No More Learning

"
The whole style and tenor of these accusations, as
well as the nature of them, rendered Mr. Hastings's
first postponing, and afterwards totally declining, all
denial, or even defence or explanation, very extraordinary. No Governor ought to hear in silence such
? ? ? ? 286 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
charges; and no Court of Directors ought to have
slept upon them.
The Court of Directors were not wholly inattentive
to this business. They condemned his act as it deserved, and they went into the business of his legal right to dissolve the Council. Their opinions seemed
against it, and they gave precise orders against the use of any such power in future. On consulting Mr. Sayer, the Company's counsel, he was of a different opinion with regard to the legal right; but he thought, very properly, that the use of a right, and the manner and purposes for which it was used, ought not to have been separated. What he thought on this occasion appears in his opinion transmitted by the Court of Directors to Mr. Hastings and the Council-General.
" But it was as great a crime to dissolve the Council
upon base and sinister motives as it would be to assume
the power of dissolving, if he had it not. I believe
he is the first governor that ever dissolved a council
inquiring into his behavior, when he was innocent.
Before he could summon three councils and dissolve
them, he had time fully to consider what would be
the result of such conduct, to convince everybody,
beyond a doubt, of his conscious guilt. "
It was a matter but of small consolation to Mr.
Hastings, during the painful interval he describes, to
find that the Company's learned counsel admitted
that he had legal powers of which he made an use
that raised an universal presumption of his guilt.
Other counsel did not think so favorably of the
powers themselves. But this matter was of less consequence, because a great difference of opinion may arise concerning the extent of official powers, even
among men professionally educated, (as in this case
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 287
such a difference did arise,) and well-intentioned
men may take either part. But the use that was
made of it, in systematical contradiction to the Company's orders, has been stated in the Ninth Report, as well as in many of the others made by two of your
committees.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX.
B. No. 1. *
Copy of a Letter from the Governor- General to the
Court of Directors.
To the Honorable the Court of Directors of the
Honorable United East India Company.
FORT WILLIAM, 29th November, 1780.
HONORABLE SIRS,You will be informed by our Consultations of the
26th of June of a very unusual tender which was
made by me to the board on that day, for the purpose of indemnifying the Company for the extraordinary expense which might be incurred by supplying the detachment under the command of Major Camac
in the invasion of the Mahratta dominions, which lay
beyond the district of Gohud, and drawing the attention of Mahdajee Sindia, to whom that country immediately appertained, from General Goddard, while his was employed in the reduction of Bassein, and in
securing the conquests made by your arms in Guzerat. I was desirous to remove the only objection
which has been or could be ostensibly made to the
* As the Appendixes originally printed with the foregoing Reports, and which consist chiefly of official documents, would have
swelled this volume to an enormous size, it has been thought proper
to omit them, with the exception of the first nine numbers of the
Appendix B. to the Eleventh Report, the insertion of which has
been judged necessary for the elucidation of the subject-matter of
that Report.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 289
measure, which I had very much at heart, as may
be easily conceived from the means which I took to
effect it. For the reasons at large which induced me
to propose that diversion, it will be sufficient to refer
to my minute recommending it, and to the letters
received from Gieneral Goddard near the same period
of time. The subject is now become obsolete, and
all the fair hopes which I had built upon the prosecution of the Mahratta war, of its termination in
a speedy, honorable, and advantageous peace, have
been blasted by the dreadful calamities which have
befallen your arms in the dependencies of your Presidency of Fort St. George, and changed the object of' our pursuit from the aggrandizement of your power
to its preservation. My present reason for reverting
to my own conduct on the occasion which I have
mentioned is to obviate the false conclusions or purposed misrepresentations which may be made of it, either as an artifice of ostentation or as the effect of
corrupt influence, by assuring you that the money,
by whatever means it came into your possession, was
not my own, -- that I had myself no right to it,
nor would or could have received it, but for the
occasion which prompted me to avail myself of the
accidental means which were at that instant afforded
me of accepting and converting it to the property and
use of the Company; and with this brief apology I
shall dismiss the subject.
Something of affinity to this anecdote may appear
in the first aspect of another transaction, which I shall
proceed to relate, and of which it is more immediately my duty to inform you.
You will have been advised, by repeated addresses
of this government, of the arrival of an army at CutVOL. VIII. 19
? ? ? ? 290 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
tack, under the command of Chimnajee Boosla, the
second son of Moodajee Boosla, the Rajah of Berar.
The origin and destination of this force have been
largely explained and detailed in the correspondence
of the government of Berar, and in various parts of
our Consultations. The minute relation of these
would exceed the bounds of a letter; I shall therefore confine myself to the principal fact.
