'.sttsr to r< J -b<: upon J - eel UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES E R TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE CHARLES JAMES FOX, On the late DEBATES upon the DECLARATORY BILL in PARLIAMENT, and in LEADENHALL- STREET. BY AN INDIA PROPRIETOR, LONDON; PRINTED FOR JOHN STOCKDALE, OPPOSITE BURLINGTON-HOUSE, PICCADILLY. M.DCC.LXXXVI1I. [Price One Shilling and Six-pence.] J A * A LETTER, &c. S I R, YOU have long been reprefented as the champion of liberty in England. In the opinion of your friends you were facri- ficed a few years ago, becaufe you nobly refufed to confent to a diminution of that power, which we the people of England pofiefs in this happy conftitution. Govern- ment however had for fome time been car- ried on, notwithftanding your oppofition, j with a remarkable degree of unanimity ; and >1 even Mr. Fox, who cannot be fuppofed to | entertain very favourable fentiments for the ^ minifter, fpoke of his conduct at the com- A 2 menccmcnt .'154875 [ 4- ] menccment of the prefent feffion in terms of great approbation. The profpecl: has been fuddenly clouded, and I am free to confefs, that Mr. Pitt's popularity has lately received a blow, from which it will not immediately recover. I FEEL, I profefs, a very ftrong inclination to ftate to the public the true grounds of the late warmly-contefted difputes in Parliament, and in Leadenhall-flreet ; but before I pro- ceed I muil implore your pardon, if un- intentionally one libellous expreflion fhould efcape my pen. I had long conceived, in- deed, that fuch a requeft to Mr. Fox, of all men living, would have been unneceflary ; but after what has lately happened you will pardon me for making it ; and you will, I hope, receive it with indulgence. IT was impoffible, on an Indian cfueftion, to avoid a very full difcuffion of your cele- brated Bill; but it is with fome furprife I have heard it afferted out of doors, that what has recently happened is a full ju unification of that bill, and that your friends will go down to the next election with it in their hands, [ 5 1 hands, as their beft recommendation. From whence could fuch a delufion arife ? If I can truft my own ears, a majority of thofe gen- tlemen who divided with you, did fo upon terms which, though they do them infinite honour, can afford very little caufe of tri- umph to the avowed friends of Mr. Fox : They left Mr. Pitt becaufe they conceived that he was attempting to obtain a part of that patronage by fap, the whole of which Mr. Fox would have taken by ftorm. PERMIT me very fhortly to explain what you would have taken, and what Mr. Pitt has legally obtained. SINCERITY is amongft the firft of virtues that a flatefman can polfefs, perhaps it is the firfl. You are the only itatefman I ever knew or read of, who are fuppofed really to v pollefs fincerity. i I will therefore give you every credit which you can claim, for having fairly avowed in the month of November, 1783, that you would feize all the patronage of the Eaft India Company, both at home and abroad. 1 give you credit for flighting the advice of your friend Mr. Sheridan. You were [ 6 ] were right not to expunge that offenfive daufe. Money, fecurities for money, goods, houfes, warehoufes, down to locks and keys, were meant to be taken, and it was fair in you to ftate your meaning as roundly as poffible. May I not without offence, however, prefume, that you placed very great dependance upon a decided and powerful majority in Parliament ? You were bold when in your own opinion there was no danger. The Eaft India Company, ever an object of jealoufy in this country, and very juftly fo I freely allow, was peculiarly fo at the moment you brought in your Bill. She was defcribed as bankrupt, and not as bankrupt by the calamities of a war, in which the politics of Great-Britain had in- volved her ; but her diilrefTes were fuppofed to arife from grofs mifmanagement abroad, and from corrupt connivance at home.