The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke
Chapter 58 : Referred to from pp. 101 and 105._Extract of a Letter from the Council and Select Commi

Referred to from pp. 101 and 105.

_Extract of a Letter from the Council and Select Committee at Fort St.

George, to the Governor-General and Council, dated 25th May, 1783._

In the prosecution of our duty, we beseech you to consider, as an act of strict and necessary justice, previous to reiteration of your orders for the surrender of the a.s.signment, how far it would be likely to affect third persons who do not appear to have committed any breach of their engagements. You command us to compel our aumils to deliver over their respective charges as shall be appointed by the Nabob, or to retain their trust under his sole authority, if he shall choose to confirm them. These aumils are really renters; they were appointed in the room of the Nabob's aumils, and contrary to his wishes; they have already been rejected by him, and are therefore not likely to be confirmed by him. They applied to this government, in consequence of public advertis.e.m.e.nts in our name, as possessing in this instance the joint authority of the Nabob and the Company, and have entered into mutual and strict covenants with us, and we with them, relative to the certain districts not actually in the possession of the enemy; by which covenants, as they are bound to the punctual payment of their rents and due management of the country, so we, and our const.i.tuents, and the public faith, are in like manner bound to maintain them in the enjoyment of their leases, during the continuance of the term. That term was for five years, agreeably to the words of the a.s.signment, which declare that the time of renting shall be for three or five years, as the Governor shall settle with the renters.--Their leases cannot be legally torn from them. Nothing but their previous breach of a part could justify our breach of the whole. Such a stretch and abuse of power would, indeed, not only savor of the a.s.sumption of sovereignty, but of arbitrary and oppressive despotism. In the present contest, whether the Nabob be guilty, or we be guilty, the renters are not guilty. Whichever of the contending parties has broken the condition of the a.s.signment, the renters have not broken the condition of their leases. These men, in conducting the business of the a.s.signment, have acted in opposition to the designs of the Nabob, in despite of the menaces denounced against all who should dare to oppose the mandates of the Durbar justice.

Grat.i.tude and humanity require that provision should be made by you, before you set the Nabob's ministers loose on the country, for the protection of the victims devoted to their vengeance.

Mr. Benfield, to secure the permanency of his power, and the perfection of his schemes, thought it necessary to render the Nabob an absolute stranger to the state of his affairs. He a.s.sured his Highness that full justice was not done to the strength of his sentiments and the keenness of his attacks, in the translations that were made by the Company's servants from the original Persian of his letters. He therefore proposed to him that they should for the future be transmitted in English.--Of the English language or writing his Highness or the Amir cannot read one word, though the latter can converse in it with sufficient fluency. The Persian language, as the language of the Mahomedan conquerors, and of the court of Delhi, as an appendage or signal of authority, was at all times particularly affected by the Nabob. It is the language of all acts of state, and all public transactions, among the Mussulman chiefs of Hindostan. The Nabob thought to have gained no inconsiderable point, in procuring the correspondence from our predecessors to the Rajah of Tanjore to be changed from the Mahratta language, which that Hindoo prince understands, to the Persian, which he disclaims understanding. To force the Rajah to the Nabob's language was gratifying the latter with a new species of subserviency. He had formerly contended with considerable anxiety, and, it was thought, no inconsiderable cost, for particular forms of address to be used towards him in that language. But all of a sudden, in favor of Mr. Benfield, he quits his former affections, his habits, his knowledge, his curiosity, the increasing mistrust of age, to throw himself upon the generous candor, the faithful interpretation, the grateful return, and eloquent organ of Mr. Benfield!--_Mr. Benfield relates and reads what he pleases to his Excellency the Amir-ul-Omrah; his Excellency communicates with the Nabob, his father, in the language the latter understands. Through two channels so pure, the truth must arrive at the Nabob in perfect refinement; through this double trust, his Highness receives whatever impression it may be convenient to make on him: he abandons his signature to whatever paper they tell him contains, in the English language, the sentiments with which they had inspired him. He thus is surrounded on every side. He is totally at their mercy, to believe what is not true, and to subscribe to what he does not mean. There is no system so new, so foreign to his intentions, that they may not pursue in his name, without possibility of detection: for they are cautious of who approach him, and have thought prudent to decline, for him, the visits of the Governor_, even upon the usual solemn and acceptable occasion of delivering to his Highness the Company's letters. _Such is the complete ascendency gained by Mr.

