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 . :..; 7 ,.7 
 
 ' . ' ';'"'' i 
 
 
 ;::',(') .* :
 
 CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DANGER AND IMPOLICY 
 
 OF 
 
 LAYING OPEN THE TRADE WITH 
 
 INDIA AND CHINA; 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 vT EXAMINATION OF THE OBJECTIONS COMMONLY 
 URGED AGAINST THE 
 
 EAST INDIA COMPANY'S 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT. 
 
 g>ec0nti edition* 
 
 The pretended rights of these theorists are all extremes, and in proportion 
 they are metaphysically true they are morally and politically false." 
 
 Burke. 
 Si plures sunt ii quihus improbe datum est, quam illi quibus injustum 
 emptum est, idcirco plus etiam valent?" Cic. Off. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 NTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1813.

 
 46^ 
 
 <\2 
 
 The following Sheets contain the substance of a 
 series of Letters which appeared in the Morning 
 i Chronicle in the course of last summer, under the 
 signature of CossiM. The author finding the sub- 
 ject too extensive to be fully discussed within the 
 limits of a newspaper, resolved to submit his thoughts 
 to the Public in their present shape. 
 
 London, December, 1812. 
 
 I 
 ^
 
 CONSIDERATIONS, 
 
 &c. 
 
 1 HE little interest taken in this country about the 
 affairs of India, is matter of wonder as well as of 
 regret. The consequence of general indifference 
 upon the subject has been general ignorance; 
 and though at the present conjuncture, when 
 
 gislature is about to be drawn 
 ch measures for the future go- 
 ritish possessions in India, as 
 anaii apical nuiu experience and upon mature de- 
 <{ liberation to be calculated to secure their internal 
 " prosperity, and to derive from those flourishing 
 " dominions the utmost degree of advantage to the 
 " commerce and revenue of the United Kingdom,*" 
 dormant interests have been awakened and power- 
 fully excited ; it is yet to be feared, that under the 
 existing want of information, the most dangerous 
 errors will be committed, unless much wisdom and 
 caution are applied to repress fallacious hopes, as 
 well as to harmonize jarring pretensions and recon- 
 cile conflicting claims. 
 
 * Speech of the Commissioners at the opening of last session oi 
 Parliament. 
 
 B
 
 There are certain general principles, from which 
 it is presumed that no one will be found to dis- 
 sent. Of these the most obvious are, that the 
 common good of the empire in Europe and in Asia 
 ought to constitute the basis of the new arrangement : 
 that as no partial interest should be exclusively 
 consulted, every partial view of the question ought 
 to be received with circumspection, and even with 
 suspicion; that subordinate ought to yield to para- 
 mount considerations; and above all, that experience 
 should be trusted rather than speculation, in mo- 
 delling the government and adjusting the relations of 
 states. 
 
 The application of these principles to the present 
 occasion, would naturally lead to an investigation of 
 the causes which have produced the extension and 
 consolidation of our power in India, and of the mode 
 in which that power is exercised in the internal ad- 
 ministration of those populous and fertile regions 
 which now acknowledge the British authority. 
 There is hardly any question connected with the mi- 
 litary and civil policy, the jurisprudence and finan- 
 cial economy of nations ; scarcely any circumstance 
 affecting the stability of governments, or the secu- 
 rity, happiness, and prosperity of their subjects, 
 which this range of inquiry would not embrace. 
 Whether owing to the frequent discussions that have 
 taken place in Parliament upon the system of ad- 
 ministration introduced and acted upon by the East
 
 3 
 
 India Company, all these questions are considered as 
 finally put to rest, and a sound and matured convic- 
 tion has been impressed upon the public mind, that 
 both in principle and practice the system is upon the 
 whole as unobjectionable as it can be made; or whe- 
 ther it arises from a prevailing indifference to unseen 
 events and matters of remote interest, the attention 
 of the country seems to be exclusively directed to the 
 channel in which the trade with India is in future to 
 be conducted. The state of existing treaties in 
 India, the means and motives of aggression possessed 
 by rival powers, the resources of wisdom and force 
 by which aggression may be prevented or repelled, 
 the constitution of the government, the regulations 
 under which justice is administered, and revenue col- 
 lected, and the different plans which have been pro- 
 posed, or may still be in agitation for improving the 
 condition of a vast population of British subjects, are 
 studiously thrust into the back-ground, and in the 
 controversy, as it presents itself in most of the publi- 
 cations of the day, we only see the East India Com- 
 pany endeavouring to preserve their commercial pri- 
 vileges, and another set of merchants struggling to 
 invade them. 
 
 Were the question at issue really what in these 
 publications it appears to be one simply of a com- 
 mercial nature the writer of these pages would 
 probably have abstained from taking any part 
 in the discussion ; and he has no hesitation in 
 
 B 2
 
 acknowledging, that could he bring himself to view the 
 subject in the light in which it is vulgarly con- 
 templated, merely as a contest between the East 
 India Company and the great body of British mer- 
 chants, for an improvable branch of commerce, as a 
 dispute between expiring privilege and nascent right 
 the claimants of an open trade should have his hearty 
 good wishes in the cause for which they are contend- 
 ing. In the whole confederated host of petitioners, 
 against the Company's privileges, there is not to be 
 found a more zealous advocate for commercial free- 
 dom, or a more decided adversary on general grounds 
 to monopoly, than the individual who now ven- 
 tures to submit his sentiments to the public. But 
 strong as is the popular dislike to monopoly, there 
 are evils which it would be still more imprudent to 
 encounter; and however just may be the general par- 
 tiality to liberty of trade, there are considerations en- 
 titled to a preference. Incompatibility between ob- 
 jects equally desirable, leaves only a power of choice, 
 and this choice, if judiciously made, must be directed 
 by a comparison between their practical utility, 
 rather than their abstract fitness. The laws bv 
 which trade is regulated, form undoubtedly a pro- 
 minent feature in national policy, but they have 
 been usually held subordinate to those institu- 
 tions which provide for the security of states, and 
 the maintenance of their mutual relations. Fo- 
 reign possessions are sometimes of immense im- 
 portance in a political, and comparatively of small
 
 value in a commercial view,* and trading restrictions 
 which if generally applied, would be unnecessary and 
 noxious, may in certain cases be found both salutary 
 and requisite. 
 
 It is not intended to make any attempt to prove that 
 political advantages result to Great Britain from 
 the empire which she has acquired in India. The 
 fate of a country which has been the scene of so 
 many triumphs to her arms, where the imperish- 
 able records of her virtue and humauity, as well 
 as of her genius and enterprise appear, and where the 
 ashes of the best and bravest of her sons repose, 
 can never be an object of indifference to England 
 until she has ceased to care for all that con- 
 cerns her glory. f Nor is it proposed to analyze the 
 merits of the plan under which the affairs of India at 
 
 * The charges of the Bombay Presidency exceed the revenues 
 by more than a million sterling annually ; but it surely does not 
 follow, that on this account the settlement should be abandoned. 
 
 f It would be difficult to apologize for all the British transactions 
 in India, since the year 1756 ; but dating from the time of Lord 
 Cornwallis, it may safely be affirmed, that the spirit of the 
 Company's policy has been wise, liberal, and humane. It exhibits 
 an excellent practical comment upon the decree of the Roman 
 senate, respecting Macedonia and^Ulyricum. Omnium primum 
 liberos esse placebat Macedonas atque Illyrios, ut omnibus gentibus 
 appareret, arma Populi Romani, non liberis servitutem, sed contra 
 ^ekvientibus libertatem afferre ; ut et in libertate gentes quce 
 essent, tutam earn sibi perpetuamque sub tutela Populi Romani
 
 home and abroad are now administered. The prac- 
 tical success which has attended this plan is its 
 best encomium, and furnishes the most satisfactory 
 answer to the objections to which in theory it may be 
 open. The writer's views are much more limited. 
 The value of our Indian empire, though perhaps 
 underrated, is no where denied, and in so far as one 
 can judge from the printed correspondence between 
 His Majesty's Ministers aud the Court of Directors, it 
 does not appear to be in contemplation to make any 
 material alteration in the constitution of the existing 
 government, or in the distribution of the power with 
 which its several members are clothed. The object 
 of the numerous petitions which in the course of the 
 last year have been presented to Parliament, is to 
 procure for the merchants of the United Kingdom, 
 indiscriminate and free admission into the trade with 
 India and China, in derogation of the exclusive, or 
 rather of the modified privileges now enjoyed by the 
 East India Company, and this object to a consider- 
 able extent lias received the countenance of His 
 
 esse; et qua; sub regibus viverent, et in praesens tempus mitiores 
 
 EOS, JUSTIOKESQUE KESHECTU POPULI RoMANI HABERE SE. The decree 
 
 was an excellent one, though it was lamentably executed. How 
 proudly may the benefits conferred by Lord Cornwallis on the pro- 
 vinces of Bengal, Beliar, and Orissa, and afterwards extended by 
 Lord Wcllesley to the people of the Carnatic, be contrasted with 
 the conduct of Fiaminius and Paulus yEmilius to the states of 
 Greece !
 
 Majesty's Government. It will be the writer's aim to 
 shew, that this pretension, although ostensibly it be 
 purely commercial, is in its bearings big with po- 
 litical mischief, and that, whilst it would, if sanc- 
 tioned, utterly fail in obtaining for the petitioners 
 the advantages they expect from a decision in 
 their favor, it would prove ruinous in its operation 
 to the general and paramount interests of the em- 
 pire. To exclude political considerations from the 
 discussion, would lead to participation in the pre- 
 vailing error, but it is not meant to pursue 
 them farther than is necessary to the exposure of 
 that error. 
 
 Before entering upon any of those points of 
 detail, which arise out of a subject confessed to 
 be extremely extensive and complicated, it will 
 not be either irrelevant or useless to advert shortly 
 to the actual situations of the different parties 
 whose interests are to be brought before Parlia- 
 ment for solemn deliberation and decision. 
 
 These interests may be arranged under three 
 general heads 1st. The commercial and manufac- 
 turing interests of this country. 2dly. The poli- 
 tical and commercial interests of the East India 
 Company; and 3dly. The interest of Government 
 so to conciliate and regulate the other two, as to 
 render them conducive to the substantial and 
 permanent prosperity of the empire. Let us look
 
 8 
 
 then, for a moment, to the situation in which the 
 parties supporting these different interests are placed, 
 regarding the approaching expiration of the East 
 India Company's Charter. 
 
 1st. It is well known that from causes originating 
 in the present convulsed state of the world, the pres- 
 sure upon the manufacturing and mercantile classes 
 of the community is severe beyond example. Re- 
 duced to circumstances of great difficulty and embar- 
 rassment from the want of markets for their produce, 
 they look with eagerness to the opening of a trade, 
 in the prosecution of which they would have little to 
 dread from hostile annoyance. Those countries which 
 have been acquired by the wisdom of the national 
 councils, and by the vigour of the national arms, 
 they naturally consider as the proper field for 
 commercial enterprise ; and in the vast resources of 
 widely extended regions, they fondly anticipate the 
 reward of industry, perseverance, and skill. Asia 
 presents itself to their imaginations unlocking new 
 and exhaustless stores for their acceptance, with a 
 population of countless millions inviting them, with 
 outstretched arms, to supply their unsatisfied and 
 insatiable wants. Is this the present state of the 
 public mind throughout the country, or is it not ? 
 and is it, or is it not a prospect which must prove 
 fallacious ? No one who reads the resolutions which 
 have lately been passed in many of the manufacturing 
 and trading towns, can doubt the fact of such expec-
 
 tations being entertained ; and no one who has soberly- 
 meditated upon the information which is within the 
 reach of all, and the accuracy of which is not liable 
 even to suspicion, far less those who are accurately- 
 informed from experience and observation, respecting 
 the constitution of Asiatic Society and the state of 
 manners in that part of the world, can help being 
 astonished that ideas so extravagant should have 
 gained possession of the minds of any class of indivi- 
 duals usually distinguished by habits of accurate dis- 
 crimination and calm reflection. 
 
 Much allowance is indeed due for the circumstances 
 under which these visionary prospects are cherished, 
 but the tone in which the claims of the respectable 
 bodies alluded to are set forth, can hardly be con- 
 sidered as entitled to much indulgence. Their reso- 
 lutions and petitions are couched in terms of bold 
 and imperious demand. Apparently unconscious of 
 danger from great and sudden innovation upon a 
 system sanctioned by the experience of ages, they 
 plead for its overthrow on the ground of indefeisible 
 right long lain in abeyance. Capital embarked, pro- 
 perty acquired, and services performed under the 
 established system, are all to give way to speculative 
 notions and theoretical plans, or at best to principles, 
 which, however true in the abstract, are totally 
 inapplicable to the service into which they are 
 forced.
 
 10 
 
 The pretension itself with the expectations founded 
 upon it will be examined hereafter: the only inference 
 meant to be deduced from these observations now is, 
 that the claims of any set of men acting under the 
 influence of great hardships, anxious for relief from 
 every quarter whence relief can come, and even 
 looking for succour where it is altogether unattain- 
 able, or attainable only by inflicting calamities greater 
 than those they seek to alleviate, ought to be listened 
 to with extreme caution. 
 
 2. The representations of the East India Company, 
 as a party, likewise require to be scrutinized before 
 being admitted. They have been invested with an 
 important stewardship, and confirmed in it by no 
 fewer than sixteen solemn acts of the legislature. Of 
 this stewardship they are now called upon to render 
 an account. If they have been negligent or unfaith- 
 ful, let them be dismissed with indignity from the 
 office : but though they even stood convicted of mis- 
 management, it would not follow that the principles 
 on which the affairs of India have been administered, 
 and the connexion between the two countries has 
 hitherto subsisted, ought to be abandoned. A casual 
 abuse of trust, though it may discredit the agents in 
 whom confidence has been reposed and authority 
 vested, does not necessarily impeach the system 
 under which misconduct has taken place. If on the 
 other hand the Company have acquitted themselves 
 in their high trust, not only with integrity and credit
 
 to themselves, but with honour and advantage to the 
 country if they have done more with smaller means 
 than ever was achieved by any other body, commer- 
 cial or political, in the history of the world if by 
 encouraging the industry, and patronising the talent 
 of their fellow-citizens, they have acquired and pre- 
 served an empire forming the brightest jewel in the 
 British Crown if they have improved the condition 
 of their subjects in the same degree that they have 
 extended their own jurisdiction if in war they have 
 shewn themselves to be a most powerful ally of the pa- 
 ramount state, and in peace a nourisher of its resources 
 if their mercantile gains have been uniformly and 
 cheerfully sacrificed to the great objects of national 
 security and national glory if so far from acting in 
 the hard character of exclusive monopolists, they have 
 long since consented to a relaxation of the terms 
 of their existing charter, by admitting competitors 
 into their trade and if unwilling to follow, or imi- 
 tate the grasping spirit of their opponents, they 
 have now signified their readiness to agree to every 
 latitude being given to a commerce (established with 
 their capital and by their exertions) that may be 
 deemed compatible, not with the paltry consideration 
 of a per centage, more or less, upon their mercantile 
 investments, but with their duties as delegated Sove- 
 reigns, with the tranquillity of their possessions, and 
 the consequent integrity and stability of the empire 
 surely an assembly exercising legislative functions, 
 will listen patiently, and listen favourably also to
 
 12 
 
 claims fortified not more by prescription than by high 
 desert. 
 
 The circumstances in which the Company appear 
 before Parliament, soliciting the renewal of their 
 charter, are rather unfavourable. The services that 
 they have rendered to the state do indeed fill the most 
 brilliant pages of its history during the last sixty years, 
 but the public, from familiar acquaintance with most 
 of these exploits, have ceased to be dazzled with their 
 lustre. The gradual accessions of power, of wealth, 
 and of revenue, which have been derived from India, 
 are regarded by the nation as forming part of its own 
 constituent resources, while the instrument by which 
 these resources have been created, enlarged, and 
 upheld, is too frequently overlooked. To superficial 
 observers (and to this class, unfortunately, a majo- 
 rity of mankind will always belong) the recent appli- 
 cations of the Company to Parliament, for assistance 
 under temporary pecuniary embarrassments, no doubt 
 bear an unfavourable aspect. And lastly, a great 
 establishment, like that of the East India Company, 
 the Directors of which possess considerable power 
 and patronage, naturally attracts some portion of 
 envy and jealousy, feelings which, though strongly 
 excited by the distresses of the times, are not so blind 
 from their violence as to incapacitate those actuated 
 by them, from availing themselves of all the difficulties 
 in the Company's present situation, or from employ- 
 ing against it, with sufficient dexterity, those weapons
 
 IS 
 
 of attack against trading monopolies, of which there 
 is ample store in the repositories of economical 
 sciences. For some of those unfavourable circum- 
 stances the Company are obviously not accountable -, 
 and if, as is hoped, it shall afterwards appear that for 
 others they are not to blame, it behoves those who 
 by careful investigation have become acquainted with 
 their concerns, to shield them against vulgarobloquy, 
 instead of joining in the clamour by which they are 
 assailed. 
 
 3. In reference to the interest of Ministers, and to 
 the arrangement which they may think proper to 
 propose to the Legislature, for the double purpose of 
 regulating the foreign and domestic government of 
 our Asiatic possessions, and the mode of conducting 
 the trade with India and China, they may be consi- 
 dered as liable to error, either from a consciousness of 
 strength and a desire of increasing their own power 
 and influence, or from a sense of weakness and a 
 wish to strengthen themselves by the adoption of 
 popular measures. In 1783, when the affairs of the 
 Company were brought into discussion, it was con- 
 tended by the ministry of the day, a ministry power- 
 ful from the talent and rank of its members, that the 
 sovereignty of British India ought to be assumed by 
 the King in right of conquest, and that the admi- 
 nistration, in all its branches, ought to be intrusted 
 to his responsible advisers; that all orders regarding 
 the political, financial, judicial, and military autho-
 
 14 
 
 rities in India, should emanate from the sovereign, 
 and that the Company's territorial possessions should 
 be governed on the same principles and in the same 
 manner as the other dependencies of the crown. It 
 was argued on the other hand, that such a scheme 
 went completely to subvert the balance of the consti- 
 tution by throwing the whole patronage of India into 
 the hands of the crown ; that by despoiling the East 
 India Company of a property legally acquired, and 
 to which they had an indisputable right of possession, 
 it was repugnant to the dictates of common justice; 
 and that if carried into execution, it would loosen 
 and perhaps break the tenure by which these terri- 
 tories were held, by an injudicious application of 
 European maxims of government to a country not 
 more remote in situation, than dissimilar in usages 
 from Great Britain. The plan, after being reduced 
 into the shape of Bills, passed the House of Com- 
 mons, but was thrown out by the other House of Par- 
 liament, and its rejection was signalized by the fall 
 of the minister by whom it was introduced. The 
 fate of these celebrated bills will, it is hoped, operate 
 as a salutary warning to the present and all future 
 administrations, against harbouring projects of ambi- 
 tion, similar to that, which at the period referred to, 
 was not more fortunately counteracted than it had 
 been imprudently disclosed. 
 
 Since the institution of the Board of Commis- 
 sioners for the affairs of India in 1784, His Majesty's
 
 15 
 
 Government have exercised, under the sanction of 
 the Legislature, a general superintendence and con- 
 trol over the civil and military concerns of the Com- 
 pany j an interference which has occasionally been 
 productive of inconvenience, but which, upon the 
 whole, has tended to give stability and vigour to the 
 system, and to preserve a harmony of view and pur- 
 suit, as to the great objects of national policy, with- 
 out depriving the Company of the management of 
 their trade, infringing their territorial rights, or 
 arming Ministers with a degree of influence incom- 
 patible with the liberties of the people or the inde- 
 pendence of Parliament. The opinion of His Majesty's 
 present Government upon the merits of the system as 
 it now stands, may be collected from the following 
 passage in the letter addressed by Mr. Dundas (the 
 late President of the India Board) to the Chairman 
 and Deputy Chairman of the East India Company, 
 under date the 28th Dec. 1808. " I have not yet 
 " heard or read any arguments against the continu- 
 " ance of the system under which the British posses- 
 " sions in India are governed, of sufficient weight to 
 " counterbalance the practical benefits which have 
 " been derived from it, in their increased and increasing 
 " prosperity, and the general security and happiness of 
 " their inhabitants. It is possible that the same effects 
 " might have been produced under a government im- 
 " mediately dependant on the crown : but for the 
 " attainment of those objects, the experiment is at 
 " least unnecessary, and it might be attended with
 
 16 
 
 " dangers to the constitution of the country, which, 
 " if they can be avoided, it would be unwise to en- 
 " counter. Any alteration, therefore, which may be 
 " suggested in this part of the system, will probably 
 " be only in the details."* This language is perhaps 
 more cautious than the occasion required : it is cer- 
 tainly much less decisive than what the late Lord 
 Melville was accustomed to use, when, on the same 
 topic, he thought it necessary to declare an opinion. 
 It should, however, in candour, be recollected, that 
 Mr. Dundas, in this very letter, had a communication 
 to make to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the 
 views entertained by Ministers on the policy of open- 
 ing the trade with India which he knew would be 
 most unpalatable to the Company, and that in order to 
 pave the way for that proposition he just insinuated the 
 possibility, with some danger indeed to the Constitution, 
 (heaven save the mark!) of another plan being devised 
 for the conduct of the government, on the old maxim 
 which probably both he and they understand, " Better 
 half a loaf than no bread." A more palpable and alarm- 
 ing hint, was indeed conveyed in the same letter, 
 
 * Printed Papers, p. 12. 
 
 The printed papers referred to, in this and other parts of the 
 pamphlet, are the papers respecting the negociation for a renewal 
 of the East India Company's exclusive privileges, printed by order 
 of the Court of Directors, for the information of the proprietors of 
 East India Stock, 4to Edition. When other documents are referred 
 to, they are particularly specified.
 
 17 
 
 respecting an alteration of the military system in 
 India, and the consolidation of the Company's troops 
 with the King's army ; but the President of the 
 Board seems to have been fairly reasoned into a re- 
 tractation of this suggestion, by the letter from the 
 Chairman and Deputy, dated the 13th January, 
 1809;* and Lord Melville, in his answer of the 17th 
 December, 1811, after having had nearly two years 
 for reflection, admits the objections to such a change 
 to have great weight, and proposes to defer all 
 farther discussion upon the subject until a future 
 opportunity. -}- 
 
 Certain details, affecting both the civil government 
 and the army, are left open for adjustment^ and 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 33. f Printed Papers, page 45. 
 
 X " In submitting to you these observations, however, I beg to be 
 " distinctly understood as conveying to you only the present senti- 
 " merits of His Majesty's Government on the several points to which 
 " the propositions relate. Public discussion on such an important 
 " question may possibly produce an alteration of opinion on some 
 " of the details ; and though the subject has been fully considered, it 
 " may be deemed necessary in the farther progress of the measure, 
 " to propose on some points regulations of a different description 
 " from those which are susrsrested in the enclosed observations :" 
 
 " Though various regulations may 
 
 " possibly be necessary with a view to promote the discipline and 
 " efficiency of the army in India, I am not aware that any legislative 
 " enactments are requisite, except as to the amount of force which H.: 
 
 C
 
 18 
 
 care must be taken lest these modifications as they 
 may be termed, do not involve changes of great mo- 
 ment, which being sometimes effected under plausible 
 pretences, and very modestly introduced into the 
 world, are found on better acquaintance to assume 
 a most imposing mien. But upon the whole it may 
 be supposed with some degree of safety, that Mi- 
 nisters have no matured and deep-laid plan for mate- 
 rially altering the constitution of the Company, with 
 any view of augmenting their own patronage and 
 power. 
 
 The errors of weakness are, however, not less to be 
 dreaded than those of ambition. The progress of the 
 latter is sometimes staid by the re-action which they 
 produce against their authors : the former springing 
 from delusion, or from fear, flow on till their source 
 is exhausted, and the mischief they occasion is irre- 
 parable. Encroachment is the cardinal vice of absolute 
 governments. A spirit of unwise concession is the 
 sin. which more easily besets the ministers of a free 
 state. Power is the object of both; the mode of pur- 
 suit is different ; but the result is alike prejudicial to 
 
 " Majesty may be empowered to maintain in India, at the expense of the 
 " Company, and perhaps also some provisions in regard to the rela- 
 
 " T1VE POWEKS OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, AND THE COURT Of 
 
 " Directors." Letter from Lord Melville to the Chairman and De- 
 puty Chairman, dated 2lst March, 1812 Printed Papers, pa^cs 
 '< 79 and 80."
 
 19 
 
 the general weal. The application of these remarks 
 will readily suggest itself to every one who has at- 
 tended to the progress of the negotiation between His 
 Majesty's Government and the Court of Directors, 
 and to the occurrences, as well recent as more re- 
 mote, which may be supposed to have retarded its 
 termination. 
 
 Until the year 1793, the Company's exclusive 
 trade was strictly guarded by legislative enact- 
 ments; and, except in the indulgence granted to 
 the commanders and officers of the Company's ships, 
 no British subjects were allowed to embark in the 
 Indian trade, although by special permission of the 
 Court of Directors, goods belonging to individual 
 merchants, had for a few years before that period 
 been occasionally taken on board their vessels. By 
 the act of 1793, the Company were hound to pro- 
 vide at a reasonable price 3,000 tons of shipping or 
 more, annually, for the use of any of His Majesty's 
 subjects who might be disposed to export British ma- 
 nufactures or produce to that extent, and to bring 
 back returns in goods from India. The principal, if 
 not the sole object of this clause in the act, was to 
 transfer to the Thames the trade then clandestinely 
 carried on between the British possessions in India 
 and foreign Europe, by providing a legal channel 
 through which the fortunes acquired by British resi- 
 dents in the East might be brought home to their 
 
 C <2
 
 20 
 
 native country.* At that period there were no ves- 
 sels in existence, or in contemplation, for the Indian 
 trade, except the regular ships of 800 tons burden 
 employed by the Company. 
 
 The merchants and manufacturers of this country 
 seldom availed themselves of the privilege which they 
 acquired under the act of 1793 : but in the course of 
 the two or three following years some of the Com- 
 pany's ships were required by His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment for the public service; and a scanty harvest 
 having about the same time enhanced the price of 
 bread, it was deemed advisable to import large 
 quantities of rice from India, in any fit ships that 
 could be procured either there or in England, liberty 
 being granted to these ships to carry out cargoes 
 from England to India. These circumstances led to 
 the introduction into the trade between the two 
 countries of a new description of vessels of small 
 size, and cheap outfit, many of which were built in 
 India, and navigated by Indian seamen. As the 
 emergency which called these ships into employ- 
 ment was of a temporary nature, it would have been 
 unreasonable after it had ceased, to give them a pre- 
 ference over the ships that had been built at home, 
 
 * A professed object was also to open a vent for British manufac- 
 ture s. See Act 33d George III. Cap. 52. Sect. 83.
 
 21 
 
 and equipped expressly for the service of the Com- 
 pany, and which the Company were under engage- 
 ment to employ for a stipulated number of voy- 
 ages. 
 
 The Indian merchants, who were also ship-owners, 
 seeing the prospect closed, which a temporary exi- 
 gence had opened to them, complained loudly of the 
 rate of freight and other grievances to which they 
 were subjected by the Company's regulations, and as 
 a relief from these hardships they prayed for the per- 
 manent admission of India built ships into the trade. 
 Their representations occasioned a great deal of dis- 
 cussion both here and in India; and in 1802, after 
 much deliberation, a final arrangement was made by 
 the Court of Directors, with the sanction of His Ma- 
 jesty's Government, for the future regulation of the 
 privileged trade between India and Great Britain. 
 
 It was then determined, that in addition to the 
 three thousand tons of shipping allowed by the 33d 
 of the King, a farther quantity of three, four, or five 
 thousand tons, or as much as might be wanted, 
 should be provided by the Company, and that 
 the ships, without being diverted to political or 
 warlike purposes, should be appropriated to the use 
 of the private merchants, and sail regularly at the 
 proper seasons. Except saltpetre, and piece-goods, 
 all articles might be laden upon these ships. The 
 first exception was made obviously from political
 
 22 
 
 considerations, and the second has not been enforced 
 by the Company. Light and heavy goods were to 
 be properly assorted by the Company's officers, and 
 as the Company were to be answerable for the freight 
 to the owners, so they were of course to load the 
 ships if the private merchants declined, and the 
 onus of providing suitable dead weight or ballast, also 
 rested with the Company. The ships so taken up 
 might be built either in England or India, and in no 
 case were the merchants to be charged a higher rate 
 of freight than the Company paid. In point of fact 
 it has uniformly been considerably lower.* 
 
 In framing this arrangement, a clear and fixed line 
 was drawn between a trade in its nature colonial, and 
 a trade of simple remittance. The first could only be 
 created by transplanting capital from this country 
 to India; and the late Lord Melville, who at that 
 time presided at the India board, perfectly coin- 
 cided in opinion with the Court of Directors, that the 
 recognition of such a principle would be not only 
 subversive of the privileges, and even of the existence 
 
 * The loss estimated to have been sustained by the Company in 
 supplying tonnage for the privileged trade, from the year 1795 to 
 1S10 inclusive, is .444,293, that sum being the difference between 
 the amount of the freight actually paid by the Company for the 
 shipping so employed, and the amount received by them from the 
 private merchants. See fourth Report of the Select Committee of the 
 House of Commons, on the Affairs of the East India Company, page 
 444.
 
 23 
 
 of the Company, but prejudicial to the interests 
 commercial and political of the whole empire. 
 The second was amply provided for in the way 
 that has been stated. It must be confessed that 
 the arrangement did not prove satisfactory to the 
 private British merchants resident in India, or to 
 their agents in this country j nor was this to be ex- 
 pected, because their pretensions were really, though 
 not avowedly, founded upon the principle of a colo- 
 nial trade ; a principle, however, the benefit of 
 which they were desirous should be confined to 
 themselves as a body, to the exclusion of the rest of 
 their fellow-subjects. They wished in fact to obtain 
 for themselves a full share of all the Company's ad- 
 vantages, without participating in the expense, risk, 
 and responsibility attending its vast establishments 
 both foreign and domestic. Being disappointed in 
 this object, they have not ceased bitterly to com- 
 plain of the restraints, delays, and vexations to 
 which they allege that they have been subjected, 
 from what they call an arbitrary exercise and 
 wanton abuse of the Company's authority. Not 
 content with presenting their complaints in the shape 
 of representations and memorials to His Majesty's 
 Government and the Court of Directors, they have in 
 the course of the last four or five years made frequent 
 appeals to the public in pamphlets, where every 
 term of invective is employed against the Company, 
 and the whole policy of our Indian system is viru- 
 lently attacked. The effect produced by those pub-
 
 c 24 
 
 lications has been different probably from that which 
 was designed. For the merchants and manufacturers 
 at large petitioned Parliament to throw open the 
 trade entirely, thinking very justly, that if the 
 Company's privileges were to be invaded, and any 
 farther enlargement given to a valuable branch of 
 commerce, they had as good a claim as a few 
 houses of Indian agency to share in its advan- 
 tages. The established houses of agency observ- 
 ing that things were thus taking a turn still more 
 unfavourable to their views than the system itself on 
 which they had laboured to encroach, have earnestly 
 petitioned against the extension of the trade to the 
 Outports, and have remained neutral upon the other 
 points of the controversy. Such are the conflicting 
 pretensions which His Majesty's Government have 
 in the first instance been called upon to reconcile, 
 and which will soon be brought before Parliament for 
 ultimate adjustment. 
 
 The task imposed upon Ministers, under these cir- 
 cumstances, is invidious and difficult, and even the 
 purest intentions on their part do not hold out an 
 adequate security for its right performance. As ser- 
 vants of the public, it is their duty at all times to de- 
 fer to the public opinion, when constitutionally ex- 
 pressed, in so far as is consistent with an enlightened 
 and honest sense of the national interests. At a sea- 
 son of great commercial difficulty, it is peculiarly 
 their duty to devise means of relief, care being taken
 
 25 
 
 that the medicine administered be not of a nature to 
 aggravate, instead of alleviating the general distress. It 
 is not, however, to be disguised, that the object of the 
 petitioners is to subvert the fundamental principle of 
 our Indian policy, and altogether to change a system 
 sanctioned by prescriptive authority, and by long 
 experience of its advantages ; that the benefits which 
 may result from the experiment are distant, preca- 
 rious, and perhaps unattainable, and that the evils 
 which may ensue from it, are at least equally proba- 
 ble and incalculably more important ; that the same 
 claims which are now brought forward have been pre- 
 ferred on former occasions, and rejected ; that the 
 number of the petitions (many of them coming from 
 places which have no direct interest in the question), 
 together with the intemperate language in which 
 some of them are drawn up, the industry that has been 
 employed in collecting them, the active canvass 
 among members of Parliament to support them, and 
 the delegation of committees to watch the progress 
 of the discussions, were strongly symptomatic of an 
 intention amid the distractions of political parties, 
 and on the supposed near approach of a dissolution 
 of Parliament, to obtain by clamour and intrigue a 
 measure which the petitioners despaired of achiev- 
 ing under a less commanding, or more temperate 
 influence. 
 
 The embarrassment occasioned by these opposite 
 considerations is sufficiently visible in the past stages
 
 26 
 
 of the negotiation. In the letter from Mr. Dundas 
 to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the East 
 India Company, dated the 28th December, 1808, it 
 is stated to be " fit that the Court of Directors shall 
 " understand distinctly, that he cannot hold out 
 " to them the expectation that His Majesty's Minis- 
 " ters will concur in an application to Parliament for 
 " a renewal of any privileges to the East India Com- 
 " pany, which will prevent British merchants and ma- 
 " nufacturers from trading to and from India and the 
 " other countries within the present limits of the Com- 
 " pany's exclusive trade (the dominions of the empire 
 " of China excepted), in ships and vessels freighted by 
 " themselves, instead of being confined as at present 
 " to ships in the service of the Company, or licensed 
 " by the Court of Directors."* Let this communi- 
 cation be compared with the following extract from 
 Lord Melville's letter, dated the 21st March, 1812 : 
 " You will do me the justice to recollect, that in all 
 " our discussions on this subject, both recently, and 
 " on former occasions, the admission of the ships of 
 " merchants in this country into the trade of India, 
 " in concurrence with those of the Company, has 
 " never been urged as a measure from which much 
 " immediate benefit would, in my opinion, be de- 
 " rived either to the country, or to the individuals 
 " who might embark in the speculation ; and I cer- 
 
 Printcd Papers, page 15.
 
 27 
 
 '" tainly am not without considerable apprehension 
 " that at least on the first opening of the trade, the 
 " public expectation as to the British territories in 
 " India affording any considerable outlet for British 
 " manufactures beyond the amount of our present 
 " exports, may be disappointed."* On comparing 
 these two passages, it appears that in laying down 
 an open trade to India, as an indispensable con- 
 dition of Ministers' recommending to Parliament the 
 renewal of the Company's charter, the late Pre- 
 sident of the India Board stipulated for what he 
 afterwards admitted would be of little immediate 
 benefit either to the country or individuals j and 
 after such an admission, it is difficult to avoid the 
 inference, that in making the stipulation, he did 
 not act from his own conviction of its utility. 
 He rests the proposition indeed in both letters 
 upon the inefficacy of the provisions under the act 
 of 1793, for the trade of private individuals between 
 Britain and India, which are stated to have been 
 " the source of constant dispute, and to have en- 
 tailed a heavy expense upon the Company, with- 
 out affording to the public any benefit adequate to 
 such a sacrifice." But is it not at least doubtful 
 whether the regulations which both his Lordship and 
 the Court of Directors agree to be necessary, in 
 order to guard against the facilities afforded by the 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 79.
 
 28 
 
 new plan to persons who may attempt to settle and 
 reside in India without a license from the Company, 
 or without the knowledge and sanction of the local 
 governments, will not prove equally unsatisfactory 
 to the merchants both of this country and of India, 
 as those privileges have been which were granted to 
 them by the act of 1793, and subsequently ex- 
 tended by the Court of Directors in 1802 ? Reason- 
 ing a priori, it seems much more easy to regulate a 
 monopoly than an open trade. The principle of free- 
 dom, and the proposed restrictions, are like the iron 
 and the clay in the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image j 
 they may cleave, but they never will incorporate. 
 
 Again, in Article 6th, of a paper entitled '* Hints 
 Approved by the Committee of Correspondence, <Sfc," 
 and submitted to Lord Melville on the 3d of March, 
 1812, as the outline of a plan on which the Com- 
 pany's Charter might be renewed, it was proposed 
 " that the whole of the Indian trade should be 
 " brought to the port of London, and the goods sold 
 " at the Company's sales, and be as at present under 
 " the Company's management." The same principle 
 was distinctly contained in the letter from the Chairs 
 in January, 1809, and was not then controverted 
 by Lord Melville. In answer to this proposition, 
 however, his Lordship observed, in a paper trans- 
 mitted on the 21st of March, 1812, " the adop- 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 63.
 
 29 
 
 " tion of the regulation suggested will probably 
 " tend to the security and advantage of the pub- 
 " lie revenue, in collecting the duties on all articles 
 " imported from the East Indies and China, as well 
 ' as other countries to the eastward of the Cape of 
 " Good Hope."* The answer is cautiously worded, 
 and it would be uncandid not to allow that it con- 
 tained, or rather implied, a reservation, under which 
 Government might ultimately withhold assent to the 
 proposition of the Court, a reservation of which 
 the increasing clamour and combination against 
 the Company, has actually since induced Ministers 
 to avail themselves. What the petitioners for open 
 trade wanted in argument, they made shift to sup- 
 ply by the number, importunity, and contrivance of 
 their delegated counsel; and on the 27th of April 
 last, the Earl of Buckinghamshire, who had then 
 succeeded to Lord Melville at the India Board, ac- 
 quainted the Chairman of the Court of Directors, 
 that " the representations which had been brought 
 " before His Majesty's Government, had led them 
 " to entertain an opinion, that they would best con- 
 " suit the public interests, by not confining the im- 
 " port trade from the East Indies to the Port of Lon- 
 " don."f Now without presuming to insinuate that 
 this change of opinion constituted any breach of 
 faith towards one of the parties engaged in the nego- 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 82. 
 f Page 146.
 
 30 
 
 liation, it was surely not too much to expect, that a 
 distinct communication should be made to the Court 
 of the substance of those representations which had 
 produced a bias on the minds of Ministers, contrary 
 to that which they had entertained only five weeks 
 before. Had the question involved merely the secu- 
 rity of the revenue, Government might have claimed 
 credit on the score of their own public duty, for the 
 exercise of a due degree of caution in lending their 
 countenance to any measure, by which the stabi- 
 lity of the national resources could be endangered. 
 But as the point at issue affected the profits of 
 the Company equally with the duties payable to 
 Government, it was reasonable that the Court of 
 Directors should be consulted respecting the probable 
 efficiency of the plan in agitation for the prevention 
 of illicit trade, if a plan had really been digested 
 for that purpose ; and the circumstance of no such 
 communication having been made, suggests a doubt 
 whether any such scheme was actually matured. 
 
 Hence it appears, that the Court of Directors 
 had no sooner consented to a partial sacrifice of 
 their trade to public feeling, or as they very pro- 
 perly termed it, to public prejudice, than they were 
 urged by fresh demands to farther concessions ; and 
 were they now to agree to the extension of the 
 Indian trade to the Outports of the kingdom, they 
 might next be called upon to surrender the commerce 
 with China.
 
 31 
 
 In making these remarks, or any others which 
 may be hazarded in the sequel, there is no intention 
 whatever of blaming the conduct of Government, and 
 much less of reflecting upon the two most respectable 
 noblemen, who have been the official organs of con- 
 ducting the correspondence of that Government with 
 the Court of Directors. The present Ministers have 
 acted probably in much the same way that others 
 would have done in their place. If more has been 
 imputed to popular influence than belongs to it, the 
 easier it will be to retract any rash opinion which 
 may have been given, and to proceed with caution to 
 the completion of the arrangement ; if, on the other 
 hand, that influence has been as sensibly felt as it 
 was powerfully exerted, an acknowledgment of the 
 difficulties with which Ministers have had to contend 
 will account for, and in some degree extenuate, mis- 
 takes, though it certainly does not preclude a delibe- 
 rate investigation of any errors into which they may 
 have been seduced or impelled. 
 
