without the confent or knowledge of the Nizam; a military force was ordered to carry it into execution; and, at the request of the Nabob of Arcot, it was agreed to grant him a leafe of the country for the term of ten years. Whilft the mind of the Nizam was fmarting under this offenfive treatment, the refident at his court was inftructed to propofe the withholding the ftipulated tribute; altho' he had been affured by the fame authority, but a fhort time before, of the future regular payment thereof. And, in aggravation of thefe violent and unjust proceedings, Sir Thomas Rumbold did unwarrantably attempt to throw obstructions in the way of the fupreme council, in their endeavours to quiet the apprehenfions and re-conciliate the affections of the Nizam *. April 29th. The refolutions being agreed to by the house, leave was given to bring in a bill of pains and penalties against Sir Thomas Rumbold, Peter Perring, and John Whitehill, for breaches of public truft and high crimes and misdemeanors. At the fame time was alfo brought in a bill for restraining those perfons from going out of the kingdom, for discovering their effects, and preventing the alienating or tranfporting of the fame; which paffed without much other debate than what related to the quantum of the fum proposed to be left uncovered of Sir Thomas Rambold's eftate, which at laft was fixed at 50,000l. for the purpose of indemnifying his fureties, and 30,000l. to enable him to make a provision for his children. Before the fecond reading of the bill of pains and penalties, it was ordered, that Sir Thomas Rumbold fhould be heard in his defence, against the fame, by counsel, at the bar. The great variety and complicated nature of the criminal allegations on which the bill was founded, made it neceffary for the accufed party to enter into a long and minute defence. Little progrefs was made therein during the fhort period that remained of the feffions of 1782; and the unfettled ftate of public affairs at the beginning of the year 1783, prevented the house from taking it up till near the middle of that feffion. As the season advanced, members became daily more remifs in their attendance; and at length, on the ift of July, a motion was made and carried, for adjourning the further confideration of the bill to the ift of October, by which means the whole proceeding fell to the ground, and was never afterwards refumed. That a bill, the refult of fuch long and laborious enquiries, a bill introduced, received, and proceeded upon by the house with fo much folemnity, fhould be fuffered thus to fall to the ground, is a circumftance on which we are at a lofs to comment. What impreffion Sir * In the refolutions, Mr. Whitehill and Mr. Perring, members of the council, were also charged with having concurred with Sir Thomas Rumbold in feveral of the proceedings therein condemned; and Mr. Whitehill was further charged with being guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor, by not paying immediate and implicit obedience to the orders of the fupreme council, and by his intemperate and contumacious conduct, whereby he held out an alarming example of disobedience to the orders of his lawful fuperiors, and of disrespect to the acts of the British legislature. [D 3] Thomas Thomas Rumbold's defence made upon the house, as no queftion was put thereon, we cannot poffibly determine. It would certainly be harth and inequitable to prefume the party accused was guilty, becaufe he accepted of indemnity without acquittal; and on the other hand, we cannot pronounce him innocent, because, under the circumftances related, his accufer failed to profecute him to conviction. The proceeding itself had indeed operated as no light punishment; and this confideration might probably facilitate the paffing of the vote by which it was terminated. But by this management, the public was deprived of the only intereft it had in the profecution, the acquittal of an innocent citizen, or the example of a punished delinquent. Thus, however, ended the first attempt made by this parliament to punish Indian delinquency.-We must now revert to the first fet of refolutions, prefented by Mr. Dundas on the 15th of April 1782, and containing the grounds of the refolution moved by him against Mr. Hornsby and Warren Haftings, Efq. In the fix firit of thefe refolutions certain principles of juftice and policy were laid down, as the basis of the government of India. The feventh condemns the ftopping of the penfions payable by treaty to the Mogul and Nudjiff Khan, and the fale of Corah and Illahabad, as contrary to policy and good faith. The eighth condemns the Rohilla war, and the extermination of that people; and charges the prefident and felect committee of Bengal with an iniquitous interference and interested partiality to the Nabob Vizier *. The ninth and tenth condemn the prefidency of Bombay and the court of directors for their conduct refpe&ing the Nabob of Broach and the commencement of the Mahratta war. The eleventh condemns the alli ance with Ragoba; and the twelfth juftifies the measures taken by Meffrs. Clavering, Monfon, and Francis for reftoring peace. The following refolutions, up to the thirty-feventh, approve of the treaty of Poorunder, and condemn the conduct of the court of directors and the governor general; the former for encouraging, the latter for pursuing measures tending to renew the war, and particularly the projected alliance with the Raja of Berar: to thefe, to the general diftruft of our fincerity, and to the ruinous and difgraceful confequences of rafh military operations, they attribute the confederacy formed against the company by the Nizam, and the backwardness of the Mahrattas to any accommodation. The three following refolutions ftate feveral additional mischiefs arifing from the Mahratta war; and acknowledge, that on the success of Hyder in the Carnatic, the governor general gave proof of the moft *In the debate on this refolution, the word extermination was objected to by Mr. Barwell (one of the council at the time of this tranfaction) as too ftrong, the inhabitants, as he obferved, having been only expelled. On the other hand, Mr. Dundas infifted on the propriety of the word he had ufed, fince it had appeared in evidence that not only every fpecies of violence and cruelty had been used, but that numbers of them had been actually put to the sword. important important exertions for the affiftance of Madras, the obtaining of peace, and regaining the friendship of the Nizam. The fortieth condemns the governor general's