The royal gazette — [Charleston] S.C., 1781-06-06 00:00:00, page 4

Parliamentary Proceedings.
House of Commons, Thursday, February 8, 1781.
rpHE House went into a committee on the mutiny bill, in
I the course of which •,j
Mr. Secretary at War observed, that the bill usually passed
the House, a good deal as a matter of course ; he therefore
thought it his duty to take notice, that there were two alter
ations in the bill now before the House. The firft arose from
the Parliament of Ireland having passed a mutiny bill for the
regulation of the army in Ireland, the word Ireland was there
fore left out in all the clauses in which it occurred. -The other
alteration was to enable the commanders in distant colonies
to hold general courts martial. The Secretary dated that
great inconveniencies had arisen, particularly in the East-In
dies, from the impossibility of holding general courts martial
in' Rations so distant as to render communications with the
commander in chief impossible in cases of real emergency ; to
remedy this evil, a clause was now added suited to the case,
but extending the power only to Colonels, and hoped that it
never would go lower.
Sir 'Phillip jemimas Clerke hoped precautions would also be
taker) to preserve those regulations which were necessary to
prevent as much as possible, officers from being tried by their
inferiors in rank.
Sir George Yonge hoped the House would attend to a matter
so important as the omission of the word Ireland in the mutiny
bill ; and observed, if we were prepared to fay that all the legis
lative authority of this country refperting Ireland was to be
given up—let be it done fairly and qpenly, and let the House
underßand what they were doing; but he highly disapproved
of a business of this magnitude, coming in the seemingly trivial
form of little alterations and amendments of arts, usually
considered as common bills of course, on this account he high
ly approved of the notice which had been given, and hopedit
'would be attended to..
Gen. Smith thought the alterations refpeding courts mar
tial extremely proper in the cases mentioned by the Secretary
at War, but wished that they had been more immediately ap
plicable to the peculiar situation of military service in the East-
Indies.—lt was intimated that the Secretary wished to accom
modate the regulation to what the experience of the General
might suggest in private conference; an offer which he accept
ed; and then gave notice, that as the papers which he had
moved for from the India House were now presented, he
ihould move the House to take the case of the Court of Judi
cature into consideration on Monday next.
House of Commons, Monday, February 13.
General Smith rose, and desired that the petition from the
residents in the three provinces of Bengal, Bahar and Oriffa,
and the petition from the Governour General and Council of
Fort William, (each Rating a variety of fads, all tending to
shew the great oppression, misery and inconveniences arising
to all persons in India, in consequence of the jurifdirtion of
the Supreme Court being fuffered to exist to the extent to
which it had been carried,) might be read.
These petitions being read by the Clerle at the table,
^General Smith rose again, and by way of'fhewing the necef
hty of taking the two petitions into consideration as early as
possible, he began with reciting the origin of the Supreme
Court of Jud cature, Rating that it was instituted by virtue
of an act of Parliament which passed in the 13th year of his
present Ma efty; he said further, that before that event, all
matters of litigation in India were tried in the Mayor's Court
at Calcutta, in Courts situated in the internal provinces, fubjert
to the controul of the Provincial Councils, from whose deci
sion, as well as from that of the Mayor's Court in Calcutta,
the parties, if they thought the decision unjust, had a right of
appeal to the Governour General and Supreme Council at
Bengal, who were by the charter of the Company invested
with authority to aft as a Court of Appeal in all cases what
soever. Having expatiated on the wisdom and-justice of the
decisions of the Mayor's Court, and of the other jurifdidions,
previous to the institution of the Supreme Court of Judi
• cature, the General, in order to prove that the institution had
been the cause of much serious mifchief, called the attention
of the House to a series of cases which had occurred since the
cßablilhmentof the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1774;
each of whioh, as the General Rated it, was painted in such
