L ■; ;■.' AN E N Ct U I R Y INTO THE o O F MAKING CONQ^UESTS FOR THE MAHOMETANS in INDIA, BY THE BRITISH ARMS; In ANSWER to a PAMPHLET, INTITULED "CONSIDERATIONS " O N T H E '* C O N QJLI EST OF TANJOR E." LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. DODSLEY, PALL MALL, 7 '^ 4 ?; 1 . MDCCLXXiX. 1 ^ A N E N Q^ U I R Y INTO THE POLICY, ^c. SECTION I. CbaraSter and merits of the Nabob prove ftothing in favour of his conqueji ofTanjore. — Can have no right to pojfefs himfelf of that country on account of the matters with which he charges the King of Tanjore. —-Nature of thofe charges. TH E fuccefs of the Biitifh arms in Hindoflan, during the I aft war, has brought us into very clofe connexions with many of the Princes of that coun- try, both Indian and Mahometan. Their feveral rights wholly depending upon the Britifh power, muft be finally determined upon by the Britifli juftice. Among the innu- merable controverfies concerning Indian claims, thofe of the King of Tanjore, and Mahomet Ali Khawn, Nabob of Arcot, have lately attrafted the greateft fliare of the public attention. B The 3547- i ^j> [ ^ 1 The contrail: between the proceedings of thefe two powers, which is very ftrongly marked in every refpedt, has been in no inftance more ftriking than in the manner of their feeking redrefs for the injuries they refpe6lively complain of. From the year 1769, if not from a more early period, the Nabob has engaged a number of perfons to a(5t for him In Europe, in a great variety of ways. Thefe gentlemen have endeavoured to recommend themfelves to their employer by their extraordinary zeal and activity in his fervice ; and their pretenfions to that kind of merit are not wholly without foun- dation. They have been indefatigable in their intrigues and publications. They have filled the world with many new topics of argument, and new narratives of fa6t. They have even been at the pains of correcting and amending hiftory ; in order to accommodate It to his views, and for the fake of fet- ting us right, not only with regard to his chara6ler and pre- tenfions, but even to his pedigree. Nothing on their fide has been wanting to form a party in his favour. He had great objects in view, which were not to be compaffed but by the arms of the Englifla. It was therefore natural, that nothing (houkl be omitted which might tend to obtain the authority, or at Icaft the connivance, of Great Britain, in the ufe, which he had already made, and which he was ftill in hopes of making, of the power of this kingdom in India. The King of I'anjore, on the other hand, having had no fuch viev.'S of conqucft, having nothing to expc6t from our force, and having for a long time no appreheniions from our violence, [ 3 ] violence *, was latisfied to prefervc lu:j intercourfe with this country, folely througli the ordinary channels of office. Three folemn treaties violated — two invafions — two plun- derings of his country — two years imprifonment of his perfon — made no alteration in his plan. He expelled juf- tice, in the ordinary courfe of bufincfs, from the authority that the nation has made competent to give it. He has in fome meafure found it ^ and it is to be hoped, that at length he will find it more perfectly. Not one perfon, during this long period of his fufFerings, has ever once endeavoured, on his part, to intereft: the public in hi? favour. If we have at all been apprifed of the injuries he has fuftained from his powerful neighbour, the Nabob of Arcot, it has incidentally arifen from the fort of propriety that others have felt of vindicating their own character, and their pubUc condua, from the afperfions of the active and vindictive par- tifans of the Nabob. It was this fenfe of honour that impelled the Direftors of the Eaft India Company, and the family of Lord Pigot, to make thofe appeals to the public, which have fully juftified the national wifdom in its a£l of juftice and found policy, the reftoration of the kingdom of Tanjore to its original and rightful owner. This extraordinary referve of the Tanjoreans, whether owe- ing to moderation or remiflnefs, has given the enemies of that * See the afTurances of Englifli protedion pledged to him. Company's Pa- pers, Appendix, No. 8. B 2 • unhappy [ 4 ] unhappy people great advantages over them. Befides the operation of direct agency againft them, the very channels of communication between India and Europe have been vitiated by being fecured by a party. Redrefs from a remote prote6lor is always tardy, and generally incomplete. It is a part of the reparation of old injuries to provide fome fecurity againft new ones . For the fiflions and fallacies which have produced former mifchiefs, when their ill foundation is forgotten, in the firft aft of redrefs, are, by the unceafing a6livity of ambition, frequently revived. This has been very lately the cafe, in the at- tempts to renew the exploded topics for eftabliftiing a fyftem of conqueft by Englifh arms, in favour of the Nabob of Arcot ; the conftant purfuit of which, for twenty years, has brought innumerable and unfpeakable calamities on all the fouthern part of Hindoftan, and reduced fo many conlider- able Princes, fuch