 The following paragraph in Lord Melville's letter 
 of the 21st of March, 1812, contains a short summary 
 of those errors. * As far as relates to the trade with 
 India and several other countries, included within 
 the limits of the Company's charter, the Court do 
 not appear to have succeeded in establishing the 
 proposition, that any detriment will arise to the 
 public interest, either in this country or in India, 
 or ultimately even to the interests of the Company
 
 '* themselves, from the introduction of private adven- 
 " turers. If the Company carry on their trade more 
 " expensively and with less activity and industry than 
 " British individuals, it is unjust to the country, as 
 " well as to the inhabitants of British India, that the 
 " exclusive monopoly should be continued ; and in 
 *' such a state of things, the trade is more likely to 
 " be advantageous to the country and beneficial to 
 " the individuals, in their hands than in those of the 
 ct Company : but if the latter shall conduct it with 
 " skill and enterprise, and with due and unremitting 
 " attention to economy, the extent of their capital, 
 " and the superior facilities which they must continue 
 " to possess, of providing their investment in India 
 " at the cheapest rate, will undoubtedly afford them 
 " the means of successful rivalship with all other 
 " competitors."* The proposition which the Court 
 had endeavoured to establish was ; " that the unli- 
 " mited freedom for which some persons had of late 
 " years contended, would have political consequences 
 " more injurious to the power of this country and of 
 " British India, than the advantages anticipated by 
 " sanguine minds could compensate if those advan- 
 " tages were to be realized ; and that, moreover, the 
 " expectation of such advantages is unfounded, re- 
 *' suiting from general presumptions, which are con- 
 " tradicted by the nature of the Indian people, cli- 
 " mate, and productions, and by the experience of 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 80.
 
 33 
 
 '< more than two centuries."* If this be not the pro- 
 position alluded to by Lord Melville in the letter 
 above quoted, he has chosen to leave out of sight that 
 upon which the Court of Directors thought fit prin- 
 cipally to rest their case. If he alludes to it and at 
 the same time denies its truth, he less impeaches 
 their judgment, than the opinions of the most emi- 
 nent statesmen who have taken a part in the affairs 
 of India for half a century past, opinions sanctioned 
 within that period by eight decisions of the Legis- 
 lature, -j- From the way in which his Lordship con- 
 trived to get rid of the objections to the scheme in 
 contemplation, which were contained in that propo- 
 sition, one might be led to suppose that the Court of 
 Directors had searched their earliest records for some 
 musty maxim upon which to found a new-fangled 
 pretension, or that they had dipped into the impure 
 sources of oriental fable, to collect matter of ground- 
 less apprehension and visionary alarm, whereas their 
 only aim, in their correspondence with His Majesty's 
 Government, seems to have been to vindicate the po- 
 licy of existing laws, and to defend the doctrine of 
 the Constitution, in relation to the British possessions 
 in India. 
 
 * Letter from the Chairman and Deputy, dated 13lh Jan. 
 1S09. Printed Papers, page 20. 
 
 -| l?tl) George II. Cap. 17. 7th George III. Cap. 57. 9th 
 George III. Cap. 24. 13th George III. Cap. 61. 19th George III 
 Cap. 61. 20th George III. Cap. 56. 2lst George III. Cap. 65.-* 
 33d George III. Cap. 52. 
 
 !)
 
 34 
 
 The whole tenor of the letter from the Chairman 
 and Deputy, dated the 13th of January, 1809, is in 
 perfect unison with the principles maintained by the 
 late Lord Melville, and with the sentiments which he 
 was at pains to avow on all occasions, when the merits 
 of our Indian system were brought into discussion. 
 In a letter dated the 2d of April, 1800, and addressed 
 by the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, as President of 
 the India Board, to the Chairman of the Company, 
 upon the subject of the private trade, he thus ex- 
 pressed himself. " I set out with disclaiming being 
 " a party to those opinions which rest upon any ge- 
 M neral attack of the monopoly of the East India 
 " Company, either as to the government or com- 
 " merce of India. My sentiments, in that respect, 
 " remain exactly the same as they were when I moved 
 *' the renewal of the charter in 1793; and if any 
 " thing, I am still more confirmed in the principles 
 " I brought forward at that time. That a direct in- 
 " terference by Government in the affairs of India, is 
 " necessary for their stability and uniformity, I am 
 " more and more convinced ; but that the ostensible 
 " form of government, with all its consequent extent 
 iC and detail of patronage, must remain as it now is, 
 <c I am persuaded will never be called in question by 
 <c any but those who may be disposed to sacrifice 
 " the freedom and security of our constitution, to 
 " their own personal aggrandizement and ill-directed 
 " ambition. I remain equally satisfied as to the 
 " propriety of continuing a monopoly of the trade
 
 35 
 
 ' in the hands of the East India Company. Those 
 " who maintain the reverse, appear to me to be 
 " misled by general theories, without attending to 
 " the peculiar circumstances of the trade they are 
 " treating of. Viewing it as a mere commercial ques- 
 " tion, I believe this proposition to be a sound one : and 
 " if the trade zvere laid open, the supposed advantages 
 " thence arising, are at best very problematical, and 
 " would certainly be very precarious and short-lived. 
 " The same principles which prove the necessity of 
 " the present form and mode of Indian government, 
 * f evince the necessity of the monopoly of trade. The 
 " government and the trade are interwoven together, 
 " and we have only to recur to a very recent expe- 
 " rience, to learn the immense advantages which have 
 " flowed from that connexion of government and 
 " trade. By the commercial capital of the Company 
 " at home, acting in connexion with the public re- 
 " venues under their administration abroad, they 
 " have mutually aided and administered to the wants 
 " of each other, and the result has been the fortunate 
 " achievement of those brilliant events, upon the 
 " success of which depended the existence of the 
 " government, the territorial wealth, and the trade 
 " of India." After recommending that a proper 
 channel should be provided for the remittance to 
 Great Britain of the fortunes acquired by individuals 
 in India, he proceeds: " If 1 am asked whether, in 
 <e stating this principle, I mean that the trade to and 
 <{ from India, in the common use of the terms, ought 
 
 D l 2
 
 36 
 
 u to be free and open to all His Majesty's subjects in 
 " India ? I answer distinctly in the negative. The 
 " nature of the Indian manufacture, and the imme- 
 4f niorial habits of the manufacturers, exclude the 
 " practical application of so indefinite a principle to 
 " the export trade from India. The manufacture of 
 " the finer and more valuable fabrics of India, have 
 " always been produced by advances from the go- 
 <s vernment, or individuals for whose behoof those 
 " fabrics are manufactured, and if the dealing with 
 " those manufacturers was to be laid open to the 
 ' c uncontroled competition of every individual, the 
 " consequence would be a boundless scene of confu- 
 " sion and fraud, and ultimately the ruin of the ma- 
 " nufacturers themselves." * * * * * * " It 
 " is immediately connected with the observations last 
 " offered, to consider by what agency is the trade of 
 " individuals in India to be carried on ? If this 
 " question was to be decided on the principles of an 
 " open and free trade, the answer to the question 
 " would be, that every individual should send out or 
 se employ any agent he thought best to manage his 
 " own business. But from what I have alreadv stated 
 " on the former point, you will anticipate my opi- 
 *' nion on this ; namely, that no agent should be 
 " employed in India, or permitted to reside there. 
 " except with the license of the East India Company, 
 " and subject to the control of such regulations, as 
 " the habits, prejudices, and trade of the country 
 " may render expedient. In addition to every other
 
 37 
 
 " consideration, arising out of the peculiar nature of 
 " the trade and manners of the country, there is one 
 " decisive circumstance against the tolerance of every 
 iC unlicensed adventurer in India. It would rapidly 
 " and insensibly lead to the settlement and coloniza- 
 " tion of the worst kind of adventurers taking root in 
 " that country, than which there could not be a 
 " more fatal blow to the permanence of the British 
 " power and pre-eminence in India. No principle 
 " ought ever to be tolerated or acted upon, that 
 " does not proceed on the basis of India being 
 " considered as the temporary residence of a great 
 " British establishment, for the good government of 
 " the country upon steady and uniform principles; 
 " and of a large British factory, for the beneficial 
 " management of its trade upon rules applicable to 
 " the state and manners of the country." 
 
 ******* "In some of the many specula- 
 " tions I have heard, and the publications I have 
 " perused on this subject, it is usual to ask in a tone 
 " of complaint, if it is not unjust and unfair that the 
 " merchants and shipping of this country, other than 
 " the shipping of the East India Company, should 
 " be excluded from a participation of that trade 
 " which is allowed to the subjects of foreign nations? 
 
 " The statement at first sight may appear plau- 
 " sible ; but when examined to the bottom, it lias 
 " no solidity. In truth, it is only another mode of
 
 38 
 
 " objecting to the monopoly of the East India Com- 
 " pany. If there are reasons of sound policy, why 
 " the Legislature has decided that the India trade 
 " should be carried on by a monopoly, it is because, 
 " viewing the interests of the public as one aggre- 
 " gate, it is of opinion, that those interests are best 
 " cared for by that mode of conducting the trade. 
 " Those, therefore, who state this objection, being 
 " themselves part of that whole, are, in common with 
 " the rest of His Majesty's subjects, reaping the be- 
 " nefit of that influx of national wealth and capital 
 ff which the East India trade, so conducted, brings 
 tf into the national stock. They cannot, therefore, 
 " more than others, because their occupation hap- 
 " pens to be that of merchants or ship-owners, com- 
 <f plain of being injured by the means which the 
 " wisdom of Parliament has devised for introducing 
 " that flow of wealth into the kingdom. 
 
 " The case is totally different with regard to the 
 " subjects of foreign nations. They are not the 
 " objects of the care of the British Legislature ; 
 " neither are their interests at all in the view of its 
 " provisions. They reap no benefit, but the reverse, 
 " from the growing wealth and prosperity of the 
 " British empire; and therefore are in no respect on 
 " a footing of comparison with any of the subjects of 
 " this country, to whom the restraints of the Com- 
 " pany's charter, for the reasons already assigned, 
 " do with perfect propriety apply.
 
 39 
 
 " It is quite a separate question, how far it would 
 be right to hold our Indian possessions upon prin- 
 ciples of colonial monopoly ? and it would be de- 
 viating from the strict matter of the objection, to 
 enter into that discussion in this place. It is suffi- 
 cient in point of fact to observe, in answer to the 
 merchants and ship-owners, that it is thought ex- 
 pedient for the interests of the empire at large, that 
 the East India possessions should not be regulated 
 on the principles of colonial exclusion ; and there- 
 fore no part of the subjects of Great Britain can 
 be permitted to set up a separate interest of their 
 own against that general policy. If the colonial 
 principle was to be applied to the Indian territo- 
 ries, it would not advance by one step that sepa- 
 rate interest set up by the merchants and ship- 
 owners, to which I now refer." 
 
 In reply to the question, Why the merchants and 
 ship-owners, subjects of His Majesty, resident in. 
 Britain, should not have the same indulgences which 
 are contended for by His Majesty's subjects resident 
 in India? Mr. Dundas observed, "The answer is 
 " plain and conclusive: in contending for this indul- 
 " gence to the British subjects resident in India, I 
 " am contending for a material national interest, 
 " which is no other than this, that their fortunes, 
 " capitals created in India, should be transferred 
 " from that country to this, in a manner most bene- 
 i( ficial for themselves and the kingdom at large, in
 
 40 
 
 " place of being transferred through the medium of 
 " the commerce of foreigners, and thereby adding to 
 " the wealth, capital, and navigation of foreign 
 " countries. There is not a single circumstance in 
 " which this applies to the case of merchants in this 
 " country. It might be proved, if necessary, that 
 " the only effect of giving such an indulgence to the 
 " merchants resident in this country, would be a 
 " temptation to withdraw a part of the capital of the 
 " country, from a more profitable trade and more 
 " beneficial application of it, in order to divert it to 
 " another trade, less profitable to themselves and less 
 " beneficial to the public. Without, therefore, one 
 " single reason, either of private justice or public 
 ee policy, it would be introducing a rival capital in 
 " India, against the remittance trade of tlie East 
 " India Company, and in competition likewise with 
 " those individuals whose capitals, by the proposed 
 " indulgence, it is wished to transfer to Great Bri- 
 " tain. It is argued that the extension of this indul- 
 " gence to the British merchants, would be an addi- 
 " tional encouragement to the export of British 
 " manufactures. I need only observe, that the argu- 
 " ment proceeds on an erroneous view of the subject. 
 " The export trade to India can never be extended in 
 " any degree proportionate to the wealth and popu- 
 " lation of the Indian Empire, neither can the returns 
 " upon it be very profitable to individuals. Those who 
 " attend to the manners, the manufactures, the food, 
 " the raiment, the moral and religious prejudices of
 
 41 
 
 *' that country, can be at no loss to trace the causes 
 ft why this proposition must be a true one. The im- 
 i( portance of that immense empire to this country, is 
 " rather to be estimated by the great annual addition 
 " it makes to the wealth and capital of the kingdom, 
 " than by any eminent advantages that the manufac- 
 " tures of the country can derive from the consump- 
 " tion of the natives of India. I do not mean to say 
 " that the exports from this country have not been 
 " very considerably increased of late years, and I 
 " make no doubt, that from recent circumstances, 
 " they may still be considerably increased. But the 
 " prospect, from the causes I have already referred 
 " to, must always be a limited one, and I am positive 
 " that the shipping and exertions of the East India 
 " Company, joined to the returned cargoes of those 
 " ships which bring home the private trade of India, 
 " is more than adequate to any present or future in- 
 " crease of export trade that this country can look 
 " to upon any rational ground of hope." * * * 
 * * a With regard to the agents to be employed 
 <c at home, to manage the private trade of individuals 
 " from India, and to take care of their interest in 
 " the cargoes of the returning ships, I do not see the 
 " use of any interference by the Company. The 
 *" c great, interest to be attended to on the part of the 
 sl Company, is that no goods come from India that arc 
 " not deposited in the Company s warehouses, and that (lie 
 " goods so imported are exposed at the Company s sales, 
 " agreeably to the rules prescribed for that purpose."
 
 42 
 
 On a perusal of the whole correspondence which 
 took place between Mr. Dundas and a Committee of 
 the Court of Directors in 1800 and 1801, it will be 
 seen that there was a perfect agreement in prin- 
 ciple, and a complete coincidence in general views, 
 although there was a considerable difference of 
 opinion upon some matters of detail. The Pre- 
 sident of the India Board had stated in the letter 
 above quoted, the inadequacy of the provision for the 
 private trade in the act of 1793, and urged the ex- 
 pediency of allowing Britisli subjects resident in Ijidia, 
 to send home their funds in India built ships. The 
 Court professed their readiness to give every facility 
 to the trade of remittance from India, but they con- 
 tended that this, like the other branches of the trade, 
 ought to be carried on through the medium of the 
 Company's ships, and that the scheme for permitting 
 British merchants resident in India, to introduce 
 both their capital and ships into the trade, contained 
 a principle of indefinite enlargement, which would 
 gradually change the character of the existing inter- 
 course. By the arrangement which took place in 
 1802, the difference was compromised, and India 
 built ships were admitted into the trade, the Com- 
 pany reserving to themselves the power of freighting 
 them, on private account. But before this arrange- 
 ment was concluded, and while the discussion was 
 still pending, it will appear from the following ex- 
 tract from Mr. Dundas's speech in opening the India 
 budget for the last time in the House of Commons,
 
 on the 12th of June, 1801, that the difficulties which 
 were started by the Court of Directors to some part 
 of the measure recommended by him in the pre- 
 ceding year, had not in the least altered his senti- 
 ments and views respecting the constitution of the 
 Company, or the general policy on which that con- 
 stitution was founded, and by adhering to which it 
 could alone be maintained. " Many objections have 
 " been, from time to time, raised to the policy of the 
 <c restrictions imposed by the Legislature on the trade 
 (< of the East, and to the exclusive privileges placed 
 tc in the Company. My decided sentiments on this 
 * f subject are well known : I will therefore only now 
 " advert to it, by observing, that at the renewal of 
 " the charter in 1793, the Legislature shewed every 
 " disposition to adopt such arrangements as might 
 " secure to this country as large a share of the J Indian 
 " trade as possible. If any of the arrangemenCs;then 
 " made, have been found by experience inadequate 
 " to the object in view, the wisdom of the Legisla- 
 " ture, and I trust a liberal and wise policy on the 
 " part of the East India Company, will concur in 
 " correctins: former error. The manner in which 
 " this shall be done, consistent with those regulations 
 " which Parliament has thought proper to impose, 
 " has long been under serious consideration. Many 
 " indulgences have already been granted to indivi- 
 <{ duals, and I have no doubt that ultimately such a 
 " plan will be determined upon, as shall be the means 
 Cf of affording all the satisfaction which in reason and
 
 justice can be expected. In doing this, I certainly 
 do not mean to exclude every degree of proper 
 caution, for I have no hesitation in expressing my 
 thorough conviction of its being incumbent on 
 those with whom the final arrangement of this very 
 important branch shall rest, never to lose sight of 
 those salutary maxims which have been prescribed by 
 long experience, and that they be strictly upon their 
 guard that substantial and permanent benefits may not 
 be sacrificed to casual and perhaps illusory schemes of 
 
 * That these sentiments were not peculiar to the late Lord Mel- 
 ville, will appear from the following extract from a useful pamphlet, 
 published by an officer of the India Board in 1793. 
 
 " Onjthe grand point, that of opening the trade altogether, we 
 " have as yet seen no specific, well-digested plan offered to the 
 " public eye. It, however, can hardly be supposed, that even the 
 " most zealous advocates for a new system, can be desirous of seeing 
 " the present mode of conducting the trade determined, and 
 " the future trade left to hazard and chance. A measure more 
 " preposterous and absurd, nor any so fraught with ruin and 
 " mischief to the general interests of the empire, as affecting 
 " the political, the mercantile, and the financial concerns both of 
 " Great Britain and India, could not be devised or imagined by an 
 " enemy to both." ******* T n this discussion we 
 " have carefully avoided quoting any of the arguments used upon 
 " former occasions for and against an exclusive trade, because by 
 " the acquisition of kingdoms and provinces, the Asiatic trade has 
 " since those times undergone an entire change, insomuch thai 
 " the order and system which formerly obtained in the conduct of 
 " it, seem now to be perfectly inverted. The point contended for
 
 45 
 
 Such were the opinions entertained by the late 
 Lord Melville, after having devoted twenty years of 
 a laborious life to the study of Indian affairs, and 
 after having held for seventeen of those years the 
 highly responsible office of President of the Board of 
 Commissioners. He admitted, on retiring from office 
 with the present Viscount, " that the system es- 
 " tablished by the act of 1793, for the trade of in- 
 " dividuals between Great Britain and India, had 
 " not answered the expectations, or fulfilled the in- 
 " tentions of the Legislature." Whether after the 
 extension given to that system in 1802, he still re- 
 
 " on those occasions was simply mercantile. The subject now 
 " spreads itself into a wider field : it attaches to it political concerns 
 " of high importance as well as those of commerce and finance. At 
 " those times a change in the existing system was of little compara- 
 " tive consequence ; the exports and imports were small, and the 
 " revenue by customs, if it had suffered, could easily have been 
 " made good; for the National Debt was then moderate, the objects 
 " left for taxation were numerous; and the real and personal assets 
 " of the Company, were more than sufficient after the discharge of 
 " their debts, to make good the value of their capital stock ; it 
 " became therefore a question fairly determinable by the weight of 
 " public opinion, how the India trade might be best conducted, 
 " without involving in its consequences those important rights and 
 " interests which seem now to depend on the continuance of the 
 " present system of conducting the Government revenues and trade 
 " in all its essential parts." A Short History of the East India Com- 
 pany, and of their trade to India and China, by Francis Russet, Es</. ; 
 2d edition, pages 41 and 45. 
 
 How much greater weight have not these considerations acquired 
 since 1 793 ?
 
 46 
 
 mained of opinion, " that it did not afford all the sa- 
 " tisfaction which in reason and justice could be ex- 
 " pcctcd" public documents furnish no means of judg- 
 ing. But every person who reads the above quota- 
 tions with attention, must be persuaded that he never 
 would have become a party to the proposition made 
 by his successor as a sine qua non of the renewal of 
 the Company's privileges " that British merchants and 
 " manufacture?^ shall be permitted to trade to and 
 " from India, and the other countries within the 
 " present limits of the Company's exclusive trade, 
 " (the dominions of the emperor of China excepted), 
 " in ships and vessels hired or freighted by them- 
 " selves, instead of being confined as at present to 
 " ships in the service of the Company, or licensed by 
 '* the Court of Directors," far less that he would 
 have concurred in the opinion more recently ex- 
 pressed, " that the legislature will best consult the 
 " public interest by not confining the import trade 
 " from the East Indies to the port of London." It 
 is probable, indeed, that he would not have dissented 
 from the first proposition, in so far as it goes to put 
 an end to the Company's agency in freighting ships 
 for individuals, (an agency which it is equally proba- 
 ble the Company would not be indisposed to relin- 
 quish) ; but to the first part of the proposition we 
 have his distinct negative upon record, as likely if 
 acted upon, " to occasion a boundless scene of con- 
 " fusion and fraud, and ultimately the ruin of the 
 " manufacturers themselves ; as tending to introduce
 
 47 
 
 " without one single reason, either of private justice 
 " or public policy, a rival capital in India, against 
 <c the remittance trade of the East India Company, 
 " and in competition likewise with those individuals 
 " whose capitals it is wished to transfer to Great 
 " Britain ; in fine, as leading rapidly, though insen- 
 " sibly, to the settlement and colonization of the 
 " worst set of adventurers in that country, than 
 " which there cannot be a more fatal blow to the 
 " permanence of the British power in India." And 
 in reference to the extension of the trade to the Out- 
 ports of the kingdom, we have also his recorded opi- 
 nion, " that THE great INTEREST to be attended to 
 " on the part of the Company, is that no goods come 
 " from India, that are not deposited in their ware- 
 " houses, and disposed of at their sales." 
 
 During the whole course of the negotiation, there 
 is not to be found in the correspondence on the part 
 of the Court of Directors, a single position which had 
 not been advanced, and insisted upon by the late 
 Lord Melville, as of primary importance to the in- 
 terests both of the Company and the empire at 
 large, nor is there any indulgence to the private 
 trade which he thought it safe and expedient to grant, 
 which the Court have not generally professed their 
 willingness to concede. They have maintained with 
 that experienced statesman, that a departure from the 
 principle of the act of 1793 (by which the trade with 
 India was placed under a regulated monopoly), is
 
 48 
 
 pregnant with political mischiefs, without affording 
 the prospect of any equivalent advantage, while at 
 the same time they have disclaimed " all narrow 
 " considerations of commercial profit, or commercial 
 f< jealousy;"* and have announced "their readiness 
 " to enter into a serious inquiry concerning the con- 
 " cessions which can be made to the public, without 
 ". trenching upon the principles," not asserted for 
 the first time in their letters, but " established in that 
 act."f And the negotiation seems to have been 
 suspended in April 1812, inconsequence of a dif- 
 ference of opinion between His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment and the Court, not respecting a concession de- 
 ducible from the principle of the act of 1793, but 
 respecting an extreme concessioji, (the opening of the 
 trade to the Out-ports), arising altogether out of a 
 new principle, and against which the Company had 
 been specially warned by a distinguished member of 
 an antecedent government, that it was their great in- 
 terest to guard. 
 
 The writer, or rather the compiler of these sheets, 
 (for hitherto they have consisted of little more than 
 a compilation of the opinions of others), has formed 
 too just an estimate of his own talents to be guilty 
 of the presumption of supposing, that he can urge 
 any thing effectual in the way, cither of enforcing 
 the arguments which have been employed by the 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 20. f Page 3,-i.
 
 49 
 
 Court of Directors, sanctioned as they have been by 
 the concurrence of former Governments, and the past 
 decisions of the Legislature, or of influencing the 
 views of those with whom it will ultimately rest, to 
 decide upon a great question of national policy. The 
 short retrospect that has been taken of the relative 
 situations of the different parties interested in the dis- 
 cussion, may however be useful ; and though the 
 observations that occur in the sequel, may not throw 
 any new light upon the subject, still it is hoped that 
 they will not be found altogether unworthy of atten- 
 tion by those who are disposed to candid inquiry. 
 
 In the early period of European intercourse with 
 India, and previously to the acquisition of territory, 
 the amount of the exports thither, in commodities 
 from Europe, was very trifling. The investments for 
 the home markets of the different nations engaged in 
 the commerce* were principally purchased with bul- 
 lion, and almost all the direct advantage of the trade 
 arose from the profits on the sales of those invest- 
 ments.* In proportion as territory was acquired, 
 
 * The following passage from Montesquieu, contains an apt illus- 
 tration of this position, and indicates also the conclusion to which 
 it leads. *' Quoique 1c commerce soil sujet a de grandes revolutions, 
 " il peut arriver (pie de certaines causes physiques, la qualite du 
 " terrain on de climat, fixent pour jamais sa nature. 
 
 " Nous ne faisons aujourd'hui le commerce des Indes, que par 
 " l'argent que nous y envoyons. Lcs Romains y portoicnt toutes 
 
 E
 
 50 
 
 the European residents increased, and of course drew 
 from home a supply of commodities suited to theic 
 original habits and wants. But their numbers were 
 
 " les annees environ cinqoante millions de Sesterces. Cet argent,* 
 ' comme le notre aujourd'hui, etoit converti en merchandises 
 " qu'ils rapportoient en Occident. Tous les peuples qui out negocie 
 r aux Indes, y ont toujours porte des metaux et en ont rapporte 
 " des marchandises. 
 
 " C'est la nature meme qui produit cet efFet. Les Indiens ont 
 " leurs arts, qui sont adaptes & leur manieTe de vivre. Notre luxe 
 " ne sauroit etre le leur, ni nos besoins etre leur besoins. Leur 
 " climat ne leur demande ni ne leur permet presque rien de ce qui 
 " vient de chez nous. lis vont en grande partie nuds, les vete- 
 " ments qu'ils ont, le pays les leur fournit convenables ; et leur re- 
 " ligion, qui a sur eux taut d'empire, leur donne de la repugnance 
 " pour les choses qui nous servent de nourriture. lis n'ont done 
 " besoin que de nos metaux qui sont les signes des valeurs, et pour 
 " lesquels ils donnent des marchandises, que leur frugalite et la na- 
 " ture de leur pays leur procure en grande abondance. Les auteurs 
 " anciens qui nous ont parle des Indes, nous les depeignent telles 
 " que nous les voyons aujourd'hui quant a la police, aux manieres 
 " et aux moeurs. Les Indes ont ete, les Indes seront ce qu'elles 
 " sont a present ; et dans tous les terns, ceux qui negocieront aux 
 " Indes, y porteront de l'argent, et n'en rapporteront pas." De 
 V esprit ties loix, Litre xxi. Cap. 1. 
 
 When the President Montesquieu wrote this chapter, he did not 
 foresee the change that has taken place in the commerce between 
 Great Britain and India resulting from the acquisition of territory, 
 and the subsequent conversion of a trade of barter into a trade of 
 remittance. But his remarks are strictly applicable to the grounds 
 on which the private traders now rest their pretensions, and avr 
 nlso in direct opposition to their views.
 
 51 
 
 comparatively so small that this demand, with all tlie 
 warlike stores and clothing for the troops in the ser- 
 vice of the European states, formed but an inconsi- 
 derable export, Rivalship in trade between those 
 states at length begot political hostility, and the re- 
 sult of that hostility (whether fortunately or not, it is 
 of little consequence now to inquire) has put Great 
 Britain in possession of a vast Empire in Asia. It 
 would indeed have been a barren conquest if it had 
 afforded no rational prospect of rewarding, by some 
 means or other, the toil and expense of acquiring, as 
 well as the trouble and cost of administering and de- 
 fending it. A surplus Revenue was expected from the 
 Company's territories (obtained in part by purchase, 
 in part by conquest, and in part by cession), after 
 all the charges connected with the government and 
 management of them were defrayed. This surplus, 
 rendering unnecessary, or at least diminishing the 
 former export of bullion from England, was to be re- 
 alized through the channel of the homeward trade. 
 Whether this expectation was reasonable or not, and 
 whether, if reasonable, it has not been defeated by 
 mismanagement, are fair and proper questions, but 
 not the immediate subjects of inquiry. The state- 
 ment, as it stands, serves various purposes. It shews, 
 that prior to the possession of territorial dominion by 
 European nations, the trade with India consisted in an 
 exchange of its commodities for their bullion, not for 
 European commodities; it shews that one of the ex-
 
 .52 
 
 pected effects of the acquisition of territory by this 
 country, was a trade of remittance homeward super- 
 seding more or less the export of the precious metals; 
 and it leads to a consideration of the system under 
 which it has been at least attempted to establish that 
 trade of remittance. The importance of each and all 
 of these points is manifest, when we attend to the 
 grounds on which the present expectations of the 
 mercantile and manufacturing classes are founded, 
 and to the radical change which an endeavour to 
 gratify such expectations must necessarily induce 
 into the whole system of our Indian policy. 
 
 The great source of the prevailing notions seems to 
 be a mistaken idea, that our Asiatic territories present 
 an advantageous market for British produce and ma- 
 nufactures. This idea probably originates in a natural 
 though inconsiderate comparison of the general state 
 of India with that of our American colonies, while 
 in truth no two things can be more at variance. 
 The islands in the West Indies are peopled by 
 Europeans, having the same wants and habits 
 with ourselves; by Africans in a state of servitude, 
 which subjects them morally, as well as physi- 
 cally, to the will of their masters ; and by a mixed 
 race, whom necessity, constitutional bias, habit, and 
 example, have inured to our mode of living. 
 Almost every thing that the joint population con- 
 sumes and uses is sent from this country; their
 
 53 
 
 clothing, great part of their food and drink, 
 their household furniture and utensils, their trin- 
 kets and ornaments, their instruments of cultiva- 
 tion, the harness for their horses, mules and cat- 
 tle, and the machinery for the manufacture of their 
 raw produce. The planter unites in himself the se- 
 veral characters of a cultivator, a manufacturer, and 
 a merchant ; and in all these capacities he is more 
 dependent on the mother country for supplies, than 
 she is upon returns from her colonies. How 
 different the state of India ! There a fertile soil 
 yields every thing necessary to supply the wants 
 and to conduce to the comfort of its inhabitants ; a 
 refined and ingenious people, have long since carried 
 many of the arts to a still unrivalled pitch of perfec- 
 tion; their manners and civil institutions, grafted upon 
 and combined with their religious tenets, are immu- 
 table because they are sacred ; the same occupations 
 and professions have descended in the same families 
 during a lapse of ages, in a line of undeviating suc- 
 cession ; the artificial distinction of castes has erected 
 barriers between the different classes of society, which 
 it is impossible to break down, or overpass. The 
 division of labour, which has contributed so much 
 in Europe to mechanical improvement, is not only 
 practically unknown to the natives of India, but is 
 incompatible with their prejudices and customs. 
 Their domestic economy is as unchangeable as their 
 geographical position upon the face of the globe. 
 They want nothing from us, and many of the
 
 54 
 
 superfluities with which we could furnish them, their 
 religion has taught them to abstain from, or to hold 
 m abhorrence. Even the demand for the finer sort 
 of woollens, which used to be in considerable request 
 while the native courts were in their splendour, is sadly 
 impaired, and the little that remains is now con- 
 fined entirely to the Company. This state of things 
 we cannot change, and as it is impossible to fashion 
 circumstances to our policy, we must be contented to 
 accommodate our policy to the circumstances in which 
 we are placed. Hence it follows, that the commo- 
 dities exported from India must be purchased there 
 by the precious metals, as was anciently the prac- 
 tice, or be remitted, conformably to the present 
 system, in the shape of tribute, or surplus revenue, 
 or in the fortunes of individuals, realized in the 
 course of administering the various branches of the 
 Government. 
 
 Whether any country can for a long period of time 
 afford to yield a considerable tribute without receiv- 
 ing a commercial return, in one form or other, is a 
 curious question of political economy ; and those who 
 are disposed to support the negative of the proposition, 
 will have some difficulty in shewing the utility of our 
 territorial acquisitions in India. If it is impracti- 
 cable in the present channel to realize a perpetual 
 tribute, it will be equally so in any other channel 
 through which it may be attempted. The difficulty 
 will neither be obviated nor lessened by transferring
 
 the right of conveyance from the East India Com- 
 pany to the great body of British Merchants, and 
 the question for Parliament to deliberate and decide 
 upon will be, not how the trade shall be carried on, 
 but whether our possessions in India shall be retained 
 or abandoned ? 
 
 Those, on the other hand, who may be of opinion 
 that the surplus produce of the land and labour of 
 an extensive and fertile country, inhabited by a nu- 
 merous and industrious population, can afford to pay 
 for security, the equal distribution of justice, and the 
 various advantages emanating from a vigorous and 
 enlightened Government, will probably admit that 
 all the trouble, expense, and responsibility should 
 not be imposed upon one class, whilst all the benefit is 
 allotted to another class of individuals ; that the 
 East India Company should not be loaded with all 
 that is burdensome in the Indian connexion, if they 
 are to be excluded from the fair recompense of capi- 
 tal, enterprise, and laborious management. 
 
 It has been urged with more confidence than can- 
 dour, that it is idle to talk of a surplus revenue from 
 our Indian territories ; that none of the promises that 
 have been made on this subject in time past, have 
 ever been fulfilled ; and that any expectations which 
 may now be held forth will be productive only of 
 new disappointment. But before coming to so hasty 
 a conclusion, let it be recollected that the East India
 
 56 
 
 Company has been for a long period incessantly en- 
 gaged in expensive wars, both in India and in Egypt; 
 that these wars have terminated successfully for the 
 Company, and gloriously for the country; that it has 
 been subjected to a great expense in fitting out ex- 
 peditions for the reduction of the Eastern settlements 
 of the European enemies of Great Britain ; that by 
 the prosperous issue of these expeditions, the domi- 
 nions of the Crown have been extended, and England 
 left without a rival in the whole southern hemisphere. 
 Let it also be considered, that peace in India is now 
 established upon a foundation which promises to be 
 permanent; that whilst the Company's debts do not 
 much exceed twenty-eight millions, its annual re- 
 venues amount to considerably more than fifteen 
 millions sterling that this revenue is collected with 
 greater ease and punctuality than the same sum is 
 realized in any country under Heaven, the balance 
 remaining unacquitted at the end of three months 
 immediately following the close of the official year 
 (as appears from documents before the public*), not 
 exceeding a half per cent, in the old territories, and 
 falling short of two per cent, in the provinces more 
 recently acquired ; that the beneficent effects of 
 their mild system of administration, matured by 
 
 * Second Report of the Select Committee of the House of Com- 
 mons, on the Affairs of the East India Company, ordered to be 
 printed 11th May, 1S10.
 
 57 
 
 experience, and consolidated by time, is attested by 
 the increasing confidence of the natives, the pro- 
 gressive improvement of the agriculture and internal 
 commerce of India, and a reduction of from two to 
 four per cent, upon the interest of their debt. And 
 after enumerating these considerations, the adversa- 
 ries of the Companj' may safely be challenged to 
 produce an instance in the history of the world, in 
 which equal glory and equal advantage have been 
 attained by equal means ; where the sacrifices that 
 have been made bear so small a proportion to the 
 objects which have been secured, and where the bur- 
 dens of the Government are so light when compared 
 with its resources. 
 
 Nothing, however, tends so much to obscure the 
 prospect before us, as the approach of hasty and in- 
 considerate innovation. It was by extreme caution 
 and by rejecting every measure that wore an un- 
 known aspect, that our power in India was ob- 
 tained, and can alone be preserved. While the 
 Company acted in the simple capacity of merchants, 
 they confined themselves to their factories, occu- 
 pied solely by the concerns of their trade. Even 
 after acquiring territory, they did not venture to 
 govern in their own name. During the existence of 
 what was termed the double Government, the admi- 
 nistration was conducted by natives of rank on behalf 
 of the Company, but in the name of the Mogul. 
 The direct appearance of the Company in the
 
 53 
 
 Government is comparatively of modern date, and 
 though the change has certainly been most beneficial 
 upon the whole, yet but for the absolute control exer- 
 cised by the local Governments over their own servants, 
 as well as every European licensed to reside within 
 their territories, it could not have failed to produce the 
 most mischievous effects. The exercise of this con- 
 trol is easy or difficult, in exact proportion to the 
 number over whom it is extended. Every thing 
 bearing the semblance of arbitrary power, is so in- 
 consistent with the principles, feelings and habits of 
 British subjects, that it must always be submitted to by 
 them with reluctance. Thus measures of indispensable 
 precaution would, in certain circumstances, be repre- 
 sented by those affected by them, as insupportable 
 grievances, and acts of heavy oppression. The 
 imprescriptible rights of Englishmen would be plead- 
 ed against the mandates of authority ; men having 
 a common interest would make common cause ; 
 numbers would give confidence to the discontented, 
 and a formidable opposition be arrayed against the 
 government. Under the native Governments in 
 their pristine vigour, such effects could never 
 have been apprehended. They would have con- 
 sulted their own interest by summary means, and 
 paid little attention to the convenience or remon- 
 strances of obnoxious individuals : but weakened as 
 the sovereign authority in India already is to a cer- 
 tain degree, by the hands in which it is placed, it 
 would be worse than imprudent, it would be fool-
 
 59 
 
 hardy in the extreme to expose it to attack from a 
 new class of settlers, difficult enough to be con- 
 trolled even when they exist in small numbers, and 
 who, if allowed to multiply, would break down all 
 restraint. 
 
 It is well known that there is a class of politicians 
 in this country, who treat these dangers as phantoms 
 proper only to impose upon the weak and alarm the 
 timid, and who are so little afraid of innovation as 
 seriously to recommend the encouragement of co- 
 lonization in India, instead of preventing its com- 
 mencement and checking its progress. The persons 
 alluded to, gravely contend that our Indian Empire 
 must be a useless and burdensome appendage, until 
 the plains of Hindostan are peopled by a race of 
 European extraction, with their industry guided 
 by British ingenuity, and stimulated by British 
 capital. Independence they regard as the euthanasia 
 of colonization ; and in the ardour of their enthusiasm 
 they view the separation of the American colonies 
 from the parent state, and the consequences which 
 have resulted from it to the new and the old world, as 
 a happy omen of a revolution in Asia, proceeding 
 from the same causes, and pregnant with similar re- 
 sults. These gentlemen, however, seem to forget 
 that fifty millions of people stand in the way of their 
 project; -that the present population must be ex- 
 truded or exterminated before it can be carried into 
 effect; that this is an undertaking equally above our
 
 60 
 
 means and our warrant ; that the conduct of Spain 
 in South America (from which, rather than from the 
 policy of England, in the northern provinces of that 
 Continent the precedent seems to be drawn) has 
 hitherto excited more abhorrence than admiration, 
 and that if the scheme were as successfully executed 
 as it is mercilessly conceived, the expectations 
 founded upon it must inevitably be defeated by the 
 universal tendency of men as well as of animals and 
 plants, not indigenous to the climate of Asia, to de- 
 generate, when transplanted thither, in the course of 
 a few generations. In proof of the last proposition, 
 an appeal might be made to the degraded condition 
 of the descendants of the Portuguese and Dutch 
 colonists upon the Coasts and Islands of India, but 
 in opposition to all the reveries of these theorists, it 
 will be sufficient to quote the practical wisdom of 
 the late Lord Cornwallis. " I am strongly impressed 
 " with a conviction," says that venerable nobleman, 
 in a letter to the Government at home, dated Novem- 
 ber 1794, " that it will be of essential importance to 
 " the interest of Britain, that Europeans should be 
 " discouraged and prevented as much as possible, 
 " from colonizing and settling in our possessions in 
 " India." 
 
