% \U UhlVlH:. %,., mti dUi/ViCElijV. ^IIBMYO/^ ^4 I ^1 s ^ A I 4V 1 ^jMUBRAfiYOr, ^OfCAUFOft^ ^Aavwn-iv^ ^mnin-i^ 4AVl{UNIVER% (5 clO 3 ti(j .5iUUWVD% ^lOSANCf^r^ ^ *'^7mNv&Aav«anvJ^ ^J^nwsoi'^ v/siHAiNa?\JK* ■TiUONVSOl^ ■^AaiMNDJ^V^ \^i\m\^ \mm{^ ,S\UUNIVERy/A '^Tiwrn^x^ 5 ^>MUBRARY(9/ ^•OFCAllFOftji^ ^^IUBRARY-Oa, 9 ^OFCAlIFOff^^ "^(^Aavaan^ 4? I 3 g = 5J«UNIVER% ^10SANCEI% -i^-UBRARYOc. ^^UBRARYQ^ ^vuUNIVER% ^lOSANCElftu^ ^OfCAllFOR^ w^OfCAtlFORji^ "^^^HOKySOl^ "^iUMNIll^fti^ -^l-UBRARYQ^ 4^1UBRARY(?^ '^.^ojiivDjo^ '^tfojiwDJo'^ '" next he lost his father ; whose death resulted from a paralytic afTection, occasioned by his having partaken, at the Isle of Ascension, whilst on his homeward voyage from China, of some turtle boiled in a copper vessel. His son never lost the im- pression produced on his infant mind by his father's pale and emaciated countenance, or forgot the only words he ever recollected to have heard uttered by him : — " Johnny, my dear, make way for me, for I am very feeble." Mr. Shore was much re- s})ected by his friends ; and so afTectionately beloved by his wife, that, though surviving him many years, she never ellectually recovered from the shock of her bereavement. Of his character and liabits little is now known. That he was fond of reading. Q LirE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. may be inferred from the catalogue of his books ; comprising a small but valuable collection of volumes, on Divinity and History, and on other subjects. His widow was left with her two sons — John, and Thomas, who was five years younger than his brother — in comfortable circumstances ; and in possession of an income enabling her to bestow on them the advantage of a liberal education. Her estimable character combined, in a remarka- ble degree, warmth of affection with soundness of judgment, under the regulating influence of reli- gious principle. Of her religious opinions, her son j^guld observe, that they were of the school which predominated in her day ; dwelling principally on the morality of the Gospel, and little on the fundamental doctrine of the Atonement. Her man- ners have been described to me, by one who was acquainted with her, as elegant and polished. Of his mother's self-command under trying circum- stances, her son would mention the following proof. She had discovered him, whilst a child, bestriding the roof of a high barn, unconscious of the danger of his situation. Fearing the effect on his mind of any indication of alarm on her part, she concealed her feelings, by conversing playfully with him ; whilst, by her directions, a servant procured a ladder, and secured him. Her emotions, which she LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 7 had controlled whilst doubtful of his safety, now overcame her, and she fell into a swoon. John Shore's future course was settled soon after his father's death, by his ._acceptance of a Writership .Ull~tlie~£ast-India--X^on}pja.ny'^_J,Qryice, offered to him by an old friend of his family, named Pigou. At the school at which he had been placed — removed from Tottenham to Hertford — he had access to a' good library ; his master, the Rev. Mr. Harland, being of a literary turn ; author of a tragedy, and some other published pieces. Of this privilege he eagerly availed himself ; and often spoke of the ardour with which he rose at day- break to gratify his early and strong predilection for poetry, by the perusal of a quarto edition of Pope's Translation of Homer. Voyages and Travels afforded him peculiar delight, and inflamed his mind with the early and passionate desire of ac- companying an Expedition of Discovery : till his dreams of hardy enterprise were exchanged for the prospect of more substantial but still uncertain advantage, which India opened to the youthful ad- venturer, at a period when the functions and the remuneration of the Company's servants were as yet imperfectly defined. An incident occurred during his stay at Hertford which tended, as he was wont to state, to impress on his mind that earnest conviction of the super- 8 LIFE OF LOUD TEIGNMOUTH. intendcncc of Providence ; which, confirmed by some remarkable circumstances in his future life, it ever retained. lie had repaired with a schoolfellow to a neighbouring stream, for the purpose of bathing. The two boys were on the point of plunging into a deep pool, having mistaken one bank for another beneath which the water was shallow, when they heard a voice questioning them loudly whether they could swim ; and turning round, they per- ceived a stranger riding, who, on their replying in the negative, threatened them with a horse-whip- ping unless they quitted the spot. Whilst his literary taste was cultivated by ge- neral reading, and his body strengthened by active exercises, the young schoolboy attained considera- ble proficiency in his allotted studies : and on his removal to Harrow, in his fifteenth year, he was placed on the fifth form ; by which class the same books were read as by the sixth and highest. From his position in the school, he derived the full advantage of the instruction of the two eminent scholars under whose auspices it then flourished, Drs. Sumner and Parr. His diligence, and keen perception of the beauties of the classic authors, soon recommended him to the partiality of the former. He would indeed observe, that the re- fined sensitiveness of Dr. Sumner's taste produced one defect in his conduct, as master of a public LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 9 school — a disposition to neglect boys in whom this faculty was found wanting. And he would allude, in proof of this, to Dr. Sumner, on an un- lucky wight having aggrieved him, whilst reciting the opening line of an ode of Horace, by several false quantities, manifesting his disgust by never again allowing the boy to construe before him. At Harrow, Shore read Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Homer, and Sophocles. His early predilection for Pope's Translation was encouraged by Dr. Sumner, who invariably quoted from it, when Homer was read, the passages corresponding to the original; and would frequently, when adverting to its alleged defects, challenge production of a better. Ofj[;elis., ffious i nstruction he unfortunately received none at Harr ow ; exc ept on Satur ^y mornings, whenjiis class perused the Greek Testament in Dr. Sumner's stud^^ whose able comments on the text he listened to with both pleasure and profit. His position in the school was between two boys destined like himself to eminence, and for some time associated in pursuits as in fame — Nathaniel Halhed, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. He often described the character of these schoolfellows : observing of the former, that he possessed first-rate talents, and excelled any one he had ever known in the acuteness of his perceptions, giving promise at school of celebrity which, through indolence or [() LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. cxcentricity, lie never realised. His description of* Sheridan's boyish habits corresponded with the re- presentations familiar to every one. With Halhed, Shore renewed his intercourse, both in England and in India: but, except at Richmond, where Sheridan then resided, he never saw him but at school. For an active participation of the manly games for which Harrow has been ever celebrated, Shore was qualified, by a sinewy but spare frame. He left Harrow when on the point of succeeding to the Captaincy of the School, a distinction sub- sequently obtained by his brother ; and renounced, with unavailing regret, the prospect of classical proficiency, which his abilities and diligence could not have failed to realise, under Dr. Sumner's in- structions. His friendship with his distinguished master was cemented by a correspondence which continued till the death of the latter ; and it is to be regretted that no traces of it have been found. The Directors of the East-India Company re- quired that their Civil Servants, previously to en- tering on their duties, should be versed in Book- keeping and Merchants' Accoimts. As no seminary was especially provided for the purpose. Shore was placed, in his seventeenth year, at an academy at Hoxton , where he passed nine months in acqui- ring_ knowledge for which a fortnight would have LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 1 I siiffinf^d ; and, unfortunately, his master could afford him no assistance in the prosecution of his classical studies. His attention was, however, directed to subjects of practical^ utility, especially Arithmetic, jTor which he..