numbers of refpe6table Nobility, and the induftrious inhabitants of fo many once flourifhing and opu- lent countries, to the laft degree of indigence and diftrefs, to fay nothing of the multitude of lives vi^hich have been loft in thefe extravagant enterprizes, which had their rife in this fatal defign. The humanity, the juftice and the honour of the nation, are interefted in the ufe which is made of the formi- dable pov/er it has acquired in the Baft; and we ought to leak carefully into thofe pretended j-ights of Princes and Conquerors, recommended to us in fuch a multipli- city of writings, whenever they arc to be exercifed by the 7 fubvcrfion [ 5 ] fubverfion of ancient and refpe,; fovereign and that people. It propofes that this fliould be adopted by, or forced upon, the Eaft India Company ; which is to be made the inftrument of a third revolution, in diredl: vio- lation of its own faith, mofl folemnly and recently given ; in vio- lation of terms prefcribed by the Company itfelf, and pun6tually complied with, in every particular, by the King of Tanjore. In an attempt againft pofTeflion fo fupported, in favour of a Pretender on the moft odious of all claims, afuppofed right of conquejl, the author ought to have done fomething more than repeat the arguments which have been fo often refuted. It is, I admit, no objection againft an argument, that it has been ufed before -, but then, in a renewed controverfy, the ad- verfe party is obliged to take the matter in its new flate. He is bound to confider the original argument and its anfwer to- gether, and, by fliewing the futility of the latter, to confirm, if he can, the former in its firft authority. Without fome ob- fervation of this rule, controverfies can have no end. The autlior of thefe " Confiderations" fets out with more profeflions of candour and decorum than, I think, I have ever met with in any political publication. But I muft beg leave to fay, that he fupports thefe profelTions very indif- ferently, and that he is neither very decent to his adverfaries, aor [73 nor very refpe6lful to his reader, in not attempting to reply to the anfwers that have been fo often made to the argu- ments he ufes. He is not to be fufFered to evade the per- formance of this indifpenfible duty, by telling us in a high tone *' * JVE have carefully avoided the difgufting paths «* of controverfy, the aflertions equally confident and un- «* founded, the quotations equal'y partial and inconclufive, " in fliort, the complicated arrogance and fallacy, in which «* fome writers on this fubje6t have indulged themfelves." That in " fome late publications, the writers jumbling ** together perfons and things, and mixing calumny with fo- ** phiftry, are generally poflefTed of a convenient inattention " to the fadts and arguments of their opponents." That '* their arguments are fupported by felf- references, " and their fails are proved by garbled appendixes." This profeffion of avoiding the paths of controverfy, in a contro'verted matter, is rather new ; and as to the charafter this author gives to fome other performances, how far it is applicable to his own mode of writing, rather than to that of his adverfaries, will be feen hereafter. But, fince he does not choofe to quote thofe whom he choofes in this manner to afperfe, it is necelTary the Reader fliould know who the writers are whom he treats with a contempt, which, however politic, is not very agreeable to the modelty and mo- deration he profeffes. The firft of thefe writers is Mr. Rous, a member of Parliament, and a barrifler of acknowledged * Confidcrations, pages 29 and 30. abilities [ 8 1 abilities and learning ; the accuracy and Judgment of whofe performance -j- has fully juftified the opinion the world had conceived of his talents. This gentleman, had he not been entitled to better treatment on account of his own ac- knowledged merits, had ftill a claim to fome fort of atten- tion from the authority under which he writes. His work is undertaken with the fanftion, and by the exprefs defire of the Dire6lors of the Eaft India Company. He is fupplied with his materials out of their records, and he produces them in order to refute the rafh charges againft that refpeftable body, contained in two Pamphlets, one intituled, " State of FaSls relative to Tanjore-" and the other intituled, " Original Papers relative to Tanjore." Thofe pamphlets are, in reality, the foun- dation of the work now before us. — The other gentleman he alludes to does not put his name to his book j but he too is known to be a barrifter, and a man of confiderable parts, and eminent in the literary world. Without recriminating on the author of the " Confider- ations ;" without enquiring into his own inducements, views, anddcfigns, or without accufinghim of deception or fophiftry, or of complicated arrogance and fallacy, or charging him with any party or interefted motive, I will content myfelf with examining into his reafons for the new revolution he propofes to ej'ecl, by delivering the kingdom of tanjore into the hands of the Nabob of Arcot. \ " The Reftoration of the King of Tanjore confidercJ ;" printed by order of the Direclors of the Eaft