A2P2 
 
 1789 
 
 Scott's \neecYi in the 
 biise- of Commons .. .0pon the State 
 Finances of 
 
 By 
 John Scott
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES

 
 MAJOR S C O T T's 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 
 On the ift and $d of JULY 1789; 
 
 UPON THE 
 STATE and FINANCES of INDIA, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR JOHN STOCKDALE, OPPOSITE 
 BURLINGTON-HOUSE, PICCADILLY. 
 
 MDCCLXXXIX. 
 
 [ Price One Shilling. ]
 
 ns? 
 
 Wednefday^ July i. 
 
 T%TR. DUNDAS moved to refer the 
 I VI. Papers and Accounts prefemed from 
 the India Houfe to a Committee of the whole 
 Houfe. 
 
 The Motion being agreed to, the Houfe re- 
 folved itfelf into the faid Committee, Lord 
 Frederick Campbell in the Chair, 
 
 Mr. Dundas opened the Budget j and after- 
 wards concluded with moving, 
 
 " That it appears to this Committee, that 
 " theannual revenues of the Eaft India Company 
 ' in the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Onfia, 
 " and from Benares and Oude, under the heads 
 <c of mint or coinage duties, pod-office collections, 
 
 Benares revenue, Oude fubfidy, land revenues, 
 " cuftoms, and the receipts from th'e fales of fait 
 " and opium, amount, on the average of three 
 A 2 years, 
 
 354825
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 " years, from 1785-610 1587-8, both inclufive, 
 " to the fum of five crore eight lacks eighty. 
 " feven thoufand fix hundred and fifty.fiye 
 " rent rupees." 
 
 LORQ FREDERICK CAMPBELL, 
 
 T RISE with a peculiar degree of fatisfaclion 
 and pleafure, to offer a few remarks to the 
 Jloufe, on the day exprefsly appointed for taking 
 into confideration the pad and prefent ftate of 
 the Britifh Government in India. 
 
 It is highly honourable to the King's Mi- 
 nifters, that they do now, for a third time, bring 
 fairly and fully forward, to the view of Parlia- 
 ment and the Public, the actual ftate of that 
 diftant Empire. 
 
 It has been my warmeft wifh, my Lord, at 
 all times, to detect and expofe thofe moft falla- 
 cious and ridiculous accounts which have been 
 detailed in this Houfe, and ellewhere ; and dif- 
 feminated with fo much induftry throughout 
 this nation, and throughout Europe;, relative to 
 the flate of Bengal, and its dependencies. Gentie ? 
 
 men
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 men are well aware, that where two reprefenta- 
 tions of the fituation of a whole people are 
 given, totally differing from each other in every 
 particular, both cannot be true, Thofe who fit 
 oppofite to me, have for ibme years pad been 
 in the habit of defcribing the natives of Bengal 
 and its dependencies, as reduced to the lowed 
 ftate of depreflion, mifery, and fubjedion ; the 
 people fleeced of their property ; the revenues 
 collected with a degree of feverity, at which 
 humanity (hudders j wanton oppreffion, grofs 
 injuftice, deliberate unprovoked tyranny, 
 marking every ad of the Britifh Government ; 
 and the fyftem eftablifhed at home, exprefsly 
 calculated to perpetuate thofe miferies, which 
 it profefied to remedy. This is no exaggera- 
 tion : thofe who have attended to the debates of 
 this Houfe, or to proceedings elfewhere, 
 well know, that our language has been ran- 
 facked for epithets fufficiently forcible to con- 
 demn every part of the prefent fyftem. I will not 
 again allude to the dreadful tales that have bce.ii 
 told tales which this Houfc knows now, have 
 no foundation in truth, but bj which I will 
 confidently affirm, that Parliament and the na- 
 tion
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 tion have been degraded, difhonoured, and 
 difgraced in the eyes of all Europe. Were they 
 believed, thofe humane and liberal-minded 
 men, who without further enquiry would have 
 aboliflhed much of the important commerce of 
 this country, muft, I am fure, have long ago 
 propofed to withdraw every Englimman from 
 Indoftan. This Houfe has now every poffible 
 means of information before them, and I know 
 I that the gentlemen who fit oppofite to me, are 
 not ignorant of the true ftate of Bengal. For 
 what purpofe is it then, that the national cha- 
 racter continues to be degraded throughout the 
 world? Is the voice of calumny to be incef- 
 fantly employed, becaufe thofe who ferved their 
 country in India had the good fortune to do, 
 what many who were employed elfewhere coulcj 
 not accomplim ? But I have too much confi- 
 dence in the honour and the good fenfe of this 
 Houfe, to think that gentlemen will fhut their 
 ears to conviction. I will not prefume to ad- 
 vance one word which I cannot fupport, either 
 by evidence upon your table now, or by evi- 
 dence that can at any moment be called to your 
 bar. Nay, I would even venture to appeal to 
 
 the
 
 ;-;; c 7 > 
 
 the Hon. Gentleman oppofite to me (Mr. Sheri- 
 dan), to prove the fallacy of thofe accounts which 
 have been fo confidently delivered, fince that 
 gentleman has a general acquaintance, and has 
 other means of information, by which he muft 
 know how groisly erroneous all the ftatements 
 have been, that were given from gentlemen on 
 that fide of the Houfe, as to Bengal, Benares, 
 or Oude. 
 