colours as rendered it a striking picture of violent oppression,
cruelty and injustice. He firft mentioned the case of Nun
comor, tried and executed for forgery several years after the
fart was committed, and although forgery was not deemed
a capital crime by any court in India, previous to the efta
blilhment of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Having dwelt
for some time on this, he adverted to some much talked of
tranfaflions in the province of Dacca. Dacca, he said, was an
internal province, remarkable for the flatnefs of its furface;
and when the rany season set in, it was no uncommon thing
for the torrents that poured down from the mountains, and
swelled the rivers to overflow the adjacent country, and
sometimes to take a river out of its own channel, and force
it into a new one. It so happened, that this very circumstance
occurred not long since ; as soon as the wet season subsided,
the Raja, through whose poffeffiohs the river had formerly
flowed, cultivated its old bed, and by plowing and proper
means prepared it for produce ; at the fame time another Raja
f^rlt his men to plough and sow the fame spot ; when the har
vett came, they both got ready a large force to secure the
crop, and the .harvest was reaped by him whose arms were
molt powerful. The other Raja applied to the Supreme Court,
and on a simple affidavit obtained a writ of sequestration. The
Raja, the right owner ofthe crop, alarmed at this proceeding,
wrote to the Governour and Council for their advice how to
at ; their answer was—he must declare he came not under
the jurifdi&ion of the Supreme Court, and therefore would
not fuffer the writ to be executed. I The Raja took this advice,
and prepared an army ; the Sheriffs Officer finding the Writ
could not be executed, unless his peons or followers were
strengthened, sent a letter, Rating the circumstance, to" the
Court, who ordered 2000 feapoys to march to his.affiance;
the Rya also writ upon the fame fubjert to the Governour and
Council, who ordered the officers in command near the place,
to oroted the Rfla ; it so happened, that the Court's assistance
ti ft reached the Sheriffs officer, who, by that means, gained
his end, served the writ on the Raja, and not only sequestra
ted a main part of his possessions, but, in daring violation of
the most sacred usage of the country, burst into the apartments
of his women, and touched their persons; thus the House
would fee, that the Governour and Council were obliged to
employ tie arms of Great-Britain, in opposition to the exer
cise of a Jurifdirtion established by authority of a British Aft of
Parliament ! Let the House reflect 011 this alarming fart ; let
teem confider the constitution of the army in India ; fee how
deferent it was fro@ the constitution ofthe army in this coun
try ; and, after considering how thin the obligation was, that
connected that army with the civil power, and kept it in fub
je&ion they would (said the General) be alarmed like him at
the danger that might result from such practices as he had Ra
ted, and provide an immediate remedy to the evil!
[The above-mentioned fact is thus Rated in the Petition of
the Governour General and Council ofFort William.
Win or about the month of Septemberdaft a suit was infti,
“ tuted in the Supreme Court by Coffinaut Bobboo, an inha
“ bitant of Calcutta, against Raia Soondernarain, the Zimin
“ dar of the Pergunnahs, or Great Divisions of Land, so cal
“ le.', 'f Coffijurah and Shawpoor; and on the 7th ofthe fame
" month, your petitioners were informed that a writ of C'a-
" phis had been obtained by Coffinapt, and sent by„an officer
" of the Court into the Pergunnah of Coflijura, to be served
" on the said Rajah Soondernarain, who, terrified by this art,
" had concealed himfelf, and thereby became incapable of at
" tending to the collection of his revenues, and of fulfilling
" his engagements to the United EaR-India Company, for
" their refyedtive Share thereof; your petitioners, alarmed
" for the immediate efterts of this proceeding, and for the
general lots which such an example was likely to produce in
the publish; revenue of these provinces, and knowing that
" the said Raja Soondernarain was not fubjert to the jurifdic
" tion of the Court, being neither a British fubjert, nor at
" any time heretofore ever employed by, cr in the service of
'' the United EaR-India Company, nor of any British fubjert,
" nor Specially Subjected to the Supreme Court in the suit
" which had been commenced against him, by any written
" contrast or agreement to that end, did accordingly cause
