But the objects of ambition are for the few; and
every person who aims at indirect profit, and therefore wants other protection than innocence and law, instead of its rival, becomes its instrument.
every person who aims at indirect profit, and therefore wants other protection than innocence and law, instead of its rival, becomes its instrument.
Edmund Burke
You are perfectly
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 97
sensible that a Parliamentary reform occupies his
thoughts day and night, as an essential member in
this extraordinary project. In his anxious researches
upon this subject, natural instinct, as well as sound
policy, would direct his eyes and settle his choice on
Paul Benfield. Paul Benfield is the grand Parliamentary reformer, the reformer to whom the whole choir of reformers bow, and to whom even the right
honorable gentleman himself must yield the palm:
for what region in the empire, what city, what borough, what county, what tribunal in this kingdom is
not full of his labors? Others have been only speculators; he is the grand practical reformer; and whilst
the Chancellor of the Exchequer pledges in vain the
man and the minister, to increase the provincial
members, Mr. Benfield has auspiciously and practically begun it. Leaving far behind him even Lord
Camelford's generous design of bestowing Old Sarum
on the Bank of England, Mr. Benfield has thrown in
the borough of Cricklade to reinforce the county representation. Net content with this, in order to station a steady phalanx for all future reforms, this public-spirited usurer, amidst his charitable toils for
the relief of India, did not forget the poor, rotten
Constitution of his native country. For her, he did,
not disdain to stoop to the trade of a wholesale upholsterer for this House, --to furnish it, not with the
faded tapestry figures of antiquated merit, such as
decorate, and may reproach, some other houses, but
with real, solid, living patterns of true modern virtue.
Paul Benfield made (reckoning himself) no fewer
than eight members in the last Parliament. What
copious streams of pure blood must he not have trans --
fused into the veins of the present!
VOL. III. 7
? ? ? ? 98 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
But what is even more striking than the real services of this new-imported patriot is his modesty.
As soon as he had conferred this benefit on the Constitution, he withdrew himself from our applause.
He conceived that the duties of a member of Parliament (which with the elect faithful, the true believers, the Islam of Parliamentary reform, are of little or no
merit, perhaps not much better than specious sins)
might be as well attended to in India as in England,
and the means of reformation to Parliament itself be
far better provided. Mr. Benfield was therefore no
sooner elected than he set off for Madras, and defrauded the longing eyes of Parliament. We have
never enjoyed in this House the luxury of beholding
that minion of the human race, and contemplating
that visage which has so long reflected the happiness
of nations.
It was therefore not possible for the minister to
consult personally with this great man. What, then,
was he to do? Through a sagacity that never failed
him in these pursuits, he found out, in Mr. Benfield's
representative, his exact resemblance. A specific
attraction, by which he gravitates towards all such
characters, soon brought our minister into a close
connection with Mr. Benfield's agent and attorney,
that is, with the grand contractor, (whom I name to
honor,) Mr. Richard Atkinson, - a name that will be
well remembered as long as the records of this House,
as long as the records of the British Treasury, as long
as the monumental debt of England, shall endure.
This gentleman, Sir, acts as attorney for Mr. Paul
Benfield. Every one who hears me is well acquainted with the sacred friendship and the steady mutual attachment that subsists between him and the present
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT S DEBTS. 99
minister. As many members as chose to attend in
the first session of this Parliament can best tell their
own feelings at the scenes which were then acted.
How much that honorable gentleman was consulted
in the original frame and fabric of the bill, commonly
called Mr. Pitt's India Bill, is matter only of conjecture, though by no means difficult to divine. But the public was an indignant witness of the ostentation
with which the measure was made his own, and the
authority with which he brought up clause after
clause, to stuff and fatten the rankness of that corrupt act. As fast as the clauses were brought up
to the table, they were accepted. No hesitation, no
discussion. They were received by the new minister, not with approbation, but with implicit submission. The reformation may be estimated by seeing who was the reformer. Paul Benfield's associate and
agent was held up to the world as legislator of Hindostan. But it was necessary to authenticate the
coalition between the men of intrigue in India and
the minister of intrigue in England by a studied
display of the power of this their connecting link.
Every trust, every honor, every distinction, was to be
heaped upon him. He was at once made a Director
of the India Company, made an alderman of London,
and to be made, if ministry could prevail, (and I am
sorry to say how near, how very near, they were prevailing,) representative of the capital of this kingdom. But to secure his services against all risk, he was brought in for a ministerial borough. On his
part, he was not wanting in zeal for the common
cause. His advertisements show his motives, and
the merits upon which he stood. For your minister, this worn-out veteran submitted to enter into the,
? ? ? ? 100 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
dusty field of the London contest; and you all re.
member that in the same virtuous cause he submitted to keep a sort of public office or counting-house,
where the whole business of the last general election was managed. It was openly managed by the
direct agent and attorney of Benfield. It was managed upon Indian principles and for an Indian interest. This was the golden cup of abominations, this the chalice of the fornications of rapine, usury,
and oppression, which was held out by the gorgeous
Eastern harlot, --which so many of the people, so
many of the nobles of this land had drained to the
very dregs. Do you think that no reckoning was to
follow this lewd debauch? that no payment was to
be demanded for this riot of public drunkenness and
national prostitution? Here, you have it here before
you! The principal of the grand election-manager
must be indemnified; accordingly, the claims of Benfield and his crew must be put above all inquiry.
For several years Benfield appeared as the chief
proprietor, as well as the chief agent, director, and
controller of this system of debt. The worthy chairman of the Company has stated the claims of this
single gentleman on the Nabob of Arcot as amounting to five hundred thousand pound. * Possibly at
the time of the chairman's state they might have
been as high. Eight hundred thousand pound had
been mentioned some time before;t and, according
to the practice of shifting the names of creditors
in these transactions, and reducing or raising the
debt itself at pleasure, I think it not impossible that
at one period the name of Benfield might have stood
* Mr. Smith's protest.
t Madras correspondence on this subject.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 101
before those frightful figures. But my best information goes to fix his share no higher than four hundred thousand pounds. By the scheme of the present ministry for adding to the principal twelve per cent
from the year 1777 to the year 1781, four hundred
thousand pounds, that smallest of the sums ever
mentioned for Mr. Benfield, will form a capital of
592,0001. at six per cent. Thus, besides the arrears
of three years, amounting to 106,5001. , (which, as
fast as received, may be legally lent out at twelve
per cent,) Benfield has received, by the ministerial
grant before you, an annuity of 35,5201. a year,
charged on the public revenues.
Our mirror of ministers of finance did not think
this enough for the services of such a friend as Benfield. He found that Lord Macartney, in order to
frighten the Court of Directors from the project of
obliging the Nabob to give soucar security for his
debt, assured them, that, if they should take that
step, Benfield* would infallibly be the soucar, and
would thereby become the entire master of the Carnatic. What Lord Macartney thought sufficient to
deter the very agents and partakers with Benfield in
his iniquities was the inducement to the two right
honorable gentlemen to order this very soucar security to be given, and to recall Benfield to the city of
Madras from the sort of decent exile into which he
had been relegated by Lord Maoartney. You must
therefore consider Benfield as soucar security for
180,0001. a year, which, at twenty-four per cent,
(supposing him contented with that profit,) will,
with the interest of his old debt, produce ail annual
income of 149,5201. a year.
* Appendix, No 6.
? ? ? ? 102 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
Here is a specimen of the new and pure aristocracy created by the right honorable gentleman,* as the support of the crown and Constitution against
the old, corrupt, refractory, natural interests of this
kingdom; and this is the grand counterpoise against
all odious coalitions of these interests. A single
Benfield outweighs them all: a criminal, who long
since ought to have fattened the region kites with his
offal, is by his Majesty's ministers enthroned in the
government of a great kingdom, and enfeoffed with
an estate which in the comparison effaces the splendor of all the nobility of Europe. To bring a little more distinctly into view the true secret of this
dark transaction, I beg you particularly to advert to
the circumstances which I am going to place before
you.