- Such was the advantage with which you began the attack. Let me now review very fhortly the forces which you brought into the field to fupport you in that attack. EARLY in the year 1783, you forced from his Majefty's councils the Marquis of Lanf- downe, [ 7 1 downe, and the Lord Chancellor. True it is, you had not ftrength to effect this by your own adherents ; you therefore called to your afliftance a man, whofe misfortunes I lament, and whofe private virtues I revere. That noble Lord, a hoft in himfelf, had many friends who looked up to him with gratitude for favours received : he had alfo many more friends of another defcription, who looked up to him for future favours. The gentlemen of both thefe defcription s re-echoed with vehemence, the godlike lenti- ment you uttered, " Inimicitia placabiles amiciticefempiterne" Lord Lanfdowne could not withftand fuch a combination. He faved England by a peace, and, as a reward for fo great a fervice, he was permitted to retire unmolefted to his woods. Of your own adherents, Sir, I ihall fay but little : amongft them are to be found men of extenfive property, not eminent for iuperior talents ; and men of no property, whofe companionable qualities endear them to all who know them. Thefe defcriptions of perfons compofed a large majority in the late [ 8 1 late Houfe of Commons, on whom you could depend, as long as his Majefly continued you in office. WHEN your fcheme was opened, the country took the alarm : but thofe who had had a nearer opportunity of examining the conduct of minifters, trembled for the con- ftitution. It was aflerted on the one hand, and not contradicted on the other, that your bill aflbmed all the patronage and all the commerce of the Company in every part of the world. The only fecurity we had againft an abufe of fuch vaft powers, was in the irreproachable characters of your commif- fioners - f a majority of them were left to you as a legacy by the late Marquis of Rocking- ham. Earl Fitzwilliam was his nephew and his heir ; Mr. Montague, Mr. Gregory, and Sir Henry Fletcher, were ftrenuous members of that party. Let me therefore, Sir, ftating what the Marquis did, aflume for a moment, that they would have followed his example. One great fecurity againft corrupt patronage in India is, that the officer and the civil fervice rife by feniority ; and though abufes may prevail, and doubtlefs have prevailed, 2 even [ 9 3 even where this rule is obferved, (till it is the beft poffible fecurity that can be devifed againfl the corrupt exercife of patronage. But fo far was the Marquis of Rockingham and his friends above the pain of beftowing a moment's attention upon the juft rights of the Company's fervants, that in one day, in the year 1782, nine young majors were V promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonels in India only, and nine young lieutenant- colonels to the rank of colonels in India only; thereby effectually precluding the old officers of the Company from every poffibility of command and diftinclion in their own fervice. IN the fame year, 1782, the Marquis of Rockingham, at the requifition of Mr. Burke, agreed to the appointment of his coufin Wil- liam Burke to the office of pay-matter of the king's forces in India. This was, in fact, the creation of a new and ufelefs office ; and it was beftowed upon a man who had flolen out to India againft law; who at the time was the avowed agent of an Indian Rajah, and was abfolutely incapacitated for fifteen months after he received the nation's money, B from t w ] from executing any fervice in return, fup- pofmg there had been any thing for him to do. SIR Henry Fletcher, for the purpofes of patronage, and patronage only, overloaded all the eftablifhments of the Company in India, civil and military, when the war was actually at an end. The confequence is, that fmce 1783 to this day, neither a writer nor a cadet has been appointe^. Now, Mr. Fox, may I not fairly prefume, from thefe inftances, that when the whole civil and military patronage of India was thrown into the hands of that party which had abufed, as far as they could abufe, the powers formerly entrufted to them, may I not fuppofe, I fay, that with India at their feet, they would have ufed it for the pur- pofes of their own ambition and future fe- curity ? The conclufion is evident. WITHOUT entering into any invidious examination of the characters of thofe who compofed what is called the Coalition Ad- miniflration, I may fairly fay, that they were in [ II ] Lii general men of defperate fortunes. I do not mean the Cabinet, though even there I could point out fome who with great landed property were univerfally known to have been involved in pecuniary difficulties ; but I mean principally the fecond and third ranks, the efficient men of that adminiftra- tion. Of thefe there were many of family, without fortune ; and many without either family or fortune. To fuch men, conceive for a