 The grounds on which this opinion was formed 
 were partially detailed in a letter from this eminent 
 man to the Court of Directors, dated the 1st of No- 
 vember, 1788, a document well worth the attention
 
 61 
 
 of the merchants of this country, as well as of the 
 Legislature, at the present juncture. 
 
 " The exposition now given of the usual manner 
 " of providing goods here, and of the consequent 
 " restraints necessary upon manufacturers, serves to 
 " point out what the true principle of freedom of 
 " trade in this country must be. A great deal has 
 " been said on the subject, and apparently in refer- 
 " ence to the state of things in Europe, where in 
 " every branch of manufacture there are opulent 
 " men that work upon their own stock, and where 
 cc the markets, supplied by goods thus produced, 
 " leave, as they ought, the buyer and seller perfectly 
 " unrestrained. But here the single circumstance of 
 " making advances to the manufacturer creates a 
 " great distinction. It is hence necessary to make 
 " regulations for preventing injustice, and, therefore, 
 " instead of a freedom without limitation, to which 
 " some arguments have gone, it seems a just idea of 
 " true commercial freedom in the circumstances of 
 " this country that all be allowed to trade, but ac- 
 iC cording to priority of engagements and advances to 
 cc receive their returns." 
 
 Upon a scheme which had been at different times 
 suggested (and which never was more palatable than 
 it is likely to be now) for abolishing the Company's 
 commercial establishments, withdrawing the agents 
 from the districts, and providing their investment
 
 with ready money at Calcutta, his Lordship, in the 
 same letter, made the following observations : " The 
 " ascendency which the character and situation of 
 " Europeans have given them over the natives, has 
 " been already noticed, and the importance of the 
 " Company's commercial establishments, in the hands 
 " of their servants especially, has also been seen in 
 " protecting the manufacturers and preserving the 
 f< fabrics, which purposes are more likely to be an- 
 " swered in the hands of the Company's servants 
 " than of other individuals. The fraudulent disposi- 
 " tion, likewise, of the manufacturers has been ob- 
 " served, and to these may be added, the still too 
 " feeble operation of laws and regulations in places 
 " distant from the seats of authority and justice. If 
 " the proposed scheme were adopted, multitudes of 
 " Europeans would flock into the interior parts of 
 " the country they would naturally possess them- 
 " selves of the seats of the manufactures abandoned 
 <c by the Company eager competition must imme- 
 " diately arise enhanced prices, and debased fabrics 
 " follow the weavers would receive advances from 
 " all, and, probably, disappoint all each would be 
 t( ready to take redress at his own hands disputes 
 " between merchants, as well as between them and 
 iC the manufacturers, would be inevitable and the 
 cc country thus, in all probability, become a scene of 
 " confusion and disorder, which the distant situation 
 " and other avocations of the collectors would little 
 " permit them to rectify. How far a salutary
 
 63 
 
 " freedom and extension of commerce would be pro* 
 " moted by such means, it cannot be hard to deter- 
 " mine." 
 
 Though the foregoing extracts seem to present a 
 mercantile view of the case only, they point to con* 
 siderations of a general nature, which were strongly 
 urged upon the attention of the authorities at home, 
 in other dispatches of the same virtuous and 
 enlightened Statesman, as bearing directly upon 
 the great question, How the dominions zvhich have 
 been acquired for Great Britain in India can be best 
 PRESERVED ? If in the progress of the approaching 
 discussions this grand political question ever should 
 be lost sight of, or if the primary object of security 
 should eventually be made to give way to considera- 
 tions of inferior moment, the evils that are likely to 
 ensue it is easy to foresee, but dreadful to contem- 
 plate. 
 
 Generally speaking, the system under which pos- 
 sessions have been acquired, will be found the most 
 effectual for their maintenance, particularly if that 
 system has been so far matured as to provide for their 
 consolidation and defence, their civil organization and 
 internal quiet, their substantive resources and rela- 
 tive dependency. The policy of altering an esta- 
 blished system may be influenced by various con- 
 siderations, such as the evils found by experience to 
 be attached to it, the power of correcting those evil*
 
 64 
 
 without incurring the risk of greater mischief, the 
 character and habits of the people governed, and 
 a multiplicity of circumstances incident to the sove- 
 reign authority, in whomsoever vested. It is univer- 
 sally admitted, that innovations of every description 
 are more hazardous in India than in any country on 
 the face of the earth; and if one thing has contribut- 
 ed more than another to the preservation of British 
 ascendency in that quarter, it has been a stedfast 
 adherence to the principle of abstaining from all in- 
 terference with the customs, opinions, and prejudices 
 of the natives, and of proceeding with the utmost 
 caution and deliberation in adopting the most obvi- 
 ous improvements ; to a desire on our part to get 
 acquainted with their manners, laws, and religion, 
 solely for the purpose of testifying our respect for 
 them j to a delicate regard for every thing that was 
 wise and good; and a prudent forbearance with 
 whatever appeared to be absurd or ill-digested in 
 their manners and institutions : in a word, it has 
 been to firmness tempered by much accommodation 
 in our deportment, and to plain dealing in our 
 transactions, that we owe all that we have ac- 
 quired; and it is only by persevering in the same 
 line of conduct that we can hope to retain what we 
 hold. This principle, however, could never have 
 been acted upon with systematic uniformity, had no 
 limits been imposed to the number of resident Euro- 
 peans. Every government, in virtue of its constitur 
 ent attributes of punishing and rewarding its own
 
 tx5 
 
 servants, may prevent gross abuses on their part, and 
 even give a tone to the manners of those whom it 
 employs ; but it would be impossible for any govern- 
 ment, however absolute, vigilant, and energetic, to 
 watch, control, and regulate a numerous European 
 population, dispersed over the widely-extended pro- 
 vinces of India. It will 'perhaps be urged that these 
 observations are unnecessary, because there is no in- 
 tention of permitting a free ingress of Europeans into 
 our Indian territories. But it is of very little conse- 
 quence that this is not the professed basis, if it shall 
 prove the actual, though unavovved consequence of 
 the new arrangement. 
 
 Liberty of trade presupposes every facility of car- 
 rying it on to advantage. It supposes that those who 
 take cargoes to India shall have a choice of markets ; 
 that if they are disappointed at one place, they shall 
 be allowed to transport them to another; that there 
 they shall be permitted to remain until their trans- 
 actions are finished, or rather until they choose to 
 confess that their business is brought to a close ; for 
 it will be found quite impracticable to fix such a pe- 
 riod for their stay, as in some cases will not give rise 
 to hardship, and in others to abuse, and equally 
 impracticable for the local authorities to inquire 
 into the circumstances connected with each ad- 
 venture. The making of purchases will involve still 
 greater difficulties. Every person at all acquainted 
 with India, knows that there are no stores of goods 
 
 F
 
 at the maritime ports from which cargoes can be made 
 up. An order in long advance must be given for the 
 goods which it is intended to export. Part of the 
 price must be advanced before the raw material is 
 manufactured, sometimes before it is in existence ; 
 another part must be paid before the article is 
 delivered, and the remainder at the period of 
 delivery. In India there are no overstocked ware- 
 houses, no bills at distant dates, no twelve-months' 
 or two years' credit. Who then are to provide the 
 investments of the private merchants ? If the servants 
 of the Company, a conspiracy would instantly be 
 suspected to ruin the private merchant by sup- 
 plying him with bad articles at exorbitant prices. 
 If agents are to be chosen by the merchants them- 
 selves and permitted by the Government to re- 
 side in India, the most superficial thinker must 
 perceive that this is a trade for which an ap- 
 prenticeship is necessary, and that a young man 
 sent out to India from Liverpool, Manchester, 
 or Glasgow, ignorant of the language and manners 
 of the natives, would require some tuition before 
 he could be qualified to acquit himself with ad- 
 vantage of the trust reposed in him by his em- 
 ployers. The number of these agents, however, is 
 a matter of much greater anxiety than their qualifi- 
 cations; and to their number no probable limits can 
 be assigned. The same reason which would prevent 
 the private merchants, as a body, from intrusting the 
 Company's covenanted servants with the purchase of
 
 67 
 
 .their investments, would make them distrustful of the 
 agents selected by each other, and the only remedy 
 seems to be, permitting every individual concerned in 
 the trade to have his separate agent. The conse- 
 quences it is easy to foretel. In the ardour of new 
 adventure, the Indian market will soon be glutted 
 with European produce (for at this moment it is over- 
 stocked), and the irritation resulting from disappoint- 
 ment will vent itself against the local governments, to 
 whose restrictions the disappointment will be im- 
 puted. At present the boon only is contemplated, 
 -while the conditions annexed to it are overlooked. 
 Then the condition will be represented as more irk- 
 some and vexatious, than the total exclusion from the 
 trade had been. Every species of evasion will be prac- 
 tised, and open acts of disorder committed. The ope- 
 ration of the law will be eluded or set at defiance. A 
 fertile soil peopled by a feeble and timid race of inha- 
 bitants, will tempt illicit enterprise. Those who 
 cannot earn a subsistence by legitimate pursuits, and 
 who have not the means of returning home, will try 
 to live as they can, by fraud, by plunder, or by arms. 
 The peaceable and defenceless natives will be harass- 
 ed and exasperated till they are at last goaded on to 
 resistance. All respect for the national character 
 will be extinguished, and opinion, the only support of 
 the Government, be converted into the instrument of 
 its downfal. Popular discontent will be fomented 
 and organized by the ambition of native chieftains, 
 prompted and aided by the most intelligent of the
 
 6B 
 
 Europeans, who will seek refuge under their stan- 
 dards from the vengeance due to their crimes. Mul- 
 titudes of idle, restless, and desperate people will 
 flock to India from this and other countries, eager to 
 repair their fortunes, or to attain unprincipled dis- 
 tinction ; and instead of that fair monument which the 
 valour, wisdom, and worth of fifty years have been 
 labouring to rear to the fame of England, and the 
 hallowed interests of humanity, we shall leave only 
 the miserable traces of imbecility and discord, fields 
 of desolation, and a pile of ruins ! 
 
 These are indeed portentous reflections, and would 
 to God they had no better foundation than in the 
 foreboding of a gloomy or heated imagination. It 
 happens unfortunately, however, for those who may 
 wish to give a pleasant face to a grave subject, that 
 they completely accord not only with the sentiments 
 which have been expressed by every Governor of 
 India, from Mr. Hastings down to Lord Minto, but 
 with all past experience.* 
 
 * The emphatic language of Mr. Hastings ought never to be for- 
 gotten. " I much fear, that it is not understood as it ought to be, 
 " how near the Company's existence in India has on many occa- 
 " sions vibrated to the edge of perdition, and that it has been at all 
 " times suspended by a thread, so fine, that the touch of chance 
 " might break, or the breath of opinion dissolve it ; and instan- 
 " taneous will be its fall whenever it shall happen. May God in his 
 " mercy long avert it !" Review of the State of Bengal. London, 
 1766. Page 154.
 
 69 
 
 , The commercial and political evils which must re 
 suit from the influx of Europeans into India, the his- 
 tory of our own and other countries, may teach us 
 duly to appreciate. Thus, when Cromwel, in the 
 year 1655, withdrew his protection from the Com- 
 pany, a crowd of adventurers rushed into the trade ; 
 the prices of English commodities in India were im- 
 mediately reduced, while the prices of Indian produce 
 and manufactures rose in an equal degree. The ad- 
 venturers were subjected to every species of insult 
 and indignity by the native powers, who soon dis- 
 covered that the people they were dealing with 
 did not belong to the great Company which they had 
 learned to respect. The fall in value of Indian com- 
 modities in England, arising from eager and sudden 
 competition, brought ruin on many of the speculators, 
 and left no other compensation to the country for a 
 large capital uselessly employed, than the unnatural 
 stimulus given to rapid and wasteful consumption by 
 low prices and a glutted market. 
 
 Another remarkable instance of the mischiefs aris- 
 ing from the resort of private adventurers to India, 
 occurred in the reign of Charles II. At that time a 
 number of private ships embarked in the trade, in 
 defiance of the Company ; and though a few of the 
 adventurers gained by the experiment, a very large 
 proportion were ruined in consequence of it. Nor 
 was this all the officers and men conducted them- 
 selves during their stay in the country with so much 
 arrogance and impropriety, as to excite the general
 
 70 
 
 indignation of the inhabitants, and to draw upon the 
 nation the resentment of the Mogul and other native 
 Princes. War was declared the Company's facto- 
 ries were seized, and the complete extirpation of the 
 English from India, after five years' interruption to 
 their commerce, was with difficulty prevented by the 
 interposition of the British Government, and the most 
 rigorous measures against the interlopers. 
 
 The fate of the Portuguese power in the East, pre- 
 sents an awful warning to Great Britain. The into- 
 lerable license of the roving adventurers of that nation 
 rendered them odious to the natives, and by arming 
 against them the whole population of the coasts and 
 islands of India, led to the final subversion of their 
 power by the Dutch. 
 
 The records of the English East India Company 
 abound with instances in which the liberty of re- 
 siding in India, under all the limitations at present 
 annexed to it, has been grossly abused. To select 
 only one out of many which might be mentioned : in 
 179>, two persons of the names of Arnott and Bel- 
 lasis, were ordered out of India for having furnished 
 warlike stores to the Mahrattas. The former surren- 
 dered himself, or "rather was delivered up, but the 
 latter sought protection from one of the Bundela 
 Chieftains, by whom he was afterwards emploj'ed in 
 training and disciplining a corps of natives. About 
 the same period, Sir John Shore was harassed with 
 representations connected with the residence of a
 
 71 
 
 number of Europeans who had settled in the pro- 
 vince ofOude, the Vizier complaining of their inter- 
 ference with his officers in the collection of the reve- 
 nue; and the settlers, on the other hand, claiming 
 protection from the Governor-General against the 
 vexations practised upon them by that Prince. In 
 short, it was to the influence possessed by Europeans 
 over the councils of the Sultan of Mysore, and of the 
 Mahratta Chieftains, that the almost incessant wars 
 in India, for a period of fifteen years, are principally 
 to be ascribed. 
 
 In reference to these serious and well-known facts, 
 it is to be hoped, that the Legislature will be cautious 
 in giving its sanction to any system of intercourse 
 by which the political interests of the country may 
 be compromised, and our connexion with India 
 brought into peril. The value of the stake is im- 
 mense, and if we transgress the rules of the game, al- 
 though bv some luckv hits, we might be successful 
 for a time, the ultimate chances, according to all 
 calculation, are against us. 
 
 The views of the Petitioners against the Com- 
 pany's exclusive privileges, being directed to a parti- 
 cipation in the China trade, as well as the Indian, 
 it becomes necessary to inquire, what would be the 
 probable effects of throwing open that branch of 
 Asiatic commerce to the public at large. It will be 
 seen on referring to the Hints submitted to the con- 
 sideration of the late President of the India Board bv
 
 72 
 
 the Court of Directors, and to the Observations 
 sent in answer to those hints by Lord Melville,* that 
 in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, it 
 will be " advisable, with a view to the security of 
 " the revenue, and to other objects connected with 
 " the trade to China, to leave it on its present foot- 
 " ing, and to guard by proper regulations against 
 " any encroachment on that branch of the East India 
 " Company's exclusive privilege." It may therefore 
 be assumed, that on this point there is no difference 
 of opinion, at least in principle, between His Ma- 
 jesty's Government and the Court of Directors. 
 The question, however, is one on which the public 
 have a voice, and whatever agreement may be entered 
 into between Ministers and the Directors, is subject 
 to the future revisal of Parliament. If the public 
 have been unfairly dealt with in any part of the pro- 
 posed arrangement, an appeal lies open to the highest 
 tribunal recognized by the constitution, a tribunal 
 perfectly competent to reverse any preliminary 
 judgment which may have been passed unfair 
 towards the claimants, injurious to the East India 
 Company, or prejudicial to the general interests 
 of the empire. Every question connected with 
 the subject, ought therefore to be treated upon 
 the broad grounds of political and commercial expe- 
 diency, without regard to the recorded opinions of 
 any party in the pending discussion. The author 
 
 Printed Papers, pages 62 and 62.
 
 73 
 
 is fully sensible of the disadvantage under which he 
 labours, from want of access to any special source of 
 information. His only apology is the consciousness of 
 meaning well, his only encouragement under an ac- 
 knowledged and lamented deficiency, proceeds from 
 confidence in the public candour. The following facts, 
 the authenticity of which may be depended on, will, 
 perhaps, protect him from the charge of wilful igno- 
 rance, or remissness in seeking for information in those 
 quarters where there was a probability of its being 
 obtained. 
 
 They may be arranged, with reference first to 
 the municipal laws and institutions of China ; and 
 secondly, to the manufacturing, commercial, and 
 fiscal interests of this country. 
 
 I. Some of the peculiarities in the character of the 
 Chinese Government and people, are necessary to be 
 known before the nature of our connexion with the 
 country, and the fickle tenure on which it depends, 
 can be rightly understood. Their mode both of 
 thinking and acting is marked with a strong dislike 
 and contempt of strangers. Agriculture constitutes 
 the basis of the economical policy of the government, 
 and the favourite pursuit of the people. The advan- 
 tages of foreign commerce, though better appreciated 
 now than in time past, are still held in secondary 
 consideration, whilst the jealousy which pervades 
 and embarrasses all their intercourse with strangers,
 
 74 
 
 operates both as an obstacle to the extension of trade 
 with their country in general, and as an impediment to 
 the ordinary course of business with the natives, even 
 upon its present restricted scale. Canton, or rather the 
 river on which it stands, is now the only port in 
 the empire open to foreign commerce. The Euro- 
 pean nations who have carried on the trade with 
 China, never being permitted to settle upon the Con- 
 tinent, or to approach with their ships nearer than 
 Hongpou, which is four leagues from the city of 
 Canton, successively established factories on several 
 of the little islands at the mouth of the river. To this 
 day the English factory, after completing their sales 
 and purchases at Hong, retire to Macao, a small set- 
 tlement belonging to the Portuguese, afraid of awak- 
 ening the suspicion of the Chinese Government, or 
 of involving themselves in disputes with its subjects. 
 
 The system of absolute despotism (in itself unfa- 
 vourable to commerce), on which the Chinese Go- 
 vernment is founded, and which pervades all the gra- 
 dations of rank in society, has given rise to a notion 
 from which no class in the country is exempt, that 
 all communities, whether great or small, both in 
 their integral masses and separate portions, are sub- 
 ject to the same mode and degree of authority as ex- 
 ists in China; that the Chief of the Company's fac- 
 tory possesses, or ought to possess, unlimited power 
 over all individuals belonging to the English nation 
 during their stay at Canton, and that he, as well in
 
 15 
 
 his person as in the property committed to his charge, 
 is responsible for every infraction on the part of his 
 countrymen of the laws of the empire. 
 
 For many years the Company's representatives 
 possessed no legitimate control over any other than 
 the ships of their employers under their immediate 
 orders, and accordingly the inconvenience resulting 
 from the doctrine of responsibility held by the Chi- 
 nese Government was often severely felt. In 1782, 
 a ship supposed to be Spanish property, and to have 
 a Dutch cargo on board, bound from Macao to 
 Manilla, was seized by Captain M'Lary, command- 
 ing a country ship from Bengal. The Governor of 
 Macao, in the first instance, resented this infraction 
 of the neutrality of his port, by imprisoning the ag- 
 gressor, and fining him to the amount of 70,000 dol- 
 lars. But when the circumstance came to be known 
 to the Mandarins at Canton, the Company's super- 
 cargoes were informed that they would be considered 
 as answerable for the restoration of the ship in that 
 instance, and in future for any similar transgression. 
 The abandonment of the captured vessel by M'Lary 
 and his crew, happily prevented any attempt to give 
 effect to the menace. 
 
 In 17^-i, a Chinese was accidentally killed by a 
 shot fired from on board the Lady Hughes country 
 ship, in the act of saluting, the consequence of which 
 was the execution of the gunner. Apprehensions 
 being entertained by the Company's representatives,
 
 76 
 
 that the vessel which occasioned the unlucky accident, 
 might slip out of the river before the affair was in- 
 vestigated, they were compelled, with a view to their 
 own security, so far to exceed their powers, as to 
 order the commanders of the Company's ships to 
 prevent her sailing ; and when the fate of the unfor- 
 tunate gunner was ultimately decided, a deputation 
 from all the European factories was summoned to 
 attend the Mandarin of Justice, who acquainted 
 its members distinctly and unequivocally, that on 
 any similar occasion that might thereafter occur, if 
 the actual offender could not be found, the chiefs of 
 their respective nations should be considered as an- 
 swerable in their own persons. 
 
 Another occurrence took place in the same or fol- 
 lowing season, which shewed that the Chinese Go- 
 vernment consider the Chief of the Company's fac- 
 tory as responsible not only for the peaceable con- 
 duct of his countrymen, but for their pecuniary 
 engagements. Some difference in the settlement of an 
 account having arisen between the commander of a 
 country ship and his security merchant, (a term which 
 will be afterwards explained) the latter had withheld 
 the grand chop or port clearance, without which no 
 pilot would take charge of the ship. The master con- 
 fiding in his own skill, resolved to remove his ship 
 without one. In this predicament the Chinese 
 neither attempted by force to stop the ship, nor mo- 
 lested the person of the commander, but conformably 
 to their usual practice, had recourse to the Com-
 
 77 
 
 pany's representatives, threatening them with a sui. 
 pension of their trade, if the ship was suffered to 
 proceed to sea before the difference was adjusted; on 
 which the Company's supercargoes again interfered, 
 (although unauthorized) to prevent the sailing of the 
 ship. 
 
 Farther, it was owing to the excesses and unwar- 
 rantable speculations entered into by some unlicensed 
 British traders, who contracted large debts, which 
 they were unable to pay, that the prices of Chinese 
 commodities were increased to the Company in 1780 
 by the Hong merchants. In order to establish a fund 
 for the liquidation of those debts, the prices of tea 
 and other exports were then raised to a standard from 
 which they have never since been lowered ; and had 
 the effect been foreseen, it might have been wise as a 
 measure of oeconomy, for the Company to avert it, 
 by paying the debts at once, out of their own trea- 
 sury. 
 
 In consequence of the occurrences above adverted 
 to, and others of a similar nature, the Court of Di- 
 rectors, perceiving, that from the maxims of respon- 
 sibility laid down and promulgated by the Chinese 
 Government, their best interests were liable to injury 
 from the folly, rashness, or dishonesty of individuals, 
 became impressed with the necessity of investing 
 their representatives with some legal power of con- 
 trol. They accordingly issued orders to all their 
 Presidencies in India, that no ship should be allowed
 
 78 
 
 to clear out from thence to China until the captain 
 and owners had entered into an engagement, under 
 a certain penalty, to conform implicitly to such re- 
 gulations as the Company's supercargoes should 
 think proper to enact for their guidance during their 
 stay on the Chinese coast, and the captains were 
 required to present certificates of their clearances to 
 the head of the Company's factory immediately on 
 their arrival at Canton. 
 
 The commutation act having passed soon after, 
 the consequent increase both of the Company's 
 and country shipping, pointed out the expediency of 
 some more efficient regulations than had hitherto 
 existed for restraining the disorderly behaviour of the 
 seamen ; and a species of police was instituted, under 
 the superintendence of the senior commander of the 
 Company's ships, to which all British ships frequent- 
 ing Canton are now subject. Many good effects 
 have unquestionably been produced ^by these regu- 
 lations, but when the difficulties arising from the pe- 
 culiar character of the Chinese on the one hand, and 
 the rash, impetuous, and dissolute character of our 
 sailors on the other, are considered, it is perhaps 
 matter of greater surprise, that the intercourse has 
 been preserved at all, than that it has been liable 
 to casual interruption. 
 
 Chinese women are strictly prohibited by the laws 
 of the empire from going on board of foreign ships. 
 The consequences of such an offence, though dim-
 
 79 
 
 cult of prevention, are very serious. In 1801, a 
 country ship, called the Dove, was detained several 
 weeks in the river on this account, to the injury of 
 the owners and all concerned. 
 
 A man committing an outrage in a state of intoxi- 
 cation, according to the criminal code of China, is 
 exiled to a desert country, there to remain in servi- 
 tude. 
 
 By the same laws, the abetting, or encouraging of 
 emigration, is punished as a capital crime. It would 
 be absurd to suppose that violations of such laws do 
 not under present circumstances frequently occur. 
 Indeed the loss of men on board the Company's ships, 
 from casualties, desertion, or the impress for His Ma- 
 jesty's service, often makes it indispensably necessary 
 to engage a certain number of Chinese seamen for 
 the homeward voyage, because the ships could not 
 be otherwise navigated. But the vigilance exer- 
 cised by the Company's officers, renders some of 
 these offences more rare ; their local knowledge ren- 
 ders others less easy of detection, and the influence 
 possessed by their Supercargoes, as a body, on all 
 occasions secures to their representations a more 
 favourable hearing from the government, than those 
 of individuals could be expected to obtain. 
 
 Notwithstanding these various advantages, how- 
 ever, occurrences have happened even of late years,
 
 arising out of the severity of the Chinese laws respect- 
 ing homicide, which have been productive of much 
 inconvenience and embarrassment, and threatened a 
 total extinction of the trade. In 1807, a Chinese died 
 in consequence of a wound which he had received in 
 an affray with part of the crew belonging to one of 
 the Company's ships. An order was immediately 
 issued by the government at Canton, to deliver up 
 the guilty person, and in the mean time an entire 
 stop was put to the trade. An investigation was in- 
 stituted by the commander of the suspected ship, for 
 the discovery of the culprit, but without effect. The 
 inquiry was farther pursued by the Chinese Man- 
 darins themselves, and with no better success. An 
 individual was indeed selected as one of the most 
 active in the affray, but the guilt of inflicting the 
 wound that had proved fatal, was not brought home 
 to him. At last, after much discussion, an anxious 
 interval of six weeks, and considerable expense in- 
 curred by demurrage, the ships were permitted to 
 depart ; but in consequence of this delay, the 
 whole China fleet were obliged, under many dis- 
 advantages, to return to Europe by the Eastward 
 passage, instead of the usual course. In 1810 and 
 1811, the trade met with another obstruction from 
 a similar cause. 
 
 In mentioning these circumstances, it is due to the 
 Company's representatives at Canton, at the same time 
 to state, that the difficulties to which they have been on
 
 SI 
 
 various occasions subjected, have uniformly been 
 surmounted by good sense, firmness, and modera ; 
 tion; and that, notwithstanding the jeopardy into 
 which their persons, their property, and the interests 
 of their employers, have been repeatedly thrown by 
 unavoidable accident, they never have sacrificed the 
 life or freedom of one of His Majesty's subjects to 
 their own safety or extrication from embarrassment. 
 Can it be believed by any one, that private individuals 
 under like circumstances, would have been equally 
 scrupulous and equally successful ? 
 
 The principle of responsibility maintained and 
 acted upon by the Chinese Government, in regard 
 to strangers (as already explained), has been acknow- 
 ledged by the Company in their regulations, and is, 
 of course, confirmed by that recognition. They had, 
 in fact, no other alternative than either to abandon 
 the trade altogether, or to carry it on conformably 
 to the laws and usages of China. It was equally 
 beyond the Company's power to change the nature, 
 or to resist the operation of the Chinese Institutions, 
 unprotected as they have been by any existing treaty, 
 and unsupported by the influence of a resident Bri- 
 tish Ambassador. Is it not then most unreasonable 
 to expect that the Company should extend their pro- 
 tection to their rivals in trade; and would it not be 
 unjust to permit the private merchants of this country 
 to place themselves in a situation in which experience 
 has shewn that their errors, their faults, and their 
 
 f;
 
 85 
 
 crimes would be exclusively visited on the Company ? 
 Were private British merchants admitted to a partici- 
 pation of the trade, it would be useless for the Com- 
 pany to disclaim all authority over them. As long as 
 an English flag continues to fly at Canton, the Chi- 
 nese will never be persuaded that every ship bearing 
 the same colours with the Company's ships, ought not 
 to be subject to the control of the Company's agents. 
 An inevitable consequence of the trade being thrown 
 open is, that the ships of individual merchants would 
 claim the protection of the Company's supercargoes 
 whenever they involved themselves in difficulty, and 
 would spurn their control when they found constraint 
 inconvenient or unpleasant. 
 
 Another obstacle to a free trade presents itself: 
 When the Chinese first entered into commercial inter- 
 course with other countries, their cautious and wary 
 Government, with a view to avoid all cause of dispute 
 or quarrel, constituted a certain number of native 
 merchants into a body for the management of foreign 
 trade, and at the same time, that it imposed an inter- 
 dict against every trader who had not one of its own 
 subjects as his security, it left the option of becoming 
 or refusing to become security to each individual, 
 composing this body of native merchants. The 
 security merchants being answerable to their own 
 Government for every act of those for whom security 
 is given, are thus subjected to a heavy responsibility, 
 and though they may have little scruple about being
 
 83 
 
 guarantees for the Company's agents, after the long 
 experience they have had of their probity and dis- 
 cretion, they would probably hesitate before commit- 
 ting themselves for the conduct of a motley class of 
 new adventurers, in whom they could repose no such 
 confidence. 
 
 Were a representative of the British Government 
 appointed to the station now filled by the agents of 
 the Company, and also to be recognized in that capa- 
 city by the Emperor of China (by no means a matter 
 of course), it is worth consideration, setting aside the 
 expense to the public, whether such a representative 
 without force to carry his orders into execution, 
 would be adequate to the end of his appointment ; 
 whether any representative with such a force could 
 be expected placidly to submit to the indignities to 
 which he might occasionally be exposed ; and whe- 
 ther a change of system might not infuse such dis- 
 trust both into the Chinese Government and the 
 security merchants as to produce a suspension of the 
 trade, or occasion such differences as might eventual- 
 ly lead to our total exclusion from their ports ? The 
 existence of the trade would unquestionably be en- 
 dangered by relaxing the control ing power, under 
 which it is now carried on ; and this relaxation could 
 hardly fail to result either from changing the hands 
 in which the power is at present vested, or from ex- 
 tending the sphere of its operation, so far as to ren- 
 der superintendence difficult if not impracticable.
 
 Among the evils that would arise from throwing 
 open the trade between England and China, that 
 of smuggling articles of British manufacture into the 
 Chinese territories in contravention of the revenue 
 laws of the empire, is one which might with certainty- 
 be anticipated. Individuals engaged in separate adven- 
 tures would naturally endeavour to promote theirimme- 
 diate interests, little scrupulous about the means. The 
 evasion of the duties on woollens, which on some arti- 
 cles are equal to 60 and 70 per cent, on the sale prices, 
 and considerable on all, would prove an irresistible 
 temptation to fraud ; and though it is impossible ac- 
 curately to predict the consequences of such an abuse, 
 it seems no unnatural or overstretched conclusion, 
 that a government, jealous of its rights, and distin- 
 guished by a singular antipathy to strangers, might 
 thereby be induced to break off all commercial inter- 
 course with a country, when that intercourse ceased 
 to be conducted on the principles of honesty and fair 
 dealing. The East India Company, as a body, stand 
 far above the suspicion of lending themselves to 
 practices of such a nature, and every attention is 
 paid to prevent them on the part of the officers em- 
 ployed in the Company's ships. The Court of Di- 
 rectors have very properly issued orders, that any 
 officer detected in smuggling goods into China, 
 shall be deprived of his portion of tonnage for* a 
 home investment, and this regulation has been found 
 much more effectual in preventing illicit traffic, than 
 the fine of fifty times the value of the smuggled
 
 85 
 
 article, to which the offender is subject in case of 
 detection by the Chinese laws. 
 
 It will probably be asked, do not the Americans 
 carry on an open trade with China successfully, and 
 might not private British merchants do the same ?* 
 To this question it may be replied, that the dispo- 
 sitions and habits of the seamen employed by the 
 two countries are materially different, and that the 
 political circumstances of the two countries them- 
 selves, have by no means, of late years, been so nearly 
 analogous, as to warrant a fair comparison between 
 
 * In some of the petitions which have been presented to parlia- 
 ment it is urged, as a great hardship upon the private traders of this 
 country, that they are excluded from a free commerce with India, 
 when that commerce is open to foreign nations at amity with His 
 Majesty. The petitioners contend that the citizens of the United 
 States, in particular, have long enjoyed this trade, to the prejudice 
 of our own country ; that they have actually carried it on by means 
 of British capital ; and that the large profits which they have de- 
 rived from it, whilst they demonstrate the superiority of individual 
 industry when opposed to the negligence and prodigality of a Joint 
 Stock Company, would cease under a competition with the unfet- 
 tered skill and enterprise of private British merchants. This objec- 
 tion, together with the other allegations contained in the petitions 
 from the Out-ports, have been examined and ably answered in a 
 report from the Committee of Correspondence to the Court of Di- 
 rectors, dated 9th Feb. lS13,f extracts from which are now sub- 
 joined to this publication. See Appendix, No. 1. 
 
 I Printed Paper?, page 202.
 
 86 
 
 their respective gains from the trade. The American 
 seamen are, generally speaking, a sedate, orderly, 
 and regular class of people. Particular care also is 
 taken in selecting those who are employed to man 
 their China ships. Where no competition of demand 
 exists between the government and the merchants, 
 this selection is always easy, and the large profits in 
 trade which the American merchants have made in 
 consequence of their access to foreign ports, from 
 which Great Britain is excluded, enable them to 
 offer to their seamen very high wages, so high as 
 thirty dollars, or JjI. per month, and not unfre- 
 quently a share in the adventure. A common Ame- 
 rican sailor may look forward, by a course of good 
 behaviour, to become mate, or even master of a ship. 
 Nothing can be more unpleasant than to say any 
 thing to the disparagement of a body of men to whom 
 this country is so eminently indebted, but it is well 
 known that the British seamen, particularly such as 
 in time of war compose the crews of trading ships, do 
 not answer precisely the above description. Daunt- 
 less in the midst of danger, bold in battle, and 
 easily restrained on board of King's ships, but insub- 
 ordinate in the merchant service, addicted to liquor, 
 and prone to every excess when on shore, even under 
 the eye of their own officers, it becomes quite im- 
 possible to ensure their good behaviour at a foreign 
 port, particularly after a long voyage. The exigen- 
 cies of the navy, during a period of hostility, leave 
 only the gleanings and refuse of the profession to the
 
 87 
 
 trade. The natural and habitual turbulence of such 
 men, it has required all the vigilance and energy of 
 the Company's representatives at Canton to control. 
 The existing checks have not always been found 
 sufficient to repress disorder, and were they either 
 set aside or weakened, the total exclusion of our ships 
 from the ports and rivers of China would be a con- 
 summation to be deprecated indeed, but not easily to 
 be averted. 
 
 If the petitioners for an open trade found their 
 claims upon an assumption, that the great profits 
 made by the Americans upon their share of it could 
 either be participated or engrossed by the rival ex- 
 ertions of private British merchants, they state and 
 argue upon a fallacy. The gains of the Americans, 
 if they exist to the extent supposed, are chiefly to 
 be ascribed to the pacific policy of their government, 
 and to the commercial relations in which they stand, 
 or have stood, with the rest of the world. It may 
 be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that in the 
 event either of a general peace, or of the continuance 
 of war between Great Britain and the United States, 
 America cannot maintain a successful competition 
 with the East India Company in the China trade. 
 The woollens and metals exported from England by 
 the Company, and the cotton, sandal wood, pepper, 
 and other commodities exported to China from the 
 British territories in India, by the Company, and by 
 the Chinese themselves, are now sufficient in value to
 
 88 
 
 pay the whole of the Company's home investment 
 from China. The Americans carry little thither 
 besides silver, and therefore their gains must be con- 
 fined to the profits on their return cargoes ; whereas 
 the Company have a mercantile profit upon a large 
 proportion of their imports to China, and a profit 
 upon the whole of their exports from that country. 
 Their gains in the trade would be still more exten- 
 sive, but the produce and manufactures of this coun- 
 try, which they export to China, are selected less with 
 a view to mercantile profit than to the encouragement 
 of British industry, by procuring a vent for our own 
 commodities. It must be obvious to every one that 
 the general profits of the Company are much dimi- 
 nished by the advance of taxation, by war freights, 
 war insurance, and the necessity imposed upon them 
 by a state of hostility, of sending their ships out and 
 home in fleets, and under convoy. It should, how- 
 ever, at the same time be recollected, that private 
 British merchants would be subjected (were the trade 
 thrown open) to precisely the same inconveniences 
 and drawbacks. 
 
 The inference which the foregoing facts and ob- 
 servations seem to justify, is, that the present mode 
 of conducting the trade between England and China 
 could not be changed without endangering the sus- 
 pension, or perhaps, the total suppression of the ex- 
 isting intercourse; and this consideration alone is of 
 sufficient weight to counterbalance the pretensions
 
 89 
 
 of those whose object it is to invade the exclusive 
 privilege of the East India Company. It will not 
 however be difficult to shew that the manufacturers 
 of this country, the government itself, and the great 
 body of British consumers are as much interested in 
 the continuance of the Company's exclusive privi- 
 lege as that Corporation itself. This constitutes the 
 
 e ld Branch of the subject to which it was proposed 
 to draw the reader's attention. 
 
 The two principal articles of British produce and 
 manufacture exported by the East India Company 
 to China, are tin and woollens. It appears from the 
 Printed Papers,* that in consequence of an arrange- 
 ment entered into between the Company and certain 
 proprietors of tin mines, in the County of Cornwall, 
 in 1789, an average annual quantity of 7<5(3 tons of 
 that metal, at the average prime cost of j7&. Is. 
 per ton, has been exported to China in the course 
 of the 22 years subsequent to that agreement that 
 no charge has been made by the Company for 
 freight, trouble, and expense incurred in England in 
 shipping the tin ; that after allowing 4| per cent, 
 for insurance, 2 per cent, for commission and changes 
 in China, and four months' interest for advance of 
 money, the tin actually costs the Company .=80. per 
 ton and that the average sale price in China has 
 
 * Page SS.
 
 90 
 
 been j84. per ton, leaving to the Company a dif- 
 ference in their receipts beyond their disbursements of 
 only j3. ISs. as a compensation for freight and 
 charges of establishment. It farther appears, that 
 in the present season the Court of Directors agreed 
 to receive 800 tons, at the advanced price of <78. 
 per ton, by which, according to the same calcu- 
 lation, the Company will actually incur a loss of 
 7s. 4rf. per ton, exclusive of freight and charges of 
 insurance. The sacrifice made by the Company 
 for the encouragement of the tin miners may be 
 duly appreciated, by referring to the same letter, 
 where the Chairman and Deputy state,* that at 
 Malacca, Banca, and other places in the Eastern parts 
 of India, they could procure tin at from j67. to 
 JE70. a ton, (and that probably in exchange for the 
 productions of our Indian territories) ; at which price 
 the sales in the China market would leave them a 
 fair mercantile profit upon this branch of their trade. 
 In so far therefore as the proprietors of tin mines are 
 interested in the pending discussion, the opening of 
 the trade to China would be injurious to them, it 
 being obviously unreasonable to expect that indivi- 
 dual merchants would make the same sacrifices that 
 the Company have made, and seem still willing to 
 continue, for the purpose of procuring a vent for one 
 of the staple productions of the British soil. 
 
 Printed Papers, page 89.
 
