Mr. Chancellor Pitt. Mr. Sheridan. Mr. Nath. He stated the grounds upon which he formed thefe opinions, and entered into an examination and difcuffion of feveral parts of the report of the fituation of the Eaft-India Company's affairs which had been laid on the table. He afferted, that the calculations were moftly erroneous; the deductions falfe; and the refult of the whole of fuch as he had touched upon, confequently fallacious. The commutation tax had failed fo greatly in point of productiveness, that inftead of the many hundred thoufand of pounds which the Public were led to believe they fhould receive for what they paid fo dearly for, it had only produced one hundred thousand pounds compenfation, and great part of that was extremely difpu table, whether it was to be afcribed to the operation of that tax, or to any other effect, which he had taught the Public to entertain respecting it. Mr. Chancellor Pitt answered, that the honourable gentleman had greatly mifconceived the report, and declared that, from having combated a report brought in by a right honou rable friend of his (Mr. Grenville) with fome fuccefs, the honourable gentleman feemed to be of opinion, that every report might be handled with equal dexterity; but he had fhewn the reverfe to be the fact. Mr. Pitt appealed to the fenfe of the country in general, whether the commutation tax had not proved gloriously fuccefsful. As the honou rable gentleman had not offered any objection to the motion, but had gone into a detail of matters totally foreign to it, it was unneceffary for him to detain the Houfe with a long argument in reply. Mr. Sheridan contended, that the right honourable gentleman not only mifconceived, but grofly miftated his reafoning; a circunftance which he imputed altogether to the right honourable gentleman's want of capacity on fuch fubjects. The right honourable gentleman's boafting of the commutation tax, and looking round him, and appealing to a few of his own friends for fupport in his affertion, was no proof of the fuccefs of it, or the feeling of the Public respecting it. Let him afk the country, let him inquire without thofe walls; (where he was fure of his majority) let him appeal to the People at large, and afcertain their fense of it, and he would then learn that its unpopularity was equal to its failure in point of produce! Mr. Nathaniel Smith (Deputy Chairman of the Eaft-India Company) obferved, that he felt it his duty to vindicate the Directors from the imputations caft upon them by the honourable gentleman who spoke laft, and he declared that a ftatement of accounts of fuch magnitude, for fo long a period of time, fo complicated in their nature, collected from fo many papers, and frem fuch diftant parts, ought to be be confidered with liberality and candour, and not expofed to the severity of the honourable gentleman's animadverfions. He doubted not, however, but he fhould be able to justify to the fatisfaction of the House, most of those parts. of the report which the honourable gentleman had fo rigoroufly called in queftion. Mr. Smith here went into a detail of the various calculations and statements, the correctness of which had been challenged and difputed by Mr. Sheridan, and applied arguments to maintain what the Directors had ftated in their report. The refolutions were agreed to without a divifion, and the Houfe adjourned. Monday, 12th June. The report of the two refolutions come to in the Committee of Supply, in confequence of the Eaft-India Company's Petition, was brought up by Mr. Rofe; and the refolutions, after having been read a first and second time, were agreed to. Mr. Sheridan remarked, that as occafions might, more Mr. Sherithan once, arife for the investigation of the fubject of the dan. two refolutions just read and agreed to by the House, he would not take up their time by going into it at that moment; but the more he examined the matter, the more fully he was convinced of the fallacy and error of the report upon which the Directors of the Eaft India Company had prefumed to apply to that Houfe for the affiftance which they had defired, Mr. Sheridan stated fome of the particulars, in which he differed altogether from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. One of them was with regard to the fum fent from Bengal to China, in the courfe of the past year, which amounted to no more than 8000l. although, he faid, the right honourable gentleman had conceived, that it amounted to 275,000l. He faid, that he had a motion to make for a paper, to the production of which he conceived the right honourable gentleman could have no fort of objection, as it would give the Houfe a degree of information refpecting the bufinefs which they much wanted. Mr. Sheridan concluded with moving, "that there be laid before "this Houfe, extracts of all letters received by the Court of "Directors of the Eaft-India Company, fince the rft of Ja"nuary last, relating to the probable future amount of the neat furplus revenues of the Company's poffeffions in India, and "alfo of all letters relating to the amount of fums which may "probably be remitted, on the Company's account, from India to China, in the next four years." Mr. Huffey. Mr. Chan Mr. Huffy asked when the bill would be brought in, as he had wished to fay fomething upon the subject, but unfortu nately came into the House too late, the resolutions having been put and agreed to? Mr. Chancellor Pitt faid, the bill would be brought in on cellor Pitt. Wednesday or Thursday. Mr. Hufley. Mr. Wil Mr. Huffey moved, that fuch a number of copies of the three first of the papers which were prefented to the Houfe upon the 31st day of May laft, by Mr. Ramfay (from the Directors of the Eaft-India Company) be printed, as fhall be fufficient for the use of the members of the Houfe. That fuch a number of copies of the propofal, made by the Directors of the Eaft-India Company, for bringing home and paying the Company's Indian bond debt in England, which was prefented to the House, upon Friday laft, by Mr. Morton (from the Directors of the Eaft-India Company) be printed, as fhall be fufficient for the ufe of the members of the House. The motions paffed. Mr. Wilberforce having moved the order of the day, for the berforce. farther confideration of the report of the county-election bill, Mr.Powys. Mr. Fox. Mr. Powys obferved, that he had once imagined he should not again have had occafion to fay a word respecting the bill, the farther confideration of the report upon which had juft been moved for. After having fo frequently delivered his fentiments upon it, he would