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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 EXPEDIENCY MAINTAINED 
 
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 CONTINUING THE SYSTEM 
 
 BY WHICH THE 
 
 TRADE AND GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 
 
 NOW REGULATED. 
 
 By ROBERT GRANT, Esq. 
 
 LONDON ; 
 
 Printed for BLACK, PARRY, and Co. Booksellers to the 
 
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 Printed by Coxai.ii Hi Vi , < , t o,ie, n street. 
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 DS 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In submitting this volume to the candid judg- 
 ment of the public, the author feels that it 
 should be accompanied by some explanation 
 of the circumstances under which it appears. 
 The idea was long since suggested to him 
 of composing a work, which should compre- 
 hensively treat the whole question respecting 
 the most eligible system of connexion be- 
 tween Great Britain and her extensive depen- 
 dencies in the East-Indies. In lending him- 
 self, at length, and with great reluctance, to 
 this advice, he was not actuated by any con- 
 ception of his own competence for the un- 
 dertaking, particularly amidst the interrupt- 
 ed opportunities which alone he could com- 
 mand. But the actual dearth of information, 
 at once accurate and popular, on the impor- 
 
 b 3 
 
 -IB SEi,
 
 11 
 
 tant subject in question, gave to a diligent 
 use of the opportunities within his reach, a 
 fair hope of comparative and satisfactory suc- 
 cess. He, therefore, addressed himself to 
 the task, and pursued it with a perseverance, 
 sometimes perhaps relaxed by indolence, but 
 more frequently intermitted of necessity. 
 
 The projected work was intended to exhi- 
 bit, first, a historical sketch, derived from 
 authentic sources, of the past proceedings of 
 the East-India Company : in the next place, 
 a correct view of the actual nature and ef- 
 fects of their present system, both political 
 and commercial, contrasted with a conjec- 
 tural view of the probable nature and effects 
 of those systems which a new order of things 
 might be expected to substitute : and lastly, 
 an investigation of the objections adduced or 
 adducible against the present system, ob- 
 jections, either political or commercial; ob- 
 jections, either founded on a survey of par- 
 ticular facts, or developed from a germ of 
 general principles. 
 
 The period, meanwhile, approached, at
 
 Ill 
 
 which the question was to undergo the so- 
 lemn revision of the Nation and of Parlia- 
 ment. Under the increased necessity for 
 exertion which this circumstance imposed on 
 the author, the magnitude cf his design, 
 and the comparative scantiness of his leisure, 
 equally prescribed to him the utmost com- 
 pression and brevity. But the very same 
 causes combined to prevent a compliance with 
 the injunction. The subject grew visibly 
 every hour. The desultory views of it, which 
 alone his other avocations allowed him, for- 
 bade that connected and (if the expression 
 may be used) panoptical attention to it, which 
 would both have rendered the labour bestow- 
 ed on the operation most effective, and the 
 reduction of the scale on which it was con- 
 ducted most practicable. Delay produced 
 the spontaneous rise of fresh topics, or the 
 afflux of fresh objections, without bringing 
 the leisure requisite to a due combination of 
 the new materials with the old. Under these 
 circumstances, the unexpected adjournment of 
 the question was an event highly convenient* 
 
 b 4
 
 IV 
 
 The respite, however, has by no means 
 enabled the author to liquidate his arrear of 
 composition ; partly, from unavoidable in- 
 terruptions which it would be impertinent to 
 particularize ; but, chiefly, from the extent of 
 the original plan. The full execution of such 
 an undertaking would require, not the partial 
 arid disjointed efforts of a few seasons, but 
 the steady devotion of years. 
 
 The expected national discussion, however, 
 is now in progress; and it soon appeared that 
 the author could by no method secure to his 
 humble labours a chance of effect, except by 
 sending forth, in a detached state, such por- 
 tions of the work, as were sufficiently com- 
 plete, and would bear insulation. Even here*^ 
 a selection was to be exercised. Although 
 the grounds on which the subject may be 
 fairly and usefully contested, are, like the 
 prejudices that prevail respecting it, innume- 
 rable, yet it includes some few questions, the 
 decision of which must, after all, dispose of 
 the rest. It is a circumstance gratifying to 
 the author, that his reflexions on certain
 
 topics which appear preeminently to fall uu^| 
 der this description should have been so far 
 advanced as to admit of immediate publica- 
 tion. Those reflexions form the contents of 
 the following pages. 
 
 The volume is divided into four parts or 
 chapters. The first exhibits a synopsis of 
 the system established for the government of 
 British India, comprising all the departments 
 of it, both in England and in the East. It 
 also describes and exemplifies the principles 
 by which the territorial administration of the 
 Company is regulated, and endeavours to 
 trace out the effects of that administration 
 on the state and feelings of the vast popula- 
 tion included within its range. With this 
 account, some partial views of the commer- 
 cial regulations of the Company are neces- 
 sarily interwoven, and it is followed by a 
 delineation of their military system as au 
 appendix. 
 
 It is next enquired, what effects a material 
 modification or change of that constitution
 
 VI 
 
 might naturally be expected to involve. The 
 second chapter, accordingly, attempts to fol- 
 low out the consequences that would flow 
 from any sensible relaxation of the restraints 
 imposed by the present system on the free 
 access of Europeans to India, and on their 
 residence in that country. It is here shewn 
 that such a change, though in appearance 
 commercial, would in its effects be political, 
 menacing both countries with dangers which 
 ought at any price to be averted. The third 
 chapter similarly traces the probable results 
 of a change in the political part of the pre- 
 sent system, and these results also, it is 
 shewn, are likely to prove disastrous. 
 
 The facts detailed, and the principles laid 
 down, in these three chapters, are, in the 
 fourth, shortly applied to the pending differ- 
 ences between the Ministers of the King and 
 the Company. The proposition maintained 
 is, that the plan meditated by Ministers would 
 virtually amount to an invasion of the present 
 system both in a commercial and a political
 
 Vll 
 
 view, and would therefore deeply involve the 
 hazard of the very serious mischiefs depre- 
 cated in the former parts of the work. 
 
 Each of these heads of enquiry is probably 
 fertile of arguments and observations which 
 have not occurred to the author. Even the 
 matter which did so occur, he has exhibited 
 but partially. Detail seemed to him of the 
 last moment ; but a detailed exposition of all 
 was impossible. It has been his method, 
 therefore, especially in the two middle chap- 
 ters, while he mentioned most of the very re- 
 levant topics that appeared of importance, yet 
 to select for minute specification only one or 
 two, the choice falling on such as were at 
 least not less important, and perhaps more 
 familiar, than the rest. 
 
 From the syllabus that has been given, it 
 will be perceived that the subject attempted 
 in the present volume, is really conclusive of 
 the question before the public. It forms pre- 
 cisely that branch of the question, which is 
 independent and paramount, certainly not 
 disdaining, but as certainly not requiring,
 
 VIII 
 
 the assistance of allied topics. If a material 
 change in the Indian system would threaten 
 the evils anticipated, and if the plan of Mi- 
 nisters implies such a change, no adequate 
 reason can be given why that plan should not 
 be rejected. The promises of commercial 
 advantage lavished on us by the measure, 
 were they certain of fulfilment even to the 
 letter, must in that case be worse than de- 
 ceptive. They may not be false, but they 
 are perfidious ; and would lure us to commit 
 the same species of disastrous absurdity with 
 him who should be seduced by his avarice into 
 a mine, fraught, perhaps, with veins of 
 unsunned ore, but at the same time teeming 
 with deleterious vapour. } ^ 
 
 How far the duration of the present dis- 
 cussion will allow the author to bring before 
 the public what yet remains of his original 
 design, is not certain. A considerable por- 
 tion, it would seem, of his past labour must 
 now prove fruitless ; partly from the impossi- 
 bility of finishing all that is begun ; partly from 
 circumstances ; and among these it may be
 
 IX 
 
 mentioned, that the altered state of the ques- 
 tion at issue would render impertinent some 
 reasonings and observations which, a year 
 ago, might have appeared strictly relevant. 
 It is purposed, however, immediately to fol- 
 low up the present effort with some sketches 
 of the history of the Company, accompanied 
 hy miscellaneous remarks. It is hoped, 
 though less confidently, that an essay, esti- 
 mating the probability of an increase in the 
 commerce with India, may also be prepared 
 in sufficient time. 
 
 During the progress of this undertaking, 
 the author has not been inattentive to late or 
 contemporary opinions respecting the subjects 
 of which he was treating. Those opinions, 
 however, are so numerous, not less differing 
 intrinsically than in the taste, temper, and 
 talent with which they have been maintained, 
 that a minute examination of them was impos- 
 sible ; and, unless they were to be examined, 
 it did not appear why they should be stated. 
 The reader who would know their merits, 
 must be content to labour through the cloud
 
 of recent publications on Indian affairs, by 
 one or other of which almost every conceiv- 
 able variety of sentiment on the subject has 
 been supported, or may with advantage con- 
 sult the Edinburgh Review, which has sup- 
 ported them all. In the following pages, 
 however, it has been the aim of the author 
 to lay down his principles in such a manner 
 as might obviate every prevalent or probable 
 misconception of moment ; an attempt, in 
 which he is far from the presumption of im- 
 agining that he has succeeded. Occasionally 
 also, he has expressly commented on the 
 works of late or living authors in this depart- 
 ment, and particularly of such as have been 
 hostile to the established Indian system. 
 
 Among the writers of the latter class, it 
 may perhaps seem natural that an important 
 place should have been assigned to Dr. Adam 
 Smith. The advocates for the form of go* 
 vernment by Which India is now ruled, are 
 indeed under the strongest temptation to 
 quote the sentiments of this celebrated econo- 
 mist on the subject, in contrast with the facts
 
 XI 
 
 from which those sentiments have received 
 their final refutation. The political welfare 
 of India has attained a height and a stabi- 
 lity probably unexampled in Asiatic history, 
 under the influence of a system, respecting 
 which Dr. Smith appears to have believed 
 that its defects, political as well as commer- 
 cial, were not only great but radical, ad- 
 mitting of no milder remedy than the axe. 
 His strictures on the system, however, are so 
 familiarly known, and the commentary which 
 the existing state of things furnishes on such 
 a text, is so decisive and unambiguous, that 
 the recollection of the one, and the applica- 
 tion of the other, shall, after this single sug- 
 gestion, be left to the unprompted mind of 
 the reader. On some collateral points, the 
 obseryations of the same author are both 
 cited and examined in the following pages, 
 with a freedom, however, which, it is trusted, 
 no where deviates into disrespect. The op- 
 ponents of Dr. Smith, on topics of national 
 economy, can honor his memory with no 
 tribute of deference more appropriate, than by
 
 xn 
 
 uniting that homage of manner to which his 
 established fame and eminent merit entitle 
 him, with that independence of opinion which 
 his writings at once inculcate and exemplify. 
 With the reverence, however, thus sin- 
 cerely professed for Dr. Smith, it appears not 
 inconsistent to observe that one or two charac- 
 teristic peculiarities in his manner may possibly 
 have increased the effect and popularity of his 
 works, independently of their real merit. 
 The most remarkable of these, is that set but 
 calm tone of dogmatism so invariably main- 
 tained throughout his composition. The 
 Wealth of Nations comprises a range of 
 enquiry extensive, surely, beyond the utmost 
 grasp, however capacious, of individual deci- 
 sion ; yet it exhibits little else than a series of 
 theorems, propounded with a quiet confidence 
 which might befit an elementary lecture on the 
 abstract sciences. Nothing can be more im- 
 posing to the generality of mankind than this 
 oracular mode of delivery ; this didactic com- 
 posure, equally unruffled by the solicitude of 
 enquiry, the perturbations of doubt, and the
 
 Xlll 
 
 elation of discovery. To the less friendly 
 readers of Dr. Smith, the same quality is not 
 equally pleasing. It savours of pretension, 
 and, perhaps, still more than his technical 
 language and his studied Anglicisms, commu- 
 nicates to his style that mannerism, from 
 which, with all its excellences, it is not ex- 
 empt. 
 
 But this sustained air of judicial superi* 
 ority was not incompatible with the occa- 
 sional introduction of severe though mea- 
 sured sarcasm. The splenetic reflexions, with 
 which the Wealth of Nations is interspersed, 
 on the meanness and malignity of restraints 
 and monopolies, however fairly intended, and 
 whatever may be thought of their intrinsic 
 truth, ^appear better calculated for popularity 
 than for use. They offend, indeed, the can- 
 did ; but they supply with watch-words of the 
 most convenient application that numerous 
 class of men, whom mottoes serve for princi- 
 ples, who are fond of uttering, for the sake 
 of clamour, propositions which they can nei- 
 ther prove nor apply, neither deduce from the 
 
 c
 
 xiv 
 
 elementary laws of human nature, nor com- 
 bine with the complex system of human so- 
 ciety. 
 
 Of recent publications, the only one con- 
 spicuously introduced in the following pages, 
 with the exception of a single article in the 
 Edinburgh Review, is a small volume pub- 
 lished in 1807, under the title of " Conside- 
 " rations upon the Trade with India." This 
 work led the way in the present literary war- 
 fare, andj as was said at the time of its ap- 
 pearance, not without effect. It is one, cer- 
 tainly, not ill adapted to produce effect during 
 seasons of epidemic prejudice ; those seasons, 
 in which truth and reason are easily overborne 
 by opinions hastily formed, and confidently 
 announced ; in which the most desultory 
 arrows of invective may fly far, because as- 
 sisted by " the blast of public breath/' No 
 insinuation is here designed against the good 
 intentions of the author in question, with 
 whatever success they are disguised ; nor on 
 his industry, though his activity may seem 
 rather to have been that of rage than of dili-
 
 gence; nor on the talent exhibited in his 
 work, though his strength be hardly equal to 
 his ferocity. Among the contemporary as- 
 sailants of the Company, he has every fair 
 claim to a prominent notice, even indepen- 
 dently of the title of preoccupancy. In abi- 
 lity and general information, he appears to 
 equal most of them ; and his work is more 
 open to exception, only as it is of greater 
 length. 
 
 The leading opinions maintained in the fol- 
 lowing pages, however superficial or incorrect, 
 have not been adopted without reflexion, and 
 are held deliberately, though, it is hoped, not 
 obstinately. The information on which those 
 opinions are declaredly grounded, the author 
 has carefully extracted from what appeared 
 the most authentic documents, not without as- 
 sistance from persons on whose accuracy, as 
 on their kindness, he places a full reliance. 
 Without meaning, therefore, to defy the tor- 
 ture of unfriendly scrutiny, he trusts that his 
 statements have no particular reason to dread
 
 xvi 
 
 it. For such errors as may, after all, have 
 escaped his attention, as well as for the many 
 other defects with which his work is, he fears, 
 chargeable, he entreats the indulgence of the 
 public. 
 
 iassv.q iuq \o stoafto ban Garten ariT .1 .9AH3 
 sift ot tr.9u ft bs-iabUttoo insists rusibnl 
 
 ~h&to noiiefuqoq ov'ttsn 9tii to elasisJat leaitiloq ' 
 
 oy^aivoiWio ats^Bo eldsdoiq erf* nO .II .iakO 
 
 ftilsup fffisiiltiq / 
 { hum to yijibnl iteiJhS ,m ^nsbie 
 
 
 oldiidoiq 9d.t nD~ T| I ,<i *.h3 
 
 TOdio omo ol ^neqaioD mbuL tei 
 
 fc 
 
 
 
 fttfeicqurb rn rnioq 9r{t nO YI.siahG 
 
 eib 
 BJBBJ 
 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Chap. I. The nature and effects of our present 
 
 Indian system considered with respect to the 
 political interests of the native population of Bri- 
 tish India. -------1 
 
 Chap. II. On the probable effects of allowing to 
 British subjects in general, a right, complete or 
 very partially qualified, of trading to, and of re- 
 siding in, British India, or any part of it. - - 169 
 
 Chap. III. On the probable effects of transferring 
 the political functions and patronage, now pos- 
 sessed by the East India Company, to some other 
 person or persons. - - - - - -251 
 
 Chap. IV". On the points at present in dispute be- 
 tween His Majesty's Ministers and the Company 3\5 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. Establishment of the Civil Service in In- 
 dia, including European uncovenanted Assis- 
 tants, with the Pay, Allowances, and Emolu- 
 ments. ... - 391
 
 XV111 
 
 Page 
 No. II. An Account of the Number of Civil 
 Servants, covenanted or uncovenanted, exclud- 
 ing Medical Practitioners, in India. - 393 
 
 No. III. An Account of the Number and Ex- 
 pense of the Medical Establishments in India. - S94 
 
 No. IV. An Account of the Number and Expense 
 of the Clerical Establishments at the several 
 Presidencies in India. - - - - / - fh. 
 
 No. V. An Account of the Number of Lavr 
 Practitioners in India. ----- 395 
 
 <f" 
 
 No.-VI. -An Account of the Number and Amount 
 of Pay and Allowances to the Company's Officers 
 on the Military Establishments at the several Pre- 
 sidencies in India. - - - - - -^ ib. 
 
 No. VII. An Account of the Number and Amount 
 of Pay and Allowances to Officers of His Ma- 
 jesty's Regiments in India. - - 306 
 
 No. VIII. An Account of the Number of all 
 Military Staff Appointments and of Allow- 
 ances annexed, under the several Presidencies 
 in India. - - - , - - ib. 
 
 No. IX. An Account of the Number of Military 
 Officers retired from the Company's Service, with 
 the Amount of their Pay. - - . . 397 
 
 No. X. An Account of the Number of Marine 
 Officers, &c. retired from the Company's Ser- 
 vice with the Amount of their Pensions. - - ib.
 
 XIX 
 
 Page 
 No. XL An Account of the Number and Ex- 
 pense of the Military Corps in the Company's 
 Service on the Establishments at the several Pre- 
 sidencies in India. 398 
 
 No. XII. An Account of the Number and Ex- 
 pense of the King's Troops serving at the se- 
 veral Presidencies in India. - 399 
 
 No. XIII. An. Account of the Amount of Pen- 
 sions granted to Europeans at the different 
 Presidencies in India. - 400 
 
 No. XIV. An Abstract Account of the Com- 
 pany's Establishments in India, including His 
 Majesty's Troops. ------ 401 
 
 No. XV. Note on the American Trade with 
 China. -------- 403 

 

 
 THE 
 
 EXPEDIENCY, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Nature and Effects of our present Indian Sj/slem 
 considered zoith respect to the Political Interests of 
 the Native Population of British India. 
 
 BEFORE we resolve on the abolition of any 
 established system, we shall do well very seriously 
 to consider its actual nature and effects. There 
 are those, indeed, who dispose of all political 
 questions, by a short reference to certain abstract 
 or elementary principles. But, as simplicity is 
 not the proper virtue of institutions adapted to 
 the various and intervolved exigencies of human 
 society, so it is seldom that the merits of such 
 institutions can be ascertained by the application 
 of general and summary tests. Minute analysis 
 may shew, that a part of the system which, in 
 itself, appears open to strong objection, is, in fact, 
 attempered and corrected by the mixture of 
 some opposing ingredient. Even this, however, 
 
 B
 
 is to understate the case. The actual effects of 
 an establishment may, on examination, prove to 
 be such, as shall successfully vindicate the consti- 
 tution on which it is framed, even though that 
 constitution be irreconcilably at war with many 
 received maxims of policy ; for, from the criterion 
 of practice, there is no appeal. 
 
 In conformity with these plain and, indeed, 
 very trite propositions, a succinct enquiry is here 
 intended into the nature and effects of the consti- 
 tution of government which the East-India Com- 
 pany, under the sanction, and with the aid, of 
 the legislature, have established over the coun- 
 tries comprized under the name of British India : 
 a constitution, which has undergone various 
 changes, but which may be regarded as having of 
 late years acquired a certain degree of maturity 
 and stability. riorrfw ? 
 
 The importance of such an enquiry will pro- 
 bably not be controverted. ' Of the complex 
 system of connexion which unites Great- Britain 
 with her dependencies in the East, the political 
 welfare of those dependencies is undoubtedly one 
 cardinal object; an object, than which none can 
 be more interesting in the eyes of humanity, 
 and which, at the same time, appears material to 
 the effectual and permanent attainment of all the 
 other benefits proposed by the union in question. 
 
 Of the vast empire possessed by this country 
 in^the East, some very large divisions have been 
 gained within the last twenty years. In these
 
 more recent acquisitions, it would be unreasonable 
 to suppose that the British government had as yet 
 been fully systematised ; and, though enough has 
 been done to authorise the most satisfactory infer- 
 ences respecting what remains, yet, in the survey 
 wluch is intended to constitute the subject of the 
 present chapter, it seems desirable to exhibit 
 facts totally unmixed with conjectures. All the 
 purposes, however, in view, will be sufficiently 
 answered by exhibiting the maturer policy estab- 
 lished in the provinces of Bengal, the earliest and 
 the most important of our territorial possessions 
 in India. The government of Bengal, indeed, 
 not only demands observation in itself; but it 
 has furnished the model on which the political 
 constitutions of the territories more newly attained 
 have, so far as was practicable, been formed, and 
 to which they are, as to their general features, in 
 various stages of assimilation. Of the picture, 
 therefore, with which the following pages will 
 present the reader, he should bear in mind that the 
 government of Bengal is more immediately the 
 original. 
 
 Political institutions, however, are the creatures 
 of time and occasion ; nor can the nature of any 
 government be adequately appreciated, without a 
 reference to the exigencies and difficulties under 
 which it has been formed. In this view, it does 
 not appear necessary to enter on a historical de- 
 duction of the Indo-British government from its 
 earliest beginnings. On the contrary, not only
 
 "will time be saved, but a more marked and distinct 
 idea of the merits of that government will be 
 conveyed, by simply regarding it in contrast with 
 the Mahomedan system, which, within the last 
 half century, it has superseded. The amount of 
 the improvements w r hich the British have effected 
 in the polity of Hindostan, sensible and striking 
 when those improvements are contemplated in the 
 aggregate, might be apt to glide out of sight in 
 tracing the gradations by which they have taken 
 place. 
 
 It may perhaps be objected, that the improve- 
 ments in question by no means constitute a ground 
 of national triumph on the part of this country, 
 because the superseded system, so far from being 
 properly Mahomedan, was in effect a system de- 
 teriorated by the partial mixture of European 
 principles, and the influence of European admi- 
 nistration. 
 
 That the operation , of the British government 
 was, in the first instance, unfavourable to the 
 people of Bengal, may be admitted, without there- 
 fore attaching any peculiar discredit to the British 
 name. For the acts of misconduct into which the 
 servants of the Company were, at the period in 
 -question, betrayed, we may find, not perhaps an 
 apology, but yet an explanation, in the strange- 
 ness of their circumstances,-*-in the intoxicating 
 effect of an unexpected transition from danger 
 and dependence to victory and power, in the 
 elation of rapid and splendid conquest, in the 

 
 inflammation of successful revenge, in the natural 
 consequence of a sudden introduction into the 
 vortex of the profligate politics of Asia, all their 
 worst passions exposed to the double stimulus of 
 facility and example. That the Company at 
 home did not sooner correct these disorders, we 
 shall be very little inclined to wonder, if we re- 
 flect, on the proverbially tardy growth of poli- 
 tical institutions, on the difficulty with which any 
 system, whatever its elementary perfectness, can 
 be adapted to a situation utterly untried, and fer- 
 tile' of exigencies, on the distance between Eng- 
 land and India, on the obstacles to correct infor- 
 mation, where all the reporters have a common 
 interest in concealment. In the course of the 
 inquiry now intended, however, it is unnecessary 
 to notice the defects of the early administration 
 of the British in the East ; and that for the two 
 following reasons. First ; the difference, in point 
 of defectiveness, between the Mahomedan system, 
 as we found it, and the Mahomedan system, as 
 we first modified it, altogether vanishes, when 
 either of these is compared with that matured 
 constitution that has eventually superseded both. 
 Any studious notice, therefore, of the difference 
 referred to would be out of place in the ensuing 
 pages. Secondly ; on whatever quarter the blame 
 of the supplanted system may light, it can in no 
 respect affect the title of this country, and of the 
 Company, to the glory of that which has been 
 substituted. In whatever manner the wound was 
 
 B 3
 
 inflicted, the skill is not the less admirable which 
 has accomplished the cure. The merit of the 
 improved system remains undiminished, and the 
 consequent argument for the continuance of it 
 unshaken. 
 
 Without farther preamble, a short account shall 
 now be given of the nature and effects of the 
 Mahomedan government established in Hindostan, 
 particularly as it was exemplified in the provinces 
 of Bengal ; which will be followed by a contrast- 
 ed view of the political system of the English 
 India Company. 
 
 The Mogul government was a despotism ; and 
 of that absolute kind, which tolerates no nobility 
 but the nobility of office. Little needs be said 
 in condemnation of such a polity ; of which, in- 
 deed, nothing has ever been said in praise ; ex- 
 cept it be, that the absence of a hereditary aristo- 
 cracy, by rendering it impossible for faction or 
 rebellion to find any powerful heads, secures the 
 intestine tranquillity of the state. The remark 
 has been made by , Machiavel, and commended, 
 
 * 
 
 though not without some qualification, by Hume ; 
 but its truth will seem highly questionable to those 
 who consider the violent dissensions and civil 
 wars that convulsed the empire of Delhi. Such 
 persons will perceive also why the remark is un- 
 true ; and that, in the absence of a hereditary 
 nobility, rebellion always sought and always found 
 
 * Essays, Part 1. Essay Hi. 
 
 . . $
 
 a leader in the bosom of the imperial house itself. 
 Under a monarchy constituted in the manner 
 supposed, it appears the common interest of the 
 subjects, whether high or low, that a division of 
 the power which tyrannizes over them should 
 exist, where alone it can possibly exist, in the 
 family feuds of their tyrants. Of every mal- 
 content chief, it is the obvious interest to obtain 
 the benefit of an alliance with those hereditary 
 pretensions of which he is personally destitute, 
 by associating with himself some malcontent con- 
 nexion of the throne. Unawed, meantime, and 
 unmenaced by the ambition of ancient and patri- 
 cian houses, the members of the imperial blood 
 not only want one grand principle of union, but 
 are naturally led to expend their jealousies on 
 each other. Such seems partly the account, al- 
 though it probably is not the whole* account, of 
 those relative discords and fraternal furies, which 
 have cursed and disgraced the palaces of the 
 Achaemenides, the Othmans, and the Timurs, of 
 all ages. 
 
 But these considerations, after all, respect a 
 state of things long anterior to the time which the 
 present review is designed to comprehend. The 
 power of the Mogul empire rapidly declined from 
 the death of Bahader Shah, the son of Aurung- 
 
 b 4 
 
 * Polygamy has, in some degree, contributed to produce the 
 effect.
 
 8 
 
 zebe, in 1712, and may be said to have finally 
 expired on the capture and plunder of Delhi, by 
 Nadir Shah, in 1739, twenty years before the 
 British acquired territorial dominion in Bengal. 
 The want of an established patrician order did 
 not, at this crisis, prevent Hindostan from being 
 rent in pieces by rebellious Omrahs, but the con- 
 trary. Of the numerous pretenders who usurped, 
 either the vizierut, now virtually independent, at 
 Delhi, or some of the viceroyalties, equally inde- 
 pendent, of the provinces, none could urge any 
 claims of ancestry, which the period of one or two 
 generations did not completely cover. None, 
 therefore, could build his usurpation, even ob- 
 liquely as it were, on a basis of opinion : but a 
 general and an equal scramble took place ; each 
 pretending an appointment from the Court at 
 Delhi ; where, indeed, the instrument of investi- 
 ture could generally be procured for a trifling 
 present, and, if it could not be procured, it was 
 invariably fabricated. Wherever, meantime, one 
 of these untitled adventurers succeeded in estab- 
 lishing himself, there a government grew up, 
 which, like that from the ashes of which it had 
 arisen, was a despotism without an aristocracy ; 
 and which was attended by the evils usually 
 incident to that form of polity. During these 
 struggles, the Mahrattas, and other freebooters, 
 took advantage of the general confusion that pre- 
 vailed among the combatants, to prey indiscri- 
 minately on them all.
 
 Such was the external, or, as it might be term- 
 ed, the national condition, of the Mogul pro- 
 vinces, at the aera when the Company acquired 
 territorial power ; but it will be desirable to inspect 
 the interior or domestic economy of those coun- 
 tries, both as it subsisted in the flourishing times, 
 and, much more, as it became on the dismember- 
 ment, of the empire. 
 
 According to the Mogul system, the chief local 
 authorities of every province were, a Viceroy, ap- 
 pointed by the Imperial Court, and indiscrimi- 
 nately known by the name of Nazim and Navaub, 
 or, as the inveterate usage of Englishmen now 
 forms the word, Nabob ; and another minister, 
 also appointed by the Court, with the title of 
 Dewan. Of these functionaries, the former, who 
 in dignity and power was the superior, was in- 
 vested with the command of the troops, and the 
 military administration of the state ; the supreme 
 jurisdiction in criminal matters ; and the exclusive 
 superintendence of the public police. In the 
 fiscal department he had no share, excepting in- 
 deed, as some affirm, with regard to the revenues 
 of the lands immediately appropriated to the sup- 
 port of the Nizamut. To the Dewan were com- 
 mitted the management of the public revenues, 
 and the distribution of civil justice. By the theory 
 of the constitution, a balance of power subsisted 
 between these officers, and, under monarchs of 
 wisdom and vigour, such a balance was actually 
 maintained ; but, in weak reigns, its efficiency
 
 10 
 
 fluctuated entirely according to the comparative de- 
 grees of interest winch the Nazim and the Dewan 
 could respectively command at Delhi. When, 
 however, the supremacy of the Imperial Court 
 became altogether titular, the possession of the 
 sword at once determined the point in favour of 
 the Nazim. The Dewan sank into dependence ; 
 and was generally some Hindoo of subtilty and 
 intrigue, the mere creature of the viceroy, and 
 probably the convenient instrument of his avarice 
 or tyranny. 
 
 By the usage of the empire, two or three pro- 
 vinces were sometimes consolidated together under 
 the denomination of a Subah, and, while indi- 
 vidually governed by Nazims, were collectively 
 ruled by a Subahdar. This arrangement only in- 
 serted between the Court and the provincial rulers 
 an intermediate superior, of whom those rulers 
 held as, in some sort, feudatories ; but it did not 
 affect the mutual relations of the provincial go- 
 vernment and the people. The provinces of Ben- 
 gal, however, though, properly speaking, they 
 constituted a subah, were governed immediately 
 by a viceroy of imperial appointment, who was 
 indifferently styled Nabob and Subahdar. 
 
 Political philosophers maintain that the provinces 
 of a despotism are generally governed with greater 
 mildness than those of a free state. Under what 
 qualifications this doctrine is to be adopted, it does 
 not seem important here to examine. There can 
 be no doubt that, while the strength of the Mogul
 
 11 
 
 monarchy remained unimpaired, the controul of 
 the sovereign was at least occasionally exerted in 
 checking or chastising the misconduct of the pro- 
 vincial ministers. It will scarcely be pretended, 
 however, that the dependencies of a country can 
 often be in a condition materially preferable to 
 that of the parent country itself. Neither will it 
 be denied, that the Mogul system was essentially 
 pregnant with abuses ; nor that a despotic form 
 of government, even when it is best administered, 
 possesses but a questionable claim to the gratitude 
 of mankind. For there can be no doubt that 
 the despots who, whether in the East or in the 
 West, have redeemed themselves from the odium 
 ordinarily attached to that name, have acquired 
 their reputation, rather by the display of some 
 striking virtues, than by the better title of an 
 exemption from many faults. 
 
 But these considerations need not be particularly 
 expanded ;, for it is, at all events, unquestionable, 
 that, when the Nabobs acquired independence, 
 their governments became, in the literal sense, 
 tyrannies, and that they were, generally speaking, 
 administered in a very arbitrary manner. The 
 attachment of the Hindoo people, indeed, to their 
 national religion, and the close connexion subsist- 
 ing between their religion and many of their civil 
 institutions, would always procure to those institu- 
 tions, from a prince of common prudence, a cer- 
 tain measure of respect. But, exclusively of this 
 single point, the Hindoos are, beyond all record-
 
 12 
 
 ed nations, submissive and unresisting ; and tlieir 
 facility of nature was ungenerously abused by their 
 Mahomedan masters. They were assessed at a 
 higher rate for the customs than the professors of 
 the Mussulman faith j nor was this the only re- 
 spect in which they suffered a very invidious de- 
 pression. They did not, however, suffer alone. 
 All classes of subjects were more or less oppress- 
 ed ; every rank in the state tyrannized with im- 
 punity over the next ; the government almost 
 totally wanted principle ; and the Durbar of the 
 Nabob exhibited, for the most part, an offensive 
 scene of intrigue, favouritism, and venality. 
 
 In order to verify this summary description, it 
 may not be uninteresting succinctly to detail the 
 modes of procedure which were followed in two 
 departments of the Mahomedan government, the 
 one intimately affecting the interests of some very 
 Valuable classes of the community, the other as 
 intimately affecting those of all. These are the 
 financial and the judicial departments. The first 
 Temark, indeed, applicable to the subject, is, that, 
 even in designating these departments as two, 
 there is, in the present case, a certain inaccuracy : 
 for, according to the Mahomedan constitution, the 
 administration of the public revenues and that of 
 justice, w r ere, by an evident solecism in policy, 
 frequently entrusted to the same hands. We have 
 seen that the same officer, the Dewan, was both 
 the chief judge in civil causes and the principal 
 minister of finance j and this confusion of cha-
 
 13 
 
 racter, with the occasional addition of a criminal 
 jurisdiction, pervaded the system. Even the Ze- 
 mindars, farmers, and other persons directly em- 
 ployed in the collection of the revenues, were 
 invested with judicial powers of an irregular kind. 
 The practice, having become inveterate, was, for 
 a time, very properly tolerated by the English ; 
 nor are there wanting respectable opinions which 
 maintain that, in a very qualified degree, it should 
 have been suffered still to continue. But, under 
 the Mogul system, it prevailed with little qua- 
 lification, or rather, with none ; and we might 
 safely conjecture, that an arrangement, which 
 entirely confided to the executive officers of 
 the state a province, one important function of 
 which is that of protecting the subject from those 
 very officers, must have been fertile of mischief. 
 That it was so in fact, will appear in the sequel. 
 
 The financial policy of the Moguls,* and, as it 
 has been conjectured, also of their predecessors, 
 the Hindoo princes of India, was chiefly directed 
 to the collection of a territorial revenue. By the 
 theory of the Mogul constitution, the crop was 
 annually divided in certain fixed proportions; 
 two-fifths being allotted to the ryot, or actual cul- 
 tivator of the soil, and of the remainder, greater 
 or less fractions to the landholder, the intermediate 
 renters, and various assistants or agents, while the 
 residue belonged to the state. Such, at least, seems 
 
 *Sec a more particular description in the Bengal Rtevcnu 
 Consultations ; Mr. Shore's minute, recorded Feb. 10^.1790.
 
 14 
 
 to have been the general rule, though subject to 
 modifications. In Bengal, however, the amount 
 payable was not ascertained by a division of the 
 crop raised, but was a sum of money previously 
 fixed by an agreement between the government 
 and the landholder. The usual practice was, for 
 the Subahdar, or his Dewan, annually to summon 
 the Zemindars or landholders, and to prescribe to 
 them certain terms of settlement, those terms be- 
 ing regulated, on a rough calculation at least, by 
 the conceived capability of tlie land. The land- 
 holders, having accepted the required conditions, 
 formed, in their turn, a settlement with the rent- 
 ers ; and these, in succession, with their subor- 
 dinates, down to the cultivator or ryot. In its 
 returns, therefore, the revenue passed upwards, 
 from the ryot, through the head-ryot, of whom 
 every village contained two or three, and suc- 
 cessively, through all the graduated scale of rent- 
 ers, to the Zemindar ; from the Zemindar to the 
 state. Sometimes, the agency of the Zemindar 
 was dispensed with ; and a collector negotiated 
 between the government and the petty landholders. 
 Sometimes, the revenues of an entire district were 
 farmed out on leasehold for a year to an individual 
 having no durable interest in the soil. 
 
 Without any minuter dissection of this system, 
 we might surely with safety pronounce it liable to 
 some great objections. The manifold subdivision 
 of the possession of land gave the system, not- 
 withstanding the apparent simplicity of its fun-
 
 15 
 
 damental principle, a practical intricacy extremely 
 favourable to the existence of abuse. On every 
 received principle, also, of political economy, the 
 practice of annual leases, subject to an annual va- 
 riation of the rent reserved, must, unless counter- 
 acted by some stronger corrective principle in the 
 system, than will easily be there discovered, have 
 been highly prejudicial to cultivation. In England, 
 according to the common opinion at least, even 
 the payment of tithe has this tendency j and, with 
 every allowance for the unparalleled productive- 
 ness of the soil of Bengal, the effects of a rule, 
 by which the proportion levied on the cultivator 
 amounted to the value of half his crop, could 
 scarcely fail to be pernicious. That effect, it 
 should however be observed, was doubtless greatly 
 aggravated, when the person who immediately 
 negotiated the settlement with the renter or culti- 
 vator, was not a Zemindar, having somewhat of a 
 durable interest in the land, but a casual collector 
 or farmer, interested only to extract the maximum 
 of produce in a given time. 
 
 But a farther analysis will confirm the presump- 
 tions, which a superficial view of this subject is 
 adapted to suggest. The money-revenue paid, as 
 described, in Bengal, was considered as consisting 
 of two parts ; the assul, or original ground-rent, 
 understood to be the standard-assessment, fixed 
 in the year of the christian sera, 1582 ; and the 
 aboab, or subsequent additions, calculated on the 
 original sum in a certain proportion to the rupee.
 
 16 
 
 In general, the Zemindar or farmer, in his settle- 
 ment with the state, stipulated only to pay a gross 
 amount ; while, in the agreements of the inferior 
 renters, the distinction of assul and aboab was 
 preserved. The aboabs were, in fact, certain 
 imposts, levied, at will, by each rank of land- 
 holders or renters on the order immediately con- 
 tiguous. For every increase in the demands of 
 government on himself, the Zemindar found com- 
 pensation in a new call on his renters ; and the 
 burden increased as it travelled downwards. The 
 compensation was too often sought, where the 
 demand had not been' made. Under the colour 
 of exactions from superiors, contributions were 
 imposed on subordinates ; which, however, when 
 detected by the superiors, were extorted from the 
 robbers with interest. Nor did the aboabs only 
 prove oppressive in their practical operation, or 
 grievous in their abuse ; even in principle, many 
 of them were radically unjust. One, for example, 
 was avowedly an assessment on the ryot, for the 
 purpose of making up any deficiency in the re- 
 venue due from such of his brother ryots of the 
 district, as had died or fled the country. By 
 this regulation, whenever the calamity of famine 
 had occurred, and it is of too frequent occurrence 
 in Hindostan, the wretched survivors of a wasted 
 population were taxed with a severity inversely 
 proportional to their numbers. 
 
 It may be enquired, by what means a com- 
 pliance with the vexatious exactions- in question
 
 was enforced. In societies constructed on a des- 
 potic principle, the imperious and even violent 
 treatment of inferiors is not merely tolerated, but 
 a matter of ordinary usage. The great and the 
 opulent of Hindostan, familiarly deal blows and 
 scourges to the humbler persons in their employ ; 
 nor, by the exercise of such authority, is any 
 municipal law violated, or any public feeling out- 
 raged. By the practice, besides, of Hindostan, 
 individuals were allowed to compel, of their own 
 authority, the payment of debts owing to them, 
 by the seizure and detention of the persons of the 
 debtors. In addition to these circumstances, the 
 landholders and farmers of Bengal enjoyed, as 
 has already been observed, an ill-defined local 
 jurisdiction, and could thus embark, at pleasure, 
 the justiciary of the country, in the cause of their 
 own extortions. The superior courts, meanwhile, 
 confining their operations to a small circle about 
 the capital of the district, were little accessible 
 to the complaints of retired villages ; nor, indeed, 
 for reasons that will hereafter appear, even had 
 those complaints reached their ears, could any 
 reliance have been placed on their disposition to 
 afford redress. In effect, the collection of the 
 arbitrary tributes which made up the revenues, 
 was often accomplished by the unrelenting use, 
 always by the terror, of the scourge. 
 
 The sufferings which the landholders inflicted, 
 they themselves in turn experienced. Of the 
 rigour with which the government realized the 
 
 c
 
 18 
 
 payments, some striking illustrations are famished 
 by the history of the Nabob of Bengal, the first 
 Jaffier Khan. This person had originally been 
 Dewan of the province, and was afterwards, in 
 reward for some very murderous services, promo- 
 ted by Aurengzebe to the Nizamut. His admi- 
 nistration, therefore, not only preceded the ac- 
 quisition of territorial dominion by the British, 
 but took place during the most prosperous period 
 of the Mogul dominion. The energy, besides, 
 of that administration has gained him particular 
 celebrity : his decisions were highly esteemed ; 
 and the blessings which flowed from his govern- 
 ment have been extolled by his countrymen with 
 all the exaggeration of the East. " The wolf 
 " and the lamb lived in harmony together ; the 
 ** hawk and the partridge dwelt in one nest/' 
 Nor, indeed, can it be questioned that, in the 
 time of Jaffier Khan, the state of the provinces 
 was greatly more flourishing than at the period of 
 the revolution of 1757. But what is the Indian 
 standard of political excellence, and how great is 
 the elasticity, if it may be so termed, of the re-* 
 sources of Gangetic Hindostan, will appear from 
 the following sketches of the policy of the states- 
 man in question. It should be premised that they 
 are given on the authority of a historian of Ins own 
 faith, and his professed panegyrist. From this, 
 author we learn that Jaffier prohibited all Zeinindars 
 and Hindoos from riding in palkees; and the 
 Nazim or executive officer of his orders, " used
 
 19 
 
 ." to suspend the Zemindars by the heels, and, 
 " after rubbing the soles of their feet with a hard 
 " brick, bastinado them with a switch. In the 
 f* winter, he would order them to be stripped 
 " naked, and then sprinkled with water ; and he 
 " used to have them flogged till they paid money. 
 " He employed none but Bengally Hindoos in. 
 " the collection of the revenues, because they 
 " are most easily compelled by punishment to 
 .** discover their malpractices, and nothing is to 
 " be apprehended from their pusillanimity. When 
 " he discovered that an Aumil (a collector) or 
 " Zemindar had dissipated the revenues, and then, 
 " falling in balance, was unable to make good 
 " the deficiency, he compelled the offender, his 
 " wife, and children, to turn Mahomedans."* 
 That we may fully enter into the force of tins 
 striking picture, we must bear in mind that the 
 Zemindars are among the most elevated of the 
 gentry, in a country where there are, properly 
 speaking, no nobles. 
 
 The impression which the account that has been 
 given is calculated to make, will be confirmed by 
 a quotation from a treatise on the government and 
 people of Hindostan, by an author of established 
 credit, Mr. Orme. This work was written in 
 1753, some years before the territorial aggrandize- 
 
 c 2 
 
 * Narrative of the Transactions in Bengal, &c. translated 
 from the original Persian, by Francis GlauVyn, Esq. Calcutta, 
 1/88.
 
 20 
 
 mcnt of the India Company, and during the ad- 
 ministration of the celebrated Alaverdi Khan. 
 " Imitation (says Mr. Orme) has conveyed the 
 " unhappy system of oppression which prevails in 
 " the government of Hindostan, throughout all 
 " ranks of the people, from the highest even to 
 " the lowest subject of the empire. Every head 
 " of a village calls his habitation the Durbar, 
 " and plunders of their meal and roots the 
 " wretches of his precinct : from him the Zemin- 
 " dar extorts the small pittance of silver which 
 " his penurious tyranny has scraped together : the 
 ' Phousdar seizes upon the greatest share of the 
 " Zemindar's collections, and then secures the 
 ' favour of his Nabob by voluntary contributions, 
 f which leave him not possessed of the half of 
 " his rapines and exactions : the Nabob fixes his 
 " rapacious eye on every portion of wealth which 
 w appears in his province, and never fails to carry 
 off part of it : by large deductions from these 
 * acquisitions, he purchases security from his su- 
 " periors, or maintains it against them at the ex- 
 ' pence of a war."* 
 
 The calamities which the Mogul system of 
 finance immediately and in the first instance occa- 
 sioned, the harassing contests, the cruelty and 
 insolence, to which it exposed the various tenants 
 of land, whatever their denomination, and the 
 general diffusion, throughout this numerous class 
 
 * General Idea of the Government and People of Hindostan. 
 Book III. ch. 9.
 
 21 
 
 of society, of the feelings of fear and animosity, 
 did not constitute its only evil. Another mischief, 
 consequentially but inseparably attached to it, was 
 the encouragement which it afforded to chicanery 
 and corruption. 
 
 Since the magnitude of the sum annually levied 
 on the land was governed, according to some 
 rough proportion, by the supposed capability of 
 the land to pay, the apparent productiveness of 
 an estate always subjected the landholder or farmer 
 to the danger of an advance in his rent. It fur- 
 ther subjected him to the danger of being deprived 
 of his possession altogether ; because the favourites 
 of the Nazim and Dewan were ever on the alert 
 to discover the most productive estates, that they 
 might themselves obtain them on the lowest terms. 
 To this last mentioned danger, indeed, the farmer, 
 as holding only from year to year, was more liable 
 than the landholder, whose tenure was considered 
 of a more durable kind ; but even the landholder 
 did not possess a complete security. It was, of 
 course, the interest of the one and the other, td 
 conceal, as much as possible, the value of his pro- 
 perty, and for this purpose, both employed various 
 artifices of misrepresentation. They withheld the 
 payment of the kist, or monthly instalment, to 
 the latest moment, under the pretext of an inabi- 
 lity to make it good. They adopted intricate 
 divisions of their lands, and complex modes 
 of collecting their own dues from the sub-renters, 
 with a view of embarrassing investigation, and 
 
 c 3
 
 22 
 
 eluding detection. They fabricated accounts of 
 losses which they had not sustained'; sometimes 
 describing the country as barren from drought, 
 sometimes as desolated by inundation ; and these 
 pleas, with innumerable others, they advanced, not 
 only at the period of fixing the assessment, bu,t 
 also during the whole course of collecting it. As 
 accounts relating to former assessments were fre- 
 quently called for, it was not unusual in the vil- 
 lages and provincial courts, called Cutcherries, to 
 deposit annually bundles of blank paper, for the 
 purpose of supplying fabricated accounts of elapsed 
 years, which, from the apparent age of the paper, 
 might evade discovery. 
 
 The industry of the landholder, in framing and 
 urging these false representations, was met, on 
 the part of the government, by an eagerness equally 
 keen and unscrupulous, in detecting them. This 
 was probably done by the appointment of officers 
 with express commissions to ascertain the real pro- 
 duce and value of the lands ; and these commis- 
 sions were occasionally executed in a manner 
 sufficiently vexatious ; but the matter was more 
 often settled by a fraudulent compromise. The 
 commissioners under-rated or exaggerated the va- 
 lue of the estate, in proportion as the landholder 
 gave or withheld from them bribes. Suspicion of 
 these collusive practices, or the mere delay of the 
 commissioners in fulfilling their functions (a delay 
 which frequently lasted many months), led to 
 fresh inquisitions, as to the amount realized by
 
 23 
 
 i - 
 
 them during their temporary charge of the col- 
 lections : and here another contest took place be- 
 tween tyranny and cunning ; for misrepresentations 
 of any kind could always be purchased. 
 
 The description which has been given of the 
 process by which the terms between government 
 and the landholder were usually adjusted, may 
 also serve for a pretty exact account of the method 
 of dealing between the landholder, in his turn, 
 and the inferior tenantry, and again between the 
 higher and the lower orders of these successively, 
 in a regular descent to the ryot. 
 
 It may be added, in this place, that the 
 practice of an annual recoinage, which prevailed 
 under the Mahomedan government, tended, and 
 did in fact lead, to great peculation and abuse. 
 Siccas, or rupees, of three years currency, 
 although not diminished one four-hundreth part 
 in value, were received by the collectors of the 
 revenue, at a discount of three per cent, or 
 more : these were recoined at an expense of about 
 one per cent., and, the difference became the pro- 
 fit, sometimes of the government, but generally 
 of its officers. The landholder, however, or far- 
 mer, was not necessarily a loser by this bargain. 
 He had perhaps received this very coin from his 
 under-tenant, at a discount of five per cent., and, 
 by transferring it to the officers of government 
 at three, might actually gain two per cent. The 
 burden, therefore, fell on the under tenants, and, 
 most of all, on the ryots ; and, as there was a 
 
 c 4
 
 24 
 
 great variety of these coins in circulation, it was 
 very oppressive. 
 
 It will require no further details to shew, that 
 such a revenue-system as has been described, must 
 have led, in its consequences, to another evil 
 of a very serious kind ; the extreme depression 
 of cultivation. "Were it possible for the healing 
 powers of nature to keep pace with the misma- 
 nagement of man, when exerted on so large a 
 scale as has been described, such an exercise of 
 those powers might have been expected in the 
 province of Bengal, distinguished above every 
 other part of the globe, for an exuberant fecundity 
 of soil. The fact, however, is, that at the time 
 when the perpetual settlement of the revenues of 
 Bengal took place under Lord Gornwallis, one 
 third part of this fine region was a wilderness. 
 
 The preceding observations relate entirely to 
 the land-rent, which has always constituted by 
 far the principal ingredient in the revenues of 
 Bengal, and of India in general. It would be 
 tedious to expatiate at the same length on the 
 Customs, which also formed a branch, though a 
 subordinate one, of those revenues ; but it may 
 summarily be remarked, that, in these also, great 
 abuses prevailed. Exclusively of the custom- 
 houses established by government, which, com- 
 paratively speaking, were few, and tolerably well 
 regulated, the zemindars and farmers exercised 
 the liberty of laying tolls on goods of all kinds, 
 pi transitu by water, as well as duties on com-
 
 25 
 
 modities sold either in the established or in the 
 occasional markets. The toll-houses for these 
 purposes, were erected without any restriction as 
 to number, and without any public regulation as 
 to the rate of tolls. Every thing depended on the 
 discretion of the zemindars and farmers. Thus 
 the internal trade of the country, whether carried 
 On by water or by land, was liable to endless im- 
 pediments and indefinite extortion. 
 1 Such was the revenue department of the Mus- 
 sulman administration ; i^ indeed, the term 
 revenue may be applied to imposts, many of 
 which, under whatever pretext exacted, or on 
 whatever grounds originally acquiesced in, became 
 at length, instead of being the gain of the state, 
 the booty of its rapacious and corrupt agents. 
 
 It remains to say something of the judicial 
 practice of the same power; a subject which 
 has unavoidably been, in some measure, anticipated 
 in the preceding details, but of which a fuller 
 outline may be interesting. In this, as in every 
 other part of the present delineation of the Mus- 
 sulman system, it should be noted, that Bengal, 
 our earliest acquisition, is the particular province 
 which sits for the picture. 
 
 In the metropolis of the province, the Nazim 
 himself, as the supreme criminal magistrate, 
 presided in the trial of capital bffenees ; the 
 Fojedar in that of all other criminal offences, 
 which last, however, were always reported to the 
 Nazim for j udgmeiit. The chief civil magistrates
 
 26 
 
 were three. The Darogab Adawlut ul Aulea (who 
 was properly the Nazim's deputy) tried all 
 causes of property, excepting such as related to 
 land ,or inheritance, and also took cognizance of 
 quarrels and affrays ; the Darogah Adawlut 
 Dewannee (or Dewan's deputy) tried causes 
 relating to real property; the Cazee, those re- 
 lating to claims of inheritance or succession. By 
 the constitution, the Cazee had for his assessors, 
 the Mufti, or expounder of the Mahomedan law, 
 and the Mohtesib, who had a separate cognizance 
 over the sale of intoxicating liquors or drugs, 
 and the use of false weights and measures. A^hen 
 these three judges were not unanimous on a cause,, 
 it was referred, under the warrant of the Nazim, 
 to an assembly of all the learned in the . la^ f 
 With respect to the Dewan, though properly t\\e 
 fountain of civil justice, he seldom took ^ajy 
 personal concern in the distribution f jfttgrnilgmnq 
 
 But neither the respective departments, nor the 
 constitutions, of these three civil courts were very 
 accurately denned. The two first encroached on 
 each other at pleasure ; and the Cazee generally 
 determined causes without the assistance, or even 
 the presence, of those who should, by law, have 
 been his coadjutors. 
 
 In addition to tjiese tribunals, every separate 
 district was furnishe4 with three principal courts ; 
 a civil court, over which the Zemindar of the 
 district presided ; a criminal court, over which ha 
 alsp presided, l?ut without the power of punishing
 
 27 
 
 capitally, till his sentence should, on a report of 
 the case, have been confirmed by the Nazim ; 
 and thirdly, a revenue court, which originally was 
 also held by the Zemindar, but in later times by 
 an officer of the DeWan's appointment. It is 
 generally believed, that from these provincial 
 courts an appeal lay to the correspondent ju- 
 dicatures in the capital ; but the appeal was, in 
 fact, usually preferred to the government, which 
 was in the habit of exercising an unlimited dis- 
 cretional power over all the judicial proceedings 
 .of the country. 
 
 The laws enforced in the courts which have 
 been mentioned, were the Mahomedan. This 
 code, and particularly the criminal division of it, 
 has been much the subject of European animad- 
 version ; nor, as it should seem, without consider- 
 able reason. Its frugality in the use of capital 
 punishments, may appear to be nearly counter- 
 balanced by its permission of impaling, the mu- 
 tilation of limbs, flagellations atrociously severe, 
 and the exaction of confessions by means of the 
 torture. Independently of any reference to the 
 penal or judicial processes which it enjoins, it 
 seems chargeable with not a few defects in point 
 of principle ; but to convey a just impression of 
 its general tendency and genius, would, in the 
 present place, be impossible. No living and 
 acting body of laws can be fairly described, with- 
 out a specification of so many minute particulars, 
 J)oth in the provisions of the laws themselves.
 
 23 
 
 and in the dispositions and circumstances of 
 the people among whom they are established, 
 as would be totally incompatible with the brevity 
 requisite in the present sketch. All that can be 
 done, apparently is, to select for exhibition two or 
 three features of a . code, so marked and so im* 
 portant, as to render it certain that, by what- 
 ever lights, and with whatever accompaniments 
 they might be seen, their character could not be 
 materially affected. In this view, it may not be 
 improper shortly to bring before the reader some 
 of the peculiarities of the Mahomedan law, 
 in its regulations with respect to one of the 
 heaviest offences against the peace of society, ! 
 that of murder. 
 
 It is among the most elementary maxims of 
 civilized jurisprudence, that the life of every 
 citizen is the property of the state. The Mussul- 
 man law, however, regards murder as a crime, 
 rather against the individual, if such a solecism 
 may be allowed, than against the community. 
 Under that law, therefore, although the murderer 
 be capitally punishable, yet the punishment is 
 placed, both in name* and in fact, wholly on the 
 basis of retaliation ; on this ground, it is demand* 
 able only by the heirs of the deceased, or, if he 
 was a slave, by his master, and, what seems yet 
 more singular, if inflicted at all, it must be in* 
 flicted by the immediate hands of those persons, 
 
 * Kisai or retaliation.
 
 29 
 
 Prom this doctrine, traces of which may be dis- 
 covered in the antiquated codes of Europe, and 
 even of this country, the obvious deductions ac- 
 tually admitted under the Mahomedan government 
 of Bengal, are most portentous. No man is pu- 
 nishable for the murder of his own slave j for, in 
 that case, f he would commit the practical absurdity 
 of retaliating on himself. No man is punishable 
 for the murder of his child, grandchild, or other 
 descendant ; for resuming a life which he himself 
 has bestowed, he is only considered as liquidating 
 an outstanding account. So monstrous an exem- 
 plification of the rule, though undoubtedly con- 
 ceded by the Mussulman law, can seldom, it may 
 be hoped and believed, take place j but others, 
 not far less shocking, were, in Bengal, of daily 
 occurrence. The life of the murderer being for- 
 feited to the heir or the master, the heir or the 
 master was, very consistently, authorized, either 
 to remit the penalty altogether, or to accept in 
 lieu of it a sum of money. In consequence of 
 this liberty, it is plain that every man lay entirely 
 at the mercy of those who were to inherit his 
 estate; and, at all events, the fact is, that com- 
 positions for murder were notoriously frequent 
 under the native government of Bengal.* 
 
 * Harington's Analysis of Laws? and Regulations of Fort 
 William, Part II. 1, 2. Hastings' letter of lOtb July, 1773 ; 
 Proceedings of Bengal Council.
 
 30 
 
 The Mussulman code is not more defective iri 
 its doctrines as to the principle of the punishment, 
 than in its definitions as to the nature of the 
 offence. The criminality of murder it very pro- 
 perly places in the intention of the perpetrator j 
 but, in the application of this idea, it does not 
 require that the murderous intention should be 
 deliberate. On the contrary, the pre-existence 
 of the intention, even for a moment, is construed 
 to be malice prepense. Although, therefore, ho- 
 micide is in some cases justifiable under the system 
 of the Koran, yet, those cases excepted, it is 
 never allowed to derive any excuse from the im- 
 pulse of sudden provocation. This regulation 
 may perhaps be thought to err in favour of justice j 
 but it is connected with others, perhaps it ori- 
 ginally led to them, of a very different descrip- 
 tion. The evidence of a murderous design, the 
 Mussulman law does not leave to be gathered from 
 the circumstances at large of the case ; but con- 
 fines it by certain technical and apparently very 
 preposterous rules. To cause wilfully the death of 
 a man by an instrument formed for shedding blood, 
 or by fire, is undoubtedly murder ; but various 
 other methods, however deliberately employed, 
 of compassing the same end, the most renowned 
 commentators resolve into culpable homicide,* 
 
 * Shibah-i-und ; or wilful-like. That is, as it should seem, 
 with an evil but not a murderous intent. See Harington's Analysis. 
 Part II. I,
 
 3i 
 
 an offence subject only to a fine. Death by 
 the iron edge of a hoe or spade, is generally 
 reputed to be murder : whether death by the iron 
 back of the instrument be murder, is disputed ; 
 but all agree that it is not murder when inflicted 
 by the wooden handle. According to some of the 
 highest legal authorities, it is not murder to 
 destroy a man wilfully, either by severe flagel- 
 lation, or by keeping lrim in cold water in the 
 winter season, or by exposing him bound hand 
 and- foot to the summer sun, or by throwing him 
 from the roof of a house, or into a well ; and it is 
 the concurrent opinion of all the best commen- 
 tators, that it is not murder to destroy a man wil- 
 fully by poison, or by throwing him, bound hand 
 and foot) to be devoured by wild beasts. 
 
 These distinctions which, under a certain ap- 
 pearance of refinement, are in fact not more fan- 
 tastic than they are barbarous, possibly owed their 
 origin to that confusion between pre-existent and 
 malicious intention, which has already been noted 
 as a characteristic of the Mussulman system. If 
 all intention, whether momentary or deliberate, 
 equally exposed the offender to the last penalty of 
 the law, it became at least necessary that the exist- 
 ence of the intention should be strictly proved.. 
 If sudden resentment was in no degree to palliate 
 the homicidal act, it was no unnatural proviso, 
 that at least the tendency of the act to produce 
 homicide should be obvious and palpable. That 
 is, it was to be so obvious and palpable, that even
 
 32 
 
 by the blindness of furious passion it could not 
 possibly be overlooked. In its effect, however, 
 such a rule is less favourable to sudden resentment 
 than to deliberate malice. The angry stab is 
 avenged by the death of the delinquent, while 
 the more subtle and calculating assassin escapes 
 with a petty fine. The chances of impunity to 
 the criminal are in exact proportion to the diabo- 
 lical coolness and contrivance with which the crime 
 is perpetrated. Such, however, were the doctrines 
 adopted in the native justiciary of Bengal ; and 
 such, also, were the consequences which they 
 produced. Mr. Hastings records a striking in- 
 stance of a wretch who cruelly held the head of a 
 female child under water till she was suffocated, 
 in order that he might make prize of her clothes 
 and ornaments, and who, being convicted of the 
 offence before one of the native courts, was pu- 
 nished only by a fine.* 
 
 As the facts from which murder may be in- 
 ferred, are, under this code, very few, so the 
 proofs by winch those facts must be substantiated 
 are of a very peculiar kind. Circumstantial evi- 
 dence is in no case admitted. The crime must be 
 made out, either by the free and unsolicited con- 
 fession of the offender, or by the testimony of at 
 least two eye-witnesses, not being women, nor 
 slaves, and, if the accused be a Mussulman, both 
 of that faith. The last regulation was always en- 
 forced in Bengal ; and the propriety of it, as 
 
 * Letter, 10th July, 1773.
 
 33 
 
 applied to that country, will rightly be estimated 
 only by those who remember that the Mussulmans 
 compose about one tenth of the subsisting popula* 
 tion. 
 
 No Farther comments, surely, need be added on 
 this subject ; but, after all that has been said, it 
 cannot surprise the reader to learn, that under the 
 native government of Bengal the frequency of 
 murders was lamentably great. 
 
 Of the inequality with which the protection of 
 the law was dispensed to the Hindoo classes of the 
 community, an incidental hint has already been 
 given. In civil matters, indeed, individuals of this 
 persuasion were allowed the option of referring 
 disputes among themselves to their own Bramins. 
 But, if one of the parties was a Mahomedan, or 
 if, both being Hindoos, one or both chose to 
 abide by the decision of the established courts, 
 the matter was determined according to the Ma- 
 homedan law. This rule, however, was relaxed 
 in cases concerning caste, or otherwise of an im- 
 mediate religious nature. In the adjudication of 
 such questions, a Bramin was called in to assist 
 and to direct the temporal judge. Still when we 
 reflect on the greatly superior numbers of the 
 Hindoos, on their known partiality for their na- 
 tional usages and institutions, and on the singu- 
 larity of those usages and institutions, even where 
 they ate of a purely civil nature, our minds must 
 revolt at a system which prescribed to this order
 
 34 
 
 i 
 
 of men a violation of their most rooted feelings, as 
 
 the only price of that justice which every people 
 has a right to demand at the hands of its rulers* 
 
 The judicial proceedings of the Mahomedan 
 courts in Bengal were not of a steady or metho- 
 dical kind. The causes were brought to a hearing 
 at the discretion of the judge \ nor, in this re- 
 spect, did the early institution of a suit confer on 
 it any claim of precedency. Although the deci- 
 sions were sufficiently summary, the business in all 
 the courts accumulated to an astonishing degree. 
 The matter, when once fairly in a state of trial, 
 was disposed of with little delay ; but it had per- 
 haps previously remained in waiting for years. 
 Suitors pleaded their own causes ; and the records 
 of the court were so imperfectly kept, that when 
 the English, on their assumption of the justiciary, 
 required a return of the convicts under sentence 
 of imprisonment, the names of many persons were 
 found to be recorded, of whose trials there was 
 no report, and, in many cases, nothing could be 
 collected, respecting the equity of the sentence, 
 or even the nature of the crime. 
 
 But there were evils far worse than these, inas- 
 much as the gross and wilful perversion of justice 
 is far worse than the mere obstruction or neglect 
 of it. Of the malpractices alluded to, the fol- 
 lowing lively and authentic sketch by Mr. Orme 
 will perhaps both shock and interest the reader. 
 The description primarily respects the Nazim's
 
 35 
 
 own court, the principal seat of justice in the 
 land ; but it may readily be believed that the sub- 
 ordinate and dependent tribunals were not more 
 pure. 
 
 " The wealth, the consequence, the interest,' 
 " or the address of the party, become now the 
 " only considerations. He visits the judge in 
 " private, and gives the jar of oil : his adversary 
 " bestows the hog, which breaks it. The friends 
 " who can influence, intercede; and, excepting 
 *' where the case is so manifestly proved as to 
 '* brand the failure of redress with glaring infamy 
 " (a restraint which human nature is born to 
 " reverence) the value of the bribe ascertains the 
 " justice of the cause. 
 
 " This is so avowed a practice, that if a stranger 
 " should enquire, how much it would cost him 
 " to recover a just debt from a creditor who 
 " evaded payment, he would every where receive 
 " the same answer the government will keep 
 " one-fourth, and give you the rest. 
 
 " Still the forms of justice subsist : witnesses 
 " are heard ; but browbeaten and removed ; 
 " proofs of writing produced ; but deemed for- 
 " geries and rejected ; until the way is cleared 
 " for a decision, which becomes totally or par- 
 " tially favourable, in proportion to the methods 
 "which have been used to render it suclv; but 
 " still with some attention to the consequences 
 " of a judgment, which would be of too flagrant 
 
 2
 
 36 
 
 " iniquity not to produce universal detestation 
 ' and resentment."* 
 
 At the period of our acquisition of the Dewan- 
 nee, the custom mentioned by Mr. Orme, of ap- 
 propriating a chout or proportion of all the sums 
 judicially recovered, was professedly adopted by 
 all the civil judges of the country, and seems to 
 have taken the appearance rather of an established 
 rule of law, than of a tolerated irregularity. At 
 first sight it may be thought that the greater pub- 
 licity of the practice made it comparatively inno- 
 cent. It certainly could scarcely be itself called 1 
 corruption, but there seems room to conjecture, 
 that as it occasioned in the first instance, if not a 
 corrupt, yet an unfair influence on the mind of 
 the judge, so it ultimately tended to produce a 
 greater degree of corruption than that from which 
 it originally sprung. Under such a rule of court, 
 every defendant in a pecuniary action, would be 
 tempted at least to neutralize his judge by privately 
 complimenting him with a somewhat larger per- 
 centage on the amount of the sum for which he 
 was sued, than the customary chout. The plain* 
 tiff, knowing or suspecting this, might be expected 
 to restore the balance, if possible, in his own 
 favour, by a similar orfering. Thus would be laid' 
 a foundation for continued bribery on both sides, 
 with this only difference, that the accused would 
 
 * General Idea of tlie Government and People of Indostan, 
 Book III. Chap. v.
 
 37 
 
 have somewhat the advantage at the beginning* 
 The fact is, that the decisions of the courts in 
 question were generally venal; and even the trial 
 itself may be said to have been sold, as it depended 
 in a great measure on the presents bestowed, 
 whether a cause should obtain a speedy hearing or 
 be adjourned indefinitely. 
 
 A similar source of injustice existed in the Foje- 
 darry or criminal courts. The punishment usually 
 awarded in that court was an arbitrary fine, which 
 fine became the perquisite of the judge. To trace 
 the pernicious effects of such an institution would 
 be equally tedious and unnecessary ; especially 
 after the observations that have been offered on 
 the "parallel abuse in the civil judicatures. The 
 malversations which prevailed in both branches of 
 die judicial office, were the less liable to correc- 
 tion from the extreme defectiveness of their 
 records, which, in the rare event of a superior 
 court feeling itself disposed to review the sus- 
 pected decision of a lower authority, rendered a 
 full examination of the circumstances attending 
 such decision, impossible. It should be added, 
 that these malversations were not confined to the 
 judicial bench, but extended to the petty officers 
 of justice, whose fees, not being fixed, nor paid 
 Under the cognizance of the court, were too fre- 
 quently settled by corrupt bargain, or rather im* 
 posed according to their own discretion. 
 
 It may easily be believed, that tribunals thus 
 constituted proved ready instruments of oppression
 
 38 
 
 in the hands of a tyrannical government, and this 
 was another and a great evil resulting from theii 
 constitution. The government openly exercised, 
 as has already been said, a very efficient, though 
 an ill defined, controul over all judicial proceed- 
 ings; and when this ostensible interference might 
 be inconvenient, the darker, but equally sure road 
 of influence was open. An individual, obnoxious 
 to the Nazim, or to some court favourite, was 
 frequently attacked under the forms of justice. 
 In so corrupt a country, he might probably have 
 furnished his enemies with some real ground of 
 accusation ; if not, false accusations could not be 
 wanting, sufficiently plausible before a judicature, 
 which had first passed sentence and then instituted 
 the trial. 
 
 The last circumstance to be mentioned under 
 this head, is, that, from the extensiveness of the 
 districts into which the country was divided, and 
 the stationary position of the courts, a great part 
 of the poorer members of the society were vir- 
 tually excluded from the protection of the law. 
 To that class of men, few ordinary injuries could 
 be greater grievances than a long journey and the 
 loss of some days for the sake "of obtaining redress. 
 This glaring evil did, indeed, create a sort of 
 cure for itself; a cure, however, which was not 
 only, like all creatures of necessity, anomalous and 
 irregular, but might, in some respects, be thought 
 worse than the disease. The remedy in question 
 was no other than the usurped local jurisdiction,
 
 39 
 
 which, as has been already stated, the Zemindars, 
 Farmers, Aumils, and other officers of revenue, 
 habitually exercised, the usurpation being, in facf, 
 tolerated by the ruling power. Thus, by the de- 
 fectiveness of the constitution, and the connivance 
 of the government, were these men armed with 
 the means of pursuing, uncontrolled, those op- 
 pressive practices, which have already been deve- 
 loped at so great a length. 
 