Benfield._ It may be partly explained by the facts observed already, some years ago, by Mr. Benfield himself, in regard to the Nabob, of the infirmities natural to his advanced age, joined to the decays of his const.i.tution. To this ascendency, in proportion as it grew, must chiefly be ascribed, if not the origin, at least the continuance and increase, of the Nabob's disunion with this Presidency: a disunion which creates the importance and subserves the resentments of Mr. Benfield; _and an ascendency which, if you effect the surrender of the a.s.signment, will entirely leave the exercise of power and acc.u.mulation of fortune at his boundless discretion: to him, and to the Amir-ul-Omrah, and to Seyd a.s.sam Cawn, the a.s.signment would in fact be surrendered. HE WILL (IF ANY) BE THE SOUCAR SECURITY; and security in this country is counter-secured by possession. You would not choose to take the a.s.signment from the Company, to give it to individuals_. Of the impropriety of its returning to the Nabob, Mr. Benfield would now again argue from his former observations, that, under his Highness's management, his country declined, his people emigrated, his revenues decreased, and his country was rapidly approaching to a state of political insolvency. Of Seyd a.s.sam Cawn we judge only from the observations this letter already contains. But of the other two persons [Amir-ul-Omrah and Mr. Benfield] we undertake to declare, not as parties in a cause, or even as voluntary witnesses, but as executive officers, reporting to you, in the discharge of our duty, and under the impression of the sacred obligation which binds us to truth, as well as to justice, that, from every observation of their principles and dispositions, and every information of their character and conduct, they have prosecuted projects to the injury and danger of the Company and individuals; _that it would be improper to trust, and dangerous to employ them, in any public or important situation; that the tranquillity of the Carnatic requires a restraint to the power of the Amir; and that the Company, whose service and protection Mr. Benfield has repeatedly and recently forfeited, would be more secure against danger and confusion, if he were removed from their several Presidencies._

[After the above solemn declaration from so weighty an authority, the princ.i.p.al object of that awful and deliberate warning, instead of being "removed from the several Presidencies," is licensed to return to one of the princ.i.p.al of those Presidencies, and the grand theatre of the operations on account of which the Presidency recommends his total removal. The reason given is, for the accommodation of that very debt which has been the chief instrument of his dangerous practices, and the main cause of all the confusions in the Company's government.]

No. 7.

Referred to from pp. 82, 88, and 89.

_Extracts from the Evidence of Mr. Petrie, late Resident for the Company at Tanjore, given to the Select Committee, relative to the Revenues and State of the Country, &c., &c._

9th May, 1782.

William Petrie, Esq., attending according to order, was asked, In what station he was in the Company's service? he said, He went to India in the year 1765, a writer upon the Madras establishment: he was employed, during the former war with Hyder Ali, in the capacity of paymaster and commissary to part of the army, and was afterwards paymaster and commissary to the army in the first siege of Tanjore, and the subsequent campaigns; then secretary to the Secret Department from 1772 to 1775; he came to England in 1775, and returned again to Madras the beginning of 1778; he was resident at the durbar of the Rajah of Tanjore from that time to the month of May; and from that time to January, 1780, was chief of Nagore and Carrical, the first of which was received from the Rajah of Tanjore, and the second was taken from the French.--Being asked, Who sent him to Tanjore? he said, Sir Thomas Rumbold, and the Secret Committee.--Being then asked, Upon what errand? he said, He went first up with a letter from the Company to the Rajah of Tanjore: he was directed to give the Rajah the strongest a.s.surances that he should be kept in possession of his country, and every privilege to which he had been restored; he was likewise directed to negotiate with the Rajah of Tanjore for the cession of the seaport and district of Nagore in lieu of the town and district of Devicotta, which he had promised to Lord Pigot: these were the princ.i.p.al, and, to the best of his recollection at present, the only objects in view, when he was first sent up to Tanjore.

