_Ambitious Schemes of the French in North America..... Rise
and Conduct of the Ohio Company..... Letter from the
Governor of Virginia to the French Commander at Riviere-au-
Beuf..... Perfidious Practices of the French in Nova
Scotia..... Major Laurence defeats the French Neutrals.....
British Ambassador at Paris amused with general Promises.....
Session opened..... Supplies granted..... Repeal of the Act
for naturalizing Jews..... Motion for repealing a former Act
favourable to the Jews..... East India Mutiny Bill..... Case
of Le ------ Session closed..... Death of Mr. Pelham.....
Change in the Ministry..... New Parliament assembled and
prorogued..... Disputes in the Irish Parliament.....
Transactions in the East Indies..... Account of the English
Settlements on the Malabar and Coromandel Coast.....
Disputes about the Government of Arcot..... Mahommed Ali
Khan supported by the English..... Mr. Clive takes
Arcot..... and defeats the Enemy in the Plains of Arani, and
at Koveripauk..... He reduces three Forts, and takes M.
d’Anteuil..... Chunda Saib taken and put to Death, and his
Army routed...... Convention between the East India
Companies of England and France..... General View of the
British Colonies in North America..... New England and New
York..... New Jersey..... Pennsylvania..... Maryland.....
Virginia..... The two Carolinas..... Georgia..... The
French surprise Logs-Town, on the Ohio..... Conference with
the Indians at Albany..... Colonel Washington defeated and
taken by the French on the Ohio..... Divisions among the
British Colonies..... The hereditary Prince of Hesse-Cassel
professes the Roman Catholic Religion..... Parliament of
Paris recalled from Exile..... Affairs of Spain and
Portugal..... Session opened..... Supplies granted..... Bill
in behalf or Chelsea Pensioners..... Oxfordshire
Election..... Message from the King to the House of
Commons..... Court of Versailles amuses the English
Ministry..... Session closed_
AMBITIOUS SCHEMES OF THE FRENCH.
While the British ministry depended upon the success of the conferences
between the commissaries of the two crowns at Paris, the French were
actually employed in executing their plans of encroachment upon the
British colonies of North America. Their scheme was to engross the whole
fur trade of that continent; and they had already made great progress
in extending a chain of forts, connecting their settlements on the river
Mississippi with their possessions in Canada, along the great lakes
of Erie and Ontario, which last issues into the river St. Lawrence. By
these means they hoped to exclude the English from all communication and
traffic with the Indian nations, even those that lay contiguous to the
British settlements, and confine them within a line of their drawing,
beyond which they should neither extend their trade nor plantations.
Their commercial spirit did not keep pace with the gigantic strides
of their ambition; they could not supply all those Indians with the
necessaries they wanted, so that many of the natives had recourse to
the English settlements; and this commerce produced a connexion, in
consequence of which the British adventurers ventured to travel with
merchandise as far as the banks of the river Ohio, that runs into the
Mississippi, a great way on the other side of the Apalachian mountains,
beyond which none of our colonists had ever attempted to penetrate.
The tract of country lying along the Ohio is so fertile, pleasant,
and inviting, and the Indians, called Twightees, who inhabit those
delightful plains, were so well disposed towards a close alliance with
the English, that, as far back as the year one thousand seven hundred
and sixteen, Mr. Spotswood, governor of Virginia, proposed a plan for
erecting a company to settle such lands upon this river as should be
ceded to them by treaty with the natives; but the design was at that
time frustrated, partly by the indolence and timidity of the British
ministry, who were afraid of giving umbrage to the French, and partly by
the jealousies and divisions subsisting between the different colonies
of Great Britain. The very same circumstances encouraged the French to
proceed in their project of invasion. At length they penetrated from
the banks of the river St. Lawrence, across lake Champlain, and upon
the territory of New York, built with impunity, and indeed without
opposition, the fort of Crown Point, the most insolent and dangerous
encroachment that they had hitherto carried into execution.
RISE AND CONDUCT OF THE OHIO COMPANY.
Governor Spotswood’s scheme for an Ohio company was revived immediately
after the peace of Aix-la-Cha-pelle, when certain merchants of London,
who traded to Maryland and Virginia, petitioned the government on this
subject, and were indulged not only with a grant of a great tract of
ground to the southward of Pennsylvania, which they promised to settle,
but also with an exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians on
the banks of the river Ohio. This design no sooner transpired, than
the French governor of Canada took the alarm, and wrote letters to the
governors of New York and Pennsylvania giving them to understand, that
as the English inland traders had encroached on the French territories
and privileges, by trading with the Indians under the protection of his
sovereign, he would seize them wherever they could be found, if they did
not immediately desist from that illicit practice. No regard being paid
to this intimation, he next year caused three British traders to be
arrested. Their effects were confiscated, and they themselves conveyed
to Quebec, from whence they were sent prisoners to Rochelle in France,
and there detained in confinement. In this situation they presented a
remonstrance to the earl of Albemarle, at that time English ambassador
in Paris, and he claiming them as British subjects, they were set at
liberty. Although, in answer to his lordship’s memorial, the court
of Versailles promised to transmit orders to the French governors in
America, to use all their endeavours for preventing any disputes that
might have a tendency to alter the good correspondence established
between the two nations; in all probability the directions given
were seemingly the very reverse of these professions, for the French
commanders, partisans, and agents in America, took every step their
busy genius could suggest, to strengthen their own power, and weaken the
influence of the English, by embroiling them with the Indian nations.
