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BOOK V. he desired; and he wrote to the Council, expressing his confidence that they would afford him "assistance to recover his property, while the Right Honourable President, under their commission, remained in authority over those countries." Certain Members of the Board were for proceeding immediately to consider the claims of Mr. Benfield. The majority, however, decided that the consideration should be postponed till Lord Pigot's return.

Opposition in the Council.

A few days after the return of Lord Pigot to the Board, the application of Mr. Benfield was appointed for the subject of deliberation. Mr. Benfield was called upon for particulars and vouchers; but vouchers Mr. Benfield was unable to produce. The transactions, he said, were registered in the books of the Cutcherry; and the Nabob would acknowledge them. As for the books of the Cutcherry, they were never produced; and as for the acknowledgment of the Nabob, there were two questions; one, whether the assignments of the Nabob, if the debts were real, gave any right to the revenues of Tanjore, now restored to the Rajah; another, whether the whole, demand and acknowledgment taken together, were not a collusion between the Nabob and Benfield; a studied fraud upon the Company and the Rajah. For the debts said to be due from individuals, which in the specification had dwindled down to 30,000 pagodas, there was nothing to give but the word of Mr. Benfield himself. After due consideration a majority of the Board came to the following decision: "That the Rajah of Tanjore, being put in full possession and management of his country by the Company's express orders, it is the opinion of the Board that it is not in their power to comply with Mr. Benfield's requests, in any respect; those claims on individuals, which bear the appearance of having no connexion with government, not being sufficiently explained to enable the Board to form an opinion thereon; and the assignments of the Nabob not being admissible."

This resolution was passed on the 29th of May. On the 3d of June Mr. Brooke, one of the majority who had thrown out the claims of Mr. Benfield, entered a minute, in which he stated, that supposing Mr. Benfield to have demanded the assistance of the Council, he had voted against him; if he had then, as now, understood that he only requested their assistance, he would have voted for him: he, therefore, moved, that the Board should re-consider their vote on the claims of Mr. Benfield; and gave his opinion, that the crop on the ground, at the time of the restoration of the Rajah, was by the Company meant to belong to the Nabob. The vote for re-consideration was supported by the majority. On the 13th of June the subject being resumed, a motion was made by Lord Pigot that the vote of the 29th of May should be confirmed; but was negatived by a majority of seven to five. On the following day Lord

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Pigot was proceeding to move that "all the claims of Mr. Benfield were private CHAP. IV. and not public concerns," when a member of the Council claimed a right to priority. The claim of the member was founded upon the notice which he had given the preceding day of his intention to put certain motions. The claim of Lord Pigot was founded upon the custom of the Presidency, corroborated by convenience, that the President should possess the initiation of business. The claims were put to the vote, when the question was decided in favour of the member; and he moved, that the crop sown during the time of the Nabob's possession be declared the Nabob's property, and his assignments on it, therefore good; and that the Rajah should be instructed to respect and to restore, if they had been disturbed, the pledges in corn which were held by Mr. Benfield. When all this was voted, the question of the President, whether the claims of Mr. Benfield were private or public, was finally considered. The majority thought them," so far as they "so far as they regard Mr. Benfield, private claims; so far as they regard the Nabob's assignments to Mr. Benfield, public.”

The following point was agitated next. On the 28th of June, the President opened a proposal for establishing a factory at Tanjore. A motion to this effect was rejected by the majority on the 8th of July. As he could not obtain a factory, the President supposed that a resident would be useful. He moved that Mr. Russel, a member of the Council, and a closely connected friend of his own, should be appointed resident at Tanjore; and this was carried without much opposition.

Velore was the principal military station in the Carnatic; as a frontier fortress; in the line of invasion both to Hyder and the Mahrattas. It was therefore provided with the greatest number of troops, and regularly, as the post of honour, assigned to the officer second in command. Colonel Stuart, the officer second in command, thought proper to consider Tanjore, where a small number only of troops were required, as at this time the military station of principal importance in the province; he therefore claimed it as his right; and that claim the majority sustained.

Though liberty had been restored to the Rajah, and his rights proclaimed, much was yet to be done to put the administration of the country fully in his hands. The struggle between the President and the majority in the Council now was, whether Colonel Stuart who would manage the business agreeably to the views of the majority, or Mr. Russel who would manage it agreeably to the views of the President, should have the opportunity of placing the administration in the hands of the Rajah.

Book V.

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Violent contentions.

Mr. Russel was one of the gentlemen named by the Court of Directors to form one of the Committee of Circuit to explore the Circars; and this Committee was directed to proceed upon its mission, as soon as the final settlement of affairs in Tanjore should be made. The majority laid hold of this circumstance; and voted, as well for the immediate departure of the Committee to the northern Circars, as that of Colonel Stuart to his command in Tanjore. The President insisted that neither was there any necessity for precipitating the departure of the Committee, nor was the business of Tanjore settled; that the Rajah, who believed that the interests which had dethroned him were now triumphant, and those which restored him overthrown, was in a state of apprehension bordering upon despair. He proposed that for the termination of this unfortunate struggle, two members of the Board, who were stationed at the out-settlements, and were not involved in the disputes, should be summoned to attend. This proposition was rejected. The President offered to be satisfied, if Mr. Russel was allowed to go to Tanjore for only a few days, to preserve the appearances of consistency in the proceedings of the Council, and to quiet the alarms of the Rajah. This too was rejected.