^ver entertained a strong predilection. He derived much advantage from his knowledge of this science, and became thoroughly familiarized with it by usually taking old Cockins as the com- panion of his voyages and journeys. He also studied successfully the French and Portuguese languages, with a view to readier communication with Xhe Fore ign Settlements in India. In the latter lan- guage he read with delight the Lusiad of Camoens, and ever reverted with pleasure to Mickle's Trans- lation of that celebrated poem. By a singular coincidence, the obscure seminary of Hoxton contained at this time another individual, besides himself, destined to fill the high office of Governor-General of India — 'Lord Rawdon, after- wards Marquis of Hastings. As this young noble- man then resided with a relative in St. James's Place, and Mrs. Shore lived in the same street, the two future Rulers of millions associated together during their holidays as well as at school. And Lord Teigmnouth, visiting Lord Hastings when the l^i-it^-W^- ^11 the eve of departure for India, re- minded him of their early acquaintance. Mr. Shore embarked for India at the age of 12 LIl'l'. OF LORD TEIGNMOUTII. se venteen . His parting at Gravesend, final as it proved "wWh his lieloved parent, was during many years fresh in his recollection. He adverts with gratitude to her care and judgment, in supplying liini with books calculated to foster the religious principles which she had early implanted. Among these, he particularly mentions Clarke's and Seed's Sernions, recommended to her by her friend Dr. Hawkesworth, author of the "Adventurer," whom she had consulted on the subject. From the latter of these works he derived his first impressions of the force of the Evidences of Christianity. Mr. Shore's messmates on board of the vessel which conveyed him to India were a disorderly set of Writers and Cadets, about a dozen in number ; who contrived, amidst other extravagancies, to fight two duels during a short delay at Portsmouth, and three or four more at places intermediate or at the end of the voyage. His captain was a rough well- meaning sailor, exhibiting an extraordinary medley of occasional profaneness and uneducated religious notions. It was his invariable practice on Sunday to let down a canvas curtain at one end of the cuddy — for he reserved to himself no cabin ; and to read the Church Service — a duty which he consi- dered a complete clearance of the sins of the pre- ceding week : and, that they miglit not accumulate too fast, he was heard, when he had chanced, in the LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. \S hurry of giving orders, to utter an oath, to ejaculate a prayer for forgiveness ; observing, " Let us rub ofF as we go." Such were the associates whom Mr. Shore gra- phically delineates in a lively and afTectionate Letter to his Mother, the first of his epistolary productions, which has been preserved : — " HONOURED MADAM " J:in"ary 1, 1769. " I begin my Letter with the New Year. May you, my Brother, and all my friends, enjoy many of them, and may they be happy ! You see I have begun early : it is, that you may hear the more from me, as I know it will give you pleasure. This is the first time, My dear Mother, I was ever widely separated from you ; and I have leisure to perceive the loss that I sustain in your absence — a loss which scarce any consideration can wholly indemnify. It is true, I have met with a great friend, who is ever ready to assist me with his advice or any other little service he can : I mean Mr. Hancock, a gentleman of real merit and real worth, and an exceeding good scholar. He confers all the obliga- tions on me he can, gratifies me with the use of his cabin, and library — an article the most useful and agreeable of all others, as he has a large collection of Latin, Greek, and English authors. I have free access to them at all times — a privilege I make 14 LIFH OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. a good use of. He has also very obligingly invited me to live with him at the Cape, which will save me some expence. I dare say it will give you pleasure to find how luckily in this respect I am situated. " We had some very hard gales in the Bay of Biscay, which to a young sailor must necessarily appear very dreadful : they were, in reality, dan- gerous! I was most miserably sick the whole time, and for many days after. I sincerely wished myself in England more than once, I assure you. I now begin more fully to comprehend the cha- racter of my ship and messmates. Portsmouth served as a mirror, where their actions, and even their very thoughts, were reflected. You cannot guess how truly mean and despicable some of them ap])ear, contriving and hatching up every scheme to pick up a little money which their present poverty or future prospect of indigence can sug- gest. That town, in short, has been fatal to many. I wish indeed, for my part, I could say I had lived at Spithead as I ought ; for though I was not often on shore, I am conscious I entered into many extravagances, which were entirely needless. I have not indeed distressed myself: I hope you will therefore excuse it as the effect of levity and inconsideration, and not consider me in the light of a spendthrift — a character I shall ever dislike, LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 15 and ever condemn. I have indeed gained expe- rience, sufficient to keep nie from the like perni- cious extremes for the future. " Upon our leaving England, the Cadets and Writers used the great cabin promiscuously ; Init finding they were troublesome and quarrelsome, we brought a Bill into the House for their eject- ment, which was carried by a majority of votes in our favour : in consequence of which, several libels and party papers came out, under the title of "Anonymous": and as they were chiefly against the Writers, I answered them by one severe satire, in which, under feigned names, I exposed many of them. I was suspected as the author, and threatened very highly with the loss of my ears : but the storm seems to be hushed : they continue in silence, and I am content. The cha- racters are allowed to be exactly copied from nature. I wrote them by the connivance of the second mate, in his cabin ; a very obliging worthy good kind of man, who shews me many civilities. His name is Henry Pascal, the captain's brother-in- law ; and I assure you it is greatly owing to him I am so happy. " I dare say you would like to hear the captain's character. To begin with his good qualities ; — he is humane, honest, grateful, well-meaning, and tolerably good-natured. I wish I could mention K; \avv. of loud teignmouth. any more of liis virtues ; for he has behaved so well to me, I could allow them to him upon very trifling pretensions ; but for obstinacy, ignorance, imperiousness to his officers, and an extreme mauvais gmit, he exactly answers the idea Smollet gives us in the character of Commodore Trunnion, alias Hannibal Tough ; and as he frequently per- sonates that hero, so he also has the honour of his name. I am pretty well in his good graces : and I must do his tough ship the justice to say, that his behaviour to me has been much more obliging than I could ever expect. " But I dwell so long on these subjects, I fear you will think I have forgot my friends. — I hope you, and my dear Brother, and all, have continued in health ; — though, from the infirmities of many, I can scarce flatter myself with that happiness. I beg you will tell them how much I thank them for the obligations their civilities