framed by parliament, came into operation. The new council appointed
at Calcutta were General Clavering, and Messrs. Monson, Francis,
and Barwell; and Hastings was at their head with the rank of
Governor-general of Bengal. At the first meeting of this new council a
letter was read from the court of directors, which inculcated unanimity
and concord among its members; required them to do all in their power to
preserve peace in India; committed to Hastings the charge of carrying on
all correspondence with the native powers, the council at the same time
being privileged to peruse all letters; recommended a careful revision
of all the company’s affairs, alliances, connexions, &c., with the Indian
states in the neighbourhood of the three presidencies; and exhorted them
to be careful and cautious in the extreme in committing themselves
by any alliances or compacts with either the Indians or the European
settlers. This council was composed of such discordant materials that
the injunction to preserve unanimity and concord had no weight on its
members. From the first, indeed, Francis, Clavering, and Monson seem
to have been resolved to gain all power in India for themselves. Their
design was soon made manifest. In his political negociations, Hastings
had assumed a high and almost single authority; and in conformity with
this plan, at the close of the Rohilla war, he had appointed his friend
Middleton to be resident and agent at the court of the Nabob of Oude,
giving him instructions to confer with him alone on all matters of
importance. This gave offence to Francis, Clavering, and Monson, who
demanded that the correspondence of Middleton, from first to last,
should be laid before the council. Hastings objected to this, on the
ground that much of it related to merely private matters and opinions;
upon which they hinted that his war with the Rohillas arose from sordid
motives, and that his whole connexion with the Nabob of Oude had been
a series of bad actions, fraud, and selfishness. This language was as
unjustifiable as the Rohilla war, for Hastings had not profited in the
least by his connexion with the nabob, and was at the time, in fact, a
poorer man than when he quitted his inferior employment at Madras: he
had sought money, it is true, but it was for the company, and not for
himself. This charge was followed by action, equally unjust. As Francis,
Clavering, and Monson constituted the majority in the council, they
voted the immediate recall of Middleton; regardless of the remonstrance
of Hastings, who declared that such a measure would be attended with
pernicious consequences, inasmuch as the natives would be taught by such
an act that the English authorities were disunited in sentiment, and
that the government of Calcutta was falling into a state of revolution.
The power of Hastings was, by the confederation of these three members
against him, almost annihilated; and towards the close of the year he
wrote to the board of directors, complaining of their precipitancy
and violence, and to the English premier, vindicating his own conduct.
Hastings, however, was subject to the control of this trio, until the
25th of September, 1776, when the majority was reduced to an equality
by the death of Colonel Monson, By this event, indeed, Hastings by his
casting-vote as governor-general, obtained the superiority, and he at
once re-assumed his ancient authority, despite the protestations of
Clavering and Francis. On the recall of Middleton the trio had sent Mr.
Bristow to reside at Oude, but no sooner had Hastings regained power
than he reinstated his friend Middleton in his office. The use which he
made of his power seems to have given offence to the board of directors,
for while they reprimanded him by letter, they supplied Colonel Monson’s
place by Mr. Wheler, who took the part of Francis and Clavering. Before
this party, however, could act offensively, it was again reduced to a
minority by the death of General Clavering, so that Hastings once more
ruled dominant.
It was time that all the divisions in the council of Calcutta were
brought to a close; for at this period, 1777, danger was gathering round
the Anglo Indian government on various sides. During the period of the
control of Francis, Monson, and Clavering in the council of Calcutta,
the presidency of Bombay dispatched some troops, under Colonel
Keating, to aid Ragoba—who set himself up for the Peishwa of the
Mahrattas—against the confederated Mahratta chiefs, with whom he was at
war. The presidency of Bombay were induced to take part in this war by
the grant which Ragoba made them of Salsette, Bassein, and other
places in the territory of the Mahrattas. At first, Colonel Keating was
successful in his war with the Mahratta confederacy; but subsequently
his movements were impeded by the discontents of the peishwa’s troops,
who refused to cross the Nerbuddah until they should be paid their
arrears. Ragoba, however, found means not only to pay his troops, but to
buy off some of the chiefs of the hostile confederacy; and then he and
his English allies marched upon Poona, which was a kind of Mahratta
capital. But the assistance which the presidency of Bombay had given
displeased the supreme council of Calcutta; and at this point they
issued orders for the recall of the troops from Poona. After this
the council of Calcutta sent an agent of their own, Colonel Upton, to
undertake treaties, and to pursue a different line of policy to that
which the presidency of Bombay had adopted—he being instructed to
treat, not with Ragoba, but with the chiefs of the Mahratta confederacy.
A treaty was concluded, by which the Mahratta chiefs agreed to yield
Salsette and the small islands near it to the supreme council at
Calcutta, upon condition that aid should be afforded them against
Ragoba. This treaty, for a time, put an end to war; for Ragoba, being
deprived of English assistance, had no power to withstand his enemies;
and therefore he was compelled to lay down his arms and flee for his
life. By the year 1778, however, the Mahratta chiefs who had been
parties to the treaty with Colonel Upton became weary of their bargain.
Fresh intrigues were formed at Poona; intrigues which were supported by
French influence, agents from that nation being at this period at work
in India, as well as in America, to sap the foundation of the English
power. As the presidency of Bombay were nearest to this scene of
Mahratta intrigue, and were likely to be the most affected by it, they
wrote letters to the supreme council at Calcutta, recommending a new
alliance with Ragoba, in order to anticipate the designs of the French
and the Mahratta chiefs. Soon after Hastings received this letter,
he heard that a fresh quarrel had arisen among the Mahratta chiefs at
Poona, and that Baboo, at the head of a powerful faction, had declared
for Ragoba, and had applied to the presidency of Bombay for assistance.
Hastings, conceiving that if the faction opposed to Baboo and Ragoba
should prevail, the territories of Bombay would be in danger, proposed
in council that every assistance should be given, and that an army
should be forthwith sent from Calcutta and Bombay. He was the more
induced to make this proposition because he always had disapproved of
the treaty, and because he was of opinion that great danger would
arise to the Anglo-Indian government from a union of the French with
Mahrattas, if not checked on the instant. Hastings carried his proposition
by means of his casting vote; and orders were issued for assembling
an army at Culpee, on the east of the Hooghly river, and about
thirty-three miles below Calcutta. The command of this army was given
to Colonel Leslie, and it began its march in the month of June, almost
simultaneously with the receipt of a letter, containing the information
that war had been declared between England and France. This news
quickened the operations of Hastings. It was represented by his
opponents, Francis and Wheler, that the army should be recalled, as
Bengal was as likely to be attacked as Bombay; but Hastings insisted
that the army should proceed, as Bengal could be well defended without
it. Hastings then commenced a series of measures of defence against
French aggression. He seized Chandernagore and all the French
factories in Bengal; sent orders to the presidency of Madras to occupy
Pondicherry; threw up strong works near Calcutta; collected a vast
number of vessels of all kinds, and improvised a regular marine
establishment; and raised nine new battalions of sepoys, and a numerous
corps of native artillery. In the meantime the army under Colonel
Leslie was marching towards the acme of action. In his progress he
was directed to conciliate and captivate the goodwill of the rulers and
people in every district through which his line of inarch lay; but
at the same time he was to fight his way where he could not win it
by conciliation. Leslie had to engage with a Mahratta chief, called
Ballajee, and with the young Rajah of Bondilcund; but these were
overcome without great difficulty; and having reached Rajaghur, a
principal city of Bondilcund, on the 17th of August, he halted
there, for the purpose of entering into private negociations with the
pretenders and chiefs of that country. Colonel Leslie remained so long
at Rajaghur, that Hastings thought it necessary to recall him to Bengal,
and to confide the command of the army to Lieutenant-Colonel Goddard;
at the same time declaring by letters to the Rajah of Bondilcund and
his competitors, that all Leslie’s treaties and agreements were invalid.
