463 
 
 A^P2 
 1783 
 
 Letter to the Rt . Hon. 
 
 Burke, in Reply to the 
 Insinuations in the Ninth Re- 
 nort of the Select Committee 
 
 Ry 
 
 John Scott
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES

 
 I
 
 A 
 
 LETTER 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Rt. Hon. EDMUND BURKE, 
 
 Iii Reply to the Inlinuations 
 
 IN THE 
 
 Ninth Report 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE, 
 
 Which afTed* the Charafter of Mr. HASTINGS. 
 
 By J. S. - 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 "Printed in the Year M ncc LXXXIII.
 
 TO THE 
 
 Right Honorable Edmund Burke. 
 
 1 
 
 S I R, 
 
 London, igf/j June 
 
 THE ninth Report of the Select 
 Committee has at length been pub- 
 limed. Several months have elapfed 
 fmce you firft declared, that the merit of 
 this extraordinary compofition, when- 
 ever it appeared, would be folely and 
 exclufively your own. The feventh Re- 
 port, which was confined to the bufinefs 
 of Mr. Sulivan, Sir William James 
 and Mr. Wilks, was the production 
 of your honorable friend, General 
 ithj but as the members within 
 doors, and the public without, have been 
 lefs warm in commendation of that per- 
 
 formance 
 
 354756
 
 V 
 
 [ 4 ] 
 
 forrriance than yourfelf, it has fo hap- 
 pened, that tho' you were both folemnly 
 pledged to prove the matter, neither tri- 
 vial, unimportant, nor worthy to be pre- 
 fented on the \Jl of April, you confented 
 to the proportion of Mr. Fox, that the 
 confideration of the fubje6t mould be 
 poftponed to a future day, which was in 
 facl: difmimng it for ever The ninth 
 Report however treats of fo many fub- 
 jedts of great importance, that it can 
 neither be haftily or lightly anfwered. 
 I mall not prefume to anticipate the de- 
 fence, which the Eaft-India Company 
 will doubtlefs make to fo many very fe- 
 rious and heavy charges j nor mall I fay 
 a fyllable in reply to the illiberal abufe 
 which you have heaped upon the 
 Court of Proprietors, for premming 
 to exercife thofe Rights legally veiled 
 in them, when they acknowledged 
 the merits and qualifications of Mr. 
 HaiUngs. I mall confine myfelf folely 
 to the correction of fuch errors and mii- 
 reprefentations, as may tend to imprefs 
 the public with an unfavorable opinion 
 of his character. Indeed almoft every 
 thing contained in the prefent Report, 
 in which he is concerned, has already 
 been brought forward by your Com- 
 mittee,
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
 mittee, and fully, fairly, and fatisfa&o- 
 rily refuted by " Detector." The only 
 new points are, the remarks upon the 
 plan of the 8th of April, 1782, for fur- 
 niming an inveftment, and the hiftory of 
 Mr. Haftings's pretended reiignation in 
 1776. 
 
 I give you, Sir, every credit you can 
 require, for the many very ingenious ar- 
 guments, which you have made uf of 
 to depreciate the plan of the 8th of \ 
 April/ but I really do not fee with what 
 propriety they were introduced into a 
 Report, profefTedly made for the purpofe 
 of giving information to the Houfe of 
 Commons, in order to enable them to 
 adopt the mofl proper means for regulat* 
 Ing the Britljh Government in India. You 
 knew, on Friday,^ the I3th Inftant, at 
 the time your worthy Chairman pre- 
 iented the Report, that the plan, whe- N 
 ther good or bad, was abandoned ; 
 you had known it above two months; 
 even the Lively' s packets had been a 
 month at the India-Houfe, and they 
 contained a minute from the Governor- 
 General and Council, from which I 
 have been able to extradl fome folid rea~ 
 fons, which they have given for 'alter- 
 ing the plan of the 8th of April. It 
 
 would
 
 [ 6 J 
 
 would not have fwelled your Report 
 much, but it certainly would have 
 evinced your candour, if you had infert- 
 ed the minute at length in the body of 
 your Report, inftead of publifhing it in 
 your Appendix, and reprefenting oiie 
 part of it in a falfe point of view. 
 However, as you have not thought pro- 
 per to do this, I beg leave to inform 
 jfuch Members of the Honorable Houfe 
 of Commons, as may condefcend to read 
 this letter, that the Governor General 
 and Council, in their minute of the joth 
 of May, 1782, obferve, " that the plan 
 " of the 8th and i5th of April was 
 " liable, as they had been advifed, to 
 " ilrong and weighty objections, and 
 " that fince the publication of the plan, 
 " they bad received a latitude jrom the 
 " Company to draw bills upon them, in 
 '* particular cajes, fucb as they conceived 
 " the prcfent to be : They therefore re- 
 " folve to draw upon the Company for 
 *' eighty lacks of rupees, at an exchange 
 " of two millings the current rupee, 
 " payable in one and two years, without 
 " intereft, in England, but 8 per cent. 
 " to be allowed in Bengal, from the time 
 " the money was paid into the Treafury, 
 *' to the day the bills were granted; and 
 
 they
 
 [ 7 1 
 
 " they further fay, that it mall be re- 
 " commended to the Court of Dire&ors, 
 *' (they having no power to grant Jitch an 
 " allowance] to allow the Prefident and 
 " Members of the Board of Trade $ per 
 " cent, on the produce of the fales in 
 *' England, after the manner in which 
 " the Company gratify their fupra-car- 
 " goes in Canton." 
 
 In a letter which I did myfelf the 
 honor to addrefs to you fome time ago, 
 I proved, from authentic evidence, drawn 
 from the Records of the Eait India 
 Company, that this remittance, nego- 
 tiated in the moment of war and diftrefs, 
 is more advantageous, by above i2^per ^ 
 cent, than that which your worthy 
 Chairman General Richard Smith recom- 
 mended to the Council in Bengal, in the 
 time of peace and tranquillity. I alfo 
 find, Sir, that Mr. Haftings has not fub- 
 fcribed five thoufand pounds to this re- 
 mittance, but your Chairman remitted 
 the enormous fum of Eighty Three 
 Thoufand Six Hundred Pounds, by that 
 which he had fo ftrongly recommended. 
 I confefs it is with difficulty I can re* 
 jftrain my indignation, when I am vindi- 
 cating the character of Mr. Haftings, 
 from fuch grofs afperfions as are caft 
 
 upon
 
 [ 8 ] 
 
 upon it. In the firfl place he is blamed 
 for adopting a plan, which, upon more 
 mature reflection, and receiving a latitude 
 from the Company for drawing upon them, 
 he relinquiihed. Then he is laid to 
 have allowed the Board of Trade, in his 
 improved plan, 5 per cent, on the fales in 
 England, when the real fact is, the Su- 
 preme Council 'have merely recom- 
 mended to the Court of Directors to 
 make that allowance, which after all, it 
 Is at their option to grant or to reject, 
 and the recommendation was in confe- 
 quence of a very confiderable reduction 
 in the coil of the inveftment. 
 