 Under a defective administration of justice, 
 there can hardly be a good police. There are, in 
 India, communities of robbers by profession, 
 called Decoits, distinguished for their desperate 
 insolence and activity. As this race of men is 
 hostile to the whole community, it cannot be 
 supposed but that they generally attract the hos- 
 tility of the whole community in return. . Yet it 
 is a fact perfectly well ascertained, that these 
 banditti were often in league with the village 
 people, and with the zemindars and other land- 
 holders ; who gave them impunity and intelligence, 
 in exchange for a share of their plunder. The 
 victim of this bargain was the ryot, against whom 
 all the depredations of the robbers were directed, 
 and who commonly suffered them in silence, as 
 well knowing, not only that redress was not likely 
 to be obtained, but that the attempt to procure 
 it, would expose him to the utmost vengeance of 
 the society of Decoits. 
 
 But it is time to dismiss this subject, though 
 it is by no means exhausted. The picture which 
 
 d i<
 
 40 
 
 has been drawn is dark ; and may, perhaps, seem 
 overcharged. Those who are of this opinion, 
 would do well to examine the public records of 
 the East-India Company, for the years filling up 
 the interval between their assumption of the De- 
 wanee functions and the time of Lord Cornwallis. 
 The representations of the servants of the Com- 
 pany, employed during that interval in the super- 
 intendence of the revenues and the administration 
 of justice, amply verify the account which has 
 just been presented to the reader. They particu- 
 larize the malversations and oppressions prevalent 
 in both those branches of the public service. They 
 state the obstacles which the British government 
 or. its servants encountered in the detection and 
 suppression of such abuses, obstacles opposed to 
 thorn by prejudice and self-interest. Their motives 
 were grossly misconstrued and misrepresented, their 
 fears alarmed, even their integrity assailed ; every 
 art, every form of intrigue, was put in practice, 
 in order to render their humane purposes abortive. 
 The documents which supply this information 
 were not intended for public circulation; they 
 were composed only in the course of business, 
 and with a view to effect improvement. Every 
 line, it should in justice be added, of those volu- 
 minous papers, bears witness to that sound ability, 
 that unwearied benevolence, and that conscientious 
 regard for the happiness of mankind, which at 
 length triumphed over all the impediments to re- 
 form, and which present a contrast, equally striking
 
 41 
 
 and noble, to the prominent features of that mis- 
 government, of which they were exerted to avert 
 or to repair the ruinous consequences. 
 
 It may be deemed a ground of exception to the 
 documents in question, considered as evidence an 
 the present subject, that they describe, not the 
 Mahomedan government of Bengal, but the Ma- 
 homedan government as adulterated by the ad- 
 mixture of English influence. This objection has 
 already been anticipated in a former page. Those, 
 however, who are apt to rely on it, may be re- 
 minded, that the corruption of Mahomedan justice 
 appears scarcely a shade less deep in the passage 
 already quoted from Mr. Orme, who wrote some 
 years before the territorial aggrandizement of the 
 Company, than in the records now alluded to. 
 But, perhaps, of the general insecurity of right* 
 lander the government of the Nabobs, a more 
 striking idea will be suggested by the following 
 few sentences from the excellent author just men- 
 tioned than would result from the most elaborate 
 induction of particulars. " The mechanic or 
 " artificer (says Mr. Orme), will work only to 
 " the measure of his necessities. He dreads to 
 " be distinguished. If he becomes too noted for 
 " having acquired a little more money than others 
 " of his craft* that will be taken from him. If 
 " conspicuous for the excellence of his skill, he 
 " is seized upon by some person in authority, 
 " and obliged to work for him night and day,
 
 42 
 
 " on much harder terms than his usual labour 
 " acquired when at liberty."* 
 
 It may be asked, whence it happened that, 
 under a system which provided such few checks 
 to the worst abuses, the commerce and agriculture 
 of the country were not completely destroyed and 
 the whole community disorganized. It is so much 
 the interest of every landholder that his tenants 
 should not be ruined, of every government that 
 its subjects should be well governed, and of society 
 in general that peace and good-will should subsist 
 between man and man, that even lawless tyranny 
 and unbridled cupidity cannot be utterly insen- 
 sible to these considerations j and consequently 
 there are certain limits, not indeed very narrow 
 ones, within which misgovernment and oppres- 
 sion, even where they expatiate most at large, 
 commonly contain themselves. In the absence 
 of all positive restraints, this seems the natural 
 barrier to abuse, and it doubtless operated as such 
 in Hindostan. Violence and venality were there 
 without controul, and, in fact, prevailed in a 
 frightful degree ; but they did not literally prevail 
 without bounds. The officers of justice were 
 almost universally corrupt: but they had their 
 measures to keep with the public ; else the greater 
 part of those whom they lived by fleecing, would: 
 
 * Government and People of Hindostan, Book I. Chap. iv 
 The same fact is stated in the Company's records.
 
 43 
 
 have altogether dispensed with their services. 
 The landholders were almost universally oppres- 
 sive : but their oppression had its limits ; else 
 the objects of it would soon have perished or fled, 
 and have left them without any sphere for their 
 mischievous exertions. 
 
 Experience, however, proves, that these con- 
 siderations, after all, exert a feeble sway over 
 minds inflamed with the possession of unrestrained 
 or ill-restrained power; and that, though such 
 minds seek nothing but self-gratification, they 
 always compute it on very short-sighted principles. 
 In the case of the native government of Hindo- 
 stan, there is nothing to invalidate this remark; 
 on the contrary, every thing tends to confirm it. 
 There were honourable exceptions ; but those 
 exceptions are open to the forcible and pertinent 
 remark made on them by an author who has 
 already been quoted more than once. " Provi- 
 " dence has, at particular seasons, blessed the 
 " miseries of these people with the presence of 
 " a righteous judge. The vast reverence and 
 " reputation which such have acquired, are but 
 " too melancholy a proof of the infrequency of 
 " such a character." * Mr. Orme might have 
 added, that if the " righteous judges," to whom 
 he alludes as having become so famous, had been 
 tried by an European standard, they would have 
 greatly sunk in reputation ; a sure proof of the 
 
 * Government and People of Hindostan, Book III. Chap. ri.
 
 44 
 
 general defectiveness of the notions current in 
 India with respect to judicial qualifications. Thus, 
 indeed, alone can the circumstance be explained, 
 that the Nabob Jaffier Khan, should have been 
 renowned for the equity of his decisions. The 
 tolerably honest, but rigorous, not to say mur- 
 derous, justice of that personage, in itself so- 
 .shocking, yet shone by contrast, when it was com- 
 pared with the base iniquity of some of his suc- 
 cessors in the Nizamut of Bengal. 
 
 This government, however, is now a matter of 
 history. To trace the steps by which it has been 
 superseded, to describe the successive exertion* 
 that have been employed in supplanting it, is not 
 in this place necessary, nor would be consistent 
 with the plan of the present sketch, as developed 
 at the commencement of the chapter. Without 
 further delay, therefore, we may proceed to con- 
 template the government now established in British 
 India. 
 
 The East-India Company obtained the grant of 
 the Dewannee in 1765, but they did not assume, 
 under the authority of that grant, the administrate 
 tion of the country, before the year 1770. With* l 
 out tracing the alterations which their system of 
 government, both at home and abroad, may have 
 undergone since that period, it will be enough to 
 consider that system in its present state. 
 
 The legislative and executive functions of the 
 government of India are vested jointly in the
 
 45 
 
 East-India Company, acting generally through its 
 organ, the Court of Directors, and in the Board 
 of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, com- 
 monly called the Board of Contrpul y which if 
 appointed by the Crown, and of which the presi- 
 dent has often been a cabinet minister* The au- 
 thority of these functionaries is, of course, always 
 exercised in subjection to the supreme legislative 
 and corrective power of the parent-state. 
 
 Since, however, it is manifestly impossible thai 
 the legislative, and much more, that the executive 
 duties of a ruler should be altogether discharged 
 by persons residing at so great a distance from tfed 
 scene of action as that of England from India, at 
 portion of the sovereign character, in both respects, 
 is delegated to the local governments of India, 
 three in- number ; to which has, of late years* 
 been added a fourth presidency, yet in its infancy, 
 at Prince of Wales's Island. Of these, the su- 
 preme government, which has its seat in Calcutta, 
 and immediately presides over the provinces of 
 Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, exercises a limited 
 control over the measures of the rest ; while the 
 constituted authorities at home exercise a para* 
 mount controul over the measures of all. 
 
 Of the courts of judicature, there are some of 
 which the members are appointed by the Com- 
 pany, or, under their permission, by the local 
 governments j in others, the appointment belongs- 
 to the King. The former exercise a, jurisdiction 
 oyer the native subjects in general; the latter,
 
 46 
 
 over British subjects, and over all persons, native 
 or British, who are directly or indirectly engaged- 
 in the service of the Company. From the deci- 
 sions of these courts, an appeal lies, in many 
 cases, to the King in council. The judicial func- 
 tions, therefore, of the government of India, may 
 be said to reside, partly in the Company, and 
 partly in the Crown. 
 
 The duties imposed, and the powers conferred, 
 on the Court of Directors, and on the Board of 
 Controul, respectively, are, as to cases of ordi- 
 nary occurrence at least, defined with exactness. 
 In a miniature sketch like the present, the finer 
 lines of discrimination cannot well be marked ; 
 but the general rule is, that the Court of Direc- 
 tors, considered as the Company's organ, is, in its 
 political capacity, controuled by the commission- 
 ers, and, in its commercial capacity, is not con- 
 trouled by them. 
 
 The legislature has so far qualified the commer- 
 cial monopoly of the Company, as to admit private 
 individuals into a share both of the import and 
 the export Indian trade, provided that those indi- 
 viduals will consent to ship their goods on board 
 the Company's vessels, and will conform to certain 
 other prescribed regulations. For the accommo- 
 dation of such persons, the Company is bound 
 by act of parliament to provide an adequate 
 amount of tonnage at a moderate rate of freight. 
 That no security might be wanting for the ful- 
 filment of this obligation, it was thought expedient
 
 47 
 
 to confer a fight of interposition on a third party* 
 The Board of Controul, therefore, are authorized 
 to take care that sufficient facilities shall be afford-, 
 ed for the prosecution of the regulated private- 
 trade, and that individuals shall be duly encou- 
 raged to supply any failure on the Company's own 
 part in satisfying the commercial demands mutually 
 subsisting between India and England.* With 
 this exception, the trade of the Company is sub- 
 ject to no restrictions on the part of the Board. 
 
 But the principal, it might almost be called the 
 exclusive, business of the Board is to superintend 
 all concerns relative to the civil or military govern- 
 ment, or revenues of India. Their superinten- 
 dence, however, is exercised according to this 
 rule, that the impulse shall always be first given 
 by the Court of Directors, but be subject to mo- 
 dification from the Board. All orders and instruc- 
 tions, therefore, to the Company's servants in 
 India, originate with the Court ; but they cannot 
 be dispatched without the sanction of the Board. 
 As the Board may refuse this sanction, so they 
 have the further right of modifying and altering 
 the dispatches of the Directors ; but, whenever 
 this right is exercised, they are required to com- 
 municate to that body the alterations which they 
 have made, to state to them at large the reasons 
 
 * Tills pail of the present system has excite;! much contro- 
 versy, but does not require any particular notice in the present 
 
 work.
 
 48 
 
 on which such alterations are founded, and, in 
 case of a remonstrance from the Directors on the 
 occasion, to re-consider the subject. 
 
 Yet there are two cases in which the Board, 
 besides their controlling, have an original power. 
 First, should the Court of Directors neglect to 
 frame any orders or instructions at all on a sub- 
 ject connected with the civil, military, or financial 
 affairs of their dominions, and this in spite of a 
 requisition from the Board that such papers be 
 framed, the Board, after a reasonable allowance 
 of time, may themse Ives supply the deficiency, by 
 preparing orders or instructions, which shall be 
 considered as conclusive ; with a reservation, how- 
 ever, to the Directors, of the right of remon- 
 strance. Secondly, in cases of political negotia* 
 tions pending between the British governments in 
 India and the country powers, where it shall ap- 
 pear to the Board that secresy is indispensably 
 necessary, they are empowered to issue their in- 
 structions to those governments, not only without 
 any suggestions from the Directors, but even 
 without their privity. It is, however, expedient 
 that the Directors should, in India, be held up ad 
 the ostensible head of the government. On the 
 other hand, it would be highly unjust that they 
 should be made responsible for measures over 
 which they cannot possibly have any controul. To 
 obviate this dilemma, a secret committee of Di- 
 rectors is from time to time appointed, of a num- 
 ber not exceeding three, to receive the instruction*
 
 49 
 
 of the Board in the instance specified, and to 
 transmit them as required. Although this com- 
 mittee be not empowered to alter the instructions 
 sent by the Board, it is apparently not precluded 
 from the full right of exercising its judgment on 
 them, and of submitting to the Board such ad- 
 vice or remonstrance as the matter of them may 
 suggest. 
 
 The institution of the Secret Committee of 
 Directors seems the most exceptionable part of 
 the machinery of Indian government. The ac- 
 count, however, which has now been given of 
 it, may shew that it is not liable to one objec- 
 tion sometimes urged against it ; namely, that 
 it must have the effect of misleading the Com- 
 pany's servants abroad with respect to the senti- 
 ments of the Court of Directors. That the part 
 acted by the Secret Committee in transmitting 
 dispatches to India, is purely ministerial, has been 
 settled, hot by consent or custom, but by a public 
 act of parliament. * The Company's servants 
 abroad, therefore, either know, or ought to know, 
 distinctly, that, for dispatches so transmitted, the 
 responsibility attaches exclusively to the Board of 
 Controul. 
 
 If the Directors are of opinion that the Board 
 have, in any instance, exceeded their legitimate 
 powers, they are entitled to petition his Majesty, 
 who shall decide between the parties. This pro- 
 
 E 
 * 33 Geo. III. c. 52. 19.
 
 IZ 
 
 50 
 
 kda ^naqmoO fit nioow seodi ^niDfigwRm lo 
 
 viso was much ridiculed in the House of Com- 
 mons during the discussion on the act which 
 contains it. An appeal from the King's Com- 
 missioners, that is, in effect, from the King's 
 Ministers, to the King in Council, that is, to the 
 King's Cabinet, certainly cannot but labour under 
 some disadvantages. It, however, affords an op- 
 portunity for a full and formal re-hearing of the 
 matter in agitation, under the solemnities and with 
 the publicity attending a judicial proceeding, and 
 with a particular reference to those high legal au- 
 thorities, whose opinion usually guides the com- 
 mittee on matters of appeal, and whose personal 
 credit is interested in the rectitude of the decision. 
 Still the weight of the Board of Controul, or, 
 as we may call it, of the King's Ministers, in the 
 government of India, great in itself, and usually 
 seconded, we may presume, by the whole weight 
 of the general influence of the Cabinet, would 
 altogether overbalance that of the Directors, were 
 it farther increased by any large share of the 
 abundant patronage possessed by the Company. 
 Such an augmentation, besides, of the influence 
 of the Cabinet at home, could not be viewed with- 
 out alarm by the friends of equal liberty. The 
 legislature has, therefore, excluded the Board . of 
 Controul from any direct participatiop in Indian 
 patronage, by denying to them the power of no- 
 minating any of the Company's servants j which 
 power is entrusted to the Court of Directors.^ It 
 has likewise excluded them from all direct means
 
 51 
 
 of influencing those whom the Company shal 
 have so nominated, by denying to them the power 
 of bestowing salaries or gratuities of any kind on 
 the Company's servants ; and this power likewise 
 is lodged in the Court of Directors, but with the 
 condition annexed to it, that every particular 
 exercise of it shall be preceded by a notice of 
 thirty days to Parliament. It is, perhaps, hardly 
 necessary to add, that, as the Directors may 
 appoint their own servants, so they may recall 
 them. 
 
 It might seem, however, an anomaly in govern- 
 ment, if a body of men, controuled in all its 
 political functions, were left perfectly uncontrouled 
 in its choice of those by whom its political mea- 
 sures must be executed. As a provision, then, 
 against extreme cases, it is competent to the 
 King, by a writing under his sign manual, coun- 
 tersigned by the President of the Board of Con- 
 troul, to remove or recall any of the Company's 
 officers, civil or military. Thus is a negative on 
 the nominations of the Court of Directors granted 
 to his Majesty, or rather to his Majesty's Minis- 
 ters. But the peculiar formalities annexed to 
 the use of this privilege, entirely distinguish and 
 separate it from the ordinary rights of the Minis- 
 ters, as represented by the Board of Controul, 
 and constitute no slight security against the per- 
 version to which possibly it might otherwise be 
 exposed. 
 
 .Should the Directors suffer the office of Go- 
 e 2
 
 52 
 
 vernor, or that of Commander-in-Chief, or that 
 of a Member of Council, m India, to remain va- 
 cant for two months, the appointment lapses to 
 the King ; nor are the Directors allowed to recall 
 an individual appointed, under these circum- 
 stances, by the King. It is plain that this re-' 
 gulation can act merely as a stimulus on the 
 Company, to supply, without delay, the vacancies 
 that may occur in the important situations just 
 enumerated. 
 
 On the whole, such are the powers severally 
 possessed by the two great members of the Indian 
 government j possessed by them, not merely in 
 law, but substantially and in practice. The main 
 distinctions between their respective provinces- 
 are, as was observed, well settled and understood.: 
 In some minor respects, the line is not so clearly- 
 drawn ; a circumstance w r hich will excite no 
 wonder in those, who, on the one hand, consider 
 the immense variety of Indian affairs, and, on 
 the other, reflect how many cases legislative anti- 
 cipation, even when most nearly perfect, must 
 leave to the supplying hand of time and occasion* 
 An instance, indeed, cannot be found, for even 
 the British constitution is not one, in which co- 
 ordinate powers of government are separated by a 
 rule of demarcation so unvaryingly certain, that 
 no pretext for hostility may, in the course of 
 occurrences, arise on their common frontier. In- 
 these cases, however, unless where the parties 
 have totally fallen from public spirit, and are des-
 
 53 
 
 
 
 titute of an enlightened regard even to their own 
 interests, the expediency of reciprocal concession 
 and conciliation is too obvious to permit the in- 
 dulgence of petty or vexatious jealousies ; and 
 this remark has been fully exemplified in the 
 mutual transactions of the Court of Directors and 
 the Board of Controul. 
 
 This spirit of accommodation in co-estates is 
 requisite, with respect, not merely to their assertion 
 of dubious claims, but also to the employment of 
 such rights as they possess beyond dispute. 
 Whenever one authority is armed with a negative 
 on the acts of another, it evidently is endowed 
 with the faculty of completely obstructing, at its 
 pleasure, the course of public business; and to 
 such perversion, every balanced constitution must, 
 in point of possibility, be necessarily liable. Yet, 
 without supposing extraordinary disinterestedness 
 in the parties concerned, we may generally rely** 
 on it, that no such perversion will take place ; that 
 the sovereignty common to both, will by both be 
 more valued, than the distinctive privilege by 
 either ; that the pride of displaying power will 
 yield to the ambition of using it. For, though, 
 according to the just sentiment of a great orator, 
 the attempt to lay the basis of civil institutions in 
 "rare and heroic virtues"* be most preposterous; 
 yet it does not appear how any frame of polity 
 can be constructed otherwise than on the assump- 
 
 e 3 
 
 * Burke,
 
 54 
 
 tion of at least an average degree of good sense 
 and public spirit in mankind. Certainly, without 
 these, forms, however skilfully devised, must in 
 no long time become a dead letter. 
 
 The Directors and the Board of Controul are 
 in the ^situation described. The one may originate 
 measures ; the other may pronounce a veto on 
 the measures originated. The one, again, may 
 remonstrate ; , the other may reiterate. If the 
 chief wishes, then, of either center in the object 
 of harassing the other,, both possess, in no small 
 degree, the means ; and thus, civil wars might 
 perpetually be carried on between them, of which, 
 however, the public interests would have to bear 
 the expense. Against the occurrence of such an 
 event, the public possess, a security in the known 
 fact, that authorities so balanced generally acquire 
 the habit of mutual respect and forbearance, and 
 4earn to preserve their equipoise without the wear 
 of continual resistance and collision. 
 
 Should the checks, however, which evident 
 convenience imposes on tlje two powers here in 
 question, be found insufficient to deter them from 
 mutual encroachment or contentious opposition, 
 there exist other and still stronger preventives of 
 such misconduct. Both parties have a right of 
 appeal. It is not meant to allude to the appeal 
 which may be preferred by the Directors to the 
 King in Council. That being, in some sense,, 
 addressed to the very persons who have provoked 
 it, can be considered only as a graver and more
 
 55 
 
 solemn form of remonstrance. But both parties 
 may appeal to parliament and to the public ; and, 
 in effect, under the eye of parliament and of the 
 public do they constantly act. It must be within 
 the memory of every reader, how frequently the 
 discussions on Indian subjects that have passed* 
 between the Court of Directors and the Board of 
 Controul have, either by a vote of parliament or 
 otherwise, been brought before the constituted 
 authorities of the nation, and thus before the na- 
 tion itself. The liability to this public examina- 
 tion is ever felt by both bodies ; and it must ne- 
 cessarily operate as a powerful auxiliary check on 
 the proceedings of each. 
 
 The general duties and relative powers of the 
 Board of Controul and the Court of Directors 
 having been explained, some account may next 
 be required of the interior structure of those two 
 bodies. 
 
 Of the constitution of the former, a very short 
 description will suffice. It consists of such mem- 
 bers of the Privy Council, of whom the two prin- 
 cipal Secretaries of State and the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer shall always be three, and of such 
 other two persons, as his Majesty shall appoint. 
 By the act,* three members constitute a board, 
 and the President, who is named by the Crown, 
 has, in cases of equality of voices, a casting vote. 
 It seems, however, to be tolerably well under- 
 
 e 4* 
 
 * 33 Geo. III. cap. 52, 3, 4.
 
 56 
 
 stood, that the business of the Board is generally 
 transacted by the President, or, as he is sometimes 
 called, the Minister for India. 
 
 The organization of the Court of Directors, 
 considered in their double capacity of a political 
 and a mercantile body, and controuled in some 
 respects by their constituents, the Proprietors of 
 East-India Stock, is far more complex, and must 
 be particularly analysed. 
 
 The Proprietors of East-India Stock, or, as they 
 are in fact, the Company, consist of about 3000 
 persons. Those, however, whose stock does not 
 amount to one thousand pounds are not allowed to 
 vote, though such as are possessed of five hundred 
 pounds stock may be present in the General Court 
 of Proprietors. The possession of one thousand 
 pounds of stock is a qualification for a single vote ; 
 that of three thousand, for two votes: that of six 
 thousand, for three ; that of ten thousand and 
 upwards, for four. By the latest list of Proprie- 
 tors, 1662 are qualified to give single votes ; 326, 
 double votes; 84, triple votes; and 51, quadruple 
 votes. The number of votes, therefore, in all, is 
 2770. But, as many of the proprietors are absent 
 from England, either in foreign Europe or in 
 India, the fullest ballot has never exhibited any 
 thing like this number. Perhaps we may fix 1900 
 as the maximum of effective votes. 
 
 The Court of Directors is composed of twenty- 
 four members, chosen by a majority of the Pro- 
 prietors, from their own body. The term for 
 which they serve is four years ; after which they
 
 
 57 
 
 ^jfr .-booi? 
 
 are not again eligible within a twelvemonth* in 
 general, six Directors are every year chosen, in 
 the room of six who have completed their term* 
 and the latter are commonly, though by no means 
 invariably, re-elected the following year. e hns. 
 
 The qualification for a seat in the Directional* 
 two thousand pounds of stock. By the by-laws -of 
 the Company, Directors are prohibited from -trad- 
 ing to or from India, on private account; nor by 
 the statute of the 13th Geo. III. chap. 63, <ca*fc 
 any person who has been in the Company's civil or ; 
 military service in India, be electedto this situation* 
 unless he shall have been for two* years resident 
 in England. 
 
 The Court of Directors is required, by tbelaWa 
 of the Company, to meet once in every week- at 
 least; but it is in the habit of meeting, ofteneiv 
 Thirteen constitute a Court. The General Court 
 of Proprietors is obliged, by act of parliament, 
 to meet, at stated intervals, four times in the 
 year ; but.it may also meet at other times.- The 
 Directors are authorized to summon the General 
 Court, when they have any matter to propose>tcr 
 its consideration. They are also, bound to sum- 
 mon it, on a requisition to that effect being made 
 by nine proprietors, possessing each not less than- 
 a thousand pounds of stock. 
 
 As,, in their political character, the Directors 
 are checked by the Board of Controul* so iUnay- 
 be said, that they are. checked, in their> mercan- 
 tile capacity, by the Qpurt of Proprietors; Not
 
 58 
 
 that the parallel between the two cases is exact/: 
 A large deliberative body, like that of the Pro- 
 prietary, however competent to frame regulations, 
 or to revise particular measures, is manifestly ill 
 fitted to manage the detail of business ; which, 
 therefore, is left in the hands of the Directors. 
 On the other hand, the General Court is empow- 
 ered to pass by-laws, for the good government of 
 the Company's trade and of the officers concerned 
 in it. It also inspects and controuls all pecuniary 
 grants made by the Directors. In general, how- 
 ever, it has no direct political superintendence 
 over that body. To the Directors also, it leaves 
 the appointments of the Company's servants 
 abroad j and this arrangement appears to be 
 sanctioned by the acts of parliament relating to 
 the subject. 
 
 But it must not be supposed that the Proprietors, 
 therefore, view with indifference the political trans- 
 actions of the Directors, any more than it could 
 be supposed that the Commons of England view 
 with indifference the exercise of the royal prero- 
 gative, even while that prerogative contains itself 
 within its legal limits. As a represented order of 
 men, the Proprietors, who have delegated, not 
 abandoned, their concern in the sovereignty of 
 the Indian empire, are deeply interested in the 
 political proceedings of their representatives. As 
 a popular body, containing its share of the educa- 
 tion and general knowledge characteristic of the 
 age, they are qualified to judge of those proceed-
 
 59 
 
 ings. As an organized deliberative assembly, 
 they have the opportunity of comparing and ex- 
 pressing their opinions. As electors, they may, 
 with some authority, announce their opinions to 
 those whom they have chosen, and who are likely 
 to be again candidates for their choice. This last 
 remark, indeed, might have been put far more 
 strongly ; for the Court of Proprietors has actually 
 a right to displace a Director who misconducts 
 himself in his high station. No instance, how- 
 ever, of a recourse, on their part, to this strong 
 act has occurred in modern times; although they 
 have occasionally resorted to resolution and re- 
 monstrance. 
 
 Nothing remains, on this part of the subject, 
 but to notice the rules of arrangement, to which 
 the Court of Directors conform in the admiristra- 
 tion of their various concerns. Besides occasional 
 committees, appointed for some specified purpose, 
 the members of the Court are subdivided into 
 twelve permanent Committees, to each of which , 
 a separate province is assigned. Of these Com- 
 mittees, four are composed, in common, of the 
 Directors of the longest standing and experience ; 
 four others, of the Directors next in the course of 
 seniority ; and a third class of four consists of the 
 junior Directors. 
 
 The Committees of the first class are : the Com- 
 miltee of Coirespondence / who, among other 
 duties of a less important kind, receive and ex- 
 amine the advices from the Governments of India,
 
 60 
 
 with the voluminous records of the proceedings of 
 those governments, in the political, financial, mili- 
 tary, and public departments ; investigate the va- 
 rious branches of the Indian accounts ; and prepare 
 and submit to the Court of Directors, the dis- 
 patches intended for their settlements abroad on 
 all but subjects of a commercial nature, dis- 
 patches, containing, on the one hand, original 
 instructions, and, on the other, strictures and or- 
 ders with regard to the transactions reported from 
 India. The Committee are, farther, entrusted 
 with the province of reporting to the Court the 
 number of ships requisite in each season, and also, 
 the requisite number of writers and cadets. The 
 Committee ofTreaswy; who, under the orders of 
 the Court, preside over the receipts on account 
 of the sales of the Company at home ; negotiate 
 loans for the Company ; provide for the payment of 
 their exports, their dividends, the interest of their 
 bonds, and other outgoings ; purchase bullion for 
 exportation; and, in general, regulate the finan- 
 cial affairs of the Company at home. The Com- 
 mittee of Law-Suits ; who superintend all matters 
 of litigation, whether in England or in India, in 
 which the Company are parties. The Committee 
 of Military Fund; who direct the application of a 
 fund, originally left by Lord Clive, and subse- 
 quently augmented from other sources, for the 
 support, either of persons invalided, or of the wi- 
 dows of such as have fallen, in the military ser- 
 vice of the Company,
 
 01 
 
 In the second class, the Committees are : The 
 Committee of Warehouses; who are charged with 
 the regulation of all the investments in India and 
 China, and of the disposal of them in England ; 
 with the inspection of the proceedings of the Com- 
 mercial departments in India and China; with the 
 preparation of all dispatches, transmitted to those 
 countries, on commercial affairs; and with the 
 purchase of certain articles of military stores ex* 
 ported to them, and also, of some other exports, 
 as wine, and copper. The Committee of Accounts; 
 who superintend the home accounts of the Com- 
 pany ; inspect the bills drawn on the Company, 
 whether at home or from abroad; and prepare state* 
 ments of their concerns, for the use of the Directors* 
 of the Proprietors, and of Parliament. The Commit- 
 tee of Buying; whose province it is, to purchase and 
 prepare certain commodities for exportation; chiefly 
 lead and woollens. The. Committee of House ; who 
 regulate the concerns, both of the India-House, 
 and of the warehouses belonging to the Company ; 
 order repairs ; appoint the inferior servants attach- 
 ed to the India-Home ; and form rules for the at- 
 tendance of the clerks. 
 
 
 
 The third aass is composed of the following 
 Committees: the Committee of Shipping ; who 
 direct all concerns relative to the shipping employed 
 by the Company, to the distribution of the out- 
 ward cargoes, to the embarkation of troops, and 
 to the repair of the packets and other vessels imme- 
 diately owned by the Company. They also pur-
 
 62 
 
 chase marine stores, provisions, and a few other 
 minor articles of export ; and they inspect the 
 conduct of the marine servants of the Company, 
 for these, it will be observed, have a regular es- 
 tablishment and promotion in that service, although 
 the ships are, for the most part, not the property 
 of the Company, but only hired for such time as 
 they will last. The Committee of Private-Trade : 
 -who adjust the settlement of freight and de- 
 morage with the owners of the ships charter- 
 ed by the Company ; regulate the indulgences 
 in the homeward private-trade granted to the 
 commanders and officers of the Company's ships; 
 and see that the goods of individuals import- 
 ed on the Company's shipping are regularly 
 accounted for to the owners. The Committee for 
 preventing the Growth of Private-Trade ; now 
 greatly blended with the Committee last-men- 
 tioned, though originally instituted as a check 
 upon it*,* the primary business of this Committee is 
 
 * Some years ago, when the Indian Privilege Trade, or the 
 trade allowed by the last Charter Act to private individuals on 
 board the Company's ships, was a subject of warm public dis- 
 cussion, the appellation of the Committee for preventing the 
 Growth of Private Trade seems to have been urged, not very 
 candidly, as a decisive proof of the hostility of the Company 
 against the Privilege Trade in question. *-' There has been," 
 says an author of that time, " for many years, and still exists 
 " among the permanent committees, a Committee to prevent 
 " the Growth of Private Trade j shewing, by its very name, 
 " that Private Trade is, and was, a determined object of their 
 V jealousy and opposition." The Committee in question was
 
 63 
 
 to observe that the privilege of trade granted to the 
 Company's naval commanders and other officers, 
 be not fraudulently exceeded. Lastly, the Commit- 
 tee for Government Troops and Stores ; who adjust 
 and liquidate, in general, the accounts rising from 
 the employment of His Majesty's naval and land 
 forces, especially of the latter, in the East-Indies. 
 It should be observed, that the Chairman and 
 Peputy Chairman of the Court of Directors are, 
 by virtue of their office, members of every Com- 
 mittee in each class ; and it needs scarcely be 
 added, that, as all these Committees emanate 
 from the Court, so they execute the detail of the 
 departments severally confided to them, under the 
 revising eye of that body. It will also be, of 
 course, understood, that each Committee is pro- 
 vided with a set of officers, generally trained 
 up from early youth in their respective depart- 
 ments, and thoroughly acquainted with the busi- 
 
 first instituted, though not then as a standing Committee, in 
 the year 1715. The task assigned theui, was to check the 
 abuse of the allowance of trade enjoyed by the officers of the 
 Company's ships ; an abuse which had, in some instances, been 
 flagrant. This, in effect, is the Private Trade generally under- 
 stood in the technical phraseology of the India House, and so 
 distinguished from the Privilege Trade before mentioned. With 
 the prevention of this Privilege Trade, the two Committees 
 of Private Trade (which, in fact, are nearly united) have no 
 concern. All the concern of any kind that they have with the 
 Privilege Trade, is, that they pass the account sales, and order 
 payment of the proceeds ; but this is rather a promotion of it 
 than a prevention.
 
 64 
 
 ncss which they have to conduct. That the general 
 arrangement which has been described, wants tech- 
 nical exactness, is perhaps rather a circumstance in 
 its favour; for no institution can be technically ex- 
 act, which is the slow creation of experience. As a 
 practical system, though not in all points free 
 from objection, it has been found on the whole 
 to answer- every requisite end. It is that system 
 by which the complicated business of the India 
 House has, for nearly thirty years, been conducted, 
 Without any of that confusion of functions or 
 distraction of attention, which, to an inaccurate 
 observer^ might seem inseparable from the pro- 
 ceedings of an united body occupied by a vast 
 variety of duties. 
 
 A clear view, it is hoped, has now been given 
 of that part of the Indian government which is 
 situated at home, and which may be called the 
 root of itr It is time to follow its ramifications 
 into the East. 
 
 The grand object aimed at in the constitution of 
 the Indo-British government, has been the union 
 of great local energy and efficiency, both with a 
 due mixture of powers, and with a complete sub- 
 jection to the lawful authorities at home. 
 
 In securing, with respect to a remote depen- 
 dency of the empire, the second of the two pro- 
 posed advantages, that is, the union of local 
 efficiency with the exercise of a controul at home, 
 it may be a serious question, how far the power of 
 the local government shall be discretional. Disr-
 
 65 
 
 cretional, in some degree, it must be ; but shall 
 the discretion be tied down to a few extraordinary 
 and specified cases, where to dispense with it is 
 physically impossible ; or, shall it, under the 
 guard of a deep responsibility for the manner in 
 which it is exercised, be extended to all or most of 
 the functions of a supreme government ? In the 
 former case, the local authorities are little more 
 than, as it were, the intelligencers of those at 
 home. They submit to them accounts of the state 
 of the country, accompanied with drafts of such 
 measures as, in their judgment, require to be 
 adopted, and with the names and pretensions of 
 such individuals as appear the best qualified to fill 
 particular offices. In the other case, they are, in 
 a great measure, truly representatives .- On their, 
 own judgment, they legislate, execute, and ap- 
 point ; but, if improperly, their superiors at home 
 may reverse their acts, and recall, or even punish, 
 themselves. The government of India is consti- 
 tuted on the latter principle, and, it is apprehend- 
 ed, very wisely. A delegate, commissioned to 
 conduct a particular negotiation, or to perform a 
 particular service, where the contingencies lie 
 within narrow limits, and where the evils of delay- 
 may previously be estimated and allowed for, may 
 perhaps act with effect under very rigid instruc- 
 tions, and at the risk of referring back, in a 
 doubtful instance, to his employers. But it is 
 otherwise, when the business to be transacted, 
 comprehends the entire concerns, foreign and do- 
 
 F
 
 66 
 
 mestic, of a nation. In these, a thousand emer- 
 gencies arise, equally unexpected and pressing ; 
 occasions, which cannot be foreseen, and which 
 will not wait. As no government can be sagacious 
 enough to anticipate the boundless variety of hu- 
 man affairs, so no government, situated at a dis- 
 tance, can be prompt enough to keep pace with 
 their perpetual mutability. The consequence is, 
 that, on the system of governing a distant pro- 
 vince by peremptory instructions, either the work 
 of governing is often not done at all, or, which is 
 more likely, necessity drives the provincial ruler to 
 forced interpretations of his nstructions, or to 
 confessed departures from them, and the ultimate 
 authority to a connivance at the one class of irre- 
 gularities, and to acts of indemnity for the other. 
 Add to this, that the apparent propriety of poli- 
 tical regulations of a local nature frequently de- 
 pends on circumstances which, though they may 
 be perceived and felt by an enlightened observer, 
 are too fine and minute to admit of very accurate 
 delineation in a transmissible report. Many cases 
 may occur, therefore, in winch the governors at 
 home shall be compelled, if they would act safely, 
 to adopt the advice of their delegate on trust, only 
 holding him bound by his general responsibility. 
 Thus, whatever form of administration be selected 
 for a distant dependency, things will still tend to 
 the system of ample discretion united with entire 
 responsibility ; and much unnecessary inconve- 
 nience may be avoided by the adoption . of this
 
 67 
 
 system in form. The controul of the parent- 
 power cannot be present or immediate; it can 
 only be precedent and subsequent ; precedent, by 
 the appointment of a capable local administration, 
 and subsequent, by a strict revisal of their mea- 
 sures. 
 
 But, in the construction of this local govern- 
 ment, entrusted, as it is to be, with so large a 
 share of discretion, another question arises. Shall 
 the supreme functions reside in a governor assisted 
 by a mere council of advice, or in a governor 
 checked by a council of controuling authority ? 
 In the former case, we shall have greater energy 
 of conduct ; in the latter, better security against 
 misconduct. With regard to the enactment of 
 laws, and the distribution of justice, this question 
 is not very embarrassing. In those departments, 
 though the proceedings cannot be too regular or 
 punctual, yet rapidity and decisiveness of move- 
 ment are not of prime importance ; and that unity 
 of power which would give these qualities, might 
 perhaps be converted into an engine of tyranny. 
 The only problem is to restrain, and yet not to 
 cripple, the executive vigour of the state ; a pro- 
 blem especially perplexing in the case of India, 
 where the peculiarity of our situation, as a hand- 
 ful of men in the command of a vast empire, 
 seems equally to demand a very energetic and a 
 very cautious administration of affairs. The best 
 expedient for combining, as far as the nature of 
 things will admit, these different, and almost con- 
 
 V 2
 
 68 
 
 tradictory attributes, seems to be this ; that the 
 executive functions shall, in the ordinary course 
 of things, be discharged by two or three persons 
 collectively, persons nominated to their posts by 
 the government at home ; but that the chief exe- 
 cutive magistrate may, in rare exigencies, involv- 
 ing, as he thinks, the vital interests of the coun- 
 try, singly assume the whole authority of the 
 state ; provided only, that the measures which he 
 proposes shall first be formally discussed, in writ- 
 ing, in the cabinet, and that accurate minutes of 
 such discussion shall afterwards be transmitted 
 home, it being at the peril of the President to 
 prove to his employers that he did not resort to his 
 dictatorial power without good cause. Thus the 
 responsibility of the chief magistrate is aggravated 
 at the same moment, and in the same degree, that 
 he is released from immediate limitation, the one 
 restraint compensating for the loss of the other ; 
 and, though this arrangement may be liable to 
 some theoretical objections, it seems the best 
 practical plan that can be devised for associating, 
 in the executive government of a province* the 
 wisdom of several with the vigour of one. 
 
 The governments in India are constituted in 
 pretty exact conformity with these principles. The 
 legislative, the executive, and partly the judicial 
 powers, of a presidency, are entrusted to a gover- 
 nor checked by a council. The council consists 
 of two persons, selected from the body of the 
 civil servants by the Directors at home j and to
 
 69 
 
 these, generally, but not necessarily, the military 
 commander-in-chief of the presidency is added. 
 The council discuss, together with the governor, 
 the measures proposed by him, and are, on the 
 other hand, authorized to propose measures them- 
 selves. The opinions and arguments on all sides 
 are delivered in writing ; if remarked on, if con- 
 troverted, if defended, all is conducted in writing; 
 and the writings are regularly entered on the mi- 
 nutes of the government. The matter is usually 
 determined by vote ; and the acts of the govern- 
 ment all run under the title of the governor in 
 council, or, if the presidency be that of Calcutta, 
 of the governor-general in council. On very ex- 
 traordinary occasions, however, the governor is 
 empowered to take his own measures, independently 
 of his council ; but, in such a case, it is expressly 
 and formally entered on the minutes that he acts 
 on his individual responsibility. The statute, far- 
 ther, which confers on the governors this high 
 privilege, provides that it shall not be understood 
 as giving them power or authority " to make or 
 " carry into execution any order or resolution 
 " against the opinion or concurrence of the coun- 
 " sellors of their respective governments, in any 
 " matter which shall come under the consideration 
 " of the said governor-general or governors in 
 " council respectively, in their judicial capacity ; 
 " or to make, repeal, or suspend any general 
 " rule, order, or regulation for the good order or 
 " civil government of the said United Company's 
 
 f 3
 
 70 
 
 " settlements ; or to impose, of his own autho- 
 *' rity, any tax or duty within the said respective 
 V governments or presidencies."* Although this 
 clause is not worded with that perfect accuracy 
 that might have been desirable, the general object 
 of it is plainly to restrict the exercise of the pri- 
 vilege in question to that class of the governor's 
 functions winch may, in the language of Montes- 
 quieu, be called executive. 
 
 The laws or ordinances of the government are 
 enacted under the name of regulations, and are 
 published, not only in English, but in all the 
 dialects of the country. They extend to every 
 department ; to the administration of civil and 
 criminal justice, to the police, to the revenues 
 and customs, and to commerce. The local offices, 
 also, in the Company's service, are generally, as 
 they fall vacant, filled up by the government, the 
 choice, of course, being restricted to those who 
 are covenanted servants of the Company, and who 
 have attained a certain standing, proportionate to 
 the importance of the vacant office. The discre- 
 tional liberty, therefore, of the local power is very 
 extensive. 
 
 But this discretion is exercised under a heavy 
 responsibility to the ultimate authorities in 
 England, to whom the minutes of the proceedings 
 of the government, containing an accurate ac- 
 count, not only of all their measures, but also 
 of all the discussions which may have taken place 
 
 * 33 Geo. III. c. 52, 51.
 
 71 
 
 in the council-board, are regularly transmitted ; 
 by whom, consequently, every thing is seen, 
 heard, and revised ; who may reverse any of the 
 arrangements made by the local governments, 
 or remove any of the members of whom any 
 of those governments are composed. 
 
 The foregoing description applies particularly 
 to the government of Bengal, otherwise called the 
 Supreme Government. To make it applicable to 
 those of the subordinate presidencies, it should 
 be added that these are subject, not only to the 
 inspection of their employers, but also to that of 
 the supreme government. The act of the 33 Geo. 
 III. c. 52. gives the Governor General in Council 
 " full power and authority to superintend, con- 
 " troul, and direct" them " in all such points 
 *' as shall relate to any negotiations or transac- 
 " tions with the country powers or states, or 
 t( levying war or making peace, or the collection 
 " or application of the revenues of the said acqui- 
 " sitions and territories in India, or to the forces 
 " employed at any of such presidencies or go- 
 " vernments, or to the civil or military govern- 
 " ment of the said presidencies, acquisitions, or 
 " territories, or any of them." In this enact- 
 ment, it apparently was the intention of the legis- 
 lature to endow the supreme government with so 
 much superiority, as might suffice to secure to all 
 the different depositories of power in India an 
 unity in their foreign transactions, and a general 
 
 f 4
 
 72 
 
 identity of system in their internal admini- 
 stration. 
 
 On the qualifications requisite in those who are 
 preferred to the offices of the government, or on 
 the personal conduct expected from them during 
 the continuance of their administration, it is not 
 needful to be diffuse. Beyond two or three funda- 
 mental regulations, positive law has not attempt- 
 ed, nor could have effected, much in this case. 
 The statute directs that the civil members of the 
 council shall previously have resided in India, as 
 servants of the Company, for not fewer than 
 twelve years. It farther both consults the dignity, 
 and guards the official purity, of the persons con- 
 stituting the government, by the provisions that 
 they shall abstain, in common with other func- 
 tionaries of high station in India, from all com- 
 mercial dealings except on account of the Com- 
 pany, and, in common with every perspn exer- 
 cising any employment in that country, either 
 under the King or under the Company, from the 
 acceptance of all gifts or presents. 
 
 Such is the constitution of the civil govern- 
 ments of India. That a fuller idea, however, 
 may be furnished of the mode in which the civil 
 administration of the Indo-British state is .^con- 
 ducted, a short analysis shall be exhibited of the 
 subordinate machinery destined to that endj 
 afterwards, a concise account will be given of the 
 provisions adopted for the distribution of public 
 
 -
 
 73 
 
 justice ; and this subject may naturally lead to 
 some view of the actual effects that have been 
 produced by the system in general, on the rights 
 and happiness of the people. The military insti- 
 tutions of the Company will, lastly, demand a 
 separate consideration. 
 
 Since the provisional legislative power of these 
 Indian governments is unalienably attached to the 
 respective governors and councils, to describe the 
 constitution of the government in council, is to 
 describe the nature of that legislative power. 
 The power being exercised by the government 
 without any local responsibility, without any 
 delegation, without any subordinate agency, so 
 soon as the principals are described, the subject 
 is very much at an end. It may be added, 
 however, that, though the Governor in Council 
 be independent of all local controul, yet public 
 functionaries in subordinate stations are by no 
 means precluded from the privilege of offering 
 him their advice. On the contrary, the Bengal 
 regulations expressly authorize some high con- 
 stitutional bodies, as the Courts of Judicature, 
 and the Board of Revenue, to propose to the 
 Government such regulations, connected with 
 their respective departments, as may appear to 
 them expedient. The same liberty is even be- 
 stowed on the inferior magistrates and collec- 
 tors, only that the propositions of these officers 
 must travel to the Governor in Council circuit- 
 ouslyj those of the former through the medium
 
 74 
 
 of the Superior Courts, those of the latter through 
 the medium of the Board of Revenue. These 
 propositions become, of course, matters of dis- 
 cussion and of record. 
 
 So much may suffice for the legislative depart- 
 ment of the civil government, But to the executive 
 department many functions belong, in which the 
 business must be transacted entirely by agency ; 
 in which the state works, as it were, not with 
 the hand, but by means of machinery ; and in 
 which, therefore, if we would judge properly of 
 its efficiency, we must examine the nature of the 
 machinery which it employs. Such, for example, 
 in a pre-eminent degree, is the province of realizing 
 
 the public revenues. 
 
 r >rur/ 10 JHora 
 
 The India Company, however, are a com- 
 mercial as well as a political body; their go- 
 vernments abroad are commercial as well as 
 financial governments ; and matters of trade can, 
 no more than those of revenue, be carried on 
 without the intervention of agents. Hence, the 
 machinery employed in the executive administra- 
 tion of the Company's department of the Indo- 
 British government is of two kinds ; that which 
 is directed to the concerns of the revenues ; and 
 that which is engaged in the management of com- 
 merce. The latter might pass unmentioned in 
 this place, were it not that some slight notice of 
 it seems requisite to a full synopsis of the Indo- 
 British system. It is to be observed, that the 
 following account of these two departments refers
 
 primarily to Bengal. The course of business, how- 
 ever, in the other Presidencies, though not so per- 
 fect, is very similar, especially in that of Madras. 
 
 The key-stones of these departments respec- 
 tively, are two Boards established in Calcutta. 
 The Board of Revenue consists of a President, 
 who is also a member of the Government, and 
 three other members, who are Company's servants 
 of high standing and experience. All its members 
 are chosen to this office, in the first instance, by 
 the Government. It superintends the settlement 
 and the collection of the land revenues, the col- 
 lection of several other taxes, and the manage- 
 ment of various matters growing out of these 
 concerns, throughout the provinces which fall 
 under the presidency of Fort William. The 
 Board of Trade is similarly constituted. It su- 
 perintends the commercial concerns of the Com- 
 pany throughout the same provinces, and, besides 
 this, the manufacture and delivery of the articles 
 of salt and opium, of which articles the Company 
 have the monopoly ; as also the collection of the 
 government customs, levied at several of the prin- 
 cipal cities. 
 
 The principal officers' employed under the su- 
 perintendance of the Board of Revenue, through- 
 out the provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, 
 including the comparatively recent acquisitions of 
 country, obtained, partly by cession from the 
 Kabob Vizier, and partly by conquest from the
 
 , > 
 
 Morion 7& 
 
 Mahrattas, are about thirty-five in number. They 
 have various stations allotted to them, and are ge- 
 nerally known by the appellation of Collectors of 
 Districts, or Collectors of Revenue. Their ap- 
 pointment rests with the Government; which, 
 however, must select them from the body of the 
 regular civil servants, or those serving under co- 
 venants ; and, according to the importance of the 
 station at which they are to be placed, must be 
 their standing in the service. They are furnished 
 with subordinate officers, native and European ; 
 and some of them with assistants from the regular 
 civil service. 
 
 The same description applies to the principal 
 agents of the Board of Trade ; and they amount 
 to about <the same number. Nearly half of them 
 are Commercial Residents ; the majority of the 
 remainder, Custom-Masters j and the rest, Salt 
 and Opium Agents. 
 
 The chief duty of the collectors is, to collect 
 punctually the territorial revenues. In the dis- 
 charge of this duty, they are not left, as under 
 the Mahomedan government, to tax the land- 
 holders at discretion. The lands in general, 
 throughout the provinces, have been settled at a 
 fixed rate of rent for a perpetuity. Thus one 
 great source of the abuses which, under the 
 Mahomedan system, springing from the discre- 
 tional demands of the official functionaries, flowed 
 down, in an enlarged stream, along the whole
 
 77 
 
 succession of sub-collectors, landholders, tenants, 
 and sub-tenants, is for ever closed. There are 
 still, however, some lands, which, being held in 
 farm, and therefore not included in the perpetual 
 settlement, the collector is employed periodical- 
 ly to settle ; but this office he executes under 
 immediate and strict directions from the Board 
 of Revenue. He has the farther duty of prose- 
 cuting for the resumption of lands in behalf of 
 which the holders claim to be exempt from the 
 payment of rents, where such lands are held on 
 grants fictitious or otherwise invalid. He also 
 provides, under the supervision of the Board of 
 Revenue, for the management of the estates of 
 landholders disqualified by sex, minority, or luna- 
 cy, and for the education of such as are minors. 
 He superintends the division of joint estates. He 
 apportions the assessment on lands ordered to be 
 sold by the courts of judicature in discharge of 
 an arrear of revenue. He procures lands, on the 
 part of government, for sepoys invalidated in the 
 service. He is charged with the payment of cer- 
 tain eleemosynary pensions, which, under the na- 
 tive government, had been granted to Bramins, 
 Fakeers, or Mahomedan families in a state of 
 decay, and which were made chargeable either on 
 the territorial revenues or on the inland customs. 
 He superintends the public embankments ; an 
 object of moment in a country extremely subject 
 to inundation. He collects the tax on spirituous 
 liquors and drugs. He has, likewise, other du-
 
 78 
 
 ties of a subordinate kind, chiefly growing out of 
 the functions already enumerated. That the Collec- 
 tor may have no interests separate from those of the 
 public, he is not allowed to trade, nor to hold, di- 
 rectly or indirectly, a farm, nor to lend money to a 
 landholder. Neither has he, like his predecessors 
 under the native government, a judicial as well 
 as a ministerial character ; unless, perhaps, in the . 
 trifling case of deciding on claims to eleemosynary- 
 pensions, of the kind already described. Even 
 in this instance, however, his jurisdiction vests 
 only when the sum claimed is of a very small 
 amount, and an appeal always lies from his deci- 
 sion to the Board of Revenue. Beyond this point 
 he possesses no power, except that of bringing 
 defaulters to trial before the regular courts of 
 justice, to which, at the same time, he is himself 
 amenable for irregularities committed in his official 
 capacity. 
 
 The collector is obliged to keep a diary of all 
 his proceedings, to correspond regularly with the 
 Board of Revenue, to transmit to the Board pe- 
 riodically, or whenever he is required, all such 
 accounts, papers, and information, as he can fur- 
 nish, as well as registers of his receipts for pay- 
 ments of revenue, and his opinions on claims for 
 pensions exceeding the amount on which he is 
 authorized to decide. 
 
 The business of the Board of Revenue is to see 
 that the revenues are punctually realized, to super- 
 intend, in all respects, the conduct of the col-
 
 79 
 
 lectors, and to suspend or report them, if they 
 misconduct themselves. Neither the Board collec- 
 tivGly* nor its members individually, are allowed 
 to be concerned in any sort of trade, or in loans 
 with any person responsible for the public revenue. 
 The Board is a Court of Wards, to superintend 
 the management of the estates of landholders dis- 
 qualified by sex, minority, or lunacy, and the 
 education of such as are minors. It possesses 
 also jurisdiction in appeals from the collectors 
 respecting claims to pensions. But, with these 
 exceptions, it has no judicial authority, unless 
 that appellation be affixed to its power of punish- 
 ing its officers and servants, or compelling the 
 landholders to produce their accounts. 
 
 The Board is obliged to keep regular minutes 
 of its proceedings ; to report every important mat- 
 ter to the Governor-General in Council, for his 
 sanction, previously to a final resolution on it; 
 to refer to government all cases, reported by the 
 collectors, of claims for pensions beyond a certain 
 amount, accompanied by the opinion of the Board 
 itself on such case ; to transmit to government a 
 monthly report of its proceedings, and another 
 copy of such report for transmission to the Court 
 of Directors, and implicitly to comply with all the 
 requisitions of government for such accounts, 
 papers, or information, as it may have the power 
 of furnishing. 
 
 The Board of Trade, taken in connexion with 
 its appendages, is, in its constitution, proceed-
 
 80 
 
 ings, and arrangements for the conduct of business, 
 as nearly similar to the Board of Revenue, as the 
 difference of their respective provinces renders 
 practicable ; so nearly similar, indeed, that a se- 
 parate description of its powers and mode of ope- 
 ration would be superfluous, even if a full conside- 
 ration of them exactly fell within the compass of 
 the present disquisition. 
 
 It is impossible, however, to quit this subject, 
 without pointing out to the particular attention 
 of the reader a distinguishing feature which, as 
 the foregoing pages shew, pervades the whole 
 administration of British India, from its central 
 point at home, through all its numerous radiations. 
 This is the obligation imposed on the members of 
 every department in the service, to keep ample 
 minutes of all their official proceedings, and to 
 transmit such minutes regularly to the next highest 
 authority. So universally is this practice enforced, 
 that there is no official servant of the Company, 
 however low his situation, or however remote his 
 position from the seat of the local government, 
 whose whole conduct is not stamped on documents 
 placed in the hands of his superiors, and accessible 
 at pleasure to the British parliament. Nor is this 
 facility of communication more perfect, as to 
 space, between distant parts of the system, than as 
 to time, between the system at one period and at 
 another. The office of every Collector of the Re- 
 venues, of every Commercial Resident, in short, 
 of every public functionary, contains records, not
 
 81 
 
 only of his own proceedings and correspondence, 
 but also of those of his various predecessors ; and 
 all these it is within the competence of the govern- 
 ment to demand, and thus to transport itself back 
 to any former aera. 
 
 The habits of exactness and punctuality in the 
 dispatch of public business, which this practice 
 cannot fail universally to generate, constitute only 
 its secondary merit. Its chief excellence consists 
 in the intimate correspondence which it establishes 
 between the head and different members of the 
 state. Every separate authority, each in its 
 place and order, is thus enabled to know and to 
 watch over all the transactions that take place 
 within its peculiar province, to appreciate accu- 
 rately the merits of those employed under it, to 
 check the less carefid, and to promote, or point 
 out for promotion, the deserving. The effects of 
 this supervision on those over whom it is main- 
 tained, are, that, acting in a sort of light and 
 publicity, they are kept in awe by the fear of 
 punishment or disgrace, and impelled to exertion 
 by the hope of credit or advancement. Farther, 
 the records, being preserved, form a mass of em- 
 bodied experience, by consulting which, the go- 
 vernment has the means of understanding better 
 the nature of those over whom it is appointed, 
 and of combining, if necessary, plans of pro- 
 gressive alteration with that general consistency 
 of proceeding, in which alone the foundations of 
 improvement can be effectually laid. 
 
 o
 
 82 
 
 The constitution of the legislative and adminis- 
 trative parts of the Indo-British government has 
 now, it is hoped, been satisfactorily laid open ; 
 the next object of enquiry is the provision made, 
 under that government, for the distribution of 
 public justice. In the prosecution of this enquiry, 
 also, as on the rest of the topics treated in this 
 chapter, the statements and delineations to be 
 given, immediately respect the provinces of Ben- 
 gal ; but the judicatures established in every other 
 part of British India, especially those which be- 
 long to the presidency of Fort St. George, are 
 constructed on a generally similar plan. 
 
 It has already been stated that, of the judicial 
 authorities employed under the British govern- 
 ment, some are nominated by the King, others 
 by the Company ; and that those of the former 
 description possess but a limited jurisdiction over 
 the natives. Our more particular qoncern here, 
 therefore, is with the courts supplied by the ap- 
 pointment of the Company. 
 
 These are both criminal and civil ; the number 
 and gradation of the former, throughout the pro- 
 vinces subject to the presidency of Fort William, 
 being as follows: a supreme court stationed in 
 Calcutta ; six circuit courts attached to six diffe- 
 rent divisions or districts under the presidency ; 
 and about forty * inferior courts, or rather magis- 
 trates, stationed at so many different points 
 throughout the three provinces. 
 
 * The number raries. See Harringt. Anal. Part 2. 3.
 
 83 
 
 The number and gradation of the civil judica- 
 tures are j a supreme court stationed in Calcutta ; 
 six provincial courts of appeal stationed at so many 
 different cities; and about forty magistrates sta- 
 tioned at so many different points throughout the 
 three provinces. 
 
 But here, as generally in the English system of 
 justice, though the civil and the criminal courts 
 are entirely distinct in their functions, powers, 
 and forms, the same persons who preside as judges 
 in the courts of the one class, preside also in the 
 corresponding courts of the other. Thus the 
 judges of the supreme criminal court are also the 
 judges of the supreme civil court. The judges of 
 circuit are also the provincial judges of appeal ; 
 and the functions, both criminal and civil, of the 
 inferior judges or magistrates, are placed in the 
 same hands. 
 
 To begin, therefore, at the lower end of the 
 scale, the magistrates (as they are called in their 
 criminal capacity) are appointed from among the 
 civil servants of the Company. They may be 
 considered rather as superintendants of the police 
 of the country ; and have duties not unlike those 
 executed by the justices of the peace in England. 
 Their own penal power is limited to cases of a 
 trifling nature. Their chief business is, to re- 
 ceive informations, commit offenders for trial, 
 and bind over prosecutors and witnesses. In all 
 points to which their office extends, they must 
 comply with certain modes of procedure which 
 
 c 2
 
 84 
 
 are very exactly prescribed. They are allowed 
 one or more assistants, both European and native ; 
 to the former of whom, under certain enjoined 
 forms, they may delegate some portion of their 
 business. The court of the magistrate is usually 
 called a Zilla (that is, a provincial) Adawlut, or 
 a city Adawlut. 
 
 The courts of circuit respectively consist of 
 three judges, one register, and one or more assis- 
 tants, all being civil servants of the Company, 
 together with native law-officers, both Mahomedan 
 and Hindoo. The judges of a court of circuit 
 divide between them, according to certain settled 
 rules, the points which they are to visit within the 
 division to which the court is attached ; and make 
 their rounds at stated periods in every year. They 
 hold also regular and frequent jail-deliveries. 
 Their province is to try criminal offences in gene- 
 ral, according to the Mahomedan law. But, 
 when the sentence of a court of circuit is capital, 
 or awards imprisonment beyond a defined period, 
 and also in some other particular cases, it cannot 
 take effect until it receives a confirmation from 
 the superior criminal court stationed in Calcutta, 
 to whom, accordingly, is referred the record of the 
 trial, comprehending the charge, the depositions, 
 and all the documents received in the course of it. 
 In the discharge of this and of every other of the 
 functions attached to the courts of circuit, precise 
 rules and fonns are laid down for them, and must 
 be followed with a rigorous exactness.
 
 85 
 
 The criminal court in Calcutta is called the Ni- 
 zamut Adawlut. The name clearly bespeaks the 
 origin of this court, which, but with a most salu- 
 tary mixture of British descent, is sprung from 
 the old Mahomedan court, already described as 
 having been held by the Nazim. It bears, how* 
 ever, little likeness to its ancestor. Till a pretty 
 late period, the Governor General and Members 
 of the Supreme Council, presided in this court; 
 it now consists of a chief judge, and two puisne 
 judges, who are civil covenanted servants of the 
 Company of long standing, but not Members of 
 the Government. An establishment of native 
 officers, learned in the Mahomedan law, is regu- 
 larly attached to it. The principal business of the 
 Nizamut Adawlut is that of revising trials referred 
 from the courts of circuit, and of either confirm- 
 ing, rescinding, commuting, or modifying the 
 sentence passed by those courts ; but it is in no 
 case permitted to enhance the severity of such 
 sentence. When the sentence, as finally pro- 
 nounced by the Nizamut Adawlut, amounts to a 
 forfeiture of land or lease, it must be submitted, 
 with all the proceedings, to the consideration of 
 Government. In all other cases, it is final ; but 
 still, where it is capital, or where the law does 
 hot allow the court a discretion as to the degree 
 of punishment, the court may, if they think fit, 
 recommend the delinquent to the mercy of Go- 
 vernment, either for a remission of punishment, 
 or for a complete pardon. 
 
 g 3
 
 86 
 
 Beyond the prerogative just mentioned, of for- 
 giving delinquents, the Governor General pos- 
 sesses, properly speaking, no criminal jurisdiction. 
 He possesses, indeed, the right, a right not 
 strictly judicial, but belonging to the administra- 
 tion of police, of securing persons suspected of 
 crimes against the state ; for trial, however, those 
 persons must be brought before the regular 
 tribunals. 
 
 The course of civil justice is regulated in the 
 same manner. The officer, who, in his criminal 
 capacity, has the appellation of a magistrate, is 
 also the civil judge of the district or city in which 
 he resides. In this character, he tries all suits 
 respecting the right to real or personal property, 
 land rents, revenue, debts, accounts, contracts, 
 partnerships, marriage, cast, claims to damages 
 for injuries, and generally all suits of a civil na- 
 ture, provided the cause of action have originated, 
 the property concerned be situated, or the defen- 
 dant reside, within his jurisdiction. Where the 
 number of civil causes in a district is very great, 
 an assistant judge is appointed, with powers alto- 
 gether similar. The judge may also, at his plea- 
 sure, empower the register of his court to decide 
 on suits for property of a certain trivial amount j 
 but from the decisions of the register an appeal 
 lies to his principal. To try suits where the pro- 
 perty is of a still smaller amount, the judge may 
 farther appoint, although not without the appro- 
 bation of the superior civil court of Calcutta,
 
 87 
 
 native commissioners ; but from these, also, an 
 appeal lies to the judge himself. 
 
 With the exception of a few cases not worthy 
 of particular mention, the decisions of the civil 
 judge are all appealable to the provincial court of 
 appeal within the jurisdiction of which he is situat- 
 ed. Those courts have also, in some instances, as 
 in charges of corruption against the inferior judge, 
 or against any of their own ministerial officers, an 
 original jurisdiction ; but not generally, unless a 
 suit should be expressly submitted to their determi- 
 nation by the Governor General in Council, or 
 by the superior civil court in Calcutta. It has 
 already been stated, that the provincial courts of 
 appeal are composed of the same judges respec- 
 tively, who preside in the different courts of 
 circuit. 
 
 The ultimate court of appeal in civil matters, 
 sits in the city of Calcutta, and is styled Sudder 
 Dewannee Adawlut. It derives its functions, as 
 the name may intimate, from the ancient Maho- 
 medan officer, denominated the Dewan, in the 
 same manner as the Nizamut Adawlut from the 
 Nazim. This court has an original authority with 
 respect to charges of corruption brought against 
 the members or officers of the inferior civil courts, 
 or against the ministerial or law-officers of the 
 Nizamut Adawlut ; but it acts principally as a 
 court of appeal. All causes respecting property, 
 whether personal or real, are appealable to the 
 Sudder Dewannee Adawlut, provided the property 
 
 G 4
 
 88 
 
 concerned amount to a certain value. This value, 
 in the case of personal property, is fixed at five 
 thousand rupees ; but, with regard to real pro- 
 perty, is to be ascertained by rules which differ 
 according to the differing nature or tenure of the 
 property, and which are too numerous and minute 
 to be detailed. Where no direct appeal lies to 
 this court, it has notwithstanding so far the power 
 of revising the judgments of the courts below, 
 that it may compel them to a new trial of the 
 matter in question. On the other hand, where, 
 in a cause tried by the court, the value of the 
 property concerned amounts, exclusively of the 
 costs of action, to five thousand pounds,* a far- 
 ther appeal lies to the King in Council ; and, in 
 cases where no appeal lies to the King in Council, 
 the court is yet at liberty, if the judges see good 
 cause, to re-try the matter in issue, and to reverse 
 or confirm its own decision. 
 
 The Governor General in Council may refer, 
 in some cases, the determination of a particular 
 cause to the Sudder Dewannee Adawlut, or to 
 some inferior civil court; but, with this and a 
 few other similar exceptions, if, indeed, they can 
 properly be considered as constituting such, he 
 has no jurisdiction in civil matters. 
 
 In all the courts, civil and criminal, which 
 have been described, it will have been observed 
 that the European judges are uniformly supported 
 
 - f Estimated equal to Sicca Rupees 43,103.
 
 89 
 
 by native advisers. In effect, in the inferior 
 courts, the judge is little more than an assessor, to 
 watch over the conduct of the trial. If he sees 
 reason to be dissatisfied with the opinion, or Jetxva, 
 (as it is called) of his adviser, he refers it to a 
 superior court, where maturer wisdom and know- 
 ledge, both in the European and in the native 
 members of the tribunal, may rectify or establish 
 the decision below. 
 
 But these assistants or advisers of the judge are 
 not the only native law-officers attached to the 
 court. It has already been related that, under 
 the Mahomedan government, suitors pleaded their 
 own causes ; and the same praetice continued 
 under the British administration till the year 
 1793. It was then altered, with respect to the 
 civil courts ; where, since that time, regular ad- 
 vocates have been appointed. These advocates, 
 or pleaders, as they are called, are chosen by the 
 court of Sudder Dewannee Adawlut, out of the 
 Mahomedan College at Calcutta, and the Hindoo 
 College at Benares j and the rate of the fees to be 
 allowed them has been fixed by public regulation. 
 It cannot be denied, that the first institution of this 
 order of men strongly militated against the feel- 
 ings and prejudices of the natives ; but experience 
 has taught them its true value^ Not only has it 
 introduced method and science into the conduct 
 of trials ; but it insures suitors against negligence 
 or misconduct on the part, either of the judge, or 
 of his native assistant, the pleaders being often as
 
 90 
 
 conversant in the regulations of government as 
 the one, and in the commentaries and practice of 
 native law as. the other, and prepared to check the 
 slightest illegality of proceeding. 
 
 As an ultimate security for the purity of justice, 
 provisions have been made against the corruption 
 of those who administer it. Native law and mi- 
 nisterial officers, suspected of this crime, are to 
 be tried in the court to which they are attached, 
 and such court may be compelled to try them by 
 an order from the Sudder Dewannee or Nizamut 
 Adawlut. A charge of corruption against an 
 European judge of any court below the two prin- 
 cipal ones, is to be communicated to the Governor 
 General in Council, who, after due enquiry into 
 the circumstances of the case, may refer the 
 charge for trial to any of the established courts, 
 or to a special commission consisting of one or 
 more of the judges of such courts, or any other 
 persons. But no judicature subsists in India, 
 competent to take full cognizance of the offense, 
 barely supposeable, indeed, of corruption in any 
 of the judges of the two principal courts. Yet it 
 must not therefore be conceived that the offence 
 would be attended with impunity. Should a 
 charge to that effect be preferred to the Govern- 
 ment in Council, it would be in their power to 
 send home the accused with ignominy ; who after- 
 wards might not only be dismissed from the ser- 
 vice of the Company, but might be convicted before 
 our regular legal tribunals on the acts of parlia-
 
 91 
 
 ment which prohibit all the Company's servants in 
 India from accepting presents, or might be brought 
 before the peculiar Court of Commissioners insti- 
 tuted by the 24th Geo. III. c. 25, to try, the 
 crime of extortion and other misdemeanors " com- 
 mitted by the Company's servants in India ; for 
 that these words include the crime of corrupt judg- 
 ment, if it were not of itself sufficiently plain, 
 would be set out of doubt by the 33d Geo. III. c. 
 52, which enacts, that the " receiving any sum of 
 " money, or other valuable thing, as a gift or 
 " present, or under colour thereof," by a British 
 subject in the service of the Company, " shall be 
 " deemed and taken to be extortion and a misde- 
 " meanor at law." * 
 
 It is only necessary to add, on this head, that 
 the fees of all law-officers in the Bengal courts are 
 minutely settled by regulation, and that any offi- 
 cer, who receives more than his due, forfeits his 
 employment. In this manner, suitors are pre- 
 served from the extortion of these men, which, 
 as has been said in a former part of this chap- 
 ter, was one of the curses of the Mussulman 
 administration of justice. It may suggest some 
 notion of the attentiveness of the Company's 
 government to their public duties, that a mere 
 digest of the provisions contained in the Bengal 
 regulations and still in force, on the subject of 
 
 C2.
 