In the course of his stay at Tanjore, other matters of business occurred between the Company and the Rajah, which came under his management as resident at that durbar.--Being asked, Whether the Rajah did deliver up to him the town and the annexed districts of Nagore voluntarily, or whether he was forced to it? he said, When he made the first proposition to the Rajah, agreeable to the directions he had received from the Secret Committee at Madras, in the most free, open, and liberal manner, the Rajah told him the seaport of Nagore was entirely at the service of his benefactors, the Company, and that he was happy in having that opportunity of testifying his grat.i.tude to them. These may be supposed to be words of course; but, from every experience which he had of the Rajah's mind and conduct, whilst he was at Tanjore, he has reason to believe that his declarations of grat.i.tude to the Company were perfectly sincere. He speaks to the town of Nagore at present, and a certain district,--not of the districts to the amount of which they afterwards received. The Rajah asked him, To what amount he expected a jaghire to the Company? And the witness further said, That he acknowledged to the committee that he was not instructed upon that head; that he wrote for orders to Madras, and was directed to ask the Rajah for a jaghire to a certain amount; that this gave rise to a long negotiation, the Rajah representing to him his inability to make such a gift to the Company as the Secret Committee at Madras seemed to expect; while he (the witness) on the other hand, was directed to make as good a bargain as he could for the Company. From the view that he then took of the Rajah's finances, from the situation of his country, and from the load of debt which pressed hard upon him, he believes he at different times, in his correspondence with the government, represented the necessity of their being moderate in their demands, and it was at last agreed to accept of the town of Nagore, valued at a certain annual revenue, and a jaghire annexed to the town, the whole amounting to 250,000 rupees.--Being asked, Whether it did turn out so valuable? he said, He had not a doubt but it would turn out more, as it was let for more than that to farmers at Madras, if they had managed the districts properly; _but they were strangers to the manners and customs of the people; when they came down, they oppressed the inhabitants, and threw the whole district into confusion; the inhabitants, many of them, left the country, and deserted the cultivation of their lands; of course the farmers were disappointed of their collections, and they have since failed, and the Company have lost a considerable part of what the farmers were to pay for the jaghire_.--Being asked, Who these farmers were? he said, One of them was the renter of the St. Thome district, near Madras, and the other, and the most responsible, was a Madras dubash.--Being asked, Whom he was dubash to? he said, To Mr. Ca.s.s-major.

Being asked, Whether the lease was made upon higher terms than the district was rated to him by the Rajah? he said, It was.--Being then asked, What reason was a.s.signed why the district was not kept under the former management by aumildars, or let to persons in the Tanjore country acquainted with the district? he said, No reasons were a.s.signed: he was directed from Madras to advertise them to be let to persons of the country; but before he received any proposal, he received accounts that they were let at Madras, in consequence of public advertis.e.m.e.nts which had been made there: he believes, indeed, there were very few men in those districts responsible enough to have been intrusted with the management of those lands.--Being asked, Whether, at the time he was authorized to negotiate for Nagore in the place of Devicotta, Devicotta was given up to the Rajah? he said, No.--Being asked, Whether the Rajah of Tanjore did not frequently desire that the districts of Arnee and Hanamantagoody should be restored to him, agreeable to treaty, and the Company's orders to Lord Pigot? he said, Many a time; and he transmitted his representations regularly to Madras.--Being then asked, Whether those places were restored to him? he said, Not while he was in India.