About the middle of the last year, a plan of confederacy was formed by the Nabob Nizam Ali Khan, by which it was proposed, that, while the army of the
Mahrattas, under the command of Mahdajee Sindia
and Tuckoojee Hoolkar, was employed to check the
operations of General Goddard inll the West of India,
Hyder Ali Khan should invade the Carnatic, Moodajee Boosla the provinces of Bengal, and he himself the Circars of Rajamundry and Chicacole.
The government of Berar was required to accept
the part assigned it in this combination, and to
march a large body of troops immediately into Bengal. To enforce the request on the part of the ruling member of the Mahratta state, menaces of instant hostility by the combined forces were added by Mahdajee Sindia, Tuckoojee Hoolkar, and Nizam Ali
Khan, in letters written by them to Moodajee Boosla on the occasion. He was not in a state to sus
tail the brunt of so formidable a league, and ostensibly yielded. Such at least was the turn which he
gave to his acquiescence, in his letters to me; and
his subsequent conduct has justified his professions.
I was early and progressively acquainted by him
with the requisition, and with the measures which
were intended to be taken, and which were taken, by
him upon it. The army professedly destined for Ben
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 291
gal marched on the Dusserra of the last year, corresponding with the 7th of October. Instead of taking the direct course to Bahar, which had been pre.
scribed, it proceeded by varied deviations and studied delays to Cuttack, where it arrived late in May
last, having performed a practicable journey of three
months in seven, and concluded it at the instant commencement of the rains, which of course would preclude its operations, and afford the government of
Berar a further interval of five months to provide for
the part which it would then be compelled to choose.
In the mean time letters were continually written
by the Rajah and his minister to this government,
explanatory of their situation and motives, proposing
their mediation and guaranty for a peace and alliance with the Peshwa, and professing, without solicitation on our part, the most friendly disposition towards us, and the most determined resolution to maintain it. Conformably to these assurances, and
the acceptance of a proposal made by Moodajee Boosla to depute his minister to Bengal for the purpose
of negotiating and concluding the proposed treaty of
peace, application had been made to the Peshwa for
credentials to the same effect.
In the mean time the fatal news arrived of the defeat of your army at Conjeveram. It now became
necessary that every other object should give place or
be made subservient to the preservation of the Carnatic; nor would the measures requisite for that end
admit an instant of delay. Peace with the Mahrattas was the first object; to conciliate their alliance,
and that of every other power in natural enmity
with Ilyder Ali, the next. Instant measures were
taken (as our general advices will inform you) to se
? ? ? ? 292 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
cure both these points, and to employ the government of Berar as the channel and instrument of ac.
complishing them. Its army still lay on our borders,
and in distress for a long arrear of pay, not less occasioned by the want of pecuniary funds than a stoppage of communication. An application had been made to us for a supply of money; and the sum
specified for the complete relief of the army was sixteen lacs. We had neither money to spare, nor, ill
the apparent state of that government in its relation
to ours, would it have been either prudent or consistent with our public credit to have afforded it. It
was nevertheless my decided opinion that some aid
should be given,- not less as a necessary relief than
as an indication of confidence, and a return for the
many instances of substantial kindness which we had
within the course of the last two years experienced
from the government of Berar. I had an assurance
that such a proposal would receive the acquiescence
of the board; but I knew that it would not pass
without opposition, and it would have become public,
which might have defeated its purpose. Convinced
of the necessity of the expedient, and assured of the
sincerity of the government of Berar, from evidences
of stronger proof to me than I could make them appear to the other members of the board, I resolved to
adopt it, and take the entire responsibility of it upon
myself. In this mode a less considerable sum would
suffice. I accordingly caused three lacs of rupees to be
delivered to the minister of the Rajah of Berar, resident in Calcutta: he has transmitted it to Cuttack.
Two thirds of this sum I have raised by my own
credit, and shall charge it in my official accounts;
the other third I have supplied from the cash in my
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 293
hands belonging to the Honorable Company. I have
given due notice to Moodajee Boosla of this transaction, and explained it to have been a private act of my own, unknown to the other members of the Council. I have given him expectations of the remainder of the amount required for the arrears of his army,
proportioned to the extent to which he may put it in
my power to propose it as a public gratuity by his
effectual orders for the recall of these troops, or for
their junction with ours.
I hope I shall receive your approbation of what I
have done for your service, and your indulgence for
the length of this narrative, which I could not comprise within a narrower compass.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, obedient,
and humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
? ? ? ? 294 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
B. No. 2.
An Account of 2Money paid into the Company's Treas. ury by the Governor-General, since the Year 1773.
