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 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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 EXTRACT 
 
 OF AN 
 
 ORIGINAL LETTER 
 
 FROM 
 
 CALCUTTA, 
 
 relative to the administration of justice 
 by Sir Elijah Impey. 
 
 Ue antehac fiagtiils ita nunc legibui laboratur. Tacitus. 
 
 L O N D O N ; 
 
 Printed for J. DEBRETT (Succeffor to Mr. Almon) oppofite Burlington 
 Houfe, Piccadilly. 1781.
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 37 5* 
 
 Et>k 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'T 1 H E following Paper is really what 
 "** it profefles to be, an Extract of 
 >$ an original private Letter from a Gen tie - 
 s man in Calcutta to a Perfon in Station 
 \x in England, and received here by one of 
 X the India Ships that arrived in October 
 laft. It was not intended for Publication, 
 and a great deal of it is now ufelefs, or 
 $ out of Date ; in the Remainder however 
 ^ there is fome material information, and 
 ^ many pointed judicious Reflections, which 
 v it would be injurious to the Public to 
 fupprefs at a Time, when the Admi- 
 niftration of Juftice in Bengal is coming 
 under the immediate Review and Confi- 
 deration of Parliament. — The Authen- 
 ticity of the Paper is left to fpeak for 
 itfelf. — -To make fome PafTages in it per- 
 fectly intelligible, it feemed neceflary, 
 that an Extract of the Statute of his Jate 
 
 Majefly 
 
 14719
 
 ( vi ) 
 
 Majefly, on which Ma Raja Nundcomar 
 was tried and executed, in 1775, mould 
 accompany the Letter. 
 
 Mr. Hajiings Opinion of the Character of 
 Nundcomar •, July 28. 1772. 
 
 " He thinks it but Juflice to make a 
 " Diftinclion between the violation of a 
 " Truft, and an Offence committed 
 " againft our Government, by a Man, 
 " who owed it no Allegiance, nor was 
 " indebted to it for Protection, but, on 
 " the contrary, was the actual Servant 
 u and Minifter of a Mafler, whofe In- 
 M tereft naturally fuggefled that Kind of 
 
 " Policy, &c. He has never been 
 
 " charged with any Inftance of Infidelity 
 
 " to the Nabob Meer Jaffier, &c. 
 
 " His Conduct in the fucceeding Ad- 
 tc miniftration appears not only to have 
 " been dictated by the fame Principles, 
 " but, if we may be allowed to fpeak 
 " favourably of any Meafures, which 
 *' oppofed the Views of our own Govern- 
 " ment, and aimed at the Support of an 
 " adverfe Intereft, furely it was not only 
 <c not culpable, hut /even praifeworthy"
 
 extract ofa Letter 
 
 from CALCUTTA, 
 
 Dated December i, 1780. 
 
 Received in London, October 27, 1781* 
 
 lOlJ would have reafbn to be furprifed, if 
 1 concluded this long account of our confufed 
 and ruinous fyftem of government, without 
 mentioning the Judges of the Supreme Court 
 of Judicature, whole proceedings, or the com- 
 plaints agaihft them, hive by this time, I iup- 
 pofe, made fome noife in England. In this 
 place, little elfe was talked of, or thought of, 
 for feveral months. I need not tell you with 
 what violence the Company's fervants, as well 
 as others, expreffed their fentiments on this 
 fubjeil, as all their letters home will probably 
 have been filled with it. Tho* I have no great 
 faith in the difcourfes of paffionate men, there is 
 feafon enough to believe, that fome of them 
 were ready to have gone to extremities, arid 
 wanted nothing but a hirit from higher autho- 
 
 B rity.
 
 ( * ; 
 
 f ity. If any encouragement, for inftance, had 
 been ever fo indirecty given by the Governor 
 General and Council, to the fpirit of refiftance 
 prevailing at that time, (in the fummer and au- 
 tumn of 1779) * nave no doubt that the Su- 
 preme Court might have been (hut up, and 
 either the adminiftration of juftice fufpended, or 
 the Mayor's Court reftored. This, if it had 
 happened, would not have been an act of the 
 populace, for there is properly no populace In 
 Calcutta, unlefs fo far as all numerous afTem- 
 blies in fome degree partake of the nature of a 
 snob. The bufinefs would have been done by 
 a large body of the Company's civil fervants at 
 Calcutta, to whom no force in this country 
 could, I think, be prudently or fafely oppofed. 
 I doubt whether the troops in the New Fort 
 would have been perfectly at the command of 
 the Governor and Council for fuch a fervice, 
 confidering that all the officers were engaged in 
 the fame caufe with the civilians, and that fome 
 of them had taken an active part in fupporting 
 it. But if the military had been ever fo well 
 inclined to act hoftilely againft the Britifh inha- 
 bitants of Calcutta, I apprehend the Governor 
 and Council would not have had recourfe to a 
 meafure, by which many of their own particular 
 friends, acquaintance and dependants might 
 have been facn freed, and the fafety of the fet- 
 tlement hazarded. I need not infill on the fatal 
 
 confe-
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 confequences of employing the Sepoys, or even 
 the European regiments againft the body of 
 Britiih lubjecls. They are fo<obvious, and fo 
 certain to overfet the government itfelf, that I 
 am perfuaded the cafe will never happen. For- 
 tunately for the peace and fafety of Calcutta, 
 thefe violent heats evaporated in hard words, 
 and have gradually fubfided to a more com- 
 pofed, but not a lefs malignant temper. 
 
 The judges, particularly the Chief Juftice, 
 are at prefent fomewhat lefs abufed, but not 
 much lefs hated than they ufed to be. The fire, 
 I believe, wants only a little ftirring. 
 
 You will foon perceive, that I am not a party 
 man in this bufinefs ; for though my opinion 
 on the whole is againft the court, it is not 
 formed on party principles. I did not fign the 
 petition, becaufe I had no opportunity of 
 giving it the necefiary confideration, and did 
 not think it juftifiable to fet my hand to com- 
 plaints and aiTertions, which I could not have 
 made good, though I thought many of them 
 well founded. Neither was I much influenced 
 by the opinion of feveral of thofe who figned 
 it, as I remembered very well, when the fame 
 people, or many of them, were as paflionately 
 devoted to the judges, as they are now ex- 
 afperated againft them, and was not quite fure 
 B 2 that
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 that their motives were much better in one in- 
 ftance than the other. — I fhall therefore, in 
 what I am going to fay, leave them and their 
 motives out of the queftion, and confider the 
 ■fubject, with as much abstraction as I can, from 
 the intereft and paflions of the parties. 
 
 "With refpect to the Supreme Court of Judi- 
 cature, as it is efiablifhcd by the King's charr 
 ter, 1 might fafely confine my opinion of it to a 
 fimple negative, and leave it to thofe, who 
 think better of the inftitution than I do, tofup- 
 port the affirmative by pofitive proof of its 
 merits. The expence of this eftablifhment, 
 though great on the face of it, is much more 
 confiderable than it appears to be ; the benefits, 
 it was expected to produce, remain to be proved f 
 After fix years experience, an appeal to its 
 fuccefs cannot be deemed irregular, or prema- 
 ture. They, whoprofefs to think it a wife and 
 ufeful one, may fairly be called upon to (hew 
 what public advantages have anfen from it. 
 When the minifter propofed this part of the bill 
 of regulations in 1773, he faid, he meant jr. 
 only as an experiment, by which he was under- 
 ftood to mean, and could only mean a trial of 
 the utility of the meafure by its effects On 
 this principle, the continuance of the S. C. 
 ought to depend folely on the queltion of fact, 
 whether it has, or has not anfwered its ex- 
 pected,
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 pe&ed, or profeft purpofe. If it has not don£ 
 good, and a great deal too, it ought to be abo-^ 
 limed, as ufelefs and unneceffary, or as ufeful 
 in a very low degree, and expeofive in a very 
 high one ; and this without regard to any acts 
 qf violence or injuftice, of which the judges 
 may be accufed, or to the diftrefs and difficul- 
 ties, which the government and the country 
 now unanimoufly fay, they fuffer from the pro* 
 ceedings of the court. 
 
 With refpect to the ordinary diftribution of 
 juftice between man and man, it does not ap- 
 pear that any improvement has been made by 
 the judges ; — -none at lead, that might not have 
 been effected on a more compendious and ceco- 
 nomical plan. A multiplicity of new forms 
 unknown to the practice of the mayor's court, 
 and of new offices to tranfact the bufinefs 
 created by thofe forms, at firft fight promifes 
 no relief to the fuitors, and without the know- 
 ledge or intention of the judges, may be 
 made an inftrument of endlels fraud and extor- 
 tion. An army of advocates, attornies, and 
 judicial officers, exclufive of the direct allow- 
 ance paid them by the Company, is not to be 
 maintained without an additional charge to the 
 fuitors, unlimited in extent, and in effect more 
 grievous than mod of the abufes, which the 
 judges were fent hither to correct. The fees, 
 
 exacted
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 exacted by all thefe people, in their different 
 departments, are exorbitant beyond example $ 
 and muft be fo, or it would be impoffible for 
 fuch a number of them to exift in this cxpenfive 
 town. I do not affirm, that this clafs of men 
 are much worfe in Bengal than in England, 
 though it is not likely, that the moft repurable 
 or eminent of the profeflion (bould travel fo 
 far in quell of a precarious fubfiftance in an 
 unhealthy climate. For the purpofe of thefe 
 reflections, it is fufficient if it be admitted, that 
 they are no better than thofe, whom they left 
 behind them. The conclufion from the rela- 
 tive circumftances of the judges, the lawyers, 
 attornies, &c. on one fide, and of the parties 
 on the other, will be as direct and ftrong as it 
 need be, to men, who look only for truth, and 
 who have no intereft in concealing it. It is to 
 be hoped, that the expence will in time check 
 the fpirit of litigation. The Europeans know 
 what they have to truft to, and deferve to fmart 
 for their folly, if they meddle with law, when- 
 ever they can avoid it. But it is not eafy to 
 convey to an Englilh understanding, an ade- 
 quate idea of the condition of a black man, 
 whofe ill fortune has once configned him to the 
 mercy of a Calcutta attorney. Except a few 
 banyans at the refidency, who feldom are ob- 
 jects of companion, the natives know nothing 
 of the language, much lefs of the multiplied 
 
 intricate
 
 C 7 ) 
 
 intricate forms of this new jurifdiction, or of 
 the principles and precepts of the iaw, by which 
 they are told their claims muft be decided, 
 their rights fecured, and their property de- 
 fended. They are naturally timid to excefs. 
 Their timidity is increafed by their ignorance, 
 and both together make thtm a defencelefs prey 
 to their attorneys. 
 
