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contumacy, and that he determined to convert them into advantage for the Company. Who ever heard of fuch patience, fuch contumacy, or fuch punishment? But from Mr Ha ftings's defence it appears that he had conceived private refentment against the Rajah, and was refolved to ruin him. It had been reported, that Mr Haftings was to refign the office of Governor General of Bengal, and General Clavering attempted to affume the chair. Unfortunately upon this Cheyt Sing deputed an agent to compliment General Clavering on his acceffion to the government. Hence the delays of the Rajah in his contributions over and above his annual tribute were conftrued into acts of contumacy by the fingular patience of Mr Haftings; who, in confequence, refolved to levy on him a fine of 500,000l. not for the great end of all punishment-example-but for the benefit of his employers! Upon his refufal and incapacity to comply with this exorbitant demand, he made a journey to Benares, treated the Rajah with rudeness and infolence, and with unparalleled indignity, and arrefted him in his own palace. His ruin was now determined, and foon after accomplished, by fuch a feries of cruelty and oppreffion, as aftonithed the eastern and confounded the western world. Thus, from refentment of a perfonal affront, Mr Haftings dethroned a fovereign of India! These facts need no commentary: They are undeniable; they are atrocious; and fo important, that

upon
the vote of parliament the fate
of Bengal will depend. Happy was
it that in former times we could
plead ignorance of our affairs in the
eaft but the veil is now drawn a-
fide; the plunderers of Indoftan are
brought forward to public view; and
the hour is arrived when we are to
demonftrate to the world the ftri-
king diftinction between the unau-

thorifed enormities committed by individuals, and the wifdom and juftice of a British House of Commons. From the proceedings of parliament, Europe and Afia will learn what fyftem of government in future is to be carried on in India. We have no alternative to make.. We must give our fanction to virtue or to vice; we muft either be the avengers of the oppreffed, or the accomplices of the oppreffor.'

On the other fide, it may be replied- The accufers of illustrious men have a ready access to the pub. lic ear, on account of that envy which ever accompanies, as its fhade, the fuccefs of those who have risen to renown by their talents and their virtues. "Calumniate boldly, and fomething will adhere," is the Machiavellian maxim, which is always put in practice on thefe occafions; and when vaft and voluminous charges, though deftitute of probability, and confuted by evidence, are once prefented, they will be prefumed by the vulgar in part to be true.

It must be confeffed that this bu

finefs wears a very fingular afpect.

After a war fo unfortunate and difgraceful as the laft, juftice as well as policy might demand a victim to be facrificed to the public refentment. But it is remarkable, that while difafters and difgrace attended the Englifh arms in other quarters of the globe, in India alone they were crowned with unparalleled and uninterrupted fuccefs. Had general H-we and B-rg-ne, admiral K-1, and others, been impeached for having difmembered the British dominions, and for having loft the new world to this empire, the feelings and reflections of the nation would perhaps have gone along with the meafure. But to drag before the tribunal of parliament the Governor General of Bengal for the high crimes and mifdemeanors of having faved India, of having protected and ex

tended

What may be faid FOR Mr Haftings.

tended our dominions in that quarter of the globe, is the moft fingular kind of impeachment recorded in hiftory. On the fame fyftem, it is to be prefumed his accufers will impeach Admiral Rodney for his victory over the French fleet, and General Elliot for his gallant defence of Gibraltar. At tribunals of this kind felum effulgebunt qui videntur ; not to be impeached will be the only mark of infamy.

The manner in which the trial and impeachment of the late Governor General of Bengal comes into the House of Commons is equally worthy of attention. The right honourable members who bring it forward, while they were in office, from which they have been lately difmif. fed, introduced a bill of a fingular nature, for the better government of India; of which the mal-adminiftration of Mr Haftings was the pretended foundation. The real object of that bill was early feen through by the nation, and as early exploded. Under the pretext of reforming India, it was to create a new power, fubverfive of the conftitution; it was at once to annihilate the prerogative of the king, the power of the nobles, the natural influence of the people, and the chartered rights of the India Company; to transfer the fovereignty of Britain and Indoftan to a junto of patriot and republican nabobs; who, crowned with the diadem of Britain, and the turban of the Mogul, fhould reign in both hemifpheres, and give law to the east and the weft. Thefe new nabobs were created by themfelves, and depofed by the nation. Their plan indeed was the mighty ftructure of an ambitious fancy; but it burft like the bafelefs fabric of a vifion, and has left no trace behind, except in the imagination of the architects. Difappointed of empire, they thought of revenge; and as the Eaft India Company, whose influVOL. IV. N° 19.

25

ence had not been dormant at the last election, had been particularly the objects of their rage, they fixed upon their favourite fervant, whom they had formerly criminated, as an object of perfecution and impeachment. In fuch a queftionable shape this bufinefs comes before the House of Commons.