Hitherto the proceedings of both parties, whatever name they may deserve in point of wisdom or virtue, were regular in point of form. Only one alternative now remained for Lord Pigot; the majority was either to be obeyed, or its authority was to be resisted. Lord Pigot resolved to resist; and the method which he pursued was as follows.

He assumed that the President was an integrant part of the Council; that it was not competent to perform any acts of government without him; and that he had a right to withhold his concurrence from any propositions which the majority might urge. This was pretty nearly the same doctrine which had suggested itself to Mr. Hastings in Bengal; but the practical application was somewhat different.

On the 19th of August, it was moved that a copy of instructions for Colonel Stuart, prepared by the commanding officer, should be taken into consideration. The President declared that he would not put the question. The obstruction presented a question of importance; and the majority resolved to adjourn. The following day the Council assembled, and the same motion was made. The President declared that he would not allow the question to be agitated at the Board. The majority, nevertheless, approved of the instructions, and prepared the draught of a letter to the officer at Tanjore to deliver over the command of the garrison to Colonel Stuart. The President declared that he would sign

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neither; affirmed that without his signature they could have no authority, and CHAP. IV. warned his opponents to desist. The minds of the majority were yet embarrassed, and they adjourned the Council for two days. On the 22d of August, the day on which they first assembled, the majority produced a minute, in which they deny that the concurrence of the President is necessary to constitute an act of government; affirm that the vote of the majority constitutes an act of government; and that it tends to subvert the constitution, for the President to refuse either to put a question, or to carry into execution the decisions of the majority. The President proposed, that questions of so much importance should be left to the decision of their honourable masters; and that here, till their pleasure should be known, both parties should allow the matter to rest.

This, too, was not agreeable to the wishes of the majority. They came to a resolution, that as the President would not sign the instructions to Colonel Stuart, and the letter to the officer at Tanjore, a letter should be written to the Secretary, directing him to sign them in the name of the Council, and transmit them as authoritative instruments of government to the parties addressed.

The letter was written, and approved by all the gentlemen of the majority. They began to sign it in order, and two of them had already written their names, when Lord Pigot took, or snatched it out of the hand of the man who held it. He then took a paper out of his pocket; and said he had a charge to present against two members of the Board, and named the two who had just signed the letter he had snatched. The accusation was, that by signing orders to the Secretary to give instructions to Colonel Stuart, they had been guilty of an act subversive of the authority of government, and tending to introduce anarchy. By the standing orders of the Company, any member of the Council, against whom a charge was preferred, was not allowed to deliberate or vote on any of the questions relating to the charge. When the two accused members were excluded, the President had a majority by his own casting vote. It was therefore voted to suspend the members in question, and then the President had a permanent majority. After the vote of suspension, the Council adjourned to the following day, which was the 23d. The gentlemen of the former majority forbore to attend; but they sent by a public notary a protest, in which, beside denouncing the principal act of the following day, they, as the majority of the Board, declare themselves the governing body, and claim the obedience of the settlement. This protest was sent by the same agency to the commanders of his Majesty's troops, and to all persons holding any authority at Madras. In consequence of what he deemed so great an outrage, Lord Pigot summoned the

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Lord Pigot imprisoned.

Council again to meet at four o'clock; when they passed a vote, suspending the whole of the members who had signed the protest, and ordered Sir Robert Fletcher, the commanding officer, to be put under arrest, and tried by a court martial.

The opponents were not behind in violence. They speedily assembled; declared themselves a Council vested with all the powers of government; and resolved to arrest the person of Lord Pigot, and confer the command of the army, Sir Robert Fletcher being ill, on Colonel Stuart. * The task of performing the arrest of Lord Pigot was devolved on the Colonel, who, by acquiescence, had accepted from him the command of the army. The greater part of the next day, the 24th, the Colonel passed in company, or in business, with his Lordship, breakfasted with him as well as dined; and having accepted an invitation to sup at his house, and made his arrangements to arrest him by the way, was in the carriage of Lord Pigot along with him, when it was surrounded and stopped by the troops.

As the point, for which all this confusion was created was the extremely minute one, whether Mr. Russel should or should not go for a few days to Tanjore, it is not easy to believe that something of importance did not remain at the bottom, which it was not the interest of the parties to disclose. One thing is certain, that the parties, and they had the best means of information, cast the most odious imputations upon one another, and imputed the most corrupt and dishonourable motives. The one party were accused of desiring to have an opportunity of enriching themselves by sharing in the revenues of the Rajah, the other by sharing in those of the Nabob. † The party who espoused the views of the Nabob seem to have been afraid, after the extremities on which they had ventured, to carry their own resolutions into effect. They had voted that the crop which was on the ground at the time of the restoration

*In examining afterwards the conduct of the parties, a question was raised about the time of this resolution to arrest Lord Pigot. It appeared to have been taken before the violence of Lord Pigot, in suspending the whole of the majority, and ordering the arrest of Sir Robert Fletcher. But the affidavits of the parties, who were prosecuted in England for the imprisonment of Lord Pigot, and which affidavits were not contradicted, affirmed, that the figure 8 indistinctly written, and mistaken for 3, had been the source of the error; and that 8 o'clock, and not 3 p. m. was the time at which the resolution of the majority was taken,

† Admiral Pigot declared, in the House of Commons, that his brother had been offered ten lacs of pagodas, and afterwards fifteen, a bribe, amounting to about 600,000l. of English money, only to defer, and that for a short and specified time, the re-instatement of the Rajah. See Parliamentary History, for the 16th of April, 1779, and Dodsley's Annual Register, xxii.