 When the Miniftry had adopted the idea of 
 introducing a new Court of Julfice in Bengal, 
 the Judges of which fhould be appointed by 
 the Crown, all forts of evidence againft the 
 credit of the Mayor's Court was induftriouily 
 fought for, in order to give a colour and coun- 
 tenance to the meafure ; and I am forry to fay, 
 that for this purpofe very light and inefficient 
 evidence was admitted. The petitions of a 
 low attorney, and of a few perfons, whofe cha- 
 racter in Calcutta were little better than infa- 
 mous, were produced by the Secret Committee 
 of the Houfe of Committee, as undifputed 
 proofs of delinquency in the Mayor's Court, 
 and made the foundation of many paflionate 
 and unjuft reflections on the conduct of the 
 gentlemen who acted in it. Thefe refledions 
 founded on falfe fads, and fupported by gene- 
 ral arguments drawn from fome defects in the 
 conftitution of the Mayor's Court, which they 
 who feek for defects may difcover in every hu- 
 man
 
 ( a ) 
 
 man inltitution, were at once fuppofed to efta- 
 blilh the wifdom and neceffity of erecting a 
 Royal Court of Judicature, with powers inde- 
 pendent of the Company, and fuperior to, and! 
 coercive of, not the Company's Government, 
 who were laid to have abufed their power, but 
 the new government appointed by Parliament 
 in their place. We are now to confider whe- 
 ther the meafure, fuppofing it warranted by the 
 premifes, was calculated to anfwer the prof eft 
 purpofe of thofe who framed it, and in what 
 degree it has fucceeded. 
 
 I afiume it as a fact, which I believe will not 
 be difputed, that the mal-adminiftration of juf- 
 tice in the ordinary courfe by the Mayor's 
 Court, was not generally complained of or in- 
 filled on ; at lead it was not the grievance 
 which the Judges were fpecially and princi- 
 pally appointed to redrefs : nor would it have 
 required fo chargeable and operofe a remedy. 
 The oppreflion of the natives by Europeans, 
 and the exaction of money from them by men 
 in ftation, or by their fervants, was reprefented 
 to Parliament as the grand evil, under which 
 they were faid to fuffer, without poffibility of 
 relief. The Mayor's Court either had not ju- 
 rifdi&ion equal to giving redrefs, or was fup* 
 pofed to be under the influence of the Prefident 
 and Council, and even to make common caufe 
 
 with
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 with the defendants, when actions were brought 
 by natives againft Europeans. An appeal to 
 the Prefident and Council, to whom the 
 fame principles were afcribed, could avail no- 
 thing. — An appeal from the latter to the King 
 in Council, was allowed to be then, what it al- 
 ways will be, ufelefs and ruinous-, and as to 
 the Court of Directors, it was one of their com- 
 plaints to Parliament, that they had loft all au- 
 thority over their fervants in India, 
 
 The fecret Committee did not confine their 
 inquiry to the Mayor's Court, but went largely 
 into the defects and abufes of the Country 
 Courts; which, according to their account, and 
 I believe truly, required correction and im- 
 provement, more than the former. Among 
 other things they obferve, " that the want of 
 fubordinate jurifdictions in different parts of 
 the Zemindary diftricts, was attended with 
 much hardfhip to the lower clafs of the peop^; 
 that fuch of them only as lived in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the feat of judicature, could have 
 accefs to thefe tribunals, and that even to theie, 
 the expences attending luits in the Courts were 
 almoft an entire exclufion of the pofllbility of 
 obtaining juftice by law." 
 
 Thro* the whole reprefentation of the admi- 
 niftration of juftice in Bengal, one idea feems to 
 
 C have
 
 ( «o ) 
 
 have been invariably purfued, viz. that the 
 natives were univerfally pandered and opprefled 
 by the Europeans j and by this idea, the re- 
 medy provided by Parliament, feems to have 
 been uniformly guided. The Supreme Court 
 of Judicature was understood to be created to 
 protect the natives, and to bring European 
 criminals to juftice on the fpot, where the evi- 
 dence of their offences certainly exifted, and it 
 was fuppofed might eafily be collected. 
 
 This is fo much the favorite object of the 
 inftitution, that the law, on the face of it, is al- ' 
 moil partial to the natives in preference to the 
 Europeans, and allows no equality of attack 
 and defence between them. Jn many cafes, 
 the latter are liable to fuits and profecutions in 
 the Supreme Court, in which the natives are 
 not. You will obferve that I fpeak of the 
 principles of the law, not of the practice de- 
 duced from it. It was even aflerted, that the 
 character and circumftances of the Europeans 
 made it unfafe to truft them with the trial by 
 jury in civil actions. The fame diftruft of 
 their integrity prevails clearly thro' the whole 
 bill ; and every power, with which a Court of 
 Juftice could be armed, feems to have been 
 vefted in the Supreme Court, for no other eflen- 
 fential purpofe, but to punifh their offences. 
 
 I will
 
 ( i« ) 
 
 I will not now queftion the benevolence of 
 Parliament, or the general truth of the reprefen- 
 tations by which it was excited. But when I 
 fee that, in facT, the principal purpofe of the 
 inflitution has hot been anfwered, I may be 
 permitted to queftion the wifdom of thofe who 
 framed it, while 1 give them credit for their 
 good intentions. For if the wifdom of the 
 meafure is not to be impeached, I fee no re- 
 fource, but in a fufpicion which would do nb 
 honour to the perfons intrulted with the execu- 
 tion of it. 
 
 My propofitiori is, that the Supreme Court 
 has done no good ; on thofe principles efpe- 
 cially, on which it was appointed to ait. If it 
 has, the inftances ought to be many in the firfc 
 fix years of its operation. In that period, in 
 which complaints to the Court, and applica- 
 tions for redrefs were likely to be moft fre- 
 quent, and when offenders were moft likely td 
 be profecuted with fpirit, and punifhed with fe- 
 verity : fince all new inftitutions are obferved 
 to commence with vigour, whether they pre- 
 serve it or not ; I do not believe that above two 
 inftances, and thofe very inconfidefable,' can be 
 produced of damages recovered by a native 
 againft an European for opprefiion, or for mo- 
 ney extorted, or unlawfully received. If this be 
 true, as I am fure it is, it follows, that the Su- 
 C 2 premc
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 rreme Court in fact is ufelefs in that fenfe iri 
 which it was intended and expected to perform 
 fervices unatainable by any other judicature. 
 For whether there be no offenders, or whether 
 parties injured are afraid or unable to profecute, 
 the confequence is the fame. A Court, of 
 which no ufe is made, is unnecefTary, and the 
 expence attending it thrown away. Let no 
 man flatter himfeif that, becaufe there are no 
 profecutions fcr peculation, there are therefore 
 few or no delinquents, or that the terror of the 
 Court has checked the growth of offences, or 
 put an end to their exiftence. All that bufinefs 
 allured ly goes on as it ufed to do, nor did the 
 Court ever fhew a hearty difpofition to reftrain 
 it. On the contrary, the legal murder of Nund- 
 comar, (as it was pointedly called by the great 
 and good Lord Mansfield) fhewed every man in 
 Bengal what he had to expect, if he attempted 
 to meddle with the mifconduct of any of thofe 
 perfons or their dependants, with whom a ma- 
 jority of the Judges united immediately after 
 their arrival. Jn that capital inftance, the 
 Judges took part with Mr. Haftings, and went 
 all lengths in his defence. The principles 
 on which they fought and accomplifbed the de- 
 ftruction of the evidence againft him, were 
 clearly and directly the reverie of thofe of 
 their inftttution. They were fent out to punifh 
 extortion, bribery, and peculation, and the fir it 
 
 thing
 
 ( « ) 
 
 thing they did was to five the greateft criminal 
 in the country, by hanging the wicnefs, while 
 the accufation was depending, and of courle 
 removing the proofs, which were ready to fup- 
 port it. 
 
 It has fince been proved to the fatisfaclion of 
 this part of the world, that the ftatute of the 
 Second of George II. cap. 25. (vide Appendix) 
 againft forgery, on which Nundcomar was tried, 
 did not extend to Bengal. If it had however, 
 and if, by any artificial reafoning, it could be 
 made legal to try a Hindoo by a law he never 
 heard of, for a crime fuppofed to have been 
 committed nine years before, w hich by the laws 
 of his own country was not capital, and but 
 lately made capital in England by a new ftatute, 
 ftill the conduct of the judges, in not refpiting 
 a convict ib particularly circumstanced, until 
 his Majefty's pleafure mould be known, can 
 only be accounted for in one way, but can 
 never be juftified. But what will be faid, or 
 thought of them, if this fuppofition in their 
 favour fhould appear to be made in notorious 
 contradiction to the truth, as I am lure it will 
 do, whenever the facts are examined ? 
 
