1781.

claim.

tory of the Company. And the reason which he suggested is worthy of record: CHAP. VII. "If a resident was appointed to receive the money, as it became due, at Benares; such a resident would unavoidably acquire an influence over the Rajah, from any other and over his country; which would, in effect, render him master of both. This consequence might not, perhaps, be brought completely to pass, without a struggle; and many appeals to the Council, which, in a government constituted like this, cannot fail to terminate against the Rajah: And, by the construction, to which his opposition to the agent would be liable, might eventually draw on him severer restrictions; and end in reducing him to the mean and depraved state of a mere zemindar.” * The chain of acknowledgments is instructive and memorable; 1st. That a resident of the Company, at the court of a native Prince, though for ever so confined and simple a purpose, no more than that of receiving periodical payment of a definite sum of money, would engross the power of the Prince, and become, in effect, the master of the country; 2dly, That in any disputes which might arise with the agent, in the resistance offered by the Prince to these encroachments, the Prince is sure of injustice from the Company's government, sure that all appeals to it will terminate against him, and that even his attempts to oppose the encroachments of the agent will be liable to such constructions, as may induce the Company's servants to plunge him into the lowest state of oppression and degradation; and, 3dly, That this state of "meanness and depravity" is the ordinary state of a zemindar. †

* Minute in Council of the Governor-General on the 12th of June, 1775.

+ Mr. Barwell even went so far, as to record it in his minute as his opinion and desire, that the Rajah should be exempt even from tribute, and rendered in all respects an independent Sovereign. His words are these; "The independence of Gauzeepore (the Rajah's country) on Oude, is a great political object, and ought to be insisted on; and whatever may be resolved respecting the revenue paid by the Rajah of that country, the English government ought not to stand in the same relation to it as the late Vizir, because the country of Benares and Gauzeepore is a natural barrier to these provinces, and the Rajah should have the strongest tie of interest to support our government, in case of any future rupture with the Subah of Oude.-To make this his interest, he must not be tributary to the English government; for, from the instant he becomes its tributary, from that moment we may expect him to side against us, and, by taking advantage of the troubles and commotions that may arise, attempt to disburthen himself of his pecuniary obligations." Bengal Consultations, 13th Feb. 1775. As a specimen of the changes to which the sentiments of these rulers were liable, compare the words of the Minute of this same Mr. Barwell, not three years and five months afterwards, viz. in his Minute in Council, 9th of July, 1778; "I have long regarded the military establishment of Benares, under the Rajah's native officers, as a defect: I therefore most heartily agree to the present proposal for three disciplined battalions to be kept up and paid by the Rajah, and sincerely hope the Company will direct, that the 4 G

VOL. II.

Book V.

1781.

It was in the end arranged, that the payment of the tribute should be made at Calcutta, a commission being allowed for the additional expense: And Mr. Francis was anxious that the independence of the Rajah should be modified no farther than by an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the English; a condition not practically affecting his government, and conducive no less to his security, than to the dignity of those to whom the compliment was paid.*

Upon these terms the settlement was concluded; and the Rajah continued to pay his tribute with an exactness rarely exemplified in the history of the tributary princes of Hindustan. Unhappily for him, he was not an indifferent spectator of the disputes which agitated the Supreme Council. "It is a fact," says the Governor-General, "that when the unhappy divisions of our government had proceeded to an extremity bordering on civil violence, by the attempt to wrest from me my authority, in the month of June, 1777,† he had deputed a man named Sumboonaut, with an express commission to my opponent; and the man had proceeded as far as Moorshedabad, when, hearing of the change of affairs, he stopped, and the Rajah recalled him." It is somewhat wonderful that a circumstance, no greater than this, should have made so deep an impression upon the mind of the Governor-General, as to be enumerated, after the lapse of years,

whole force of Benares and Gauzeepore, under the Zemindar, be placed upon the same footing as the regular military force of the Presidency." It is to be observed, that the three battalions were a mere pretence. The Rajah was only required to give money; and the battalions were never raised.