 Thefe ftrictures upon a plan that 
 has never been adopted, and as you well 
 know, never will be adopted, remind me 
 of the very curious observation the Ge- 
 neral made in his yth report, as to the 
 manner in which two acts of parliament 
 were mentioned, in a letter from Mr. 
 Sulivan and Sir William James, to the 
 Supreme Council. The General proves, 
 almoft in the following page, that fuch 
 paragraphs made no part of the letter -, and 
 you have now favored the Houfe with 
 an elaborate treatife upon an impolitic 
 plan, and then gravely obferve, that 
 " the judgment formed on the fcheme 
 
 of
 
 [ 9 ] 
 
 " of April (abandoned) has nothing to 
 " do with the project of May," adopted. 
 Then you aflign two curious reafons for 
 not fupprefTmg your reflections, the firffc 
 not founded in truth, the laft merely au 
 infmuation ; for I muft inform you, Sir, 
 that the Company received the plan of 
 the loth of May, by the Lively, a Month 
 before your report was prefented, though 
 you affert that the Company does not 
 know of it, by any regular tranfmiflion. 
 
 The Governor-General's difobedience 
 of orders is again aflerted. No new facts 
 are adduced, and I truft I have in a former 
 publication fully cleared up every point 
 of this kind. I call upon your Chair- 
 man, General Smith, who knows fome- 
 thing of India, to declare, as a man of 
 honor, whether the meafures purfued in 
 England in 1776, and the two following 
 years, were not of a moft dangerous, and 
 mifchievous nature, that they tended 
 to weaken the necefTary influence of the 
 firft Britim fubjed in India. If you do 
 not already know it, I inform you, Sir, 
 that Mr. Haftings's language, both to his 
 Majefty's Minifters, and to the Court of 
 Directors, has been uniform and confift- 
 ent. " Remove me, or confirm me, but 
 " do not leave me at the head of the 
 B " govern-
 
 [ 1 ] 
 
 *' ment, and deprive me of the necef- 
 " fary powers of acting with effect for 
 te the public good." As often as you 
 mention Mr. Haftings's conduct to 
 Mr. Briitow, and Mr. Fowke, ib often 
 will I repeat the evidence which I gave 
 to your Committee, and I deiire General 
 Richard Smith, who has ferved the 
 Company almoft as long as I have done 
 .in India, may contradict me, if what I 
 advance fhould not be founded in truth 
 and common fenfe. 
 
 Mr. Mailings fucceeded to the Go- 
 vernment of Bengal in April, 1772, at 
 that time, and for two years afterwards 
 he enjoyed the full confidence of his 
 conftituents a confidence which he ne- 
 ver abufed. I afk General Smith, if at 
 that period, as well as during the Go- 
 vernment of Lord Clive, Mr. Verelft 
 and Mr. Cartier, the Court of Directors 
 interfered in the internal arrangements 
 of the Government of Bengal. They 
 appointed civil Servants as they had al- 
 ways done, but they left it to the Go- 
 vernment abroad to employ them as they 
 thought beft for the public fervice. 
 What would Lord Clive have faid, had 
 the Court of Directors nominated the 
 junior fervants to offices of truft and 
 
 confidence
 
 C ii ] 
 
 confidence in Bengal. He would have 
 declared at once that fuch an interference 
 would effectually deftroy the neceffary 
 authority of the Government upon the 
 fpot. 
 
 The acts of difobedience which you 
 have again brought forward, when ftrip- 
 ped of the fophiflry and mifreprefenta- 
 tion, in which they are involved in the 
 Report, are as follows. 
 
 Mr. Briftow and Mr. Fowke, two 
 gentlemen of very fair and irreproachable 
 characters, were appointed Refidents at 
 Oude and Benaris ; the former in the 
 room of Mr. Middleton, who had been 
 nominated to that employment by Mr. 
 Haftings about a year before, the latter 
 was appointed to a new office the very 
 moment that his father, not in the 
 Company's fervice, had rendered himfelf 
 confpicuous by taking an active part a- 
 gainft Mr. Haftings, in the unfortunate 
 contentions which at that time divided 
 the Supreme Council. The Governor- 
 General oppofed both appointments, but" 
 as you well know, Sir, he had no more 
 power at that time in the Council, than 
 I had. When by the death of Colonel 
 Monfon, in September, 177^ ''he became 
 poflefTed of fome (hare in the Govern- 
 ment,
 
 [ , 2 ] 
 
 vcrnm'eht, of which he was the head, he 
 proposed the recal of Mr. Briftow and 
 Mr. Fowke, not from any perfonal ob- 
 jection to any part of their conduct. I 
 have before obferved, I again repeat it, 
 and I call upon Mr. Francis to contradict 
 me, if I afTert an untruth, that the atten- 
 tion of every man from Calcutta to Dehly 
 was fixed upon this aft, as the criterion 
 by which he was to judge whether Mr. 
 Haftings meant to retain or to give up 
 the Government. Whether it was the 
 intention of General Clavering, Colonel 
 Monlbn, and Mr. Francis, to proclaim 
 to every power in Indoftan, the annihi- 
 lation of Mr. Haftings's political influ- 
 ence, when they appointed Mr. Briftow 
 and Mr. Fowke, is of no moment to en- 
 quire, but that fuch was the effect of 
 it, is a point which 1 believe no man will 
 difpute. Mr. Haflings thought their 
 recall was neceffary, to fix his own in- 
 fluence upon its proper footing, for the 
 conduct of the public fervice. The 
 Court of Directors, however, thought 
 otherwife. Without deigning to reply 
 to the reafons afHgned by Mr. Hailings 
 for recalling Mr.^Briftow and Mr. Fowke, 
 they peremptorily ordered them to be 
 reflored. The order arrived in July, 
 
 1778,
 
 [ '3 ] 
 
 1778, about the time we heard of the 
 French war. Mr. Briftow had quitted 
 India before the order arrived. Mr. 
 Fowke was on the fpot, but the execu- 
 tion of the order refpedting him was 
 fufpended. Sir John Clavering died 
 feveral months before this period. 
 