 The Company afterwards ordered Mr. Bar- 
 well to be profecuted in the Supreme Court for 
 large fums, which he acknowledged he had 
 
 received.
 
 ( H ) 
 
 received. At the fame time they left him in the 
 government to conduct the profecution againft 
 himfelf, while fo intimate a union fubfifted be- 
 tween the Chief Juftice and him, that the 
 former, pendente lite; declared from the bencfy 
 that he had accepted of the office of attorneys 
 or truftee for Mr. Barwell, arid of guardian to 
 his children ; in confequence of which he was 
 lately obje&ed to in open court, by the Com- 
 pany's advocate, as difqualified to try an action, 
 iii which Mr. Barwell was plaintiff againft the 
 Company. Sir Elijah Impey being by this 
 means removed from the bench, the caufe in 
 the end went in favour 6f the Company. 
 Thefe examples, with fome other obfervations 
 of their own, on the character of men^ and 
 Hate of things in the government, have given 
 the natives a proper notion of the temper and 
 principles of the court, and I prefume would 
 be fufficient to divert them from looking that 
 Way for protection, if they were not otherwife 
 deterred by the certainty of a great expence, 
 the danger, which they now understand, of 
 trufting to their attornies, and the uncertainty 
 of the decifion. The caufe of peculation, 
 though not of oppreffion, is common more of 
 lefs to, a majority, the Europeans in Bengal. 
 They, who pofTefs no immediate influence, ex- 
 pect to fucceed to it, and will not injure the 
 value of employments, which in time may 
 
 devolve
 
 ( 15 ) 
 4evolve to themfelves. This is fo true, and fo 
 notorious, that fecret or unavowed emolu- 
 ments, though as ftrictly prohibited as ever, by 
 the formal orders of the Company, and now 
 made highly penal by law, are not reckoned 
 dishonourable. Defendit numerus. To profit by 
 the management of the public revenue, by 
 collufion with the farmers and zemindars, and 
 in contracts of every fort with that ideal being 
 called the Company, in fhort, to take money 
 wherever it is to be had, though not by means 
 always opprefiive to the natives, nor in equal 
 degrees of moderation or excefs, in men of 
 different principles and character, is as much a 
 fource of acquifition (though I do not mean to 
 fay, without exception) as their direct allow- 
 ances. In foro confcientide^ the Company, who 
 give high ftations and great power, without 
 proportionate falaries, are anfwerable for every 
 abufe that follows. If fuch practices were often 
 brought before the court, and if the penalties 
 annexed to them by law, fuch as double for- 
 feiture of the value, difqualification for the 
 Company's fervice, &c. were inflicted in a 
 few inftances, I do not doubt that the Europeans 
 would loon unite to ruin, if not to cut off any 
 black man, who fhould again attempt to bring 
 forward a charge againft any of them. The 
 government, as long as one of the old fet is at 
 the head of it, would afiuredly affilt, and 
 
 countenance
 
 ( i6 3 
 
 countenance fuch a combination, partly on the 
 grand principle of joint concern, and univerfal 
 appehenfion, which engages all parties in India 
 to make common caufe againft inquiry, and 
 partly to fave the credit of Mr. Haftings's ad- 
 miniftration ; and where is that black man, 
 who can be fuppoftd to have courage enough to 
 attack, or ftrength to contend with lb powerful 
 a confederacy ? The cafe never happened, but 
 in the inftance of Nundcomar, whom the judges 
 hanged for his pains, nor will it ever happen 
 again. 
 
 Let it be fuppofed, neverthelefs, that I am 
 miftaken in this opinion ; — that fuits for extor- 
 tion and peculation might frequently be infti- 
 tuted againft Europeans, and that the judges 
 of the Supreme Court might be perfectly dif- 
 pofed, and thoroughly determined to do their 
 duty •, which, I think, is receding as far from 
 the known truth, as any argument can require. 
 I will venture to affirm, that they would foon 
 find themfelves unable to perform it, and that 
 they would relinquifh the attempt. This is a 
 proportion not likely to gain credit at firft 
 ficrht ; but I am fure it is true, and will be ad- 
 mitted, when it is thoroughly confidered. 
 
 The ftate of men and things, and the con- 
 dition of ibciety are not in Bengal what they 
 
 are
 
 ( >7 ) 
 
 are in England. At home, the Ariel: admi* 
 niftration of jufticc is fupported by the bulk 
 or body of the nation, whofe intereft it is, that 
 juftice mould be fo adminiftered againft the few, 
 who are the objects of it. In Weftminfter Hall, 
 the judge, befides that he does not try the fad, 
 incurs no perfonai enmity by his judgement; 
 or, if he does, his ftation, and the approba- 
 tion of the public at large place him above the 
 effects of it. Here, on the contrary, the 
 Europeans alone conftitute what is commonly 
 called the public. With refpect to the judges, 
 the natives cannot be conficiered as members of 
 fociety. Nor would their unanimous approba- 
 tion, if they dare exprefs it, be the leaft re- 
 lief to a judge, who, by ralhly treading on 
 forbidden ground, mould alarm or offend the 
 Europeans, and unite them againft him. I 
 confine my view to fuits or profecutions for 
 peculation, in which a majority of them 
 might make common caufe. What then do 
 you conceive would be the condition of a judge, 
 whom almoft every man ih the fettlement was 
 determined to abufe, refill, vilify, and run 
 down by every means in his power. We have 
 feen fomething like what I fuppofe it would be, 
 in the courfe of a late prolecution, in which 
 fome gentlemen in the Company's fervice, at 
 Patna, were fai dto be concerned. I fpeak only 
 of the effect, not the merits of the judge- 
 D mcnt.
 
 ( 18 ) 
 
 merit. The fituation, in which it placed the 
 judges for fome time was fuch as no human 
 fortitude could have endured very long. They 
 were reprobated and curfed in all com- 
 panies, hardly vifited or fpoken to, and ma- 
 nifeitly flighted, always fhunned, and fome- 
 times affronted in public places. This fpirit, 
 with a little encouragement from the Go- 
 vernor General and Council, (who are not 
 at all times equally ready to fupport themj 
 would have baniffied them from fociety, and 
 made it difficult for them to exift in Bengal. 
 In private life it happens unluckily, that thefe 
 gentlemen are not company for one another; 
 and even lawyers, I prefume, would avoid the 
 converfation of attornies, if they could. If, 
 at that time, it had fuited the intereft of Mr. 
 Haftings, or the date of his connections with 
 Sir Elijah Impey, to take a decided part againfl 
 the court, as he did fome months ago on a 
 queflion of jurifdiction, the court might have 
 been fhut up, even without government's ap- 
 pearing to acl, and the judges fent home j and 
 this mi^ht have been done with a degree of 
 facility, of which you may not be perfuaded. 
 Whether the miniftry would have attempted to 
 reinftate them by force, or whether the attempt 
 would have fucceeded, againfl a combination 
 of all arders of men in Bengal, (for the natives 
 diftrufl and dread the court, as heartily as the 
 
 Europeans
 
 ( i9 ) 
 
 Europeans abhor ic) is a queftion, on which I 
 Jiope they will not haftily pronounce, if it 
 ftiould ever come before them. Experience is 
 of no ufe to them, if they do not by this time 
 pnderftand the confequence of driving queftions 
 of fpec ulation to iiTue againft the fenfe of the 
 lubjcct. England, I imagine, is not able to 
 maintain aconteft with all its diftant dependen- 
 cies at once. In this country, where the num- 
 bers from Europe multiply daily, the Court of 
 Directors (however unjuftly with refpeft to 
 fome of its members) are never fpoken of, but 
 as the leaft refpectable let of men th;.t exifts, 
 and I am not fure, that the miniftry and parlia- 
 ment are not held in equal contempt. In fhort, 
 Sir, England itfelf is **********. 
 
 A thorough union between the Governor 
 General and Council, and the Judges would 
 undoubtedly ftrengthen the Supreme Court. 
 At the our,fet of the two inftitmions, it might 
 have done a great deal. At prefent, I believe, 
 it would not produce the fame effect, nor is it 
 likely to take place by honourable means. The 
 Council think that, as they are veiled by law 
 with the civil and military government of the 
 country, they are the firft power in it, and that 
 the jurifdiction of the Court does not extend 
 generally to the natives. Whereas the Judges, 
 J) 2 by
 