Being asked, Whether he was not authorized and required by the Presidency at Madras to demand a large sum of money over and above the four lacs of paG.o.das that were to be annually paid by a grant of the Rajah, made in the time of Lord Pigot? he said, He was: to the amount, he believes, of four lacs of paG.o.das, commonly known by the name of deposit-money.--Being asked, Whether the Rajah did not frequently plead his inability to pay that money? he said, He did every time he mentioned it, and complained loudly of the demand.--Being asked, Whether he thinks those complaints were well founded? he says, He thinks the Rajah of Tanjore was not only not in a state of ability to pay the deposit-money, but that the annual payment of four lacs of paG.o.das was more than his revenues could afford.--Being asked, Whether he was not frequently obliged to borrow money, in order to pay the instalments of the annual payments, and such parts as he paid of the deposit? he said, Yes, he was.--Being asked, Where he borrowed the money? he said, He believes princ.i.p.ally from soucars or native bankers, and some at Madras, as he told him.--Being asked, Whether he told him that his credit was very good, and that he borrowed upon moderate interest? he said, That he told him he found great difficulties in raising money, and was obliged to borrow at a most exorbitant interest, even some of it at forty-eight per cent, and he believes not a great deal under it. _He desired him (the witness) to speak to one of the soucars or bankers at Tanjore to accommodate him with a loan of money: that man showed him an account between him and the Rajah, from which it appeared that he charged forty-eight per cent, besides compound interest_.--Being asked, Whether the sums duo were large? he said, Yes, they were considerable; though he does not recollect the amount.--Being asked, Whether the banker lent the money? he said, He would not, unless the witness could procure him payment of his old arrears.

Being asked, What notice did the government of Madras take of the king of Tanjore's representations of the state of his affairs, and his inability to pay? he said, He does not recollect, that, in their correspondence with him, there was any reasoning upon the subject; and in his correspondence with Sir Thomas Rumbold, upon the amount of the jaghire, he seemed very desirous of adapting the demand of government to the Rajah's circ.u.mstances; but, whilst he stayed at Tanjore, the Rajah was not exonerated from any part of his burdens.--Being asked, Whether they ever desired the Rajah to make up a statement of his accounts, disburs.e.m.e.nts, debts, and payments to the Company, in order to ascertain whether the country was able to pay the increasing demands upon it? he said, Through him he is certain they never did.--Being then asked, If he ever heard whether they did through any one else? he said, He never did.

Being asked, Whether the Rajah is not bound to furnish the cultivators of land with seed for their crops, according to the custom of the country? he said, _The king of Tanjore, as proprietor of the land, always makes advances of money for seed for the cultivation of the land._--Being then asked, If money beyond his power of furnis.h.i.+ng should be extorted from him, might it not prevent, in the first instance, the means of cultivating the country? he said, It certainly does; _he knows it for a fact; and he knows, that, when he left the country, there were several districts which were uncultivated from that cause_.--Being asked, Whether it is not necessary to be at a considerable expense in order to keep up the mounds and watercourses? he said, _A very considerable one annually_.--Being asked, What would be the consequence, if money should fail for that? he said, _In the first instance, the country would be partially supplied with water, some districts would be overflowed, and others would be parched_.--Being asked, Whether there is not a considerable dam called the Anicut, on the keeping up of which the prosperity of the country greatly depends, and which requires a great expense? he said, Yes, there is: the whole of the Tanjore country is admirably well supplied with water, nor can he conceive any method could be fallen upon more happily adapted to the cultivation and prosperity of the country; but, as the Anicut is the source of that prosperity, any injury done to that must essentially affect all the other works in the country: it is a most stupendous piece of masonry, but, from the very great floods, frequently requiring repairs, which if neglected, not only the expense of repairing must be greatly increased, but a general injury done to the whole country.--Being asked, Whether that dam has been kept in as good preservation since the prevalence of the English government as before? he said, From his own knowledge he cannot tell, but from everything he has read or heard of the former prosperity and opulence of the kings of Tanjore, he should suppose not.--Being asked, Whether he does not know of several attempts that have been made to prevent the repair, and even to damage the work? he said, The Rajah himself frequently complained of that to him, and he has likewise heard it from others at Tanjore.--Being asked, Who it was that attempted those acts of violence? he said, He was told it was the inhabitants of the Nabob's country adjoining to the Anicut.--Being asked, Whether they were not set on or instigated by the Nabob? he answered, The Rajah said so.--And being asked, What steps the President and Council took to punish the authors and prevent those violences? he said, To the best of his recollection, the Governor told him he would make inquiries into it, but he does not know that any inquiries were made; that Sir Thomas Rumbold, the Governor, informed him that he had laid his representations with respect to the Anicut before the Nabob, who denied that his people had given any interruption to the repairs of that work.