 Mr. Haftings oppofed carrying the or- 
 der into execution upon a ground, which 
 in my opinion is unanfwerable. That if 
 it had been obeyed juft then, the Count- 
 ry Powers would have looked upon Mr. 
 Haftings 's immediate removal from the 
 Government as certain, for at that period, 
 Sir, it was afferted, as I can aflure you 
 upon my honor, that the^jeinftatement 
 of MefT. Briftow and Fowkk, were fteps 
 preparatory to Mr. Haftings's difmiffion, 
 and a letter of compliment and thanks 
 from the Court of Directors to the late Sir 
 John Clavering, was at that time tranf- 
 lated into thePerfian language, and circu- 
 lated fo high as in the camp of Nuzeph 
 Cawn, near Dehly. Mr. Haftings, in adt- 
 ing as he did, was not influenced byrefent* 
 ment to Mr. Fowke, but merely wifhed to 
 prevent an idea being circulated through 
 India, that he washimfelf on the point of 
 difmiffion from his office. Here, Sir, I 
 will readilyjoin iffue with you, that when 
 
 the
 
 ( H ) 
 
 the Court of Directors heard of this fuf- 
 penfion of a pofitive order, they ought 
 not* again to .have repeated it. If the 
 reafons urged by Mr. Raftings, for de- 
 laying or declining to carry their orders 
 into execution, did not appear fatisfac- 
 tory, they mould have taken immediate 
 iteps for his difmiffion: but while the 
 Government of England thought proper* 
 to continue Mr. Haftings at the head of 
 the Government in India, they fhould 
 have allowed him the exercife of the 
 fame authority which his predeceflbrs had 
 invariably pofleffed, an authority in- 
 herent in every Government. I mould 
 be extremely glad to know, Sir, if you 
 difapprove this necefTary act of exertion 
 in Mr. Haftings, in which he had no 
 perfonal intereft; upon what principle 
 you can juftify the Duke of Portland, 
 who difpofeffed two very honorable and 
 able men of the pofts of Secretaries to the 
 Treafury, to make way for your brother, 
 Mr. Richard Burke, and Mr. Sheridan. 
 Colonel Monfon avowed in Bengal, like 
 a man, that no wile Government would 
 employ men, of whofe attachment they 
 were not convinced. He looked upon 
 General Clavering, Mr: Francis, and 
 himfelf, as the Government at that mo- 
 merit s
 
 ( -is ) 
 
 ment; and he took away a trifling office 
 in point of refponfibility, tho' not trirl- / 
 ing in emolument, from the late Mr. * 
 Playdel, and gave it to the brother-in- 
 law of Mr. Francis. 
 
 An additional and a weighty reafon 
 determined Mr. Haftings not to reinftate 
 MelL Briftow and Fowke, He con- 
 ceived, and with juftice too I think, 
 that every Native in India, from Cal- 
 cutta to Dehly, would have deemed their 
 reiteration as immediately preparatory 
 to his own removal. In this light I 
 again affirm, it had been reprefented by 
 the party attached to Mr. Fancis. If Mr. 
 Haftings did, at that difgraceful period, 
 adopt meafures of harfhnefs or injuftice 
 to the rights of individuals, let thofe be 
 blamed for it, who -abfolutely forced the 
 Govenor General of Bengal, into a per- 
 fonal conteft with two junior fervants of 
 the Company. You have attempted to 
 imprefs the world with an opinion, that 
 Mr. Haftings has avowed a principle of 
 difobedience, and that his Agent, Major 
 Scott, has fo far adopted Mr. Haftings's 
 fentiments, as to hold a fimilar language 
 in England. My fentiments, however, 
 upon this fubjedl, are neither new nor 
 extraordinary. I think the Governor 
 
 General
 
 [ .6 ] 
 
 General and Council are undoubtedly 
 bound to obey the orders of the Court of 
 Directors. I muft have been an ideot to 
 have thought otherwife; but where they 
 think obedience to their orders may be 
 attended with dangerous confequences 
 to the puplic, they certainly may dif- 
 penfe with them, affigning however 
 their reafons for fo doing, and if thofe 
 reafons mould not be fatisfactory, dif- 
 miffion from the fervice ought to be the 
 confequence. I am aftonimed how fo 
 plain a cafe can be mifunderftood ? Did 
 not your Chairman, General Richard 
 Smith, when a Member of the Council 
 in Bengal, avow, on the 2^th of Septem- 
 ber, 1769, that he knew the proportion 
 which he then brought forward, was in 
 direct oppofition to the pofitive orders 
 of the Court of Directors, but that the 
 iituation of public affairs fully juflified 
 him, in propoling to open the Compa- 
 ny's Treafury for Drafts upon England? 
 Did he not upon another occafion fay, 
 that he would rifk his life and his ho- 
 nor, rather than carry into execution 
 orders which he thought incompatible 
 with the welfare of the State, that he 
 knew, however, he was refponfible for 
 every deviation of that kind. Without 
 
 fuch
 
 [ >7 1 
 
 fuch a latitude, how in the name of God, 
 can a great Kingdom, at the diltance of 
 twelve thoufand miles, from the fuperior 
 flate be governed. Orders highly proper 
 may be ilTued here in January, but when 
 they arrive inBengal in October, circum- 
 jftances may be fo changed as to render 
 them impolitic. In fhort, Sir, it is for the 
 abufe, and not for the proper ufe, of 
 power, that men in high ftations, at the 
 diftance of half the globe, mould be pu- 
 nifhed. What was the fubftance of Mr. 
 Haftings's arguments for recalling MefT. \> 
 Briftow and Fowke originally ? "I am 
 " of opinion thofe Gentlemen were ap- 
 " pointed to convince the Powers of 
 " Indoftan of the annihilation of my au- 
 " thority. Their recall alone can con- 
 *' vince them that any fhare of power 
 " in this Government has reverted to 
 " me." When the orders were repeated 
 our lituation was critical. War had 
 been declared againft France, and a large 
 detachment was marching to Bombay. > 
 Mr. Railings then obferved, "There- 
 " iteration of MeiT. Briftow and P'owke 
 '* has attracted the attention of every 
 " Prince in India. If they are reftored, 
 " my difmiffion will be deemed certain. 
 " The letter from the Court of Direc- 
 C " tors
 
 " tors to the late Sir John Clavering, has 
 " been circulated even to Dehiy, as well 
 " as through our own Provinces. While 
 *' I am permitted to retain the Govcrn- 
 " ment, I muft fupport the dignity of 
 '.' my ftation as far as I can, declaring 
 " that no man can more earneftly wifli 
 " for a final decifion than I do." It is 
 v remarkable, Sir, that the Directors do 
 not, in the firfl difapprobation of Mr. 
 Haftings's conduct, nor in the repeti- 
 tion of their orders refpecting Mefi". 
 Briftow'and Fowke, take the fmalleft 
 notice of the arguments offered by Mr. 
 Haftings in his own- defence. But I 
 mould be exceedingly glad to hear any 
 man, who has ferved in India, difpute 
 the force or the propriety of them. 
 