India Company, in 1777. His [ 9 ] His work begins, and ends, and is Interlarded throughout, •with a panegyric on that great MufTulman Lord. An anfwer to this part of his work will not add greatly to the bulk of mine. In expatiating on the virtues and merits of his High- nefs, Mahomed Ali Khawn, he llial] have no fort of inter- ruption from me. He has the field all to himfelf. I am the more wilHng to indulge him in his free career ; becaufe the fulleft admiflion of all the virtues and merits that truth or flattery can heap on the Nabob, will not give the lead afliftance to his caufe : It will not prove, that he has the leaft particle of right to depofe the King of Tanjore ; or that it is either the duty or the interefl of the Englifli na- tion to put that kingdom under a Mahometan yoke. What the author fays of the alliance of this Mahometan potentate, with Great Britain — the nature of that alliance — the terms of it^ — and the benefit we have derived from the connexion, are all as little worth confuting. The author admits, that the Nabob, on his part, has derived reciprocal advantages from his connexion with Great Britain. — In truth, he has derived every thing from it, fortune, do- minion, life itfelf. inlying from a battle, where his father had loft his life, and his elder Brother was made prifoner, in the ruin of his fortunes, and in preference to that elder Brother, (who is ftill alive) the Englifh arms fliielded hirn both againft his foreign enemies, and the ftrong domeftic pretenfion of his own family. Whatever Great Britain is faid by his advocate to have received from his bounty, (and C ^ of V /^s [ lo ] of which he has made out an extraordinary bill *) is in fa6l but a very fmall portion, which fhe has referved to herfelf from conquefts that were made, (we may fairly fay) altogether by her own arms : all the reft is her gift to him. But whe- ther the balance in this matter be on his fide, or on ours, fignifies very little ; the point in queftion is only this, " Whe- *' ther our alliance with him be fo exclufive as to render " all other alliances impoffible or improper j" or, in particular, ** that we were ever bound by the terms of our alliance to " conquer for him the kingdom of Tanjore ; — or are now " bound to depofe that King, whom, by a folemn public a6t *' we have juft re-eftablifhed ?" Until his friends fhew fuch a condition, in the terms of our treaty with him, the Nabob's being the beft, or the King of Tanjore the worft ally in the world, are matters worthy neither of proof nor refutation. If the author's in- vectives againft the unhappy Prince, fo cruelly plundered by his friend and patron, were admitted to have a foun- dation in fa6l, which they by no means have, it might prove that he ought to be puniflied, or reftrained, oi', (if he will) even depofed ; but they would not prove that the Nabob of Arcot ought to be put into poflcjTion of a country which does not belong to him. In the firft place, it is proper to obferve, that if the King of Tanjore, the prefent poflcffor, has not behaved as he • Confid. pages 3, 4, 5. r ought [ II ] ought to have done, (which is not admitted, and never can be proved) his mifbehaviour does not forfeit the juft claim of his family, or his tribe, to a kingdom which has always gone in fucceffion. Much lefs does it forfeit the right of the native inhabitants, to be governed by Princes of their own religion and manners. This has been virtually admitted even by Mahomet Ali himfelf i for, whilil his ambition was young and modeft, he pretended nothing further than a defire of placing another Prince of the fame blood upon the throne of that kingdom. zdly. It is to be remembered, that if the King of Tan- jore has milbehaved, fo as to incur a forfeiture, it is not the Nabob, but their common fuperior, the Grand Mogul, who has in that cafe the right to hear the caufe, to ad- judge the offence, to pronounce the fentence, and to allot the difpofition of the forfeiture. ■ 3clly, The reader is called upon to remark, that no evi- dence is before the Company or the Nation, of the truth of any one material charge made againft the King of Tan- jore.— The Nabob's advocate has not produced, nor even attempted to produce, any fort of proofs of any delinquency at any time. His method is, firft to advance the Nabob's own. charges as faas ; and then, (as it is ufual in fuch cafes) he fupplies the total defed of evidence, by the utmoft profufion of railing and abufe. It would be matter of eternal infamy to thofe who pof- fefs the fmalleft attention to juftice, to receive the mere af- Q 2. fertions J /^ [ 12 ] fertions of a man deeply interefted in the queftlon, either as proofs of a right on his own part, or of a punifliable de- linquency on that of the party whom he attacks ; efpecially when it is for the purpofe of inducing a lucrative forfeiture in his own favour. Inftead of expe6ling to be called on for rigid proofs in fupport of fuch harfli claims, the party of Mahomet Ali think they have done full enough, in juflification of revolutions, wars, and devaluations, when they give us a firing of furmifes, fufpicions, and invedlives, as if they were unqucftionable