This task they found the more easy, as the natives had taken offence
against the English, when they understood that their lands were given
away without their knowledge, and that there was a design to build forts
in their country without their consent and concurrence. Indeed, the
person whom the new company employed to survey the banks of the Ohio,
concealed his design so carefully, and behaved in other respects in such
a dark mysterious manner, as could not fail to arouse the jealousy of a
people naturally inquisitive, and very much addicted to suspicion. How
the company proposed to settle this acquisition in despite of the
native possessors, it is not easy to conceive, and it is still more
unaccountable that they should have neglected the natives, whose consent
and assistance they might have procured at a very small expense. Instead
of acting such a fair, open, and honourable part, they sent a Mr. Gist
to make a clandestine survey of the country, as far as the falls of the
river Ohio; and, as we have observed above, his conduct alarmed both
the French and Indians. The erection of this company was equally
disagreeable to the separate traders of Virginia and Pennsylvania, who
saw themselves on the eve of being deprived of a valuable branch of
traffic, by the exclusive charter of a monopoly; and therefore they
employed their emissaries to foment the jealousy of the Indians. The
French having in a manner commenced hostilities against the English,
and actually built forts on the territories of the British allies at
Niagara, and on the lake Erie, Mr. Hamilton, governor of Pennsylvania,
communicated this intelligence to the assembly of the province, and
represented the necessity of erecting truck-houses, or places of
strength and security, on the river Ohio, to which the traders might
retire in case of insult or molestation. The proposal was approved, and
money granted for the purpose; but the assembly could not agree about
the manner in which they should be erected; and in the meantime the
French fortified themselves at leisure, and continued to harass the
traders belonging to the British settlements. Repeated complaints of
these encroachments and depredations being represented to Mr. Dinwiddie,
governor of Virginia, he, towards the latter end of this very year, sent
major Washington with a letter to the commanding officer of a fort which
the French had built on the Riviere-au-Beuf, which falls into the Ohio,
not far from the lake Erie. In this letter Mr. Dinwiddie expressed his
surprise that the French should build forts and make settlements on the
river Ohio, in the western part of the colony of Virginia, belonging
to the Crown of Great Britain. He complained of these encroachments, as
well as of the injuries done to the subjects of Great Britain, in open
violation of the law of nations, and of the treaties actually subsisting
between the two crowns. He desired to know by whose authority and
instructions his Britannic majesty’s territories had been invaded; and
required him to depart in peace, without further prosecuting a plan
which must interrupt the harmony and good understanding which his
majesty was desirous to continue and cultivate with the most christian
king. To this spirited intimation the officer replied, that it was not
his province to specify the evidence, and demonstrate the right of the
king his master to the lands situated on the river Ohio; but he would
transmit the letter to the marquis du Quesne, and act according to the
answer he should receive from that nobleman. In the meantime, he said
he did not think himself obliged to obey the summons of the English
governor; that he commanded the fort by virtue of an order from his
general, to which he was determined to conform with all the precision
and resolution of a good officer. Mr. Dinwiddie expected no other reply,
and therefore had projected a fort to be erected near the forks of the
river. The province undertook to defray the expense, and the stores for
that purpose were already provided; but by some fatal over sight, the
concurrence of the Indians was neither obtained nor solicited, and
therefore they looked upon this measure with an evil eye, as a manifest
invasion of their property.
PERFIDY OF THE FRENCH.
While the French thus industriously extended their encroachments to the
southward, they were not idle in the gulf of St. Lawrence, but seized
every opportunity of distressing the English settlement of Nova Scotia.
We have already observed, that the town of Halifax was no sooner built,
than they spirited up the Indians of that neighbourhood to commit
hostilities against the inhabitants, some of whom they murdered, and
others they carried prisoners to Louisbourg, where they sold them for
arms and ammunition, the French pretending that they maintained this
traffic from motives of pure compassion, in order to prevent the
massacre of the English captives, whom, however, they did not set at
liberty without exacting an exorbitant ransom. As these skulking parties
of Indians were generally directed and headed by French commanders,
repeated complaints were made to the governor of Louisbourg, who still
answered, that his jurisdiction did not extend over the Indians,
and that their French conductors were chosen from the inhabitants of
Annapolis, who thought proper to remain in that country after it was
ceded to the English, and were in fact the subjects of Great Britain.
Even while the conferences were carried on for ascertaining the limits
of Nova Scotia, the governor of Canada detached M. la Come, with some
regular troops, and a body of militia, to fortify a post on the bay
of Chignecto, on pretence that this and a great part of the peninsula
belonged to his government. The possession of this post not only secured
to the Indians of the continent a free entrance into the peninsula,
and a safe retreat in case of pursuit; but also encouraged the French
inhabitants of Annapolis to rise in open rebellion against the English
government.
MAJOR LAURENCE DEFEATS THE FRENCH NEUTRALS.
In the spring of the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty, general
Cornwallis, governor of Halifax, detached major Laurence with a few men
to reduce them to obedience. At his approach they burned their town
to ashes, forsook their possessions, and threw themselves under the
protection of M. la Corne, who, thus reinforced, found himself at the
head of fifteen hundred men, well provided with arms and ammunition.
