I hope you got safe to S. P.; that the most amiable Ram, and the less
admirable Bull, are both in health and spirits; that Maria remembers
me; and that Mrs. H. is quietly metamorphosed from a Lady of the town
(an awkward expression) into a country Gentlewoman. We dined to-day
at the Romans, seven, who all talked of you--Lord A. was very happy
to meet _Holroyd_, and enquired whether _Wilbraham_ was gone into
Sussex. Is your plan settled? when do you come? and are you resolved
to take a bed in Bentinck Street? You will disapoint me extremely if
you do not, for it is a point of ambition I have set my heart upon.
*I am full of worldly cares, anxious about the great 24th, plagued
with the public Advertiser, and distressed by the most dismall
dispatches from Hugonin. Mrs. Lee claims a million of repairs which
will cost a million of money.
[Sidenote: THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.]
The House of Commons sat late last night. Burgoyne made some spirited
motions "that the Territorial acquisitions in India belonged to the
State" (that was the word); "that grants to the servants of the
Company (such as jaghires) were illegal; and that there could be no
true repentance without restitution."[185] Wederbourne[186] defended
the Nabobs with great eloquence but little argument. The motions were
carried without a division; and the hounds go out again next Friday.
They are in high spirits; but the more sagacious ones have no idea
they shall kill. Lord North spoke for the enquiry, but faintly and
reluctantly. Lady C. is said to be in town at her mother's, and a
separation is unavoidable; but there is nothing certain. Adieu.*
Sincerely yours,
E. G.
[185] The charges against Lord Clive, the famine in Bengal
(1770), and the financial embarrassments of the East India
Company, had for many months attracted public attention. In
April, 1772, a Select Committee of the House of Commons was
appointed to investigate the Company's affairs. During the recess
(June 10 to November 26) the directors applied to Lord North
for a loan of £1,500,000. On November 26 Parliament met, being
specially summoned to discuss the state of India, and Lord North
proposed and carried a motion for a Secret Committee of Inquiry.
Four months later (March 9, 1773), Lord North proposed to lend
to the Company £1,400,000, on condition that its dividends
were restricted, and its surplus revenues appropriated to the
liquidation of the debt. On these conditions, the Company was to
enjoy possession of the territorial acquisitions till 1779, when
its exclusive charter expired.
On May 3, the General Court of Proprietors of East India Stock
petitioned Parliament against arbitrary interference with their
territorial rights. The petition was ordered to lie on the
table, and Lord North introduced the outlines of his scheme
for the reconstitution of the Company. The chief changes were
the appointment by the Crown of a governor-general and the
establishment at Calcutta of a Supreme Court of Judicature. These
changes and the provisions for the loans were embodied in two
Bills, which received the royal assent on June 21 and July 1
respectively (13 Geo. III. cc. 63 & 64).
On May 10, whilst Lord North's proposals were under discussion,
General Burgoyne moved three resolutions: (1) That all
acquisitions made by military force or by treaty with foreign
powers do of right belong to the State; (2) that to appropriate
such acquisitions to private use is illegal; (3) that such
acquisitions have been appropriated by private persons.
The first two resolutions, which virtually transferred to the
Crown the territorial acquisitions made by the Company in India,
were carried that night without a division. The third, which was
practically an indictment of Lord Clive, was rejected on May 21.
John Burgoyne (1722-1792) married Lady Charlotte Stanley in 1743,
and through Lord Derby's influence was now M.P. for Preston. He
was made a major-general in 1772. His motion on the East India
Company was his chief political achievement, his surrender at
Saratoga (October 17, 1777) the most striking episode in his
military career, and his comedy, _The Heiress_ (1786), his chief
literary success.
[186] Alexander Wedderburn (1733-1805), Solicitor-General
(January 22, 1771), succeeded Edward Thurlow (Lord Chancellor,
1778) as Attorney-General, became Lord Chief Justice of the
common Pleas and Lord Loughborough in June, 1780, was Lord
Chancellor from 1793 to 1801, created Earl of Rosslyn in 1801, and
died in 1805.
169.
_To his Stepmother._
London, May the 27th, 1773.