 An Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Francis), whom 
 I do not now fee in his place (Mr. Francis 
 juft then walked up the Houfe), but whom I 
 this inftant have the pleafure to behold, that 
 Hon. Gentleman, for the firft time that an In- 
 dia budget has been opened, has omitted to fay 
 one word as to the ftate of the government of 
 India, or to reprobate, as he ufed to do, the 
 fyftem under which it was governed. This I 
 take to be a good omen, and I hope we (hall 
 all agree in the end. 
 
 Twenty-five years have elapfed fince this na- 
 tion has pofiefTed an abfolute fovereignty over 
 one of the fineft and the mofl populous king- 
 5 doms
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 doms of the earth. It was our policy for the 
 firft feven years of the period to leave the en- 
 tire government of the country in the-hands of 
 one Mahomedan -, but from the year 1772 to the 
 prefent moment, the government of the coun- 
 try, the collections of the revenues, and the 
 adminiftration of juftice, have been in the hands 
 of the Englifh themfelves ; and I affirm it to 
 be a truth uncontroverted, incontrovertible, 
 never difputed by any dilinterefted man of com- 
 mon fenfe, that from 1772 to the. prefent hour, 
 
 V Bengal has been in a rapid ftate of improve- 
 ment, with refpect to agriculture, population, 
 and commerce. The King's Minifters, and thofe 
 
 v who have accefs to the beft official information, 
 admit the truth of this fact, It is confirmed 
 by the folemn declaration of every gentleman, 
 who arrives from Bengal. It is proved by the 
 productivenefs of the revenue, and by the afio- 
 niming drains which that country has borne 
 during the late arduous ftruggle for exiftence 
 in India , and yet, my Lord, the fact has not 
 only been denied in this Houfe, but the autho- 
 rity and the name of the Houfe are ufed in difle- 
 \J minating to the world the moft folemn decla- 
 rations,
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 rations, that by mal-adminiftration " the wel-* 
 * c fare of the Eaft India Company has mate- 
 " rially fuffered, the happinefs of the natives 
 " of India been deeply affecled, their confl- 
 " dence in Englifti faith and lenity fliaken 
 " and impaired, and the honour of the Crown, 
 " and character of this nation, wantonly and 
 " wickedly degraded.'* 
 
 Such is one of the melancholy reprefenta- 
 tlons which this Houfe has nominally fanftioned. 
 Let any gentleman read what the Houfe has 
 faid relative to the mode by which the revenues 
 of Bengal have been for years, and are at this 
 very moment, collected. If I am to believe 
 what this Houfe has folemnly declared to be 
 true, I muft fay that the revenues have been 
 and are collected in a manner " vexatious, op- 
 * e preffive, and deftruclive to the inhabitants 
 ** of Bengal ; and that the rights of private 
 '* property have been moft notoriously ant! 
 " fcandaloufly violated." If the defcription of 
 the internal government of Bengal is thus me- 
 lancholy, it is fo in a ftill greater degree as we 
 advance upon the Ganges. Gentlemen have 
 B ' all
 
 all heard the flate and condition of Benares and 
 of Oude, as defcribed both in and out of the 
 Houfe, and as defcribed in the name and by the 
 authority of the Houfe. Let me therefore 
 now proceed, from unqueftionable evidence, to 
 do away this load of grofs and foolifa mifrepre- 
 fentation, which, though it may advance the 
 views and defigns of a faction, degrades us in 
 the eye of the Public. 
 