Goddard proved to be a much more active officer than his predecessor. On
receiving his command he quitted Bondilcund, and crossing the Nerbudda
came to the city of Nagpoor, where he established a friendly relation
with the Mahrattas of Berar, and where he received dispatches from
Bombay, acquainting him that the presidency had put an army in motion
for Poona, under the command of Colonel Egerton, and that the two armies
were to meet in the neighbourhood of that city. Egerton arrived at the
destined point first; and disastrous consequences ensued to his army.
In his camp were two civil commissioners, whom the Bombay government had
sent to share the authority and direct the movements of Egerton. These
civilians, seeing a large body of Mahratta horse before them, overcome
by fear, ordered a retreat; and the Mahrattas following them, cut to
pieces nearly four hundred men, and carried away the greater part of
their baggage and provisions. Alarmed at their position, the civilians
now sent a deputation to the Mahrattas, to know upon what terras they
would permit them to march back to Bombay without molestation. The
Mahrattas demanded that Ragoba should be delivered to them; and Ragoba
was forthwith sent to their camp. But this weak compliance had the
effect of emboldening the Mahratta chiefs. They demanded a second price
for permitting the retreat; and this price was a treaty by which the
English should agree to give up all the acquisitions they had made in
that part of India since 1756, and send orders to Colonel Goddard
to return to Bengal. A treaty was signed to this effect; and having
delivered up two hostages as sureties for its fulfilment, the
dishonoured army was permitted to march back to Bombay. When Colonel
Goddard heard of these reverses he was at Boorhampoor, the ancient
capital of Candeish, and nearly a thousand miles, by the route he had
taken, from Calcutta. He had been detained in this city by perplexing
letters and advices from the field-commissioners; and on receiving the
intelligence, he resolved to march to Surat on the western coast, where
he would be in an English settlement, with the sea open to Bombay, and
ready to act as occasion might require or orders from Calcutta might
direct. Favoured by the natives, whose goodwill he had gained by the
strict discipline which he maintained among his troops during his
march from Rajaghur to Boorhampoor, he reached Surat, a distance of two
hundred and fifty miles, in nineteen days. On his arrival Goddard was
promoted to the rank of general; and shortly after he received the
commands of the supreme council at Calcutta, to take upon himself all
future wars or negociations with the Mahrattas. He proposed an amicable
treaty with the Mahratta confederated chiefs, on condition that they
would annul the recent treaty with Colonel Egerton, and give up all
connexion with the French. At the time he proposed this treaty, Ragoba,
who had escaped from Poona, was at Surat; and the chiefs replied that
they would listen to no negociation until he was given up, and until
Salsette was restored to them. Goddard now took the field; and in a few
days the fortress of Dubhoy was reduced, and the city of Ahmedabad, the
capital of Guzerat, carried by storm. His progress was arrested by the
intelligence that a large Mahratta army, under the chiefs Scindia and
Holkar, was marching upon Surat. Goddard resolved to attack that army,
and he marched back for that purpose. At first he was prevented by
a desire which the chiefs expressed for peace, and negociations were
entered into; but it was soon found that they were not sincere, and that
their chief motive was to delay the time until the setting in of the
rains should interrupt the campaign. Négociations were broken off, and
the chiefs hastily retreated; but Goddard followed them, surprised
and defeated them in their very camp; and by that victory obtained
possession of all the country between the mountains and the sea. The
Mahrattas fled in all directions; and Goddard having taken possession of
all the towns, put his army into cantonments.
During these events Hastings had formed an alliance with the Ranna of
Gohud, who ruled over a hilly country between the territories of Scindia
the Mahratta chief, and those of the Nabob of Oude. At the time this
alliance was made the territories of the Ranna of Gohud were invaded by
the Mahrattas, and Captain Popham was sent to assist him in repelling
the invaders. Popham not only drove out the Mahrattas from the dominions
of the Ranna, but followed them into their own territories, where he
stormed the fortress of Labor, and took that of Gualior, winch the
natives deemed impregnable, by escalade. Gualior was not more than
fifty miles from Agra, which was Scindia’s capital; and alarmed at his
progress, the Mahrattas abandoned all the neighbouring country, and
took refuge in that city. The Mahratta war, as conducted by Goddard and
Popham, promised a complete triumph; but the victors were stopped at
this point by another Mysorean war, which threatened to ruin the English
power and possessions on the Coromandel coast.
Although nominally at peace with the English, Hyder Ali held them in
utter abhorrence. During the last seven years, indeed, he had been
concerting schemes with the French at Pondicherry, and improving and
increasing his army, with a design of overturning the Anglo-Indian
government at Madras, if not in all India. To enable him to raise
forces, he had recourse to a system of extortion from his subjects, and
plunder from his neighbours, by which means the treasury of Mysore was
full even to overflowing. The Madras government was warned of its
danger by Mohammed Ali, the Nabob of the Carnatic; but his voice was
disregarded, and no preparations were made to ward off the blow. But
the presidency of Madras were soon aroused from their slumbers. In the
summer of 1780 Hyder Ali suddenly quitted Seringapatam, with one of the
finest armies ever seen in Southern India. This army consisted of
30,000 cavalry, 15.,000 drilled infantry, 40,000 irregular troops,
2000 artillery and rocket men, and 400 Europeans, many of whom were
Frenchmen. With this force Hyder poured through the ghauts or passes,
and burst like a mountain-torrent into the Carnatic. His arms were
irresistible. Porto Novo, on the coast, and Conjeveram, close to
Trichinopoly, were captured and plundered; almost every fortress opened
their gates at his approach; and the whole country north of the Coleroon
submitted to his sway. At his approach the people fled in all directions
from the fire and the sword towards the English presidency; and the
flames kindled by him were seen at night from the top of Mount St.
Thomas, which was only nine miles distant from Madras. Alarmed at
his progress, the presidency was at first unnerved; but fear having
subsided, orders were given to secure some of the strong places held
by Mohammed Ali’s troops, on whom no reliance could be placed. Two were
thus preserved; but the rest fell into the hands of the victor. The
next object of the presidency was to call in a strong force of 3000 men,
under Colonel Baillie, from the Northern Circars; and Sir Hector Munro,
the commander-in-chief, undertook to meet them at Conjeveram, about
fifty miles from the capital. In his route Colonel Baillie was attacked
by Hyder Ali’s eldest son, Tippoo, with a large detachment; while Hyder
himself interposed his main force between the two divisions of the
English forces. Colonel Baillie defeated Tippoo; and soon after he was
joined by a reinforcement under Colonel Fletcher and Captain Baird,
which raised his corps to 3700 men. Against these Hyder now turned his
chief attention; and he succeeded in surrounding them near Conjeveram
with his whole host, and upwards of sixty cannon. A dreadful battle took
place; and the English, and the sepoys who fought with them, struggled
so manfully, that, after a contest of three hours, victory began to
declare on their side. Hyder Ali was about to give orders for a retreat,
and the French officers, who commanded the artillery, began to draw
off their guns; but at that instant, by some accident, the tumbrils
containing the ammunition blew up in the centre of the British, lines,
and their artillery was rendered useless. This accident changed the
fortune of the day; and the conquerors were left at the mercy of the
vanquished. Still they long kept their ground; and it was not till all
the sepoys were broken and cut to pieces that the British gave way. Even
then they rallied for one more desperate effort; and under fire of the
enemy’s cannon they gained the ridge of a hill, in which position they
formed a square, and defended themselves against thirteen successive
attacks; the soldiers fighting with their bayonets, and the officers
with their swords. The troops would still have resisted the enemy, had
not Colonel Baillie directed them to lay down their arms, and stepping
forward, asked for quarter. It is said that even then many would not lay
down their arms, and continued to fight under the legs of the elephants
and horses. But the struggle was now of no avail; one half of the
survivors were cowardly butchered, and the rest were made prisoners, and
reserved for a horrible captivity. In this conflict four thousand sepoys
and six hundred Europeans were slain, among whom was Colonel Fletcher.