and acknowledged truths perfeclly known to the whole world. " What mifchiefs," fays this author *, '* may be apprehended from reftoring a coun- " try fo fituated, fo circumftanced, to the fway of a man *' fo notorloufly abandoned to all ties of duty, faith, and '* honour, as the Rajah of Tanjore ? Are the dark fchemes ** he formed with Monfieur Lally, to feize on Trichino- poly, forgotten ? Are his after-plottings with Hyder Alii, Ifoph Cawn, and other powers, dangerous and inimical to the Company, totally obliterated? Is he not at this " inftant, though fcarcely feated on the throne of his an- '* ceftors, engaged with Hyder in a deep intrigue with the " Chevalier St. Aubin, a daring and wily adventurer, fent ** out by Monfieur Sartine, the French minifter ?" This fort of fpecimen of their mode of accufation I have thought fit to lay before the reader. To explain at large all thefe matters here huddled together would require a * Confiderations, p. 52, and 53. volume. ,(( ti [ 13 ] volume. But as the author has not thought fit to take any notice of the fatisfa6lory anfwers ah'cady given to moft of thefe calumnies, I think it fufficient to refer the reader to the books already mentioned ; 1 mean the Company's pub- lication, through Mr. Rous, and the Defence of Lord Pigot. With regard to the laft infmuation, concerning the prefent King of Tanjore, as I fuppofe it relates to things done fince the publication of thofe pieces, I have only to obferve, that the unfairnefs of the author is not excufable even by the li- cence of an advocate. He gives no proof; he cites no au- thority J and he fupplies the want of evidence, by the fup- pofed notoriety of a tranfadlion which nev^er has been heard of; which never did exift. I fliall further beg leave to remark, that this very dangerous perfon, (who has put the gentleman into fuch a flutter, by his deep intrigues with the Chevalier St. Aubin and Monfieur Sartine) has not a foldier in the world ; that his houfe is guarded, and his capital is garrifoned by a body of Englifh troops, which may be reinforced to any number ; and that the far greater part of his clear revenue is given for their payment. As to the Nabob's grievances, I fuppofe no one ever at- tempted to injure another, without fome fort of complaint of injury fuppofed to be done, or intended, to himfelf ; and if the mere complaint of a party is fufficient j unification for confequent violences, no Prince can want an excufe to feize upon the polTefiions of his neighbour. — I would afk this [ H ] this gentleman, who urges us fo vehemently, to employ the Englifli power and arms for fuch worthy purpofes, why neither he nor his friends have thought proper to produce the letters, or the treaties, or any other vouchers whatever, of the King of Tanjore's being the aggreflbr, in any a6ls or defigns to the Nabob's prejudice, or to that of the Com- pany, whofe intereft they fo incefiantly affe6l to conneft with his ambition ? Nothing is more eafy than to fweep away this whole mafs of calumny. But it is playing the game of Slander, and raifmg it to importance, to treat it with the folemnity which be- longs to grave accufation. When vouchers of thefe manoeu- vres, charged on the King of Tanjore, are produced, it will be time enough to examine into their nature. Until the accufations are made to the King of Tanjore himfelf, and he is called upon to anfwer for them, in a place where he may refute them, all thefe loofe affertions, made at 9,000 miles diftance from him, and of which, except in the ftile of vexatious general reproaches, he hears nothing at home, they muft be confidered in no other light, than as the mofl inde- cent pretexts that ever were employed to colour the proceed- ings of rapacity and ambition. SECTION [ 15 ] SECTION II. Nature of the records produced by the author, examined. — To what ohjeBs, a}id by ivhat jneans, the Company's approbation has been obtained. — The Company impofed upon by the fervants in India. IF the evidence of the Nabob hhnfelf, in favour of his ovi^n ufurpation, is of no force, of as little is that of thofe who were his accomplices in his defigns, or his infti- gators to them. * His advocate makes a great parade of his folid fa6ls, of his authentic papers, and of his unqueftion- able records j all which prove (as he afferts) the necejjity of the original conqueft, the guilt of the Rajah of Tanjore, and the propriety of reinftating him (the Nabob) in the poffeflion of that kingdom, which had been juft refcued from his ufurpation. A record is a very ferious thing, and the belt of all evidence ; But every written papei' is not a record. When records are flated as evidence in a quejlion of right, they ought to be, ill, papers either written by the party againft whom they are produced, or admitted by him, as valid and au- thentic — or, 2dly, they ought to be documents of fafts from indifferent perfons ; — or, 3dly, evidence taken juri- dically. But, I believe the reader will be furprifed to find, that three-fourths of the pretended records, with which this pamphlet is filled, are neither more nor lefs than the mere reprefentations of thofe fervants of the Company, who were * Confid. p. 17, 30, &c. the [ i6 ] the inftruments of the Nabob in his ufurpation of Tanjore, reprefentations made to their mafters, the Directors, with a view to juflify their own conduft. Thefe letters may be admitted as pleadings in the caiife ; and as pleadings, they are good as far as the force of their reafoning goes ; but it is the firft time, that fuch reprefentations were ever taken as mat- ters of faB, or admitted as indifputable evidence, or as any evidence at all, when the queftion itfelf is, " Whether the " a6l which thefe reprefentations arc made to cover, was •* juftifiable or not ?" Of this nature is the correfpondence of the SeleSl Com- mittee at Madrafs, whicli in the Pamphlet before us is con- flantly adduced as unexceptionable evidence for the gentle- men of that Committee in their own caufe ; pompoufly cited as an authentic record, and as regularly referred to, as if it were the fworn teftimony of indifferent and im- partial pcrfons, upon a judicial examination into the merits of the proceeding.. Some things, however, very material, are to be obfcrved in thefe pretended records, befides their incurable invalidity as evidence : Firfl, it is to be obferved, that if they were admitted as unexceptionable teftimony, they do not at all come up to the purpofe for which the author produces them — for though the letters of the Seleft Committee at Madrafs are very free in their inve6lives againfl the King of Tanjore, and frequently enforce the neceflity of bumbling, reducing, chajlifing, compelling him to do jujiicc to the Nabob.. [ 17 ] Nabob, &c. &c. 8cc. yet they no where prefume to tell their mafters, that they have had a conqncjl of that coimtry, for the Nabob, in vieijv, nor do they in any place, endeavour to re- commend that meafure. Secondly, The Committee itfelf has taken av^'ay all the authority which can be fuppofed to belong even to their own partial allegations, fo far as they tend to a juftifi- cation of hoftilities againft the King of Tanjore : for they are forced by truth to profefs explicitly, that they have a6led in that affair againfi their own judgment, and they urge the compnlfion and neceflity they were under, as their apology. " This government," fay they *, ** as guarantees t. '* ought to have marched a force to maintain peace, between- " the complaining parties, to have required deputies from " both, tojlate the demands of each refpeftively, and, upon a *' fair difcuffion, to have decided between them, and to have ** enforced the decifion, whether in favour of the Nabob, or *' in favour of the Rajah ; but your government here did " not dare to a6l fuch a part. It was plain from your or- ♦* ders to this Committee, under date the 17 March 1769, " as well as fubfequent orders, that you thought the Rajah- " ftood in a degree of favour v;ith this government, which *' you did not approve ; and that you adopted all the Na- ** bob's ideas of levying crores, as an equitable pretenfion, be- " caufe other Subahs had done fo. At the fame time the *' minifter of the crown, ranging himfelf on the fide of the: * Firft volume of Company's Appendix, p. i8o and i8i. D ** Nabobs [ ^8 j *' Nabob, received all his complaints againft the Rajah as *' gofpel. " Our conclufion is, that one of thefe decifive meafures *' fhould be adopted with firmnefs and vigour; either to take *' Tanjore, openly and avowedly, under your prote6lion, and ** give him proofs of your impartial jujiice i which we think, even " fioiff, notiuithflandi^ig what has pajfcd, will bind him firmly to " your interefi — or to conquer and fubdue him totally : — but ** in the latter cafe, the confequent arrangements will be " matter of the moft ferious confideration. What we faid *' on this fubjeft by the Britannia contains our fenfe i and '' fince the year 1768, fuch lights have been thrown on the " Nabob's charaSler and conduSi, as may amply fuffice to enable " your Honours to determine with juftice and propriety ; wc, *' therefore only add, that every day convinces us we have *• not been miftaken, and we confirm every word we have '•' wrote." It is not material to the caufe of Tanjore, to enquire whether the Select Committee at Madrafs were or were not \inder the compulfion they alledge from the King's Commif- fioners in India, or from Adminiftration here, or whether the Company thought them too partial to the King of Tanjore. We are not examining into the force of their apology for their conduft. It is plain, that they were themfelves of opinion againfi the part which they took ; that they were of opinion, that they ought to have maititained peace; that they ought to have calkd en the parties to make their rcfpc6live demands; that they 2 ought [ 19 ] ouglit to have allowed a fair dija/jion, and enforced an equiia.