10th May.

Being asked, What he thinks the real clear receipt of the revenues of Tanjore were worth when he left it? he said, He cannot say what was the net amount, as he does not know the expense of the Rajah's collection; but while he was at Tanjore, he understood from the Rajah himself, and from his ministers, that the gross collection did not exceed nine lacs of paG.o.das (360,000_l._).--Being asked, Whether he thinks the country could pay the eight lacs of paG.o.das which had been demanded to be paid in the course of one year? he said, Clearly not.--Being asked, Whether there was not an attempt made to remove the Rajah's minister, upon some delay in payment of the deposit? he said, The Governor of Madras wrote to that effect, which he represented to the Rajah.--Being asked, Who was mentioned to succeed to the minister that then was, in case he should be removed? he said, When Sir Hector Munro came afterwards to Tanjore, the old daubiere was mentioned, and recommended to the Rajah as successor to his then dewan.--Being asked, Of what age was the daubiere at that time?

he said, Of a very great age: upwards of fourscore.--Being asked, Whether a person called Kanonga Saba Pilla was not likewise named? he said, Yes, he was: he was recommended by Sir Thomas Rumbold; and one recommendation, as well as I can recollect, went through me.--Being asked, What was the reason of his being recommended? he said, He undertook to pay off the Rajah's debts, and to give security for the regular payment of the Rajah's instalments to the Company.--Being asked, Whether he offered to give any security for preserving the country from oppression, and for supporting the dignity of the Rajah and his people?

he said, He does not know that he did, or that it was asked of him.--Being asked, Whether he was a person agreeable to the Rajah? he said, He was not.--Being asked, Whether he was not a person who had fled out of the country to avoid the resentment of the Rajah? he said, He was.--Being asked, Whether he was not charged by the Rajah with malpractices, and breach of trust relative to his effects? he said, He was; but he told the Governor that he would account for his conduct, and explain everything to the satisfaction of the Rajah.--Being asked, Whether the Rajah did not consider this man as in the interest of his enemies, and particularly of the Nabob of Arcot and Mr. Benfield? he said, He does not recollect that he did mention that to him: he remembers to have heard him complain of a transaction between Kanonga Saba Pilla and Mr. Benfield; but he told him he had been guilty of a variety of malpractices in his administration, that he had oppressed the people, and defrauded him.--Being asked, In what branch of business the Rajah had formerly employed him? he said, He was at one time, he believes, renter of the whole country, was supposed to have great influence with the Rajah, and was in fact dewan some time.--Being asked, Whether the nomination of that man was not particularly odious to the Rajah? he said, He found the Rajah's mind so exceedingly averse to that man, that he believes he would almost as soon have submitted to his being deposed as to submit to the nomination of that man to be his prime-minister.

13th May.