moment what a mine was opened. A thoufand guineas was publicly offered for a writer's appointment : and if, according to Mr. Burgoyne's expreffion on a former oc- cafion, the Company's fervice was rotten to the core, would you have been at a lofs for arguments to juftify a general removal ? Why, Sir, the incumbrances in Drury-lane and the Hay-market, and the mortgage upon a Buckingham/hire freehold, might have been cleared in a fortnight. In a word, Mr. Fox, your bill veiled fuch powers of patronage in feven men, as cannot be vefted in any men without ruin to this conftitution ; and the men in whom you did veft the power, were as likely, from the circumftances which I B 2 have have mentioned, to abufe that power, as any feven men in England. BEFORE your bill had gone through two branches of the legiflature, it was perfectly underftood : we heard, it is true, a great deal of nonfenfe about back ftairs, and fecret influence ; but the fact is now generally ac- knowledged, that the Marquis of Bucking- ham demanded an audience of his Majefty, and openly, avowedly, and unequivocally, gave his fentiments of the bill to the Sove- reign. It is generally acknowledged, that in fo doing the noble Marquis acted consti- tutionally ; and as to any means afterward* ufed to obtain a majority againft your bill, I fancy the activity on the one part could not exceed the industry on the other. I NOW come to Mr. PITT'S adminiftra- tion. On its firft formation, you predicted its duration not to exceed Twelfth Day; but the delufion, as you termed it, has been of long continuance. IN the month of Auguft, 1784, Mr. Pitt's bill was paflfed. This bill left to the Eaft- India f '3 ] India Company the entire management of its commerce. It left to the Company all appointments to offices, both at home and abroad. The minifter refufed what the Com- pany had agreed to concede to him, the power of appointing governors, and com- manders in chief. The bill vefted in a Board, to be nominated by his Majefty, the controul and direction of all powers, civil, military, and financial, in India. I PROTEST to you, Sir, that I do not conceive the imagination of man could frame a fyftem more perfect, attending at the fame time to that juft jealoufy as to the pa- tronage of India, which has marked this, and I trufl will mark every future Houfe of Commons. LET us, Mr. Fox, examine what effects this bill has produced. It pafTed in the month of Auguft 1784. In the March pre- ceding, the fword was completely fheathed in India. In that month, a peace was con- cluded with the laft, and the moft formidable of our enemies, Tippoo Sultaun ; and we had the fatisfaction to reflect, that through i an [ H ] an Arduous flruggle, againft an hoft of foes, India had been preferved to Great-Britain. AT one and the fame moment, ceconomi- cal retrenchments were forming in Great- Britain, and carrying into effect in India ; and although I am willing to allow the Board of Controul the merit of great attention to the affairs of the Eaft- India Company, yet I utterly deny them that merit which their partifans have aflumed for them, I mean the merit of faving to the Company a million and a half fterling in their annual expendi- ture in India. They have the merit of ap- proving what was done in India by the Com- pany's fervants, and in Great-Britain by the Court of Directors, and no more. IT cannot be denied, but that the King's minifter, or the commiflioners, for they are in fact the fame, poflefled that influence in the direction which minifters ever have pof- fefTed. In fad, the King's minifter has al- moft invariably appointed to the high fitua- tions in India. Mr. Haflings was four feve- ral times appointed governor- general of Ben- gal, by the legiflature, on the recommenda-, tiori [ -5 1 tion of Lord North. Mr. Wheler, Mr. Sta- bles, and Sir John Macpherfon, were ap- pointed members of the fupreme council, on the recommendation, or through the influ- ence of Lord North. The fame influence placed Sir Eyre Coote at the head of the army, and fent Sir Thomas Rumbold, and Sir Hector Munro to Madras : and it was once a very ftrong complaint which you, ^ Mr. Fox, made againfl your friend Lord Sandwich, that he had acquired fuch a cor- rupt influence in the Eaft-India Company, that he was enabled to counteract every effort which you made to remove him from the Admiralty. I AFFIRM, that miniflerial influence at the India-houfe has been lefs fince Mr. Pitt's