- ble decifion. They allow, that the King of Tanjore ought to have had proofs of impartial jnjlice, which, they themfelves declare, would bind him, £vc7i now (after all that has palled) to our intereft : all this they allow to be their duty ; they allow alfo that there is no part of this duty, that they have done. And this totally fets afide their authority, fuch as it is, for the reditude of the meafure they adopted ; and refls the proof of that rectitude upon thofe whom they afTert to have compelled them thus to a6t againft their judgment. As to the Britifii Miniftry, what authority for the Nabob's ufurpation was given by them, I profefs, I do not at all fee, I do not find a fyllable in the whole printed Correfpondence, that tends to prove that they have authorized the conqueji of Tan- jore in favour of the Mahometans. If fucli orders had ex- ifted, I take it for granted, they would have been produced. The authority, therefore, fuppofed to be derived from the Britifh Miniftry, alfo falls to the ground. With regard to the King's feveral Minifters plenipotentiary in India, what their powers were, or whether they had any powers at all, to 2cath.ox\zefuch aSls^ I will not pretend to fay. Thefe fpecific powers, never were produced. The King's Commiffioners certainly never did a6l as principals; and however they might encourage, countenance, and even ter- rify the Prefidency (as they flate it) into the part they took againft their judgment — they, as well as the Prefidency, ai^ parties, and cannot be witnelTes. They, too, ftand upon the Da truth [ 20 ] truth of the fa£ls which they alledge, of which they muft bring proof. Indeed they alledge none upon their own knowledge, nor is it to be expelled they fhould ; For the records of the Eaft India Company were not in the hands of the CommifTioners, and they could have no perfonal knowledge of fa£ts. They were ftrangers in India, and could take their line, both of fa6ls and politics, only from the Nabob, and from the Company's fervants : which throws the w^hole back on the original aftors, the Nabob, and the Select Committee; the one of which was a party in intereft, and the other, as we have feen, a6led againft their own fenfe of things. Indeed, whether we confider the fubordinate adting, either of the King's Commiffioners, or the Company's fervants ; either ufing force, or fubmitting to it ; whether the one is to be blamed, or the other pitied, it is perfeilly ridiculous to urge their own affertions in juflification of their own condu6l. Men's own declarations are the flrongeft evidence againfl themfelves, but they operate as nothing in their favour. The author, even when he goes higher than Servants or Com- milfioners, and ftates his records in proof of the opinion of the Company itfelf, does not perform a great deal more for the caufe he efpoufes.— The Company's difapprobation, in fome inftances, of the conduct of the Rajah of Tanjore — their wifh, that ivhen convenient he may be chnjlifeci, and that the Na- bob's pretcnjions againft him may be rendered cffeftual, — all this is not in the leaft material to the fingle point to be proved. 9 If [ 21 ] If we were to admit that the Diredlors, in the accounts, upon which they founded their opinions, were not deceived, and that their defire of chajlijing the Rajah, and of enforc- ing the pretenjions of the Nabob, were perfeflly juft; — yet cJjoJiifement does not imply depqfing -, and enforcing the Nabob's pretenjions does not, by the terms, authorize making a conquejl. If the author can fliew, that any where in that correfpondence, the Company's fervants had firft flated to their mailers, that they thought it expedient to dethrone the King of Tanjore, and to deUver over both him and his people to the mercy of the Nabob, Mahomet Ah ; and that thefe were the Nabob's pretenfions, and their views j and if the Company had approved their meafures, on tliat fair Urate of them, the papers would have been properly cited to prove the Company's approbation. The fa6ts, on which that approba- tion was grounded, would, indeed, ftill demand a proof — but the fa6l of the approbation itfelf, however obtained, would have been eftaWiflied. But as matters now ftand, there is not a fyl- lable in thofe records (fuch records as they are) to the purpofe for which they are quoted. The Prefidency never (as I have juft remarked) once acquainted the Directors with fuch defigns of theirs, or fuch pretenfions of the Nabob. The preten- fions of the Nabob, on which the Company gave their opi- nion, were only, that the Nabob might receive the arrears of his Pifhcufli, and a reafonable fum towards the charges of the war with Hyder Ali. Thefe pretenfions, and thefe only. Were [ 22 ] were before the Direftors, and thefe only they did or could authorize. On this point, the Prefidency are themfelves fo full and explicit, as to take away all poflibility of pretence that the Direftors had any thing elfe fubmitted to their deliberation ; for the Prefidency fays exprefsly " That in the expedi- *' tion againft Tanjore, the declared piirpofe to the laorld '< (whatever the latent purpofe might be) was to call the *' King of Tanjore to account, and not to conquer him." *' * We have," fay they, " no caiife to infer, from any orders ** 1VC have received from the Company, that they wiOi the " fort and country of Tanjore were conquered, and the *' prefent pofleflbr difpoffeifed ; but, on the contrary, that *' they [the Dire6lors] would not have either their poflef- " fions, or thofe of the Nabob, extended, or the hereditary " pJJW'^^^ °f territories