 91 
 
 Another no less certain effect of throwing open the 
 trade, would be a great reduction in the export of 
 British woollens. The introduction of woollen ma- 
 nufactures into China, is of recent date, and the 
 exports of that article, which, at the commencement 
 of the trade, amounted in value only to a few thou- 
 sand pounds, have been progressively augmented by 
 the exertions and sacrifices of the East India Com- 
 pany, to near a million sterling annually. The 
 French and Dutch attempted to introduce the woollen 
 manufactures of their respective countries into China, 
 but with very little success. The Americans have 
 occasionally, though very rarely, carried woollens to 
 Canton, but the adventures, not having turned out 
 profitable in a single instance, were never repeated 
 by the same individuals. Although the commodity 
 is peculiarly well adapted to the climate of the 
 northern provinces of the Chinese empire, the inha- 
 bitants, provided with a substitute in furs of various 
 descriptions, to which they have been long accus- 
 tomed, have been found averse to a dress exceeding 
 in price, but inferior in durability to their usual 
 clothing, harsher in its texture than their own cot- 
 tons and silks, and less warm than their coverings of 
 skins. Articles similar to the poplins and tabbinets 
 of Ireland, are manufactured in China in abundance, 
 and at a much cheaper rate than Ireland can afford 
 to furnish them. The records of the East India 
 Company not only afford ample evidence of the dif- 
 ficulties attending the sale of the woollens which they
 
 92 
 
 export, but also exhibit a series of very heavy losses 
 sustained in this branch of the trade, although the 
 confidence reposed by the Chinese in the honesty and 
 good faith of the Company's agents is such, that a 
 bale of goods passes from one province of the empire 
 to another, and through a vast number of different 
 hands, merely upon the credit of the Company's 
 seal, without ever being examined, just as their mer- 
 chandise imported into this country, and bought at 
 their sales, used to pass upon the credit of the same 
 sign over the whole continent of Europe. Notwith- 
 standing this advantage, however, which new adven- 
 turers would not possess, the Company have lost 
 nearly JC50,000 a year, in the course of their present 
 charter, on the article of long ells alone, imported 
 into China, though only 10 per cent has been added 
 in their accounts to the prime cost, to form the 
 invoice price of the goods, and to cover all charges 
 of freight, insurance, interest for money advanced, 
 &c. ; the goods being regularly paid for to the ma- 
 nufacturer in ready money, and sometimes a year 
 and a half before the value is realized in China. The 
 motives for continuing a trade so disadvantageous, 
 are understood to be founded on the following 
 considerations : that it became the Company to 
 incur a temporary loss for the sake of great public 
 objects > that had they exclusively consulted their 
 own interests as a commercial body, thousands of 
 British manufacturers who have been supported by 
 their capital must have been reduced to distress and
 
 93 
 
 ruin ; that the present unhappy state of the world 
 ought not to be contemplated as permanent ; that 
 the stagnation of trade resulting from events of a 
 transitory nature was to be counteracted by their 
 corporate exertions in opening and even forcing out- 
 lets to the staple manufactures of this country, where- 
 ever such outlets could be found ; that these exer- 
 tions have hitherto hindered a temporary check to 
 British industry from proving the cause of its lasting 
 decline; that their exports of commodities have pre- 
 vented the alternative of an addition to the heavy 
 existing drain of specie from Great Britain, or a de- 
 falcation in the revenue, which must have ensued 
 from a diminished importation of tea from China ; 
 and, that the loss incurred by the Company from 
 this mode of carrying on the trade, has been in fact 
 a part of the price paid to the public for the con- 
 tinuance of their exclusive privileges. Whether these 
 considerations will be satisfactory to the political 
 economist may be doubted : still the motives of the 
 Company are entitled at least to indulgence, and if 
 in circumstances where they had only a choice of 
 evils, they have yielded to what appeared to them to 
 be the least injurious, they have established a claim 
 upon the gratitude of the country instead of meriting 
 attack. If they have erred, it has been in common with 
 the manufacturing capitalists of Manchester, Birming- 
 ham, and other towns in the kingdom, who have con- 
 tinued to retain their workmen in their employ after
 
 94 
 
 their labour ceased to be valuable.* The reign of gene- 
 ral principles has long since passed away, or rather 
 has not yet commenced in the world. Man is the 
 creature of expedient, and compromise is the law of 
 his condition. If, forsaking the course that has been 
 traced to us by experience, we are to tempt the 
 region of untried speculation, we may begin with 
 tearing every commercial treaty from the archives of 
 the state, and committing half of our statutes to the 
 flames. 
 
 Admitting the accuracy of the facts which have 
 been stated, the following inferences will hardly be 
 disputed. 
 
 1st. That the demand for British produce and 
 manufactures in China being extremely limited, and 
 
 * See evidence taken in a Committee of the House of Commons 
 on the Orders in Council, passim. 
 
 The Edinburgh Reviewers in commenting upon this evidence 
 observe : " It is pleasing, indeed, and consolatory in the midst 
 " of such a scene as is disclosed by the evidence before us, to see 
 " in how many instances the latter description of persons (the 
 " capitalist, the merchant, and the master manufacturers of all 
 " degrees) continued to give employment to their workmen, long 
 " after they ceased to make any profit by their labours ; and even 
 " went on for a great length of time to maintain them at a loss to 
 " themselves. There is no national distinction so honourable, as 
 " that of breeding a race of men among whom such conduct con- 
 " fer no distinction." Edinburgh Review, No. XXXIX. p. 235.
 
 95 
 
 supplied by the East India Company as exporters at 
 a loss, the gains of the producers and manufacturers 
 must necessarily cease, or be diminished, in the same 
 proportion with the sacrifices of the Company, and 
 that these sacrifices cannot be expected either on the 
 part of that body, or of individuals after the open- 
 ing of the trade, inasmuch as the Company will then 
 be unable, and individuals will both be unable and 
 unwilling to continue them. If the credit of the 
 articles now exported were shaken in such an empire 
 as China, it is impossible to say what might be the 
 permanent effects to the manufacturers at home ; and 
 even a temporary derangement in the export of one 
 of the great staples of the country, could not fail to 
 occasion much distress and clamour. 
 
 2dly. That the merchants are soliciting admission 
 not to a profitable but to a losing commerce, in so far 
 as the export trade to China is concerned, and that if 
 capital be embarked in it, it must necessarily prove 
 ruinous to the speculators ; and 
 
 Sdly. That the Legislature will best provide for the 
 true interest of the various classes placed under its 
 protecting care and superintendence, by attending to 
 facts rather than to speculation, by listening to expe- 
 rience rather than to vague expectations, and by re- 
 fusing to hazard known, certain, and permanent ad- 
 vantages for a chance of something better, coupled
 
 96 
 
 with the numerous causes and lamentable conse- 
 quences of miscarriage. 
 
 The claimants of an open trade will, do doubt, 
 urge that though the export branch of it may be 
 unprofitable, yet that the commerce upon the whole 
 must be advantageous, and that they are entitled to 
 share in the advantage to its full extent. In order 
 fairly to appreciate the merits of this pretension, it 
 is necessary to consider what would be its probable 
 operation, if sanctioned by the Legislature, upon the 
 Revenue, and the general interests of this Country. 
 
 As to the question of natural right, on which the 
 claim is founded, in some of the Petitions, it is to be 
 observed, that on the first establishment of society, 
 the rights of individuals are merged in the interests of 
 the community at large, and that it is incumbent 
 upon Government, the legitimate guardian of those 
 interests, to protect them no less against private en- 
 croachment, than against foreign aggression. There 
 are, in fact, no other natural rights in society than 
 what are recognized by the Laws of Society. Com- 
 mercial freedom, taken in the abstract, is quite as 
 desirable as political freedom : but every person who 
 is in the habit of attending to the numerous statutes 
 connected with trade and revenue, which at different 
 periods have been passed by the Legislature, must be 
 aware that the principle of liberty, as applied to
 
 97 
 
 commerce is so modified and variously restricted, as 
 hardly to be recognized in the system under which 
 the commerce of the country is now carried on. To 
 promote demand, and to facilitate supply, ought to 
 be the great object of all commercial policy ; but the 
 tendency of the whole of our navigation laws, is to 
 render the produce of our own soil and industry less 
 accessible to foreigners, and to enhance the price of 
 foreign productions to the British consumer. By 
 appropriating to ourselves a monopoly (under certain 
 limitations) of the trade, between the parent state 
 and the colonies, we stinted colonial, and taxed do- 
 mestic industry ; and by attempting to engross a 
 large proportion of the carrying trade between this 
 and other countries, we paid in the increase of price 
 for the articles imported, a sum far exceeding both 
 our gains and savings, under the different heads of 
 freight, insurance and commission. These laws were 
 passed at a period when political security was justly 
 deemed of paramount importance to the commercial 
 freedom, which they invaded ; and though in later 
 times, when from the pressure of war, and the ge- 
 neral circumstances of the world, our commerce is 
 considered as being more in danger than our power, 
 it has been deemed advisable to act upon a contrarv 
 maxim, and not only to relax the navigation act, but 
 to permit the trade of the country to be carried on, at 
 least in part, through the medium of alien enemies (a 
 maxim fully as hazardous to our political ascendency
 
 98 
 
 as that which it supplanted had been injurious to 
 our commercial prosperity), the change is univer- 
 sally regarded, not as the effect of a free and en- 
 lightened choice, nor as a homage paid to the prin- 
 ciple of commercial freedom, but as a tribute ex- 
 torted by necessity, and limited by the extent and 
 duration of that necessity. So impossible is it fre- 
 quently to reconcile in practice principles in them- 
 selves equally true, and so vain is it to attempt, 
 under all circumstances, to pursue an uniform and 
 invariable line of conduct deducible from any one 
 fixed principle ! 
 
 It would not be difficult to shew that the spirit of 
 monopoly (whatever odium may be attached to the 
 tcnn), is not so abhorrent either to the Municipal 
 Institutions or Statute Laws of this Country, as the 
 arguments and pretensions of the adversaries of the 
 East India Company might lead one to suppose. 
 What are all the Corporations now existing in the 
 Kingdom, founded upon ancient Charters, and for- 
 tified by separate codes of by-laws, but so many 
 legal monopolies, each not only exercising jurisdic- 
 tion over its own members, but prescribing terms of 
 admission to such persons as may wish to pursue any 
 branch of trade within its limits, and proportioning 
 the fine of entrance to the local advantages of the si- 
 tuation r If natural right is to be appealed to, why 
 should the City of London, for instance, possess the 
 power of excluding from the exercise of trade within
 
 99 
 
 its bounds, every man in the country who has not 
 served an apprenticeship to one of its affiliated mem- 
 bers, or who is unable to pay the usual price for a 
 share in their immunities? Nay, Why are appren- 
 ticeships thought necessary at all, and why might 
 not success and failure be left as a test of qualification 
 for business, in the same way that demand in the 
 market, and discrimination in the purchasers, are al- 
 lowed to regulate the value of other commodities ? 
 Or, why should the College of Physicians possess the 
 sole power (which no medical practitioner can invade 
 with impunity) of treating all diseases within the 
 precincts of the metropolis ? Upon this principle, 
 charters, indentures, and diplomas, must be consi- 
 dered unjust and useless usurpations upon the com- 
 mon rights of mankind. The Poor Laws, operating 
 equally with Corporations, as an obstruction to the free 
 circulation of industry, ought also to be abolished. 
 The Church establishment itself, the Universities, 
 and the various foundations of scholarships, and 
 exhibitions connected with them, interfering, as they 
 do, with the regular distribution of industry and 
 stock, and introducing an unnatural competition 
 into certain pursuits, must, in like manner, give way 
 to the sweep of innovation. If the principle that is 
 contended for shall be assumed as the foundation of a 
 practical rule of conduct, what is to become of all 
 the laws establishing and fencing the monopoly held 
 by the woollen manufacturers of this country? The 
 strict prohibitions against the export of wool, in iL- 
 
 II 2
 
 100 
 
 raw state, the duties imposed on Scotch and Irish 
 linens, when used for home consumption, and the 
 bounties granted on their exportation, are so many 
 encouragements held out by the Legislature to the 
 woollen manufacturers, at the expense not only of 
 other classes of artisans, but of the landed proprie- 
 tors, and the consumers of animal food, soap, can- 
 dles, and other necessaries of life, and it has also 
 been often alleged that they serve to the deterioration 
 of the quality of our wool. The difference again in 
 the rates of duties levied on sugars of West India 
 and East India growth, is founded on a preference, 
 advantageous indeed to the colonial trade, but disad- 
 vantageous in the same proportion to the East India 
 Company, the Asiatic planter, and the British con- 
 sumer. 
 
 It would be easy, likewise, to demonstrate, that 
 the arguments which are adduced in support of 
 complete liberty of commerce, among all the indi- 
 viduals of a state, might with equal propriety, and 
 equal force, be urged in favour of the same liberty of 
 commerce between one state and another, and that 
 the whole international policy of Europe, as exhibited 
 in commercial treaties, as well as municipal laws, has 
 been at variance with what are called the established 
 maxims of political economy. There is more than 
 plausibility in the doctrine, that a nation, instead 
 of necessarily thriving by the ruin of its neighbour, 
 ultimately suffers from the decline of its commer-
 
 101 
 
 cial rival ; that the prosperity of any single country 
 must spread to the several countries lying within the 
 sphere of its intercourse, till the productions of each 
 are common to all, or till riches cease to beget wants, 
 and wants to require gratification. A general mono- 
 poly of trade, therefore, were it attainable, would 
 eventually prove injurious to the country possessing 
 it, because a surplus stock of productions, without a 
 market, contributes no more to wealth than if the 
 commodities had never existed, and because a mar- 
 ket presupposes not only want and supply, but the 
 presence of money, or some other medium of exchange , 
 the scarcity, or abundance, of which will be in an 
 exact ratio to the means of obtaining it, or in other 
 words, to the proportion of trade which has eluded 
 the grasp of the monopoly. Beautiful as this theory 
 is, when fully developed, not only for its abstract 
 truth, but its tendency to illustrate the beneficent 
 designs of Providence in regard to man, yet, it has 
 never been acted upon, and must remain impracti- 
 cable, until passion has abdicated her empire, and 
 reason assumed her rightful sway in the affairs of the 
 world. To live in peace, and minister to each other's 
 comfort, was the object and law of our creation, and 
 had we fulfilled our original destiny, many fair and 
 comely theories might have been realized, which now 
 only play in delightful vision before our fancies. Since 
 war became part of our occupation, to provide for 
 its wants, has been a necessary object of our policy, 
 and an irregular ambition has infused itself into all
 
 102 
 
 our aims. Hence we have been driven from unerring 
 principles to loose expedients; and how much soever 
 the effect may be lamented, remedy is hopeless, 
 while the cause continues to operate. 
 
 Without going into farther detail, for the purpose 
 of exposing those pretensions which professedly rest 
 upon natural right, and abstract fitness, and which 
 are not more incompatible with the exclusive privi- 
 leges of the East India Company, than with the 
 whole policy of our commercial system, and the 
 actual state of human affairs j it is of more import- 
 ance to examine the practical advantages which 
 result to the Country, from the privileges hitherto 
 conferred on the Company, and the probable conse- 
 quences of a refusal on the part of the Legislature 
 to renew those privileges. 
 
 The tea imported from China by the Company, 
 pays to Government an annual nett revenue of 
 about ,3,500,000., varying little from year to year, 
 and collected with hardly any expense to the pub- 
 lic. The saving thus effected under the head of 
 collection alone (supposing the average charge 
 of realizing the public revenue to be 5 per cent.) 
 amounts to .175,000. per annum; and the 
 influence of the Crown is diminished to the same 
 extent in which the saving takes place : a con- 
 sideration which it may be presumed will have no 
 small weight with those whose constitutional jea-
 
 103 
 
 lousy sees the growth of that influence, in the in- 
 crease of taxation. The duties upon tea in every 
 view in which they can be considered, may be 
 regarded as constituting one of the least excep- 
 tionable and most valuable sources of revenue. 
 Without being an indispensable necessary of life, 
 the article is one of universal use; the tax, there- 
 fore, is exempt from all the disadvantages of im- 
 posts upon necessaries, and is at the same time 
 far more productive than the most of those which are 
 levied upon luxuries. It is optional with every 
 person to pay it or not, and to pay it at what times, 
 and in what proportions he may find convenient. 
 Being levied upon consumption, and graduated ac- 
 cording to the different qualities of the commodity 
 consumed, it is not only equal in its operation, but 
 accommodates itself to the means of the consumers. 
 Neither the supply nor the demand depending upon 
 the varying relations of European States, the revenue 
 derived from tea is certain, and free from those fluc- 
 tuations to which the produce of many other taxes 
 is liable. Unlike spirits, which though productive 
 to Government, are injurious to the health and morals 
 of the people, the beverage is not only harmless in 
 itself, but is the source of much innocent enjoyment. 
 The solace of the weary, and the cordial of the sick, 
 the enlivener of gaiety, and the soother of care, it 
 ministers to the comfort of the cottage, and the 
 delight of the palace, uniting the rich and the.
 
 104 
 
 poor, and the sexes together by a bland assimilation 
 of habit. 
 
 The importance of so large a revenue derived from 
 a source so unobjectionable, must be generally felt 
 and acknowledged ; and if its security be incompa- 
 tible with the pretensions of the claimants of an open 
 trade, the smaller object ought certainly to give way 
 to the greater. 
 
 The temptation to smuggling, held out by the 
 chance of evading the duty (amounting on tea, to 
 96 per cent.), is such as no legal penalties could 
 counteract, w 7 ere private merchants admitted into 
 the trade : and in the event of its being opened to 
 the Out-ports, the opportunities of fraud w 7 ould be so 
 multiplied, as to defy the utmost vigilance of the 
 largest possible establishment of revenue officers. 
 Individual integrity has been at all times found to 
 afford a very feeble security for the realization of 
 national revenue, and though there be no moral dis- 
 tinction between an act of public and private disho- 
 nesty, it is well known that many persons who revolt 
 at the idea of taking an unfair advantage of their 
 neighbours, do not hesitate to defraud Govern- 
 ment of its dues. The character of the East India 
 Company, as a body, their responsibility to, and 
 dependence on the Legislature, together with the 
 control they possess over their servants, constitute a
 
 105 
 
 guarantee for the fairness and regularity of their 
 transactions, which private merchants could not 
 furnish either individually or as a class. The Com- 
 pany's ships arrive periodically in fleets, their im- 
 ports are brought to one place, lodged under the keys 
 of the Government officers, and sold in presence of 
 those officers, who have no farther trouble than to 
 ascertain the amount of the duties, which are care- 
 fully levied, and punctually paid by the Company. - 
 A system at once so safe, and so little expensive 
 with a view to the collection of revenue, it is im- 
 possible for human ingenuity to devise, and any 
 attempt to supersede it, must be attended with a 
 great addition to the public charge, and a considera- 
 ble increase of patronage to Government, while in 
 the end, it will be found utterly ineffectual for the 
 object which it has in view. A short time ago, a 
 ship was discovered in the river smuggling tea, 
 purchased from an American at Gibraltar, part of 
 the cargo having been previously landed in the 
 Channel, and on the western coast of the kingdom, 
 without detection. On the return of peace, the 
 only effectual mode of preventing the introduction 
 of smuggled tea from the Continent, will probably 
 be a reduction of the existing duties. In time of 
 war, such a sacrifice of revenue would certainly be 
 attended with great inconvenience, and yet the 
 measure of laying open the trade now contended for, 
 would introduce that state of things during war, 
 which would necessarily require either a voluntary
 
 106 
 
 relinquishment on the part of Government, of a 
 portion of the present duties, or give rise to that eva- 
 sion of them which is only to be apprehended on a 
 return of peace. 
 
 The smuggling of tea would be productive of the 
 double mischief of disabling the East India Company 
 from paying the dividends upon their stock, and of 
 compelling the Government to have recourse to other 
 sources of revenue, in consequence of a defalcation 
 of the duties on that article j and is it supposable 
 that the Legislature, admitting that there was no 
 other danger in the experiment, would put to hazard 
 the credit of the first corporation in the world, and 
 the stability of three millions and a half of annual 
 revenue, in order not to open new channels of prospe- 
 rity and national wealth, but merely to transfer a 
 portion of that trade to individuals which has hitherto 
 been exclusively carried on by the East India Com- 
 pany ? This is a question affecting not solely the 
 parlies immediately concerned in the pending dis- 
 cussion ; it is one in which every individual in the 
 Country has a direct interest. If a considerable defi- 
 ciency in the revenue takes place, are the claimants of 
 an open trade either able or willing to make it good ? 
 Must it not, on the contrary, be supplied by means 
 of general taxation, and in the present burdened 
 state of the nation, it will be readily admitted that it 
 is much easier to devise and assess new taxes than to 
 collect them. But regulations, it seems, are to be
 
 107 
 
 framed so as to guard against the danger of an illicit 
 trade, and to protect the Company and the revenue 
 from its effects.* It is to be observed, however, that 
 these regulations do not contemplate any infringement 
 upon the Company's exclusive privilege to the China 
 trade. Their object is solely to prevent an illicit 
 trade in India commodities, in the event of the trade 
 with India being opened to the Out-ports ; and who- 
 ever has read with attention and impartiality the 
 letters of the Deputation of the Court of Direc- 
 tors to the President of the Board of Commissioners 
 of the 15th and 29th April, 1812,f will more than 
 doubt the efficacy of such regulations (however strong 
 they may be), even for the limited purpose which they 
 are said to have in view. The regulation most obvi- 
 ously necessary, certainly, is a strict prohibition of 
 the importation into this country of the produce of 
 China in any but the Company's ships, as without 
 this prohibition, the continuance of their exclusive 
 privilege would be merely nominal, and the idea of 
 protecting either their interests, or those of the reve- 
 nue, would be altogether chimerical. The facility 
 with which cargoes of tea might be procured at Java 
 and the other islands in the Indian seas, would com- 
 pletely defeat the views, both of the Company and 
 the Government. During the American war the 
 Dutch were supplied at Batavia with tea carried 
 thither by Chinese junks, at a cheaper rate than it could 
 
 ' Printed Papers, p. 148. f Pages 10S and 14S.
 
 108 
 
 have been provided at Canton. The teas received at that 
 emporium are brought from the central provinces of 
 the empire by inland navigation, frequently interrupted 
 by laud carriage over mountainous tracts, at an ex- 
 pense far exceeding the freight to Batavia from the 
 ports of China contiguous to the tea country. The 
 cost of inland conveyance, the profit of the Hong 
 merchants, and the charges and extortions with 
 which the trade is loaded at Canton, may fairly be 
 estimated at 33 per cent, upon the original value of 
 the tea. It is easy to perceive, therefore, that the 
 Company could not withstand a competition of this 
 sort, and that the revenue, if an intermediate trade 
 were permitted, would be exposed to the same dan- 
 ger that it would encounter, upon the trade being 
 thrown entirely open. 
 
 These remarks naturally lead to a consideration of 
 the principal question on which the parties interested 
 are now at issue. 
 
 It appears from the Papers which have been print- 
 ed, respecting the Negotiation between His Majesty's 
 Ministers and the Court of Directors, for a renewal 
 of the East India Company's exclusive Privileges, that 
 a difference of sentiment (perhaps an irreconcilable 
 one) exists between the Government of the country 
 and the Representatives of the Company, upon the 
 expediency of confining the Trade with India to the 
 Port of London, or of opening it to the Out-ports,
 
 109 
 
 and that in consequence of neither party being 
 convinced by the arguments advanced by the 
 other, in support of their opposite opinions, the 
 Negotiation experienced a temporary suspension, 
 and the deliberations in Parliament upon the merits 
 of the Company's Petition were unexpectedly deferred 
 from the last to the present session. The delay, in one 
 view, can hardly fail to excite regret. In proportion 
 as the period draws near at which the term of the 
 Company's present Charter expires, the urgency of 
 a Legislative decision upon the question of renewing 
 it, or of substituting another arrangement for the 
 administration of the British territories in India, 
 and for the conduct of the trade between Great 
 Britain and Asia becomes exceedingly pressing. Un- 
 certainty regarding the duration of a Government, 
 tends both to diminish its authority and to relax its 
 exertions j and the mere commercial concerns of the 
 East India Company are of such magnitude as to re- 
 quire a much longer period than the remaining term 
 of their Charter to wind up. The opportunity, on the 
 other hand, which the delay has afforded for inquiry 
 and reflection, presents some equivalent advantage for 
 these inconveniences : an advantage which certainly 
 will not be under-rated by those who think that already 
 too much has been yielded to ill-founded prejudice 
 and popular clamour, and who expect from sober 
 investigation, modified demands rather than farther 
 concessions.
 
 110 
 IftheDirectorsofthe East India Company entertain 
 any respect for the opinions of the Statesman who 
 long presided over the administration of their affairs, 
 or if they are disposed to listen with reverence to his 
 solemn and almost parting counsel, it will be impos- 
 sible for them ever to agree to the extension of the 
 trade with India to the Out-ports, against which that 
 able Minister so recently cautioned them in terms the 
 most direct and pointed.* Let it be remembered that 
 the advice referred to, was tendered for the purpose 
 of dissuading the Company from interfering in the ap- 
 pointment of agents at home for the management of 
 the private trade from India ; and the ground on which 
 it was given was, that supposing the principle then 
 inculcated was observed, (viz. that the trade continued 
 to be carried on under a monopoly, as limited by the 
 act of 1793, and subject to such ulterior modifications 
 as circumstances might suggest without doing violence 
 to the system) the Company would find a sufficient 
 commercial security against an abuse of the privileges 
 which it was then proposed, or which it might after- 
 wards be deemed expedient to grant, in the existing 
 provision that no goods should be imported from 
 India that were not deposited in their warehouses 
 and disposed of at their sales. Against any infringe- 
 ment of this provision, the late Lord Melville (then 
 Mr. Dundas) at the same time warned them that it 
 
 * See Mr. Dundas's Letter of the 2d of April, 1S0O, as quoted 
 page 41.
 
 Ill 
 
 was their great interest to guard, and could he have 
 foreseen, not only that his principle would be aban- 
 doned (as it virtually now is), but that the Company 
 would be called upon to give up the only security 
 they possess against a fraudulent invasion of their 
 trade, his Letter would have been more appropriately 
 couched in terms of condolence than of admoni- 
 tion. 
 
 The general objections, against a change of system, 
 have more or less weight according to the extent of 
 change which may be in contemplation ; and the 
 efficacy of those safeguards, which may be proposed 
 for the protection of the revenue and higher objects, 
 will very much depend upon the difficulty of either 
 violating or eluding their operation. It is the nature 
 of all restrictive regulations, to lose in force what 
 they gain in expansion. The principle is not yet 
 avowed;, for example, of permitting the unlimited 
 ingress of Europeans into our Indian territories. But 
 if ships are allowed to clear out indiscriminately from 
 all the ports of the United Kingdom for India, it will 
 be impossible, under any system of precautions, to 
 prevent the evil which all seem desirous to avert ; 
 and it would be no less unreasonable than impo- 
 litic to place the East India Company in a si- 
 tuation in which they would be held responsible for 
 the tranquillity and good government of our Asiatic 
 possessions, while, at the same time, they were pre- 
 cluded from the exercise of that control at home
 
 112 
 
 which is indispensably necessary to the maintenance 
 of their authority abroad. As well might they, in the 
 event of the import trade from India being opened to 
 the British Out-ports, be made answerable for the loss 
 which the revenue would inevitably sustain from the 
 fraudulent practices of individuals with whom they 
 were in no way connected, as for the conduct of per- 
 sons in India who went thither in defiance of legislative 
 prohibitions. The Governments at the different Pre- 
 sidencies indeed might, as they no doubt would, be 
 invested with power not only to restrain, but to send 
 home unlicensed adventurers ; but it cannot es- 
 cape attention, that almost all the odium attending 
 the exercise of that power would ultimately fall upon 
 the Court of Directors, and that the unpopularity of 
 the Government at home, would be in exact propor- 
 tion to the vigilance and energy displayed by the 
 delegated authorities in India. There would be no 
 end to complaints, petitions, and remonstrances. 
 Failure in adventures would be felt as a grievance, 
 imputed misconduct represented as a cloak and excuse 
 for oppression, and limited privilege treated as a 
 mockery of unlimited right. The press would teem 
 with the narratives of the discontented, and in the 
 absence of other redress, invective would be resorted to 
 "by the sufferers, as a plentiful source of consolation. 
 However much some men may affect to despise 
 attacks of this sort, it certainly is not wise to provoke 
 and far less to make deliberative provision for them. 
 Those, on the other hand, who are disposed to make a
 
 113 
 
 partial surrender of their own judgment to popular 
 prejudice, should at least bear in mind that they may 
 on a future occasion be called on to complete 
 the sacrifice, and that the clamour might be more 
 easily resisted now than after it shall have been 
 strengthened by initiation, and embittered by dis- 
 appointment in the trade. Commercial specula- 
 tions are not of a nature to admit of persons em- 
 barking in them one year, and withdrawing from 
 them the next, or as soon as they are found not 
 to answer expectation. The merchant cannot change 
 the theatre of his transactions as he can the place 
 of his abode. When capital is engaged, credit 
 established, and connexion formed, he has seldom 
 any alternative but to persevere, or become bank- 
 rupt. But in the case supposed, he would have a 
 tertium quid in his option, namely, to arraign the sys- 
 tem of government ; and to this expedient he would 
 unquestionably have recourse without mi nutely cal- 
 culating whether his efforts to subvert it would prove 
 fruitless or successful. The last consideration well 
 merits attention before any infringement of the East 
 India Company's existing privileges (modified as the 
 exercise of them has been by the voluntary admission 
 of a number of respectable individuals into the India 
 trade) shall be definitively resolved upon. But were 
 there no other objection to the extreme conces- 
 sion of allowing ships to sail from the Out-ports of this 
 Country, the facility which it would afford to per- 
 sons of improper characters and sinister views, of 
 
 l
 
 114 
 
 getting clandestinely to India, seems on all pruden- 
 tial grounds to interpose an insuperable obstacle in 
 the way of its adoption. It is hardly necessary to 
 observe, that if no ships were permitted to clear 
 out for India, excepting from the port of London, 
 the facility alluded to would be very much dimi- 
 nished, though not altogether removed ; and it is pre- 
 sumed there can be no difference of opinion about 
 the propriety of reducing the danger so justly appre- 
 hended from colonization in India, to the least pos- 
 sible dimensions. 
 
 The admission of ships with cargoes from India 
 into the Out-ports of this Country, would be in- 
 jurious to the revenue, and in a still greater degree 
 to the interests of our merchants and home manu- 
 facturers. The value of the annual imports from 
 India according to the invoice prices, upon an ave- 
 rage of six years from 1802-3 to 1807-8 (both 
 inclusive), belonging to the East India Company, to 
 the commanders and officers of its ships, and to 
 private British traders, amounted to ^2,621,606.* 
 Of the quantity of merchandise imported, at least 
 three-fourths is always intended for re-exportation, 
 and if it were not sufficiently obvious, what the 
 actual state of the demand from foreign Europe must 
 be under the enemy's vexatious and tyrannical 
 
 Printcl Papers, pag'' .">(i.
 
 115 
 
 decrees, its decline is manifest from the following 
 facts: First, That of 54,000 tons of shipping, 
 which have been allotted to the private trade since 
 1793, by the East India Company, only 21,806 
 tons have been employed : and, Secondly, That, 
 to say nothing of later arrivals, there were in the 
 beginning of last July, in the Company's ware- 
 houses in London, goods of Indian produce and 
 manufacture, worth j > 3,452,000, which had passed 
 the public sales, and for which no market could be 
 found. These circumstances are mentioned for the 
 purpose of shewing that the most unlimited freedom 
 of trade would not afford any relief to the mer- 
 cantile and manufacturing interests, which ar6 now 
 suffering, not from a deficiency of supply, but the 
 want of sale ; and that until the demand be re- 
 stored, any addition to the stock of goods on hand 
 would aggravate instead of alleviating the existing 
 pressure. Such a change in the political state of 
 Europe, as would open the markets of the Con- 
 tinent to the productions of India, can hardly be 
 expected during the continuance of war, and 
 when peace returns, the participation of other 
 states in the commerce with India will materially 
 interfere with the trade of this Country (however 
 carried on), as the channel of foreign supply. 
 The foreign demand for the goods imported by the 
 Company, was chiefly to be ascribed at all times 
 to their superior quality, proceeding from the ad- 
 
 1 2
 
 116 
 
 varices given to the native manufacturers, and the 
 care taken by the Company's servants abroad in 
 selecting their home investments; whereas an open 
 trade, by occasioning a sudden competition in the 
 Indian markets, would produce a general deterio- 
 ration of fabrics, and thus supersede the preference 
 which British imports have hitherto enjoyed in the 
 markets of continental Europe; while at the same 
 time they would cease in their degraded state to 
 operate as a stimulus to the rival skill and ingenuity 
 of the British manufacturer.* 
 
 * The great superiority in quality which the goods imported by 
 the Company bear over those imported by the private merchants, 
 will appear from the following account (for which the author is 
 indebted to the history of the commerce with India, by Mr. Mac- 
 pherson, p. 422,) of the number of pieces, the amount of proceeds, 
 and average prices of the Bengal piece goods, sold at the East 
 India Company's sales in the under-mentioned years, on account 
 of the Company, and on account of private merchants.
 
 117 
 
 It has been already observed, that but a small pro- 
 portion of the goods imported from India enters into 
 home consumption. Some articles, such as silk stuffs, 
 
 Sold on account of the Company. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Sold on account of 
 Merchants. 
 
 private 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pieces 
 sold. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Average 
 Price. 
 
 
 Pieces 
 sold. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Average 
 Price. 
 
 
 . 
 
 .*. d. 
 
 
 
 
 
 . . d. 
 
 350,329 
 
 648,756 
 
 1 17 
 
 1797 
 
 136,761 
 
 151,942 
 
 13 
 
 723,127 
 
 1,219,818 
 
 1 14 
 
 1798 
 
 127,810 
 
 182,594 
 
 18 6 
 
 334,115 
 
 508,584 
 
 1 10 6 
 
 1799M.* 
 
 79,727 
 
 133,336 
 
 1 13 6 
 
 450,500 
 
 548,256 
 
 14 6 
 
 S. 
 
 152,870 
 
 145,503 
 
 19 
 
 1,129,501 
 
 1,406,879 
 
 15 
 
 1800 
 
 304,530 
 
 317,828 
 
 1 10 
 
 838,712 
 
 1,179,447 
 
 18 6 
 
 1801 
 
 396,444 
 
 379,569 
 
 19 1 
 
 437,862 
 
 660,019 
 
 1 10 
 
 1802 
 
 1,252,503 
 
 960,864 
 
 15 4 
 
 242,164 
 
 293,832 
 
 14 3 
 
 1803 M. 
 
 742,193 
 
 462,757 
 
 12 6 
 
 381,477 
 
 378,199 
 
 19 9 
 
 S.t 
 
 343,546 
 
 202,452 
 
 11 10 
 
 442,952 
 
 424,456 
 
 19 
 
 1804 M. 
 
 548,186 
 
 306,886 
 
 11 2 
 
 518,019 
 
 493,106 
 
 19 
 
 S. 
 
 431,0)3 
 
 220,082 
 
 10 2 
 
 174,321 
 
 142,157 
 
 16 6 
 
 1805 M. 
 
 320,727 
 
 193,665 
 
 It 
 
 None sold 
 
 
 
 S. 
 
 None sold 
 
 
 
 410,196 
 
 336,453 
 
 16 5 
 
 1806 M. 
 
 113,233 
 
 67,453 
 
 11 10 
 
 199,500 
 
 146,456 
 
 14 9 
 
 S. 
 
 96,264 
 
 61,602 
 
 12 
 
 * M. denotes the March, and S. the September sale. 
 
 t At this sale 494,648 pieces belonging to the Company, and 501,293 be- 
 longing to private Merchants, were offered to the purchasers; but 113,171 of 
 the former, and 157,747 of the latter class, were laid aside, there being no bid- 
 ders. At some other sales still larger quantities have been withdrawn for the 
 same reason. 
 
 The account has not been brought down to a later period, lest the subse- 
 quent depression of prices might be ascribed to the operation of Buonaparte's 
 Continental system. The statement, as it stands, not only shews the prefer- 
 ence that is always given to the Company's goods over those imported by pri- 
 vate Merchants, but it also exhibits a gradually decreasing demand for the 
 manufactures of India, arising chiefly from the improvements in the cotton 
 manufactures of this and other countries of Europe, and a corresponding fall of 
 price, owing in great measure, certainly to this cause; but in no small degree 
 to (lie glut in the home market, occasioned by the excessive importation of 
 the private Merchants, particulaily in 1802, the year in which their privileges 
 were extended.
 
 118 
 
 and printed calicoes, are entirely prohibited, and 
 the duties upon all are levied on so high a scale 
 as to prevent their interference with the internal de- 
 mand for our own manufactures. The duties, on 
 muslins and nankeens, amount to j37 6s. 8d. per 
 cent., and those on calicoes, dimities, and shawls, 
 to Jj1\ 13s. 4d. per cent on the sale prices. It 
 cannot be disputed that these rates of duties offer 
 a strong temptation to smuggling, and it is well 
 known that even under the present system, not- 
 withstanding all the checks which it interposes 
 against fraud, an illicit traffic in articles of small 
 bulk and great value, is carried on to a very 
 considerable extent. In proportion as the checks 
 are diminished, either in number or in force, the 
 mischief will increase, until this branch of the re- 
 venue becomes insufficient to defray the charges of 
 collection. 
 
 Government, however, would not be the only nor 
 the principal sufferer from the growth of an illicit 
 trade in articles of Indian manufacture. The British 
 manufacturer would soon find a secret competition 
 directed against himself, too powerful for all his 
 industry and skill to withstand. The Bengal silks, 
 the long cloths of Madras, and the chintzes of 
 Surat, would secretly and insensibly find their way 
 into our shops, our drawing-rooms, and our streets; 
 and it would be but a slender consolation that the 
 wearers themselves might possibly affect to lament the
 
 119 
 
 confusion and distress that had befallen the laborious 
 artisans of Spitalfields, Manchester, and Paisley. 
 Such an unexpected encroachment upon British 
 industry, would provoke and justify a general cla- 
 mour amongst those whose province was thus clan- 
 destinely invaded. Government aware, from the 
 defalcation in its own receipts, that the complaints 
 were not unfounded, would naturally apply itself to 
 devise the means of relief. To lower the duties on 
 Indian commodities would diminish the temptation 
 to smuggling, but it would prostrate instead of up- 
 holding the already declining industry of the coun- 
 try; and in such a dilemma it is not improbable 
 that, in place of protecting regulations, a total pro- 
 hibition would be required, enforced by the terror of 
 heavy penal inflictions. Here one cannot help re- 
 marking how singularly whimsical it is that British 
 manufacturers, who are indebted to India for many 
 of the raw materials on which their labour is em- 
 ployed, and who, even in their own markets, are 
 so far from being able to maintain a fair competition 
 with the Indian manufacturer, as to be obliged to 
 seek shelter under protecting duties, varying from 
 forty to seventy per cent, upon the value of work- 
 manship, should after all set up a pretension of under- 
 selling their Hindoo rivals in the Asiatic markets! 
 
 The advantages of rendering the metropolis a gene- 
 ral emporium, both for the export and import trade 
 with the East, are great and manifold. The export
 
 120 
 
 cargoes, particularly to India, are composed of a 
 variety of articles which must be collected from va- 
 rious parts of the country, and which are no where 
 to be had in such choice and abundance as in Lon- 
 don. The East India Company's sales, which take 
 place at fixed periods, ensure a regular supply of the 
 commodities both of India and China, not only to 
 the British dealers, but to merchants, whom, in 
 more favourable times, they invited hither from 
 abroad, and who, during their stay in the metropo- 
 lis, engaged in a number of other mercantile trans- 
 actions, to the no small benefit of the general trade 
 of the Country. When foreigners found it inconve- 
 nient to repair to London in person, for the purpose 
 of making their purchases, the fairness of the 
 Company's sales, and the known qualities of their 
 merchandise, inspired them with such confidence, 
 that they felt no uneasiness in intrusting their 
 Correspondents with the execution of their Com- 
 missions, and the goods passed unpacked from one 
 hand to another, on the Continent, merely upon 
 the credit of the Company's descriptive marks. By 
 the Act of 1793, teas cannot be put up at a 
 higher price than the amount of cost and charges, 
 and though a much higher price be always given 
 by the buyers, the biddings are influenced solely 
 by a regular demand, at no time increased by un- 
 certainty of supply, a sufficient quantity being 
 always on hand to prevent fluctuations in the market 
 from the accidental loss of ships or other causes.
 