 92 
 
 law-fees alone, would fill seven or eight folio 
 najres. * 
 
 It certainly cannot be supposed, that the judi- 
 cial forms which prevail in these courts, should 
 yet have attained that extreme polish and accuracy 
 which distinguish the practice of English jurispru- 
 dence. The technical niceties that abound in our 
 administration of justice, are, to speak very ten- 
 derly of them, among the luxuries, which a very 
 high state of civilization both introduces and ren* 
 ders necessary ; but which, in a society less ad- 
 vanced, neither are required, nor perhaps couid 
 be made popular. The Company's government, 
 however, have taken the utmost pains to enforce, 
 in the legal proceedings of their courts, as much 
 precision as the habits of the people would admit. 
 Written pleadings, in the native languages have 
 been introduced, for the purpose of bringing 
 litigation, in every instance, to a point ; and they 
 are governed by very definite rules, borrowed from 
 the spirit of English practice. They want, indeed, 
 that curious and almost affected fineness, to which 
 the pleadings in an English court are usually 
 wrought; but, though rude in comparison of 
 these, they may be considered as savouring of 
 pedantic exactness, in a country, where, not half 
 a century ago, almost the whole of the charge and 
 
 -ffilb silt to 
 
 * This may be verified by turning to Colebrooke's Digest. 
 
 Article Feci. 
 
 udi iu aoi&iioilamjs ujdj jutti -.milt
 
 93 
 
 the defense consisted of confused oral complaints, 
 loudly urged on one side, and as loudly retorted on 
 the other. 
 
 The same observation might be applied to the 
 examination of witnesses ; as to which, the out- 
 lines, at least, of the English system, have been 
 enforced in Bengal by public regulation. The 
 indulgence, however, which, in receiving evidence, 
 is here so properly shewn to the conscientious 
 scruples of a particular sect, it has there been 
 found necessary to allow to a far greater extent. 
 It would be reckoned humiliating to a Hindoo of 
 a certain rank and cast to be sworn before a court 
 of justice ; he is therefore required only to sign a 
 declaration that he will speak the truth. Still 
 greater respect is paid to the prejudices, so noto- 
 riously prevalent in Eastern countries, which affix 
 indelible disgrace to the appearance of women of 
 a certain rank before any person of the other sex 
 not related to them. When the evidence of such 
 a woman is desired, she is examined, either on 
 oath or declaration according to her rank and cast, 
 by a commission of three creditable females first 
 sworn to the faithful discharge of the trust. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unquestionable magnitude 
 of the judicial reforms which have been mentioned, 
 it would betray, not only a very extravagant ad- 
 miration of the actions which the Company have 
 performed, but a very inadequate idea of the diffi- 
 culties with which they have had to contend, were 
 it insinuated that then task of amelioration in this
 
 94 
 
 department is already closed. The frame of the 
 Indian community was not so easy of amendment* 
 Judicial skill and integrity, indeed, were effec- 
 tually secured j but the number of causes entered 
 for trial soon began to outswell both calculation 
 and controul. The utmost attention of the Ben- 
 gal government was directed, not only to the 
 liquidation of the outstanding arrear, but to the 
 cure of the evil in principle. It was with these 
 views that they first appointed the assistant judges 
 already mentioned. They also enlarged the powers 
 of the native commissioners, limited the period of 
 appeals, and, by various means, among which may 
 be particularized the imposition of a fee on the in- 
 stitution of trials, somewhat increased the expense 
 of litigation, carefully directing the burden, how- 
 ever, so far as was practicable, to the losing party. 
 The result has been that the accumulation of juri- 
 dical business, though not reduced, does not appear 
 to gain ground. According to the fifth report, 
 indeed, of the Select Committee of 1812, " in 
 " comparison with what is commonly experienced 
 " in Europe, the advantage, in point of dispatch, 
 " would probably be found to be in favour of the 
 " courts of India." * 
 
 That the delay and the expense of justice con- 
 stitute an imperfection in the present system of 
 British India, it were paradoxical to deny j but 
 
 
 * See the subject treated more at length in that Report} 
 part 1.
 
 95 
 
 that imperfection seems open to two or three pal- 
 liative remarks. First ; the accumulation of causes, 
 though in itself a matter of regret, may yet to a 
 certain extent be symptomatic of good. Justice, 
 it should be remembered, is not the disease, but 
 the remedy ; the number of applicants for which 
 will naturally be in some proportion to its general 
 reputation for excellence. Let us suppose that, in 
 some district harrassed by contagious disorders, and 
 hitherto provided only with hospitals of the most 
 wretched description, there were substituted for 
 these an ample establishment which should be ma- 
 naged on the best principles. The wards of this 
 new building might, perhaps, soon overflow ; and 
 its gates be fruitlessly besieged by multitudes who, 
 before, would have been content to expire amidst 
 the obscurity of cellars and hovels, rather than 
 have sought a mockery of relief m the publicity, 
 unwholesomeness, and oppressions of a disorderly 
 and pestilential prison. That is, the ostensible 
 quantity of sickness would, for a season, be aug- 
 mented. To reduce infection, to eradicate disease, 
 and, by these means, to abridge the number of the 
 patients admitted, must be the achievement of an 
 ulterior stage in the existence of such an institu- 
 tion. After the same manner, every signal im- 
 provement in the judicial administration of a coun- 
 try, tends, for a time, to increase the number of 
 complainants ; while, to lessen the amount of 
 litigation, by abating the grievances in which it
 
 96 
 
 originates, as it is the most splendid, so will, pro- 
 bably, be the latest, triumph of justice. 
 
 Secondly; there appears to be a certain quantity 
 of imperfection, from which, in the shape, either 
 of tediousness, or of costliness, or of both, human 
 justice, even in its most finished state, cannot be 
 wholly purified. Both those evils, in a measure, 
 attach to the juridical practice of this country ; 
 and for both that practice has been severely blamed. 
 Yet it surely needs but a slight observation of fo- 
 rensic warfare to perceive that there exists in the 
 community a strong spirit of petty and frivolous 
 litigation, and that, without the irregular and left- 
 handed checks of expense and delay, this spirit 
 might possibly exceed all bounds. The supply of 
 law seems to create the demand for it. Among 
 the Gordian difficulties sometimes proposed r ta the 
 advocates of perfectibility, they might perhaps be 
 challenged to determine in what manner we may 
 afford a facility to the redress of wrongs, without 
 at the same time encouraging the specific wrong 
 of vexatious suits, or, which is the counterpart of 
 the problem, how a tax may be laid on litigious- 
 ness, which shall not operate as a restraint on 
 justice ? 
 
 It may, farther, be observed, that, from some 
 characteristic peculiarity, as it would seem, of 
 temper, the natives of Hindostan, and, perhaps, in 
 an eminent degree, those of Bengal, are prone to 
 legal disputation. Politically peaceful, they seem
 
 97 
 
 socially and domestically martial. It must be a 
 singular race of people, among whom war is frit- 
 tered down into law; among whom, those passions 
 which, elsewhere, inhabit the desert places of so- 
 ciety, and compel the respect of mankind by their 
 grand ferocity, are uniformly dwarfed and domes- 
 ticated into the mousing, bickering, snarling in- 
 mates of the hut and the village. 
 
 It is lastly to be remarked that, under the pow- 
 erful and benignant administration of the British, 
 the population of Bengal appears to have under- 
 gone a very considerable increase. The estimates, 
 indeed, formed on this subject, are almost purely 
 conjectural ; but the latest would fix the inhabi- 
 tants of the three provinces on the brink of thirty 
 millions, while, forty years ago, they were com- 
 puted only at ten ; a difference, scarcely explicable, 
 excepting on the supposition of a real and a large 
 augmentation. The admitted improvement in the 
 agriculture and general resources of the country 
 abundantly supports the same hypothesis. But, 
 other things being equal, litigation would grow 
 with the growth of the people ; and, in this view, 
 can be regarded only as an index of their con- 
 firmed and extended happiness. 
 
 There is another point, in which the judicial 
 reforms of the Company have proved less effica- 
 cious than might have been hoped. Lord Corn- 
 wallis had deprived the Zemindars or landholders 
 of those functions of police with which that order 
 of men were invested by the Mahomedan consti- 
 
 u
 
 98 
 
 tution; grounding the proceeding on these two 
 reasons, that, in principle, the junction in the 
 same persons, of a fiscal capacity with a super* 
 intendatice over the police, tended to occasion 
 abuse, and that, in fact, the grossest abuses had 
 sprung from the practise. The general care of the 
 peace was, under the improved system, commit- 
 ted to the British magistrates, already described ; 
 but, under the supervision of the magistrate, 
 native officers, styled Darogalis, were entrusted 
 with the active discharge of the duty of appre- 
 hending the public and professional robbers who 
 are well known to infest Bengal. It appears, 
 however, that this measure proved ineffectual; 
 for the depredations and atrocities of those ruf- 
 fians rather gained than lost ground. The late 
 Parliamentary Committee, in their fifth report, 
 unequivocally avow their conviction, that the 
 functions of police should, under careful provisions 
 against abuse, have been left with the Zemin- 
 dars, as possessing, from their local influence and 
 the numbers of their armed retainers, an efficiency 
 for the conservation of the general quiet, which can- 
 not be conferred on persons destitute of the same 
 natural authority, and necessarily furnished with 
 fewer followers, because having their followers 
 paid by the public. A late Government of Bengal 
 appears to have, in some degree, adopted the same 
 opinion ; for, in 1 807, the Zemindars were, to a 
 certain extent, reinstated in their ancient power. 
 But, comparatively crippled as those persons now 
 lit ^roUistato ei yrmin^ IIA .svsilsd oi noe'fisi 
 
 r O rr
 
 99 
 
 fcre, it is not surprising that a partial restoration of 
 their functions, and after long desuetude, should 
 have failed to replace them in that position of in- 
 fluence and authority from which they had fallen. 
 Gang-robbery remained undiminished, and new 
 measures became requisite. The Government are 
 now making an experiment, how far the employ- 
 ment ef public informers, many of whom are them- 
 selves abdicated robbers, aided by the vigorous 
 co-operation of British superintendants of police, 
 can prevail to accomplish the object desired. So 
 far as can be collected from the experience of two 
 years, this new regulation affords a very clear pro- 
 mise of success. 
 
 That the Zemindars were somewhat precipi* 
 tately deprived of their authority in the adminis* 
 tration of the police, it is not here intended to 
 deny ; especially since that position appears so 
 plain to the Select Committee. Undoubtedly, 
 there is a state of society, in which a certain species 
 of feudal power naturally appertains to the landed 
 aristocracy. In instituting a comparison, however, 
 between the old and the new systems, it is hardly 
 allowable to survey their respective efficiency ex- 
 clusively in the particular point immediately at 
 issue ; that is, the suppression of gang-robbery. 
 That an energetic Zemindar, acting in the fulness 
 of his former functions, and under the combined 
 warrant of influence, prescription, and armed 
 power, might have effectually extinguished or ex- 
 pelled the most formidable gangs, there is every 
 reason to believe. All tyranny is exclusive; tliQ 
 
 H 2
 
 100 
 
 tyrant endures the existence of no robber except 
 himself. But this may not be a reason for en- 
 during the tyrant. The question still remains, 
 whether it was possible so to temper and modify 
 the power of the functionaries alluded to, that they 
 might have continued strong for the state, and yet 
 have been rendered weak for themselves: aques- 
 tion on which it would, after all, be very difficult 
 to speak definitively ; but the experience of the 
 last twenty years certainly makes it desirable 
 that a milder change had, in the first instance, 
 
 been tried ' tauoaofi; 
 
 It is now time to remind the reader, of an 
 
 observation before made and repeated, that the 
 jurisdiction of the courts of justice which have 
 been already enumerated, extends not, or extends 
 only partially, to the British subjects who make 
 a a part of the Indian population. The collec- 
 tors of the revenue or customs, indeed, as well 
 as the commercial or salt agents, and the mint and 
 assay masters, are amenable to the tribunals of the 
 Zilla judges, for acts corrupt, or done in opposition 
 to a regulation. British subjects, too, not being 
 either Company's servants or King's officers, may 
 be compelled by a Zilla judge to make themselves 
 amenable to his court as the price of their being 
 permitted to reside within his jurisdiction. Even 
 the Company's servants may, in civil matters, 
 have the decision of the Zilla judge, provided they 
 will previously execute a bond of submission to 
 abide by it. But British subjects, charged with 
 crimes, whether Company's servants or not, are
 
 101 
 
 hot triable by any of the judicial authorities that 
 have been mentioned. The case of corruption, 
 indeed, may at first sight seem to furnish an ex- 
 ception ; but the truth is that, in the Indian 
 system, a charge of corruption takes the form of a 
 civil suit and is prosecuted in the civil courts. 
 The criminal courts appointed by the Company 
 have no cognizance with respect to British subjects 
 accused of crimes, excepting so far asto commit 
 the. accused and to bring him to regular trial be- 
 fore the Supreme Court of Judicature established 
 in Calcutta. Of this Supreme Court, some brief 
 account will now be expected. 
 
 As the Sudder Dewannee and Nizamut Adawluts 
 succeeded the ancient judicatures which held 
 sway under the Mahomedan constitution, so the 
 Supreme Court at Calcutta stands in the place of 
 the old Mayor's Court established in that city at a 
 time when the judicial superintendance of the vast 
 provinces now composing British India still re- 
 mained in Mussulman hands, and while the terri- 
 torial power of the Company was as yet circum- 
 scribed within the limits of a few factories. 
 
 It consists of a chief justice and two puisne 
 judges, all members of the profession of the law in 
 England, and nominated to their situations in India 
 by the King. Their salaries are siich as to befit 
 those situations, and, after a residence of seven 
 years in the country, they may return to England 
 on a pension. The Supreme Court has civil, 
 criminal, equitable, ecclesiastical, and maritime 
 
 h 3
 
 102 
 
 jurisdiction ; in most of which capacities nothing 
 needs be said of it in this place. Its cognizance 
 extends to all British subjects, that is, natives, or 
 descendants of natives, of Great Britain, in India, 
 and to all the inhabitants of Calcutta. Natives of 
 India also, who, though not inhabitants of Cal- 
 cutta, are employed in certain specific ways by 
 the Company or by British subjects; by the former, 
 in a judicial capacity, or as principal collectors, or as 
 principal commercial agents ; by the latter, as agents, 
 stewards, or partners, in any concern of revenue or 
 merchandize ; are amenable to the jurisdiction of the 
 Supreme Court, both in criminal cases, in actions for 
 Wrongs or trespasses, and likewise in any civil suit 
 'where a written agreement is previously executed 
 between the parties to abide by the decision. The 
 court, however, is allowed no cognizance over 
 matters concerning the land-revenue, or in any 
 manner arising out of an interest in it. 
 
 With the exception, just stated, respecting re- 
 venue causes, the authority of the court over the 
 inhabitants of Calcutta is exclusive. In suits to 
 which the natives are parties, the judges are en- 
 joined by act of parliament to respect the usages 
 of the country. In matters of inheritance or 
 succession, in contracts or dealings, the rule of 
 decision is to be the law acknowledged by the 
 litigant parties, whether Mahomedan or Hindoo ; 
 should only one of the parties be a Mahomedan or 
 a Hindoo, it is to be the law acknowledged by the 
 defendant. The rights of fathers, as established
 
 103 
 
 by the native customs, are to be preserved j ^d 
 acts done in consequence of the laws of cast, hovy* 
 ever repugnant to the British code, are not to \>Q 
 adjudged crimes.* 
 
 By act of parliament, t criminal offenses brougjl^t 
 before the Supreme Court shall be tried by a juryp 
 exclusively consisting of British subjects ; ^n^ 
 agreeably to this enactment, the charter of justice t 
 directs, that both the grand and the petit juries 
 summoned by the sheriff of Calcutta shall be com,- 
 posed in the manner described. Such a regulation 
 may, at first sight, seem not free from injustice. The 
 supreme judicature professes to hold the balance 
 between the native and the British population ; 
 and it may be thought that, at least in cases where 
 the issue really lies between these opposite races, 
 the natives should have their share of the jury. 
 Since, however, it is unquestionable that, in the 
 institution of the supreme court, one main object 
 of the legislature was the protection of the natives 
 against the domineering ascendancy of Europeans, 
 we may be assured that the policy under consider- 
 ation was dictated by some necessity, real or con- 
 ceived. Possibly, it was thought that the des- 
 titution of moral principle notoriously prevalent 
 among the people of India, and particularly in the 
 article of veracity, precluded a reliance on the 
 aths of twelve persons promiscuously taken fioiu 
 
 * 21 Geo. III. c. 70. f 13 Geo. III. c. 03, 
 
 t Dated 26th March, 17/4. 
 H 4
 
 104 
 
 that order* Even the national interests of the 
 Hindoo or the Mussulman might, after all, seem 
 safer in the hands of British jurors, acting under 
 the superintendance of a British judge. These 
 men being generally, it might with confidence be 
 presumed, of European education, would have 
 been accustomed, from their childhood, to asso- 
 ciate sancity with the idea of an oath, and rever- 
 ence with that of a judicial direction. If such 
 considerations did not suggest the regulation in 
 question, they at least go far to justify it, not in- 
 deed as the best that might be wished, but as the 
 best which the difficulty of the case allowed. ; tonif 
 In trials of a civil nature, this difficulty is evaded 
 by the adoption of an expedient which, as applied 
 to the administration of criminal justice, would 
 have been inadmissible* No juries are employed 
 in such trials ; the judges decide both on the law 
 and on the fact. The grand use and the peculiar 
 praise of the trial by jury, which are, that it se- 
 cures the subject against tyranny disguised under 
 the mask of justice, clearly have their place, rather 
 in prosecutions conducted on belralf of the state, 
 than in suits respecting private rights* And, in 
 the latter department, while the utility of the 
 engine, however efficient it may prove,- is less ap- 
 parent, its efficiency is, in the same degree, more 
 dubious. Of most criminal cases, ordinary men 
 of plain sense are fully adequate to the decision ; 
 for it usually turns on a few plain facts. Should 
 the proofs become entangled and circumstantial,
 
 105 
 
 yet an enquiry directly involving the credit, the 
 liberty, perhaps the life, of an individual present 
 propels the discriminating faculties while it per- 
 plexes them, and, by its very intricacy, only the 
 more effectually enchains attention. The ques- 
 tions, on the other hand, raised by private litiga^ 
 tion, in themselves less interesting, often obscure- 
 in proportion to their importance, and almost 
 always tedious in proportion to their obscurity, 
 demand, in many instances, a more formed habit 
 of scientific observation than can be expected from 
 twelve casual judges. Add to this that, if the 
 knots of such questions are not unravelled, one or 
 other of the litigant parties must suffer injustice ; 
 while, of the perplexities incident to criminal trials, 
 an effectual and a legitimate solution may always 
 be found in the acquittal of the accused. On 
 principles, it may be presumed, like these, the 
 judicial practise of Scotland, while, in the trial of 
 crimes, it enjoins the use of juries, excludes them 
 from the adjudication of civil disputes.* With 
 regard to the instance before us, however, besides 
 all the reasons, " already mentioned, in favour of 
 the distinction, there is this other, that the small- 
 ness of the British population in India, both would 
 rendei a frequent call to serve on juries a consi- 
 derable grievance, and would make it impossible 
 
 * These observations have been partly suggested by an article 
 in the 18th number oif the Edinburgh Review, on the Proposed 
 Reform of the Court of Session in Scotland ; a tract, which con- 
 tains many acute and profound observations.
 
 106 
 
 to obtain a constant supply of jurors unconnected 
 with the litigant parties or the matter in dispute. 
 
 From the institution of the Supreme Court of 
 Judicature, two peculiar advantages seem to result. 
 First, it is an advantage to the great mass of the 
 Indian population, that criminal charges against 
 the Company's servants, or civil suits in which the 
 Company or the Company's servants are con- 
 cerned, should generally be brought before tribu- 
 nals not appointed by the Company. Now, indeed, 
 when the whole system of the Company, including 
 the judicial part of it, has attained so high a point 
 of purity and disinterestedness, this advantage 
 may seem at an end ; but, though nothing in point 
 of fact, it is still something in point of opinion. 
 Were the servants of the Company to be tried by 
 courts supplied out of their own body, the deci- 
 sions might be quite as just, but they might not 
 always be equally satisfactory to the people ; and, 
 indeed, after all, it is impossible to provide too 
 many safeguards against the abuse of justice. 
 Secondly, it is no slight advantage to the judges 
 appointed by the Company, that they have in their 
 neighbourhood the example of an English court 
 of justice, the members of which have been trained 
 to the usages of English jurisprudence, and which 
 immediately symbolizes, if the expression may be 
 allowed, with all those enlightened judicatures, 
 celebrated as the bulwarks of the liberties of Eng- 
 land. Thus a standard of judicial skill and habits 
 is conspicuously erected in the country j and the
 
 10? 
 
 effect of it, like that of other standards, is partly 
 to excite and partly to guide men in the pursuit 
 after excellence. 
 
 A Supreme Court of Judicature sits at Madras, 
 on the model of that of Fort William. Under the 
 presidency of Bombay, the parallel court is held 
 by only a single judge with the title of a Recorder; 
 but the authority and the practise of this tribunal 
 are altogether conformable to those of the Supreme 
 Courts. A Recorder has also been constituted 
 in the infant settlement of Prince of Wales's 
 Island. 
 
 The frame and system of the Indian govern* 
 ment, in its judicial capacity, having been de- 
 scribed, the interrogatory may next be put, what 
 are the laws administered by the constituted judi- 
 catures ; what rights or immunities the government 
 has confirmed or granted to its Asiatic subjects ; 
 or, which is nearly the same thing, what effects 
 the British administration has produced on the do- 
 mestic situation of the people. 
 
 The full answer to this question woidd require 
 a digest of the whole legal code, civil and cri- 
 minal, now established in our Asiatic dominions ; 
 composed, as it is, of various acts of the British 
 Parliament -, of regulations made by the Indo- 
 British governments, either by the command, or 
 at least with the approbation, of the authorities in 
 "England -, and of an immense body of native laws, 
 partly Hindoo and partly Mahomedan, partly writ- 
 ten and partly consuetudinary, which, finding
 
 108 
 
 established in the country, we have sanctioned by 
 not abrogating. Even an approximation to so 
 prodigious an undertaking is, in this place, mani- 
 festly out of the question ; but, as a very tolerable 
 substitute for it, it may suffice to mention the 
 leading principles on which our Indian govern- 
 ments have proceeded in the discharge of their 
 legislative functions, and to state some of the 
 particular acts in which those principles have been 
 the most strikingly exemplified. 
 
 The principles referred to may, perhaps,, be 
 reduced to two ; a scrupulous abstinence from all 
 
 wanton interference with the institutions, civil or 
 
 ',. . n , . , . mob snj 
 
 religious, oi the natives ; and a cautious attempt 
 
 to combine with this forbearance a course pf^jgra- 
 
 native population was, perhaps, in tlie 
 stance, suggested to the British government prin- 
 cipally by a sense of exigency and a desire to take 
 advantage of all the available resources which the 
 country presented. But higher motives succeeded ; 
 the stream became purer, as well as deeper, in its 
 flow ; and the work which an enlightened and re- 
 solute self-interest had commenced, was continued 
 by a spirit of justice and philanthropy. 
 
 We found the natives of India linked to their 
 ancient usages by so many iron bands of prejudice, 
 that a timid or an indolent government would 
 have been tempted to leave the whole frame of 
 their domestic polity untouched and sacred, and 
 
 ,tn3ami3vo to efioitoiuil odi "lo 'jgimhtLk
 
 10 
 
 might have discovered very plausible excuses for 
 its selfishness in so acting. On the other hand, 
 those usages were generally so strange to mlridi 
 inwrought with European modes of thinking, in 
 many instances so exceptionable even in the view 
 of the most unbiassed reason, and, in someV''src> 
 prodigiously repugnant to all common sense and 
 feeling, that, to a political speculator, they would 
 have appeared a most tempting subject for experi- 
 ment. The glory of the British, as rulers of 
 India, consists, it is apprehended, in their due 
 observance of a medium not easily observed ; ill 
 the combined wariness and courage with which 
 they have innovated. 
 
 The Mahomedan code still continues, as we 
 found it, the ground-work of the criminal law of 
 the country. In civil matters, the Mahomedans 
 and the Hindoos substantially enjoy their respec- 
 tive usages. The prejudices of both orders of 
 men are treated with indulgence ; and the respect 
 which Asiatic manners enjoin to women of rank is 
 so scrupulously enforced, that the intrusion even 
 of an executive officer of the government into the 
 female apartments of a mansion subjects him to a 
 severe punishment. The tenderness shewn by the 
 British towards the prescriptive customs and pre- 
 possessions of the country seems to constitute a 
 strong feature both of amiableness and wisdom. 
 
 On the other hand, great improvements have 
 taken place ; among the most important of which 
 may be classed the arrangements for the better 
 discharge of the functions of government, more
 
 110 
 
 especially those of a judicial nature. Of these, a 
 description has already been given j an anticipa- 
 tion not, perhaps, avoidable ; for even theory 
 cannot exactly define the boundary between the 
 rights of the subject and the provisions instituted 
 for the protection of those rights. The toleration 
 which the Hindoos enjoy, is also a vast improve- 
 ment; under the Mussulman rule, that toleration, 
 as has before been shewn, was most imperfect. 
 In addition to these alterations, the Mahomedan 
 code of criminal law, though its general authority 
 be confirmed, has received great amendments, with 
 respect, both to the laws which it enforced, and to 
 the punishments which it enjoined. The absurdi- 
 ties which disgraced it, have either been abolished, 
 or, where they could not plead the authority of 
 the Koran, have been set aside, under the politic 
 profession of a recurrence to the ancient and purer 
 practise. Its more cruel punishments, such as 
 impaling and the amputation of limbs, have been 
 abrogated by public regulation ; and, though that 
 of flagellation, which was extremely common under 
 the Mussulman government, is still permitted, it 
 is so only in a mild degree, the instrument used in 
 inflicting it being no longer capable of the fatal 
 consequences sometimes produced by the corah or 
 Mahomedan lash. Farther, several of the unnatu- 
 ral cruelties authorized by the Hindoo religion, or 
 in established practise among its followers, have 
 been abolished. Such are, the custom of devoting 
 the lives of infants to the waters of the Ganges ; 
 the custom, prevalent among a high class of Hin-
 
 Ill 
 
 doos, called Rajkomars, at Benares, of destroy- 
 ing their female children, under the pretext that 
 they could not provide for them suitably ; the 
 custom, not unfrequent among the Brahmins, of 
 wounding or murdering their women and children, 
 or of sacrificing them in a sort of funeral pile 
 (termed a KoorJ, with the view of devoting some 
 personal enemy to divine vengeance, or of de- 
 terring the execution of legal process ; and other 
 similar atrocities. The suppression of infanticide 
 has since been extended to the Guzzerat country, 
 where that crime was found to prevail much more 
 extensively than it had done at Benares, and in 
 the same form.* 
 
 Causes where both parties are Mussulmans, are 
 governed by the Mahomedan law ; where both are 
 Hindoos, by the Hindoo. Should the litigant par- 
 ties be of different religions, the question is decided 
 according to the law prescribed by that of the 
 defendant ; a provision which, as a general rule, 
 has at least the merit of necessity, the case ob- 
 viously not allowing of a tolerable alternative. 
 
 We have ventured on a yet more radical in- 
 novation, casually glanced at in the course of 
 the preceding pages. The mischiefs which the 
 annual assessment of the territorial revenues 
 was found to produce in the provinces of Ben- 
 gal, early forced themselves on the notice of 
 the British government; but the endeavour to" 
 
 * See the Asiatic Researches, Vol. IV. Art. 22 ; and Moor's 
 Hindu Infanticide.
 
 obviate them, though sincerely made, proved for 
 awhile little successful. The principle of a quin- 
 quennial settlement was introduced ; with no ad- 
 vantage, however, either to the happiness of the 
 native, or to the supply of the exchequer ; and the 
 "failure of this plan, though partly chargeable on 
 some concurrent measures, may principally be 
 ascribed to its own fundamental insufficiency. The 
 subject, however, continued to occupy the most 
 serious attention of the British authorities both at 
 home and in the East; and, in the year 1793, these 
 deliberations at length issued in the adoption of a 
 decisive and final policy under the administration 
 of Lord Cornwalliso This was the permanent and 
 irrevocable settlement of the territorial revenue ait 
 a certain valution, moderately fixed, of the pro- 
 perty assessed. If the rent thus agreed upon 
 should, in any case, not be duly paid, the govern- 
 ment was authorized to attach and sell, on its own 
 account, so much of the land of the defaulter as 
 should be equivalent to the deficiency. While the 
 British governor instituted this measure as a boon 
 to the landholder, he also adopted a number of 
 Well considered regulations, calculated not only to 
 protect, but to confirm and enlarge, the rights and 
 the security of the ryot or immediate occupant of 
 the soil. The mighty mass of papers which the 
 agftition of this important proceeding was the 
 occasion of introducing among the records of the 
 Company, attests the ability and anxiety with 
 "which! it was discussed, and proves with what de- 
 liberation the government proceeded in embracing
 
 118 
 
 a plan of administration, which certainly wears, at 
 first view, an appearance of singular boldness. 
 
 Strong objections were made to the project of 
 an invariable settlement, by some servants of the 
 Company, eminent for talents, research, and fami- 
 liar acquaintance with the financial and economical 
 systems which had prevailed under the native go- 
 vernments of Hindostan. It was urged that, ac- 
 cording to the ancient Hindoo constitution, the 
 ryot or occupant had been considered as the real 
 proprietor of the soil which he cultivated; that 
 the proprietary character of this class of persons 
 had in effect been allowed by the Mogul system, 
 although with that reserved and imperfect recogni- 
 tion of the rights growing out of it, which might 
 be expected from an arbitrary government ; that, 
 meanwhile, the tenure of the Zemindar, or land- 
 holder, under that system, was altogether official, 
 being dependent on the performance of certain 
 stipulated services ; and, consequently, that the 
 proposed plan, by conferring the property of the 
 soil on the Zemindar, committed a direct invasion 
 on the immemorial privileges of the ryot. 
 
 The premises from which this inference waa v 
 drawn, were denied by other persons equally dis- 
 tinguished in the service of the Company, who 
 contended that the possession of the Zemindar 
 had always been deemed hereditary and complete, 
 although it was unquestionably subject to certain 
 conditions greatly affecting its value and stability. 
 Whether to this species of possession or interest, 
 
 L
 
 114 
 
 the term property could with correctness be ap- 
 plied, was a consideration purely verbal; but the 
 fact of its existence, it was maintained, could not 
 be successfully disputed. 
 
 The controversy still remains in a state of dis- 
 cussion, and certainly, with respect at least to the 
 provinces of Bengal, does not seem easy of a de- 
 cisive adjudication ; for the recorded practise of 
 the Mogul government in those provinces, fur- 
 nishes precedents and arguments more or less 
 favourable to each of the contending opinions. 
 Possibly, indeed, this very circumstance may sug- 
 gest the expediency of a compromise ; and, if any 
 conclusion might here be hazarded on a topic 
 which has exercised and divided all the financial 
 and disquisitory ability of British India, it would 
 be one of a middle nature. The Zemindar was 
 originally, as it may be conjectured, purely a fiscal 
 minister, interposed between the ryot who raised 
 the revenue and the government who received it ; 
 but time and prescription appear to have invested 
 him with privileges and functions, which, if less 
 than proprietary, were yet clearly more than 
 official. 
 
 The question, perhaps, after all, belongs rather 
 to the antiquary than to the practical statesman ; 
 and, at least, does not constitute a necessary ele- 
 ment in an enquiry respecting the merits of the 
 perpetual settlement. Whether or not the Ze- 
 mindar had been considered, or had been de- 
 dared, a landed proprietor, by the Mussulman 
 government, it assuredly was within the conine-
 
 115 
 
 tence of the British government to consider or to 
 declare him such ; this only condition being sup- 
 posed, that the ascription to him of the proprie- 
 tary character should not, in practise, involve 
 consequences injurious to the rights of any third 
 class of persons. But, whatever rights the ryot 
 enjoyed under the native government were, asr 
 has already been noticed, not secured merely, 
 but amplified, by the administration of Lord Corn- 
 wallis ; and, in continuance of the positive pro- 
 visions introduced for that end, it was plain that 
 the perpetual settlement, by strengthening the in- 
 terest of the Zemindar in the prosperity of his 
 estate, and by removing from him both the pres- 
 sure and the example of the exactions to which he 
 had been subject, tended to inspire him with an 
 analagous respect and consideration for the subor- 
 dinate tenants. 
 
 The plan was, in another view, excepted against; 
 as being the offspring of a romantic and unwise 
 generosity. The rate of the assessment having 
 been very moderately assumed, the government 
 do not possess the option of a future resort to the 
 principal resources of their dominions, whatever 
 augmentation those resources may receive under 
 the cherishing 'shelter of British laws and policy. 
 It is also evident that the rate of the assessment, 
 being in money, may vary in value ; and though, 
 on the supposition that the value of money rises, 
 we have the power of relieving the proprietor, by 
 taking less than our bargain, we are totally pre- 
 
 i'a
 
 116 
 
 eluded from relieving ourselves in the more pro- 
 bable event of its falling. Besides, at the time 
 when this arrangement was carried into effect, the 
 government of Bengal, notwithstanding the ex- 
 P^ffince of many years, much wanted information 
 Respecting the value of the lands in various parts 
 qf the province, and. the nature of the tenures by 
 which they were held, and were of course so far 
 disqualified from forming an equal rule of impost. 
 For these reasons, it was strongly recommended by 
 some distinguished members of the government, 
 that the experiment of a decennial settlement should 
 precede the final and irrevocable act proposed by 
 Lord Comwallis. These objections, however, 
 were after much discussion overruled, first by 
 Lord Cornwallis, and then by the Court of Direc- 
 tors and the Board of Controul. They were over- 
 ruled on the ground, that the measure would bind 
 up, not the power of the government to tax pro- 
 #$ty, but only their power to tax property of a 
 particular kind j that whatever inequalities might 
 r#su}t from it, not only might be corrected by the 
 $oper adjustment of other financial burdens, but 
 would be lost in the immense advantages which 
 it was calculated to produce, which,, farther, no 
 other measure could produce, and which were too 
 great to be postponed. The public adoption of 
 o ] simple rule for realizing the rent of land, of a 
 rule carrying in its very face the feature of hu 
 vavuibkmss, appeared the only conceivable means 
 of eradicating that feeling of insecurity which the 
 growth pf more than axentury had deeply infixed
 
 117 
 
 in the minds of the landed interest of India, and 
 which, striking its noxious roots in every dirsc'ttofr, 
 had in a great degree poisoned the happiness of 
 civil society. 
 
 A resolute casuist, indeed, might here frame many 
 curious questions respecting the competency '$f 'k 
 government to bind its successors by irrevbektife 
 acts, or even respecting the meaning of the t&rrft. 
 From questions of this nature, no form of human 
 polity can be exempt; among others, the fundament&i 
 principles of the British constitution, and the en- 
 actments which professedly regulate, for all future 
 iiirte, the succession to the British throne, have 
 not escaped the shallow ridicule of political scep- 
 tics. The consideration of such difficulties, though 
 they are perhaps less hard to unravel than at first 
 sight they appear, may safely be adjourned till the 
 occurrence of those rare emergencies which alone 
 can raise them in practise. Meanwhile, the theo- 
 retical absurdities, whatever they may be, of the 
 British constitution, do not transpire in any sen- 
 sible effect on the rights and happiness of the 
 subject ; and the landholders and ryots of Bengal 
 derive comfort from the conviction that the British 
 faith is pledged to the settlement of Lord Corn- 
 wall under every change of circumstances within 
 the ordinary view of prospective policy. 
 
 The measure was carried into execution in the 
 same spirit of regard for the subject in which it 
 originated. It was discovered that, at the period 
 ci' the assessment, some proprietors had, by very 
 
 i 3
 
 118 
 
 unfair means, procured their lands to be grossly 
 underrated. The Bengal Government, on being 
 apprized of tliis fact, which in strictness might 
 have been considered as vitiating the agreement, 
 $d not hesitate a moment in refusing to avail 
 themselves of it, but submitted to the loss rather 
 than expose themselves to the charge of having 
 violated a declared principle. This conduct met 
 with the highest approbation from the Court of 
 Directors. 
 
 In noticing the result of these proceedings, it 
 is necessary to bear in mind that all that was de- 
 clared fixed and irrevocable by the settlement, 
 was the quantum of the annual demands of the 
 state. The concomitant regulations, whether 
 framed for the purpose of enforcing a compliance 
 with those demands by the Zemindar, or directed 
 to the security of the Ryot, were in no other sense 
 fixed, than as every thing is fixed which is matter of 
 positive law. To have included these, indeed, 
 within the irrevocable pledge, would have been 
 very unwisely to anticipate the resources of future 
 experience. In effect, the sequel evinced that the 
 regulations in question, although planned with 
 equal caution and benevolence, were by no means 
 free from defects. The revenues, in several in- 
 stances, fell into arrear, and the lands of the de- 
 faulters were attached and brought to sale. In 
 w r hat degree the indolence and improvidence of 
 the Zemindars concerned might contribute, as in a 
 great degree they did undoubtedly contribute, t<s>
 
 119 
 
 these failures, it is not easy to ascertain ; but the 
 regulations bore, and, it would seem, not wholly 
 without justice, a portion of the blame. Lord 
 Cornwallis had humanely abolished the use of im- 
 prisonment as the means of compelling payment 
 from the Zemindar:* but the immediate forfeitrfffe 
 of land was rigidly enforced ; while the Zemindar 
 was allowed no mode of recovering his own clues, 
 from the Ryot, excepting by the deliberate process 
 of a civil suit. The Zemindars somewhat reasonably 
 complained of this arrangement, not only as deal- 
 ing out one measure of justice to them, and an- 
 other to the Ryots, but as absolutely placing them 
 at the mercy of those persons. The Zemindar 
 could give to the state only what he had received, 
 from the Ryot; yet the Ryot might withhold from 
 him during the interval of a tedious litigation, what 
 he in his turn could withhold from the state only 
 at the peril of a summary execution. To the 
 evils arising from this situation of things, a remedy 
 was applied by the Bengal government, in the 
 year 1799. The Zemindars were permitted, in 
 certain cases, and under certain prescribed forms, 
 to compel payment from their tenants by arrest ; 
 and, at the same time, a power was conferred on 
 the collectors, of imprisoning, for a limited time, 
 the Zemindars, by their own authority. This par- 
 tial recurrence to the practise of the Mahomedan 
 
 i 4, 
 
 * This was not done, however, till 1794, the year after the 
 conclusion of the settlement.
 
 120 
 
 system, may appear somewhat harsh ; but it was 
 dictated by a clear necessity, and adopted with 
 great reluctance. lohstff 
 
 It is not immaterial to observe, what sufficiently 
 appears from the preceding statement, that the 
 measure of the perpetual settlement, so far as it 
 was defective, erred, not, as had been predicted, 
 to the injury, but in favour, of the Ryot. The 
 attempt to create a fair balance between the Ryot 
 *md the Zemindar, issued in the preponderance of 
 that party, to whose rights it was originally de- 
 nounced as fatal. The scales are now, however, 
 better adjusted ; the short experience which has 
 succeeded the last modification of the system^ 
 justifies the most sanguine auguries with regard 
 to its ultimate success ; and whatever it may yet 
 want of full popularity and complete efficiency, 
 time, the great ally of legislation, will in all pro- 
 bability supply. ism ^v^zvosn nsdi vjdon 
 
 The foregoing description applies, it must'always 
 be recollected, to the ancient Indo-British posses- 
 sions of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa. Into the 
 territories obtained by cession from the Nabob of 
 Oude, or by conquest from the Maharattas, both 
 of which acquisitions are placed under the Presi- 
 dency of Fort William, the system of a permanent 
 settlement has not been introduced. Neither has 
 it been introduced into the extensive tracts of coun- 
 try now comprised under the government of Fort 
 Saint George ; with the exception of the Northern 
 Cificars, ceded to the Company by the Nizam in
 
 S21 
 
 1766 ; of the Jaghire, or territory immediately 
 embracing Madras, obtained, at a still earkeib 
 period, from the Nabob of the Carnatic ; and of a 
 very few districts, acquired at a date comparatively 
 recent. The introduction of the system, in fact, 
 to be advantageous, must be founded in a familiar 
 acquaintance, both with the resources and the snb*r 
 sisting economy of a couutry on the one hand, and, 
 on the other, with the customs and prejudices of the 
 inhabitants. It can, therefore, scarcely ever take 
 place advantageously in a new possession. Indei* 
 pendently of this, which is so to speak, only ^dilatory 
 objection to the measure, it may possibly be open, 
 in the instance under consideration, to more radical 
 objections. The relinquishment, once for all, of at 
 discretional controul over the territorial revenues of 
 a country, is surely a mighty sacrifice on the part of 
 the state. In Bengal, this sacrifice was not more 
 nobly than necessarily made. The financial policy 
 of the British government, partly from unavoidable 
 causes, had for years been unstable ; and the na- 
 tives, effectually disturbed by a long course of 
 precarious security and irregular exaction, required 
 some grand sedative for their fears and anxieties. 
 But, where the sacrifice is not plainly necessary, it 
 cannot be noble. The supreme power ought not, 
 from any consideration less than imperious, to alien- 
 ate the privileges with which it is invested in trust 
 for its subjects. Now the territories newly ac- 
 quired by the British in Hindostan, are not in the 
 same predicament as that in which Lord Cornwallis
 
 122 
 
 found Bengal. They have not been harrassed by 
 any vicissitudes of system on the part of that power $ 
 several of them probably know it solely by the fame 
 of its victories abroad and its virtues at home. To 
 confer on these, therefore, the boon of a perpetual 
 settlement, might perhaps only be a munificent 
 waste of the capital of that bounty, which they will 
 more beneficially experience in the constant flow 
 of a running stream. 
 
 There are other points, besides the principle of 
 perpetuity, in which the financial system adopted 
 in Bengal, has been deemed inapplicable to many 
 parts of British India. In Bengal, the ancient Hindoo 
 constitution had nearly become extinct under the 
 weight of the Mussulman ascendancy. On the coast, 
 strong and undisguised traces of that constitu- 
 tion remain ; and it has been, by some judicious 
 observers, pronounced a fitter stock to bear the 
 graft of' a new financial economy than the Zemin- 
 darry system of the Moguls. The question is still 
 under discussion, and to expatiate on it in this place 
 would be impertinent ; but those who desire an 
 insight into its merits, will be considerably grati- 
 fied by a perusal of the fifth Report of the Select 
 Committee on East-India Affairs, appointed by the 
 last House of Commons. They will from the 
 same source learn, what an amount of labour and 
 solicitude the Company and their governments 
 abroad have expended on the consideration arid 
 adjustment of this momentous Knbject. 
 
 While these commendations are bestowed on the
 
 123 
 
 government of the Company, it may not be irre- 
 levant' to notice in this place some censures re- 
 cently passed on that government. For many years, 
 the objections urged against the Company on po- 
 litical grounds, hinged on their supposed injustice 
 or apathy towards the rights of their native subjects. 
 The accusation seems, of late, to have somewhat 
 shifted its foundation j and, instead of being re- 
 proached with selfish neglect or wanton oppression, 
 they have to defend themselves against the charge 
 of a rash, impertinent, and pragmatical benevolence. 
 They are pronounced to have hastily and unhappily 
 innovated on the institutions of the Hindoos, and 
 this amidst unceasing professions of respect for 
 those institutions. They are declared to have rivet- 
 ted on the Hindos those Unwise violations of their 
 usages and prejudices which had been introduced 
 by their Mahomedan conquerors ; or to have scared 
 them by the importation of laws and modes plucked 
 living from the political systems of Europe, and hav- 
 ing no congeniality with the habits of Hindostan. 
 These allegations have been preferred against 
 the Company by a very sensible and valuable wri- 
 ter, Lieutenant Colonel Wilks, in the first volume, 
 the only one hitherto published, of his Historical 
 Sketches of the South of India. The observations 
 of Colonel Wilks are, indeed, declaredly confined 
 to the sphere of the countries included in the title 
 pf his work, which countries are subject to the 
 presidency of Madras. But the principle, and 
 often even the detail, of his strictures, applies
 
 124 
 
 with almost equal force to the measures adopted 
 by the Company in the provinces of Bengal. 
 
 It is one question, and a question of fact, whe- 
 ther, as is contended by this writer, the system of 
 government established in British India has, in 
 some important respects, imprudently violated the 
 Hindoo customs. It is a perfectly distinct ques- 
 lfofl, n %n{i one of principle, whether, a^ r lie* also 
 appears to maintain, the British government was 
 absolutely precluded from every innovation, how- 
 ever slight, on those customs; precluded, either 
 try* the justice of the case, or by their own plighted 
 honor. ' 
 
 Colonel Wilks affirms, speaking of the Hindoos, 
 that " all their prejudices, all their opinions, and 
 ' all their customs, from the most trifling to the 
 a most important, are absolutely incorporated with 
 *' their religion, and ought all to be held sacred." 
 ' It is not the question," the author farther 5 oW- 
 serves, " it never can be a ques$6# 'whether 'WS 
 < English or the Hindoo code of religion and ju- 
 " risprudence, be entitled to the preference : but 
 '* whether the Hindoo law and religion, for ^tftey 
 " are one and the same, are, or are not^WW 
 Maintained, or whether 'we^re at liberty to 
 " invade both. If we profess to govern the Hin- 
 " doos by their own laws, let us not falsify that 
 " profession by tearing them up by the roots on 
 " the pretence of pruning and amending them. 
 " They are no longer Hindoo if they are subject 
 " to innovation, before quitting this branch of
 
 12{5 
 
 the subject, it may be useful (for the sake of 
 " illustration) i^^ex^ro^ie.^e reasonableness pg 
 " interfering with the most exceptionable of all 
 |j then institutions. It has been thought an abo- 
 " mination not to be tolerated, that a widow, afy^ttl^ 
 " immolate herself on the funeral pile of her 
 " deceased husband. But what judgment should 
 " we pronounce on the Hindoo, who (if any, ( qf 
 ** f pur institutions admitted the parallel) should 
 "forcibly pretend to stand between a Christian 
 " and the hope of eternal salvation ? And shall 
 *' we not hold him to be a driveller in politics and 
 " morals, a fanatic in religion, and a pretender in 
 ". f Jiumanity, who would forcibly wrest this hope 
 V from the Hindoo widow ? ?' * 
 
 These appear to be the chief passages in which 
 the author expounds the principles on which he 
 proceeds ; and it is greatly to be regretted that, 
 neither here nor elsewhere, does he expound them 
 with that perspicuity which, from a writer so intel- 
 ligent, and on a subject so important, might natu- 
 rally have been expected. In the second of the 
 two extracts made, it would seem to be insinuated 
 that an authoritative interposition between the 
 Hindoo widow and the pyre of her husband, neces- 
 sarily violates her hopes of future bliss. The 
 British government, in point of fact, never inter- 
 poses, where the sacrifice seems to be spontaneous; 
 Jiilhough it would, undoubtedly, be a very bold 
 
 IT " 
 
 * ty r ill(S> SuutU of Iud'ut ; Apn. Np. 3.
 
 126 
 
 postulate to assume, that the consent of the widow, 
 in such instances, always arises, rather from a 
 religious contempt of death, than from a human 
 horror of the shame and destitution which await 
 her survival. Colonel Wilks, however, has made 
 no provision for these cases, in which the guiding 
 motive of the sufferer is, not the hope of eternal 
 happiness, but the fear of temporal misery. He 
 has not provided for a still more important, al- 
 though, probably, more rare, class of cases; 
 those, in which the unhappy object, having 
 perhaps once committed herself by a trem- 
 bling consent, is afterwards dragged to the 
 flames by the officiating Brahmins, possibly by her 
 own children and relations, in spite of an agony 
 of resistance. Scenes, in which this tragedy has 
 been realized, are but too well 'authenticated ; 
 and how far ate such scenes included within the 
 prohibition of interference ? Must we hold him 
 also " to be a driveller in politics and morals, a 
 " fanatic in religion, and a pretender in humanity," 
 who should forcibly obtrude himself, not between 
 a devotee and her dreams, but between a victim 
 and her murderers ? 
 
 A somewhat similar enquiry arises with respect 
 to the cruel Hindoo practises of infanticide, erect* 
 ing a Koor, and others, which, as has already 
 been stated, the British government has ventured 
 to abolish, notwithstanding they had every 
 sanctity which they could derive from usage and 
 prejudice. Would Colonel Wilks comprehend
 
 within his prescriptive privilege of toleration these 
 venerable barbarities ? It is difficult to believe the 
 affirmative. It is equally difficult to find the nar* 
 rowest loop-hole for an exception in the doctrine 
 which enjoins a scrupulous tenderness for all the 
 prejudices, all the opinions, and all the customs, 
 of the Hindoos, " from the most trivial to the 
 " most important." 
 
 Without pressing these strong cases as argu- 
 ments ex absurdo against the doctrine in question, 
 it may suffice to remark how ill that doctrine can 
 be reconciled with the implied engagement under 
 which every government is placed, of improving, 
 by every available opportunity, the moral and po* 
 litical situation of its subjects* The ruler is bound 
 10 this task by an obligation, sacred, original, and 
 indefeasible ; one, which pledges and professions 
 may embody or expound, but which they can net. 
 ther create nor extinguish ; for it exists and reigns, 
 independently of their help, and in spite of their 
 hindrance. It matters not that the masters of 
 mankind have, in general, been but too large 
 in the construction, and too officious in the dis- 
 charge, of this obligation ; that they have trifled 
 with the happiness of their subjects while affecting 
 to consult it ; that they have altered with a rash 
 or a rough hand, and have then, by an absurd 
 illusion of selfishness, mistaken their own compla- 
 cency for the pleased contentedness of those 
 whom they governed. Such examples have, in- 
 deed a sad importance, for they illustrate the
 
 128 
 
 difficulty of governing well ; but that difficulty 
 would be none, if governors might therefore abai*. 
 don some of their highest and most glorious func- 
 tions, and sink into the mere slaves of circum- 
 stance and opinion. 
 
 A government may, indeed, pledge its faith for 
 the perpetuity of a particular arrangement, where 
 the subject matter is so simple and specific that 
 the consequences involved in the pledge may be 
 clearly foreseen, and where it is entirely on the 
 notion of its perpetuity that the efficacy of the 
 arrangement depends. The government of Bengal 
 acted thus, in the irrevocable settlement of the 
 revenues. The singular circumstance is, however, 
 that Colonel Wilks, in treating of that measure, 
 ridicules " the political nullity " of an irrevocable 
 law; while, at the same time, he perceives no 
 absurdity in declaring irrevocable all the innumer- 
 able laws and customs of Hindoo superstition ; 
 while, apparently, he would even extend the 
 benefit of this declaration to laws and customs 
 already become dormant, and would have the ready 
 seal of perpetuity successively affixed to every 
 fragment of a right or privilege, which the hand 
 of the archeologist may draw forth from the mouldy 
 depths of obsolete antiquity and extinguished pre- 
 scription. 
 
 After all, the pledges which have been held forth 
 to the Hindoos of a respect for their usages and pre- 
 judices, could only be designed, and could only be
 
 129 
 
 understood, as insuring those usages and prejudices 
 against wanton invasion* Gur pledges are not 
 falsified by a cautious attempt to amend the civil 
 condition of our subjects. We are guilty of ij* 
 deception, when we strive to meliorate institutions 
 which we profess not to insult. We commit no 
 practical contradiction, when we endeavour to 
 build improvement on the basis of toleration* fy 
 
 But, although these principles do not seem dis- 
 putable, and although there can be no doubt that 
 on these the Company has acted, it does not follow 
 that the practical application of them has always 
 been happy. That the medium between toleration 
 and reform has, in every instance, been correctly 
 preserved, is certainly not probable ; and it is at 
 least possible that the aberration may sometimes 
 have been considerable. The ability of Colonel 
 Wilks, and his intimate acquaintance with the 
 Hindoo character and habits, entitle his sugges- 
 tions on this head to the most profound attention 
 and respect. Let it not, however, be thought 
 inconsistent with such respect to say that those 
 suggestions are not exempt from unequivocal 
 symptoms of prejudice. 
 
 " To apply V remarks the author, " the criminal 
 " law of Arabia, the most defective on earth, and 
 " the least capable of correction, to the Hindoo. 
 " subjects of Great Britain under the government 
 " of Fort St. George, is just not quite so absurd 
 " as to import the criminal law of Japan." A 
 representation, surely more invidious- than accu* 
 
 S
 
 13a 
 
 rate. To an uninformed reader, it would not 
 immediately occur that what is here disparagingly 
 termed the criminal law of Arabia was the cri- 
 minal law of the Moguls ; and that, instead of 
 having been a matter of British importation into 
 the plains of Coromandel, it had actually acquired 
 on that coast every title of occupancy before Great 
 Britain could possibly exercise an option on the 
 subject. The author himself afterwards states that 
 the country in question was first visited by the 
 scourge of Mahomedan conquest and Mahomedan 
 law in the year 1646 ; that is, a century and a half 
 before what he designates as the application of the 
 criminal law of Arabia to the Hindoos under 
 the government of Fort St. George. 
 
 The writer reprobates the introduction among 
 the Hindoos, of English justice and police, with 
 all the cumbrous machinery of magistrates, cir- 
 cuits, and jail-deliveries, as an unnecessary waste 
 of technical skill, labour, and expense. The 
 end, he intimates, might better have been an- 
 swered, by an adherence to the rules of proceed- 
 ing prescribed in the Hindoo code, " with all its 
 " numerous imperfections on its head." Among 
 the Hindoos, though faithful and respectable in 
 the ordinary intercourse of life, judicial perjury is, 
 he tells us, dreadfully prevalent. For this evil, 
 no better remedy, he thinks, can be found, than 
 the instrumentality of the panchaiet or Indian 
 jury, well known to the common law of the South 
 
 f India. An Indian juror will, according to 
 hi i. i 
 
 Hm 3xD 1o neM >;).:. 
 5 :*
 
 131 
 
 Colonel Wilks, be incomparably better qualified to 
 extract the truth from an Indian witness, than the 
 European judge, however highly gifted with natu- 
 ral discernment, or acuminated by professional 
 experience. 
 
 It must always be recollected that the main 
 object is to have justice pure ; cheap, if possible, 
 but, at all events, pure. The great question is, 
 not whether, in the complex engine of Indo British 
 government, experience may not have discovered 
 some waste, or even misapplication, of power ; 
 but whether, on the whole, the engine does the 
 thing required. Those who remember that magis- 
 trates, courts, and jail-deliveries, belong, not to 
 the apparatus, but to the essence, of justice, will 
 be slow of persuasion that the alleged insufficiency 
 of the system amounts to much more than that 
 difference, by which every conceivable system 
 must be separated from theoretical perfection, by 
 which the best actual system is separated even 
 from possible perfection. The proposed succeda- 
 neum of an Indian jury seems partly to involve 
 the old Indian dilemma of the elephant and the 
 tortoise. The juridical depravity of Hindostan, 
 the author has strongly stated, and, after all, has 
 understated. " The crime of perjury (observes tt 
 " judge of the Patna court of circuit in 1798) is 
 44 thought so lightly of by the natives of this coun- 
 " try, that the commission of it can hardly be 
 '' said to stigmatize the character." The lan- 
 guage of another judge of the same court in 
 1803 is similar, " Men of the first rank in so- 
 le 2
 
 132 
 
 " ciety feel no compunction, at mutually ac* 
 " eusing each other of the most heinous offences, 
 *l and supporting the prosecution with the most 
 V barefaced perjuries; nor does the detection of 
 " their falsehood create a blush." Other testi- 
 monies of equal conclusiveness might easily be 
 added. Amidst this general laxity of principle, our 
 reliance is directed to the oath of the Panchaiet or 
 Indian jury. Now the juror may undertake for 
 the witness, but who shall undertake for the juror? 
 Jt is difficult to believe that the person who has 
 literally no conscience in the witness-box, should 
 always find one when he steps over the barrier 
 into that of the jury. 
 
 These considerations are here thrown out with 
 diffidence, and with an unfeigned sense of the 
 regard due to the intelligence and local informa- 
 tion of Colonel Wilks. But, on the other hand, 
 it is not to be forgotten that very uncommon in- 
 telligence and veiy extensive local information 
 have already been most conscientiously devoted 
 to the judicial department of British India, and 
 have issued in those improvements which this 
 author is pleased so greatly to depreciate. Whe- 
 ther the system adopted be the best possible, 
 whether it has gained complete success, or even 
 has deserved it, may perhaps be matters of doubt. 
 Whether the ancient Hindoo system would have 
 served the purpose equally well, may also be 
 a matter of doubt, and, in truth, seems one o 
 very great doubt. There can be no doubt, 
 surely, none in the mind even of Colonel
 
 133 
 
 Wilks, that the British administration, both le- 
 gislative and judicial, must by the natives be con- 
 sidered as an acquisition of immense value, when 
 compared with the legalized misrule of their late 
 masters, tjhe Mahomedans. 
 
 With this topic, the writer of the Historical 
 Sketches has chosen to blend another which does 
 not seem peculiarly relevant. He absolves the 
 authors of the European reforms introduced intd 
 British-India from any imputation of a design of 
 proselytism; apparently meaning religious prose- 
 lytism ; and then proceeds to remark, not very 
 intelligibly, that, if such a design be entertained 
 by other persons, " it is a most unmanly, ungene-*. 
 " rous, and unchristian deception, to veil this 
 " object under the pretext of respecting the civil 
 " and religious customs and prejudices of the 
 " people." The question respecting the intro- 
 duction of Christianity into Hindostan, does not, 
 it must be owned, fall precisely within the subject 
 of the present work ; but its high importance will 
 justify a few words upon it, even at the expense of 
 what may seem a digression. 
 
 The idea of coercive proselytism, however mild 
 the compulsory means employed, merits all the 
 epithets which the language of reprobation can 
 attach to it ; and even that of proselytism by th& 
 simple exertion of state-influence, seems, in Hin- 
 dostan, to say the best of it, highly objectionable. 
 But surely the idea of proselytism by the bare effect 
 of conviction, by the effect of an unforced, un- 
 
 K 3
 
 134 
 
 bribed, and unbiassed acquiescence in truth and 
 reason, however visionary it may appear to some 
 persons, can only by a very singular rule of arrange- 
 ment be classed with unmanly, ungenerous, and 
 unchristian deception. To such a pitch of re- 
 finement would this valuable author have us carry 
 our reverence for the superstitions of Hindooism ! 
 Their sanctity seems to be like what is said of the 
 priestly character, indelible. Their sovereignty 
 is so essential and inherent, that they not only 
 cannot be deposed, but cannot even voluntarily 
 abdicate. 
 
 A few years ago, this subject was debated with 
 great heat ; but, at present, will surely receive a 
 calm attention. The accomplished Sir William 
 Jones, who was equally distinguished for his acute- 
 ness, his philanthropy, and his candour, has given 
 his sanction to attempts, cautiously and fairly con- 
 ducted, for the introduction of the Christian reli- 
 gion among the natives of Hindostan. If, indeed, 
 as Colonel Wilks justly affirms, " it never can be 
 " a question, whether the English or the Hindoo 
 " code of religion be entitled to the preference," 
 the wish must naturally suggest itself to every hu- 
 mane and unprejudiced mind, that the better sys- 
 tem should have every chance of the wider diffu- 
 sion. Only, the distinction is ever to be carefully 
 observed, between making it a matter of option and 
 a matter of authority / a distinction which, even as 
 applied to this particular case, the experience of 
 many years has now shewn that the natives are per-
 
 135 
 
 fectly able to comprehend. The uncompelled and 
 tranquil circulation of the Christian scriptures, 
 (the method peculiarly recommended by Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones) appears so free from all possibility of 
 exception, that it ought to receive the fullest and 
 most willing toleration from the Indo- British pre* 
 sidencies. Otherwise, they would indeed " for- 
 cibly stand between" the Hindoo population and 
 the highest and deepest hopes that can be infused 
 into the human heart. And, surely, no governr 
 ment calling itself Christian can, without incurring 
 a fearful responsibility, refuse to a Christian mis- 
 sionary, so long as he shall demean himself with 
 strict loyalty, steady discretion, and unimpeach- 
 able virtue, the opportunity of exerting his un- 
 bought and honorable labour among the natives of 
 Hindostan. 
 
 In bringing to a close our analysis of the British 
 government of Hindostan, there is another point, 
 not yet touched, on which if nothing should be 
 said, the reader will scarcely feel himself in full 
 possession of the subject. The various classes of 
 offices, commercial, political, financial, and judi- 
 cial, in the service of the Company, have been 
 noticed, but nothing has been distinctly said on 
 the nature of the materials out of which these 
 offices are filled ; or of the general rules of ar- 
 rangement and succession, according to which 
 the great body of the civil servants is supplied 
 and disposed. 
 
 This body, it is well known, is sustained by 
 k 4
 
 
 'annual recruits of young men appointed by the 
 Court of Directors, on the recommendations of 
 individual members of the court, under the appel- 
 lation of writers. The persons so appointed are 
 not selected from any particular class, possessing 
 any sort of political or corporate influence;- but, 
 being chosen by a number of men, variously and 
 widely connected, in fact come from all parts and 
 various classes in the three kingdoms. These 
 .youths generally leave this country for India at 
 the age of about eighteen ; but within these few 
 years, the Directors have instituted a college in 
 England, at which they receive, previously to 
 their departure, an education suitable to the ser- 
 vice for which they are destined. On their arrival 
 in India, those of them who are intended for the 
 service in Bengal, spend some time at the College 
 of Fort William, where they confirm and extend 
 %\ie acquisitions made in England. The civil ser- 
 vants, in India, are variously known by the titles of 
 writers, factors, junior merchants, or senior mer- 
 chants ; titles, on which it is only necessaay to ob- 
 serve, that they are the mere relics of arrangements 
 and distinctions which prevailed while the Company 
 were simply a commercial body; and that their 
 only surviving use is to designate, not the func- 
 tions of the persons to whom they are attached, 
 but merely their relative ranks. 
 
 In the manner of filling the various offices in 
 India, two principles are blended together; the 
 principle of succession, and that of selection.
 
 137 
 
 The principle of succession, that is, of promotion 
 according to standing or seniority in the service, 
 is, in a limited degree, formally established by the 
 statute of the 33d Geo. III. c. 52, which enacts* 
 that any vacancy happening in any of the offices 
 or employments in the civil line of the Company's 
 service, shall be supplied from among the civil 
 servants belonging to the presidency in which 
 such vacancy shall have occurred, subject to the 
 following restrictions; that no office or employ- 
 ment, of which the entire emoluments shall exceed 
 five hundred pounds per annum, shall be conferred 
 on any servant who shall not have actually resided 
 in India as a covenanted servant of the Company 
 for three years antecedent ; nor, if the annual 
 emoluments shall exceed fifteen hundred pounds, 
 on a servant who has not resided in like manner 
 for six years ; nor, if they exceed three thousand 
 pounds, on one who has not resided nine years ; 
 nor, if they exceed four thousand pounds, on one 
 who has not resided twelve. In a following 
 clause, the act extends this prohibition to the 
 holding by the same person of two or more offices, 
 the salaries of which shall jointly exceed the 
 sums laid down in the above scale. 
 
 It would be perfectly preposterous to enlarge 
 on the mixed absurdity and cruelty of any system 
 which should commit, directly or indirectly, the 
 persons and property of the natives of India to 
 
 * 57.
 
 138 
 
 * 
 
 the authority of men not qualified for such a trust 
 by previous instruction and experience. It were 
 equally idle to set about proving that, for the 
 acquisition of such experience, a local residence is 
 the best method which can be adopted ; and that, 
 where a numerous and promiscuously chosen body, 
 like that of the servants of the Company, are to be 
 the learners, this is not only in a pre-eminent degree 
 the best method that can be adopted, but tl\e sole 
 method, the adoption of which can be certainly 
 enforced. The only question is, whether truths 
 so palpable might not have been left to exert 
 their natural influence on the minds of the Com- 
 pany or their governors ; whether, if they had 
 been entrusted with an entire freedom of choice, it 
 might not have been expected that a sense of in-< 
 terest would always induce them to choose well; 
 whether, therefore, it was wise to hamper them 
 by a general rule which, as it admits of no ex- 
 ceptions, may, in some particular instances, pro- 
 duce mischief, by obstructing the rapid rise of 
 premature qualifications. 
 
 In examining this question, it is to be recol- 
 lected that, wherever free choice is allowed, there 
 some danger is incurred lest interest and not 
 merit should be the title to preference. How far 
 this danger would have been likely to result in the 
 case supposed, it is not necessary to settle with 
 accuracy. Let it only be conceded that it would, 
 in some degree, have attended every particular 
 instance in which the Company or their local
 
 139 
 
 delegates should have exerted the option granted 
 to them by the supposition ; and, considering the 
 vast number of offices comprised within the In- 
 dian service, it certainly could not have been very 
 trifling in the aggregate. It then becomes na- 
 tural to ask, for what purpose this risk is to be 
 encountered ; and the reason given is, that room 
 may be afforded for the quick promotion of early 
 merit. The force of such a consideration as this, 
 must vary with the case to which it is applied. 
 The regulation which confers on a public service 
 of twelve years, pretensions to a place of four thou- 
 sand pounds a year, no contemptible salary surely, 
 even in the expensive country of India, cannot be 
 accused of binding down the servants of the Com- 
 pany to a very tardy progress ; and it does 
 seem extremely unlikely that instances should 
 ever occur to justify any considerable acceleration 
 of this pace. In the arts and sciences, properly so 
 called, the strides of genius are sometimes wonder- 
 ful; but the science of men and the art of ma- 
 naging them, which it is the chief duty of the In- 
 dian servants to acquire, are of a somewhat diffe- 
 rent nature. For the attainment of a proficiency 
 in these pursuits, vastness and rapidity of intellect 
 are less necessary than patient observation and 
 long habit. Here the mind must be, so to speak, 
 passive, and must resign itself to such influences 
 as time, chance, or occasion, may convey from 
 objects which will not lend themselves, at com- 
 mand, to its experiments. The knowledge here
 
 140 
 
 to be gained* is the result of a series of impressions 
 rather on the feelings than on the senses or the 
 memory. It is a species of knowledge, therefore, 
 not very capable of transmission from man to man, 
 but which each must gain for himself. It is one, 
 also, which to acquire to any purpose, will cost all 
 nearly the same time ; for, though the feelings of 
 men differ in strength as widely, perhaps, as their 
 memories or their senses, the strongest feelings are 
 not necessarily the most faithful. On the whole, 
 there is no one study, in which what are commonly 
 denominated bright parts are of so little value, 
 or indeed, are so little to be trusted, as in that of 
 human nature ; and if this, as a general observa- 
 tion, be at all just, it assuredly loses none of its 
 weight, when the student is to be an European; 
 and the object of his attention the people of 
 Hindostan. Hasty judgments respecting that sin- 
 gular race of men, whatever be the endowments 
 of the mind that forms them, must almost certainly 
 be wrong ; and wrong judgments respecting such 
 a people, on the part of those who preside over 
 their destinies, cannot but prove pernicious. Ne 
 rational expectation can be entertained that -A 
 youth who reaches India at the usual age should 
 be adequate to fill any situation of considerable 
 responsibility greatly under the age of thirty ; and 
 this period would about accord with the utmost 
 limits of the probationary term enjoined by the 
 statute. A much earlier fitness is indeed con. 
 ceivable. A phenomenon of juvenile experience
 
 141 
 
 may possibly occur ; but the event is so little within 
 probability, that the chance of it may safely be 
 neglected in all general calculations, and, if it 
 cannot be had but at a great expense, should be 
 Sacrificed at once. 
 
 In enacting that an assigned term of local ser- 
 vice should be the necessary qualification for an 
 office of a certain salary, the legislature evidently 
 assumed that the comparative salaries of different 
 offices afford a fair measure of their comparative 
 importance. In effect, in the same service, and, 
 where but one scale of pay is adopted, there can 
 be no better criterion of the importance of an 
 employment than the wages allotted to it. The 
 very reason why one office is more highly remu- 
 nerated than another is, because it is thought more 
 difficult to fill, or, in other words, more important 
 to the commonwealth. To mention the exceptions 
 with which this rule ought to be guarded, would 
 be in this place impertinent j it will still remain 
 true that salary is the best practical test of impor- 
 tance, and it is certainly not very conceivable: 
 what other test the legislature could have adopted. 
 