difpojjejjed ; but only that they fhould " be reduced to fuch terms as may give fafety to the Carnatic " and -)- their own poiTeflions." Words cannot be more expreffive of their own fenfe of the orders of the Direftors j they ftate thofe orders, as diredly pro- hibiting that very aft, which the writer of the pamphlet afferts the Direftors to have approved; they ftate fuch a prohi- bition, as the knov/n ftand ng policy of the Company. The rea- der's naturar feelings on the unexampled boldnefs of fuch affer- tions will fupeiiede the neceflity of obfervations upon my part. * Company's App. P. 970, \ Company's App. P. 703. But [ 23 ] But the Prefidency went further : they not only enter- tained this fenfe of the orders of the Company, but they explained it fully to the Nabob himfelf, and gave him no hopes of his keeping any conquefts they might make for him, other than provifionally, till the Company's further orders fliould be received. When that Prefidency meditated the expedition againft Tanjore, in the year 1771, they wrote to the Dire6lors, " that ** they were in a flate of uncertainty of what meafures they ** jliould purfue," that " * they were refolved to reprefent to ** the Nabob, with all franknefs and candour, that in cafe " the King of Tanjore fliall refufe to pay an adequate ** fum of money, and the conqueft of the country be " thereupon judged neceflary, any arrangements rcfpedling •* fuch conqueft muft be regarded as merely temporary, ten- " til the Company's plea fur e JJmJI be known ; whofe orders " thereon, they obferve to him, viuji be implicitly obeyed by " their fervants." They further recite, " -f the Committee's " avowed knowledge that the Company wilh not to fubvert " the eflabliJJ^ed government of any power, with whom they " have political connexion. In cafe the Rajah be fubdued, " it were better to refiore him, or to place fome more fit " perfon of his family in the government of Tanjore, upon ** paying fuch Pifhcufti to the Circar as might be proper, •' afligning a revenue for payment of charges of the expe- " dition, and for the maintenance of a garrifon to be kept * Company's App. P. 33. f Company's App. P. 35, ** in [ 24 ] ** in the town on the part of the Company, and alfo for *' a fufficient force to prote6l the country ; or, if the above " be not agreeable to the Nabob, that the revenues fhould ♦* then be put under his direction ; but that t&e fort JJjould *' remain in our hands, and that both ihould be confidered *' as depofits, till the Company s -pleafure jl^ould be known. The record containing this account, which this candid writer has totally omitted, puts an end to all pretence of deceit on their Nabob, which is one of our author's principal grounds for re- invefting him with the kingdom of Tanjore. The Nabob knew, (if his aflbciates fpoke truth) from the beginning the terms upon which he was to undertake hoftilities. Firft, He knew that his polfeffion (if he was to pofTefs at all) was to be but temporary y and fubje<5l to the Company's pleafure. Secondly, It fhews, that the Select Cooiimittee were perfeflly apprized of the Company's * invariable fentiments (fo often over and over again urged upon them) againft extending the Nabob's territories, and againft fubverting any eftabliflied govern- ment. It is, in fa£l, the conftant burthen of their fong for years together. By all this, the dire6l contrary of this au- thor's pofition, *' That the Company authorized the conqueji, . " and deceived the Nabob," is fully and clearly proved. It is remarkable, that the very Select Committee itfelf, under whofe aufpices the conqueft for the Nabob was carried on, had been inftituted for the exprefs purpofc of reftrain- ing and ^.hecking fuch conquefts. They could not take ■* Vide Company's Appenilix, No. xx. a jQngle I 25 ] a fingle ftep towards conquefts, in their capacity of a Seled Committee, without knowing that in that flep they violated their duty. Our author, in ftating the paragraph of the Direftors let- ter which reproaches them with this breach of their duty, is pleafed to talk of the Dire6lors, as if they had mifreprefented their own orders ; and that their fervants were better judges of their intentions, than themfelves. The Dire6lors fay, ** That *• the eftablifhment of aSelefl: Committee, in March 1769, was ** profefledly with a view to the confining our influence and " pofTeflions, and to retreating back within thofe Umits '* which our Governor and Council had exceeded, by at- " tempting to extend the pofleffions of the Nabob of the " Carnatic." Our author is pleafed to ftile it " palpable fophiftry, to in- " elude Tanjore in this order," becaufe (as he fays) it applied only to the invafion of Myfore ; as if the prohibition was reftrl6led to one particular conqueft, and did not extend to every a6l for fuch purpofes, that could difturb the peace of the Carnatic. Unluckily for this author, on this, as on moft occafions, the expreflions of the Sele6l Committee itfelf, contain a full anfwer to their advocate ; for they ftate their own " avowed knowledge, that the Company wifli not *' to fubvert the ellablifhed government of any power- with " whom they have connection." Thus