It is, we presume, no sec...
The Times, 1824-03-31T00:00:00

It is, we presurne, no secret to wvelAlinfformed people, that the reception experienced by Lord HASTINGS on his re- turn from India to this country, was such as would be likely to disappoint the expectationis of one who felt con- scious of having honestly executed a long series of complex and difficult duties. In fact, if we are not misinformed, neither from the Company as their scr-vant, nor from the Ministers as in some sort their colleague, nor from a Per- so-iage still more exalted, as an ancient friend and devoted subjeet, did the noble Marquis obtain Many proofs of con, fidence, kindness, or approbation, on his retarn after a tena years' absence. The differrnt estimate thus placed on his Lo-dshiip's services by others, from that which he hi^msele would naturally affix to themn, may have suggested the de, fensive expedient of placing therm distinctly anid for- tally under tlle contemplation of the public. This he has lone in a parnphlet, containing historical outlines of the chief fea:ures of his Iinldian administration. We have read the little work with more interest than has usually been excited in us by narratives of that nature: it is Nvritten by. the late GovExaoa.-GENERA., in the first. person. I-is Lordship's argument the reader wll regard as de- SignTing t;' prove that the finances of Indlia were muck dilapidated onr his accession to the Govenmment that the dangers which pressed upon the Coip'any's domimions were imminent almost without example; that the wars of Lord HASTINGS against Ncpaul, agai,nst the Jauts, the Pindlarries, and the Mlahrattas, vere provoked by ala unavoidable necessity; that they vere carried on witl exemplary vigour, and crowled with signal triumphi; that his victories were use,l withb praiseworthy moderation, Nvere purchasfed by no sacrifice of' honour, interest, or treasure,on the part of the Company; but that they have improved the finances of the Indian Empire, built ;!s security on, bases which cannjot be overthrow'n by any combination of the Asiatic Powers,anld have established,as olieof ltsessential sa!cguards, a warmn itnterest in the hearts of the native inhabitants of Ilindoistan, by the increased protection to li"e, property, anrl domestic comfort, -which the arms antil policy of Great Britain have (liffuseti throughout the whole of central and northern India. We recommend this pamphlet to the careful pertusal of the political world, as it aboundls with curious information, and with materials for useful discuseion. 'The following passages are all thuat we have room to inisert: " Ist. The overweening insolence and hostility of' Nepaul, a power dangerous from is position along an extensive and open frontier of ours, has been so completely chastened, as to make that people sensible they can only attain their independence as a state through the moderation of the British Government. "2d. The Pindarry Association,a dreadful scourge to every weigh_ bouring community, and peculiarly afflictive to the l1oneqerlle Company's subjects, has been annihilatedl; and the fruitless annuaI expense of protective measures against those depredators, together with frequent heavy los5 of revenue, is henceforth predcuded. "- 3d. A confederacy, aiming ; t no less than the total extirpatiom of the British from India, has been so thoroughly subverted, that not a germ is left for its reproduction. "40h. Throughout the term of an administration,durmg which such unprecedented demands for services on the spot were to be inet, the lloniourable Court kas received, on an average, annual supplies from India (beyond the amount of supplies fiom England to Indiiy nearly trebling the rate of supplies furnished to it on the average of twenty years preceding. For five years of my administration,which most demanded extraordinary effort in India, the supplies nearly- quintupled the former example. - "th. Ti)e yearly Indian revenue of the Hon. Company, from perrnanent resources, exhiibited at the close of the last official year an increase of 5.175,0001. sterling by actual receipt. For reasons as- signed, that increxse is expected to amount in the present year,l8Ln_ 23, to 6i millions. There is no probability that it should hereafter sink below that rate; but thiere is every just ground to reckon upon its progressive augmentation. " Cth. The clear Indian surplus to behencefortli exhibited is esti- mated by me at 4 nmillions sterling yearly. It will probably be More ample. " 7th. The Honourable Court has been, with a material saving, delivered frowm an embarrassingperversion oftheconditionsof former loans; wvhile the justice of the op-ration was so (distincctlv recogtized, that the credit of the Hon. Company's Indian securities has riser, to a pitch which no speculation could ever have presumed. i gth. In the year 1813-l4,theindependent Powers of India wereso numzerous and strong, as to conceive themselves able to exDel the British. At presenlt, every native state in that vast region is in ei- tlier acknowlediged or essential subJugation to our Government. " Lastly. These advantages arenet counterbalanced by any burdens contractedt in the acquiring them; because there is at this instarnt an accumiulation of cash in the treasuries beyond what I set out mith, more than sufficient to wipe off the additioritl debt inicurred during my administratioln, were it wise so to employ tile monet' " As to myself, I can readily imagine that I may not have ade- quately imiproved openings which fortune presented * that I may not have achieved all thbesalutary purposes, which the devoted gal- lantrv of the troops at my disposal could have enabled me to secure- that I nmay not have attained ends, profitable for the Honourable Company, with as little hazard or expen(liture as would have attend ed their acquirement in hands more skilful. But it is not a claim of ability that I anm maintaining; my engagement wastodefend andl promote, to the beat of m ty capacity, the concerns with which I was intrusted. I have sought to show that in a crisis of unpara-i Ile,d complication, extent, and difficulty, the exertion in which the fulfilment of my Obligation consisted was not forborne. The issue vill bear out my pretension: for the settlement of such a violently disturbed mass w ill never be referred to chance, but will be attribuiid to tie effortswhich,howeverthev mi httbe deficientin judicioustness, must have been anxiously nondered. consistent, and indefatigable."