* The third paragraph of his Minute in Council, on the 13th of Feb. 1775, was in these words; "The present Rajah of Benares to be confirmed in the Zemindary, which may be perpetuated in the family under a fixed annual tribute, and a fixed fine at each future investiture; the Rajah's authority in his own country to be left full and uncontrouled." And this he further explained in a Minute, dated the 4th of March, in the following words; "In agreeing to the proposed independence of the Rajah of Benares, my meaning was, to adhere strictly to the third paragraph of my Minute of the 13th of February, that the Zemindary may be perpetuated in his family on fixed and unalterable conditions. It is highly for his own advantage, to be considered as a vassal of the Sovereign of these kingdoms, holding a great hereditary fief by a fixed tenure, and acknowledging the Sovereign of Bengal and Bahar to be his lord paramount. Speaking my sentiments without reserve, I must declare, that in settling this article, I look forward to the assertion or acceptance of the sovereignty of these provinces, pleno jure, on the part of his most Gracious Majesty, the King of Great Britain."

+ What he calls the attempt to wrest from him his authority, was his own refusal to obey the appointment of the Company, when Sir John Clavering was nominated to the place of GovernorGeneral, upon the resignation which Mr. Hastings disowned.

The Governor-General's Narrative of the Transactions at Benares, App. No. 1; Second Report of the Select Committee, 1781.

in a laboured apology, among the causes which justified the prosecution of the CHAP. VII. Rajah to his ruin.

bute.

1781.

In the year 1778, the Governor-General proposed, that a requisition should be A requisition made upon the Rajah Cheyte Sing, for the maintenance of three battalions of upon the Rajab for more sepoys estimated at five lacs of rupees per annum, during the continuance of than his trithe war. In settling the terms of the connexion of the Rajah with the Company, in 1775, it had been proposed, for consideration, by the Governor-General, whether the Rajah should not engage to keep a body of 2,000 cavalry constantly on foot, which should be consigned to the service of the Company, receiving an additional pay or gratuity, as often as the public interest should require. But this proposition was rejected by the rest of the Council, even by Mr. Barwell, on the score of its being a mere enhancement of the tribute of the Rajah, under a different name. And the Governor-General then declared, that "it was far from his intention to propose this, or any other article, to be imposed on the Rajah by compulsion; he only proposed it, as an article of speculation." Mr. Francis and Mr. Wheler, in 1778, consented that an aid, to the amount which the Governor-General proposed, should be requested of the Rajah, but demurred as to the right of enforcing any demand beyond that of the stipulated tribute; and Mr. Hastings agreed to reserve the question of right to their superiors.* Professing a strong desire to show his friendship to the Company, the Rajah, as was to be expected, endeavoured to obtain an abatement of the sum; and when he gave his consent to the whole, expressly declared that it was only for a single year. In resentment of these endeavours to limit the amount of the contribution, the Governor-General proposed, that no time should be allowed for the convenience of payment; but the whole should be exacted immediately. "I acquiesce," were the words of Mr. Francis's Minute; though, in my own opinion, it would answer as well to us, and be less distressing to the Rajah, if the subsidy were added in equal proportions to the monthly receipts of the tribute."

766

The Rajah pleaded poverty; and, praying for indulgence in point of time, engaged to make good the total payment in six or seven months. The GovernorGeneral treated the very request as a high offence; and added the following very explanatory words; "I will not conceal from the Board, that I have expected this evasive conduct in the Rajah, having been some time past well

*The expressions in his Minute in Council (9th July, 1778,) are these.... "wishing to avoid the question of right "..... "I wish to leave the decision of future right to our superiors."

1781.

Book V. informed, that he had been advised in this manner to procrastinate the payment of the five lacs, to afford time for the arrival of dispatches from England, which were to bring orders for a total change in this government; and this he was given to expect would produce a repeal of the demand made upon him by the present government." A delay, founded upon the hope that the GovernorGeneral would be stript of power, might sting the mind of the Governor-General, if it was a mind of a particular description; but a delay, founded upon the hope of remission, (even if it had been ascertained to be the fact) would not, by any body, unless he were in the situation of the Governor-General, be regarded as much of a crime. Mr. Francis and Mr. Wheler were over-ruled, and the resident at Benares was commanded immediately to repair to the Rajah, to demand, that in five days the whole of the money should be paid, to denounce to him that a failure in this respect would be treated as equivalent to an absolute refusal, and to abstain from all intercourse with him till further instructions, if the requisition was not obeyed.