At the time when this battle took place, Sir Hector Munro, who commanded
the other main division of the Madras army, was within a short distance
of Hyder’s rear, and on discovering the catastrophe, he abandoned his
tents and baggage, threw his heavier guns into a tank, and fled to
Madras. The country was now at the mercy of Hyder; and Wandewash,
Chingleput, Vellore, and Arcot were in a short time either captured or
closely besieged. Had it not been for Hastings, the power of the British
would have been broken, not only in the Carnatic, but also in the
northern Circars. On first discovering the irruption of Hyder Ali, the
presidency of Madras despatched a fast-sailing ship to Calcutta, with
letters and agents, urging him to send them aid in men and money. The
treasury of Calcutta was empty, but Hastings procured fifteen lacs of
rupees, which were sent off to Madras as a present supply for the
army, and the governor-general immediately set to work to obtain more.
Missives and agents were soon seen flying through the country to procure
supplies; and Moorshedabad, Patna, Lucknow, and Benares, with all other
places where Hastings could put in a claim, whether real or fictitious,
were called upon for their contributions. But money would have been
of little service in this war without active measures on the part
of Hastings. This he saw, and he immediately concluded a peace
with Scindia, recalled Popham from the Jumna, and adjusted amicable
arrangements with the other Mahratta powers, under the guarantee of
the Rajah of Berar He also recalled the inept Governor of Madras, and
invited Sir Eyre Coote to take the command of Fort St. George, and the
entire management cf the war with Hyder Ali. Sir Eyre Coote had recently
returned to India, as commander-in-chief of the Bengal forces, and a
member of the supreme council; and although he did not always agree with
Hastings at the council-table, he readily fell in with his plans, and
undertook the command. Coote set sail with five hundred choice British
troops, and six hundred Lascars, with between forty and fifty gentlemen
volunteers; and soon after his arrival at Madras, he commenced
operations, with 1700 Europeans, and about 5000 native troops, by
marching to recover Wandewash, the scene of his great exploit in a
previous year. Wandewash was recaptured, and Hyder Ali, terrified at
his name, abandoned other sieges, and seemed inclined to fly from, or
to treat with the conqueror. At this juncture, however, a French fleet
appeared off the coast; and encouraged by it, and also by a repulse
which Coote shortly after sustained at the fortified pagoda of
Chillambram, he intrenched his army in a strong position, near
Cuddalore, where he determined to risk a battle rather than permit the
British commander to advance upon Trinchinopoly and Tanjore. His post
was exceedingly strong; but Sir Eyre Coote, who had recently been
reinforced by some sepoys, sent by Hastings, under the command of
Colonel Pearse, advanced from Porto Novo, attacked him in his lines,
and completely defeated him. It is said that Hyder Ali now bitterly
regretted having allowed himself to be drawn into war by French
counsels, and that he as bitterly complained of having been amused by
the promises of the assistance of a great French force from Europe.
Notwithstanding he risked another battle for the defence of Arcot, on
the very spot where Colonel Baillie had suffered his defeat, but where
he was this time defeated. Hyder retreated to, and took up his position
at, Sholingur; and though Sir Eyre Coote had suffered severe loss in
his recent battle, he resolved to seek the enemy, and he pushed forward
with such vigour that he nearly surprised the Indians before they could
form their ranks. Hyder was again routed, with terrible loss, and Coote
was enabled by this victory to march on the fortress of Vellore, one
of the keys of the Carnatic, which was besieged by Hyder’s troops,
and which he relieved and saved. After this, Coote recovered Chittore,
Palipett, and other places, and then, as the rains, the monsoons, and
the rising of the rivers put an end to further extensive operations, he
went into cantonments.
{GEORGE III. 1786–1787}
In the meantime Lord Macartney arrived from England as Governor of
Madras, His lordship brought intelligence of the declaration of war
between England and Holland, and his first care was to make himself
master of all the Dutch factories on that coast. Sadras surrendered
upon summons; Poulicat submitted on his approach, at the head of some
gentlemen volunteers and Madras militiamen; Negapatam was captured; all
the other Dutch settlements on the same coast fell into the hands of the
British; and Trin-comalee, their principal station in Ceylon, was taken
by storm.
Colonel Braithwaite had assisted in the reduction of Negapatam, and when
this was effected he marched into Tanjore, with the view of recovering
some of the fortresses of that country, which had been captured by
Hyder and his son Tippoo. Braithwaite was deceived and misled by the
Tanjoreans, and while encamped on the left bank of the river Cavery,
on the 18th of February, 1782, he was surprised by Tippoo and a French
corps; and after maintaining an unequal contest from sunrise to sunset,
his whole force were either killed or taken prisoners. This blow was
almost immediately followed by the arrival off the coast of Admiral de
Suffrein, with 2000 French and 1000 Caffres on board, to aid Hyder Ali
in his struggle. De Suffrein had been encountered in his voyage by the
squadron of Commodore Johnstone, and had been pursued by Admiral Hughes;
but he had escaped all dangers, and he now succeeded in landing the
forces which he brought with him at Porto Novo. These forces were under
the command of M. Bussy, and they united with the army of Tippoo,
and besieged and took Cuddalore, after which they advanced against
Wandewash. Coote marched rapidly to the relief of that place, and on the
24th of April he encamped on the very spot where he had defeated Lally
and Bussy twenty-two years before. Bussy and Tippoo retreated before
Coote, and-he then threatened the strong fort of Arnee, where Hyder
had deposited plunder and provisions. Hyder advanced in person for
the defence of this place, and while he engaged in a loose, irregular
battle, Tippoo succeeded in carrying off his stores from Arnee. Bussy
now retreated towards Cuddalore and Pondicherry; Hyder put himself
in quarters near the coast; and Tippoo, with some strong French
detachments, hastened to Calicut, to quell a rebellion which had
manifested itself among his father’s oppressed subjects—the Nairs, or
Hindu chiefs of the Malabar coast. At the same time Sir Eyre Coote threw
supplies into Vellore, and undertook an expedition against Cuddalore,
which failed for want of co-operation.
About this time Hyder Ali was thrown into dismay by learning that
Hastings had concluded a treaty with the Mahrattas. He expected that
the Mahratta confederacy would invade the country of Mysore, and he
intimated his intention of returning for its defence. Bussy, however,
persuaded him that the war in the Carnatic was not altogether hopeless,
and that means might be found to counteract the negociations of the
Governor-general of Bengal, and to win back the Mahrattas, not merely to
a neutrality, but to a close alliance. Accordingly he resolved to remain
in the Carnatic, and he prepared to co-operate with Bussy in an attack
upon Negapatam; at the same time amusing-Sir Eyre Coote, with an
intimation that he might become a party to the treaty with the
Mahrattas, by which Coote was rendered inactive.
During this summer Madras suffered under accumulated evils. The ravages
of Hyder Ali had driven crowds from all quarters to seek refuge in the
capital, and multitudes daily perished for want. Ships of rice were sent
in October for their sustenance while in this condition; but the monsoon
arose, and the whole were lost. An absolute famine now ensued, and it is
said that ten thousand perished before any relief could be afforded from
Bengal and other parts. The roads that led to the town, and the streets
of the town itself, were strewed with the dead and the dying; and
nothing-was heard but cries, and moans, and unavailing prayers for
assistance.
In the meantime success attended the British arms on the Malabar coast.