 /\ 
 
 I [hall in no cafe now prefume to quote the 
 authority of that Gentleman whom this Houfe 
 has thought proper to impeach ; but I have an 
 undoubted right to- quote as complete evidence, 
 the iblcmn declaration of his immediate fuccefibr 
 (Sir John Macpherfon). On the xothof Auguft 
 1786, Sir John writes as follows to the Court of 
 Directors : " The condition in which Earl 
 " Cornwallis will receive the government of 
 ft India, is creditable to the Company, and 
 " cannot but be fatisfactory to the nation. The 
 " native inhabitants of this kingdom are, I be- 
 cv lieve, the happieft, and the beft protected 
 '* fubjects in India ; our native allies and tri- 
 ' butaries are Satisfied, and confide in our pro- 
 Q ' tectionj
 
 ( II ) 
 
 " tecYton ; the country powers arc emuloufly 
 * c afpiring to the friendfhip of the Englifh , and 
 " from the King of Tidore towards New Gui- 
 " nea, to Timur Shaw on the banks of the In- 
 f dus, there is not a (late that has not lately 
 " given us proofs of confidence and refpeft." 
 I will not pay fo fulfome a compliment to Sir 
 John Macpherfon (whofe merits 1 am as ready 
 as any man to acknowledge) as to fay, that this 
 happinefs of the natives, this rcfpeft and confi- 
 dence of foreign powers, \vas the confluence of 
 any meafure recently purfued. The fact is, my 
 Lord, that the Britifh name then, and for years 
 before, flood high in India ; and that the na- 
 tives of Bengal were then, as they had been fop 
 years before, " the happieft and the bcft pro- 
 " teded fubjefts in India." 
 
 Another Gentleman who has long ferved the 
 Company in very important offices, and now 
 fills, with great credit to himfelf, and advantage 
 to the Company, one of the firfbofTices it has to 
 beftow (I mean Mr. Shore), faid in the year 
 1781, " That the natives were happier, and 
 < c their property better fecured under our 
 +< government, than under that of their for- 
 B 2 * f mer
 
 1. 
 
 ( I* ) 
 
 " tner fovereigns. This," fays Mr. Shore, 
 " I fpeak with all the confidence convic- - 
 <c tion infpires.'* The fame Gentleman de- 
 fended, the government of Bengal in the laft 
 year, when it was afferted that feverities ufed in 
 a diftant province to compel the payment of 
 balances were common in Bengal. The fact 
 was pofitively denied, whatever might have 
 been the practice in a remote corner of a diftant 
 province. This was faid when the charges 
 preferred againft Deby Sing were finally deter- 
 mined upon ; and, for the honour of the Britifh 
 nation, I truft the time will come when thac 
 ilory (hall be fully invtftigated in this Houfe. 
 
 My Lord, the next document to which I (hall 
 refer, in proof of the profperous ftate of Bengal, 
 is a very curious letter from Mr. James Grant to 
 Earl Cornwallis, now upon your table. A more 
 authentic, or a more conclufive document, can- 
 not be produced. Salt is a neceflary of life in 
 z\\ countries, but more particularly fo in Bengal,, 
 where fome of the Cafts eat no flem meat, others 
 very Hal?, and where fait is confumed by all. 
 Mr. Grant has had accefs to every official docu- 
 nient, and to every other channel of informa* 
 
 tion,
 
 tion, necefiary to elucidate the lubjeft on which 
 he writes - 9 and he has proved, that the confump- 
 lion of fait in 1780 was confiderably more than ^ 
 a third beyond the confumption of the fame ar- 
 ticle in 1765. He then adds, " A lapfe of V 
 " fifteen years- under the lenity of the Englifti 
 *' government, had certainly operated a very 
 " material change in the ftateof things. Greater 
 " fecurity and freedom in agriculture, manu- 
 " faftures, and commerce, increafed confider- 
 " ably the population of the country, with the 
 ** wealth and the profperity of its inhabitants. 
 
 "v 
 
 ce An additional confumption of all the necef- 
 " faries of life was a natural confequence, and 
 cc fully evinced the improved condition of the 
 * c Britiili provinces." 
 
 In another part of his Letter, Mr. Grant ftates 
 this as " indicating with moral, infallible cer- 
 * 6 tainty, a prodigious increafe of population, and 
 " all its concomitant advantages, in a period of 
 " little more than twenty years." And arguing 
 from the data he has laid down, Mr. Grant 
 fuppofes the inhabitants under the Bengal go- 
 vernment to be thirteen millions fix hundred 
 
 thou-
 
 ( H ) 
 
 thoufand fouls. The Letter is before the Houfe, 
 and I refer Gentlemen to it as a mod valuable 
 and curious document. It is decifive as to the 
 point for which I moved for it, which was to 
 fhew the improved and the improving ftate of 
 Bengal under the Britilh government. This 
 "- Gentleman was appointed to a very confiderable 
 office under the Bengal government, not by 
 Mr. Haftings, but by Sir John Macpherfon. 
 is character Hands high and unimpeached. 
 His afliduity is unremnted- and I am thorough-* 
 ly convinced of the truth of his ftatement, 
 and of the juftice of the condufions which he 
 draws from it. 
 