A second requisition of the

same sort.

A third, and an aggravated

In the following year, the demand was renewed. The Rajah now more earnestly represented the narrowness of his circumstances; the hardship which was imposed upon him, by so heavy an exaction; his exemption, by the terms of his treaty, from all demands beyond the amount of his tribute, which was most regularly paid; and his express stipulation, annexed to his former payment, that it was not to be for more than a year. The Governor-General replied in terms more imperious and harsh than before; threatening him with military execution, unless he paid immediate and unconditional obedience to the command. The Rajah repeated his remonstrance, in the most earnest, but the most submissive and even suppliant terms. The troops were ordered to march. He was compelled to pay not only the original demand, but 2,000l., as a fine for delay, under the title of expense of the troops employed to coerce him.

In the third year, that is, in 1780, the exaction was renewed; but several requisition of new circumstances were, in this year, annexed to the transaction. The Rajah the same sort. sent his confidential minister to Calcutta, to mollify the Governor-General, by the most submissive expressions of regret for having incurred his displeasure, even by confessions of error and of fault, and by the strongest protestations of a desire to make every possible exertion for the recovery of his favour. This however included not the payment of the five lacs, of which the agent was instructed to use his utmost endeavours to obtain a remission. For the better accomplishment of this object, he was furnished with a secret compliment to the Governor-General, of the amount of two lacs of rupees. At first, as we are told

1781.

by Mr. Hastings, he absolutely refused the present, and assured the agent of the CHAP. VII. Rajah that the contribution must be paid. Afterwards, however, he accepted the present; with a view, as he himself informs us, to apply the money to a peculiar exigency of the public service. Be it so. The money of the Rajah however was tendered, for a purpose which it was impossible to mistake: And that money, with all the obligation which the receipt of it imported, was in fact received. The contribution, nevertheless, was exacted. The remonstrances of the Rajah, and his renewed endeavours to gain a little time, were treated as renewed delinquency; and for these endeavours the Governor-General imposed upon him a mulct or fine of 10,000l.; † and the troops were ordered to march into the Rajah's country, on the same errand, and on the same terms, as in the preceding year.

quisition over

The Rajah again submitted, and the money was again discharged. But these A fourth resubmissions and payments were no longer regarded as enough. An additional and above his burthen was now to be imposed. A resolution was passed in the Supreme Council,

* For the circumstances of this present, see Hastings' Answer to Burke's Eighth Charge; the Eleventh Report of the Select Committee, 1781; and the Minutes of the Evidence taken at the Trial of Warren Hastings. These circumstances are remarkable, and characteristic:. At first, perfect concealment of the transaction: such measures, however, taken, as may if afterwards necessary appear to imply a design of future disclosure: when concealment becomes difficult and hazardous, then disclosure made. The Governor-General, on the 29th of June, offered to apply 23,000l., which, as he described it, appeared to be, though not asserted to be, money of his own, to the support of the detachment under 'Colonel Carnac, destined to act in the country of Scindia: Whether the accommodation was meant to be a loan or a gift did not appear. Of the receipt of this money as a present no intimation was made to the Court of Directors before the 29th of November following; when he only alludes to it, but expressly withholds explanation. Stating the reason of mentioning the matter at all to be a desire of "obviating the false conclusions or purposed misrepresentations" which might be made of his offer to defray the expense of Carnac's detachment, as if that offer were "either an artifice of ostentation, or the effect of corrupt influence," he tells them, " that the money, by whatever means it came into his possession, was not his own; that he had himself no right to it, nor would or could have received it, but for the occasion which prompted him to avail himself of the accidental means which were at that instant afforded him, of accepting and converting it to the property and use of the Company." Even here, he represents his converting it to the use of the Company, as a voluntary favour he conferred upon the Company, when the money was in reality the money of the Company, and when every thing received in presents was theirs. He had given no further explanation up to the end of 1783; and the first knowledge obtained in England of the source whence the money was derived, was drawn from Major Scott by the interrogatories of the Select Committee. See Eleventh Report, p. 7.

+ The payment of this mulct is stated as doubtful, in Burke's Charges; but as it is passed without mention in the Answer, the silence must, in this as in other cases, be taken for confession.

tribute made upon the Ra

jah.