'' notice to be given to the said Raja that he was not fubjert
" to the jurifdi&ion of the Supreme Court of judicature, nor
" bound to obey its process ; and on the 30th,of November
" following, your petitioners received information that the
" writ of Capias had been returned unexecuted, and that a
" writ had since been ordered to sequester the lands and efferts
" of the said Raja, and to compel his appearance, and that,
" to enforce the execution of this last writ, the fheriff had
" dispatched a considerable force to Coffijura, confiding of
" Peons, Seapoys, and European tailors, all compleatly armed,
" and inftru^ed to use force for the execution .of the pro
" cefs, and even to fire upon any person who should cb
“ ftruß it. Hitherto the powers of Government vetted in
“ your petitioners, had never been employed in relation to
“ the Supreme Court, but in aid of its authority; they now
" found themselves reduced to the painful necessity of oppo
" ling it, to adert their own civil and military rights, to guard
" the property of the United Eaft-lndia Company, and even
" tually that of the British Nation, in these Provinces, from
" impending danger, and to yield their protection to the coun
" try and people which were placed under the government
" of your petitioners, from the controul of a foreign law, and
" the terrors of a new and usurped dominion. Impelled by
" these considerations, your petitioners ordered a military
" force to apprehend the iheriff's officers who had been cm
" ployed to execute the writ of Sequestration, with all their
" followers. This was effected accordingly, and the whole
— body, confiding of eighty-fix men, armed and arrayed,
" were made prisoners, and brought to the presidency, where
" the firft purpose of your petitioners having been thus ac
" complifhed, they were, by an order of your petitioners,
" immediately released. It appeared that in the execution
" of the writ, the apartments allotted to the female part of
'' the Raja's family, which are ever held sacred in this coun
" try, were forcibly entered, his Temple broke open and pol
" luted, and the image of his worship thrust into a ba^et,
“ and deposited with mixed lumber, under the seal of the
“ Court."]
Exclusive of the above case, General Smith mentioned the
Patna papers, and the oppression prartifed in a cause in which
a Widow and a Nephew were litigants ; the Rate of this cause
was thus recited by the General : A wealthy person died, and
the widow and nephew applying to the Provincial Council of
Patna to fettle their claims to the effe<fts, the Council, as usual,
applied to the Muftis and Caffirs, Mahomedans and Doctors,
(natives of the country, who are always applied to by the
Council in cases of doubt refpefting usage and precedent) who
gave their advice to the belt of their Judgment ; the Provincial
Council in consequence decreed that the widow should have
one fourth of the effe^s and fortune of the deceased, and the
Nephew the remainder. The widow not pleased with this
decision, brought her action forthwith against the Caffirs and
the Mufties ; it. being a bailable offence, the Provincial Coun
cil gave bail for the appearance of the Caffirs and Mufties,
making themselves responsible in recognizances for 360001. At
length the cause was tried by the Supreme Court of Judica
ture, and the Mufties were cast in 36,000 k damages. The
consequence was, the Provincial Council surrendered the par
ties, and they were forced to travel 400 miles ; the Caffirs funk
under the weight of their misfortunes, and died on the jour
ney; the Mufties were not so happy, but survived to be sent
to gaol, where they now remain, and from whence they have
no prospect of liberation but in the interposition of the British
Parliament. After expatiating on these and a variety of other
farts of a similar nature, General Smith concluded with mo
ving, " that the two petitions be referred to a Committee."
Mr. T. B. Rous (Member for Worcester) seconded the moti
on, and in an elegant speech resumed and amplified on the ar
gument of General Smith, adducing some ne\V farts, and cor
roborating and aggravating those before Rated. Mr. Rous, in
particular, dwelt on the violation of Indian usage, in the de
licate point of the treatment of their women, which the prac
tice and authority of the Supreme Court of Judicature fanrti
fied anc. countenanced, instancing the circumstance (in the case
of Caffinaut Bobboo) of the Sheriff and his followers bursting
into the appartment of the Raja's women, and touching them.
He concluded with pointing out the necessity of the Commit
tee's being a felert one.