bill pafTed, than at any former period. Gene- ral Sloper was appointed to Bengal, and Sir John Dalling to Madras, without any re- commendation from the minifter, and I be- lieve in direct oppofition to his wifhes. The fubfequent appointments of Earl Cornwallis, Sir Archibald Campbell, and General Mea- dows, were in fact Mr. Pitt's appointments, in the fame manner that Mr. Wheler's, Mr. Stables', C 16 ] Stables*, and Sir John Macpherfon's, were Lord North's. But is there no difference between allowing the Minifter to retain that fpecies of influence at the India- houfe, which a minifter always has Had, and throwing the entire patronage, both in India and in Great- Britain, into the hands of feven com- miffioners ? THE tranquillity that reigns in the Car- natic, the increafe of population and of cultivation, the extinction of parties, and the fatisfaclion fo ftrongly exprefled by the old Nabob, are proofs that the decifion as to his debts was a wife one. That many bonds were granted by the old man, not for money received, I believe ; but unlefs he will him- ielf difcriminate thofe from the reft, which he is earneftly defired to do, I fee not the poflibility of difcovering by any other means what bonds were bonajide granted for money received, and what were gratuitoufly given by the Nabob, to their original holders. THE next important aft in the adminiftra- tion of India, was that mofl falutary law, by which the powers of the revenues in India were [ '7 3 were confiderably enlarged. The beneficial effects of this fyflem we now experience. Great power, and great refponfibility are now lodged where they ought to remain. The patronage of India, is where only it can be fafely placed, in India ; and the legifla- ture has guarded, as far as human wifdom can guard, againft even an improper exer- cife of patronage in India. Offices and falaries are clafled attention to feniority is flriftly enjoined nor have I heard a lingle inflance of partiality in the difpofai of offices attributed to Earl Cornwallis fmce his ac- ceffion to the government. I COME now to that fubjecl: which has occalioned the late difcuffions in both Houfes of Parliament, and in Leadenhall-ftreet. AFTER Sir Archibald Campbell was ap- pointed Governor of Madras, he was employed to form the feveral military eftablifhments in India. Thefe were fubmitted to the Court of Directors, and are printed by order of the Houfe of Commons. Some Gentlemen in the Direction, whofe ideas differed from thofe of General Campbell, propofed that the C plans t '8 ] plans fhould be fubmitted to Mr. Hastings, who had lately returned from Bengal. His remarks are alfo printed : and his opinions coinciding with thofeof the Directors, it was determined to add one third to the number of Europeans in Bengal, more than thofe which Mr. Campbell had propofed. The Board of Controul demurred at firfl, but afterwards adopted the alterations ; and the eflablifhment of Bengal was fixed at about five thoufand Europeans, and thirty-fix battalions of Sepoys. GENERAL CAMPBELL'S eflablifhment for Bombay, was far beyond the ability of that unproductive ifland to fupport ; and for Madras, it was fo large as to abforb the whole of its revenues. Fortunately it is flill an eflablifhment upon paper only, and upon paper only I hope it will remain. LAST year, when we fully expected a war, the attention of the King's miniflers was naturally turned to India. Is it criminal in them to endeavour to correct an error as foon as they difcover it ? They did difcover, that the European force in India was too low, for the importance and value of that empire to Great- [ '9 1 Great-Britain, and for the dangers to which it might eventually be expofed. Now, Mr. Fox, let me put this plain; queftion to you. The Board of Controul in 1785, fix a military eftablifhment for India, in virtue of the powers veiled in them by law. The Directors think it too fmall at ' - Bengal ; they tell the Commiflioners they think fo; the Commiilioners confent to in- creafe the Europeans one-third. IN 1787, the Commiffioners think, with the addition of that third, that it is ftill too fmall a force, and they require a confiderable addi- tion. I afk you then, if they had the power to fix a fmall eftablifhment in 1785, had they not alfo the power to fix a larger in 1787, if upon better information, or from a more perfect knowledge of the fubject, they were enabled to correct their former errors ? A Itf