Colonel Mackenzie, who was aided by the Nairs, or Hindu chiefs,
was preparing for the siege of Palagatcherry, not many marches from
Seringapatam, when Tippoo arrived in that country. As Tippoo had an army
of more than 20,000 men, Mackenzie was constrained to retreat towards
the coast; but he halted at Paniany, a sea-port town about thirty-five
miles from Calicut, where he resolved to make a stand against the enemy,
who were pressing on his rear. Tippoo attacked him, but after a severe
struggle he was compelled to withdraw, leaving behind him a great number
dead and wounded. Whether Tippoo would have ventured another battle
is very doubtful; but at this juncture he received intelligence of his
father’s death, and as he had brothers and cousins, it was his interest
to look after the throne and the treasures of Mysore. Accordingly Tippoo
left the Malabar coast, and hastened to the camp of Plyder Ali, when,
after the usual distribution of pay and donatives, he was recognised as
commander of the army and sovereign of Mysore. It seems probable that
had Hyder lived a few months longer, he would have made peace with the
English; for he had long had his suspicions of the fidelity and the just
designs of the French. Tippoo, however, scorned all overtures of peace
with the English, and on the 4th of January, 1783, General Stuart, who
succeeded Sir Eyre Coote in command, took the field against him. Tippoo
was surrounded by dangers; for after his retirement from the Malabar
coast, Colonel Mackenzie marched his sepoys by land, and sent his
Highlanders and other British by sea, northward to the coast of Canara,
to co-operate with a part of the army from Bombay in reducing some
of the richest provinces of Mysore. The junction of these forces was
effected in January, when General Mathews, who had arrived at Bombay
with some royal troops, took the command of the whole. Mathews took the
fort of Onore by storm, and having scaled the range of rocks which runs
between the coast and Bednore, and cleared the passes at the point of
the bayonet, he came upon the rich capital of Bednore, which surrendered
to him without firing a gun. Other forts also surrendered at or before a
summons, and Ananpore and Mangalore were carried by storm. Thus assailed
before and behind, Tippoo recalled his garrison from Arcot and other
places, and evacuated the Carnatic in order to defend Mysore. On his
arrival in his own dominions he found that Mathews had scattered his
army all over the country, in contemptible mud forts and open towns,
and had fixed his head-quarters in the city of Bednore. Mathews had been
further weakened by desertion. He had quarrelled with Colonel Mackenzie,
Colonel Mac Leod, and Major Shaw, and these officers had repaired to
Bombay to lay their complaints before that presidency. Tippoo saw that
he was his prey, and he hastened to Bednore to seize him. Mathews threw
himself into the fort of Bednore, but resistance was hopeless, and
Tippoo, having offered very honourable terms, he capitulated. According
to the terms of this capitulation, the general and his troops were to be
allowed to withdraw to the coast; but instead of this, they were bound
with chains and ropes, and thrown into horrible dungeons. After this
success Tippoo passed the Ghauts, and went down to the sea-port town of
Mangalore, into which the 42nd regiment, which Mathews had previously
sent down to the coast, with some fragments of the army who had escaped,
had thrown themselves. Tippoo and his French allies invested Mangalore,
and counted on a short and easy conquest; but they were detained before
its walls for months, and were thereby prevented from engaging in more
important operations.
On the departure of Tippoo from the Carnatic, General Stuart had only
the French and some sepoys to contend with, and these were posted behind
their fortified lines at Cuddalore. Against these he directed his
operations, while Admiral Hughes was to co-operate with him, and
to prevent Admiral de Suffrein from aiding in the contest. Several
encounters took place both by sea and land, but nothing decisive had
occurred, when news reached Madras that a treaty of peace had been
concluded between France and England. On receiving this intelligence a
flag of truce was dispatched to M. Bussey, who agreed to a cessation of
hostilities by sea and land, and also to invite Tippoo to be a party in
these pacific arrangements. Tippoo was alarmed at the prospect of being
left alone in the war, but at the same time he did not show himself to
be anxious for peace. In his reply, he intimated, by his vakeels, that
everything the English had taken from him must be restored, while he
made scarcely any mention of restitutions to the English. At the same
time he continued the siege of Mangalore, and made desperate efforts
to get possession of it. Nor were military operations suspended by
the English, for while Lord Macartney sent three commissioners with
Tippoo’s vakeels to Seringapatam to treat there, a series of operations
were carried on by the British troops in the very heart of the obdurate
nabob’s dominions.
While General Stuart was carrying on operations against the French at
Cuddalore, Colonel Fullarton, who had arrived from England with some of
the reinforcements at the end of the preceding year, was making a rapid
progress in the country beyond Tanjore. Fullarton had taken the fortress
of Dindigul by storm, and had captured the fortress of Daraporam, in the
province of Coimbntoor, which opened one of the roads to Soringapatam,
and was only about one hundred and forty miles from that city. At this
point he was recalled to the aid of General Stuart at Cuddalore; but
when the news of peace between France and England arrived, and when it
was found Tippoo showed no signs of a desire for a cessation of arms,
Lord Macartney reinforced him with 1000 sepoys, and directed him
to resume his campaign. Fullarton first turned his arms against the
numerous polygars of Tinevelly, who had thrown off all allegiance to the
company at the commencement of Hyder’s invasion; and having reduced
them to complete submission, he continued his march to Dindigul and
Daraporam. He had neither money nor supplies with him; but his wants
were well supplied by the Rajah of Travancore, and by other rajahs on
the Malabar coast, who were all interested in the overthrow of Tippoo.
On arriving in the neighbourhood of Daraporam, Fullarton halted for
a short period, in order to receive intelligence from the three
commissioners sent to Seringapatam. On the receipt of a letter,
however, from the residency of Tellichery, informing him that Tippoo had
recommenced hostilities at Mangalore, Fullarton took immediate measures
to resent the insult. His first operations were against the fortress of
Palagatcherry, which was considered one of the strongest in all India.
This fortress was captured, and the English found therein 50,000
pagodas in money, together with a large supply of grain, ammunition, and
military stores. Fullarton next directed his operations against the fort
of Coimbatoor, which likewise fell into his hands. All the strongest
fortresses in the country were now captured, and another ten days of
march would have brought him before the walls of Seringapatam. This
would have been accomplished without any difficulty, for there was no
Mysorean army in the neighbourhood capable of withstanding his forces;
and every rajah bordering on the territories of Mysore was favourable
to his cause. It is evident, indeed, that the power of the British might
have been established in the whole of Southern India, and Fullarton
rejoiced in the bright prospect. Just as he was setting forwards on his
inarch to Seringapatam, however, to secure the golden prize, he received
orders from the government of Madras to restore his recent conquests. At
Tippoo’s request, two English commissioners had been sent to his camp
to treat for peace, and this unqualified restitution was enjoined by the
commissioners as the preliminary of negociation with the artful nabob.
Yet all the while Tippoo continued the siege of Mangalore, and while
Fullarton was retracing his steps towards Tanjore and Trichinopoly,
that fortress, after sustaining a siege of nine months, was captured;
Colonel Campbell, who had bravely defended it, being allowed to march
with his troops unmolested to Tellicherry. The continued siege of
Mangalore and its capture exhibited the bad faith of Tippoo; and it
was scarcely evacuated when Fullarton, who had not reached the old
boundaries, received orders from Madras to renew operations, and to
regain, if possible, the possession of Palagatcherry. Fullarton again
advanced with the main body of his army, and was again flattering
himself with the hope of being the conqueror of Seringapatam, when
he received fresh orders to return. Preliminaries of a peace had been
exchanged between the commissioners, and he was directed to restore the
forts and countries of Carroor and Daraporam, but to keep possession of
Dindigul, and station a garrison there till all the English prisoners
in Mysore should be liberated from their horrible captivity. The treaty
between the English and Tippoo was finally concluded on the 11th of
March, upon the condition of a restitution by both parties of all that
they had gained during the war. All the prisoners in Mysore, who had
survived their horrible captivity, were released; and the tales told by
them excited such horror and indignation, that it became evident peace
would not be of long continuance. Peace, indeed, was not wholly restored
in India by this treaty; for, unfortunately, no stipulation had been
made in favour of the native chiefs, who had favoured the English cause,
although the bloodshed and devastation which awaited them must have been
foreseen On the return of Tippoo’s army, therefore, its services were
employed in scourging the wretched Hindu population of Coorg, Canara,
and Mysore, thousands of whom he compelled to embrace the faith of
Islamism. Nor was it against the natives alone that he turned his arms;
for one of the first acts by which the tyrant signalised his reign,
was the deportation, and forcible conversion to Islamism of 30,000
Christians, from Portuguese settlements on the coast of Canara. Soon
after his return to Seringapatam his name was changed, from Tippoo
Sultaun, to that of Shah Allum, and he also assumed the regal title of
Padisha, and ordered his court to observe all the forms and ceremonies
which were in use at Delhi.