 ( 20 ; 
 
 by adapting their conftru&ion of the law to 
 the powers they affume (the former not to be 
 queftioned, the latter not to be refiftedj have 
 found means to bring not only every inhabitant 
 of the country, but every a£t of government, 
 within their jurifdiction. That conclufion at 
 lead mud be drawn from the principles they 
 avow. It refhs with thcm> as they affirm, to 
 give damages to any man, who complains to 
 them of any act of the Council, by which he 
 may pretend to be aggrieved, againft the indi- 
 viduals, who compofe it. They may exercife 
 this power ad arbitrium ■> — they find the facts 
 themfelves, and may give damages to any 
 amount, without the intervention of a jury, 
 and thffe muft be paid down. By encouraging 
 fuch fuits, they may harrafs the members of the 
 government with eternal litigations, and keep 
 their fortunes in perpetual jeopardy ; — and all 
 this they may do without a check on the fpor, 
 cr a pofllbility of fuffering any thing in 
 their own perfons, let their judgements be ever 
 lb erroneous or unjuft. The uncontroulable 
 right of interpretation in effect makes them 
 legiflators; while the privileges of their judi- 
 cial character fecure them from pummment. 
 An appeal, it is true, lies from their judgement 
 to the King in Council. But exclufive of the 
 certain expence, and deadly delay of an appeal, 
 what is the probability of redrefs to the party 
 
 caft
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 caft in Bengal, when the appellate jurifdi&ion 
 have no other evidence before them, than 
 that which the Judges below allow to be 
 recorded, and no other queftion to determine, 
 but whether the judgement, on evidence fo 
 prepared, was legal or not. Thefe gentlemen 
 are not accufed or fufpecled of incapacity to 
 reconcile the evidence and the judgement, when 
 they have both at their command* No man, 
 who has lately refided in Calcutta, can be ig- 
 norant of the means taken to make black wit- 
 nefies fay whatever the ***** thinks fit ; 
 nor of hib unlimited influence not only over the 
 witnefTes, but the bar. The former, befides 
 that their meaning is often mifunderftood, are 
 timiei to excefs. The latter are in general 
 unlearned young men, dependant in their 
 fituation, not qualified to detect the errors, 
 or capable of contending with the violence of 
 the Court, and certain of incurring the refent- 
 ment of the Chief Juftice if they fhould at- 
 tempt it. An advocate in the Supreme Court, 
 whom this gentleman fhould refolve to dif- 
 countenance, would have no refource. He 
 muft fubmit to indignities, to which he could 
 make no reply, and in the end renounce his 
 profefiion. For what client would employ a 
 man, whom the bench never liftened to, but to 
 make him the object of their infultand ridicule-, 
 pr indeed what attorney would dare to retain 
 
 council
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 council whom the Chief Juftice was known to 
 diflike ? You fee then how far it is in the 
 power of a refolute man, in bis fituation, fo 
 armed, and fo little likely to be oppofed 
 as he is, to give any turn to the evidence. 
 If a queftion fhould be afked, or an anfwer 
 given, too ftrongly pointed againft his fa- 
 vourite object, what (hall hinder him from for- 
 bidding the firft to be pur, or the fecond to be 
 recorded ? The officers of the Court are all his 
 creatures, and fubject to his power in many 
 fliapes. The witneffes tremble at his voice, 
 and frequently know not what they are made to 
 fay, and fwear to. The advocates dare not 
 offer an objection, or whifper a complaint. In 
 
 the perfons of Mr. F and Mr. Lawrence, 
 
 they have perceived the confequence of attempt- 
 ing it ; — I mean fuch brutal language and brow- 
 beating from the bench, as I prefume is unknown 
 inWeftminfter-hall, and would not beendured in 
 any other place. In fhort, Sir, the Chief Juf- 
 tice cannot only give his own fenfe in many 
 cafes to the evidence, — by which in effect he 
 obtains a difcretionary power over the judge- 
 ment, — but, if that fails, under the affumed 
 power of determining what is, and what is not 
 evidence, he can forbid any particular anfwer, 
 and even the queftion, to which it replies, to 
 be recorded. The Court of Appeal confe- 
 quentiy can know no more of any caufe, than 
 
 he
 
 C n ) 
 
 he choofes they fhould do j and, if they reverfe 
 the judgement, muft do it againft the evidence, 
 which he permits to appear before them. At 
 the fame time, by fupprefling queftions as well 
 as anfwers, it does not appear on the face of 
 the proceedings, that any evidence has been 
 withheld. 
 
 I do not mean to affirm, that inftances of this 
 pra£tice occur every day, or when no purpofe 
 of intereft, paffion, or party, is to be ferved by 
 it. A perfon of lefs fkill and experience than 
 this learned gentleman, muft fee the advantage 
 of acting with an air of impartiality on ordinary 
 occafions, and of deciding private or petty 
 caufes, wherein the parties are unknown or in- 
 different to him, in fuch a way as to be free 
 from objection. The truth is, the Chief Juftice 
 affumes the right of controuling the evidence in 
 the manner 1 have ftated, and he exercifes it 
 whenever he thinks proper. 
 
 Let it be fuppofed, neverthelefs, that under 
 fo many difcouragements, the party caft mould 
 be able and willing to incur the expence of an 
 appeal to England ; and that, againft all proba- 
 bility, the judgement mould finally be reverfed. 
 At the end of three years, (an early day, con- 
 fidering the diftance of the two countries, and 
 the dilatory proceeding of the Court of Appeal 
 
 in
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 in caufes much lefs intricate and more intelli- 
 gible than a Bengal caufe can be) we might 
 perhaps hear of the event of one appeal; and in 
 the mean time twenty other judgements may 
 have been given here againft the fame perfons, 
 and on the fame principles. Let perfonal ani- 
 mofity, inflamed by a paffion, which lawyers 
 call laudable, for extending the jurifdi&ion of 
 the Court, be fuppofecl to take part, and confi- 
 der to what a degree, and with what probable 
 effects, the Governor and Council and all their 
 officers, efpecially thofe employed in the collec- 
 tion of the revenues, are left at the mercy of 
 the Judges. Without a jury to find the facts, 
 or eftimate the damages ; without advocates 
 capable of maintaining a point of law againft the 
 bench, and with an abfolute dominion over the 
 evidence, thefe judges certainly ought to have 
 a greater portion of virtue than any of their 
 brethren in Weftminfter-hallj to whom no 
 fuch powers are intrufted, and in whom no 
 fuch confidence is repofed. Whether they 
 have or not, it cannot be reafonably pre- 
 fumed that a government fubject to fo many 
 checks, awed by the terrors of endlefs litiga- 
 tion, and entangled in fo many fnares, can at- 
 tend properly to the various and perplexing 
 duties of their office. It is in vain to call them 
 a government. Their hands in fact are tied -, or 
 
 if
 
 ( 2 5 ) 
 
 if they act, it is at the perpetual hazard of 
 their fortune and happinefs. 
 
 Thefe obfervations, Sir, may give you fome 
 'idea of the pretended jurifdiction, and real 
 power of the Judges in Bengal. For the pur- 
 pofe of doing mifchief, they are both unlimited 
 and uncontroulable j at lead by any regular 
 means. They have been checked, in one in- 
 ftance, by a direct and forcible oppofition on 
 the part of the Governor General and Council. 
 But this, I prefume, will be thought by all 
 parties a dangerous expedient. 
 
 It is not likely, therefore, that the two 
 bodies, as they are now conftituted, mould 
 agree to act together on public principles. 
 Yer, as long as they are at variance, it is fome- 
 what eafier to fee how they may thwart and 
 embarrafs each other, than how their refpective 
 duties can be performed to the public. Their 
 claims muft always cl <fh, whether they mutu- 
 ally pretend to independance, or whether either 
 of them afTumes a right, of checking or con- 
 trouling the ads of the other. The miniftry 
 may fleep over the conteft, and be perfectly 
 fatisfied, that the court and the council mould 
 fight it out on the fpot, provided their repofe 
 be not interrupted by their difputes ; and this 
 perhaps, in the midft of greater evils, may be 
 E thoush
 
 ( *6 ) 
 thought a i'mall one. It manifeftly tends, how- 
 ever, to alienate Bengal from Great Britain, 
 and to encourage a fpirit here, that leads to 
 independance. A word on this fubjecl. ought 
 to be fufficient, even to the unwife. If rhe fads 
 I have ftated, and their probable confequences 
 are not regarded at home, I fhall wait with 
 fome curiofity to know, what it is that deferves, 
 and can attract the attention of government to 
 Bengal. One would think that experience, 
 infteadof * * * * * 
 
 ******, when they 
 know that another lofing throw would leave 
 them nothing to lofe. Bengal is the laft (lake 
 of England, and for that, if not for any better 
 reafon, ought to be wifely managed. 
 
 The only way, in which the two bodies 
 might be brought to an amicable agreement, 
 would be by making the judges eafy in their 
 minds, that is, in their fortunes. Lucrative 
 contracts to do nothing, or fmecure offices with 
 large falaries, revocable at the pleafure of the 
 Governor and Council, would effectually an- 
 fwer the purpofe. They are all willing enough 
 to benefit themfelves in any mode, in which 
 they may fuppofe it practicable to improve their 
 circumftances with fafety ; and, on this footing, 
 it may be prefumed, the Council would have 
 
 no
 
 ( 2 7 ) 
 
 no reafon to complain of any want of pliancy 
 and complaifance in the judges. Here the 
 matter will probably end, if the court be con- 
 tinued on the prefent plan ; and it is better it 
 fhould end (o, than that the King's Court of 
 Juftice mould be avowedly refilled, or the con- 
 ted between the Court and the Council conti- 
 nued. If the Judges are permitted to difturb 
 and diftrefs the government at their pleafure, 
 there is no other remedy. The Company muffc 
 pay them in one fhape or other, firft a great 
 falary for doing mifchief ; — fecondly, as much 
 more for not doing it ; and then the queftion 
 will be, for what purpofe mould fo many law- 
 yers be quartered on the Company ? In the 
 mean time, the * * * * * *, who mean nothing but 
 to raife their price, will difcover the wifdom of 
 facrificing their ambition to their avarice, and, 
 inftead of f exercifing the fretful privilege of 
 plaguing the Council, will bring it to market, 
 and turn it to a more profitable account. Mr. 
 Haftings has tried this experiment more than 
 once with one of them, for whofe ufe a molt 
 beneficial contrail: has long been held by an 
 under officer of the court, adiftant relation of 
 the * * * *. Yet quarrels will happen 
 among lovers, and a kept miftrefs muft be paid 
 for every reconciliation. In September lair, 
 for example, finding it necefTary to gain Sir 
 E 2 Elijah.
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 Elijah Impey once more, he created a new 
 office for him, and prupofed to annex to it a 
 falary of 5,600 ficca rupees a month, or nearly 
 8,oool. a year revocable at the pleafure of the 
 Governor General and Council. This falary, 
 it is underflood, is to be carried in Council by 
 the calling or fole vote of the Governor Gtne-r 
 ral, as focm as Mr. Francis fhall have quitted 
 Bengal. The perfonal policy of the meafure 
 is not to be difputed. If there be other 
 objections to it, Mr. Haftings may plead necef- 
 fity, to which they, who continue him, in the 
 government, mould not reduce him. Sir John 
 Clavering, Colonel Monfon, and Mr. Francis, 
 would have met with fewer difficulties, if they 
 had purfued the fame courfe. By a little ma- 
 nagement then, all the Judges, — fome of them 
 certainly, may be gained and influenced to be 
 paffive at leaft, if not to do whatever they are 
 bid, in any queftion, that touches the intereft 
 or authority of the government, or where it 
 may be the object of a prevailing party in the 
 Council to run down, and ruin an obnoxious 
 individual. But what will become of their 
 boafted judicial independance ? To what pur- 
 pofe has Parliament, and the King's Charter of 
 Juftice fo exprefsly limited their falary and 
 emoluments to a fpecific fum ? Or what end 
 could it anfwer of benefit to the public, to 
 maintain a judicature, which muft have loft all 
 
 credit,
 
 ( *9 ) 
 
 credit, refped and dignity in the eyes of the 
 People ? 
 