 The fame Gentleman has written an Analyfis 
 of the Revenues of Bengal, Bahar, Orifla, the 
 Northern Circars, and Benares. They are 
 very voluminous, and contain much valuable 
 information, all tending to confirm mod fully 
 every thing that I have, had the honour at any 
 time to ftate to this Houfe in particular, the 
 Analyfis of the Benares Revenues flares, that 
 forty lacks is a very moderate annual afieiTmenr, 
 and utterly does away every aflertion that has 
 
 been
 
 ( '5 ) 
 
 been made by gentlemen oppofite to me, rela- 
 tive to the ftate of that diftrift, or the rights of 
 of its zemindars. It is not from difrefpect to 
 Mr. Grant that I have not moved for them to be 
 laid upon - the table. I underftand he will be 
 foon in England ; and if he can prove to the fa- 
 tisfacYion of the Right Hon. Gentleman below 
 me (Mr. Dundas), that the zemindars of Bengal, 
 and the native officers, have defrauded govern- 
 ment annually of a million a year for twenty- 
 five year?, J dare fay he would be very happy to 
 bring that fum hereafter into the exchequer. 
 
 My Lord, in addition to Mr. Grant's autho- 
 rity, I can quote the fentiments of every Englifh 
 Gentleman who has left Bengal in the feven laft 
 years, and particularly a Gentleman of great 
 knowledge and obfervation, who was twelve 
 years beyond the Company's provinces. That 
 Gentleman (Colonel Polier, who is lately ar- \/ 
 rived) afilired me, that in pafiing from the 
 banks of the Carumnafla, which divides Bahar 
 from the province of Benares, down to Cal- 
 cutta, about 520 miles, he faw a country im- 
 proved /\
 
 ( 
 
 "Me 
 
 proved beyond what he conceived was poffibl 
 in fuch a fpace of time* 
 
 The next evidence that I (hall adduce, comes 
 moft materially and pointedly to the fact; I 
 mean the Teftimonials tranfmitted by all the 
 principal natives of Bengal and its dependen- 
 ciesj relative to Warren Haftings Efq. late 
 Governor General of Bengal. If Gentlemen 
 oppofite to me will give no credit to the 
 King's minifters, nor to Earl Cornwallis, nor 
 Sir John Macphcrfon, nor Mr. Grant ; if they 
 will not believe the folemn aficrtions of every 
 Englifh gentleman who arrives from the coun- 
 try? if they continue to this moment to affirm 
 that Bengal is ruined, exhaufted, and defolated ; 
 I hope they will alter their language after they 
 have heard what the natives themfelves fay, 
 from the higheft to the loweft ranks amongft 
 them, and that uncontrovertible evidence is 
 now upon the table of this Houfe. The man- 
 V ner in which thefe Teftimonials have been ienc 
 home eludes every poflibility of fufpicion as 
 to their authenticity. It is a fact of univerfal 
 
 notoriety,
 
 ( >7 ) 
 
 notoriety, that the natives were eager, and 
 anxious to (hew their refpect for the Britilh 
 government ; to declare the happinefs which 
 they enjoyed under the protection of the man, 
 \vho for thirteen years had been placed over 
 them j and who, in point of .&, firft reduced 
 that government into fyftem. That thefe Tefti- 
 monials are highly important to the Gentleman 
 of whom they make fuch diftinguilhed and 
 honourable mention is certain ; but to this 
 Houfe, on this day> they are alfo important, 
 in fo far as they fully confirm all that Sir John 
 Macpherfon, Mr. Grant, Mr. Shore, the King's 
 Minifters, and every unbiafied well-informed 
 perfon has faid, of the fuperiority of theEnglifh 
 government in India, over that of any native 
 adminiftration whatever. What is faid upon 
 this fubjcdt by one man is fo peculiarly finking, 
 that I (hall beg leave to repeat it. Meer Afh- 
 rufF Dean Hofemy, who figns the Patna ad- 
 drefs, adds after his name thefe words : ' From 
 " the juftice of Mr. Ballings, his protection 
 " of the people, and his excellent conduct to- 
 ** wards them j the people of other countries 
 f defired, as for example thofe of Cafhmier 
 C lift
 
 < e lift up their hands in prayer, that God would 
 " make the Englifh government the lot of 
 *' their country.'* 
 
 Having now, my Lord, laid this ground 
 work, I (hall refer to my laft evidence, which 
 binds and fixes the whole i I mean, the efti- 
 mated and actual receipts of revenue under the 
 Bengal government for one complete year. The 
 eftimated revenue for 1787-8, was five millions 
 fixty-four thouiand eight hundred and ninety 
 pounds twelve millings; but the actual re- 
 venue received was five millions one hundred 
 and eighty- two thoufand feven hundred and 
 eighty pounds , the eftimated expences were 
 three millions fixty-fix thoufand pounds ; the 
 actual expences were three millions forty-fix 
 thoufand pounds ; fo that, from the receipts 
 and expences of Bengal, defcribed by fome 
 Gentlemen as oppreffed, ruined, and depo- 
 pulated, there w.is in the laft year a real avail- 
 able furplus in Bengal of revenue, beyond ex- 
 pences of every denomination, of two millions 
 one hundred and thirty five thoufand nine hun- 
 dred and thirty pounds, confiderably exceeding 
 