 121 
 
 The private dealer knowing the extent of his custom, 
 can calculate at every sale, within a few pounds' 
 weight the addition necessary to be made to his indi- 
 vidual stock in order to meet the local demand for the 
 current half year, on the expiration of which he is 
 secure of receiving a fresh supply. In this way the 
 practical evils incident to monopolies are guarded 
 against, whilst the public reap all the benefits arising 
 from the steady application of a large capital con- 
 stantly employed in providing for their wants. The 
 foreigner finding, that without capital and without 
 risk, he can be supplied with the produce of the 
 East through the channel of the English Company, 
 on terms hardly less advantageous upon the whole 
 than if he personally adventured in the Asiatic 
 trade, is indisposed from envying either our political 
 or commercial predominance. The British dealer is 
 secured against the alternate recurrence of a scarcity 
 at one time and a glut at another. The consumer is 
 uniformly furnished at a fair price with articles un- 
 adulterated by fraitfl, and uninjured from long keep- 
 ing ; and in the collection of the ad valorem duties, 
 the revenue has its full share of profit from the en- 
 hancement of price produced by competition at 
 public sales. 
 
 No digested plan has as yet been proposed, in the 
 event of the trade with India being opened to the 
 British Out-ports, to protect the revenue and the fair 
 trader against the effects of illicit commerce, and to
 
 122 
 
 secure to the Country either a continuance of those 
 advantages which are at present derived from the 
 publicity, fairness, and regularity of the Company's 
 sales, or any equivalent, even in prospect, for the 
 practical benefits which the Legislature is called 
 upon to put to hazard. It is easy to propose re- 
 straints and not exceedingly difficult to frame fiscal 
 regulations ; but every person who is at all conver- 
 sant with the collection of revenue, knows that the 
 ingenuity practised in evading Government duties, 
 is at least equal to the skill of those whose business 
 it is to enforce them. When a new tax is imposed, 
 several years elapse before the mode of collecting it 
 is so far perfected as to raise the produce up to 
 the original estimate. It is now proposed, not to 
 ameliorate, but to change the operation of a part 
 of our revenue system (a system which, as applicable 
 to the trade with Asia, experience has proved to be as 
 perfect as any that can be devised) and the effect of 
 the change, so far as it goes, will be to place the 
 revenue under precisely the same disadvantages 
 that attend any novel experiment in practical 
 finance. The saving of carriage and commission that 
 might be effected on the goods which are now pur- 
 chased in London and conveyed to different parts of 
 the Kingdom for home consumption, would be so ex- 
 ceedingly trifling as scarcely to be felt by the private 
 consumer, and is quite beneath consideration in an 
 extended view of the subject. Yet when we investi- 
 gate the arguments of the Petitioners for an opc$\
 
 W3 
 
 trade with the Out-ports, if we set aside their merely 
 theoretical reasonings on natural right, the odium of 
 monopoly, and the general policy of leaving commerce 
 completely unfettered by legislative interference; 
 what besides this little practical convenience has 
 been alleged in support of their claims ? In looking 
 at the other side of the question, considerations of far 
 superior magnitude and weight press themselves upon 
 our attention. 
 
 No proposition is more obvious, or likely to gain 
 more general assent, than that every measure of 
 policy is prima facie objectionable, in proportion 
 as it tends to hurt the fair prospects of numerous 
 classes of individuals, or to beget a great fluctuation 
 and sudden decrease in the value of property : the 
 risk of partial evil may no doubt be sometimes wisely 
 incurred for the purpose of facilitating the attainment 
 of general good ; but still it is desirable that the 
 value of what is hazarded should be fully known and 
 duly appreciated. 
 
 The officers by whom the Company's ships are 
 navigated, are men of high respectability and much 
 nautical experience. Brought up in the service, 
 their promotion is regulated by fixed rules; and the 
 qualifications of each individual for the station he is 
 entitled by seniority to fill, are strictly investigated 
 before he is admitted to it. The Company's marine 
 constitutes a sort of middle link between the Royal
 
 124 
 
 Navy and the Merchant service. It has always hap- 
 pened at the termination of a war, that some officers 
 of the navy who have been put upon half-pay have 
 sought employment in the Company's ships, instead 
 of entering the service of foreign states j and it is not 
 unworthy of remark, that several persons who fol- 
 lowed this course are now the ornaments of their 
 profession and the boast of the Country. The Com- 
 pany's regular ships, 70 in number, employ 560 
 commanders and officers ; their extra ships, amount- 
 ing to 40, employ 240 more. To this list of 800 
 commanders and officers may be added 600 young 
 men of respectable parentage and good education, 
 who have entered the service as midshipmen, forming 
 an aggregate of 1,400 persons, whose private pros- 
 pects and professional utility in great measure de- 
 pend upon the continuance of the trade in the pre- 
 sent channel. The officers and clerks of every 
 description employed at the India House, to the 
 number of perhaps three or four hundred ; the 
 labourers in the Company's warehouses, to the 
 amount of three thousand ; and about twelve thou- 
 sand tradesmen and artificers occupied in the supply 
 of their shipping on the River Thames, would, to- 
 gether with their families, be reduced all of them 
 to great difficulty, and many of them to absolute 
 want. " Of what importance is it," says a wise and 
 eloquent writer,* " under what names you injure 
 
 * Mr. Burke.
 
 125 
 
 " men and deprive them of the just emoluments of 
 " a profession in which they were not only permitted 
 " but encouraged by the state to engage; and upon 
 " the supposed certainty of which emoluments they 
 " had formed the plan of their lives, contracted 
 " debts, and led multitudes to entire dependance 
 " upon them ?" 
 
 Immediately connected with this part of the sub- 
 ject is the large capital (certainly much under-rated 
 at 21 millions sterling*) vested in the Company's 
 stock and warehouses, in the East India Shipping, 
 the Docks, and other objects subsidiary to the trade, 
 and in the trade itself, as now carried on, which 
 would be depreciated in value to a greater extent 
 probably than ten times the amount of all the pro- 
 fit on the new capital that an unrestricted commerce 
 would attract. Should the trade be removed from 
 the Port of London, the stock which it has created 
 in and about the metropolis must be brought to the 
 hammer, and the difference in such times as the 
 present, between a direct signal of confiscation fcru- 
 clelem Mam hastam) and a measure involving compul- 
 sory, sales is greater in name than in effect. Sic par 
 est agcre cum civibus ,- non ut bis jam vidimus, hastam 
 in foro ponere et bona civium voci subjicere prteconis. 
 At ilk Grcccus fid quod fuit sapicntis ct prastantis 
 viri) omnibus consulendum esse putavit ; eaquc est summa 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 154.
 
 126 
 
 ratio et sapientia boni civis commoda civium non diveU 
 lere sed omnes eadem aquitate continere.* 
 
 Although it be admitted that the interests of indi- 
 viduals ought to give way to the great interests of the 
 Commonwealth (care being always taken to provide 
 an equitable compensation for whatever losses may 
 be sustained in consequence of the accommodation), 
 it is equally true, on the other hand, that in all poli- 
 tical arrangements, national security is an object of 
 loftier importance than mercantile gain. It is 
 highly worth while, therefore, to examine what 
 might be the effect of the extinction, or even of any 
 considerable diminution of the Company's marine 
 upon the essential resources and permanent sta- 
 bility of the British power, both in Europe and in 
 Asia. 
 
 The advantages which may result to the State 
 from the Company's naval establishment in future, 
 (should the system remain undisturbed) will be best 
 appreciated by a few cursory references to the ser- 
 vices which it has rendered to the Country since the 
 commencement of the war in 1793. 
 
 The ships employed in the Company's service are 
 built and equipped with greater care, and at a much 
 
 * Cic. dc Off. 1. 2.
 
 127 
 
 greater expense, that any other ships engaged in the 
 commerce of the Country. They are adapted to the 
 double purpose of trade and warfare, and though 
 the rate of freight is necessarily proportioned to the 
 expense of equipment, the additional charge has been, 
 much more than compensated by the security afford- 
 ed to the property embarked in them.* Their own 
 means of defence, also, have contributed not a little 
 to relieve Government from the duty of otherwise 
 providing for their protection. At the very begin- 
 ning of the war, when the enemy's privateers were 
 cruizing unmolested in the Indian seas, in defiance 
 of the few King's ships then stationed in that quarter 
 of the world, three of the Company's ships were fitted 
 out as frigates for the purpose of keeping them in 
 check, and giving more effectual protection to the 
 China and country trade : a task which they per- 
 formed to the entire satisfaction of His Majesty's 
 
 * An estimate may be formed of the saving under the head of 
 insurance, in consequence of the superior equipment of the Com- 
 pany's ships, from the statement of the rates per ^lOO. payable 
 at Lloyd's on ships of different descriptions from Bengal to Lon- 
 don, delivered on the 1st of June, 1S09, to the Select Committee 
 of the House of Commons en Indian affairs, by Mr. Grant Allen, 
 and afterwards verified by Mr. William Bell, merchant and under- 
 writer. From thence it appears that the ships taken up fur the use 
 of the private Merchants pay a premium of 15 guineas per cent, 
 for the voyag( from Bengal, while the Company's regular ships pay 
 only 7 guineas, and their extra ship* only 9 guineas, with a return 
 <-..f J, for convoy.
 
 128 
 
 Government, and of the King himself, who was 
 pleased to bestow a special mark of his approbation 
 upon Captain Mitchell, the Commodore of the 
 squadron. 
 
 In 179-5, when a large armament was fitting out 
 for the West Indies, under Admiral Christian, in the 
 difficulty of obtaining good transports, Government 
 applied to the East India Company for the use of 
 their ships. The request was readily complied with 
 by the Company and the owners ; and the command- 
 ers and officers cheerfully proceeded upon a hazard- 
 ous and unfruitful service, by which they were thrown 
 out of their regular and lucrative employment for the 
 whole season. 
 
 The navy in 1796, requiring an immediate aug- 
 mentation of force, and the ships then employed in 
 the China trade being considered well adapted to 
 supply the existing deficiency, the Company yielding 
 to the convenience of the State, allowed the owners 
 to dispose of a certain number to Government, who 
 converted them into 64 and 50 gun ships. 
 
 In the same year, six of the outward-bound China 
 ships, under the orders of Captain Farquharson, by 
 dexterous manoeuvring, deceived a French squadron, 
 consisting of six heavy frigates, and by frightening 
 the enemy from his station in the China seas, saved 
 not only themselves, but a homeward-bound China 
 fleet, which might otherwise have fallen into his hands.
 
 129 
 
 In the years 1795-6 and 1796-7, that critical 
 period, when all classes of people were vying with 
 each other in loyal efforts to meet the exigences of 
 the State, the Company raised 3,000 seamen for the 
 supply of the navy, at an expense of *47,000. 
 
 Some of the Company's ships served in the expe- 
 dition against Manilla in 1797; and in 1799, several 
 more served under Admiral Rainier, in conjunction 
 with His Majesty's squadron, when the Admiral bore 
 ample testimony to the zeal, ability, and good con- 
 duct of their commanders and officers. 
 
 The Company in 1803 presented to Government 
 the use often thousand tons of shipping, which was 
 employed in protecting the coasts of the United 
 Kingdom against the invasion then threatened by the 
 enemy. 
 
 In 1804, a fleet of sixteen of the China ships, un- 
 der Captain Dance, encountered a French squadron, 
 consisting of an 84-gun ship and several frigates, 
 which, after a severe engagement, were beaten 
 off by the skill, judgment, and bravery of the 
 officers and crews of the Company's ships, and 
 property was thus saved from capture to an amount 
 of not less than six millions sterling. 
 
 At the captures of the Cape of Good Hope, 
 Ceylon, the Mauritius, and Java, the Company's 
 
 K
 
 ISO 
 
 marine was eminently conducive to the successful 
 issue of the different expeditions, and its services 
 have uniformly been acknowledged in terms of high 
 approbation by those of His Majesty's Admirals, 
 under whose auspices it has had the honour to 
 act. 
 
 It would be tedious, and it is unnecessary to enu- 
 merate the many instances in which single ships 
 have maintained gallant and successful struggles with 
 privateers, and even with frigates belonging to the 
 enemy, thereby occasioning a prodigious saving in 
 the article of insurance. It is obvious, however, 
 that had the Company's ships been of a smaller 
 size, had they been less carefully equipped, or had 
 the officers commanding them possessed less science 
 and experience, they could neither have constituted 
 an occasional resource to Government, nor exerted 
 themselves with the same effect in their own de- 
 fence. 
 
 At the breaking out of a war, the ten thousand sea- 
 men, composing the crews of the Company's ships, fa- 
 cilitate the manning of the navy. The liberal accom- 
 modation which large ships afford, conduces greatly 
 to the health of the seamen ; and in case of sickness, 
 they have the additional recommendation of carrying 
 medical officers, whose assistance cannot be afforded 
 in vessels of smaller burden. It is only on board of 
 ships of the highest class, that European troops can
 
 131 
 
 be sent to India, without being exposed to a severe 
 mortality in the course of so long a voyage. The pre- 
 sent channels of conveyance must therefore be kept up, 
 if the lives of our men are to be preserved, or the se- 
 curity of our Indian possessions maintained. How far 
 it is reasonable to expect that the East India Com- 
 pany shall maintain an expensive shipping establish- 
 ment for national purposes, if they are to be deprived 
 of all recompense as a commercial body, may be left 
 to public justice and public candour to decide. The 
 quantity of tonnage now employed by the Company, 
 is much greater than what is required for carrying on 
 their trade; and though it is impossible to state what 
 proportion of it, in time past, ought to be assigned 
 to their political account, or what saving they might 
 in future effect under the head of freight and demur- 
 rage, were they discharged from the obligations 
 arising out of their political character, it is indis- 
 putable that their commercial charges would expe- 
 rience a very considerable reduction, were the dis- 
 continuance of their exclusive privileges to be ac- 
 companied with a release from their exclusive bur- 
 dens, and an exemption from the pecuniary saciifices 
 connected with them.* To withdraw the immunities 
 
 * On this subject the Select Committee of the House of Commons 
 on Indian Affairs, observe, in their Fourth Report (p.ige 426) 
 " The shipping employed by the Company, have, in conformity 
 '' with their system, been for the most part, during a very lon- 
 
 " period, 
 K 2
 
 132 
 
 without removing the encumbrances, would be to 
 commit an act of injustice without the temptation 
 of benefiting from it, because a short-sighted policy 
 in this, as in other instances, must inevitably defeat 
 its own object. 
 
 In every view of the question, therefore, the Court 
 of Directors have acted wisely in refusing to accede 
 to the proposition for laying open the trade with 
 India to the Out-ports of this Kingdom, and in so doing 
 they have not consulted the interest of their consti- 
 tuents more than those of the empire at large. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to point out (though 
 
 " period, constructed for warlike as well as commercial service; and 
 " have been frequently, and in fact constantly used for political 
 " purposes, either in the conveyance of troops and military stores, 
 " or in expeditions against the possessions of the enemy. The part 
 " of the freight, therefore, chargeable to the trade, can only be as- 
 " certained by estimate. Further, a practice has prevailed, whether 
 " correct or not your Committee do not pretend to determine, of 
 " charging the largest proportion of the whole freight of the voyage 
 " to the homeward-bound trade." The practice has unfortunately 
 been as here stated, and has arisen from the Government and 
 trade being considered as two branches of one concern, ministering 
 to the wants of each other, and gradually becoming so blended, as 
 to render a separation of the accounts matter of extreme difficulty. 
 However, if the homeward trade is charged with three-fourths of the 
 freight, and the Government with only one-fourth (or nothing at 
 all, as is now the case in most instances), for troops and stores sent 
 out, it is evident, that upon a final separation of interest, anew and 
 more etpial distribution of charge must follow of course.
 
 133 
 
 most imperfectly) the danger and impolicy of laying 
 open the trade with India and China, it may be of 
 use, while pursuing the same humble path of ex- 
 planation and matter of fact, to notice the principal 
 objections that are urged against the system under 
 which that branch of commerce is conducted. 
 
 It would be superfluous even to glance at the old 
 argument against the trade with Asia, founded upon 
 its tendency to drain the states which engage in it of 
 the precious metals, because the principle on which 
 the argument rests, has long since been exploded as 
 erroneous, and also because the principle, were it as 
 just as it is universally acknowledged to be fallacious, 
 would be inapplicable to the trade as it is now carried 
 on by this Country. 
 
 The objections at present most in vogue are di- 
 rected generally against the system of monopoly, 
 and particularly against the alleged abuses of the 
 monopoly held by the East India Company : and to 
 these alone it is necessary to advert. 
 
 1st. In reference to the general objection against 
 monopolies, it is well known, that from the year 
 1756, the privileges enjoyed by the Company in the 
 Indian trade, have been continued, not so much for 
 commercial objects, as to enable them to realize 
 any surplus of territorial revenue that might ac- 
 crue, and above all to maintain and preserve the
 
 134 
 
 connexion, which is found so advantageous to the pa- 
 ramount slate, upon the only grounds on which it 
 can safely rest. The exclusive trade to China has 
 been conceded to them in like manner, with an 
 enlightened regard to the geographical situation 
 of that empire, its commercial intercourse with 
 India, and the Company's services and sacrifices 
 in maintaining the Indian connexion, as well 
 as from considerations founded upon the peculiar 
 character of the Chinese government and people. 
 It has likewise been shown, that the privileges en- 
 joyed by the Company by no means form a singular 
 exception to the otherwise uniform tenour of our na- 
 tional policy, but on the contrary, that the same 
 spirit by which they were dictated pervades many 
 of our laws and institutions. It may be farther urged, 
 that at no time was the term monopoly strictly applica- 
 ble to the privileges possessed by the Company, and 
 that since the period of 1802, it has become an ab- 
 solute misnomer. It is of the essence of a monopoly 
 that the individual, or body possessing it, shall have 
 the sole command of the articles in which it consists, 
 with the power of withholding, or so disposing of 
 them as to enhance their value in the market, and 
 impose an arbitrary price upon the consumers. The 
 Company, instead of having a power of this sort, are 
 obliged by law to bring to sale the commodities they 
 import, as early as possible, and to dispose of them in 
 moderate lots, at public auction, by inch of candle. 
 No preference is given to their own goods, over
 
 135 
 
 those belonging to individuals, and the purchasers 
 at the sales receive their goods immediately on 
 payment of the duties and other regulated charges. 
 Though the commerce is conducted on a large capital, 
 the Company's stock is constantly in the market, 
 and the sharers are as numerous or more so than 
 they would be in an open trade. The books are 
 at all times open for every description of persons 
 of either sex, whether British subjects or foreigners, 
 who may desire to become members of the Corpo- 
 ration, and who have money to adventure. In the 
 General Courts of Proprietors, every one present 
 has the same right with another to deliver his senti- 
 ments and give his advice. The only difference is in 
 voting, and this difference is established on the basis 
 of property, and graduated according to its amount. 
 A Proprietor of 500 stock, has a right to attend 
 and give his opinion. 1,000 stock entitles the 
 holder to one vote by ballot 3,000 stock to two 
 votes ,6,000 to three votes 10,000 to four 
 votes, which is the largest number any individual is 
 permitted to possess ; and 2,000 stock qualifies 
 any Proprietor for the office either of Director or 
 Chairman of the Company. In no sense of the term 
 can an institution so framed and regulated be called 
 a monopoly ; and after the extension allowed to the 
 private trade in 1802, as already explained, this ob- 
 noxious appellation might be given with more pro- 
 priety to several other corporate bodies, than to the 
 East India Company.
 
 136 
 
 II. It will not be contended that a mere transfer 
 of any given portion of trade from one class of society 
 to another, is productive of any increase of national 
 wealth, nor will it be denied that the operation of 
 withdrawing one set of capitals and substituting 
 another set in the same branch of trade, is attended 
 with loss both to individuals and the state. Ad- 
 mitting, therefore, the capital in this Country appli- 
 cable to the trade with India to be greater than 
 the actual trade absorbs, it by no means follows, 
 even on purely commercial grounds, that the re- 
 strictions under which it is carried on, should be 
 abolished, unless it can be proved, that they have 
 been abused by that body in whose favour they seem 
 to have been imposed. A qualified form of expres- 
 sion is employed, because the Company's privileges 
 have really been paid for at a price far exceeding 
 their value. Setting aside, however, this consideration 
 for the moment, let us inquire whether the East India 
 Company have, by their conduct, exposed themselves 
 to the imputation of having abused their trust. 
 The most obvious mode in which this might have 
 been done was by starving the markets in Europe 
 and in India, for the purpose of enriching, by extra- 
 vagant profits, the proprietors of India Stock. It is 
 not denied by the claimants of an open trade, that 
 there has been at all times a sufficient stock of Indian 
 commodities in this Country to supply the home 
 market, and to meet the demand of foreign Europe. 
 It is well known, that though the profits on imports
 
 137 
 
 from India have been extremely moderate, particu- 
 larly of late years, the supply has usually been much 
 greater than the demand j of which no other proof 
 need be given than the fact already stated, of there 
 having been at the beginning of last July, in the 
 Company's warehouses goods of Indian produce 
 and manufacture, to the value of nearly three mil- 
 lions and a half sterling, which had already 
 passed the sales at the India House, and for 
 which there was no vent either at home or abroad. 
 Indeed the mercantile and manufacturing interests 
 (as far as one can judge from their petitions and pub- 
 lications) seem disposed to rest their own pre- 
 tensions and their arguments against the Company, 
 chiefly upon the enlarged outlet which a free trade to 
 the East would open to the produce of the soil and 
 industry of this Country. It is of importance, there- 
 fore, to investigate the grounds, and the merits of 
 this assumption. Now with respect to the grounds, 
 they are not only purely hypothetical, but the hy- 
 pothesis is directly at variance with the deductions 
 of a long and uniform experience. Those articles 
 which in this Country are accounted necessaries, the 
 natives of India do not want, having cheaper and 
 more desirable substitutes of their own ; and as 
 for our luxuries, their religion prohibits their 
 use, or they are unable from poverty to pur- 
 chase them. The East India Company have 
 been indefatigable throughout the whole course 
 of their commercial and political history, in their
 
 138 
 
 endeavours to introduce and diffuse European com- 
 modities among the natives of India, Persia, and 
 Arabia; and with how little success their records 
 will abundantly attest. Similar attempts were made 
 by the French, Dutch, and other Europeans, with 
 no better effect. The trade of the Americans with 
 India, which has recently excited so much jealousy, 
 has been confined to an exchange of bullion for 
 goods. Even the private British merchants who 
 are already engaged in the trade, and possess all 
 the advantages of a personal knowledge, both of 
 the most respectable tradesmen in this Country, and 
 of the parties abroad through whose hands their 
 shipments are likely to pass, together with large 
 capitals enabling them to buy at the best mar- 
 kets, and to sell upon long credits, have already di- 
 minished, and in some instances entirely given up the 
 exportation of goods to India. The average prices 
 in the Calcutta market for a well selected assortment 
 of goods, in which there must always be a large 
 quantity of what are called perishable articles, such 
 as beer, hams, cheese, &c., occupying a considerable 
 space, have seldom yielded of late years a profit of 
 more than 45 or 50 per cent, upon the whole invest- 
 ment when sent by the first ships, or of more than 
 30 or 35 per cent, when sent later in the season. 
 The payments in India are generally made by equal 
 instalments, at three, six, and nine months after the 
 delivery of the goods in merchantable condition to 
 the purchasers. The package and other charges in
 
 1S9 
 
 England, amounting to a considerable sum, are cal- 
 culated at prime cost, and the current rupee taken at 
 2s. 3d. ; so that if the money be wanted to purchase 
 a home investment, the bills must be discounted at a 
 loss of from 10 to 12 per cent, per annum ; and if the 
 goods have been sold to a house in India of doubtful 
 credit, a farther premium is paid, for discount, of \ 
 or | per cent, per month. The charges on sending 
 out an investment to Bengal (which is reckoned the 
 best market) may be thus stated : 
 
 Freight, insurance, duties, and landing, 
 charges in India, short delivery, 
 agency on the sales, remittances, 
 &c 35 per cent. 
 
 Loss on calculating the payments at 
 2s. 3d. the current rupee, and only 
 prime cost on packages and charges 3 
 
 And if the proceeds are remitted in 
 bills of exchange at 25. (3d. the sicca 
 rupee, 12 months after sight, or 18 
 months after date 71 
 
 jO^Si per cent. 
 
 There are other incidental charges arising occa- 
 sionally from the necessity of discounting the bills, 
 &c, against all which there is nothing to place but the 
 credit allowed in England, or discount for prompt
 
 140 
 
 payment on laying in the goods. On some commodities 
 the freight and charges may be less than is above 
 stated, but on goods that occupy little room the 
 profit is proportionally smaller, and a very inconsi- 
 derable quantity of such articles is wanted to supply 
 the market. Were unmixed cargoes of hardware, 
 cotton goods, or of any of the great staple* of this 
 Country sent out to India, the returns would not 
 equal one-half of the first cost and charges. If it be 
 asked how the Commanders and Officers of the 
 Company's ships contrive to render such a trade 
 profitable, it may be observed, that they have 
 many advantages over other traders : such as a 
 saving of freight, commission, &c, and opportuni- 
 ties of trading from port to port in India. Of late 
 years, however, they have gained rather by their 
 passengers than their trade. 
 
 In answer to the objection that the Company are 
 unable to compete with their rivals in providing 
 the home investments, we may adduce the evi- 
 dence given before the Committee of the House of 
 Commons by a respectable merchant who lived thirty 
 years in Bengal, and shipped goods on his own 
 account to London. " The Company, from their 
 " greater capital, and generally speaking, the better 
 " intelligence and skill of their servants, are able 
 " to carry on the trade with India with more ad- 
 " vantage to themselves and to the country, than 
 " individuals. I presume always, that the illicit
 
 141 
 
 " practices of individuals are out of*the question, and 
 " that the trade is to be fairly carried on * * * *. 
 " The Company's goods have a character for excel- 
 " lence which the goods of private persons do not 
 " attain. This gives the Company a considerable 
 " advantage in the European market. A foreign 
 <( merchant can give his correspondent in London an 
 " order to purchase the Company's goods, with con- 
 " fidence that they will prove of the quality he 
 " desires. With respect to the goods of individuals 
 " he is at an uncertainty ; he must trust to the judg- 
 " ment and attention of his correspondent, and is 
 " liable to disappointment in the quality of the goods. 
 " The Company's goods, therefore, sell at a higher 
 " price than the goods of private persons, even 
 " though such goods may be equal in quality to the 
 " Company's. When engaged on my own account 
 " in correspondence to this country from Bengal, I 
 " conceived the difference to be equal to fifteen per 
 " cent, on piece goods, though my goods were pro- 
 " vided with great care and attention. The com- 
 " mission which falls upon the goods of private 
 " merchants at the different places of purchase, ship- 
 " ment, and sale, except where the owner himself 
 " may reside, on the transit from the place of pro- 
 " duce in Bengal through Calcutta and London to 
 " the place of consumption abroad, by its repetition, 
 " acts with a pressing weight upon the proceeds of 
 " the goods, and abates the profit or eventually 
 " creates a loss. Some of the rates of Commission
 
 142 
 
 " were 10 per cent for procuring goods at the place 
 <f of manufacture, 2| per cent for shipping, and 
 " 2| per cent on the gross sales in London."* 
 
 When due consideration is given to the difficulties 
 with which the East India Company have had to 
 contend in the prosecution of their trade, to the 
 necessarily limited demand of the natives both of 
 India and China, for the productions, whether raw 
 or manufactured, of this Country to the frequent 
 absorption, in political enterprises, of those funds 
 which would otherwise have been appropriated to 
 commercial investments, the competition of pri- 
 vate trade, the rival efforts of America, a state of 
 long-protracted warfare, the prohibitory edicts of 
 the enemy, and to the improvement in our do- 
 mestic fabrics, which has in great measure super- 
 seded the use of Indian manufactures in this Country, 
 it is matter of surprise that their imports and exports 
 should have attained their present level, rather than 
 that they have not reached a higher point. The se- 
 lect Committee of the House of Commons, in their 
 fourth report upon the affairs of the East India Com- 
 pany, have drawn a comparison of the actual extent 
 of the Company's Trade, according to the produce 
 of their sales at home, the prime cost of the goods 
 
 * Minute* of Evidence. 18th and 20th M.,v, 1909.
 
 143 
 
 imported, and the profit thereon, with the several 
 estimates as presented to the House previously to the 
 passing of the act of 1793, from which it appears 
 that, 
 
 The annual extent of the import trade, according 
 to the sale produce, was estimated in 1793, as fol- 
 lows, 
 
 India . . .2,314,900 
 
 China . . 2,673,400 
 
 Total ,4,988,300 
 
 The actual extent of the sale produce of goods 
 from India, on the average of seventeen years, from 
 1793-4 to 1809-10 has been ,2,637,746, exceeding 
 the estimate by ,322,846. 
 
 The actual sale produce of goods from China 3 
 
 on the average of the same seventeen years, has 
 
 been ,3,405,663, being more than estimated by 
 .732,203. 
 
 The total gross produce of sales from India and 
 China has been on the average of those seventeen 
 years, ,6,043,409, surpassing the estimate by 
 .1,055,109.
 
 144 
 
 The extent of trade estimated in 1793, as to the 
 prime cost of the goods imported, was 
 
 From India . . 1, 121,300 
 
 China . . 1,388,531 
 
 Total .2,509,831 
 
 The prime cost of goods imported from India has 
 been on the average of the above seventeen years 
 1,356,490, being more than estimated by ?235, 1 90. 
 
 The average prime cost of goods imported from 
 China, in the same seventeen years, was ,l,597>474, 
 being "208,943 above the estimate. 
 
 The total average excess of the prime cost beyond 
 the estimate, has been ,444,133. 
 
 The estimated profit in 1793, upon the scale of 
 trade immediately in prospect, was 
 
 India . . "267,615 
 
 China . . 636,919 
 
 Total .904,534 
 
 The average profits on the trade from India, dur- 
 ing the whole period of seventeen years, was "309,561, 
 exceeding the estimate by "41,946.
 
 145 
 
 The average. profit on the trade from China during 
 the seventeen years has been ,981,932, exceeding 
 the estimate by .345,013. 
 
 The average profits on the whole trade with India 
 and China, has been ,1,291,493, exceeding the 
 estimate in the sum of "386,959.* 
 
 The actual prime cost of goods and stores exported 
 by the Company to India and China, in the seventeen 
 years commencing with 1793-4 and terminating with 
 1809-10, according to the same report of the Com- 
 mittee,-)- amounted to '28,237,048, giving an annual 
 average export of "1,66 1,002. Of this sum of 
 28,237,048, "5,883,320 was paid for stores, and 
 "22,888,567 for goods. 
 
 The average export of seven years, 1791-2 to 
 1797-8, was to the value of 1,116,109. The ave- 
 rage on the ten following years, 1798-9 to 1807-8, 
 was 1,877,290. Upon this increase, however, the 
 Committee observe,^ that ff the value of goods and 
 " stores remaining on hand in India and China, 
 " between 1804 and 1809, was to an amount very far 
 " exceeding that on the antecedent years between 
 " 1792 and 1804, and what remained on the export 
 
 * 4th Report, pages 429, 430, 431. 
 | Ibid, page 437. 
 ; Ibid, page 43S. 
 
 1
 
 146 
 
 " goods, on the $Oth of April, 1809, amounted to 
 " more than ,900,000, from which it is evident that 
 " the Indian markets have been supplied to the utmost 
 " extent of their demand, independently of consignments 
 " made by private traders. The increased residue of 
 " stores does not appear so great in proportion as that 
 " of goods, and is not liable to the same observa- 
 " tion, &c." 
 
 The profit upon the sale of exports, calculated 
 upon the prime cost and without reference to any 
 charge on the consignment for freights, &c, amounted 
 from 1792-3 to 1808-9. 
 
 To China . . .266,404 
 India . . 837,940 
 
 ^ 1,104,344* 
 
 The promptness of payment on the part of the 
 Company for manufactures, &c. exported by them, 
 is noticed with just approbation by the Committee ,-\ 
 and the punctuality with which the payments have 
 been made for the goods purchased at their sales, in 
 which there appears to have been a deficiency of only 
 
 <fth Report, page 436. 
 Ibid, page 437.
 
 147 
 
 ,32,806, upon a demand of ,103,386,439, is ac- 
 companied with the following remark. " It is satis- 
 " factory to find in so extensive an amount, the defi- 
 " ciency so small as stated, being only l\d. per 
 " Cent., which your Committee cannot but observe 
 " suggests an impression highly favourable to the 
 " management of this Branch of the Commercial 
 " concerns of the Company."* 
 
 The Committee farther observe, that " the total re- 
 " venue drawn by the state from those two branches 
 *' of Trade, during the seventeen years (from Ja- 
 " nuary 1793, to January 1810), has amounted to 
 " no less than ,39,348,358, being on an average 
 " .2,314,609, per annum, of which ,399,555, was 
 " on the Trade from India exclusively. In the whole 
 " Seventeen years the Duties on the Trade from 
 " India, amounted to ,6,792,434, being on the 
 " average ,399,555, as before stated. In the Eleven 
 " years, ending January 1810, they amounted to 
 " ,5,054,170, or on the average ,459,470, and on 
 <e the four years, ending January 1810, the average 
 if was ,525,005. The produce in the next year 
 " was ,457,489. It should be remarked that the 
 " Export Trade of this Country in the several years 
 " last mentioned, was involved in difficulties of an 
 " unprecedented nature. Your Committee have been 
 
 4:li Report, page 4^5. 
 I. 2
 
 148 
 
 " more particular in their explanations of the Duties 
 " upon the India Trade, as that from China depends 
 " much more upon home consumption ; but the 
 <c average produce of Duties on the latter in the Eleven 
 " years, ending January 1810, exceeded the average 
 " of the seventeen years, in the sum of ^525,721, 
 ct and the sum realized in the year, ending January 
 " 1811, was more than that average by JO\,78S,0\2. 
 " The produce of Duties and Customs on the whole 
 " of the Trade from India and China in the year 
 "ending January 1811, amounting to ^4, 160,555, 
 " exceeded the average on the antecedent seventeen 
 lf years by ,1, 845,946: it likewise exceeded the 
 " produce of the preceding year, by the sum of 
 " ,682,397- Your Committee entertaiu the greater 
 " satisfaction in offering to the House, so favourable 
 " a view of the productive powers of this very im- 
 " portant branch of the Trade of the Empire in aid 
 " of its resources, from being enabled at the same 
 " time to state, that the Profit of the Companyon 
 " the whole of their Trade in the year ending March 
 tc 1810, was greater than in any year during the 
 " whole period, with the exception of the years 
 " 1800-1 and 1801-2."* 
 
 Whilst the source from which these Statements 
 are drawn, leaves no room for doubt respecting their 
 
 * 4th Report, page 436.
 
 149 
 
 authenticity, the facts they contain are the best 
 refutation that can be given to the calumnies which 
 have been so industriously circulated against the 
 Commercial management of the East India Com- 
 pany. For though the estimates of 1793 were fram- 
 ed with a view to peace both in India and Europe, 
 and the Country since that period has been engaged 
 in continual war in both hemispheres, the Trade 
 has far exceeded the expectations that were formed 
 respecting it. 
 
 To those who are desirous of taking a retrospect of 
 the Company's Commerce, for a longer period than 
 that comprehended in the inquiries of the Committee, 
 the following statement, the accuracy of which may 
 be relied on, will not be unacceptable. 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 Bills 
 
 
 
 
 Paid for Goods & 
 
 drawn on 
 
 
 
 
 Bullion ^tores 
 
 the Court 
 
 
 
 
 export- export- 
 
 of Direc- 
 
 Sale of 
 
 
 
 ed, ed.* jtors. 
 
 Goods. 
 
 
 
 per Ann. per Ann. per Ann. per Ann. 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 t 
 
 From 1731 to 1741 
 
 aver, of 10 years 
 
 464,574 
 
 152,609 
 
 167,41011,700,675 
 
 1741 to 1747 
 
 6 
 
 567,238 
 
 189,411 
 
 230,9141,907,105 
 
 1747 to 1767 
 
 10 
 
 767,057 
 
 267,730 164,482 2,143,459 
 
 1767 to 1767 
 
 10 
 
 121,287 
 
 428,707 432,891 ;2,315,573 
 
 1767 to 1777 
 
 10 
 
 110,042 
 
 489,081 458,7683,313,386 
 
 1777 to 1784 
 
 7 
 
 5,653 
 
 500,089] 761,425 3,134,964 
 
 1784 to 1790 
 
 5 
 
 617,930 
 
 635,145 1,551,985 4,572,466 
 
 1790 to 1793 
 
 5 
 
 466,893, 935,776! 668,366 5,103,094 
 
 1794 to 1800 i 
 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 both inclusive S 
 
 7 
 
 337,020 1,273,824 1,408,166,6,168,945 
 
 1801 to 1807 
 
 ? 
 
 912,925 1,993,317 1,133,519 6,204,089 
 
 1808 to 1U11 
 
 4, 
 
 51,815 ,1,870,352 1,966,633 5,681,095 
 
 1 ! 
 
 This column of the account contains the invoice price of the Goods and
 
 150 
 
 N. B. In the above account the amount received from Government for Salt* 
 petre, is included down to 1784, and excluded afterwards. 
 
 The amount received under this head, from 
 
 1794 to 1800, average of 7 years per annum, was j 37,552 
 
 1801 to 1807, ditto ditto ditto 42,857 
 
 1808 to 1811, average of 4 years ditto 145,00',* 
 
 A particular analysis of the foregoing statement 
 would require a minute survey of political events 
 both in India and Europe, during the period which 
 it embraces, and a detailed examination of their in- 
 fluence upon the trade. But a few observations 
 which obviously suggest themselves upon a cursory 
 inspection of its contents, will be sufficient for the 
 purpose immediately in view. 
 
 In reference to the Exports it will be seen, that 
 previously to the acquisition by the Company of ter- 
 ritory in India, there was a large export of Bullion 
 thither, and that the exports in Goods and Stores 
 were comparatively inconsiderable, the imports both 
 from India and China, having been at that time ob- 
 tained in exchange for the precious metals. 
 
 In consequence of the Company's conquests dur- 
 ing the war of 1756, and more remarkably still of 
 the cession of the Dewannee in l?6o, the nature of 
 the intercourse with India underwent a great altera- 
 
 stores exported, which is 10 per Cent, added to the prime cost. In the state- 
 ments of the Committee, of the House of Commons, the prime cost is given.
 
 151 
 
 tion, and the trade, instead of being conducted as 
 before, on the principle of exchange, became a chan- 
 nel of remittance (either directly from India or cir- 
 cuitously through China to this Country) for the sur- 
 plus revenue then existing after defraying the ex- 
 penses of administration and internal government. 
 The small quantity of Bullion exported was sent for 
 the most part to China, and the remainder to Ben- 
 coolen, St. Helena, &c. 
 
 The exports in Goods and Stores about the same 
 period, experienced an augmentation in some degree 
 proportioned to the diminution in the export of Bui- 
 lion, but the gradual augmentation down to this day 
 is to be accounted for rather from the increased de- 
 mand for European consumption, and the necessary 
 supply of the governments abroad, than from the 
 diffusion of British produce among the natives of 
 those provinces that have devolved under our autho- 
 rity. 
 
 The renewed export of Bullion, from 1784 to 1790, 
 was caused by the passing of the Commutation Act, 
 the immediate consequence of which was an augmen- 
 tation in the Company's imports of tea from China to 
 the extent often millions of pounds weight annually, 
 and for which Bullion was the principal medium of 
 payment. 
 
 The export of Bullion from England, after declin-
 
 152 
 
 ing between 1790 and 1800, was renewed to a great 
 extent in the seven following years, owing to the 
 wars in India, which not only absorbed the revenue 
 of the territories, but occasioned a large accumula- 
 tion of debt, which every exertion was made to 
 reduce by this and other means. 
 
 In the four subsequent years, from 1808 to 1811, 
 the exportation of Bullion by the Company almost 
 entirely ceased, the commodities sent from England 
 and India to China, having been more than sufficient to 
 pay for their tea investments ; and in the course of the 
 last-mentioned period there has been a considerable 
 reflux of the precious metals from Asia to Europe, 
 which has come opportunely in aid of the treasury at 
 home. 
 