 When you have read thus far, you will na- 
 turally fay, that it is an eafy matter to find 
 fault ; — but where lies the remedy ? The 
 queftion is obvious and proper, and I will 
 honeftly confefs to you, that I am not qualified 
 to anfwer it. 
 
 To provide a code of laws, and a form of ad- 
 miniftring juftice to any fingle nation, ordiftinct 
 fociety of men, might not be a very difficult tafk, 
 fupp'fing it firft known what religion they pro- 
 feffed, and what form of government they were 
 fubject to. A lawgiver, with that information, 
 would require no other guide, in any country in 
 the world but Bengal. Here he would find diffi- 
 culties of a more complicated nature to contend 
 with. If he attempted to adapt one fyftem, or 
 the principles of any one fyftem of laws, and 
 one plan of adminiftring juftice to theoppofite 
 manners, religion, and principles of gentoos 
 and mahometans, who are the mafs of the peo- 
 ple, and of Europeans, who are the governing 
 power, — I am fure he would meet with endlefs 
 difficulties in the attempt, and that his laws, 
 and his judges would have infinite injuftice to 
 anfwer for. The fubje£t matter is too complex, 
 
 and
 
 ( 3° ) 
 and involves too great a variety of difcordanfc 
 elements, to be governed by the fame general 
 principles, or to be compounded into one mafs. 
 I do not conceive, that chit could have been 
 the intention of Parliament in erecting the 
 Supreme Court of Judicature, though in effect 
 the Judges have fet no limits to tneir jurildiction, 
 at leaft none to confine it, but have meafured 
 men of all lengths and dimenfions in the fame 
 iron bed, and forced them to fit it. Whatever 
 the plan was, there is an evidenc neceffity, that it 
 mould now be reviewed. I know the difficulty 
 of tafk ; — better perhaps than fome, whofe 
 language and opinions about it, are more de- 
 cided than mine. Abftract reafoning may be 
 conclufive on fpeculative queftions, but is 
 not to be trufted alone in the conduct of human 
 affairs. If experience does not politivcly tell 
 us what ought to be done, it goes a great way in 
 telling us that ought to have been avoided. Mine, 
 I hope, will enable me to propofe fome partial 
 improvements, without pretending to form a 
 plan, that would even fatisfy myfelf compleatly, 
 much lefs to fecure it againft the cavils of law- 
 yers. 
 
 I do not affirm or believe, that the abufes 
 which are fuppofed to be nearly coeval with" 
 our acquifitions in Bengal, and to have been 
 
 rather
 
 ( 3i ) 
 
 rather aggravated than corrected by the efta- 
 blifhment of the Supreme Court of Judicature, 
 admit of a complete and perfect remedy. It 
 is not reafonable to expect that the adminiftra- 
 tion of juftice, in a conquered and inflaved 
 kingdom, efpecially if (ituated at an immenie 
 diftance from the feat of empire, and from the 
 fource of redrefs, can be fo pure and uninter- 
 rupted, as it is or may be near the fountain- 
 head. The bill for regulating the Company's 
 affairs in Bengal, announced a plan of fudden 
 reformation, which, confidering the ftate of the 
 object, the parliament or miniftry had no reafon 
 to think practicable, and has therefore mifcar- 
 ried in almoft all its profeft views. As the world 
 is actually constituted, the firfl part of wifdom, 
 employed in the choice and arrangement of 
 public meafures, is not to aim at more than is 
 apparently attainable. A judicial inflitution, 
 more than any other, of which the ex- 
 ecution is not or cannot be carried up com- 
 pletely to its principles, not only fails fo far 
 forth of its purpofe, but is the caufe of direct 
 and pofitive mifchief ; fince it accufioms men 
 to expect that laws, which are not ilnctly exe- 
 cuted, will not be executed at all, and of courfe 
 to undervalue every legal reftraint on their 
 actions. The terror of the heavieft penalties 
 makes no impreffion, when it is leen that in 
 effect they are never inflicted, or that the 
 
 grealejl
 
 C 3* ) 
 
 greatejl criminals have nothing to fear frorti 
 them. From this general reafoning, as well as 
 from an experience of fix years, I am convin- 
 ced, that the penal provifions of the regulation 
 bill will at no time be executed at Bengal, or 
 any where elfe. Hitherto mod afluredly, it has 
 not had the effect of checking or punifhing any 
 of thofe offences which were fuppofed to re- 
 quire the immediate attention of Parliament, and 
 the drifted coercion. But it does not follow, 
 that, becauie perfection is unattainable, or a 
 thorough and entire reformation impracticable, 
 fome effential good may not be accomplished 
 by prudeut and moderate meafures, carefully 
 proportioned to their object, compared with 
 the probability of fuccefs, and adjuded to the 
 fituation of the country in which they are to 
 operate, and to the manners and circumdances 
 of the people in whofe favour, and for whofe 
 benefit they are contrived. A reformation un- 
 dertaken on moderate principles, and which 
 does not alarm or excite the whole, or too 
 powerful a part of the community to oppofe 
 it, may advance by degrees, and infenfibiy lay 
 a foundation for greater improvements. If it 
 be uncandid to prefume that the moral charac- 
 ter of our fellow -fubjects in Bengal was fud- 
 denly corrupted, it would be equally vain and 
 unreafonable to expect that it can be fuddenly 
 purified by an act of power, or that no grada- 
 tions
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 tions of improvement are necefiary to recover 
 its original integrity. I would not in any in- 
 fiance recommend an unprepared and rapid 
 tranfition from the extreme of relaxation, to that 
 of leverity ; becaufe I am fure that the latter 
 will foon ceafe to aft, if it ever acts at all ; and 
 that thofe who are flartled at firft by the ap- 
 pearance of coercion, will fpeedily rclapfe into 
 their former fecurity, and with greater confi- 
 dence, than if they had never been alarmed. 
 
 With this limited object in contemplation, 
 and neither deceiving myfelf, nor wifhing to 
 deceive others with the profpect of improve- 
 ments which the nature of ihe thing will not 
 admit of j- I would lay my foundation on a few 
 fimple principles, and from thefe endeavour to 
 erect a plain, ufeful edifice. I would no more 
 th'ink of introducing the laws of England gene- 
 rally into Bengal, than I would the orders of 
 Grecian architecture. The natives would nei- 
 ther ufe them in building, nor even admire 
 them for their beauty. Mud and draw are 
 fuited to the climate, and anfwer all their pur- 
 pofes much better. 
 
 Firft then, I deem it a capital error of policy 
 
 to attempt to govern an Afiatic province through 
 
 the medium of agovernment,which is itfelf fub- 
 
 ject to the controul of another power, co-exiftent 
 
 F with
 
 (-34 ) 
 with it on the fpot, independant of it in all 
 cafes, and fuperior to it in many. A fyftem 
 of checks and balances may be wifely calculated 
 for another meridian. In Afia it divides, and 
 by dividing diffolves that union of power, which 
 is the firft ftep to iecure the refpect, the obe- 
 dience, and even the attachment of the people -, 
 all which they proportion to the fuppofed 
 ftrengih of the hand that is held over them, 
 and the maintenance of which ought to be the 
 prime object of the governing power. If we 
 do not mean to keep our conquefts, why fhould 
 we conquer ? and how are millions to be go- 
 verned by hundreds, if the fame principles, on 
 which the fuperior ftate acts to its fubjects at 
 home, are applied to its foreign acquifitions ? 
 They may be proper for colonies, but not for 
 conquefts ; at leaft not in Afia. I do not mean 
 that the inhabitants of Bengal are not entitled 
 to fecurity, juftice, and protection. Thefe ob- 
 jects may be fufficiently provided for, without 
 lowering the government in the eyes of the 
 people, or levelling the Europeans with the na- 
 tives. If not, they muft be relinquished ; — un- 
 Iefs it fhould be thought better policy, as it 
 would evidently be more humane, to defert the 
 dominion, and renounce all power over a people 
 whom you cannot govern with juftice. I know 
 how that queftion will be determined, when- 
 ever
 
 C 35 ) 
 £v z r it occurs. At prefent, we are Dot re- 
 duced to it. 
 