plan of an alliance with the Dutch, as unwarranted, impolitic, extravagant, and unjust, The next, charges the governor general with defigns tending to procraftinate an accommodation with the Mahrattas, injuriously to the interefts of the company and of the nation. The forty-fecond charges him with fuppreffing material information in his correfpondence with the directors, and fending the fame to his private agent in England. The following refolution ftates and approves of certain inftructions fent in the laft difpatches from the directors, for promoting the attainment of peace. The forty-fourth declares, "that "for the purpofe of conveying en"tire conviction to the minds of "the native princes, that to com"mence hoftilities, without juft "provocation, against them, and to "tion, juftice, and good faith of "the British nation." Thefe refolutions were feverally agreed to by the Houfe, on the 28th of May; and in addition to the general declaration of the fenfe of parliament, expreffed in the laft, Mr. Dundas faid, he should move the Houfe to come to a fpecific refolution for the recall of Mr. Haftings and Mr. Hornsby. That he was urged to take this ftep by an account which had lately arrived from India of an act of the most flagrant violence and oppreffion, and of the groffeft breach of faith, committed by the former againft Cheit Sing, the Raja of Benaras. He entered at large into the nature of that tranfaction, and concluded with moving the following refolution : "That Warren Haftings, Efq;" "Governor General of Bengal, "and William Hornfby, Efq; Pre"fident of the council at Bombay, "having in fundry instances acted " in a manner repugnant to the "honour and policy of this nation, "and thereby brought great cala"mities on India, and enormous purfue fchemes of conqueft and "extent of dominion, are measures" repugnant to the wifh, the policy, and the honour of this na"tion, it is the duty of the court of directors, in conformity to the fenfe "expreffed by this Houfe, forthwith "to recall fuch member or members of "their principal prefidencies as ap * pear to have been chiefly concerned in wilfully acting upon a fyftem tending to infpire a reafonable diftruft of the modera legal and effectual means for the "removal of the faid governor ge"neral and prefident from their refpective offices, and to recall "them to Great Britain," In confequence of this refolution of the Houfe of Commons, the directors took the neceffary fteps for carrying it into effect; buts as their * Thefe words were afterwards left out of the refolution, and the following inferted instead of them: "the parliament of Great Britain fhould give fome fignal "mark of its difpleasure against thofe in any degree intrufted with the charge of the "company's affairs, who fball." [D4] proceedings proceedings are fubject to the control of a general court of proprie tors, the friends of Mr. Haftings, whofe influence in that body was now found to be irrefiftable, had recourfe to that expedient, and on the 31st of October the orders of the court of directors were refcinded by a large majority. Thus ended the fecond parliamentary attempt to punish Indian delinquency. This oppofition, however, of the proprietors to the deliberate fenfe of the Houfe of Commons, and to the refolutions of the court of directors, entered upon without previous enquiry, and adopted in a confufed and tumultuous debate, without any information before them, was, at the beginning of the next feffions, ftrongly reprobated by Mr. Dundas, both as dangerous in its principle, as well as highly infulting to the honour of parliament. He therefore moved, that all the proceedings relative thereto fhould be laid before the Houfe; and on thefe and the refolutions before voted he founded a bill, which he afterwards brought in," for the better regulating the 66 government of India." The principal objects of this bill were, to inveft the governor general with a difcretionary power to act against the will of the council, whenever he should think it neceffary for the public good fo to do; to allow the fubordinate governors a negative on every propofition, till the determination of the fupreme Council fhould be known; to fecure to the zemindars or landholders of Hindoftan, a permanent intereft in their refpective tenures; to cause the debts of the Raja of Tanjore, and of the Nabob of Arcot, to be carefully examined into, and to put an end to the oppreffions of the latter, and the corrupt practices of his creditors, by fecuring to the Raja the full and undisturbed enjoyment of his kingdom; laftly, to recall Governor Haftings, and prevent the court of proprietors from acting in oppofition to the fenfe of parliament, and to nominate a new governor general. For this important office Mr. Dundas recommended the Earl ornwallis: but the members who at that time had the direction of public affairs, not approving of fome of the principles of the bill, and declaring their intentions of taking up the bufinefs early in the next feffions, it was ta citly withdrawn. Having gone through all the proceedings which were moved by the chairman of the fecret committee, and grounded on their reports, the fteps taken by the felect committee require, in the next place, our attention. Their reports, eleven in number, took a complete review of the conftitution of the East India company, and of the management of their affairs both at home and abroad, in their political as well as commercial tranfactions. On these re ports was principally grounded the great plan afterwards introduced by Mr. Fox, in his bill for the better regulating the affairs of the Eaft India company, and the charges of impeachment which have fince been inftituted by the Commons against Mr. Haftings." On the 18th of April 1782, their chairman, General Smith, prefented to the House ten refolutions; of which the five firft related to the mifconduct of the chairman of the court of directors, in having unneceffarily and dangerously delayed to tranfinit to the company's fet tlements powers given by former acts to the governor general and council of Bengal. At the close of this feffion, the King expreffed his approbation" of "the diligence and ardour with "which the house had entered upon the confideration of the Bri"tifh interefts in the Eaft Indies, as worthy of their wifdom, juftice, and humanity; and affur"ed them, that to protect the per"fons and fortunes of millions in "thofe diftant regions, and to com"bine our profperity with their happiness, were objects which "would repay the utmost labour " and exertion." |