fact, the true queftion is, not whether they had the power, but whether they c cifed that power properly ; whether they di did not facrifice the interefts of the Eaft-i Company, in adding fo many more I C 2 Oi'K officers to their eftablifhment ; and whether fuch additions were made from a patriotic attention to the public fervice, or from a wifh to increafe their own patronage. It is ex- traordinary that thefe queftions have never yet been argued. I will therefore aflume it as a fact, that from fome documents before you, of which I am ignorant, you were convinced that the Company could not have raifed eighteen hundred men in the month of October laft, and that the great difficulty of the whole is removed, by the arrangement that has taken place, as to the rank of the Company's officers, who, although they are not relieved to the full extent of their peti- tion, have received very great relief indeed ; and in one point, full and complete relief. ? I mean from that intolerable grievance which was impofed upon them by that adminiftra- tion, in which you bore a confiderable fhare, in 1782, when brevet local rank was granted * to twenty of his Majefly's field officers, IT was almoft impoflible in fo many fuc- ceflive debates on an Indian queftion, not to allude to a certain great caufe now depending in Weftminfler-Hall. In me, however, it would would be highly indecent to venture a word upon this delicate fubjecl: j but to a fimple matter of fact I may fpeak, and to that fact J am fure I (hall have your affent. Yoti have been reprefented as Handing forth in the prefent moment as the avenger of the wrongs of opprefled millions, and as relieving the miferies of thofe, who can only repay you by their prayers to Heaven. This is jargon, this is nonfenfe, Mr. Fox, which you have manlinefs enough to defpife for you know it is not true, in any one fenfe of the word. What you would have done, had your Bill pafied, I cannot prefume to fay ; but what Mr. Pitt has done I know, and I will proceed to ftate it. HE has raifed the flock of the Eafl India Company from one hundred and eighteen to one hundred and feventy j but I deny, that in fo doing, he has no more merit than what is due to him for raifing the three per cents, from fifty-five to feventy-fix. For if the preamble of your Bill were true, that diforders of an alarming nature prevailed in India, and were increafing, and that the affairs of India would fall into utter ruin, if a fitting a fitting remedy were not inftantly provided ; then to Mr. Pitt is due the credit of providing that fitting remedy. Will you accept this, or will you allow me to fay that your pre- amble was falfe ? One or the other I muft fay. THE real fact would be mofl unqueftion- ably, that had your preamble been true, the merits of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas are be- yond all praife. It could not be difputed, that they have found that " fit and becoming " remedy," which has prevented our affairs from falling " into utter ruins" and they would have the additional merit of having done all this, without giving the conftitution fuch a wound as it could never have fur- vived. Better India be loft, than that the liberties of Englifhmen be overturned. WE are now advanced to that particular ftage of Indian enquiries, which mocks all oratory. A pathetic fpeech may be made a lady may faint the mod exquifite forrow may be affected, when the imaginary fufferings of millions arc defcribed, by thofe who defpiie both the laws of God and man j who can fee the diftrefies of hundreds unmoved ; who, t 23 ] who, in many inftances, may occafion thofe diflrefTes, by contracting debts which they have not the moft diftant profpect of paying. Yet, Mr. Fox, the public judgment muft be governed hereafter by their opinion of facts, which fhall be proved beyond the power of contradiction. Let me try your preamble by this teft, and I challenge the whole world to contradict any one aflertion that i (hall make. ON the 1 8th of November, 1783, your preamble ftated, " that diforders of an " alarming nature and magnitude had long ce prevailed, and do ftill continue and in- " creafe ; and that the affairs of the Com- " pany would probably fall into utter ruin, *' if an immediate and fitting remedy were that is, that in all practicable inftances the lands fhall be let to Zemindars. In Bengal there are four very large zemindaries, Burdwan, Dinagapore, Rajefhay, and Nuddea. In the