 Secondly : Taking ground on the preceding 
 principle, I fay, that every power in thefe pro- 
 vinces fhould be fubordinate to that in which 
 the CTOvernment is veiled, whether it be in one 
 perfon, as properly it ought to be, wiih the af- 
 fiftance of a feparate counci 5 , or jointly in a go- 
 vernor and council, as at prefent. This fupe- 
 rior power, tho' accountable at home, fhould be 
 confidered as the fountain of juftice in Bengal ; 
 and to this all appeals fhould lie. It fhould 
 be the laft refort, at leaft to the natives. If it 
 be faid that fuch power is too great to be 
 trufted to the governor and council, I might 
 with equal reafon afk, why fhould it be trufted 
 to the judges ? In whatever hands you fix the 
 laft refort or higheft power of the ftate, a pro- 
 portionate truft will necelTarily attend it ; for 
 who is to keep the keepers ? Now, without 
 meaning to impeach or undervalue a profcfiion 
 that ftudies and teaches a fcience unconnected 
 with morals, I have a right to prefume, that five 
 gentlemen of rank and character, in any other 
 line of life, are as likely to be honeft men, as 
 four lawyers, luppofing the whole to be taken 
 by lot, at a venture. This, I think, is fpeak- 
 ing with moderation. The ruling power at 
 home muft be in fault, if proper perfons are 
 
 F 2 not
 
 ( 3« ) 
 
 cot emploved in both departments. As to the 
 appeal to bngland, allowed by the charter, I 
 deem it no better than a mockery ; except fo 
 far as it fbppofes and admits that wrong may 
 be done by the Judges. To the natives it 
 furely cannot be thought a remedy againft a 
 judgement of the Supreme Court, therefore 
 fhould not be held out to them. The appeal 
 from the Court mould lie to a higher power on 
 the fpot. When no appeal lies but from Ben- 
 gal to England, it is in vain to fay, efpecially 
 to a native, that the law allows it. In effect, 
 there is no appeal, and the Judges determine in 
 the laft refort. If another limitation to the 
 power of the Judges, which I mean to recom- 
 mend, fhould be adopted, the tafk of hearing 
 appeals will not be too difficult or too heavy 
 for the Governor General and Council. ]f they 
 are qualified for their own immediate offices, 
 they will have learning enough for this addi- 
 tional duty ; at leaft as much as the Lords of 
 the Council in general poffefs. 
 
 A right choice of men is the next confidera- 
 tion •, — in theory lefs difficult than that of 
 meafurts~ but infinitely more difficult in fact; 
 becaufe it is more liable to be governed by mo- 
 tives that too often miflead the befl of us j — by 
 friendfhip, intereit, partiality, or prejudice ; if 
 not by cabal or corruption. Yet reafon will 
 
 have
 
 C 37 ) 
 have ferved us to little pnrpofe in dictating wife 
 meaiures, if paflion be confulted in providing 
 for the execut on of them. None but men cf 
 diftinguifhed character mould ever be appointed 
 to the council of Bengal. The higher their 
 rank in life the better. Their falaries ought 
 to be great, in order to engage men of proper 
 rank and qualifications to undertake the fer- 
 vice -, — to place them above temptation •, — to 
 enable them to maintain an appearance fuited 
 to their ftation, and finally to fecure to them a 
 liberal reward of their labours. The prefent 
 falaries of the governor general and council are 
 not fufficient for thefe purpofes. On this condi- 
 tion, men of proper talents and reputation might 
 eafily be found for fuch honourable offices, if ic 
 were ferioufly determined to employ no others. 
 Without defcending to peribnal objections, the 
 above defcription of thofe, who ought to be 
 employed, fhould be adhered to as exclufive. 
 There are clafTes too and characters of men, 
 v/hich ought to exclude without exception. It 
 would look inyidious to name them, and I fear 
 it would be ufelefs. This is not a fubject, on 
 which common place arguments, abftracted 
 from facts, mould be allowed any weight. We 
 mud judge of men and their character, and of 
 the probable confequences of trufting them witli 
 power, by fpecific obfervation and experience. 
 No general reafoning will warrant a conclufion, 
 
 that 
 
 354719
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 that whole bodies of men are to be rejected ia 
 the mafs j and yet fuch a conclufion may be 
 well founded in fact, and not unjuft to the par- 
 ties, as long as its operation is negative. The 
 diftinction between punifhing and not trufting, 
 belongs to the policy of every government, and 
 is not inconfiftent with its juftice. Our own 
 laws eftablifh and avow it in the cafe of feveral 
 clafles of men, who are inoffenfive if not merito- 
 rious members of the community. The young- 
 er generation of the company's fervants muft 
 fubmit among others to an exclufion, dictated 
 by the fituation they are placed in. Admitting 
 them to be uncorrupted by example, and that 
 fome of them might in time be qualified for a 
 feat in council, (which confidering their educa- 
 tion, is not very probable,) ftill their having 
 Hood low in that fervice is a valid objection to 
 them. Among men fo lately their equals, they 
 cannot command that refpect, without which 
 the authority neceffary to their ftation and the 
 dignity of their rank are not to be maintained. 
 Notwithstanding this exception ; their prof- 
 pects are fufficiently flattering. No other fer- 
 vice holds out fuch rewards to induftry and 
 merit. 
 
 On the whole, 1 do not hefitate to fay that, 
 if the higheft human genius, and if all the wif- 
 dom of the nation were to be employed in pre- 
 
 paring
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 paring a new arrangement for the government 
 of Bengal, every hope of fuccefs from it would 
 depend on the choice of the men, who were to 
 carry it into execution. They muft have induf- 
 try and abilities, they muft have virtue and re- 
 folution. Unembaraffed and uncorrupted them- 
 felves, they would be free and able to correct 
 the offences of others. Their perfonal qualifi- 
 cations would fupply many defects of fyftem j4- 
 but if the defect be in the men, no fyftem can 
 cure it. 
 
 With refpect to the punifhment of abufes in 
 Bengal, if ftill within reach, and the future pro- 
 tection of the natives, fome examples are unques- 
 tionably neceffary to be exhibited in the perfons 
 of a few difiinguijhed offenders for the honour of 
 the nation, and to fatisfy thofe whom it con- 
 cerns, that the difcipline of the Englifh ftate is 
 not irretrievably relaxed. For the reft, I am in- 
 clined to think that mild and rational institu- 
 tions will go farther in improvement, than ftrict- 
 er inquiries into things already done, even fup- 
 pofing fuch inquiries to fucceed in obtaining 
 the pofitive proofs required by law in criminal 
 cafes, and to be followed, as they ought to be 
 by proportionate penalties. They, who think 
 the attempt advifable, fboulJ confider carefully, 
 before they make it, what nerve and vigour is 
 (till left in theEnglilh conftitution, and whether 
 
 the
 
 ( 4o ) 
 
 the condition of men and things at home will 
 admit of and fupport a rigid fcrutiny into the 
 conduct of men in ftation abroad. The examina- 
 tion, profecuted by the houfe of commons a few 
 years ago into the management of the company's 
 affairs, ended in making their own weaknefs or 
 want of virtue as manifeft to the world, 'as it did 
 any of the abufes, into which they inquired. It 
 difcovered and exhibited the means, by which 
 many individuals without a merit of any kind, 
 had rapidly amaffed unbounded wealth, and left 
 them undifturbed in the poflefllon and enjoy- 
 ment of it. This, I conceive, was doing a pofi- 
 tive injury to fociety. To convict and not to 
 puniih conftitutes an amnefty of the worft fort, 
 becaufe it eftablifhes and leaves no doubt of the 
 crimes, to which impunity is annexed. They 
 had better be buried in oblivion, than brought 
 forward into the face of juftice, if they are then 
 to be difmifiTed without the penalty they defervo. 
 It is a bad fymptom of the condition of the 
 itate, when the magistrate is obliged to wink at 
 enormous ofFences ; — but the cafe is defperate, 
 when, coming avowedly into view, they are per- 
 mitted to elude his authority, or to triumph 
 over it. 
 
 The firft and principal alteration, which I 
 would recommend in the powers of the court, 
 is to eftablifh the trial by jury in civil caufes, 
 
 as
 
 ( 4i ; 
 
 as it is eftablifhed in the criminal department. 
 This Tingle alteration would open the way to 
 many improvements, both of ceconomy and dif- 
 -patch, and facilitate theadminiftration of juftice 
 on the fpot, without a tedious ineffectual ap- 
 peal to England. The European inhabitants 
 of Calcutta are, by this time, lufficiently nume- 
 rous to relieve one another in the duty of jury- 
 men. At leaft there are idlers enough in this 
 town for the ordinary bufineis of the court. In 
 caufes of greater magnitude, ipecial juries may 
 be fummoned. They have requefted it them- 
 felves, and cannot complain of any labour, that 
 may attend it. At prefent, I fuppofe, three 
 fourths of the time of the court is employed, or 
 rather loll, in taking down the depofitions in 
 writing. One can hardly conceive a more ridi- 
 culous ceremony, than that of obliging an Hin- 
 doo- or Mahometan to fubferibe to what he is 
 told is his depofition in b.nglifh. As long 
 as the judges find the facts, this method muft 
 be obferved ; in order that the evidence, talis 
 qualis, may be produceable before the court of 
 appeal •, but, no appeal lying from a verdict, 
 it would become unneceffary. I do not 
 believe that the court would often have rea- 
 fon to queftion or diiapprove of the conduct of 
 a jury, or not oftener than it happens in Eng- 
 land. Juftice in general would be done. Heavy 
 damages, it may be fuppoied, would not be 
 G given
 