Major Laurence being unable to cope with him in the field, demanded
an interview, at which he desired to know for what cause the French
inhabitants of Nova Scotia had shaken off their allegiance to the crown
of Great Britain, and violated the neutrality which they had hitherto
affected to profess. The French officer, without pretending to account
for their behaviour, gave him to understand in general terms, that he
had orders to defend his post, and these orders he was determined to
obey. The English major finding himself too weak to attack their united
force, and having no orders to commit hostilities against any but the
Indians and their open abettors, returned to Halifax, without having
been able to fulfil the purpose of his expedition. Immediately after
his retreat, the French neutrals (so they were called) returned to
their habitations which they had abandoned, and, in conjunction with the
Indians, renewed their depredations upon the inhabitants of Halifax
and its dependent settlements. The English governor, justly incensed
at these outrages, and seeing they would neither submit to the English
government themselves, nor allow others to enjoy it with tranquillity,
resolved to expel them effectually from the country they so ill deserved
to possess. Major Laurence was again detached with a thousand men,
transported by sea to Chignecto, where he found the French and Indians
intrenched in order to dispute his landing. Notwithstanding this
opposition, he made a descent with a few companies, received and
returned a smart fire, and rushing into their intrenchments, obliged
them to fly with the utmost precipitation, leaving a considerable
number killed and wounded on the spot. The fugitives saved themselves
by crossing a river, on the farther bank of which la Corne stood at the
head of his troops, drawn up in order to receive them as friends and
dependents. He had by this time erected a fort, which he denominated
Beau Séjour; and now the English built another on the opposite side of
the river, which was called after its founder St. Laurence. This being
provided with a good garrison, served as a check upon the French, and in
some measure restrained the incursions of these barbarians. Not that it
effectually answered this purpose; for the Indians and Neutrals still
seized every opportunity of attacking the English in the interior parts
of the peninsula. In the course of the succeeding year they surprised
the little town of Dartmouth, on the other side of Halifax-bay, where
they killed and scalped a great number of people, and carried off some
prisoners. For these expeditions the French always supplied them with
boats, canoes, arms, and ammunition; and indeed they were conducted with
such care and secrecy, that it was almost impossible to prevent their
success. One sure remedy against the sudden and stolen incursions of
those savages might have been found in the use of staunch hounds, which
would have run upon the foot, detected the skulking parties of the
Indians, and frustrated all their ambuscades; but this expedient, so
easy and practicable, was never tried, though frequently recommended in
public to the attention of the government, and the consideration of the
colonists. The Indians continued to plunder and massacre the British
subjects with impunity, and were countenanced by the French government
in that country, who now strengthened their lodgement on the neck of
the peninsula with an additional fort, distinguished by the name of
Bayeverte; and built a third at the mouth of St. John’s river, on the
north side of the bay of Fundy.
BRITISH AMBASSADOR AT PARIS AMUSED WITH GENERAL PROMISES.
All these previous steps to a rupture with England were taken with great
deliberation, while the commissaries of both nations were disputing
about the limits of the very country which they thus arrogantly usurped;
and they proceeded to perfect their chain of forts to the southward,
without paying the least regard to the expostulations of the English
governors, or to a memorial presented at Versailles by the earl of
Albemarle, the British minister. He demanded that express orders should
be sent to M. de la Jonquire, the commander for the French in America,
to desist from violence against the British subjects in that country;
that the fort of Niagara should be immediately razed; that the subjects
of Great Britain, who had been made prisoners, should be set at liberty,
and indemnified for the losses they had sustained; and that the persons
who had committed these excesses should be punished in an exemplary
manner. True it is, six Englishmen, whom they had unjustly taken, were
immediately dismissed; and the ambassador amused with general promises
of sending such instructions to the French governor in America, as
should anticipate any cause of complaint for the future; but, far from
having any intention to perform these promises, the court of Versailles,
without all doubt, exhorted la Jonquire to proceed in bringing its
ambitious schemes to perfection.
SESSION OPENED.
Every incident in America seemed to prognosticate war, when the session
of parliament was opened on the fifteenth day of November; yet his
majesty, on this occasion, told them that the events of the year had
not made it necessary for him to offer any thing in particular to their
consideration relating to foreign affairs. He even declared that the
continuance of the public tranquillity, and the general state of Europe,
remained upon the same footing as when they last parted; and assured
them of his steadiness in pursuing the most effectual measures to
preserve to his people the blessings of peace. He expressed uncommon
concern that the horrid crimes of robbery and murder were of late rather
increased than diminished, and earnestly recommended this important
object to their serious attention. Affectionate addresses were
presented by both houses in answer to this harangue; and, what was very
remarkable, they were proposed and passed without question or debate.
The commons continued the same number of seamen and land-forces for
the ensuing year, which had been granted in the last session, and made
suitable provision for all the exigences of the state. The whole supply
amounted to two millions seven hundred and ninety-seven thousand nine
hundred and sixteen pounds, ten shillings and twopence, to be raised by
a land-tax of two shillings in the pound, a malt-tax, a continuation of
certain duties on wine, vinegar, cider, and beer imported, a sum taken
from the sinking-fund, and the overplus of certain grants, funds, and
duties. The provisions made considerably exceeded the grants; but this
excess was chargeable with the interest of what should be borrowed upon
the credit in the land or malt-tax, there being a clause of credit in
both, as also with the deficiency (if any should happen) in the sums
they were computed to produce. The house agreed to all these resolutions
almost unanimously; indeed, no opposition was made to any of them, but
that for continuing the same number of land-forces, which was carried by
a great majority.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
REPEAL OF THE ACT FOR NATURALIZING JEWS.
The act for permitting Jews to be naturalized, which had, during the
last session, triumphed over such an obstinate opposition, was by this
time become the object of national horror and execration. Every part of
the kingdom resounded with the reproach of the ministry who had enforced
such an odious measure; and the two brothers, who engrossed the greater
part of the administration, trembled at the prospect of what this
clamour might produce at the general election, this being the last
session of the present parliament. So eager were the ministers to annul
this unpopular measure, that, immediately after the peers had agreed
to the nature and forms of an address to his majesty, the duke of
Newcastle, with that precipitation so peculiar to his character, poured
forth an abrupt harangue in that house, importing, that the disaffected
had made a handle of the act passed last session in favour of the Jews,
to raise discontents among many of his majesty’s good subjects; and as
the act was in itself of little importance, he was of opinion it ought
to be repealed; for this purpose he presented a bill ready framed,
which was read and committed, though not without some debate. The
naturalization bill, now devoted as a sacrifice to the resentment of
the people, containing a clause disabling all naturalized Jews from
purchasing, inheriting, or receiving any advowson or presentation, or
right to any ecclesiastical benefice or promotion, school, hospital,
or donative; and by the first draft of the bill, which his grace now
presented, it was intended that this clause should not be repealed. It
was the opinion, however, of the majority, that such a clause standing
unrepealed might imply, that the Jews, by being thus expressly excluded
from the possession of any ecclesiastical right of presentation, would
be considered as having the power and privilege of purchasing and
inheriting any lay-property in the kingdom. On this consideration an
amendment was made in the bill, the clause in question was left out, and
the whole act of naturalization repealed without exception.*
* The reverend bench of bishops had, with a laudable spirit
of christian meekness and philanthropy, generally approved
of the indulgence granted to their Hebrew brethren; and now
they acquiesced in the proposed repeal with the same passive
discretion, though one of the number contended for the
saving clause which the duke of Newcastle had recommended.
