ed, and the papers were in fome manner withdrawn and fecreted.

The bill which was under difcuffion was rejected without a divifion.'

VI.

thofe objects, which engroffed no inconfiderable attention in the courfe of the prefent feffion. To fettle thefe affairs had been one of the earliest objects of Mr. Pitt's adminiftration; and accordingly fuch measures, as he had conceived adequate to the purpose, had been in troduced by him in the year 1784, and had received the fanction of the prefent parliament in its first feffion. În the feffion of 1785, nothing had been brought forward by minifters upon this fubject; and in the debate upon the addrefs in anfwer to the fpeech from the throne, in the commencement of this third feffion, it had been infifted upon by Mr. Fox, as a topic of blame against administration, that no notice of any kind was taken in that speech of the affairs of India. Mr. Fox fpoke of the fpirit of difcontent, which had pervaded that part of our dominions. He afked, whether, after what had happened, the minifter would still venture to talk of his India bill in a tone of triumph? He reprefented the state of our finances in that part of the world as in a high degree unpromifing, and faid, that upon infpection he believed they would now find, when compared with the predictions of the court of directors on the fub ject, not merely errors of fractions, but errors of millions. He repro1786.

Macartney. Lord Macartney had acted, during the whole term of his refidence in India, upon the most upright principles, and had come home with hands perfectly unful lied. From a conviction of the neceffity of the measure, he had taken the collection and management of the revenues of the Carnatic out of the hands, not of the nabob, but of his agents and ufurers, who plundered the natives, and robbed their principal, and had vested both in the hands of the company. This measure had been overthrown by the orders of the board of control. The fatal effects of their order had fpread alarm and terror through the Carnatic, and impreffed the council of Madras with fo ftrong an idea of its impropriety, that lord Macart ney went himself to Calcutta, to remonftrate with Mr. Haftings, and to deprecate the confequences. Let the houfe guefs the furprife of this nobleman, when he found Mr. Haftings departed for Europe, and a commiffion appointing him governor-general, a fituation which it was impofible for him to accept, while the order to restore the collection and management of the Carnatic revenues continued in force. How abfurd was it to remove the governor-general, who recommended the measure, and appoint lord Macartney to the post of I

governor

fome effect; the general ruin which that country has undergone from the devastation of war, will keep your affairs in that quarter a long time in diftrefs." It was well known, that the revenues of Bengal were the means, upon which the other prefidencies were obliged to lean for fupport, and conftituted the only fource from which the East India company expected to relieve her embarraffments. Upon this fubject Mr. Francis reminded the house of the statement he had made in the preceding feffion, when he convicted the directors of an error of more than 3,000,000l. in their account of the revenues of one year. He animadverted upon the retrenchments of which Mr. Pitt had boast. ed, and again illustrated these from ancther part of the letter of Mr. Macpherson." The great and most important work of a reform in the expences of this government, which was refolved upon, and in fome degree begun, before the departure of Mr. Haftings, has been carried through under every influence that I could exert, and every effort of the abilities of the present administration. I inuft at the fame time regret, that the progrefs made in this falutary measure is not equal to my wishes, and has not in any very alleviating degree relieved your diftreffes."In relation to the fame fubject Mr. Francis moved for, and obtained, on the seventh of February, certain papers calculated to illuftrate the revenues of India.

The ballot for the members, who were to compofe the court of judicature for the trial of Eaft Indian delinquents, which, in purfuance of the regulating act of 1784, was to take place within thirty days after the meeting of parliament, was made in both houfes on the fifteenth of February. At the time of this

ballot, lifts of the names of perfons to be ballotted for, of the nature of thofe ufually denominated treafury lifts, and which are conceived to originate with administration, were delivered by the door-keeper to the house of commons. This mode of proceeding was treated in terms of the fevereft reprobation by Mr. Sheridan. He alluded to the idea, which had been fuggested by administration, when the bill had been under difcuffion, that the court of judicature fhould be cho fen with perfect impartiality, and without the employment of any ministerial influence. On the contrary, government appeared defir. ous to realize the predictions of oppofition, and to flow how ftrongly the new mode of trial was contrafted with the conftitutional and liberal mode of trial by jury. Mr. Sheridan added, that, if Mr. Pitt would dare to rife and avow, that the lifis were prepared by his order, and delivered by his authority, he would pledge himself to move upon him the fevereft cenfure of that houfe. In order to bring home a charge, which he conceived to be in fo flagrant a degree indecent and fcandalous, he concluded with a motion, which was feconded by Mr. Francis, that Mr. Pearfon the doorkeeper be now called in and examined. The proceeding, which was complained of by Mr. Sheria dan, was defended by Mr. Pi and Mr. Martin, as a matter per fectly innocent and harmlefs, and they reprefented it as an infult to the house of commons to fuppofe that the delivery of fuch lifts could have the fmallest influence in inducing any of its members to adopt the names it contained. The motion was rejected upon a division, ayes, 38, noes, 138.