 ( 42 ) 
 
 given to natives, in cafes of mere peculation,, 
 againtt Europeans, for the reafons 1 have before 
 alluded to, Neverthelefs, I do believe that, 
 in grois cafe.'-, efpecially of oppreffion, and with 
 a wc-ii cnoien jury, damages would be given. 
 Cafes of that nature, however, are very rarely 
 brought forward •, ofcourfe the virtue of juries 
 will fcldom be tried in fuch inftances, no more 
 (than that of the judges has been hitherto. — Nor 
 do 1 lee how the objection is cured by trufting 
 four judges, or a ficticious majority of four 
 judges, with the power of determining the fact 
 as -a ell as the law j unlefs you fuppofe them to 
 be exenspt fom all human frailty, partiality, 
 •\or paffi .n. / do not admit the iuppoiiiion, 
 becaufe I know the contrary to be true of our 
 prelent judges, and becaufe I know no unan- 
 fweiable reaion why a lawyer mould be an 
 honeiter man than any of his neighbours. If a 
 juryman be fufpecled, he may be removed by 
 challenge •, but though I mould know one of the 
 judges 10 be my mortal enemy, I cannot challenge 
 him •, — he mult ftiil be both my juryman and 
 my judge ; th^t is, my enemy may firft find me 
 ry, then punifh me at his pleafure. — Again, 
 iri finding the facts, a jury mult be unanimous, 
 becaufe the lawfuppofes that the facts, on which 
 a verdict is founded, are clearly one way or 
 ot her, and that twelve men of fair cha- 
 racter, on their oaths, will not readily conc«r in 
 
 finding
 
 ( 43 ) 
 finding a falfe verdict. How different is the 
 cafe in the fupreme court ! They are but four, 
 and yet they need not be unanimous to coniti* 
 tute the judgment of the court. Two of the 
 puifne judges may find the fact or declare 
 the law in one way, yet the opinion of the other 
 two by virtue of the chief juftice's calling voice, 
 without a real majority or preponderance of 
 opinions, may determine and give judgment in 
 another. Before the death or Mr. Lemaiftre, 
 we have often feen thi bench divided in this 
 manner, and the opinions on caih fide main- 
 tained with a great deal of indecent heat and 
 afperity. Wnenever this happens, it follows 
 that it is an equal chance whether juftice or 
 injuftice be done oy the judgment, uniefs the 
 Chief Juftice be infallible, which poffibly may 
 not be granted by thofe who know him, and, 
 if it were granted, he would have no occafion 
 for afieflbrs. One infallible opinion ought to 
 outweigh any multitude of votes. His voice, 
 confidered merely as a carting voice, adds 
 nothing to the authority of his opinion. The 
 purpofe of it, in point of doing juftice, might 
 be as well anfwered by a caft of the dye or any 
 other appeal to the decifion of chance. If a 
 point of law be fo doubtful, as bond fide> to 
 balance equally the opinions of four learned 
 men, it ought to be left undecided, (which 
 fometimes happens in Weftminfter Hall, where 
 G 2 neither
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 neither of the Chief Juftices is allowed a calling 
 voice), or it mould be referred home to the 
 determination of the twelve judges. You fee 
 how much the meafure I recommend would at 
 once facilitate and quicken the difpatch of bu- 
 finefs on the common law fide. I have alfo no 
 doubt that juftice would on the whoie be much 
 better done by a jury and judges, that it is or 
 can by Judges alone, who have another office 
 to execute, as well as their own. i he latter 
 would perform their proper part more fleadily 
 and more refolutely, when they found them- 
 felves relieved from the invidious duty of award- 
 ing damages, which, being reftored to a fluctu 
 ating judicature of twelve indifferent perfons, 
 would not dwell long enough or fall heavy 
 enough on any individual, to make him an 
 objed of private enmity or public odium. 
 The adminiftration of juftice by a jury gene- 
 rally carries the public opinion along with it, 
 or at Ieaft hiences complaints. But the public 
 opinion is iticlf effentially neceflary to give con- 
 fidence to the Judges, to give vigour to the 
 laws, and to fupport the execution of them. 
 
 One would think that they, who transferred 
 the office of the jury to the bench in civil 
 actions, had not courage to look their own 
 principle in the face, or they would at once have 
 pulhed it as far as it would go. The trial by 
 
 jury
 
 ( 45 ) 
 iury is as much the right of a Britifti fubjcct 
 in an action for damages, as in an indictment 
 for felony, nor can any caufe be afligned for 
 trying the former by the bench only, which 
 will not pari rati one extend to the latter. This 
 argument will be found to cut in every direc 
 tion. If Juries are itill thought worthy of the 
 higheft truft in the administration of Juftice, 
 why are they deemed unworthy of it in a lower 
 inftance ? or if they are not to be trufted with 
 the power of giving damages in civil actions, 
 much lefs ought they to be trufted with that 
 of life and death. — Vice verfd, if the Judges 
 are competent to try all other queftions and 
 give damages ad libitum, (by which though 
 they do not take away a man's life, they may 
 make it a burthen to him) on what principle 
 do you deny them the power of deciding that 
 fuch a felony was or was not committed ? — If 
 you fay that the truft would be too great or 
 the power too invidious, I fnould agree with 
 you, becaufe you would then argue on my prin- 
 ciples, not your own. The confequence of 
 mine is that the truft is equally improper j — That 
 of yours, that it is equally proper in both cafes. 
 Arbitrary power may apply different principles 
 to fimilar cafes, and force may filence oppofi- 
 tion. But until that power (hall declare itfelf 
 and that force (hall be avowedly employed, men 
 will expect reafon and confiftency in the acts 
 
 of
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 of the legi Hatnre, or thofe acts will foon be 
 defpifed and difobeyed. With refpedl to Bengal, 
 this is no time to talk of force. 
 
 In the inftitution of the Court of Equity, I 
 am ftruck with a contradiction, which to my 
 underftanding no technical reafoning can re- 
 move. That the fame perfons fhould be Judges 
 in the Courts of King's Bench and Chancery, 
 and that in the latter they fhould hold out relief 
 againft their own judgment in the former •, that 
 in the former the fame Judges mall give judg- 
 ment in favour of the plaintiff, and in the latter 
 of the defendant, is a palpable abfurdity, not 
 to be cleared up to the real fatisfaction of the 
 
 human mind. Videant doRiores. 1 fee the 
 
 abufe, though not learned enough to propofe a 
 remedy. But, when fuch flrides were taken in 
 erefting a Court of Juftice in Bengal on prin- 
 ciples unknown to the Englifh conftitution, and 
 with powers unheard of in Weftminfter Hall, 
 I can difcover no good reafon why the pov/ers 
 of the Court of Chancery, or fuch of them as 
 might be necefTary for obtaining evidence of 
 every fort, were not at once given to the fu- 
 preme Court as a Court of King's Bench. This 
 indeed would have been a real improvement in 
 the adminiftration of juftice. They, who fee 
 no good reafon for omitting it, may fufpeft 
 there was a very bad one, viz. to encourage li- 
 tigation,
 
 ( 47 ; 
 
 ligation, and to favour the fortunes of advo- 
 cates, attorneys, &c. at the expence of the 
 fuitors. — As the Court is now constituted, a 
 man, who is caft at common law, is advifed to 
 begin again in the Court of Chancery, with the 
 fame council, the fame attorneys, and the fame 
 judges. The fame caufe is refumed de novo, to 
 be tried in another form, and all his expences 
 doubled upon his head. 
 
 The charter does not fpecify in what manner 
 relief may be obtained againft an unjuft decree 
 on the equity fide. Suppofing it to be by appeal 
 to the Houle of Lords, as it is from the Court 
 of Chancery in England, what fortune is fuffi- 
 cient to encounter fuch accumulated expence !— 
 What human fortitude to contend with fuch 
 difficulties ! — What life to fee the end of them ! 
 
 If the Court of Common Law were directly 
 veiled with the powers of the Court of Chancery, 
 the whole evidence necefTary to conflitute a juft 
 and equitable as well as a legal decifion would 
 come at once before a jury, and determine their 
 verdict, and this would be final without appeal 
 or writ of error. Without difputing the inte- 
 grity of either jury or judges, the law of Eng- 
 land evidently places greater confidence in the 
 capacity of the former than of the latter to ex- 
 ecute their refpective duties, They do not fup- 
 
 pofe
 
 ( 48 ) 
 pofe that the jury can miftake in afcertaining the 
 facts, but they molt ftrongly fuppole that judges 
 may err in their explanation of the law. In 
 fnort, if by confolidating the two courts, and 
 by leaving the facts in all civil actions to be 
 afcertained and the damages to be awarded by a 
 jury, inconveniences fhould follow, which 1 am 
 not able to forefee, that alone is not a decifive 
 objection to the meafure, unlefs it be proved 
 that the preft-nt plan produces fewer inconveni- 
 ences and greater advantages. But this I 
 believe to be iinpoffible. It is a point, on 
 which common fenfe may be perplexed by 
 cunning argument, but can never be con- 
 vinced. 
 
 If the Court of Chancery fhould be continued 
 on its prefent footing, the appeal mould lie from 
 thence to the Governor General and Council, 
 who, I apprehend, will decide upon it full as 
 wifely and full as equitably as the Houfe of 
 Lords does in fimilar cafes. — To have no appeal 
 but to England is worfe than a mockery to 
 the fuitor. It is a grievance of the firft magni- 
 tude. 
 
 Whether thefe alterations be made or not, 
 there can be no neceflity for the office of Chief 
 Juftice. Two Judges would be fufficient to 
 relieve one another, and to provide againfl. the 
 
 accidents
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 accidents of fickneis or death. For the reafons 
 I have already affigned there fhould be no calling 
 voice. When the judges affume the office, they 
 fhould be governed by the principles of a jury. 
 In finding the facts at lead, their verdict fhould 
 be unanimous, without which there mould be 
 no judgment. 
 
 The power of refpiting and pardoning con- 
 victs fhould be lodged with the Governor Ge- 
 neral and Council. Had it been placed origi- 
 nally in their hands, the laws and juftice of 
 England would not have been flained with the 
 murder of Nundcomar. 
 
