reign of our sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace of God, of
Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, and
in the year of our Lord 1770; between the United Company of Merchants
of England trading to the East Indies, of the one part, and the Right
Honourable Robert Lord Clive, Baron of Plassey, in the kingdom of
Ireland, and Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, of the
other part. Whereas Meer Mahomed Jaffier Cawn, deceased, late Nabob
of the kingdom or province of Bengal, did before his death, in the
presence of three witnesses, (to wit) Najim al Dowla, his son, Lady
Begam, his wife, and Meha Rajah Nuncomar, according to the form and
manner of testamentary acts used in that country, bequeath unto the
said Robert Lord Clive, out of the monies and effects which the said
nabob had in his possession, the sum of three lacks of rupees, 50,000
rupees in money, 50,000 rupees in jewels, and one lack in gold mohurs,
in all five lacks of rupees, as by the contents of the said bequest,
contained in three certificates, made by the aforesaid witnesses, in
the Persian language, and the translations thereof into the English
language, now in the custody of the said Company, may more fully
appear: And whereas, at the time of the said Meer Jaffier's death, the
said Robert Lord Clive was at sea, on his voyage from England to India,
and after his arrival in the province of Bengal, Najim al Dowla, eldest
son of the said Meer Jaffier, did, agreeably to the commands of his
said father, pay to the said Robert Lord Clive the said five lacks of
sicca rupees, of the value of 62,833_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ sterling, which
the said Robert Lord Clive paid into the said East India Company's
treasury at Calcutta, at different times, in the year of our Lord 1766,
and thereupon notes were signed to his Lordship for the same five lacks
of sicca rupees, carrying interest after the rate of 8_l._ per cent.
per annum sterling, until paid: And whereas the said Robert Lord Clive,
being zealous for the prosperity of the said Company, the security of
their territories and territorial revenues in India belonging to them,
and their trade and commerce, which greatly depend on the bravery
and conduct of the said Company's troops, and considering that the
establishment of a provision for such of the officers and private men
employed in the Company's service as should be disabled by age, war,
or disease contracted during their service, would tend to induce fit
persons to enter into the said service, and encourage the bravery of
the soldiery employed therein, hath proposed to the Court of Directors
of the said United Company to appropriate the interest of the said
five lacks of rupees for the support of a certain number of officers,
non-commission officers, and private men, in the service of the said
Company, who from wounds, length of service, or diseases contracted
during their service, were unable or unfit to serve any longer, and
whose fortunes might be too scanty to afford the officers a decent,
and the private men a comfortable, subsistence in their native country;
and also to make some provision for the widows of such officers and
private men, as should have been entitled to the said bounty, or whose
husbands should have lost their lives in the said United Company's
service: And whereas Syf-ul Dowla, the present Nabob of Bengal
aforesaid, hath given to the said United Company the sum of three lacks
of rupees, as an addition to the above-mentioned fund: And whereas the
said three lacks of rupees were carried to account in the said United
Company's treasury, in the month of April, 1767, and the said Company's
note for the said three lacks of sicca rupees, amounting to the sum of
37,700_l._ sterling, carrying interest after the rate of 8_l._ by the
hundred by the year, was issued from the said Company's treasury at
Calcutta, payable to the said Robert Lord Clive: And whereas the said
Robert Lord Clive hath also proposed that the said Court of Directors,
and their successors, shall be perpetual trustees of the said fund of
five lacks of rupees, as well as of the said three lacks of rupees,
for the due application and appropriation of the interest and produce
thereof, which said trust the said Court of Directors have consented
and agreed to accept of: And whereas it has been agreed by and between
the said Robert Lord Clive and the said Court of Directors, that the
said eight lacks of rupees shall, from the 29th day of September,
which was in the year of our Lord 1766, carry interest at and after
the said rate of 8_l._ by the hundred by the year, upon and subject to
the several trusts, conditions, agreements, and provisoes herein-after
mentioned: And whereas the said Robert Lord Clive, in pursuance of
the said agreement, hath delivered up the said cash notes for five
lacks, and three lacks of rupees, to the said Court of Directors, to
be cancelled: Now this Indenture witnesseth, that for the better and
more effectually carrying the aforesaid agreement into execution, it
is hereby mutually covenanted, concluded, declared, and agreed, by and
between the said Robert Lord Clive and the said United Company,[A] that
the said eight lacks of rupees shall remain in the hands or treasury
of the said United Company, who shall yearly, and every year, at their
house or office in Leadenhall Street, London,[B] or in any other house