 But to establish the principle of succession by 
 seniority in all its rigour, would have been highly 
 improper. In the work of acquiring experience, 
 though miracles of early maturity are not to be 
 expected, yet, ultimately, one mind may consi- 
 derably surpass another of less discernment or less 
 patience. Besides, to contend that experience, 
 though an indispensable, is the only quajUficajtion,
 
 for the discharge of public trusts, or that, in the 
 conduct of human affairs, eminent talents are of 
 little avail, would be to maintain doctrines of the 
 very last absurdity. In the collection of that mass 
 of materials which constitute an acquaintance with 
 mankind, genius may be nearly on a level with 
 attentive mediocrity ; these materials, the current 
 of time, which will obey no man, deposits only 
 by little and little ; but, in the use which is made 
 of the resources thus acquired, the advantages of 
 genius are almost unbounded. These advantages, 
 however, the system of strict succession sacrifices. 
 And, as this system does not pay the due respect to 
 genius, so neither does it consult peculiarities of 
 genius ; those individualities of mental character, 
 which have the effect of fitting particular men for 
 some situations, almost in the same degree that 
 they unfit them for others. In short, it neither 
 distinguishes between the different powers of men, 
 nor between equal powers" differently characterized. 
 The immediate loss of much useful talent is one 
 lamentable consequence attending this want of 
 discrimination ; and another equally to be depre- 
 cated is the consequent discouragement to the 
 cultivation of talent ; for men will not be apt to 
 exert themselves in a contest, where the prize is 
 given, not to him who acquits himself the best, 
 but to him who was earliest on the field. 
 
 These evils can be averted only by the allow- 
 ance of a free choice ; and, though a free choice 
 be in danger of degenerating into one of interest, 
 
 H
 
 143 
 
 yet, in a degree, this hazard is preferable to the 
 certainty of evils so pernicious. Besides, whether 
 or not the choice is likely to become one of in- 
 terest, depends partly on the other arrangements 
 introduced into the system, which may be such as 
 to keep alive throughout it a general spirit and 
 zeal that shall either make the electors disinter- 
 ested or overawe them if they are otherwise. But 
 it is possible that to effect this object may be very 
 practicable where discretion is limited, and where 
 consequently the temptation to abuse discretion is 
 limited also, and yet may not be practicable where 
 both are without any boundaries whatever. 
 
 On these grounds, the legislature, while intro- 
 ducing ; into the Indian service the principle of 
 rising by succession, has concurrently let in the 
 principle of an elective rise ; since, for every va- 
 cant office, all those who have reached a certain 
 proportionate standing in the service may be 
 candidates. Thus, very wisely, it is presumed, 
 and very agreeably to the nature of things, local 
 experience is made an indispensable condition of 
 promotion ; but, that condition once satisfied, the 
 rest is left to the selecting voice of the Company 
 or their governors, and to the emulation of the 
 servants. From the moment of his arrival in 
 India, the young writer has every stimulus to 
 honorable exertion. Since the institution of the 
 Eas>India College at Hertford, indeed, which 
 seems to have supplied whatever the system of the 
 service still wanted, the stimulatives may be said
 
 144 
 
 to operate even before his departure from his 
 mother-country. If, in this seminary, he distin- 
 guishes himself by the union of proficiency in 
 learning with correctness of conduct, he is pre- 
 ceded on his voyage to the East by his character, 
 and recognized on his landing. Some most happy 
 instances have already occurred of those who have 
 thus, if the expression may be used, shed a light 
 before them, previously to their personal appear- 
 ance on the scene of their public life. In India, 
 the first exertions of the writer may be occupied 
 in gaining or in confirming a knowledge of the 
 dialects of the country, and in familiarizing him- 
 self with the forms of office and the principles of 
 the administration. Next, placed under a judge, 
 a collector, a commercial agent, or a political resi- 
 dent, he has an opportunity of benefiting by the 
 knowledge and experience of his superior ; and, 
 in this situation, he becomes personally acquainted 
 with the natives, and gradually acquires a perfect 
 understanding of their feelings, habits, customs 
 and prejudices. During the course, too, of this 
 apprenticeship, he is probably at times entrusted 
 with a limited responsibility, which excites his 
 talents, and forms him for independent action. 
 Meanwhile, considerable prizes are before him ; he 
 may attain a principal station in one of the lines 
 already mentioned ; if here also he acquits himself 
 creditably, he may, in time, fill an important place 
 in the board of trade or that of revenue, or in one 
 of the principal courts of judicature. Still higher
 
 145 
 
 prospects succeed ; & situation in the supreme 
 council of the government ; perhaps, that of go- 
 vernor to one of the subordinate presidencies. 
 Facts of no old date prove that even at this point 
 his views are not necessarily bounded, and that 
 the hope of the most splendid and arduous post 
 in British India is not utterly beyond his reach, if 
 he possesses the qualifications of eminent talents, 
 long experience, and approved integrity. 
 
 A career so brilliant must, in all its complete- 
 ness, be the lot only of a fortunate few. Whether 
 the general state of the Indian service, how- 
 ever, be such as to justify that individual picture 
 of successful zeal and exertion which has been 
 drawn, or whether all the arrangements already 
 described, and which seem calculated to make it 
 puch, have proved abortive, is a question of fact 
 which every man will decide according to his own 
 means of information. But the consecutive series 
 of improvements which, as has been before related, 
 the Company have in fact introduced into the 
 domestic economy of their dominions, forms no 
 feeble chain of presumptions in favour of that 
 system of service under which measures so impor- 
 tant and so difficult have been so entirely carried 
 into effect ; and these presumptions from the effect, 
 are strongly supported by others from the cause ; 
 that is, by presumptions resulting from the very 
 nature and apparent tendency of the regulations 
 by which the service is actually governed. For 
 the rest, testimony must determine the matter, 
 
 L
 
 140 
 
 and that of a supposed partizan may not command 
 attention. Yet, that the opportunity may not be 
 lost of raising a voice, however feeble, and at 
 whatever hazard of its being heard with incredu- 
 lity, in vindication of a most meritorious and most 
 calumniated body, it is here asserted, that there 
 does not exist in the world an abler set of public 
 functionaries than the civil servants of the Com- 
 pany ; a set, more distinguished for exercised and 
 enlightened intellect, or for the energy, purity, 
 and patriotism, of their public conduct. 
 
 This will perhaps be thought a flattering portrait, 
 and, so far at least as the intellectual attainments 
 which make a part of the delineation are concerned, 
 there may possibly be readers who will compare with 
 it, somewhat disadvantageously, those retired East- 
 Indians whom the ordinary intercourse of life has 
 brought within their view. They must have been 
 very unfortunate in their sphere of observation, if 
 such should be the case ; but let them, at all events, 
 recollect the many circumstances which may render 
 their conclusion unfair. The persons to whom they 
 refer, have probably passed that season of energy 
 and elasticity of spirit, when men seize those con- 
 spicuous posts in society, which the reverence of 
 the world quietly leaves in the possession of their 
 declining years. Their prospects being closed, 
 they perhaps feel something of that drowsiness 
 which is apt to creep over faculties that have no 
 stated exercise. A long residence, also, under an 
 enfeebling sun, has possibly given them that; 
 
 * d
 
 147 
 
 habitual lassitude of body which at length begins 
 to penetrate through the surface to the mind. 
 Others of them there may be, whom this descrip- 
 tion does not exactly suit, only because the un- 
 favourable influence of the climate of India has 
 driven them prematurely home, to languish under 
 broken health and disappointed hopes. Under all 
 these disadvantages, they have to struggle with 
 the additional difficulty of settling, as it were, at 
 an advanced age, in a strange land; where the 
 general habits, both of thinking and of intercourse, 
 are, in a certain degree, foreign to them, where 
 conversation seldom more than glances on those 
 subjects that have absorbed the ardour of their 
 youth and the vigour of their manhood, and where, 
 consequently, they have, in some sense, to learn 
 the very alphabet of common life. Under such 
 circumstances, it cannot be a matter of wonder 
 that they do not, in general, act a more brilliant 
 part ; perhaps, it may rather constitute theij 
 praise. The resistance of the understanding to 
 new impressions may shew how strongly and per- 
 fectly it must have taken its former configuration. 
 The tendency of the mind to repose may prove 
 with what zeal it must previously have watched. 
 Nor will the candid observer of this class of men, 
 after making due allowances for their situation, 
 find any thing to contradict, but rather, it is ap- 
 prehended, every thing to confirm, in the fullest 
 manner, the position which has been laid down ; 
 that an abler set of public functionaries does not 
 
 l 2
 
 148 
 
 exist, than the civil servants of the East-India 
 Company. 
 
 Whether the administration of British India, 
 which has now been pretty fully developed, must 
 or must not be productive of happiness to the 
 natives of that region, the reader has to decide. 
 It surely is a question, the determination of which 
 the Company might, without presumption, leave 
 to the natives themselves. It is not, indeed, to 
 be supposed that the higher Mahomedans can 
 view with complacency the dominion which they 
 so lately possessed, in the hands of foreigners, or 
 can, with unmixed pleasure, contemplate institu- 
 tions of polity which, in blessing the people at 
 large, consolidate the power that supplanted their 
 own. It may even be admitted that, among the 
 more opulent Hindoos, there are those w r ho, having 
 enjoyed and probably abused authority under the 
 ancient government, now lament their diminished 
 consequence and their lost opportunities. But 
 all these would notwithstanding allow the modera- 
 tion with which power is exercised, and the purity 
 with which justice is administered, by the English ; 
 nor can they be unaware of the security conse- 
 quently derived to their own persons and property. 
 The good- will of the Mahomedans is farther con- 
 ciliated by our use of their code of criminal jus- 
 tice, and by the official employment which, from 
 that circumstance, our courts of law afford to 
 many individuals of their faith. The poorer and 
 lower members of the community, however, must
 
 149 
 
 necessarily be the greatest gainers by a system 
 of which the capital principle is the extension of 
 equal protection to all classes. In the times of 
 Mahomedan ascendancy, a sort of devolution of 
 oppression descended by stages from the prince to 
 the peasant. Every intermediate possessor of i ank 
 or influence, oppressed by those above, revenged 
 himself on human nature by oppressing those be- 
 low. To console him for the misfortune of being 
 a slave, he had the savage satisfaction of being 
 a tyrant. It was to the inferior orders that 
 all the blanks fell in this grand game of misery. 
 It is on these, therefore, that the deepest obliga- 
 tions have been conferred by a government which 
 has rescued them from their state of utter and, as 
 it were, accumulated servitude. The effects of 
 the improvement in their situation will, in no long 
 time, we may conjecture, become perceptible in 
 their altered character and demeanor. It is even 
 said that some change has already taken place in 
 these respects, and that complaints have been 
 heard on the subject from old European settlers in 
 Bengal, who, before the completion of the present 
 system, insensibly adopted, in a partial degree at 
 least, the habits of the country, in their treatment 
 of the inferioi natives, and were accustomed to 
 meet with a submission which is now withheld. 
 Such complaints, however, would form the best 
 possible eulogium, not only on the virtue, but on 
 the wisdom also, of the British government ; which 
 will find a surer and a cheaper, as well as a more 
 
 l 3
 
 150 
 
 agreeable, support, in the gratitude of fifty mil- 
 lions of men, than it could ever have wrung from 
 their debasement and fears. It was said by a de- 
 parted orator, in commendation of a bill proposed 
 to the English Parliament, " that it would secure 
 ~* c the rice in his pot to every man in India." Though 
 the measure which this great man so complimented 
 was not carried into effect, the state of things 
 pictured in his homely but expressive eulogium 
 has in a great measure been realized. Already, 
 throughout that extensive domain, do the meanest 
 rights of the meanest native stand on the solid 
 base of law and justice. Imperfections, indeed, 
 the system contains ; as they may be found in 
 all systems, composed of terrestrial elements, and 
 but partially fortified by the confirmation or ma- 
 tured by the experience of age. But it progressively 
 improves ; and its foundations are so broad and deep 
 that none can guess the future magnitude of the 
 superstructure. Into whatever forms of moral or 
 political excellence, philanthropy, in her radiant 
 but permitted dreams, can mould the dust of mor- 
 tality, she may one day awake and find them exem- 
 plified on the banks of the Ganges. The edifice 
 is so firmly rooted in earth, that it may eventually 
 hide its summit in heaven. 
 
 As an appendix to the view which has been 
 taken of the civil system of the East-India Com- 
 pany, some account of their military system shall 
 now be added.. 
 
 This subject may perhaps be thought not to 
 
 m
 
 151 
 
 fall regularly within the design of the present 
 chapter. It may be contended, that the nature of 
 the military system of a state, provided only that 
 the military authority is in due subjection to the 
 civil, can in no wise affect the internal condition 
 of the country* It should be recollected, how- 
 ever, that armies form the grand safeguard of 
 national happiness against foreign disturbers. It 
 should be remembered also, that the domestic effi- 
 ciency of a government greatly depends on the 
 respect which it attracts from its subjects, but 
 which, as human nature is constituted, it is not 
 likely to attract from the mass of them, unless 
 its civil powers and privileges be strongly and 
 evidently supported by a reserved guard of mar- 
 tial strength. Nor should the chances of internal 
 commotion be altogether left out of sight; for* 
 though an authority made up of jealousy and force 
 is most execrable, and though a sovereign ought 
 principally to seek for security in the affections of 
 his people, yet it is unfortunately a solid maxim, 
 that no system which is meant for a permanency 
 should be founded on a lavish confidence in the 
 good dispositions of mankind. Indeed, that a 
 military government will always prove the worst 
 government in the world, cannot be more plain 
 than it is, that a government without any military 
 woidd soon turn out to be no government at all. 
 
 On the actual efficiency of the military system, 
 whatever it is, now established in India, there can 
 be no necessity to expatiate. The renown of arms 
 
 l 4
 
 152 
 
 i in its nature so much more noisy than the glory 
 of good government, that many are familiar with 
 the exploits of our forces in the East, who have 
 never heard of the less brilliant, but not less 
 honorable, conquests achieved, in that quarter, by 
 the patient and pacific exertions of our domestic 
 policy. It is here meant only to shew that the 
 goodness of the system in practise results from its 
 goodness in constitution j and, again, that this 
 last is purchased at an expense to the state on 
 the whole as small as could suffice for the end 
 required. 
 
 No man would gravely recommend that the 
 whole of our military establishment in India 
 should be drawn directly from the population of 
 the parent-country. The parent-country could not 
 nearly sustain the drain of men which would then 
 be requisite to supply that establishment ; and the 
 parent-country and her Asiatic dominions together 
 could not nearly sustain the drain of money wh ich 
 would be requisite to support it. This system, 
 farther, would excite the disgust of our Asiatic 
 subjects, and the deepest and the most dangerous 
 disgust among the more proud and adventurous of 
 them, among that class which is naturally inclined 
 to the activity and splendour of a military life, 
 and whose spirit, deprived of this its proper vent, 
 might be worse than lost. To watch and to over- 
 awe the discontents thus excited, an additional 
 force must be maintained ; that is, a fresh burden 
 entailed on the resources of the state, both in
 
 153 
 
 England and in the East. On such terms India 
 would not be worth our keeping. It is, therefore, on 
 every ground, expedient that the military defense 
 of that country should, in a considerable degree, 
 be confided to its own people, provided this can 
 be done with safety ; and, if it cannot, our sole 
 alternative apparently is, to abandon our Asiatic 
 possessions altogether. 
 
 On the other hand, it would be unadvisable 
 to employ an Asiatic soldiery exclusively. A 
 strong infusion of British troops is indispensable ; 
 not, indeed, except perhaps on some very rare 
 occasions, to keep in check the native forces, 
 which must not be raised if they cannot be ordi- 
 narily trusted; but first, to compensate for the 
 comparative deficiency of those forces in physical 
 vigour and resolution, by the superior energy of 
 European frames and spirits ; next, to furnish 
 them with aproper standard of professional merit, to 
 fire them with high professional feelings, and to imbue 
 them with just professional habits. But, in order to 
 answer these last purposes in an adequate manner, it 
 seems desirable that this British force should not, 
 like mere foreign auxiliaries, be associated with its 
 native brethren only in the field. A certain pro- 
 portion of it, at least, should be incorporated with 
 them, should constitute a part of the same service, 
 and be regulated on military principles generally 
 similar. Thus alone can we insure that com- 
 munion of feeling between the two bodies, by
 
 154 
 
 means of which the elevation of spirit and sen- 
 timent natural to the one, shall effectually and 
 unintermittedly communicate itself to the other. 
 For nearly the same reasons, the commissioned 
 officers immediately commanding the native troops, 
 should be British, and drawn from the same class 
 out of which the European corps connected with 
 them are officered. In this manner, they will 
 constitute the channels of that reciprocal sym- 
 pathy already mentioned. The visible and imme- 
 diate guidance, besides, of British leaders, is highly 
 requisite to the efficiency of the native troops, who 
 possess little inherent energy, and yet are very ca- 
 pable of that which is infused and derivative. The 
 inhabitants of Hindostan seem mostly to resemble 
 feminine natures ; in which, it is frequently seen that 
 affection founded on confidence supplies the place of 
 vigour and hardihood, and that, although not 
 formed for original daring, they can attain to very 
 considerable elevation by growing round a more 
 robust character. When the native soldiery are 
 properly managed, their attachment to an Euro- 
 pean officer is unbounded ; nor do any troops fur- 
 nish more striking examples of that reliance on 
 their leaders, which, where it is perfect, appears to 
 render all the different wills of a great army but so 
 many different pulses of the same organic frame* 
 and, for the time, almost as absolutely transfers the 
 heart of a commander to his followers, as if it were 
 beating in their own bosoms. An additional rea* 
 
 * 
 
 son for the employment of British officers is, that
 
 m 
 
 the soldiers may, in the persons immediately su- 
 perintending them, see, as it were, unveiled, the 
 hand of the power on whose bounty they subsist, 
 or, as Oriental phraseology would express the 
 idea, with whose salt they are fed* This circum- 
 stance has doubtless contributed to cherish that 
 loyalty for which the troops in question are so 
 remarkable ; a loyalty, which has shewn itself, not 
 only unshaken amidst privations and toils exceed- 
 ing the ordinary inflictions of war, but unswerv- 
 ing amidst the most artful seductions on the 
 . part of the native princes who have been arrayed 
 against the Company. 
 
 But, * that these important objects may be fully- 
 secured, extreme care, and even delicacy, are in- 
 . dispensable in the management of the Indian part 
 of this army. The language, the usages, and the 
 prejudices, of the natives of India are peculiar ; 
 and, if the great body of the officers immediately 
 in contact with them be unacquainted with these, 
 they will not only fail to conciliate, but will even 
 alienate, the minds of their soldiers ; an event, of 
 which the consequences might be unspeakably 
 dangerous. Certainly, instances are not wanting 
 in our own service to illustrate this remark ; and, 
 among the causes that occasioned the unhappy 
 military failures of the well-known French com- 
 
 * Several of the rental ks that follow, on the military system of 
 llie Company, are closely borrowed from the Letter of the 
 Chairimn and Deputy Chairman of the Company to the Right 
 Honorable Robert Dundas, dated the 13th January, 1809.
 
 156 
 
 mander, M. Lally, we may doubtless reckon 
 his imprudence in doing violence to the super- 
 stitions of the sepoys in his army. The requisite 
 knowledge, however, of the singular nature and 
 habits of the Asiatics, can be the work only of 
 time and experience. Whatever scope, therefore, it 
 may be thought necessary to afford, in Europe, to the 
 self-inspired display of premature talents, no man 
 can be properly qualified to command a corps of 
 Indian sepoys, who has not been prepared for the 
 task by a long and local military education. The 
 question is, how he shall be so prepared, com- 
 patibly with that European education which, in 
 order to fortify him with European attachments, 
 and familiarize him to European modes of thinking, 
 he ought previously to have received ? One me- 
 thod of accomplishing this end plainly is, to esta- 
 blish in the Indo-British army the principle of a 
 gradual rise by seniority ; the effect of which ar- 
 rangement must be, that the powers entrusted to 
 the officers shall grow in proportion to the ex- 
 perience respectively acquired by them ; and any 
 other method it probably would be difficult to find. 
 Some readers may possibly ask, why the principle 
 of succession by seniority, and that of succession by 
 merit, should not be interwoven together in the 
 Indo-British army, as those principles have already 
 been shewn to co-exist in the civil service of the 
 Company. There are several views, however, in 
 which the rules of succession adopted in the civil, 
 would be inapplicable to the military service y but
 
 157 
 
 a better answer, perhaps, to the question may be 
 furnished by this single fact, that the very nature 
 of military service sufficiently includes the prin- 
 ciple of selection, even where the only rule of 
 advancement ostensibly applied is that of seniority. 
 If a civil functionary succeeds, by seniority, to a 
 particular station, he succeeds to that in which not 
 only his local position, by the very terms of the 
 appointment, but, in ordinary cases, all the duties 
 which he has to discharge are determinate. But, 
 when a military officer succeeds to a particular 
 rank in the army, neither the post which he must 
 occupy, nor the service which he must perform, 
 nor even, within certain limits, the emoluments 
 which he is to receive, can be definitely prede- 
 termined. All these float at large, and must, by 
 the local or the supreme commander, be shaped in 
 conformity with the varying call of war, which 
 ever creates its own occasions. Even in this light, 
 therefore, alone, a military system regulated by 
 seniority has, naturally, that advantage which the 
 Indian civil system derives from the formal admis- 
 sion of the principle of choice ; since, for every im- 
 portant service, there are a number of candidates 
 equally qualified on the ground of law, and, out of 
 these, the additional qualification of merit may 
 decide the individual. But what increases the 
 latitude of choice is, that the ruling authorities, or 
 their delegates, possess a summary method of pro- 
 moting ability and rewarding desert, in their power 
 of conferring brcvet.rank or staff-appointments.
 
 It must be unnecessary to add that, in the pre- 
 ceding remarks, though hypothetically couched, 
 the actual form and constitution of the local force 
 which the Company maintain in India have been 
 described. The native or sepoy troops under the 
 three presidencies, including the non-commissioned 
 officers, who are also natives, amount to one hun- 
 dred and twenty-two thousand men ; of whom 
 about nine thousand are cavalry, equally divided 
 between Bengal and Madras. The European 
 officers immediately attached to this force form 
 nearly three thousand. Of European regiments, 
 each presidency is furnished with one, besides 
 artillery, and engineers ; and the number, on the 
 whole, of these troops, with their officers, exceeds 
 four thousand. The officers rise by seniority. The 
 character which this mixed army has acquired is 
 not inferior to that of any armed body on earth ; 
 and may greatly be ascribed to that intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the native manners and customs, 
 which has enabled the officers to win the confidence, 
 and to excite and direct the spirit, of their sepoys. 
 
 Formerly, each of the presidencies was furnished 
 with three European regiments. On the grounds, 
 before stated, for leavening the native army with 
 a strong mixture of British troops belonging to 
 the same service, it certainly is desirable that the 
 European force of the Company were increased ; 
 while a project which has sometimes been men- 
 tioned, of totally reducing that force, must, on 
 the same grounds, be decidedly deprecated, as
 
 159 
 
 threatening Titter destruction to the military effi- 
 ciency of ,the sepoys. 
 
 On a principle, however, of economizing the 
 warlike means and resources of the British nation 
 at large, it is natural that the disposable force of 
 the empire should be transferred from one part of 
 it to another, according to the changing demands 
 of the common interest. Hence, it has become; 
 usual for the English government at home to send 
 to India a certain number of regiments from the 
 army of His Majesty, which are for the time placed 
 at the disposal of the Company, and co-operate 
 with the army immediately subject to that body. 
 It must be owned that the practise has somewhat 
 overgrown the principle which gave it birth, about 
 twenty-two thousand of the royal troops being 
 now habitually stationed in India, and at the 
 expense of the Company. The commander-in- 
 chief of these troops is, of course, appointed by 
 the King, while the Company have the power of 
 appointing their own commanders-in-chief, But, 
 in order that unity of operation may be secured, 
 the commander-in-chief of all the forces under any 
 one presidency is usually the same person, nomi- 
 nated both by the King and by the Company to 
 the command of their respective armies, and act- 
 ing by virtue of a commission from each. 
 
 The introduction of the royal forces into In- 
 dia has unfortunately proved the occasion of 
 exciting some feelings of jealousy and discontent 
 among the officers of the Company. In the royal
 
 160 
 
 service, the purchase of commissions is allowed, 
 in consequence of which, a rapid advancement 
 sometimes takes place. In the service of the Com- 
 pany, the rise is only by seniority, and of course 
 comparatively tardy. It occasionally happens, 
 therefore, that, in instances where the two de- 
 scriptions of force serve together, officers belong- 
 ing to the royal troops take rank of officers bearing 
 the commission of the Company, who are their 
 superiors both in age and experience ; a prefer- 
 ence, not easily brooked by & soldier of long and 
 tried service, conscious of desert and ambitious of 
 distinction. 
 
 This is unquestionably an inconvenience affect- 
 ing the present system, and one which scarcely 
 seems removable without the introduction of 
 others still greater. As a remedy for it, some 
 have advised that the army of the Company should 
 be incorporated with that of the Crown, and placed 
 under the supreme military authorities at home, 
 the local governments in India having still the 
 power of directing its services as might seem fit. 
 Were such a measure attended with the completest 
 success, it would yet purchase the advantages 
 proposed by it at a truly dear rate. It would throw 
 into the influence of the Crown a vast addition of 
 patronage, and it would weaken the hands of the 
 Company, not only in the same proportion, but in 
 one far greater. The subtraction of so great an 
 amount of patronage must, indeed, give them a 
 blow j but they would sustain a heavier infliction
 
 161 
 
 in the loss of that deference and veneration which 
 they inspire, both among their own subjects and 
 among foreign states, from being conspicuously 
 attended by the commanding ensigns of military 
 greatness. Even the mere name of the Company's 
 armg produces, in this respect, a salutary influence; 
 which, however, is only a small part of the advan- 
 tage resulting from the present system. Under 
 that system, the Company, in their own right, 
 levy, organize, and reduce troops ; all, functions 
 of sovereignty. They constitute the fountain of 
 military rank and reward to a numerous and gallant 
 soldiery ; remunerating service, punishing unwor- 
 thiness, listening to complaint, and providing an 
 honorable retirement for veteran merit. Their 
 administration, even in matters properly and purely 
 civil, derives weight and effect from the known 
 fact that it is conducted by the hands of those 
 who are the undisputed masters of legions. The 
 consequences may be guessed, then, of an arrange- 
 ment which should entirely denude them of their 
 military prerogatives, place them behind the shield 
 of a superior power, and exhibit them in the very 
 equivocal light of a government rather protected 
 than armed. 
 
 If there be any part of the world, with regard 
 to which these observations peculiarly apply, it is 
 Hindostan. In the ancient and inveterate opinion 
 of the natives of that country, the distinctive, and 
 perhaps the only incommunicable, attribute of 
 supreme power, is the command of the sword : v
 
 16? 
 
 an opinion, which has naturally grown up uncle* 
 despotic governments, and amidst barbarous modes 
 of international policy. For it is in such scenes 
 and situations that the agency of armies becomes 
 the most broadly discernible ; rather operating 
 with the rage of flame, than, as in more civilized 
 quarters, silently and equably propagating heat 
 throughout the system. Among other exemplifi- 
 cations of the efficacy of military power, the inha- 
 bitants of Hindostan have before their eyes many 
 remarkable instances of princes, who, having once 
 surrendered to a minister or an ally this talisman, 
 as it may be called, of sovereignty, have quickly 
 wasted away into dependence and servitude. 
 Would it be a matter of wonder, if they applied 
 these precedents to the case now in question ? 
 
 Considering how greatly the stability of the 
 Indo-British government, and the same thing would 
 be true of any government in the same situation, 
 depends on opinion, it would surely be a great 
 evil, if the natives supposed that the Company 
 itself, of whom that government immediately holds, 
 and whom it represents, had no effectual controul 
 over the armies ostensibly supporting its authority, 
 but was in truth merely a passive instrument in 
 the grasp of ar higher power. But what would ex- 
 tremely aggravate the evil, is, that the supposition 
 might probably not fall far short of the fact. The 
 moment that it communicated itself, as it soon 
 must, to" the Sepoys, it would, in a great degree* 
 t>e realized. Taught to center elsewhere their
 
 163 
 
 loyalty and their expectations, that class of mert 
 might be expected to regard with but a distracted 
 sort of respect those who must appear to them only 
 the ministerial dispensers of the royal bounty* 
 Against the effects of this disposition, the Com* 
 pany could look for no insurance except ill 
 the proud protection of the officers, pluming 
 themselves on the unpunctilious alacrity with 
 which they lent themselves to the defense of an 
 unarmed body of merchants, and, on all occasions* 
 ready to prove to their employers at home, that the 
 complaints preferred against them by the local 
 governments were totally unfounded. Even here* 
 the probability of mischief does not stop. By the 
 present constitution, as has been shewn in a former 
 page, the supreme administration of Indian affairs 
 is divided, in a tolerably equal ratio, between the 
 Company at home and the executive servants of 
 the Crown. But it would be vain to imagine that 
 the equipoise could be preserved, after the sword 
 should have been thrown into one scale. Having 
 resigned to ministers the military power and pa- 
 tronage of India, the key, as it may be called, 
 of their garrison, the Company could no longer 
 conduct their portion of this high concern with 
 that sensation of independence and self-respect 
 essential to a due discharge of the functions of 
 command. 
 
 And for what object, it may be asked, are these 
 very serious hazards to be incurred ? Iii order to 
 obviate, it is answered, the causes of the subsist- 
 
 M 2
 
 164 
 
 ing jealousies between the officers commanding the 
 troops of the Company, and the officers of the 
 royal army serving in India. There are, however, 
 the best reasons for believing that the causes of 
 those jealousies would, after all, not be obviated. 
 The unpleasant feelings sometimes entertained by 
 the officers of the Company towards those of His 
 Majesty, arise, not from the circumstance that the 
 masters whom the two classes serve are different, 
 but from this, that the rules of the two services 
 are different. So long, however, as the one 
 service is of a provincial, and the other of 
 a general, nature, so long as the purchase 
 of commissions is permitted in the service of 
 the King, and those solid reasons remain, for 
 which the principle of succession by seniority has 
 been adopted in the sepoy-service, so long it 
 would appear that this difference of rules must 
 remain also ; and to consolidate under one head 
 the two services between which it subsists, does 
 not seem the means of rendering it less evident. 
 
 At the same time, the difficulty, though it can- 
 not be entirely overcome, may in a good degree 
 be evaded, if the commanders employed in India 
 will be careful not to give the officers of the 
 Company unnecessary umbrage ; if they will pay 
 every just deference to the claims, and every de- 
 licate attention to the feelings, of one of the most 
 gallant and honorable bodies of military servants 
 in existence. Under prudent management, the 
 tendency to opposition between the two services
 
 165 
 
 in question, so far from producing evil, may evert 
 be converted to some salutary purposes. Cer- 
 tainly, it has, on general principles, often been 
 held that the troops of a state ought not to be 
 throughout organized by one common rule ; that, 
 wise as it is to encourasre amon them a com- 
 munion of professional sentiment, yet to temper 
 in some degree this sympathy is wise also ; that to 
 introduce among them a partial division of in- 
 terests, both cherishes in them a principle of 
 honorable emulation, and obviates the not wholly 
 groundless apprehensions with which the friends 
 of civil liberty are apt to regard the system of 
 standing armies. Conformably to these maxims, 
 it would not be difficult to state cases, in which 
 the existing jealousies between the two component 
 parts of the Indo-British force, might prove an 
 important bulwark against the dangers to be feared 
 from the faultering loyalty of one of them. On 
 such cases, however, though not wholly to be ex- 
 cluded from view in any plan for the administra- 
 tion of British India, it neither is agreeable, nor 
 appears useful, to dwell. A well-born mind will 
 rather love to recall the recollection, and to an- 
 ticipate the recurrence, of those many instances, 
 blazoned in history, in which the jealousies alluded 
 to have flamed out into acts of glorious rivalry, 
 and in which the separate and emulous exertions 
 of each party, in the common cause, have con- 
 spired to cover both with one renown. 
 
 M 3
 
 f 166 
 
 Such, on the whole, is the constitution esta- 
 Wished for the government of British India ; and 
 the long, and it is feared, tedious survey which has 
 been afforded of it, shall now be closed with two 
 short and plain remarks. 
 
 First ; That system cannot be a bad one, under 
 which so many and so great advantages have been 
 secured to the inhabitants of the territories com- 
 prised within the Indo-British empire, and such 
 strength and firmness to the empire itself. It is 
 now the thirtieth year, since those memorable 
 words were spoken by a celebrated parliamentary 
 Orator, in justification of a measure directed 
 against the existence of the Company : " I am 
 * now come to my last condition, without which, 
 " for one, I will never readily lend my hand to 
 " the destruction of any established government ; 
 which is, That in its present state, the govern- 
 *' ment of the East- India Company is absolutely 
 * l incorrigible." * Had that great man been spared 
 to the wishes of his country, how certainly might 
 he now have been expected to recant his proposal, 
 in virtue of the very doctrine on which it is 
 founded! What an amendment has, since the 
 period of his remark, undeniably been effected in 
 the political constitution of British India! And 
 how doubly and trebly striking that amendment, 
 if the invectives which his terrible eloquence 
 
 9f[i no Jsqtqki 9i 
 * Burke's Speech 
 
 jiii no. Jooipio 
 b on Mr. Fox's East India Bill, 1st Bee. 1/93. 

 
 167 
 
 pointed against the Company of his own day, were 
 within the privilege even of oratorical truth! 
 It will be fruitless to pretend, with some objectors, 
 that the improvements in question have been ef- 
 fected, not through the means of the present sys- 
 tem, but in spjte of it. Such objectors, Burke 
 might have been apt to class with the preachers of 
 that vulgar democracy, which affects to teach that 
 the British constitution has proved beneficial, not 
 by means of its monarchial elements, but in spite 
 of them. There can be no sounder, no safer tests 
 of the goodness of a system, than the practical 
 advantages which it produces, and its susceptibility 
 of gradual improvement. Where these are found 
 together, as in the Indian constitution they are 
 incontrovertibly found together, prejudice against 
 any material change of principle becomes reason, 
 and the speculative innovator, however specious 
 his propositions, is not to be derided as a theorist, 
 but repulsed as an enemy. 
 
 Hence appears to grow forth a second remark ; 
 which is, that, when any measure is recommended, 
 from which even a remote probability of danger to 
 the existing Indian system can be shewn, a 
 weighty burden of proof falls on the advocates of 
 such a measure. Let it be imagined, that some 
 farther relaxation is proposed of the qualified mo- 
 nopoly possessed by the Company in the commerce 
 of India. Let the Company be supposed to resist 
 the project, on the ground that it would, by a 
 circuitous, perhaps, but by a very likely process, 
 
 M 4f
 
 168 
 
 endanger the security of their political power. 
 Could any thing be less reasonable than for the 
 champions of the proposal to contend that, the 
 presumption being always against monopoly, the 
 business of proof rested wholly with the Company ? 
 So far as the unmixed question of monopoly ex- 
 tends, the assertion might be just. But, when 
 even a prima facie argument is produced on the 
 part of the Company, that the desired change 
 would vitally affect the political part of the Indian 
 system, at that moment they have, beyond all doubt, 
 devolved the burden of proof on the innovator. 
 Nor, again, would it be sufficient for the innovator 
 to shew, even by the most unexceptionable chain 
 of reasoning, that the possibility was, on the whole, 
 against the occurrence of the mischiefs appre- 
 hended by the Company. A measurement of 
 probabilities is admissible only between things of 
 the same kind,. between quantities of the same 
 order ; but commercial and political advantage do 
 not fall under this description. The certainty, 
 however unquestionable, of commercial advantage, 
 can never be set against the likelihood of political 
 loss, however faint. An empire cannot be pros- 
 perously ruled on a contingenttenure. The political 
 welfare of the fifty or sixty millions of persons who 
 constitute the population of British India, cannot 
 live on the thin element of mere probability. 
 
 io s 
 
 i^omloq ait
 
 169 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 On the probable effects of allowing to British Subjects in 
 general, a rigid* complete or very partially qualified, 
 of trading to, and of residing in, British India, and any 
 part of it. 
 
 Any material innovation on our present Indian 
 system, would probably involve one or both of the 
 two following consequences : 
 
 First, That of allowing to British subjects in 
 general, a right, complete or very partially quali- 
 fied, of trading to, and of residing in, British 
 India, and any part of it. 
 
 Secondly, That of transferring, entirely, or in 
 great part, the civil and military functions now- 
 exercised by the Company, as the sovereigns of 
 India, together with the patronage attached to 
 them in that character, to some other person or 
 persons. 
 
 It is scarcely worth while to observe, that the 
 greater part of those who contend for the total 
 abolition of the present system, fully contemplate 
 a change in both these respects. There are others, 
 however, who recommend only a partial abrogation 
 of the privileges of the Company, and would leave 
 that body in possession, some, of the substance of 
 its political power and patronage, without its
 
 170 
 
 commercial monopoly, others, of the substance of 
 its commercial monopoly, without its political 
 power and patronage. The former, or at least 
 most of them, would confer on all British subjects 
 a general right of trading to, and of residing in, 
 any part of British India. The latter would 
 vest in some other hands the political functions 
 and patronage now belonging to the Compa- 
 ny. It would not, indeed, be easy to conceive 
 any thing amounting to a material innovation on 
 the present system, to which one or both of these 
 consequences should not be appendent ; and it is, 
 in point of fact, notorious, that one or both of 
 them are distinctly anticipated by the generality 
 of those who are decidedly advocates for such in- 
 novation. 
 
 It is, therefore, at once safe and just, by way of 
 ascertaining what evils might be likely to arise from 
 any considerable change in the present system, to 
 enquire what evils would probably be connected 
 with a change in either of the two particulars 
 mentioned. This enquiry it is now intended to 
 undertake ; and, in the present chapter, it shall be 
 considered what would be the operation, both im- 
 mediate and eventual, of an arrangement which 
 should extend to all British subjects the liberty of 
 trading to, and of residing in, the British domin- 
 ions in the East, and any part of those dominions. 
 
 It has been believed, not only by the advocates, 
 but also by many of the opponents, of the Com-
 
 171 
 
 pany, that the result of conferring such a liberty 
 on British subjects in general, would be the colo 
 nization of India. Dr. Adam Smith casts it as a 
 reproach on the exclusive companies which have 
 managed the Indian commerce of England, Hol- 
 land, and other European nations, that, with the 
 exception of Batavia, no colonies have been 
 formed in their Eastern dominions. Speaking of 
 u the genius of exclusive companies," he observes 
 that it is " unfavourable to the growth of new 
 *' colonies, and has probably been the principal 
 *< cause of the little progress which they have 
 " made in the East-Indies. The Portuguese car- 
 V ried on the trade to Africa and the East-Indies, 
 " without any exclusive companies, and their 
 " settlements at Congo, Angola, and Benguela, 
 " on the coast of Africa, and at Goa in the East- 
 *' Indies, though much depressed by superstition 
 * and every sort of bad government, yet bear 
 " some faint resemblance to the colonies of Ame- 
 " rica, and are partly inhabited by Portuguese, 
 *' who have been established there for several 
 " generations.'** Some of the followers of Dr. 
 Smith, refining on the doctrines of their master* 
 have maintained, not only that colonization must 
 be the natural result of a free influx of Europeans 
 into the East, but that even the restricted and 
 modified intercourse, of which the present system 
 allows, between Great Britain and her Eastern 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, Book IV. Cli. vii. part 3.
 
 172 
 
 possessions, will speedily form British 'colonies in 
 that quarter of the globe.* 
 
 Some later writers, however, on the same side, 
 have assumed a different ground. The author of 
 " Considerations on the trade with India," not 
 content with asserting that the relation between 
 England and India " bears no resemblance what- 
 " ever, and never can have any, to that of colonies 
 " and the mother country," proceeds to represent 
 the apprehension of colonization as visionary, chi- 
 merical, and strange; the weak fancy, it may be 
 presumed, of narrow and deluded minds. As 
 this writer generally pays a profound deference to 
 the judgment of Dr. Smith, it may be suspected 
 that his violent and contemptuous reprobation, in 
 the present instance, of a sentiment which Dr. 
 Smith so directly sanctions, has arisen from inad- 
 vertence. Opinions, however, cannot be surren- 
 dered to the authority of great names ; and as 
 there may, perhaps, be others who, with him, 
 contemn " the apprehension of colonization," it 
 seems proper that this question should be argued 
 with a reference to such persons. To this end, 
 let us first set out of view all idea of colonization ; 
 let us suppose that the effect of a free trade and 
 access to India will be to draw thither, not settlers, 
 but merely temporary residents, generally actuated 
 by the view of acquiring wealth ; and let us ob- 
 
 * Edinburgh Review, Vol. IV. No. 8. Review of Tennant'* 
 Indian Recreations. 

 
 \ 
 
 173 
 
 serve in what manner, even thus simply consi- 
 dered, a free trade and access will operate on the 
 state and circumstances of that country. It will 
 afterwards be open to investigation, whether such 
 a change of system would be likely to land us 
 in colonization, and how far such an event is 
 desirable. 
 
 There is, indeed, a real propriety in this distri- 
 bution of the subject, independently of its suit- 
 ableness to the existing state of the controversy. 
 Colonization, at all events, cannot be instanta- 
 neous ; and we have, in fact, therefore, to con- 
 sider, by a very natural order, first, what are likely 
 to be the immediate, and then, what the remoter, 
 effects of a free trade and access to India. Be- 
 sides, while some pretend that the utmost freedom 
 of trade and access might be established, without 
 producing colonization, it seems much easier to 
 believe that colonization might take place, though 
 the utmost freedom of trade and access were not 
 established. That is to say, it is conceivable that 
 even such a partial relaxation of the present re- 
 strictive system, as should be unattended with 
 those immediate evils which complete freedom is 
 likely to occasion, might yet lead to colonization, 
 and incur, of course, all the objections to which 
 colonization may seem liable. Colonization, there- 
 fore, were it for this reason alone, is not to be 
 classed merely among the other effects of a free 
 trade and access, but demands a separate con* 
 gideration.
 
 174 
 
 The associated community of British and na- 
 tives in our Eastern dominions, certainly presents 
 one of the most curious and interesting spectacles 
 ever witnessed. We observe two races of men, 
 not more distinct in origin than they are in lan- 
 guage, complexion, dress, manners, customs, and 
 religion; nor is the distinction in these respects 
 more complete than the disproportion in energy 
 both of body and mind. We have, on the one side* 
 extreme feebleness of frame joined with extreme 
 effeminacy, dependence, and timidity of spirit ; on 
 the other, we have vigour, hardiness, courage, en- 
 terprize, and ambition. This natural inequality is 
 increased by the consciousness, confessed on the 
 one side, cherished on the other, that the feeble 
 race is politically subject to the stronger. Here 
 alone we should be apt to think that sufficient 
 ground was laid for a perpetual reciprocation of 
 injustice and suffering ; for, although the disparity 
 of numbers is very greatly in favour of the weaker 
 side, yet this is an advantage which is not so ob- 
 vious, in the daily intercourse of man with man, 
 as the opposite advantage of personal powers and 
 prowess, and which, indeed, can never be brought 
 into full effect, except by a concert and unity of 
 operation, little to be expected from a mass of 
 abjectness and pusillanimity. 
 
 But, farther, this weak race is remarkable for an 
 attachmentthemostobstinatetoaset of customs and 
 institutions the most singular, and to superstitions 
 so whimsically interwoven with the whole frame-
 
 175 
 
 of life, that, under some circumstances, a simple 
 touch from a person of a different persuasion is 
 considered as an almost equally serious injury with 
 a mortal stab. To answer to this peculiarity, 
 there is, on the other side, a national character, 
 generous and humane, indeed, yet by no means 
 delicate in its generosity and humanity, and pro- 
 verbially distinguished for an aptness to view with 
 contempt and derision all foreign customs and in*, 
 stitutions whatsoever. This, then, is a new vul- 
 nerable point, in which we should expect the supe- 
 riority of the stronger character to make itself felt, 
 and to inflict the deepest wounds. It must be 
 owned, indeed, that in this point nature seems to 
 have placed something like a principle, if not of 
 redress, yet of retaliation, and to have provided, 
 not a weight to steady the balance, but an occa- 
 sional force to throw up violently the descending 
 scale. In the single article of a religious affront* 
 these generally tranquil beings seem capable of 
 active resentment. An insult here, has been 
 known to rouse them into motion and vengeance 
 with the suddenness of an explosion. Here, then, 
 they are dangerous to their masters ; and, if the 
 limits of the danger were plainly and visibly de* 
 fined, or if it were in the nature of man to be 
 perpetually on his guard against concealed and 
 uncertain perils, to be sufficiently provided against 
 an evil which is never heard before it is felt, to be 
 always sell-possessed when the temptation is pre- 
 sent and the, punishment out of sight, then we
 
 176 
 
 might suppose that the masters would, as a matter 
 of course, be ever aware of this irritable part in 
 the constitution of their subjects, and ever avoid 
 coming in contact with it. But, though states- 
 men, and though wise men of every station, may 
 be thus cautious, how shall the same prudence be 
 communicated to the vulgar, the unthinking, the 
 inexperienced? Or how, but by uniform at- 
 tention, can they avoid a danger which is in- 
 cident to all the common course of private life ? 
 On the whole, therefore, it would be natural to 
 expect, that the general intercourse between two 
 such orders of persons as have been described, 
 would be an intercourse of injury and suffering, 
 subject, however, to interruption from some pa- 
 roxysm of revenge on the part of the injured. 
 
 Yet, in Hindostan, nothing of all these effects oc- 
 curs, or, except perhaps in one solitary instance, has 
 occurred for years. Two races, such as have been 
 delineated, mix there in daily and hourly inter- 
 course ; and yet there is neither habitual injury, 
 nor habitual suffering, nor occasional revenge. 
 
 How this state of things has been produced, it 
 would, perhaps, be tedious in this place to enquire ; 
 but there is another question which cannot be 
 dispensed with, by what means it is practically 
 maintained. Without any pretensions to logical 
 exactness of arrangement, those means may be 
 resolved into the four following : First, the autho- 
 rity of the local executive government, which 
 may peremptorily order out of the country any
 
 177 
 
 European, whose conduct is such as to excite a 
 popular alarm among the natives. Secondly, the 
 tribunals of the Supreme Courts of Judicature, 
 and of the parallel Court of the Recorder in 
 Bombay ; tribunals which, being totally indepen- 
 dent of the Company, may be said to hold the 
 judicial balance between the British residents and 
 the natives. Thirdly, the intimate intercourse 
 and effectual sympathy maintained between Great 
 Britain and British India, insomuch that the Bri- 
 tish subjects resident in the latter, being educated 
 in Great-Britain, always holding connexion with 
 it, and always aware that they act under its super- 
 vision, partly derive by inheritance, partly catch 
 by contagion, and partly consult from prudence, 
 those sentiments of right and justice, which are 
 here generally popular, but which, in India, local 
 prejudices might be apt to extinguish or overbear. 
 Fourthly, the rule, adopted and enforced in the 
 Indian service, of gradual and progressive advance 
 ment ; and, what may be viewed in combination 
 with this, the prohibition imposed on all British 
 subjects, of residing, without a special license, at 
 any place in India, except within ten miles of some 
 one of the principal settlements. By these two 
 provisions it is secured, first, that situations of high 
 power or influence or responsibility shall be con" 
 ferred only on those, whose residence in the 
 country has been sufficiently long to familiarize 
 them with the usages and manners of the natives ; 
 and secondly, that British subjects in general, dc- 
 
 N
 
 178 
 
 barred from lawless rambles throughout the vast 
 continent, and among the varied population, of 
 Hindostan, shall ordinarily be confined to places, 
 in which experience has, in a great measure, 
 familiarized the natives with the usages and man- 
 ners of Europeans. 
 
 Of these four barriers between the native and 
 the British resident, it will hereafter appear that 
 the third, the subjection of the resident to the 
 public opinion transmitted or caught from his 
 mother country, is probably the most efficient, 
 so far as respects the ill usage to which the natives 
 might be exposed, merely from their inferiority in 
 general force of character, and independently of 
 any direct violation of their peculiar customs and 
 prejudices. In this excepted point, however, 
 their chief security seems to consist in the 
 regulations comprised under the last of the four 
 heads enumerated. The fear of punishment, or 
 the influence of the characteristic benevolence of 
 their country, might supply the British residents 
 With motives to caution and forbearance in their 
 intercourse with the natives ; but good motives 
 or right intentions will, in this case, do little, 
 without a practical knowledge, or rather a sense, 
 of the singularities of the native character and 
 customs, and a formed habit of making allowance 
 for those singularities. These qualifications, no 
 laws, however wise or wisely administered, no 
 vigilance of eye or vigour of arm on the part of 
 the executive government, no sympathy, however
 
 m 
 
 intimate, between the minds of the local and those 
 of the British public, can communicate ; nothing 
 can communicate them but a slow training and 
 experience, 
 
 Were the country thrown more open to the 
 ingress of European adventurers, there are many 
 reasons for thinking that material encroachments 
 would speedily take place on the prejudices and 
 privileges of the natives. The executive and the 
 judicial authorities, which easily controul an or* 
 4erly, compact, and, as it were, disciplined array 
 of persons, would find the task very different of 
 watching a set of independent irregulars, in a 
 state of wide dispersion. Public opinion in this 
 country, which, with equal attention and effect^ 
 watches the Indo-British community, so long as 
 \t is comprised within known and narrow limits, 
 would be little competent to the cognizance of 
 numerous adventurers, scattered, unhearing and 
 unheard, over the vast area of the Indian Conti- 
 nent 5 nor is it to be assumed that the adventurers 
 in question would prove equally alive to the influ- 
 ence of public opinion, with the persons introduced 
 by the present system. But the greatest evil, by 
 far, would be the necessary supersession of that 
 slow policy of training and experience already 
 mentioned. At present, all the collectors of re- 
 Venue, commercial residents, and judges, in the 
 Service of the Company, are preferred to tlieif 
 respective stations, as was fully explained in the 
 first chapter of this work, in some joint proportion 
 
 N 2
 
 180 
 
 to merit and length of service. If the Company 
 were abolished, political or judicial situations, in- 
 deed, might still be conferred by the same rule ; 
 but the keeping these doors fast would avail little, 
 if the wide gate of commercial speculation were 
 unclosed. The ignorance and prejudices of Eng- 
 lishmen, once suffered to come into unrestrained 
 contact with the ignorance and prejudices of 
 Hindoos, some terrible detonation would probably 
 be the consequence. 
 
 These observations will be, if possible, still more 
 conclusive, should it be allowed that a freedom of 
 trade and access to India would, in any consider- 
 able degree, augment the number of British resi- 
 dents in that region. Yet this would be no very 
 extravagant postulate, but seems to have the sanc- 
 tion, by implication at least, of all parties. The 
 sanction of it by the advocates of free trade and 
 access is sufficiently involved in their perpetually 
 declared opinion, that the adoption of the sys^ 
 tern which they recommend would open a vast 
 number of new channels to the commercial skill 
 and enterprize of Great Britain. For it is ad- 
 mitted, that our trade in India cannot be con- 
 ducted without the presence of British merchants 
 or agents ; and it may reasonably be presumed, 
 that a vast increase of the work done, implies at 
 least a considerable increase in the number of 
 the labourers. On the other hand, it is noto- 
 rious that the position in question is maintain- 
 ed, though, generally speaking, on far different
 
 181 
 
 grounds, by most of those who oppose, eithe* 
 partially or entirely, the emancipation of the In- 
 dian trade. Without, therefore, any examination, 
 in this place, of the reasonings employed by these 
 conflicting parties, the common conclusion in 
 which those opposite reasonings appear to result, 
 may be taken for granted. But, though it is thus 
 referred to as confirmatory of the general argu- 
 ment here maintained, the reader will take notice 
 that, even independently of its truth and on the 
 supposition of its utter falsity, the argument re- 
 mains valid. 
 
 On the consequences which a free entrance of 
 Europeans into India would be likely, in its first 
 operation, to produce, there seems no occasion to 
 add more. It is a perfectly distinct question 
 whether, in a subsequent stage, such an event 
 would npt lead to the colonization of India ; and 
 this question must be discussed on such large 
 grounds as to comprehend another enquiry, how 
 far the same effect might be expected to result, 
 even from a partial relaxation of the restrictions at 
 present in force, on the residence and commerce 
 of Europeans in that country. 
 
 Although the idea of colonization in India has 
 been represented as altogether chimerical, yet, at 
 all events, its title to these epithets can be made 
 out only by a minute and detailed investigation, 
 and is not apparent on the surface. On the con- 
 trary, an impartial observer, casting a view on tire 
 subject for the first time, would rather be apt to 
 
 K 3
 
 182 
 
 ask, why the connexion between the two countries 
 had not already led to the effect in question? For 
 let us contemplate the case as it would strike such 
 a person. Inclusively of the troops sent by His 
 Majesty, more than thirty thousand British sub- 
 jects, of the full blood, reside in India ; several 
 thousands of them from early youth, some from an 
 age scarcely passed childhood. They enter into 
 a great variety of occupations and pursuits. They 
 gradually become habituated, and even attached, 
 to the climate, manners, and mode of living, 
 which belong to the country. Many form matri- 
 frlonial alliances with women of their own country, 
 and others enter into less reputable connexions 
 with the native races. The life which they lead 
 is, generally speaking, not destitute of most of the 
 comforts enjoyed by the parallel ranks of society 
 in England, and adds to these, many luxuries pe- 
 culiarly its own. Accordingly, with the option 
 always held forth to them of a return to their 
 native land, the instances are rare, in which any 
 of them so returns, till he has attained to ad- 
 vanced years ; andthefactis, that no greater number 
 than in the ratio of one to five return at all. Yet, 
 with some inconsiderable exception, scarcely one 
 *>f this large and fluctuating body is found to 
 settle or colonize in India. Scarcely one, that is, 
 (for of verbal disputes there is no end), is found 
 deliberately to fix in it his abode for life, and to 
 leave a family which shall occupy his place after 
 bis death. Scarcely one is found, at any point of
 
 183 
 
 his stay, to abandon the purpose, however feebly 
 he may entertain the hope, of revisiting, at some 
 kte period, the country from which he came, and 
 of there passing the evening of his days. 
 
 On every obvious principle of human nature, 
 this surely must be regarded as a singular circum- 
 stance; nor do those who look for the solution of 
 it in the admitted peculiarity of the system of 
 connexion established between the two countries, 
 and who maintain that, with the abrogation of that 
 system, it would cease to exist, seem to contend 
 for any position which is, on the face of it, pre- 
 posterous or absurd. That the matter may be 
 properly decided, however, it must be examined 
 with minuteness; and we shall do well to enquire, 
 not merely whether this state of things is to be 
 ascribed to the nature of our Indian system, but 
 also, how far it can be ascribed to that cause ex- 
 clusively. 
 
 To dwell, in this case, on that general attach- 
 ment of men to their native country, which ren- 
 ders them slow to expatriate themselves, or on 
 other similar topics, would be very little to the 
 purpose; because such impediments have existed 
 in almost every instance in which a colony has 
 been planted* The question is, respecting the 
 peculiar difficulties with which we have to struggle 
 in the case of India. And here it does not seem 
 to be denied that our present Indian policy throws 
 many obstacles in the way of colonization : only 
 these, as the author of the " Considerations" is 
 
 *4
 
 184 
 
 persuaded, are wholly superfluous. According to 
 lum, colonization is opposed by insurmountable 
 obstacles, totally independent of the Company's 
 system; on which supposition, of course, the re- 
 straints imposed on it by that system must be like a 
 line of works erected in defense of an inaccessible 
 precipice. These independent obstacles are, it 
 would seem, two. First, the persons who are na- 
 turally drawn from England to India by the ex- 
 isting circumstances of both countries, are not of 
 a class likely to colonize; and secondly, India is 
 too well peopled to afford any scope for projects 
 of colonization. 
 
 ^oPirst; we are told that, wherever colonization 
 has taken place, the lower orders of the community 
 have furnished the great majority of the settlers, 
 and that, in general, the colony has been erected 
 on the basis of agriculture. Those, it is said, on 
 the contrary, who quit England for India, are of 
 a higher condition in life, and leave their country 
 only as civil, military, or commercial adventurers, 
 intent on the acquisition of wealth, and without 
 any view of more than a temporary exile. 
 
 The two facts, that colonies have usually arisen 
 from agricultural beginnings, and that the bulk of 
 the adventurers has been furnished by the lower 
 classes of the community, apparently bear very 
 little relation to a subject like the present. The 
 author of the " Considerations," indeed, takes the 
 trouble to sketch the general history of colonial 
 establishments, ancient and modern, with the pur- 
 
 *
 
 185 
 
 pose of shewing that they have been composed 
 of elements very different from those out of which 
 any colony can rise in India. It seems idle to talk 
 of precedents, where no analogy of circumstance* 
 can be pretended. Have all his historic studies 
 introduced him to the acquaintance of any one 
 establishment, of a nature, and in a situation, at 
 all parallel to the Indo-British community? He 
 has, it appears, found no instance in which such a 
 community has become a colony; has he then 
 found any one, in which such a community has 
 Jailed to become a colony? Or what do we gain 
 by learning, that the experiment has never yet 
 been observed to turn out in a particular manner, 
 if the truth is, that it was never known to be tried 
 at all? 
 
 If, setting aside this nugatory reference to colo- 
 nial history, the argument be put simply thus, that 
 a body of men, of a station more or less above 
 that of the commonalty, and living in a foreign 
 country with a view of acquiring what is called a 
 fortune, are less likely to take permanent root in 
 such country, than if they had originally been so 
 many labourers or journeymen, had with difficulty 
 found the means of transporting themselves to the 
 land of their adventure, and had there been set*, 
 tied, as cultivators, on small allotments of ground, 
 : we have a proposition which is nearly identical, 
 but yet it will be found that the argument is very 
 Jittle mended. For let us, in the first place, re- 
 collect the facts of the case. These civil, military,
 
 186 
 
 dtid commercial adventurers, do not merely rush 
 through the country, amass in five or six years ft 
 great booty, and then retire with their gains: 
 they are men who, in very early youth, enter into 
 regular lines of business or employment, in which 
 success or advancement is the gradual and gene- 
 rally the slow result of patient assiduity. Their 
 lives, or by much the greater portion of them, are 
 passed in this foreign country, and in a style of 
 easy affluence which few of them can, on their 
 late return home, afford to maintain; and the 
 truth is, that they are then generally found to 
 look back with some regret on the abode of their 
 youth and vigorous maturity, and seem With diffi- 
 culty to become afresh domesticated in that of their 
 childhood. 
 
 Most of these persons belong to the mercantile 
 class ; and merchants, it is said, do not so easily 
 take root as agriculturists. A merchant is a citU 
 Men of the world. This consideration, however, 
 would prove too much; because, if merchants in 
 general be citizens of the world, it may not be easy 
 to explain, why a large body of them should for 
 years continue to be actuated by an indestructible 
 Spirit of citizenship towards a distant native coun- 
 try. A merchant, besides, often lays out his com- 
 mercial profits on land; and the experience of 
 every day may prove that he does not always defer 
 this operation tih^his final retirement from business, 
 but is very apt to conduct it gradually, by the ap- 
 propriation to it of a part of his income. In this
 
 is; 
 
 case, however, we should naturally expect him t4 
 become an agriculturist in the country where hii 
 mercantile concerns might lie. Perhaps, instead 
 of the proper merchant, we have a master-manu- 
 facturer; but a manufacturer, in addition to th$ 
 inducements by which, in common with the met* 
 chant, he may be attached to the spot where he 
 has carried on his affairs, has this peculiar one, that 
 he has probably sunk a good deal of capital on his 
 manufactory, and fixed capital is a sort of anchot 
 which binds men to a local habitation* Beyond 
 all this, it is most natural, both to the merchant* 
 the manufacturer, the agriculturist, and every 
 human being, that they should educate their chil- 
 dren for their own profession ; a proceeding which, 
 Of all others, has a tendency to root them with 
 their families in the place where they have la- 
 boured. 
 
 With reference to this state of things, let the 
 true nature of the question before us be consi- 
 dered. In spite of all the motives which have 
 been described as naturally counteracting, in the 
 breast of the Indo-British resident, the love of 
 home, let it be admitted that, on an average* the 
 love of home is apt to preponderate with persons 
 of that class; and if the question Were, why the 
 greater part of them, or why half of them, do 
 not finally settle in India ? this concession would 
 effectually decide it* But the question is, why at 
 least a minority do not settle there ? why, in ef- 
 fect, none settle there ? It is manifest that, if a
 
 188 
 
 tolerable minority of every detachment settled, - 
 if a residuum were always left, colonization 
 would be advancing as surely, though not as ra* 
 pidly, as if none ever returned. It is equally 
 manifest that, if the motives against settling were 
 only such as, with ordinary men, would prepon- 
 derate on the whole over the motives for it, then, 
 amidst the varieties of disposition and circum- 
 stances which must of course prevail in so great 
 # number, some would always be found, with 
 whom peculiarity of temper or situation would 
 turn the balance the other way. That is, a mi- 
 nority would always settle, and colonization, of * 
 course, take place. A preponderance, therefore, 
 of motives will not suffice in this case ; nor yet 
 a great preponderance of them. None but the 
 most powerful reasons, indeed, could thus con- 
 quer all the accidents of individual fortune or ca- 
 price, and uniformly and universally actuate a 
 large and a perpetually fluctuating multitude. 
 Neither their profession, however, nor their birth, 
 appears to constitute such a reason. 
 
 But the argument has been stated weakly. If 
 we leave out of view the British residents in In- 
 dia, who are the subjects of dispute, and take all 
 the other persons of tolerably good birth through* 
 out the world, who voluntarily, and for the sake 
 of acquiring a fortune, reside in a country foreign 
 to them from the age of sixteen to fifty, it may 
 surely be affirmed, with the utmost safety, tha 
 
 [\ -
 
 189 
 
 two in three of them become naturalized in the 
 Country where they so live, and bequeath it to 
 their descendants. 
 
 In another respect, also, the argument has been 
 stated weakly. It has been tacitly conceded that, 
 in the nature of things, the majority of the ad- 
 Venturers who resort to India, are of a certain 
 respectable rank in society, and that, unless 
 they are prevented by a premature death, there 
 is a moral certainty of their being in a condition 
 to return to England with a competent for- 
 tune. Such is now, on the whole, the case ; 
 but that such would be the case under a new 
 system, is far from evident. Even at present, 
 many persons of a subordinate rank go out, 
 either as tradesmen of various kinds, or to fill the 
 humbler stations in some of the various establish- 
 ments, civil and military ; but it has not been 
 proved that these are limited to their present num* 
 ber by any physical necessity. The voyage, it is 
 said, is expensive. The voyage, however, is not 
 above half as long again as the voyage to some 
 parts of America ; and this difference would plain- 
 ly have no effect on any but the very lowest class of 
 the people. Then, the wages of labour, we are 
 told, in Hindostan, are low; such is the fact, 
 but the profits of stock are proportionably high ; and 
 when the pages of the " Considerations," and of 
 most of the works published on the same side, over- 
 flow with vague anticipations respecting the vast 
 capabilities of commerce the mines of mercantile 
 enterprizc yet lying unexplored in the East, it
 
 190 
 
 ig too much to assume that, on the supposition 
 of an open avenue to those regions, a multi^ 
 tude of small retail-dealers and petty manufactu* 
 rers would not be attracted thither, in perfect 
 confidence that their little all was well bestowed 
 on a speculation which might, one day, restore 
 them to their country in the full splendour of 
 barbaric opulence, 
 
 The chance of colonization must, in some de- 
 gree, depend on the numbers of those who go 
 out, but, in a greater degree, on the rapidity with 
 which fortunes are made. Whatever lengthen^ 
 the residence of the adventurer, or whatever 
 throws doubt on his prospect of an ultimate re* 
 turn, must furnish him with a fresh inducement 
 to adopt, at once, the country where he is ac, 
 tually situated. But it is easy to shew that, in 
 the natural course of things, the average residence 
 of the Indo-Britons would be longer than under 
 the existing system; or, rather, it has already 
 been shewn. If, in the natural course of things, 
 a lower order of adventurers would rind their way 
 to India, and this in addition to the same number 
 as now go out, then the want of capital in the 
 case of some, and, at the same time, a general 
 reduction of mercantile profit, would prolong to 
 all the term of stay. Even though the average 
 length of stay were not prolonged, it must be 
 plain that, from the differences of fortune to 
 which individuals, acting for themselves, would 
 respectively be liable, the extremes of residence
 
 in 
 
 would vary much mere from that average than at 
 present, when the gains of so many of the resi- 
 dents are stated salaries, paid by the Company* 
 As there would be more of success, so, also, 
 more of failure ; inducing many, under a total 
 destitution of the means of revisiting their native 
 country, to lay their account with a final relin- 
 quishment of the expectation. And let a remark 
 be here remembered, which was before made, 
 that, if but a minority settle, colonization will 
 follow. According to this view of the matter, 
 even the ill success or the slow success of the ad- 
 venturers, must manifestly tend to bind them to 
 the country ; and, as it is self-evident that a free 
 rade, however it might answer on the whole, 
 would produce more numerous instances of indi- 
 vidual ill success than the present course of things ; 
 thus far, even if in no other light, it must tend to 
 colonization. 
 
 The writer of the " Considerations," however, 
 in defence of a contrary opinion, appeals to high 
 authority. " Of the classes which Lord Bacon 
 M enumerates as proper to found a plantation, 
 M there is hardly one that is in the least degree 
 M requisite in India, or who is by any accident 
 * carried thither." * 
 
 The name of Lord Baoon has been used in sup- 
 port of almost as many errors as his works were 
 designed to explode. With what justice it i* 
 
 * Fage 127.
 
 192 
 
 Quoted on the present occasion, will be seen by A 
 transcription of his own words in the passage evi- 
 dently alluded to by this writer. 
 
 " It is a 'shameful and unblessed thing, to take 
 u the scum of people and wicked condemned 
 " men to be the people with whom you plant : 
 " and not only so, but it spoileth the plantation ; 
 " for they will ever live like rogues, and not fall 
 t* to work, but be lazy, and do mischief, and 
 " spend victuals, and be quickly weary, and then 
 " certify over to their country to the discredit of 
 " the plantation. The people wherewith you 
 " plant ought to be gardeners, ploughmen, la- 
 " bourers, smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, 
 " fowlers, with some few apothecaries, surgeons, 
 " cooks, and bakers."* 
 
 Of the greater number of the classes here men- 
 tioned, it happens that many individuals have al- 
 ready found their way from England to India; 
 and those, as the writer of the " Considerations " 
 justly expresses it, not by any accident, for they 
 went by deliberate predetermination and design. 
 Nor would it be difficult to shew that, if a free- 
 ingress were offered, many more, from all the 
 classes in question, would follow the example. 
 But the truth is, that the reference to Lord Ba- 
 con is wholly out of place. In the Essay of Plan- 
 tations, the attention of the illustrious author is 
 exclusively directed to the settlement, under nu- 
 
 * Essay of Plantations.
 
 193 
 
 tional authority, of waste and ur. cleared countries, 
 by the allotment of the land among a number of 
 small cultivators. By the very supposition, he 
 was confined to the consideration of colonies 
 erected, and in the most rigid sense, on an agri- 
 cultural basis. His directions, therefore, apply 
 to a state of things, between which and the case 
 immediately under discussion no analogy can 
 plausibly be pretended. 
 
 But, farther, even in the limited view which 
 Lord Bacon takes of the subject, he will scarcely 
 be affirmed to imply that a colony can in no case 
 be successfully framed out of any other materials 
 than those which he has enumerated. That these 
 are the best constituents, he plainly maintains ; 
 not, that there are none besides. The very scheme 
 of colonizing with convicts, though he expressly 
 reprobates it as both unblessed and unsafe, he 
 could not intend to represent as absolutely im- 
 practicable and imaginary. If he really so in- 
 tended, it can only be observed that events 
 which, in his days at least, there was no oppor- 
 tunity of knowing, have sufficiently refuted his 
 opinion. 
 
 The author of the " Considerations," however, 
 seems not more confident in his appeal to Lord 
 Bacon, than to experience. It is not natural, he 
 gives us to understand, that adventurers, military, 
 civil, and commercial, like the British in India* 
 should be induced to settle in the country. " Ar- 
 " tificers are not a class on whom population most 
 
 o
 
 194 
 
 " depends." * " Sailors are not a race of men Iike- 
 * ly to establish themselves on the coasts of the 
 ** peninsula. How, then, is the colonization tor 
 " take place? The very idea is repugnant to all 
 " experience, and to the fixed order in which thea 
 * human species is diffused." t Even if it were? 
 true that history supplied no instance in which? 
 the classes of persons here described have become 
 colonists, this fact, as has repeatedly been inti-J 
 mated, would prove nothing against the supposi- 
 tion that such an event might take place in a 
 Country so singularly circumstanced as British In- 
 diar But, if it should turn out that history does 
 supply such instances, then it will be allowed that 
 we have, ex abundanti, an argument in favour of 
 that supposition.' The following extract, there^ 
 fore, from the History of the West-Indies by 
 Mr. Bryan Edwards, is submitted to the reader^ 
 as affording some illustrations of "the idea re* 
 6<r . pugnant to experience." 
 
