of a monopoly company, it will be admitted, is at least a very 
 singular contrivance to supply either wisdom or integrity. Surely the 
 composition of such an institution promises nothing very superior. 
 The East India Directors, no one denies, are most respectable men ; 
 but what qualifications do they possess for the station to whioh they 
 aspire r 
 
 As an intermediate institution between the people governed and 
 the supreme authority which controuls, we see nothing to praise in this 
 contrivance of such a body as the Court of Directors, however modified. 
 By passing through such a medium, authority is Aveakened and impaired, 
 not moderated and improved. If the Company be an inferior board, to 
 prepare things for the superior power, it is not placed sufficiently in the 
 subordination of an agent. If it is a government acting under controul, 
 it has no independent authority at all. There is no intelligence to 
 originate, nor wisdom to correct, nor vigour ts) conduct; and in no 
 modification have we any authority fairly responsible. We have 
 neither active independent power, nor timely check, nor adequate 
 punishment. 
 
 Every man who remembers past occurrences, or who lias travelled 
 through the labyrinth of Indian details, must be acquainted with tiie
 
 t53 
 
 constant clamours and complaints of the Company against their serrants^ 
 who did not obey their orders. The wonder is not tiiat their orders 
 were not obeyed. The wonder would have been, if they had found 
 servants devoted and obedient. Since the bills of 1784, 1786, and 
 1793, every judicious observer must have perceived farther proofs of 
 the impossibility of a Company in London governing India, and con- 
 trouling those who by a fiction are called their servants. On the other 
 hand, the Company's interference, while it never has prevented the 
 errors or faults of which they complained, has prevented many excellent 
 measures. Their governors have been too much above them ; and the 
 governors they would choose would be infinitely too much below the 
 situation and its functions. 
 
 But though the Company, as a government, is not obeyed, and never 
 can be duly obeyed by the governors of India, the case would be 
 very different were a viceroy to act, under the immediate order 
 of the Crown, in direct responsibility to it, and under the conse- 
 quent controul or censure of parliament, without any concurrent au- 
 thority, to furnish excuse or pretence for evasion. The King's govern- 
 ment is never disobeyed by any of his officers, civil or military. If the 
 system is good, and the choice of the men tolerable, the administration 
 of India will be regular and consistent ; but the orders which emanate 
 from the Company, however wise and proper, will never be executed 
 with that deference or that fidelity necessary to ensure success. All 
 weak governments find their servants disposed, as Tacitui observes, 
 rather interpretari quam exsequi. 
 
 It may be asked, what is to become of the Company and its proprie- 
 tors, should their lease be terminated at the expiry of their present 
 Charter ; are they to be stripped of their property ; or, are the pro- 
 prietors of stock to be robbed of their dividends ? This subject has often 
 been discussed, and seems attended with no difficulty. It does not 
 appear at all necessary to say much of the supposed rights of the Com-
 
 15^ 
 
 pany to certain stations and districts in India, even were their Charter 
 abolished, I do not believe they have any such right as they have 
 claimed, nor could such a right be supported by any fiction or analogy 
 of law. The Company, it seems, may exist, and may retain not only 
 the possessions alluded to, but carry on trade on their joint stock, though 
 the trade were laid open. That they might try to carry on the trade, 
 even at a vast loss, merely to ruin private traders, I have no doubt, and 
 in this view only their hostility is to be deprecated. Their fair compe- 
 tition is not to be feared. But that they have any right to retain, and 
 exclusively to enjoy the particular establishments, originally gained 
 under Charters notoriously illegal; that they have a right to shut out 
 their fellow subjects from Calcutta or Madras, as a private gentleman can 
 shut up his private road against the public, very few, I believe, will 
 admit. Such possessions held in India by the Company, are in no 
 degree to be compared to a private estate, either in their nature or 
 tenure *, 
 
 But the rights claimed by the Company, it seems now generally ad- 
 mitted, are entirely subject ta the wisdom and regulating controul of 
 parliament. At any rate, if, as there can be no doubt will be the case, 
 the Company on winding up their affairs shall be found bankrupt, their 
 possessions must be taken into the hands of Government, which will 
 make a settlement Avith all those interested, upon the mo.?t liberal foot- 
 ing. There will then be no dispute about the rights of the Com- 
 pany, either as to particular districts, or to trade on a joint stock. 
 