May April CRs. 1774 to 1775. For interest bonds. . . For bills of exchange on the Court. . . 1,43,937
CRs. 2,175
For money refunded by
order of Court, account
General Coote's coinmission. . . . .
* Received 19th May,
Cancelled 30th July, 1774.
1775-1776. For bills of exchange on the Court.
1776-1777. Do.
1777-1778. Do.
1778 - 1779. Do.
1779-1780. Do.
1780-1781. For bills of exchange. 43,000 For deposits. 2,38,715
For interest bonds, at 8 per cent. . . . . 4,75,600 For do. 4 per cent. . . . . 1,66,000
For Durbar charges. 2,32,000 11,55,315
May, 1782. For interest bonds. . . . . . 20,94,725
(Errors excepted. )
JOHN ANNIS,
Auditor of Indian Accounts.
EAST INDIA HOUSE, 11th June, 1783.
35,000
1,80,480 do. do. 1,96,800
do. do. . 1,08,000 do. do. . 1,43,000 do. do. 1,21,600
8,418
1,54,530
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 295
B. No. 3.
To the Honorable the Secret Committee of the
Honorable Court of Directors.
FORT WILLIAM, 22d May, 1782.
HONORABLE SIRS, -
In a letter which I have had the honor to address
you in duplicate, and of which a triplicate accompanies this, dated 20th January, 1782, I informed you
that I had received the offer of a sum of money from
the Nabob Vizier and his ministers to the nominal
amount of ten lacs of Lucknow siccas, and that bills
on the house of Gopaul Doss had been actually given
me for the amount, which I had accepted for the use
of the Honorable Company; and I promised to account with you for the same as soon as it should be
in my power, after the whole sum had come into my
possession. This promise I now perform; and deeming it consistent with the spirit of it, I have added
such other sums as have been occasionally converted
to the Company's property through my means, and
in consequence of the like original destination. Of
the second of these you have been already advised in
a letter which I had the honor to address the Honorable Court of Directors, dated 29th November,
1780. Both this and the third article were paid immediately to the Treasury, by my order to the subtreasurer to receive them on the Company's account, but never passed through my hands. The three
sums for which bonds were granted were in like
manner paid to the Company's Treasury without
passing through my hands; but their appropriation
was not specified. The sum of 58,000 current ru
? ? ? ? 296 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
pees was received while I was on my journey to Benares, and applied as expressed in the account.
As to the manner in which these sums have been
expended, the reference which I have made of it, in
the accompanying account, to the several accounts in
which they are credited, renders any other specifica.
tion of it unnecessary; besides that those accounts
either have or will have received a much stronger authentication than any that I could give to mine. Why these sums were taken by me, - why they
were, except the second, quietly transferred to the
Company's use, - why bonds were taken for the first,
and not for the rest, - might, were this matter to be
exposed to the view of the public, furnish a variety of
conjectures, to which it would be of little use to reply.
Were your Honorable Court to question me upon
these points, I would answer, that the sums were taken for the Company's benefit at times in which the Company very much needed them, -that I either
chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which my memory
could at this distance of time verify, and that I did
not think it worth my care to observe the same means
with the rest. I trust, Honorable Sirs, to your breasts
for a candid interpretation of my actions, and assume
the freedom to add, that i think myself, on such a subject, and on such an occasion, entitled to it.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, most obedient,
and most humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 297
B. No. 4.
An Account of Sums received on the Account of the
Honorable Company by the Governor-General, or
paid to their Treasury by his Order, and applied to
their Service.
1780.
October.
The following sums were paid into
the Treasury, and bonds granted for the same,
in the name of the Governor-General, in
whose possession the bonds remain, with a
declaration upon each indorsed and signed by
him, that he has no claim on the Company for
the amount either of principal or interest, no
part of the latter having been received:
One bond, dated the 1st October,
1780, No. 1539. . . . . . 1,16,000 0 0
One bond, dated the 2d October,
1780, No. 1540. . . . . . 116,000 0 0.
One bond, dated the 23d November, 1780, No. 1354. . . . 1,74,0000 0 0
November.
Paid into the Treasury, and carried to the Governor-General's credit in the
12th page of the Deposits Journal of 1780-81,
mohurs of sorts which had been coined in the
Mint, and produced, as per 358 and 359
pages of the Company's General Journal of
1780 - 81:
Gold mohurs, 12,861 12 11, or
Calcutta siccas. . . . 2,05,788 14 9
Batta, 16 per cent. . . 32,926 3 6
1781. 2,38,715 2 3
30 April.
Paid into the Treasury, and credited
in the 637th page of the Company's General
Journal, as money received from the GovernorGeneral on account of Durbar charges: Sicca rupees. . . . . . 2,00,000 0 0
Batta, 16 per cent. . . . 32,000 0 0 2,32,000 0 0
Carried forward. . . 8,76,715 2 3
? ? ? ? 298 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE. Brought forward. . . 8,76,715 2 3
August.