Lord Nyrtb agreed, that the petitions well deferred the se
rious attention of the House; he likewise allowed that if the
fart were true that the judicial and political powers were in
arms against each other in India, the House should take mea
sures to put an end to so dangerous a contest as soon as pos
sible. At the fame time he thought it highly incumbent on
the House to confider, that the enquiry they were about to
enter into, was of a most delicate nature. The condurt of the
Judges of the Supiene Court of Judicature, and the constitu
tion of the court, were so intimately connected, that it was
hardly possible to Separate them entirely. The one, as it were,
run into the other ; and both were so mixed and blended, that
it would be a very difficult matter to pronounce upon the con
stitution of the court, without in some measure adverting to
the condurt of the Judges. It behoved the House therefore to
steer as cautiously as possible between these two objerts; to
afeertain farts tending to prove that the jurifd rtion itfelf ought
either to be abolished entirely, put under new reftrirtions, or
better defined than it already was, might be both expedient
and necessary ; but gentlemen would fee that it would be un
just in the extreme to go to a crimination, much more to a
condemnation of the judges, who, from the nature of the
case, could not already have been heard as to the farts that
might come out in the course of the enquiry, nor could they
be heard now. With regard to the art of Parliament, which
he had the honour to bring in some few years since, it certain
ly was not at the time it was under the consideration of that
House, either his idea, nor that of the House, that the
Court of Judicature should become the source of misery,
oppression, or injustice ; much less was it meant to extend
the British laws in their unintelligible Rate, (for so they
might appear to the natives of a country in which they never
had been promulgated,) throughout that vast continent ; nei
ther was it designed that the Supreme Court should swallow tip
all other jurifdirtion, or take away the power of those courts
to which the residents had been for years accustomed to resort,
and which had been proved from long experience fully com
petent to a substantial administration of justice in those cases,,
wherein their interference has usually been desired. The sole
view of the House was to give a court that would hold out e
qual justice to the native and to the European.• A court much
wanted at the time, and in the constitution of which, the
House had been to a man unanimous, on the idea, that it was
politick, humane and just, that a court so constituted should
t.barleJlocwn, June 1, 1781.
A MISTAKE having .occurred in Lord Cornwallis's Pro
clamation of the 7th of July lad, for regulating the Va
lue of Specie, current in this Province, by 'the Omission of
one-third ()F A pen Ny'in the Value of a Guinea ; I am there
fore directed by the Commandant, to fignifv to the Publick, that
hereafter A GUINEA weighing s dwt. 7 gr. mail be received
and paid at the rate or One . Pound One Shilling and Nine-
Pence One-third of a Penny, the fame being conformable to the
Mode in which the Troops and Publick Departments are ac
counted with.
By Order of the Commandant,
H. BARRY, Secretary, & D. A. General.
JULIU S3MI T H,
INTENDING to leave this Province in a i?ort time, will
dispose of his remaining STOCK of GOODS on very low terms
at his fore, No. 95, Church-street,, confining of the following arti
cles, viz. elegant brocades, ftrroed and plain silks, fattins, perfians
modes, gauzes, muslins, dimities, laces, dockings, kerfeymires',
chintzes, callicoes, linens, &c. &c. &c. very fine hyfon tea, and a
few hogsheads of claret. He requests all persons indebted to him will
fettle their accounts as soon as possible, to prevent him the disagreea
ble necessity of leaving them in the hands of an Attorney. °
April loth, 1781. f
WANTED immediately, two or three boys, white or
black, as apprentices to the coopering business. For
particulars, apply to Alexander Murray, No, 7, Union-street,
or to James Alliffon, on Burn's wharf, where the Coopering
Business is carried on to the utmost perfertion, and at the most
reasonable rates.
F () R A L —
ACOMPLEAT sett of CUPPING and TREPANNING
INSTRUMENTS. Enquire at Wells's Book Store,
No. 71, Tradd-ftreet.
A WOMAN who has been used to children, and is quali
-= fied to educate them, would be glad of employment in a
genteel family. Apply to the Printers.—N. B. She would not
objert to live in a healthy part of the country. *h.
To be let on Shares, or to be fold,
A TRACT of LAND containing 300 acres, within ten
miles of Charleftown, between Wando and Cooper Rivers,
well timbered with oak and pine wood, within half a mile of the
landing, that a vessel of any burthen may come to it without any
difficulty, and as good rice and corn land as any within that distance
of Charleftowp. For further particulars, apply to Mrs. Martha
Edwards in St. Thomas's Parish, or, in Charleftown, to
I WILLIAM BURT, No. 1, Queen-street.