The general corps of creditors, as well as Mr.
Benfield himself, not looking well into futurity, nor
presaging the minister of this day, thought it not
expedient for their common interest that such a
name as his should stand at the head of their list.
It was therefore agreed amongst them that Mr. Benfield should disappear, by making over his debt to Messrs. Taylor, Majendie, and Call, and should in
return be secured by their bond.
The debt thus exonerated of so great a weight of
its odium, and otherwise reduced from its alarming
bulk, the agents thought they might venture to print
a list of the creditors. This was done for the first time
in. the year 1783, during the Duke of Portland's administration. In this list the name of Benfield was not to be seen. To this strong negative testimony
was added the further testimony of the Nabob of Ar* Right Honorable William Pitt.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 103
cot. That prince * (or rather Mr. Benfield for him)
writes to the Court of Directors a letter t full of complaints and accusations against Lord Macartney, conveyed in such terms as were natural for one of Mr. Benfield's habits and education to employ. Amongst
the rest he is made to complain of his Lordship's endeavoring to prevent an intercourse of politeness and
sentiment between him and Mr. Benfield; and to
aggravate the affront, he expressly declares Mr. Benfield's visits to be only on account of respect and of
gratitude, as no pecuniary transaction subsisted be
tween them.
Such, for a considerable space of time, was the outward form of the loan of 1777, in which Mr. Benfield
had no sort of concern. At length intelligence arrived at Madras, that this debt, which had always
been renounced by the Court of Directors, was rather
like to become the subject of something more like a
criminal inquiry than of any patronage or sanction
from Parliament. Every ship brought accounts, one
stronger than the other, of the prevalence of the determined enemies of tile Indian system. The public
revenues became an object desperate to the hopes of
Mr. Benfield; he therefore resolved to fall upon his
associates, and, in violation of that faith which subsists among those who have abandoned all other,
commences a suit in the Mayor's Court against Taylor, Majendie, and Call, for the bond given to him,
when he agreed to disappear for his own benefit as
* Appendix, No. 10.
t Dated 13th October. For further illustration of the style in
which these letters were written, and the principles on which they
proceed, see letters from the Nabob to the Court of Directors, dated
August 16th and September 7th, 1783, delivered by Mr. James Macpherson, minister to the Nabob, January 14, 1784. Appendix, No. 10.
? ? ? ? 104 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
well as that of the common concern. The assignees
of his debt, who little expected the springing of this
mine, even from such an engineer as Mr. Benfield,
after recovering their first alarm, thought it best to
take ground on the real state of the transaction.
They divulged the whole mystery, and were prepared
to plead that they had never received from Mr. Benfield any other consideration for the bond than a transfer, in trust for himself, of his demand on the
Nabob of Arcot. An universal indignation arose
against the perfidy of Mr. Benfield's proceeding; the
event of the suit was looked upon as so certain, that
Benfield was compelled to retreat as precipitately as
he had advanced boldly; he gave up his bond, and
was reinstated in his original demand, to wait the
fortune of other claimants. At that time, and at
Madras, this hope was dull indeed; but at home
another scene was preparing
It was long before any public account of this discovery at Madras had arrived in England, that the present minister and his Board of Control thought fit
to determine on the debt of 1777. The recorded proceedings at this time knew nothing of any debt to Benfield. There was his own testimony, there was
the testimony of the list, there was the testimony of
the Nabob of Arcot, against it. Yet such was the
ministers' feeling of the true secret of this transaction,
that they thought proper, in the teeth of all these testimonies, to give him license to return to Madras. Here the ministers were under some embarrassment.
Confounded between their resolution of rewarding
the good services of Benfield's friends and associates
in England, and the shame of sending that notorious
incendiary to the court of the Nabob of Areot, to re
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT S DEBTS. 105
new his intrigues against the British government, at
the time they authorize his return, they forbid him,
under the severest penalties, from any conversation
with the Nabob or his ministers: that is, they forbid
his communication with the very person on account
of his dealings with whom they permit his return to
that city. To overtop this contradiction, there is not
a word restraining him from the freest intercourse
with the Nabob's second son, the real author of all
that is done in the Nabob's name; who, in conjunction with this very Benfield, has acquired an absolute dominion over that unhappy man, is able to persuade
him to put his signature to whatever paper they
please, and often without any communication of the
contents. This management was detailed to them at
full length by Lord Macartney, and they cannot pretend ignorance of it. *
I believe, after this exposure of facts, no man can
entertain a doubt of the collusion of ministers with
the corrupt interest of the delinquents in India.
Whenever those in authority provide for the interest
of any person, on the real, but concealed state of his
affairs, without regard to his avowed, public, and ostensible pretences, it must be presumed that they are
in confederacy with him, because they act for him on
the same fraudulent principles on which he acts for
himself. It is plain that the ministers were fully apprised of Benfield's real situation, which he had used
means to conceal, whilst concealment answered his
purposes. They were, or the person on whom they
relied was, of the cabinet council of Benfield, in the
very depth of all his mysteries. An honest magistrate compels men to abide by one story. An equi* Appendix, No. 6.
? ? ? ? 106 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. table judge would not hear of the claim of a man who had himself thought proper to renounce it.
With such a judge his shuffling and prevarication would have damned his claims; such a judge never would have known, but in order to animadvert upon, proceedings of that character.
I have thus laid before you, Mr. Speaker, I think
with sufficient clearness, the connection of the ministers with Mr. Atkinson at the general election; I
have laid open to you the connection of Atkinson
with Benfield; I have shown Benfield's employment
of his wealth in creating a Parliamentary interest to
procure a ministerial protection; I have set before
your eyes his large concern in the debt, his practices
to hide that concern from the public eye, and the liberal protection which he has received from the minister. If this chain of circumstances does not lead you necessarily to conclude that the minister has paid
to the avarice of Benfield the services done by Benfield's connections to his ambition, I do not know
anythillg short of the confession of the party that cai
persuade you of his guilt. Clandestine and collusive
practice can only be traced by combination and comparison of circumstances. To reject such combination and comparison is to reject the only means of detecting fraud; it is, indeed, to give it a patent and
free license to cheat with impunity.
I confine myself to the connection of ministers,
mediately or immediately, with only two persons concerned in this debt. How many others, who support
their power and greatness within and without doors,
are concerned originally, or by transfers of these
debts, must be left to general opinion. I refer to the
reports of the Select Committee for the proceedings
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 107
of some of the agents in these affairs, and their attempts, at least, to furnish ministers with the means
of buying General Courts, and even whole Parliaments, in the gross. *
I know that the ministers will think it little less
than acquittal, that they are not charged with having
taken to themselves some part of the money of which
they have made so liberal a donation to their partisans, though the charge may be indisputably fixed upon the corruption of their politics. For my part, I
follow their crimes to that point to which legal presumptions and natural indications lead me, without considering what species of evil motive tends most to
aggravate or to extenuate the guilt of their conduct.
But if I am to speak my private sentiments, I think
that in a thousand cases for one it would be far less
mischievous to the public, and full as little dishonorable to themselves, to be polluted with direct bribery, than thus to become a standing auxiliary to the oppression, usury, and peculation of multitudes, in order to obtain a corrupt support to their power. It is
by brUiui:g, not so often by being bribe(l, that wicked
politicians bring ruin on mankind. Avarice is a rival to the pursuits of many. It finds a multitude
of checks, and many opposers, in every walk of life.
