>*tter . . .to Phili 'is* ~>,r of the Councij at Bengal By Joseph Price UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES A LETTER FROM CAPTAIN JOSEPH PRICE, T O PHILIP FRANCIS, ESQ_. LETTER FROM CAPTAIN JOSEPH PRICE, TO PHILIP FRANCIS, ESQ. LATE A MEMBER OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL AT BENGAL. LONDON: PRINTED IN THE YEAR M,DCC,LXXXf. REPRINTED M,DCC,LXXXIir. AxTa LETTER, &c. SI R, TH E define of doing me that mifchief in Eu- rope which yon failed of doing in India, in- duced you to permit to remain on the face of the Eait India Compan/s records, perfonal reflections relating to me, which are falfe, malicious, and ,. grouncllefs -, and which no man, who has the leaft o frctenfions to the character of a gentleman, would have fuffered to rer.iain, after he had commiffioned a third perfon to retraft the ajjertions in his name. .4 ON the day that I was to leave Calcutta for Eu- j rope, a gentleman informed me, that it was com- | monly talked of in town, that Mr. Philip Francis had made very fevere reflections on my character and conduct, in a minute which a few days before he had delivered in at the Council Board : the B particulars 354848 ( 2 ) particulars I knew not, nor had I a right to con- trovert your fentiments of my conduct as an offi- cer acting under the orders of the Board (of which you were a member,) whilft you adhered to truth in your remarks, and avoided perfonality. My time was very fhort I had no means of obtaining a copy of your minute, nor knew I clearly what your obfervations led to. In this fituation I acci- dentally met with your friend, Mr Shore ; to him I related what I had heard, and acquainted him that I had no inducement to go to Europe, but under the hope that the certificate which I had received from the afiignees appointed by my gene- ral creditors, might induce the claimants at home, to fign the deeds of my general furrender and re- leafe, as all thofe in India had done; and to ob- tain from the Eaft India Company fome perma- nent appointment in their employment abroad, in confideration of the many fervices rendered them by myfelf and family, in the long courfe of thirty years refidence at their feveral Prefidencies in India. That if any pofitron in your minute, led directly to- injure me in either of thofe two points, or re- flected on my conduct as a man of honour, or as an officer, I would not leave the kingdom until you had retracted your aflertions. MR. Shore voluntarily propofed waiting on you on the fubject, with a kindnefs which implied a defire to ferve both parties, and the next morning Ire- ( 3 ) I received a letter from him, which informed me* that in the courfe of a late debate at the Board, you had ufed fome expreffions, for which you had no authority; but that on Mr. Barwell and the Go- vernor General's obferving that fuch animadver- fions, grounded only on the vague evidence of common report, were unjuft, and too peifonal to ftand as arguments, you had retracted them, and they were done away. WHAT was I to conclude from fuch a letter, but that every thing that you had afferted againft me, that was merely perfonal, or that n -ht pof- fibly be falfe, had been erafed from the proceed- ings of the Board ? No fuch thing ! They were permitted to be entered up FAIR on the Company's record?, and three months afterwards were tranf- mitted to Europe. I SHALL quote fuch part of your remarks as \vas evidently intended to injure me with the Company, and my private creditors ; and anfwer them with truth and integrity ; to both of which I will prove, before I clofe this Letter, that you have paid very little regard. THE firft of your obfervations ftands recorded in the following words. cc I REALLY do not know what fervices Captain ** Price has performed. ,1 never heard that the B 2 " veflel ( 4 ) rt veflel under his command, did any fervices, or " had an opportunity to do any." HAD this remark of yours been dictated by the fpirit of truth, the latter part of it would have been apology fufficient ; for no man can do, what he never had an opportunity of doing. But you knew otherwife, and made the remark in the bit- ternefs of malice, contrary to pofitive proof then before you, and to the internal conviction of your own mind. To deny, with any hopes of obtaining credit, this charge of want of candour in you, with refpect to me, you mutl prove that you had never feen nor heard of certain letters from the King's Admiral and the Prefidency of Madrafs, addrefled to the Governor General and Council of Bengal -, in which, as I have heard, (for I never faw them) they exprefs in the ftrongeft terms pofTible, their approbation of the conduct of Captains Price and Hicks, and enumerate many important pieces of fervice, which they had rendered the Company during their being on the coaft with their fhips. It is not unlikely, confidering your education and well-known principles, that you looked on thofe letters as matters of perfonal favor, obtained by my application to Sir Edward Vernon, and Sir Tho- mas