have laid me under, W'hich I shall be ever ready to acknow- ledge. You cannot imagine how agreeable the recollection is of those pleasures I have enjoyed, at difTerent times, in their respective houses — at Milton Place, St. Anne's Hill, Luddington, Epping Forest, and London, and other places. I shall write to them all. " I often reap the greatest satisfaction in reading over the Letters I received from you at Spithead. LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTII. 17 I consider tliem as so many monuments of maternal tenderness and affection. I can see through them the watchful anxiety of an indulgent mother, whose whole thoughts are centered in the welfare of her children. It gives me much satisfaction to find by them that I have hitherto given you no cause to repent of my misconduct. I find also, with plea- sure, my Brother's afTectionate Letters. When I was with him, I little knew how I loved him ; but an absence, such as this, confirms my affection, and teaches me how dear he is to me. " I shall always, my dear Mother, steadfastly adhere to your advice, particularly in regard to bad company; and, on that account, have broken off some connections which I inevitably fell into be- fore I could sufficiently distinguish whom it was my interest and inclination to cultivate, and whom to avoid. I do not in the least repent the choice of life I have made : on the contrary, I am more pleased with my condition every day. I never had any objection to this way of life, but to the distance by which we are separated, and by the pains of parting. The latter objection is pretty well over- come ; and I must remain contented, as the former cannot be removed. As we are within a week's sail of the Cape, the preparations are making. If we should meet with any English ships at the Cape, homeward bound, I shall embrace the ()])portunity VOL. I. c I ft Lll-'F, OK LOUD TEIGNMOUTH. of writing to all my friends ; but if there should be none, I must beg you to make my apology and respects to them, as I would not put them to the expense of paying for a Letter by the Dutch ships, there being no other method of conveyance. " Whenever you have an opportunity, I W'Ould be obliged to you for a ' Dictionary of Arts and Sciences by a Number of Gentlemen,' as no such things are to be had in Bengal ; together wdth a Treatise on Astronomy, and the Poems of Fingal. The method by which I amuse myself, is, by writing, ciphering, and the German flute ; and with Hume's History of England, which Mr. Halhed has lent me : it is a much better style than Rapin's. I shall reserve a Postscript, to tell you how^ I like the Cape ; and write you a longer Letter from Bengal. " I am. Dear Mother, " Your ever obedient, and ever dutiful Son." The Satire mentioned in this Letter, after having been preserved many years, shared the fate of almost all the author's other productions in this style, to which he was naturally strongly addicted. Of the few remaining specimens of his satirical skill, one, sufficiently severe and cutting, written on a public functionary in India, was composed, as he alleged, in his sleep. Perceiving the pain inflicted by such sallies of wit, he soon desisted from LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 19 indulging his propensity : and, during the latter years of his life, his disgust at Junius's malignity had extinguished the satisfaction which the point and eloquence of that writer had long afforded him. " DEAR MOTHER — ■ " Madras, Friday, May 19, 1769. " We arrived here yesterday morning, after an agreeable passage from the Cape ; and in the after- noon I came on shore, Mr. Hancock having very obligingly introduced me to a gentleman, at whose house I live. He introduced me to the Governor, to-day, with whom I dined. I supped last night at a Country-captain's ; where I saw, for the first time, a specimen of the Indian taste ; which, I assure you, was very elegant. Upon my honour, my dear mother, I never met with, or heard of, any gentle- man in my life superior to Mr. Hancock, in gene- rosity, good-nature, and humanity. He is univer- sally admired and respected. You must be happy to think he takes so much notice of me. The season is remarkably hot ; but it does not disagree with me. Numbers of people are dying; not a drop of rain having fallen. I never saw a greater proof of your tenderness and capacity than you shewed in fitting me out ; for, upon a comparison, I fhid tliere are scarce two who are so well supplied, and with so much judgment. I have not settled whom to live with entirely, but I shall soon determine. c2 20 i^nr: oi' loud TKUiNMouni. " I liave been very liealtliy the whole passage, and very happy. The second and third mates have been particularly civil; the second, whose name is Mr. Pascal, exceedingly so: his regard is so sincere, that there is nothing in the world that he would not do to oblige me. There is not any one officer in the service who bears a character superior to him ; very few equal. It will give you pleasure, I am sure, to think I have deserved the friendship of so honest a man. 1 hope my dear Brother will not fail to write me a long letter to Bengal : the plea- sure I take in hearing cannot at all be equalled but by the pleasure I take in writing to him. He will soon, I suppose, determine what profession he chooses : pray let me know, particularly as no one can take more interest in his welfare than ourselves. Pray make my best respects to all my friends, and tell them I will not fail to write to them all from Bengal ; and, if the shortness of our stay did but permit, I should not be wanting in that respect now. " Your ever dutiful and obedient Son. "P.S. The Writers at Madras are exceedingly proud, and have the knack of forgetting their old acquaintance." LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 21 CHAPTER 11. AllKlVAL IN BENGAL STATE OF THE PRESIDENCY APPOINTED TO THE SECRET POLITICAL DEPARTMENT AT CALCUTTA ASSISTANT TO THE COUNCIL OF MOORSHEDABAD. Mr. Shore I aiided.in Bengal in such ill health, that his_shipinates (despaicGd^pX.his recovery ; and he overheard them observing with sorrow, as he quitted t he v essel, that he^wou.M„ never reach Calcutta. To judge of the situation and circumstances of a youth entering his career at the period now brouglit under review, the reader must divest himself of impressions derived from the present state of our Indian settlements. The exclusive sovereignty of Great Britain in Bengal did not extend, at this time, beyond a few factories. It is true, that the East-India Company had been involved in several wars and revolutions ; and that the memorable grant of the revenues of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, in- cluding the civil and financial jurisdiction of those vast provinces, obtained four years previously from the Great Mosjul, had placed in their liands the 22 Lll'l' OF LOUD TEIGNMOUTH. resources of the Subalidar (Viceroy) of Bengal : but the collection of the revenues, and attendant civil administration of justice, had been left till this very year in the hands of native functionaries. Some check to tlie gross mismanagement and extortion practised by those who levied, and to the fraudulent evasion of those who paid the assess- ment, had been interposed by the appointment of European agents, named " Supervisors." The Company regarded its Political, secondary and subservient to its Commercial objects. The government of the Colony was entrusted to a Coun- cil, usually composed of the junior servants of the Company ; as the senior found their account in taking charge of the factories, and in remote em- ployment. The Legislature having at length di- rected its inquiries to the causes and conduct of the important political transactions in which the Company had been engaged — viewing, whether through ignorance or negligence, that body exclu- sively in its commercial character — limited its interference to the provisions of the Statute of 1767. By this enactment, a share of the annual profits of the Company was reserved to the nation, without establishing any