On the feventh of March a mo.. I 2 tion.

tion was made by Mr. Francis, and feconded by Mr. Windham, for leave to bring in a bill to explain and amend the act of the year 1784, for the regulation of the affairs of the East India company. Mr. Francis embraced this occafion of entering into an examination of that bill, and pointing out in the fullett manner, what appeared to him to constitute its impolitic and unconftitutional nature. He alluded to the petitions, which were faid to be upon their way from India, against Mr. Pitt's act. He might be fufpected on one fide of a bafe intention to avail himself of the prefent temper of the parties for fome mischievous purpofe; and on the other he might be charged with acting precipitately and unfairly to the petitioners themfelves in not waiting for their petition. To the laft of thefe imputations he anfwered, that, though he acted independently of the petitioners, he was as much in earnest as they could be, to promote the object they fought; that what he did could not injure, and might affift them; and that the method he took to accomplifh his object was most honourable to parliament, and most confiftent with is dignity. With refpect to the former he obferved, that his fentiments upon the subject had always been known, and had always been the fame. Perhaps upon his principles he might have been strictÎy bound, to have moved for anal teration of this law during the courfe of the last feffion; but he had his reafons for not adopting that proceeding. The attention of the houfe was wholly engaged in the commercial arrangement with Ireland. The most exception ble parts of the India bill were not to begin to operate till a year or two

afterwards. But his principal confideration had been, that he wished to give time for the fenfe of the houfe to cool upon its own act, and for the general judgment of the nation to be collected on the merits of the measure.

The law obvioufly divided itself into three departments; firft, the arrangement made for the diftribution and establishment of power at home; fecondly, the arrangements made for the government of the company's affairs abroad; and fi nally the inftitution of a fpecial inquifition, and a new judicature in England, for the discovery and trial of offences committed in India. Under the first head Mr. Francis obferved, that the constant and notorious complaint had been, that the power of the court of directors was defective and infufficient to enforce obedience upon their fervants abroad, or to punifh their difobedience. In order therefore to create a strong government, Mr. Pitt's act had divided the fupreme power between two boards; had placed the nominal power in one fer of men, and the real power in an other, and had obliged the directors to afix their fignatures to letters and inftructions, drawn up in notorious contradiction to their declared fentiments. A more effectual cons trivance to excite and irritate a spirit of difobedience could hardly have been imagined. Mr. Francis was not reafoning upon imaginary cafes. The law had established two jurifdictions over the fame object. They had already clafked in one very important inftance, and he had reason to believe that they continued to do fo in many others. The very moment the dis rectors began to act, the board of control began to counteract; and

the

the directors in the end were obliged to fign orders, against which they had previously protested.

If he relied on his exclufive power, for want of clear and accurate knowledge, he would rarely venture to exert it. Every man who approached him would tell him a different ftory, or give him a different opinion. He would often doubt, and no vigorous determination could exit in a good mind that was not preceded by conviction. Even when he exerted his power, it would be feeble and ineffectual against the univerfal combination and clamour of all ranks and interests, that would be formed to counteract him in every measure, that tended to correct abufes, or reduce exorbitant emoluments. In a great community the reformer had the voice and approbation of the majority to encourage him; but in a very narrow circle he would have no part of the fociety in which he lived to fupport him against the reft. They would make a common cause against him, and, fooner or later, would overcome his refolution, or break his heart. Mr Francis alluded to the government in which he had been concerned, and remarked, that if the perfonal character, the political views, and public principles of Mr. Haftings and Mr. Barwel had been fuch, as to have induced the minority to give them a feady and vigorous fupport, the government would have carried along with it an opinion, a dignity, an authority and a fway, which no faction could have refifted and no combination could have with flood.

Mr. Francis ftrongly condemned the power, which, by a fictitious vote and a cafting voice, govern ment had thrown into the hands of the governor-general; and ob ferved, that by this method they had fecretly placed an influence in the hands of the prefident of Bengal, which they had been afhamed to attribute to him openly. He employed many arguments to prove, that the predominant power in India was much lefs judiciously placed in the hands of a fingle perfon, than in thofe of a council. The fact was, that under the former fpecies of government all thofe principles, which the prefent law condemned and prohibited, were brought into action, and all thofe effects were produced, which the prefent law profeffed to look back upon with indignation; which it threatened to punish, or promifed to correct. Mr. Francis defcribed the government of Bengal as being of a very peculiar nature. A governor-general underftood nothing of his fituation, if he thought, that any power directly .vested in his hands, would carry half the authority with it, that would accompany the united acts of a governor and council. If he trusted to his own exclufive judgment, he would find himself furrounded by fome of the most artful men that exifted, by natives, who, without our general knowledge, were infinitely fagacious, who obferved us attentively and understood us perfectly, and by fome Europeans, who, in every thing but their habit and complexion, were perfect Afiatics. No fingle, unaffifted English judgment was a match for fuch men, and for fuch peculiar faculties, as would collect about him from the moment of his arrival,

In

Upon the fubject of the third divifion of Mr. Pitt's act, Mr. Francis was more animated and warm. the inftitution of fo arbitrary a mode of purfuing delinquency, the inflant fuffering indeed belonged to the fervants of the company in India: the confequence and the danger were our own. A capital innovation was made in the crimi