Rumbold. Almoft in the prefence of thofe gentlemen, I tell you, that I never did apply for them, nor did I know that fuch papers-exifted until long after I had parted with thofe gentlemen on the ( 5 ) the coail. I had the interefl of the fervice at heart, and purfued it with the warmth of an Englifhman j leaving my aftions to defend my character, neither ftooping to beg recommendations, nor apprehend- ing the infidious malice of a man, bafe enough to afiert a falfity with confidence, but not brave enough to defend it , who, when he is taxed on the fpot by the perfon he injures, retracts his falfe- hoods, and, when that perfon leaves the country, re-afierts them to the Court of Directors, BUT to put it paft a doubr, that you had in- formation of the effectual fervices rendered by the ihips under my command, I mall trouble you with a copy of a paper which I fent to the Board, foon after my return to Bengal, in order to obviate fome idle reports, which I little thought originated from Mr. Francis. " ON the 2jd of July, I received an order from " the Board, to take charge of the honourable ** Company's (hip Refolution ; me was then on " the ways, fheathed only on one fide, her main " maft fprung, bowfprit rotten, no orlop deck, no *' magazine ; her lower deck ports to cut our, " and twenty carriages to make, for as many " eighteen pounders. On the 24th, I received " another order from the Board, to take charge " of the Royal Charlotte. My knowledge of the " experience, activity, and fpiric of Captain Hicks, ' induced ( 6 ) ' induced me to recommend him to the command " of the Refoltnion ; as I knew he would pay the " necefiary attention to the equipment of the (hip, whilft I prepared the Royal Charlotte. This " latter was built for a merchantman, had juft ar- " rived from a voyage laden with fix hundred tons " of fait and other goods, all of which was to be ** taken out, before the carpenters could go to " work ; and fhe had much more work to be done " than the Refutation. The feafon of the year was " ery unfavourable j it rained almcft continually ; " neverthelefs, both mips were compleatly fitted, 7 ) too plainly marked the man, who was capable of ufhering into the world, at the expence of a breach of the firft moral obligation, productions infamous in the extreme ; tending to vilify the character of a man, whofe abilities you envy, and whofe integ- rity you have not the virtue to imitate. THERE is a degree of rancour to Mr. Haf- tings, which runs through thefe productions, that induced me at firft to fuppofe, that they might have been drawn up by yourftlf, and my long experience of the extenfive prevalence of your ablurd and ridiculous vanity, left me no caufe to doubt but that you had been your own enco- miaft. But there is a chain of ignorance in Afiatic politics, which pervades the digrefllve parts of thofe wretched produdions, that made me hefitate at the idea of their being compleatly fitted for the prefs by your own hands. I was therefore obiiged to feek for a commentator, or, at lead, an editor of your works, and I was Jucky enough to find one that removed all my doubts. THE man I mean (for I will not proftitute the appellation i.f g* ntleman, to a being who has been capable of undertaking fo unworthy an employ- ment) lately returned from India. How he got there is no part or. my prefent buftnefs to enquire; there he has been, and rcfided in Bengal from Au- guft, 1779, ur.til the month of March, 1780; during which time, having no employment in the C Company's Company's fervice, or any knowledge of, of inte* reft in, their affairs, he applied for employment to the Governor General, to Mr. Barwell, and even was extremely obliged to me. How he has re- paid it, the above falfe affertion relative to the bal- lafting of the Royal Charlotte (whether of your fabrication or of his own, I know not) will prove. But as congenial fouls, like the magnet and the needle, or the amber and the flraw, attract each other, you foon met ; and rinding him a man af- ter your own heart, you employed him in much dirty work, which, to fay the truth, he has exe- cuted as well as you could have done it yourielf. In a Letter like this, which I intend for the pub- lic eye, and to the publication of which, I am im- pelled by a love to truth, and a juftifiable fpirit of refentment for unmerited injuries offered, re- tracted, and again afferted, I would leave as little as poffible to conjecture, infmuation, or initials. But here I am withheld from giving the name of your agent at full length, in commiferation to the diftrefies of his family, and the ruined ftate of his affairs. I KNOW not to the mifmanagement of which of you it ought to be placed, that an honeft man has the juftifiable pleafure to behold you entangled in that kind of embarraffment common enough to fuch a confederacy. You durft not jointly avouch, or jointly deny, your having purloined the extracts from from the Company's proceedings abroad, or the publication of them at home. When you (hall read the above