not then detain the House with any long argument refpecting it; he confidered the bill to be neither more nor lefs than a receipt to make good votes bad, and bad votes good, and, as fuch, he fhould again give it his negative. The Houfe divided, Ayes 32: Noes 10. The House then began to difcufs the various amendments made in the Committee, and when they came to that which was an alteration of the penalty, on falfifying the register from 40l. to 20l. they again attempted to divide, but finding the numbers to be only 29 and 2, they were of neceffity obliged to rife. The Houfe adjourned, Tuesday, 13th June. The order of the day for going into a Committee on the charges against Warren Haftings, efq. having been read, the Speaker left the chair, and Mr. St. Andrew St. John took his feat at the table, Mr. Fox remarked that, as during the time when the Committee were laft affembled, fome cenfures had, at least apparently, been levelled against his right honourable friend, (Mr. Burke) for having introduced a confiderable deal of preliminary preliminary matter, generally allufive to the fubject of the feveral charges, not then under immediate confideration, but, in his mind, extremely pertinent and extremely effential, and as he was convinced, that if cenfure could be at all defervedly imputed to his right honourable friend, on fuch an account, it might with much more foundation and propriety be imputed to him, where he to attempt to take up the time of the Committee, with again going into the difcuffion of any topics not immediately connected with the fubject to which he meant that day to call their attention; he therefore would make no preliminary obfervations whatever, but proceed directly to the matter upon which he meant to found the motion, which he fhould have the honour to offer to the Committee, viz. to the third charge; to that relative to the conduct of Mr. Haftings refpecting Benares. The Committee, he trusted, as well from the preliminary remarks and arguments of his right honourable friend, as from what had paffed within thofe walls, were fo far familiar with the fubject of all the charges, that he should find it no very difficult task to make them perfectly mafters of the facts to which he meant to draw their attention. He would begin with the year 1770, in which Bulwant Sing, the Prince, or Zemindar of the province of Benares, died, and the Presidency of Calcutta interfered through the medium of Captain Harper, to procure a confirmation of the fucceffion to his fon, Cheit Sing, and an agreement was entered into between that Rajah and the Vizier Nabob of Oude, of whom he purchased, for valuable confiderations, his right and inheritance in his Zemindary, or by whatever other name it might be called.When Mr. Haftings came over as Prefident of the Supreme Council of Calcutta, he found Cheit Sing in poffeffion, and in 1773, in the month of October, he was, by a funnud granted to him by Shujah Dowlah, obtained by the inftance of Mr. Haftings, acknowledged Zemindar of the province. In 1774, the Governor General and Council appointed by act of parliament, obtained the fovereignty paramount of the government of the province of Benares; and to obviate any mifconftruction of the Treaty, with regard to the tenure of the Rajah of Benares, Mr. Haftings himself propofed at the Board, that whatever provifion might in the faid treaty be made for the intereft of the Company, the fame fhould be "without an encroachment on the rights of "the Rajah, or the engagements actually fubfifting with "him." On the transfer of the fovereignty, Mr. Haftings propofed a new grant to be conveyed in new inftruments to the Rajah Cheit Sing, conferring upon him farther privileges; and these were the addition of the fovereign right of the Mint, and of the right of criminal juftice of life and death, 68 death, Mr. Haftings propofing the refolution for that purpose in Council, in which were thefe words, "That the perpetual and independent poffeffion of the Zemindary of Benares, "and its dependencies, be confirmed and guaranteed to the Rajah Cheit Sing and his heirs for ever, fubject only to "the annual payment of the revenue hitherto paid to the "late Vizier, &c. That no other demand be made on him, either by the Nabob of Oude, or this Government." This Refolution clearly established the independency of Cheit Sing, and fhewed it was the aim of Mr. Haflings to make him independent. Mr. Fox alfo read farther in confirmation of this, the following article of the treaty propofed by Mr. Haftings, on the 5th of July 1775. "That while the Rajah fhall continue faithful to thefe engagements, and "punctual in his payments, and fhall pay due obedience to "the authority of this Government, no more demands shall "be made upon him of any kind; nor on any pretence what"foever, fhail any perfon be allowed to interfere with his "authority, or to disturb the peace of his country." Which article was by the other Members of the Council affented to. The Committee would, therefore, pleafe particularly to carry in their mind, that Cheit Sing had been declared independent, on the exprefs inftance of Mr. Haftings, that it was actually ftipulated, that no more demands fhould be made upon him, befides his annual tribute, and that the ftipulation might be the more clear and intelligible, the words of any kind had been added. And yet, fhortly after the deaths of Sir John Clavering and Mr. Monfon, Mr. Haftings, without any previous general communication with the Board, by a minute of confultation, made an extraordinary demand on the Rajah of five lacks of rupees. Exorbitant, indeed, was this demand, and incompatible with the ftipulated terms of the Rajah's being declared independent in 1774! How were the words no more demands of any kind, to be interpreted? And by what principle of conftruction was the meaning of the ftipulation to be made to bear out this? The demand, however, was made, and the Rajah murmured at it, and begged that he might be permitted to pay it by installments, and with his quarterly payments, but Mr. Haftings peremp torily infifted on its being paid by a certain day, when it was accordingly paid, though on the exprefs condition that the exaction fhould continue but for one year, and should not be drawn into precedent. Notwithstanding this, the fame demand was repeated a fecond year, and after fome fruitless murmuring and complaint on the part of the Rajah, paid; a third year a like demand was made, and in like manner fatisfied. Various and extraordinary were the circumstances of vexation and defpotifm, under which these feveral de mands |