 Mahomed Reza Cawn's appointment 
 flood precifely on the fame ground : He 
 had been made an object of party ; but 
 I beg,- Sir, you will be p leafed to recol- 
 lect, that this refpectable Mumilman has 
 repeatedly declared, that, to the juftice, 
 the impartiality, and the attention of Mr. 
 Haftings, he was indebted for his for- 
 tune, his honour, and his life, at a time 
 when he was accufed by Nundcomar of 
 the.mou flagrant crimes and enormities. 
 
 " Mr.
 
 Mr. Briftow, as you know, has been 
 lately appointed , to the Refidency of 
 Oude, by Mr.Haftings. The neceffity no 
 longer exifted of declining to carry the 
 Company's orders into execution, and 
 obedience to them in their fulleft extent 
 has taken place. 1 am very forry there- 
 fore that any circumftance refpecling 
 that Gentleman is again brought for- 
 ward. Mr. Briftow certainly did write 
 a very intemperate letter to the Supreme 
 Council of India, en the ift of May, 
 1780, claiming, as a right,' that office, 
 which the Courjt of Directors had con- 
 ferred upon m^% and iryling them ia 
 three feveral parts ^of the letter, " our 
 " Honorable Superiors," faying his claim 
 was grounded on "'the higheil author!- 
 " ties," &c. &c. You have remarked 
 upon Major Scott's former evidence^ 
 who declared, that in his opinion Lord 
 Clive would have fent any man a prifoner 
 to England, who had written fuch a 
 letter to the Board in his time, and you 
 now fay that your Committee iinds no- 
 thing repreheniible in the letter, tho' it 
 excited the warmell refcntment of Mr. 
 Huttings. How your friend, General 
 Richard Smith, could fubfcribe to fucli 
 j4n opinion, does, I confeis, aftcnilh me ; 
 
 no
 
 no lefs fo, his acquiefence in the new 
 and dangerous doctrine, which in your 
 eagernefs to criminate Mr. Halting?, 
 
 v / you wifh to inculcate. " That Mr. Brii- 
 *' tow was not the /ervant of the Su- 
 " preme Council, as Mr. Haftings haz- 
 " ards to call him, but their fellow fer- 
 
 ^ f vant." 
 
 When the honorable General was a 
 member of the Government of Bengal, 
 J believe no man faw in a ftronger light 
 than he did, the necefli ty of fupporting 
 the dignity of it, ill its fulleft extent, 
 nor did any man require a greater degree 
 of fubordination, obedience, and refpedt, 
 from every inferior rank in the civil and 
 military fervice. How would the Ge- 
 neral have bounced at the Board, if a 
 civil fervant had, in dictatorial terms, 
 claimed an appointment as his right, 
 becaufe " our honorable fuperiors had 
 *' conferred it upon him," &c. &c. Would 
 not the General have faid, " The dig- 
 ' nity of this Government muft be pre- 
 *' ferved. We are refponfible to the 
 *' Court of Directors for ourcondudt: 
 " To them we will explain our reafons 
 *' for deviating from their orders ^ tut 
 f ' we will not be dictated to, or called to 
 44 an account by our own fervants." 
 
 lam
 
 I am confident this would have been 
 the General's remark upon trie occafion. 
 Did he not caufe three Armenians to 
 be feized and imprifoned in Oude? Did 
 he not inftigate the Council to fend Mr. 
 Bolts a pr'ifoner to England; and for 
 what ? Becaufe the ftories they circulated 
 through Indoftan, tended to lefTen the 
 necejjary weight and influence of the Gover- 
 nor of Bengal* Did he not procure the ' 
 difmiffion of a moft worthy, refpectable, 
 and gallant officer, Major Graham, with- 
 out a Court Martial, becaufe that gen- 
 tleman had made .ufe of an expreflion 
 which was deemed difrefpectful, in a ^ 
 letter that he wrote to the General ? An 
 expreffion mild indeed compared to feve- 
 ral in the letter of Mr. Briftow. I have 
 a very great refpect and regard for Mr, 
 Briftow. The bufmefs is now moft 
 happily adjufted but as my name is 
 again introduced,' I truft Mr. Briftow 
 will pardon me for faying, what every 
 man who read that letter in India, faid, 
 that it was not written in fuch a ftyle as 
 the Supreme Council had ufually been 
 addreffed in. 
 
 In {hort, Sir, the violence of contend- 
 ing parties, at the period thefe appoint- 
 ments were agitated, had tended fo far 
 
 to
 
 [ .4 ] , 
 
 to weaken w *the neceflary power of the 
 Government, that Mr. Haftings was left 
 for two years in fuch a fituation as I truft 
 will not be the lot of any future Governor 
 General. I muft fuppofe, Sir, that there 
 is as much Integrity, ability, and induf- 
 try, in the Secret, as in the Select Com- 
 mittee ; and yet how ftrangely different 
 are your ideas as to the future regula- 
 tion of the Government of India. You 
 term a fenior merchant in Bengal, the 
 Fellow-Servant of theGovernor-General. 
 y , The Lord Advocate of Scotland, on 
 the other hand, judging, doubtlefs, that 
 many of our misfortunes have refulted 
 from the fyftem which was fo induftri- 
 oufly purfued for three years, of reducing 
 the authority of Mr. Haftings, propofes 
 to confer the moft defpotic power upon 
 the Governor-General. If his ideas are 
 *y carried too far, ftill I look upon his bill 
 as being a complete confirmation of every 
 thing Mr. Haftings has urged, as to the 
 infufficiency of the power of the Gover- 
 nor-General, as far as theLord Advocate's 
 fentiments, and the fentiments of thofe 
 with whom he has acted, can have weight 
 with the public. 
 