But the objects of ambition are for the few; and
every person who aims at indirect profit, and therefore wants other protection than innocence and law, instead of its rival, becomes its instrument. There is
a natural allegiance and fealty due to this domineering, paramount evil, from all the vassal vices, which acknowledge its superiority, and readily militate under its banners; and it is under that discipline alone
* Sec~nd Report of Select (General Smith's) Committee.
? ? ? ? 108 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
that avarice is able to spread to any considerable extent, or to render itself a general, public mischief.
It is therefore no apology for ministers, that they
have not been bought by the East India delinquents,
but that they have only formed an alliance with them
for screening each other from justice, according to
the exigence of their several necessities. That they
have done so is evident; and the junction of the
power of office in England with the abuse of authority in the East has not only prevented even the appearance of redress to the grievances of India, but I wish it may not be found to have dulled, if not extinguished, the honor, the candor, the generosity, the
good-nature, which used formerly to characterize the
people of England. I confess, I wish that some
more feeling than I have yet observed for the sufferings of our fellow-creatures and fellow-subjects in
that oppressed part of the world had manifested itself in any one quarter of the kingdom, or in ally
one large description of men.
That these oppressions exist is a fact no more denied than it is resented as it ought to be. Much
evil has been done in India under the British authority. What has been done to redress it? We are no
longer surprised at anything. We are above the unlearned and vulgar passion of admiration. But it will
astonish posterity, when they read our opinions in our
actions, that, after years of inquiry, we have found out
that the sole grievance of India consisted in this, that
the servants of the Company there had not profited
enough of their opportunities, nor drained it sufficiently of its treasures,- when they shall hear that
the very first and only important act of a commission
specially named by act of Parliament is, to charge
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 109 upon an undone country, in favor of a handful of men in the humblest ranks of the public service, the enormous sum of perhaps four millions of sterling money.
It is difficult for the most wise and upright government to correct the abuses of remote, delegated power, productive of unmeasured wealth, and protected by
the boldness and strength of the same ill-got riches.
These abuses, full of their own wild native vigor, will
grow and flourish under mere neglect. But where
the supreme authority, not content with winking at
the rapacity of its inferior instruments, is so shameless and corrupt as openly to give bounties and premiums for disobedience to its laws, - when it will not trust to the activity of avarice in the pursuit of its
own gains, -- when it secures public robbery by all
the careful jealousy and attention with which it ought
to protect property from such violence, -the commonwealth then is become totally perverted from its purposes; neither God nor man will long endure it; nor will it long endure itself. In that case, there is an
unnatural infection, a pestilential taint, fermenting in
the constitution of society, which fever and convulsions of some kind or other must throw off, or in
which the vital powers, worsted in an unequal struggle, are pushed back upon themselves, and, by a reversal of their whole functions, fester to gangrene, to death, -and instead of what was but just now the
delight and boast of the creation, there will be cast
out in the face of the sun a bloated, putrid, noisome
carcass, full of stench and poison, an offence, a horror, a. lesson to the world.
In my opinion, we ought not to wait for the fruit
less instruction of calamity to inquire into the abuses
? ? ? ? 110 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
which bring upon us ruin in the worst of its forms,
in the loss of our fame and virtue. But the right
honorable gentleman * says, in answer to all the
powerful arguments of my honorable friend, " that
this inquiry is of a delicate nature, and that the state
will suffer detriment by the exposure of this transaction. " But it is exposed; it is perfectly known in every member, in every particle, and in every way,
except that which may lead to a remedy. He knows
that the papers of correspondence are printed, and
that they are in every hand.
He and delicacy are a rare and a singular coalition. He thinks that to divulge our Indian politics may be highly dangerous. He! the mover, the chairman, the reporter of the Committee of Secrecy! he, that brought forth in the utmost dQtail, in
several vast, printed folios, the most recondite parts of the politics, the military, the revenues of the British empire in India! With six great chopping bastards,* each as lusty as an infant Hercules, this delicate creature blushes at the sight of his new bridegroom, assumes a virgin delicacy; or, to use a more fit, as well as a more poetic comparison, the person so squeamish, so timid, so trembling lest the winds of heaven should visit too roughly, is expanded to broad sunshine, exposed like the sow of imperial augury, lying in the mud with all the prodigies of
her fertility about her, as evidence of her delicate amours,
Triginta capitum fcetus enixa jacebat,
Alba, solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati.
Whilst discovery of the misgovernment of others
led to his own power, it was wise to inquire, it was
* Mr. Dundas. t Six Reports of the Committee of Secrecy.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 111
safe to publish: there was then no delicacy; there was
then no danger. But when his object is obtained,
and in his imitation he has outdone the crimes that
he had reprobated in volumes of reports and in sheets
of bills of pains and penalties, then concealment becomes prudence, and it concerns the safety of the state that we should not know, in a mode of Parliamentary cognizance, what all the world knows but too well, that is, in what manner he chooses to dispose
of the public revenues to the creatures of his politics.
The debate has been long, and as much so on my
part, at least, as on the part of those who have spoken before me. But long as it is, the more material half of the subject has hardly been touched on: that
is, the corrupt and destructive system to which this
debt has been rendered subservient, and which seems
to be pursued with at least as much vigor and regularity as ever. If I considered your ease or my
own, rather than the weight and importance of this
question, I ought to make some apology to you, perhaps some apology to myself, for having detained your attention so long. I know on what ground I
tread. This subject, at one time taken up with so
much fervor and zeal, is no longer a favorite in this
House. The House itself has undergone a great
and signal revolution. To some the subject is strange
and uncouth; to several, harsh and distasteful; to the
relics of the last Parliament it is a matter of fear
and apprehension. It is natural for those who have
seen their friends sink in the tornado which raged
during the late shift of the monsoon, and have hardly
escaped on the planks of the general wreck, it is but
too natural for them, as soon as they make the rocks
and quicksands of their former disasters, to put about
? ? ? ? 112 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. their new-built barks, and, as much as possible, to keep aloof from this perilous lee shore.
But let us do what we please to put India from our thoughts, we can do nothing to separate it from our public interest and our national reputation. Our attempts to banish this importunate duty will only make it return upon us again and again, and every time in a shape more unpleasant than the former.
A government has been fabricated for that gr. -,t: province; the right honorable gentleman says th. , therefore you ought not to examine into its conduct. Heavens! what an argument is this! We are not
to examine into the conduct of the Direction, because it is an old government; we are not to examine into this Board of Control, because it is a new one. Then we are only to examine into the conduct of those who have no conduct to account for. Unfortunately, the basis of this new government has been laid on old, condemned delinquents; and its superstructure is raised out of prosecutors turned into protectors, The event has been such as might be expected. But if
it ]ad been otherwise constituted, had it been constituted even as I wished, and as the mover of this question had planned, the better part of the proposed
establishment was in the publicity of its proceedings,
ill its perpetual responsibility to Parliament. Without this check, what is our government at home, even awed, as every European government is, by an
audience formed of the other states of Europe, by the applause or condemnation of the discerning and critical company before which it acts? But if the scene on the other side of the globe, which tempts, invites, almost compels, to tyranny and rapine, be not inspected with the eye of a severe and unremit
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 113
ting vigilance, shame and destruction must ensue.
For one, the worst event of this day, though it may
deject, shall not break or subdue me. The call upon
us is authoritative. Let who will shrink back, I shall
be found at my post. Baffled, discountenanced, subdued, discredited, as the cause of justice and humanity is, it will be only the dearer to me. Whoever, therefore, shall at any time bring before you anything
towards the relief of our distressed fellow-citizens in India, and towards a subversion of the present most corrupt and oppressive system for its government, in me shall find a weak, I am afraid, but a steady, ear. nest, and faithful assistant.
VOL. nI. a
? ? ? ? APPENDIX.
No. 1.