• General charges and vague crimination, fuch as we have often heard in the course of this affair, can on ly be anfwered by a general con tradiction; and happily in this inftance they contradict each other. Mr Haftings is faid "to have turned India into a defart," and at the fame time is allowed to "have promoted the interest of the Company." Whatever opinions we may form concerning a company of merchants, they will at leaft be allowed to understand their own intereft. Are they fo ignorant of that, as to reckon themselves indebted to the perfon who cuts down the tree whofe fruits they were to gather?

To a particular and circumftantiated charge, concerning the Rajah of Benares, a particular anfwer can be given. The queftion hinges on one point: Was the Rajah of Benares an independent or a tributary prince? If the former, Mr Hafting's acted wrong; if the latter, he acted right. It is evident that Bulwant Sing was merely an aumil or farmer and collector of the revenues for the Nabob of Oude, Vizir of the Mogul empire. It is as evident, that after the new grant to Cheyt Sing by the Governor and Council of Bengal, conferring upon him the privileges of the mint, and power of criminal juftice, that then he became a Zemindar, a tributary prince, of feudatory vaffal of the British empire in Indoftan.

The right honourable gentleman dwells on the undefined word independence, which is mentioned in the new grant. Does an independent

D

prince

prince pay an annual tribute? It is deceitful and dangerous to reafon from words that are not defined. British acts of parliament recognise the majefty of the people. But when the people, reafoning like the right honourable gentleman, attempt to coin money, or exercise any other act of royalty, they are punished for their falle logic.

The feudal fyftem, which was for merly fuppofed to be peculiar to our Gothic ancestors, has always prevailed in the east. It has always been established in Tartary, whofe migrating hordes have fo often fhaken the thrones and conquered the kingdoms of Afia. In every defcription of that form of government, notwithstanding accidental va-. riations, there are two affociations expreffed or understood; one for in ternal fecurity, the other for external defence. The King or Nabob confers protection on the feudatory Baron or tributary Prince, on condition of an annual tribute in the time of peace, and of military fervice, partly commutable for money, in the time of war. What are called the feudal incidents in the middle ages in Europe, the fine paid to the fuperior on marriage, wardship, relief, &c. correfpond to the annual tribute in Afia,. Military fervice in war, and extraordinary aids in the event of extraordinary emergencies, were common to both.

• What was the fituation of India in 1778, when the Governor General of Bengal made an extraordinary demand on the Zemindary of Benares for five lacks of rupees? The British empire in that part of the world had been in a declining ftate, and was furrounded with enemies who threatened its deftruction. A general confederacy was formed a mong the great powers of Indoftan for the expulfion of the English from their dominions. Hyder Ally Khan,

the Suba of the Deccan, Madajee Stonlar, Madajee Sindia, the Peshwa, all the Marrhatta tribes, dropped their ufual animofities, and joined in a formidable league to extirpate the English name from the east.

All India was in arms! At this crifis, fufficiently alarming of itself, a war broke out with the French, which was foon followed by one with the Dutch. It was two days after Mr Haftings's information of the French war that he formed the refolution of exacting the five lacks of rupees from Cheyt Sing, and made fimilar exactions from all the dependencies of the Company in India. To have paffed over thefe circumftances, fo ftriking and fo obvious, and to have afcribed the conduct of Mr Haftings to the base and diabolical motives of malice and refentment, conveys an idea of his right honourable accufer, which language fails to exprefs. Let his own feelings attempt to reconcile this unfupported conftruction to the honour of an English gentleman, or the justice of a British fenator.

• The right of calling for extraordinary aids and military fervice in times of danger being universally eftablished in India, as it was formerly in Europe during the feudal times, the future conduct of Mr Haftings is explained and vindicated. The Governor General and Council of Bengal having made a demand upon a tributary Zemindar, and that demand having been refifted by their vaffal, they are juftified in his punifhment. The neceffities of the Company, in confequence of the critical fituation of their affairs, calling for a high fine, the ability of the Zemindar, who poffeffed near two crores of rupees in money and jewels, to pay: his backwardness to comply with the demands of his fuperiors; his difaffection to the Englifh intereft, and defire of revolt,

which

What may be faid FOR Mr Haftings.

which even then began to appear, and became afterwards confpicuous; fully juftify Mr Haftings in every fubfequent ftep of his conduct. In the whole of his proceedings, it is manifeft that he had not early formed a defign hoftile to the Zemindar, but was regulated by events which he could neither forefee nor control. When the neceffary measures which he had taken for fupporting the authority of the Company, by punishing a refractory vaffal, were thwarted and defeated by the barbarous maffacre of the British troops, and by the rebellion of Cheyt Sing, the appeal was made to the ratio ultima regum; an unavoidable revolution took place in Benares, and the Zemindar became the author of his own deftruction.