 the
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 the furplus which ic was eftirrtated the laft year 
 would afford. Whether this furplus has been 
 wifely difpofed of, by paying it away in part to 
 Madras, or Bombay ; whether the Military 
 Eftablilhments there fo far beyond their means 
 of paying ought, or ought not to be reduced, 
 is no part of my argument -, for on this day I 
 wi(h to confine myfelf to Bengal, and to Ihew, 
 that there is no other country upon earth that 
 can boaft of fuch a furplus revenue; that there 
 is no country more flourishing, nor body of 
 people more happy or contented. The Right 
 Honourable Gentleman who opened the Budget 
 contented himfelf with merely ftating the amount 
 of the receipts and expenditure, but with the 
 leave of the Houfe I fhall fay a few words 
 upon the moft material items. The firft is the 
 Benares revenue. Gentlemen will fee that more 
 than the eftimared revenue is actually received. 
 The total, above forty-five lacks of rupees. 
 Does the Right Honourable Gentleman, or any 
 other perfon, exprefs the lead doubt as to the 
 collections of future years ? On the contrary, 
 does not Mr. Grant, a well-informed man and 
 a clear authority, fay, that the alTeffmcnt is 
 C 2 moderate ?
 
 moderate ? How is that to be reconciled with 
 what this Houfe has faid as to Benares ? How 
 is it to be reconciled with what the reprelema- 
 tives of this Houfe have faid elfewhere, relative 
 to the ftate and fituation of that valuable, and 
 flourifhing province? This Houfe has pro- 
 V nounced that country to be totally ruined, and 
 
 defolated. Deftrudlion, devaftjtion, and op.- 
 prefEon, are the epithets ufed by this Houfe 
 in defcribing the ftate of that- country at no 
 very diftant period. The defcription, I confi- 
 dently affirm, is not true -, becaufe the Houfe 
 knows, that from a country fo dcfcribrd, no 
 revenues could be collected. The fums re- 
 ceived, and the united voice of the natives, area 
 fufficient refutation of fo gloomy an account 
 So far from the revenue which Mr. Haftings 
 fixed in 1781 falling fbort, it is likely to iq- 
 creafe, from the addition of the opium, whicji 
 Earl Cornwallis has taken fot the benefit of the 
 Company. 
 
 The next article is the Oude fubfidy, above 
 
 Si five hundred and twenty-five thoufand pounds, 
 
 of which at the end of the year the trifling 
 
 balance
 
 balance of five thoufand five hundred pound? 
 only remained. Will Gentkmen have the 
 goodnefs to recoiled for one moment, what 
 has been faid in this Houfe relative to Oude ? 
 Do they not re member, that when a Right Ho 
 nourable Gentleman (Mr. Fox) brought in hig 
 celebrated India Bill, there, was a balance of V 
 above feven hundred thoufand pounds due tp 
 the Con pany from Oude ? Po they not re^- 
 member, that by one dam of the pen he ftruck -V 
 out the whole ? Yet, fmce that period, the 
 whole has been paid. By papers before this 
 Jioufe, we know that eight millions flerling 
 was received from Oude in eight years ; and 
 that by the prefent arrangement the Na 
 bob pays more than the third of the expencc 
 of our army. But is there a man in the king- 
 dom who gives credit to the accounts which he 
 has heard, ,or the articles we have voted, who 
 will not fay, that inftead of receiving half a mil- 
 lion annually from Oude, we ought, for years 
 to come, to lend half a million a year into that 
 country ? And here let me ferioufly call the at- 
 tention of Gentlemen to a fact, which I have 
 often mentioned before, but which cannot be 
 
 noticed
 
 noticed too often. This Houfe pafied thirteen 
 articles relative to Oude, but did not, and could 
 not read them, as I can prove from a reference 
 to the Journals. In thofe articles, the prefent 
 fyftem, by which Oude is connected with Ben- 
 gal, is condemned in all its parts. The Mini- 
 iler, Hyder Beg Khan, is termed, in thofe ar- 
 tides, " an implacable tyrant," and the power 
 \vith which Mr. Haftings invefted him, is ftated 
 to be monftrous, and the act itfelf highly cri- 
 minal. Will the Houfe be pleafed to hear what 
 Earl Cornwallis and the Directors, under the 
 fanclion of the King's Minifters, fay as to the 
 fyftem by which Oude is governed ? 
 