CLAUSES OF MR PITT'S BILL.
Referred to from p. 17.
Appointing Commissioners to inquire into the Fees, Gratuities, Perquisites, -Emoluments, which are, or have been lately, received in the several Public Offices therein mentioned; to examine into any Abuses which may exist in the same, &c.
AND be it further enacted, that it shall and may
be lawful to and for the said commissioners, or any
two of them, and they are hereby empowered, authorized, and required, to examine upon oath (which
oath they, or any two of them, are hereby authorized
to administer) the several persons, of all descriptions,
belonging to any of the offices or departments before
mentioned, and all other persons whom the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall think fit to examine, touching the business of each office or department, and the fees, gratuities, perquisites, and emoluments taken therein, and touching all other matters and things necessary for the execution of thll powers vested in the said commissioners by this act;
all which persons are hereby required and directed
punctually to attend the said commissioners, at such
time and place as they, or any two of them, shall appoint, and also to observe and execute such orders and directions as the said commissioners, or any two of
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 115
them, shall make or give for the purposes before
mentioned.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall be
and are hereby empowered to examine into any corrupt and fraudulent practices, or other misconduct, committed by any person or persons concerned in the
management of any of the offices or departments
hereinbefore mentioned; and for the better execution of this present act, the said commissioners, or
any two of them, are hereby authorized to meet and
sit, from time to time, in such place or places as they
shall find most convenient, with or without adjournment,
and to send their precept or precepts, under their hands
and seals, for any person or persons whatsoever, and
for such books, papers, writings, or records, as they shall
judge necessary for their information, relating to any
of the offices or departments hereinbefore mentioned; and
all bailiffs, constables, sheriffs, and other his Majesty's
officers, are hereby required to obey and execute such orders and precepts aforesaid as shall be sent to them, or any of them, by the said commissioners, or any two of
them, touching the premises.
No. 2.
Referred to from p. 22.
NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
MR. GEORGE SMITH being asked, Whether the debts
of the Nabob of Arcot have increased since he knew
Madras? he said, Yes, they have. He distinguishes
? ? ? ? 116 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
his debts into two sorts: those contracted before the
year 1766, and those contracted from that year to the
year in which he left Madras. - Being asked, What
he thinks is the original amount of the old debts? ha
said, Between twenty-three and twenty-four lacs of
pagodas, as well as he can recollect. - Being asked,
What was the amount of that debt when he left
Madras? he said, Between four and five lacs of pagodas, as he understood. - Being asked, What was the amount of the new debt when he left Madras? he
said, In November, 1777, that debt amounted, according to the Nabob's own account, and published at Chepauk, his place of residence, to sixty lacs of pagodas, independent of the old debt, on which debt of sixty lacs of pagodas the Nabob did agree to pay an
interest of twelve per cent per annum. - Being asked,
Whether this debt was approved of by the Court of
Directors? he said, He does not know it was. - Being asked, Whether the old debt was recognized by
the Court of Directors? he said, Yes, it has been;
and the Court of Directors have sent out repeated
orders to the President and Council of Madras to enforce its recovery and payment. - Being asked, If the interest upon the new debt is punctually paid? he
said, It was not during his residence at Madras, from
1777 to 1779, in which period he thinks no more thani
five per cent interest was paid, in different dividends
of two and one per cent. - Being asked, What is the
usual course taken by the Nabob concerning the arrears of interest? he said, Not having ever lent him moneys himself, he cannot fully answer as to the
mode of settling the interest with him.
Being asked, Whether he has reason to believe the
sixty lacs of pagodas was all principal money really
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 117
and truly advanced to the Nabob of Arcot, or a fictitious capital, made up of obligations given by him,
where no money or goods were received, or which
was increased by the uniting into it a greater interest
than the twelve per cent expressed to be due on the
capital? he said, He has no reason to believe that
the sum of sixty lacs of pagodas was lent in money
or goods to the Nabob, because that sum he thinks
is of more value than all the money, goods, and chattels in the settlement; but he does not know in what
mode or manner this debt of the Nabob's was incurred
or accumulated. - Being asked, Whether it was not
a general and well-grounded opinion at Madras, that
a great part of this sum was accumulated by obligationls, and was for services performed or to be performed for the Nabob? he said, He has heard that a part of this debt was given for the purposes mentioned in the above question, but he does not know
that it was so. --Being asked, Whether it was the
general opinion of the settlement? he said, He cannot say that it was the general opinion, but it was the
opinion of a considerable part of the settlement. -
Being asked, Whether it was the declared opinion
of those that were concerned in the debt, or those
that were not? he said, It was the opinion of both
parties, at least such of them as he conversed with. -
Being asked, Whether he has reason to believe that
the interest really paid by the Nabob, upon obligations given, or money lent, did not frequently exceed
twelve per cent? he said, Prior to the 1st of August,
1774, he had had reason to believe that a higher interest than twelve per cent was paid by the Nabob on
moneys lent to him; but from and after that period,
when the last act of Parliament took place in India,
? ? ? ? 118 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
he does not know that more than twelve per cent
had been paid by the Nabob, or received from him. Being asked, Whether it is not his opinion that the Nabob has paid more than twelve per cent for money
due since the 1st of August, 1774? he said, He has
heard that he has, but he does not know it. - Being
asked, Whether he has been told so by any considerable and weighty authority, that was like to know? lie said, He has been so informed by persons who he
believes had a very good opportunity of knowing it. -
Being asked, Whether he was ever told so by the Nabob of Arcot himself? he said, He does not recollect that the Nabob of Arcot directly told him so, but
from what he said he did infer that he paid a higher interest than twelve per cent.
Mr. Smith being asked, Whether, in the course of
trade, he ever sold anything to the Nabob of Arcot?
he said, In the year 1775 he did sell to the Nabob of
Arcot pearls to the amount of 32,500 pagodas, for
which the Nabob gave him an order or tankah on the
country of Tanjore, payable in six months, without interest. - Being asked, Whether, at the time he asked the Nabob his price for the pearls, the Nabob beat
down that price, as dealers commonly do? he said,
No; so far from it, he offered him more than he
asked by 1000 pagodas, and which he rejected. --
Being asked, Whether, in settling a transaction of
discount with the Nabob's agent, he was not offbred
a greater discount than 121. per cent? he said, In
discounting a soucar's bill for 180,000 pagodas, the
Nabob's agent did offer him a discount of twentyfour per cent per annum, saying that it was the
usual rate of discount paid by the Nabob; but which
he would not accept of, thinking himself confined by
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 119
the act of Parliament limiting the interest of moneys
to twelve per cent, and accordingly he discounted
the bill at twelve per cent per annum only. - Being
asked, Whether he does not think those offers were
made him because the Nabob thought he was a person of some consequence in the settlement? he said, Being only a private merchant, he apprehends that
the offer was made to him more from its being a
general practice than from any. opinion of his importance.
No. 3.
Referred to from p. 38.
A Bill for the Better Government of the Territorial
Possessions and Dependencies in India.
[ONE OF MR FOX'S INDIA BILLS. ]
AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the Nabob of Arcot, the Rajah of Tanjore,
or any other native protected prince in India, shall,
not assign, mortgage, or pledge any territory or land
whatsoever, or the produce or revenue thereof, to,
ally British subject whatsoever; neither shall; it be
lawful to and for any British subject whatsoever to
take or receive any such assignment, mortgage, or
pledge; and the same are hereby declared to be null
and void; and all payments or deliveries of produce
or revenue, under any such assignment, shall and
may be recovered back, by such native. prince paying
or delivering the same, from the person or persons.
receiving the same, or his or their representatives.
? ? ? ? 120 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. No. 4.
Referred to from pp. 64 and 73.
(COPY. )
27th May, 1782.