 I am forry to obferve, Sir, that you 
 Jiave once more brought up the bulinefs 
 
 of
 
 ( 23 ) 
 
 of Nundcomar. It is impoflible to re- 
 ply to infinuations. I have again and. 
 again afferted, that whenever a charge is 
 brought forward it (hall be fully anfwer- 
 ed. All that I can now do is, to repeat 
 what I have afTerted before, that Mr. 
 Haflings had no concern, either directly 
 or indirectly, in the apprehenfion, the 
 proiecution, or the execution of Nund- 
 comar. I confefs I do not clearly under- 
 Hand your expreflion. " Nundcomar ap- 
 " pears at the very time of this extraor- 
 " dinary profecution a difcoverer of fome 
 " particulars of illicit gain, then charged 
 ** upon Mr. Haftings, the Governor-Ge- 
 " neral." Nundcomar, Sir, made no dif- 
 covery whatever, he accufed Mr. Haflings 
 of having accumulated millions of rupees 
 in about thirty months. The abfurdity 
 of the charge was palpable ; it was fully 
 enquired into, and proved to be falfe in 
 every part ! Why would you not favor 
 the world with a few further particulars 
 respecting this moil notorious of all de- 
 linquents, Nundcomar. You mufl know 
 that it was generally faid in Calcutta, 
 about the time of his execution, that he 
 had made feveral very important difco- 
 veries. On the 4th of Auguft, 1775, a 
 fervant of Nundcomar brought a paper 
 
 to
 
 toGeneralClavering. On the$th the Raja 
 was hanged. On the 6th the General 
 ordered the paper to be tranflated. On 
 the 1 4th he brought it to the Board, and 
 faid he thought it contained feveralparti- 
 culars, which his Majefty's Minifters, 
 and the Court of Directors, fhould be ac- 
 quainted with. Some converfation enfued, 
 and Mr. Raftings infifted upon the paper 
 being produced to the Board. It was then 
 read and entered in the Records. On the 
 1 6th Mr. Francis moved, that the paper 
 ihould be burned by the hands of the com- 
 mon hangman, as a libel, and the copy of 
 it expunged from the Records. Here the 
 bufinefs ended ; and I (hould hope, Sir, 
 that you will not in future inlinuate any 
 thing to the difadvantage of the Gover- 
 nor-General, upon the evidence of fuch a 
 man as Nundcomar was. I again repeat, 
 that a Committee was expreflly appointed 
 to examine into the charges brought a- 
 gainft Mr. Haftings by the Raja, they 
 had every means given them of invefti- 
 gating every particular moft fully, and 
 the enquiry ended, as your " diredt 
 " charge of corruption," has ended, No- 
 thing was found that reflected either upon 
 the honor or the integrity of the Gover- 
 nor-General. 
 
 The
 
 [ 25 1 
 
 The next point which you have in- 
 troduced into your Report, with a view 
 to prejudice the houfe againft Mr. 
 Raftings, is an account of th'e refigna- 
 tion; and here, Sir, I confefs my un- 
 willingnefs to follow you. Two of the 
 parties concerned in that myfterious bu- 
 finefs are no more: but your noble 
 friend Lord North, and the gentlemen 
 who filled the two Chairs of the Direc- 
 tion, at the time this tranfaction hap- 
 pened are upon the fpor, and are able to 
 clear up every dubious circumftance in 
 it. I will relate the affair as circum- 
 ftantially as I can : Soon after the Su- 
 preme Council arrived, and had com- 
 menced their oppofition to every politi- 
 cal meafure of Mr. Haftings's Govern- 
 ment; Mr. Macleane went to England, 
 impowered by the Governor-General to 
 ad as his Agent. His inftruclions werk 
 undoubtedly to endeavour to procure 
 for Mr. HafUngs, that fupport which he 
 thought due to his ftation ; but if that 
 fupport could not be procured, Mr. 
 Haftings declared, very explicitly, that 
 he did not wifh to remain in the Go- 
 vernment. His letters to his Majefty's 
 Minifler, and to the Court of Directors 
 at that period, breathed the fame fenti- 
 D '
 
 ments exactly. The Converfation a)luded 
 to, was of a iimilar nature : In the 
 courfe of a few months, however, the 
 attacks upon Mr. Mailings became very 
 perfonalj it was roundly afferted that 
 there was no fpecies of peculation of 
 which he had not been guilty, and proofs 
 were promifed to be lent to England by 
 the latter mips of 1775. Thus, circum- 
 ilanced, Mr. HafHngs wrote to the Court 
 of Directors, in the moft explicit and 
 pqiitive terms, that painful as- his fitua- 
 tion was, and would be, he wa.s deter- 
 mined to retain it until forcibly removed 
 from it. 
 
 Now, Sir, as the inductions under 
 which Mr. Macleane rcfigncd the Go- 
 vernment for Mr. HafHngs, were dated 
 in December, 1774, fu.rely the Court of 
 Directors ought to have regarded his po- 
 fitive declarations to them, in letters of 
 fubfequent dates by three and fix months, 
 as of more force than loofe paragraphs 
 picked out of letters to Mr. Macleane, 
 tho' in the hand writing of Mr. Haft- 
 ings, which contained fimply this, " if 
 " I am not fupported, I vvilh to give up, 
 *' becaufe any Government is better than 
 " a divided one." However, Sir, the 
 Committee of Directors who examined 
 
 - Mr.
 
 C *7 j 
 
 Mr. Macleane's powers, were as you fay 
 of opinion, that they were full and fuf- 
 ficient, a moil extraordinary declara- 
 tion from gentlemen, who had read let- 
 ters of a later date from Mr. Raftings, 
 notifying his determined refolution to 
 remain in the Government. The feveral 
 ileps were taken to fill up the vacancy, 
 but fo great was the, doubt of the legality 
 of the adt, that the parties concerned did 
 never afk the opinion of Council upon 
 it, though required fo to do, in a General 
 Court, by Governor Johnftone. 
 
 The news of this remarkable event ar- 
 rived in India, to the general aftonifh- 
 ment of all parties. Mr. Haftings dif- 
 avowed having given any authority to Mr. 
 Macleane to refign for him, but declared 
 at the fame time, that he would give up 
 the Government, becaufe he thought 
 that gentleman had afted for his intereft, 
 to the beft of his judgment. Now, Sir, 
 came on the great difficulty in fettling 
 this bulinefs. It had never been inti- 
 mated to Mr. Haftings that he was in- 
 ilantly to refign. Such an idea would 
 have been too abfurd for Mr. Macleane to 
 come into, of courfe he meant to continue 
 until the feafon for quitting Bengal. Sir 
 John Clavering en the other hand had 
 