 9 The British navy and army likewise contribute 
 * considerably to the augmentation o/* the white in- 
 " habitants. Individuals, in both these profes- 
 " sions, either from the inducement of agreeable 
 " connections, which it would be strange if many 
 " of them did not form in a long residence in 
 " these countries, or captivated by the new pros- 
 " pects which open to their contemplation, very 
 "frequently quit the business of arms, and the 
 
 ! I . 
 
 * Considerations, page 129. 
 
 f Ibid, page 12S.
 
 195 
 
 " dangers of a tempestuous element, and become 
 " peaceful citizens and industrious planters. Next 
 " to these may be reckoned the mercantile part of 
 " the inhabitants : such as factors, store-keepers, 
 " book-keepers, and clerks; who are followed by 
 " tradesmen, and artificers, of various kinds, suoh 
 " as mill-wrights, carpenters, masons, copper* 
 " smiths, and others ; most of whom, either through 
 " accident or necessity, after some years 9 residence; 
 w become adventurers in the soil." * 
 
 Our author, however, has discovered another 
 impediment to the colonization of India, which, 
 as he appears to think, would alone prove decisive. 
 It is apparently with reference to this second ob- 
 stacle, that he pronounces the idea of such coloni- 
 zation " repugnant to the fixed order in which the 
 " human species is diffused." India, it seems, is 
 an old and a full country. The plantations of the 
 various European states in America " were settle- 
 " ments in waste lands, or in thinly inhabited 
 " districts." " The state of agriculture, the pro- 
 " gress of manufactures, the abounding popula- 
 * lation of India, leave little or nothing for plan- 
 * c lation in any sense of the word." " The faci- 
 " lities to population which new countries present 
 " are not to be found in India ; the British popu- 
 " lation, therefore, must be kept up by new 
 " adventurers from home, in a degree, perhaps, 
 ** beyond what could be wished, for the solidity 
 
 o 2 
 * History of the West-Indies, Book ir. Chap. i.
 
 19 
 
 " and permanent defence of our Eastern empire."* 
 More to the same effect might be added from this 
 writer ; and his reasoning appears, on the whole, 
 to amount to this ; that a country, in which a nu- 
 merous population is already lodged, employed, 
 and fed, in which the soil is almost universally 
 appropriated and generally cultivated, and in 
 which the various channels of manufacturing la- 
 bour are mostly filled, cannot be expected, nor, in 
 the natural course of things, is able, to furnish 
 a considerable body of foreigners with habitation, 
 employment, and sustenance. 
 
 Allowing this argument all the credit which it 
 assumes, the pertinence of it is not very discern- 
 ible in the case of India, which, for a long series 
 of years, has systematically furnished with habita- 
 tion, employment, and sustenance, at least thirty 
 thousand British-born subjects. The question 
 here is not, how an opening shall be made in that 
 quarter for the introduction of a considerable 
 body of foreigners ; how a place shall be discovered 
 for them ; the difficulties which such enquiries 
 may be supposed to implicate, time has already 
 solved. An opening has not only been made, but 
 taken advantage of; a place not only has been 
 found, but is occupied; a vast establishment of 
 foreigners, an establishment, permanent in the 
 aggregate, though fleeting in its parts, is actually 
 attached to this old country. The only question 
 
 * Considerations, pp. 127, 128.
 
 197 
 
 is, why, where space and soil have been thus amply 
 found, the living stock will not take root? why 
 those who have gained a footing in the country, 
 will not form a colony ? a question, which is not 
 answered by saying that, where no footing can be 
 gained, no colony can be formed. 
 
 Can it, however, be seriously maintained that, 
 even burdened with this addition of foreigners, the 
 population of India amounts to a plethora? It 
 requires surely no very intimate acquaintance with 
 the statistics of that country, to be assured of the 
 contrary. Lord Cornwallis estimated, in the year 
 1789, that, of the province of Bengal, a province 
 among the most improved throughout the conti- 
 nent, one third part lay completely waste. The 
 position was at that time universally admitted, 
 and, notwithstanding the subsequent progress of 
 cultivation in the province under the auspices of 
 peace and a benignant administration, it pro- 
 bably is still no distant approximation to the truth. 
 At all events, that, in other countries of Hindostan, 
 countries but recently settled, perhaps recently 
 desolated by war, chasms too ample may be found 
 for the introduction of colonists, there cannot 
 possibly exist a doubt. Thus, even in the most 
 vulgar view of this subject, there wants not a con- 
 clusive argument against the doctrine, that India, 
 as a fully-peopled territory, will not admit of being 
 colonized. 
 
 It shall be confessed, however, that no stress is 
 Jiere intended to be laid on this argument. Tim 
 
 Q 3
 
 198 
 
 question shall be rested on grounds totally diffe- 
 rent - 9 and, during the course of the following ob- 
 servations, it may perhaps be made probable that, 
 in occupied countries, the influx of colonists from 
 abroad, is neither materially assisted by the thin- 
 ness, nor materially obstructed by the density of 
 the subsisting population. 
 
 In one sense, every country that is occupied 
 may be considered as fully peopled. Not only 
 are both the land, and that which it produces, 
 property; but the amount of the produce, rude 
 and manufactured, is all that, according to their 
 measure of civilization, the inhabitants can raise. 
 In this sense, the common maxim is true, that 
 every country is peopled up to its resources ; un- 
 derstanding by that term, not the physical capa- 
 bilities of the country, but simply its available 
 means under a given state of society. In 'this 
 sense, even a barbarous region, scantily inter- 
 spersed with savages, who hunt over it for their 
 subsistence, may be called full. It is full, not 
 only because it is occupied, but because- it main- 
 tains as great a sum of human life, as, under the 
 hunter system of management, if so paradoxical 
 an expression may be allowed, it is capable of 
 maintaining. 
 
 These observations, trite as they may be thought, 
 will serve to expose a fallacy, which the vulgar 
 notions respecting colonization may be suspected 
 of involving. When it is stated that colonies may 
 easily be planted in a thinly-inhabited country, a
 
 il99 
 
 confused notion appears to be entertained, that the 
 object is to be effected, by the unresisted occu* 
 jpation, either of some tract of land yet unpos- 
 sessed, or of some surplus produce yet unappro- 
 priated. The original occupants, it seems sup- 
 posed, having more territory than they turn to 
 advantage, can easily afford room to new settlers. 
 But the occupants of no country, not-even the 
 .hunters of a forest, can easily afford room to new 
 .settlers ; and, when they are either compelled or 
 persuaded to admit a foreign colony, the truth i?, 
 that they are to a certain extent displaced, -that 
 is, they are divested of a part of the soil which 
 previously supplied them with sustenance. Were 
 it conceivable that those hunters should be 
 crowded into the narrowest space physically ade- 
 quate to their support, without however -any dimi- 
 nution of that ignorance and that improvidence 
 which generally: disqualify savages for even a pa- 
 cific oontest with civilized intruders, still the faoi- 
 lity of planting a colony among them would be 
 \ery little impaired. The great cause of-- that 
 -facility is, not that the aborigines have ground to 
 spare, but that the simplicity of their nature, or .of 
 their habits, renders them an easy prey to en- 
 croachment. ; 
 
 A similar distinction applies to every case fuf- 
 Jiished by history (and there are not a few), in 
 which the original inhabitants of a country have 
 been gradually wormed out by an adventitious po- 
 pulation. In all these, the super-induced people 
 
 o 4>
 
 200 
 
 have prevailed, not so much because they could 
 find room, as because they could make it. They 
 had the advantage of the pre-occupants, in some 
 one or more of those qualifications which invest 
 man with power over others of his own species. 
 For the most part, their progress is resolvable into 
 the silent and successive assumptions, either of 
 refinement over comparative barbarism, or of 
 energy and hardihood over comparative feebleness 
 and effeminacy. The accounts of the ancient re* 
 publics fully exemplify both these milder forms of 
 colonial conquest; and, of the encroachments 
 of civilized knowledge and dexterity, on savage 
 rudeness and ignorance, several memorable in- 
 stances are afforded by the annals of the transat- 
 lantic establishments of modern Europe. 
 
 From these premises it appears, what is the true 
 criterion by which the practicability of coloniza- 
 tion, in any occupied country, may be estimated. 
 The pretended test, deduced from the proportion 
 between the density of the original population and 
 the resources of the country, is vague, even if it 
 were applicable, and nugatory or false, even if it 
 were determinate. The proportion between the 
 population and the resources of a country can 
 seldom be accurately known; and, where it is 
 adjusted with the utmost nicety, the possibility 
 still remains, that the original people may be dis- 
 placed. This problem can be correctly solved, 
 only, by a twofold comparison, between the origi- 
 nal people and the colonial speculators; a compa-
 
 201 
 
 rison, first, with regard to their respective profi- 
 ciency in the arts and habits of civilized life; and 
 next, as to their constitutional vigour, both bodily 
 and mental. That the establishment of an Indo- 
 British colony is, thus far, opposed by no pecu- 
 liar difficulties, the application of this double rule 
 will shew. 
 
 The Hindoos appear, many centuries ago, to 
 have attained a certain moderate pitch of refine- 
 ment, at which they have ever since been fixed as 
 by congelation. Still, their civil constitution pre- 
 sents the prospect of a solid and arranged, though 
 very incommodious structure. They have acquired 
 stationary habits of life ; and these, superadded to 
 what would seem a singular quiescence of native 
 character, certainly render them not very easily 
 separable, by fair means, from their paternal pos* 
 sessions. They expend, also, no slight attention 
 on the pursuits of husbandry; and, in some han* 
 dicraft employments, their expertness and inge- 
 nuity are such as can scarcely be rivalled by the 
 artisans even of modern Europe. But, when this is 
 said, all is said. That, on the whole, they equal 
 in civilization even the least improved among the 
 European nations south of the Arctic circle, there 
 seems no great reason to believe; and, undoubt* 
 edly they are, by a long interval, behind England. 
 To particularize the obvious defects of their polity 
 would be superfluous, even if it were not digres- 
 sive. In those departments, the consideration of 
 which more especially falls within the present en-
 
 202 
 
 fmiry, the departments of rural and commercial 
 economy, all competent testimonies concur in the 
 representation, that, though they possess a certain 
 practical aptitude, their course of procedure is 
 unscientific, and their mechanics little better than 
 barbarous. The abundance of their grain-harvests 
 is ascribed, far less to their proficiency in the 
 arts of tillage, than to the almost miraculous ferti- 
 lity of their soil r especially in the province of 
 Bengal. The exquisite fineness of some of . their 
 fabrics, particularly of their cloths, is owing to 
 what may less properly be called their manufactur- 
 ing than their manual skill, the result of a supple- 
 ness of lhwV unexampled among the inhabitants 
 of higher latitudes. 
 
 The general state I of agriculture andmanufac 
 tures . among the Hindoos is, perhaps, so amply 
 illustrated by no< author as by Mr. Colebrooke, in 
 his " Remarks on the Husbandry and Internal 
 f Commerce of Bengal;" and those who desire 
 an i acquaintance with the details of the subject, 
 would do well to study that interesting work. 
 Almost every page, however, of the volume bears 
 witness to the defectiveness of Hindoo civilization. 
 Almost every page tends to .establish the conclu- 
 sion that, under the care of European science and 
 intelligence, the produce, both raw and worked, 
 X>f the country, might be considerably increased. 
 On this ground, the author himself, it must be 
 owned, seems disposed to recommend a relaxation 
 of our present Indian economy, and the freer
 
 203 
 
 admission of European adventure into the lines of 
 Indian husbandry and commerce. Whether his' 
 statements do not rather lead, as to many deduc- 
 tions of a different, so to one of an exactly oppo- 
 site nature, the public must judges but, in the 
 mean time, his authority, with regard to facts, 
 may be relied on as very considerable. , -if.. 
 
 The inferiority, however, of the natives of 
 Hindostan in the useful arts, is, after all, not so 
 apparent as their inferiority in those faculties, 
 whether bodily or mental, which constitute what 
 may be termed personal efficiency. This circum- 
 stance has already been touched upon in the pre-? 
 sent chapter; but, taken in connexion with the 
 subject immediately under consideration, must be 
 made somewhat more prominent. ; ' T 
 
 The physical frame of a Hindoo is, indeed, dis- 
 tinguished by a pliancy which, as Mr. Orme ob- 
 serves,* enables him to work long .in his owft 
 degree of labour, and to endure without constraint 
 the contortion of postures that would cramp a na- 
 tive of more northerly regions. It is, besides, 
 habituated to the relaxing severity of a tropical 
 climate. Yet, in muscular vigour, or fitness for 
 irregular exertion, it will not bear the remotest 
 comparison with that of an European. The men- 
 tal distinction is yet greater. The- chief charac- 
 teristics of the Hindoo appear to be subtilty* in- 
 dustry, and patience; but these, unaccompanied 
 J \) .;'}' c . . .. : 1-. :..: 
 
 * Effeminacy of the Inhabitants of Hindostan.
 
 204 
 
 with those robust and masculine qualities, the 
 addition of which can alone render them respec- 
 table. His subtilty seldom aspires beyond the 
 conduct of low intrigue, and is totally unequal to 
 the more felicitous inventions and more masterly 
 combinations of European genius. His industry, 
 destitute of enterprize, seems to be inertness, not 
 perseverance. Even his endurance of suffering, 
 surprising as it is, hardly commands admiration ; 
 but is mixed with so much servility and cowardice, 
 that it may be accused of resembling, rather that 
 property of resistance by which matter is rendered 
 only the more manageable, than that strength and 
 elasticity of spirit to which, as we are told, 
 " nought is retentive." 
 
 Lest this description should be suspected of 
 exaggeration, it may be expedient to confirm it by 
 a citation or two from Mr. Orme. " Southward 
 
 * of Lahore," says that author, we see through- 
 
 * out India a race of men, whose make, physiog- 
 
 * nomy, and muscular strength, convey ideas of 
 
 * an effeminacy which surprises, when pursued 
 
 through such numbers of the species, and when 
 
 * compared with the form of the European who is 
 
 * making the observation. The sailor no sooner 
 ' lands on the coast, than nature dictates to him 
 
 the full result of this comparison : he brandishes 
 ' his stick in sport, and puts fifty Indians to 
 1 flight in a moment: confirmed in his contempt 
 1 of a pusillanimity and an incapacity of resist- 
 
 * ance, suggested to him by their physiognomy
 
 205 
 
 u and form, it is well if he recollects that the poor 
 " Indian is still a man. The muscular strength is 
 u still less than might be expected from the ap- 
 *' pearance of the texture of his frame. Two En- 
 " glish sawyers have performed in one day the 
 " work of thirty-two Indians: allowances made for 
 " the difference of dexterity, and the advantage of 
 " European instruments, the disparity is still very 
 *' great j and would have been more, had the 
 " Indian been obliged to have worked with the 
 " instrument of the European, as he would scarcely 
 " have been able to have wielded it."* In another 
 work, the same author, speaking of the Mussul- 
 mans of India, has this remark : " Being dispersed 
 " throughout the vast extent of this empire, their 
 " numbers appear so very small, when compared to 
 " that of the Gentoos, who are all the original 
 " people of the country, that nothing but an 
 " effeminacy and resignation of spirit, not to be 
 " paralleled in the world, could make it conceiv- 
 *' able how these can remain subjected to masters 
 " whom they outnumber ten to one."t 
 
 Such are the natives of Hindostan; with the 
 exception, indeed, both of the inhabitants of some 
 of the mountains that cross that continent, and 
 also of the resident Mahomedans: but these ex- 
 ceptions are inconsiderable. That the pre-occu- 
 pancy of the country by the race which has been 
 
 * Effeminacy of the Inhabitants of Hindostan. 
 
 f Government and People of Hiodostan, Book II. Ch. I.
 
 206 
 
 described should present any effectual barrier to 
 the entrance of an European colony, it is difficult 
 to conceive. Can it, for a moment, be doubted, 
 that a British capitalist, devoting to any line of 
 employment whatever, in Bengal, the knowledge 
 and the spirit characteristic of his country, united 
 with extensive local experience, would prevail 
 over the utmost rivalry of Hindoo competitors? or, 
 if he rather chose to embark in agricultural specu- 
 lation, is the event in any degree problematical? 
 If these questions must be answered in the nega- 
 tive, then it yet remains to be explained, why, of 
 the numerous British population domesticated in 
 the East- Indies, no part becomes a colony. That, 
 on every known principle of human nature, some 
 members of that body must feel an inclination to 
 Colonize, has before been shewn ; and it has now 
 been shewn, that all or most have the opportunity. 
 In the ordinary course of things, we should have 
 expected that, throughout the continent, the as- 
 cendancy of European mind would insensibly, more 
 and more, appropriate all the conspicuous stations: 
 it is not meant in power, for these they have al- 
 ready gained by their political pre-eminence; but* 
 besides these, in wealth, property, and local inflUy 
 ence. We should have expected, at the same 
 time, that the natives would universally be settling* 
 down into those posts of obscure drudgery, m 
 which nothing more was required than an adroit- 
 ness purely mechanical, a convenient obsequious-
 
 207 
 
 ness, a constitutional tolerance of the climate, or 
 a merely mean and servile diligence. 
 
 A celebrated philosopher has amused himself 
 with the imagination, that there were " a species 
 of creatures intermingled with men, which, 
 * though rational, were possessed of such inferior 
 " strength, both of body and mind, that they were 
 " incapable of all resistance, and could never/ 
 
 * upon the highest provocation, make us feel the 
 " effects of their resentment." With respect to 
 this feigned race of beings, he makes, among 1 
 others, the following observation ; " Our inter- 
 ' course With them could not be called society* 
 " which supposes a degree of equality ; but abso* 
 " lute command on the one side, and servile obedience 
 " on the other."* To pretend that the inter- 
 mingled races in Hindostan realize this fictitious 
 case, would be to deal in very extravagant carica- 
 ture ; but neither is such an exact resemblance 
 between the two cases at all requisite to the argu^ 
 ment. It is enough to remark that, in the specu- 
 lative opinion of a very sagacious observer of 
 human nature, if a close intercourse subsists 
 between two races widely distinct from each 
 other, the scale of precedency will, in every single 
 instance, inevitably be regulated by that of pliyp 
 sical and mental superiority. "Absolute com* 
 mand,", however, draws after it property ; and, in 
 
 * Hume's Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, Sect, iii.
 
 20ff 
 
 this state of things, the masters, having the one* 
 will not be long in gaining hold of the other. 
 
 Those, then, who, on the ground that India has 
 its full complement of inhabitants, deny the possi- 
 bility of establishing an Indo-British colony, may 
 be charged with overlooking, as a critic in the 
 Edinburgh Review truly remarks, " the superior 
 *' energy of the European character, and that 
 *' surest magic, the ascendancy of strong minds 
 " over weak ones." * It is observed in another 
 part of this popular journal, and the observation 
 deserves attention, as proceeding from an author 
 who, if either common fame, or the internal evi- 
 dence of his composition, may be trusted, possesses 
 a considerable local acquaintance with his subject, 
 that, but for the prohibition imposed on all 
 Europeans, of purchasing or farming land in India, 
 " one-half of the lands of Bengal would, ere this, 
 " have become the property of Englishmen, and 
 " the natives would have been strangers on their 
 " own soil."t The truth is, that the shades of 
 greater or less strength, which discriminate the 
 national characters of the diversified population of 
 Europe, present no parallel to the great inequality 
 which separates all these from that of the Hindoos* 
 This consideration, alone, might afford a suffi- 
 ciently conclusive answer, even were there not 
 many others, to a sufficiently simple question 
 
 * Edinburgh Review, No. XXII. t Ibid. No, XIX.
 
 209 
 
 which has been raised on the subject, namely, 
 why the artificers, agents, brokers, clerks, and 
 other persons of a similar description, who may 
 resort to India, should be more likely to form a 
 colony, than the Englishmen who, for commercial 
 purposes, repair to Bourdeaux, Leghorn, or Cadiz? 
 When we contend, indeed, that " the abounding 
 '* population of India" must operate as a decisive 
 exclusion to English colonists, it is nearly as if we 
 should assert the impracticability of pouring mer- 
 cury into a vessel full of water. 
 
 The general authority of Dr. Adam Smith is 
 not disparaged by intimating that it cannot be re- 
 garded as conclusive on a point involving the 
 peculiarities of the Hindoo character. Those, 
 however, who think otherwise, should know that 
 Dr. Smith not only implies distinctly the feasi- 
 bility of colonization in India, but apparently 
 refers to the displacing of the natives as to the 
 mode in which this event might be brought about, 
 if not, indeed, as to a condition on which it de- 
 pended. " In Africa and the East-Indies, there- 
 ** fore, (he observes) it was more difficult to dis-~ 
 " place the natives, and to extend the European 
 * plantations over the greater part of the lands of 
 " the original inhabitants. The genius of exclu- 
 " sive companies, besides, is unfavourable, it has 
 " already been observed, to the growth of neyf 
 " colonies, and has, probably, been the principal 
 " cause of the little progress which they have 
 " made in the East-Indies." From these words it 
 
 r
 
 210 
 
 seems not unfair to elicit the plain proposition 
 that, in the opinion of Dr. Smith, the diffi- 
 culty of supplanting the natives of Hindostan, 
 though it has, in some degree, concurred to pre- 
 vent the colonization of that country from Europe, 
 yet, of itself, would by no means have proved an 
 unconquerable hindrance. 
 
 The truth is, that a certain proportion of the 
 natives has already been supplanted; otherwise, 
 the British establishment, now systematically 
 existent in the country, could have found no 
 place. To a superficial observer, if, on the one 
 hand, it may seem wonderful that the displacing 
 thus already effected should not instantly be fol- 
 lowed by colonization, it must, on the other, be 
 equally surprising that it should not be followed 
 by a farther displacing, undertaken for the very 
 purpose of colonization. Some, it might natu- 
 rally be conjectured, would finally content them- 
 selves with the situations which they had found ; 
 others, either less satisfied, or recent from Eu- 
 rope and yet unprovided, would seek out new si- 
 tuations in the midst of the natives, and ultimate- 
 ly at their expense. Certainly, none of these sup- 
 positions, considered in itself, involves the smal- 
 lest difficulty. 
 
 After all that has been said, could any doubts 
 still remain respecting the question under discus- 
 sion, there is yet behind an argument, which 
 might singly set the whole of it at rest; the 
 evidence of fact. The most thickly inhabited
 
 2Ii 
 
 parts of India lime -actually -found room for colo- 
 nies of foreigners, and those, too, mercantile co- 
 lonies. Of this assertion, the Moorish or Tartar 
 population, which is now naturalized in Hindos- 
 tan, and which, as Orme says, " if collected to- 
 " gether, would form a very populous nation," 
 might alone furnish a decisive instance. Unquesr 
 tionably, the early settlers of this race were not 
 so properly colonists as conquerors, who cleared 
 out to themselves a dwelling-place by the sharp- 
 ness of their swords ; but it is perfectly notorious 
 that, subsequently to those original irruptions, a 
 pacific influx of adventurers, of the same origin, 
 and many of them engaged in the pursuits of 
 commerce, has constantly set towards the same 
 quarter, and has, in some way or other, contrived 
 to dispose of itself. The "settlement of the Arabs, 
 both on the Malabar coast and on the shores of 
 the Indian Archipelago, supply another example 
 equally strong. Should any exception, however, 
 be taken to these precedents, there can be none 
 to that of the descendants of the Portuguese, 
 who are at this moment subsisting in Hindostan. 
 Debased as this order of persons now is, it is nu- 
 merous, and, whatever conclusions speculative 
 reasoning may establish, presents to us the spec- 
 tacle of an actual Indo-European colony, formed 
 on a mercantile basis ; that is, of a monster winch, 
 we are told, can never exist. The Portuguese 
 settlement at Goa, observes Dr. Smith, though 
 much depressed by superstition and every sort of 
 
 p 2
 
 212 
 
 dad government, yet hears some faint resemblance to 
 the colonies of America, Had this colony been 
 founded subsequently to the promulgation of the 
 arguments which have been brought to prove that 
 no such establishment can take place, it must 
 surely have been allowed that all those reasonings 
 had received a decisive practical refutation. As 
 matters are, the only difference is, that the plan- 
 tation of the colony preceded the promulgation of 
 the arguments, and that, therefore, in addition 
 to the lessons otherwise deducible from the fact, 
 it leaves us to admire the mingled ignorance and 
 temerity of those who could preremptorily pro- 
 nounce that to be impossible, which was univer- 
 sally known to have happened- no >< 
 
 Of the extraordinary fact, therefore, that the 
 systematic residence, in India, of a large body of 
 the natives of Great-Britain^ has not resulted in 
 a colonial settlement, some better account must 
 be given than can be supplied by a reference 
 merely to the general circumstances of the two 
 countries, or to the general nature of the inter- 
 course which they maintain ; nor was it without 
 reason that Dr. Smith sought for an explanation 
 of the phenomenon in the peculiarities of the 
 mode of connexion established between them. 
 The principal cause of it he states to be, "the 
 " genius of an exclusive company j" and, sus- 
 ) pending for the present all notice of the censure 
 apparently implied in the expression, and avoid- 
 ing here all discussion respecting the general cha^
 
 213 
 
 racter of exclusive companies, the genius of our 
 East-Indian system may probably, with safety, be 
 pronounced to be not only the principal, but the 
 sole cause of it. An analysis of the system in 
 this particular point of view, will, it is hoped, set 
 the matter in a clear light. 
 
 The obstacles which the genius of this system 
 offers to colonization, may perhaps be classed un- 
 der six different heads. 
 
 First ; No passage to India is allowed on board 
 the ships of the Company, without the Company's 
 special license ; and their licenses are, for the 
 most part, exclusively conferred on their own ser- 
 vants, on a limited number of free merchants and 
 free marine?'s t on a few members of the learned 
 professions, and on those who may be immediately 
 attached to the household of any of these per- 
 sons. By means of foreign vessels, indeed, a 
 British subject may repair to India, but, if found 
 there without a license, he is liable instantly to be 
 sent home ; and, although this regulation is not 
 enforced with unrelenting rigour, yet it cannot be 
 doubted that the twofold restriction thus imposed, 
 first on an ingress into the country, and then on 
 a residence in it, tends to exclude from it nume- 
 rous adventurers who might otherwise be impelled 
 thither by ardent hopes, a shattered fortune, or a 
 broken character. The resort, however, to India, 
 of such adventurers would increase the chance of 
 colonization ; first, because, in some degree, that 
 chance must be as the number of the British resi- 
 
 p 3
 
 214 
 
 r < tT 
 
 cients in that country ; and next, because the per- 
 sons in question, from their habits or circum- 
 stances, might, more easily than the majority of 
 those who now go out, be induced to forget or 
 renounce their native land. 
 
 Secondly; It is sufficient barely to mention, 
 what has already been alluded to, the exclusion 
 of all British subjects in Hindostan from the pos- 
 session or cultivation of land ; a provision, ob- 
 viously, directly, and powerfully, hostile to colo- 
 nization. This celebrated rule was not, as has 
 been supposed, established by an act of parlia- 
 ment ; nor does it any where exist in the shape of 
 a formal ordinance, although it is partly recog- 
 nized in the regulation which prohibits collectors 
 of revenue from, farming lands to Europeans, and 
 from accepting of an European as a security for a 
 farmer. The rule, however, was, upwards of for- 
 ty years ago, laid down in the orders of the Com- 
 pany to their governments abroad ; and, although 
 since that period modifications of it have occa- 
 sionally been permitted in particular instances, it, 
 
 on the whole, still continues in full force and au- 
 
 - * torrriijo- '\i tit 
 
 Thirdly ; We may place in a distinct class, a 
 joint effect indirectly but inevitably produced by 
 the two circumstances already enumerated, the 
 one, the restriction of all the most lucrative and 
 respectable lines of employment in India to cer- 
 tain persons appointed or licensed by the Compa- 
 ny, the other, the incapacity of all British sub-
 
 215 
 
 jects to hold or farm land. In consequence of this 
 double limitation, a British resident there is en- 
 tirely precluded from bequeathing, as it were, to 
 his children, his own profession and place in so- 
 ciety, and, in a great measure, even from pro- 
 viding for them in the country. On the supposi- 
 tion that they are to be disposed of in England, it 
 is necessary, not only that they should be early 
 sent thither, but that he should use every method 
 to maintain a strong English interest and connex- 
 ion 5 for this purpose, even his personal presence 
 may probably be requisite, and, if he would over- 
 see the launch of his family into life, it is indis- 
 pensable. Scarcely less necessary are both his in- 
 terest and his presence, even if he is to procure 
 for his children situations in India, because the 
 appointments are given in England, and those 
 who are on the spot to make the claim have an 
 advantage. Thus all his family feelings center in 
 England ; to England he sends his children at a 
 very tender age ; and to England he generally 
 hastens himself, so soon as, for his rank, he has 
 acquired a comfortable sufficiency. Colonization 
 in this case cannot easily come, to pass, one of the 
 main roots of it being, in every successive gene* 
 ration, broken off. The grand link between the 
 love of self and the love of the community, *the 
 link of the domestic affections, attaches such- a 
 man not to India but to England ; and he can 
 hardly be said even to, live in the land of his resi- 
 dence, while the; second and younger life which 
 
 p 4
 
 216 
 
 he enjoys in his descendants is bound up in a 
 distant country. 
 
 v Fourthly ; The Company inflexibly exclude from 
 their regular service, both civil and military, the 
 mixed offspring of Indian and European parents. 
 Had they not early adopted and steadily adhered 
 to this resolution, the probability certainly is that 
 a large proportion of their servants would long 
 since have been of the class in question. Whe- 
 ther this circumstance would, in its direct effect, 
 have tended to colonization, may perhaps admit 
 of some doubt ; as it would be in nature for per- 
 sons of the description mentioned, rather to affect 
 English affinities, and to claim for themselves the 
 ^country of their nobler descent. Indirectly, 
 however, it would be the obvious tendency of 
 such a state of things, by accrediting the sort of 
 connexion in which the mixed race originates, 
 and by proportionably reducing the value of al- 
 liances purely European, to loosen one among 
 the holds by which Englishmen in the East are 
 attached to Europe. And the same consequences, 
 it may be conjectured, would follow, if, by the 
 abolition of the Company, or by any other means 
 whatever, all the prizes in British India, whether 
 of fortune, or of place, were laid open indiscrimi- 
 nately to candidates both of the pure and of the 
 mixed blood. df ei fioii&bs nl 
 
 Fifthly; By the statute of the 21st George the 
 Third, cap. 65, it is not lawful for any British 
 subject, in the service of the United Company, or
 
 217 
 
 licensed by them to proceed to India, " to reside 
 * in any other place in India than in one of the 
 " principal settlements belonging to the said Unit 
 " ed Company, or within ten miles of such prin- 
 " cipal settlement, without the special license of 
 " the said United Company, or of the President 
 " or Governor and Council of such principal set- 
 ' tlement, in writing first had and obtained;" 
 nor to reside beyond the assigned limits for any 
 longer time than shall be specified in the licenses 
 thus procured. Were British subjects suffered to 
 disperse themselves at pleasure throughout the 
 vast extent of India, a separation from the so- 
 ciety of their countrymen might have the effect 
 of altogether weaning them from English habits 
 and recollections ; and, at the same time, re- 
 moteness from the seat of government would 
 enable them to evade without difficulty such of 
 the regulations inimical to colonization as require 
 to be enforced by the local authorities. In both 
 ways, therefore, many of them might insensibly 
 be led to settle themselves in the country ; and 
 this propensity, in both ways, the legislative 
 clause which has been cited tends to counteract, 
 by collecting them together in large masses, and 
 by keeping these masses perpetually under the eye 
 of the government. 
 
 Sixthly; In addition to the preventives that 
 have been enumerated, we may perhaps class to- 
 gether in one division several rules of cautious 
 policy framed and followed by the Company, with
 
 218 
 
 an express view to the repression of a colonizing 
 spirit among the British inhabitants of India, but 
 which, in this place, it is not necessary minutely 
 to, detail. Of this description are, the indisposi- 
 tion which the Company have often shewn to the 
 systematic admission of private ships built in In- 
 dia, into the Indian trade with Europe ; the jea- 
 lousy, with which they have viewed what is called 
 the private or privilege trade / their confessed ob- 
 jection against the principle of exporting British 
 capital to India j with other particulars of a like 
 nature. These subjects it is not intended here to 
 discuss. The only remark which shall be offered 
 on them is, that though it may have been doubted 
 whether the Company have not evinced an exces- 
 sive prudence in these respects, that prudence has, 
 beyond all doubt, operated in direct opposition to 
 colonization. Their precautions were possibly 
 superfluous, but the tendency of them at least is 
 
 unquestionable. rifohfc' o.o/l 
 
 Such are the provisions and regulations by 
 which it would seem that, under the present sys- 
 tem of Indian policy, the British residents in the 
 ISast.are prevented from there striking root ; and, 
 when it is considered that these rules exist,, not on 
 parchment merely, but in actual authority and exer- 
 cise, it probably will not appear strange that they 
 fully produce the effect described. But whether 
 any thing short of these would, fully produce the 
 same effect, is a question of very difficult determi- 
 nation. On such, questions, nothing like demon-
 
 219 
 
 stration is to be obtained ; reason, however, and 
 observation would perhaps lead us to a medium 
 amidst the extravagant opinions held by the op- 
 ponents of the present system ; of whom, as was 
 before observed, some contend that the coloniza. 
 tion of India is actually in progress, notwithstand- 
 ing all the difficulties opposed to it, and others 
 that it could never take place, even were all those 
 difficulties removed. In fact, it is not taking 
 place, and, as long as the present system con- 
 tinues unimpaired, hardly can do so; yet faint 
 beginnings of it may here and there be discover- 
 ed, and the tendency to it must, on all general 
 principles, be so strong, that, in the event of 
 any material relaxation of the present system, 
 those beginnings would probably soon assume a 
 decisive shape. 
 
 It has been intimated, however, that, as long 
 as the two regulations remain in force together, 
 by the one of which British subjects are forbidden, 
 without the special permission of government, to 
 exceed the distance of ten miles from the presi- 
 dencies, and by the other are prevented from ac- 
 quiring any interest in land, so long the barrier 
 against colonization is complete. On this topic, 
 the following observations extracted from an un- 
 published tract of which the author has been al- 
 lowed to avail himself, appear equally just. and r 
 forcible. " Provisions more wise and sanitary- 
 " were never made, and, so long as individual* 
 " remain within the bounds of contxoul, those pro*
 
 220 
 
 *' visions may effectually prevent the evils of colo- 
 P nization. But of what avail is the law against a 
 P numerous, a wealthy, and an enterprizing body? 
 " The English statute-book is loaded with acts of 
 f* parliament to prevent alienations to the clergy in 
 " mortmain.^ Yet, at those periods when the 
 " clergy were possessed of great influence and 
 " power, the efforts of the legislature were in vain 
 " employed to withhold the real property of the 
 ?* kingdom from the grasp of ecclesiastical domi- 
 " nion. Each new provision only gave rise to 
 " some new device for its evasion ; and, under va- 
 " rious pretexts, the acquisitions of the clergy 
 " continued to increase, until the reformation, by 
 " destroying their power, brought them under the 
 " controul of the law. How little respect the 
 " merchants in India are disposed to pay to legal 
 " obligations, and with what impunity the viola- 
 tion of them is attended, has been strikingly 
 " exemplified in the clandestine trade. Will they 
 " be less scrupulous of resorting to shifts for 
 evading the; spirit of the law, than were for- 
 9 merly the clergy of England ?" 
 
 On the other hand, we have already seen that, 
 in the judgment of a very intelligent and well- 
 informed author, the simply permitting Europeans 
 to purchase and farm land in India, all other 
 ihings remaining the same, would of itself, in no 
 long time, transfer a great part of the property of 
 the soil to British hands ; a state of things, it will 
 be granted, much akin to colonization even in the
 
 221 
 
 narrowest sense of the term. The opinion seerris 
 sufficiently probable ; and, perhaps, the removal of 
 any one of the restrictions which have been de- 
 tailed, might by another route terminate in the 
 same result. For it may be laid down as an axiom, 
 that whatever facilitates the formation of a Jiere- 
 ditary European interest in Hindostan, must also, 
 and in the same degree, increase the gravitation, 
 already powerful, of the European residents to- 
 wards the colonial system. In applying this prin- 
 ciple to the various parts, already enumerated, of 
 the restrictive policy of the Company, many inte- 
 resting points of enquiry might be started ; but it 
 will be expedient that these should be adjourned, 
 to make room for another, the decision of which 
 may perhaps, in effect, dispose of them all. The 
 great question, Is then the colonization of India an 
 evil? must long since have occurred to the reader; 
 and it is plain that the answer to this question may 
 render superfluous any enquiry into the less or the 
 more of restriction required, to preclude that 
 event from taking place. It may turn out that 
 the event is one, highly desirable; and, in that 
 case, to talk of taking precautions against it, is to 
 commit an absurdity in terms. It may prove, on 
 the other hand, that the event is such as cannot be 
 too earnestly deprecated; and nothing, in that 
 case, could be less wise, than to pare down our 
 precautions to the minimum that might appear 
 effectual. 
 The quietest mode in which we can imagine the
 
 222 
 
 colonization of India to begin is, without sup- 
 posing any new and extraordinary influx of Euro- 
 peans, to imagine that every individual, already 
 resident in the country, should be allowed to take 
 root in his actual position ; that is, to train up his 
 children in his own profession or some other local 
 employment of a mercantile nature. It certainly 
 would not commence exclusively, perhaps not 
 even principally in this way, if full liberty were 
 given; but, if allowed no other opportunity than 
 'this, it would rather begin thus than not at all. 
 In the case supposed, the transition would be 
 made without any violent shock ; but it is mani- 
 fest that a thriving community like this could not 
 fail to increase in number. Even thus alone, it 
 would soon be found to encroach on the natives; 
 and the encroachment, when it commenced, might 
 be expected to proceed. Indeed, in whatever 
 manner we suppose the colony to set out, it will 
 probably go on expanding, so long as the charac- 
 ter of the colonists does not sensibly degenerate. 
 The more the resources of the country fall into 
 their hands, the better will they be qualified to win 
 what they have not yet appropriated. The advan- 
 tage already achieved, like strong positions gained 
 in a hostile country, will assist their farther ad- 
 vancement. 
 
 When it is considered that the system of coloni- 
 zation must thus result in the progressive extrusion 
 of the natives from their hereditary possessions, 
 the character of that system can no longer be
 
 223 
 
 dubious. Few things, indeed, are more surpris- 
 ing than to find it urged, or at least implied, by 
 Dr. Smith, as a matter of crimination against the 
 genius of exclusive companies, that, but for them, 
 the Indian population would ere this have been 
 displaced, and the European plantations extended 
 over the greater part of the lands of the original 
 inhabitants. For so much surely is conveyed in 
 the following sentence: " In Africa and the East- 
 " Indies, therefore, it was more difficult to dis- 
 " place the natives, and to extend the European 
 " plantations over the greater part of the lands of 
 " the original inhabitants. The genius of exclu- 
 " sive companies, besides, is unfavourable, it has 
 " already been observed, to the growth of new 
 ,f colonies, and has probably been the principal 
 " cause of the little progress which they have 
 " made in the East-Indies."* If colonization 
 supposes the displacing of the natives, and if ex- 
 clusive companies be reprehensible as the princi- 
 pal obstacle to colonization, it follows that they 
 are reprehensible as the principal obstacle to the 
 displacing of the natives. 
 
 The same sentiment may, without violence of 
 construction, be extracted from the account which 
 Dr. Smith gives of the Dutch settlement at the 
 Cape of Good Hope. " The Dutch settlements 
 " at the Cape of Good Hope and at Batavia, are 
 " at present the most considerable colonies which 
 
 * Book IV. Chap. vii. Part 3.
 
 224 
 
 " the Europeans have established, either in Africa 
 " or in the East-Indies, and both are peculiarly 
 *' fortunate in their situation. The Cape of Good 
 " Hope was inhabited by a race of people almost 
 " as barbarous, and quite as incapable of defend- 
 " ing themselves, as the natives of America. It 
 is besides the half-way house, if we may say so, 
 " between Europe and the East-Indies, at which 
 " almost every European ship makes some stay, 
 " both in going and returning. The supplying of 
 " those ships with every sort of fresh provisions, 
 " with fruit, and sometimes with wine, affords 
 " alone a very extensive market for the surplus 
 " produce of the colonists."* After describing 
 the parallel advantage possessed by Batavia, as 
 being the touching place between India and China, 
 and the center of the Indian country-trade, the 
 author thus proceeds. " Such advantageous situ- 
 ." ations have enabled those two colonies to sur- 
 " mount all the obstacles which the oppressive 
 " genius of an exclusive company may have occa- 
 " sionally opposed to their growth." 
 
 But, if exemption from the oppressive tutelage 
 of an exclusive company only enables the new 
 settlers in a country to oppress the original inha- 
 bitants, it may be a question, why the system of 
 exclusive companies, which thus protects those 
 inhabitants, whether designedly or not, from the 
 most abominable injustice, should be stigmatized 
 
 [) oJ 
 *;Book IV. Chap. vii. Part 2. >jj( k'Q tQ
 
 225 
 
 as deserving only the hatred or contempt of man- 
 kind. Nothing surely but prejudice could have 
 rendered Dr. Smith unaware of the compliment 
 on exclusive companies, obviously implied in his 
 own statement. His humanity is too clearly dis- 
 coverable in various parts of his writings, to be 
 called into doubt > and, indeed, he elsewhere re- 
 probates the Dutch India Company for their cruel 
 policy in reducing, " by different acts of oppres- 
 sion,' ' the population of the Moluccas. But he 
 could not endure the genius of exclusive com- 
 panies, whether employed in the work of destruc- 
 tion, or in that of preservation. 
 
 Were it indeed required to name the principal 
 characteristics of the present Indian system, the 
 narrowest selection that could be made of them 
 would undoubtedly include this quality, that it 
 saves the natives from being displaced, and, so far 
 only as for this end is indispensably necessary, 
 oppresses (if the word must be used) the British 
 residents. That the protection which it affords to 
 the supine passiveness of the native people against 
 the domineering activity of European adventurers, 
 is not the accidental but the intended, and, so to 
 speak, studied effect of the system, the details 
 which have been already given on the subject in 
 this chapter, incontestably prove. It may from 
 those details be seen that energies which, perhaps, 
 under proper direction, might almost have sufficed 
 to displace a considerable part of the population 
 q Gangetic Hindustan, or to convert hall' the 
 
 4
 
 226 
 
 empire of China Into a " numerous and thriving" 
 British colony, have been employed on a purpose 
 diametrically opposite; in erecting, throughout 
 the dominions of the Company, barriers against 
 that prodigious " wealth and greatness," to which, 
 as Dr. Smith observes, a new colony may grow up 
 by the simple event of " the natives easily giving 
 ** place to new settlers."* Such, beyond con- 
 troversy, is the genius of the established system ; 
 and it seems little less apparent that, were this 
 system superseded, a very different genius would 
 be likely to animate its successor. 
 
 Without any farther reference to the manner in 
 which an European colony might be expected to 
 grow up, it will now be proper to consider what 
 effects would follow, on the situation of the natives, 
 after the colonial establishment should have been 
 fully formed. Perhaps, indeed, the two subjects 
 are more nearly connected than may at first sight 
 appear ; but it is not necessary to mingle then! 
 together. 
 
 Nothmg can be anticipated with more certainty 
 respecting an European colony in India, than that, 
 for a very long course of time at least, it would 
 continue divided by the strongest marks of dis- 
 tinction from the original inhabitants. 
 
 Of that portion of the colonists, whose blood 
 should be purely European, whether we suppose 
 them to be of creole or of European birth, it is 
 
 * Book IV. Chap. vu. Fart2.
 
 22f 
 
 almost needless to remark this circumstance. The 
 difference, in this case, arising from diversity of 
 colour, genius, manners, opinions, and institutions, 
 must be confirmed by the essential incompatibility 
 between political authority and political subjection, 
 and by the influence, on both sides, of hereditary 
 feelings and recollections which neither would re- 
 nounce and which could not be reconciled. The 
 purely European and the purely Indian population, 
 therefore, must ever, or at least for centuries, re- 
 main, as now, 
 
 by Nature's hand disjoin'd, 
 
 '* Gods, fates, oppos'd, but more the adverse mind." 
 
 We must, however, presume the existence of a 
 numerous mixed order j and it may be supposed 
 that, by means of intermediate varieties, the Eu- 
 ropean race would shade off, not in colour only, 
 but in all other points of difference, into the 
 Indian, so far as to form w T ith it one entire aggre- 
 gate. This supposition is wholly improbable. It 
 would be a tedious as well as an unprofitable ex 
 ercise of the imagination, to be busying ourselves 
 with minute conjectures what would be the political 
 arrangement of the Indo-European colony ; how 
 far, that is, there would be established, as in the 
 American colonies, gradations of privilege corres- 
 ponding with the gradations of race. But, in ge- 
 neral, we^may assume it as an unquestionable truth, 
 that, throughout all those gradations of race and 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 
 
 privilege, there would be a prevailing disposition 
 to cling by the European rather than the Indian 
 lineage. The ground of this idea is, not so much 
 that the really nobler descent would naturally be 
 preferred, as that the mixed blood would, almost 
 universally, be connected with the European by the 
 side of the father, with the Indian by that of the 
 mother ; for it is consonant both with nature and 
 with experience, to believe that the offspring will 
 generally follow the paternal descent. It cannot 
 be imagined that European women would inter- 
 marry with the original natives. In the first place, 
 the probability is that, so far as the colonial popu- 
 lation was immediately imported from . the mother 
 country, the number of females would' be dispro- 
 portionately small. In the next, the cruel confine- 
 ment habitually imposed on the tenants of an Ori- 
 ental haram, and the obvious degradation incurred 
 by such an union, even in the most honorable form 
 of which it was capable, could be expected to in- 
 spire the generality of European women only with 
 sentiments of horror and disgust. Nearly the 
 same causes must operate on the women of colour, 
 since, by what has already been observed, these 
 would generally be descended of European fathers, 
 and of course educated in the European manner 
 and with European prejudices. On the whole, 
 therefore, the colony would not melt away by 
 "degrees into the native population. It would, 
 from first to last, be distinct and separate. We 
 may even conjecture that those of the mixed order,
 
 229 
 
 who were the least removed from the pure Indian 
 blood, would be the most anxious to assert and 
 to presume on their European descent; that the 
 claim would be then most sedulously enforced 
 when it was the least palpable ; and such certainly 
 is found to be the case amorg the Mulatto race in 
 the West Indies. 
 
 Although the colonial character would not, in 
 energy, absolutely rival the British, it might be 
 expected greatly to surpass, in that quality, the 
 character of the original inhabitants, even inclu- 
 sively of the Mahomedans. The contrary opinion 
 has indeed been maintained ; but it appears to 
 proceed, either on a very hyperbolical estimate of 
 the influence of climate on the human system, or 
 on a purely fanciful analogy deduced from the 
 remnants of the colonies planted in India by the 
 Portuguese. The heat of a tropical climate, de- 
 bilitating as it is, could scarcely have dissolved the 
 Hindoo race into their present effeminacy, had it 
 not been aided by two moral agents of the most 
 powerful operation, civil and religious tyranny. 
 Even thus assisted, it could not have produced 
 the effect, excepting in a long course of cen- 
 turies. The heat of a tropical climate has not 
 debased the European Creoles in Spanish Ameri- 
 ca to a level with the original people. Nor does 
 there seem any adequate reason for believing that 
 the quantity of British mind collected in the co- 
 lony here supposed, sheltered, as it would be, by 
 the fences of equal laws, and refreshed by frequent 
 
 Q 3
 
 . 230 
 
 infusions of new spirit and genius from Europe, 
 should evaporate from the exclusive effect of phy- 
 sical causes. Of the Portuguese colonies in In- 
 dia, it might suffice to observe that, " depressed," 
 as they are, to use the expression of Dr. Smith, 
 " by superstition and every sort of bad govern- 
 ment," they no more afford a standard of conjec- 
 ture with respect to the probable state of a British 
 colony established in the same country, than Por- 
 tugal would afford a standard of judgment with 
 regard to the character and manners prevalent in 
 Great Britain. Yet even the description of Dr. 
 Smith applies only to Goa; and it is not from 
 Goa that the English notions of an Indo-Portugu- 
 guese colony are deduced, but from the Portu- 
 guese of colour scattered over our own provinces ; 
 a tribe of persons, immemorially severed from 
 their original country, humbled at the same time 
 to the extreme of political debasement, and who 
 have therefore, for the most part, assumed, 
 through the mere force of circumstances, that 
 rank below cast in which the ritual of the Hindoo 
 faith classes, all professors of a different creed. 
 The idea of a parallelism between these miserable 
 remains of a colonial settlement, and a living co- 
 lony of British derivation, must surely require al- 
 most as strong an effort of the imagination, as it 
 would cost to mistake some stagnant backwater 
 left by the overflow of a spring-tide, for an arm of 
 the sea. 
 
 But, if it. be truly- presumed that the colonial
 
 231 
 
 character, in comparison with the Indian, w:ould 
 little degenerate, then, considering the deep line 
 of division that must ever separate the two races, 
 it becomes a very interesting question, what would 
 probably be the terms of their mutual inter- 
 course. 
 
 It has before been observed that, under the 
 present system of Indian polity, these two orders 
 of men are held in a species of moral balance. 
 The stays, also, or supports by which this moral 
 balance is sustained, have been pointed out. They 
 are, the gradual training which familiarizes the 
 British residents to the peculiar customs and man- 
 ners of the natives ; the authority of the local 
 executive government ; the. tribunals of the Su- 
 preme Courts of Judicature, and of the parallel 
 Court of the Recorder in Bombay ; the reflexion 
 of public opinion from England to India. With 
 respect to the fust of these props, it must be own- 
 ed that the very situation of the colonists would 
 naturally do for them that which is, at present, ef- 
 fected only by a complex system of legislative 
 contrivances. Accustomed from their infancy to 
 the usages and institutions of the country, they 
 would be apt to survey them rather with a settled 
 and tranquil disdain, than with that broad con- 
 tempt which is excited by the sight of ridiculous 
 novelty ; and, as this disdain would be not an 
 impulse but a sentiment, it might probably be on 
 the whole governed by prudence, and seldom 
 permittecV to break out into direct outrage. Yet 
 
 Q 4>
 
 233 
 
 such a prudential reserve would, perhaps, prove 
 of no real advantage to the Indian. Even under 
 the tyranny of the Mahomedan dynasties in India, 
 if we except the persecuting barbarities of Au- 
 rongzebe, a certain respect was paid to the reli- 
 gious peculiarities of the Hindoos, a respect, not 
 indeed perfect or uniform, but yet dispropor- 
 tionately great, when compared with the other 
 features of the Mussulman dominion. The con- 
 querors had learned that this was the only pulse in 
 the composition of a Hindoo which seemed alive 
 to an instinct of honor, the single nerve that could 
 vibrate with a feeling of national resentment, and 
 therefore, by a cruel and cowardly toleration, they 
 spared their subjects in this one point that, in 
 every other, they might lacerate them with im- 
 punity. That the humanity which the British in 
 India habitually exercise towards the native popu- 
 lation, should ever degenerate into such an ex- 
 treme of malicious mercy, is scarcely conceivable ; 
 but the example given makes so much at least 
 evident, that the maintenance of religious tolera- 
 tion towards the natives would avail them little, 
 unless it were connected with a,general system of 
 forbearance, and courtesy. It becomes, there- 
 fore, necessary to enquire what, in this particular, 
 would be the effect of colonization^ ^-r 
 
 To settle this matter, we must fix our eyes on 
 the grand and fundamental point in which the co- 
 lonial system would, with respect to India, be an 
 innovation on that of the Company. It woul<^
 
 233 
 
 create an Indo-British Public. Nothing now 
 exists to which we could, with any correctness, 
 affix that appellation. British India has no se- 
 parate political existence, or distinct vitality ; and, 
 in strictness, is not so properly an offspring of 
 this country, as a limb. For the most part, the 
 British residents in that quarter, having passed 
 their infancy in Britain, trusting to revisit it, al- 
 ways maintaining with it a close personal con- 
 nexion, and, if they are in the service, feeling 
 themselves more and more responsible to it as 
 they advance, are never effectually expatriated. 
 On all general points, they catch the reflected 
 feelings of the British public ; to that public they 
 wish ultimately to commit their fame and charac- 
 ter ; that, in short, is their public, and again, to 
 each other, they are as parts of that public* On 
 this communication with the ruling state, the effi- 
 ciency of our Indian system in no ordinary degree 
 depends, and the merit of a great part of the 
 measures which have been progressively adopted 
 for the improvement of that' system, has consisted 
 entirely in their having contributed to multiply 
 and secure the means of the intercourse in ques- 
 tion. This is the principal key to the phenomenon 
 of a body of men, promiscuously chosen, con- 
 veyed to a remote part of the globe, and endow- 
 ed with an authority the most invidious over a 
 race the most unresisting ; yet almost uniformly 
 acquitting themselves with equal wisdom and deli- 
 cacy j almost uniformly exercising in acts ot
 
 234 
 
 scrupulous justice or enlarged benevolence, a 
 power which all the conspiring suggestions of 
 selfishness, pride, and- passion, must perpetually 
 be tempting them to abuse. Such an effect has 
 been accomplished only by furnishing to this body 
 a sure channel of -sympathy with the parent peo- 
 ple, so that their virtues, if the expression may 
 be allowed, always rise to the British level. It 
 has been produced by drawing them within the 
 effectual controul of an authority, which is placed 
 at a sufficient elevation to command a view of 
 both hemispheres, and to discern the ultimate 
 confluence of its interests and its duties. 
 
 It does not follow that, if a local public were 
 created in India, this situation of tilings would 
 continue ; and there is much reason for suspecting 
 the contrary. It has often been observed that the 
 popular taste and prejudices which prevail in most 
 of our West- Indian colonies, not only do not ex- 
 actly coincide with the taste and prejudices of the 
 people of England, but are, in many respects, 
 entirely dissonant from them ; and this has been 
 particularly remarked of Barbadoes, where there 
 is a pretty numerous commonalty of British and 
 semi-British Creoles. The contempt with w:hich 
 these persons regard the purely negro population, 
 is profound ; and, though it does not so frequent- 
 ly result in acts of flagrant cruelty as has some- 
 times been pretended, yet it unquestionably occa- 
 sions a partial insensibility of nature, which to a 
 British mind seems unaccountable. In Barbadoes,
 
 235 
 
 in the year 1804, a drunken soldier wantonly 
 bayonetted a negro-woman who happened to be 
 walking along the public road. The report of 
 this and some other murders equally barbarous, 
 which occurred about the same time, having come 
 to the ears of the governor, Lord Seaforth, that 
 nobleman exerted himself to bring the offenders 
 to justice. In a letter which Lord Seaforth ad- 
 dressed on the subject to the British Secretary of 
 State, and which was afterwards, among other 
 papers, presented to the House of Commons, the 
 following remarkable declaration is found : " the 
 " truth is, that nothing has given me more trouble 
 " to get to the bottom of' than these businesses, so 
 " horridly absurd are the prejudices of the people" 
 Yet these persons, so lamentably bigotted, own a 
 mother-country, in which, whenever the slightest 
 hint transpires of some unprovoked cruelty in- 
 flicted on helpless wretchedness, furious mobs as- 
 semble, and not only are the efforts of a very 
 vigilant police anticipated by the avenging activity 
 of the populace, but the law itself, all-powerful 
 as it is, can scarcely protect its prisoners from 
 falling instant victims to a licentious and terrible 
 justice. This instance, and the remark applies 
 more or less to all our West-Indian settlements, is 
 extremely curious ; not merely as it exemplifies 
 the mental independence of a colonial public, 
 but also because of the particular point in which 
 that independence is shewn. It is shewn in the 
 habitual feelings and sentiments of the colonists
 
 23(5 
 
 towards a cucc of human beings, with whom they 
 are mixed, yet not incorporated, and whom they 
 regard as, in every sense, prodigiously their in- 
 feriors. 
 
 The Hindoos, indeed, would not be, like the 
 negroes, personally slaves ; and the difference be- 
 tween personal and political servitude, according 
 to an observation of Mr. Fox, is great and radi- 
 cal. We may suppose, also, the case of the 
 Jndo-British colonies to be peculiar in these two 
 other respects ; that they should have no colonial 
 legislature, the local legislative power being ap- 
 propriated to the royal viceroy and his cabinet ; 
 and that the task of dispensing justice between 
 British subjects and the Hindoos, should continue 
 vested, where it resides at present, in tribunals 
 and advocates appointed immediately from Eng- 
 land. Still the feebleness and timidity of the 
 Hindoo confer on the Englishman a moral supe- 
 riority, which does not differ in kind, though it 
 greatly differs in degree, from the dominion of a 
 personal master, and which, unless subjected to 
 powerful restraints, is not perhaps less susceptible 
 of abuse. Nor can it be pretended that the 'pu- 
 rest administration of public justice would, of it- 
 self, afford an adequate remedy. De minimis non 
 -curat lex* There are a thousand insults and in- 
 juries which elude the ponderous hand of the law. 
 Moral crimes are committed, which are not iller 
 galities; and illegalities, which yet want legal 
 proof. To an individual of humble condition, the
 
 237 
 
 hazard and expense of litigation are serious in- 
 conveniencies ; it is somewhat more than an in- 
 convenience to contend, even with the advantage 
 of a good cause, against the rich . and the great, 
 perhaps against the dispensers of his livelihood. 
 Exclusively of all these obstacles, the mere act of 
 preferring an appeal to public justice, in the face 
 of frowning power or clamouring prejudice, re- 
 quires a certain stoutness and courage entirely 
 foreign from the prostrate spirit of a Hindoo ; 
 and, were even this difficulty surmounted, he 
 would probably still have that of relying on wit- 
 nesses, whose less hardy nature was perfectly 
 open to the impressions both of fear and of fa- 
 vour. In short, the old adage would hold in this 
 instance, that laxcs are impotent without manners, 
 without the manners, that is, of the majority ; 
 and, in political communities, the effective majo- 
 rity is that of weight, not of number. 
 
 It has here been supposed that the administra- 
 tion of justice between the colonists and the na- 
 tives, being supplied directly from the mother- 
 country, would be utterly undebased by the bi- 
 gotry of the local public; but would it be prepos- 
 terous to raise a doubt even on this point? Shall 
 we suppose it impossible, even of the most ele- 
 vated tribunal, that, perpetually situated amidst 
 the ascending fumes of popular prejudice, it should 
 at length contract a taint of impurity? Or must 
 we, in this single instance, expect a standing ex- 
 ception to the rule, otherwise of universal autho-
 
 238 
 
 rity, that public opinion exercises an immense in- 
 fluence on the course of public justice? 
 
 Undoubtedly, legal functionaries deputed from 
 England would so far stand in the situation occu- 
 pied by the British residents under the present 
 system, that, bred in England, intending to return 
 thither, and habitually holding communication 
 with it, they would, to this extent, regard it as 
 their only country; as the country, if the expres- 
 sion may be allowed, not only of their hopes and 
 affections, but also of their moral feelings. 
 
 The difference, however, is that, under the pre- 
 sent system, all are of this sentiment. The gene- 
 ral opinion in India is attuned to the general 
 opinion at home, or rather, is identified with it. 
 The ambition, on the one hand, which naturally 
 inspires the resident, of gaining the approbation of 
 his country, and, on the other, the desire which 
 naturally actuates every man, of being approved 
 and countenanced by the society in which he lives, 
 instead of opposing each other, here flow in one 
 common channel. A change in these respects 
 would be no immaterial change. However we 
 may reverence, in this country, the professional 
 honor of our judicatures, and too much it cannot 
 be reverenced, we must remember that it lias the 
 aid of every motive which can be furnished by the 
 universal prevalence of a bias in favour of justice* 
 In the case now supposed, the tide would invari- 
 ably set in a different, if not a contrary, direction ; 
 and it appears extravagant to presume that, in a
 
 233 
 
 couTse of years, it should not be productive of 
 some effect. The attraction exerted on the mind 
 of a judge or an advocate by public opinion at 
 home, must, from the distance at which it acted, 
 be held in check by the gravitation, though in itself 
 less strong, to the uniform antipathies or prepos- 
 sessions of the minds with which he was daily con- 
 versant. Men cannot constantly wear armour; 
 and find it easier to undergo some one signal sacri- 
 fice, than to maintain a constant war of petty re- 
 sistances against the tyranny of custom. Even the 
 attempt to accommodate surrounding prejudice in 
 the mere article of manner, insensibly betrays 
 into more esssntial compromises. Exclusively 
 of the tendency to such compliances as are 
 purely conventional or submitted to for the Sake of 
 peace, there is an imitative or sympathetic pro- 
 pensity natural to mankind, of which the chances 
 are, that it makes any one individual think as well 
 as act with the majority of his ordinary associates. 
 The bare reiteration, if it be incessant, of a parti- 
 cular set of sentiments, by familiarizing with them 
 the ear, gradually infixes them on the understand- 
 ing; for it is hard to define the boundary between 
 strong impression and belief. He who imagines 
 that the combined operation of these several cir- 
 cumstances would, in the instance under consi- 
 deration, prove wholly ineffective, may be offering, 
 perhaps, a high compliment to the firmness of 
 human nature, but assuredly pays a very low one 
 to the influence of human society.
 
 240 
 
 Even this, however, will not suffice, unless we 
 are disposed to include within our confidence the 
 jury as well as the judge. The juries in the West- 
 Indies consist of whites ; and their partiality and 
 untractableness in all cases in which whites are 
 committed against negroes, are well known* In 
 the same manner, the juries in the Supreme Courts 
 of Indian judicature, are composed of British 
 subjects j the reasons on which this practice is 
 founded, have before been given ; but it is easy to 
 perceive what the practice, now innoxious, and 
 perhaps even salutary, to the Hindoo, would be- 
 come under the new system proposed. It is cer- 
 tainly not very conceivable that a Hindoo, prose- 
 cuting an European, should receive a fair hearing 
 from a jury of low, narrow-minded, Creole house- 
 holders, such as a colony would assuredly produce. 
 And in what manner shall the evil be remedied ? 
 Shall we constitute the juries de medietate linguae, 
 as it is called ? Would the colonists tolerate such 
 an arrangement? Would they endure, for exam-* 
 pie, that a British settler, indicted for the ill- 
 treatment of his Hindoo servant, should be tried 
 before a jury half-composed of Hindoos ? Or* 
 even if they would, are we of opinion that the 
 numerical parity would create a real equilibrium ? 
 
 This detail of the judicial abuses likely to pre- 
 vail under the colonial system, were there no fear 
 of fatiguing the reader, it would be easy to en- 
 large, by comprising in it those which might be 
 incident to the proper country^cOurts. It is true
 
 241 
 
 that the business of these courts is only to decide 
 between native and native, and that, therefore, 
 the judges who preside in them cannot directly 
 Jiave what may be called a national interest in the 
 proceedings. The provision is highly admirable 
 and praise-worthy ; but it is only one of many, 
 and will be of little avail when deprived of its 
 accompaniments. Let us only conceive, what 
 appears in the highest degree probable, that many 
 or most of the provincial judges shall not only be 
 imperfectly furnished with that illumination and 
 liberality which, in perfection, perhaps only an 
 European education can give, but shall also be 
 strongly tinctured with colonial or Creole prejudices 
 against the aboriginal inhabitants, prejudices in 
 which they are countenanced by the colonists in 
 general. It cannot be necessary to expatiate on 
 the evils with which such a system of jurisprudence 
 must more and more abound ; evils, comprehend- 
 ing every possible variety of disorder or malversa- 
 tion that can spring out of carelessness, caprice, 
 procrastination, precipitancy, passion, and ulti- 
 mately, in some disguised form at least, corrup- 
 tion. For what more copious source of these 
 shocking irregularities can be imagined, than when 
 the greater part of the judicial body hold those 
 interests in utter indifference or contempt, the 
 protection of which is the whole sum of their duty? 
 This picture may be thought overcharged ; but 
 undoubtedly, though little needing aggravation, it 
 is, iu one respect at least, highly favorable. There 
 
 it
 
 242 
 
 Would be no difficulty in shewing, were tike farther 
 prosecution of the subject requisite, that the idea 
 of a considerable Indo-British colony, without a 
 colonial legislature and a colonial judicature, is 
 chimerical. While the West-Indian settlements 
 have their councils and their assemblies, the Indo- 
 British colonists, -if unprovided with a body of 
 representatives in the local legislature, might 
 complain, and not without some appearance of 
 reason, that they were debarred from the inalien- 
 able right of British subjects. Farther, it is plain 
 that the Supreme Court of Judicature at Calcutta, 
 and the parallel courts at the other presidencies, 
 however adequate to their purpose at present, 
 Would be very far from commensurate with the 
 demands of a colony. They must be consider- 
 ably multiplied,, and probably courts of circuit 
 instituted. The emoluments of the profession 
 
 would, by these means, be greatly increased ; and 
 
 J , , ..jfiSiBrLsttijiU ' . I . 
 
 it can scarcely be imagined that the colonists, in- 
 curring the expense of a large legal establishment, 
 would not be clamorous for a perfect admissibility 
 into its employments and honors. And with what 
 justice, indeed with what prudence, could we de- 
 cline a compliance with these requests ; or, after 
 having conferred on them a colonial being, with- 
 hold from them the ordinary colonial privileges ? 
 But the argument need not be pursued farther, 
 nor its obvious results, in modifying the sketch 
 which has been given of colonial law and juris- 
 prudence, minutely specified. Should the reader
 
 13 
 
 feel disponed to follow out the subject for himself, 
 let him bear in mind these two things ; first, that, 
 in the supposed case, the business of holding the 
 scales of justice between the colonists and the 
 Hindoos would be placed exclusively in the hands 
 of the colonists themselves ; secondly* that, in the 
 year 1804, the whole influence of the governor of 
 Barbadoes could not persuade the assembly of that 
 island to pass a law, declaring that the wilful and 
 malicious murder of a slave was felony, or that it 
 should subject the perpetrator to any greater pu- 
 nishment than the payment of a fine of fifteen 
 pounds currency.* 
 
 The whole of this reasoning some men may 
 affect to rebut with one short answer ; namely, 
 that it would be the interest of the British colonists 
 to treat the Hindoos with humanity. It would 
 undoubtedly be their real interest ; as it is the real 
 interest of a Barbadian, not to suffer a negro to be 
 spitted in the streets like an unowned dog. It 
 would be their real interest, as it is almost always 
 the real interest of the powerful, to be just and 
 merciful ; of the high, to be courteous and con- 
 descending ; of the rich, to be liberal and disin- 
 terested ; of all mankind, to respect the rights of 
 each other, and to do as they would be done by. 
 Of these maxims, however, it is notorious that 
 passion and prejudice perpetually impair the prac- 
 
 r 2 
 
 * It is but just to say that the voice of reason and humanity . 
 has eiuce prevailed. Such a law now actually exists.
 
 244 
 
 tical authority in human affairs. Even in this region 
 of illumination, to enforce on men the due care of 
 their real interests, requires the addition of all 
 those innumerable impulses, which make up the 
 complex mechanism of domestic polity, the im- 
 pulses of laws and punishments, of institutions 
 civil and sacred, and of that free circulation of 
 opinion, which draws into close sympathy the va- 
 rious parts of the community, and renders both 
 certain and immediate the influence of character 
 on happiness. It is a fact that, without such addi- 
 tional impulses, power is apt to be tyrannical, 
 aristocracy to be haughty, opulence to be selfish, 
 and mankind in general to do as they would not 
 be done by ; and, unless all reasoning from expe- 
 rience be nugatory, it seems also a fact that, with- 
 out such additional impulses of the strongest kind, 
 the English in India would incessantly insult and 
 oppress the original inhabitants. 
 
 The author has here ventured to be diffuse, be- 
 cause, if there be any one point, throughout the 
 whole range of this great question, which can be 
 considered as conclusive, this appears to be that 
 point. Amidst the contention, however, of mer- 
 cantile interests, the unpreferred claims of a third 
 party too frequently escape notice ; or, if casually 
 suggested, are dismissed with the ceremony of an 
 unmeaning compliment. But still more offensive 
 than such neglect, is that flippancy which, when 
 arguments involving the interests of humanity are 
 brought forward, evades them with the reflexion,
 
 *45 
 
 that they are urged from other motives than those 
 that are professed ; from policy, not from convic- 
 tion. In whatever spirit these arguments may be 
 urged, that spirit must be highly censurable which 
 would so reduce them to silence. Whether the 
 consequences of the colonial system, with respect 
 to the Indian population, may be beneficial or per- 
 nicious, they should at least be made a matter of 
 serious discussion. They should surely not be 
 permitted to take effect by pure accident, while we 
 are busying ourselves merely respecting the acqui- 
 sition of a few additional millions of treasure ; 
 an acquisition, even conceding it to be made, in- 
 effably light and despicable when weighed against 
 the happiness of as many millions of human beings, 
 although an intolerable burden indeed when pur- 
 chased with their blood. 
 