Though the lords, in general, concurred in the expediency of the repeal,
it was opposed by some few, as too great a sacrifice to the idle and
unfounded clamours of the multitude; and upon this side of the debate
a great power of elocution was displayed by earl Temple, who had lately
succeeded to this title on the death of his mother, a nobleman of
distinguished abilities, and the most amiable disposition, frank,
liberal, humane, and zealously attached to the interest and honour of
his country. In the lower house, the members of both parties seemed to
vie with each other in demonstrations of aversion to this unpopular act.
On the very first day of the session, immediately after the motion for
an address to his majesty, sir James Dash-wood, an eminent leader in the
opposition, gave the commons to understand, that he had a motion of very
great importance to make, which would require the attention of every
member, as soon as the motion for the address should be discussed; he
therefore desired they would not quit the house, until he should have
an opportunity to explain his proposal. Accordingly, they had no sooner
agreed to the motion for an address of thanks to his majesty, than
he stood up again, and having expatiated upon the just and general
indignation which the act of the preceding session, in favour of the
Jews, had raised among the people, he moved to order that the house
should be called over on Tuesday the fourth day of December, for taking
that act into consideration; but being given to understand, that it was
not usual to appoint a call of the house for any particular purpose,
he agreed that the motion should be general. It was seconded by lord
Parker, his opposite in political interests; the house agreed to it
without opposition, and the call was ordered accordingly. They were
anticipated, however’, by the lords, who framed and transmitted to them
a bill on the same subject, to the purport of which the commons made
an objection; for every member, having the fear of the general election
before his eyes, carefully avoided every expression which could give
umbrage to his constituents; but violent opposition was made to the
preamble, which ran in the following strain:--“Whereas an act of
parliament was made and passed in the twenty-fifth year of his majesty’s
reign, intituled, An act to permit persons professing the Jewish
religion, to be naturalized by parliament, and for other purposes
therein mentioned; and whereas occasion has been taken, from the said
act, to raise discontents and disquiets in the minds of his majesty’s
subjects, be it enacted, &c.” This introduction was considered as
an unjust reflection upon the body of the people in general, and in
particular upon those who had opposed the bill in the course of the
preceding session. Sir Roger Newdigate therefore moved, that the
expression should be varied to this effect: “Whereas great discontents
and disquietudes had from the said act arisen.” The consequence of this
motion was an obstinate debate, in which it was supported by the earl of
Egmont, and divers other able orators; but Mr. Pel ham and Mr. Pitt were
numbered among its opponents. The question being put for the proposed
alteration, it was of course carried in the negative; the bill, after
the third reading, passed _nemine contradicente_, and in due time
obtained the royal assent.
MOTION FOE REPEALING A FORMER ACT FAVOURABLE TO THE JEWS.
Even this concession of the ministry did not allay the resentment of the
people, and their apprehension of encroachment from the Jews. Another
act still subsisted, by virtue of which any person professing the Jewish
religion might become a free denizen of Great Britain, after having
resided seven years in any of his majesty’s colonies in America; and
this was now considered as a law, having the same dangerous tendency, of
which the other was now in a fair way of being convicted. It was moved,
therefore, in the lower house, that a part of this former act might be
read; then the same member made a motion for an address to his majesty,
desiring that the house might have the perusal of the lists transmitted
from the American colonies to the commissioners for trade and
plantations, containing the names of all such persons professing the
Jewish religion, as had entitled themselves to the benefit of the said
act, since the year one thousand seven hundred and forty. These lists
were accordingly presented, and left upon the table for the perusal
of the members; but as this act contained no limitation of time within
which the benefit of it should be claimed, and as this claim was
attended with a good deal of trouble and some expense, very few persons
had availed themselves of it in that period. Nevertheless, as a great
number of Jews were already entitled to claim this indulgence, and as
it remained an open channel through which Great Britain might be deluged
with those people, all of whom the law would hold as natural-born
subjects, and their progeny as freed from all tha restriction contained
in the act with respect to naturalized foreigners, lord Harley moved for
leave to bring in a bill to repeal so much of the said act as related to
persons professing the Jewish religion, who should come to settle in
any British colony after a certain time. The motion was seconded by sir
James Dashwood, and supported by the earl of Egmont; but being found
unequal to the interest and elocution of Mr. Pelham and Mr. Pitt, was
rejected by the majority.
{1754}
EAST-INDIA MUTINY BILL.
The next object that claimed the attention of the commons, was a bill
for improving the regulations already made to prevent the spreading of
a contagious distemper, which raged among the horned cattle in different
parts of the kingdom. The last bill of this session that had the good
fortune to succeed, was brought in for punishing mutiny and desertion of
officers and soldiers in the service of the East India company, and for
the punishment of offences committed in the East Indies and the island
of St. Helena. This being a measure of a very extraordinary nature, all
the members were ordered to attend the house on the day fixed for
the second reading; at the same time all charters, commissions, and
authorities, by which any power relative to a military jurisdiction, or
the exercise of martial law, had been granted or derived from the crown
to the said company, were submitted to the perusal of the members. The
bill was by many considered as a dangerous extension of military power,
to the prejudice of the civil rights enjoyed by British subjects, and
as such violently contested by the earl of Egmont, lord Strange, and
Mr. Alderman Beckford. Their objections were answered by the
solicitor-general and Mr. Yorke. The bill, after some warm debates,
being espoused by the ministry, was enacted into a law, and despatched
to the East Indies by the first opportunity.
Some other motions were made, and petitions presented on different
subjects, which, as they miscarried, it will be unnecessary to
particularize. It may not be amiss, however, to record an exemplary act
of justice done by the commons on a person belonging to a public
office, whom they detected in the practice of fraud and imposition.