Although Tippoo was a gainer by this untoward treaty, yet the grand
result of the war was, that our Indian empire was saved. The expenses of
this war, however, had been great; and as the greater part of the money
could only come from Bengal, Hastings had, during its progress, been
carrying on a system of exaction, which reflects no honour on the
English name. The only excuse that can be offered on his behalf, is,
that he felt that the Carnatic must be rescued and India saved, be
the cost what it might. It was known to Hastings that many of the
neighbouring princes, who owed their political existence to the power
of the English arms, and were dependent upon the government of Calcutta,
possessed hidden treasures of vast amount; and as he had no other means
of obtaining the requisite supplies for the maintenance of the war, he
determined that they should disgorge. Cheyte Sing, the Rajah of Benares,
was the first to whom he applied the pressure. Demand after demand was
made and supplied; and when no more could be obtained, the rajah, who
was one of the most faithful allies of the English in all India, was
driven from his throne. A nephew of Cheyte Sing was selected to fill
his post; but every vestige of sovereignty was taken from him and
placed under the control of the company’s resident at Benares. By this
revolution an addition of £200,000 was made to the revenues of the
company; but as there was no more ready money in Benares, and as this
was a _sine qua non_, Hastings determined to apply the screw on other
chiefs. His next victim was Asoff-ul-Dowla, Nabob of Oude, and master of
Rohilcund, one of the most extravagant and debauched of all the Indian
princes. Asoff-ul-Dowla proved to demonstration that he had no money,
and that he could not even defend himself against the Mahrattas and the
Rohillas, or even against the discontents and insurrections of his own
subjects, if he was not supported by the company’s servants. But if the
Nabob of Oude had no money, his mother and grandmother had; for Sujah
Dowla had left a considerable part of the treasures which he had in
hand to these two ladies, and had bequeathed them, in addition, certain
jaghires. In an interview, therefore, with Asoff-ul-Dowla, in the
fortress of Chunar, Hastings consented that some of the company’s troops
should remain in Oude for his defence against his enemies; but only
on this condition, that he should rob his mother and grandmother. The
undutiful nabob had before endeavoured to gain their treasures for
himself, and had, in fact, obtained large contributions from their
purses; but though he showed himself a true robber, yet when he found
that the money was to go into the hands of the company, he was reluctant
to rob any more. He consented, indeed, to seize the treasures for the
use of the company, on condition that he should possess the ladies’
jaghires himself; but when he returned to Lucknow his heart misgave
him. Hastings, however, was not to be disappointed. On discovering the
nabob’s reluctance, he wrote to him and to Middleton, the British
agent at that place, urging him to fulfil his agreement, and ordering
Middleton to do the work himself if Asoff-ul-Dowla still delayed. To
save his authority the nabob now seized the jaghires, but he still
spared the treasures; and Middleton took this work into his own hands,
or, at least, acted in conjunction with the nabob. The victims lived at
Fyzabad; or, the “Beautiful Residence,” about eighty miles to the
east of Lucknow; and the robbers, accompanied by some sepoys, repaired
thither; and by throwing two old eunuchs in the palace, who had been the
confidential servants of Sujah Dowla, into a dungeon, they succeeded in
extorting from the ladies treasures to the amount of more than £500,000
sterling. But this was not sufficient for the support of the ruinous war
in the Carnatic; and Hastings laid claim to the revenues of the jaghires
which the nabob had seized as his portion of the robbery. But Hastings,
in his transactions with the Nabob of Oude, did not seek money for the
company alone; for, during the conferences at Chunar, he accepted a
present of £100,000, which, on the part of the governor-general,
was altogether illegal, and therefore subjected him to the charge of
venality In the conferences of Chunar, it was agreed that the Nabob
of Oude should, “when time should suit,” take possession of the
territories of Fyzoola Khan, the last of the great Rohilla chiefs that
remained in Rohilcund, under pretence that by his independence he caused
alarm to Asoff-ul-Dowla. The chief design of Hastings, however, was
to extort money from Fyzoola Khan; and when he found that there was no
money in the country, he put his interdict on any hostile proceedings by
the Nabob of Oude; poverty therefore was his protection.
It must not be supposed, however, that Hastings ventured to rob the
palace of Fyzabad as a robber of the Robin Hood order. Up to the time of
his wanting money for the Carnatic war, he had protected the mother and
wife of Sujah Dowla, and had even written to Middleton, commanding him
to take active measures for preventing Asoff-ul-Dowla from plundering
them; asserting that they were entitled to English protection. But
now, when it was determined to despoil them of their jaghires and their
money, it was thought expedient to devise some means of colouring over
the transaction, so as to save his honour and reputation. Doubts
were now thrown out as to the validity of Sujah Dowla’s testamentary
bequests; and the ladies were represented as dangerous rebels and
traitors to the company. His violence to Cheyte Sing had created an
insurrection at Benares, which could only be quelled by bloodshed; and
this was followed by some slight disturbances in the province of Oude.
Nothing, however, could be further from the truth than that these old
ladies had taken any part in the tumult. They were, indeed, too fond of
their money to spend it in exciting insurrection. Nevertheless, this was
made the plea for robbing them; and to carry out the farce, after they
had been plundered of their wealth, they were tried for the imputed
offence at Lucknow, by the chief-justice, Sir Elijah Impey, an old
schoolfellow and bosom-friend of the govern or-general. Impey had not
the slightest authority at Oude; but it was thought that the presence of
the head of the supreme court at Calcutta would impart a dignity to the
proceedings, and give a fair colouring to the act. It was not difficult
in India to obtain a conviction; for men who would perjure themselves by
giving false witness were to be met with on every hand. A host of such
were brought forward, therefore, with affidavits ready drawn in their
hands, to testify against the victims. The result was certain: a partial
judge and false swearing convicted the accused, and by their deaths
justified the deed which stripped them of their jaghires and money.
The services which Sir Elijah Impey rendered Hastings, in this and many
other transactions in India, were rewarded by his appointment to the
office of judge of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut, or Court of Appeal,
which Hastings separated from the supreme council at Calcutta for
that purpose. This new office added £7800 a year to the £8000 which he
already enjoyed, as king’s chief justice. This, in effect, made him a
servant of the company; and subsequently some of his juniors received
company’s places or gratifications: as Sir Robert Chambers, who was made
company’s judge at Chinchura. But this was contrary to the spirit, if
not to the letter of the regulating act of 1773; and in a committee of
the house of commons on Indian affairs, it was declared that the power
conferred upon Sir Elijah Impey in his new capacity was exorbitant,
dangerous, irregular, and illegal, and a bargain between Hastings
and him not to be permitted: that by selling his independence to the
governor-general, he sold the administration of justice and vitiated his
tribunal. This was during Lord North’s administration; and soon after,
on the 20th of March, 1782, the Shelbourne and Rockingham administration
was formed. Reform under this short-lived government became the order of
the day; and on the 3rd of May, an address was carried in the house of
Commons, by a large majority, for the recall of Sir Elijah Impey, to
answer to the charge of having “accepted an office not agreeable to the
true intent and meaning of the act 13 George III.” About the same time
Hastings himself had a narrow chance of being recalled as a criminal, to
answer for his conduct at Benares; but as the danger of India was at its
height when the last news arrived, and as it was supposed that he alone
was capable of protecting the British interests in that country, he was
permitted at present to go unscathed.
Hastings retained his station till February, 1785, when, without any
previous notice, he resolved to quit his government and return to
England. The last years of his administration had been marked by
judicious measures; measures by which India was restored to a state of
tranquillity, which had not been known for ages. He had also made some
atonement for the crime committed against the wife and mother of
Sujah Dowla by ordering the jaghires—not the money, for that was all
spent—which had been unjustly seized, to be restored to Asoff-ul-Dowla.