 The East India Company, as has been already observed, can witli no 
 propriety be considered an association of merchants following traffick. 
 In fact, their stock is now entirely a public fmid, in which, from habit, 
 people buy without the least consideration, far less knowledge, of the- 
 nature of the security for the principal or interest. The proprietors 
 
 • Sec Historical View, p. SS-i*
 
 155 
 
 are either persons who put their money in this fund, to enjoy the inte- 
 rest quietly, or they are persons who wish to facilitate their particular 
 object of ambition, by having a vote at the India House. All who are 
 candidates at the India House, or who wish to have influence there ; all 
 who deal in shipping, or in fitting out of ships, are holders of stock; 
 there are besides some annuitants, and the widows and children in suc- 
 cession of many of the above description of men. 
 
 But the India stock has been considered as a fund yielding a certain 
 revenue, nearly in proportion to other public funds. The private 
 views of a considerable number, such as we have mentioned, have per- 
 Jiaps made the price a little better than it would have been, because to 
 them this stock furnishes a collateral advantage, independent of the in- 
 terest of money. With all this, however, India stock sells lower, or yields a 
 greater interest to the purchaser, than government funds. But, upon the 
 whole, it is pretty nearly on the footing of a public fund. Very 
 few think of commercial gains as the source of the dividends they re- 
 ceive. They have seen the Government tamper so much with the East 
 India Company's concerns, that they look to its responsibility ; nor is this 
 contrary to sound sense, and even to law. They have seen Government 
 sharing the gains, or stipulating to share the gains of this Company, 
 propping up its credit, and giving that sort of security for its con- 
 tracts, which led every man to give it credit, independent of the know- 
 ledge or opinion he had of its separate solvency. 
 
 People then have considered the India stock a public fund, liable to 
 liittle other fluctuation than that of the other public stock. Wlien a 
 shfire in the India stock was considered a share in a profitable adventure 
 of commerce, the variations in the price were enormous; and, in those 
 limes, the very existence of a stock, that excited such a passion for 
 gambling speculation, was a nuisance. Every one knows the infinite 
 mischief caused throughout this country by the nefarious arts of joint 
 ^tock companies holding out this temptation ofjobbing to the ignorant 
 
 X 2
 
 ise 
 
 and unwary. The fluctuations of India stock partook of those of the 
 South Sea ; but at different periods since, India stock has risen and fallen 
 without any adequate reason, merely in consequence of the intrigues 
 and arts of Directors. Fortunately people now consider nothing in this 
 stock but an annuity, which very little participates in the success of 
 mercantile undertakings. If it did so participate, it would cause i^ifinite 
 mischief. It would cause great derangement in general mercantile 
 operations ; and would create absurd and senseless speculations, in 
 hopes of a large or small dividend. At present, as no body looks to 
 any thing so chimerical as a great rise in the Company's profits on their 
 trade, or their India warlike adventures, so as to raise the dividends, 
 no mischief ensues. Their fund is a steady stock, and is only harmless 
 while it is so. No proprietor could sustain loss, or suffer injustice in 
 having his stock consolidated with the national funds, and equally secured. 
 Government therefore must necessarily place itself in the situation of 
 tlie Company, and fulfil its engagements. It may make an allowance 
 for whatever can be called the Company's private property, private 
 establishments, &c. I by no means admit the claims of the Company 
 to some of these things. For instance, I do not admit that they can 
 hold any dominion whatsoever in India, distinct from that which accrues 
 to the Crown by unquestionable prerogative. 
 a.. • - ■ 
 
 In doing this, the Government would only be doing that which its 
 folly in making a partnership with the Company has imjiosed. The 
 longer that partnership is continued, the larger will be the ultimate loss, 
 and the Government is bound in justice and law to take the responsi- 
 bility of the Company's engagements. The sooner it is done the better: 
 the nation at large would be a great gainer by the freedom of the trade, 
 and the Government would speedily be reimbursed for any direct 
 engagements on the Comyiany's account by the general prosperity of the 
 country, and the augmentation of the revenue. 
 
 On the other hand, Government would then have a direct and im»
 
 157 
 
 mcdiiate Interest in the surplus revenues of India, if there be any. The 
 hope of a real beneficial partnership in that fund has been long held 
 out to us. In vain we have looked for it, and from day to day vre are 
 amused with the prospect; hitherto it has been " the triumph of hope 
 over experience." The Company never is, but always (o be rich. 
 