 The Bills drawn on the Court of Directors have in 
 part contributed to keep up the connexion between 
 India and China, these bills having been frequently 
 granted to individuals trading from India to China, 
 who in return paid the proceeds of their merchandise 
 into the Company's treasury at Canton, at fixed 
 rates of exchange. In this way they have proved a 
 convenient resource for the Company when the sur- 
 plus revenue of their territories was absorbed by wars 
 in India. But by far the greater proportion of those 
 bills has been drawn in aid of the Governments 
 abroad, and in liquidation of debts contracted by 
 them in the prosecution of wars in India.
 
 153 
 
 The large amount of Bills drawn between 1784 
 and 1790, and far exceeding the proportion of 
 former periods, was occasioned chiefly by the ex- 
 pense incurred during the American war, in which 
 the Company had to sustain an arduous contest with 
 the native powers of India, assisted by the European 
 enemies of Great Britain: a contest in which the 
 success of the Company's exertions, tended in no 
 small degree to support the honour and reputation of 
 this Country, under the disasters which attended her 
 arms in other quarters. 
 
 In the course of the seventeen years from 1793-4 
 to 1809-10, the Company's nett payments for Bills of 
 exchange drawn from India and China, amounted to 
 ^23, 493,054.* These Bills which have operated as 
 a grievous burden upon the home treasury (as will 
 be shewn more particularly afterwards) arose either 
 out of the permission granted by the Court of Direc- 
 tors to their Governments abroad to draw upon them 
 in liquidation of the Indian debt, or out of the option 
 allowed to the Company's Indian creditors, of taking 
 payment in England of the Interest half yearly, and 
 of the principal when due of the loans advanced by 
 them to the Company in India; an option of which 
 they have availed themselves to a great extent. 
 
 4th Report of the Select Committee, page 438.
 
 154 
 
 The Statement shews the Sales of Goods to have 
 gradually increased, from 1741 to 1807, in the ratio 
 of 17 to 42. From 1808 to 1811, the average scale 
 rose to 56, notwithstanding the prohibitory edicts of 
 the enemy, a fall of prices in the home market, and 
 the great loss of Goods in the passage from India to 
 Europe in the course of 1808-9. 
 
 It is to be observed, however, that but an imper- 
 fect idea of the Company's commercial enterprise 
 can be derived from the statement; because in the 
 first place, it does not comprehend the Sums which 
 they have received subsequently to the year 1784, 
 for Saltpetre delivered to Government, and, 2dly, 
 because in this and various other instances they have 
 sacrificed their own gains to the public accommoda- 
 tion. 
 
 The Sum received by the Company from the 
 Board of Ordnance, for Saltpetre, between the years 
 I793-4 and 1809-10, amounted to .961,941; 
 and during the same period the Company sus- 
 tained a loss, by supplying Government with this 
 article, to the amount of 436,689. Although by 
 the Act of the 31st George III. cap. 42, they were 
 only bound to deliver to the Board of Ordnance, 
 Saltpetre to the extent of 500 tons annually, at the 
 average prices at which it was put up at their Sales, 
 (viz. the prime cost and charges) the actual deliveries
 
 155 
 
 have averaged 1,456 tons annually, and no allowance 
 has been made them for this excess.* 
 
 The exertions and sacrifices made by the Com- 
 pany in encouraging the production of Indigo, Raw 
 Silk, and Sunn Hemp, in their Indian territories, 
 whilst they reflect credit upon their enterprise, have 
 established in their favour an undoubted claim upon 
 the gratitude of this Country. 
 
 In the early period of the Company's intercourse 
 with Asia, Indigo constituted an important part of 
 their home investments, but in order to avoid com- 
 petition with the British Colonists in the West Indies, 
 and the Southern States of North America, they after- 
 wards discontinued the importation of that article. 
 The cultivation of Indigo in the West Indies, having 
 been relinquished about the middle of last century, 
 in consequence of a heavy duty then imposed upon 
 it, the trade fell into the hands of foreign nations, till 
 the year 1779, when the Company directed their 
 endeavours to renew its cultivation in their Indian 
 territories, and in the course of a few years ex- 
 pended about ,'80,000, in the prosecution of that 
 object. Having applied this powerful stimulus to its 
 cultivation, the Company not only resigned the 
 
 4 lli Report, page 431.
 
 156 
 
 trade to their own civil servants, and to the free mer- 
 chants, who with their permission had settled in 
 India, but supported them under the difficulties in 
 which they were subsequently involved, by pecuniary 
 advances to the extent of near a million sterling upon 
 the security of their produce :* so that under the 
 Company's fostering care, the value of the Indigo 
 disposed of at the home Sales, has of late years con- 
 siderably exceeded a million sterling annually, ex- 
 clusive of large quantities that have been exported 
 from India in the Country trade, and by American, 
 Arabian, and other vessels. 
 
 Previously to the year 1776 the British manufac- 
 turers drew their supply of raw silk almost entirely 
 from the southern countries of Europe. The soil and 
 climate of Bengal being exceedingly well adapted to 
 the cultivation of the Mulberry-tree, and to the rear- 
 ing of the silk-worm, the Company have been un- 
 ceasing in their exertions for the last thirty-six years, 
 to render the British silk weavers independent of 
 foreign nations for a supply of the raw material of 
 their manufacture. Although for the ten years from 
 1776 to 1785, the Company sustained a loss of 
 ,$84,744. f upon their silk sales, they steadily 
 
 * M'Pherson's History of the European Commerce with India, 
 page 200. 
 
 t Ibid, page 223.
 
 157 
 
 persevered under many difficulties in continuing and 
 extending this important branch of commerce. The 
 natives of India have been instructed in the Italian 
 method of winding the silk, and the people occupied 
 in the throw-mills of this Country have been em- 
 ployed by the Company in organzining it. Notwith- 
 standing the vast increase in the cotton manufacture, 
 which has greatly reduced the demand for silk, and 
 the opposition of those concerned in importing or- 
 ganzined silk from the continent of Europe, there is 
 now a regular importation from India of silk in its 
 raw state, to the value of ,,600,000 annually:* and 
 the supply may be carried to any extent, provided 
 that the Company are duly protected against a pre- 
 ference to the produce of Italy and France. 
 
 If Great Britain still remains to a certain degree 
 dependent upon foreign Europe for a supply of hemp, 
 it is not owing to any remissness on the part of the 
 East India Company to render available one of 
 the most useful productions of their Indian territories 
 as a substitute. In the year 1796 the Company 
 commenced the importation of Sunn hemp, which 
 grows in vast abundance in the Island of Salsette 
 and in several districts of Bengal. They at first sold 
 it without any view to gain, and even gave it away 
 
 * Appendix to 1th Report of the Committee of the House of 
 4'onimon*, No. 24
 
 158 
 
 to the rope-makers in this Country for the purpose of 
 inducing them to make experiments of its strength 
 and durability in different sorts of cordage. The re- 
 sult of those experiments was favourable upon the 
 whole, for though it is rather inferior to Russia 
 hemp, in the formation of small ship-tackling, it has 
 been found better adapted to the manufacture of 
 cables and large ropes, which occasion the principal 
 consumption of hemp. In consequence of the dif- 
 ferences between England and Russia which took 
 place in 1800, the price of Russia hemp, which in 
 1792 had been sold at j23. \0s. having risen in 
 1803 to ,61 per ton, His Majesty's Ministers urged 
 the Court of Directors to promote the cultivation 
 and importation of Sunn for the supply of the navy. 
 Immediate instructions were accordingly dispatched 
 by the Court to the Bengal Government to spare 
 neither trouble nor expense in procuring an ample 
 supply of an article from which great public benefit 
 was likely to be derived; and hemp-dressers were at 
 the same time sent out to India to teach the natives 
 the best method of preparing it. But before the 
 cargoes arrived an unexpected fluctuation in the 
 politics of Europe had removed the obstruction to 
 the acquisition of Russia hemp, and the Sunn was 
 disposed of by the Company at a loss of ^^OOO. 
 In 1807 the Directors proposed to Government to 
 import for the use of the navy, and to deliver into 
 His Majesty's storehouses, without a profit, as much 
 Sunn as might be required, and the offer having
 
 159 
 
 been accepted, the importation has been continued 
 upon this footing ever since. Another change in 
 the political relations of Europe has again, in the 
 course of the present year, opened the ports of 
 Russia to the commerce of this Country, and a 
 quantity of hemp is stated to have been already 
 received from thence sufficient for two years' con- 
 sumption. It is obvious that under such vicissitudes, 
 added to the prejudices which oppose the introduc- 
 tion of every new article into general use, no dis- 
 covery, however valuable in itself, can be productive 
 of the same advantages which in different circum- 
 stances might be derived from it. The resource, 
 however, is in existence ; the East India Company 
 have shewn both alacrity and disinterestedness in ex- 
 ploring it and rendering it accessible; and it now 
 depends not upon them, but on the Government of 
 this Country, whether its powers shall be stunted or 
 developed to the utmost extent of their capacity. 
 
 Respecting the article of cotton-wool, which has 
 sometimes been made a subject of charge against the 
 Company, it is only necessary to observe, that as it 
 is one of the staple productions of India, its cultiva- 
 tion requires no special encouragement. It is the 
 raw material of one of the principal manufactures of 
 that country, and has (particularly of late years) 
 been exported thence in large quantities to China. 
 The Company have also occasionally imported it 
 into this Country, and have uniformly granted everv
 
 160 
 
 facility to its importation on account of private 
 merchants. It has been found, however, that from 
 the length of the voyage and the high rate of freight 
 payable in time of war, East India cotton can- 
 not support a competition in the London market 
 with that produced in the West Indies, Brazil, and 
 North America. Yet Factories have been established 
 by the Company, both in the upper part of India and 
 in the province of Guzerat, for the purpose of en- 
 suring a regular supply of this article in a clean 
 state (for when it is brought home unpicked, it 
 cannot possibly bear the charge of cleaning in this 
 Country, superadded to the expense of freight), and 
 should the war with America be unhappily pro- 
 longed, no disappointment is likely to occur for the 
 future in obtaining a supply sufficient to answer all 
 the demands of the British manufacturer.* But 
 nothing can be more unreasonable than at once to 
 compel the East India Company to admit the private 
 merchants into a share of their trade, and at the 
 
 * To enable East India cotton to maintain a competition with 
 that produced in Brazil or the United States, it is absolutely neces- 
 sary that the duties should be levied ad valorem, instead of being 
 levied as at present upon the weight. The former sells at from 
 eight-pence to one shilling a pound, whereas the latter brings from 
 eighteen-pence to two shillings, and the existing rate of duty is 
 common to both ; a circumstance which of itself establishes a pre- 
 ference in favour of a foreign article, to the discouragement of the 
 produce of our own territories.
 
 161 
 
 siatne time to dictate to the Company (as has been 
 too often attempted) what goods they are to import 
 and export. If the Company have in time past 
 committed any fault in the conduct of their trade, it 
 has been in too frequently deviating from the sound 
 commercial maxim of dealing only in those goods on 
 which a profit can be realized. In these deviations they 
 have been actuated by a desire to benefit the State 
 and to accommodate their fellow-subjects j but the 
 boons which they have thus conferred, instead of 
 being thankfully accepted, have in various instances 
 been turned against them, either as weapons of attack 
 or as means of extorting farther sacrifices. 
 
 Had the Proprietors of East India Stock received 
 immoderate profits upon the capital they embarked 
 in the trade, it might be urged, at least with plau- 
 sibility, that the nation at large have a just claim 
 to a participation in the gain j and that though, 
 like other patentees, the Company might be en- 
 titled, at the out-set, to a fair reward for their skill 
 and enterprise, the period for which the Patent was 
 granted being nearly elapsed, it ought now, upon 
 the common principle by which the dispensation of 
 similar privileges is limited, to be suffered to expire. 
 But the truth is, that in the present instance the Paten- 
 tees have been uniformly the losers, and the Public 
 the gainers j for the Patent was not, as in 
 other cases, free and unqualified, but has been, in 
 fact (whatever may have been the intention of the 
 
 M
 
 162 
 
 donors), clogged with conditions which have ren- 
 dered it rather an onerous obligation than a bene- 
 ficial license to the holders. This can hardly admit 
 of doubt, when it is recollected that the India Stock- 
 holders have hitherto received little more than com- 
 mon interest for their money in a trade combining 
 great political, with the most hazardous commercial 
 risks. Mismanagement, indeed, on the part of the 
 Court of Directors, is called in by the adversaries of 
 the Company, according to their varying objects, 
 for the purpose of solving this and many other pro- 
 blems. Supineness, carelessness, and extravagance, 
 are represented as vices inseparable from all Joint- 
 stock Associations, and, therefore, the East India 
 Company, because it answers this description, by 
 an awkward attempt at syllogistic reasoning, is 
 pronounced slothful, negligent, and prodigal. 
 * c Every man thinks, Peter is a man, and therefore 
 " Peter thinks :" granted ; but though an ass be an 
 animal, and man may likewise be so denominated, it 
 does not follow, by any law, either of nature or of 
 logic, that Peter is the beast of burden so remarkable 
 for sluggishness and long ears. 
 
 Can Syllogism set things right ? 
 No ; Majors soon with Minors fight, 
 Or both in friendly consort joined 
 The consequence limps far behind. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive why the Proprietors of 
 East India stock should be more indifferent to their
 
 163 
 
 own interests, or less capable of discerning when 
 their affairs are well or ill-managed, than any other 
 body of men. The election of Directors takes 
 place annually, and a meeting of Proprietors is held 
 quarterly, to deliberate upon the general state of the 
 affairs, and upon the conduct of their Represen- 
 tatives. The accounts of the Company's revenue and 
 disbursements, and of their commercial receipts, 
 charges, and payments, are regularly submitted to 
 Parliament every year ; and notwithstanding all these 
 checks, and^the opportunities afforded by such publi- 
 city of proceedings for discovering misconduct on 
 the part of the Directors, their management stands 
 unimpeached, either by their immediate constituents, 
 or by the Legislature. Until the evidence of facts, 
 therefore, is exploded, as unsatisfactory or obsolete, 
 and inferences founded upon random assumption 
 are sustained as a rule of judgment, the Company 
 may surely be permitted to oppose their conduct 
 (open as it is to investigation) to the unsubstantiated 
 allegations of their adversaries. And if no instance 
 of misconduct can be proved against the Company, 
 all the arguments and claims that have been founded 
 on supposed abuses, must necessarily fall to the 
 ground ; in as much as de non apparent ibus et de non 
 existentibus cadem est ratio, or in other words, as 
 evidence not produced is the same as no evidence 
 at all. 
 
 It being less the object of the Author of these re- 
 M 2
 
 164 
 
 marks however to vindicate the East India Company 
 against the imputations cast upon them by their ad- 
 versaries, than to contribute to the general informa- 
 tion, upon a question of great public importance, 
 and to put the Legislature on its guard against a de- 
 cision, which, though it may gratify the prejudices 
 will be permanently injurious to the interests of the 
 nation ; it is material, with a view to this object, to 
 consider the consequences which cannot fail to 
 ensue, both to the Company and to the speculators 
 who are likely to embark in the trade with India in 
 the event of its being laid open. 
 
 The great objection to the argument employed by 
 Lord Melville, in his Letter to the Chairman and 
 Deputy, of the 21st March, 1812, (as quoted 
 in page 31), is that the trade with India is necessarily 
 limited, and that whether it be carried on by the 
 Company, or by individuals, it never can be pushed 
 beyond the demand which exists in India for Euro- 
 pean productions, and in Europe for the produce and 
 mauufactures of India. This demand is now amply 
 supplied by the Company, and no individual exertions 
 can greatly extend it. If a given capital be sufficient 
 to carry on a certain branch of trade, it is obvious that 
 any accession of capital is unnecessary, and there- 
 fore would be misapplied : and if the profits yielded 
 by the same branch of trade, under judicious ma- 
 nagement, are barely adequate to pay the trouble and 
 risk of the actual adventurers, it is equally indisputable
 
 165 
 
 that the only effect of additional competition will be 
 to glut the markets, and ruin the competitors.* 
 
 To those who have perused the printed Evidence 
 given towards the close of the last Session of Parlia- 
 ment, before a Committee of the whole House of 
 Commons, on the Orders in Council, it must be ap- 
 parent, that the speculations which were under- 
 taken to different parts of South America, ignorantly 
 and unwarrantably, no doubt, but naturally enough, 
 at a period of great commercial stagnation, were 
 the cause of distress and bankruptcy to numbers of 
 our merchants and manufacturers. In the evidence 
 of the Chairman of the Chamber of Foreign Com- 
 merce, at Birmingham, these speculations are repre- 
 sented to have been the effect not merely of rashness, 
 but of absolute insanity ; and well they might, if the 
 passage extracted in a note below from an interest- 
 ing work lately published by an intelligent observer, 
 contains a correct account of the mode in which 
 they were conducted. f 
 
 * Some of the adversaries of the Company reason from the in- 
 crease which the commerce with India has experienced within the 
 last twenty years, in favour of the practicability of almost indefi- 
 nitely extending it. The increase which has taken place in the pri- 
 vate trade since 1793, is most satisfactorily accounted for in the 
 Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Court of Direct- 
 ors, dated 9th Feb. 1813. See Appendix, No. 2. 
 
 f " It may not be improper in this place to describe the conse- 
 " quences produced in Rio de Janeiro, by the excessive commer-
 
 16$ 
 
 The author of the curious narrative, was an eye 
 witness of what he relates, nor does there seem to be 
 any reason for doubting his veracity. The delusion 
 
 " cial speculations into which our merchants entered, immediately 
 " after the emigration of the Court of Portugal, and which could 
 " only be equalled by those which followed our expeditions to the 
 " Rio de la Plata. 
 
 " Owing to the incredible competition, or struggle among our 
 " merchants, who should send most ships and cargoes to a country 
 " whose civilized population, exclusive of slaves, does not exceed eight 
 " hundred thousand souls (one-third at least of whom may be said to 
 " make use only of what the land produces), it is natural to suppose, 
 " that the market would be almost instantly overstocked. So great 
 " and so unexpected was the influx of English manufactures into 
 " Rio de Janeiro, within a few days after the arrival of the Prince, 
 " that the rent of houses to put them into, became enormously dear. 
 " The bay was covered with ships, and the custom-house soon 
 " overflowed with goods, even salt, casks of ironmongery and nails, 
 " salt fish, hogsheads of cheese, hats, together with an immense 
 " quantity of crates and hogsheads of earthen and glass ware, cordage, 
 " bottled and barrelled porter, paints, gums, resin, tar, &c. were ex- 
 " posed not only to the sun and rain, but to general depre- 
 " dation. The inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, and more particu- 
 " larly some of the Creolians and strangers from the interior, thought 
 " that these goods were placed there for their benefit, and extolled the 
 " goodness and generosity of the English who strewed the beach to a 
 " great extent with articles for which their own countrymen had here- 
 " tofore charged them such high prices. It is true, that the gentlemen 
 " intrusted with these valuable consignments, did apply for sentinels 
 " to be placed to guard the articles thus exposed, and their request 
 " was immediately complied with. The result was such as might 
 " easily have been anticipated from such watchmen, many of whom 
 " did not fail to profit largely hy the appointment. In the course of
 
 167 
 
 now existing throughout the Kingdom, founded on 
 the advantages anticipated from a free trade with 
 Asia, is, if possible, still more gross and prevalent 
 
 " several weeks the beach began to assume a less crowded appear- 
 rt ance ; some few of the goods were taken to the residence of their 
 " owners, others were removed ; but to what place, or by whom, 
 " there was no way of ascertaining ; and a very great proportion 
 " was sold at the Custom-house for the benefit of the Underwriters. 
 " This stratagem so frequently practised (and certainly deserving 
 " of the severest reprehension), afterwards operated as a very serious 
 " injury to the regular sale of articles; for as the market was so 
 " overstocked, scarcely any one would offer money for goods, ex- 
 " cept at the Custom-house sales. As the depreciation continued, 
 " numberless packages were there exposed for sale, in part damaged, 
 " or apparently so. Indeed little more than the mark of a cord on 
 " the outside of a single article, or a corner discoloured in a pack- 
 " age, however large, was a sufficient pretext for presuming and 
 " pronouncing the whole to be damaged. By means of this sen- 
 " tence so easily obtained, great quantities of goods were brought to 
 " the hammer in the Custom-house warehouses, under every disad- 
 " vantage ; thus the owners recovered the amount insured for, and 
 " the insurers lost the difference between that sum and the price 
 " they were sold at, also the attendant expenses. Many of the 
 " Underwriters will, no doubt, retain a lasting remembrance of the 
 " sales which took place at Riode Janeiro, and other parts of South 
 " America for their benefit ! 
 
 " To the serious losses thus occasioned by an overstocked market, 
 " and by the sacrifice of goods at whatever prices could be obtained, 
 " may be added another, which originated in the ignorance of 
 " many persons who sent out articles to a considerable amount, not 
 " at all suited to the country : one speculator, of wonderful fore- 
 " sight, sent large invoices of stays for ladies, who never heard of 
 " such armour ; another sent skates for the use of a people who arc
 
 168 
 
 than that which obtained some years ago, regard- 
 ing the expected outlet for British commodities 
 in La Plata and Rio de Janeiro; and if the new Par-. 
 
 " totally uninformed that water can become ice ; a third sent out a 
 " considerable assortment of the most elegant coffin furniture, not 
 " knowing that coffins are never used by the Brazilians, or in the 
 " Plata. To these absurd speculations may be added numerous 
 " others, particularly in articles of taste ; elegant services of cut- 
 " glass were little appreciated by men accustomed to drink out of a 
 " horn or a cocoa-nut shell; and brilliant chandeliers were still less 
 " valued in a country where only lamps that afforded a gloomy light 
 " were used. Superfine woollen cloths were equally ill-suited to the 
 " market ; no one thought them sufficiently strong. An immense 
 " quantity of high-priced saddles, and thousands of whips were sent 
 " out to a people as incapable of adopting them as they were of 
 " knowing their convenience. They were astonished to see English- 
 " men ride on such saddles, nor could they imagine any thing more 
 " insecure. Of the bridles scarcely any use could be made, as the 
 " bit was not calculated to keep the mule in subordination : these 
 " articles were of course sacrificed. Great quantities of the nails 
 " and ironmongery were useless, as they were not calculated for the 
 " general purposes of the people. Large cargoes of Manchester 
 " goods were sent out, and in a few months more arrived than had 
 " been consumed in the course of twenty years preceding. No dis- 
 " crimination was used in the assortment of these articles, with re- 
 " spect either to quality or fineness, so that common prints were dis- 
 " posed of at less than a shilling a yard, and frequently in barter. 
 " Fish from Newfoundland met with a similar fate : also porter, 
 " large quantities of which, in barrels, arrived among a people of 
 " whom only a few had tasted that article as a luxury. How the 
 " shippers in London, and other British ports, could imagine that 
 " porter would at once become a general beverage, it is difficult to 
 " conceive, especially when sent in barrels. These cargoes being
 
 169 
 
 lament have not wisdom, as well as firmness enough 
 to resist the popular clamour, all the difficulties under 
 which the country at present labours, will sink into 
 
 * unsaleable, were of course warehoused, and of course spoiled. 
 " Newfoundland fish, that was generally sold at from twelve to 
 " twenty dollars per quintal, was now unsaleable at four, and in 
 " many instances did not pay warehouse-room. Earthenware was 
 " perhaps rather more favourably received than many of the former 
 " articles, for plates, &c. soon came into general use. Having enu- 
 " merated various commodities which suffered a general deprecia- 
 " tion, it may be sufficient to add, that many invoices of fancy 
 " goods, and such as do not constitute a staple trade, were sold at 
 " from sixty to seventy per cent, under costs and charges, and others 
 " were totally lost. * * * * What must have been the delusions of 
 " those traders who sent out tools, formed with a hatchet on one 
 " side, and a hammer on the other, for the convenience of breaking 
 " the rocks, and cutting the precious metals from them, as if they 
 " imagined that a man had only to go into the mountains and cut 
 " as much gold as would pay for the articles he wanted ! 
 
 " Other evils resulted from these excessive and ill-judged specula- 
 " tions to South America, which might naturally have been antici- 
 " pated. The first was, that the produce was bought up with such 
 *' avidity, that many articles were soon double their ordinary value, 
 " and continued to rise as our manufactures lowered. But this 
 " was not all : the purchasers suffered equally from their ignorance 
 " of the articles, as from their eagerness in purchasing them. For 
 " instance, any kind of sebaceous matter was greedily bought for 
 " tallow ; and numberless hides spoiled in the drying, and oaten by 
 " the grub, met with ready sale. Little attention was paid to the 
 " state they were in ; and thus it frequently happened, that lots and 
 " cargoes of those articles, instead of reimbursing the adventurer, to 
 " whom they were consigned, scarcely paid freight and charges.
 
 170 
 
 utter insignificance, before the calamities that must 
 result from blind and headlong compliance with the 
 petitions which loaded the tables of its predecessor. 
 
 " This was also the case with coffee and other staple articles. Many 
 " gentlemen more knowing than others, sent home lots of curious 
 " wood, and even entered into the illicit trade of shipping the dye- 
 ** wood, which generally proved very disadvantageous, as the wood 
 " of that species, grown in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, is very in- 
 " ferior in quality to that of Pernambuco from whence that trade is 
 " allowed by contract. The folly of speculation did not stop here ; 
 " precious stones appeared to offer the most abundant source of 
 " riches ; the general calculation was made upon the price at which 
 " they sold in London : but every trader bought them more or less, 
 " at the price at which they were offered : invoices of goods were 
 " bartered for some, which in London would sell for comparatively 
 " a trifle, as they were taken without discrimination as to quality or 
 " perfection : tourmalines were sold for emeralds ; crystals for 
 " topazes ; and both common stones and vitreous paste have been 
 " bought as diamonds, to a considerable amount. Both gold and 
 " diamonds were well known to be produced in Brazil ; and their 
 " being bylaw contraband, was a sufficient temptation to eager spe- 
 " culators, who had never seen either before in their native state. 
 " False diamonds were weighed with scrupulousness, and bought 
 " with avidity, to sell by the rules stated by Jefferies. Gold dust, as 
 " it is commonly called, appeared in no inconsiderable quantity, 
 " and after being weighed with equal exactness, was bought or bar- 
 " tered for. But previous to this, many samples underwent the 
 " following easy and ingenious process : The brass pans purchased 
 *' of the English, were filed and mixed with the gold, in the propor- 
 " tion of from five to ten per cent., according to the opinion which 
 " the seller had of the sagacity of the person with whom he had to 
 " deal : and thus by a simple contrivance, some of our country - 
 " men re-purchased at three or four guineas per ounce the very ar- 
 " tide which they had before sold at 2s. 6d. per pound."
 
 171 
 
 The hopes entertained at the period of the re- 
 peal of the Orders in Council, of a speedy adjust- 
 ment of our differences with the United States, 
 
 After adverting to the utter incapacity, from a variety of causes, 
 of the mercantile agents, who were 6ent out to Brazil successfully 
 to conduct the affairs of their constituents, to the disputes which arose 
 between them and the natives, and to the disappointments of the ma- 
 nufacturers in this country, from the failure of remittances, which 
 brought many of them into the Gazette, and obliged others to 
 change their consignees, with no other effect than a renewal of dis- 
 appointment ; Mr. Mawe observes : 
 
 " Had it been possible to bring the whole trade to Brazil, under one 
 " interest, many of those fatal consequences might have been pre- 
 " vented. It should have been under the direction and control of 
 " experienced merchants, who would have sent out 9uch articles as 
 " were known to be wanted, and whose agents would have been ac- 
 " tively employed in obtaining intelligence respectingthe population 
 " of the country, its produce and consumption, particularly in goods 
 " of English manufacture. Interest would naturally prompt them 
 " to order and buy all that the country required, and return to this 
 " country those articles which were most likely to answer the gene- 
 " ral demand. 
 
 " If the trade had been properly conducted, we should hare re- 
 " ceived for a fifth of the produce which has been sold, the same 
 " amount which has been paid for the whole, and it is certain, that 
 " the purchasers would have been better satisfied; for to vend goods 
 '* at a reasonable price, is the certain way to keep the demand 
 " steady, but to force them upon the consumer, whether he wants 
 " them or not, is to render what was once a luxury, so common as 
 " to become contemptible." Travels into the Interior of Brazil, Inj 
 Jnhn Maive. London, 1812, pages 324 and 332.
 
 172 
 
 and of the revival of our accustomed trade with 
 them, have been unfortunately frustrated by the 
 subsequent intervention of declared hostility. This 
 event will probably increase the eagerness of the 
 mercantile and manufacturing classes to seek indem- 
 nity for their disappointment in what they deem the 
 rich and unexplored countries of the East. They 
 will discover, however, when it is too late, that 
 Nature has abundantly provided for all the real ne- 
 cessities of their inhabitants ; that religion either 
 prevents the growth, or prohibits the gratification of 
 artificial wants, and that a singular structure of so- 
 ciety, which neither the lapse of time, nor the revo- 
 lutions attendant upon conquest, have been able to 
 disturb, interposes insuperable obstacles to that spe- 
 cies of expensive consumption and gainful intercourse 
 which usually follow upon the diffusion of wealth in 
 other parts of the world. They will find that the 
 natives of India are not inferior in cunning, and all 
 the arts of imposition to those of Brazil, and that the 
 agents whom they may send out to superintend 
 their sales and purchases, will have infinitely greater 
 difficulties to encounter than they had in South 
 America, from their ignorance of the languages and 
 manners of the people. They will soon begin to 
 feel the same effects from having their capitals locked 
 up in India, or vested in unsaleable commodities in 
 this Country, which have been felt by those who spe- 
 culated to Buenos Ayres, and inundated Gotten- 
 burgh, Heligoland, and Malta, with West Indian
 
 173 
 
 produce, for which no demand was to be found. 
 And after acquiring a little wisdom by dear- 
 bought experience, they will perhaps acknowledge 
 with Mr. Ma we, that it would have been better to 
 leave the trade, as it is now carried on, to a Com- 
 pany of experienced merchants, who from an accu- 
 rate acquaintance with the state of the markets, 
 accommodate their transactions to the general con- 
 umption, than to turn it into a channel in which, 
 through presumption, folly, and ignorance, it is 
 likely to overwhelm the adventurers with a loss of 
 four hundred per cent. 
 
 True it is, that this evil, like many others, has a 
 tendency to correct itself in process of time. But is 
 the intermediate ruin of a multitude of individuals, 
 and the general waste of capital which it must occa- 
 tion, matter of no concern or anxiety ? Is a total 
 derangement of a valuable branch of commerce so 
 slight a mischief that it is not worth the pains of 
 avoiding ? Is every thing that has been gained by 
 the skill and enterprise of the East India Company 
 to be wantonly put to hazard in order to indulge a 
 taste for extravagant speculation ? And is the Com- 
 pany itself, when if not in the zenith of its prospe- 
 rity, at least in a train of extrication from its diffi- 
 culties, after all that it has suffered and achieved, to 
 be sacrificed to unmeaning clamour, the authors of 
 which would b^ the first victims to the success of their 
 own claims ? It is incredible, even in this infatuated
 
 174 
 
 age, that a Legislature, not more famed for vigour 
 than for prudence of counsel, can be smitten with 
 such a degree of infatuation as to countenance, 
 much more to sanction a scheme so short-sighted 
 and disastrous. 
 
 Reverting to the charges which are brought against 
 the Company under the general head of abuses, it 
 has been alleged both in and out of Parliament, 1st. 
 that the Company have not fulfilled the agreement 
 they made with the public in 1793, in virtue of 
 which the public became entitled to a certain portion 
 of the contingent profits derivable from their revenue 
 and commerce, and on that account have forfeited all 
 claim on the protection of the Legislature ; 2dly. 
 that their territorial revenues have been absorbed by 
 a wasteful and losing trade; 3dly. that their frequent 
 applications to Parliament of late years for relief, 
 whilst they furnish strong presumptive evidence of 
 mismanagement have caused a serious addition to the 
 burdens of the Country ; and 4thly. that the Com- 
 pany is actually bankrupt, and ought to share the 
 fate of other insolvent debtors. 
 
 The first objection, that the Company have failed 
 in discharging the obligation imposed upon them by 
 the act of 1793, of paying ^500,000 annually to 
 Government out of their profits, is founded upon an 
 entire misconception or rather misrepresentation of 
 the statute. Upon this subject, the Select Committee
 
 175 
 
 of the House of Commons in their Fourth Report 
 have furnished satisfactory explanations, which shall 
 be given in their own words. 
 
 '* The sums stated to have been paid to Govern- 
 " ment in the years 1793-4 and 1794-5, amounting 
 " to ^500,000, were two half-yearly payments, as 
 <c prescribed by the act of 33d of the King, Cap. 52. 
 " Sect. 127- These payments standing alone, have 
 fi led your Committee to inquire why the directions 
 " of the act have not been carried into effect in more 
 instances."* 
 
 The following is the result of the Committee's 
 inquiries. 
 
 " This stipulation was founded on an agreement 
 <s between His Majesty's Government and the East 
 " India Company, that the public were eventually 
 " entitled to a certain portion of the profits accruing 
 " to the Company from the prosperity of their re- 
 " venue and commerce. According to the mode of 
 " calculation laid down in the act, this conditional 
 " participation should accrue only from the following 
 " sources, viz. from the surplus remaining of the nett 
 " proceeds of the sales of goods at home, from the 
 " duties and allowances arising by private trade, and 
 
 * 4th Report, page 439.
 
 176 
 
 " from all other profits of the Company in Great 
 " Britain, after providing for the payment of bills of 
 " exchange already accepted ; for the current pay- 
 " ment of other debts, interest, and other outgoings, 
 " charges and expenses (the bond debt computed in 
 " another part of the clause at j 1,500,000 always 
 " excepted) ; for a dividend on the capital stock at 
 " 10 per cent, per annum, increased to 10| ; and 
 " lastly, for bills of exchange in liquidation of the 
 " debt contracted in India, to the extent of ^500,000 
 " per annum. Provision having been made for these 
 " several payments, the annual sum payable to the 
 " public in the way of participation, was fixed at 
 " ^500,000, to be set apart half-yearly, on the 1st 
 " July and 1st January in each year, beginning with 
 " July, 1793. Provisions were likewise made in the 
 " act to ensure punctuality in the payment of these 
 " sums into His Majesty's Exchequer; but it was 
 " enacted, that in the event of a deficiency in the 
 " amount of the proceeds (after making the pay- 
 " ments to which precedence was given) arising from 
 " extraordinary expenses incurred in time of war or 
 " preparations for war, or from circumstances inci- 
 " dental to war, that the deficiency or deficiencies 
 " were not to be made good from the surplus of the 
 " future year or years, but were to be deemed a debt 
 " to be made good to the public at the determination 
 " of the exclusive trade of the Company, in case 
 " their general assets should be more than sufficient
 
 177 
 
 f i for the payment of all their just debts, and for 
 ** making good the value of the capital stock, rated 
 <c at .200 for every ,100 of such stock. 
 
 " The payments shewn in the years 1793-4 and 
 " 1794-5, from having been made when a deficiency 
 " of funds for the purpose, according to the prin- 
 " ciple of participation laid down, is fully apparent, 
 " your Committee think it right to state to the 
 " House, that a reference to the 124th section will 
 " furnish an explanation of the transaction, by 
 < shewing that the payment was specifically directed 
 < to take place antecedent to the addition of the 
 " i per cent, to the dividends of the capital stock, 
 <c and that it must be considered to have been made 
 " from the balance of cash in the hands of the 
 " Company, distinct from their nett proceeds of the 
 " year. 
 
 " As to the sources from which the participation 
 " of the public was to be derived, namely, the surplus 
 " proceeds, &c, as described in the beginning of the 
 " section, your Committee cannot avoid reverting 
 i( to the estimates on which this arrangement was 
 " evidently founded, and again remarking, that the 
 " supply of a million annually from the surplus re- 
 " venue in India, as directed in the 107th section, 
 *' must have been assumed as the basis of the expecta- 
 " tions then held out to the public, because it seems 
 " clear that the surplus proceeds in contemplation by 
 
 N
 
 178 
 
 " the 111th section of the enactment, were in reality 
 " the combined profit derived from revenue and 
 " commerce. And this conclusion is farther sup- 
 " ported by provision being made for failure of pay - 
 " ment in the event of a deficiency of surplus pro- 
 " ceeds, happening from war. As the deficiency 
 " which has, in fact, existed from the time of passing 
 " the act, is to be ascribed to the wars in India and 
 " Europe, no farther payment has been made to the 
 " public under the directions of the act, but your 
 " Committee observing that in some years a surplus 
 " of funds is shewn in the account, notwithstanding 
 '* the war (after making the payments for dividends, 
 " and on bills of exchange for Indian debt), have 
 " thought it necessary to ascertain and to state to 
 " the House, the causes why payment was not made 
 " on the participation of such years. 
 
 <c The payments stipulated by the act, consider- 
 " ably exceeded the funds in the first year from 
 *' which such payments were to be made, conse- 
 " quently recourse was had to funds that could on no 
 " consideration be looked upon as profit, the only 
 " source from which the proceeds described could be 
 " derived. The excess of payment thus made, was 
 " supplied by moneys raised by the Company, either 
 " on new capital or on bond, in excess of the 
 " ,1,500,000, to which that debt was then limited, 
 " and became a debt payable from the nett proceeds, 
 " taking priority of the public claim to participation.
 
 179 
 
 " The deficiency of funds for the liquidation of this 
 " claim is shewn by an account inserted in the ap- 
 " pendix. 
 
 ct From a variety of circumstances, therefore, but 
 " chiefly from those consequent upon war, the nett 
 " proceeds of the Company's treasury in Great Bri- 
 " tain, have net been sufficient for the payment of 
 " the participation to the public according to the 
 <e act, and with the exception of the sum of 
 " ^500,000, paid in the manner above described, the 
 " whole has fallen in arrear, and become a debt due 
 < f by the Company under the 122d section, subject, 
 " however, to the reservation contained in the act as 
 " to the liquidation of it, that is in the event only of 
 " the Company's general assets amounting in value to 
 t( more than sufficient for the payment of all their just 
 " debts, and the realization of their capital stock."* 
 
 The second objection, that the territorial revenues 
 of the Company have been absorbed by a wasteful 
 and losing trade, is a favourite one with two descrip- 
 tions of persons the advocates of the political system 
 which was acted upon in India during the adminis- 
 tration of Marquis Wellesley, and the petitioners for 
 a free trade. The former contend that all the 
 expense incurred in wars, or consequent upon other 
 
 * 4th Report, page 443. 
 N 2
 
 180 
 
 measures terminating in the aggrandizement of the 
 British empire in India, has been much more than 
 compensated by the revenue derivable from the con- 
 quered and ceded territories. The latter maintain 
 that they can carry on the trade to much greater 
 advantage than the Company ; and, espousing the 
 foregoing doctrine as convenient for their purposes, 
 they likewise assert, that by exonerating the Com- 
 pany from a commerce unprofitable and ruin- 
 ous as it is now conducted, and by leaving their 
 attention exclusively directed to the administration 
 of their territorial revenues, the surest foundation 
 would be laid for the future prosperity of the 
 Company. 
 
 It is altogether foreign to the intention of the 
 writer to enter into political controversy. Lord 
 Wellesley's system may deserve every panegyric 
 which his warmest eulogists have ever passed upon 
 it; and in some respects too much cannot be said in 
 its praise. But those who argue as if the tendency and 
 operation of his system had been defeated by the 
 commercial mismanagement of the Company, how- 
 ever they may affect to extol, are, in truth, the 
 greatest disparagers of that distinguished states- 
 man. 
 
 The objection, with whatever view it has been 
 brought forward, is effectually repelled by the reports 
 of the select Committee of the House of Commons
 
 181 
 
 and by other authentic documents. The Committee 
 have stated in their 2d Report, that on a comparison 
 with the estimates in 1793, the result of the actual 
 accounts of the revenues and charges of India in 
 1808-9, was more unfavourable than the estimate, in 
 the sum of ^l, 189,6 19, the estimate having calcu- 
 lated on a surplus revenue of ,1,163,577, and the 
 actual accounts of 1808-9, having exhibited a defici- 
 ency of ,26,042. The difference is stated in a ge- 
 neral way to have arisen as follows. 
 