 If there be any with whom these considerations 
 have little force, such persons will probably be only 
 the more alive to some others that inevitably flow 
 from the subject. That abjectness and non-resist- 
 ance of nature which invites the insults and in- 
 juries of tyranny, often seduces it to its destruc- 
 tion. Although the Hindoos be meek and cow- 
 ardly to excess, it is yet conceivable, either that a 
 continuance of vexatious treatment, by at length 
 exhausting their patience, or that chance, by 
 guiding, as it were, some one of the numberless 
 indignities showered upon them, to their religion, 
 should exasperate them into revenge. Nor, in all 
 likelihood, would the ardor of individual am- 
 
 it 3
 
 246 
 
 bition and enterprise be wanting to kindle the 
 train. British India, especially the middle pro- 
 vinces, is not thinly sown with the naturalized 
 Mussulmans, a race by no means deficient in ad- 
 dress or audacity j and the hills which intersect it 
 are inhabited by some tribes of Hindoos, bold, 
 cunning, and vindictive. The supposition is, per- 
 haps, still more probable that one of those invaders 
 who, from the higher Asia, seem, almost periodic 
 cally, to descend in a tempest, of war on the ferti- 
 lity of the Panjab, may gather up, in the volume of 
 his march, all the aggravated discontents and ven- 
 geance of fifty millions of\ oppressed men, and, 
 pouring through the country like one of its own 
 north-westers, sweep away at once our dominion 
 and our crimes. At all events, that our colonists 
 might, in some mode^^j^h^^^o^rqd to ex- 
 piate the forbearancg j^cj^jjli^y ha^ abused, ap- 
 pears but too natural an event; nor will any man 
 anticipate the result with steadiness, who reflects 
 on the scattered state in which probably they would 
 be situated throughout their extensive territories, 
 and on the enormou^/^mer^ca^'di,}),. 
 which, with whatever rapidity we com th m to 
 
 multiply, they must stiil hear to the aboriginal in- 
 habitants. Weak and contemptible as the Hindoos 
 generally are, yet, thus collected and set in motion, 
 they would be found irresistible ; as the sand of the 
 desert is one day trodden down by the foot of the 
 meanest pilgrim, and on the next overwhelms the 
 woe caravan, mofcn ssmwoo &i to msra
 
 247 
 
 Such are some of the evils and dangers which 
 may be expected to arise from the colonization of 
 India; and these are especially insisted on in this 
 place, not only because they seem of a highly se- 
 rious nature, on which point there cannot be two 
 opinions, but also because they appear likely to 
 result pretty speedily when the colonial system 
 shall once have been carried into complete effect. 
 In the view of the present writer, the prospect of 
 these consequences is so near as, in a great mea- 
 sure, to shut out of contemplation an event on 
 which yet some very judicious persons have laid a 
 considerable stress as the probable effect of India' 
 colonization, namely, that of an attempt, on the 
 part of the colonists, to emancipate themselves 
 after the manner of America. At the same time, 
 it would be perfectly unwise to leave even this 
 contingency out of the account; and, if we sup- 
 pose, either, on the one hand, that the colony, in 
 the course of time, incorporates itself with the 
 Indian population, or, on the other, that, conti- 
 nuing separate, it subsists long enough to become 
 extremely numerous, at the period when it shall 
 have reached either of these states, the contin- 
 gency in question will be at hand. 
 
 It is true, indeed, that the system-mongers of 
 the day are not apt to find themselves much ham- 
 pered by such considerations. We are informed, 
 accordingly, on the authority of Dr. Smith, that it 
 is the duty of a country to relinquish the manage- 
 ment of its coloiues, whenever they attain mature
 
 248 
 
 age ; and are admonished, therefore, to expect the 
 emancipation of an Indian colony, as an event 
 equally natural and desirable. The principle of 
 the voluntary emancipation of colonies, there 
 seems little occasion here to discuss; because Dr. 
 Smith himself has acknowledged that it is a prin- 
 ciple which, after all that can be said, never will 
 be carried into practise. " To propose" (his words 
 are) " that Great-Britain should voluntarily give 
 " up all authority over her colonies, and leave 
 ff them to elect their own magistrates, to enact 
 " their own laws, and to make peace and war, as 
 *f. they might think proper, would be to propose 
 " such a measure as never was and never will be 
 " adopted by any nation in the world. No nation 
 "ever voluntarily gave up the dominion of any 
 " province, how troublesome soever it might be to 
 "govern it, and how small soever the revenue 
 *' which it afforded might be in proportion to the 
 " expence whichPifcnoccasionisdJtt* JH Such, cer- 
 tainly, have generally been the feelings of man* 
 Mnd on this subject, and it does not seem very 
 likely that they can have been changed even by 
 the event of the American Avar, which some per- 
 sons may regard as a precedent strongly in favour 
 of the voluntary emancipation of colonies. Indeed 
 the author of the Considerations upon the Trade 
 vbitfc India himself, feels so much in unison with 
 ^d lj,i ibiil gfiisinoioo io f (p' 
 
 * Book IV. Ch. vii. Part 3. There might, however, be found 
 exceptions to the remark ; but those, totally inconsiderable or 
 r &&iiiar. 09TO3O XW aWH 9DOJ0 ^.,.
 
 249 
 
 the rest of the world on this matter, or deems it 
 so hopeless to contend against that common feel- 
 ing, that, making, for the sake of argument, the 
 supposition of an endeavour on the part of a Bri- 
 tish colony in India to render itself independent, 
 he holds out no other consolation to the mother- 
 country than the prospect of speedily re-estab- 
 lishing her authority by the sword. " Reduced, 
 " indeed, (he says) must be the power of Britain, 
 " if she could not soon punish the pride and pre- 
 V sumption of a few rebellious citizens that should 
 " attempt so desperate a design." The fewness of 
 thjese rebels, it should be observed, is one of the 
 points in dispute ; but, be they few or many, the 
 idea of such a contest and such a victory is suffi- 
 ciently shocking; and, even on the ground of ex- 
 pediency alone, the wise man would probably 
 reckon it a more advisable plan to destroy at once 
 the crocodile of colonization in the egg t than to be 
 soothing our minds with the contemplation of a 
 triumph over the full-grown monster. 
 
 If these premises have been made out, the ob- 
 vious practical inference is, that colonization should 
 be guarded against, even at the price of all the 
 commercial restrictions established by our present 
 policy. But there results also from the premises a 
 farther practical deduction or corollary. What- 
 ever differences of opinion may exist as to the 
 facility of colonizing India, there probably will be 
 none as to the difficulty of retracing our steps, if 
 we once make any decided progress in that busi-
 
 250 
 
 ness, excepting, perhaps, by measures of a very 
 violent and arbitrary kind. Indeed, the proof of 
 this position has been sufficiently implied in some 
 of the preceding remarks; and, connecting it with 
 a consideration of the nature of the colonial sys- 
 tem, the conclusion plainly is, that even the re- 
 motest approaches to colonization ought to be avoided 
 Kith jealousy. This is not a matter in which we 
 are authorized to act on a mere balance of proba- 
 bilities; nor, in such a case, is a disregard of dis- 
 tant contingencies, magnanimous, but wholly ir- 
 rational. For no rational man lightly esteems a 
 small clurnce of a great evil, or will, by the fear of 
 a comparatively trivial inconvenience, be induced 
 to incur the hazard of a fatal error. 
 ;teoI fl^uoift ,Ki: ;ifou!fixj/';^ syrfj < ; i. 
 
 vjuierisa ,tud J^Livib <dd 
 t 8i3woq oeorfo "i iij aO 
 
 afifO'jO; , gsiosqa jjjo lo 
 
 i&ilu in { 3tJj:>xfi feuoi't:) e ihom orfr lo uu 
 
 . t YiiUofiR ii api&oi/p aiijt rhlw hsjasalioo 
 
 Jay?/: 9ffJ riO 
 
 -nl 10 t 
 
 r/iLm ^uomu 'ilr^eli Qgii'itiL 19 ,^ac({
 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 i 
 
 On the probable Effects of transferring the political Func- 
 tions and Patronage, now possessed by the East-India 
 Company, to some other Person or Persons. 
 
 Should the present Indian system be abolished, 
 the commerce of this country with India either 
 will continue to be conducted by the Company, 
 trading on a joint stock, though without a mono- 
 poly, or will distribute itself among a number of 
 unconnected individuals ; while the powers at- 
 tached to the government of India, though lost 
 to the Company, must subsist in an organized 
 state somewhere, possibly divided, but certainly 
 not dissipated. On the exercise of those powers, 
 however, is suspended the welfare of a very large 
 portion of our species ; and it therefore becomes 
 a question of the most serious nature, in what 
 hands they shall be reposed. 
 
 Closely connected with this question is another, 
 of not less importance in itself, and, with respect 
 to the immediate interests of Great Britain, still 
 more important. On the abolition of the present 
 Indian system, the commercial patronage of In- 
 dia would follow the fate of our Indian com- 
 merce ; it would either remain with the Com- 
 pany, or diffuse itself among individual hands*
 
 252 
 
 The political patronage of that country, mean- 
 time, would . certainly remain, but not with the 
 Company. This political patronage, however, 
 constitutes immensely the greater part of the 
 whole Indian patronage ; and the disposal of so 
 vast a mass of influence cannot possibly be a 
 question of trivial concern. 
 
 To these questions, all the answers imaginable, 
 numerous and diversified as they are, may, perhaps, 
 very conveniently be arranged under two heads. 
 The power and patronage of India, if wrested 
 from the Company, either must be conferred on 
 some independent authority in India, or must be 
 abandoned to the executive government in Eng- 
 land. A third case, excepting such as . might be 
 formed from the mixture of these two, is scarcely 
 conceivable. If that power and that patronage 
 are to reside, either wholly or partially, in Eng- 
 land, they must reside with the ministers of the 
 Crown, subject, of course, to the responsibility 
 under which those ministers necessarily act. Were 
 the political functions of India conferred on some 
 other person or persons in England, no reason can 
 be given why those persons should not be the 
 Court of Directors, new modelled, perhaps, ac- 
 cording to the imagined expediency of the case. 
 One of the fiercest and most powerful enemies by 
 whom the government of the Company has ever 
 been assailed, declared that he woidd never lend 
 his hand to the destruction of that or of any es- 
 tablished government, unless it could be proved
 
 253 
 
 absolutely incorrigible ;" * a condition, the ful- 
 filment of which no man will now undertake with 
 respect to the government of the Company. In 
 truth, if the executive power and patronage of 
 India were vested in any other authority at home 
 than the Crown, that authority would, to every 
 practical purpose, be the Company revived under 
 a different form. 
 
 But, although it seems clear that, in the event 
 of the abolition of the Company, the Indian go- 
 vernment and patronage must either be consigned 
 to some local authority in India, or merge in the 
 general functions and influence of the Crown at 
 home, it is yet very possible that law may affect 
 to dispose of them in one of these ways, while 
 circumstances, in reality, dispose of them in the 
 other. 
 
 Let us suppose, for example, that the execu- 
 tive functions and appointments of the govern- 
 ment of India are, by law, transferred from the 
 Company, their present possessors, to the minis- 
 ters of the Crown. Let us imagine, farther, 
 that colonization takes place in India, and that 
 the Indo-British dominions become, in process of 
 time, a populous and flourishing colonial province. 
 It is impossible to suppose that such a province 
 should not aspire to at least a qualified indepen- 
 dence ; to some substantive participation in the 
 management of its own affairs, and a clear share 
 
 * Burke's speech on the India Bill.
 
 254 
 
 in the honors and emoluments of which it fur- 
 nishes the fund from its own bosom. A British 
 colony of a certain standing and magnitude, can 
 scarcely be a mere appendage to the treasury 
 at home. Colonial families grow up, strong in 
 wealth and consideration, and ambitious of privi- 
 lege or power ; and these grasp at aristocratical 
 rank, or at least furnish individual candidates for 
 the various places of distinction in the local es- 
 tablishment. A colonial public is formed, not un- 
 tinctured with provincial self-importance ; but who, 
 with some plausibility, claim a portion of the popu- 
 lar rights and franchises that are supposed to con- 
 stitute the essence of Britannic liberty ; who pro- 
 bably demand, in many cases, the privilege of 
 electing their own magistrates, and, at all events, 
 will not endure to be devoured by place-hunters 
 from the mother country. These claims and 
 prejudices, however little allowed for by the writ- 
 ten constitution of the colony, or formally con- 
 ceded by the parent legislature, the executive go- 
 vernment of the crown, in whose hands we are 
 now supposing the colonial administration arid pa- 
 tronage to be placed, would probably feel a ne- 
 cessity of respecting. In a good measure, conse- 
 quently, the patronage might be dispensed ac- 
 cording to the wishes, and the administration 
 checked by the virtual controul, of the colonists 
 themselves. 
 
 Let it, on the other hand, be supposed that the 
 legislature were to confer on the people of British
 
 255 
 
 India a given amount of independence. It is ob- 
 vious that the privilege would be granted ineffec- 
 tually, until the provincial British population, 
 and the provincial government, as the representa- 
 tive of that population, should have acquired a 
 decisive measure of political weight and conse- 
 quence. Whatever the ostensible liberties of a 
 province, its real independence cannot rise above 
 the level of its effective strength ; that is, above 
 its power of acting for itself. And, on the 
 amount of its real independence, on the degree 
 of its assured self-reliance, and conscious vigour,, 
 will depend the success of its claims to the dis- 
 posal of its own emoluments. If the parent state 
 feels that the subordinate country lies wholly at 
 her mercy, and lives only on her protection, she 
 will certainly govern as well as protect it ; and, 
 in whatever degree she directs its conduct, in that 
 will she appropriate its prizes and its honors. Im- 
 munities and authorities may be richly lavished on 
 such a province ; but they will, like costly dona- 
 tions made to children, be locked up for a while 
 in the repositories of its natural guardians. 
 
 It has been recommended, and not in a 
 sally of mirthful irony, but with all the grave ex- 
 travagance of speculation, that the provinces 
 ef British India should be erected into a se- 
 parate and associate empire, having for its sove- 
 reign a prince of the Britannic blood royal, with 
 hereditary succession. The wonders of fact 
 are said sometimes tp exceed those of fancy j and
 
 - 356 
 
 let us conceive this imagined empire to be realized. 
 If we expected the supposed prince to enjoy ef- 
 fective freedom of action, and the real nomina- 
 tion of his public servants, we should in all pro- 
 bability find ourselves greatly deceived. So long 
 as he should be sensible that the destinies of his 
 realm were entirely dependent on the counsels 
 and armies of Great Britain, so long he would 
 find it unavoidable to propitiate the acting ad- 
 ministration of that country, both by the ready 
 surrender of his own judgment,, and by the choicest 
 offerings of place and patronage within his gift. 
 In the same manner, we might concede to the 
 British population of India, whether as a colony, 
 &i under whatever name, the guidance of their own 
 measures, and the election of their public func- 
 tionaries. But, so long as that population should 
 subsist, in fact, at the discretion of the parent 
 country, governed, no less than assisted, by her 
 wisdom, and overawed, no less than protected, 
 by her power, so long as they should fall short of 
 that strength and stature which alone could endue 
 them, in their collective and national capacity, 
 with a high pride and energy of character, so 
 long their freedom of conduct, and of election, 
 would not be exercised without a studied de- 
 ference to the pleasure of their patrons. 
 
 In the foregoing observations it has been ar- 
 gued, as if the executive administration, and the 
 patronage, of India, would naturally adhere to 
 the same hands. The assumption is surely
 
 257 ; 
 
 just, though no political maxim ought to be stated 
 without a due grace for exceptions. That, 
 under singular circumstances, power may be dis- 
 joined, or, as it might almost be phrased, divorced 
 from patronage, is perhaps true j but the ge- 
 neral presumption, certainly, appears to be 
 against the occurrence of such circumstances. 
 " Power (said Mr. Burke) will always draw 
 wealth ;" but much more, then, may we affirm, 
 that power will always draw that modification of 
 wealth which bears the closest affinity to itself. 
 It seems, indeed, not unreasonable that men should 
 exercise some controul over functionaries whom 
 they have themselves nominated, or that they 
 should nominate those that are to execute the 
 measures which they have themselves originated. 
 Thus it is, that power and patronage bear a mu- 
 tual relationship ; and hence it perhaps follows, 
 that those who desire the possession of the one, 
 not unnaturally, as a preliminary step, attempt 
 the acquisition of the other. 
 
 From what has been said, it would appear that, 
 in the event of the supersession of the Company, 
 British India would, for some years, present a copi- 
 ous field of influence to the executive ministers of 
 the Crown. For, surely, some years must elapse 
 before the province could have acquired that self- 
 dependent vigour, which would entitle it to a deci- 
 sive vote in the conduct of its own concerns. At 
 present, the Anglo-Indian state, considered as an 
 appendage, a branch, a satellite, is powerful,
 
 flourishing, and glorious; but, viewed as distinct 
 from the stock on which it grows, and with refe- 
 rence to the myriad u of disguised enemies, or 
 equivocal friends, by whom it is surrounded, its 
 imbecility could not easily be exaggerated. The 
 task, however, seems still less easy, to determine 
 how soon, on the supposition that British subjects 
 in general were allowed a perfect freedom of resort 
 to the Indian seas, this feeble community might 
 dilate into the dimensions of a mighty nation. 
 The question does not require discussion in this 
 place ; so long as it is admitted, what probably 
 will not be denied, that the period requisite to 
 such a growth cannot be trifling or evanescent;, 
 that it cannot, for example, fall greatly short of 
 forty or fifty years; and that, during this interval, 
 the places and perquisites which compose the poli- 
 tical patronage of the province in question, must 
 necessarily be dispensed by some authority in 
 Great Britain. For, there being no Company, 
 that authority would be the royal minister. , 
 
 There is an auxiliary consideration, perhaps wor- 
 thy of notice on this branch of the subject. What- 
 ever system of Indian government may be adopted* < 
 it seems almost a matter of physical necessity, that 
 the appointments to a considerable number of the 
 political and judicial situations in British India, 
 should, for some time, continue to be made in 
 England. In India, the means for making them 
 will not easily be found. A loose and promiscuous 
 efflux of commercial or agricultural adventurers 
 would hardly supply an adequate store of materials
 
 259 
 
 for the requisite creation of public functionaries so 
 highly to be entrusted ; and it were preposterous 
 to suppose that youths, sufficiently qualified for 
 stations of eminent distinction and * difficulty, 
 should, in any frequency, proceed to India, on the 
 mere chance of an attainment to those stations. 
 But, if the appointments are made at home, it 
 must be in the office of the British minister; for, 
 by the supposition, no independent authority is to 
 be erected at home for the administration of Indian 
 affairs. 
 
 The preliminary observations which have been 
 made, may have appeared tedious ; but they, per- 
 haps, reduce into a distinct and practicable shape 
 the topic intended for discussion in this chapter! r 
 That topic now naturally breaks into two divisions;" 
 Should the Company be deprived of their political 
 capacity, the duties and the patronage attached to 
 them in that capacity, must necessarily, at least 
 for a term of several years, pass into the hands of 
 the British ministry; and there are controvertists 
 who deliberately contemplate and recommend such 
 a transfer. What, then, would be the consequences 
 of that transfer? This is the first enquiry. Again; 
 it is conceivable that the Indo-British community 
 might, in the course of time, expand into a state 
 of respectable magnitude, affecting, and not wholly 
 without pretensions, an underived and unprotected 
 greatness. At that period, it will assert, to a' 
 considerable extent at least, the regulation of its 
 own conduct, and the dispensation of its own 
 
 s 2
 
 260 
 
 offices. Nor are there wanting persons who ima- 
 gine, however erroneously, that these privileges 
 might, by virtue of laws, be immediately conferred 
 on the state in question. Supposing such an event 
 to take place, what would be its consequences? 
 This is the second enquiry. >$cpa 
 
 But, of these enquiries, the latter will appear to 
 have been sufficiently anticipated in the preceding 
 chapter. An attempt was there made to delineate 
 the effects, first, middle, and last, which rational 
 conjecture may deduce from the formation of an 
 ample and growing colony in the Indo-British 
 provinces. It was shewn to be probable, that such 
 an establishment would have its beginnings in the 
 severe, although desultory sufferings of the natives, 
 its progress in their systematic and accumulating 
 degradation, its end in the sudden recoil of their 
 overloaded patience. Should it survive this trial, 
 lamentable contentions might be expected to arise 
 between the dependent and the supreme states, 
 generated by the insolence of new strength in the 
 one, and the pride of ancient power in the other. 
 This is the catalogue of the consequences to be 
 anticipated from colonization in India ; and they 
 do not appear such as require to be minutely spe- 
 cified twice. 
 
 It remains to be examined, what benefits are 
 promised by the arrangement which would transfer 
 to the ministers of the Crown, the political func- 
 tions, and the patronage, civil and military, now 
 appertaining to the Company. The subject fur-
 
 261 
 
 nislies a wide choice of considerations ; what 
 shall here be made. prominent, is the constitutional 
 danger that may be apprehended from the annex- 
 ation, to the Crown, of so large a mass of influence. 
 This point is one of ordinary agitation in the 
 controversies respecting the present Indian sys- 
 tem ; but it has not, perhaps, been elucidated in 
 so full and detailed a manner as might exhibit it to 
 be, what it really is, conclusive. 
 
 The primary object of investigation is the actual 
 amount of the patronage which would devolve to 
 the ministry by the supposed change; and, that 
 this amount may be the more clearly ascertained, 
 it seems not improper first to enquire, how far the 
 ministry already participate in the patronage of 
 India. Such an enquiry is, besides, requisite, in or- 
 der to disembarrass the subject of certain too preva- 
 lent misrepresentations. On some of those mis- 
 representations, indeed, a more circumstantial no- 
 tice will be bestowed in the sequel. The present 
 purpose may be sufficiently served by a few simple 
 statements and explanations. 
 
 It may, in the first place, be noticed, that some 
 classes of publie officers are habitually employed 
 in British India, who are not servants of the 
 Company, but hold immediately of the Crown. 
 Such are ; the Judges of the Supreme Courts of 
 Judicature situated at Calcutta and Madras, to- 
 gether with the Recorders of Bombay and Prince 
 of Wales's Island ; and the Commanding Officers 
 of the armies of His Majesty stationed in India, 
 
 s 3 *
 
 262 
 
 together with their military staff, and the Com- 
 mandants of the regiments who constitute those 
 armies. The patronage derived from these sources 
 is exclusively placed in the hands of the Crown, 
 which may appoint to the offices in question, with- 
 out any controul on the part of the Company. It 
 will afterwards appear, however, that, in the royal 
 nomination of Commanders in Chief, the wishes 
 of the Company are, in practise, not wholly un- 
 consulted. 
 
 It may, secondly, be remarked that, though the 
 appointments in the proper service of the Company 
 are totally denied to the Board of : Controul, yet 
 {Ire Crown is not left without an influence over the 
 highest among those appointments, the degree of 
 thai influence being both prescribed and bounded 
 TB^rrie public convenience. A short detail of cir- 
 cumstances will at once evince the necessity for 
 the existence of such a qualified power, and point 
 or.t the limits within which it is, in fact, exercised. 
 
 While the Company as yet subsisted in a capa- 
 city purely commercial, their affairs were con- 
 ceived to be, in a great measure, a matter of pri- 
 vate concernment. Even during those times, 
 however, and under that conception, the national 
 stake in their welfare was felt to be of such mag- 
 nitude, that their more important transactions 
 frequently became the subjects of consultation be- 
 tween the Directors and the national government. 
 The accession of the society to imperial functions 
 both deepened and justified the interest pf the
 
 263 
 
 public mind in their proceedings. No formal 
 controul, however, on the part of the public, over 
 their conduct, was established before the Regu- 
 lating Act of Lord North, in 1773. That statute, 
 though faintly, yet unequivocally, recognized the 
 expediency of such controul, by the clause, * that 
 regular advices of all matters, financial or political, 
 should be transmitted by the local authorities in 
 India to the Directors, and should, by the Direc- 
 tors, be forthwith communicated to the Ministers. 
 It was plainly implied that the measures of the 
 Company might be made the occasion of comment 
 and suggestion by the national government. 
 
 The two actst subsequently and successively 
 introduced under the administration of Mr. Pitt, 
 avowedly fortified the claims of the national exe- 
 cutive to a partial interference in the political 
 affairs of the Company. The Board of Controul 
 was armed with a negative on the political dis- 
 patches of the Directors to their servants in India, 
 and, in certain defined cases, even with the power 
 of originating measures. Practically, (and the 
 convenience of public business requires that it 
 should be so,) the right of controlling, wherever 
 it exists, includes the right of advising. The 
 ultimate check is smoothed down into previous 
 influence. The institution of the Board of Con- 
 troul implied that, with respect to the broad out- 
 
 s 4 
 
 * 13 Geo. III. c. 63. sec. 9. 
 
 t 24 Geo. III. c. 25, and 33 Geo. III. c. 52.
 
 264 
 
 lines of Indian policy, the judgment of the Com- 
 pany should be exercised concurrently with that 
 of the royal ministers. The general system of 
 measures was to be a matter of consultation and 
 concert. But, if so, that most important and 
 effective class of measures, the choice of the great 
 public servants who should immediately uphold 
 the general system, must surely follow the same 
 law. To a certain extent, indeed, the statutes in 
 question may be considered as having expressly 
 comprised the appointments of the Company 
 within the province of that supervision winch they 
 conferred on the royal ministers. If vacant situa- 
 tions in the service of the Company should not 
 be filled up by the Directors within a defined terra 
 after the knowledge of the vacancy, the nomina- 
 tion lapsed to the Crown. What is yet more 
 observable, a power was bestowed, not indeed on 
 the Board of Controul, but on the King, under 
 the observance of certain prescribed formalities, 
 to recall any Governor-general or other great 
 officer in India, and even to rescind any of the 
 appointments of the Company. These regulations 
 were, no doubt, intended only as provisions against 
 extreme cases ; but the effect of them was, at 
 least to bring the appointments of the Company 
 within the pale of ministerial recognition ; to in- 
 vest, as it were, the Crown with a reversionary 
 interest in the disposal of Indian patronage. 
 
 On the particular form and degree in which, 
 by the statutes of Mr. Pitt, the nation chose to
 
 265 
 
 establish their claim of a privity in the political 
 proceedings of the Company, men may possibly 
 hold diiterent opinions ; respecting the principle, 
 all will doubtless be agreed, who admit that the 
 Indian empire is a national concern, a feeder of 
 the national wealth, and a fund of national glory. 
 All, then, surely will farther allow that the exe- 
 cutive government of the nation may very pro- 
 perly possess a modified controul over the selec- 
 tion of those distinguished depositaries of power, 
 within whose personal custody tins treasury of 
 the public opulence and honour is to be placed, 
 and who, under every just and enlarged view of 
 their functions, are not more the delegates of the 
 Company, than the representatives of the na- 
 tion. 
 
 At the same time, these doctrines have their 
 limits. The legislature never, either expressly or 
 by implication, complimented the ministers of the 
 Crown with a paramount voice in the distribution 
 of Indian patronage. Both the acts which have 
 been mentioned explicitly provide, that nothing 
 in them contained shall extend to invest the 
 Board of Commissioners with the power of no- 
 minating or appointing any of the servants of the 
 United Company. Both intended to arm the Di- 
 rectors with a plenary power of appointment. On 
 this point the latter act is explicit ; and some in- 
 distinctness of expression which had crept into 
 the former was rectified by a declaratory enact-
 
 2G6 
 
 merit in the 26th year of the King,* which dis- 
 tinctly provided, that the royal approbation, un- 
 der the sign manual, should not be requisite to 
 the validity of the appointments by the Directors 
 of their governors and members of council. Both 
 the statutes under consideration, farther, empower 
 the Directors to remove or recall any of their ser- 
 vants, excepting such governors or commanders- 
 in-chief as may have been appointed by the King 
 in default of appointment by the Directors. In 
 so far, also, as those acts give to the Crown a 
 contingent or indirect vote in the nomination of 
 the Indian servants of the Company, this privilege 
 is carefully discriminated from the general right 
 of controul conferred on that high authority. 
 Appointments unprovided for, lapse, not to the 
 Board of Commissioners, but to his Majesty, and 
 they must be supplied by the royal sign manual. 
 Officers and servants of the Company may be re- 
 moved or recalled, not by the Board of Commis- 
 sioners, but by his Majesty, and this only under 
 his sign manual, countersigned by the President 
 of the Board. The danger, besides, that the 
 right of nomination may lapse, can only stimu- 
 late the Directors to exercise it themselves ; and, 
 while offices may be vacated by the sign manual 
 of the King, all vacancies, even those so made, 
 can be filled up only by the Directors. So that, 
 even in this extreme case, if the Crown has a ne 
 
 * Cap. 25.
 
 267 
 
 gative on the selecting discretion of the Company, 
 the Company have clearly, in i their turn, a nega- 
 tive on that negative. It was shewn, in a former 
 page,* that, though the possible effect of this ar- 
 rangement, as of every arrangement of balanced 
 powers, might be a perpetual contest between the 
 parties, its probable, or rather natural effect, is 
 the harmonious exercise of the joint authority, 
 founded on mutual deference and concession. It 
 tends to produce, not a divided, but a compound- 
 ed government. 
 
 In point of principle it cannot be more mani- 
 fest that the Crown should controul the Company 
 in the choice of their governors-general or other 
 superior functionaries, than that the Company, so 
 long as they occupy their present place in the ad- 
 ministration of Indian affairs, should substantially 
 enjoy that choice. The ministers of the Crown, 
 as feeling with the country, must be supposed to 
 have every wish for the prosperity, commercial 
 and political, of British India. But they can 
 form no wish, however ardent, of this kind, in 
 which they would not be rivalled by the Company. 
 The Company are the immediate and acknow- 
 ledged representatives, on the Indian shores, of 
 Great Britain, considered both in her imperial 
 and in her commercial character. So far alone 
 they act under a high and almost staggering re- 
 sponsibility. But they, farther, appear on those 
 
 * Chap. I.
 
 268 
 
 shores in their* .own behalf, as the owners of a 
 most valuable property, and the acting managers 
 of a beneficial concern. They have every stake, 
 therefore, which ministers can possibly have, and 
 much more, in the wisdom and virtue of their 
 agents ; and there is this additional reason for gi- 
 ving them the choice of their agents, that they 
 could scarcely expect to command the reverence 
 of those whom they had neither appointed nor 
 could remove, who held them in little fear and 
 owed them no gratitude. 
 
 On these grounds it is, and to the extent which 
 has been intimated, that, while the Company may 
 take for their servants such persons as they think 
 fit, the Crown possesses a practical controul over 
 the exercise of this privilege. The remark es- 
 pecially holds with regard to those exalted func- 
 tionaries, the governors and the commanders-in- 
 chief over the troops of the Company; officers 
 frequently chosen on the suggestion of ministers, 
 although the Company has a plenary right of re- 
 ceiving or of rejecting such suggestions. There 
 is, indeed, a peculiar reason why the commanders- 
 in-chief should be selected by the two authorities 
 in concert. Under every several Indian presi- 
 dency, the King and the Company have each an 
 armyi and each appoints a local commander-in- 
 chief. It is highly expedient, however, that the 
 whole of the British military employed under any 
 one presidency should be cemented together by
 
 269 
 
 their acknowledgment of a single leader. For 
 this reason, the practise is, that the Crown and the 
 Company bestow their respective commissions of 
 commander-in-chief on the same person ; and the 
 choice of the individual is usually a matter of 
 compromise between the two parties concerned. 
 But such a practise, if it subtracts from the se- 
 lecting liberty of the Company, may be thought 
 to make the same subtraction from that of the 
 Crown, since each has a commander to choose, 
 and sacrifices a part of that choice, in order to 
 purchase a controul over the choice made by the 
 other. At the same time, it must be admitted 
 that the Company scarcely enters into the agree- 
 ment on equal terms y for, by a military regula- 
 tion of very questionable merit, the officers of 
 their service are debarred from any higher rank 
 in the army than that of major-general, i Were 
 one of those officers preferred to a chief com- 
 mand, the absurdity might in the course of time 
 happen, that he should be passed-, in point of 
 rank, by a King's officer appointed to act under 
 him. The commanders-in-chief, therefore, are 
 usually officers of the royal service. 
 
 As a set-off' against the somewhat preponderant 
 influence of the Crown in the nomination of. the 
 commander-in-chief, it may be mentioned that the 
 subordinate members of the civil governmentrthat 
 is, the junior civil members of the council, 
 owe their situations, in effect, exclusively to the
 
 270 
 
 Company. By act of parliament,* those situa- 
 tions are open only to persons who have, for twelve 
 years, resided in India, as covenanted civil servants 
 of the Company. The condition powerfully ope- 
 rates against the interference of ministerial inte- 
 rest ; and, in fact, the honor generally falls on those 
 who stand on the qualification of long and approv- 
 ed local service. On one occasion, when the 
 British ministry thought fit to remove a Governor - 
 General of Bengal by the sign manual of the 
 King, they at the same time removed the other 
 members of the Supreme Council ; but it was in- 
 timated to the Court of Directors, that, although, 
 for the sake of form, all the members of the go- 
 vernment had been removed, the ministry felt no 
 objection to the reinstatement of the subordi- 
 nate members. 
 
 Such are the mode and the extent of ministerial 
 interference in the highest department of Indian 
 patronage. It is now to be explained, on what 
 grounds, in what manner, and how , far, that in- 
 terference exists with respect to the subordinate 
 situations, of which it needs not be said that they 
 constitute the vast majority of the places in the 
 service of the Company, and that many of them 
 are extremely lucrative and important. The ex- 
 travagant errors which have been broached on this 
 point, render the proposed explanation the more 
 requisite. 
 
 . 
 * 33 Geo. III. cap. 52, 25.
 
 271 
 
 The patronage arising from the annual appoint- 
 ments of youths to the service of the Company, 
 is, as was explained in a former chapter, equita- 
 bly divided among the Directors. In the con- 
 tinual intercourses, for which there is occasion, 
 between the President of the Board of Controul 
 and the heads of the Court of Directors, mutual ha- 
 bitsof personal cordiality are of course formed, and, 
 indeed, are, on public grounds, highly proper. 
 It certainly, therefore, would not be unnatural 
 to expect that the President might occasionally 
 obtain an appointment in the service. Such an ap- 
 pointment, however, would be the personal and, 
 possibly, the private gift of an individual Direc- 
 tor ; the extent of such good offices would be un- 
 limited and unknown ; a door of political con- 
 nexion would be opened to individuals in the 
 Court ; and, perhaps, the suspicion of secret un- 
 derstandings between Directors and the minister 
 might prove nearly as mischievous as the reality. 
 In order to obviate at once the moving cause 
 and the facility of these transactions, the most ad- 
 visable plan seems to be, thatthe Court, in their col- 
 lective capacity, should avowedly allot to the Pre- 
 sident of the Board of Controul a certain limited 
 portion of their annual mass of patronage. This 
 plan is now usually adopted. The amount assigned 
 to the President of the Board never exceeds the 
 share of the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman, 
 which again never exceeds, and sometimes fails 
 to reach, double the share of an ordinary Direc-
 
 tor. So that, if we suppose the patronage for s 
 given year divided into twenty-eight equal lots, 
 two of those lots, at the most, would be the 
 quota of the minister in question. This custom, 
 it should be observed, has not been embodied in 
 any compact or written regulation ; but depends, 
 for its existence/ on the pleasure of the Court of 
 Directors. YksmK* ?w 
 
 It thus appears that, in the original appoint- 
 ments of the servants of the Company, the go- 
 vernment participate, though to a very restricted 
 degree. In the subsequent appointments, except- 
 ing where the distinguished political situations be- 
 fore commented on are concerned, their partici- 
 pation is still more limited. The appointments of 
 this class are ordinarily made by the local Indian 
 governments, subject to the supervision, not of the 
 Board of Controul, but of the Directors, and of 
 the Directors in their corporat-e character. The 
 King, indeed, may, by his sign-manual, rescind 
 those appointments. It has already been shewn, 
 however, that the statute which invests the Crown 
 with this privilege, annexes to the exercise of it 
 such solemnities as confer on it the character of 
 an extraordinary and ultimate power, the ex- 
 treme resource of regal supremacy. It has been 
 shewn, also, that the same statute furnishes an ex- 
 cellent practical security against the abuse of the 
 privilege, since it leaves to the Company the pow- 
 er of renewing their appointments as often as they 
 are rescinded. The actual nature and object,
 
 27* 
 
 therefore, of this privilege, have not hitherto 
 been materially misconceived. No minister has 
 ventured to hold it out in terrorem on ordinary oc- 
 casions, even for the purpose of influencing those 
 superior appointments in which some measure of 
 ministerial interference appears most unimpeacha* 
 bly legitimate. In the only instance where the 
 privilege was carried into effect, the authors of 
 the experiment probably repented their precipi- 
 tancy. But the exertion of it, with respect to any 
 places except the highest offices of state, would be a 
 proceeding so flagrant, as must unquestionably 
 occasion a collision between the Government and 
 the Directors ; a collision, which would call ia 
 the decisive arbitration of Parliament. 
 
 It will be asked, however, whether the minister 
 may not, by the transmission of private intima- 
 tions to the governors of the Indian presidencies* 
 controul the nominations winch ostensibly proceed 
 from those governors, thus indemnifying himself 
 in influence for what he wants in prerogative. 
 No doubt, it may occasionally happen, that the 
 President of the Board of Controul shall recom- 
 mend to the Governor-general a youth who has 
 been appointed to the service on his own nomina- 
 tion, or perhaps some other particular connexion. 
 But, with a few exceptions of this kind, excep- 
 tions, the utmost effect of which is wholly incon- 
 siderable, he cannot well interfere in the course 
 of the service ; for the whole frame and nature 
 of the established system are adverse to such 
 
 T
 
 an interference. Where a minister is by law 
 excluded from the exercise of an open con- 
 troul, his covert interference in the provinces 
 of public officers so high as the Indian gover- 
 nors, and especially the Governor-general, would 
 in itself be a matter of some delicacy. What 
 would greatly enhance that delicacy is, that 
 the officers in question do not hold exclusively of 
 the Crown, still less, of the administration for the 
 time being. They are chosen, as they are to be 
 judged, partly by another authority than the 
 Crown j and with the cabinet of the day, they have 
 not necessarily any connexion. The question is, 
 why the minister should seek to overcome these 
 difficulties; and the answer is not obvious; for, of 
 the Indian servants, domiciliated in a distant coun- 
 try, and originally of very various and dispersed 
 connexion, few can be comprised within that 
 sphere, where the action and reaction of court* 
 interest strongly prevail. Even were the minister 
 rial wish expressed to the Governor, and by him 
 adopted, it could not always be carried into elfect. 
 In the service of the Company, as was explained 
 in the first chapter, it has been ordained by act of 
 parliament that promotion should partly depend on 
 seniority. The scope for choice, therefore, is .cir- 
 cumscribed; and, from the nature of the service, 
 as fully appears in the chapter alluded to, it is not 
 possible that the boundaries of the option given 
 should be overleaped, nor likely that the choice 
 itself should be misdirected. At each of the 
 
 id
 
 Indian presidencies, the acts of the Governor are 
 immediately overseen by his council; a body, of 
 which the members are experienced servants of the 
 Company, preferred to that station by the Direc- 
 tors themselves. The acts, besides, of the subor- 
 dinate governments, are overseen by the supreme 
 government, or that of Bengal; and the acts of all 
 arc overseen by the Company at home. From the 
 regular system of official correspondence established 
 throughout the service, and from the general 
 light and intelligence that pervade every depart- 
 ment, the respective pretensions of the servants 
 are miiversally known, and almost reduced to a 
 graduated scale. From the spirit, at the same time; 
 and honorable emulation, by which the service is 
 characterized, an appointment palpably unjust 
 would be viewed with jealousy, and scarcely with- 
 out complaint. Such appointments, therefore, if 
 meditated, are, in the first place, liable to strong 
 resistance on the spot, and it is there, undoubtedly; 
 that their impropriety admits of the completest ex- 
 posure. If they escape this trial, however, they 
 are obnoxious to animadversion from the Court of 
 Directors; who, though ordinarily content to en- 
 trust the better knowledge of their governors with 
 the conduct of local details, yet want neither in- 
 formation to discover, nor willingness to correct} 
 any glaring abuse of that confidence. 
 
 The extent to which, under the present system, 
 the ministers of the Crown command the patronage 
 pf India, has now been measured out, if the ex> 
 
 t 2
 
 pr ession may be used, in the sight of the reader. 
 Let us next suppose that the Crown, actually or 
 virtually, succeeds to that plenary controul over 
 the political patronage of India, now possessed by 
 the Company, and let us compute in what degree 
 the regal influence will, by this accession of re* 
 sources, be augmented. And here it may be con- 
 venient to premise that, though only the means of 
 patronage now in the hands of the Company would 
 be transferred to the Crown, yet, in effect and to 
 all practical purposes, the Crown might, by this 
 transfer, gain much more than the Company would 
 resign. For there are, in the hands of the Com- 
 pany, many dormant sources of influence, which it 
 is conceivable that a minister, if he obtained the 
 command of them, might take an early opportu- 
 nity of calling into action. Again, in the distri- 
 bution of their patronage, the Company are much 
 restricted, partly by regulations of their own, 
 partly by enactments of the legislature; whereas 
 it is perfectly imaginable that a minister who 
 should occupy their place, might annul the one 
 class of restraints and evade the other. 
 
 The view of the enquirer will, in the first in- 
 stance, naturally be directed to the highest stations 
 in British India; those of the Governors, Members 
 of Council, and military Commanders-in-chief, at 
 the several presidencies. Under the present sys- 
 tem, the two former of these three orders of func- 
 tionaries, in addition to the proper duties of sove- 
 reignty with which they are invested, superintend
 
 277 
 
 the commercial affairs of the Company. This, 
 however, as it is the smallest, so it forms by far 
 the least important, part of their avocations; nor 
 can we suppose that the deduction of this part 
 would sensibly impair either the value or the 
 dignity of the offices which they hold. Those 
 offices, therefore, would suffer no sensible depre- 
 ciation from the abolition of the commercial sys- 
 tem of the Company, although that event must 
 necessarily deprive them of the commercial func- 
 tions which they now comprehend. 
 
 Should the system of the Company, then, be 
 superseded, and the political patronage of India 
 transferred to the Crown, the appointments to the 
 Indian governments would fall, unimpaired in va- 
 lue, beneath the undivided command of the mi- 
 nistry. The high military appointments would 
 also become exclusively their property. By this 
 change, it may be observed, the ministry would 
 gain more in reality than, to a superficial observer 
 at least, may be apparent. Not only would they 
 unite, in themselves, the powers of selection 
 which are now divided between two parties, the 
 Crown and the Company; but the very union of 
 those powers in the same hands would increase the 
 effective quantity pf them. Co-ordinate and coun- 
 terpoising authorities seldom act together with 
 such perfect smoothness and equability, but that a 
 part of their force is destroyed by their mutual 
 attrition, Self-will, jealousy, caprice, misunder- 
 standing, are seldom so completely avoided, the 
 
 T3
 
 278 
 
 true spirit Of compromise is seldom maintained 
 with such fine exactness, but that some degree of 
 mi " i ccessary resistance occasionally takes place. All 
 which attrition and resistance must cease of course, 
 when the opposing powers are amalgamated toge* 
 ther. Without reference to this consideration, 
 however, the selection which is shared between 
 the minister and the Court of Directors, is sub-i 
 jected, in its exercise, to peculiar restraints, arising 
 from the very constitution of the latter body. 
 The Court of Directors are not a cabinet, of 
 junto, acting in close concert, and professing una- 
 nimity. They consist of twenty-four persons, and 
 these, men of various habits, connexions, and pre- 
 possessions. When, therefore, they adopt any 
 measure in their collective capacity, and it is iu 
 that capacity that they choose their governors, or 
 other high delegates, the affair is necessarily con- 
 ducted with a degree of discussion and publicity, 
 preventive of that intrigue and trafficking, to which 
 a compromise betw r een the Company and the mi* 
 riistry might be exposed, if each of the parties 
 were an individual or a secret cabal, and if they 
 negotiated in total privacy. Thus the option 
 jointly exercised by the Company and the minister, 
 is not that which they would jointly exercise if 
 they were two individuals; nor, conseqtiewtry,^ is 
 it that which the minister would possess, if he pos* 
 sessed it to himself. affqc tnrr gsofr yfil jr* 
 
 Next to the offices of the Governors and Com- 
 manders-in-chief may be considered those of the
 
 279 
 
 Members of Council. When the Commander-in- 
 chief occupies a seat in council (which is usually 
 the case), the civil members, exclusively of the 
 Governor* are two. At the three presidencies to- 
 gether, therefore, they amount to six ; and the 
 situation is one of great dignity and proportionate 
 emolument. In the present state of things, it is, 
 ast.feas before been shewn, both nominally and 
 really; in the gift of the Directors ; in the altered 
 state of things, it would be in that of the minister. 
 It is true, indeed, that no person is eligible to the 
 office who- has not, for twelve years, resided in In- 
 dia^ as a a regular member of the civil service; a 
 condition which, as matters now stand, decisive- 
 ly operates against ministerial interference. But, 
 were a perfect facility afforded to that interference 
 in other respects, this single barrier might soon 
 become nugatory. Those, who should be qualified 
 in point of service, might then find their account 
 in a diligent cultivation, by their connexions at 
 home, of a ministerial or a parliamentary interest; 
 a speculation, now too precarious to be worth their 
 labour. They would probably have acquired some 
 experience in the pursuit ; they might have pur- 
 chased their way up the whole service by similar 
 means; for, by the supposition, all appointments, 
 so far as they are elective, are to be in the election 
 of the new Indian Board. Even here the proba- 
 bility does not appear to stop ; the very materials, 
 out of which this class of persons had been original- 
 ly taken, would be those with which the element 
 
 t 4.
 
 280 
 
 of ministerial favour naturally combines. The ser- 
 vants of the Company attain their situations by 
 their connexion, nearer or more remote, with 
 private men of consideration and respectability. 
 The servants, as they would then be, of the Crown, 
 would almost necessarily owe their situations to 
 their connexion with the supporters or retainers of 
 the minister; with men of public station, political 
 interest, and parliamentary habits ; occasionally, it 
 may be feared, with electioneers, borough-dealers, 
 and low favourites. udl vJ 
 
 The undisputed and unqualified command, then, 
 of the chief official situations in India, would be 
 one among the acquisitions of the Crown. It 
 would, certainly, not be the single, nor, probably, 
 even the principal, acquisition. 
 
 Whatever be the specific scheme of polity which, 
 under a ministerial government, might be framed 
 for the Indo-British community, it may perhaps be 
 assumed that the appointments to a considerable 
 number of the political, judicial, and military situ- 
 ations in that community, must for some time con- 
 tinue to take place in England. In India, as has 
 already been shewn in this chapter, they could not 
 be, supplied for want of the requisite materials. 
 Besides, they wow take place in England; and it is 
 not likely that ministers, succeeding to the Com- 
 pany in their political character, would forego the 
 . benefit of that quantity of patronage which is dis- 
 posed of immediately by the Directors. 
 
 Let it farther be assumed, as the least favourable
 
 281 
 
 supposition which can be adopted for the purpose* 
 of the argument here maintained, that the ministry 
 Would, after the example of the Company, con- 
 tent themselves with the nomination of a certain 
 number of persons to the Indian service, leaving 
 the subsequent promotion of the persons nominated 
 to the conjoint operation of the rules of succession 
 .now established in the service, and the elective 
 power partially exercised by the local governments. 
 In that case, the original appointments now given 
 by the Directors, so many of those appointments 
 excepted as are necessary for the maintenance of 
 the Commercial system of the Company, may be 
 Regarded as a branch of patronage which would 
 undoubtedly devolve to ministers. Of the amount 
 of this acquisition, a rough computation may not 
 be unacceptable to the reader. 
 
 The Directors of the Company annually name 
 about thirty young men to their civil service under 
 the name of writers. From this body, the estab- 
 lishments both in India and in China are supplied. 
 The latter, however, is comparatively of such 
 smallness that the total loss of it would not sensibly 
 diminish the number of writers annually appointed; 
 and it will therefore be overlooked in the following 
 estimate. 
 
 The thirty appointments which have been men- 
 tioned, would, in the case under consideration, be 
 transferred to the minister, with the exception of 
 so many of them as may be supposed destined for 
 the Indian commercial department. The excep-
 
 282 
 
 tion is, in fact, not very considerable, as a short 
 calculation will evince. ; ; j A 
 
 The civil service of India may be divided into 
 four branches ; the general, which might be termed 
 the political ; the judicial ; the revenue ; and the 
 commercial. The collective number of cove- 
 nanted servants employed under these heads, is,* 
 in Bengal, 391 ; Madras, 206 ; Bombay, 74 ; in 
 all, 671. Of these, the commercial branch em- 
 ploys 122, or two-elevenths. If, then, we suppose 
 the commercial branch to be extinguished by the 
 supersession of the present system, all other things 
 remaining the same, the number of writers ap- 
 pointed would annually average at nine-elevenths 
 of thirty ; or, about twenty-four and one-half. t 
 That is, there will be left twenty-four writerships 
 annually in the gift of ministers. $$$ ^; tsl 
 
 But it is an unwarrantable assumption that the 
 commercial branch would, in the case supposed, 
 be totally extinct. That branch, considered^ .wfth^ 
 respect to Bengal, includes three departments, 
 which are, in fact, of a political nature : that of 
 the government customs levied on imports, and 
 exports at several principal cities ^^n^r!^ sajfj 
 and opium establishments, instituted for the ma- 
 nagement of a monopoly which the Company, 
 after the example of the Mogul Government, 
 possess in those articles. Under every change of 
 system, the customs would probably continue* 
 The monopoly in salt and opium, being a prero- 
 
 * See Appendix, Nd. II. t 245454 &c.
 
 283 
 
 gative of the government, might be expected to 
 continue also. At all events, the profits resulting 
 from that monopoly cannot be spared; if relin- 
 quished in their proper shape, they must be re- 
 vived in that of revenue, and the salt and opium 
 agencies would disappear only to be replaced by 
 fiscal collectorships. 
 
 The covenanted servants employed in the go- 
 vernment customs, being custom-masters, or their 
 deputies, are fifteen. The number of those engaged 
 in the departments of salt and opium, is twenty- 
 three.* We have thus, in effect, thirty-eight poli- 
 tical functionaries, although enumerated among the 
 commercial servants of the Company. Thesey 
 transferred from the commercial head to the sum 
 of the rest, leave the former but eighty-four, and 
 raise the latter to 587; and, on computation, it 
 will appear that, of the thirty writerships, we shall 
 now have twenty-six for the annual number in th$ 
 gift of the administration.t 
 
 Under the present system, it has been shewn 
 that the share acquired by the minister in the 
 annual patronage of the Company, never exceeds 
 that conferred on a Chairman of the Company, 
 or about one-fourteenth of the whole. Of thirty 
 writers, therefore, the minister, on an average, 
 does not appoint a greater number than at th'^ 
 rate of 2y in each year. Consequently, imder'tfte 
 
 * See Appendix, No. II. 
 
 f Accurately 26if J. 
 
 -
 
 284 
 
 new system, his influence, so far as this source of 
 patronage extends, would be increased upwards of 
 twelve times. * 
 
 Let us next proceed to the cadetcies. The 
 annual appointments of cadets for the military 
 service of the Company may be averaged at 120 ; 
 those of marine cadets, at 10. The marine de- 
 partments, however, of India, would suffer some 
 diminution by the supersession of the Company. 
 The marine at Fort Saint George, indeed, is not 
 worth mention ; 'that of Bengal amounts only to a 
 system of pilotage for the Ganges, a river, the 
 navigation of which is peculiarly difficult. The 
 Bombay marine is of a very different description. 
 It consists of fifteen fighting vessels, besides armed 
 boats, advice-boats, and other appendant craft, 
 and gives employment to a regular establishment 
 of marine officers, seamen, and attendants on shore. 
 The maintenance of this force is rendered neces- 
 sary by the swarms of pirates who infest the 
 western coast of the Indian promontory, from the 
 shores of the Persian Gulf to Goa, and who are 
 distinguished, particularly those that lurk in the 
 more northerly tracts, by their courage, cunning, 
 and ferocity. These nautical banditti have haunted 
 the very same regions since the time of Alexander 
 the Great, and probably much longer ; nor, though 
 Jthey have sustained severe and apparently ruinous 
 losses from the English at Bombay, can any imme- 
 
 Or as 1 to 1212473 &c.
 
 285 
 
 diate prospect be entertained of the final term*, 
 nation of their ravages.* The marine establish- 
 ment, therefore, of Bombay, would probably, 
 under every change of system, be continued ?on 
 its present scale. But, out of one hundred and 
 four marine covenanted servants of the Company* 
 Bombay employs ninety-three, or nearly nine ill 
 ten.t Therefore, at least eight marine cadets are 
 annually appointed to Bombay. Add these to the 
 one hundred and twenty military cadets annually 
 appointed for India in general, and we have about 
 one hundred and twenty-eight for the amount of 
 the cadetcies, which, in the supposed case, would 
 be annually given by ministers. 
 
 The cadetcies are by no means of equal value; 
 the marine are below the military, and the latter 
 again differ, not only according to the particular 
 presidency for which they are destined, but as 
 they are intended for the engineer, the artik 
 lery, the cavalry, or the infantry lines, those 
 of the three former classes being the most va- 
 luable. Without adverting to these distinctions, 
 it may be roughly estimated that, under die exist, 
 ing system, the cadetcies with which the minister 
 is annually complimented by the Court of Direc 
 tors, average at 9y Consequently the patronage 
 of the Crown, with respect to this department, 
 
 * See the Company's Records, passim 5 and Mooes Hind* 
 Infanticide. 
 
 f See Appendix, No. I.
 
 286 
 
 would, by the proposed change of system, be 
 multiplied fourteen-fold. jB&ns rjrltoc 
 
 If now the accessions of patronage which <t$& 
 Crown would receive in both the departments 
 that have been considered, be added together, 
 they will amount to 154 writerships and cadetcies. 
 That is, the ministers of the Crown woidd annual- 
 ly have it in their power to confer situations, in 
 fact for life, on more than a hundred and fifty indi* 
 viduals ; and these situations, not paltry clerkships 
 or waiterships, but all of them such as may confer 
 respectability on youths of patrician connexion;, 
 many of them such as the sons and nephews of 
 members of parliament, and even the younger 
 branches of the nobility, might aspire to fill,nand 
 winch it is well known that persons of those 
 classes frequently do aspire to fill. 
 
 The acquisitions of ministers would not stop 
 here ; for the Directors of the Company annually 
 appoint to their settlements other servants besides 
 writers and cadets. They appoint a certain num- 
 ber, not indeed fixed, but floating within calcula- 
 ble limits* of medical practitioners, both physi- 
 cians and surgeons, although, in the phraseology 
 of the service, all pass under the latter appella- 
 tion. They appoint clergymen, under the deno- 
 mination of chaplains, to the several, presidencies, 
 m such a manner that a given number may be at- 
 tached to each. They appoint so many barristers 
 and attorneys as may seem proportionate to the 
 juridical practise of the supreme courts of Ben*
 
 287 
 
 gal and Madras, and of the parallel courts at the 
 other presidencies. They farther, annually 
 appoint, under the designation of free mer- 
 chants, a supply of persons who may, on private 
 account, embark in the country trade of Bri- 
 tish India. They, lastly, license an inferior de- 
 scription of persons to resort to India in a private 
 character, under the title of free mariners. Rea- 
 sons may appear, in the sequel, for doubting whe- 
 ther any sensible proportion of these appointments 
 would be superseded by the abolition of the pre- 
 sent Indian system. It seems, however, safe here 
 to assume that no change would entirely supersede 
 the legal appointments ; that the medical appoint- 
 ments would, under every change, be little af- 
 fected ; and the clerical not at all. At each pre- 
 sidency the Company have both barristers at law 
 and attornies officially in their employ, as advo- 
 cates-general, standing counsel, or solicitors to 
 the Company. Similar law-officers must of course 
 he instituted on the part of the Crown.* The sur- 
 geons whom the Company nominate would also,' 
 in a great measure, remain to be appointed by 
 the Crown. Many of them are attached to the 
 army; others to the governments in India ; others 
 to some of the stations, judicial, financial, or 
 commercial. In any event, the army would re-* 
 quire to be furnished as now j nor could 'the 
 
 * The Appendix, No. V. gives only the whole number of 
 barristers and attornies licensed by U}e Company.
 
 288 
 
 medical demands of the local governments be 
 left to the casual supply of unofficial practition- 
 ers who might resort to India on the mere chance 
 of employment. In any event, too, the judi- 
 cial and financial stations dispersed up the country 
 could not possibly afford a sufficient field to tempt 
 the residence of an European practitioner, with- 
 out the assistance of a stipulated salary from the 
 state. The medical persons, therefore, on the 
 Indian establishment, would remain, with the ex 
 ception of the small number made requisite by the 
 addition of the commercial department. What 
 that number is, cannot exactly be computed j but 
 we shall probably much overrate it at twenty 
 out of the two hundred and fifty-five surgeons * 
 now serving the Company. With regard to the 
 clerical establishment, this source of patronage must 
 necessarily remain somewhere ; and, if not with the 
 Company, it must pass to the Crown. The number 
 of chaplaincies for Bengal is sixteen ; for Madras, 
 fifteen ; for Bombay, five -, in all, thirty-six : t and 
 they are situations of the highest respectability. 
 On the whole, of the three departments, legal, 
 medical, and clerical, the disposable places, and 
 these, in effect, places for life, amount to about 
 two hundred and ninety; all which would, 
 in the case supposed, swell the influence of the 
 Crown. 
 
 * See Appendix, No. TIL 
 f See Appendix, No. IV.
 
 289 
 
 This estimate does not exhaust that division of 
 Indian patronage which is dispensed immediately 
 by the hands of the Company at home, and which, 
 therefore, would constitute the first and the le- 
 gitimate acquisition of ministers. Closely con- 
 nected with the patronage of appointments, is 
 that of recommendations. A Director, where he 
 is able, naturally furnishes a youth in whose suc- 
 cess he is interested, with introductions and testi- 
 monials to persons high in the Indian service* 
 Such introductions the young candidate may find 
 eminently conducive to his progress. In cases 
 of equal, or nearly equal, claims, the favour of 
 those in authority will generally strike the balance. 
 To the Directors, this source of influence is 
 manifestly limited ; for they can grant the recom- 
 mendations in question, only in proportion to 
 their individual acquaintance with the high In- 
 dian functionaries* The recommendations of a 
 minister, supposing him to have himself appoint- 
 ed those functionaries, could know no limit, short 
 of that point at which they must inevitably clash 
 with each other. Even this boundary they would 
 probably exceed ; for they might be lavished in 
 order to serve a temporary purpose, with little so- 
 licitude for their success, and little heed of their 
 failure. It is no very new event for official pa- 
 trons to overdraw their credit in promises j and 
 especially, where they know that the period of de- 
 tection is at a distance. 
 
 But, besides the sources of individual influence
 
 29d 
 
 thus open to the Directors, there are impof'tarit 
 functions of patronage which they exercise collec- 
 tively. They extend compensations to those who 
 have sustained loss in their service ; they decree pen- 
 sions or gratuities to those who have Served them 
 well. Nor is this munificence confined to their stated 
 servants, but it includes also incidental claims* 
 The naval commanders, for example, whose signal 
 prowess overthrew, in Syria and Egypt, the Asiatic 
 projects of the French republic, experienced, as they 
 well merited, the remunerative bounty of the Com- 
 pany; Farther, it occasionally happens that, of the nu- 
 merous individuals employed in the Indian service, 
 some for misconduct real or imputed, are reported* 
 perhaps suspended, by their superiors. The ulti- 
 mate decision, in such cases, rests with the ruling 
 powers at home, who may censure or acquit, may 
 disqualify an offender or annul a disqualification 
 unjustly inflicted* All these are substantive means 
 of influence ; and they are means, let it be ob- 
 served, capable of indefinite enlargement. By 
 the Court of Directors they are not exerted to 
 excess, because they attach to the body collective- 
 ly ; for, in the application of them by the body* 
 individual wishes are over-borne by the general 
 interest, which is no other than that of the Com* 
 pany. In the distribution of pecuniary liberality, 
 the Directors, it should be observed, act un* 
 der an additional check ; being * precluded from 
 
 to 
 
 * 33 Geo. III. can. 52, 125. 
 97/ 1
 
 291 
 
 the grant of any salary, increase of salary, pen- 
 sion, or increase of pension, to any one person, 
 beyond the sum of two hundred pounds per an- 
 num, without the consent of the Board of ControuL 
 In this place may be mentioned the political 
 patronage dispensed by the Company in the 
 maintenance of their establishment at home. Of 
 that establishment, indeed, the greater portion is 
 rendered necessary by their commercial concerns ; 
 but the rest must, in some shape, survive the dis- 
 solution of the Company, and would then pass 
 into the management of the Crown. The magni- 
 tude of what would so remain cannot conveni- 
 ently be computed ; but no very low estimate 
 of it will be formed by those who reflect on the 
 vastness and complexity of the political transac- 
 tions that must necessarily take place between 
 such a country as England and such a dependen- 
 cy as India. For the subordinate details of those 
 transactions, a great number of accountants, au- 
 ditors, cashiers, registers, secretaries, clerks, mes- 
 sengers, and other petty officials, will be required ; 
 while the more elevated province now occupied 
 by the Directors must be supplied by the creation 
 of a variety of new and most important offices 
 of state. If, to the cost of these places, we add 
 the expenses of the fiscal establishments that must 
 be erected, partly for the collection of the du- 
 ties which the government derive from the com- 
 merce of India, and partly for the prevention of 
 a contraband traffic in Indian merchandizes, we 
 
 u 2
 
 292 
 
 shall probably little overrate the amount of the 
 patronage which will accrue to the Crown in the 
 Indian department at home, if we fix it at the 
 annual sum of seventy or eighty thousand pounds. 
 Such would be the accession to the ministry of 
 the means of influence, on the assumption that 
 their actual interference in the disposal of Indian 
 patronage were confined to the limits now observ- 
 ed by the Directors of the Company. Surely, 
 however, it admits of great doubt whether this be 
 an allowable assumption. Under the present sys- 
 tem, the major portion of that patronage is dis- 
 tributed in India; partly, by the impartial and 
 inexorable operation of certain known rules, part- 
 ly, by the selecting option of the local authorities. 
 The practsie has every sanction from public con- 
 venience, and every confirmation from established 
 usage ; but neither public convenience, nor esta- 
 blished usage, will secure it against invasion under 
 a total change of circumstances. 
 
 The peculiarities in the present Indian constitu- 
 tion, which operate as the main preservatives of the 
 practise in question, are two; equilibrium of 
 powers, and publicity of proceedings. That the 
 Directors of the Company and the President of 
 the Board of Controul, are, like other men, lia- 
 ble to the sway of selfish motives, may readily be 
 believed. The desire of being ascendant, and 
 the desire of multiplying retainers and con- 
 nexions, the love of power and the love of 
 patronage, are as consonant to human nature, _ as
 
 293 
 
 it is consonant to vegetable nature that a tree 
 should shoot its branches into the air, and strike 
 its roots into the earth. But the form and genius 
 of the Indian system in the two points already 
 specified, counteract the natural operation of 
 these principles. There is a balance of power, 
 and, by inevitable consequence, a balance of 
 selfishness. The interested wishes, the individual 
 preferences, by which the minds of the com- 
 ponent authorities may be actuated, clash toge- 
 ther, and are destroyed. This species of interac- 
 tion prevails in the Court of Directors, considered 
 as an assemblage of co-ordinate patrons ; and, 
 what is more to the purpose of the present dis- 
 cussion, it prevails between the Company on the 
 one hand, and the ministers of the Crown on the 
 other.* The respective provinces of the two 
 powers, as components of the Indo-British go- 
 vernment, are, to all practical ends, adjusted with 
 nicety, and, at the same time, all that passes in 
 every department, is seen and known. No usur- 
 pation, therefore, can take place by stealth, or ne- 
 glect, or accident. Any demonstration, on either 
 side, of a disposition to encroachment, is instant* 
 \y detected, under so strong a light, on a boun- 
 dary so finely and firmly drawn.- Jealousy is ex- 
 cited ; and, in case of necessity, both parties are 
 ready with an appeal to parliament. 
 
 Hence it arises, agreeably to the representation 
 u3 
 See Chapter I.
 
 294 
 
 in the former part of this chapter, that, at pre. 
 sent, the ministers of the Crown exercise, in 
 effect, no controul over the promotion of the 
 individuals in the service of the Company. But 
 let the difference be observed between the present 
 and a ministerial government. To speak of the 
 balance of power, or of the publicity of proceed- 
 ings, within the office of a secretary of state, 
 would surely be too ridiculous. The minister 
 may, unchecked, appoint or displace the indivi- 
 duals constituting one of the Indian governments ; 
 and, armed with the terror of this power, he may 
 secretly transmit to those individuals whatever or- 
 ders he will. The mutual discussions which might 
 accompany the transaction, would, in fact, be 
 mere cabinet-conversations, little more implying that 
 real conflict of sentiment which is balanced power 
 in action, than if they were so many soliloquies 
 uttered by a single despot in his loneliest cham- 
 ber. Amidst these opportunities, it is not easy to 
 perceive what obstacle could be opposed to a 
 plenary exertion by the minister of the right 
 which, if he succeeded to the prerogatives of the 
 Company, he would possess by law, that of in- 
 terference in the promotion of the Indian servants. 
 The facility, however, of such interference once 
 proved, all is proved. So rich a field of minis- 
 terial influence could scarcely be expected to lie 
 fallow, while two parties should have the strongest 
 interest in the complete cultivation of it ; the 
 minister who would bestow the patronage, and the
 
 295 
 
 Indian servant who would receive it. The certain 
 consequence is, that transformation of the Indian 
 service into a scene of political intrigue which was 
 described in a former page. 
 
 When it is considered that the civil covenanted 
 servants of the Company, exclusively of those em- 
 ployed in their commercial department, amount 
 to five hundred and eighty nine,* some notion 
 may be formed of the means of influence with 
 which the supervision of the civil part of the In- 
 dian service alone would strengthen the Crown. 
 It is not necessary to suppose that the supervision 
 shall be exercised in every individual instance of 
 a vacancy ; an exercise of it, very large, and dis- 
 cretional, is all that the argument requires. Nei- 
 ther is it necessary to suppose any evasion of the 
 statute which makes a certain length of service 
 an indispensable condition to the receipt of a cer- 
 tain amount of salary. The same statute, it 
 should be remembered, legitimates the provisional 
 appointment of governors and other high officers, 
 and does not appear to prohibit inferior appoint- 
 ments on the like terms. Even if it did, its pro- 
 hibitions could not extend to the personal prol 
 mises of ministers ; in whose pleasure it must al- 
 ways he, thus to antedate, if the expression may 
 be used, their regular opportunities of bounty, 
 and live on the capital of their influence. 
 
 In the military department, the extension of 
 
 u 4 
 * See Appendix, No. II.
 
 296 
 
 ministerial patronage, though less vast, would also 
 be very considerable. It was shewn, in the first 
 chapter of this work, that the rule of promotion 
 by seniority, with whatever strictness enforced, 
 must always, in the irregular and desultory ser- 
 vices of war, leave ample room for the operation 
 of choice. The choice must, indeed, immediate- 
 ly belong to the local commander-hirchief ; but, 
 in the case supposed, it would belong to a com- 
 mander-in-chief exclusively appointed by the 
 Crown ; and the value of this species of patronage, 
 though it be not exactly within the reach of pe- 
 cuniary computation, would be perfectly pal- 
 pable in the effects produced. Under this head 
 must likewise be noticed the staff-appoint- 
 ments held by officers in the army of the Com- 
 pany ; and the allowances which the Company 
 grant to persons of their military establishment, 
 who have retired from the service. Though the 
 staff-appointments in India are '478 in number,* yet 
 there do not appear on the list above thirteen 
 officers belonging to the service of His Majesty. 
 Of military officers retired from the service of 
 the Company on allowances, the number is at 
 present 330, and the amount of the allowances 
 *91>6l6.t Here, therefore, are two copious sources 
 of patronage, and, both, apparently, very capable of 
 enlargement. Here, also, may be noticed the 
 Bombay marine, which, as has been shewn, must 
 be maintained under any system, and which em- 
 
 * See Appendix, No. VIII. \ See Appendix, No. IX,
 
 297 
 
 ploys 104 naval officers, besides 574 persons of 
 inferior rank. There are also retiring allowances 
 annexed to the marine service ; but of these the 
 present amount is inconsiderable.* 
 
 These statements and remarks relate to the 
 situations ordinarily comprised in the Indian ser- 
 vice ; but, besides these, extraordinary commis- 
 sions, or other offices of a temporary nature, are 
 sometimes created by the local governments, for 
 particular purposes, the persons selected being, as 
 the object in view may require, either civil or 
 military, and the emoluments proportioned to the 
 importance of the employment. Pensions, also, 
 are granted in India, to meritorious and unfortu- 
 nate individuals in the civil service.! To what 
 extent might not such occasional means of 
 patronage be multiplied under the administration 
 of a ministerial viceroy, checked on the spot only 
 by a council of ministerial appointment, and in- 
 spected from England by the ministers themselves? 
 