security for the investigation and controul of the means by which its revenues might be realised. A scheme for the partial accomplish- ment of these objects was frustrated by the loss, at LII'E Ol- LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 23 sea, of the three Commissioners to whom its execu- tion had been confided. In remunerating its servants, the Company con- sidered them rather as mercantile tlian political agents ; allowing them, in lieu of fixed salaries proportioned to the importance of their duties, the right of indemnifying themselves by trade, as well as by various objectionable methods ; one of which was especially fertile of abuse, and subsequently withdrawn — -the liberty, after the Oriental fashion, of receiving presents. Of these, and various other privileges, its servants now retained that alone of trading on their own account ; whilst the miserable pittance which they received as salary was the product of a commission on the ceded revenues of the three provinces. Clive had strongly urged on the Directors the expediency of grantingjixed and liberal jialaries to their officers, as the most just and efTectual method of pu^ting_ a . stop to the corriiption; the reform of which was the grand object of his second vigorous administration. But his s ound advic e w^as^over- ruled by t heir own reluctance to the measure, calcu- latedj as they feared, to produce a cry for increased dividends on the part of the Proprietors, and a INIinisterial attempt to rob them of a portion of their p atronage. The adoption of the plan in Bengal was reserved for the administration of Lord 24< LIFE OV UyUD TEIGNMOUTH. Cornwallis ; but its advantages were not, till many years afterwards, extended to the other Presidencies. The fruit of the illiberal system pursued by the East-India Company, and of the connivance and sanction of the Government, was the prevalence of inveterate corruption and dissipation amongst their servants. Clive depicted it forcibly in his speeches ; and, writing in 1772, he observes, that private letters from India gave a most dreadful account of the luxury, dissipation, and extravagance of Bengal. Calcutta had not yet become what it was destined to be, " a city of palaces." Mr. Shore found it — to borrow his own description, communicated many years afterwards to his son in India — consisting of houses, not two or three of which were furnished with Venetian blinds or glass windows ; solid shut- ters being generally used ; and rattans, like those used for the bottoms of chairs, in lieu of panes ; whilst little provision was made against the heat of the climate. The town was rendered unhealthy by the effluvia from open drains ; and, to conclude in his own words : — " I began life without connections and friends ; and had scarcely a Letter of recom- mendation or introduction. There was no church in Calcutta, although Divine Service was performed in a room in the Old Fort on Sunday Mornings only ; and there was only one Clergyman in Bengal. LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 25 Mr. Shore was appointed, soon after his arrival, to tlie SecretJ[\)liti^cal Department, and continued in it during a year. Many volumes of its Records are in his hand-writing. Mis annucil salary amounted to 96 current rupees, exactly 12/., according to the then existing value of that money ; whilst he paid 125 Arcot rupees, or nearly double the above sum, for a miserable, close, and unwholesome dwelling. " General poverty supplied additional temptations to irregularity and corruption; the colony being much depressed by the heavy cost of the war in the Carnatic, and the failure of the revenues ; whilst the gloom of its prospects was enhanced by that memorable famine, occasioned by the loss in Bengal of the harvest of an entire year, which, it is supposed, swept away one-fifth or one-sixth of its inhabitants. Of this calamity Mr. Shore was an eye-witness ; and the following lines, forming part of a Poem written nearly forty years afterwards, proves that the impression which his mind had received from the circumstances with which a voyage on the Ganges had familiarised him had never been obliterated : — " Still fresh in Memory's eye, the scene I view, The shrlvell'd limbs, sunk eyes, and lifeless hue ; Still hoar the mother's shrieks and infant's moans. Cries of despair, and agonizing groans. In wild confusion, dead and dying lie ; — Hark to the jackall's yell, and \ ulturc's cry. 2() LIl'K OF LOUD TKIGNMOUTH. The do<^'s fell howl, .-is, midst the glare of day, They riot, unmolested, on their prey ! Dire scenes of horror ! which no pen can trace, Nor rolling' years from Memory's page efface." All ordeal more trying to the health, the inte- grity, and the morals of a youth, than that to which the Company's servants were now exposed, could not be conceived. Mr. Shore's constitution, origi- nally robust, was speedily affected by the climate, V producing sleeplessness, which became habitual to him during his residence in India; whilst, rather than subject his mother to expence, he I denied himself almost necessary comforts, and, during the first two years, even the indulgence of a horse. Nor did he resist the almost universal contagion of bad example ; and lived, to borrow the language of one of his earliest friends, as other young men did; still ever retaining his characte- ristic integrity, which soon won for him the well- merited appellation of " HonestjJohn Shore." " HONOURED MADAM — "Calcutta, Dec. 3, 1769. " The Writers, by their Charter, are permitted to trade, but under very severe restrictions. Before the arrival of Lord Clive, of infamous memory, they were allowed dustucks, i.e. a free trade and no duties, — and even since ; but, by a late Order LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 27 from our Honourable Masters, we are entirely deprived of any such advantages ; which makes the risk very unequal. " I have seen the List of Directors, and am glad to find Mr. Sullivan is in. If Mr. Vansittart * should return to Bengal, as is very probable, Mr. Hancock has promised to use all his influence with him to serve me. Pray give me a long account of any events that may occasionally happen relative to them. — Our Helmsmen here do not seem to relish very well this alteration : it was what they had not the least expectation of. Our Governor, in particular, seems to be a little struck, as he has always been a very zealous partisan of Lord Clive's cause. " Dear Madam, " Your ever dutiful and most obedient Son." Whilst tlie young writer, sulTering from Clive's rigorous system of reform, naturally joined in the prevailing outcry against his measures, he probably did not give him credit for that part of his plan to which the Directors refused their consent — the fair * This gentleman, father of Lord Bexley, was one of the Three Commissioners lost in the " Aurora" frig-ate, in Jan. 1771, on his voyajre to India. 28 LIl'l'' OF LOKD TEIGNMOUTH. remuneration of their servants. Of Clive, in after- life, Lord Teignmouth often spoke, but not in unfavourable terms ; observing, that the defence of his conduct in the House of Commons had been triumijhant ; and adverting enthusiastically to his celebrated decision, which led to the attack on the Dutch Fleet, and Chatham's no less celebrated comment on it. The Supervisors, of whom mention has been made, having been placed, in 1770, under the con- troul of two Councils— one at Moorshedabad, for the province of Bengal, and the other at Patna, for that of Behar — Mr. Shore was nominated Assistant to the former, in September of this year. And in consequence of the indolence of the chief of his department, and the absence of the second on a special mission, he suddenly found himself, at the age of nineteen, elevated from the humble drudgery of a Writer in a public office to the responsible situation of a Judge, invested with the ^vil and fiscal jurisdiction of a large district. Of the magnitude of the burden imposed on him, it would be easier to form an idea than of the extent of the opportunities of tyranny and malver- sation placed within his reach. " Will you be- lieve," observes Mr. Hastings, in a lately published Letter, " that the Boys of the Service are the Sovereigns of the country, under the unmeaning LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOIITII. 