or place where the business of the said Company shall be transacted and
carried on, pay and allow the sum of 8042_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ of lawful
money of Great Britain, for and in lieu of interest of the said eight
lacks of rupees, being after the rate of 8_l._ by the hundred by the
year, to such persons, in such proportions, and for such purposes,
as are herein-after mentioned of and concerning the same. And it is
further covenanted, concluded, and agreed upon, between the said
parties, that [C]the Court of Directors of the said United Company,
and their successors, shall be perpetual trustees, subject to the
agreements and provisoes herein-after contained, of the said fund of
eight lacks of rupees, for the due application and appropriation of the
interest and produce thereof, from the 29th day of September[D] last
past, to and amongst, and for the relief and maintenance of European
officers and soldiers,[E] who shall become invalids or superannuated
in the said United Company's service, and of their widows, and also
the widows of such officers and soldiers as shall die in the said
United Company's service, in the shares, dividends, and proportions
following; (that is to say,) to all commissioned and staff or warrant
officers,[F] one moiety or half part of the ordinary stated pay they
were respectively entitled to whilst in commission or service; to all
serjeants, corporals, and private men,[G] the like pay as is allowed
and payable to the out-pensioners, of the same ranks or degrees,
belonging to Chelsea Hospital; and to the several widows[H] of all
such officers and soldiers, one quarter or fourth part of the ordinary
stated pay their respective husbands were entitled to when in the
said United Company's service, yearly and every year, during their
several and respective natural lives.[I] But it is declared, that the
provisions hereby intended for such widows shall be paid upon such
certificates and testimonials[J] only as the Court of Directors for
the time being shall think reasonable or necessary to entitle them
thereunto, and shall be payable during their respective widowhoods, but
no longer;[K] and in case of their intermarriages, then such provision
shall from thenceforth cease. Provided always, and it is hereby further
concluded and agreed upon, by and between the said parties, that no
officer or soldier is to be or shall be entitled to any bounty or
provision, under or by virtue of these presents, unless he shall, in
the judgment of the Court of Directors of the said United Company for
the time being,[L] be found disabled by wounds, or rendered incapable
by age or other accidents, and unless he shall produce a certificate
from and under the hand of[M] his commanding officer of his being an
invalid, and rendered incapable of further service in India, together
with an approbation of such certificate by the Governor and Council of
the Presidency where such officer shall have served; but nevertheless,
if any officer or soldier in the said Company's service, residing
or being in England, shall apply to the said Court of Directors
to be admitted to the said bounty or provision, the said Court of
Directors shall admit such officer or soldier thereunto, if they shall
adjudge him to be a proper object of such bounty. Provided also, and
it is hereby further concluded and agreed upon, that the bounty or
provision hereby intended for and in favour of the said officers, is
only to extend to such of them as shall be obliged, through any of
the misfortunes above-mentioned, to return to England in indigent
circumstances; and that all and every such officers applying for such
bounty shall, previous to their becoming entitled thereto, according
to their several ranks or commissions, make oath in the most solemn
manner, before the Governor and Council, to the purport and effect
following; (that is to say,) [N]a colonel shall swear that he, or any
person or persons in trust for him, is or are not seised or possessed
of or entitled unto any real and personal estate, to the amount in
value together of 4,000_l._; a lieutenant-colonel, to the amount in
value of 3,000_l._; a major, to the amount in value of 2,500_l._; a
captain, to the amount in value of 2,000_l._; a lieutenant, to the
amount in value of 1,000_l._; and an ensign or cornet, to the amount
in value of 750_l._ And in case of the death of any officer of the
ranks above mentioned in the said United Company's service, the[O]
widow of every such officer, before she shall be admitted to partake
of the said bounty or pension, shall produce and lay before the Court
of Directors of the said United Company such evidence as to them shall
seem reasonable, that her husband, under whom she derives such claim,
did not die seised or possessed of real and personal estate to the
amount herein-before specified, according to his respective rank in the
said service. Provided nevertheless, and it is further concluded and
agreed upon, that the several persons applying for the benefit of the
said fund or bounty shall be admitted and become entitled thereto,[P]
according to the times of their respective arrivals in England; and in
case [Q]any disputes or differences shall happen or arise, touching or
concerning the qualifications of persons claiming right to pensions
under these presents, or the distribution thereof, or the times of
