in which cafe it would not be diffi- 9 abilitily fhewed uncommon abilities through the courfe of this tal Hyder Aly carried every one of ap During thefe tranfactions, Sujah Doula had increafed his forces to fuch a degree, as to form a confiderable army, , which he au plied himself, with the moft unwearied diligence, to difcipline, and put into a formidable condition. Thefe motions having justly excited the attention of the fecret committee at Bengal, three gentlemen were difpatched to that prince, with directions to make a strict enquiry into the motives of them. This conduct, and the fpirited remonftrances made upon the occafion, produced the defired effect. Sujah Doula confented to disband a great part of his army, and concluded a new treaty with the company. by which he is tied up from ever increafing it beyond a certain ftipu lated number, which will be fufficient to fupport the civil government, without being in any degree formidable: The confequences of this ill-advifed and unfortunate war in the Carnatic, were not confined to the Eat-Indies; the alarm was caught at home, where the distance of the object, and the uncertain knowledge of the danger, having full room to operate upon thei imagi nation, multiplied, as is ufual în fuch cafes, the fears of the people con " entrusted, occafioned great debates, and a continued fucceffion of general courts to be held. The friends and relations of the gentlemen, who already had great appointments in India, and who concerned, in a moft amazing degree. India ftock fell above 60 per cent. in a few days. It was in vain that the directors produced their difpatches from India, and fhewed that the war could not be attended with any real danger, and formed a very confiderable party, that the company had never been in a more flourishing ftate: the epidemical diforder had taken its effect, and must now fpend its force before it could be removed. . In the mean time, the directors thought it neceffary to take fome effectual measures to put a stop to the abufes and mifmanagements which had fo much difgraced the company's government in India, and which had been fo pernicious to its interefts, both there, and at home. To this purpofe itwas thought neceffary, that three gentlemen of character, as well as of great abiHty and experience in the company's affairs in that part of the world, fhould be invested with extraordinary powers, and fent thither under the character of fupervifors, with full authority to examine into, and rectify the concerns of every department, and a full power of control over all their other fervants in India. June 14. Mr. Vanfittart, Mr. Scrafton, and Col. Ford, all of whom had before ferved with reputation, the two firft in a civil, the latter in a military capacity, in that part of the world, were accordingly appointed to this fervice, Londay's Though the bad conduct of the company's fervants in India was not controverted, and the neceffity of fome fuch meafure was generally allowed, yet the mode of it, and the degrees of power with which, the fupervifors were to be £ TOL were of courfe averfe to the fending out of fupervifors. Many others were influenced by different motives to oppose it: with particular objections me had to the gentlemen appointed, others m prin ciple did not think it fafe to truft any man, or body of men, too much power. By this means every inch of the ground was dif puted, new objections were continually ftarted, and no refolution relative to this measure could pafs, without its being first put to the ballot. When the powers to be granted to the fupervifors were at length concluded upon, and the commiffion for that purpofe accordingly paffed, fome unexpected objections made by the ministry, together with an extraordinary propofal, that the company fhould give to a fervant of the crown a principal fhare in the direction of their affairs in India, occafioned a new delay, and prevented for fome time the expediting of this meafure. The directors having confidered the great weight that a naval force would give to their negotiations with the Indian princes, and being fensible of the good effects that it might have produced in the prefent war, had, during the courfe of thefe debates, applied to government for two hips of the line, and fome frigates, to be fent upon that fervice. No direct anfwer was made to this application; but as it was known that Sir John Lindsey [E 3] was was appointed to the command At this court a letter Aug. 11. was read, which had been received the night before from Lord Weymouth, one of the fecretaries of ftate, in which it was faid, "That the commiffion appointing the prefent fupervifors to India, had been taken into confideration by his majesty's fervants, and that it was their opinion, that in fome refpects it was illegal. That he was forry to find, in an anfwer which he had received from the directors, refpecting the appointment of a nayal officer, with full powers to adjust all maritime affairs in India, that they had not totally acceded to it. He now therefore begged of the directors, that they would reconfider the commiffion in general; and that the particular article, of granting unlimited powers to a naval officer, might be laid before the proprie tary at large." In confequence of this letter, a long train of correfpondence, between the miniftry and the directors, upon a fubject with which they were before wholly unacquainted, was now laid before the proprietors. It appeared by the powers, which the former required to be granted to the commanding naval officer, that he was in fact to fuperintend the fupervisors, as well as all the company's political affairs in India. The directors acknowledged, that they were willing to allow the king's naval commander, a certain degree of power, in conjunction with the governor and council of Bengal; but that there were many fufficient reasons which prevented their acquiefcence with the request at large; as well from the danger of entrusting any one perfon with fuch extraordinary powers, as the perpetual opportunity of interference, which would thereby be given to government in all their affairs. At the fame time they informed the proprietors, that the commiffion had already undergone the revifion of council, and had received the fanction of fome of the moft eminent law opinions. in the kingdom, as to the legality of every part of it. A fhort day was then appointed for the holding of another general court, to confider farther of this subject. Aug. 15. At this court another letter was read from the fame minifter, which had been received