two firft, the zemindars are minors, the third belongs to a woman, and the fourth only can be managed by the zemindar himfelf. IN thefe, as in all the zemindaries, the amount of the fettlement, or rent, is fixed by government ; the zemindar has the firft op- tion, but if he refufes to take it, either the collection is made Rhafs, that is, govern- ment by its own officers collects the rents, or it is let to a farmer. At the prefent mo- ment, almoft the whole province of Bahar is let to farmers, by a fettlement formed by Mr, Mr. Shore ; and above one half of the pro- vince of Bengal is let to farmers. The late confutations are filled with inftances of the difpolleffion of iemindars, and the fale of their property, to make good their arrears of rent to government ; and almoft the laft re- venue act which we have received from Bengal, fanclioned by Lord Cornwallis, was the fale of a part of the zemindary of the Rannee of Rajefhay, becaufe (he had fallen in arrears in her rents. WHEN therefore Mr. Dundas aflerted, that the Board of Controul had given fecurity to the landholders in Bengal, I was much pleafed to hear you call out for the proofs of that aflertion. The landholders have, in fact, the fame fecurity for that fpecies of property which they hold in the land, that they have had at any one time. One very beneficial regulation they have indeed ordered to be enforced, but that regulation has been re- peatedly recommended from Bengal ; it is this, that the lands fhould be let at fixed rents, upon very long leafes. They have the merit alfo of refitting the ingenious rea- dings of a fpeculative man, Mr. James Grant, t 30 ] Grant, who has confidently afTerted, that the zemindars of Bengal have defrauded govern^ nient of a very large fum annually ; and they have the merit alfo (if my information on this point be true) of declaring that they will give the zemindars of Bengal certain rights in the foil, which the government of Bengal have lately declared they do not poflefs. FROM this fhort account it will appear clearly evident, that the Board of Controul have made no alteration in the revenue fyftem, except that which was recommended fome years ago from Bengal. IF you examine our foreign fyftem, you will find it precifely the fame that it has been for fome years pad. No, 'proportion has been made for the Federation of Cheyt Sing. On the contrary, the government of Bengal has, by the lad difpatch, afTured the Direc- tors, that the province of Benares is in a mod flourilhing ftate, and that the revenues will be fully realized. The Directors and the Board of Controul in. reply, have ex- preiled their great fatisfa&ion at this intelli- gence, [ 3i J gence, and defire every attention may be ufed, to prefer ve the intereft which the Company has in that valuable zemindary. LET us pafs on to Oude, and the exten- five dominions of the Nabob Vizier; you will iind that the fyftem eftablilhed the 31 ft of December, 1/83, has been rigidly ad- ^ hered to. We have received all arrears from the Nabob 3 we protect his dominions from foreign invafion, and he pays us for the forces employed for this purpofe, and all incidental expences, fifty lacks of ficca rupees. HYDER BEG KHAN, of whom we have heard fo much, is flill his minifter, and was v received by Earl Cornwallis with every pof- fible mark of attention and regard. AFTER this fliort detail, allow me to affirm, Mr. Fox, that Bengal was at no time in danger of falling into utter ruin ; that the temporary diftreffes to which it was fubject were occafioned by the politics of Great- Britain j and that by its owu vigour and exertions it Uad actually relieved itfelf from 4 thofe [ 3* 1 thofe diftreflcs, at the very moment when you perfuaded the people of England, that India was ruined, and when you funk the flock in one day from one hundred and thirty-five to one hundred and eighteen. A FEW words before I conclude upon the difference between the two celebrated Bills. We have the experience of four years that India can be preferved, and that it can fiourifh under the fyftem eflablimed by Mr. Pitt's Bill. We have the experience of two years, that the extraordinary powers granted to Earl Cornwallis and Sir Archibald Campbell, are in the higheil degree bene- ficial. Yet Mr. Burke told us, when they were granted, that they went to eftablifh defpotifm and arbitrary power. I have fince been alked by fifty people, " Don't you " think what Burke faid about