their being respectively entitled thereto, such differences or disputes
shall, from time to time, be decided and adjusted by the Court of
Directors of the said United Company, and not otherwise.[R] And whereas
the interest due from the said United Company upon the said cash notes
herein-before mentioned amounted, on the 29th day of September last, to
the sum of 24,128_l._, now it is hereby further concluded and agreed,
by and between the said parties to these presents, that the said sum
of 24,128_l._ shall remain in the hands of the said United Company in
India, and shall be deemed and considered as capital, and shall carry
interest from the said 29th day of September last, at and after the
rate of 8_l._ by the hundred by the year, which [S]interest or yearly
produce thereof shall be from time to time paid, disposed of, and
distributed by the Court of Directors of the said United Company for
the time being, in the first place, for the discharging all incident
charges and expenses attending carrying into execution the fund hereby
established, and subject thereto, unto and amongst such objects of
charity, belonging to the said United Company's military service, or
the widows or families of such objects, as the said Court of Directors
shall in their discretion think fit. Provided also, and the said United
Company do hereby covenant, promise, and agree, to and with the said
Robert Lord Clive, his executors, administrators, and assigns, that in
case the said United Company shall at any time hereafter, by any means
whatsoever,[T] otherwise than by the fate of war, be dispossessed or
deprived of, or part with their territorial possessions in Bengal, and
the revenues arising thereby, so that the jaghire granted unto and now
enjoyed by the said Robert Lord Clive shall, during the term agreed
upon between the said United Company and the said Robert Lord Clive
for the continuation thereof, cease to be paid unto his said Lordship,
or his assigns, or in case the said United Company shall, at any time
before the year of our Lord 1784, [U]cease to employ and maintain in
their immediate pay and service a military force in the East Indies,
then and in either of the said cases, the said United Company shall
and will forthwith pay unto the said Robert Lord Clive, his executors,
administrators, or assigns, at their treasury in Calcutta aforesaid,
the full sum of five lacks of sicca rupees, to and for his and
their own proper use and benefit, but subject nevertheless with the
interest of the aforesaid three lacks of rupees, in the proportion the
said respective sums bear to each other, to the payment of all such
pensions and annuities, as shall, at the time either of the aforesaid
contingencies shall happen, be payable out of or chargeable upon the
said trust fund, which said pensions and annuities it is hereby fully
understood and agreed, shall continue to be paid and payable out of
the interest of the said eight lacks of rupees, or such part thereof
as shall be wanting and necessary, during the lives of the several
persons then entitled thereto. And it is hereby further concluded and
agreed upon, between the said parties to these presents, that in case,
at any time after the commencement of the said year of our Lord 1784,
it shall so happen that the said United Company shall have no military
force in their actual pay or service in the East Indies, that then and
in such case the interest and produce of the said trust fund of eight
lacks of rupees shall from thenceforth, from time to time, be applied,
paid, and distributed towards the support, relief, and provision of
marine officers and seamen who shall become invalids or superannuated
in the said United Company's service, and the widows of such of them
as shall die in the said service, during their respective widowhoods
only, in such shares and proportions, in manner and form, as, in case
such event shall happen, shall be concluded and agreed upon between
the said United Company and the said Robert Lord Clive, or his legal
representative or representatives. And lastly, it is hereby expressly
stipulated and agreed, and the said United Company do hereby covenant
with the said Robert Lord Clive, his executors, administrators, and
assigns, that in case it shall happen that the said United Company,
after the commencement of the said year of our Lord 1784,[V] shall
cease to employ a military force in their actual pay and service in the
East Indies, and also ships for carrying on their trade and commerce,
then and in such case, as soon as the said event shall happen, the said
United Company shall and will pay unto the said Robert Lord Clive, his
executors, administrators, or assigns, for his and their own use, at
their treasury in Calcutta aforesaid, the full sum of five lacks of
sicca rupees, but subject nevertheless with the interest of the said
three lacks of rupees, in the proportion the said sums bear to each
other, to the payment of all such pensions and annuities, for the lives
of the persons then entitled thereto only, as shall, at the time such
event shall happen, be payable out of or chargeable upon the said
trust fund, according to the true intent and meaning of these presents.
In witness whereof the said United Company have hereunto affixed their
common seal, and the said Robert Lord Clive hath set his hand and seal,
the day and year first above written.
(Company's Seal.) (L.S.) CLIVE.