 Charges of Government . 
 
 Nett Revenue .... 
 
 Supplies to Bencoolen and 1 
 Penang, &c. . . . j 
 Interest on the Debts . . 
 
 Total 
 
 Surplus Revenue . . . 
 Surplus Charge 
 
 Deterioration as shewn abov 
 
 Estimate 
 1793. 
 
 Actual Ac- 
 counts, 
 1808-9. 
 
 Increase. 
 
 
 6,962,635 
 5,188,125 
 
 
 15,525,055 
 13,151,224 
 
 
 8,561,430 
 7,963,099 
 
 1,775,500 
 
 2,373,831 
 
 598,331 
 
 50,000 
 561,923 
 
 158,208 
 2,241,665 
 
 108,208 
 1,679,742 
 
 611,923 
 
 2,399,873 
 
 1,788,950 
 
 1,163,577 
 
 26,042 
 
 1,189,619 
 
 
 
 
 
 " From this view it is ascertained that, although 
 " the revenues have increased in the sum of 
 " .8,561,430, the iucrease in the charges of
 
 182 
 
 <c Government has been such as to absorb the whole 
 " except ^,598,331, and that the additional supplies 
 " to Bencoolen, &c, but, by far in the highest de- 
 " gree, the increase of the interest on the debts, have 
 " contributed to prevent the exhibition of a surplus 
 " revenue, as by the estimate of the year 1793."* 
 
 The disproportionate increase of charges, is im- 
 puted by the Committee, to additional naval and 
 military establishments, required in consequence of 
 the new acquisitions of territory, and likewise to 
 stipends and payments to the native princes of India 
 in fulfilment of treaties concluded between them and 
 the Company. 
 
 To an exposition of the state of the Company's 
 finances at home and abroad, submitted to the select 
 Committee of the House of Commons, on the 1st of 
 April, 1808, by the Court of Directors, an account 
 was annexed, shewing the amount of the Indian 
 revenues and charges, and of the surplus or deficit of 
 the former, from 1793-4 to 1807-8 inclusive, together 
 with the state of the Indian debt through the same 
 space of time. From this account the following 
 extract is made in the document referred to, for the 
 purpose of illustrating the position, that though the 
 revenues of India have greatly increased, the ex- 
 penditure has risen in a still greater degree. For 
 
 * 2d Report, page 62.
 
 183 
 
 in 1793, when the revenue was only eight millions 
 per annum, there was a surplus of j 1,600,000; 
 while in 1807-8, the second year of peace, when 
 the income had advanced to fifteen millions a year, 
 there was a deficiency of \,Q 19,097. 
 
 1793-4, First Year of 
 the Company's new 
 Charter 
 
 1798-9 ...- 
 
 1802-3 .... 
 