 Lord Cornwallis fays, 20th April 1787, 
 <c The only material difference which has taken 
 *' place in the engagements between this go- 
 " vernment and the Nabob Vizier, relates to 
 " the brigade ftationed in Futtyghur ; the con- 
 " tinuance of which body of troops in the do- 
 " minions of the Vizier I deem equally eflen- 
 " tial to the intereft of the Vizier and the 
 " Company. In other refpeds I have nearly 
 " adhered to the principles eftablifhed by the 
 
 44 former
 
 " former Governor General, Mr. Haftings, 
 " and fmce confirmed by the orders of the 
 " Honourable the Court of Directors. All the 
 " fubfidiary arrangements have been formed 
 " with a view to ftrengthen thofe principles, 
 " and render them permanent." 
 
 So late as the th of April lad, this commu- 
 nication is replied to by the Directors, and the 
 King's Minifters, as follows : 
 
 " Having attentively perufed all the minutes, 
 
 " proceedings, and letters, referred to in thefe 
 
 " paragraphs, and in your fubfequent advices 
 
 *' on the fubject of the late agreement, con- 
 
 ** eluded by Lord Cornwallis with the Vizier, 
 
 " we approve of the general arrangement, and \^ 
 
 " of the principles on which it was formed." 
 
 How, my Lord, is this decided approba- 
 tion, and the continuance of the fyftem, with 
 the "full knowledge of this Houfe, to be recon- 
 ciled with our permitting thofe articles to which 
 I allude to remain upon our Journals ? I (hall 
 pufli the fubject no farther. 
 
 In
 
 ( 24 } 
 
 In Bengal, Gentlemen will fee, that the tt* 
 venues from land, fait, and opium are much 
 beyond the eftimate : the two latter were in fact 
 created by Mr. Haftings himfelf, and produce 
 confiderably more than half a million a year* 
 And here, my Lord, I defire to call the atten- 
 tion of the Houfe to another curious fact. If 
 Gentlemen will look to the total revenues of 
 Bengal, including Benares and Oude, in the laft 
 ten years, they will find a very remarkable 
 and wonderful equality in them ; the difference 
 not more than eight or ten thoufand pounds. 
 And when it is confidered that above five mil- 
 lions fterling a year have been received, the dif- 
 ference in each year's receipts bear no pro- 
 portion to that difference which every Gentle- 
 man of landed property in this Houfe feels in 
 proportion to the amount of his income, either 
 from the failure of tenants, or the repairs of 
 farm houfes. In point of fact, during the 
 whole of the late war, the refources of the Ben- 
 gal government were equal to what they now 
 are ; or how could we have fo fuccefsfully re- 
 filled the whole world ? During that war, Ben- 
 gal fupplied Madras and Bombay with above 
 1 2 feven
 
 I 25 ) 
 
 fcven millions fterling in money and provifions ; 
 and it has fent immenfe fums, fmce the peace, 
 to liquidate arrears, and to pay eftablifhments. 
 The more Gentlemen go to the bottom of this 
 Subject, the more they will be convinced that I 
 have never deceived them in any fhtements. 
 
 I have now, my Lord, endeavoured to ftate, 
 and as concifely as poflible, the aftual ftate of 
 Bengal, Benares, and Oude, under a fyftem fo 
 ftrongly, and allow me to add, fo abfurdly re-- 
 probated in all its parts. No Gentleman in or " 
 out of this Houfe can entertain a more exalted 
 opinion of Lord Cornwallis than I do, or can 
 feel a ftronger fenfe of the important fervices 
 that he has rendered ; nor will any fair and can- 
 did man withhold, either from the Board of 
 Controul or the Directors, the applaufe which 
 they fo juftly merit. But I will not fo far of* 
 fend againft common fenfe as to fay, that the 
 flourifhing and profperous ftate of Bengal is 
 owing exclufively to meafures which they have 
 purfued. For the ccconomical arrangements 
 that they have eftablifhed, and which Earl Corn- 
 wallis has fo vigorously enforced, every praife is 
 D due;
 
 due-, but the fact I wifh to imprefs fo ftrongly 
 u r -on the Houfe is this ; that in tie fyftem no 
 
 V alteration has been made. In Oude, as Lord 
 Cornwallis tells you, the fyftem eftablifhed by 
 Mr. Haftings is adhered to ; fo at Furrukabad ; 
 fo with Fyzoola Cawn ; Benares the fame. Full 
 . credit is taken for all the fums collected from 
 thefe countries, and the fyftem is continued. 
 