Letter from the Committee of Assigned Revenue, to
the President and Select Committee, dated 27th
May, 1782; with Comparative Statement, and Min.
ute thereon.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 97
sensible that a Parliamentary reform occupies his
thoughts day and night, as an essential member in
this extraordinary project. In his anxious researches
upon this subject, natural instinct, as well as sound
policy, would direct his eyes and settle his choice on
Paul Benfield. Paul Benfield is the grand Parliamentary reformer, the reformer to whom the whole choir of reformers bow, and to whom even the right
honorable gentleman himself must yield the palm:
for what region in the empire, what city, what borough, what county, what tribunal in this kingdom is
not full of his labors? Others have been only speculators; he is the grand practical reformer; and whilst
the Chancellor of the Exchequer pledges in vain the
man and the minister, to increase the provincial
members, Mr. Benfield has auspiciously and practically begun it. Leaving far behind him even Lord
Camelford's generous design of bestowing Old Sarum
on the Bank of England, Mr. Benfield has thrown in
the borough of Cricklade to reinforce the county representation. Net content with this, in order to station a steady phalanx for all future reforms, this public-spirited usurer, amidst his charitable toils for
the relief of India, did not forget the poor, rotten
Constitution of his native country. For her, he did,
not disdain to stoop to the trade of a wholesale upholsterer for this House, --to furnish it, not with the
faded tapestry figures of antiquated merit, such as
decorate, and may reproach, some other houses, but
with real, solid, living patterns of true modern virtue.
Paul Benfield made (reckoning himself) no fewer
than eight members in the last Parliament. What
copious streams of pure blood must he not have trans --
fused into the veins of the present!
VOL. III. 7
? ? ? ? 98 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
But what is even more striking than the real services of this new-imported patriot is his modesty.
As soon as he had conferred this benefit on the Constitution, he withdrew himself from our applause.
He conceived that the duties of a member of Parliament (which with the elect faithful, the true believers, the Islam of Parliamentary reform, are of little or no
merit, perhaps not much better than specious sins)
might be as well attended to in India as in England,
and the means of reformation to Parliament itself be
far better provided. Mr. Benfield was therefore no
sooner elected than he set off for Madras, and defrauded the longing eyes of Parliament. We have
never enjoyed in this House the luxury of beholding
that minion of the human race, and contemplating
that visage which has so long reflected the happiness
of nations.
It was therefore not possible for the minister to
consult personally with this great man. What, then,
was he to do? Through a sagacity that never failed
him in these pursuits, he found out, in Mr. Benfield's
representative, his exact resemblance. A specific
attraction, by which he gravitates towards all such
characters, soon brought our minister into a close
connection with Mr. Benfield's agent and attorney,
that is, with the grand contractor, (whom I name to
honor,) Mr. Richard Atkinson, - a name that will be
well remembered as long as the records of this House,
as long as the records of the British Treasury, as long
as the monumental debt of England, shall endure.
This gentleman, Sir, acts as attorney for Mr. Paul
Benfield. Every one who hears me is well acquainted with the sacred friendship and the steady mutual attachment that subsists between him and the present
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT S DEBTS. 99
minister. As many members as chose to attend in
the first session of this Parliament can best tell their
own feelings at the scenes which were then acted.
How much that honorable gentleman was consulted
in the original frame and fabric of the bill, commonly
called Mr. Pitt's India Bill, is matter only of conjecture, though by no means difficult to divine. But the public was an indignant witness of the ostentation
with which the measure was made his own, and the
authority with which he brought up clause after
clause, to stuff and fatten the rankness of that corrupt act. As fast as the clauses were brought up
to the table, they were accepted. No hesitation, no
discussion. They were received by the new minister, not with approbation, but with implicit submission. The reformation may be estimated by seeing who was the reformer. Paul Benfield's associate and
agent was held up to the world as legislator of Hindostan. But it was necessary to authenticate the
coalition between the men of intrigue in India and
the minister of intrigue in England by a studied
display of the power of this their connecting link.
Every trust, every honor, every distinction, was to be
heaped upon him. He was at once made a Director
of the India Company, made an alderman of London,
and to be made, if ministry could prevail, (and I am
sorry to say how near, how very near, they were prevailing,) representative of the capital of this kingdom. But to secure his services against all risk, he was brought in for a ministerial borough. On his
part, he was not wanting in zeal for the common
cause. His advertisements show his motives, and
the merits upon which he stood. For your minister, this worn-out veteran submitted to enter into the,
? ? ? ? 100 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
dusty field of the London contest; and you all re.
member that in the same virtuous cause he submitted to keep a sort of public office or counting-house,
where the whole business of the last general election was managed. It was openly managed by the
direct agent and attorney of Benfield. It was managed upon Indian principles and for an Indian interest. This was the golden cup of abominations, this the chalice of the fornications of rapine, usury,
and oppression, which was held out by the gorgeous
Eastern harlot, --which so many of the people, so
many of the nobles of this land had drained to the
very dregs. Do you think that no reckoning was to
follow this lewd debauch? that no payment was to
be demanded for this riot of public drunkenness and
national prostitution? Here, you have it here before
you! The principal of the grand election-manager
must be indemnified; accordingly, the claims of Benfield and his crew must be put above all inquiry.
For several years Benfield appeared as the chief
proprietor, as well as the chief agent, director, and
controller of this system of debt. The worthy chairman of the Company has stated the claims of this
single gentleman on the Nabob of Arcot as amounting to five hundred thousand pound. * Possibly at
the time of the chairman's state they might have
been as high. Eight hundred thousand pound had
been mentioned some time before;t and, according
to the practice of shifting the names of creditors
in these transactions, and reducing or raising the
debt itself at pleasure, I think it not impossible that
at one period the name of Benfield might have stood
* Mr. Smith's protest.
t Madras correspondence on this subject.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 101
before those frightful figures. But my best information goes to fix his share no higher than four hundred thousand pounds. By the scheme of the present ministry for adding to the principal twelve per cent
from the year 1777 to the year 1781, four hundred
thousand pounds, that smallest of the sums ever
mentioned for Mr. Benfield, will form a capital of
592,0001. at six per cent. Thus, besides the arrears
of three years, amounting to 106,5001. , (which, as
fast as received, may be legally lent out at twelve
per cent,) Benfield has received, by the ministerial
grant before you, an annuity of 35,5201. a year,
charged on the public revenues.
Our mirror of ministers of finance did not think
this enough for the services of such a friend as Benfield. He found that Lord Macartney, in order to
frighten the Court of Directors from the project of
obliging the Nabob to give soucar security for his
debt, assured them, that, if they should take that
step, Benfield* would infallibly be the soucar, and
would thereby become the entire master of the Carnatic. What Lord Macartney thought sufficient to
deter the very agents and partakers with Benfield in
his iniquities was the inducement to the two right
honorable gentlemen to order this very soucar security to be given, and to recall Benfield to the city of
Madras from the sort of decent exile into which he
had been relegated by Lord Maoartney. You must
therefore consider Benfield as soucar security for
180,0001. a year, which, at twenty-four per cent,
(supposing him contented with that profit,) will,
with the interest of his old debt, produce ail annual
income of 149,5201. a year.
* Appendix, No 6.
? ? ? ? 102 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
Here is a specimen of the new and pure aristocracy created by the right honorable gentleman,* as the support of the crown and Constitution against
the old, corrupt, refractory, natural interests of this
kingdom; and this is the grand counterpoise against
all odious coalitions of these interests. A single
Benfield outweighs them all: a criminal, who long
since ought to have fattened the region kites with his
offal, is by his Majesty's ministers enthroned in the
government of a great kingdom, and enfeoffed with
an estate which in the comparison effaces the splendor of all the nobility of Europe. To bring a little more distinctly into view the true secret of this
dark transaction, I beg you particularly to advert to
the circumstances which I am going to place before
you.