Sealed and delivered, being first duly stamped, by the within-named
Robert Lord Clive, in the presence of
Richard Holt,
Thomas Morton.
GENERAL REGULATIONS
FOR TRANSACTING THE BUSINESS OF THE MILITARY FUND.
At a Court of Directors of the East India Company,
_14th January, 1824_.
The Court having had under their consideration the regulations
established for transacting the business of the Military Fund;
resolved, That the following regulations be now established, and that,
for the future, the paymaster do govern himself thereby in conducting
the business of the fund.
1. That every petitioning officer and soldier shall produce a
certificate from his commanding officer of his being an invalid, and
rendered incapable of further service in India, together with an
approbation of such certificate by the Governor and Council of the
Presidency where such officer or soldier shall have served.
2. That every commissioned officer shall previously make oath before
the Governor and Council, _viz._ a colonel, that he, or any person in
trust for him, is not possessed of or entitled to real and personal
estate to the value of 4,000_l._; a lieutenant-colonel, of 3,000_l._;
a major, of 2,500_l._; a captain, of 2,000_l._; a lieutenant, of
1,000_l._; and an ensign, of 750_l._; and shall furnish a declaration,
acknowledging themselves to be acquainted with the resolution of the
Court of Directors, which precludes all officers who are admitted
pensioners on the military fund from returning again to the service.
3. That all commissioned officers and widows of commissioned officers,
admitted on the Fund, shall receive pensions at the rates of infantry
pay, according to the respective ranks of the parties.
4. That all non-commissioned officers and privates shall be paid
according to the rates allowed by resolution of court of the 14th
April, 1819.
5. That all officers shall be entitled from the periods up to which
they may have been paid in India, or from the date of their pay on
furlough ceasing; and all non-commissioned officers and privates, from
the times of their respective debarkations in England.
6. That commissioned officers and their widows shall be paid their
pensions in arrears, and shall receive them at the Company's office in
London only, either in person or by power of attorney, half-yearly, at
Midsummer and at Christmas.
7. That non-commissioned officers and private men shall, immediately
upon admission, be paid in advance, for the remaining number of days of
the current half year; and at the expiration thereof, every succeeding
half year in advance.
8. That non-commissioned officers and private men residing within
twenty-five miles of London, shall be paid at the Company's office in
London, and not otherwise.
9. That such non-commissioned officers and private men as reside at
a greater distance from London, or in Scotland or Ireland, be made
at such times, by such persons, and in such manner, as the Court of
Directors shall from time to time find convenient, in person, and not
otherwise.
10. That non-commissioned officers and private men shall receive on
admission a certificate thereof, signed by the paymaster of this
fund, containing a description of such pensioner, his age, and other
particulars; which certificate the pensioner shall exhibit to the
persons directed to pay them each time of payment, and no pension shall
be paid unless this certificate is produced by the pensioner.
11. That country pensioners shall receive in advance for the first
half year, from Midsummer or Christmas next ensuing the date of their
admission, on producing the above certificate only to the persons
appointed to pay them; but in the months of October, or April after
receiving such first half-yearly payment, every pensioner shall make
two affidavits, of the same tenor and date, before a magistrate,
conformably to the printed instructions he shall receive from the
paymaster of the fund; one of which affidavits must be transmitted to
the said paymaster in London, in the months of October and April in
each year, the other, together with the pensioner's certificate of
admission, must be exhibited to the person that shall be empowered to
pay him.
12. That no pensioner shall be paid in the country, unless the
above-mentioned affidavit has been timely received by the paymaster of
this fund in London.
13. That if a pensioner does not claim his pension in person, or
transmit an affidavit for three half years, he shall be considered as
dead; but if such pensioner shall afterwards furnish satisfactory proof
of his identity to the Court of Directors, he shall be again placed
on the pension list, and be allowed arrears for two years, but for no
longer period.
14. That widows of commissioned officers must lay before the Court
such evidence as to them shall seem reasonable, that their husbands,
under whom they derive their claim, did not die possessed of real and
personal estate to the amount specified in Regulation the second,
according to their respective ranks in the service; and further, that
they had not, at the period of their marriage, property settled upon
them by their husbands, which, together with the property left by the
husband, would exclude them from the benefit of the fund.
15. That widows of commissioned officers be paid in person, or by power
of attorney, at the Company's office in London only.
