The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-03-04 00:00:00

nourable Friend has referred to the principle on which that war was
eonducted, aid the amass in which it originated, I big to remind
him that war Was declared with a view not only of probsW*our
interests, but that it was obliged by a strict necessity, on whidi
depended the very salvation of India i will not new ge eve oho
particulars of those wars, in which a due sense of the services of
the Noble Marquis may be funned foam the general joy !het hail-
ed their termination. But I will refer my. Honourable Friend to
the exploit (as miraculous as any of the muscles which In these
days of miracles we hear of) by which he extirpated forty thou.
sand mounted banditti—irregular troops, having no canaon, no
ammunition, no discipline ; but who poured down in hordes
upon defenceless towns and hamlets, who levied forced coo.
tralautions on the people, and whose progress was only to
be tracked by rapine, rape, and murder. Does my Honour-
, able Friend overlook the war with the Pindarries ? Or does
he regret that the trade of plunder has been taken out of their
hands? I am much mistaken in the character of my Honour-
able Friend, if he is a person who would be found wailing and
weeping that this banditti had no longer the power to bear de-
struction to the inhabitants in their territories of the East. But to
come to a subject much nearer home—by what right, I ask, does
my Hdn. Friend move such an amendment as the present ? How
can he know anything of what is contained in it ? how can lie have
any knowledge of it, to justify him in bringing it forward here to.
day, except from a Director? And if a Director did furnish that
knowledge, instead of having selected so pure a channel as his
jlion. Friend to convey his hostility to the Noble Marquis, he
j should stand manfully forward himself, and not withhold the in.
formation of which he may be possessed from the Court. As to
the papers, I do not object to their production ; but what
papers are to be produced ? I say all papers. (Cheers.)—
Let these papers not be examined in conclave with closed doors,
but let them he submitted fully and fairly before the Court. (Hear,
hear, hear.) From the manner in which the Directors treat this
question, it would seem that th..y were our constituents, and not
we theirs. The reverse, however, is the case; and I therefore
wish that they should inform us, and speak out. Those are my
sentiments. I am thankful for the indulgence which has been
shown me, which I feel particularly, as I am aware of the Import-
311CC of this time of public assemblies. (Cheers. )
Mr. R. Jacks° tr followed. He commenced by referring the
Court to the votes which at various times it came to in approval
of the conduct of the Marquis of Hastings, in the years 1813, 18111,
and 1822, at which several and successive periods there was no ex-
pression of approbation that was not lavished on the wisdom of his
government, and advantageous results of his administration. Their ,
late lamented I 'hairtuan, whose opinion had always great weight in+
that Court, had described the Noble Marquis "as a Governor-Gene.
sal such as they never had befirre, and such as they never could ex-
pect to have again." It was said that he adjusted the affairs of the
Company, which he found in contusion, and that he placed them
on a rock of security. Every term of eulogy hail been incorpo-
rated into their votes--and after such testi,non.es of full approbation
of his conduct, was it too much to ask for the grounds on which the
Company were to alter the high opinion they entertained of his cha-
Tact ? The Hon. Gentleman, the mover of die amendment, whorn
he regretted that he did not see oftener amongst then', would not
' surely wish the Court to alter their opinion of the Noble Marquis
on vague rumours—the most futile source of calumny. He was.
H
sure the on. Gentleman would not refer them to a polluted para.!
graph of a newspaper, for them to form an opinion on a point on
which they should have well.authenticated information. Ifs sus.
p:cion prevailed as to the conduct of the Noble Lord, let his whole
I coralact be inquired into, but let not a vote for a partial set nips.
pen, respecting conduct of which the Court had no definite know.
ledge, decide his merits and his services. The ingenuous and no-
ble nature of the Hon. Mover would tremble and retreat from such
injustice as his amendment, if carried, would do the Noble Mar.
quis, by including only those papers by which it was sought to in.
culpatc hint, by shutting from the consideration of the Court those
pread facts which sustained his high fame, lie would call the
attention of the Court to sonic facts relative to the effect of that No.
i ble Lord's perernment, which ought nut to be excluded from their
I consideration, ivliscussing his claims to further liberality front the
Company. 11 hen lie undertook the management of their
affairs, the Company's bonds were at 12 and 11. They were now
at a premium of 111. The amount of the investments were
413,00tN. they now amounted to 1,509.0001., and the money then
in the Treasury, which war then 6.0110,001.11., now exceeded
12.0110,0001. This was no small proof of the rapid prosperity of
the Company's affairs under the administration of the 'Noble Lord.
.2nd acre such merits as these to be blasted on a libel propagated
by some anonymous ruffian ? Were such services to he forgotten, on
no other substratum than the paragraph of a wretched newapaper ?
The flonourable Proprietor proceeded to cite other instances of the
Noble Marquis's services ; and begged to refer the Court to the
testimonies of Sir David Ochterlony and Sir J. Malcolm, in sup-
port of the happy condition of the inhabitants under his adminis-
tration. Sir I). Ochterlony had performed a tour through a large
portion of the British territories there : it contained a passage in
In which he says, that t• in the several towns through which he
passed, he found the people happy and contented—they, were in-
creasing in wealtb, in commerce, and every branch of prosperity—
and were everywhere eloquent in their expression of gratitude for
the salutary protection of the British Government." This was the
case through all :he towns, with the local exception of one remote
district. Ile would ask the Honourable Proprietor with what feel-
ing of justice and fairness to the fame of the Marquis of Hastings,
could he go home with such a document as that which he had now
read, and with the amendment be had moved ? Let the papers for
which the llonourable Proprietor missed be adduced ; but let theta
be accompanied by thole proud and honourable memorials, which
earned fur the Noble Marquis his high name; and let the Court de.