The general corps of creditors, as well as Mr.
Benfield himself, not looking well into futurity, nor
presaging the minister of this day, thought it not
expedient for their common interest that such a
name as his should stand at the head of their list.
It was therefore agreed amongst them that Mr. Benfield should disappear, by making over his debt to Messrs. Taylor, Majendie, and Call, and should in
return be secured by their bond.
The debt thus exonerated of so great a weight of
its odium, and otherwise reduced from its alarming
bulk, the agents thought they might venture to print
a list of the creditors. This was done for the first time
in. the year 1783, during the Duke of Portland's administration. In this list the name of Benfield was not to be seen. To this strong negative testimony
was added the further testimony of the Nabob of Ar* Right Honorable William Pitt.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 103
cot. That prince * (or rather Mr. Benfield for him)
writes to the Court of Directors a letter t full of complaints and accusations against Lord Macartney, conveyed in such terms as were natural for one of Mr. Benfield's habits and education to employ. Amongst
the rest he is made to complain of his Lordship's endeavoring to prevent an intercourse of politeness and
sentiment between him and Mr. Benfield; and to
aggravate the affront, he expressly declares Mr. Benfield's visits to be only on account of respect and of
gratitude, as no pecuniary transaction subsisted be
tween them.
Such, for a considerable space of time, was the outward form of the loan of 1777, in which Mr. Benfield
had no sort of concern. At length intelligence arrived at Madras, that this debt, which had always
been renounced by the Court of Directors, was rather
like to become the subject of something more like a
criminal inquiry than of any patronage or sanction
from Parliament. Every ship brought accounts, one
stronger than the other, of the prevalence of the determined enemies of tile Indian system. The public
revenues became an object desperate to the hopes of
Mr. Benfield; he therefore resolved to fall upon his
associates, and, in violation of that faith which subsists among those who have abandoned all other,
commences a suit in the Mayor's Court against Taylor, Majendie, and Call, for the bond given to him,
when he agreed to disappear for his own benefit as
* Appendix, No. 10.
t Dated 13th October. For further illustration of the style in
which these letters were written, and the principles on which they
proceed, see letters from the Nabob to the Court of Directors, dated
August 16th and September 7th, 1783, delivered by Mr. James Macpherson, minister to the Nabob, January 14, 1784. Appendix, No. 10.
? ? ? ? 104 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
well as that of the common concern. The assignees
of his debt, who little expected the springing of this
mine, even from such an engineer as Mr. Benfield,
after recovering their first alarm, thought it best to
take ground on the real state of the transaction.
They divulged the whole mystery, and were prepared
to plead that they had never received from Mr. Benfield any other consideration for the bond than a transfer, in trust for himself, of his demand on the
Nabob of Arcot. An universal indignation arose
against the perfidy of Mr. Benfield's proceeding; the
event of the suit was looked upon as so certain, that
Benfield was compelled to retreat as precipitately as
he had advanced boldly; he gave up his bond, and
was reinstated in his original demand, to wait the
fortune of other claimants. At that time, and at
Madras, this hope was dull indeed; but at home
another scene was preparing
It was long before any public account of this discovery at Madras had arrived in England, that the present minister and his Board of Control thought fit
to determine on the debt of 1777. The recorded proceedings at this time knew nothing of any debt to Benfield. There was his own testimony, there was
the testimony of the list, there was the testimony of
the Nabob of Arcot, against it. Yet such was the
ministers' feeling of the true secret of this transaction,
that they thought proper, in the teeth of all these testimonies, to give him license to return to Madras. Here the ministers were under some embarrassment.
Confounded between their resolution of rewarding
the good services of Benfield's friends and associates
in England, and the shame of sending that notorious
incendiary to the court of the Nabob of Areot, to re
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT S DEBTS. 105
new his intrigues against the British government, at
the time they authorize his return, they forbid him,
under the severest penalties, from any conversation
with the Nabob or his ministers: that is, they forbid
his communication with the very person on account
of his dealings with whom they permit his return to
that city. To overtop this contradiction, there is not
a word restraining him from the freest intercourse
with the Nabob's second son, the real author of all
that is done in the Nabob's name; who, in conjunction with this very Benfield, has acquired an absolute dominion over that unhappy man, is able to persuade
him to put his signature to whatever paper they
please, and often without any communication of the
contents. This management was detailed to them at
full length by Lord Macartney, and they cannot pretend ignorance of it. *
I believe, after this exposure of facts, no man can
entertain a doubt of the collusion of ministers with
the corrupt interest of the delinquents in India.
Whenever those in authority provide for the interest
of any person, on the real, but concealed state of his
affairs, without regard to his avowed, public, and ostensible pretences, it must be presumed that they are
in confederacy with him, because they act for him on
the same fraudulent principles on which he acts for
himself. It is plain that the ministers were fully apprised of Benfield's real situation, which he had used
means to conceal, whilst concealment answered his
purposes. They were, or the person on whom they
relied was, of the cabinet council of Benfield, in the
very depth of all his mysteries. An honest magistrate compels men to abide by one story. An equi* Appendix, No. 6.
? ? ? ? 106 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. table judge would not hear of the claim of a man who had himself thought proper to renounce it.
With such a judge his shuffling and prevarication would have damned his claims; such a judge never would have known, but in order to animadvert upon, proceedings of that character.
I have thus laid before you, Mr. Speaker, I think
with sufficient clearness, the connection of the ministers with Mr. Atkinson at the general election; I
have laid open to you the connection of Atkinson
with Benfield; I have shown Benfield's employment
of his wealth in creating a Parliamentary interest to
procure a ministerial protection; I have set before
your eyes his large concern in the debt, his practices
to hide that concern from the public eye, and the liberal protection which he has received from the minister. If this chain of circumstances does not lead you necessarily to conclude that the minister has paid
to the avarice of Benfield the services done by Benfield's connections to his ambition, I do not know
anythillg short of the confession of the party that cai
persuade you of his guilt. Clandestine and collusive
practice can only be traced by combination and comparison of circumstances. To reject such combination and comparison is to reject the only means of detecting fraud; it is, indeed, to give it a patent and
free license to cheat with impunity.
I confine myself to the connection of ministers,
mediately or immediately, with only two persons concerned in this debt. How many others, who support
their power and greatness within and without doors,
are concerned originally, or by transfers of these
debts, must be left to general opinion. I refer to the
reports of the Select Committee for the proceedings
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 107
of some of the agents in these affairs, and their attempts, at least, to furnish ministers with the means
of buying General Courts, and even whole Parliaments, in the gross. *
I know that the ministers will think it little less
than acquittal, that they are not charged with having
taken to themselves some part of the money of which
they have made so liberal a donation to their partisans, though the charge may be indisputably fixed upon the corruption of their politics. For my part, I
follow their crimes to that point to which legal presumptions and natural indications lead me, without considering what species of evil motive tends most to
aggravate or to extenuate the guilt of their conduct.
But if I am to speak my private sentiments, I think
that in a thousand cases for one it would be far less
mischievous to the public, and full as little dishonorable to themselves, to be polluted with direct bribery, than thus to become a standing auxiliary to the oppression, usury, and peculation of multitudes, in order to obtain a corrupt support to their power. It is
by brUiui:g, not so often by being bribe(l, that wicked
politicians bring ruin on mankind. Avarice is a rival to the pursuits of many. It finds a multitude
of checks, and many opposers, in every walk of life.
But the objects of ambition are for the few; and
every person who aims at indirect profit, and therefore wants other protection than innocence and law, instead of its rival, becomes its instrument. There is
a natural allegiance and fealty due to this domineering, paramount evil, from all the vassal vices, which acknowledge its superiority, and readily militate under its banners; and it is under that discipline alone
* Sec~nd Report of Select (General Smith's) Committee.