The only point in which there can be any difference of opinion on this question is, Whether the fine which Mr Haftings intended to impofe on Cheyt Sing be apportioned to his guilt? The right of levying fines, and that to an arbitrary amount, had been exercised on Cheyt Sing by Suja ul Dowla, to whofe fovereignty over Benares the Governor and Council of Bengal fucceed ed; Cheyt Sing had been highly favoured and honoured by his new fuperiors; Mr Haftings raised him from the rank of Aumil to that of Zemindar; had conferred upon him the rights of the mint, the powers of criminal justice, and intended to have made him an independent prince, and an honourable ally of the Company, if he had not been controlled by Mr Francis. In fuch critical fituations as that in which the Company's affairs then flood, being at war with the most formidable powers of India and of Europe, the inferior Rajahs and Zemindars are always ready to revolt. That difregard to the authority, and difobedience to the orders of the Governor

27

General and Council of Bengal, by a favoured and an honoured depen dent, was at that moment a most flagrant offence, and if not punished might have been attended by very fatal confequences, and encouraged the other dependents of the Company to rebel: Neceffity, therefore, as well as juftice and found policy, called upon the Governor to make fuch an exertion of his authority, as fhould at once punish a refractory and ungrateful Zemindar, and impress the other powers of Indoftan, dependent on the Company, with a proper refpect for his government. Even in private life it is a maxim to "beware of quarrels, but, when you are once engaged, to let the aggreffor beware of you." In public life it is more neceffary; it is effential. Illtimed lenity and indulgence nourish the diforders which vigilance and vigour ought to prevent; and the delay of a moment may be the lofs of empire.

Hitherto I have confidered the conduct of Mr Haftings on the principles of European politics: but, to judge of his character with justice and candour, we ought to view him in the light in which he would be viewed by his peers, the princes of Indoftan, and try him by the ftandard of Afiatic manners. The political code of Afia hath always differed effentially from the political code of Europe. The kingdoms of the east, though feudal in their form, have always been defpotic in their nature. Look to the volumes of hiftory; furvey the annals of Afia for three thoufand years paft; you find one form of government invariably to prevail; abfolute power univerfally established. "The power of the King is every thing, the rights of the people nothing," is the defcription which Montesquieu gives of the Oriental empires; is the maxim which Tamerlane lays

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down in his laws; and which, antecedent to both, nature has established in that divifion of the world. At thirteen different periods hath Afia been over-run and subdued by the nations of the weft and the north: but a revolution there, is only the alteration of a name in the reigning family; the fovereign is changed, but the defpot remains. Who dare fay to the King, What doft thou? characterifes Afia, from the fubjects of the great monarch of Perfia to thofe of the petty Rajah of Jerufalem, and from the period of Ninus to the recent reign of Hyder Ally. In the fituation in which Mr Haftings was placed, a delegated fovereign of In. dia, fettered by the orders of a Company, at the distance of the diameter of the globe; controlled by the factions of a divided Council; fubject to refponfibility at home, and to a trial according to European maxims and manners; with all thefe difadvantages, to have held a distinguish ed rank among the Princes of India; to have difplayed the power of Afia tempered with the virtue of Europe; to have protected the British empire in Indoftan against the moft formidable combination that ever was concerted for its deftruçtion; to have extended its bounda ries, improved its fertility, augmented its revenues, explored its antiquities, meliorated the condition of its inhabitants, and introduced better maxims of policy and government; exhibits a combination and a luftre of political and military talents, that are feldom the portion of humanity, and which will fhine in the hiftory both of the eaftern and the weftern world. It was for this that all ranks of men in India were impreffed with a fuperftitious belief that a fortunate influence directed all his actions to their deftined ends; that his name ftruck terror and refpet into the enemies of Britain;

that his reputation extended to the continent, and to all the kingdoms of Europe; that the weeping adminiftration of the English, and the regrets of the natives, attended his departure from India; that the directors and proprietors of the Eaft India Company voted their unanimous thanks for his fplendid and honourable fervices; and it is for thishear it Europe! let the laft generations of men hear it! It is for -this-that he is impeached by his country.

In the ferutiny of an adminiftration which continued for thirteen years, which involves the operations of war, the revolutions of empire, and comprehends a greater variety of events than has in general fallen to the lot of mankind, we are not to expect a total exemption from error; infallibility of judgment, impeccability of conduct are not the attributes of man. But if there be a bald spot on the head of Mr Haftings, grown grey in the courfe of thirty-five years spent in the fervice of his country, he has covered it with laurels !

Indian peculation, and oppreffion, and cruelty, have been common topics of declamation among those patriots in fpeculation, who are all alive to the fufferings and fenfibilities of Gentoos, while they are unjuft, cruel, and oppreffive to their own neighbours and inferiors. Nor is it denied that there have been crimes as well as calamities in In dia. The great ftrokes that decide the fate of empires neceffarily involve the ruin of individuals. Even the government of the world is conducted by general laws, and partial evil is blended with public good. The operations of war are unavoidably attended with fcenes of anguish and diftrefs, that lacerate the bo fom and rend the heart of humanity. But the lawless violence and licen

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