paragraph, in conjunction, I beg leave to give a hint to both : Be cautious of truft- ing each other ; for you, Mr. W. M. accepted a commiflion to publifti a falfehood againft a man to whofe humanity and generofity you had been highly obliged ; and you, Mr. Francis, uttered an untruth againft the fame man, which your fear of chaftifement induced you to retract, though your bafcnefs afterwards permitted it to be entered on the Company's proceedings. The nature and tendency of this very humane obfervation of Mr. Philip Francis, (hall be quoted, explained, and commented on, before I clofe this Letter. You have been pleafed to fay, that, " It is a ' tc fact of public notoriety, that Captain Price has " paid his debts, and^made his fortune, by his voy- " age to the coaft and back again." THIS extraordinary afiertion having been made in the prefence of two men, who were your com- peers, one of them who had known me near thirty years, and the other twenty, reprobated the abfur- dity and injuftice, of dragging into public debate, the private concerns of any man. This friendly in- timation induced you to fay, " It is no afperfion on " the character of any man, to fay that he has paid " his debts. But on the ftrength of Mr. Harwell's C 2 _ c authority, f ( 20 ) " authority, I retract that part of my minute ; as " to his fortune, I conclude it to be independent, '* becaufe the eftablifhrnent and advantages an- " nexed to his command, gave him the means of " making it fo , becaufe he has not lefFened it by " paying his debts, and becaufe he is actually " preparing to retire to England, which no " man in a notorious ftate of poverty would think of." Is this the language, the refult of candid dif- quifition and charitable conclufion ! or the effect of prejudice and perlbnal refenrment ? If the for- mer, why apologize for, or retract it at all ? If the latter, why, after your pafllons had had time to fubfide, and you were advifed by a particular \J friend of your own, of my particular reafons for going. to Europe ; why, I afk, Sir, when you knew all this, and thought proper fo far to condefcend as to. commiffion your friend to quiet my fears, did you permit fuch obfervations as the above, and many others, equally perfonal, to remain on the Company's records ? But you have done it; and a gentleman, who has claims on me as a pri- vate perfon, hath fent me copies of your minutes for explanation. I SHALL defend myfelf, Sir, in the beft manner I can, and I dare your utmoft malice to refute a finglc particle of what I have fuiu, or ihafl fay. If, ( 21 ) If, in this defence, I mix a little gall with my ink, no man, who has fenfibility enough to feel the bitternds of an injury agravated to infult, will blame my feverity of recrimination. In two things, I promifc not to follow your example; I fhall fay nothing but what I know, or mod fo- lemnly believe to be true ; any part of which, if I am ever induced to recant, I (hall never ftoop to the meannefs of repeating it again. As you indifcriminately oppofed,/w# afpirit of faction, every meafure of Mr. Haftings's admini- flration, your concurrence could not be expected in a meafure fo laudable and fo acceptable to the whole of the Englifh inhabitants of India in gene- ral, and of Calcutta in particular, as the equipping of two forty gun (hips, to reinforce the King's fquadron. But the plan itfelf has been applauded, and the execution approved, by the King's officer then in command in India, and its utility and ac- tual fervices pointed out by the government of Madrafs, in a ftile and manner that would have filenced any man but yourfelf. But I forget ; your whole purfuit has been to afiert new falfe- hoods, and not to loft time in defending old ones. The {hips had failed ; executed every thing that could be reafonably expected from them ; had re- turned, and were paid off. Then it was, that you thfcovered that they had done nothing, during the twelve months that they were in commifiion ; that the '( 22 ) the eftablilhment was enormous ; from which, in the fpace of one year, on a voyage with them to the coaft, Captain Price had made his fortune -, had, or had nor, paid his debts, (for either fide of a falfehood will fuit the purpofe of inveterate ma- lice,) and was going to Europe , which no man would do, that was notorioufly in a ftate of po- verty. BE pleafed to remember, Sir, (for you are cru-> elly apt to forget every thing which leads to truth, v to honour, or to juftice)that I did not buy either of the mips, that 1 fitted out but one of them, which was the fhip I commanded myfelf ; that what ma- rine ftores were wanted, and could be found in the Company's warehoufes, were to be taken from thence ; fo of military ftores, fo of provifions, and fo of every thing elfe, which the Company had \ of their own. The pay of the Captains was the very fame as had been received by the men who had commanded the mips whilft in the merchants ^ fervice, including their privilege : the Lieute- nants had wages calculated on the fame