Notwithstanding the particular care taken in the last session, to
prevent the monopolizing of tickets in the state lottery, all
those precautions had been eluded in a scandalous manner by certain
individuals, intrusted with the charge of delivering the tickets to
the contributors, according to the intent of the act, which expressly
declared that not more than twenty should be sold to any one person.
Instead of conforming to these directions of the legislature, they and
their friends engrossed great numbers, sheltering themselves under a
false list of feigned names for the purpose; by which means they not
only defeated the equitable intention of the commons, but in some
measure injured the public credit; inasmuch as their avarice had
prompted them to subscribe for a greater number than they had cash to
purchase, so that there was a deficiency in the first payment, which
might have had a bad effect on the public affairs. These practices were
so flagrant and notorious as to attract the notice of the lower house,
where an inquiry was begun, and prosecuted with a spirit of real
patriotism, in opposition to a scandalous cabal, who endeavoured with
equal eagerness and perseverance to screen the delinquents. All their
efforts however proved abortive; and a committee, appointed to examine
particulars, agreed to several severe resolutions against one Le ----,
who had amassed a large fortune by this and other kinds of peculation.
They voted him guilty of a breach of trust, and a direct violation of
the lottery act; and an address was presented to his majesty, desiring
he might be prosecuted by the attorney-general for these offences. He
was accordingly sued in the court of king’s bench, and paid a fine of
one thousand pounds, for having committed frauds by which he had
gained forty times that sum; but he was treated with such gentleness as
remarkably denoted the clemency of that tribunal.
SESSION CLOSED.
The session ended in the beginning of April, when the king gave the
parliament to understand, that he should say nothing at present on
foreign affairs; but assured them of his fixed resolution to exert his
whole power in maintaining the general tranquillity, and adhering to
such measures for that purpose as he had hitherto pursued in conjunction
with his allies. He, in very affectionate terms, thanked both houses
for the repeated proofs they had given of their zealous attachment
and loyalty to his person and government. He enumerated the salutary
measures they had taken for lessening the national debt, and augmenting
the public credit, extending navigation and commerce, reforming the
morals of the people, and improving the regulations of civil economy. He
concluded with declaring, that he securely relied upon the loyalty and
good affection of his people, and had no other aim than their permanent
happiness. In a little time after the close of this session they were
dissolved by proclamation, and new writs issued by the lord-chancellor
for convoking a new parliament. The same ceremonies were practised
with respect to the convocations of Canterbury and York, though they no
longer retained their former importance; nor indeed were they suffered
to sit and deliberate upon the subjects which formerly fell under their
cognizance and discussion.
DEATH OF MR. PELHAM. CHANGE IN THE MINISTRY.
In the beginning of March, the ministry of Great Britain had been left
without a head by the death of Mr. Pelham, which was not only sincerely
lamented by his sovereign, but also regretted by the nation in general,
to whose affection he had powerfully recommended himself by the candour
and humanity of his conduct and character, even while he pursued
measures which they did not entirely approve. The loss of such a
minister was the more deeply felt by the government at this juncture,
being the eve of a general election for a new parliament, when every
administration is supposed to exert itself with redoubled vigilance and
circumspection. He had already concerted the measures for securing
a majority, and his plan was faithfully executed by his friends and
adherents, who still engrossed the administration. His brother, the duke
of Newcastle, was appointed first lord commissioner of the treasury,
and succeeded as secretary of state by sir Thomas Robinson, who had long
resided as ambassador at the court of Vienna. The other department
of this office was still retained by the earl of Holdernesse, and the
function of chancellor of the exchequer was performed as usual by the
lord chief-justice of the king’s bench, until a proper person could be
found to fill that important office; but in the course of the summer it
was bestowed upon Mr. Legge, who acquitted himself with equal honour and
capacity. Divers other alterations were made of less importance to the
public, sir George Lyttelton was appointed cofferer, and the earl of
Hillsborough comptroller of the household. Mr. George Grenville, brother
to earl Temple, became treasurer of the navy; and Mr. Charles Townshend,
of whom we shall have occasion to speak in the sequel, took his place
as a commissioner at the board of admiralty, in the room of lord
Barrington, made master of the wardrobe. Lord Hardwicke, the chancellor,
was promoted to the dignity of an earl. The place of lord chief-justice
of the king’s-bench becoming vacant by the death of sir William Lee, was
filled with sir Dudley Ryder, and he was succeeded by Mr. Murray in the
office of attorney-general.
NEW PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED AND PROROGUED.
The elections for the new parliament generally succeeded according to
the wish of the ministry; for opposition was now dwindled down to the
lowest state of imbecility. It had received a mortal wound by the death
of the late prince of Wales, whose adherents were too wise to pursue an
_ignis fatuus_, without any prospect of success or advantage. Some
of them had prudently sung their palinodia to the ministry, and been
gratified with profitable employments; while others, setting too great
a price upon their own importance, kept aloof till the market was over,
and were left to pine in secret over their disappointed ambition.
The maxims of tory-ism had been relinquished by many, as the barren
principles of a losing game; the body of the people were conciliated
to the established government; and the harmony that now, for the first
time, subsisted among all the branches of the royal family, had a
wonderful effect in acquiring a degree of popularity which they had
never before enjoyed. The writs being returned, the new parliament was
opened on the last day of May by the duke of Cumberland, and some other
peers, who acted by virtue of a commission from his majesty. The commons
having chosen for their speaker the right hon. Arthur Onslow, who had
honourably filled that high office in four preceding parliaments, he
was presented and approved by the commissioners. Then the lord
high-chancellor harangued both houses, giving them to understand, that
his majesty had indulged them with this early opportunity of
coming together, in order to complete without loss of time certain
parliamentary proceedings, which he judged would be for the satisfaction
of his good subjects; but he did not think proper to lay before them any
points of general business, reserving every thing of that nature to the
usual time of their assembling in the winter. On the fifth day of June
this short session was closed, and the parliament prorogued by the
lords-commissioners.
DISPUTES IN THE IRISH PARLIAMENT.