29 title of Su^oervisors, Collectors of t^ip Revenue, Administratprs-of Justice, and RulerSi^Jieavy Rulers, of the pe opjg^-. They are said to be under the controul of the Board of Revenue at Moorshedabad and Patna ;" — which Mr. Hastings proceeds to de- scribe, as superior in power, though nominally subject, to the Governor and Council. The importance of the charge called forth the energy of Mr. Shore's character. The Court being distant from his residence, he would, on an emer- gency, remain trying causes, with little relaxation, from the hour of breakfast on one day, till that of supper on the following. These sometimes in- volved property to an immense amount. In a single year, he adjudicated six hundred ; and from his decisions there were only two appeals — a proof of the precocio us maturity of his judgment^, and of the confidence,- pf the suitors. His integrity did not, however, escape imputa- tion ; and it may excite surprise that he was first brought to the notice of Mr. Hastings on a charge oFcorruption, instituted by native suitors, who had been disappointed by one of his decisions. Mr. Hastingsimmediately addressed a Letter to the Chief of his department, Mr. M , beseeching him not to suffer his friendship for Mr. Shore to shield his guilt, if substantiated. Mr. Shore's ac- cusers shrank from confrontation with him : and so LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTII. Mr. Hastings was perfectly satisfied of his inno- cence, on his offering to declare, upon oath, that he had never received other remuneration of his official labours than that arising from the cus- tomary trifling fees. Mr. Shore's evenings, usually passed in solitude at his country-house, were devoted to the prosecu- tion of studies calculated both to qualify him lor more important duties, and to supply his leisure with the means of profitable and delightful re- creation. So little had the utility of Oriental Learning been as yet appreciated by the Company's servants, that not three of them were conversant with any Oriental Language but Hindostanee ; broken English being their only medium of communication with their native servants. Some of the future founders of the Asiatic Society had indeed, about this time, commenced their isolated grammatical and philo- logical labours. Hastings had incited their ardour, by his example : and Wilkins had just reached India. But little facility or encouragement was afforded to those whose curiosity directed them to an apparently unpromising field of investigation. Mr. Shore perceived the advantage to be de- rived from the study of the Oriental Languages. His industry embraced at once the Hindostanee^ Persian, and Arabic. Nor did he neglect the LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 31 JBengalee ; though not essential, as the natives with whom he sought conversation spoke Hindostanee. In the prosecution of his elementary pursuits, he was in a great measure his own pioneer. He acquired the Hin dostan ee Language through the JB§d.iui]a.,Qf colloquial intercourse. It was his prac- tice to employ an individual who had held the office of Story-teller in the service of various Nabobs, in narrating to him, as he reposed after dinner, tales extracted from the works of difTerent authors. He fortunately obtained the assistance of a Hindostanee Grammar, written by an Englishman slain at Patna. But his knowledge of Persian and Arabic was originally derived exclusively from oral instruction ; for he had not the advantage of a Grammar or a Dictionary, in either of these languages. Some years afterwards, he obtained Meninski's valuable compilation of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Dictionaries. His first aim in study- ing a language was, to acquire a thorough know- ledgc of the verbs, which he regarded as a key to all its mysteries. In the Persian Language and Literature, to which his attention was chiefly di- cectedjJiis.prDilcieiicyj?s[as considerable. A lasting friendship was formed between the pupil and his Moonshee. Grateful for some ser- vices rendered to him by Mr. Shore, this attached native transmitted to him at Calcutta a present of 32 LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. Oriental books. The whole collection was swamped in the Ganges, and irrecoverably, excepting a single volume — a splendid copy of the Shah Namfeh of Phirdoosi. Its pages are yet stained by the waters of the sacred river*. Not satisfied, however, with this costly proof of his regard to his benefactor, the Moonshee, who had become wealthy, afforded him yet more substantial evidence of his recollection, by earnestly requesting him, when on the point of leaving India, to accept a sum amounting to 16C0/. * The distinguished Oriental scholar, Sir William Ouseley, in a Letter to Lord TeigTimouth, attests the value of this copy : — " MY LORD — " Crickhowel, July 1 7, 1827. " After an absence of some days from home, I have only this morning received your Lordship's Letter of the 11th; in conse- quence of which, the beautiful and most excellent copy of the Shall Ndmeh, lent to me so many years ago by your Lordship, is forwarded by this day's mail-coach, very carefully packed. For the long use of so valuable a MS. I beg to return my sincerest thanks. Copies of the same work, neither so ancient, handsome, nor so accurate, I have seen in Persia, estimated at more than an hundred guineas. It has been of considerable service to me, in a collation with three very fine copies in my owti possession, and several in other collections. Having vea.di\i from beginning to end, I can venture to declare, that, in my opinion, a more valuable copy has never been brought to Europe ; and that but few (if any) equal could be found in Persia. " With a repetition of my best thanks, I have the honour to be, My Lord, " Your Lordship's obliged and obedient servant, " William Ouseley." LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 33 on the plea that the latter had saved little, and that the state of his health would prevent him again exposing himself to an Indian climate. Mr. Shore, whilst he declined the proposal, was much affected by this trait of generosity ; and happily enjoyed, on returning to India, an opportunity of testifying his regard to his friend, by rendering essential assistance to his family : for the Moonshee had died during his absence, and left his children con- suming his property in litigation. INIr. Shore offered his services as arbitrator of their differences, and acquitted himself of his duty to their satisfaction. Extensive intercourse with the natives, and ex- perimental skill acquired by personal superinten- dence of a small farm — a practice afterwards prohibited to the Company's servants, — followed by subsequent researches, supplied Mr. Shore with that ample information respecting the habits, manners, and customary tenures of the people, and that clear insight into the complicated machinery of their revenue systems, to which his success in after- life was mainly attributable. His new and various studies did not divert him from the cultivation of European and Classical Literature. To refresh his recollection of Latin, he regularly kept a journal in that language ; whilst he perused the Greek Testament and Homer, and selected passages from other authors. But he VOL. I. D 34 Ln<'E OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. found that the advantage of exemption from inter- ruption which he now enjoyed did not compensate for the want of conversation on the subject of his studies ; and he attributed to his unavoidably so- litary habits, during a great part of his residence in India, his having forgotten, notwithstanding the tenacity of his memory, much of his laboriously- acquired knowledge. The small remaining portion of his correspon- dence with his mother at this