revenue for ever. The 16th of Auguft, the treaty between Shujah Dowla and the Company was concluded, to which the King alfo fet his feal. The 19th, an inftrument was executed to the King, in the name of the nabob Najim ul Dowla, for a yearly tribute of twenty-fix lacks of rupees, to be paid into the royal treafury, for his holding the fubahfhip of Bengal. The Company became guarantees for their nabob, and agreed with him for an annual fum, for the expences of his household, that he might have no occafion to interfere in collecting the revenues of the provinces to be governed in his name. The King then figned a firmaun, for the payment of Lord Clive's jagheer for ten years, with reverfion to the Company. General Carnac having declined accepting any prefent from the King, his Majelly wrote a letter to the Committee, defiring the General might be permitted to receive two lacks as a teftimony of his favour. Lord Clive and General Carnac returned to Calcutta, and the 7th of September the Committee exprefs their high approbation of the meafures they had purfued to stop the effufion of human blood, and for obtaining fo extraordinary an acquifition of revenue and influence to the Company. The 30th of September Lord Clive writes the Court of Directors this account of their fuccefs: "Your revenues, by means of this new acquifition, will, as near as I can judge, not fall fhort for the enfuing year of 250 lacks. Hereafter they will at least amount to 20 or 30 lacks more. The nabob's allowances are reduced to 42 lacks, and the tribute to the King is fixed at 26, and your civil and military expences in time of peace, can never exceed 60 lacks, fo that there will be remaining a clear gain to the Company of 122 lacks or one million fix hundred and fifty thousand nine hundred pounds fierling a year. "What I have given you is a real, not an imaginary state of your revenues, and you may be fure they will not fall short of my computation. "The affiflance which the Great Mogul had received from your arms and treasury, made him readily beftow this grant upon the Company, and it is done in the most effectual manner you can defire. "The allowance for the fupport of the nabob's dignity and power, and the tribute to his Majefty, must be regularly paid; the remainder belongs to the Company. "Revolutions are now no longer to be apprehended; the means of effecting them, will in future be wanting to ambitious muffelmen; nor will your fervants, civil or military, be tempted to foment difturbances, from whence can arise no benefit to themselves.-Restitution, donation money, &c. &c. will be perfectly abolished, as the revenues from whence they ufed to iffue, will be poffeffed by ourselves. "The power of fupervising the provinces, though lodged in us, fhould not, however, in my opinion, be exerted. If we leave the management to the old officers of the government, the Company need not be at the expence of one additional fervant; and though we may fuffer in the, collection, yet we fhall always be able to detect and punish any great offenders, and fhall have the fatisfaction in knowing knowing that the corruption is not among ourselves. By this means alfo the abuses inevitably springing from the exercife of territorial authority, will be effectually obviated; there will fill be a nabob, with an allowance fuitable to his dignity, and the territorial jurif diction will still be in the chiefs of the country, acting under him and the presidency in conjunction, though the revenues will belong to the Company. "Our restoring to Shujah Dowla, the whole of his dominions, proceeds more from the policy of not extending the Company's territorial poffeffions, than the generous principle of attaching him for ever to our intereft by gratitude, though this has been the apparent, and is by many thought to be the real motive. Had we ambitiously attempted to retain the conquered country, experience would foon have proved the impracticability of fuch a plan. The establishment of your army must have been added to your lift, and more chieffhips appointed. Acts of oppreffion and innumerable abuses would have been committed, and at fuch a distance from the prefidency could neither have been prevented or remedied, and muft infallibly have laid the foundation of another war. Our old privileges and poffeffions would have been endangered by every supply we might have been tempted to afford in fupport of the new; and the natives must have finally triumphed in our inability to fuftain the weight of our own ambition. "Confidering the exceffes we have of late years manifefted in our conduct, the Princes of Indoftan will not readily imagine us capable of moderation, nor can we expect they will ever be attached to us by any other motive than fear. No opportunity will ever be neglected, that feems to favour an attempt to extirpate us, though the confequences, while we keep our army complete, muft in the end be more fatal to themselves. Even our young nabob, if left to himself, and a few of his artful flatterers, would purfue the paths of his predeceffors. It is therefore impoffible to truft him with power and be fafe. If you mean to maintain your prefent poffeffions and advantages, the command of the army, and