Received in cash, and employed in
defraying my public disbursements, and credited in the Governor-General's account of Durbar charges for April, 1782. . 6. 58,000 0 0
Produce of the sum mentioned in the
Governor-General's letter to the Honorable
Secret Committee, dated 20th January, 1782,
and credited in the Governor-General's account of Durbar charges for April, 1782. . 10,30,275 1 3
Current rupees. . 19,64,990 3 6
( Errors excepted. )
WARREN HASTINGS.
FORT WILLIAM, 22d May, 1782.
B. No. 5.
I, WILLIAM LARKINS, do make oath and say, that
the letter and account to which this affidavit is affixed were written by me at the request of the Honorable Warren Hastings, Esquire, on the 22d May, 1782, from rough draughts written by himself in my
presence; that the cover of the letter was sealed up
by him in my presence, and was then intended to
have been transmitted to England by the " Lively,"
when that vessel was first ordered for dispatch; and
that it has remained closed until this day, when it
was opened for the express purpose of being accompanied by this affidavit.
So help me God.
WILLIAM LARKINS.
CALCUTTA, 16th December 1782.
Sworn this 16th day of December, 1782, before me,
J. HYDE.
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 299
B. No. 6.
To the Honorable the Secret Committee of the
Honorable Court of Directors.
FORT WILLIAM, 16 December, 1782.
HONORABLE SIRS, --
The dispatch of the " Lively" having been protracted by various causes from time to time, the accompanying address, which was originally designed and
prepared for that dispatch, (no other conveyance
since occurring,) has of course been thus long detained. The delay is of no public consequence; but
it has produced a situation which with respect to
myself I regard as unfortunate, because it exposes
me to the meanest imputation from the occasion
which the late Parliamentary inquiries have since
furnished, but which were unknown when my letter was written, and written in the necessary consequence of a promise made to that effect in a former
letter to your Honorable Committee, dated 20th January last. However, to preclude the possibility of
such reflections from affecting me, I have desired
Mr. Larkins, who was privy to the whole transaction, to affix to the letter his affidavit of the date
in which it was written. I own I feel most sensibly
the mortification of being reduced to the necessity of
using such precautions to guard my reputation from
dishonor. If I had at any time possessed that degree
of confidence from my immediate employers which
they never withheld from the meanest of my predecessors, I should have, disdained to use these attentions. How I have drawn on me a different treatment I know not; it is sufficient that I have not
? ? ? ? 300 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
merited it: and in the course of a service of thirtytwo years, and ten of these employed in maintaining the powers and discharging the duties of the first
office of the British government in India, that HIon
orable Court ought to know whether I possess the
integrity and honor which are the first requisites of
such a station. If I wanted these, they have afforded
me but too powerful incentives to suppress the information which I now convey to them through you, and to appropriate to my own use the sums which I have
already passed to their credit, by the unworthy, and,
pardon me if I add, dangerous, reflections which they
have passed upon me for the first communication of
this kind: and your own experience will suggest to
you, that there are persons who would profit by such
a warning.
Upon the whole of these transactions, which to you,
who are accustomed to view business in an official
and regular light, may appear unprecedented, if not
improper, I have but a few short remarks to suggest
to your consideration.
If I appear in any unfavorable light by these transactions, I resign the common and legal security of
those who commit crimes or errors. I am ready to
answer every particular question that may be put
against myself, upon honor or upon oath.
The sources from which these reliefs to the public
service have come would never have yielded them to
the Company publicly; and the exigencies of your
service (exigencies created by the exposition of your
affairs, and faction in your councils) required those
supplies.
I could have concealed them, had I had a wrong
motive, from yours and the public eye forever; and I
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 301
know that the difficulties to which a spirit of injustice
may subject me for my candor and avowal are greater than any possible inconvenience that could have
attended the concealment, except the dissatisfaction
of my own mind. These difficulties are but a few of
those which I have suffered in your service. The applause of my own breast is my surest reward, and
was the support of my mind in meeting them: your
applause, and that of my country, are my next wish
in life.
I have the honor to be, Honorable Sirs,
Your most faithful, most obedient,
and most humble servant,
WARREN HASTINGS.