In the beginning of this year violent disputes arose between the
government and the house of commons in Ireland, on the almost forgotten
subjects of privilege and prerogative. The commons conceived they had an
undoubted right to apply the surplus of their revenue towards national
purposes, without the consent of their sovereign; and accordingly, in
the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, prepared a bill
with this preamble, “Whereas, on the twenty-fifth day of March last,
a considerable balance remained in the hands of the vice-treasurer
or receivers-general of the kingdom, or their deputy or deputies,
unapplied; and it will be for your majesty’s service, and for the ease
of your faithful subjects in this kingdom, that so much thereof as can
be conveniently spared should be paid, agreeably to your majesty’s most
gracious intentions, in discharge of part of the national debt.” This
appropriation gave great offence to the advocates for prerogatives in
England, who affirmed that the commons had no right to apply any part
of the unappropriated revenue, nor even to take any such affair into
consideration, without the previous consent of the crown, expressed in
the most explicit terms. It was in consequence of this doctrine, that
the duke of Dorset, lord-lieutenant of Ireland, told them in the next
session of parliament, held in the year one thousand seven hundred
and fifty-one, he was commanded by the king to aquaint them, that his
majesty, ever attentive to the ease and happiness of his subjects, would
graciously consent and recommend it to them, that such a part of the
money then remaining in the treasury, as should be thought consistent
with the public service, be applied towards the further reduction of
the national debt. This declaration alarmed the commons, zealous as they
were for the preservation of their privileges; and in their address of
thanks, which, like that of the parliament of Great Britain, used
always to echo back the words of the speech, they made no mention of his
majesty’s consent; but only acknowledged his gracious attention to
their ease and happiness, in recommending to them the application of
the surplus. They accordingly resolved to apply one hundred and twenty
thousand pounds of that overplus towards the discharge of the national
debt; and, in the preamble of the bill, framed for this purpose, made
no mention of his majesty’s consent, though before they had acknowledged
his goodness in recommending this application. The ministry in England
were highly offended at this purposed omission, which they construed
into a wilful encroachment on the prerogative; and the bill was sent
back with an alteration in the preamble, signifying his majesty’s
consent as well as recommendation. The Irish house of commons being
at that time deeply engaged in a minute inquiry into the conduct of
a gentleman, a servant of the crown, and a member of their own house,
accused of having misapplied a large sum of money, with which he had
been intrusted for rebuilding or repairing the barracks, were now
unwilling to embroil themselves farther with the government, until this
affair should be discussed. They therefore passed the bill with the
alteration, and proceeded with their inquiry. The person was convicted
of having misapplied the public money, and ordered to make the barracks
fit for the reception and accommodation of the troops at his own
expense. They did not, however, neglect to assert what they thought
their rights and privileges, when the next opportunity occurred. The
duke of Dor-get, when he opened the session of this year, repeated the
expression of his majesty’s gracious consent, in mentioning the surplus
of the public money. They again omitted that word in their address; and
resolved, in their bill of application, not only to sink this odious
term, but likewise to abate in their complaisance to the crown, by
leaving out that expression of grateful acknowledgment, which had met
with such a cold reception above. By this time the contest had kindled
up two violent factions, and diffused a general spirit of resentment
through the whole Irish nation. The committee who prepared the bill,
instead of inserting the usual compliments in the preamble, mentioned
nothing but a recital of facts, and sent it over in a very plain dress,
quite destitute of all embroidery. The ministry, intent upon vindicating
the prerogative from such an unmannerly attack, filled up the omissions
of the committee, and sent it back with this alteration: “And your
majesty, ever attentive to the ease and happiness of your faithful
subjects, has been graciously pleased to signify that you would consent,
and to recommend it to us, that so much of the money remaining in your
majesty’s treasury as should be necessary to be applied to the discharge
of the national debt, or such part thereof as should be thought
expedient by parliament.” This then being the crisis which was to
determine a constitutional point of such importance, namely, whether the
people in parliament assembled have a right to deliberate upon, and vote
the application of any part of the unappropriated revenue, without
the previous consent of the crown; those who were the most zealously
attached to the liberties of their country, resolved to exert themselves
in opposing what they conceived to be a violation of those liberties;
and the bill, with its alterations, was rejected by a majority of five
voices. The success of their endeavours was celebrated with the most
extravagant rejoicing, as a triumph of patriotism over the arts of
ministerial corruption; and, on the other hand, all the servants of the
crown, who had joined the popular cry on this occasion, were in a little
time dismissed from their employments. The rejection of the bill was a
great disappointment to the creditors of the public, and the circulation
of cash was almost stagnated. These calamities were imputed to arbitrary
designs in the government; and the people began to be inflamed with
an enthusiastic spirit of independency, which might have produced
mischievous effects, had not artful steps been taken to bring over
the demagogues, and thus divert the stream of popular clamour from the
ministry to those very individuals who had been the idols of popular
veneration. The speaker of the house of commons was promoted to
the dignity of an earl; and some other patriots were gratified with
lucrative employments. His majesty’s letter arrived for paying off
seventy-five thousand five hundred pounds of the national debt. The
circulation was thus animated, and the resentment of the populace
subsiding, the kingdom retrieved its former tranquillity.
TRANSACTIONS IN THE EAST INDIES.