the receipt of the revenue, must be kept in your own hands. "If you allow the nabob to have forces, he will foon raise money; if you allow him a full treafury without forces, he will certainly make use of it to invite the Morattoes or other powers, to invade the country, upon a fuppofition that we fhall not fufpect the part he takes, and that fuccefs will reftore him to the full extent of his fovereignty. "The regulation of the nabob's miniftry, the acquifition of the dewannee, and the honourable terms on which we have conducted a peace with the Vizier of the empire, have placed the dignity and advantages of the English Eaft India Company on a balis more firm than our most fanguine wishes could a few months ago have fuggefted. These however alone will not enfure your stability; these are but the out-works which guard you from your natural enemies,-the natives of the country: all is not fafe; danger still subsists from more formidable enemies. within ;-luxury, corruption, avarice, rapacity; thefe must be extirpated or they will deftroy us, for we cannot expecti the 280 A fhort History of English Transactions in the Eaft Indiës. the fame caufes which have ruined the greatest kingdoms, fhall have different effects on fuch a flate as ours *" Bengal being thus brought under the dominion of the English, we are prefented with the following view of the power they acquired by this means, and the ufe they made of it: The fervants of the India Company had now in their hands the government of Bengal, Bahar, and Orixa; they retained, it is true, the name of a nabob, but the power was folely their own. In earlier ages it would perhaps have been a matter of great aftonishment, how a few hundred ftrangers fhould poffefs themfelves of fo great and populous a country, and have the entire fuperiority over all the towns and cities in it, fome of them containing as many people as the city of London is fuppofed to do at this day. But the hiftory of later ages takes away all furprize at the fmallness of the means by which this revolution, great as it is, has been brought about. The empire in which it happened was divided within itself, and the caufes which produced thofe divifions, had alfo prepared the inhabitants for becoming a prey to their enemies. Natural plenty and riches had introduced loofenefs of manners, idleness, and a love of pleasure amongst them. Riches, without integrity or abilities, were the recommendations for filling the first offices of the ftate. Avarice laboured for riches, and luxury poured them out on fplendor and pleafure, which became the diftinguishing marks of men of rank and pover; a difinterested regard to their country never appeared in the post of honour, and the fubjects were no further the objects of care to their governors, than as they administered to their wants: and thefe being the wants of avarice and luxury, they were not to be governed by the rules of justice and moderation. The head of the empire demanded exorbitant tribute of the provinces; these, that lay nearest to the court, were moft oppreffed to furnish the fupplies of its luxury-the remoter provinces feared the fate of those that were nearer at hand; the fubahs of thefe availed themfelves of the fears of the people, and flattered them with hopes of a lefs burdenfome government within themselves. The people were excited to purchase new mafters, at the expence of rebellions, in which they were headed by the viceroys or ambitious men in the provinces, who again divided into fresh wars with one another, for the power of governing their followers. Thus were they fituated when the fubjects of England were made parties in their wars.-Conduct gained confidence, and they foon became leaders inftead of allies. They held out the dominions of princes as a reward to their generals and minifters of ftate, to betray their masters in council or in the field. Treachery destroyed all union and confidence, and thus broken and divided as they were, they became fubject to their common enemy, confitting only of a few hundred of his Majefty's troops and the Company's. When the Mogul was glad to purchase the friendship of the India Company's fervants, by granting them the revenues of three great * Lord Clive's letter to the Court of Directors 30th September, 1765. Reports, vol. i. Appendix, No. 73.' and and rich provinces, and when the most powerful prince in the empire chofe rather to throw himself upon their mercy than continue to oppose them at the head of a numerous army, it may easily be conceived with what fubmiffion the defencelefs inhabitants of the country would fubmit to the government of the Company's fervants. And the powers and talents which met together in thofe fervants, were equally adapted to maintain their authority, and to exercise it in the most effectual manner to obtain the general end they had in view-that end was not the lives of the people, but their fortunes. For this they fought; for this they negociated; and as foon as they had discharged the more honourable fervices of the field and the cabinet, they immediately turned their attention to that of traffic, and with a certainty of fuccefs, which no fet of trading men perhaps ever had before.