 been
 
 been informed by private letters, that he 
 had fucceeded to the Government. It 
 was natural, for him to fuppofe, that if 
 Mr. Haftings could keep the chair a day, 
 he could keep it as loag as he pleafed, fo 
 that this very circumftance rendered the 
 refignation of no effect. It made it, in 
 fact, an agreement which required Mr. 
 Haftings's confent before it could be 
 complete, and fuch undoubtedly it was. 
 I pafs over the fubfequent events in Ben- 
 gal. Both parties made their reprefen- 
 tations to England. Mr. Haftings called 
 loudly upon the Chairman of the Court 
 of Directors, to publilh to the world, 
 what the powers were which had been 
 produced by Mr. Macleane. He wrote 
 in as ftrong a ftyle of complaint to his 
 Majefty's Minifter. Thefe letters were 
 difpatched previous to the death of Sir 
 John Clavering. See, Sir, in what a 
 dilemma you are involved. If you mean 
 toinfinuate that Mr. Macleane was reajly 
 pofTefTed of full powers to refign for Mr. 
 Haftings, that he made ufe of thofe pow- 
 ers when he faw Mr. Haftings on the 
 point of being difmifled from the fervice, 
 that his Majefty's Minifters, and the 
 Court of Directors were, and ftill are, 
 fully Satisfied of the fufficiency of thofe 
 
 powers
 
 powers ; what excufe can you make for 
 the conduct of your new friend, Lord 
 North ? That noble Lord, fmce the 
 period of this pretended refignation, has 
 twice prefumed to come forward to Par- 
 liament, to propofe a man to fill the 
 high and important office of Governor- 
 General of Bengal, who has dared, by 
 your account, to praftife fuch a deceit 
 upon the nation, as no punimment could 
 be too fevere for. I did hope, Sir, that 
 this tranfation would not have been re- 
 vived at fo great a diftance of -time: iince 
 you however have revived it, Why witt 
 you not call upon fuch of the parties now 
 in England, as have feen the powers 
 which Mr. Macleane produced ? Lord 
 North was the Minifter when the refig- 
 nation took place. He was the Minifter 
 when Mr. Haftings denied the authority 
 under which it had been made. He was 
 the Minifter when Mr. Haftings called 
 for the powers to be produced to the 
 world, under which his agent had acted , 
 and in the two following years, hisLord- 
 fhip propofed that -Mr. Haftings fhould 
 be appointed Governor-General of Ben- 
 gal. Can we, Sir, have a ftronger con- 
 firmation of Lord North's fentiments of 
 Mr.Haftings's conduct than he has given ? 
 
 Would
 
 Would he have propofed a man to fill 
 the firft office in India, who was fo far 
 wanting in honor as to deny or to explain 
 away, powers he had once given. There 
 was a time when the argument I now ufe 
 would have had lefs weight with you. 
 There was a time, if I rniftake not, when 
 you would yourfelf have impeached the 
 noble Lord $ but, at prefent, I prefume 
 his Lordfhip's fentiments of a tranfa&ion 
 which J am forry to dwell fo long upon, 
 will have fome weight with you. 
 
 In mort, Sir, you ought not to have 
 mentioned a fyllable about the refigna- 
 tion ; or if you had entered upon the 
 fubject, common juftice required that 
 you mould have examined as many of 
 the parties who were concerned in that 
 transaction as are now in England. Some 
 of them are no more, and 
 
 " Let no renew'd hoflilities invade, 
 
 *' The peaceful grave's inviolable made. 5 
 
 If Mr. Macleane was the Agent of the 
 Nabob of Arcot, Mr. William Burke is 
 the Agent of the Raja of Tanjore. 
 
 If the refignation of the Government 
 of Bengal, with the concurrence of his 
 Majefty's Miniflers, and the Court of 
 
 Direc-
 
 [ 3' ] V 
 
 Dire<5tors, was a valid, legal a6r, and 
 binding upon the Governor-General ; 
 what excufe can Lord North make to 
 his country for daring to propofe a man, 
 two feveral times in Parliament for the 
 important office of Governor-General of 
 Bengal, who had forcibly retained a fta- 
 tion to which that noble Lord knew he 
 had no pretenfions. If cm the contrary, XV 
 it was a compromife entered into by the 
 friend of Mr. Haftings, without autho- 
 rity, but acting to the beft of his judg- 
 ment ; the violent convuliion which hap- 
 pened in Calcutta certainly freed Mr. 
 Mailings from any obligation to execute 
 his part of it. In this light your noble 
 friend muft have looked upon it, or his 
 fubfequent conduct has been unpar- 
 donable. 
 
 Now, Sir, I muft inform you, that 
 the very curious reafons which you have 
 affigned for Mr. Macleane's conduct are 
 totally without foundation. Every idea 
 of removing Mr. Haftings at the India- 
 Houfe was at an end. He had gained a 
 complete victory there, againft the whole 
 force of a Government, whofe interefl 
 was at that period extremely powerful % 
 but the idea was, that his Majefty's Mi- 
 nifters were determined to carry in Par- 
 liament
 
 liament what they could not effect in the 
 city. I am convinced, Sir, if the com- 
 promife had not taken place, and the af- 
 fairs of India had been agitated in the 
 Houfe of Commons,in the winter of 1776 
 Mr. Haftings would have had your 
 warmeft fupport, for at that period he 
 was in the opinion of your party, an able, 
 honelt, great, and injured man, nor were 
 his demerits difcovered by you, until 
 Lord North fhewed an inclination to 
 fupport him. In the firft Report of 
 your Select Committee, you have pub- 
 limed a copy of Mr. Haftings's public 
 letter to the Chairman of the Court of 
 Directors, which he wrote when he did 
 me the honor to nominate me his Agent- 
 That letter contains the following para- 
 graph, " It is material to me to make 
 " one obfervation, that in my inftruc- 
 " tions to Major , Scott, I have particu- 
 " larly provided, that I will iuffer no 
 " perfon whatever to perform any aft in 
 " my name, that (hall be conftrued to 
 " imply a refignation of my authority ; 
 (( protefting againft the exercife of fo 
 " dangerous a power, from its having- 
 " been aflumed upon a former occafion, 
 " without being warranted by my con- 
 *' fent, or by any previous initrucliions, 
 
 " that
 
 t 33 ] 
 
 ** that could bear the moft diftant ten- 
 *' dency to fuch a meafure." 
 
 Would Mr. Haftings dare to provoke 
 an enquiry in the manner he has done, 
 if he had ever empowered any man to 
 make a furrender of his Government for 
 him, or would the Court of Directors 
 have fubmitted to fuch a notification, 
 provided they had believed that the 
 tranfaction of 1776, was a legal, valid 
 refignation, and complete in all its parts. 
 