His last actions seemed to have wiped out the remembrance of the deeds
for which he had been loudly condemned, for on his arrival in England,
the board of directors voted him thanks for his long and meritorious
services, and Mr. Dundas, who had moved for his recall in 1782, and who
had declared, that “he could scarcely leave the walls of Calcutta,
that his steps were not followed by the deposition of some prince, the
desertion of some ally, or the depopulation of some country,” now
asserted in the house of commons, that had he been one of the directors,
he would have concurred in their vote, and that he was glad that the
resolution, which he himself had moved for his recall, had not been
carried into effect. At court also Hastings was received with favour and
treated with distinction, and though on his arrival, Burke had menaced
him with impeachment, yet, months rolled on, in which he was left
undisturbed; and he was still unmolested when the parliament reassembled
in January, 1786. But this calm was only the prelude to a storm, which
suddenly broke over the head of Hastings, and disturbed his peace.
{GEORGE III. 1786–1787}
This storm arose at the bidding of one of the ex-governor’s private
friends. On the first day of the meeting of parliament, Major John
Scott, whom Hastings had indiscreetly chosen to be his champion in
parliament, and his advocate by the press, stood up in the house of
commons, and demanded of Burke, whether he intended to produce his
charges against the late Governor-general of India. It is probable that
neither Burke nor his friends would have troubled their heads any more
about the matter, but being thus braved, he could do no other than
accept the challenge, and his whole party were bound to give him
their support. Accordingly, on the 17th of February, Burke commenced
operations, by making a call for papers and correspondence deposited in
the India house. As a notion had got abroad that the king, his court,
and his ministers were all devoted to Hastings, Burke opened his speech
by desiring that two of the resolutions which had been moved and
carried in the month of May, 1782, by Mr. Dundas, and which contained
an unmitigated censure on the conduct of Hastings, should be read.
This being done, Burke expressed his deep regret that the solemn and
important business of the day had not been brought forward, in the
plenitude and weight of efficiency, by the original mover of these
resolutions. The task, he said, would better have become ministers, as
the authors of those extreme resolutions against the governor-general,
and that it would particularly become Dundas, who had now all the powers
and resources necessary for a complete examination, as an influential
member of the board of control. Burke then uttered a terrible philippic
against men whose notions of right and wrong varied according to
circumstances, and depended on their being out of, or in office—men who
could find every thing wrong in India in 1782, when they wanted places,
but who would make no attempt to punish or correct those whom they then
condemned, in 1784, when they had obtained what they wanted. Acting
under their sanction, however, he asserted a claim to their protection,
and after giving a detailed historical account of parliamentary
proceedings with regard to British India, he remarked that there were
three species of inquisition which might be adopted against a state
culprit; the house might order a prosecution by the attorney-general; or
it might proceed by a bill of pains and penalties; or it might act
upon the ancient and constitutional mode of impeachment. As the
attorney-general was evidently unfriendly to the prosecution, and as
he considered that to proceed by a bill of pains and penalties would
be unjust towards the accused, inasmuch as it would compel him to
anticipate his defence, and impose on the house the twofold character of
accuser and judge, he would advise the house to proceed by impeachment,
being careful at the same time to do so with all possible caution and
prudence. The first-step in such a proceeding was, he said, a general
review of the evidence, in order that they might determine whether the
person charged, ought to be impeached or not. To this end he proposed
that the house should resolve itself into a committee, and that such
papers as were necessary for substantiating the guilt of Mr. Hastings,
if he was guilty, should be laid before that committee. Then, he said,
if the charges should appear to be what he believed them to be, charges
of the blackest nature, and supported by competent evidence, the house
might proceed with confidence and dignity to the bar of the lords. Burke
concluded by justifying his motives, in taking on himself the duties
of a public accuser, and by expressing his conviction that Hastings had
been guilty of gross corruption, and that his administration had been
marked by violence, oppression, and cruelty.
In reply, Dundas acknowledged that he had suggested and moved the
resolutions which had been read; and that he entertained the same
sentiments respecting Hastings now, as he did when he moved them in the
house; but these resolutions, he said, only went to recall, and not to
impeach him. Yet, though he thus virtually condemned Hastings in
the opening of his speech, before he concluded he applauded his
administration. The more, he said, he examined the conduct of the late
governor-general, the more difficult he found it to fix any criminal
intention, or to separate it from the conduct of the directors at home,
who had expressly commanded or urged him on in so many particulars.
Mutual recrimination between Fox and Pitt followed this speech of
Dundas, in which the deadly sin of the coalition was used with great
effect. The papers which Burke called for, however, were not opposed
until the following day, when he asked for those relating to Oude, in
the latter part of the administration, of the accused governor-general,
the part which ministers maintained was without spot, and blameless.
Pitt said that this would be producing new and endless matter, and that
the inquiry for the present ought to be confined to the period embraced
in the reports of 1781. Major Scott, however, said that the Oude papers
would establish the reputation of Hastings, and that they ought to be
produced; whence the motion was carried. Subsequently motions were made
for papers relating to the Mahratta peace, to the negociations which
Hastings had carried on at Lucknow with the son of the Great Mogul, and
to the mission of Major Brown to Delhi. These papers were all refused,
and Burke having got all he could, on the 3rd of April, proposed calling
to the bar some of the gentlemen who had been ordered to attend
as witnesses. In this he was opposed by all the crown lawyers, who
represented that he ought to produce his charges first, and that no
proofs ought to be admitted, except such as were applicable to the
charges; a mode of proceeding adopted in the courts of law, and which,
they contended, ought to regulate the proceedings of the house of
commons. Burke and his friends argued, in reply, that the house had
already-sanctioned a different mode of proceeding, by gran ting the
power of taking evidence, by forming itself into a committee, to receive
evidence, and by summoning the witnesses who were in attendance. The
lawyers, however, carried their point, and Burke was compelled to bring
forward specific charges against the accused. On the 4th of
April, therefore, Burke rose to charge Warren Hastings, Esq., late
Governor-general of Bengal, with high crimes and misdemeanors in the
execution of his office. On this occasion he laid on the table nine
distinct articles of accusation, and in the course of the following
week, he added thirteen others to the list. The principal charges
related to the affairs of Benares; the Rohilla war; the various
transactions in Oude; the Mahratta war, and the Mahratta peace; the
depriving the Mogul of Corah and Allahabad; the hard treatment of
Mohammed Reza Khan; the death of Nuncomar, who had been tried and
executed for forgery; the treatment of Fyzoola Khan, the Rohilla chief;
disobedience of orders; extravagant expenditure; the enriching of
dependents and favourites; and the acceptance of presents, or bribes,
by the governor-general himself. Before the whole of these articles were
laid on the table, Hastings had petitioned the house to be heard at its
bar, and to be allowed a copy of the several charges. These requests
were opposed by opposition, but were granted; and on the 1st of May
Hastings came to the house to make his defence. He was no orator, and
having been supplied with copies of the articles, he brought with him a
written defence, which he was allowed to read like a dry sermon. In it,
he first referred to the vote of thanks which he had received from the
court of directors, his employers, expressing astonishment that any one
else should venture to prefer accusations against him. After this,
he took a general view of the accusations, and began to read answers,
separately to each of the charges. His defence occupied two or three
days in the reading, and when it was closed, Hastings requested that
it should be laid on the table, and printed for the use of the members,
which was ordered. The examination of witnesses now took place, which
lasted three weeks; and when all had been examined, on the 1st of June,
Burke brought forward the first charge, that of the Rohilla war. Burke
commenced his speech by a solemn invocation to British justice, and
disclaiming any personal motive or private malevolence. After this he
drew a vivid, but overwrought picture of the character and condition of
the Rohillas, both before and after the invasion of their territories,
by the troops of the Nabob of Oude and the company. This question was