title whether the whole tenor of his acts, and the general conduct of
his adminiatratien, were most deserving of censure or applause.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. SMYTH begged to offer a few words In explanation.
although not sanctioned by the custom of the Court. Either lie
had that day lost the use of his understanding, and was tinder a
delusion, or he was acting a more friendly part towanls the Mar.
qui% of Hastings thaw the several gentlemen who had professedly
spokat in vindication of him. lie (Mr. Smith) was really favour-
able upon the whole to the administration of the Noble Marquis
although there were objects which he would lilac been anxious to
promote, and which that Noble Lord did not so sedulously culti-
vate; but the general impression on his mind was certainly a fa-
vourable one. His gallant friend (Sir J. Doyle), whose friendship
he had long enjoyed, and which he hoped would experience no in.
terruption, did hint the honour to allude to what hall fallen from
him. As to the wars in which he (the Noble Marquis) had ergaged
in India., he declared that lie was not a competent judge upon the
merits of them. Ills military senices, however, were recorded by a
vote of thanks from this Court, as well as by a similar vote from
J both Houses of Parlianicnt. But it should be borne in mind also,
' that Mr. Canning, in the speech quoted by the Hon. Gentleman
who opened the present debate, confined himself to the military
services of the Noble bonl, and abstained from the expression of
any opinion as to his civil administration. (Hear, hear.) Now,
how did the cams stand between himself and the professed friends ,
' of the Noble Marquis? He (Mr. S.) admitted that his achui..l
nistration bad been successful : he admitted too that a great
portion of what had been said that day in praise of hint was
r true, but a suspicion was raised about some pa-t of his conduct,
r and what greater service, he would ask, could he render the Noble
I Lord, than by courting inquiry into it, and thereby affording him
f an opportunity of proving before that Court and the world, that the
t suspicion was false and groundless? (Hear, hear.) In speaking of
remuneration, it had been said the Marquis IVellesley had received
r more than the Marquis of Meador. lle (Mr. S.) was not aware
t of that fact before.

The lion. 1). KINNAtan rose to explain. The Marquis Wel-
lesley bed voted to hint .5,0001. a-year in 11303, to continence five
yearn before the date of the grant. This ante-date fur receiving
was Ofelolittlefi by something in reference to the expiration of the
charter. This exceeded lishleell. which, together with a grant of
5,01101. a-year for his life at the age of fifty-nine, was greater than
the remuneration made to the 31arquis of Hastings.
The t'itainst.tst beggrd to correct the statement of the lion.
Proprietor. Ile stated (as we understood) that the grant was made
to the Marquis of Wellesley in IMO, and that the payment of it
was to cmoutense as if it had been made in 1798. The further
grant of 6.11C111. was made only for twenty years prospectively.
Mr. :4 st tT it resumed. Whatever might be the relation between
the remuneration made respectively to the Noble Lords, he thought
inquiry ought to take place before any further remuneration was
made. As an allusion had been thrown out by his gallant friend,
that he had carried on some connexion with some member of the
Court of Directors, he thought it due to his own character to say,
that he held no communication whatever with any member of the
Court upon the subject. Ile had conversed with a gentleman
from India of considerable information upon the matter, who
stated some facts which he thought required explanation. Other
rumours had reached hint, contradicting this statement. The
fairest way, he thought, would be, but to attend to rumours on
either side, but to make up their determination on authenticated
documents. This would be more satisfactory to the general body
of Proprietors, and he was sure it would be so to the general body
of the Proprietary. Fur the situation of the Noble Marquis, he
really felt pity, or culler, he should say, regret at knowing that he
was in a situation which was etvir.inly not suited to his station in
life, nor such as one would wish to see a person of his high
character placed in. Ile hoped and anticipated that the result of the,
inquiry, should it be gone into, would be highly honourable to the
Noble Marquis.
The lion. Mr. E 1.1.11 NSTO P: thought it most unfair to affix a
stain upon the charac'er of the Marquis of 'butting* by any idle
rumour or unsustainetl assertion. It was unfair, also, in his opinion,
to move for papers relating to one act only. on which to form a de-
termination, as to the propriety of granting funhcr rummer akin to,
that Noble Lord. Let the whole of his conduct anti career in
office be received, and he was satisfied that the more his conduct
was discussed and examined, the higher would bps character ap-
pear. Although whatever vague suspicion was abroad about the
Noble Marquis night in the result (though he did nut expect it
would) be realized, yet, even in that event, grounds might exist to
induce the Company to make a grant to the late Oovernor-IleneraL
As they were all merchants, then he would use an illustration
' familiar to them. Let them consider it a debtor and creditor ac-
count, and, if three appeared a shilling on the debtor's side due to
the Company by the Noble Marquis. there would appear half a
million in the creditor's side, put into the 'Treasury of theetanpany
by hint. His case should be decided on its broad merits, and on
the whole course and effect of his administration. lie would re-
commend the Ilonouraitle Mover of the amendment to extend his
motion ; if not, he would feel himself called upon to do No.
Mr. Isr l'Ev believed that there did not exist in that Court any
I prejudice whatever towards the Marquis of !!stings. Ile spoke
of the genera impression both of the Directors and Proprietary,
and he was sure they were disposed to entertain his claims with as
much fairness as the wurmest of his friends could desire. There
were numerous precedents to prove the liberality with which the
Last India l'omnany always dealt with its servants, and he was
sure that no invitliotts exception would be made in the case of the
Illarquis of Hastings, if Ins claims were such as to entitle hint to
the further emensioa of the liberality of the Company. The grants