 I have now, Sir, gone through the 
 infinuations contained againft Mr. Haft- 
 ings, in your Ninth Report. There is 
 certainly no direct (or implied) charge of 
 corruption -, and though you are pledged 
 to God, to the Houfe of Commons, and 
 your country, to prove the Governor- 
 General a moft notorious delinquent ; 
 you have as yet produced not a (ingle in- 
 ftance of his corruption in office. It is 
 true you have laboured hard to prove 
 that an Ophium contract has been given 
 to Mr. Stephen Sulivan upon terms not 
 fo advantageous as probably it might have 
 been concluded upon. 
 
 It happens unfortunately too that this 
 
 gentleman is the fon of a Director. As 
 
 the appendix to your report is not yet 
 
 published, I have not read Mr. Haft- 
 
 E ings's
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 ings's reafons for difpofing of the Ophi- 
 u'm Contract without putting it up to 
 public auction : I dare fay they are of 
 fome force; but what does the charge 
 amount to, 'that the gentleman, who 
 has been eight times Chairman of the 
 Eaft- India Company, has ferved that 
 Company abroad and at home above fifty 
 years, is goffefled of fo fmall a fortune, 
 that he procured for his only fon, an ap- 
 pointment in the Civil Service at Ma- 
 dras; that Mr. Stephen Sulivan went at 
 the end of three years to Bengal, that Mr. 
 Haftings, who had been for many years 
 in habits of intimacy and friendship 
 with the father, appointed him his Pri- 
 vate Secretary and Judge Advocate Ge- 
 neral, and that he afterwards gave him a 
 contract, which has been a profitable 
 contract to every man who has held it. 
 I believe, Sir, no man who has filled fo 
 great an office for fo many years as Mr. 
 Mailings has done, can be clearer from 
 the charge of wailing the public money 
 for private purpofes, than he is: To 
 mere intinuations J mall oppofe pofitive 
 facts. Look around you, and tell me 
 how many of the gentlemen, who have 
 arrived in England in the courfe of the 
 twelve years that Mr. HafHngs has been 
 
 Governor
 
 [ 35 I 
 
 Governor of Bengal, were of his family 
 or particularly patronised by him. With 
 truth and juftice I can fay, that as Mr.* 
 Haftings's fortune is moderate in the 
 extreme, for his ftation, ib have the 
 views and expectations of thofe attached 
 to him been moderate. I defire you \/ 
 will point out a fingle perfon, either of 
 his family, or intimately connected 
 with, or dependent upon him who has 
 returned from Bengal with a large 
 fortune or a dubious character. " The /s 
 *' few who are called his friends can- 
 *' not rife above an humble mediocrity, 
 " and the greatest part are now foliciting 
 " to return to India for bread." 
 
 If the Governor- General has wafted 
 the public Treafure for private purpofes, 
 furely it will not be difficult to fix 
 upon fome of thofe individuals, who 
 have -benefited , by an unauthorized ex- 
 ertion of the power of patronage. Pro- v 
 duce a fingle inftance of a gentleman, 
 now in England, who accumulated a 
 fortune in the courfe of the twelve years 
 Mr. Haftings has been at the hetfd of /\ 
 the Government of Bengal, by enjoying 
 improper advantages at the Company's 
 expence, or in your own words, " by a 
 wafte of public treafure for private pur- 
 pofes,
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 pofes," and you will go further to eflab- 
 lim one fpecies of delinquency againft 
 Mr. Mailings, than by fifty infinuations, 
 unfupported by facts. That advantagi- 
 ous 'contracts have been given away in 
 Bengal, as well as in other countries, 
 cannot be doubted, but to every declar- 
 ation, that rapid fortunes are continually 
 made in Bengal, I mall oppofe a pofitive 
 fact. The Company's civil fervants are 
 fome of them of above twenty-fix years 
 ftanding in the country, many above 
 twenty, and a great number indeed of 
 more than fifteen years length of fer- 
 vice. The Company's military fervants 
 are of equal, if not of longer flanding, 
 and I refer you, Sir, to the evidence of 
 your reports to prove, that almofl all 
 the gentlemen who have been examined 
 by you, have ferved the Company abroad 
 from fifteen to twenty years. It was at 
 the time of the acquisition of the Du- 
 annee, before Mr. Haltings's return to 
 Bengal, that thofe rapid and enormous 
 fortunes were acquired in a Ihort period, 
 and as you well know, your honorable 
 friend General Richard Smith, was but 
 four years and feven months in Bengal. 
 It would be , impertinent in me to pre- 
 fume to gue/s- at the amount of his ac^ 
 
 quifitions j
 
 t 37 ] 
 
 quifitions; but certainly we have had 
 no inftances, during Mr. Haftings's ad- 
 miniftration, of rapid and enormous for- 
 tunes being acquire^, though by the ex- 
 tenlion of our influence to Oude, the 
 means of providing for individuals has 
 been confiderably increafed. 
 
 You have fearched the Company's Re- 
 cords with induftry, you have had the 
 additional advantage of converfing with 
 every man who has returned from India; 
 and what have. you difcovered ? that an 
 improvident contract, as you ftate it, has 
 been granted to Mr. Stephen Sulivan 
 This is " The waite of public Treafure 
 ." for private Purpofes." Have you, Sir, 
 been as moderate in exercifing the power 
 of patronage as Mr. Haftings has proved 
 himfelf to be, in a difficult and trying 
 fituation ? How many of the name of 
 Burke, are now fed at the public ex- 
 pence your relation, who firft acquired, 
 and afterwards loft a fortune, in the 
 Alley, made two journeys over land to 
 India, and appeared here as the avowed 
 agent of the Raja of Tanjore, was, foon 
 after the change of the Miniftry, in 
 March 1782, nominated to the new and 
 ufelefs office of Receiver of the Ballan- 
 ces due from the Eaft India Company to 
 
 the
 
 [ 38 ] 
 
 the Crown, on account of the Regiments 
 ferving in India; or, in other words, 
 Paymafter of his Majefty's Forces in In- 
 dia : but I decline the invidious tafk of 
 Hating to what an extent you have exer- 
 cifed the power of providing for your 
 relations at the public expence, during 
 the mort time your party has been in 
 
 office. It is fufficient for me to af- 
 
 fert, that Mr. Mailings, and his friends, 
 are as free from the vice of rapacity, as 
 from the folly of extravagance. 
 
 You have laid, Sir, that Mr. Haftings, 
 when he firft heard of the Refignation, 
 had recourfe to one of thofe unlook'd 
 for and hardy meafures which characte- 
 rize the whole of his administration. 
 