The ambition and intrigues of the French court, by which the British
interest was invaded and disturbed on the continent of America, had also
extended itself to the East Indies, where they endeavoured to embroil
the English company with divers nabobs or princes, who governed
different parts of the peninsula intra Gangem. That the reader may have
a clear and distinct idea of these transactions, we shall exhibit
a short sketch of the English forts and settlements in that remote
country. The first of these we shall mention is Surat, [348] _[See
note 2U, at the end of this Vol.]_ in the province so called, situated
between the twenty-first and twenty-second degrees of north latitude;
from hence the peninsula stretches into the Indian ocean as far as the
latitude of eight north, ending in a point at Cape Comorin, which is the
southern extremity. To the northward this peninsula joins to Indostan,
and at its greatest breadth extends seven hundred miles. Upon the west,
east, and south, it is washed by the sea. It comprehends the kingdoms
of Malabar, Decan, Golconda, and Bisnagar, with the principalities of
Gingi, Tanjaour, and Madura. The western side is distinguished by
the name of the Malabar coast: the eastern takes the denomination of
Coromandel; and in different parts of this long sweep, from Surat round
Cape Comorin to the bottom of the bay of Bengal, the English and other
European powers have, with the consent of the mogul, established forts
and trading settlements. All these kingdoms, properly speaking, belong
to the mogul; but his power was so weakened by the last invasion of
Kouli Khan, that he has not been able to assert his empire over this
remote country; the tributary princes of which, and even the nabobs, who
were originally governors appointed under their authority, have rendered
themselves independent, and exert an absolute dominion over their
respective territories, without acknowledging his superiority either by
tribute or homage. These princes, when they quarrel among themselves,
naturally have recourse to the assistance of such European powers as
are settled in or near their dominions; and in the same manner the East
Indian companies of the European powers which happen to be at war with
each other, never fail to interest the nabobs in the dispute.
[Illustration: 349.jpg BOMBAY]
ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS.
The next English settlement to Surat, on the coast of the peninsula, is
Bombay, in the kingdom of Decan, a small island, with a very convenient
harbour, above five-and-forty leagues to the south of Surat. The town
is very populous; but the soil is barren, and the climate unhealthy; and
the commerce was rendered very precarious by the neighbourhood of
the famous corsair Angria, until his port of Geria was taken, and his
fortifications demolished. The English company likewise carry on some
traffic at Dabul, about forty leagues further to the south, in the
province of Cuncan. In the same southerly progression, towards the
point of the peninsula, we arrive at Carwar, in the latitude of fifteen
degrees, where there is a small fort and factory belonging to the
company, standing on the south side of a bay, with a river capable of
receiving ships of pretty large burden. The climate here is remarkably
salubrious; the country abounds with provisions of all sorts, and the
best pepper of India grows in this neighbourhood. The next English
settlement we find at Tilli-cherry, where the company has erected
a fort, to defend their commerce of pepper and cardamomoms from the
insults of the rajah, who governs this part of Malabar. Hither the
English trade was removed from Calicut, a large town that stands fifteen
leagues to the southward of Tillicherry, and was as well frequented
as any port on the coast of the Indian peninsula. The most southerly
settlement which the English possess on the Malabar coast, is that
of Anjengo, between the eighth and ninth degrees of latitude. It is
defended by a regular fort, situated on a broad river, which falls into
the sea, and would be very commodious for trade, were not the water on
the bar too shallow to admit ships of considerable burden. Then turning
the Cape, and passing through the strait of Chilao, formed by the island
of Ceylon, we arrive on the coast of Côromandel, which forms the eastern
side of the isthmus. Prosecuting our course in a northern direction,
the first English factory we reach is that of Fort St. David’s, formerly
called Tegapatan, situated in the latitude of eleven degrees forty
minutes north, within the kingdom of Gingi. It was, about six and-twenty
years ago, sold by a Mahratta prince to the East India company,
and, next to Bombay, is the most considerable settlement we have yet
mentioned.*
* The trade consists of long cloths of different colours,
sallampores, morees, dimities, ginghams, and succations.
Its territory extends about eight miles along the coast, and half that
space up to the country, which is delightfully watered by a variety
of rivers; the soil is fertile, and the climate healthy. The fort is
regular, well provided with cannon, ammunition, and a numerous garrison,
which is the more necessary, on account of the neighbourhood of the
French settlement at Pon-dicherry. But the chief settlement belonging
to the company on this coast is that of Madras, or Fort St. George,
standing farther to the northward, between the thirteenth and fourteenth
degrees of latitude, and not a great way from the diamond mines of
Golconda. It is seated on a flat, barren, scorching sand, so near the
sea, that in bad weather the walls are endangered by the mighty surges
rolled in from the ocean. As the soil is barren, the climate is so
intensely hot that it would be altogether uninhabitable, were not the
heat mitigated by the sea breezes. On the land side it is defended by
a salt water river, which, while it contributes to the security of the
place, robs the inhabitants of one great comfort, by obstructing
the springs of fresh water. The fort is a regular square, the town
surrounded with walls well mounted with artillery, and the place,
including the Black Town, is very populous. Madras, with several
villages in the neighbourhood, was purchased of the king of Golconda,
before the mogul became sovereign of this country. The governor of this
place is not only president of Fort St. George, but also of all the
other settlements on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, as far as the
island of Sumatra. He lives in great pomp, having inferior judges, who
pass sentence of death occasionally on malefactors of any nation, except
the subjects of Great Britain. All the company’s affairs are directed
by him and his council, who are invested with the power of inflicting
corporal punishment, short of life and member, upon such Europeans as
are in the service, and dispose of all places of trust and profit. By
virtue of an act passed in the course of this very session, the military
officers belonging to the company were permitted to hold courts-martial,
and punish their soldiers according to the degree of their delinquency.