 1805-6 - - - - 
 
 1807-8, per estimate 
 
 Revenues. Charges 
 
 
 8,276,770 
 
 of- 
 
 6,066,923 
 
 Interest. 
 
 ~~~ 
 
 526,205 
 
 Surplus.] Deficit. I Amount of Debt 
 
 8,652,032 8,417,812 759,326 
 
 13,464,537 11,043,108 1,577.922 
 15,217,516 15,561,330,2,0-0,792 
 14,614,261 13,436,198 2,197,160 
 
 . 
 
 1,683,642 
 843,507 
 
 of- 
 
 April, 1793, 
 
 525,106|{ 
 
 Do. 
 
 .,414,606' Do. 
 1,019,097 Do. 
 
 1798. 
 1799 
 1803 
 180(5 
 180H 
 
 of- 
 
 7,971,668 
 
 , 10,866,538 
 ,12,811,863 
 , 19.523,737 
 , 28,538,804 
 , 31,895,000 
 
 " The commercial charges and supplies to Bencoolen, &c. are 
 " not here included. The charges are the amount paid in the re- 
 " spective years, as stated in the Budget Accounts. 
 
 " What is most obvious and striking in this state- 
 ment, is the increase, not of the charges only, but 
 also of the debt, as the revenues increased, and 
 not merely in proportion to the increase of the 
 revenues, for, whilst from the year 1793-4, to the 
 year 1805-6, the amount of the revenues has not 
 been quite doubled, that of the charges has been in- 
 creased as five to two, and that of the debt nearly 
 quadrupled, besides a very large sum of debt trans- 
 ferred in the course of that period to England. 
 The greatest increase under all these heads, has 
 been since the years 1798-9. The first foundation
 
 164 
 
 " of the debt was laid by the Mabratta war of 1778. 
 " The accumulation of that debt and of charges, may 
 " in most part be accounted for by the foreign expe- 
 '* ditions undertaken from India at the desire of His 
 " Majesty's Ministers, the two wars of Mysore, the 
 " two wars of 1803-4 and 5 with the Mahratta chiefs, 
 " and the permanent increase of military establish- 
 *' ments occasioned by these events, and other political 
 " measures of the same period."* 
 
 The select Committee of the House of Commons, 
 for the express purpose of ascertaining whether any 
 part of the unfavourable balance now existing against 
 the Company upon the whole concern, is attributable 
 to losses upon their trade with India, have endea- 
 voured, as far as was practicable, in their third 
 report, to separate the political from the commercial 
 part of the Company's affairs, by drawing out an ad- 
 justed account, exhibiting on one side the supplies 
 by India to England, and on the other, the sup- 
 plies from England to India, between the year 1792-3 
 and the year 1808-9, and thus striking the balance 
 between the two. The following abstract of this 
 account is given at the conclusion of the third 
 report. f 
 
 * Exposition of the State of the Company's Finances at Home 
 and Abroad, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 
 22d May, 1910, page 6. 
 
 f Page 373.
 
 185 
 
 Supply by India to England. 
 
 
 Investments of goods ...... 
 
 Sundry advances for Bills, &c. repay- 
 able in England 
 
 Commercial Charges not added to the") 
 
 Invoices j 
 
 Nett Amount of Supply to Canton . . 
 
 25,407,099 
 2,329,236 
 
 27,736,335 
 2,916,279 
 3,313,654 
 
 Advances and Charges in India, admitted as Claims 
 upon the Public, and paid in England by His 
 Majesty's Government 
 
 Total supply by India to England 
 
 Supply from England to India. 
 
 In Goods and Stores the total amount 
 of the Consignments as credited in 
 the Indian Books 
 
 In Bullion, as Do . 
 
 By Bills of Exchange 
 
 Sundry Receipts for which England is 
 credited 
 
 } 
 
 Total credited to England in 
 the Indian Books 
 
 Add 
 
 Disbursements of His Ma- 
 jesty's Paymasters Gene- 
 ral on account of regi- 
 ments serving in India, 
 1793 to 1807 .... 
 
 Victualling Office Demands 
 
 Interest allowed on repay- 
 ments by Government 
 
 :] 
 
 2,638,98 S 
 80,024 
 
 841,900 
 
 Charges paid in England, 
 supposed to be territorial . 
 
 3,560,912 
 6,193,049 
 
 
 11,554,218 
 
 7,360,752 
 14,746,038 
 
 393,372 
 
 34,054,3S0 
 
 9,753,961 
 
 Total return by England to India 
 
 From which, deducting the supply by India, 1 
 stated above, the balance will appear in favour > 
 of England, in the sum of ) 
 
 33,966,263 
 8,212,372 
 
 42,178,640 
 
 43,808,341 
 
 1, 629,701 
 
 which is the amount in which, upon the principles now acted upon, 
 the Political may be stated to be Debtor to the Commercial Con- 
 cern during the period in question.
 
 186 
 
 The select Committee, in their Fourth Report,* 
 have stated, that the Company's nett profit upon the 
 whole of their trade, between 1792-3, and 1808-9, 
 abroad, and between 1793-4, and 1809-10, at home, 
 has exceeded by ,2,164,533 the amount required 
 to defray the expenses and losses immediately inci- 
 dent to it, and to pay the dividends on the capital 
 stock with the interest on the bonds, although the 
 total prime cost of the goods lost by the Company 
 from shipwreck, in 1808, and 1809, amounted to 
 ^886,168, and the total cost and computed profit of 
 these goods jo JO 1,202, 638. f It is clear, therefore, 
 from these statements 1st, That so far from the 
 revenues of India having been absorbed by the com- 
 merce of the Company, they have actually drawn 
 
 from it the sum of J\ y 629,701, and 2dly, 
 
 That a surplus profit upon the whole trade of the 
 Company, to the amount of ^2, 164,533, has been 
 applied to the relief of their general finances. 
 
 The 3d objection, that the frequent applications 
 made by the Company of late years to Parliament 
 for pecuniary aid, have caused a serious addition to 
 the burdens of the country, requires attention to the 
 political events which have occasioned the Com- 
 
 * Page 454. 
 f Supplement to the Exposition of the state of the Company's 
 Finances, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 22d 
 May 1810.
 
 187 
 
 pane's embarrassments, as well as to the circum- 
 stances under which their several applications for 
 relief have been preferred. 
 
 The whole of the Company's financial difficulties 
 are to be ascribed to the almost unceasing course 
 of hostilities, which for twenty years has raged in 
 Europe, and to the frequent wars which the Com- 
 pany has, during the same period, carried on in 
 India. 
 
 The increased expense incurred by the Company 
 in time of war, under the head of freight and demur- 
 rage alone, amounts to about ^600,000, annually ; 
 and during the whole period of their charter, it may 
 be estimated at twelve millions sterling. 
 
 *&' 
 
 The rise in the rate of wages in England, conse- 
 quent on taxation, and other causes, has greatly en- 
 hanced the price in the home market, of every article 
 which the Company exports ; and as the sale prices 
 abroad have not advanced in any proportionate de- 
 gree, a corresponding reduction on the profits of 
 their exports has arisen, which has not by any 
 means been compensated by the prices they have 
 received for their imports. 
 
 Besides these inconveniences which they have felt 
 in common with the nation at large (inconveniences
 
 188 
 
 however under the pressure of which other merchants 
 have repeatedly sought and obtained parliamentary 
 relief), the Company have had to struggle with diffi- 
 culties and hardships peculiar to them as a body. 
 
 The effects of long protracted warfare are manifest, 
 in the prodigiously enlarged scale of their military 
 expenditure. In 1793, the military charges of India, 
 including buildings and fortifications, were esti- 
 mated at ,3,035,375. The actual military charges 
 in 1808-9, including buildings and fortifications, 
 amounted to <7, 659,791, shewing an increase, be- 
 yond the estimate, of ,4,624,416*. The number of 
 King's troops which the Company were bound by 
 act of Parliament to pay and maintain for the de- 
 fence of their Indian possessions, was 10,727, the 
 annual expense of which would have been about 
 .485,000. Since the year 1798, the extent of that 
 force which forms the most expensive part of their 
 military establishment, has been gradually increased; 
 and in 1810, the number of King's troops in India 
 amounted to 21,763. The increase of expense con- 
 sequent on this augmentation of force, in the twelve 
 years, from 1799, to 1810, has been .3,958,850, 
 exclusive of the expense of horses for His Majesty's 
 cavalry, stores supplied to all the regiments, and 
 other contingencies, which if included would 
 
 Second Report of the Select Committee, page 3S.
 
 189 
 
 raise the total excess of charge in India, probably 
 to ,4,500,000. And if Indian interest were charged 
 on the annual excess of expense, it would make a 
 total of ,6,200,000. 
 
 At home, the charges of the Pay-office against the 
 Company are necessarily swelled by the excess in the 
 numbers of His Majesty's troops in India, allowed 
 by the acts of 1788 and 1791. Those acts provided 
 for one regiment of dragoons, and nine regiments of 
 infantry, the expense of which, as charged in the 
 Pay-office accounts, was about 75,000 per annum ; 
 or for 18 years, 1,350,000. The difference between 
 this and the sum actually charged, exceeds two mil- 
 lions sterling, without interest. 
 
 The Company have been also charged with the 
 expense of a recruiting company at home, though 
 the recruits so raised are often sent not to India, 
 but to other quarters ; and in several instances the 
 pay of Colonels of regiments employed at home, or 
 on the continent, have been charged to the Bast 
 India Company.* 
 
 It has always happened, that when Great Bri- 
 tain has been involved in European war, its effects 
 have been felt in India. Even when no Euro- 
 
 * Printed Papers, page 12T
 
 190 
 
 pean enemy appeared in the field, either to threaten 
 the security of the Company's territory, or to dis- 
 pute the predominance of their power, their re- 
 sources have uniformly been applied under the 
 authority and direction of His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, to frustrate schemes from which danger was 
 apprehended to the general interests of the em- 
 pire, and to undertake conquests, which though 
 important in a national view, were certainly not 
 worth to the Company the expense incurred in 
 their acquisition. Wars growing out of our Indian 
 system, particularly since the period when ambi- 
 tion seems to have obtained an ascendency over 
 prudence in our councils, the territorial revenues of 
 India are perhaps inadequate to provide for ; but it 
 would be altogether extravagant to expect that they 
 can be equal to support European wars, for general 
 and national objects, or a struggle between Great 
 Britain and France, on the soil of India, for the 
 maintenance of power in Europe.* It is well 
 known, however, that in the course both of the last 
 and the present war, the Company have not only 
 had to contend against France and her allies on the 
 Continent of India, but that expeditions have been 
 
 * Letter from the Chairman and Deputy, to the Ri^ht Hon. 
 Robert Dundas, dated 16th September, 1S0S. Printed Papers, 
 page 9.
 
 191 
 
 fitted out by the Company against the French, the 
 Dutch, and the Spanish possessions in the Indian 
 Archipelago, and that a large force was sent from 
 India to the Red Sea, which assisted in the expulsion 
 of the French from Egypt. And it is equally true, 
 though not perhaps so well known, that the Com- 
 pany have been .only partially indemnified for the 
 cost of enterprises, undertaken by the express com- 
 mand of His Majesty's Government, and for objects 
 as decidedly national, as if they had been directed 
 against Martinique, Curacoa, Trinidad, or the Coast 
 of the Mediterranean. Though the Moluccas were 
 restored to the Dutch at the Peace of Amiens, the 
 Company were allowed only half the expense of their 
 capture. The same rate of indemnification was 
 adopted in regard to Ceylon, notwithstanding that it 
 has been made a King's settlement. And from the 
 expense incurred by the Company, in the Egyptian 
 expedition, the nett ordinary pay of the troops em- 
 ployed was deducted in the indemnity awarded 
 them, though the place of the native troops had been 
 immediately supplied by new levies in India. Nay, 
 two of His Majesty's regiments of infantry, which 
 had formed part of the expedition, returned from 
 Egypt to Europe at the termination of the campaign, 
 clearly shewing that they had not been sent out for 
 the defence of India. 
 
 The still unliquidated claim of the Company upon 
 the public for these services is,
 
 192 
 
 For Ceylon, 1796-7 to 1801 - .1,205,656 
 
 Eastern Islands, 1795-6 to 1805-6 1,321,859 
 
 Egyptian Expedition, 1 798-9 to 1 802-3 1 20,000 
 
 Total ,2,647,515 
 with the interest since accumulated upon that sum.* 
 
 The extra expense recently incurred in the cap- 
 ture and on account of supplies to the Mauritius and 
 Java, amounts to, 
 
 Mauritius - - - 2,127,672 
 Java .... 1,502,411 
 
 Together - - ,3,630,083 
 
 The natural, and indeed the necessary consequence 
 of war expenditure has been the same in India as in 
 Europe. According to the adjusted statements in the 
 Reports of the Select Committee of the House of 
 Commons, the Company's debt, which in 1792 did 
 not amount to eight millions, had grown in 1808 to 
 near twenty-nine millions sterling, in spite of every 
 effort on the part of the Court of Directors, not only 
 to check its increase, but also to accomplish its reduc- 
 tion. Of these endeavours, the Select Committee have 
 
 Third Report, Appendix, No. 17, page 396.
 
 193 
 
 expressed themselves in terms of just commendation 
 in their Third Report.* 
 
 " The anxiety with which the increase of the 
 " debt in India has been contemplated by the autho- 
 " rities at home, is strongly evinced by a Letter ad- 
 " dressed to the Chairman, and Deputy Chairman of 
 <f the Court of Directors, by a late President of the 
 " Board of Commissioners, for the affairs of India, 
 " when quitting that department in 1801, which is 
 " already upon the Table of the House. The sug- 
 " gestions contained in it were not neglected by his 
 " successor ; and in the next year, exertions were 
 " made to carry into effect a part of what was re- 
 " commended in that document. The general prin- 
 " ciple of the measures (which were apparently con- 
 " fined to the space of two years) was to accomplish 
 " a more rapid liquidation of the principal of the In- 
 " dian debt, than could be effected by the existing 
 " arrangements. The proposed plan being brought 
 " to maturity, a communication of it was made to the 
 " Bengal Government, by a letter, dated 1st June, 
 " 1803, with orders for carrying it into execution. 
 " This document will likewise be found in the Ap- 
 " pendix; and the amount of the exports of goods 
 " and of bullion in the years 1803-4 and 5, will prove 
 " that every effort was made to ensure the success of 
 
 * Pa^e .371. 
 O
 
 194 
 
 " the measure. The accumulation of the Indian 
 " debt, however, which appears in subsequent years, 
 " shews its entire failure. The cause of this your 
 " Committee attribute to the war with the Mahratta 
 " Chieftains, which broke out in the very year in 
 " which the plan commenced, and did not finally 
 " close till April, 1805." 
 
 From the 1st March, 1803, to the 1st March, 1806, 
 the Company's supplies to India and China ex- 
 ceeded the amount sent in the three years immedi- 
 ately preceding, in the sum of ^2, 712,526, and the 
 amount of their receipts for the sale of goods, from 
 the 1st March, 1803, to the 1st March, 1806, fell 
 short of the receipts in the three years immediately 
 preceding, in the sum of ,3,268,671.* These facts, 
 which are to be accounted for from the absorption 
 not only of the revenues of India, but of the home 
 supplies by the Mahratta war, sufficiently evince the 
 anxiety felt by the Company for the liquidation of 
 their Indian debt, and at the same time shew, that 
 besides the disappointment of a favourite hope, they 
 experienced an unprecedented failure in an usual 
 source of income from a political measure, in which 
 they were no ways implicated, and of which they 
 always disapproved. 
 
 * Exposition of the East India Company's Finances, ordered by 
 tbe Iloube of Commons to be printed, 2d March, lblO, pages 3 and 4.
 
 195 
 
 The extinction of the surplus revenue of India 
 from which a million sterling annually ought to have 
 been appropriated to the purpose of commercial in- 
 vestment, was not the only baneful effect produced 
 by the increase of the debt. The terms on which the 
 loans in India were contracted for of late years, have 
 tended to transfer the burden of the debt from the 
 territories abroad to the Company's funds at home. 
 
 Of old, the principal and interest of the sums 
 borrowed were payable only in India, and con- 
 sequently the pressure of the debt fell chiefly upon 
 the Indian treasuries. But in the course of the 
 ten years, from 1798 to 1808, the loans were made 
 with an option to the lenders, of demanding bills 
 upon England, for the interest, half yearly, of 
 their subscriptions, and also for repayment of the 
 principal at the periods when the loans became re- 
 deemable, which were usually at the expiration often 
 years, from the dates of the contracts. A general 
 reduction in the rate of Indian interest, from 10 and 
 8 to 6 per cent., operated as an inducement to the 
 Company's creditors to avail themselves of the option 
 of receiving payment in England, and bills for a sum 
 exceeding thirteen millions sterling, have been drawn 
 by the Governments in India upon the Company's 
 treasury in London, between the 1st May, 1807, 
 and the 3d February, 181 l 2, on account of the interest 
 and capital of the Indian debt, exclusive of the sums 
 that have been re-invested at home in the Company's 
 
 O 2
 
 196 
 
 securities. This transfer of debt, though it must, 
 from the reduction in the rate of interest, have pro- 
 duced an important improvement in the general 
 concerns of the Company, has also caused a severe 
 pressure upon their finances in England, and is in 
 fact the source of all their late embarrassments. When 
 the Government of this Country borrows money to 
 supply the public exigencies, the interest only is to 
 be provided for, as they are never called upon lor re- 
 payment of the capital. But the Company by the 
 conditions of their Indian loans, have been obliged 
 to provide for the discharge both of capital and in- 
 terest, and that too in England, where there are no 
 funds properly applicable to the liquidation of their 
 territorial debt. Hence the necessity of their appli- 
 cations to Parliament of late years for relief. 
 
 Let us trace the amount of pecuniary assistance 
 which they have at different times obtained, and the 
 grounds on which it has been voted. 
 
 In 180.5, when the Company's difficulties first 
 began to press upon them, they applied to Parlia- 
 ment for payment of a large balance, amounting to 
 5 y r > 70,336, due to them from Government on ac- 
 count of advances for the public service in India. 
 The account having been referred to a select Com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons, they reported, 
 that after dividing the charges of the capture, &c. 
 of Ceylon, and the Eastern Islands, equally between
 
 197 
 
 the public and the Company, deducting the ordinary 
 expenses of the troops employed in Egypt, from the 
 gross charges of the expedition, and taking credit 
 for the whole amount of charge against the Com- 
 pany, by His Majesty's military Pay Office, many 
 articles of which the Committee allowed to be ob- 
 jectionable, there was a clear balance owing to the 
 Company of 2, 300,000. Of this sum one million 
 was paid to the Company on account in 1805, and 
 another million in the following year. 
 
 By the Act of 37th of the King, cap. 3, the Com- 
 pany were permitted to add two millions to their 
 capital stock, a power of which they have never 
 chosen to avail themselves; because this addition to 
 their capital could hardly have failed to depress the 
 value of their stock in the market, and because 
 the dividends which they must have paid to the new 
 proprietors would have borne a much greater pro- 
 portion to the sum raised by subscription, than the 
 legal rate of interest bore to the same sum, if bor- 
 rowed on loan, or raised in another way. Accord- 
 ingly an act was passed in 1807,* to enable them to 
 borrow two millions upon bonds, by which means 
 they got over their difficulties in that year. 
 
 In 1808, the Company submitted to Parliament 
 
 * 47th George III. cap 41
 
 198 
 
 an exposition of their finances at home and abroad, 
 and solicited payment of a sum of ,2, 460, 000, due 
 to them from the public. This document was re- 
 ferred to a select Committee of the House of Com- 
 mons, who reported, that they found ^1,500,019, 
 unquestionably owing to the Company, a doubtful 
 balance being still left open for discussion. The 
 Committee at the same time stated, that they would 
 have been disposed to recommend a more liberal 
 allowance to the Company, had they not conceived 
 themselves restrained by" the principles laid down by 
 the preceding Committee in 1805; principles how- 
 ever against which the Company have always pro- 
 tested. In consequence of this report, ^1,500,000 
 was paid to the Company under the authority of 
 Parliament. 
 
 In April, 1810, the Company presented to the 
 Mouse of Commons a supplement to their financial 
 exposition of 1808, in which they stated the embar- 
 rassments to which they were subjected by the con- 
 tinued remittances of the capital of the optional 
 India debt, and petitioned for a temporary assistance 
 by loan. They shewed satisfactorily, that though 
 their disposable funds were inadequate to meet the 
 great and sudden demand on their home treasury, 
 their property in convertible assets afforded ample 
 security for any advance that might be made them ; 
 and on this representation Government were autho- 
 rized by the act of the 50th George III. cap. 114, to
 
 199 
 
 issue Exchequer Bills to the amount of 1,500,000, 
 for the use of the East India Company. By this 
 assistance the Company's home finances were re- 
 lieved for 1810. Government since that lime have 
 not only been reimbursed by the Company, in ad- 
 vances for the public service in India, for the above 
 issue of Exchequer Bills, but there is a clear balance 
 in favour of the Company (exclusive of former dis- 
 puted claims), on the general account between them 
 and Government, as made out on the 14th May, 
 1812, to the amount of Jj\> 5 97,483, the Company 
 taking credit on the one side for j03 t 630, 083, ex- 
 pended upon the Mauritius and Java, and credit 
 being given on the other for the sum received in Ex- 
 chequer Bills. 
 
 The transfer of the debt from India to Europe 
 having still gone on in rapid progression in the course 
 of the last three years, and Parliament being con- 
 vinced, that the operation, with whatever temporary 
 inconvenience it might be attended, would be per- 
 manently beneficial in its effects, passed an act in 
 1811,* authorizing the Company to make a farther 
 issue of bonds to an amount not exceeding two 
 millions, which with the two millions issued in 1807, 
 have produced about half a million more than the 
 
 51 George III. cup. 64.
 
 200 
 
 two millions which they were empowered to add to 
 their capital, in virtue of the act of 37th George III. 
 cap. 3. 
 
 It being found that when the Company issue bonds 
 to a very large amount, they are returned in payment 
 of the goods purchased at their sales,* it was deemed 
 advisable last session of Parliament (1812), that two 
 millions and a half should be borrowed by Govern- 
 ment for the use of the East India Company on the 
 same terms for which the loan was made for the pub- 
 lic, and a clause has been introduced into the act,f 
 binding the Company not only to provide out of 
 their own funds for the interest of their part of the 
 loan, but to set apart the sum of ^1 1 1 ,820, annu- 
 ally, for the gradual liquidation of the principal. 
 
 In the course of the present session (1813), a further 
 sum will still be wanted to enable the Company to meet 
 the unprecedented demand on their home treasury, 
 in consequence of the bills drawn upon them from 
 India, which in the last five years, as was already 
 
 * This inconvenience is severely felt at present, for though the 
 Company are empowered by law to raise money by bonds at home 
 to the amount of seven millions sterling, the value of their bonds 
 outstanding on the 23d February, 1813, was only <i 5,409,325, the 
 remainder having been returned in payment of goods purchased at 
 their sales. See Printed Papas, page 272. 
 
 1 52 George III. cap. 135.
 
 201 
 
 stated, have amounted to the enormous sum of thirteen 
 millions sterling. But as the utmost probable extent 
 of these demands is now ascertained, it is to be hoped 
 that the Company's finances (should war in India 
 not intervene to disappoint the expectation), will be 
 amply sufficient not only to meet the future exi- 
 gences of their government, but fully to discharge 
 whatever they owe to the nation. 
 
 From the foregoing statements it appears, that the 
 money voted to the Company by Parliament in 1805 
 and 1806, was in payment of an admitted debt due 
 to them from the public. The four millions which 
 in 1807 and 1811, the Company were empowered to 
 raise by bonds, was in lieu of the two millions which 
 they had the option under the 37th of the King, of 
 adding to their capital stock. The assistance they 
 received in 1808, was in liquidation of a debt then 
 acknowledged to be owing to them from the public. 
 The Exchequer bills, issued for their use in 1810, have 
 been since repaid by advances for the public service. 
 The only debt, therefore, which the Company now 
 owe to the nation is the loan of two millions and a half 
 borrowed in 1812; and supposing two millions and a 
 half more to be wanted in 1813, their total debt to 
 the public will be five millions. For the payment of 
 the interest, and the gradual liquidation of the prin- 
 cipal of one half of this debt, provision has been 
 already made, and the same provision will probably 
 be extended to the other half when contracted. The
 
 202 
 
 necessity for this aid by loan might, however, have 
 been prevented by an act of justice on the part of 
 Government to the Company. 
 
 The unliquidated claims of the Company upon 
 Government are, 
 
 Total estimated Excess of Disburse- 
 ments on Account of His Majesty's 
 Troops employed in India, beyond 
 the Provisions of the Act of Par- 
 liament i?6,200,000 
 
 Half the Expense of Ceylon and the 
 Moluccas, and Balance on the 
 Egyptian Expedition remaining un- 
 paid 2,647,515 
 
 Balance in favour of the Company upon 
 their Account with Government, as 
 made up on the 14th May, 1812 - 1,597,483* 
 
 Total Claims 10,444,998 
 
 The payment of this debt by Government would 
 more than enable the Company to reduce their bond 
 debt to the sum of 1,500,000, as provided by the 
 
 * The balance in favour of the Company upon their account with 
 Government as made up in February, 1S13, is , 2,294,4 C 26, so that 
 their total claims against the public amount to X 11,141,941.
 
 203 
 
 act of 1793, and to pay off the loan borrowed from 
 the public in the last year, besides relieving them 
 from the necessity of having farther recourse to Par- 
 liament for assistance; and till this is done, instead of 
 the public having ground of complaint against the 
 Company, the Company have good reason to mur- 
 mur that grievances unredressed are aggravated by 
 unfounded accusations. 
 
 Upon the whole In reference to the past, it would 
 be unjust towards the Company, not to bear in mind 
 that the success with which their commercial affairs 
 have been conducted, is fully established in the 
 reports of the select Committee of the House of 
 Commons; that all their financial embarrassments 
 are attributable to the political branch of the con- 
 cern ; and that the political measures out of which 
 their difficulties have arisen, have been wholly 
 adopted by the direction, and executed under the su- 
 perintendence of His Majesty's Government. The 
 politics of India, ever since the institution of the 
 Board of Commissioners, have been considered as a 
 branch of the general politics of the empire, and all 
 the Company's resources, whether territorial or com- 
 mercial, have been devoted to uphold the national 
 interests to the constant injury of their trade. There 
 has been no contrariety in the direction of measures, 
 whatever differences of opinion may have occurred 
 in discussion. The only apparent separation of in- 
 terest has been in the settlements of accounts between
 
 204 
 
 the Company and the public, and in these adjust- 
 ments the alacrity which the Company have at all 
 times manifested to second the views of His Majesty's 
 Government, as well as the uniform and brilliant 
 success with which their operations have been ac- 
 companied, entitled their claims, at least for indem- 
 nity, to a more liberal consideration than they have 
 ^sometimes met with. 
 
 With a view to the future, it is of essential concern 
 to the Company, 
 
 1st. That the number of King's troops to be 
 maintained in India shall be definitively fixed, and 
 that the Company shall have an indisputable claim 
 upon His Majesty's Government for whatever ex- 
 pense may be incurred in consequence of any excess 
 in their stipulated amount. 
 
 2dly. That a principle shall be agreed upon, and 
 regulations laid down for the adjustment of accounts 
 between Government and the Company. 
 
 Sdly. That some mode of keeping the Company's 
 accounts shall be devised, by which their political 
 and commercial concerns may be preserved distinct, 
 instead of being, as at present, inseparably inter- 
 woven. 
 
 And, 4thly. That a system of economy be ma- 
 turely concerted, and rigidly enforced upon the seve-
 
 205 
 
 ral Governments in India, for the purpose of check- 
 ing profuse expenditure, and of retrieving the Com- 
 pany's finances from the embarrassments in which 
 they are now involved. 
 
 The last of these suggestions, though obviously the 
 most important, will not be the least difficult in the 
 execution. There has scarcely been a single despatch 
 sent out to India for years past, in which attention to 
 economy has not been strongly inculcated upon the 
 Governments abroad, and retrenchments to a consi- 
 derable extent have actually been carried into effect 
 in several branches of the service. A great clamour 
 has been raised against the Company both here and 
 in India, on this very account, so that they are 
 placed in the singular predicament of having at once 
 to encounter the obloquy attendant upon their finan- 
 cial embarrassments, and censure for the means they 
 have employed, with a view to remove this subject 
 of complaint. Private considerations, however, must 
 give way to public expediency, and farther reforms 
 must be projected and executed with a firmness and 
 energy proportioned to the magnitude of the obsta- 
 cles by which they are opposed. The vast extension 
 of the Company's territories has necessarily occa- 
 sioned a large increase in their establishments, both 
 civil and military. The exhausted and dilapidated 
 state of most of the conquered and ceded districts, 
 requires great moderation in the demands of Govern- 
 ment, with a view to the ultimate improvement of
 
 toe 
 
 their resources. The internal disorders consequent 
 upon war and rapine require vigour to repress, 
 as well as time to heal. A display both of strength 
 and of vigilance is necessary to overawe the lurking 
 sentiments of jealousy and discontent, which have 
 been powerfully excited by our success in the minds 
 of the native Chieftains, and which are always ready 
 to break out in acts of resistance or invasion. Those 
 Europeans too who separate themselves from their 
 country and connexions, and devote the best portion 
 of their lives to dangerous and laborious duties in an 
 unhealthy climate, have a claim to liberality on 
 the part of their employers, which it would be 
 equally unfeeling to overlook and senseless to disap- 
 point. Still it must not be forgotten, that India now 
 yields an annual revenue of more than fifteen millions 
 and a half sterling, that the territories have been 
 relieved from an immense load of debt, that a large 
 saving must accrue from the reduction of the rate of 
 interest upon the remainder, and that it is incumbent 
 upon the local authorities to appropriate every rupee 
 that can be spared from the necessary expenditure, to 
 the extinction of those burdens by which the Com- 
 pany at home are so heavily oppressed. 
 
 In order to expose the futility of the fourth objec- 
 tion, viz. that the Company are bankrupts, and that 
 they ought to share the fate of other insolvent debtors, 
 it is only necessary to take a general view of the 
 actual state of their affairs both abroad and at home,
 
 207 
 
 as exhibited in the last account of their stock, by 
 computation, on the 1st March, 1812. A similar 
 account is drawn up annually to the 1st March, and 
 has been usually moved for in Parliament, as afford- 
 ing the most accurate and comprehensive information 
 that could be furnished, of the state of the whole con- 
 cern at the several periods when the accounts have 
 been prepared.
 
 Stock per Computation on the 1st of March, 1812. D r 
 
 To bonds beariug interest 6,565,900 
 
 To ditto not bearing interest 15,417 
 
 To bills of exchange unpaid from India 4,338,382 
 
 To ditto China 43,596 
 
 To custom and excise of goods sold, and customs on goods unsold . . 935,313 
 
 .To the Bank for a loan on mortgage of the annuities that may be sold } , nnA 
 
 per act of 1788 5 
 
 To ditto for a loan on bond 100,000 
 
 To freight and demurrage 39,356 
 
 To supra cargoes commission on all goods sold and unsold 162,800 
 
 To proprietors of private trade on all goods sold 663,000 
 
 To almshouses at Poplar 61,742 
 
 To owin.. for exports of former aeasons 124,987 
 
 To ditto . . to li warehouse and other contingent funds 12,998 
 
 To wan ants passed the Court unpaid 34,500 
 
 To owing for teas returned by the buyers and resold 971 
 
 To interest on bouds 107,891 
 
 To dividend on stock 68,932 
 
 To paid by the adven- j ,.3,200,000 2,800,000 
 
 turers, being . . . $ 2 r <*. > > oc> 
 
 To additional capital sold \ 800 1 mo 
 
 ditto ) 
 
 To ditto . . . ditto 174 1,000,000 1,740,000 
 
 To ditto . . . ditto 200 1,000,000 2,000,000 
 
 6,000,000 7,780,000 
 
 To balance of quick stock against the Company of Bengal, made up to ) 17 * -,. , 
 30th April, 1811 S Jf ^^^- 3 
 
 39,211,078 
 
 The sum of 960,000, stated to be due from Government, is the 
 balance remaining after the last payment on account of the Company's 
 claim-, in the year 1808, and docs not contain any disbursement on ac- 
 count of Government, in consequence of the late expenditure, made by 
 the Company for expeditions from India to the Islands of Mauritius, &c. 
 nor does it include any extra charge incurred on account of the exce?s 
 of King's troops employed in India beyond the parliamentary limit.
 
 Stock per Computation on the 1st of March, 1812. O 
 
 By due from Government to the Company 1,207,560 
 
 By cash its balance on the 1st of March, 1812 905,394 
 
 By the amount of goods sold not paid for 1,096,390 
 
 By the Honourable Board of Ordnance for saltpetre 10,998 
 
 By the value of goods in England unsold 4,800,141 
 
 By balance of quick stocks in favour of the Company at Fort St. George, ) . 
 
 made up to 30th April, 1811. $ 0,537,366 
 
 By balance of quick stocks in favour of the Company at Bombay, made > 
 
 up to 30th April, 1811 ( 2,003,134 
 
 By balance ofquick stocks in favour ofthe Company at Fort Marlborough, \ 
 
 made up to 30th April, 1811 \ 286,944 
 
 By balance of quick stocks in favour of the Company at Princ* of Wales's / ffla _ 
 
 Island, made up to 30th April, 1811 $ 2jj,026 
 
 By balance of last books at St. Helena, made up to 30th September, 1810 170,187 
 By balance of quick stocks in favour of the Company at Canton, made up ) 
 
 to March, 1811 \ "o.lGO 
 
 By balance of quick stocks in favour of the Company at the Cape of) 
 
 Good Hope, made up to 3lst August, 1811 J 4o,649 
 
 By cargoes from England not anived in India and China, at the dates ) _, 
 
 of the several quick stocks $ 1.876,872 
 
 By exports paid for, exclusive of bullion, season 181112 I,2fa8,926 
 
 By impress and war allowances paid owners of shins uot arrived in > 
 
 England } C6 -'' 043 
 
 By the value of ships, sloops, and vessels, exclusive of those stationed ^ 
 
 By the value of East India House and warehouses 1,138,000 
 
 By the Company paid for their dead stock in India 400,000 
 
 By due from Government for stores and supplies to His Majesty's ) Q 
 
 troops i 960,000 
 
 By ditto on account of hemp from India . . . . 120,801 
 
 By owing from sundry persons returned from India and in India, to be ) 
 
 repaid in England ' ] 1->,71Z 
 
 23.9*2,013 
 Balance against . . . 15,289,065 
 
 39,211,078 
 
 MEMORANDUM : 
 
 In the above account the article of dead stock is valued at 
 ^400,000, which includes buildings and fortifications, plate, 
 household furniture, plantations, fauns, sloops, vessels, stores, 
 and other articles of dead stock, according to Lord Godol- 
 phin's award in the year 1702, whereas the whole of the sums 
 of money expended in buildings and fortifications, by the last 
 advices from the Company's several settlements, for the ac- 
 quisition and maintenance of their possessions, and the nearest 
 estimated value of other articles of dead stock, is as follows : 
 
 Buililinpsanil niture, PUnt.itioin, TOTAL. 
 Fortifications. Farms, Si. >o|,s. Vi <- 
 sets, Stoii -. M'. 
 
 At Bengal .... 5,079,150 .. 1,483,015 .. 6,502,165 
 
 Fort St. George & sub. 1,887,313.. 461,209.. 2,351.522 
 
 Bombay and ditto . 1,102,586.. 345.69<i . . 1,448,276 
 
 Fort Marlborough . 244,810.. 66 889.. 311,699 
 
 St, Helena . . . 43,856 . . 98,905 . . 142,761 
 
 8,357,715 2,458,708 10,816,423
 
 210 
 
 The balance against the Company, by the fore- 
 going account is 15,289,065. This balance, how- 
 ever, is more apparent than real, as will be manifest 
 from the following observations. 
 
 In the first place, (on the debtor side of the ac- 
 count, is included contrary to usual custom) the 
 capital advanced by the proprietors, amounting to 
 < 7>780,000. This cannot properly be considered as 
 a debt, because it has not created a liability of 
 demand. Its extinction (supposing it to be ex- 
 tinguished) can only be esteemed a loss sustained by 
 the subscribers a misfortune from which they alone 
 are the sufferers. Deducting therefore the sum of 
 ^7,780,000 subscribed by the adventurers, from the 
 unfavourable balance as above stated, that balance 
 will be reduced to ,7,509,065. 
 
 2. Credit is only taken for .,400,000, on account 
 of what has been paid for dead stock in India, amount- 
 ing, as per memorandum, to ,10,816,423. As a 
 considerable part of the latter sum must have been 
 laid out on perishable articles, many of which are 
 greatly deteriorated, and some not now in existence, 
 it would be extravagant to claim credit for the whole 
 amount of the expenditure. It is obvious, however, 
 that the valuation put upon the property denominated 
 Dead Stock in 1702, can bear but a very small pro- 
 portion to its actual value, and the subsequent in- 
 crease (whatever it is) ought to be set down in deduc-
 
 211 
 
 tion of the unfavourable balance against the Com- 
 pany on the general account. 
 
 3. Credit is only taken for sums due from Govern- 
 ment to the Company to the amount (as per 1st and 
 19th items of the account) of JE<2,, 167,560, whereas it 
 has been already shewn, that the sum actually due, 
 or at least for which the Company have a fair claim 
 to reimbursement, amounted on the 14th May, 1812, 
 t Oc l0,444,998.* 
 
 4. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to 
 the Company's right to the sovereignty of those ter- 
 ritories which have been acquired in India by con- 
 quest and treaties, nothing is more just than that not 
 only the territorial debt as it now stands should ac- 
 company the territorial sovereignty, but that whatever 
 sum the territory has borrowed from the trade, should 
 be repaid in the event of a separation of interests. 
 The balance of clear profit in favour of the Com- 
 pany's Commerce, is reported by the Select Com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons to have amounted 
 between 1793-4 to 1809-10, to .2,l64,533,t which 
 sum has been expended in supplies to the political 
 concern, and were the two branches of the concern 
 
 * And in February, 1^13, to 1U, 111,941. 
 
 f The Company, in their late Petition to Parliament, estimate 
 the nett surplus profits on their trade much higher than the Com- 
 mittee, viz. at f6,2S9,105. Sec Printed Papers, page '266. 
 
 P2
 
 212 
 
 henceforth to be conducted under different auspices, 
 a final adjustment of accounts must take place 
 between them, in which case the sum above stated 
 would constitute a claim on the part of the trade 
 against the territory. The Company would also 
 have a claim upon Government for the losses they 
 have sustained by supplies of hemp, and by the ex- 
 cess of saltpetre furnished to the Board of Ordnance, 
 beyond the quantity stipulated in the original agree- 
 ment. 
 
 5. The only privilege now enjoyed by the Com- 
 pany, which is determinable at the expiration of 
 their Charter, is that of carrying on the exclusive 
 trade to and from India and China, and other places 
 beyond the Cape of Good Hope. Supposing the 
 renewal of this privilege to be refused, the Company 
 cannot be bereaved of their perpetual right, as a 
 body corporate, to trade with India and China upon 
 a joint stock, in common with the rest of their fellow- 
 subjects. Supposing, also, that the territories which 
 have been acquired in India by conquest and treaty, 
 with the debt contracted in their acquisition, were 
 assumed by the Crown, the Company have large 
 estates in India, their titles to which are as inde- 
 feisible as any that money can purchase, or the most 
 legitimate occupancy has ever established, and which 
 could not therefore be legally comprehended in this 
 assumption. Of this description are the town of 
 Calcutta and the twenty-four Purgunnahs Madras
 
 213 
 
 and its Jaghire the five Northern Circars the islands 
 of Bombay and St. Helena Cuddalore, Penang, and 
 Bencoolen, and all the forts and factories held by 
 the Company under original grants from the native 
 Princes in India. Of these possessions the Company 
 cannot be deprived without an equivalent compensa- 
 tion, unless the British Parliament, forsaking the 
 common principles of justice, shall choose by an 
 arbitrary proceeding to invade the rights of property, 
 which have uniformly been respected in its past deci- 
 sions. The estates, as enumerated, ought therefore 
 to be admitted in the schedule of the Company's dis- 
 posable assets. 
 
 6. When it is considered that the whole unfavour- 
 able balance against the Company upon the general 
 account (including their capital stock) falls short of 
 one year's revenue of their Indian territories, the state 
 of the concern instead of being desperate, may be 
 held forth with exultation as exhibiting an instance 
 of successful enterprise unparalleled cither in ancient 
 or modern times. 
 
 To those who are not disposed to acknowledge the 
 extension, internal improvement, and additional 
 security of the Indian empire, to be a sufficient 
 compensation for the sacrifices by which these 
 objects have been attained, the following extract 
 from the conclusion of the fourth report of the Select 
 Committee of the House of Commons, will present
 
 214 
 
 a different and perhaps more consolatory view of the 
 subject.* 
 
 " Your Committee having referred in their third 
 <e report to considerations that seemed, in their 
 ;f judgment, to offer some counterbalance to the 
 " sacrifices of funds which had been made, conceive 
 " it unnecessary to introduce any additional remarks 
 " on this head; but after calling to the recollection 
 " of the House, that the observations hitherto made 
 " on these extensive and complicated transac- 
 " tions, and on the result of them, have applied 
 " exclusively to the interests of the East India 
 " Company, your Committee will proceed to submit 
 " their view of them in their bearing on the general 
 <e interests of the British Empire, which they trust is 
 " such as to lead to results much more gratifying 
 cc than those which have been exhibited in reference 
 " to the separate affairs of the Company. The in- 
 " voice value of goods and stores exported by 
 " the East India Company to India, China, 
 " and St. Helena, between 1791-2 and 1807-8 was 
 <e <29,244,227; deducting the amount lost and cap- 
 " tured, ,28,791,967. There was exported in bul- 
 <f lion in the same period ,9,434,042. The total 
 " export from England, supposed to have arrived 
 " between 1792-3 and 1808-9, was, therefore, 
 
 * 4th Report, pages 4j4, 455.
 
 215 
 
 " ,38,226,009. The returns made by India and 
 " China in consignments of goods amounted to 
 " 50, 754,400. The charges upon these goods, 
 " not added to the invoices, may be stated at 
 " ,2,916,279, which will carry the amount of the 
 " returns to the sum of 53,670,679, exclusive of 
 " <l,371,788 lost and captured. On which view 
 " it will appear that England received in property 
 " from India and China, more than was sent, to the 
 " amount of 15,444,670 ; but the result arising out 
 " of the transactions of the East India Company 
 " alone is susceptible of a very considerable addition, 
 " if the means existed of examining with equal accu- 
 " racy the exports and imports in privilege and 
 " private trade. The amount of the exports it is not 
 " practicable at all to ascertain ; neither can the 
 " value of the imports be shewn, otherwise than by 
 " a general computation governed by the proportion 
 " between the prime cost and the sale amount of the 
 " Company's goods. The sale amount of the privi- 
 " lege and private trade and neutral property was 
 " 37,794,857, the prime cost of which may be 
 " calculated at 20,700,000. How far the pur- 
 " chase of these goods was made by exports from 
 " England, it is not possible to slate ; but no doubt 
 " exists of the purchase of them in this manner hav- 
 " ing been very considerably below the amount of 
 " the prime cost now stated. Whatever the amount 
 " of the exports may have been, the difference be- 
 " tween that and the sum of 20,700,000 is so
 
 216 
 
 " much in addition to the result above shewn, which 
 " would be still further enhanced by the remittance 
 " of fortunes known to have been made in a variety 
 " of shapes, from India to England, through extra- 
 " neous and circuitous channels, to an amount 
 " which there is no possibility of tracing with accu- 
 " racy. 
 
 " If the means were attainable of shewing the 
 " result upon accurate calculations, the advantages 
 " derived to the British Empire would appear to a 
 " very large amount. The same difficulty, however, 
 " does not obstruct a statement of the accession 
 " accruing to the general circulation, and the bene- 
 " fits derived from it both to India and England. In 
 " India the industry of the subject has been encou- 
 " raged and assisted by the employment of forty- 
 " six millions sterling, or on the annual average. 
 " o2,?00,000 in the provision of investments for 
 " England. 
 
 <c The produce and manufactures of India pur- 
 " chased by this sum, combined with those of China 
 '* sold in England, realized in sale amount to the 
 " extent of nearly one hundred and forty-one mil- 
 " lions sterling, or more than eight millions per 
 " annum. The general distribution and circulation 
 " arising out of this trade may be stated to have 
 " been,
 
 217 
 
 " In the purchase of the produce and ma- 
 
 " nufactures of England .... ,29,200,000 
 " In the employment of British shipping 25,000,000 
 " In the payment of bills of exchange 24,500,000 
 " In the purchase of bullion, the import 
 " of which may be supposed to have 
 " been in payment for British produce 9,400,000 
 " In disbursements for home charges . 11,600,000 
 ** In dividends to proprietors of capital 
 
 " stock and interest in bonds . . . 12,500,000 
 
 " The sale of private goods and neutral property 
 " amounted to nearly ,37,800,000. Of this sum 
 " about four millions may be supposed to be in- 
 " eluded above. If an adjustment could be made of 
 " the remainder, amounting to 33, 800,000, the 
 " distribution of it could be precisely defined. 
 
 " It has appeared that the duties on imports, col- 
 " lected through the Company, and realized at a 
 " very trivial expense to Government, amounted to 
 " ,39,300,000, and on exports to 660,000 j toge- 
 " ther .39,960,000. 
 
 " The combination of these several sums, producing 
 ".185,960,000, shews, that on the average of the 
 " last seventeen years, 10,900,000 jicr annum has 
 t( been diffused in various channels through the whole 
 " circulation of the British empire. By this its
 
 218 
 
 ' manufactures have been supported, encouraged, 
 " and improved ; its shipping has been increased, 
 " its revenues augmented, its commerce extended, 
 " its agriculture promoted, and its power and re- 
 " sources invigorated and upheld." 
 
 Such are the advantages which the new Parliament 
 will be solicited by the East India Company to 
 secure to the Country, under a continuance of the 
 existing system, and which it will be importuned by 
 other classes to hazard in favour of one of the wildest 
 schemes that ever entered into the head of man, 
 through " the ivory gate of dreams." Sir Francis 
 Bacon has well observed, " It is not good to try 
 <( experiments in States, except the necessity be 
 " urgent, or the utility be evident ; and well to 
 " beware that it be reformation that draweth on the 
 " change, and not the desire of change that pretend- 
 " eth the reformation ; and, lastly, that the novelty, 
 " though it be not rejected, yet be held for suspect, 
 " and as the scripture saith That we make a stand 
 " upon the ancient way, and then look about us, and 
 " discover what is the straight and right way, and so to 
 " walk in it."* 
 
 " The science of constructing a Commonwealth," 
 says another illustrious author, "or renovating it, 
 " or reforming it, is like every other experimental 
 
 * Essay on Innovation.
 
 219 
 
 " science, not to be taught a priori ; nor is it a short 
 " experience that can instruct in that practical 
 " science, because the real effects of moral causes 
 (i are not always immediate, but that which in the 
 " first instance is prejudicial, may be excellent in 
 c< its remoter operation ; and its excellence may arise 
 te even from the ill effects it produces in the begin- 
 <c ning. The reverse also happens; and plausible 
 " schemes, with very pleasing commencements, have 
 cc often shameful and lamentable conclusions. In 
 " States there are some obscure and almost latent 
 " causes, things which appear at first view of little 
 " moment, on which a very great part of their pros- 
 " perity or adversity may most essentially depend. 
 " The science of Government, therefore, being so 
 " practical in itself, and intended for such practical 
 " purposes, a matter which requires experience, and 
 " even more experience than any person can gain in 
 " his whole life, however sagacious and observing he 
 " may be, it is with infinite caution that any man 
 " ought to venture upon pulling down an edifice 
 " which has answered in any tolerable degree for 
 " ages the practical purposes of society, or upon 
 " building it up again without having models and 
 " patterns of approved utility before his eyes."* 
 
 The F.ast India Company has answered in an emi- 
 
 IJurkt'r It< flections.
 
 220 
 
 nent degree the ends of its establishment, and what- 
 ever may be the theoretical objections to which its 
 constitution is liable, it has contributed more to the 
 wealth, prosperity, and power of Great Britain, and 
 done more to advance her fame in the opinion of the 
 world, than ever was achieved by any even of her 
 most favourite institutions. It is to be hoped that it 
 is not destined by its fall to perpetuate the ingrati- 
 tude, rashness, and folly of the times, without even 
 gracing the country with a noble ruin. Like the 
 celebrated statue which, so long as it adorned the har- 
 bour of Rhodes, was accounted one of the wonders 
 of the world, but which, when broken down, served 
 only to load twelve hundred asses with fragments of 
 old brass, the Colossus of the Company is magnifi- 
 cent in form, and imposing in dimensions, but if de- 
 molished, its disjointed materials will be found of 
 little value to those whose efforts are now directed to 
 its overthrow.
 
 321 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 EXTRACT from the Report of the Committee of Corres- 
 pondence to the Court of Directors, on the Petitions from the 
 Out-ports. Printed Papers, page 224. 
 
 L/N the complaints of the superior advantages enjoyed by Neutrals, 
 particularly the Americans, in the Indian trade. The vessels of the 
 American States first appeared in the Indian seas about the year 
 1 785. At that time several European nations possessed settlements 
 on the continent of India, in virtue of grants from the native sove- 
 reigns, recognized by this country, after the Company obtained 
 territorial dominion. It had not then been disputed, that those 
 settlements might receive other European flags, as well as their own 
 (though the Company have within these few years properly held, 
 that the original grant gave a right of trade only for the ships of the 
 nation to whom the grant was made) ; therefore the Bengal Go- 
 vernment thought it politic to admit the American ships into the 
 British ports, rather than oblige them, by refusal, to carry their 
 custom to the French, Dutch, and Danes. This was, however, 
 merely a gratuitous license, revocable at pleasure. But, in 1794, 
 the Government of this country, induced by the political circum- 
 stances of the time, gave to the United States, by treaty, a right 
 to a direct trade between their own ports and those of British India, 
 on the terms of the most favoured nation ; and, in 1797, the privi- 
 lege of free ingress to the British ports in India was conferred on all.
 
 222 
 
 Friendly nations. By the long continuance of the war which fol- 
 lowed the French revolution, these concessions proved of unforeseen 
 high advantage to the subjects of the American States. The settle- 
 ments on the Indian continent of the French, and of the Dutch 
 and Danes, who had fallen under French influence, were succes- 
 sively captured by the English. The Portugueze and Americans 
 were then the only neutrals who frequented the Indian seas ; and 
 the troubles of Portugal at length left the neutral trade very much 
 in the hands of the Americans, who succeeded, in effect, to the ex- 
 cluded traders of foreign Europe, and supplied their wants, as well 
 as those of the increasing population of the United States, and the 
 demands of Spanish America. The subjects of those States, un- 
 doubtedly, abused the privileges conceded to them by His Majesty's 
 Government in the Indian trade. They were, by treaty, restricted 
 to a direct trade between America and India ; but they visited the 
 ports of foreign Europe, going and returning, and became the ge- 
 neral carriers. They even supplied our own West Indian and North 
 American colonies with Eastern commodities, and they entered ac- 
 tively into the China trade, deriving a facility of admission there 
 from being viewed as a caste of Englishmen ; perhaps, also, a sanc- 
 tion, from the countenance of the British establishment there. 
 
 For several years after the appearance of the Americans in the 
 Indian seas, they were, no doubt, assisted by British capital ; partly 
 by that which wanted a remittance to Europe, but to no very great 
 amount. They exported from Bengal in ten years, through which 
 their trade, on the whole, was considerably progressive, and which 
 ended in 1804-5, goods to the amount of Sicca Rupees 3,71,50,029, 
 (=4,643,575), or, ,464,357 per annum ; and they imported to the 
 amount of Sicca Rupees 3,12,48,544 (.3,906,068), or .390,606 
 per annum. The excess of exports above the imports being, in ten 
 years, ,737,507, or ,73,750 per annum, may be supposed to be 
 the property of British residents in Bengal, remitted by the way of 
 America. Whether they w r ere furnished with British capital from 
 London, and to what amount, it is difficult to ascertain ; but it ap- 
 pears evident, that as they proceeded in the trade, their imports t<>
 
 223 
 
 Bengal more nearly equalled their exports which shews they were 
 better able to do without Indo British assistance, and probably it 
 wa3 the same as to European assistance.* Upon this trade, how- 
 ever offensive to our private merchants, and in some views also, to 
 the Company, it may be justly observed, that it was favourable to 
 British India. It carried seasonable and large supplies of bullion to 
 that country from year to year, not above a seventh of its imports 
 being in goods, and these chiefly wines and other articles, for the 
 consumption of Europeans. It also carried the commodities of 
 India to foreign Europe, to Spanish America, and other places to 
 which British ships, on account of the war, could have no access ; 
 and when, by the policy and increasing power of Buonaparte, the 
 produce of this country and its colonies were nearly shut out from 
 the continent, the Americans still continued to introduce the com- 
 modities of India there, and with the returns of their adventures 
 they probably purchased English manufactures to carry to the 
 American continent: so that this country also eventually benefited 
 by their Indian trade. And however much their large participation 
 of that trade became a matter of complaint among English mer- 
 chants connected with India, it is certain, that whilst we were en* 
 gaged in war with almost all Europe, those merchants could not, 
 even by circuitous means, have occupied the place which the Ame- 
 ricans filled in the Indian commerce : of which position no other 
 proof is necessary, than the frequent want of sales for the goods, 
 
 Other Averages of the American Trade with Iudia, from Statements be- 
 fore your Committee, may also be here noted. 
 
 In six years, from 1802-3 to !| In three years, from 1808-9 
 1807-8. li to 1810-11. 
 
 Goods. 
 
 Imports into all )\ Qh? 0o 
 
 India . . J ] 
 Exports Ditto 6,901,26 
 
 Bullion. 
 
 6,528,250 
 
 Total. |i Goods. 
 
 7,487,524! | 351,602 
 
 25,69o 6,926,965 5,107,818 
 
 Bullion. 
 
 Total. 
 
 4,531,233,4,882,836 
 9,625 5,1 17,443
 
 224 
 
 public and private, actually brought into the India House, during 
 the period in question. The great progress and profit made by the 
 Americans in the Indian trade, therefore, proceed essentially, not 
 from their activity or the advantage of individual enterprise, but 
 from their neutral character, which, besides giving them access to 
 countries from which belligerents are shut out, enables them to na- 
 vigate more cheaply, easily, and expeditiously : and it may be taken 
 as a certainty, that whenever war ceases, all their advantages will 
 cease with it, and their power of entering into competition with 
 us, in the trade of our own settlements, be very greatly reduced. 
 The cry that has been raised, and continued against the Company, 
 on this account, confessedly with the view of obtaining a general 
 admission of Indian ships into England, is, therefore, altogether 
 unfair. If a circuitous trade in Indian commodities, from Britain 
 to foreign parts, has been prevented by the rivalship of the Ameri- 
 cans, the Company have suffered as well as individuals ; they have 
 suffered also by the smuggling of Eastern articles from America 
 into our West Indian and North American colonies. They were 
 anxious to check the abuses of the treaty of 1794, and when it ex- 
 pired, they obtained the consent of His Majesty's Ministers to im- 
 pose a double duty on the neutral trade with India, which then ap- 
 plied almost solely to the Americans ; but, if the complaints against 
 the rivalship of the Americans in the Indian trade had been well 
 founded, what was the natural and proper remedy ? Was it, that 
 the Company, part of whose own trade had, during the war, passed 
 into American hands, should sacrifice the rest of their exclusive pri- 
 vileges, and, by the extinction of them, endanger the territorial pos- 
 sessions ? Or was it not, obviously, that the Americans should be 
 excluded from a trade, supposed to be carried on at tlie expense of 
 Great Britain ? Yet this cry is still unaccountably kept up, even 
 when we are at war with America, and the flag of the United States 
 dares not be seen in the Indian seas ! Nay, it is kept up to injure 
 the cause of the Company, after they have actually agreed on en- 
 largements of the trade to England, greater than ever were contem- 
 plated, even by the private merchants of India, before the present 
 negotiation ; and, if enlargements could effect the object, more than
 
 225 
 
 sufficient to bring the whole Indian trade of the Americans to the 
 port of London. 
 
 It is singular, that the party who complain of the large share that 
 has been engrossed by the Americans of the Indian trade, should be 
 the same party who complain ; also, of the large share which the 
 Americans, in a state of neutrality, enjoyed of the British trade be- 
 tween Great Britain and foreign nations. It is well known, that 
 previously to the rupture between England and the United States, 
 it was urged as a grievance, that though America exported from 
 this country to the amount of twelve millions sterling annually, the 
 country was not benefited to the utmost possible extent from this 
 export trade, because the British merchants and manufacturers 
 were, by the intervention of America, deprived of the carrying, 
 and of the second selling profit upon the manufactures. America, 
 it was alleged, bought from us to a great extent, and Great Britain 
 was, to a certain degree, a gainer, to the extent of the American 
 purchases ; but, because America sold our goods at second hand (to 
 the Spanish Americans, for example), it has been alleged, that had 
 it not been for the intervention of the North American States, ive 
 should have supplied Spanish America, and, in addition to the pro- 
 fits we have received, would have engrossed all the advantage which 
 has accrued to the merchants of the United States from the carry- 
 ing and the circuitous trade. But may it not, on the other hand, 
 be argued, that if the British manufacturers, in an open trade, and 
 during a state of war, have found the assistance of America neces- 
 sary to the circulation of their own manufactures, the same assist- 
 ance was wanted by the manufacturers of India to the circulation 
 of their productions: that the large exports from India, as well as 
 the large exports from Great Britain, by the Americans, were owing 
 to their neutral character: that if the trade between India and Eng- 
 land had been as open as is now contended for, the quantity of 
 Indian goods circulated through the world could not have been 
 greater than it has been, under the competition that has actually 
 existed between the merchants of the United States and the East 
 India Company; and that a greater share in the export trade from 
 
 Q
 
 226 
 
 India could only have been obtained for the free British traders in 
 one of two ways, either by America abandoning, or Great Britain 
 returning to her pacific relations with other countries. If a free 
 trade has the virtue that is imputed to it, why, under complete free- 
 dom of trade, has this country been rendered tributary to America, 
 for a vent to the produce of British industry ? And, if the pacific 
 relations of States pass for no account in such a question, whence 
 the congratulations we so often hear, upon what we have gained, 
 and may yet gain, by the rupture with America ?* 
 
 * The following Statement, which has been received from an intelligent 
 merchant, who resided a number of years in America, shews the advantages 
 tinder which the trade of that country was carried on in a state of peace. 
 
 The advantages which Americans, as ship-owners, enjoyed in a state of neu- 
 trality, are obvious, not only from their free communication with belligerents, 
 but from other causes. 
 
 Their first-rate vessels do not cost one-half what those of the same tonnage, 
 built in Britain, generally cost : hence the capital employed is one-half less, 
 and one-half the insurance is sufficient to cover the property at stake. 
 
 The premium of insurance on an American neutral, from Britain to America, 
 was less than half what was given on an English vessel for the same voyage. 
 On Americans the premium was from two to two and a half per cent. ; on Eng- 
 lish vessels from five to six per cent. 
 
 The countervailing duties in America induced shippers always to give a pre- 
 ference to American vessels. Goods arriving in America, paid twelve and a 
 half to fifteen per cent, duties ; whilst the same goods, by a British vessel, not 
 only paid the same rate of duty, but an additional ten per cent, on the amount 
 of those duties, which is one and a quarter to one and a half per cent, increased 
 duty. 
 
 The freight of goods from America to England, in American bottoms, was 
 never, in the best times, higher than one shilling and sixpence per foot ; and 
 many times the whole freight of an homeward-bound American of three hun- 
 dred tons (that is to say, an American going from this country}, could have 
 been had for 300 or ^400. The Cargoes of three-fourths of Americans 
 homeward consisted either of Crates of Ware, Salt, or Coals, which are well 
 known to yield but a very small freight indeed, taking the whole difference 
 betwixt the purchase and sale as freight. 
 
 The provisioning a Ship in America, did not certainly cost more than one- 
 half that provisioning the same Ship in Britain would have cost. Bread at 16s., 
 
 Beef
 
 227 
 
 Beef at 30s. to 36., Pork at 45s. to 50s., Rum at 2s., I believe will not be 
 more than half the British Prices for the same Articles ; and these were the 
 current rates in 1800 to 1805. 
 
 Upon a calculation of all these advantages, it will be found that an Ame- 
 rican, in War time, could make a saving Voyage from any of these Ports to 
 this Country and home, when an English Vessel would inevitably have brought 
 her owner into debt ; and that an American could actually import goods into 
 the United States from this Country, and sell them at their average wholesale 
 importation profit to others, as low as a British Merchant could send them to 
 America in a British Ship, and deliver them over to be transhipped, without 
 any profit at all. 
 
 The American Ships, being of a lighter construction than ours, they sail 
 with at least one-third fewer hands. 
 
 The following Statement will better elucidate these remarks: 
 
 An American, of 250 Tons, is employed in a Voyage to Britain and 
 
 back. Her value, as a first-rate Vessel for that Trade, is 
 
 o2,000, and the Voyage occupies five Months. A Ship of 250 
 
 Tons would carry 3,000 Barrels of Flour at 9s. which was the 
 
 ordinary freight . . , 1,350 
 
 The average Freight home of such Vessels could not exceed . . . 600 
 
 1,950 
 
 AMERICAN CHARGES. 
 
 . s. d. 
 
 Insurance out and home, 
 ,,2,000 at 4i per cent. . 
 8 Men, 5 months, at 5 . 200 
 Captain and Mate, ,10 
 
 each 
 
 2,400 lbs. Bread, at 16s. 
 
 Beef, 10 barrels, at 32s. 
 
 Pork, 10 ditto, at 50s. 
 
 150 Gallon- Rum . . 
 
 Interest ot ^,000, 5 months 41 13 
 
 95 
 
 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 41 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 ,513 14 4 
 
 BRITISH CHARGES. 
 
 . s. d. 
 Insurance out and home, 
 
 Vessel valued at .4,000, 
 
 at 9 per cent 360 
 
 12 Men, 5 months, at 5 300 
 
 Captain and Mate ... 100 
 360 lbs. of Bread for 14 
 
 people, 5 months, at 3-js. 57 12 
 
 15 Barrels of Beef, at 4 60 
 
 15 ditto Pork, at 90s. . . 67 10 
 
 220 Gallons Rum, at 5s. . 55 
 
 Interest 0^4,000, 5 months 03 6 8 
 
 .1,083 8 8 
 
 These are not to be understood as the total charges on the Voyage, but are 
 those which shew the advantages which American; have enjoyed.
 
 228 
 
 No. II. 
 
 EXTRACT from the Report of the Committee of Corres- 
 pondence to the Court of Directors on the Petitions from the 
 Out-ports. Printed Papers, page 235. 
 
 Parliament is now told by the Petitioners, that the private trade, 
 to which individuals were admitted by the Act of 1793, enlarged by 
 the arrangement of 1802, has succeeded and produced a profit, 
 even whilst the Company have been trading to a loss. The Court 
 have very substantial reasons to believe, that although some article* 
 of private trade may at certain times have sold to a profit, yet that 
 large importations of other articles, both into India and into Eng- 
 land, have repeatedly sold to a loss, or have remained long on hand 
 for want of sale. 
 
 The nature of this trade should be considered. The numerous 
 commanders and officers of tbe Company's ships (a very superior 
 class of nautical men) have no adequate provision from direct pecu- 
 niary allowances : their compensation has always been given in the 
 privilege of trade, and a certain allowance of tonnage, freight free. 
 This has generally made them traders; and as they are to look to 
 trade for their emolument (for but few, comparatively, make money 
 by passengers), they continue to adventure, though often with little 
 success : and your Committee are assured, that though they pay 
 no freight nor commission, bein^ their own agents, they still find 
 it, on the whole, a precarious unproductive business. Now, if these 
 men do not succeed, it can hardly be expected that those, who have 
 freight and commission to pay, can fare better. 
 
 But it will be said, that other individuals do nevertheless embark 
 in this trade. To this it is to be answered, that the manufacturers 
 nf indigo in Bengal, an article originally promoted, and always 
 Aifttif il by the Company, generally send their produce to England ;
 
 229 
 
 and this is a matter of necessity, because the great bulk of the ar- 
 ticle cannot otherwise be disposed of. Again, there is a certain annu- 
 al amount of acquisition by Europeans in India ; and as this, doubt- 
 less a large amount in all, is, in one way or another, to be remitted 
 to England, merchants in India may find their account tolerably 
 well in taking up such money in India, investing it in goods, and 
 granting bills, at a rate favourable to the drawer, payable from the 
 sales in this country. A sort of new transit capital arises in this 
 way every year ; and men may be tempted, occasionally, to seek 
 to make an advantage of it, who would not regularly fix a capital 
 of their own in the trade. There is also a third sort of trade from 
 India, which men of large capital speculate in, when favourable 
 occasions seem to offer; and, in this way, sometimes cotton piece 
 goods, sometimes cotton-wool, sometimes indigo and raw silk, have 
 been adventured in. But your Committee suppose it to be an un- 
 disputed fact, that these larger adventures have repeatedly been at- 
 tended with heavy losses to individuals; particularly the very great 
 importations of piece-goods, exceeding in value two millions ster- 
 ling, in IS02 ; the large importations of cotton, and even of indigo, 
 since that time ; and, what may be sufficiently decisive on this head 
 is, that very large quantities of those have remained long in the 
 Company's warehouses without a sale, or uncleared after sale. The 
 following abstract account will sufficiently exhibit these facts. 
 
 Value of Private Goods from India remaining in the Company's 
 
 Warehouses. 
 
 
 
 Sold. 
 
 Unsold 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 On 1st January, 
 
 1809 . . . 
 
 1,576,185 
 
 si 5,000 
 
 2,391,185 
 
 
 1S10 . . . 
 
 1, 370,95s 
 
 1,057,760 
 
 2,128,718 
 
 
 1S11 ... 
 
 2,513,761 
 
 1 ,005,000 
 
 3,51S,761 
 
 
 1812 . . . 
 
 2,517,668 
 
 1,002,9.32 
 
 3,550,600 
 
 
 1813 . . . 
 
 2,411,25!) 
 
 
 
 1,008,000 
 
 3,119,259
 
 230 
 
 Of the Sold Goods remaining in Warehouses, 1st January, 1813. 
 
 246 bales cotton wool have been in warehouses 
 
 ten years 
 
 112 
 
 6,600 
 
 30,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 five 
 four 
 three 
 two 
 
 2460 
 
 1,120 
 
 66,000 
 
 300,000 
 
 58,930 
 
 42,958 bales cotton wool, value ,428,510 
 
 71 chests of indigo, remaining seven years 4,828 
 
 722 
 
 424 
 
 230 
 
 5,121 
 
 1,593 
 
 9,080 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 SIX . 
 
 five . 
 four . 
 three 
 two . 
 one . 
 
 49,096 
 
 28,832 
 
 15,640 
 
 358,228 
 
 108,324 
 
 613,838 
 
 17,241 chests indigo, value ,1,178,786 
 
 1,607,296 
 
 Piece Goods imported in 1803, 1804, and 1805. 
 
 Remained in warehouses in 1809 .... .276,784 
 
 Do 1810 .... 153,891 
 
 Do 1811 .... 132,094 
 
 But, it will still be said, the private trade between Europe and 
 India has greatly increased sipce the enlargement of 1793 was 
 granted. 
 
 To explain this, it is to be remembered, first, that, as already 
 stated, the Commanders and Officers of the Company's ships are, in 
 a manner, obliged to be traders, and that they have greatly increased 
 in number since 1793: they are forced to carry out goods, and,
 
 V31 
 
 therefore, to bring goods back ; because, in general, specie would 
 be a loging remittance. Secondly, that the number of Europeans in 
 India has been very greatly increased in India since 1793. Every 
 class has increased ; the civil, military, and medical servants of the 
 Company ; the King's troops, from a few regiments to twenty thou* 
 sand men ; the naval servants of the Crown ; ladies, lawyers, free 
 merchants, free mariners, and the mixed race of European descent, 
 now become a great multitude, who imitate, as far as they can, the 
 fashions of their fathers. For all these descriptions of persons, 
 everything required for use or luxury is sent from this country : 
 thus the exports are necessarily enhanced ; and .exports being made, 
 returns for them in the commodities of the country become neces- 
 sary, whether they are sure to answer or not. 
 
 A brief view of the state of the private trade between England 
 and India may here be given from the Indian Registers of External 
 Commerce, commencing with 1795-6, when the Act of 1793 began 
 to operate in India, to the year 1810-11. But it is to be remarked, 
 that only the Bengal Registers commence in 1793-6; those for 
 Madras and Bombay not till 1802-3. 
 
 Statement of the Private Trade between London and Bengai 
 from the year 1793-6 to 1801-2, both years inclusive. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ) Fapoius 
 
 
 Imports into Bengal. 
 
 ! from 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 'Merchandise. 
 
 Merchandise. 
 
 Bullion. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Sicca Rupees. 
 
 Sicca Rupees. 
 
 Sicca Rupees. 
 
 Sicca Rupees. 1 
 
 1795-6 .... 
 
 17,91,623 
 
 4,81,538 
 
 1*2,73,161 
 
 ! 84,08,800 ; 
 
 1796-7 .... 
 
 15,49,906 
 
 2,33,096 
 
 17,83,002 
 
 50,79,310 
 
 1797-8 .... 
 
 11,88,043 
 
 3,46,176 
 
 15,34,219 
 
 69,71,529 
 
 1798-9 .... 
 
 10,13,105 
 
 7,30,209 
 
 17,43,314 
 
 41,07,834 j 
 
 1799-1800. . . 
 
 31,50,696 
 
 16,36,405 
 
 47,87,101 
 
 67,66,649 
 
 1800-1801 . . . 
 
 -10,98,360 
 
 3,74,112 
 
 41,72,472 
 
 1 84,87,336 
 
 1801-1802 . . . 
 
 36,51,650 
 
 3,21,019 
 
 39,75,669 
 
 1 1,31,97,420 ' 
 
 1,64,43,383 
 
 41,25,555 
 
 2,05,68,9.58 
 
 1 5,30,18,878
 
 2.J2 
 
 Statement of the Private Trade between London and British 
 India, from the year 1802-3 to 1810-11, both years inclusive. 
 
 Bengal in nine years, 
 from 1802-3 to 1810-11 
 
 Madras 
 
 Bombay 
 
 Total 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 Stores and 
 Merchan- 
 dise. 
 
 Sicca Ru- 
 pees. 
 
 3.35,33,443 
 1,14,96,218 
 1,48,03,575 
 
 Bullion. 
 
 Sicca Ru- 
 pees. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Sicca Ru- I 
 pees. 
 
 52,19,768 3^7,53,211 
 50,17,839 1,65,14,057 
 29,65,079 1,77,68,654 
 
 5,98,33536 1,32,02,686 7,30,35.922 9,49,78,652 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 Merchan- 
 dise. 
 
 Sicca Ru- 
 pees. 
 
 7,6237,574 
 93,72,303 
 93,18,775 
 
 Bullion. 
 
 Sicca Ru- 
 pees. 
 
 2,540 
 5,867 
 53,644 
 
 62,051 
 
 Total. 
 
 Sicca Ro- 
 pees. 
 
 7,62.90,114 
 93,78,170 
 93,72,419 
 
 9,50,40,703 
 
 This is the comparative state of the private trade with Bengal and 
 India, in former periods, beginning with 1795-6, and at the present 
 time. But the increase is, by no means, to be conceived as merely 
 the result of the enlargement given by the Act of 1793, or after- 
 wards. It is (let it be again observed) most materially to be ascribed 
 to the increase in the number of Company's Commanders and Of- 
 ficers ; to the necessity of making returns in goods from India for 
 their exports; to the great increase of Europeans and their descend- 
 ants in India ; to the vast increase in the culture of indigo, cherish- 
 ed by the Company, and permitted to come in their ships before the 
 Act of 1793; and what the enlargements of that Act and subse- 
 quent measures have opened the way for, has been occasionatlarge 
 speculation in cotton piece-goods, raw cotton, and indigo, which 
 speculations have more often failed than succeeded. But the great 
 conclusion to be derived from the account of the trade, since 1793, 
 is this: in all the period of nearly twenty years, from that time to 
 the present, in which, undoubtedly, facilities and enlargements, 
 never enjoyed before, have been given for private enterprise and 
 adventure, in which the private trade has considerably increased, 
 and on the whole a very ample experiment has been made, not one 
 new article for the consumption of the natives of India has been ex- 
 ported, and little perceivable difference in the few articles of metals 
 and woollens of which they participated before. This is a very 
 remarkable fact, and ought to make a deep impression on all per-
 
 233 
 
 sons who in any way interest themselves in this subject. Let us 
 not hear of that unfair charge, so often repeated, that the Com- 
 pany's restrictions have prevented persons from availing themselves 
 of the privilege held out by public regulations. Would the com- 
 manders and officers, not restrained by high freight, or any un- 
 certainty of getting tonnage, not have carried out articles for the 
 use of the natives, if they had found that any such were saleable ? 
 Would not European residents in India, keen merchants, and ac- 
 quainted with the dispositions and tastes of the natives, have com- 
 missioned for such articles, if they had seen any vent for them ? 
 Would not native merchants, who buy and sell European commo- 
 dities, have recommended the importation of things for the natives, 
 if they had seen any chance of a sale? Yet, of 54,000 tons al- 
 lotted for the private trade since 1793, only 21,806 tons have been 
 actually used by private merchants, and these filled wholly with 
 commodities for the use of Europeans. On the whole, then, this 
 may be pronounced a decisive experiment : a decisive proof that 
 there is no opening, nor any material opening to be expected, for 
 the sale of European articles for the use of the natives of India. 
 
 Of the import trade from India on private account, since 1793, 
 after what has already been said, it may be sufficient to present 
 the following abstract.
 
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 236 
 
 SHORT ABSTRACT. 
 
 Total Privilege .24,585,673 
 
 Private Trade .... 8,543,027 
 
 33,128,700 
 
 which contained Indigo ,1 1,504,716 
 
 4,290,591 
 
 ,15,795,307 
 
 Cotton . . . ,2,916,860 
 209,258 
 .3,126,118 
 
 : .18,921,425 
 
 All other Articles 14,207,275 
 
 It may be proper to point out to attention, the great proportion 
 which the articles of Indigo and Cotton bear to the whole of these 
 Imports ; and likewise to refer to the great quantities of these two 
 Articles which, it has already appeared, remain still in the Com- 
 pany's warehouses, either unsold or uncleared. Of the practica- 
 bility of enlarging the Imports into this country of Indian pro- 
 ductions, fit for the European Market, it was formerly stated by 
 the Court, that the diligence, not only of the different East India 
 Companies of Europe, but of individual Europeans trading through 
 the whole extent of the Indian Seas, has been excited, during three 
 centuries, to discover articles which might be profitably exported 
 to Europe ; and, after all the experience thus acquired, particu- 
 larly in the present day, when the coasting and internal trade of 
 India has been greatly enlarged, it is not reasonably to be assumed, 
 upon merely theoretical ideas, that there is any source of mate- 
 rials, raw or manufactured, in India, yet undiscovered, by which 
 the Imports from India into this Country can be profitably aug- 
 mented: and, with respect to those Articles which may now be 
 considered as the staples of India, namely, cotton piece good*,
 
 237 
 
 raw silk, indigo, raw cotton, and sugar ; the demand for the first 
 is reduced and limited, by the vast growth and excellence of the 
 cotton manufactures of Britain and Europe ; the second, to what- 
 ever extent demanded, can be brought home in the Ships of the 
 Company; the third, already imported to an extent that nearly 
 supplies the consumption of Europe, may also be easily carried 
 home in the same channel; and the article of raw cotton, brought 
 from a great distance, at an unavoidably high freight, which 
 renders it incapable, when this country is engaged in war, and 
 North America and Portugal at peace with us, of entering into 
 competition with the cottons of Georgia and Brazil, both superior 
 in quality, and brought to this market more expeditiously, to meet 
 the fluctuations of price and demand, and at a far cheaper rate of 
 freight. As to sugar, if it could be imported to this market, so as 
 to rival the produce of our West India colonies, which it cannot be 
 in time of war, surely this is not a trade which could be, on the 
 whole, profitable to the nation : and no other great article of 
 Indian produce has ever been thought of, except hemp, of which 
 the culture is still in an early stage in India, not capable of stand- 
 ing a competition with Russia, whenever our intercourse with that 
 country is open. It is in this state of things, when the Company 
 cannot find vent for more Exports in the East, when their ware- 
 houses are filled with goods from the East, for which there is no 
 demand, and when they suffer from the continental restrictions in 
 common with all His Majesty's subjects, that the Petitioners, whose 
 chief complaint is of a general stagnation of trade, censure the 
 Company for not enlarging theirs. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 J. M'Creery, Printer, 
 Black-Horsc-Court, London.
 
 
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