equitable principle, and equivalent to that paid to officers in private employments. The mates, midfhipmen, warrant officers, tradefmen, and common feamen, were paid exactly as perfons in fimilar employ- ments in the Company's pilot fervice. The allow- ance of provifion in the King's fervice, was made {he ftandard for European feamen ; that for Laf- ( 23 ) cars, regulated by the cuftom of the country , and all this fubjeft to the orders, checks, and controuls, by which fuch expeices are regulated in his Ma- jefty's fhips of war. Such, Sir, was the eftablifh- ment. A month was allowed me to prepare the fhips, but they were ready to proceed to fea on the 26th day. You and Mr. Wheler accompanied the Governor General to view them. At that time, I heard nothing of complaint ; on the re- verfe, all was commendation and exprefiions of furprize, that two fuch capital (hips, fo fitted, fb armed, and fo manned, could be prepared for fea in fo fhort a time, at Bengal. WITH my commifiion, I received a letter from the Secretary, informing me, that the Governor General and Council, had thought proper to or- der me an allowance of 700 rupees per month, for fuch ftores and provifions as it might be necef- fary to purchafe abroad for the ufe of the fhips. I was permitted to draw a commifiion, fimilar to that drawn by the feveral ftore-keepers and com- miflaries employed by the Company on Ihore: The accumulated fums allowed me for wages, table allowance, and commifiion, from the fit- ting out of the fhips to their final difcharge, amounted to current rupees, thirty-fix thoufand five hundred feventy-five, fix annas, and ten pice, 36,575 6ans. lopi. I HAVJB I HAVE not been thus circumftanthl, in com- pliment to you, Mr. Francis : there are others who have a right to afk, and wilh to know what you mean, when you aflert, that, " I have admitted ' that he (Price) has not paid his debts i and if * c has not made his fortune, I am fure it will ap- " pear from the immoderate eftablifhment fixeci " for him, and the obvious advantages attending " fuch a command, that he might have done it. " If iheie emoluments were thrown in his way by " government, it is no afperfion of his character, " to fuppoie, that he availed himfelf of them. It " never yet was imputrd as fuch, to the com- *' manders of his Majority's fhips." WHAT the eflabl'ifnment was, is fairly flated above ; and 1 wifh you. would aflift me with fome of your penetration, to difcovtr how it might he made to extrnd to anfwer all the purpofes you mention. When you ipeak of availing niyfclf of obvious advantages, do you mean defrauding the Company of their flore% or cheating the people of their provifions ? Neither King's nor Company's officers, can draw any advantages, not clearly af- certained and fully exprtffed in their orders and commiffions, without a breach of an oath, or what is equally dear to an officer, his honour. Againft infmuation of that kind, I feel myfclf invulnerable ; though they are fuch as might reafonabiy be ex- pcdhd ( 25 ) peeled from your education, your principks, and, as I fhall prove, your practice. " MAN, know thyfelf," is a moft excellent precept; though I believe few people exifting, know their own characters fo imperfectly as you do yours ; this may be owing to an uninterrupted flow of good fortune, and an immoderate quantity of vanity, vhich, together with power, is very apt to magnify a man's own fclf-importance, to a de- gree of intolerable infolence, infuffcrable to all around him. PERMIT, me now to quote a fact, and compare it with one of yours. When the Adi of Parliament paffrd, which took place in Bengal, Auguft the i ft, 1774, General Clavering, Colonel Monfon, and Philip Francis, were appointed Members of the Council, and there being but two other Mem- bers, who were felected from the Company*^ old fervants, the three new ones being a majority, and having the whole power in their hands, agreed to draw togeiher, in all political meafures. It hap- pened that a claufe in the fame aft which gave into their hands full power over the kingdom of Ben- gal, and every fixpence of the property in that country of a body of merchants, who knew them not, did at the fame time ftipulate'and ordain, that they, Clavering, Monfon, and Francis, Ihould be paid. out of the faid Company's Trea- fury fury at Bengal, each leparately, and for his own ufe, as a Counfellor only, the fum of ten thoufand pounds fterling, without mentioning the exchange. Sometime after they arrived, they came to a refo- lution, at what exchange the current rupee (a de- nomination which exifts only in imagination, and is made up from other denominations of real pieces of filver, as our pound fterling is of twenty (hillings) mould be paid to them, and they agreed to receive it at two millings the current rupee ; that is, ten current rupees for the pound fterling; and of courfe, every member did then, and ever after, receive at Bengal, one hundred thoufand current rupees annually, as equivalent to ten thou- fand pounds i for we have