period may be re- ferred to, not only as conveying his opinions and reflecting his feelings, but as deriving additional interest from the light which it sheds on surrounding scenes and objects. " Moorshedabad, April 1, 1772. "The place of my residence at present is a garden-house of the Nabob, about four miles distant from Moorshedabad. I will not be so disingenuous as to leave this assertion unexplained; as you might be led to imagine from it, that my intimacy and influence with the proprietor must be very great, to entitle me to the favour of occupying his house ; which is so far from being true, that he has scarce a personal knowledge of me. Absence from Moorshedabad not interfering with business, I have been enticed hither by a love of retirement and a LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 35 healthy air ; my former place of abode being less agreeable, and the air less salutary during the hot months. "Whatever the pastoral poets and lucubrators have so flatteringly described as composing the charms of solitude, I here enjoy — cooing doves, whistling blackbirds, and a purling stream : and you will naturally think, that in so hot a climate these rural objects must be doubly pleasing. " But whether the mind partakes of the lan- guishing inactivity of the body, or what is the reason, I am not sufficiently philosophical or selfish to feel any real enjoyment in things, unless parti- cipated with those I love. Here I am quite soli- tary, and, except once a week, see nobody of a Christian complexion. Little improvement or en- tertainment can be had from conversations with the natives, their ideas being very confined and de- based. Those amongst them who have studied the Persian and Arabic languages (a critical knowledge of the latter being esteemed the very perfection of science) commonly prove self-sufficient pedants, with learning enough to make them impertinent ; and as to the unlearned, nothing but a desire to attain the necessary information regarding their religious and civil customs (of which even they are capacitated to give but imperfect accounts) can make their company tolerable. It is here proper d2 'SQ LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. to notice, that these ^ remarks are made on the Mahomedans. " In this solitude, I find no time glide away more imperceptibly and pleasingly than when you are the subject of my meditations; which is very fre- quently the case. I frame in my mind resem- blances (which perhaps have their existence there only) between the rural landscapes which surround me here, and those which you and I have frequented in happier days. But the face of this country has no agreeable variety of hills and valleys, groves and lawns ; no elegant villa rises to the sight ; no distant town to bound the prospect. The surface, for the space of some hundred miles, is perfectly level, with neither hill nor stone on it. A brick house, though highly mean and inelegant, is un- common, even in the capital city of Bengal : there are few to be compared wdth yours in Pulteney Street. Latterly, the inhabitants have begun to imitate our buildings ; — a measure w^hich nothing but an obstinate attachment to their own absurd customs, and too lazy a disposition to learn better, would have hindered their adopting sooner, since their own habitations are exceedingly ill adapted to the climate. " It is customary with the Gentoos, as soon as they have acquired a moderate fortune, to dig or purchase a pond. Besides the convenience resulting LIFE OF LORD TEIGXMOUTH. 37 from the proximity of a piece of water for the purpose of daily bathing, a ceremony strictly en- joined by their religion, they draw a kind of standing revenue, or means of subsistence, from it ; as those of the strictest principles eat nothing which has life, but fish. Before the revenues of this coun- try became the immediate property of the Company (who now assume an authority over the natives not inferior to French despotism), the landholders and farmers of extensive districts dug many large lakes for the benefit of the public, some of which still remain, and are worthy of admiration. At present, the poverty of people of the highest rank is an obstacle to their carrying on works of such extent and expense. The utility of these lakes is not to be estimated by the same standard it would be in England, where the beauty of their appearance would be principally considered. The great scar- city of water proper to be drunk, from the whole soil being impregnated with saltpetre, made it highly meritorious in any person to supply the public with an element in its purity so indispen- sably necessary to a nation of water-drinkers. The English, and other Europeans residing in Bengal, drink rain-water in preference to all other, being much lighter and wholesomer. " A2)rii 26. — Whether the natives are liappier under the administration of the English, wlio have 4 S8 LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. eased the poorer sort of many burdens, than under the arbitrary authority of their own country Go- vernors, is a matter of doubt to me. They have not that opinion which every Englishman glories in, and encourages with such enthusiasm — of the essentiality of liberty to happiness. The regard they enter- tained for Rulers of the same clime and faith made them submit to their dictates with a degree of zeal which they seldom exert in obeying the commands of a foreign power ; which, though enforced with a less heavy hand, are sometimes issued without the proper respect for their religious usages and cus- toms. They have in one respect obtained a great advantage — the security of their houses and effects against the ravages of the Mahrattas and other plun- derers. Upon the whole, if we should confer hap- piness upon them, it will be in spite of themselves. " Will not these digressions prove tiresome ? or, as I presume, do you rather feel a curiosity to be acquainted with anecdotes of the people amongst whom I live ? A desire of satisfying the questions you have made concerning particulars of this na- ture has often betrayed me into repetitions which must be disgustful. The immense number of things to be remarked cannot be ascertained by one view : the first idea I form, appears, on retrospect, to be always imperfect, and often erroneous. I endea- vour therefore, by observations founded upon a LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 39 more intimate knowledge, to amplify those remarks which are cursory, and correct those which are false. As to facts, I never assert the authenticity of them, unless I have previously received convic- tion ; but with regard to speculative points, I must beg your indulgence for representing them diffe- rently, occasioned by the different points of view in which they are offered to my sight. "Are you not rather disappointed in receiving no accounts of the progress I have made in the acquisition of a fortune ? I wish, for your sake more than for my own, I could with truth boast of having done so ; but the road to opulence grows daily narrower, and is more crowded with com- petitors, all eagerly pressing towards the goal, though few arrive there. I am not at present any- ways avaricious, and should be contented with a moderate sum : perhaps, when that modicum is acquired, I shall be thirsting after a little more. The Court of Directors are actuated with such a spirit of reformation and retrenchment, and so well seconded by Mr. Hastings, that it seems the rescis- sion of all our remaining emoluments will alone suffice it. The Company's Service is in fiict ren- dered an employ not very desirable. Patience, perseverance, and hope, are all I have left. I am now embarked for life ; and must endeavour to steer my vessel through all the hardships and perils 40 LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. of the voyage, carefully catching every favourable gale which will wing me to the desired port. Rest assured, my dear Mother, nothing shall allure J me to part with my honesty, or disgrace the pre- cepts I have received from you, and which your own example has so well exemplified. Poor I am, and may remain so ; but conscious rectitude shall never suffer me to blush at being so. " It is inconceivable to what invidiousness an exalted rank in the Company's employ in Bengal is exposed. The very best characters do not escape calumny. I mention this, to caution you against paying too implicit a belief of the censures pub- lished in England by the interested and disap- pointed. Many recent instances might be pointed out, of worthy men having been traduced and rendered infamous by reports propagated by ill nature, or to serve some private ends. Unluckily, these illiberal accusations gain too much credit in Leadenhall Street, from the difficulty attending a disproval of them ; and to this cause may in great measure be assigned the severe orders issued by the Court of Directors. " May 28. — Three years, and almost four, have elapsed, since I had the happiness of seeing you. How many more must revolve before we meet again, is a reflection which leaves behind it a melancholy uncertainty. Yet I do not know how LIFK OF LORD TEIGXMOUTII. 