 They fhould have a power of appointing Juf- 
 tices of Peace in Calcutta, or wherever elfe that 
 office might be wanted. At prefent the Gover- 
 nor General and Council are themfelves ap- 
 pointed by act of parliament to be Juftices of 
 the Peace for the fettlement of Fort William, 
 and authorifed to hold quarter feffions therein : 
 an office totally incompatible with their ftation 
 and dignity, and equally inconfiitent w'th the 
 duties and privileges of their office. This ridi- 
 culous provifion, it might reafonablv be fuf- 
 peited, was foifted into the bill on purpofe to 
 exalt the Judges, and to degrade the Governor 
 General and Council, if the many blunders and 
 i\ overfights
 
 ( 50 ) 
 
 overfights, in the charter of juftice itfelf, did 
 not rather incline me to afcribe it to the negli- 
 gence and careleflhefs, with which that bufinefs 
 was conducted. Permit me to mention one 
 proof, out of manv, in fupport of this obfer- 
 vation, to fliew you how haltily the charter 
 mud have been drawn up, efpecially as the 
 inftance comes here in its proper place, and 
 has an immediate relation to this part of my 
 fubjecl:. 
 
 The claufe I allude to fays that, M to the end 
 " that the faid Court of Requells, and the faid 
 " Court of Quarter Sefllons, erected and efiab- 
 " limed at Fort William, by the charter of the 
 " 26th of George the Second, may better 
 *' anfwer the ends, &c. our will and pleafure 
 *' is, that all and every the faid courts and ma- 
 *' giftrates, lhall be fubject to the order and 
 * c controul of the Supreme Court of Judica- 
 * e ture •, to which end, the faid court may award 
 " and iffue various writs to fuch courts and 
 " magiftrates, and punifh any contempt or wil- 
 ** ful difobedience thereunto by fine and impri- 
 " fonment.'* 
 
 In the firft place, neither the Court of Re- 
 quefts, nor the Court of Quarter Seflions are 
 any where before mentioned in the prefent 
 charter, as they ought to have been, conle- 
 
 quently
 
 C 51 ) 
 
 quently the word /aid, applied to both, has 
 no reference, and ferves only to lhew that fome- 
 thing neceffary, and which the charter therefore 
 fuppofes to have been recited, is in fact omitted. 
 
 Secondly, the Court of Quarter Seffions, 
 creeled by the late King's charter, and which 
 the Supreme Court of Juftice is herein impow 
 ered to controul, does not exift, but is exprefsly 
 abolifhed by the prefent charter. That, which 
 now exifts, is under a particular clauie of an 
 act of parliament, and is to be held by the Go- 
 vernor General and Council newly created by 
 the fame act. 
 
 Thirdly, admitting, in contradiction to the 
 exprefs words of the prefent charter, that the 
 prejent Court of Quarter Seflions is the thing 
 meant and intended, without which admiflion 
 the whole claufe would be a jumble of nonfenfe, 
 another contradiction occurs, which no expla- 
 nation or fuppofition can reconcile. The act 
 of parliament fays, (and the charter repeats it) 
 that " nothing in this act fhill extend to fub- 
 " ject the perfon of the Governor General or of 
 •* any of the Council to be arretted or impri- 
 *' foned upon any action, fuit, or proceeding 
 " in the Supreme Court, except in cafes of 
 •• treafon or felony." — The act then appoints 
 the Governor General and Council to hold 
 H 2 Courrs
 
 ( 52 ) 
 
 Courts of Quarter Sefiions, and the charter im- 
 powers the Supreme Court to puniih them, as 
 Juitices of the Quarter Sefiions, for contempt 
 or difobedience, by fine and imprifonment, 
 though, as Governor General and Council, they 
 are not iubject to arrcft or imprifonment on any 
 account, unlefs for treafon or felony. —The con- 
 tradiction is grofs and palpable, and as ridicu- 
 lous as any thing can be, that difgraces a folemn 
 act of the crown, and expofes to contempt an 
 object, which ought to be refpectable. 
 
 The Governor General and Council may con- 
 tinue to be Juftices of Peace, not confined to 
 the fettlement of Fort William, but under a 
 commiflion coextenfive with that of the Judges, 
 for all the three provinces. The perfons, com- 
 miflioned by them to act as Juflices of Peace 
 in Calcutta, mould hold the quarter fefiions, 
 and they of courfe will be fubject to the controul 
 of the fupreme court, or may be made fo. 
 
 Suppofing the fupreme court to be continued 
 under the foregoing or any other limitations, it 
 is in the very firft degree efTential to the peace 
 of the country, the fecurity and honour of the 
 government, and even to the fupport of due 
 authority in the court itfelf, that the extent and 
 objects of its jurifdiction, mould be defcribed 
 and defined with fuch exactnels as to admit of 
 
 no 

 
 ( 53 ) 
 no pofllble queftion or difpute. Hitherto this 
 has not been done ; or it has been done with fo 
 much negligence, that in fact the Judges, under 
 one pretence or other, have made all men and 
 all things equally amenable to their jurifdiction. 
 The magiftrates of the country government, 
 the Naib Subadar, and even the Nazim himfelf, 
 are laid to be in the fervice of the Eaft India. 
 Company •, or it will do as well, if they ever 
 were in it. The Zemindar or Hindoo Land- 
 holder, whom they dare not directly affirm to 
 be fubject to their jurifdiction, is neverthelefs 
 obliged to appear and plead to it, and is every 
 day ferved with their procefs for that purpofe 
 in the moil diftant parts of the provinces.-— 
 After being dragged feveral hundred miles from 
 his family, detained for months in Calcutta, in 
 the hands of bailiffs and attorneys, to wait the 
 iflue of his plea, and probably ruined by their 
 extortion, the Court, with infinite candour, tell 
 him at laft that he is not fubject to their jurif- 
 diction, and that he may depart in peace. In 
 the mean time, he probably contracts debts in 
 Calcutta, which really fubject him to the Eng- 
 lifh law, and then his fate is decided, — perpetual 
 impnfonment, or perpetual diftrefs. Yet thefe 
 are the very people, whom the Judges of the 
 Supreme Court were fent out to protect. The 
 general intention of the act of parliament, and 
 the diftinChon it draws between the Europeans 
 
 and
 
 ( s\ ) 
 
 and their fervants, who are, and the native at 
 large, who are not fubject to the jurifdiction 
 of the court, is fufficently clear to any man, 
 who has no intereft ro ferve by giving it a falfe 
 conftn ction. Something more however mult 
 be done to fecure the law againft future mifin- 
 terpretation, and fome penalty fixed againft the 
 Judges, if they exceed the bounds of their law- 
 ful jurisdiction. Oiherwife, believe me, you 
 will fee the fame fcenes of conteft revived with the 
 government, and of clamour firft, and then of 
 refiftance, on the part of the people. When 
 it com* s to that point, the judges and their laws 
 will go down the river together. 
 
 The power of making rules, ordinances, &c. 
 for Calcutta, and the fubordinate fettlements, 
 may continue, as it is at preient limited by 
 Act of Parliament. But the Governor General 
 and Council fhould have a legiilative power 
 over the country at large, fubject only to the 
 approbation of the King in Council. They 
 fhould alfo have the fole powtr of erecting 
 inferior Courts of Juftice in the fmaller diftricts, 
 with appeal to the provincial Adawlets, and 
 from them finally to the Governor General and 
 Council as Sudder Adawlet, or Supreme Court 
 at Calcutta. — This power they exercife at pre- 
 fent, but not with fuch a clear and acknowledged 
 right to it, as to be fecure againft the cavils or 
 
 malignity
 
 ( 55 ) 
 malignity of the Judges, whofe favourite object 
 is, at all times, to lower and difgrace the govern- 
 ment, in oder to exalt themfelves in the eyes 
 of the people. The Supreme Court of Judica- 
 ture mould have no interference with or con- 
 troul over the country courts^ except in charges 
 for corruption, or for luch offences, as require 
 a proceeding by information or indictment. If 
 actions for damages are brought againfl the 
 fuperintendants or other magiftrates of thofe 
 Courts, the judgment itfelf mould be a fuffici- 
 ent plea in bar of fuch actions. If not, you 
 will get no man to prefide in the country Courts, 
 who is fit to be trufted. — Undoubtedly injuftice 
 may be done in thefe, as well as in the Supreme 
 Court •, but it mould be corrected by an appeal 
 to the Governor General and Council, whofe 
 bufinefs and duty it is, not only to reverfe all 
 erroneous judgments, but to punifh their offi- 
 cers or delegates if the occafion mould require 
 it, and mould not demand a more rigorous 
 proceeding. To fay that they will not perform 
 this duty, or that the judges alone are fit to be 
 trufted with it, is a gratuitous aflertion, to which 
 no man is bound to afient, who has not firft 
 fatsfied himfelf that, in the nature of things, 
 the Governor and Council cannot be honeft 
 men, or that four lawyers cannot be miftaken. 
 
 It
 
 APPENDIX- 
 
 Anno Secundo Georgii II, Regis: 
 
 £n Aft for the more ejfeftua! preventing and fur- 
 ther punifhment of Forgery ', &c . 
 
 I. To forge any deed* &c. felony without 
 benefit of clergy. 
 
 IL Penalty for perjury or fubornation of 
 
 perjury -houfe of correction within the fame 
 
 county for a time not exceeding feven years, . 
 
 or tanfportation to fome of his Majefty's plan- 
 tations. 
 
 III. Penalty for Healing exchequer orders, 
 tallies, &c. ■■ felony without benefit of clergy. 
 
 IV. Provided that nothing in this Aft con- 
 tained fhall extend, or he conjlrued to extend, to 
 that part of Great Britain caked Scotland. 
 
 £ I N I Sj
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 
 
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 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 Form L-l) 
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