no fterling money there, IN the fame Act of Parliament, the fervants of the Eaft India Company abroad, were confined to drawing on the Company at home, for three hun- dred thoufand pounds annually, and no more. And of that fum I believe, the portion of the Bengal Prefidency was limited by the Court of Directors to one hundred thoufand pounds. WHAT is it that our unfpotted triumvirate of rigid inquifitors do, but agree amongft themfelves, that the very money they had decreed, mould he paid to them out of the Treafury, at two millings the current rupee, mould alfo be received back into ( 7 ) into the Treafury for bills on the Company, at the enhanced value of two fhillings and one penny. A MAN who takes from his Majefty's Exche- quer a guinea, and puts down twenty fhillings, robs him of five per cenr. The fraud in which you was concerned, Mr. Francis, amounted to ten pence in the pound, on a hundred thoufand pounds, or, four thcufand one hundred fixty-fix pounds, thirteen millings, and four pence, (4166!. 135. 4d.) Now for the application. After I had refided in India eight-and-twenty years, with the Company's permiflion, never once having infringed their ge- neral orders, or a<5led contrary to their by-laws ; after having paid into their Treafuries, at their dif- ferent fettlements, as duties on fair trade, more money than you, Mr. Francis, ever received, ho- neftly, from them, '(notwithftanding your allow- ance of ten thoufand pounds a year for your fer- vices) after having affifted to deftroy their enemies and fupport their flag, and contributed in more inftances than one, to extend their trade, I was called upon to equip and command two forty- gun mips, to reinforce the King's fquadron, which I executed to the latisfaelion of the Admiral, as well as the Prefidency of Madrafs, and Govern- ment of Bengal. You are influenced by the ma- lice of your heart, contrary to your own double promile of reira&ion, to affure the Company, that the the eftablifhment fixed for Captain Price, enabled him to pay his debts, make a fortune, and come to Europe, when the whole fum which I did re- ceive (and on that my brother Captain had a claim) amounted to the fum of three thoufand fix hun- dred and fifty-feven pounds, (3,657!.) fomething lefs than you cheated them of, by a dafli of your pen, and fomething more than one third of your annual falary, for which you have impeded, per- plexed, and confounded all their affairs at Bengal, for fix years together. NEVER did three men exclaim more againft pe- culation, and uncandid reprefentation, than Gene- ral Clavering, Colonel Monfon, and Mr. Francis did ; and even now, when their names are men- tioned, the moft uncharitable comparifons are drawn between them, and men, at leaft, as faith- ful fervants of the Company, as ever they were. I reverence the maxim that directs us to fpeak well of the dead, as much as any man, and had Mr. Francis been dead, all my injuries mould have been buried in oblivion. But he is alive, and on the ground where we are both equal, and may de- fend himfelf. As to his colleagues, I was obliged to mention their names, when I was reduced to give an inftance of the loofe adminiftration of Mr. Francis, and the reft of the majority, in defence of myfelf, againft a man who has attempted to de- ftroy itroy my credit with the Company, and with my private friends. IF the fact which I have (rated, doth not ftand the fevereft teft of examination, my credit muft fall ; if it doth, I can afifure the friends of the de- ceafed gentlemen, that it is not in tendernefs to Mr. Francis, that I do not publifh to the world, a feries of facts collected during the violent admini- ftration of the triumvirate, which would expofe the principles on which they acted, more clearly than hath hitherto appeared. The living man is now my only enemy, and I am always at his ler- vice. I KNOW your abilities and great dexterity in the arrangement of words, for the purpofe of making the worfe appear the better caufe. Much do you owe to the nation and to the Eaft India Company, as well as to individuals, for the time you have mifpent, and the paper you have wafted, in enter- ing up unfupported fijjertions^ myfterious allufions, and barbarous infinuations t againft the honour of the Company's old fervants on the face of their con- fultations; where they will for ever remain mo- numents or the difingenuity of your difpofition, and the depravity of your heart. I AW aware that you will fay, // is a ftanding wder of the Eaft India Company, that whatever or- guments ( 3 ) guments may have been ufed by their feruants abroad in defence of, or diffent from, any meafure delated at the Council Board, Jhall remain on their confutations for the information of the Court of Directors. WITHOUT making a queftion whether a chit- chat converfation in one of the fettlements, rela- tive to the private concerns of an individual, can be of ufe to the Directors or not, 1 beg leave to put you in mind, that that particular order of the Company^ was not always