B. No. 7.
Extract of the Company's General Letter to Bengal,
dated the 25th January, 1782.
PAR. 127. We have received a letter from our Governor-General, dated the 29th of November, 1780,
relative to an unusual tender and advance of money
made by him to the Council, as entered on your Consultation of the 26th of June, for the purpose of indemnifying the Company from the extraordinary charge which might be incurred by supplying the detachment under the command of Major Camac in the
invasion of the Mabratta dominions, which lay beyond
the district of Gohud, and thereby drawing the attention of Mahdajee Sindia (to whom the country appertained) from General Goddard, while the General was employed in the reduction of Bassein, and in se
? ? ? ? 302 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
curing the conquests made in the Guzerat country;
and also respecting the sum of three lacs of rupees
advanced by the Governor-General for the use of the
army under the command of Chimnajee Boosla without the authority or knowledge of the Council; with the reasons for taking these extraordinary steps under
the circumstances stated in his letter.
128. In regard to the first of these transactions, we
readily conceive, that, in the then state of the Council, the Governor-General might be induced to temporary secrecy respecting the members of the board,
not only because he might be apprehensive of opposition to the proposed application of the money, but,
perhaps, because doubts might have arisen concerning the propriety of appropriating it to the Company's
use on any account; but it does not appear to us that
there could be any real necessity for delaying to communicate to us immediate information of the channel
by which the money came into his possession, with a
complete illustration of the cause or causes of so extraordinary an event.
129. Circumstanced as affairs were at the moment,
it appears that the Governor-General had the measure much at heart, and judged it absolutely necessary. The means proposed of defraying the extra expense were very extraordinary; and the money, as we conceive, must have come into his hands by an unusual channel: and when more complete information
comes before us, we shall give our sentiments fully
upon the whole transaction.
130. In regard to the application of the Company's
money to the army of Chimnajee Boosla by the sole
authority of the Governor-General, he knew that it
was entirely at his own risk, and he has taken the re
? ? ? ? APPENDIX. 303
sponsibility upon himself; nothing but the most urgent necessity could warrant the measure; nor can anything short of full proof of such necessity, and of
the propriety and utility of the extraordinary step
taken on the occasion, entitle the Governor-General
to the approbation of the Court of Directors; and
therefore, as in the former instance relative to the
sum advanced and paid into our Treasury, we must
also for the present suspend our judgment respecting'the money sent to the Berar army, without approving it in the least degree, or proceeding to censure our
Governor-General for this transaction.
B. No. 8.
Extract of Bengal Secret Consultations, the 9th
January, 1781.
THE following letter from the Governor-General
having been circulated, and the request therein made
complied with, an order on the Treasury passed accordingly.
HONORABLE SIR AND SIRS,Having had occasion to disburse the sum of three
lacs of sicca rupees on account of secret services, which
having been advanced from my own private cash, I
request that the same may be repaid to me in the following manner: --A bond to be granted me upon
the terms of the second loan, bearing date from the
1st October, for one lac of sicca rupees; a bond to be
granted me upon the terms of the first loan, bearing
date from the 1st October, for one lac of sicca rupees;
? ? ? ? 304 ELEVENTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE.
a bond to be granted me upon the terms of the first
loan, bearing date from the 2d October, for one lac
of sicca rupees.
I have the honor to be, &c. , &c. ,
(Signed) WARREN HASTINGS.
FORT WILLIAM, 5th January, 1781.
B. No. 9.
An Account of Bonds granted to the Governor - General,
from 1st January, 1779, to 31st May, 1782, with
Interest paid or credited thereon.
When paid into the Sum. Date of Bond. Rate of Interest.
Treasury.
CRs.
23d Nov. , 1780
15th Dec.
15th Jan. , 1781
Do. 1,16,000 2d Do. Do.
Do. 1,16,000 1st Do. 4 per cent.
17th March 50,000 17th Mar. , 1781
8th May, 1782 20,000 15th Sept. , 1781
Do. 15,000 8th Dec. , 1781 Do.
6,76,600
There does not appear to have been any interest paid
on the above bonds to 31st May, 1782, the last accounts received. In the Interest Books, 1780 - 81, the last received, the Governor-General has credit
for interest on the first six to April, 1781, to the
amount of CRs. 21,964 12 8.
(Errors excepted. )
JOHN ANNIS,
Auditor of Indian Accounts.
EAST INDIA HOUSE, 5th June, 1783.
1,74,000 23d Nov. , 1780 at 8 per cent. 69,600 15th Dec. Do.
1,16,000 1st Oct. , 1780
Do.
Do.
8 per cent.
? ? ? ?