 Was this meant as a compliment or 
 a reflection ? it was, I grant you, a hardy 
 meafure to march a detachment acrols 
 India but it fucceeded It was a -har- 
 dy meafure to invade the country of 
 Madjee Sindia but it produced an im- 
 mediate peace with the only active Mem- 
 ber of the Maratta ftate, and a general 
 peace with the Marattas has been the 
 
 confequence It was a hardy meafure, 
 
 and big with perfonal refponfibility, to 
 draw off the Maratta army at Cuttack 
 by advancing Chimnajee Booila a Sum 
 
 of
 
 [ 39 ] 
 
 of money, without the confent of Mr. 
 Francis, but the Eaft India Company 
 
 has felt the good effects of it. It was 
 
 a hardy meaiure to propofe embarking 
 fix hundred and forty Europeans, with 
 a large fupply of treafure, to relieve 
 Madras, at the moment that the naviga- 
 tion was interdicted, on account of the 
 
 dangers that attended it. But the ne- 
 
 ceffity for exertion was preffing, and the 
 Meafure fucceeded. The Refponlibility 
 of this meritorious exertion was thrown, 
 upon Mr. Hailings, and Sir Eyre Coote. 
 Thefe hardy meafures have fecured to 
 the Governor-General, the applaufe of 
 his countrymen, and have faved our em- 
 pire in India from destruction. 
 
 I muft confefs, Sir, it does appear 
 fomething extraordinary, that Mr. Haf- 
 tings mould be cenfured by Mr. Burke, 
 for betraying iigns of an impatient, in- 
 dependent, and overbearing temper, and 
 for prefuming to avow a principle of 
 difobedience to fuperior authority. Does 
 fuch an accufation come with a good 
 grace from a gentleman, who in one in- 
 itance has acted in direct opposition to 
 the fenfe of the late and prefent Law- 
 officers of the Crown ; and in another, 
 has fet his judgment up in apportion to 
 
 the
 
 [ 40 ] 
 
 the folemn determination of the great 
 Council of the Nation ? and ,who, hav- 
 ing fatisfied his own mind of the pro- 
 priety of an alteration in a depending 
 Bill, deemed it ufelefs and unnecefiary 
 to communicate his difcoveries to the 
 Houfe of Qommons ? If thefe are in- 
 fiances of amiable weaknefs, and are not 
 to be cenfured on that account, why, 
 Sir, will you not make fome allowance 
 for the difficulties of Mr. Hailings's 
 former iituation. 
 
 . Were I to adopt your mode of reafoning, 
 were I to attribute every adlion of your 
 life to the wor{l poffible motive, how 
 eafy would it be, to fay, that when you 
 took upon yourfelf to reflore two men to 
 offices, from which they had been re- 
 moved, 1 on fufpicion of delinquency, 
 you meant to obflruct the courfe of 
 public juflice, or that when you 
 examined evidence without doors to 
 prove the propriety of altering a bill 
 which had been debated claufe, by claufe 
 in a Committee^ the Houfe of Com- 
 mons; and when you made fuch altera- 
 tions upon evidence you thought of. no 
 moment to communicate, you mewed a 
 flronger inftance of mindependent fpirit, 
 than Mr. Mailings has ev-er difplayed.
 
 t 4 ] 
 
 I truft I am warranted in fuppoiing 
 that every part of the Ninth Report was 
 written by yourfelf. Of this fad: there 
 will, I believe, be no doubt; but the 
 refpeftable Committee, of which you are 
 a member, having adopted the reafoning 
 contained in it, perhaps fome apology 
 may be neceiTary to the gentlemen who 
 attended when the Report was read, as 
 well as to Mr. Burke. I affure, you, Sir, 
 I mean to take no improper liberty with 
 them, or with you ; and if in de- 
 fending Mr. Haftings from the infinua- 
 tions which are contained againft him in 
 the Ninth Report, I have been hurried 
 into any difrefpedlful expreffions, I very 
 lincerely acknowledge my error, and crave 
 pardon of you, and the Committee. 
 
 I well know the deference and refpecl: 
 which is due from an humble individual, 
 like myfelf, to a gentleman who poffelTes 
 fo eminent a rank in the literary world, 
 who fills fo high an office in the ! ftate, 
 and is admitted to the Councils of our 
 inoft gracious Sovereign ; if in any ex- 
 preffion m this letter, I fliall appear to 
 have loft fight of that deference and re- 
 fpeft, I truft you will attribute it to my 
 firm conviction of the injuftice which 
 F. 1m
 
 [ 42 ] . 
 
 has been done to Mr. HalHngs's cha- 
 racter, in the Ninth Report of the Seled 
 Committee. 
 
 I have the Honor to be, 
 SIR, 
 
 Your mofl obedient, 
 
 . 
 humble Servant, 
 
 J. S. 
 
 P. S. In the concluding paragraphs 
 of your report you obferve that many 
 material papers, lately arrived from In- 
 dia, have been laid before your Com- 
 mittee, I prefume you mean the dif- 
 patches received by the Lively: 
 You appear, however, to have fe- 
 lected the refolution of the Council 
 General relative to the Inveftment, as 
 the only document neceffary to be 
 brought forward at prefent, and -were- 
 
 this
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 this paper is configned to an appendix, 
 not yet publifhed, Your reportis brought 
 forward at fo late a period of the Seffions 
 profefTedly, in order to enable the Houfe 
 to adopt the moft proper means for regu- 
 lating the Britijh Government in India: 
 If this was your intention in bringing 
 the report forward on the I3th of June, 
 furely, Sir, it would have been candid to 
 have faid fomething further relative to 
 the Lively's difpatches. The idea with- 
 out doors is, that they contain undoubt- 
 ed proofs of the fpirited and fuccefsful 
 exertions of the Governor General and 
 Council, and give the Company a well 
 founded hope, of their being able to fur- 
 mount the aftonifhing difficulties and 
 embarafTments in which everyPrelidency 
 has been involved. Not a hint of this 
 kind however is to be found in your re- 
 port, and the only paper alluded to is 
 that, in which the SupremeCouncil have 
 recommended to the Court of Directors,' 
 to allow the Members of the Board of 
 Trade, refident in Calcutta, 5 per Cent, 
 upon' the amounts of the Jnveftment. 
 Any perfon reading your report would 
 conclude, I am fure, that the grant of 
 
 the
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 the 5 per Cent, was abfolute by the Su- 
 preme Council, inftead of being merely 
 a recommendation, and inflead of this 
 " memorable tranfadlion," binding the 
 Board of Trade to take no unlawful 
 " emolument" and confequently im- 
 plying that fuch had hitherto been 
 taken, the meaning muft be as the 
 words exprefs, "that they were to take 
 " no further emolument," by which was 
 understood, I prefume, a reftridtion from 
 trade, in fuch articles as might affect 
 the Company's Inveftment for the en- 
 fuing feafon. 

 
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