attended to by Mr, Francis. ONCE on a time, when you, and the two other Members of the Council, who formed the majo- rity of the admin iftration in the government of Bengal (until the death of Colonel Monfon) had it in contemplation to fend an Ambaflador to the Maharatta Court, at Poonah, fome difference in opinion arofe, on the propriety of the meafure, be- tween you and one of your friends. Much reafon- ing was ufed, and many obfervations were urged and recorded, pro and con. Both fides grew warm. Political friendfhip, the only cement of your ap- parent good underftanding, proved too weak to controul the unruly paffions of men, who pri- vately detefted each other ; and you fell inad- vertently into that chain of allufive, vindictive fcurrility and abufe of one another, which marks the the whole of your correfpondence with the Com- pany at that period, refle<5ting on the Governor General and former adminiftration. The other member of the majority, dreading the confequences of a total breach amongft yonrfelves, put you in mind of a famous fcene in the Beggars Opera. Self-intereft, that univerfal peace-maker, flept in very cordially to your relief. Hands were fhaken, apologies made, and the whole debate ftrnck off from the Company's records. BE pleafed to fay, in what point of view, your very candid and charitable remarks on the per- fonal intentions and private concerns of Captain Price, could convey more ufefui information to the Court of Directors, than your very warm and very honeft opinion of each other's principles, and fecret motives of action, would have done, had you permitted thofe minutes to have remained on re- cord, as you have done fuch as related to me. At all events, if conveniency could induce you to ob- literate remarks that would have diihonoured your- felf, common prudence, and fome regard to your own promife, ought to have operated fo as to have erafed the other : but that you mould meddle at all with the private misfortunes of an individual, implies great want of charity ; more particularly, as it carries with it, a convincing proof of your having forgot your own. Excufe me, Sir, for putting C 32 ) putting you in remembrance, that you have been yourfclf in a ftate of bankruptcy ; and that, had not the Directors of the Eaft India Company top- plied you with money to pay your debts, you could not have benefited of your parliamentary appointment in their fervice. HAVING now fully proved, to the fatisfac- tion, 1 hope, of every impartial pcrfon, that you have aflcrted falsehoods, retraced them, and then re-aflerted them, I have done with you, on my own part, and the world will judge, what cre- dit is due to the aflertions of a man of fuch a character. But if you wifh to have your pub- lic conduct laid before the world, I fancy you will not be difappointed in this refpeft ; for there is great ftore of rich materials in the Com- pany's records, to which to apply ; and no fcanty pittance of biographical anecdote to em- bellifh the digreflive parts of fuch a work. How a man, fo every way open to attack, and at the fame time fo fuperlatively endowed with poli- tical cunning, as Mr. Francis is well known to be, fhould be fo much off his guard, as to juf- tify the compilation of fo curious a piece of Afia- tic hiftory, is not eafy to fay. Whether I mail be at the trouble to digeft the materials into form, and give them, a penny-worth, to the public, will depend on circumftances. As for this ( 33 ) this little piece, it has been drawn up on a felf-defenfive principle, and to fatisfy fome irt- terefted individuals, who feem much inclined to believe the idle ftories recorded, if hot in- vented, by Mr. Francis, againft me. As to the Proprietors of Eafr India Stock, and the Directors of the Company's affairs, they have before them innumerable inftances of his manner cf calumniating their old and fuperior fervants, by infidious implication, conftantly re- peated, but never proved : and I truft, that nothing he, or his fcribes, can fay of me, will prove a bar to my hopes of fome employ- ment in their fervice: I HAVE cautioufly avoided entering into mat- ters relative to his conduct in private life, though I feel myfelf warranted to fay, that he has, for fome years paft, been confidered at Bengal, as a difturber of the peace of private families, and a peft to fociety. IF the language I have ufed, is thought to be too pointed or fevere, I can only fay, that fince I have heard that the perfonal reflections ufed by Mr. Francis in his minutes at Bengal (and which he had retracted) remained ftill on the Com- pany's records at the India Houfe, I felt in my D mind 354848 ( 34 ) niind a mixture of refentment, indignation, and contempt, for a man capable of fo much du- plicity of conduct. I am, Sir, Your humble Servant, JOSEPH PRICE. LONDON, December, 1781, No. i- Corbet Court, Gracechurch Street. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 'orm L9-32m-8,'58(5876s4)444 UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNL AT jA OOOQ17 717