Mr. Petrie being asked, Whether he was informed by the Rajah, or by others, at Tanjore or Madras, that Mr. Benfield, whilst he managed the revenues at Tanjore, during the usurpation of the Nabob, did not treat the inhabitants with great rigor? he said, He did hear from the Rajah that Mr. Benfield did treat the inhabitants with rigor during the time he had anything to do with the administration of the revenues of Tanjore.--Being asked, If he recollects in what particulars? he said, The Rajah particularly complained that grain had been delivered out to the inhabitants, for the purposes of cultivation, at a higher price than the market price of grain in the country; he cannot say the actual difference of price, but it struck him at the time as something very considerable.--Being asked, Whether that money was all recovered from the inhabitants? he said, The Rajah of Tanjore told him that the money was all recovered from the inhabitants.--Being asked, Whether he did not hear that the Nabob exacted from the country of Tanjore, whilst he was in possession of it? he said, From the accounts which he received at Tanjore of the revenues for a number of years past, it appeared that the Nabob collected from the country, while he was in possession, rather more than sixteen lacs of paG.o.das annually; whereas, when he was at Tanjore, it did not yield more than nine lacs.--Being asked, From whence that difference arose? he said, When Tanjore was conquered for the Nabob, he has been told that many thousand of the native inhabitants fled from the country, some into the country of Mysore, and others into the dominions of the Mahrattas; he understood from the same authority, that, while the Nabob was in possession of the country, many inhabitants from the Carnatic, allured by the superior fertility and opulence of Tanjore, and encouraged by the Nabob, took up their residence there, which enabled the Nabob to cultivate the whole country; and upon the restoration of the Rajah, he has heard that the Carnatic inhabitants were carried back to their own country, which left a considerable blank in the population, which was not replaced while he was there, princ.i.p.ally owing to an opinion which prevailed through the country that the Rajah's government was not to be permanent, but that another revolution was fast approaching. During the Nabob's government, the price of grain was considerably higher (owing to a very unusual scarcity in the Carnatic) than when he was in Tanjore.--Being asked, Whether he was ever in the Marawar country? he said, Yes; he was commissary to the army in that expedition.--Being asked, Whether that country was much wasted by the war? he said, Plunder was not permitted to the army, nor did the country suffer from its operations, except in causing many thousands of the inhabitants, who had been employed in the cultivation of the country, to leave it.--Being asked, Whether he knows what is done with the palace and inhabitants of Ramnaut? he said, The town was taken by storm, but not plundered by the troops; it was immediately delivered up to the Nabob's eldest son.--Being asked, Whether great riches were not supposed to be in that palace and temple? he said, It was universally believed so.--Being asked, What account was given of them?

he said, He cannot tell; everything remained in the possession of the Nabob.--Being asked, What became of the children and women of the family of the prince of that country? he said, The Rajah was a minor; the government was in the hands of the Ranny, his mother: from general report he has heard they were carried to Trichinopoly, and placed in confinement there.--Being asked, Whether he perceived any difference in the face of the Carnatic when he first knew it and when he last knew it?

he said, He thinks he did, particularly in its population.--Being asked, Whether it was better or worse? he said, It was not so populous.--Being asked, What is the condition of the Nabob's eldest son? he said, He was in the Black Town of Madras, when he left the country.--Being asked, Whether he was entertained there in a manner suitable to his birth and expectations? he said, No: he lived there without any of those exterior marks of splendor which princes of his rank in India are particularly fond of.--Being asked, Whether he has not heard that his appointments were poor and mean? he said, He has heard that they were not equal to his rank and expectations.--Being asked, Whether he had any share in the government? he said, He believes none: for some years past the Nabob has delegated most of the powers of government to his second son.--Being asked, Whether the Rajah did not complain to him of the behavior of Mr.

Benfield to himself personally; and what were the particulars? he said, He did so, and related to him the following particulars. About fifteen days after Lord Pigot's confinement, Mr. Benfield came to Tanjore, and delivered the Rajah two letters from the then Governor, Mr.