16. That the widows of officers and soldiers, provided it appears they
were married previous to their husbands becoming pensioners on this
fund, shall receive the pension at the rates fixed by the deed when
this fund was originally instituted.
17. That widows of non-commissioned officers and private men shall
prove their marriage to the satisfaction of the Court of Directors.
18. That widows of non-commissioned officers and private men, residing
within twenty-five miles of London, shall be paid at the Company's
office in London only; and those who live at a greater distance shall
be paid in the same manner, and upon the same half-yearly affidavits,
as the men; and, in either case, they shall receive in person, and not
otherwise.
19. That pensions granted to widows shall continue during their
widowhood, and no longer.
20. That the pensions of commissioned officers and their widows shall
be paid net, without any fee or deduction whatever.
21. That the pensions of such non-commissioned officers and their
widows as receive in person in London, shall be paid net, without any
fee or deduction whatever.
22. That such of the non-commissioned officers and private men, and
such of their widows as are paid in the country, shall each time allow
one shilling to the person that pays them, for his trouble.
23. That in cases of insanity, satisfactory proof be made thereof to
the Court of Directors, and the pension paid to a churchwarden, in
behalf of the parish, towards the pensioner's subsistence.
24. That no pensioner, on their first admission to this fund, shall be
allowed to receive arrears of pension for more than two years back from
the date of their application.
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR THE PENSIONERS ON THE FUND ESTABLISHED FOR RELIEF OF THE HONOURABLE
EAST INDIA COMPANY'S MILITARY, ETC.
All non-commissioned officers and private soldiers admitted pensioners
on the above fund, residing within twenty-five miles of London, must
receive in person at the Company's office there; and such as live
at a greater distance from London than twenty-five miles, as well
as those in Scotland and Ireland, are hereby required and directed,
that early in the months of April and October, every year, they do
apply themselves to one of his Majesty's justices of peace in the
neighbourhood where they reside, and make two affidavits of the
following tenor, and of one date (which affidavits the Court of
Directors of the East India Company request the said magistrate to sign
and date), _viz._:--
"---------------- came before me, one of his Majesty's justices of the
peace for the county of --------, and made oath, that he was admitted
a pensioner on the Military Fund of the Honourable East India Company
the ---- day of -------- 18--; was then aged about -------- years, and
was discharged for ----------------, and now lives in the parish of
--------, in the county of --------.
"_Sworn before me_,
_this_ ---- _day of_ --------, 18--."
One of the two affidavits, drawn according to the above form, sworn
before, dated, and attested by a magistrate, is to be sent by the
general post, directed (until further orders) "To the Paymaster of the
Honourable East-India Company's Military Fund, at the East-India House,
London;" the other affidavit, of the same tenor and date, the pensioner
must keep, to show, together with his certificate of admission, signed
by the paymaster, to the person who shall be empowered to pay him in
the country.
The above-mentioned affidavits must be made and transmitted to London
in April and in October, so as to be received by the Company's
paymaster full two months before the 24th of June and the 25th of
December respectively. They must be drawn on one piece of paper, big
enough to fold up in the form of a letter, and the above direction
wrote on the back thereof, to avoid unnecessary expense of postage.
No pensioner will be paid unless the above-mentioned affidavit has
been timely received, twice a year, by the paymaster of this fund in
London; nor unless the other affidavit of the same date, as well as the
certificate of admission, are produced by the pensioner every time of
payment.
All pensioners are to take particular notice, that neither the whole
nor any part of their pension money will be paid at any time, nor under
any pretence whatever, to any other person or persons than themselves
only; consequently they cannot commission or empower any one to receive
for them; and no receipts, acknowledgments, or assignments for money
any pensioner may borrow on his pension will be discharged, or paid any
regard to, by the paymaster of this fund. But proper care will be taken
that the pensioners themselves shall be regularly paid twice a year,
in whatever part of England, Scotland, or Ireland they may reside,
provided they duly observe the orders and directions contained in the
instructions.
Every pensioner who receives in the country, is to allow one shilling,
each time of payment, to the person he is paid by.
ERRATUM.
The portrait of Lord Clive is by Dance, R.A., and not by Sir Joshua
Reynolds, as is erroneously stated in some of the impressions.
THE END.
LONDON:
Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE,
New-Street. Square.
TRANSCRIBERS NOTE:
In an attempt to make the legal agreement between the Company and Clive
more readable we have stripped out the sidenotes to the agreement and
listed them at the beginning with links to the appropriate area of
the agreement.