debated two nights, and when a division took place, Burke’s motion,
declaring that there was ground for charging Warren Hastings with high
crimes and misdemeanors, on the matter of the Rohilla war was negatived
by a majority of one hundred and nineteen, to sixty-seven. The friends
of Hastings hailed this result on the first charge as a triumph;
expecting that the next would undergo a like defeat, and that then,
Burke would give up the prosecution in despair. But the prospects of
the late governor-general were soon overclouded. The second charge was
brought forward by Fox on the 13th of June, which charge related to the
treatment of Cheyte Sing, Zemindar of Benares. On the previous
occasion, Pitt had given a silent vote in favour of Hastings, and it was
anticipated that he would act in the same maimer on the present. Popular
opinion, however, was with Burke, and the minister seems to have had an
idea that he should incur popular odium, if he persevered in crushing
all his charges. After Fox, and Francis, the old enemy of Hastings, had
spoken, therefore, he rose to state his views on the subject. In
his speech, Burke, Fox, and Francis, all came in for a share of his
reprobation; he accusing the two former of oratorical exaggeration and
party misrepresentation, and the latter, with whom Hastings had fought
a duel before their return to England, in which, Francis was dangerously
wounded, of dishonesty and malignancy. This would seem to have indicated
that Pitt would still take the side of Hastings, and the more so,
because in the opening of his speech Pitt had declared that the late
governor-general was justified in calling on Cheyte Sing for aid, both
in money and men; that he was equally justified in fining him for his
contumacy; and that his whole conduct during the insurrection at Benares
called for the highest admiration and praise. So far, all was well; but
he went on to say, that he thought the fines imposed were too great in
amount, and that the conduct of Hastings had been too severe; and he
concluded by asserting broadly, that the fine imposed on Cheyte Sing was
exorbitant, unjust, and tyrannical, and that, therefore, he should agree
to the motion before the house; although he did not thence consider
himself pledged to a final vote of impeachment. Not one on the
treasury-benches knew when Pitt commenced, how he would vote, or what
sentiments he would deliver, but they had fully expected that he would
put his negative upon the motion, and were prepared to follow the same
course. Mur-murings and whisperings were heard in some parts of the
ministerial benches, and Mr. William Grenville, his bosom friend, Arden,
the attorney-general, and Lord Mulgrave, ventured openly to differ
from him; stating, that they could not, as honest men, think Hastings
deserving of impeachment on this charge, or concur in the vote. Other
members, however, were more pliant than these, and were prepared “to
follow the great bell-wether,” lead he where he might, through flowery
meads, or thickets and brakes. Even the amiable Wilberforce, who had
hitherto thought that the conduct of Hastings was in part justifiable,
and in part excusable; and Dundas, who had recently asserted that it was
highly meritorious, and deserving the thanks of the court of Directors,
now voted against him; and the motion was carried by one hundred
and nineteen against seventy-nine. At this point, the prosecution of
Hastings was stopped by the prorogation of parliament; it being found
impracticable to go through the rest of the charges during the session.
As might be expected, the motives of the accuser of Hastings were
canvassed by a discerning public; some condemning them as unjust, and
others applauding them as immaculate. There is every reason to believe,
however, that though Burke over-coloured his picture of the guilt of the
arraigned governor-general, yet his motives were honest and pure. From
the stories related of him, Burke had been led to believe that Hastings
was little better than an incarnate fiend; and he seemed to fancy that
he had a mission from heaven to redress the wrongs, and prevent
the miseries of a large, but weak and oppressed portion of his
fellow-creatures. The motives of Pitt, also, in voting against Hastings,
on the second charge, were brought before the bar of the public. By the
friends of the late governor-general, both in and out of the house, he
was accused of a jealousy and fear of him, although it does not appear
what he had to fear, or of what he had to be jealous, except it was
of his official prerogative: Thurlow, the advocate of Hastings, having
indiscreetly stated that he might have a peerage without the minister’s
interference. But it would rather seem that Pitt was influenced in
his conduct by apprehensions, that, if he supported Hastings
indiscriminately, he should forfeit the popular favour, the general
voice being against the accused. Nor did his majesty escape public
censure on this occasion. While the Rohilla charge was pending, a packet
arrived from India, which brought Hastings a diamond of great size
and value, as a present from the Nizam of the Decean, who had acted
a neutral part during the last war in the Carnatic, but who, as the
company were victorious, was now anxious for British friendship. This
diamond was presented to the king at a levee on the 14th of June, which
was the very day after the decision of the house on the charge relative
to the imposition of the fine on Cheyte Sing. This presentation was made
at an unlucky moment, for it was interpreted by the public as a bribe
to check the “impending vote.” Two nights after, when Major Scott called
the attention of the house to some alarming intelligence which had been
reported concerning Benares, and to some suspicious preparations which
the French were making in the Mauritius, the witty Sheridan said that
the only extraordinary news that had come to his ears, was the arrival
of an extraordinary large diamond, which diamond was said to have been
presented to his majesty at an extraordinary period; and, which was also
extraordinary, presented by an individual charged, by that house with
high crimes and misdemeanors! The story of the diamond soon got abroad,
and it formed the subject not only of public conversation, but of songs,
pamphlets, epigrams, and caricatures. In one caricature, the king
was represented with crown and sceptre huddled in a wheelbarrow, and
Hastings wheeling him about, with a label from his mouth, saying, “What
a man buys he may sell;” while in another the king was depicted on his
knees, with his mouth wide open, and Hastings pitching diamonds into it.
It seems to have been very generally believed at the time that there
was no end to the diamonds possessed by Hastings, and that his majesty
showed him favour for what he could obtain. And this belief was further
strengthened by the fact that the queen, notwithstanding her known
severity towards ladies whose virtue would not bear the test of
examination, had yet received Mrs. Hastings—who had lived with the late
governor-general before her marriage with him, and had been divorced
from her former husband in consequence—at court most graciously. To
account for this phenomenon, people fancied that the wife or the accused
was a “congeries of diamonds and jewels:” and in truth Queen Charlotte
did receive from her hands some few diamonds, and a splendid ivory
bedstead, which seemed to justify their explanation of her conduct. Yet,
after all, Hastings was no Sindbad: he did not roll in diamonds. On
his return to England he did not bring home with him more than £130,000
sterling; a sum much less than the fortunes which had been made by
other members of the council, and even by the patriotic Francis himself!
Moreover, it is said, that he would not have had what he did in reality
possess, had his wife not accepted presents which he refused, and saved
money unknown to him, which he would have spent in the public service,
or in support of his almost regal establishment.
ATTEMPT ON THE KING’S LIFE.
On the 2nd of August, an incident occurred which for a short time
engrossed the attention of the public. As the king was alighting from
his chariot at the garden-entrance of St. James’s palace, a decently
dressed woman presented a paper to his majesty, and while he was in the
act of receiving it, she struck at his breast with a knife. The king
avoided the blow by drawing back, and as she was preparing to make a
second thrust one of the yeomen arrested her, and wrenched the weapon
from her hand. His majesty on recovering from his alarm, humanely
remarked:—“I am not injured; take care of the poor woman, and do not
hurt her.” On examination before the privy-council, it immediately
appeared that she was insane. Being asked where she had lately resided,
she answered in a frantic manner that “she had been all abroad since the
matter of the crown broke out;” and when interrogated, What matter? she
replied, “that the crown was hers, and that if she had not her right,
England would be deluged in blood for a thousand generations.” The
poor woman’s name was Margaret Nicholson, and ten days before she had
presented a petition which was full of incoherent nonsense; and from
which, if it had been read, the person of the petitioner would probably
have been secured. The idea of prosecution was of course abandoned,
and she was consigned to Bethlehem Hospital for life. But though it was
evident that the woman was a maniac, her attempt led to a display of
the affection which the nation entertained towards his majesty. A public
thanksgiving was ordered, and addresses of congratulation flowed in
from all parts of the kingdom. His majesty felt this so deeply that
he distributed the honour of knighthood, on the presentation of these
addresses, with such a liberal hand, as to give rise to the bye-word of
a “A knight of Peg Nicholson’s order!”