the advocate is an- fwered out of the mouths of his clients. But if their advocate is not put to filence by the confelTion E of [ 26 ] of his own clients, he will find that the prohibition of mak- ing conqaefts was fo far from originating ou account of the Myfore war, fo far from being fubfequent to it, and confined to that object, that the Directors, in their Letters to the Prefidency, chiefly condemn that Myfore war itfelf, as to- tally repugnant to their prior, pofitive, and repeated orders, to their orders both ancient and recent *. Before I conclude this my inquiry into the Confiderer's allegation of the Company's authority for the a6l which they reprehend in their fervants, I think it right to point out to the reader, their fenfe of the kind of information which they had received from thofe fervants. That information became the fource of all the opinions they could entertain, or orders they could give : and its fullnefs and fairnefs was the firft duty of every one in employment under them. Before their approbation can be pleaded for the a6ts of their fervants, thofe who alledge it ought to prove that they performed their duty. But, it is to be lamented that they conftantly gave or withheld information, as beft fuited their own defigns. They were taxed by the Dire6lors with being difmgenuous, fo early as in their accounts of their war with Hyder Ali, and in the midfl of that labyrinth of wars and negociations -f-, in * Appendix, vol.2, p. 521. t 13 " We cannot take a view of your conduft from the commencement of your negociation for the Circars, without the ftrongefl: difapprobation ; and when we fee the opulent fortunes fuddenly acquired by our fervants, who are returned fince that period, it gives but too much weight to the public opinion, that [ 27 3 in which they chofe to be engaged at that time, for the fake of extending the domination of the Nabob of Arcot. They exprefs their difpleafure at the war with Hyder Ali, " as be- ** ing aggravated by the difingenuous manner, in which their ** affairs were reprefented in their advices" — " Theunfair man- ** ner in which they ftate their views and motives, fo very " different from the fpirit of their proceeding" — " Their de- " clarations of their intention to make peace with Hyder AU ** on certain conditions, and their having reafon to conclude, " that they had before fully determined on his entire extir- " pafion" — '* That at the latter end of June, they had ex- *• preffed themfelves averfe to a rupture with Hyder Ali, *' whofe power they deemed a rcftraint on the Marattas, but " before the year was clofed, the depreffion of his power be- " came a principal obje6l of their politics *." This difinge- nuous fort of proceeding, in fpite of thofe remonftrances, was not only continued, but encreafed, in the advices fent of the proceedings againft Tanjore. that this rage for negociations^iJtreaties, and alliances, has private advantage more for its objefl than the public good. 14. " We therefore direcSl you to form a Committee, to make a rigid fcrutiny whether any, and what (urns have been received for that purpofe from- the Subah of the Deckan, or his minifter or agents, in the courfe of thefe negociations. You muft apply yourfelves to the Subah or his minifters ; and you muft ufe every effort to get a fight of the Deckan treafury books, where the moft authentic information will be had j and if you do not adl herein with that fmcere defire to bring out proof which the occafion requires, you will incur our higheft refentment.' General Letter, &c. Append, p. 52O. — It may eafily he imagined, how far thefe injuniliotu were obeyed, * Appendix, p. 518, 521. E z TU [ 28 ] The Diredors, after ftating that the plan mentioned by the Prefidency, of keeping the revenue of Tanjore as a depofit un- til the pleafure of the Company fliould be known, proceed thus : ** * The above advices were communicated to us by the fliip ** Duke of Portland, and your condu6t upon the occafion " received, as it juflly merited, our entire approbation. " That fhip failed from Fort St. George the 23d of July, ** 1771 ; but we find, that the very next day, the Nabob be- *^ ing defirous of accommodating matters with the King of " Tanjore, the majority of the Seleft Committee refolved, *' That fuch negociations fliould not be conduSled by our " reprefetitatives, as guarantees of the treaty of 1762, but " be left entirely to the Nabob : and we alfo find, that " though you wrote to us three days afterwards over land, *' you never fuggejled the leajl hint of having departed from your ** former opinion." " -f In September, 1771, you inform the Nabob, that as *• you were adting in fupport of his government, and partly " as guarantees of the treaty of 1762, whatever fliould be *♦ taken from the King of Tanjoi'e, whether forts, coun- " tries, money, efFe6ls, or military flores, all Jloould be left *' at his difpofal, together with the Rajah, bis family, and ** dependents, if they fiould fall into your hands. The ** 9th of 0*Sober following you wrote to us by the Stag * 36 Par. of Gen. Letter, dated 12th April, 1775. Appendix, vol. i. p. 147 and 148. • 38 Par. Ditto. «* frigate.