-They were at once fovereigns, legiflators, foldiers, and merchants. As fovereigns they could command abfolute obedience-as legiflators give themfelves exclufive rights-and as foldiers they could ufe the burjaut, and buy and fell by force. And not having the ceremonials of dignity to give any interruption to bufinefs, they united themfelves together in a fociety of trade for their common profit. They had now nothing to do but to hit upon fuch neceffaries of life as the inhabitants could not want, and they were fure of their monev and their jewels. The choice of the articles of trade fell upon falt, beetle nuts, and tobacco.-They were all manageable; they could get the greatest part, if not the whole of them, into their hands; and custom having made these things fe neceffary to the people of the country, they could not exist without them, at least with any degree of health and comfort. Within a few weeks, therefore, after they became mafters of the country, their agents were diftributed to their pofts to deliver out those things to the natives with one hand, and take their money or their goods with the other, and to return all they got into the common ftock of the fociety. Something like this trade had been carried on by many of the Company's fervants, before the provinces were got entirely out of the power of their native governors; but then they only acted as ftragglers paffing through a country, from the main body of a victorious army, taking with them what they could get, with fome degree of fear of their fuperiors. But now the fociety knew no fuch re$ftraint; the Governor and Members of Council were in power, kings and princes, and the agents they empowered to deliver out falt, beetle nut, and tobacco, to their fubjects, were a regular body spread over the country, under no other retraint but that of not wronging their employers. Indeed they were forbid to act in a judicial capa city, or interfere in affairs of government: but they had no occasion to do this, for the fight of an Englishman carried with it more terror and obedience in the natives than the authority of any civil magiftrate, or even the nabob himself, who, it was known, only now held his high station under the favour of the English Company. Bat it was thought more expedient to leave the collection of the Company's revenue to the native officers, in the name of the nabob, than for the fervants of the Company to exact the public taxes themfelves. The French, Dutch, and other Europeans fettled in thefe provinces, might raife a clamour in Europe against paying tribute in India diRev. Oa, 1776. U rectly rectly to the English; this was avoided by retaining the name of the nabob, and prevented the inconvenience which might fooner arise from openly oppreffing the inhabitants in two ways at once. Therefore the black revenue officers were let loose to collect the duties of the dewan, in name for the nabob-in fact for the Company, the nabob being kept at a fixed allowance; and though fomething might be loft to the Company or their fervants by letting the revenue pafs through the hands of the old officers of the government, yet they could be reckoned with at pleasure, and the English had the fatiffaction in knowing this part of the public oppreffions were not directly to be charged against them. This being the mode of conducting the Company's bufinefs, their fervants were at greater liberty to attend to their own. But not forgetting the interest of their employers, they issued an edict that the leafes of lands, now held of the Company, were to termi nate, and the farms let over again at an improved rent. Some of the old tenants were accused of having obtained their leafes by collufion-the remedy was eafy-they had only to make them all void at once. And as to the diftinctions between one man's cafe and another, it was held a right maxim in all ftates, that private convenience muft yield to public expediency; and there were weighty reas fons why the general rule should not be varied in favour of the Company's tenants in Bengal-Their lands would let for more now than the tenants paid by their leafes. The reason of the cafe juftified the determination, and they were let over again to the highest bidder. The motive affigned for this step to the Court of Directors by their Prefident and Select Committee was confiftent-it would prevent any complaints against a monopoly of land.' We next come to an account of the fums received by the Company and their fervants, from the princes, &c. of India; proved and acknowledged to have been received, by reference to the general ftate attefted by the auditor of Indian accounts, annexed to the farther report of the Committee of Secrefy appointed by the House of Commons, Appendix, No. 10. From the net revenues arifing from customs in Bengal, From the territorial revenues, clear of all charges, Gained by Indian goods, Gained by European goods, 235,882 15,763,828 461,658 299,062 £. 16,750,423 Reftitution, or money paid the Company for damages and expences incurred in their wars: By Meer Jaffier in 1757, 1,200,000 By Coffim in 1760, 62,500 By Meer Jaffier on restoring him to the government in 1763, 375,000 By Shujah Dowla on making peace with him in 5839333 L. 2,220,835 Το |