 .r^uiilfiJiaijab 
 Indeed the last act in favour of the Company is very entertaining, from 
 the gravity, one would think ironical, with which these hopes are displayed. 
 The application of the vast profits expected, is provided for by a distribution, 
 which bespeaks a most lively and vigorous imagination. The immense 
 surplus revenues, and accumulating profits of the Company, are to be 
 laid out, first, to reduce the debt in India to two millions ; then to pay 
 ^500,000 a year to Government ; then in reducing the bond debt at 
 home to ^1,500,000 ; then after these operations one-sixth of the ulti- 
 mate surplus is to increase the dividends; ihc oiher JtvesLvtks to {ovm 
 a guarantee fund for the Company's stock, till it accumulates to Itipelve 
 miUi^ns, after which the said five-sixths go to Government*. What a 
 pity that all these wise and provident regulations have never been neces- 
 sary, and that instead^ being reduced to two ftwllifljiSj-tJie; India debt 
 has risen to thirty ! - " *:>r:- , >. :Hj7 aoinuftof^ ' 
 
 Perhaps the reader may have perused the story of Alnaschar, the 
 Persian glassman, as it is pleasantly related in No. 535y of the Spectator. 
 Alnaschar was a very idle fellow ; but having bought a basket of 
 ■ glass, he made so excellent an appropriation of his future profits 
 in an act of imagination he passed on the subject, that having 
 through enormous wealth, arrived at the honour of being son-in- 
 law to the grand vizier, he ntost unfortunately was so elated, 
 that in the midst of his reverie, giving the basket a kick, he 
 broke the glass into a thousand pieces, and totally dissipated his 
 fortune, and the splendid vision in which it existed. Government 
 and the East India Company have not been much wiser in their dreams 
 
 • See the act itself.
 
 15d 
 
 of wealth than Alnaschar, the Persian glassman. They have so ma* 
 naged matters, that not one of their fine projects is realized. The pub- 
 lic have obtained none of that profit they had stipulated to receive. 
 Their visionary riches have perished, like the brittle fortune of Alnaschar. 
 The act of 1793 remains a monument of the vanity of political cal- 
 culations: yet this act was the work of men, who deride theorists, 
 and call themselves practical politicians. 
 
 After so many experiments, by v^hich wc have in rain attempted to 
 render India an efficient aid to the government, from which it receives 
 protection and defence; it is time that we should have some substantial 
 indemnification. Hitherto the trade of India has been oppressed, 
 the government has been ill administered, and Great Britain has never 
 enjoyed the benefits stipulated for the sale of an invaluable privilege, 
 and the cession of an immense empire. 
 
 There are those indeed, who may think that the trade to India can 
 be laid open, and the government continue lodged in the Com- 
 pany, nearly as at present. That opinion may de&erve discussion, 
 if it does not merit an experiment. It is not my business at present to 
 enter into that subject. Perhaps though the reflections I have ventured 
 to make upon the political branch of our Indian system, are bricf^ 
 they may be thought too tedious for the purpose of this inquiry. 
 My chief object has been to point out the defects and the im- 
 policy of the commercial system. The removal of those restraints 
 under which the trade now labours, seems alisolutely necessary to 
 preserve to the state the benefits which it was the original object of 
 our political acquisitions in India to secure. 
 
 A considerable period, however, has yet to run, during which 
 the Company will claim the right to mismanage the estate committed 
 to them. It might perhaps be maintained, that having by their miscon- 
 duct defeated the success of every stipulation in favour of the public,
 
 159 
 
 they have forfeited their Charter. Sure I am, at least, that they have done 
 much more to justify a resumption of it than the old Company, who in 
 1698 were declared to have forfeited theirs, by failing in the payment 
 of certain duties. Upon this, however, I do not insist. I do not believe 
 that any minister has virtue and courage enough to take a step so 
 beneficial to the country. If, at the same time, measures be not adopted 
 speedily, to counteract the pernicious effects of the monopoly, the trade 
 of India will be irrevocably lost to Great Britain. 
 
 This nation has incurred a vast expence in the conquest and in the 
 defence of its Indian territories and commerce ; a large proportion of 
 the British army is employed in India ; and in Indian wars British 
 blood has been profusely shed. Hitherto the promised benefits have 
 not been realized ; and if the same system is to be maintained, India, 
 instead' of being a source of strength, will continue to produce a diver- 
 sion of the pablio force. Instead of being a source of revenue, it will 
 be an object of expence, and a cause of national decay. 
 
 If then, our Indian empire is capable of yielding those advantages, 
 which have been so often promised, wc should postpone as little as pos- 
 sible the golden aera of their enjoyment. We are now in a situation, 
 in which the public spirit and the public strength cannot be supported 
 by empty or distant hopes. We ought to bring into action all our dis- 
 posable resources ; and surely none can be more eligi!)le or less bur- 
 densome to the people, than tjie wealth which springs from a judicious 
 employment of our natural advantages, and the strength which arises 
 from the encouragement of our industry, our commerce, and our- 
 navigation»^ 
 
 FINIS, 
 
 C. Meicit-r and Co. Printers, 
 King's Head Court, St, Paul's Church-yard.
 
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