WHEREAS Mrs. Mary Wilson, widow, executrix, re
fiduafy legatee and devifee of Mr. William Wilson, late of
Charleftown, Merchant, deceased, hath this day aligned and made
over to me, on behalf of myfelf, brother and other creditors, all and
singular the estate and effects of the said deceased ; I therefore give
Notice to the creditors here (if any such there be) to render me a
state of their refpe&ive demands, on oath, on or before the firft day of
July next; and those anywise indebted to the said estate, to make im
mediate payment, otherwise they must be sued without distinction ;
the settlement of the deceafed's concerns in this country admitting
of no delay : And such persons as paid off their accounts to the said
William Wilson, in the depreciated currency of 1777, 1778 and 1779,
are desired to make such payments good in the legal money of the
country, otherwise thev will be forthwith sued without diftin ^ion.
Cbarlfrun, April 26, 1781. GILBERT WILSON, t
J-OHN MILLING,
BEGS leave to acquaint his friends and the publick, that
he has resumed his business of
PAINTIN G and GLAZING;
and that orders sent to him at his shop in St. Michael's Alley,
will be punctually attended to. j:
WILLIAM BE N NIE,
BEING returned to this province, takes the liberty to inform
his friends in particular, and the publick in general, that he
carries on the Baking Business at No. 12, Tradd-ftreet, and would
be much obliged to his former customers for the continuance of their
favours, as he will make it his Rudy to give general fatisfa&ion.
N. B. Makers of vessels, merchants and others, may be supplied
with Ship Bread, Butter and Milk Bifleet, in any quantity, on the
shortest notice.t
ALL persons indebted to the estate of Robert Cuning
ham, deceased, Merchant, of Charleflown, are requested to
make speedy payment; and those who may have any demands a
gainst him, will please give in their accounts, to
WILLIAM ROBB, & Co. Administrators,
No. 4, on the Bay,
Who have for SALE,
Cordage of different Sizes, including one Cable ri^ Inches; Sail
Cloth from No. 1 to 7, Mens Shoes and Pumps, Broad Cloths, Ker
feymires, and some few Pieces of Manchester Stuffs, &c. Also Port
Wine in Pipes and Hogsheads; Souchong, Congo and belt Hyfpn
1 TEAS, t
exist. His Lordship re-inforced his argument on the d t
of the enqi&y, and concluded with assenting to the moti ^
Sir Richard Sutton, in a very able speech, in which he n °°'
himfelf to be extremely well inftrudted' on the fubjeft
that the petitions on the table criminated the Judges \
they were sent over without the Judges coufent/whichnfr
felf had a very suspicious appearance, aid ought to "
the jealousy of the House, as to the fairnefs of the
of the farts alledged. Sir Richard defended the conduft
Judges from their firft landing in India, controverted there
alluded to by General Smith, dating the particulars in a "
totally opposite to that in which he had told them, and
ing that the reverse was the true colouring of such cafes'
Sir Fletcher Norton also defended the Judges, points
difficulty thatthe committee would be involved in, and°f!ei A
in what manner only it could be obviated. '
Mr. Wraxall made an animated and flowing Speech on th
Rate of our affairs in India, the menaces of the different
pean powers that have possessions there, and the alarming fih"
ation of the British settlements from the threats of Hyder Al
and the country Princes. He complimented General Smith
in warm terms for having brought so import ant a topick unde
the consideration of the House, and bv a currert view of ever"'
part of India, ' and its separate interests, convinced the Houf'
that his historical knowledge was not confined to the
of the globe in.which he resides.
Mr. Burke, in a short speech, contended, that it would be
impossible, not to criminate the Judges, if criminating faft.
Should arise in the course of the enquiry, though he allowed
it would be the extreme of cruelty to condemn them unheard
Mr. Graves said a few words c contra.
General Smith ultimately moved,
I. That the petitions be referred to a committee.
11. That the committee be a felert one, and that it should
meet in a chamber above-flairs.
111. i hat she committee consist of fifteen members, to he
chosen by ballot.
IV. That the ballot be held on Wednefelay next.
The House rose at a quarter after fix o'clock.
[To BE CONTINUED.]