41 it is that these reflections find room in my heart, and embitter my transient joys. There are even hours, in which, thought succeeding to thought, my despair is so violent, as to be soothed by nothing but the mildness of the Christian Religion. This, / my dear Mother, is the refuge I apply to in anxieties. When the world displeases me, I with- v draw to converse with my God. Would to Heaven I had resolution enough thus piously to direct every movement of my life ! But temptation comes under such pleasing and varied shapes, and is re- ceived by most people so cordially, that, from the agreeableness of her form, the force of example, and the weakness of the will, the flesh falls into iniquities, and leads the spirit to be afterwards mortified into repentance. " I believe I before mentioned to you the too great prevalence of immorality in this Settlement, and wish I could now advise you of an amendment. Were these sentiments divulged, not tlie uncon- troverted truth of them would be sufllcient to guard the singularity of my censures from the attacks of ridicule. And yet, every man who will condescend to exercise his reason, unprejudiced, must be of the same opinion : but uninterrupted employments or succession of dissipations leave but a short time for serious consideration. You will perhaps conclude, from the disregard with which 42 LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. Religion is treated, that the number of Free-thinkers must be great : they are, in fact, but few. As I am on this topic, I will relate an accident which has happened since my arrival, the particulars of which I have heard repeatedly confirmed by one of the parties concerned. "Three of this sect had dined together, and had given free scope to the licentiousness of their favourite principles in their conversation during dinner-time ; and, for their afternoon's amusement, went on board a braid, to take the air on the water. Wine had animated them too much to leave room for reflection ; and, in the height of wantonness, they overset the boat. The most abandoned of the party, exulting in his superior skill in swimming, leaped from the edge of the sinking vessel into the water, and, in a strain of bantering blasphemy, said, " The Lord has smote us now ! " and jokingly asked his companions if they had any commands to his black friends below. — The close of this scene, how dreadful ! — though but a small distance from the shore, he sank before he reached it, never to rise alive again! What a lesson for the scofTers at morality ! Is not this example enough to convert the most hardened atheist? From the circum- stances attending this horrid adventure, it seems evident to me that Providence interposed. " You will, I hope, excuse the freedom I take. LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 43 in requesting you not to shew my Letters to any persons who have correspondents in this part of the world. Though I write nothing I should be ashamed to avow and maintain at all times and places, yet the most innocent sentiments, when displayed by a satirical pen, become ridiculous ; and often the more so, in proportion as they are of a private nature. " Jnli/ 6. — From the confidence you have so long reposed in me, I cannot but consider you equally in the light of a friend and a mother : the regard I feel for the one is blended inseparably with the respect I owe to the other ; so that my duty and inclina- tion go hand in hand, and make but one passion. This naturally leads me to consider the unhappy situation of those parents and children between whom this desirable union does not subsist — a re- flection which endears you more to me. That you may long remain exempt from the severer pains incident to humanity — for some infirmities are the lot of mankind — blessed in the love and obedience of your children, and happy in the esteem of your friends, is the wish of gratitude, reverence, and filial love ; and all the reward they can at present make. " I almost envy my brother in the choice he has made ; and now think I should have been happier 44 LIFE OF LOUD TEIGNMOUTII. had I fixed upon the same. It is not to be doubted but he will be a credit to his cloth, and an honour to society. When he seriously weighs the superior importance of his station over all other professions, his volatility of spirits and giddiness of youth, the effects of a good constitution, which for the present exclude thought, will gradually subside into a settled cheerfulness of temper, so suitable to the pacific tenets of the Christian doctrine. Endowed with strong natural sense and goodness of dispo- sition, the force of example and your advice will mould him into any thing. The satisfaction you express at his conduct gives me equal delight with your approbation of mine ; and I am heartily glad his dutiful and tender deportment towards you has rendered so many of your hours happy. "The death of Doctor Sumner was an event which both surprised and afflicted me. His beha- viour to me whilst under his care — the whole pro- priety and kindness of which I did not comprehend at the time, but have since, upon recollection — had raised in my heart the highest esteem for him : his memory will still be dear to me, and all who were acquainted with his several merits of a good man and accomplished scholar. " In the advice I gave my brother, I consulted less the ability I had for doing it properly, than the LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTII. 45 love I bear him. As you approved what I wrote, and enjoined me to continue, I shall endeavour to communicate some sentiments applicable to his intended mode of life. It is an office which might be much better exercised by yourself. " A voyage nearly round the world has lately been completed by Dr. Banks, Dr. Solander, &c. for making discoveries for the improvement of Botany and Philosophy in general. Should these Travels be published, I shall be much obliged to you to send me the book out ; as the articles of the un- dertakers must give room to suppose that it will be a work of great merit. In the catalogue of books which you sent me, there is one entitled " Conso- lations of Philosophy, by Boethius," quotations of which I have seen prefixed as mottos to some of the Papers of the " Rambler " and " Adventurer." You will do me a singular favour by sending me the Latin editions of this Work. I believe it was originally written in Latin ; for I find there is scarce a language in which it may not be met with. If I may be allowed to form a judgment of the whole from the extracts of the performance which 1 have seen, it contains some of the finest moral sentiments I have ever met with. I will also beg the favour of " Scott's Versification of the Book of Job," and "Glover's Leonidas." The libraries brouglit out 46 LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. by the captains and mates of Indiamen into this country for sale, though very voluminous, consist mostly of novels, and