 Under the same division may be mentioned a 
 variety of places, which, though not included 
 within the regular civil service of the Company, 
 that is, the civil service under covenants, yet form 
 a necessary and a stated division of the Indian 
 establishment. These places are in the nature of 
 clerkships, secretaryships, petty agencies, and other 
 similar offices of an inferior nature. Though 
 subordinate, they are respectable, and, in fact, are 
 
 * See Appendix, No. X. f See Appendix, No. XIU.
 
 frequently bestowed on the sons of European 
 gentlemen by native mothers, a description of 
 persons debarred from the covenanted service.* 
 Nor is their number inconsiderable ; excluding 
 those attached to the properly commercial depart- 
 ment, they amount to 792. t In the existing 
 state of things, these minor situations escape the 
 grasp of the ministers of the Crown ; nor can 
 they easily fall within that grasp, while the local 
 governors, in whose gift they are vested, maintain 
 their present independence. Ministers, also, being 
 excluded from the principal shares, have the less 
 ready access to the offals, of Indian influence, 
 Under an altered system, they might find this 
 minor patronage a very substantive resource, and 
 that its emoluments, though scarcely in them-, 
 selves worth a voyage of cupidity to the East, 
 will yet, if the allusion may be allowed, very 
 commodiously form an assortment with imports of 
 a more precious nature. Neither, apparently, can 
 any reason be given, why, in the event imagined, 
 the places in question should not gradually be ren- 
 dered both more numerous and more lucrative ; 
 nor why, let it without offense be added, instead 
 of furnishing a respectable asylum to Indo-Euro- 
 peans of the mixed blood, they should not be 
 worse employed in the maintenance of indivi- 
 duals connected with jobbers and borough-mon- 
 gers at home. 
 
 The evils which have been described might 
 
 * See Chapter II. f See Appendix, No. I.
 
 299 
 
 take place, even though the regulation which fixes 
 a certain proportion between the advancement 
 of the Indian servants and the length of then- 
 past service, continued uninvaded. That law 
 stands, indeed, on principles, both specific and 
 general, of such strength, that the direct repeal of 
 it is, under no circumstances, likely to be attempt- 
 ed. Its specific merits, with regard to the cir- 
 cumstances of British India, were set forth in the 
 last chapter ; and, for a general rule, no maxim 
 can be clearer than this, that, whatever revolutions 
 of system or dynasty a state may undergo, the 
 particular machinery by which the detail of the 
 government is conducted, ought never on light 
 grounds, nor suddenly on any grounds, to be dis- 
 composed. The regulation in question would, 
 therefore, be in form respected ; but we may not 
 infer that it would escape great practical infrac- 
 tions, and these, perhaps, the more pernicious 
 because silent. 
 
 This is no romantic conjecture, but naturally fol- 
 lows from the trite adage, that laws will not execute 
 themselves. In the case supposed, what security 
 would exist for a due attention to this, or to any other 
 similar rule, or to any number of such rules ? By the 
 hypothesis, no independent authority is to be erect- 
 ed, either in India or in England, which shall officially 
 watch the process of the Indian service. All is 
 left to the self-mistrust, self-examination, and self- 
 denial, of the British cabinet. Under such an ar- 
 rangement, it is not difficult to perceive how the
 
 300 
 
 law in question might be rendered abortive, and 
 that, without any positive or presumptuous malver- 
 sation. An instance is on record, in which a Go- 
 vernor-general reduced the salary of an office, in 
 order that he might be able legally to confer it on 
 an individual below the requisite standing. That 
 this was an evasion of the law, seems plain. When 
 the law enjoined that, in proportion to the salary 
 of an office, should be the experience of him who 
 was to fill it, it assumed that the salary of an office 
 was the best practical criterion of its importance.* 
 To diminish that salary, therefore, without lower- 
 ing that importance, is to falsify the criterion 
 assumed by the law ; it is to alter the measure, ir*. 
 order that we may not fall short of it. Such irre.. 
 gularities, however, may occasionally be justifiable 
 on public grounds ; and that this was the case in 
 the instance under consideration, a more decisive 
 proof cannot be given than the name of him by 
 whom the measure was adopted, Lord Cornwallis. 
 But the circumstance shews how the rule may be 
 eluded ; an enterprize, in which vice might not 
 discover less ingenuity than virtue, especially 
 when the operation was to be conducted in the 
 dark. A Governor-general, acting in concert with 
 a minister at home, might break down high 
 offices into their aliquot parts ; he might reduce 
 the ostensible value of an office by lowering its 
 regular profits, while he compensated for the losa 
 
 ktntfi * See Chapter I. 
 
 913 llj f
 
 by the addition of irregular and variable perqui* 
 sites 5 he might add extra-perquisites to a loW 
 office, thus increasing its real far beyond its no- 
 minal lucrativeness'; he might multiply the un* 
 covenanted assistants in the service, and contrive 
 that these irregulars should gradually supersede, 
 both in official importance and in emolument, the 
 stated and covenanted functionaries; he might, 
 under various pretexts, divert a portion of the 
 regular business of the service into the channel of 
 special commissions. By means of these expe- 
 dients, and others of a like nature, which it would 
 cost little labour to imaginej and, unfortunately, 
 but little more to practise, the legal ramparts 
 erected against premature and interested promo- 
 tion might be penetrated without noise, and it is 
 conceivable that they would afterwards serve only 
 to cover and entrench the abuses which they had 
 failed to exclude. 
 
 Some may speciously urge, that the interfe- 
 rence of the British ministry with the discretion 
 now exercised by the local Indian governors ill 
 the regulation of the service, would greatly re- 
 duce the influence annexed to the exalted stations 
 of those persons, and, since these are the best 
 Indian offices, would thus deduct from the pa- 
 tronage of the Crown at one end what it added 
 at the other. But the deduction, however great, 
 would by no means balance the addition ; and, in 
 truth, it is open to great doubt whether, with re- 
 ference to the current notions of mankind, there
 
 302 
 
 would be any deduction at all. Were the consti- 
 tution of the service altogether unhinged, and its 
 prizes made accessible to the grasp of official ra- 
 pacity, it does not immediately appear why the 
 local governors should not, without any material 
 encroachment on the shares of their employers, 
 gain an ample dividend of the spoil. The change 
 of system, then, while undoubtedly it would derogate 
 not a little from the erectness and independence 
 of character which those high functionaries at 
 present maintain, might, in . vulgar eyes, more 
 than supply the difference, by unclosing to them 
 many sources both of influence and of emolu- 
 ment from which they a,re now debarred. 
 
 . , 
 
 Let it be recollected, that the estimates whi< 
 have been here exhibited embrace only the esta- 
 blishments of the three presidencies of Bengal, 
 Madras, and Bombay. They might easily have 
 been enlarged, by an analysis, equally minute, of 
 the official situations attached to the establish- 
 ments of Prince of Wales's Island, Canton, Fort 
 Marlborough in the island of Sumatra, and Saint 
 Helena. Nor will it escape recollection that the 
 recent extension of the British dominion over a 
 considerable part of the Indian Archipelago has 
 not more surely added lustre to the national fame, 
 and strength to the national commerce, than it 
 has opened new and copious, although hitherto 
 unsounded, sources of influence to the govern- 
 ment under which the conquests in question shall 
 be placed.
 
 303 
 
 Perhaps, the reader will now be induced to 
 ask, whether any preventives or palliatives have 
 been devised for the mischiefs which the proposed 
 change of system thus glaringly appears to menace. 
 On this head, the advocates of change have proba- 
 bly not altogether methodized their ideas ; for they, 
 furnish nothing beyond obscure and desultory 
 hints, scarcely susceptible of discussion* So far 
 as can be discovered, however, the helps on which 
 they rely are of two kinds, though, in fact, of 
 the same family* They tell us, in the first place, 
 that the British parliament is the proper guardian o 
 the state against ministerial misconduct and abuse* 
 In the next, they contend that restraining laws 
 may be framed, which shall prevent the abuses 
 apprehended in this particular instance 
 
 With respect to the first point, it seems no re* 
 flexion on the general efficiency of parliament to 
 doubt greatly their competency for the active and 
 circumstantial superintendance of Indian affairs* 
 It is vain to suppose that the empire of India, a 
 distinct world, moving in a trajectory of its own, 
 can be minutely inspected by large deliberative 
 assemblies, meeting in a distant quarter of the 
 globe, and intent on an innumerable variety o 
 concerns nearer home. India, it will be observed*, 
 is unprovided, not only with actual parliamentary 
 representatives, but also with that species of inte- 
 rest in parliament which results from a local affi- 
 nity to individual members, and to which perhaps 
 might be applied the term, sometimes not-
 
 304 
 
 very intelligibly used, of virtual representation t 
 Parliament can learn the occurrences of this sepa- 
 rate kingdom only by accident, and attend to 
 them only by snatches. The most important con- 
 sideration, however, is yet behind. By a skilful 
 distribution of Indian patronage among members 
 of parliament* the minister is enabled to conci- 
 liate the very persons by whom he is to be con- 
 trouled. By multiplying his offenses, he pro- 
 pitiates his judge. 
 
 It may be urged, perhaps, that, if these things 
 are so, mankind have been accustomed to lavish 
 very undeserved praises on the British constitution, 
 and on its boasted organ of parliament. That or- 
 gan must be unequal to its intended purpose, if 
 it cannot check the misuse of power and patronage 
 by the executive government. It would surely 
 be one sufficient answer to the objector, that In- 
 dia has no constitutional connexion with the Bri- 
 tish parliament ; but the truth is, that the objec- 
 tion can hardly be stated in any such terms as 
 shall disguise the gross fallacy which it involves. 
 Parliament checks the Executive by virtue, not of 
 its name, but of its power. There is an actual 
 equality of weight between the bodies. But, if 
 we considerably increase the power of the Execu- 
 tive, if we materially add to the weight of one 
 of the balancing bodies, other things remaining 
 the same, the check, the equilibrium can subsist 
 no longer. It seems strange to argue that the 
 equilibrium would continue perfect then, because 
 
 - .
 
 305 
 
 it had been so before. The question is, whether 
 the influence of the Crown, if it were greatly ex- 
 tended, would not become too great ; the answer 
 is, no, for it is exactly great enough. 
 
 The other device by which the apprehended 
 misapplication of Indian patronage is to be check- 
 ed, consists in the enactment of a new code of 
 restraining laws. But the difficulty will still re- 
 cur, by whom shall the execution of those laws 
 be enforced ? and there is but one answer, by 
 parliament. No independent authority is to be 
 created as a check on ministers ; for, if there be, 
 why should not the Court of Directors be that 
 authority? No inspector is left, therefore, but 
 parliament; a circumstance, sufficiently demon- 
 strative of the inadequacy of the expedient. 
 
 The pecuniary value will possibly be enquired, 
 of the whole patronage which the Crown would 
 gain by superseding the Company in their political 
 capacity. There are many items of that patronage, 
 which cannot enter into a pecuniary census. The 
 selection of particular military officers for particu- 
 lar services, and possibly services ensuring to 
 them great acquisitions of prize-money; the allot- 
 ment, to individuals in the civil service, of parti- 
 cular stations highly convenient in other views than 
 simply that of emolument; the restoration of dis- 
 missed or suspended servants, to the service or to 
 their former rank ; the permission of furlough, or 
 temporary absence from the service, civil or mili- 
 tary; the immense stock of influence arising from 
 reversionary or promised appointments, which, 
 
 x
 
 306 
 
 however, being purely a capital of credit^ f ,^ 
 make no appearance in an account of the annual 
 disbursements of the service, to whatever magni- 
 tude it may be increased; these and other very 
 solid advantages are yet incapable of numerical 
 valuation. Still, it may not be useless to exhibit 
 all that will admit of being so valued. 
 
 In the following table, care is anxiously taken 
 to proceed on moderate assumptions. On this 
 principle, the expenses of the commercial estab- 
 lishments of the Company are wholly excluded, 
 and, as being blended with them, those of the 
 salt and opium monopolies, though the latter 
 departments are of a strictly fiscal nature. 
 The pay and allowances of the officers of his 
 Majesty, serving in India, are also excluded, al- 
 though both are derived from the Company. The 
 pay and allowances of the military staff-appointments 
 in India are excluded, although the greater pro- 
 portion of those appointments are conferred on 
 officers in the service of the Company, and would, 
 therefore, become a decisive addition to the pa- 
 tronage of the Crown. It was, however, found 
 difficult to assign the pecuniary amount of this 
 addition. The salaries of the governors and com- 
 manders-in-chief are also excluded from this table, 
 although the difference between the indirect share 
 which the Crown now possesses in the disposal of 
 those emoluments, and that plenary command over 
 them which it would derive from the new system, 
 would be found enormous. They are excluded, 
 however j for it was feared that some cavil might
 
 307 
 
 be raised respecting the assigned quantum of the 
 accession. The salaries allowed by the Company 
 to the legal advocates and attornies officially in 
 their employ, not being immediately separable 
 from certain other charges, are also excluded. 
 The entire expenses of the Indian establishment at 
 home are also excluded. What might be the 
 amount of those expenses under a royal govern- 
 ment, must necessarily be a matter of conjecture, 
 and would open a ground for altercation. The 
 pensions granted by the Company in England are 
 also excluded. Lastly, the disbursements for the 
 establishments of Prince of Wales's Island, Canton, 
 Fort Marlborough, and Saint Helena, are wholly 
 omitted. In return for all these sacrifices on the 
 part of the argument here maintained, the only two 
 advantages taken are so slight and almost evanes- 
 cent, that they might, without obj ection, observation, 
 or effect, have been tossed into the scale on either 
 side. The salaries granted to the very trifling 
 addition of medical men made requisite by the 
 commercial establishments, not admitting of exact 
 discrimination, have been suffered to remain 
 blended with the rest. The pensions granted to 
 Europeans in India arc also included as a head of 
 patronage; although an inconsiderable proportion 
 of the pensioners may have belonged to the com- 
 mercial department. These circumstances are only 
 mentioned for the sake of fairness; for, to any 
 practical purpose, they absolutely make no diffe- 
 rence at all in the result of the table. 
 
 x2
 
 308 
 
 View of the annual value of the patronage which tfte 
 ministers of the Ci'own would possess by super- 
 seding the Company in the government of India** 
 
 Salaries and allowances to Europeans in 
 
 the civil, judicial, revenue, andmarine . 
 
 establishments, of the Indian service 1,463,843 
 
 Medical establishments in India .... 150,332 
 
 Clerical establishments 40,995 
 
 Pay and allowances of the military of- 
 ficers of the Company 1,598,019 
 
 Pay and allowance of officers retired 
 
 from the service of the Company. . 94,360 
 
 Pensions to Europeans in India 11,269 
 
 -iul> ll SOU <HQlu> 
 
 Total, u.yuui 3,367,818 
 bsjioi j 
 
 Now, from the amount of these items, we should, 
 in strictness, subtract a sum equivalent to the pre- 
 sumable value of the very few writerships or other 
 appointments with which, as has already been 
 stated, the Court of Directors usually compliment 
 the President of the Board of Controul. That 
 value is not easily definable in figures ; but, on no 
 principle of computation, can it be made greatly to 
 exceed 20,000 pounds. Call it 25,000; and the 
 difference would still be unfelt ; for we shall then 
 merely reduce the account to ^3,342,8 18 per an- 
 num. But if, on the other hand, an allowance is 
 made for the very large items purposely dropped 
 'lo shorn i. 
 
 * See the tables in the Appendix.
 
 309 
 
 out of this aggregate, the result might probably 
 exceed, it certainly could not fall below, three 
 millions and a half. That is, grantable places, to 
 the annual amount of three millions and a hal 
 would be at the disposal of the minister. 
 
 Let it be assumed that, for some reason or other, 
 the minister should forbear to make the full use of 
 the prodigious engine which would thus be placed 
 in his hands; and, as an equivalent for this re- 
 serve, let us strike off one million from the account. 
 It will, on this very moderate assumption, appear, 
 that the annual value of his acquisition is still two 
 millions and a half. 
 
 It matters not that, from the length of time dur- 
 ing which many of the situations included in this 
 estimate might be held, the whole sum mentioned 
 would not be annually disposable. The perma- 
 nence of the situations plainly adds to the value of 
 those conferred, all that it deducts from the extent 
 of the annual distribution. In estimating, also, 
 the effect of patronage, we must consider, not 
 merely the sum of enjoyment and obligation which 
 it produces, but the quantity of hope, expectancy, 
 attendance, and solicitation, which it sets in mo- 
 tion. If it be true that he who confers a place 
 " makes one man ungrateful and many discontent* 
 " ed," it will follow that a future and uncertain 
 favour affords a surer pledge of dependence than 
 one which is granted and has done its work. 
 
 Agreeably, however, to the narrower mode of 
 contemplating the subject, it may not be useless to
 
 310 
 
 compute what proportion of this vast amount of 
 patronage would be actually in the market each 
 yean It is said to be an established law of proba- 
 bility that, of thirteen individuals casually assem- 
 bled together, one will die within a twelvemonth ; 
 whence has arisen the vulgar superstition respect- 
 ing the unluckiness attending a company of that 
 number. On this ground, it might, perhaps, be 
 assumed that, of the offices in the Indian estab- 
 lishment, every thirteenth would annually fall va- 
 cant by death ; but the casualties of dismissal for 
 misconduct, or of voluntary resignation, with a 
 view either to farther promotion or to retirement 
 from public life, must greatly increase the proba- 
 bility of a vacancy. It seems a very temperate as- 
 sumption, that every tenth office would annually 
 be vacated. According to that rule, the minister 
 would, at the commencement of every session of 
 parliament, have, at his immediate disposal, vacant 
 offices annually yielding two hundred and fifty 
 thousand pounds; or, on an average, two hun- 
 dred and fifty places of a thousand pounds a-year. 
 
 Let it not be imagined that these representations 
 are extravagant. On the contrary, not only do 
 they stand on moderate grounds, but some consi- 
 derations entirely favourable to the general effect 
 of the argument pursued, have hitherto been kept 
 out of sight. 
 
 First j no doubt seems to be entertained that afree 
 trade with India would augment the number of Bri- 
 tish residents or visitants in that country.The oppo-
 
 311 
 
 nents, indeed, of the Company, sometimes insinu- 
 ate that the destruction of the commercial mono- 
 poly would, so far, greatly reduce that number. 
 These sparingly informed persons have not, per- 
 haps, considered that the far greater part of the 
 British establishments in India is the creation 
 of war, revenue, and policy, not of trade. Of 
 five thousand and fifty-eight individuals em- 
 ployed by the Company in India, either as 
 military or marine officers, or as civil servants, 
 covenanted or uncovenanted, not above one hun- 
 dred and two will be found engaged in the com- 
 mercial department. Those, then, who maintain 
 that, if the extensive regions comprehended with- 
 in the charter of the Company were thrown open 
 to individual enterprize, " new avenues of com- 
 " merce would be explored, new sources of barter 
 " be discovered, the consumption of our manufac- 
 " tures widely extended, and the tonnage of our 
 " shipping correspondently increased* " who doubt 
 not that, " if the trade of this United Kingdom 
 " were permitted to flow, unimpeded, over those 
 " luxuriant and opulent regions/* " such new 
 ." and abundant markets would be discovered and 
 " established/' as would enable Great Britain to 
 defy the efforts of France t ; or who think, 
 with no less an authority than Dr. Adam Smith, 
 that " the East-Indies oifer a market, both for 
 *' the manufactures of Europe, and for the gold 
 
 x 4 
 
 * Hull Resolutions. t Sheffield Petition,
 
 312 
 
 " and silver, as well as for several other productions 
 " of America, greater and more extensive than 
 " Europe and America put together * ;" these 
 persons must, on their own principles, believe that 
 the abolition of the monopoly would introduce 
 into India a far greater body of commercial agents 
 than it would dismiss or exclude. That the num- 
 bers of the Indo-British community would be 
 greatly increased by the allowance of a free com- 
 merce with that country, certainly seems unquestion- 
 able. But, in some proportion to those numbers, 
 must be the extent, and, consequently, the emolu- 
 ments, of the Indo-British establishments. The fis- 
 cal, judicial, legal, and police officers must evidently 
 be multiplied; and, in offices already existent, 
 European functionaries must be employed, where 
 natives sufficiently answered the purpose before. 
 The clerical establishment must be enlarged, and 
 probably also the medical. Nor, with regard to 
 most of these departments, will the necessity for 
 an increase be at all less palpable, if Europeans in 
 India are permitted to become, at pleasure, pro- 
 prietors of land ; to enterprize, throughout the 
 country, in mercantile or manufacturing specula- 
 tions ; arid thus to enter into extensive dealings 
 With the natives of the interior. 
 
 Secondly, if it should be said, that so wide an. 
 extension of commercial liberty is neither medi- 
 tated nor advised, but that, on the contrary, the 
 
 -3,1 
 
 * Smith's Wealth of Nations, Book IV. Chap. 7, 
 

 
 313 
 
 individual adventurers who may, under the 
 sanction of the new system, resort to British India, 
 will be committed to the strict supervision of the 
 local governments, it then becomes us to recollect 
 that the maintenance of such restrictions must it- 
 self constitute a fund of patronage. As to all the 
 purposes of patronage, the restrictive system of 
 the Company would exist still. In effect, some 
 among the opponents of the Company do for- 
 mally recommend that no British subject be 
 allowed to enter India without a licence from the 
 government at home. This provision would 
 only revive, but probably with a great and an 
 increasing augmentation of numbers, the free 
 merchants &\\&Jree mariners of the Company ; that 
 is, it would unfold an indefinite field of influence 
 to the Crown. 
 
 Omitting, however, these topics, if they may 
 be so called, of aggravation, it would still remain 
 to be asked, whether an arrangement is desirable, 
 which should place in the hands of the British 
 cabinet offices amounting, in salary, to upwards of 
 three millions sterling, together with the many 
 appendant means of patronage not tangible by an 
 account in figures. Surely he who deprecates such 
 an event as pregnant with imminent danger to the 
 balance of the constitution, is not necessarily ac- 
 tuated, either by a spirit of system, or by irrational 
 prejudices, or by a licentious and anti-monarchical 
 principle. Every thinking mind will at least he- 
 sitate before it acquiesces in the opinion of the 
 author of the Considerations upon the Trade with
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 India, that the transfer of the political functions 
 of the Company to the Crown " probably might 
 " not gain many votes in parliament, and decide 
 " very few elections." 
 
 - Notwithstanding these hazardous predictions, 
 the adversaries of the Company have, on the whole, 
 found it hopeless to palliate the extent of the 
 means which the full command of the Indian pa- 
 tronage would confer on the Crown. They have, 
 therefore, rather chosen another ground than that 
 of defense the ground of retaliation. They have 
 retorted on the Company, that the ministers of 
 the Crown already enjoy, not indeed ostensibly, 
 but in effect, the greater share, if not the whole, 
 of the patronage of the India-house. In proof of 
 the existence of this secret influence, they have 
 partly dealt in vague but confident assertions, and 
 partly insinuated rather than stated facts, of which 
 an ordinary reader can scarcely possess the means 
 of sifting the truth. Those who are aware of the 
 magnifying effect of darkness, will do justice to 
 the policy of these obscure disclosures, and, at the 
 same time, will not wonder if, on the contrary 
 side of the question, an endeavour is made to de- 
 velope the mystery. 
 
 It may be expedient to commence the investi- 
 gation of this matter with a full exposition of the 
 charge. For such an exposition, recourse might 
 be had to the author of the Considerations; but 
 there is another writer who, actuated by a some- 
 what different intent, though an intent equally 
 hostile to the Company, has preferred the accusa-
 
 315 
 
 tion with at least equal force and dexterity, and 
 certainly with not less candour or fairness. This 
 is a writer in the Edinburgh Review,* who, assert- 
 ing the magnitude of the influence of the Crown, 
 brings forward the disposal of Indian patronage 
 as one very glaring illustration of his thesis. His 
 words on the subject shall be quoted, as the text 
 of the remarks which are to follow, although, in 
 the course of the commentary, a cursory glance 
 may occasionally be thrown at parallel passages in 
 the Considerations. 
 
 " The Company, existing by the sufferance of 
 " the government, are as entirely under its con- 
 " troul as any other of the departments. Suppos- 
 " ing it to be true (which is quite false), that the 
 " cadetcies and writerships are all given by the 
 '* Directors, and that none pass through the Board 
 " of Controul, has the Treasury nothing to say 
 ** in the constant elections of Directors? How 
 " often is a place of this kind refused by the Court 
 " of Leadenhall Street, to its * august and pow- 
 " erful ally* the Court of Whitehall? How many 
 " men are Directors, who oppose government in 
 " Parliament, or elsewhere? How many are sent 
 " to command or collect tribute in India, who are 
 " themselves either enemies to government, or 
 " connected with such adversaries? How many 
 " men return laden with wealth from such em- 
 " ployments, hostile to arbitrary power, to the 
 " Court, or to the ministers of the day? Even on 
 
 No. XXXI. Art. 8.
 
 316* 
 
 ** a smaller scale, the servants of the Company in 
 j London may be reckoned by regiments: there 
 " are three battalions of volunteers (as they are 
 " called) belonging to the India-House. Above 
 " two thousand five hundred of these are actually 
 " in the Company's employ; and many of those 
 " little comfortable places are tenable with other 
 " pursuits. How many of these persons, or their 
 " children, or even brothers, would venture to vote 
 " for the popular candidate in Middlesex or West- 
 " minster? How many of them would disregard 
 * a canvassing hint from a Director, or, having 
 *fo stood out against such an attempt, would resist 
 " a word from one of the * Chairs?' and, how 
 " many Directors or * Chairs ' would canvass 
 " against the Treasury? But with respect to 
 " India, and the Company's establishment in 
 " Asia as well as Europe, it is enough for us, that 
 " it supports thousands, and hundreds of thou* 
 " sands in most desirable situations; and that all 
 g $hpse persons knowing how closely the Indian 
 " system is connected with the government, regu- 
 *' larly support the government, or, in other words, 
 " lean distinctly towards the Crown, or strengthen 
 the hands of whatever men the Court may select 
 " for ministers; and this most powerful support 
 " is now enormously increased, by the increase of 
 " the empire in India as it is called, an empire 
 " only really valuable to the executive govern- 
 " ment, and its servants in place. ,, 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that the questions 
 which fill up the greater portion of this paragraph,
 
 317 
 
 are in reality so many propositions. Indeed it 
 would not be necessary to say this at all, if there 
 were not some use in observing the convenient 
 vagueness which these propositions derive front 
 their interrogative form. As they here stand, if 
 the Treasury has any thing to say in the elections 
 of Directors, if any men are sent, by means of mi- 
 nisterial influence, to command or collect tribute 
 in India, if^ in any instance, a Director has can- 
 vassed among the warehouses of the Company for 
 a ministerial candidate in Middlesex or Westmin- 
 ster ; if, in short, ministers influence in the very 
 slightest degree the disposal of Indian patronage, 
 the implied allegations of the writer are, as it 
 were, verbally made out. But it is evident that 
 they are not made out to any practical purpose, 
 unless the existence of a sensible and even a very 
 extensive influence on the part of the ministry 
 over the Company, can be proved. Thus only can the 
 assertion be made at all probable, with which the ac- 
 cuser commences, bat to which he certainly does 
 not steer closely up in his progress, that the Com- 
 pany are as entirely under the " controul of the 
 " Government, as any other of the departments." 
 In this View, then, it may safely be affirmed of 
 all the propositions expressed or implied in this 
 passage, that they are either nugatory or errone- 
 ous. If they are meant of a very trifling degree 
 of influence, they are true but nugatory; if of a 
 considerable degree of it, they would be impor- 
 tant if they were not erroneous. 7 ! ^
 
 318 
 
 ' This distinction, it must be evident, is at least 
 as well worth notice in the question under our 
 present consideration, as with regard to the gene- 
 ral subject of the influence of the Crown, which 
 the reviewer is discussing. The point now is, 
 whether the direct transfer of the whole political 
 patronage of India to the minister would greatly 
 increase the influence of the Crown. The posi- 
 tion has been denied on the ground that the minis- 
 ter already commands that patronage or the 
 greater part of it. In such a crisis of the contro- 
 versy, the degree in which the minister commands 
 that patronage, is manifestly a most essential con- 
 sideration ; and, even if the share which he pos- 
 sesses be in some other view great, yet if, in compa- 
 rison with the whole, it is little, all that was re- 
 quired is demonstrated. Let us therefore proceed 
 to examine severally each item of the charge. 
 . ? ;First, it is asserted to be " quite false, that the 
 " cadetcies and writerships are all given by the 
 " Directors, and that none pass through the Board 
 " of Controul." 3?ite 
 
 It will be seen at once that this assertion, though 
 not put interrogatively, yet completely falls under 
 the preliminary remark just made. The fact un- 
 questionably is, that the cadetcies and writerships 
 are not all given by the Directors, and that some 
 of them do pass through the Board of Controul ; 
 or, to represent the matter more correctly, that 
 some of them are given by the Directors to the 
 President of the Board; and this, not clandestinely,
 
 319 
 
 but openly and avowedly. Will the magnitude of 
 the donation, however, make no difference? Rather, 
 will it not make the whole difference ? A similar 
 question might be put to the author of the Conside- 
 rations, who observes, that, " at present, that go- 
 " vernment must manage very ill indeed which 
 " does not obtain some share of India patronage," 
 and that he " speaks of what is notorious and un- 
 " deniable," but totally omits to assign the value of 
 the share thus notoriously and undeniably obtained. 
 
 The fraction of patronage, in the original ap- 
 pointments of the Indian servants, which is annu- 
 ally allotted to the President of the Board, as was be- 
 fore stated, never exceeds the limit of about one 
 fourteenth. It is wholly and fundamentally untrue 
 that the India Board, or any other Government- 
 Board, obtain, directly or indirectly, openly or 
 secretly, the greater share, or indeed more than a 
 very small share, of the writerships, cadetcies, 
 surgeonships, and other annual nominations of the 
 Court of Directors. 
 
 This, like every other negative averment, labours 
 under the inconvenience that it is hardly capable 
 of demonstration. At least, it could be demon- 
 strated only by a minute history of the manner in 
 which the Directors have severally disposed of 
 their patronage for some years past. The mate- 
 rials of such a history are, in a good measure, per- 
 haps, attainable, but they certainly could not be 
 presented to the public within the compass of seve- 
 ral volumes. Fortunately, the labour both of com-
 
 320 
 
 posing and of reading such a compilation, may be 
 dispensed with. It might be sufficient, indeed, to 
 have challenged the proofs of the accuser ; but it is 
 possible to do more than to silence crimination ; 
 and this is, by reminding the public of the perils 
 under which the challenge is made. It will be re- 
 collected that, in March 1809, a Committee of 
 the House of Commons was appointed " to in- 
 ** quire into the existence of any corrupt practices 
 " in regard to the appointment and nomination of 
 " writers or cadets in the service of the East- India 
 " Company," and that this Committee did actu- 
 ally sit, and make a report accordingly. Now, 
 though it was not the province of this Committee 
 to ascertain what share of the patronage of the In- 
 dia-House had ordinarily been assigned to the Board 
 of Controul, yet, in point of fact, the Committee 
 jealously sifted the disposal which had been made 
 of that patronage for several years. The members 
 of it, therefore, had a full opportunity of judging 
 how far the interference of government with re- 
 spect to Indian patronage ordinarily extends ; and, 
 in the face of judges thus qualified, it would be the 
 extreme of temerity in the advocates of the Com- 
 pany to provoke discussion on the point if they 
 were not satisfied of their safety. 
 
 Indeed, the report of the Committee does itself 
 indirectly corroborate the fact, that the patronage 
 of the Directors is generally dispersed in private 
 channels. Of the many writerships and cadetcies 
 mentioned in it, it will "be seen that by far the 
 greater number were bestowed on the personal
 
 321 
 
 friends or acquaintances of the donois. The same 
 thing too must be notorious to all who have had 
 opportunities of observing for themselves the 
 course of India- House patronage. The sons, the 
 nephews, the more distant relations, the con- 
 nexions, the dependents, of Directors ; such are 
 the channels into which this fund of influence is 
 usually distributed, and through which it diffuses 
 itself without endangering the integrity of our po- 
 litical system. 
 
 Secondly, it is asked whether the Treasury has 
 f? nothing to say in the constant elections of Di- 
 " rectors ?" 
 
 The question conveys a reflexion, not on the 
 Directors, but on the Proprietors of India stock, 
 by whom the Directos are chosen, and than whom 
 a more independent body does not exist. They 
 are, in fact, individuals of various classes ; and 
 the elections of Directors are wholly popular. Du- 
 ring the administration, indeed, of Mr. Pitt and 
 Lord Melville, the popularity of those statesmen, 
 which was so preponderant throughout the king- 
 dom, produced also its effect on the Court of In- 
 dia Proprietors. Even then, however, the wishes 
 of the government were repeatedly crossed in the 
 elections at the India House. At the present pe* 
 riod, of the two thousand proprietors it would 
 probably be difficult to find more than fifty who 
 can fairly be considered as under ministerial in- 
 fluence. 
 
 Y
 
 322 
 
 Of the general independence of this body some 
 proofs will be given in the sequel. Of their in- 
 dependence, also, in the article of the elections 
 of Directors, one satisfactory proof will be gi- 
 ven, namely, the independence of the Directors 
 whom they have elected. It is impossible, how- 
 ever, not to mention this simple fact, that with- 
 in the last six or seven years repeated instances 
 havC occurred of elections carried against a can- 
 didate supported both by the administration and 
 by the Court of Directors. Of such a victory, 
 two instances, the oldest of which occurred not 
 four years ago, shall be submitted to the reader. 
 
 The parliamentary committee, already men- 
 tioned, of March 1809, discovered that one of 
 the six Directors then out by rotation had, within 
 the three years preceding, given three writerships 
 to a relation of his, who sold them. The com- 
 mittee, however, in their report, entirely acquit- 
 ted the Director in question of all connivance at 
 this shameful transaction.* Within a fortnight 
 after the appearance of the report, came on the 
 annual election of six Directors, on which occa- 
 sion, as was stated in a former part of this work, 
 it is usual for the Ex-directors to be re-elected. 
 I 
 
 * " It is a satisfaction to your Committee, throughout the 
 " whole evidence, to remark nothing which traces any one of 
 " these corrupt or improper bargains to any Director, or in- 
 " duces a reasonable suspicion that it was done with the privity 
 * r or connivance of any member of that court." Rep. p. 3. 
 -
 
 323 
 
 Considerable odium having gone forth against the 
 gentleman whose confidence had been abused 
 with respect to the three writerships, the Court 
 of Directors took pains minutely to investigate his 
 case, and, though they could not but impute to 
 him some degree of negligence, yet being satisfied 
 of his perfect freedom from any worse offense, 
 they publicly declared this conviction, and ex- 
 pressed their wish that the proprietors would not, 
 by refusing to re-elect him, fix an unmerited stig- 
 ma on his character. At the same time, the can- 
 didate was supported by the government, and by 
 all the influence of most wealthy and respectable 
 connexions. On the election, however, he was 
 rejected. The question now is, not respecting 
 the generosity, justice, or temper, of the Court of 
 Proprietors, but respecting their independence, 
 which this occurrence, it is apprehended, most sa- 
 tisfactorily illustrates. 
 
 Afterwards, in the same year, on a vacancy in 
 the direction, Mr. Twining offered himself as a 
 candidate. There can be no delicacy in here 
 naming this gentleman, whose name has for many 
 years been familiar to all those who have felt any in- 
 terest in the conduct of Indian affairs, by the at- 
 tention, zeal, and ability, with which he has uni- 
 formly fulfilled his part as an active member of 
 the Court of Proprietors. Mr. Twining was sup- 
 ported by the government; and the Court of Di- 
 rectors, from an opinion, founded on long expe* 
 riencc, of his merit, revived in his favour an old 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 
 
 custom of publicly and officially recommending a 
 candidate ; a custom which, though still practised 
 with respect to the annual elections, had for some 
 time been disused on occasion . of accidental va- 
 cancies. The jealousy of the proprietors was 
 alarmed at what many of them, unacquainted with 
 the former practise, deemed an unprecedented 
 interference on the part of their Directors ; and, 
 though a more popular candidate could not well 
 have been recommended to them, as his triumph- 
 ant election since that period has proved, Mr. 
 Twining was rejected. 
 
 The two facts just mentioned are probably with- 
 in the full recollection of every individual of this 
 country, who has paid the slightest attention to 
 the progress of public affairs ; certainly, within his 
 immediate reach. 
 
 Thirdly, let us consider the question, " how 
 " many men are Directors who oppose govern- 
 " ment in parliament or elsewhere ?" 
 
 The charge implied in this question, is more 
 directly and more fully urged by the author of 
 the Considerations : " Look at the parliamentary 
 " history of the Company, and the conduct of 
 " their servants for many years. Do we find the 
 " Directors in the House of Commons in the 
 " ranks of opposition, and thwarting a minister ? 
 " On the contrary, do we not hear it laid down 
 " as a general principle, that the Company must 
 * not quarrel with the government ? Indeed this 
 *< is so clear and obvious, that it requires no par-
 
 325 
 
 *' ticular illustration. The mutual advantage of 
 " their good understanding, upon the whole, 
 " leads the Company and the government to con- 
 " spire together : the former for fear of losing 
 " their charter ; the latter in order to secure a 
 " powerful body of adherents. A very strong 
 " mass of influence in the state is thrown into 
 " the ministerial scale, ready to support all mea- 
 " sures, good or bad, of those who have power 
 " for the day. There is no delectus per sonce in 
 " this prostitution. It is of the most grovelling 
 " kind, and in no way does it associate itself with 
 " any public spirit, or tend to any national inte- 
 " rest. The virtuous minister, perhaps, has it 
 " for his hour ; but the most corrupt or the most 
 " feeble minister is supported by it to-morrow; 
 " and, by his weakness or his crimes, enabled to 
 " waste or endanger the commonwealth." * 
 
 The maxim that " the Company must not quar- 
 " rel with the government," like most other 
 equally concise maxims, is liable, when abstract- 
 edly taken, to be very variously interpreted. 
 Under one construction, it may be the motto of a 
 base compromise ; under another, of an open, 
 liberal, and patriotic alliance. In what sense it 
 is used by the Company, their conduct with re- 
 spect to the other points mentioned in this charge 
 must determine. The explanation of it, there- 
 
 Y 3 
 
 * P. 149.
 
 326 
 
 fore, may for the present be reserved ; and, hi 
 the mean time, the adversary is entitled to the 
 full benefit of the concession, that the maxim has 
 been adopted and acted upon by the Company for 
 a great number of years. 
 
 With regard to the alleged " conspiracy" be- 
 tween the Company and the government, formed, 
 on the one side, for the sake of the charter, on the 
 other, for the sake of political support, it may not be 
 irrelevant to review the two occasions most imme- 
 diately within the view of the present generation, 
 on which the terms of such a league may be con- 
 ceived to have been formally adjusted. At the 
 renewal of the charter in 1793, the conspirators 
 were, on the one side, the ministers, Mr. Pitt and 
 Mr. Dundas ; on the other, the chairman of the 
 Company, the late Sir Francis (then Mr.) Baring, 
 whose political principles were at that time, and 
 had long been, in declared opposition to Mr. Pitt, 
 who, in the year following, was returned a mem- 
 ber of Parliament, in which capacity he continued 
 for several years, and was, from first to last, dur- 
 ing the administration of Mr. Pitt, the sturdy op- 
 ponent of his whole course of policy, " good or 
 bad." Let it be recollected that the force of this 
 instance is not confined to an individual ; for Sir 
 Francis Baring had been chosen to the situation 
 of chairman by his brother Directors. 
 
 Concerning the other instance alluded to, of 
 this species of conspiracy, it is somewhat more 
 difficult to speak, because there is always a de-
 
 327 
 
 Hcacy in commenting upon a transaction actually 
 pending ; for such is the case, the plot being now 
 in the very act of concoction between the noble Pre- 
 sident of the Board of Controul and the Court of Di- 
 rectors. Deep, indeed, and ominous must be the 
 nature of the compact ; since the rites with which it 
 has hitherto been celebrated, have been strangely 
 unquiet and noisy. But, happily, the crisis of deve- 
 lopment, and consequently of detection, fast ap- 
 proaches, and the Directors who happen to be in par- 
 liament will soon betray how dearly they have pur- 
 chased the renewal of their charter, by voting with 
 the minister against the only terms on which they can 
 consider the renewal of the charter as a bonus. ] 
 
 The cause, however, is not exhausted by 
 the production of these two memorable in- 
 stances. There are, at this moment, very leading 
 characters in the direction, who, in and out of 
 parliament, oppose the minister. For some time 
 past, the average number of Directors in parlia- 
 ment has been from six to eight ; and it may safely 
 be affirmed that from one-third to one-half of. 
 these have generally been on the side of the op- 
 position. It would be unpleasant to toss about 
 living names ; but a general notion respecting the 
 correctness of this statement any man may form, 
 who will take the trouble to compare the lists of 
 the Directors during the last few years, with the 
 lists of the minorities in the Commons for the 
 same time, as preserved in the Parliamentary Re- 
 gister. We are not, however, therefore to imagine 
 
 y 4
 
 328 
 
 that the majority of the Directors are mere re- 
 tainers of the minister for the day. On the con- 
 trary, they have, on some memorable occasions, 
 vindicated their independence ; and those who 
 may feel themselves inclined to sneer at this as- 
 sertion, will do better to controvert, if they can, 
 the following plain statement. 
 
 The public will remember the painfully in- 
 teresting discussion which occupied the attention 
 of the parliament and the nation in the spring of 
 the year 1809 ; a discussion intimately affecting 
 an illustrious member of the administration. The 
 decisive motion made on that occasion by the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, was carried by a 
 majority of 278 to 196 ; that is, nearly three to 
 two. There were then, of the Directors and Ex- 
 Directors together, eight who were members of 
 the House of Commons ; and, of these, on the 
 motion in question, no fewer than six voted in 
 the minority. What is worth observing, of these 
 six, one was the Deputy Chairman,* and was chosen 
 Chairman a month afterwards, at which time, also, 
 another of the six was chosen Deputy. It may 
 be added that two other members, being the sons 
 of an eminent Director, not himself in Parliament, 
 also voted on this occasion with the minority. We 
 may then fairly say, that the Directors voted, 
 seven to two, in opposition to the minister, when 
 the rest of the house voted, three to two, in his 
 i favour. But this is not all ; for, even on the ori- 
 
 * The chairman was not a member of parliament.
 
 329 
 
 ginal motion made by Mr. Wardle, three Directors 
 were in the minority ; and to these may be added 
 the two sons of the Director before-mentioned. 
 
 No opinion is here meant to be either stated or 
 insinuated respecting the transactions which called 
 forth these votes, nor on the correctness or ex- 
 pediency of the votes themselves. The affair is 
 mentioned only as furnishing some little proof 
 that the members of the Direction do not " sup- 
 ** port all measures, good or bad, of those who 
 " have power for the day." 
 
 Let us, however, advert more particularly to 
 some facts in " the parliamentary history of the 
 " Company," or rather, in the history of their 
 proceedings with respect to the Government. 
 
 In the first place, it may suffice to make a bare 
 allusion to the question which was so anxiously 
 agitated in 1801 and 1802, respecting the enlarge- 
 ment of the privileges granted to the private 
 trade from India. It is, however, perfectly no- 
 torious that, in that instance, Mr. Dundas and 
 the Court of Directors differed in opinion, chiefly 
 with regard to the expediency of employing India- 
 built shipping in the India trade ; that, on the 
 retirement of Mr Dundas from office, his successor 
 at the Board of Controul, the late Earl Dart- 
 mouth, took a still stronger part on the same 
 side * ; that the subject was brought before 
 Parliament by Sir William Pulteney, who espoused 
 
 * See the Papers respecting the Trade between India and 
 Europe, published by order of the Court oi" Directors, in April, 
 
 1802.
 
 330 
 
 the cause of the India-shipping, and was warmly 
 supported by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas, then 
 newly out of office ; that, during the whole of 
 this controversy, the Directors, whether in or 
 out of parliament, with the exception of a single 
 individual, unanimously and steadily acted toge- 
 ther ; that they were supported by a large pro- 
 portion of the Court of Proprietors, the majority 
 in their favour, on a ballot taken on the 5th of 
 June 1801, being 809 to 234, or considerably 
 upwards of three to one ; finally, that the go- 
 vernment at length found it expedient to enter 
 into a compromise with the Company, as one 
 condition of which, the project of a regular in- 
 troduction of India-built shipping into the Indian 
 trade of this country was abandoned. 
 
 At a more recent date, the Court of Directors 
 and the administration differed with regard to the 
 merits of a late Governor-general. This refer- 
 ence, reluctantly made, to the disputes which were 
 occasioned by the public conduct of that noble 
 person, must be understood as purely and nakedly 
 historical; for nothing certainly is less here intended 
 than to disturb the sleep of obsolete controversies. 
 The reader has but one question to decide, the in- 
 dependence of the Company and the Directors; not 
 their wisdom or their virtue ; in any other sense, at 
 least, than as independence, even where most erring, 
 always argues a degree of both. Now it is well 
 known that, although the nobleman in question was 
 fortified, beyond most of his predecessors, by minis-
 
 331 
 
 terial favour and parliamentary influence, and high- 
 ly celebrated both for his talents and for the bril- 
 liancy of his administration in the East, yet a newGo- 
 vernor was on that occasion appointed. It is farther 
 known, that the conduct of the Directors through- 
 out the controversy on this subject, was decidedly 
 approved and supported by the Proprietors. A 
 resolution strongly to that effect was submitted to 
 the General Court ; and, on that resolution, the 
 supporters of the distinguished individual before 
 mentioned, moved the previous question. If the 
 Court of Proprietors were liable to be ruled by 
 treasury controul, in that instance the court 
 would have been so ruled ; for it is a matter of 
 fact that the influence of Government was then 
 exerted to the utmost ; it is not said, unfairly. At 
 the same time, the curious circumstance occurred 
 that the ex-ministry, as was perfectly understood, 
 concurred on this point with the greater part of 
 the new cabinet. Yet the Proprietors, on the 30th 
 of May 1806, passed a resolution laudatory of the 
 conduct of their Directors, by a majority of 928 
 to 195 ; or nearly as five to one. 
 
 Subsequently, the details of the policy which 
 the Company had censured in their Governor- 
 general were brought under the consideration of 
 the House of Commons, where they occasioned 
 many debates and divisions. In every successive 
 conflict, very large majorities voted in favour of 
 the personage accused ; but the majority of the 
 Directors in the house supported the contrary
 
 332 
 
 iide. It has been insinuated, indeed, that, on 
 these occasions, the Directors poorly connived at 
 charges which they would not boldly sanction. 
 The Directors were certainly under no obligation 
 ,to originate a parliamentary discussion on the sub- 
 ject ; especially, as the few of them who are 
 members of the House of Commons, sit there 
 merely as private individuals, and in no respect as 
 representatives of the India Company. But, if 
 to speak strongly, and vote decisively, in defense 
 of a proposition, be to connive at it, and a refer- 
 ence to the Parliamentary Register will shew 
 whether this was not done respecting the charges 
 alluded to by persons high in the Direction, 
 then may it be truly alleged that the Directors 
 connived at what they would not sanction. 
 
 To these facts one other shall be added. In 
 the year 1806, on the death of Lord Cornwallis, 
 'the Directors appointed Sir George Barlow, Go- 
 vernor-general of Bengal. The ministry, then 
 new in office, for a short time acquiesced in this 
 as a provisional appointment ; but afterwards pro- 
 posed the removal of Sir George Barlow, and the sub- 
 stitution of anobleman long and intimately connect- 
 ed with one of the parties that composed the cabinet. 
 The Court of Directors objected to this proposal, 
 and, by a great majority, decided for the conti- 
 nuance of Sir George Barlow ; intimating at the 
 same time to the ministry, that, though no indi- 
 vidual could be more agreeable to themselves as 
 Governor-general, yet their decision in his favour
 
 333 
 
 was partly occasioned by the result of a free and 
 honest exercise of judgment with respect to the 
 noble and distinguished individual in whose behalf 
 they were required to displace a long-tried and meri- 
 torious servant. It is not intended to commend 
 or to censure the conduct of the Directors and 
 the Company on this occasion, in any other view 
 than as it indicated an independent spirit. So 
 warmly, however, were the ministry interested in 
 this appointment, and so confident did they feel 
 of overcoming the perseverance of the Directors, if 
 they could bring the matter to a direct issue, that 
 they resorted to a legal but yet a very strong and 
 unusual measure. Sir George Barlow was re- 
 moved from his station by the sign manual of the 
 King, in pursuance of the power to that effect 
 granted in the charter of 1793, a power, however, 
 which had never before, nor has ever since, been 
 carried into exercise. A vacancy being thus 
 made, the ministry again offered for election the 
 candidate whom they had before proposed, and, 
 very naturally, for the sake of an object w r hich 
 they had so much at heart, canvassed on the occa- 
 sion the several Directors individually, with the 
 greatest earnestness. The Court, however, con- 
 ceiving themselves justified in their opposition to 
 the proposal, confirmed, and by another great 
 majority, their former vote. The ministry, then, 
 with a just and constitutional deference to the 
 objections of the Company, consented to wave
 
 334 
 
 their proposal, and to recommend a third indivi- 
 dual, who should be agreeable to all parties. 
 
 This affair is here referred to with no other 
 object than to illustrate the freedom of the Com- 
 pany from the sway of ministerial influence ; of 
 which some evidence surely was afforded, when 
 twenty out of twenty -four Directors inflexibly ad- 
 hered to what they conceived their duty, in direct 
 opposition to the pressing instances and menacing 
 power of the administration, and this at a time 
 when, in parliament, that administration was per- 
 fectly triumphant. 
 
 Such, then, on the whole, is the manner in 
 which the Company and the Government " con- 
 spire together." Such is the " readiness" which 
 the Directors have shewn " to support all mea- 
 ** sures, good or bad, of those who have power for 
 tt the day." Such is that base and grovelling sup- 
 port which " the virtuous minister perhaps has 
 * for his hour," but by which " the most corrupt 
 " or the most feeble minister is supported to-mor- 
 ** row." Such is the political " prostitution" of 
 the Company j which, however, could it even be 
 proved, might not perhaps be worse than the pro- 
 stitution of the sacred right of free discussion to the 
 purposes of gross mis-statement and calumny* 
 
 After these details, it were superfluous to enter 
 on along explanation of the principle that the 
 Company must not quarrel with the Government. 
 It is impossible that a text should be misunder- 
 stood, on which facts have furnished such a com-
 
 335 
 
 mentary. Every man of common discernment will 
 perceive that it is a rule devised purely to facilitate 
 the dispatch of public business, by inducing a spi- 
 rit of conciliation between those whose powers, be- 
 ing co-ordinate, and in some degree mutually op- 
 posed, can act effectively together only through 
 the medium of a fair compromise. Accordingly, 
 no member of the Direction more uniformly avow- 
 ed this principle than Sir Francis Baring, whose 
 political sentiments, as has already been mention- 
 ed, were, through the far greater part of his life, de- 
 claredly adverse to the persons in power, but who, 
 in his official character as a leading Director, al- 
 ways declared that he would be of no party but 
 that of the Company. Whether the determination 
 was wise and proper, or the reverse of these, let the 
 public judge. 
 
 Fourthly ; " how many men," the critic asks, 
 " are sent to command or collect tribute in India, 
 " who are either themselves enemies to Govern- 
 " ment, or connected with such adversaries ?" 
 
 The question seems to imply a belief, on the part 
 of the enquirer, that it is an ordinary occurrence 
 in the proceedings of the Company to send men 
 " to collect tribute in India j" than which a more 
 unfortunate or a less excusable mistake cannot be 
 made. In a very few instances, indeed, as in the 
 case of newly-conquered countries, officers of rank 
 have been employed for the collection of tribute ; 
 but it requires nothing beyond a most superficial 
 acquaintance with Indian affairs to be aware that
 
 336 
 
 the business of collection is, in an ordinary way, 
 entirely committed to the covenanted servants of 
 the Company;* men who, having spent their 
 lives in India, know little either of government 
 or its adversaries. 
 
 As to the Commanders-in-chief employed in In- 
 dia, in the choice of these, it has before heen distinct- 
 ly observed that the minister exercises a consider- 
 able influence ; but he is, notwithstanding, checked 
 by the Company, and the assertion may safely be 
 made, that the concurrent choice of the two elect- 
 ing parties has, in most instances, been guided by 
 merit. 
 
 Fifthly ; " How many men return laden with 
 " wealth from such employments, hostile to arbi- 
 " trary power, to the court, or to the ministers of 
 " the day ?" 
 
 To notice so idle an interrogatory, can hardly 
 be thought necessary. Mr. Burke somewhere de- 
 clares the East-Indians to be one of those classes 
 who were the most dangerous to the state, as being 
 fit recipients of revolutionary principles ; and we 
 now hear revived the cant of still earlier times, that 
 they are dangerous to the state, as being fit tools 
 of arbitrary power. The truth is, that, although this 
 class, like most others, may occasionally have fur- 
 nished its political vassals or zealots, it has furnished 
 but few. The East Indians who return with afortune, 
 very rarely render themselves conspicuous in the 
 political circles at home, but retire to various parts 
 
 * See the first chapter of this Book.
 
 337 
 
 of the country, and pass their remaining days in 
 the honorable quiet of a station at once private and 
 independant. 
 
 Sixthly; we are informed that the Company 
 have above 2500 persons in their employ in Lon- 
 don, and are asked, " how many of these persons, 
 " or their children, or even brothers, would ven- 
 " ture to vote for the popular candidate in Mid- 
 " dlesex or Westminster ?" and " how many of 
 " them would disregard a canvassing hint from 
 " one of the Directors," or, at least, " from one of 
 " the Chairs?" and " how many Directors or 
 " Chairs would canvass against the Treasury ?" 
 
 It certainly would not have been inconsi- 
 derate in the author to put a previous ques- 
 tion ; how many of these persons, or their 
 children, or even brothers, are possessed of the 
 right of voting in Middlesex or Westminster? 
 The greater part of them are mere labourers in 
 the warehouses of the Company; of whom it 
 might reasonably be presumed, and so the fact is, 
 that many have no votes. With respect to the rest, 
 it admits of great doubt whether they have not 
 voted for the popular candidate in Middlesex. 
 At least, it is beyond doubt that very little cog- 
 nizance, and certainly no official cognizance, has 
 been taken of the manner in which they may have 
 disposed of their votes. A Director may occa- 
 sionally canvass among these men according to 
 the imagined extent of his influence ; but the brief 
 and decisive answer to all the insinuations of the 
 
 z
 
 338 
 
 reviewer on this head has been fully implied in the 
 foregoing pages. From public and indisputable 
 facts, it has been shewn that the Directors them- 
 selves are, in general, perfectly independent of 
 the Treasury j and, of course, their influence over 
 their clients, whatever it be, and in whatever man- 
 ner exerted, cannot be considered as a portion or 
 emanation of Treasury-influence. This considera- 
 tion alone would decide the matter. 
 
 We have yet a seventh point to consider. " With 
 ' respect to India, and the Company's establish- 
 " ment in Asia as well as in Europe, it is enough 
 " for us, that it supports thousands, and hundreds 
 * of thousands, in most desirable situations ; and 
 *' that all those persons, knowing how | closely the 
 " Indian system is connected with the govern-. 
 " ment, regularly support the government, or in 
 " other words lean distinctly towards the Crown, 
 H or strengthen the hands of whatever men the 
 ** Crown may select for ministers ; and this most 
 *' powerful support is now enormously increased 
 ** by increase of the empire in India as it is call- 
 *' ed." 
 
 It is no uncommon practise with disputants to 
 reserve the severest blow for the last ; but it may 
 be questioned whether the whole records of con- 
 troversy furnish another example of so compleat 
 a climax as the present, where, after having been 
 confronted with the corruption of twenty four Di- 
 rectors and two thousand five hundred labourers, 
 we are suddenly overwhelmed with " thousands
 
 339 
 
 " and hundreds of thousands," and these again 
 " enormously increased," all belonging to the es- 
 tablishment of the Company, and " all leaning 
 " distinctly towards the Crown," and " strengthen-. 
 " ing the hands of whatever men the Crown may 
 " select for ministers." Against such reasoning 
 it would be vain to contend. 
 
 Well may an establishment of '* thousands 
 " and hundreds of thousands," be " enough" 
 for the Edinburgh Reviewers ; for they may rest 
 assured that it is incomparably too great for the 
 Company. To reckon as an indiscerptible mem- 
 ber of the establishment of the Company, every 
 artificer throughout the kingdom whose industry 
 they may chance to set in motion, appears suffi- 
 ciently preposterous. The manufacturers of long- 
 ells and English broad cloth have given pretty de- 
 cisive proofs of their own separate existence. Yet, 
 by the largest and most comprehensive computa- 
 tion, the Company employ, in England, but 
 about 100,000 persons ; a vast number, undoubt- 
 edly, but not exactly corresponding to the ex- 
 pression " hundreds of thousands, enormously 
 increased." To this let us add the establishment 
 in India. Now it is plainly unfair to include with- 
 in that establishment the free merchants and ma- 
 riners in India ; yet let so much be allowed to the 
 author. It is also a violent stretch of metaphor 
 to designate the royal troops in India as a part of 
 that establishment j but this also may be permitted. 
 
 z2
 
 340 
 
 Lastly, it is perfectly extravagant, in a question 
 respecting the means of influence possessed by 
 the Company, to reckon the common sailors en- 
 gaged in their service as a part of their system. 
 But, as the adversary will need all the indulgences 
 which can be granted him, let this concession like- 
 wise be made. The computation then will stand 
 thus: 
 
 Persons employed by the Company in England 
 including officers and seamen in the ships 1 17,009 
 His Majesty's troops serving in India, . 22,363 
 British subjects, exclusive of His Majes- 
 ty's troops, residing in India overrated at 6,000 
 
 , 
 
 Total 145,372 
 
 L 
 
 Thus, with all the exaggeration that it has been 
 - possible to admit, the British subjects connected 
 with the Company's establishment, will fall short 
 of one hundred and fifty thousand, which is here 
 called " thousands and hundreds of thousands,'* 
 with the subsequent addition of an indefinite but 
 ** enormous increase." Possibly, it may be ima- 
 gined, that not only the British residents in In- 
 dia, but the natives also, who directly or indirect- 
 ly, are employed by the Company, " lean dis- 
 " tinctly towards the Crown" in England, and 
 strengthen the hands of whatever men the " Court 
 may select for Minister." In that case the faculty 
 
 may as well be extended to every individual who re- 
 
 .. .
 
 341 
 
 sides under the government of the Company, and 
 the " thousands and hundreds of thousands, enor- 
 mously increased," be set aside in order to make 
 room for sixty millions. 
 
 It is impossible to close this subject, without a 
 momentary notice of a sentiment delivered by the 
 author of the Considerations, on which, from its 
 peculiarity, no attention could, without digression, 
 be bestowed in the course of the foregoing re- 
 marks. 
 
 This author affirms that, if the Company were 
 really independent of the Crown, they " would 
 " constitute a mass of organised power in the 
 " state, perfectly anomalous, and in the highest 
 " degree dangerous. Such a body," he says, 
 " will either be a tyrant or a slave. What they 
 " now are, we know." Since, however, it has 
 been proved that he does not know what they are, 
 there may be some reason for distrusting his con- 
 jectures as to what they would be. The truth 
 indeed is, that, so far as he merely asserts the de- 
 pendent character of the Company, he speaks 
 correctly. The Company are servants, or, if a 
 coarser word be more agreeable, slaves. They do 
 exist by sufferance. They are at the mercy of a 
 superior. To this extent the writer in question is 
 accurate; it is in assigning the superior, that he 
 fails; for that superior is not the Ministry, but tl.e 
 Nation. In this age of diffused mind and free dis- 
 cussion, to suppose that all the constituted or the 
 virtual authorities of the state, the prerogative and 
 
 z 3
 
 the influence of the Crown, the omnipotence of 
 Parliament, the irregular but powerful jurisdiction 
 of public opinion, should be set at defiance by a 
 body, in comparison, so unspeakably weak as the 
 East-India Company; to believe that a body, com- 
 posed of elements which have no other point of 
 union, and exposed, on all sides, to jealousies 
 without number, should seriously affect indepen- 
 dence, in any other sense than as independence 
 Ought to be the ambition of every free subject ; 
 is surely among the most unlicenced imaginations 
 that ever assumed the name of opinions. In a 
 period like the present, the Company must always 
 live, if so homely an expression may be allowed, 
 on trial. They subsist but by the breath of the 
 nation ; and, if they have ere this shaken cabinets 
 to their foundation, it has only been because the 
 nation was with them, in heart and in hand. 
 
 
 The reader must be weary of this chapter, and 
 he shall not be detained. It is necessary to re- 
 mind him, however, that, among the effects likely 
 to spring from the establishment of a ministerial 
 government for India, the threatened injury to 
 the balance of the British constitution, forms but 
 a single topic. The change of system must also 
 have a close reference to the welfare of the people 
 of Hindostan ; and this subject might suggest 
 many reflexions. Perhaps, indeed, the subject 
 has been partly anticipated in the preceding 
 pages. An endeavour has been made to shew 
 that the supersession, in a political light, of the
 
 343 
 
 Company by the Crown, would totally unhinge 
 and disjoint the forms and arrangements of 
 the Indian service. For whose advantage, how- 
 ever, were those forms and arrangements in- 
 stituted ? Not for ours ; but for that of the 
 people of Hindostan. True it is that those 
 works of wisdom and humanity have, like mercy, 
 reacted in blessings on the giver; but this has 
 been their incidental, not their primary and de- 
 signed operation. Their downfall might involve 
 that of the British constitution, but they do them- 
 selves form the constitution of India, and it is an 
 agitating task to reflect how great a portion of the 
 happiness of the natives would probably be buried 
 under their ruins. For what misshapen forms of 
 ancient injustice and exorcised oppression might 
 not be expected to reappear on the scene of Hin- 
 dostan, if, for the light and regularity that per- 
 vade the present system, were substituted the 
 darkness and disorder which have been described 
 in the present chapter ? 
 
 It may be enquired whether, under the govern- 
 ment of the Company, the purity of which has 
 been so greatly extolled, abuses and irregularities 
 never take place ? This is merely to ask whether 
 the government of the Company be absolutely 
 perfect. " There arc, and must be," said a great 
 man, " abuses in all governments. It amounts to 
 M no more than a nugatory proposition."* It 
 
 * Burke.
 
 344 
 
 makes a serious difference, however, whether the 
 abuse be the rule or the exception ; and, in the 
 existing constitution of India, it is, beyond con- 
 troversy, a rare exception. Were the places and 
 emoluments of that country annexed to the Crown, 
 there seems much ground for the apprehension 
 that it would become the rule. 
 
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 \aw 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 i
 
 345 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 On the points at present in dispute between His Majesty? 
 Ministers and the Company. 
 
 In shortly commenting on the pending disputes 
 between the Ministers of the Crown and the re- 
 presentatives of the Company, it is not necessary 
 to dwell with any minuteness on the past stages of 
 the discussion. The object in this place, is not 
 to criticize the conduct of the negotiating par- 
 ties, but simply to explain the matters in issue. 
 
 The monopoly which the Company have long 
 enjoyed, of the trade with India and China, a 
 monopoly, however, qualified in its extent, and, 
 if the views afforded in the preceding chapters be 
 correct, strictly defensible on political grounds, 
 has always been regarded with jealousy by a part of 
 our merchants and manufacturers. That jealousy 
 has of late been both heightened and diffused. 
 The mercantile and manufacturing classes of the 
 United Kingdom, almost entirely debarred from 
 the markets of Continental Europe by the policy 
 and power of France, willingly believe that an 
 ample compensation for their losses and privations 
 might be found in the markets of India and China, 
 and reprobate the system winch almost exclusively
 
 346 
 
 confines the commercial use of those regions to s 
 corporation established in London. They solicit, 
 therefore, from the legislature, an abrogation of 
 that system. 
 
 The legislative bodies have not yet had the op- 
 portunity of deciding on these claims. The Mi- 
 nisters, however, are disposed to confer, on a cer- 
 tain number of the ports of the United Kingdom, 
 so much of the privilege sought as relates to In- 
 dia, while the trade to China shall be continued 
 under the exclusive management of the Company. 
 The Company, on the other hand, consent only 
 to a partial relaxation of their monopoly in the 
 trade with India. They Would admit into that 
 trade private vessels clearing out from the port of 
 London, provided that the goods imported by 
 such vessels on their return shall be brought to 
 London and sold at the regular sales in the India- 
 House. Those sales, it should be remarked, take 
 place at stated periods, under a due previous no- 
 tice, and are, by law, limited to the method of 
 public auction. With respect to the other ports 
 of the United Kingdom, that those ports should 
 be prevented from sending out vessels to India, the 
 Company ask, but not very strenuously ; while 
 they intreat, as a point of vital moment, that no 
 Indian goods may be admitted into any port of the 
 United Kingdom excepting that of London, or 
 suffered to be sold in any manner, excepting at 
 .the sales in the India-House. In these views 
 and proposals of the Company, the private mer-
 
 347 
 
 chants of London have expressed an entire ac- 
 quiescence. 
 
 Here are two great points, therefore, to be con- 
 sidered by the legislature, the monopoly of the 
 trade with China, and the monopoly of the trade 
 with India. Ministers would preserve the former, 
 and dissolve the latter. They would, by addi- 
 tional regulations, if necessary, ensure to the 
 Company the exclusive importation of the article 
 of tea, now a necessary of life in Great Britain. 
 They would, on the other hand, open to a certain 
 number of the outports of the kingdom, a free 
 commercial intercourse with India, including the 
 import as well as the*export trade. 
 
 It may be important, in the first place, summa- 
 rily to consider what are the arguments for a con- 
 tinuance of the subsisting monopoly in the China 
 trade, although that be not a matter in dispute 
 between Ministers and the Company. Even as 
 a digression, the introduction of a subject so im- 
 portant might be pardoned; but the sequel will 
 shew that the subject is intimately connected with 
 the immediate design of the present chapter. 
 
 The arguments in question appear reducible to 
 three heads. In the first place, negatively; even 
 the principles on which the advocates of an unre- 
 stricted commerce avowedly rely, are capable of 
 but an imperfect application to the case of the 
 China trade. It is contended that the trade of 
 India might, with immense advantage, be confided 
 to the efforts of individual enterprize. AVhy ?
 
 348 
 
 Because the commerce of unconnected and rival 
 individuals could not possibly be a commerce of 
 routine ; because the ardent inquisitiveness of se- 
 parate adventurers could not fail to discover, 
 amidst a spacious continent, bounded by an ex- 
 tensive sea-line, a variety of new stations for the 
 prosecution of commerce ; because, by the offi- 
 cious cultivation of a friendly intercourse with the 
 natives, such adventurers would both learn and 
 improve the tastes of the natives; because a free 
 and studied circulation, by private adventurers, of 
 British wares among the vast population of Hin- 
 dostan, could not fail to augment the demand for 
 such wares; because the competition of British 
 buyers would excite a correspondent competition 
 among the native sellers. But, even if we allow 
 to these considerations, in the case of the Indian 
 trade, all the weight claimed for them, they can 
 have little or none with respect to the trade of 
 China. That trade must be, in a good measure, one 
 of routine, while the jealous policy of the Chinese 
 government remains. Excepting Canton, and that 
 only for a part of the year, neither the ports, nor 
 the interior, nor the population, of the empire, 
 are open to the access of European adventurers, 
 single or corporate. The British are confined to 
 very narrow precincts about the walls of the fac- 
 tory ; and are wholly interdicted from traffic in the 
 country, excepting with an exclusive company of 
 ten or twelve Chinese, appointed by the emperor 
 under the title of the Hong, and who, though not
 
 349 
 
 trading on a joint-stock, are yet frequently made 
 responsible for the debts contracted by each other 
 to Europeans. To such narrow bounds must in- 
 dividual enterprize confine its commercial inqui- 
 sitiveness, its commercial itineration, its inter- 
 course with the native population, its excitement 
 of demand among the consumers, and of com- 
 petition among the sellers of China.* 
 
 Yet the advocates of the outports on this oc- 
 casion, familiarly desire the establishment of " a 
 free commerce with four hundred millions of 
 customers ;"t forgetting that three hundred mil- 
 
 * The introduction of commercial questions scarcely consists 
 with the scope of the present work. The author has, therefore, 
 thrown into the Appendix (No. 15,) some remarks on the pre- 
 tended cheapness of the American tea-trade, as compared with 
 that of the Company. 
 
 f It may be worth while to quote the whole of the passage 
 alluded to, as an instance how eagerness on a particular topic 
 can lead even minds of good endowments to confound the sim- 
 plest operations of arithmetic. " What ! a free commerce with 
 " 400 millions of customers not capable of extension ! How 
 " supremely ridiculous ! Granted that the Hindoos are poor 
 *' and attached to old customs, yet they are not a tythc of the 
 " customers to which we shall have access if the East-India 
 " monopoly be done away. Is it credible that amongst the 
 " 350 millions remaining, amongst the inhabitants of the 
 " eastern coast of Africa, of Arabia, Persia, Chiua, &c. &c. 
 " &c." Proceedings of the Hull meeting, 6th April, 181 2. 
 To vulgar apprehensions, this passage docs plainly import, that 
 of " the 400 millions of customers," the Hindoos form 50 
 millions, and yet that they do not amount to one tenth of the 
 whole. That is, 50 does not amount to one tenth of 400. 
 