? ? ? ? 108 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
that avarice is able to spread to any considerable extent, or to render itself a general, public mischief.
It is therefore no apology for ministers, that they
have not been bought by the East India delinquents,
but that they have only formed an alliance with them
for screening each other from justice, according to
the exigence of their several necessities. That they
have done so is evident; and the junction of the
power of office in England with the abuse of authority in the East has not only prevented even the appearance of redress to the grievances of India, but I wish it may not be found to have dulled, if not extinguished, the honor, the candor, the generosity, the
good-nature, which used formerly to characterize the
people of England. I confess, I wish that some
more feeling than I have yet observed for the sufferings of our fellow-creatures and fellow-subjects in
that oppressed part of the world had manifested itself in any one quarter of the kingdom, or in ally
one large description of men.
That these oppressions exist is a fact no more denied than it is resented as it ought to be. Much
evil has been done in India under the British authority. What has been done to redress it? We are no
longer surprised at anything. We are above the unlearned and vulgar passion of admiration. But it will
astonish posterity, when they read our opinions in our
actions, that, after years of inquiry, we have found out
that the sole grievance of India consisted in this, that
the servants of the Company there had not profited
enough of their opportunities, nor drained it sufficiently of its treasures,- when they shall hear that
the very first and only important act of a commission
specially named by act of Parliament is, to charge
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 109 upon an undone country, in favor of a handful of men in the humblest ranks of the public service, the enormous sum of perhaps four millions of sterling money.
It is difficult for the most wise and upright government to correct the abuses of remote, delegated power, productive of unmeasured wealth, and protected by
the boldness and strength of the same ill-got riches.
These abuses, full of their own wild native vigor, will
grow and flourish under mere neglect. But where
the supreme authority, not content with winking at
the rapacity of its inferior instruments, is so shameless and corrupt as openly to give bounties and premiums for disobedience to its laws, - when it will not trust to the activity of avarice in the pursuit of its
own gains, -- when it secures public robbery by all
the careful jealousy and attention with which it ought
to protect property from such violence, -the commonwealth then is become totally perverted from its purposes; neither God nor man will long endure it; nor will it long endure itself. In that case, there is an
unnatural infection, a pestilential taint, fermenting in
the constitution of society, which fever and convulsions of some kind or other must throw off, or in
which the vital powers, worsted in an unequal struggle, are pushed back upon themselves, and, by a reversal of their whole functions, fester to gangrene, to death, -and instead of what was but just now the
delight and boast of the creation, there will be cast
out in the face of the sun a bloated, putrid, noisome
carcass, full of stench and poison, an offence, a horror, a. lesson to the world.
In my opinion, we ought not to wait for the fruit
less instruction of calamity to inquire into the abuses
? ? ? ? 110 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
which bring upon us ruin in the worst of its forms,
in the loss of our fame and virtue. But the right
honorable gentleman * says, in answer to all the
powerful arguments of my honorable friend, " that
this inquiry is of a delicate nature, and that the state
will suffer detriment by the exposure of this transaction. " But it is exposed; it is perfectly known in every member, in every particle, and in every way,
except that which may lead to a remedy. He knows
that the papers of correspondence are printed, and
that they are in every hand.
He and delicacy are a rare and a singular coalition. He thinks that to divulge our Indian politics may be highly dangerous. He! the mover, the chairman, the reporter of the Committee of Secrecy! he, that brought forth in the utmost dQtail, in
several vast, printed folios, the most recondite parts of the politics, the military, the revenues of the British empire in India! With six great chopping bastards,* each as lusty as an infant Hercules, this delicate creature blushes at the sight of his new bridegroom, assumes a virgin delicacy; or, to use a more fit, as well as a more poetic comparison, the person so squeamish, so timid, so trembling lest the winds of heaven should visit too roughly, is expanded to broad sunshine, exposed like the sow of imperial augury, lying in the mud with all the prodigies of
her fertility about her, as evidence of her delicate amours,
Triginta capitum fcetus enixa jacebat,
Alba, solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati.
Whilst discovery of the misgovernment of others
led to his own power, it was wise to inquire, it was
* Mr. Dundas. t Six Reports of the Committee of Secrecy.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 111
safe to publish: there was then no delicacy; there was
then no danger. But when his object is obtained,
and in his imitation he has outdone the crimes that
he had reprobated in volumes of reports and in sheets
of bills of pains and penalties, then concealment becomes prudence, and it concerns the safety of the state that we should not know, in a mode of Parliamentary cognizance, what all the world knows but too well, that is, in what manner he chooses to dispose
of the public revenues to the creatures of his politics.
The debate has been long, and as much so on my
part, at least, as on the part of those who have spoken before me. But long as it is, the more material half of the subject has hardly been touched on: that
is, the corrupt and destructive system to which this
debt has been rendered subservient, and which seems
to be pursued with at least as much vigor and regularity as ever. If I considered your ease or my
own, rather than the weight and importance of this
question, I ought to make some apology to you, perhaps some apology to myself, for having detained your attention so long. I know on what ground I
tread. This subject, at one time taken up with so
much fervor and zeal, is no longer a favorite in this
House. The House itself has undergone a great
and signal revolution. To some the subject is strange
and uncouth; to several, harsh and distasteful; to the
relics of the last Parliament it is a matter of fear
and apprehension. It is natural for those who have
seen their friends sink in the tornado which raged
during the late shift of the monsoon, and have hardly
escaped on the planks of the general wreck, it is but
too natural for them, as soon as they make the rocks
and quicksands of their former disasters, to put about
? ? ? ? 112 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. their new-built barks, and, as much as possible, to keep aloof from this perilous lee shore.
But let us do what we please to put India from our thoughts, we can do nothing to separate it from our public interest and our national reputation. Our attempts to banish this importunate duty will only make it return upon us again and again, and every time in a shape more unpleasant than the former.
A government has been fabricated for that gr. -,t: province; the right honorable gentleman says th. , therefore you ought not to examine into its conduct. Heavens! what an argument is this! We are not
to examine into the conduct of the Direction, because it is an old government; we are not to examine into this Board of Control, because it is a new one. Then we are only to examine into the conduct of those who have no conduct to account for. Unfortunately, the basis of this new government has been laid on old, condemned delinquents; and its superstructure is raised out of prosecutors turned into protectors, The event has been such as might be expected. But if
it ]ad been otherwise constituted, had it been constituted even as I wished, and as the mover of this question had planned, the better part of the proposed
establishment was in the publicity of its proceedings,
ill its perpetual responsibility to Parliament. Without this check, what is our government at home, even awed, as every European government is, by an
audience formed of the other states of Europe, by the applause or condemnation of the discerning and critical company before which it acts? But if the scene on the other side of the globe, which tempts, invites, almost compels, to tyranny and rapine, be not inspected with the eye of a severe and unremit
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. 113
ting vigilance, shame and destruction must ensue.
For one, the worst event of this day, though it may
deject, shall not break or subdue me. The call upon
us is authoritative. Let who will shrink back, I shall
be found at my post. Baffled, discountenanced, subdued, discredited, as the cause of justice and humanity is, it will be only the dearer to me. Whoever, therefore, shall at any time bring before you anything
towards the relief of our distressed fellow-citizens in India, and towards a subversion of the present most corrupt and oppressive system for its government, in me shall find a weak, I am afraid, but a steady, ear. nest, and faithful assistant.
VOL. nI. a
? ? ? ? APPENDIX.
No. 1.
CLAUSES OF MR PITT'S BILL.
Referred to from p. 17.
Appointing Commissioners to inquire into the Fees, Gratuities, Perquisites, -Emoluments, which are, or have been lately, received in the several Public Offices therein mentioned; to examine into any Abuses which may exist in the same, &c.