that morning. In this he acquainted the court, that by the answer which he had received to his laft, he imagined that they had in fome degree mifunderftood him; that it never had been his idea to inveft a naval officer with plenipotentiary powers, at large; that he only wanted to establish fuch a fhare in the bufinefs of administration, as would be both for the good of the company, and the honour of adminiflration. That as his first letter, with the directors' anfwer, were now to be laid before the proprietors at large, to prevent any future mifunderstanding, he recommended only the difcuffion of the two following points :First, the reconfideration of the commiflion, and next, the degree of authority proper to be invested in a naval officer. To the first of thefe he faid, that as it was a point, on the legality of which there were different opinions among the fervants of the crown, and the council of the company, he would not pretend to fpeak on it; but in regard to the fecond, as government, at the request of the company, in the 11th article of the laft definitive treaty of peace with France, made conditions with feveral princes in India, it highly refpected their honour, and that an officer of theirs fhould be the principal agent in all matters of fenfive and defenfive. The defigns of the miniftry were now too obvious to be mistaken, and too alarming not to be oppofed with vigour. The directors obferved to the court, that this requifition was a matter, which af fected the confequence and fafety, of the company in the highest degree; that it was not therefore to be haftily decided, but required the most ferious deliberation, and the cooleft difcuffion; that the court fhould be accordingly adjourned, and fufficient time given to every proprietor, before the next meeting, to revolve the matter fully in his mind; to confult the charters, and enquire into the privileges of the company; to confi der well, whether any, or what part of their rights might be given up, and that in their conceffions to government they did not endanger their own fafety: that it was hoped, they would pay the greatest attention to thefe points; for that their affairs were never in a more critical fituation, nor the honour of the company more. deeply concerned.. A confiderable time was accordingly taken for the confideration of this fubject, and, at the enfuing general, Aug. 30. court, great debates arose upon it. It was faid, that if authority was given to the king's officers to interfere in the governmental affairs of India, the power of the company, in that part of the world, would from that moment be at an end. That applying to government for affiftance, and at the fame time investing the officers of the crown with independent powers, was in effect furrendering the company's territorial acquifitions in India, to the direction of the king's minifters, the confequences of which might eafily be foreseen. That whenever any conteft fhould arife between the king's fervants and the company's, the event muft be fatal to the company that as it would often be neceflary to employ the one and the other in the fame fervice, fuch contests may very naturally be expected to arife, which had already been the cafe upon many former occafions. That if the company is of itself unable to maintain its territorial acquifitions, it were better to furrender [E +] the the fovereignty to the powers of the country, upon terms advantageous to its commerce, than to be at the mercy of a minister, " It was fhewn, that commerce was of fo tender and delicate a nature, that it could only thrive where it had the most unrestrained liberty, as well as the most perfect fecurity; and that the restraints or exertions of power, though feemingly founded upon falutary principles, had generally proved deftructive to it. The fatal effects of ministerial interference in commercial matters, was exemplified, in the prefent ruinous condition of the French East-India Company; as the great and flourishing flate of that in Holland, was brought to fhew the happy confequences that refulted from a different conducts That the States General were fo well convinced of the im portance of the East India trade, and faw fo clearly into the great national benefits arifing from it, that every territorial, or other ac-' quifition of the company in India, was confidered by that wife body as a national one. That they fupported it at all events, and rifqued the most dangerous wars upon its account; that in the greatest exigencies of the fate, the compa ny's property, at home or abroad, was held as facred as any man's private property; and that the full yearly profits arifing from their trade or revenue in India, were fairly divided among the proprietors, even when they amounted fo high as 75 per cent. That, in the prefentscafe, the demands of go vernment role in proportion to the facility with which ill-judged conceffions had already been obtained; that the granting of an annual fum which exceeded their whole dividend, without a renewal of their charter, or any adequate con fideration being given, might have been deemed a fufficient gratifica tion for the prefent, and did not deferve to be immediately fucceed ed by an attempt that truck at their very existence. On the other hand, it was faid, that officers bearing the king's commiffion, would add dignity to the negociations that might be fet on foot for etablishing peace in India; that the powers of the couns try being fovereigns themfelves would more readily liften to propofitions, fanctified by the name of a great king, than coming only from a delegated company of ment chants, to whom the neceffity of fubmiffion must ever be hateful that fuch fubmiffion could, from the nature of things, be only tem porary for it was folly tos fuput pofe, that millions of reasonable beings, would endure the yoke of a handful of rapacious individuals, longer than they could unite to destroy them. That if government did not difcover, by a fpirited interpofition, a timely difpofition to grant the territorial acquifitions in India, the most powerful affiftance and protection, thefe important ac quifitions would be loft to the nation, and all the immenfe advantages to be expected from them, facrificed to the humour of a few interefted and turbulent perfons, who, by the moft unjust proceed ings, had raised themfelves into confequence, and who, to maintain) it, would traffick away the greatest national advantages. That the mifconduct of the company's fer vants in India' was univerfally al lowed; and that if it had admitted before |