The National Register.
London, England, 1813-01-10 00:00:00

JAN. 10.

eii her by the Legislature ur the MatiAeis

if H* Cuivarnmeot of India cauuet be carried on %sills safety to the
except throw,ll the inivivutition of the Cmopany, the pre-
( .'.f! of Directors, whatever they allay be, 'oust uncon-
ditionallt• be admired.
It will Le for Parliament t,) determine whether the nation is in this
r* spect xit !mat au alternative, or whether, it a chringe of stein should
'be rendered neces:rary by the decision., the 17.A.it India Coiupaoy, rueu..
sures ini:4lit not be token for openiro.: the t, ado, duct at the !-airie time
providirwstich un Admiiiistration of the U igerilment ut Lidia, as might
be fins, d compatible ‘rith the int:r.:rsts ind security ut the blitibt
stituti in. I Cie honour to he, (;(.-tilettien,

Your obedient Zeild tionitde Servant,

The Chairman and Dcputv-Clia;mse of the
East India •Con.pstey.
The Cu ens st.AN.
tlilli etas a mf important doeonient, eished
to know if the Court was di sirous that it should be wad a second thee?
Thi., eceordiegly done,
'Fite COAL RNI A N hoped that row,-as nn all fernier occasions, they
would net proceed to any hasty step. hut adjourn the consideration of
the matter till they lied an opportuility, calmly and coolly, of looking
at it in their closets. From the late Jew r which the let er hed been
received, and the early hour t;)r which the Court h been called, the
Directors had not had above halt en hour to consider it. Alter the
Proprietors had weighed the matter calmly and coolly, their Duce.
tors should be happy to receive their instructions, and to act upon
them.
Mr. Rielly spoke with some warmth of the language contained in
the letter, which he thought a most extraordioary production.
Mr. ROBERT THORNTON th eight that the very Petitioners to Par-
liament would ultimately beThemselves the sufferers. If their peti-
tions were complied with, they would have the effect of debtrollug
the only commerce which remained uninjured in the world. Those
Deputies who came up last year, with the expectation et being ad.
mhted to participate in the golden trade of India and China, anti who
were sent back again to their iron trade at Sheffield and Birmieghem,
would not, lie hoped, be able to persuade the House of Commons to
adopt their opinions.
The. Rev. Mr. Tu ILLW ALL taitt, the Company did not employ less
than three. thousand labourers,
.whs were paid every week, and by
whom not less than 120,0001. was circulated every week, within three
miles of this place. This did not include the stuns paid to clerks.—
The warehouses were valued at a trills. n, and probably paid upwards
of fifty thousand pounds in annual burdens, of which at least ten thou.
sand pounds went to the poor. There must be altogether at least
twenty thousand individuals dependent upon the Compaily here.—
Wes not this a case which highly called tOr the attention of his Ma-
jesty's Ministers—a ca•e where the interel-ts of 20,000 individuals in
the Eastern District were at stake ! (Applause.)
Mr. KENNET SMITH thought the Charter of the East India Com'.
party was granted for ever, on the condition that it should not be pre-
judicial to the Crown of this country. Had any prejudice to the
Crown been ever proved ? This would have been a Lair ground to go
on, but it was a ground which it was impossible to take. He had
some time ago a conversation with the Mayor of one of the peti-
tioning towns, and when he asktel him why he signed the petition ?
he was answered, he did so because. others did it. This, he conceived,
was almost uniformly the case in these towns ; men petitioned merely
because th y found others petitioning. without having any definite or
rational view of the consequence. For his part he should have no
tear to go at once to Parliament, and, after hearing the petition read, to
submit the answer to them to the wisdom of the Legislature.
Mr. ROBERT GRANT said the (pestle!' for the consideration of the
Court was, whether tae East India Company should at once throw
themselves on the justice of the country and of Parliament, in a con-
test with the Executive, or whether they shbutd allow the interests
of India to be male the subject-of a rash commercial ex pei iment ?
Ministers were weighing the ledgers of the out-i orts against the
chartered i wrests of the Company, and the prosperity of fifty millions
of men in India. (A pplause.) Ile did not mea.' to say Government
entertained a systematic intention to destroy the East India Company;
but it was of the nature of power to be encroaching; and he could
very easily see what would he the consequ:eice if the Compony were
to he lett in the possessim cf their political functions, but at the same.
time deprived of rite mans of carrying them into execution. " We
shall be obliged," said Mr. G. "to reirrender our political power,
nd then we shall be told that it is a. voluntary surrender. If is true
that no engines of war will ue employed against us, but the foundation
on which we stand will be undermined ; and when we collapse into
a greet ruin, we shall he told that we t.ll by our own weielit. As
was once said by a greet man in Parliament, we shall be checkmated
with all our pieces on the board." (Applause.) He should think it
not improper to remind Ministers of the services rendered by the Lest
India Company to this country, and to the people of India. He
knew it was said, that in doing these services they were mule-A by
no rt band to the weliVe either of the peeple of Lithe et the ee:kele

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