arbitrary " power in Weftminfter-Hall, was vaftly cc fine?" Yet, though I abhor the idea of arbitrary power in Great-Britain, I know that our governments in India ever have pof- fefled, and ever muft poflefs it: and I am better pleafed that it fhould reft as it does t now [ 33 ] now, in a governor, than in fhe majority of a council. THE fyftem then, as perfected by Mr. Pitt, for the government of India, is this, that our governors, taking the refponfibility upon themfelves, fhould have the power of acting according to the dictates of their own judgment in all cafes of difficulty. THAT in the difpofal of offices in India, feniority fhould be attended to as ftrictly as poffible j but that at all events the patronage of India, fhould be difpofed of in India. THAT the patronage to be given away in England, fhould all be at the difpofal of the Court of Directors. By them all con- tracts for exports are made all offices at the India-Houfe are filled all fhips are ap- pointed to voyages- and when Sir Henry Fletcher's fupernumeraries no longer exift, by the Directors will all cadets and writers be appointed. PofTibly & member of the Board of Controul may be able to get a good Bengal voyage. I know we have a Henry Dundas, and a Melville Caftle, a Pitt, and E a Wil- [ 34 ] a William Pitt, a Lord Mulgrave, and a Lord Walfingham, amongft our fhips ; but it can only be by procuring the nomination of one of the Directors an influence which Lord North, and every other minifter en- joyed in the fame manner. BY your bill there was no check of any kind eftablifhed. Your commiffioners had the entire removal of every perfon in office, either at home or abroad. They had the power of making as many new appointments, or creating as many new offices, as they fliould think proper. They were fubject to no con- troul. The proprietors had the permiffion to aflemble once in three months, to hear their accounts read to them. The natural confequence of this great change would have been, that the patronage of India, and of Great-r Britain as connected with India, was gone from Leaclenhall-flreet for ever. I have not only my dividend to receive upon the prefent fyftem, but I may look forward to the appointment of a fon or a nephew to India hereafter, through my connections in Leadenhall-ftreet. Many other proprietors have the fame prbfpects. But could we, have gono [ 35 ] gone to Brooks's, to Drury-lane, or to Beaconsfield ? Yet we muft have gone there to folicit for appointments, had your Bill palled into a law. EVERY man who has the welfare of his country at heart, muft fincerely rejoice that the late ample difcuflions have taken place in Parliament. The country Gentlemen were alarmed, perhaps more than the occafion warranted ; yet if there was an error, it was on the fafe fide. It proves to me, that the Company's Charter muft be renewed ; nor can the imagination of man conceive any poflible mode by which India can be retained under the dominion of Great- Britain, unlefs through the medium of a company, without danger to our liberties. COLONEL BAR RE defcribed very juftly, and with great accuracy, the various channels into which the patronage at prefent ran. The minifter has called upon us to watch him and his colleagues j and there never will be wanting in this or in any future Houfe of Commons, men who will have fagacity .8548. [ 36 ] to detect every attempt that fhall be made by the Board of Controul, to encroach upon that patronage, which the law has placed in the hands of the Eafl-India Company. I am, SIR, Your moft obedient humble Servant, March 25, 1788. A PROPRIETOR of India Stock. This Day is f>u}KJt>t4j by J. STQCKDALE, Piccadilly , A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES's ISLAND, O R, PULO PEENANG, IN THE EAST-INDIES, Given to Captain LIGHT by the KING of QJJ E D A H. Ornamented with an elegant Engraving, Reprefetmng " A View of the North Point of the PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND, and the Ceremony of chriftening it." Taken on the Spot by E L I S H A T R A P A U D, Efq; Captain in the Engineer Corps on the Madras Eftablifh- ment. Alfo a CHART, including a Plan of the I/land. [Price 2$, 6d.] NEW BOOKS, Printed for JOHN STOCKDALE. i. O ERMONS on IMPORTANT and INTE- ^ RESTING SUBJECTS. By the Rev. Perci- val Stockdale. Price 6s. 2. HISTORY of VIRGINIA. By his Excellency Thomas Jefferfbn. In One Volume, 8vo. 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