such books as are termed, by the London shopkeepers, " light summer reading," and such as are sent, at stated seasons, in large cargoes, to Bath, Tunbridge Wells, and such places. I had the good luck, last year, to furnish myself, at a very cheap rate, with some Latin and Greek Classics ; which one of the captains, ill judging of the mart to which he brought them, imagined to have sold at a high premium. " I am sorry to find, by the accounts received this year from Europe, that such violent opinions should everywhere prevail of the oppression and peculation exercised by the Company's servants in India, and that the famine was in great measure owing to monopolies made by them*. Mr. * Mr. Shore, many years afterwards, thus explains, in a Note to a Poem, the origin of the famine : — "The calamity here described happened in 1770, and was solely occasioned by the failure of the periodical rains in the autumn of 1769 and the spring of 1770. The autumnal harvest of Beno-al gives about three-fourths, and the vernal harvest one- fourth of the annual produce ; consequently there was a failure of the harvest of an entire year. The natives, little apprehending such a calamity, were not provided against the consequences of it. The numbers supposed to have perished for want of food have been vaguely estimated, without sufficient data, at one-fifth or one- sixth of the whole population. That whole villages were depopu- lated, LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 47 has in particular been blamed for these practices, both here and at home ; and it was to him^ amongst others, I alluded, in the caution I gave you in the preceding sheets. Upon my first arrival at Moorshedabad, the scarcity was at the greatest height ; and the reports concerning Mr. 's monopolies were everywhere ripe. Prompted by my natural curiosity, and with a view of discovering that gentleman's real character, I made all the inquiries I could amongst the inhabitants of the city and English gentlemen residing there, but could never discover any foundation for the accu- sation. " With hearty wishes for your health and hap- piness, " I remain, my dear Mother, " Your truly affectionate and dutiful Son." la ted, and the towns thinned, is a fact; and the circumstances detailed in the poem were literally true. Ignorance and prejudice have attributed the famine to the avarice and machinations of the English ; and Sir Francis Sykes, who left Bengal eighteen months before the famine commenced, has been calumniated as the author of it. Whoever knows the country of Bengal, knows that no art can produce a famine there." Bishop Barrington had partaken so fully of the prevailing belief respecting Sir F. Sykos's guilt, that he had declined visiting him ; till hearing Lord Teignmoutli acci- dentally allude to the circumstances whicli gave rise to it, the liberal-minded prelate expressed his surprise, and declared his intention of embracing the earliest opportunity of rectifying his error. J.g LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. CHAPTER III. PROGRESSIVE RISE IN THE SERVICE APP0INTP:D TO THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OF REVENUE AT CALCUTTA DISTRACTED STATE OF THE PRE- SIDENCY PURSUES AN INDEPENDENT COURSE APPOINTED SECOND MEMBER OF THE GRAND COUNCIL OF REVENUE. The resolution of the East-India Company to take the collection of the revenues of the three provinces subject to their sway more immediately into their hands, was carried into effect in 1772, by Mr. Hastings adopting, soon after his arrival in India, what was called the Quinquennial Settlement, or five years' lease of the lands. The Supervisors were now designated Collectors. And the Council to which Mr. Shore belonged having been abolished, its duties being transferred to a Council of Revenue at Calcutta, he was appointed First Assistant to the Resident of the province ofRajeshahe. "to bury HUTCHINSON, ESQ. " DEAR BURY — « Moidapore, Oct. 20, 1773. " Many thanks for your kind inquiries after LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 49 my health and situation. I am tolerably well in both respects ; but should be better contented were the profit to be equal to the credit of the office I hold. An explanation of my present employment will, T dare say, surprise you ; — it is, the distribution of justice amongst the inhabitants of a very large district. Every Civil cause — that is to say, every dispute where the peace is not broken through — comes under my cognisance ; and though you will judge this more properly the province of an able lawyer, yet a tolerable knowledge of the language, and the being somewhat conversant with the reli- gious and judicial customs of the people (which are never infringed in our decisions), are sufficient qualifications for exercising this business. Notwithstanding I have met with as much suc- cess and countenance as most adventurers who have settled in this country at the early period of life I did, I cannot but regret that I ever left England ; so true is the old adage, that Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt. Not that I lament the loss of the diversions in Europe: it is the frequency of dissipation in this place that I complain of, and the unsettled mode of life I am in. The die is, however, now cast ; and I must extend my views to futurity, banishing all retrospect on the past. These are sentiments VOL. I. E 50 LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. which I wish to be concealed from my mother, as they will necessarily make her uneasy. " Believe me, with much regard, your affectionate friend and humble servant." The three provinces were in this year distributed into six grand divisions. Each was placed under the controul of a Council, the members of which superintended in rotation the Civil business ; W'hilst a subordinate and limited jurisdiction, coupled with the charge of collecting the revenues, w^as entrusted to the natives, as Deputies of the Councils : and the Councils w'ere subject to the appellate juris- diction of the Supreme Court of Calcutta, till the establishment of the Grand Council of Revenue. Mr. Shore, having temporarily acted as Persian Translator and Secretary to the Provincial Board at Moorshedabad, was appointed Fifth iNIember of the Board at Calcutta ; and he at once exchanged the - stillness and seclusion, in which his days had hitherto flowed peacefully along, for the angry contentions of the seat of unsettled and divided government. By the Act for regulating Indian Affairs, passed in 1773, progressive approximation was made to that centralizing of authority which is essential to the administration of a remote colony. The LIFE OF LORD TEIGNMOUTH. 51 supreme power was vested in a Council, consisting of five members, one of whom enjoyed the title of Governor General, together with the privilege of the casting vote ; — but, as yet, without separate responsibility. And to this Council w^as assigned a negative controul, in the shape of a veto, over the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay, in regard to wars and negociations. The result of a system of government so ill constituted became soon apparent ; — fluctuating councils at home, and perpetual feuds and factions among the functionaries in India, embroiling the Presidencies, or the Governor-General and his colleagues in the Council ; embarrassing all the proceedings of Government, and spreading discord and confusion through every branch of the Service : whilst fresh fuel was supplied to the flame of con- tention, by the institution, under the same Act, of a Supreme Court of Judicature, formed ostensibly to remedy the defects in the administration of justice, but in effect to set up an authority rivalling, and, by an extravagant assumption of power, usurping the functions of the Supreme Government. The Act was brought into operation in October 1774, on the arrival of three of the Members of the Council — Mr. (afterwards Sir Philip) Francis, Gen. Clavering, and Col. Monson. Mr. Hastings was immediately involved in differences with his E 2 52 LIl'^K