{GEORGE III. 1786–1787}
TREATIES WITH FRANCE AND SPAIN.
In the month of September his majesty appointed a new committee of
council, for the consideration of all matters relating to trade and
plantations, of which board Mr. Charles Jenkinson, now created Lord
Hawkesbury, was appointed president. Under the auspices of this
commission, a treaty of commerce was signed between the courts of
England and France, on the 29 th of September, on the principle of
admitting the commodities of each country to be freely exported and
imported at a low _ad valorem_ duty. The chief negociator of this
treaty was Mr. Eden, afterwards Baron Auckland, who, under the coalition
administration, had filled the office of vice-treasurer of Ireland. This
was the first memorable defection from that inauspicious alliance,
and it was considered the more so because Mr. Eden was considered its
original projector.
About the same time a convention was signed with Spain, which terminated
the long-subsisting disputes respecting the British settlements on the
Mosquito shore and the Bay of Honduras. By this treaty the Mosquito
settlements were formally relinquished; and, in return, the boundaries
of those on the coast and Bay of Honduras were somewhat extended. In a
political point of view this convention answered a valuable purpose, by
removing a source of national disputes; but it is to be regretted
that the claims of humanity and justice were overlooked. The Mosquito
settlers, who amounted to many hundred families, and who had from time
immemorial occupied their lands, under British protection, were ordered
to evacuate the country in eighteen months; nothing further being
stipulated in their favour, than that the king of Spain should “order
his governors to grant to the said settlers all possible facilities for
their removal to the settlements agreed on by the present convention.”
In all measures for the public good, the rights of private individuals
should be regarded, but, by this treaty, they were manifestly
sacrificed.
AFFAIRS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
During this year the affairs of the Prince of Wales attracted much
notice. At its commencement he had formed an acquaintance with a
widow lady of the name of Fitzherbert: a lady several years older than
himself, but still possessing many personal attractions. They resided
together at Brighton, and it was first supposed, and then asserted, that
they were married according to the Romish ritual, and the story gained
sufficient credence as to be subsequently noticed in the house of
commons. The money spent in her support, and in orgies, and gambling,
rendered the income which he possessed from the civil list, and the
Duchy of Cornwall revenues, &c., amounting to £64,000 per annum, wholly
inadequate to meet his expenditure, and the consequence was, that he
had contracted debts to the amount of more than £100,000, beside £50,000
expended on Carleton-house. The young prince had long incurred his
majesty’s displeasure for the countenance which he gave to the leaders
of opposition, and to the Whigs in general; and this displeasure was
deepened by his connexion with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and his extravagances.
His majesty, indeed, was deeply afflicted by the conduct of the heir
apparent, and his orgies were more particularly distressing to him,
from the circumstance that they were carried on at a period when, at
the prayer of Mr. Wilberforce and other pious gentlemen, he had issued
a royal proclamation against vice and immorality, and all kinds of
Swearing, drunkenness, and licentiousness. It is said that both the king
and queen had many conversations with him on his dissipated conduct,
and that the latter exerted a mother’s influence to detach him from the
Whigs, and especially from Fox, who stood the highest in his favour. All
their exertions, however, were unavailing: he still drank and gambled,
and still retained his connexion with Mrs. Fitzherbert and the Whigs.
It is probable that had he listened to the advice and remonstrances of
their majesties, that provision would have been made for the payment
of his debts; but when it was found that he resolved to follow his own
course, the king resolved that no assistance should be afforded him,
either out of his own private purse, or by a vote in parliament. In the
preceding session, when Pitt called the attention of the house to the
civil list, Sheridan, who was the most constant companion of the prince,
and was wont by his wit to set his table in a roar, took an opportunity
of mentioning his patron’s embarrassments, and Pitt replied that he
had received no commands from his majesty on the subject, and therefore
could not interfere. This was of bad omen to any application that might
be made to his majesty on the subject, for Pitt doubtless knew that his
majesty had resolved not to recommend its attention to the members
of parliament. Nevertheless, though the prince knew of his father’s
estrangement from him, he afterwards sent Lord Southampton, his groom
of the stole, to lay the state of his affairs before his majesty. Lord
Southampton was graciously received; but the schedule of his royal
highness’s debts was too long to admit of a prompt reply, and he did not
obtain any definite answer to his application. A month elapsed, and then
the king informed his son by letter, that he could sanction neither a
motion in the commons for the increase of his income, nor a motion for a
grant to discharge his debts. For some time a plan had been recommended
by his friends, the Whigs, for the dismissal of the officers of his
court, and the reduction of the establishment of his household to that
of a private gentleman; and this the prince now resolved to carry into
effect. Coach-horses, race-horses, and saddle-horses were all sold; a
stop was put to the works at Carleton-house; the state-apartments were
shut up; the prince dismissed his officers; and he descended so low as
to live like a private gentleman. By this step his estimated savings
were £40,000 per annum; and this was to be set apart, and vested in
trustees, for the payment of his debts. The act was a noble one if the
motive was pure; but that demands a doubt. His majesty had before been
declaimed against as parsimonious and harsh; and he was now represented
as an unnatural parent and a merciless miser, who was hording up
millions, which he had neither the taste nor the spirit to employ;
while, on the other hand, the prince was held up as a living miracle of
honour, and a martyr to his high principles and delicate feelings. The
advisers of the young prince, doubtless, foresaw that this would be the
consequence if he was compelled to make the sacrifice; and the prince
himself could scarcely be a stranger to their expectations. But though,
for the honour of natural affection, he may be acquitted of the charge
of wishing to bring his father into contempt, yet it seems clear he had
an idea that by sinking into obscurity, and, by consequence, lowering
the dignity of the high rank to which he belonged, he should obtain both
an increase of income and a grant for the payment of his debts. But
the event did not justify such an anticipation. All the members of his
father’s court attributed his act to childish spite and spleen, or to
a malicious design of injuring the popularity of his majesty and his
ministers; and when he wrote to the king, explaining his motives, it was
replied, that if he chose to take a rash step, he must likewise take the
consequences. His conduct, indeed, seems to have increased the distance
which had too long subsisted between the prince and his father; for when
he hastened to Windsor, on occasion of his majesty’s escape from the
attempt made upon his life by Margaret Nicholson, although he was
received by the queen, the king refused to see him. But this may have
arisen chiefly from his profligate connexions, which must have been
exceedingly offensive to a mind of such moral and religious mould as
his majesty possessed: a sacrifice made for the payment of debts could
scarcely thus have acted upon honourable feelings, unless, indeed,
the king looked upon it in connexion with his dissipated and gambling
habits. This subject, however, in the dearth of more important, together
with that of the impeachment of Hastings, formed the staple of public
and private discussion; some taking part with the king, and some with
the prince, as best suited their respective views or passions. It would
appear that both Fox and Sheridan assured the prince that his popularity
was so great, as to hold out a certain hope that a money-vote might be
carried, despite his father and the chancellor of the exchequer; and
that having gained his assent to the plan, great exertions were made to
gain the support of the independent members of parliament, although
they lacked the means of purchasing the votes of these said “independent
members.” In the meantime the Duke of Orleans, Philippe Egalité, who was
one of the most intimate friends of the Prince of Wales, and had betted
large sums of money with him this year at Newmarket and Epsom, offered
to relieve his necessities by a loan of French money. The prince
appears to have been inclined to accept the offer; but his Whig friends
discovered it, and convinced him of its impropriety, as it had a
perilous tendency of placing the future sovereign of England in a state
of dependence on the House of Bourbon. But the Whigs in thus advising
the prince, had a care for their own honour as well as his future
interests: had they allowed him to take the money, no matter upon what
conditions, an ill savour would have been brought upon their names as
a party; a savour more odious than that which attaches itself to the
memory of those patriots, in the days of Charles II., who touched the
gold of Louis XIV.