 * In Bengal there is no alteration. Mr. Shore, 
 who is at the head of the revenues under Lord 
 Cornwallis, was in the fame fituation under Mr. 
 Haftings. Zemindars in fome inftances, farm- 
 ers in ethers, collect the revenues now as they 
 did when Mr. Haftings was there. Salt and 
 opium form two great branches of the public 
 revenues bo;h in fact created by Mr. Haftings. 
 Juftice is adminiftered now as it was when he 
 was there. The inland cuftoms only have been 
 aboliflied, and the Houfe knows that Mr. 
 Haftings recommended the abolition of them 
 many years ago. To enfure the continuance of 
 profperity in Bengal, this Houfe, againft the 
 moft vehement and 'continued oppofition of the 
 Gentlemen oppofite to me, conferred additional 
 powers en the Governor General. I then pre- 
 8 dieted
 
 dieted the happy effects which that falutary law 
 would produce, and we now experience them 
 in the higheft degree. 
 
 I remember, when I fat in the gallery in the 
 laft parliament, that a Right Hon. Gentleman 
 (Mr. Fox), who but the -year before had de- 
 fcribed the miferable ftate of the Britifli navy, 
 took occafion to ilate it as highly flouriming, 
 under the unremitting attention of the then Firft 
 Lord of the Admiralty (Lord Keppel). A noble 
 Lord (North) very properly obferved in reply 
 that fliips could not fpring up like mulhrooms : 
 that infinite credit was due to the late Lord 
 (Sandwich), though that Right Hon. Gentleman 
 propofed to the Houfe to addrefs his Majcfty 
 to remove him from his councils ; and he might 
 fay to the prefent Lord, " Alexander has conquer- 
 " ed with the foldiers of Philip." So it is in Ben- 
 gal ; the profperous ftate of that country has not 
 been the work of a day, nor of a year, but it 
 has been in a progrefilve ftate of improvement 
 under the mild influence of the Britifh Govern- 
 ment for a feries of years, until it is now become, 
 as a Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Dundas) fo 
 emphatically deemed it, the brighteft jewel in 
 
 the Briufh Crown. 
 
 D 2
 
 Friday , July 3. 
 
 MR. SPEAKER, 
 
 A FTER having trefpafied fo long upon the 
 ^^ indulgence of the Houfe the other night, 
 I Ihall only now prefume to detain them a few 
 minutes, in confequence of what fell from an 
 honourable and refpectabie Gentleman (Mr. 
 Dempfter), whofe good opinion I am very 
 anxious to retain, and who I wilh ihould think 
 well of every part of our Indian govern- 
 ment. Though I have no encouragement to 
 add to my former obfervations, from the prefent 
 appearance of the Houfe, yet it convinces me 
 of one thing, that what I did take the liberty 
 to fay, cannot be anfwered ; for if the gemlemen 
 who were formerly fo loud in oppofition to the 
 line I have taken, could defend or fupport their 
 former ajjertions, they would not be abfent on 
 this day ; nor would another fet of gentlemen ^ 
 
 be
 
 be filent, if they had not difcovered their for- 
 mer errors. Is it poffible, Mr. Speaker, that 
 thofe gentlemen who would abolifh a valuable 
 commerce, on the very appearance only of its 
 being opprefiive, would fit filent on a fubject 
 where the happinefs of millions is at ftake, 
 unlefs they knew how grofsly they had been 
 
 / deceived ? For I never can imprefs this truth 
 ^v 
 
 too (Irongly upon this Houfe and the Public, 
 
 fkat tbefyftem by wbicb Bengal is governed at this 
 frefent moment, is precifelytbe fyftem that ftands fo 
 Jlrikivgly condemned by tie Votes> and upon tbg 
 Journals of ibis Houfe. 
 
 A 
 
 The Honourable Gentleman finds fault with 
 the large military eftablimment in Bengal ; but 
 I beg he will recollect the prodigious extent of 
 country which our army covers and defends ; 
 twelve hundred and fifty miles in length, and 
 in fome places fix hundred and fifty in breadth^ 
 I would alfo defire the Honourable Gentlemen to 
 recollect, that more than one- third of the ex- 
 pence of the Bengal army is borne by the Nabob 
 of Oude, whofe country, in return, is erTeclyally 
 fecurcd. I alfo call to the recollection of the 
 
 Honour-
 
 ( 3' ) 
 
 Honourable Gentleman, that this great fubfidy 
 is regularly paid ; that, in eight years of our 
 greateft difficulty, we received eight millions 
 fterling from Oude. I am fare he will remem- 
 ber too, that a Right Honourable Gentleman 
 (Mr. Fox), a few years ago, (truck our, 
 with one dam of his pen, above feven 
 hundred and twenty thoufand pounds, then 
 owing by the Vizur to the Company. Every 
 rupee has long ago been paid. And here I in- 
 form that Hon. Gentleman that the fyftem by 
 which Oude is connected with Bengal, is pre- 
 cifely that fyftem which Mr. Uaflings eflablijhed. 
 Lord Cornwallis tells the Company, that in his 
 fubfidiai-y arrangements, if he has made any 
 alterations, it is witk a view to ftrengthen tbofe 
 principles, and to render them more permanent* 
 The Court of Directors, and the King's Mi- 
 nifters, approve this jyfttm in their reply to Lord 
 Cornwallis, and the principles on which it was 
 formed. If the Houfe was better attended, Mr. 
 Speaker, I mould have much to fay upon this 
 fubjec~r, but I leave it to Gentlemen to compare 
 this account, with what the I loufe has done, 
 and what has been faid in its name clfcwhere. 
 
