The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1858-07-23
The Hero of India.

The Hero of India. I
| Having avenged them selves upo,
ISurajah Dowlah, and set up Nee
Jaffier in his place, the Englis
found no limit to. their power in Ben
Igal. The new nabob was wei
aware that only the hand which ha,
raised him to his high position
could maintain him in it. He wa
the ostensible vieeroy-the Englisl
were the actual rulers. They ha,
but to signify wish, and it was OBJ
sequiously granted. Immense trea
sures poured into the Golfers of tn,
Company. Nicer Jaffier "bled" hi
subjects, and the English "bled
Nicer Jaffier.
| The officers of tho Company en-
riched themselves by every available
kind Of plunder. Their salaries were
small, and it was an understood thins
that they were to fleece" the ma
tives. Give, as commander of ih,
British forces, and the friend of th.
new nabob, whom he. had faised tc
power, found himself literally sur,
rounded by heaps Of gold and dia-
monds. No mau ever had such op.
portunities, or such temptations, to
amass princely fortune. The poor
adventurer, who, a few years before,
arrived at Madras, lonely and in
debt, and twice attempted suicide
from very wretchedness, returned to
England, master of incompatible
riches, which Afforded him an annu.
al income OF not less than a quarter
of a million of dollars. We may be-
lieve that the od.ior-nothing boy,
who had been sent out to India, as
tit only to die of fever in that dan.
gerous climate, had by this time
considerably astonished his friends
at home.
When afterwards attacked by his
enemies, for the crimes he had COM
mitted in India, he defended himself
from the charge Of rapacity, in a
brilliant speech upon the floor OF
Parliament HE described" SAYS
Macaulay, "a great prince dependent
on his pleasure an opulent city
afraid OF being given mp to plumber:
wealthy bankers bidding against
each other for his smiles vaults
piled with gold and jewels, thrown
open to him alone. BY Cd, Mr..
Chairman he exclaimed, at this
moment | stand astonished at my
own nodcrationn" "
Give triunphcd over his enc
mics, received signal favors from
the British government, and was
created peer of the realm. Ar
rived at the summit OF ambition, he
might reasonably have been supposed
to be happy. But worllly snccess.
especially when il has been achieved
by dishonorable means, does not
brinr peace to the soul. Lord Give
was now one of the most miserable
Of men. In l774, he made a third
attempt at seli.destruction, which
was successful. lie died at the age
Of forty-nine.
So passed away a great military
senius-a powerful, adroit, indomi-
table, generous, INSCRIPTIONS man
in comparison with whose vast
enterprises and splendid exploits,
those of Pizarro in Peru appear
mean, and those of Cortez in Mexi-
co, trivial.
In his administration of India af-
tairs, Give was succeeded by men of
less ability, and lar less moderation;
and the rapacity and oppression ex-
erci'ed by the powerful hand OF
British civilization against the ma.
tives and their miserable rulers,
made the name OF their deeds terri.
bio throughout India, and Infamous
throughout ChristeLdom. The hor.
-ors and disasters suffered by the
English in the last Indian revolt,
are the slow. but inevitable fruits OF
30 much crime.