AND be it further enacted, that it shall and may
be lawful to and for the said commissioners, or any
two of them, and they are hereby empowered, authorized, and required, to examine upon oath (which
oath they, or any two of them, are hereby authorized
to administer) the several persons, of all descriptions,
belonging to any of the offices or departments before
mentioned, and all other persons whom the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall think fit to examine, touching the business of each office or department, and the fees, gratuities, perquisites, and emoluments taken therein, and touching all other matters and things necessary for the execution of thll powers vested in the said commissioners by this act;
all which persons are hereby required and directed
punctually to attend the said commissioners, at such
time and place as they, or any two of them, shall appoint, and also to observe and execute such orders and directions as the said commissioners, or any two of
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 115
them, shall make or give for the purposes before
mentioned.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that
the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall be
and are hereby empowered to examine into any corrupt and fraudulent practices, or other misconduct, committed by any person or persons concerned in the
management of any of the offices or departments
hereinbefore mentioned; and for the better execution of this present act, the said commissioners, or
any two of them, are hereby authorized to meet and
sit, from time to time, in such place or places as they
shall find most convenient, with or without adjournment,
and to send their precept or precepts, under their hands
and seals, for any person or persons whatsoever, and
for such books, papers, writings, or records, as they shall
judge necessary for their information, relating to any
of the offices or departments hereinbefore mentioned; and
all bailiffs, constables, sheriffs, and other his Majesty's
officers, are hereby required to obey and execute such orders and precepts aforesaid as shall be sent to them, or any of them, by the said commissioners, or any two of
them, touching the premises.
No. 2.
Referred to from p. 22.
NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
MR. GEORGE SMITH being asked, Whether the debts
of the Nabob of Arcot have increased since he knew
Madras? he said, Yes, they have. He distinguishes
? ? ? ? 116 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
his debts into two sorts: those contracted before the
year 1766, and those contracted from that year to the
year in which he left Madras. - Being asked, What
he thinks is the original amount of the old debts? ha
said, Between twenty-three and twenty-four lacs of
pagodas, as well as he can recollect. - Being asked,
What was the amount of that debt when he left
Madras? he said, Between four and five lacs of pagodas, as he understood. - Being asked, What was the amount of the new debt when he left Madras? he
said, In November, 1777, that debt amounted, according to the Nabob's own account, and published at Chepauk, his place of residence, to sixty lacs of pagodas, independent of the old debt, on which debt of sixty lacs of pagodas the Nabob did agree to pay an
interest of twelve per cent per annum. - Being asked,
Whether this debt was approved of by the Court of
Directors? he said, He does not know it was. - Being asked, Whether the old debt was recognized by
the Court of Directors? he said, Yes, it has been;
and the Court of Directors have sent out repeated
orders to the President and Council of Madras to enforce its recovery and payment. - Being asked, If the interest upon the new debt is punctually paid? he
said, It was not during his residence at Madras, from
1777 to 1779, in which period he thinks no more thani
five per cent interest was paid, in different dividends
of two and one per cent. - Being asked, What is the
usual course taken by the Nabob concerning the arrears of interest? he said, Not having ever lent him moneys himself, he cannot fully answer as to the
mode of settling the interest with him.
Being asked, Whether he has reason to believe the
sixty lacs of pagodas was all principal money really
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 117
and truly advanced to the Nabob of Arcot, or a fictitious capital, made up of obligations given by him,
where no money or goods were received, or which
was increased by the uniting into it a greater interest
than the twelve per cent expressed to be due on the
capital? he said, He has no reason to believe that
the sum of sixty lacs of pagodas was lent in money
or goods to the Nabob, because that sum he thinks
is of more value than all the money, goods, and chattels in the settlement; but he does not know in what
mode or manner this debt of the Nabob's was incurred
or accumulated. - Being asked, Whether it was not
a general and well-grounded opinion at Madras, that
a great part of this sum was accumulated by obligationls, and was for services performed or to be performed for the Nabob? he said, He has heard that a part of this debt was given for the purposes mentioned in the above question, but he does not know
that it was so. --Being asked, Whether it was the
general opinion of the settlement? he said, He cannot say that it was the general opinion, but it was the
opinion of a considerable part of the settlement. -
Being asked, Whether it was the declared opinion
of those that were concerned in the debt, or those
that were not? he said, It was the opinion of both
parties, at least such of them as he conversed with. -
Being asked, Whether he has reason to believe that
the interest really paid by the Nabob, upon obligations given, or money lent, did not frequently exceed
twelve per cent? he said, Prior to the 1st of August,
1774, he had had reason to believe that a higher interest than twelve per cent was paid by the Nabob on
moneys lent to him; but from and after that period,
when the last act of Parliament took place in India,
? ? ? ? 118 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS.
he does not know that more than twelve per cent
had been paid by the Nabob, or received from him. Being asked, Whether it is not his opinion that the Nabob has paid more than twelve per cent for money
due since the 1st of August, 1774? he said, He has
heard that he has, but he does not know it. - Being
asked, Whether he has been told so by any considerable and weighty authority, that was like to know? lie said, He has been so informed by persons who he
believes had a very good opportunity of knowing it. -
Being asked, Whether he was ever told so by the Nabob of Arcot himself? he said, He does not recollect that the Nabob of Arcot directly told him so, but
from what he said he did infer that he paid a higher interest than twelve per cent.
Mr. Smith being asked, Whether, in the course of
trade, he ever sold anything to the Nabob of Arcot?
he said, In the year 1775 he did sell to the Nabob of
Arcot pearls to the amount of 32,500 pagodas, for
which the Nabob gave him an order or tankah on the
country of Tanjore, payable in six months, without interest. - Being asked, Whether, at the time he asked the Nabob his price for the pearls, the Nabob beat
down that price, as dealers commonly do? he said,
No; so far from it, he offered him more than he
asked by 1000 pagodas, and which he rejected. --
Being asked, Whether, in settling a transaction of
discount with the Nabob's agent, he was not offbred
a greater discount than 121. per cent? he said, In
discounting a soucar's bill for 180,000 pagodas, the
Nabob's agent did offer him a discount of twentyfour per cent per annum, saying that it was the
usual rate of discount paid by the Nabob; but which
he would not accept of, thinking himself confined by
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 119
the act of Parliament limiting the interest of moneys
to twelve per cent, and accordingly he discounted
the bill at twelve per cent per annum only. - Being
asked, Whether he does not think those offers were
made him because the Nabob thought he was a person of some consequence in the settlement? he said, Being only a private merchant, he apprehends that
the offer was made to him more from its being a
general practice than from any. opinion of his importance.
No. 3.
Referred to from p. 38.
A Bill for the Better Government of the Territorial
Possessions and Dependencies in India.
[ONE OF MR FOX'S INDIA BILLS. ]
AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the Nabob of Arcot, the Rajah of Tanjore,
or any other native protected prince in India, shall,
not assign, mortgage, or pledge any territory or land
whatsoever, or the produce or revenue thereof, to,
ally British subject whatsoever; neither shall; it be
lawful to and for any British subject whatsoever to
take or receive any such assignment, mortgage, or
pledge; and the same are hereby declared to be null
and void; and all payments or deliveries of produce
or revenue, under any such assignment, shall and
may be recovered back, by such native. prince paying
or delivering the same, from the person or persons.
receiving the same, or his or their representatives.
? ? ? ? 120 SPEECH ON THE NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. No. 4.
Referred to from pp. 64 and 73.
(COPY. )
27th May, 1782.
Letter from the Committee of Assigned Revenue, to
the President and Select Committee, dated 27th
May, 1782; with Comparative Statement, and Min.
ute thereon.