 There
 
 ( 32 ) 
 
 There is another point on which I beg to fet 
 the Hon. Gentleman right. He does not think 
 fo large an eftablifhment of Sepoys necefiary, and 
 fays, our great dependance muft be upon an Eu- 
 ropean force in time of danger ! Here I totally 
 differ from the Hon. Gentleman ; and though I 
 am as much an advocate for a refpectable Eu- 
 ropean force in India as he can poffibly be, yet 
 the real effective force for fervice in India ever 
 has been, and ever muft be, our Sepoy batta- 
 lions. We have brought them tofuch a degree of 
 perfection in point of difcipline, as ftrikes every 
 Englifh officer who fees them, for thefirft time, 
 with aftonimment -, and in the late war, one of 
 our Bengal battalions of Sepoys came to the 
 J pufh of the bayonet with a veteran French regi- 
 ment, and actually repulled it. Their attach- 
 ment to us is fo great, that during the late war 
 when they were fix, feven, and eight months in 
 arrears, at a time that they had fold their filver 
 ornaments for fubfiftence, no mutiny happened, 
 though fuch an event was with great reafon ap- 
 . prehended. 
 
 The
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 The Hon. Gentleman has exprefled his wifh 
 that the monopoly of opium may be abolifhed ; 
 and he has told the Houfe a very dreadful ftory 
 of corn having been ploughed up, and poppies 
 planted in its ftead ; I heard that ftory above 
 eighteen years ago, but from very particular 
 enquiry, have great reafon to believe it was not 
 true. It was laid to have been done in the 
 year 1769. But whether true or not, the trade 
 has been regulated for a great number of years; 
 and fuch a thing can never happen. Opium 
 ever has been, and ever muft be, a monopoly. 
 Mr. Haftings made that, as well as fait, an 
 article of revenue for the Company -, and it is 
 highly important to the export trade of Cal- 
 cutta. 
 
 I believe, Mr. Speaker, thefe are the only 
 objections which the Honourable Gentleman 
 made to the ftatement j and I defire to call to 
 the recollection of this Houfe, thin as it is, 
 that, by the refolution now in your hand, we 
 are going to take credit for an immenfe re- 
 venue in Bengal, all of it acquired by means 
 which this Houfe, in another character, has 
 E condemned > 
 
 3548!
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 condemned -, all of it retained under a fyftem 
 which this Houfe, in another place, has, by its 
 Reprefentatives, ftfongly reprobated. 
 
 With regard to the eftablimments of Madras 
 and Bombay, fo much beyond their ability to 
 pay, 1 think they ought to be reduced upon 
 this principle (fince a Right Honourable Gen- 
 tleman [Mr. Dundas] has particularly applied 
 to me), that we (hall not be able to keep them 
 up : that Bengal cannot bear an annual drain 
 of fifty lacks to Bombay, and twenty to Ma- 
 dras j therefore, I would lefien the eftablim- 
 ments there, and increafe them in Bengal j for 
 this very obvious reafon ; becaufe, if the efta- 
 blifhments are kept up in Bengal, Govern- 
 ment pays with one hand, and receives with the 
 other. But money, circulating fpecie, fent to 
 Madras and Bombay, is loft for ever to Ben- 
 gal. Marine battalions raifed in Bengal would, 
 in my opinion, be ready for foreign fervice, 
 and keep our fpecie in Bengal. If, however, 
 the Right Honourable Gentleman thinks he 
 can fpare fifty lacks to Madras, and twenty to 
 Bombay, after all the drains Bengal has fuf- 
 13 fered,
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 fcred, every argument I have ufed is ftrength- 
 cned in the higheft degree, and the former 
 adminiftration deferves even more credit than 
 I have given to it, 
 
 .ftfidafla'arij OJ bicgai ri. 
 xJ (bum b) <\ndci 
 .LTO pd3 , 
 
 a) slqior 
 
 i-rnd'h 
 
 , 
 
 THE END; 
 
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 vod ,11 JfcgnaS jiii ' sia^ql iup q^A bnt 
 nefnahnaO ^fdsiuonoH jrfgKH aiij 
 bns t 8ifaBM 03 e>foal yj^ft 3ifiqT 
 La^a gfiifiib 3fll life
 
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