In a word, Madras is of the utmost importance to the company for
its strength, wealth, and the great returns it makes in calicoes and
muslins. Towards the latter end of the last century, the English company
had a flourishing factory at Masulipatam, standing on the north side
of the river Nagundi, which separates the provinces of Golconda and
Bisnagar, in the latitude of sixteen degrees and thirty minutes; but now
there is no European settlement here, except a Dutch factory, maintained
for carrying on the chintz commerce. At Visgapatam, situated still
farther to the northward, the English possess a factory regularly
fortified on the side of the river, which, however, a dangerous bar
has rendered unfit for navigation. The adjacent country affords cotton
cloths, and the best stripped muslins of India. It is chiefly for the
use of this settlement that the company maintains a factory at Ganjam,
the most eastern town in the province or kingdom of Golconda, situated
in a country abounding with rice and sugar-canes. Still farther to
the north coast, in the latitude of twenty-two degrees, the company
maintains a factory at Balasore, which was formerly very considerable;
but hath been of very little consequence since the navigation of the
river Huguely Avas improved. At this place every European ship bound for
Bengal and the Ganges takes in a pilot. The climate is not counted very
salubrious; but the adjacent country is fruitful to admiration, and here
are considerable manufacture of cotton and silk. Without skilful pilots,
the English would find it very difficult to navigate the different
channels through which the river Ganges discharges itself into the sea
at the bottom of the bay of Bengal. On the southern branch is a town
called Pepely, where there was formerly an English factory, but this was
removed to Huguely, one hundred and sixty miles farther up the river;
a place which, together with the company’s settlement at Calcutta, were
the emporiums of their commerce for the whole kingdom of Bengal. Indeed
Huguely is now abandoned by the English, and their whole trade
centers at Calcutta or Fort William, which is a regular fortification,
containing lodgings for the factors and writers, store-houses for the
company’s merchandise, and magazines for their ammunition. As for the
governor’s house, which likewise stands within the fort, it is one of
the most regular structures in all India. Besides these settlements
along the sea-coast of the peninsula, and on the banks of the Ganges,
the English East India company possess certain inland fac tories
and posts for the convenience and defence of their commerce, either
purchased of the nabobs and rajahs, or conquered in the course of the
war. As the operations we propose to record were confined to the coasts
of Malabar and Coromandel, or the interior countries which form the
peninsula intra Gangem, it will be unnecessary to describe the factory
at Bencoolen, on the island of Sumatra, or any settlement which the
English possess in other parts of the East Indies.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
DISPUTE ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT OF ARCOT.
In order to understand the military transactions of the English company
in India, the reader will take notice, that immediately after the peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle, mons. Dupleix, who commanded for the French in that
country, began by his intrigues to sow the seeds of dissension among
the nabobs, that he might be the better able to fish in troubled waters.
Nizam Almuluck, the mogul’s viceroy of Decan, having the right of
nominating a governor of the Carnatic, now more generally known by the
name of the nabob of Arcot, appointed Anaverdy Khan to that office, in
the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-five. The viceroy dying,
was succeeded in his viceroyalty, or subaship, by his second son
Nazirzing, whom the mogul confirmed. He was opposed in his pretensions
by his own cousin Muzapherzing, who had recourse to the assistance
of M. Dupleix, and obtained from him a reinforcement of Europeans and
artillery, in consideration of many presents and promises, which he
fulfilled in the sequel. Thus reinforced, and joined by one Chunda Saib,
an active Indian chief, he took the field against his kinsman Nazirzing,
who was supported by a body of English troops under colonel Laurence.
The French, dreading an engagement, retired in the night; and
Muzapherzing, seeing himself abandoned by all his own troops, appealed
to the clemency of his cousin, who spared his life, but detained him as
a state prisoner. In this situation, he formed a conspiracy against
his kinsman’s life, with Nazirzing’s prime minister, and the nabobs
of Cadupab and Condaneor, then in his camp; and the conspirators were
encouraged in their scheme by Dupleix and Chunda Saib, who had retired
to Pondicherry. Thus stimulated, they murdered Nazirzing in his camp,
and proclaimed Muzapherzing viceroy of Decan. In the tents of the
murdered viceroy they found an immense treasure, of which a great
share fell to M. Dupleix, whom Muzapherzing the usurper at this time
associated in the government. By virtue of this association, the
Frenchman assumed the state and formalities of an eastern prince; and
he and his colleague Muzapherzing appointed Chunda Saib nabob of Arcot;
Anaverdy Khan, the late nabob, had been, in the year one thousand seven
hundred and forty-nine, defeated and slain by Muzapherzing and Chunda
Saib, with the assistance of their French auxiliaries; and his son
Mahommed Ali Khan had put himself under the protection of the English
at Madras, and was confirmed by Nazirzing, as his father’s successor in
the nabobship, or government of Arcot. This government, therefore,
was disputed between Mahommed Ali Khan, appointed by the legal viceroy
Nazirzing, supported by the English company, and Chunda Saib, nominated
by the usurper Muzapherzing, and protected by Dupleix, who commanded at
Pondicherry. Muzapherzing did not long survive his usurpation. In the
year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-one, the same nabobs who had
promoted him to his kinsman’s place, thinking themselves ill rewarded
for their services, fell upon him suddenly, routed his troops, and
put him to death: and next day the chiefs of the army proclaimed
Sallabatzing, brother to Nazirzing, viceroy of Decan; on the other
hand, the mogul appointed Gauzedy Khan, who was the elder brother
of Sallabatzing; and this prince confirmed Mahommed Ali Khan in the
government of Arcot; but the affairs of the mogul’s court were then
in such confusion, that he could not spare an army to support the
nomination he had made. Chunda Saib, nabob of Arcot, having been deposed
by the great mogul, who placed Anaverdy Khan in his room, ha resolved to
recover his government by force, and had recourse to the French general
at Pondicherry, who reinforced him with two thousand sepoys, or soldiers
of the country, sixty caffrees, and four hundred and twenty French
troops, on condition that, if he proved successful in his enterprise,
he should cede to the French the town of Velur, in the neighbourhood of
Pondicherry, with its dependencies, consisting of forty-five villages.
Thus reinforced, he defeated his rival Anaverdy Khan, who lost his life
in the engagement, reassumed the government of Arcot, and punctually
performed the conditions which had been stipulated by his French allies.
MAHOMMED ALI KHAN SUPPORTED BY THE ENGLISH.
Mahommed Ali Khan, at the death of his father, had fled to
Tiruchirapalli,* and solicited the assistance of the English, who
favoured him with a reinforcement of money, men, and ammunition, under
the conduct of major Laurence, a brave and experienced officer.
* Tiruchirapalli, commonly called Triehinoply, situated near
tha river Cauveri, above two hundred miles to the southward
of Madras, is the capital of a small kingdom belonging to
the government of Arcot, and hounded on the east by the
kingdom of Tanjore.