 Such
 
 350 
 
 lions of these fancied customers are denied to 
 their wishes and experiments, not by the govern- 
 ment of Great Britain, but by that of China ; 
 forgetting that the utmost power . of parliament, 
 instead of granting them access to three hun- 
 dred millions of customers in the empire of 
 China, can grant them access only to about a 
 dozen customers at Canton ; forgetting that, if 
 the trade of Great Britain with the port of Can- 
 ton, can. properly be called a trade with the 
 whole empire of China, then the trade of China 
 with the port of London may properly be called a 
 trade with the whole United Kingdom of Britain. 
 
 But, secondly, there are strong positive argu- 
 ments against the removal of the restrictions on 
 the Chinese trade. Of these, a considerable class 
 is founded on the peculiar delicacy and difficulty 
 of our commercial connexion with China, resulting 
 from the singular compound of pride, punctilious- 
 ness, severity, timidity, and ignorarice, in the 
 character and policy of that state. The principle 
 of retaliation, and that which it nearly involves, 
 the notion of representation, appear to be refined 
 upon, in the juridical and political practice of the 
 Chinese, with a pedantic precision truly worthy of 
 a S&mi-barbarian government. If, in combination 
 with this peculiarity, be considered the imperial con- 
 tempt of the Court of Pekin towards foreigners, 
 . 
 
 Such are the commercial economists, who can find nothing but 
 " a mere wordy mass of futility" in the arguments of the 
 Company.
 
 351 
 
 some tolerable notion will be formed of the em- 
 barrassments into which the British factory at 
 Canton is occasionally thrown by the proceedings 
 of the national government. Should a Chinese sub- 
 ject be accidentally murdered by an European, the 
 life of the homicide is always claimed, and the fac- 
 tory being held responsible, trade is probably inter- 
 dicted till the demand shall be satisfied. The diffi- 
 ulty may possibly be evaded by the connivance of 
 the local authorities at Canton ; but there are in- 
 stances in which a compliance has been rigorously 
 enforced. On any trivial or casual difference, on any 
 suspicion however capriciously conceived, the in- 
 terdict is immediately resorted to, and even the 
 expulsion of the factory threatened. Meanwhile, 
 the municipal regulations established in the port 
 are of such severity, as frequently subjects to a 
 hard trial the careless habits and free spirit of the 
 British seamen. Nothing, in truth, has so long 
 preserved in its integrity the Chinese commerce of 
 this country, but the nice address of the British 
 supercargoes at the factory, coupled with the sys- 
 tematic discipline maintained both there and in 
 the ships of the Company. A promiscuous in- 
 flux of British vessels and crews would consider- 
 ably increase the prccariousness of that commerce; 
 and even the very sight of an unexpected and un- 
 accountable innovation on the subsisting practise, 
 might heighten the habitual mistrust, and pusil- 
 lanimity of Chinese policy, into surmises and 
 alarms more, fatal than their own omens.
 
 352 
 
 The champions, indeed, for the outports, con- 
 tend, that these predictions are altogether hypo- 
 thetical and preposterous; that a private trader 
 among his customers is professionally as orderly 
 and conciliating, as a British trader is characteristi- 
 cally honorable ; that the example of the Ameri- 
 cans proves with what safety to Chinese prejudice 
 private vessels may visit the port of Canton ; and 
 that both the supervision of discipline among the 
 British at the port, and the international proceed- 
 ings with the Chinese government, might be suc- 
 cessfully conducted by a British consul, armed 
 with summary local powers over British subjects. 
 
 To these pleas it has been objected, and the ob- 
 jections have not been answered, that, whatever 
 confidence may be placed in the instinctive obsequi- 
 ousness or national integrity of a private British 
 merchant, the former part at least of the descrip- 
 tion hardly extends to a British seaman ; that the 
 nature of the. British seaman, and especially in 
 port, is free, boisterous, and prone to excess, the 
 pupil in fact of a school of warlike daring, and 
 essentially different from the sober and calculat- 
 ing character trained up in the mercantile marine 
 of America ; that the Americans, besides, have 
 been viewed with the less suspicion, from tiie very 
 circumstance of their being accredited by their 
 similarity, in language and appearance, with the 
 members of a respected and disciplined British 
 establishment; that a British consul, armed with 
 any powers short of tyrannical, could maintain
 
 353 
 
 no effectual controiil over a promiscuous assort- 
 ment of British crews ; that it wOuld be impossible 
 to impose on a British consul that species of re- 
 sponsibility which would be exacted from him by 
 the Chinese government, a responsibility by which 
 he might be subjected to the privation of liberty 
 or even life, for every wanton act committed by a 
 British sailor in the roads ; lastly, that such a 
 functionary would be exposed to insults and hu- 
 miliations which could not possibly be endured by 
 a national delegate, without a compromise of the 
 national honour. 
 
 Thirdly, it is an argument against the freedom 
 of the Anglo-Chinese trade, that, under the pre^ 
 sent system, the annual imports into this country 
 of tea, the principal subject of that trade, furnish 
 the state, at little cost of collection,- with a reve^ 
 nue nearly amounting to four millions sterling. 
 But the duty levied on the article is about ninety- 
 five per cent, on the sale-price ; a strong induce- 
 ment to illicit importation, w r here the commodity 
 is so highly in request, and so easy of transporta- 
 tion. Were private adventure, then, freely ad- 
 mitted into the trade, while the duties remained at 
 their present amount, as the whole of the system 1 
 under which those duties are secured must be sa- 
 crificed, there is the best reason to fear that the 
 revenue might be defrauded to an indefinite ex-* 
 tent. The facility would be great, and the temp- 
 tation immense. 
 
 That these apprehensions are too just, the very 
 2 A
 
 354 
 
 history of. the tea-trade seems to evince, 
 use of tea in this country lias, from small begin- 
 nings, become universal, in the course of about 
 a century and a half. Through a considerable 
 part of that period, very heavy duties have been 
 imposed on the article, sometimes in the shape of 
 excise-duties, generally in that of customs. So 
 early as the first year of William the Third, the 
 impost was so high as to encourage large clandes- 
 tine importations, and, though reduced in that 
 year by the legislature, was soon again augmented, 
 and with the same effect as before. The supply of 
 the English smuggler with teas, constituted no 
 small part of the employment and resource of the 
 Ostend company, established about, a century 
 ago ; at which time the duty amounted to 82 per 
 cent, on the net cost. That proportion had, in 
 the year 1744, increased to 128 per cent.; and 
 the correspondent increase of smuggling, through 
 the medium of the Swedish and Danish compa- 
 nies, attracted the serious attention of the legis- 
 lature. A committee of the House of Commons, 
 in 1745, recommended an abatement of the duty 
 as the only remedy ; but the necessities of the 
 state prevented an adequate application of the 
 principle. Smuggling continued j and, in the 
 year 1784, is said to have supplied two thirds or 
 the consumption of the kingdom, the duty then 
 being about 119 per cent, on the average sale price. 
 An effectual corrective of the evil, however, was in 
 that year adopted by the legislature. The com-
 
 355 
 
 ..." ' |J1 J 
 
 mutation act* reduced the duties on teas to 
 1%. 10s. per cent, on the sale price, substituting 
 for them certain duties on windows. The smug- 
 gler was now driven out of the market. In 1783 
 the quantity of tea sold at the sales' of the Com- 
 pany amounted to but about 5,857,883 lbs.; in 
 1785, it rose to 15,081,737 lbs.; and, from that 
 year to 1794, it annually averaged at lG,9G4,957 
 lbs. 
 
 The trade being thus restored to its legitimate 
 channel, the government have since been able, 
 under improved regulations against smuggling, 
 and the still maturing system of the Company, 
 again to increase the duty, and with vast advantage 
 td the revenue. From 1795 to 1800, the twelve 
 per cent, gradually rose to twenty, thirty, and 
 forty. It has since advanced to ninety-five, and 
 is collected with a cheapness, facility, and certain- 
 ty, scarcely known in the fiscal experience of the 
 country. To produce this state of things, has 
 cost the legislature no slight labour, but, if the tea- 
 trade be again set afloat, and vessels from various 
 parts of the kingdom encouraged promiscuously to 
 engage in it, all the benefits resulting from that 
 labour will be put to imminent hazard. Even 
 under the present arrangement, smuggling is not 
 so entirely extinct, but that it gives occasional 
 symptoms of energy. Instances are on record, 
 in which American bottoms have imported tea 
 
 * 24 Gto. III. c. 38. 
 2 A 2
 
 356 
 
 both into Liverpool and Glasgow. The chief 
 supplies, however, drawn through American chan- 
 nels, have apparently been directed to Ireland; 
 and it is a curious fact, that the orders for tea re- 
 ceived in England from that country have been 
 much increased since the rupture with America. 
 
 Perhaps it may be argued, that the tea-trade 
 will be advantageously thrown open, if the duties 
 be at the same time depressed below the charges 
 of smuggling. For the diminution of duties will 
 so extend the regular consumption of the article 
 as shall, by a small revenue on a larger sale, 
 compensate for the want of a large revenue on a 
 smaller sale ; especially as the competition of a 
 free trade will reduce to a minimum the cost at 
 which the article can be brought into the English 
 market. 
 
 But the cost of coining into the market needs 
 not to be considered in this case ; since, with the 
 utmost allowance for what may be called a mono* 
 poly price, it bears no sensible proportion to the 
 duty imposed. The lowering of the duties, in- 
 deed, would doubtless occasion an increased con- 
 sumption of the article ; but that it would pro* 
 duce this effect to the full extent of a compensa- 
 tion for the loss in duties, seems a highly preci- 
 pitate assumption. At present, the quantity of 
 smuggling is, on the whole, inconsiderable. So 
 far, at least, therefore, no prospect of an increased 
 legitimate demand opens ; no gap would be 
 created by the reduction of the duties, which the
 
 357 
 
 regular trade might occupy; and, at the present 
 season of warlike exertion and fiscal exigency, it 
 surely would be rash to stake every thing on the 
 presumed universality of the theoretical principle, 
 that cheapness of supply will necessarily create a 
 commensurate increase of demand. 
 
 There is yet, however, a fourth argument for 
 the monopoly of the China trade, which appa-> 
 rently outweighs in importance all those that have 
 already been detailed. The profits which the 
 Company derive from the exclusive possession of 
 that trade, form, under existing circumstances, 
 the very life-blood of their political efficiency, as 
 the national organ for the government of British 
 India. 
 
 Supposing that this proposition can be proved* 
 the validity and the cogency of the argument de- 
 rived from it will surely be admitted at once* 
 That the present administration of British India 
 is highly beneficial to a large portion of mankind, 
 has been shewn, in the preceding pages, by in- 
 contestible evidence. That the system and go- 
 vernment of the Company are closely inwoven 
 with the essence of that administration, that they 
 may even be said to constitute the heart and 
 spring of its action, the centre from which all its 
 functions radiate, the vital and thinking principle 
 of its being, has also appeared in the former 
 pages, by an application of the most acknow 
 ledged principles to the most indisputable facts. 
 It these things are so, then the present constitu-* 
 2 A 3
 
 tion of British India is at all events to be pre- 
 served. For the experience of ages must have 
 been thrown away on us, if we have not learned 
 that the political happiness of a people is not to 
 be tampered or trifled with ; if we have not 
 learned still further, that, under whatever consti- 
 
 i V. i n i n iilbfll. I 
 
 tution the pohtical well-being ot a people is se- 
 tjilj .o^bt jfl cnoofiriOfc 
 
 cured and is improving, any material change ot 
 
 that constitution must necessarily be a change for 
 . (modi? 
 
 the worse. 
 
 It will be observed that, in the view of this 
 argument, the monopoly of the China trade is to 
 be bestowed on the Company, not so much for 
 their own sake, as for that of the great inte- 
 rests entrusted to their guardianship. If the exis- 
 tence of that monopoly be necessary to the poli- 
 tical welfare of India, then, were even the worst 
 admitted that can be urged in disparagement of 
 the monopoly, the continuance of it imposes on 
 Great Britain but a cheap sacrifice for a ' most im- 
 portant object. A few words shall be said to 
 shew in what manner the alleged necessity arises. 
 
 The annual disbursements requisite to the po- 
 litical efficiency of the Company are two-fold. 
 One class of disbursements is for the expenditure 
 in India : and these have been supplied, in ordi- 
 nary times, from the Indian revenues alone ; in 
 seasons of pressure and exigency, from those re- 
 venues, assisted by loans chargeable on the terri- 
 tories, with occasional aids from home. But, be- 
 sides the Indian expenditure, the Company have
 
 ffi 
 
 disbursements to make in England, without which 
 their political agency could not possibly be up- 
 held. Of this description are, the expenditure 
 of the home establishment, and, in a pre-eminent 
 degree, the dividends paid to the proprietors of 
 East India stock. If the dividend were no longer 
 forthcoming, or should be reduced in rate, the 
 value of the capital stock would proportionably 
 decline, and the proprietary, as a body, suffer 
 both in their property, and in their respectability. 
 The Court of Proprietors, an essential wheel, as 
 has before been shewn,* in the machinery of In- 
 dian government, must be disabled, and, by con- 
 sequence, the whole mechanism of the great en- 
 gine to which it belongs discomposed. But, in 
 truth, the mischief would take effect by a mucn 
 more rapid process. Were the Company fouria 
 unequal to the discharge of their home expences^ 
 and especially of their dividend, their credit must 
 sink irretrievably. The bills and bonds which 
 they issue. would become worthless; the alarm 
 and confusion would quickly communicate itself 
 to their affairs in India ; and all those fatal conse- 
 quences ensue, which might be expected under a 
 bankrupt government. For the prevention of 
 these evils, the punctual maintenance of the pay- 
 ments at home is an obiect of the last moment. 
 The fund for those payments must evidently 
 
 be furnished, either by the revenues of India, or 
 *\ tnot 
 
 2 A 4 
 
 
 
 * Chapter I.
 
 360 
 
 by the trade of the Eastern seas, or, which is a 
 modification of the latter method, by a consent 
 on the part of the nation that the Company shall 
 possess a monopoly of such part x>f the Eastern 
 trade as is found sufficiently productive to supply 
 the funds required. No fourth expedient re- 
 mains ; unless, indeed, the public were to under- 
 take the provision of the fund in some other way. 
 From the territorial revenues of India, no such 
 surplus can speedily be expected, as may answer 
 1}he end proposed. Nor ought this circumstance 
 to be at all a matter of surprise. The act of 
 1793, indeed, provided for a participation, on 
 the part of the British public, in the surplus of 
 the Indian revenues ; but, surely, the revenues 
 of a great empire are sufficiently operative, when 
 they fully feed its expenditure. Those who ex- 
 pect more from the empire of Hindostan, appear 
 \o deal out a hard measure. In this country, the 
 Utmost resources of financial knowledge and in- 
 vention have been exhausted on the attempt to 
 equate the public income with the public ex- 
 penses. The problem is not yet solved, or is- 
 solved for the benefit of a future generation. We 
 lay the blame, probably with justice, on the war- 
 ring or revolutionized state of the continent, and 
 only exhort each other not to distrust the promise 
 because the blessing is delayed. Yet, from the 
 empire of Hindostan, an empire still newly con^ 
 solidated and immature, environed by the force 
 and fraud of jealous adversaries and friends ill at
 
 361 
 
 ease, an empire at the same time not unaffected* 
 though across the waves, by the political earth- 
 quakes which have desolated Europe, we demand 
 that it shall produce, not merely a sufficiency, but 
 a preponderance of revenue, and will not allow 
 that the sword of an enemy may have disturbed 
 the equilibrium of the scales. 
 
 The trade of India, properly so called, is not 
 adequate to the supply of the home expenditure. 
 The opponents, indeed, of the Company assert 
 this to be a losing trade, and charge the circum- 
 stance on the mismanagement of that body. The- 
 Company affirm that, with the exception of two 
 o.r three particular years, the trade has, on the- 
 whole, been gainful ; but, at the same time* they 
 hold out no prospect of a large proEt from hv 
 during the continuance of the disturbed state of 
 Europe, and under the rivalry of the improved; 
 manufacture of this country. The investigation' 
 of the propositions respectively maintained by the 
 two parties does not belong to the present work ; 
 the statements of both equally lead to the result^ 
 that the trade of India proper will not furnish a< 
 sufficient resource for the ends now under consi- 
 deration. 
 
 The China trade, indeed, affords to the Com- 
 pany such a resource ; but in order to secure its 
 efficiency, the monopoly of it is indispensable, 
 it will not avail to retort that, if the Company 
 conduct the trade economically, they need not 
 dread the competition of private adventurers.
 
 302 
 
 WfeW< Ae*ifofia$bly abolished, ^sfete^^fiW^ 
 *&&&(# crowd into it ; and although the Company, 
 \9f&mBtt extensive capital, established conned- 
 tions, mature experience, and high commercial 
 character, might, in a simply commercial view, 
 loflk forward to an ultimate triumph, yet a com- 
 plete victory does not imply that there has not 
 been a hard fought battle. On the contrary, 
 the probability is, that the eagerness of the 
 adventurers would, for some seasons at least, 
 greatly abridge the profits of the trade to all the 
 parties embarked in it. Such a struggle the 
 Company, if they had nothing beyond commer- 
 cial interests at stake, might be able to encounter, 
 with the hope of eventual superiority ; but the 
 diminution, for several seasons together, of the 
 resources and credit necessary to the due dis- 
 charge of their political functions, could not fail 
 to produce the most fatal consequences <lf bn/j * 
 As circumstances now stand, the mischief would 
 take effect with tenfold celerity. Under the pre- 
 sent amount of the duties on tea, a free trade to 
 China must inevitably become a trade of fraud. 
 The evils extinguished by the commutation-act, 
 evils against which* previously to that regulation, 
 the legislature had fruitlessly exerted its vigilance 
 and its penal power, * might be expected to revive. 
 
 * Ample authority for this remark is furnished by the pream- 
 ble of the act of the 1/th G. III. c. 41. " Whereas the laws 
 '/ heretofore made to prevent the clandestine running of goods 
 " from on board ships employed in the service of the East-India 
 " 'Company on their homeward voyages,, and the receiving of
 
 363 
 
 The forcible observations, with regard to a simi- 
 lar case, of the recent deputation from the Court, 
 of Directors, exactly express the nature and th^ 
 extent of the danger. It would be easy, they re- 
 mark, for the private merchant-vessels " to break, 
 " bulk in the passage home, and as they ap- 
 " proached the coasts of Britain and Ireland, to- 
 " . put tea, as well as other articles chargeable with} 
 " duty, on board of ships and cutters, destined- 
 " either for the ports of the continent, or the 
 " remote coasts of Scotland and Ireland, on 
 " which, for a hundred miles together, every 
 " where accessible from the sea, there is scarcely 
 " a custom-house, and v^'here custom-houses could 
 " not be sufficiently multiplied. Vessels of very 
 '* small size being allowed in the Indian trade, 
 " they could enter into ports and bays little fre* 
 " quented, and run goods to be carried inland 
 " and there dispersed. In some of the northeni 
 " and western ports of the United Kingdom, 
 " we have heard that collusive practises between 
 " the revenue officers and the smugglers are not 
 
 " goods on board such ships at sea on their outward voyages 
 " from this kingdom, are insufficient to answer those purposes} 
 " it having been found by experience that very large quant itics 
 " of muslins, teas, and other goods, are unshipped irom ou 
 " board such ships into vessels that meet them at sea ou their 
 " voyages homewards, which goods are afterwards run on shore 
 "on the coasts of this kingdom without payment of duties."- 
 It should be observed that this statute proved as little efficacious 
 as its predecessors. moil ' 
 
 > -J w
 
 364 
 
 " unusual. If this is the case in respect to arti-' 
 " cles which pay a comparatively small duty, what 
 " would it be where the articles of tea and Indian 
 " goods were in question? Ships might stop at 
 " intermediate ports for orders, and there smug- 
 " gle ; as those bound to the Western coast of 
 " Cork and Falmouth ; those to the Eastern coast 
 " at Falmouth and the Downs ; those going north 
 " about, on the Irish and Scotch coast. Ships. 
 " having several ports of discharge would thereby 
 " have facilities in smuggling; and the state of 
 " relations between this country and parts of Nor- 
 " thern Europe may be such, as to afford the 
 " means of running goods into those ports, which* 
 " from their proximity, may -again be able to 
 " smuggle the goods into our remote ports."* A 
 competition conducted on such principles, it is 
 manifest that no fair trader, whether an individual 
 or a corporation, could successfully sustain ; and 
 the inference with respect to the point under consi- 
 deration is obvious. 
 
 From these premises it results that, to fur 
 nish the Company with the means of punctually 
 meeting their current charges at home, either 
 the monopoly of the China trade should be con- 
 ferred on them, or some other fund be created by 
 the legislature. In point of fact, the legislature 
 has chosen the former method, and, it is appre- 
 hended^ , with strict wisdom. For let it be remem- 
 
 i\l : , . 
 
 * Letter to Lord Buckinghamshire, of the -20th April, 1512;
 
 S6S 
 
 bered that there are other arguments of great force 
 for the monopoly of the China trade ; arguments 
 which have before been mentioned, and need not be 
 repeated. The question, therefore, is not simply in 
 which way the fund required by the Company may 
 best be raised, but whether it had not better be raisi- 
 ed through the means of a monopoly recommended 
 by so many other considerations, than in any man- 
 ner, however in itself expedient, which should 
 leave those considerations without a provision. 
 - Such appear to be the reasons on which the 
 monopoly of the Anglo-Chinese trade may be 
 justified. In these or similar reasons the minis- 
 try seem to have acquiesced ; but here their ac- 
 quiescence terminates ; for the trade of India pro- 
 per they would lay open to the outports. The* 
 Company solicit that all the imports from India 
 shall be brought into the Thames, and sold at 
 their own sales ; and, unless on this condition, 
 they deprecate every extension of the Indian 
 trade, as fraught with peril. It is time to con- 
 sider on what grounds this apprehension proceeds. 
 It may, as a preliminary fact, be stated, that 
 the Company deny the probability of such an ex- 
 tension of the Indian commerce, as appears to be 
 expected by the advocates of an open trade ; or, 
 in other words, they deny the correctness of those 
 assumptions on which the project of an open 
 trade is confessedly built. If the main argument 
 for an open trade has little or no foundation in 
 fact, the considerations on the other side become
 
 366 
 
 doubly weighty. The discussion of this sub- 
 ject does not fall within the scope of the present 
 work ; but it may not be improper to state, in a few 
 sentences, the view of it exhibited by the Company. 
 The Company contend, with respect to the ex- 
 port trade, or that from this country to India, 
 that, according to all present appearance and all 
 past experience, the extension of that trade is not 
 to be expected. They maintain that if, in any 
 part of the globe, the boundaries of commercial 
 demand may be regarded as fixed, it is in Hin- 
 dostan j where climate, religion, and, as it would 
 seem, a native feebleness of character, dictate to 
 the great body of people a fixed limitation of 
 their w r ants ; where, consequently, one unbroken 
 constancy of tastes and usages has prevailed since 
 the days of Alexander the Great. They, there- 
 fore, hold that the demand for the manufactures 
 of Europe is not likely ever to exceed a very 
 moderate extent. They argue that experience 
 strongly confirms this position ; for that their own 
 efforts for the promotion of the sale of European 
 commodities among the natives have been earnest 
 and long continued, instructions to this effect ha- 
 ving year after year been conveyed to their ser- 
 vants abroad, and having been put in force with 
 the most unremitted diligence. They state that, 
 in addition to exertions properly their own, their 
 system encourages those of a number of mer- 
 chants, native and European, either residing at 
 the British settlements, or scattered along the sea
 
 
 coast ; men who conduct, with all the much c< 
 brated spirit of individual enterprize, what is 
 called the coasting or country trade of India ; not 
 confining their transactions to the shores of the 
 Asiatic Continent, which, however, alone embraces 
 a tract of country extending on the west to Cam- 
 bay, and on the east to China, but sending their 
 ships to every mart on the Eastern coast of Africa 
 and the Islands of the Indian seas, where com- 
 modities can profitably be either bought or sold* 
 At all such marts, consequently, European arti- 
 cles have been tried, but with little effect. The 
 Company farther quote the example of the Indo- 
 American trade, so often cited against them as a 
 conclusive proof of the success attending a com* 
 merce committed to the living alacrity of indivi- 
 dual enterprize. In ten years, from 1795-6 to 
 1 804-5, the American imports into India were, in 
 goods, ^4,628,09 1, in bullion, ^26,7^0,470; 
 that is, upwards of five times as great ; while the 
 Company themselves export four times as great an 
 amount in goods as in bullion. Yet the Amerii 
 cans, though not themselves a great manufac- 
 turing people, are willing carriers to manufac- 
 turing nations, and no where else do they trade 
 to the same extent with bullion. 
 
 The utter incongruity between the European 
 and the Indian character, and the difficulty witft 
 which an European mind lends itself to a due no- 
 tion of Indian peculiarities, are in nothing more 
 remarkable, than in the extreme aptitude otf -&$&
 
 368 
 
 who know these peculiarities only theoretically, to 
 forget them. in their practical conclusions. The 
 attachment of the Indians to hereditary customs, 
 and at the same time the paucity of their wants, 
 are so familiarly known in Europe as to have be- 
 come common places. Yet no sooner are these 
 common places followed out into action, no sooner 
 is it intimated that, in the case of so remarkable a 
 race, the general maxim that " supply excites 
 demand" is not to be applied without great cau- 
 tion and the admixture of many concurrent prin- 
 ciples, than we are overborne with comments on 
 the nature of man from those who, judging only 
 from the nature of the men immediately about 
 them, shelter a spirit of system under the name of 
 philosophy, and fall victims of local prejudice at 
 the very moment when they are affecting to deride 
 its influence. 
 
 On the other hand, with respect to the import 
 trade of India, or that from India to Great Britain, 
 the Company contend that, among other causes, the 
 increasing excellence of the cotton fabrics of Eu- 
 rope, the disturbed state of the Continent, and 
 the commercial rivalry of other nearer coun- 
 tries producing the same articles as India, forbid 
 the hope of any rapid or wide extension; but 
 that whatever extension is practicable, is practi- 
 cable under that system which has already so 
 strenuously and successfully fostered the produc- 
 tive powers of India, which has, at no small pains, 
 refined her silks, nearly to a rivalry with the 
 most exquisite products of Italy j which, aiding by
 
 369 
 
 large loans, the efforts of private planters, has pro- 
 moted the indigo- trade of India nearly to an equa- 
 lity to the whole demand for that article by the west- 
 ern world ; which has, at great expense raised to a 
 promising state, the culture of the Sunn or Indian 
 hemp, which, in short, has been employed, in one 
 continued effort, to nurture production throughout 
 the British dominions in the East. 
 
 With respect to the import trade, therefore, of 
 India, the Company do not contend that, under 
 no circumstances, and by no possibility, may that 
 trade be increased. They would merely repel the 
 presumption a priori against their system, formed 
 on a vague comparison of the actual extent of 
 their investments witli the vastness of the territo- 
 ries included in their charter. In somewhat of the 
 same manner, when, a few years ago, the doctrine 
 of the perfectibility of the human species acquired, 
 among certain descriptions of persons, a temporary 
 celebrity, those who opposed it did not contend 
 that the human species had not in past time consi- 
 derably improved, nor that it was incapable of be- 
 ing farther improved, nor that the improvement of 
 it should cease to be an object of laborious atten- 
 tion ; but they merely wished to reduce within just 
 limits the views and hopes of mankind on the sub- 
 ject, and to quash that presumptuous philosophy 
 whicli would found on every discovered imperfec- 
 tion in the social system a violent reprobation of all 
 established government and laws. 
 
 But it may possibly be said, that, at least, the 
 % B
 
 370 
 
 experiment of an open trade should be tried, on . 
 hpwever small a scale. The answer is, th^tw/OftcJIj, 
 very sufficient scale, it is actually about to be tried. 
 The merchants of London are admitted bptl&jinj#, ; 
 tfae export and import trade, provided only tlfeej^ 
 will have their imports sold at the sales, , of, ,]&) 
 Company. Surely, the result of this experiment 
 should be waited for, before its success is asin#e$, 
 by the extension of the privilege to the 4egree 
 demanded. , j;m [ ^ahnq^ 
 
 loBesides, however, this argument of j inuj$jty m 
 against the proposed measure, the Company have 
 two of danger. no b'r/ohmio insmrrg 
 
 First, they affirm that the establishment fi^fa 
 j^pe commercial intercourse between. :$je ppj^flg 
 Great Britain and Hindostan, will occasion, aj large, 
 ingress of Europeans into the latter country ; 
 an intercourse, threatening the most serious mis- 
 ^fciefs both to the welfare ; of ^^^^6,^0^ 
 lation and to the security of the Ifl^o^rjt^.^m^ 
 
 pi re * u) h'jzoqqu?. od yam 
 
 ;.rBy those who have glan?$ <$h($%MP < $$8: 
 pages of this volume, it will at once be perceived 
 that the subject matter of this very important ar- 
 
 anticipated. It was shewn, in $ former chapter,* 
 #&#(i bm< Wflux of a pro,mJ6cnpijS( t I^urp,pe## 
 B5mla^pnjn$^fe4ia wpuy,pin^ v ^rst instance, 
 
 T$bnu ioh](tm snom 9fB od hlucm ^Ibmblon ek 
 
 * Chapter II.
 
 371 
 
 shewn that such an influx, even under modifica- 
 tion and restriction, would issue in colonization ; 
 and the probable evils of that event, both to India 
 and to England, were detailed. It was shewn, 
 further, that colonization might very well have its 
 beginning in commercial adventure, and that even 
 the ill-success of commercial adventure would be 
 no security against such a result. 
 
 On these topics, it cannot be necessary again to 
 expatiate. It may be expedient, however, to 
 mention that the view which has been given of 
 the subject appears to preclude the use of an ar- 
 gument employed on this occasion by the anta- 
 gonists of the Company. The Directors are 
 charged with inconsistency, because, conceding, 
 or at least not peremptorily denying, to the out- 
 ports, the export trade to India, which of course 
 includes the liberty to Europeans of a free egress, 
 they yet anxiously withhold the import trade, on 
 the very ground of the dangers which such egress 
 may be supposed to involve. It has, however, 
 always been contended by the Directors, not that 
 the egress of Europeans would take place for the 
 very purpose of colonization, but merely, that 
 colonization would incidentally follow on the egress 
 of Europeans. They do not maintain that it 
 would be the motive, but that it would be the ef- 
 fect. The whole question, therefore, is under 
 which system the egress of Europeans, not going 
 as colonists, would be the more ample j under 
 
 2 b 2
 
 m 
 
 that, which should give only the export-trade to 
 the outports, or under that which should give, 
 them both the export and the import trade. Of 
 this question, there cannot be a fuller solution 
 than is supplied by the reiterated assertions of trig 
 advocates for the outports themselves, who con 
 tend that to grant them the outward trade is to 
 grant literally nothing; a complaint, probably 
 exaggerated, but which, after more than an average 
 allowance for exaggeration, seems conclusive, 
 against the charge of inconsistency; especially 
 when the charge and the complaint proceed fron> 
 the same mouths. 
 
 The second argument of danger employed by 
 the Directors against the proposed innovation, is, 
 that it would eventually destroy the monopoly of 
 the China trad$, and, by consequence, subvert the 
 political efficiency of the Company. They con- 
 tend that nothing would be easier than for the 
 vessels, ostensibly engaged in the trade with In- 
 dia, to ship teas off some of the islands of the 
 Eastern Archipelago, and clandestinely to import 
 them into Europe, and especially into Great Bri- 
 tain. By what process this illicit traffic, supposing 
 it to take place, would supersede the regular 
 China trade and incapacitate the Company for the 
 discharge of their political functions, has before 
 been fully, and, it is hoped, satisfactorily shewn. 
 The only question is, whether it would, in fact, 
 take place ; that is, whether the teas could b 
 

 
 373 
 
 - 
 
 clandestinely shipped in the East, and whether 
 they could be clandestinely conveyed into the Bri- 
 tish islands. 
 
 The former member of this question, it will 
 perhaps be admitted, has been already discussed. 
 The facility with which tea may be smuggled into 
 this country, especially while our fiscal regulations 
 virtually establish such a bounty on the operation, 
 as must unceasingly stimulate the courage and the 
 invention of unlawful adventure, unfortunately, 
 stands on a firm basis of fact. If the illicit lading 
 is once effected, there seems too much reason for 
 the apprehension that the illicit unshipment will, 
 by some device or other, be effected also. It be- 
 comes, therefore, highly important to estimate the 
 likelihood of the lading. 
 
 It must be remembered that, by the confession 
 of all parties, the rush of adventurers into the 
 Indian trade at its first opening w T ould be so great 
 as to cause much hazard, difficulty, and loss. Un- 
 der such circumstances, it seems a perfectly na- 
 tural event, that many of those adventurers should 
 be impelled to strike out some more profitable spe- 
 culation ; and the truth is that, even without the 
 incentive of disappointment, they might find the 
 illicit tea-trade irresistibly attractive. The Eastern 
 Archipelago abounds with islands of various inag- 
 nitude, to which both Chinese vessels an^i, nume- 
 rous traders of other descriptions would readily 
 transport commodities from China. In the count- 
 less creeks, bays, and embouchures, of those is- 
 
 2p3
 
 374 
 
 ; 
 
 lands, the illicit shipment might take place with 
 
 case. This is not, let it be observed, the account of 
 the Company alone j but may be confirmed from 
 authors decidedly hostile to them. One writer, 
 for example, of that class, in considering what 
 effect would follow the total exclusion of the Bri- 
 tish nation from the ports of China, thus expresses 
 himself. " Should we be deprived of tea ? Not 
 " we, indeed. There are abundance of China 
 " pinks, and other traders,, to bring to Prince of 
 " Wales's Island, to Ceylon, or wherever may be 
 " most convenient, ten times more than we should 
 " want, and at less expense than it now costs us."* 
 The remark of another is similar. " If we were 
 " actually to be excluded from the ports of China, 
 " we should not be deprived of an intercourse with 
 " that country, so long as we have numerous sta- 
 tl tions, whither the Chinese would most willingly re- 
 " pair to carry on their trade with us."i 
 
 That the danger thus to be apprehended from 
 the measure in view, has been under the contem- 
 plation of ministers, there can be no doubt ; but, 
 with every degree of deference to them, it seems 
 hardly possible to believe that they are aware of its 
 magnitude. They were solicited by the Directors 
 to specify those safeguards and defenses with which 
 they intended to accompany the projected change 
 of system j with this request they have only par- 
 
 Edinb. Rev. 31. 
 f The question as to the renewal of the monopoly.
 
 daily complied, and, if we are to judge respecting 
 what is yet unsaid, from what appears, little reli- 
 ance, indeed, can be placed on the panoply which 
 they have provided. 
 
 The apprehensions entertained on this head by 
 the Company, the President of the Board of Con- 
 troul observes, " might be obviated by various re- 
 " gulations, such as, by confining the trade to 
 " those ports which are or may be so circum- 
 " stanced as to afford security to the due collec- 
 " tion of the revenue ; by the limitation of it to 
 " vessels of four hundred tons burthen; by at- 
 " taching the forfeiture of the ship and cargo to 
 " the discovery of any illicit articles on board; 
 " by an extension of the Manifest Act ; by regula- 
 " tions for checking the practice of smuggling in 
 " the ships of the Company; as well as by other 
 " provisions, too minute to be entered into at 
 " present, but will of course be attended to in 
 " discussing the details of the subject."* 
 
 Concerning: all the regulations which form this 
 catalogue, excepting that of the forfeiture of ships 
 and cargoes employed in illicit traffic, it may b& 
 observed that they have no reference to one great 
 evil, the clandestine running of goods from on 
 board of ships at sea. For, unless it can be ima- 
 gined that ship-officers and crews will be withheld 
 from such practices by the pride of belonging to a 
 vessel of a certain capacity, by the pride of having 
 
 f Letter from Lord Buckinghamshire, of 24th Dec. 1812.
 
 376 
 
 cleared outwards from a port celebrated for the 
 alertness of its fiscal ministers, or by that distaste 
 for smuggling which education in so decorous a 
 port may be supposed to create, it must be obvious 
 that the great mass of the enumerated regulations 
 will produce no effect on the evil in question. The 
 question then arises, What are they worth? For 
 this, let it be remarked, was the great, the para- 
 mount evil, which prevailed before the period 
 of the commutation-act. This was that evil from 
 which the finances of the state the most severely 
 suffered. This was that evil against which the 
 prohibitory voice of the legislature was chiefly di- 
 rected; directed, under the present reign, not 
 only by consequence, but expressly, in three suc- 
 cessive acts,* previous to that statute which proved 
 conclusive; and until that definitive enactment, 
 directed in vain. 
 
 But experience, which establishes the likelihood 
 of this abuse, also illustrates the feebleness of the 
 solitary security prepared against it. The sound 
 of a forfeiture of ships and cargo is sufficiently for- 
 midable ; but it is not an untried sound ; and the 
 fiscal history of Europe for the two or three last 
 j^ears shews that notes of yet sterner import may 
 be overpowered by the call of strong temptation. 
 The gambling principle in human nature, the grand 
 support of smuggling, is whetted by danger ; and 
 the greatness of the prize appears to stand forth 
 
 * l/th, 10th, and 22d of Geo. III. The first f which hat 
 been mentioned in a former note.
 
 377 
 
 ohiy in livelier relief from the" depth of the" Idss. 
 Should this reference to experience appear vague 
 and indeterminate, let the objector be reminded, of 
 one fact. Even in the tea-trade, even with- refe-* 
 rence to that particular abuse of the tea-trade, now 
 under consideration, the forfeiture of ships and 
 cargoes is no new expedient. The act, already 
 mentioned, of the 17th of the present reign, in- 
 flicted this very penalty on every ship or vessel 
 into which tea, muslins, or other goods should: 
 have been illicitly conveyed at sea, from the East- 
 India ships of the Company. The act of the 19th 
 of the King, also already mentioned, attached the 
 same punishment to vessels under a certain burden, 
 coming from foreign parts, and unlawfully carrying 
 tea, coffee, or other forbidden articles. Once 
 more, the act of the 22d of the King, in order to 
 prevent the running of tea and other prohibited 
 goods into the kingdom " in large vessels fitted 
 " out and armed as privateers,'* enacted that all 
 ships carrying letters of marque from the British 
 Admiralty, having, at whatever distance from the 
 coast, a certain quantity of tea, or certain othei 
 goods on board, should be seized and forfeited, 
 with all their guns and cargoes. Did these laws 
 succeed? He who consults the preamble of the 
 commutation-act, will find that question sufficiently 
 answered; and, with these facts before us, some- 
 thing, surely, more specific than the mere name 
 of seizures and forfeitures is required to obviate 
 the mischiefs apprehended by the Company.
 
 373 
 
 Of the other measures intended by Ministers, 
 the limitation of the Indian commerce to a few 
 Specific ports, and to vessels of a prescribed 
 burden, is probably better calculated to disap- 
 point the clamours for a free trade, than to prevent 
 a trade of contraband. Even within port, its 
 success is not likely to be great. There was a 
 period when the limitation of the Indian trade to 
 the single port of London, and to the capacious 
 vessels of the Company, furnished no effectual 
 bulwark against the smuggler. Nor is it unim- 
 portant to note that, of the very project formed 
 by Ministers, one limb is a provision against 
 smuggling on board the ships of the Company. 
 The precise ground for new regulations to this 
 effect, does not appear ; but, if even the princely, 
 systematized, and disciplined marine of the Com- 
 pany, be not wholly proof against the canker of 
 smuggling, what immunity can be expected for an 
 indefinite variety of vessels, casually commanded, 
 and ranging over the seas at pleasure ? It is vain 
 to affirm, what has been affirmed without proof, 
 that the port of London possesses a peculiar ap- 
 titude for the prosecution of illicit commerce. 
 The port of London, like the city of London, 
 like every metropolitan city of vast condensed 
 population, combines in itself great evils and re- 
 medies. If the arts of river-smuggling be here 
 refined to the utmost, the fiscal police opposed to 
 those arts is also of the most improved quality; 
 nor is there any reason for believing, (and, cer-
 
 3?9 
 
 tainly, no satisfactory reason has been adduced,) 
 that, in proportion to the immense and shifting 
 mass of commerce afloat and ashore on the 
 Thames, the revenue arising from duties is realized 
 with greater loss or uncertainty in London, than 
 at port-towns of a smaller dimension. 
 
 On the meditated " extension of the Manifest 
 Act," the Ministers have expressed themselves 
 with so little explicitness, that it is difficult to 
 make any observation. How the measure may 
 succeed, cannot distinctly be guessed, until it is 
 known in what manner the act is to be extended; 
 but, in the mean while, it may be observed that 
 the principle of the act does not appear applicable 
 in the case under review. A manifest is an 
 inventory of the cargo imported by a vessel ; 
 which being compared with the actual cargo on 
 board it is thus ascertained whether the vessel 
 has broken bulk at sea. The efficiency of the 
 regulation evidently depends on the verity of the 
 manifest ; for which reason it is enacted that the 
 masters of vessels lading in the ports of the British 
 possessions abroad, and, where the cargo is wine, 
 even those lading in foreign ports, shall on oath 
 verify their manifesto before the British custom- 
 house, or consul at the port of lading, which 
 custom-house or consul shall then authenticate the 
 instrument. In the numberless islands of the 
 Archipelago, however, there is, as the Directors 
 express it, " no usage of clearing out vessels, or 
 
 giving them papers or manifests j'* for, to say 
 

 
 380 
 
 the truth, there is, in those islands, no usage of 
 employing custom-house or consul. The mani- 
 fest, therefore, must necessarily be taken on the 
 word of the commander; who, of course, may be 
 provided with any number of fictitious papers and 
 clearances, adapted to different states of his cargo. 
 The laws of honesty, indeed, stand in the way of 
 such an arrangement ; but the temptation of high 
 duties has frequently been known to triumph over 
 much more obdurate impediments. 
 
 One consideration held out as a lenitive to the 
 alarm of the Company, has been, that, since the 
 interest of the public exchequer is deeply involved 
 in the realization of the revenue from tea, they 
 may always reckon on the wishes and the efforts 
 of government to check a contraband importation 
 of that article. The consolation, however, which 
 might result from this circumstance is completely 
 checked by the recollection that, if the wishes 
 and the efforts of government could prevent smug- 
 gling, not a single smuggler would haunt the 
 seas. 
 
 On the whole, therefore, it would seem that 
 there is too much ground for the fears with which 
 the Company regard the change of system me- 
 ditated by the Ministry ; and it must at least be 
 confessed that the Ministry have taken little trou- 
 ble to remove those fears. They allow that the 
 new principle, if established without sufficient se- 
 curities, might produce the worst dangers appre- 
 Iiended from it. They allow those dangers to be
 
 381 
 
 in the last degree serious : they allow, consequent- 
 ly, that the principle ought not to be adopted till 
 the requisite securities are devised : and then, with 
 the promise of securities which are not specified, 
 with the specification of securities which have 
 again and again been tried and found wanting, they 
 call on the Company to adopt the principle con- 
 fessedly involving all those dangers. What renders 
 the case still more striking, the avowed object of 
 the experiment is nothing beyond commercial be- 
 nefit. Limited advantage, certain hazard, and 
 possible escape, are the terms on which the Com- 
 pany is exhorted to accept a system avowedly new, 
 a system avowedly experimental, a system concern- 
 ing which, whatever else be doubtful, this at least 
 is certain, that it is not that under which the Indian 
 empire has reached its present state of power, 
 wealth, stability, and glory. 
 
 As the only admissible alternative, however, 
 Ministers threaten the Company, subject to the 
 decision of Parliament, that the Empire of India 
 shall be transferred to other hands. This annun- 
 ciation is, indeed, well worthy the attention of 
 every member of the legislature ; for it suggests a 
 very momentous question ; what other organ of 
 government for the Indian Empire can be devised, 
 so efficacious, so unexceptionable, as the known 
 and tried system of the Company? Whether any 
 such instrument is discoverable, will be a matter 
 of doubt to the most slender proficient in the his- 
 tory of political revolutions j it can be a matter of
 
 382 
 
 no doubt to those who, honoring the preceding 
 chapters of this book with, a perusal, shall accept 
 the facts, and concur in the reasonings which those 
 chapters contain. 
 
 Some persons, however, are apt to allege that, 
 if these things be so, the Company present the 
 extraordinary spectacle of a body of subjects pa* 
 ramount to the supreme government of the nation. 
 If the Company are, at all events, to be maintained 
 in their present position, then, whatever tenjjflK 
 they may chuse to demand, at whatever price it 
 may please them to rate their acceptance of a new 
 Charter, whatever caprices they may indulge m 
 their negotiation with the constituted authorities of 
 the country, there is nothing for those authorities 
 but a cheerful compliance. Not only the supre- 
 macy of the Crown, but the omnipotence of Par- 
 liament, the august majesty of the state, may be 
 warned off the sacred territory of the India House, 
 as a territory allodially held by a mere corporation 
 
 of merchants. 
 -mil u.m , ,, , . , . 3i nu r i 
 
 I he dimculty proposed by this objection, is pre- 
 cisely of that species, which, in matters of policy, 
 always results from an extreme case. If the Mo- 
 
 narch has a veto on every measure proposed by 
 
 .i i 8 i j .i i 
 
 the people, then he may reduce the people to 
 
 insignificance by putting in force his negative on 
 
 every single occasion. If the people may refuse 
 
 the Monarch supplies, then they may convert him 
 
 into 1 a ' titlect slave, by thwarting him in eyery single 
 
 project. Such casuistry is endless j and it is use-
 
 383 
 
 less. Were the Company either in their negotia* 
 tions for anew Charter, or in their use of a Charter 
 already subsisting, to exhibit a refractory and con* 
 tumacious conduct, it might then become the 
 government to consider whether deference to 
 them was not disloyalty to the people of England; 
 whether it was not necessary to hazard the in r 
 terests of Hindostan for the security of interests 
 nearer home. But that extreme case should be 
 shewn to have occurred, before the right grow- 
 ing out of it is assumed. It should be proved 
 that the Company have advanced some claim in* 
 consistent with a due subjection to the state ; that 
 they have maintained some doctrine unwarranted 
 by British statesmen of the highest celebrity; 
 that they have abused the privileges of that free 
 discussion to which they were invited by Ministers 
 themselves - 9 that their arguments have been weak, 
 or have been answered. This is the very least 
 that should be demonstrated, before the supreme 
 power can merge its duties to the people of Hin- 
 dostan in that law of self-preservation, winch is 
 obligatory both on authorities and on individuals, 
 but which, in both cases, though it is usually 
 called the first law of nature, should yet be the 
 last law obeyed. 
 
 Yet the literary antagonists of the Company 
 already begin familiarly to contemplate a radical 
 alteration in the constitution of India, and, appa- 
 rently, such an alteration as shall vest the political 
 power and patronage of that country, exclusively
 
 384 
 
 in the hands of the executive government at 
 home. One author, referring to a measure medi- 
 tated for a time by Ministers, the transfer of the 
 Indian army to the Crown, -observes that, " the 
 *' temperate arguments of the two Chairs induced 
 Ministers to relinquish this idea," and to pro- 
 pose other measures ; but that " the altered tone 
 " of the Directors" might possibly " induce 
 " Ministers to go beyond what they had intended.'* 
 *' There are persons," the same writer still more 
 definitively observes, " well informed in Indian 
 " affairs, who think that nothing short of a radical 
 " change in the constitution of the Indian govern- 
 <t ment at home, can advance, to any considerable 
 * degree, the mutual prosperity of the two coun- 
 " tries." The plan of the persons alluded to 
 turns out to be that, for the Board of Controul, 
 should be substituted a Secretary of State, and, 
 for the Court of Directors a Board, like that of 
 the Admiralty, consisting of six members and a 
 President, all of whom should be unconnected 
 with any trade. The plan is not very intelligibly 
 stated; but it would appear that the proposed 
 Board of Directors is to be appointed by the 
 Crown ; and it is at all events certain that the 
 author contemplates " a radical change." 
 
 When it is intimated respecting Ministers, that 
 they were induced to relinquish their plan by 
 " the temperate arguments of the two Chairs," 
 and may possibly be induced to resume at least 
 a part of it by " the altered tone of the Direc-!
 
 385 
 
 " tors," surely a compliment is paid to the 
 kindliness of their natures or the quickness of 
 their feelings, entirely at the expense of their 
 severer virtues. One member of the Cabinet, 
 and, certainly, not the member least interested 
 in the present discussion, exhibits, to do him 
 justice, a very different view of the motives 
 which have actuated his own mind, and, it may 
 be presumed, those also of his colleagues. He 
 plainly and candidly founds the relinquishment 
 of the plan in question, on the admission, " that 
 " several 'weighty objections" against it had been 
 stated by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.* 
 If then, it can be said that Ministers yielded to 
 the temperate arguments of the Chairs, it must 
 at least have been to the arguments, not to the 
 temper, that the concession was made ; nor are 
 we readily to believe of any Cabinet, that having 
 projected a measure of such seriousness as the 
 transfer of the Indian army to the Crown, they 
 should first, abandon it out of complaisance, and 
 then resume it from resentment. 
 
 To comment on the " radical change" ad* 
 vised by the author, would be merely to reiterate 
 the facts and arguments already set forth in this 
 volume ; facts and arguments, which, if they be 
 just and correct, will at once lead to a decisive 
 opinion respecting such a change. It is not easy, 
 
 2 c 
 
 * Lord Melville's letter to the Chairs; l"th December 
 1811.
 
 386 
 
 however, to suppress an intimation of surprise at 
 the obscurity in which the " well-informed " au- 
 thorities for the proposal have hitherto enveloped, 
 both themselves, their information, and their rea- 
 sonings. "Where has the writer found these pro- 
 ficients in Indian affairs ? Not, it may safely 
 be affirmed, in the far greater number of our 
 recorded statesmen. Not in Mr. Pitt and Mr, 
 Dundas, the vigorous and repeatedly avowed op- 
 ponents of any change " in the constitution of 
 " the Indian government at home." Not in 
 Marquis Cornwallis, the second founder of the 
 Indian empire. Not in Mr. Hastings, or Lord 
 Teignmouth, or Marquis Wellesley ? those per- 
 sons are all living; let each be questioned on 
 the subject, and the Company may be con- 
 tent to abide by the reply. Not in the pre- 
 sent Lord Melville, nor in any member of the 
 subsisting Cabinet; for, whatever they may 
 now think it expedient to propose, they set out 
 with a clear expression of the sentiment that the 
 existing system was, if possible, to be maintained. 
 Not in the people of England, if any reliance may 
 be placed on those unequivocal demonstrations of 
 popular feeling, which were excited by the India 
 Bill of Mr. Fox. Not, hitherto, in the parlia- 
 ments which that people have subsequently and 
 successively elected. All this congregated mass of 
 general wisdom and Indian experience, all this 
 constellated splendour of departed and surviving 
 ability, stands in direct opposition to the radical
 
 38? 
 
 change recommended by the author in question. 
 Without any disparagement, therefore, of the 
 talents, the knowledge, or the good intentions, of 
 that author, all of which are willingly admitted, 
 it would surely be too Inuch to expect that the 
 public should reject maxims, which have grown 
 old with the reputation of so many valued names, 
 maxims maintained by the living and canonized 
 with the dead, in favour of an anonymous opinion, 
 founded on anonymous experience, and justified 
 by un-named arguments. 
 
 " Quod jus si Cneius Pompeius ignoravit, si 
 " Marcus Crassus, si Quintus Metellus j si sena- 
 " tus, si populus Romanus; si qui de re simili 
 " judicarunt, si fcederati populi, si socii, si illi 
 " antiqui Latini ; videte, ne utilius vobis et ho* 
 " nestius sit, illis ducibus errare, quam ab hoc 
 " magistro erudiri." 
 
 The conclusions that result from the volume 
 now respectfully presented to the public, must be 
 too plain to require minute exposition. They are 
 two. First, the present Indian system is at all 
 events to be continued ; continued, not as we 
 continue what we cannot terminate or little heed, 
 not as we continue necessary or familiarized evil r 
 sufFerable folly, or unoffending insignificance, but 
 as we continue political good; preserving, che* 
 rishing, and enshrining it; guarding it at once 
 with the armour of law and the enchantment of 
 opinion. Secondly, the relaxations now medi- 
 tated of the system, although in themselves pure* 
 
 2 c %
 
 388 
 
 ly commercial, do in fact threaten its existence* 
 With a full intention, on all hands, that the sys- 
 tem shall be preserved, with every political privi- 
 lege untouched, with all the semblance of impe- 
 rial vigour and dignity, it may be destroyed by 
 the petty depredations of commercial adventure ; 
 as the vessel which has victoriously withstood the 
 buffets of assailing enemies and warring elements, 
 " the battle and the breeze," falls a victim to the 
 insects that, with unchartered eagerness, burrow 
 amidst her planks and feed on her timbers ; and 
 becomes fit only to be condemned and broken up, 
 without having suffered any declension in the 
 symmetry of her make, the bravery of her equip- 
 ment, or the force of her fire. If this view of 
 ihe subject be admitted, if it be true that the 
 constitution of India ought to be maintained and 
 is in danger, if the evil deprecated be as great 
 and as imminent as it has been represented in the 
 foregoing pages, the justice and the wisdom of 
 the legislature may assuredly be invoked for the 
 application of a timely and an effectual preyen^ 
 tive*
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 i . '
 
 ESTABLISHMENT of the CIVIL SEKVH iNT)IA, including EU 
 
 .fowmS. 
 
 General Branch. 
 
 Judicial Brtmh- 
 
 Revenue Bra 
 
 
 No. of Servants. 
 
 
 No. of Scirantt. 
 
 
 No. of Servants. 
 
 
 
 Salaries 
 
 A 
 
 Sa'.srir* 
 
 ,. 
 
 o!JA 
 
 . 
 
 Covenanted. 
 
 i 
 
 Uncovenanted. 
 
 ncl r 
 Allowances, q 
 
 Dvenanted. 
 
 rncovcninut 
 
 ind 
 Allvmncn. 
 
 Covenanted. 
 
 I'ncovenantcd. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fie, 
 
 Ngal .... 
 
 110 
 
 88 
 
 309,336 
 
 185 
 
 25 
 
 ^ 1,892 
 
 78 
 
 50 
 
 Ma 
 
 dvas . . . . 
 
 52 
 
 29 
 
 1 24,209 
 
 97 
 
 10 
 
 190,238 
 
 57 
 
 3 
 
 Bo 
 
 mbay . . 
 Total . . 
 
 35 
 
 5 
 
 61,568 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 27,132 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 
 197 
 
 122 
 
 495,113 
 
 298 
 
 41 
 
 552,262 
 
 153 
 
 55 
 
 N te. In this account, the lists of covenanted servants include medical prs 
 
 opium. The customs are blended with the revenue.
 
 Fo. I. 
 
 )PAN UNCOVENANTED ASSISTANTS, with the PAY, ALLOWANCES, 
 
 OLUMENTS. 
 
 r. 
 
 Commercial Branch. 
 
 Marine Branch. 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 Salaries 
 
 No. of Savants. 
 
 ' 1 ' 
 
 Salaries 
 and 
 
 No. of Servants. 
 
 Salaries 
 and 
 
 No. of Servant*. 
 
 Salaries} 
 and 
 
 and 
 
 I **" 1 
 
 r 
 
 
 llowanccs. 
 
 Cov named. I'ncorenanUd. 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 Covenanted. 
 
 L'r.covinanted. 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 Covenanted. 
 
 L'ncoTenanted. 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 77,816 
 
 74 
 
 21 
 
 169,728 
 
 ill ' 
 
 9 
 
 1J6 
 
 53,628 
 
 45G 
 
 340 
 
 1,045,400 
 
 97,238 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 51,000 
 
 o 
 
 16 
 
 7,661 
 
 231 
 
 58 
 
 470,346 
 
 22,765 
 
 JO 
 
 3 
 
 5,413 
 
 93 
 
 402 
 
 57,360 
 
 172 
 
 418 
 
 174,238 
 
 97,819 
 
 107 
 
 24 
 
 226,141 
 
 104 
 
 574 
 
 118,649 
 
 859 
 
 816 
 
 1,689,984 
 
 tioners 
 
 3 ; and the commercial branch under the head of Bengal, includes the departments of salt and
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 393 
 
 No. II. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number of CIVIL SERVANTS, 
 
 covenanted or uncovenanted, excluding Medical Practi- 
 tioners, under the following heads. 
 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 Madras. 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 -6 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 T3 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 "O 
 
 c 
 
 -o 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 TJ 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 3 
 
 u 
 
 CO 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 S 
 
 V 
 
 s 
 
 a 
 p 
 
 c 
 
 a 
 
 G 
 
 C 
 
 a 
 u 
 
 
 a 
 u 
 
 o 
 
 q 
 
 o 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 o 
 
 
 B 
 U 
 
 p 
 
 o 
 
 
 6 
 
 > 
 
 5 
 u 
 
 c 
 
 p 
 
 u 
 
 c 
 
 o 
 U 
 
 a 
 D 
 
 General .... 
 
 95 
 
 88 
 
 52 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 5 
 
 177 
 
 122 
 
 Judicial .... 
 
 144 
 
 25 
 
 74 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 234 
 
 41 
 
 Revenue .... 
 
 63 
 
 47 
 
 57 
 
 3 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 138 
 
 52 
 
 Customs .... 
 
 15 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 3 
 
 Commercial . 
 
 51 
 
 15 
 
 23 
 
 . . 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 O 
 
 84 
 
 IS 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 g 
 
 Total .... 
 
 391 
 
 lSlj 
 
 206 
 
 j 
 
 74 
 
 16 
 
 671 
 
 212
 
 394 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number and Expense of the ME- 
 DICAL ESTABLISHMENTS in India. . 
 
 Bengal 
 
 Madras 
 
 Bombay 
 
 Total 
 
 Number. 
 
 114 
 
 101 
 
 40 
 
 255 
 
 Pay and 
 
 Allowance. 
 
 . 
 
 78,656 
 
 57,890 
 22,786 
 
 o159,332 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number and Expense of the 
 CLERICAL ESTABLISHMENTS at the several 
 Presidencies in India. 
 
 Bengal 
 
 Madras 
 
 Bombay 
 
 Total 
 
 Number. 
 
 16 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 36 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 . 
 21,900 
 
 14,300 
 
 4,795 
 
 ,40,995
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 395 
 
 No. V. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number of LAW PRACTI- 
 TIONERS in India. 
 
 BENGAL. 
 
 Supreme Court. 
 6 Barristers. 14 Attorneys. 
 
 FORT ST. GEORGE. 
 
 Supreme Court. 
 4 Barristers. 6 Attorneys, and 1 at home. 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 Recorder's Court. 
 3 Barristers. 8 Attorneys. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number and Amount of Pay 
 and Allowances to the COMPANY'S OFFICERS on 
 the MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS at the several 
 Presidencies in India. 
 
 Bengal 
 
 Madras 
 
 Bombay 
 
 Total 
 
 Number of Amount of Pay 
 
 Officers. 
 
 1,571 
 
 1,347 
 
 549 
 
 3,467 
 
 andAllowances 
 
 . 
 872,088 
 
 554,481 
 
 171,450 
 
 <! ,598,019
 
 396 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number and Amount of Pay and 
 Allowances to OFFICERS of HIS MAJESTY'S 
 REGIMENTS in India. 
 
 
 
 Number. 
 
 Pay and 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 
 189 
 482 
 111 
 
 . 
 102,897 
 
 190,499 
 
 45;466 
 
 
 
 Total .. 
 
 782 
 
 338,862 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 No. VII 
 
 I. 
 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number of all MILITARY 
 STAFF APPOINTMENTS and of Allowances an- 
 nexed, under the several Presidencies in India. 
 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 
 261 
 145 
 
 72 
 
 . 
 267,026 
 
 183,142 
 61,011 
 
 
 Total ........ 
 
 478 
 
 511,179
 
 APPENDIX. 397 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number of MILITARY OFFI- 
 CERS retired from the Company's Service, with the 
 Amount of their Pay. 
 
 21 
 
 at 
 
 .1000 
 
 
 
 per 
 
 Annum each. 
 
 
 .21,000 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 772 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 1,500, 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 456 
 
 93 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 365 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 33,945 
 
 11 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 300 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 3,300 
 
 52 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 273 15 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 14,235 
 
 50 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 182 10 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 9,125 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 136 17 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 821 
 
 52 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 91 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 4,745 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 75 
 
 24 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 45 12 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 1,095 
 
 15 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 36 10 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 do 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 547 
 
 330 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .91,616 
 
 
 
 No. X. 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number of MARINE OFFI- 
 CERS, &c. retired from the Company's Service, with 
 the Amount of their Pensions. 
 
 1------- per Annum - - - j400 
 
 2 at .228 each - - - do - . - 456 
 
 7 - 180 - - - - do - - - 1,260 
 
 150 - - - - do - - - 300 
 
 do - - - 135 
 
 do ... 70 
 
 do - - - 45 
 
 do ... 40 
 
 do - - - 38 
 
 17 ^2,744 
 
 o
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. XL 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Number and Expense of the MILITARY 
 CORPS in the COMPANY'S SERVICE on the Establishments at the 
 several Presidencies in India. % 
 
 
 Commission 
 cd Officers. 
 
 Non-commi 
 signed and 
 Rank& File 
 
 Pay and Al- 
 lowances. 
 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 
 
 Sicca Rupees, 
 
 European Artillery 3 Battalions 
 
 at is (.'. 
 
 
 of 7 Companies each - 
 
 141 
 
 2,142 
 
 * 14,74,680 
 
 
 Native Cavalry 8 Regiments - 
 
 140 
 
 4,512 
 
 19,62,072 
 
 
 Native Infantry 27 Regiments 
 
 
 
 
 
 of 2 Battalions each 
 
 1,215 
 
 50,760 
 
 1,03,88,328 
 
 
 European Infantry 1 Regi- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ment - 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 1,276 
 
 4,77,440 
 
 
 Corps of Engineers - % - 
 
 30 
 
 
 1,40,960 
 
 cfl,805,435 
 
 
 Madras. 
 
 European Infantry 1 Regi- 
 ment - 
 
 1,571 
 
 58,690 
 
 1,44,43,480 
 
 48 
 
 1,276 
 
 Pagodas, at 8s. 
 
 1,06,880 
 
 
 European Artillery 2 Battalions 
 
 
 
 
 
 of 7 Companies and Horse Ar- 
 
 
 
 
 
 tillery - 1 
 
 94 
 
 1,428 
 
 3,15,336 
 
 
 Native Cavalry 8 Regiments - 
 
 140 
 
 4,512 
 
 7,56,624 
 
 
 Native Infantry 23 Regiments 
 
 1,035 
 
 43,240 
 
 22,81,248 
 
 
 Corps of Engineers 
 
 30 
 
 
 46,920 
 
 1,402,803 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 European Infantry 1 Regi- 
 ment - 
 
 1,347 
 
 50,456 
 
 35,07,008 
 
 48 
 
 1,276 
 
 Rupees, at is. Sd. 
 
 3,85,800 
 
 
 European Artillery (including 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lascars) 1 Battalion of 7 Com- 
 panies - 
 Native Infantry 9 Regiments 
 
 47 
 426 
 
 714 
 18,998 
 
 5,34,996 
 41,64,180 
 
 
 Corps of Engineers - 
 
 28 
 
 
 95,784 
 
 647,595 
 
 
 549 
 
 20,988 
 
 51,80,760 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 3,467 
 
 130,134 
 
 . 
 
 3,855,833 
 
 * Including Horse, Lascars, and Goluudauze.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 399 
 
 No. XII. 
 
 Ax ACCOUNT of the Number and Expense of tlie 
 KING'S TROOPS serving at the several Presidencies 
 in India. 
 
 
 Commission- 
 ed Officers. 
 
 NonCommis- 
 sioned Offi- 
 cers, & Rank 
 and File. 
 
 Pay and Al- 
 lowances. 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 
 
 
 Two Regiments of } 
 Four Regiments off 
 
 236 
 
 5,111 
 
 . 
 357,162 
 
 Madras. 
 
 
 
 
 Two Regiments of) 
 
 
 
 
 Thirteen Regiments C 
 
 551 
 
 13,391 
 
 614,904 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 
 
 
 One Regiment of\ 
 
 Three Regiments of ? 
 Foot ) 
 
 128 
 
 2,946 
 
 182,629 
 
 
 
 915 
 
 21,448 
 
 1,154,695
 
 400 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. XIII. 
 
 An ACCOUNT of the Amount of PENSIONS granted 
 to Europeans at the different Presidencies in India. 
 
 Bengal 
 
 Madras 
 
 Bombay 
 
 Total 
 
 Number. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 
 . 
 
 47 
 
 9,637 
 
 15 
 
 1>415 
 
 3 
 
 187 
 
 65 
 
 11,269
 
 India, including HIS MAJESTY'S TROOPS 
 
 
 ' r a 
 
 dras. 
 
 Bombay. 
 
 Total. 
 
 I 
 
 Expense. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Expense. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Expense. 
 
 
 <. 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 eg. 
 
 
 470,346 
 
 590 
 
 174,238 
 
 1,675 
 
 1,689,984 
 
 
 57,830 
 
 40 
 
 22,786 
 
 255 
 
 159,332 
 
 
 14,300 
 
 5 
 
 4,795 
 
 36 
 
 40,995 
 
 
 554,481 
 
 549 
 
 171,450 
 
 3,467 
 
 1,598,019 
 
 
 190,499 
 
 111 
 
 45/166 
 
 782 
 
 338,862 
 
 
 183,142 
 
 72 
 
 61,011 
 
 478 
 
 511,179 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 347 
 
 94,360 
 
 ^ 
 
 1,445 
 
 3 
 
 187 
 
 65 
 
 11,269 
 
 
 1,472,103 
 
 J ; 370 
 
 479,933 
 
 7,105 
 
 4,444,000 
 
 i 
 \ 
 
 1,402,803 
 
 I 20,988) 
 
 647,595 
 
 $ 3,467) 
 i 130,134) 
 
 3,855,833 
 
 
 848,322 
 
 .~ 
 
 476,145 
 
 _ 
 
 2,257,814 
 
 \ 
 
 014,904 
 
 5 m \ 
 
 I 2,946) 
 
 182,629 
 
 f 1 
 
 (. 21,448 ) 
 
 1,154,695 
 
 
 424,405 
 
 
 
 137,163 
 
 
 
 815,833 
 
 
 2,744,830 
 
 25,304 
 
 1.093,241 I 158,687 
 
 7,517,647
 
 
 1 
 
 

 
 APPENDIX. 403 
 
 No. XV. 
 
 Some of the advocates for the abolition of the Com- 
 pany's China monopoly have produced a table of the 
 comparative prices of Tea,* exclusive of duties, at Lon- 
 don and New York, for ten years, beginning with 1803, 
 by which they make the cost of tea to the consumer, on 
 an average, 85 per cent, dearer at the former place than 
 at the latter. The present author does not profess to be 
 versed in the details of this business, but he is told, 
 from authority which he deems to be indisputable, that 
 the table in question is formed upon very material er- 
 rors, of which the compiler was doubtless ignorant. It 
 is well known, not only that the Company get the prime 
 qualities of all the Teas brought to Canton, and that the 
 .Americans purchase generally the inferior sorts of the 
 different denominations of Tea ; but that of the lower of 
 these denominations, such as Twankav and Conjrou, 
 they imported annually into their own States several 
 millions of pounds; yet for eight years of the ten in- 
 cluded in the table it does not appear that any teas of 
 those denominations were sold at New York. The fact 
 is, that the Americans call their Congou Tea by the su- 
 perior name of Souchong, which differs from Congou as 
 fine cloth does from coarse. Hence, instead of com- 
 paring the English Congou which sells at 3s. Qd. 
 with American Congou, which is stated to 
 
 have sold at from l()\d. to - - 1 
 
 Letters on the East-India Monopoly. Glasgow.
 
 404 APPENDIX, 
 
 The true comparison is between English s. d. 
 
 Congou at- - - - - -30 
 
 And American Souchong at - - -26 
 
 Difference - 6 
 
 The Company's Congou costs - per lb. 2 2 
 The American Congou is said to have sold 
 in New York for - - - - 10 
 
 Let the reader judge how different the quality of these 
 two articles must be, or how much below prime cost the 
 American article must have sold. 
 
 These specimens alone are decisive of the credit to 
 be given to the table. 
 
 It is at the same time to be remembered, that a neu- 
 tral nation, navigating in every respect cheaper than a 
 belligerent one, must bring the goods of the same coun^ 
 try cheaper to its own market. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by Cox and Baylis, 
 So. "i, Great Queen Stwci, LiiiujlnVlnn-FU'W*.
 
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