Stratton,--one public, and the other private. He demanded an immediate account of the presents which had been made to Lord Pigot, payment of the tunkahs which he (Mr. Benfield) had received from the Nabob upon the country, and that the Rajah should only write such letters to the Madras government as Mr. Benfield should approve and give to him. The Rajah answered, that he did not acknowledge the validity of any demands made by the Nabob upon the country; that those tunkahs related to accounts which he (the Rajah) had no concern with; that he never had given Lord Pigot any presents, but Lord Pigot had given him many; and that as to his correspondence with the Madras government, he would not trouble Mr.

Benfield, because he would write his letters himself. That the Rajah told the witness, that by reason of this answer he was much threatened, in consequence of which he desired Colonel Harper, who then commanded at Tanjore, to be present at his next interview with Mr. Benfield; when Mr. Benfield denied many parts of the preceding conversation, and threw the blame upon his interpreter, Comroo. When Mr. Benfield found (as the Rajah informed him) that he could not carry these points which had brought him to Tanjore, he prepared to set off for Madras; that the Rajah sent him a letter which he had drawn out in answer to one which Mr. Benfield had brought him; that Mr. Benfield disapproved of the answer, and returned it by Comroo to the durbar, who did not deliver it into the Rajah's hands, but threw it upon the ground, and expressed himself improperly to him.

Being asked, Whether it was at the king of Tanjore's desire, that such persons as Mr. Benfield and Comroo had been brought into his presence?

he said, The Rajah told him, that, when Lord Pigot came to Tanjore, to restore him to his dominions, Comroo, without being sent for, or desired to come to the palace, had found means to get access to his person: he made an offer of introducing Mr. Benfield to the Rajah, which he declined.--Being asked, Whether the military officer commanding there protected the Rajah from the intrusion of such people? he said, The Rajah did not tell him that he called upon the military officer to prevent these intrusions, but that he desired Colonel Harper to be present as a witness to what might pa.s.s between him and Mr.

Benfield.--Being asked, If it is usual for persons of the conditions and occupations of Mr. Benfield and Comroo to intrude themselves into the presence of the princes of the country, and to treat them with such freedom? he said, Certainly it is not: less there than in any other country.--Being asked, Whether the king of Tanjore has no ministers to whom application might be made to transact such business as Mr. Benfield and Comroo had to do in the country? he said, Undoubtedly: his minister is the person whose province it is to transact that business.--Being asked, Before the invasion of the British troops into Tanjore, what would have been the consequence, if Mr. Benfield had intruded himself into the Rajah's presence, and behaved in that manner? he said, He could not say what would have been the consequence; but the attempt would have been madness, and could not have happened.--Being asked, Whether the Rajah had not particular exceptions to Comroo, and thought he had betrayed him in very essential points? he said, Yes, he had.--Being asked, Whether the Rajah has not been apprised that the Company have made stipulations that their servants should not interfere in the concerns of his government? he said, He signified it to the Rajah, that it was the Company's positive orders, and that any of their servants so interfering would incur their highest displeasure.

No. 8.

Referred to from p. 87, &c.

_Commissioners' Amended Clauses for the Fort St. George Dispatch, relative to the Indeterminate Mights and Pretensions of the Nabob of Arcot and Rajah of Tanjore._

In our letter of the 28th January last we stated the reasonableness of our expectation that certain contributions towards the expenses of the war should be made by the Rajah of Tanjore. Since writing that letter, we have received one from the Rajah, of the 15th of October last, which contains at length his representations of his inability to make such further payment. We think it unnecessary here to discuss whether these representations are or are not exaggerated, because, from the explanations we have given of our wishes for a new arrangement in future, both with the Nabob of Arcot and the Rajah of Tanjore, and the directions we have given you to carry that arrangement into execution, we think it impolitic to insist upon any demands upon the Rajah for the expenses of the late war, beyond the sum of four lacs of paG.o.das annually: such a demand might tend to interrupt the harmony which should prevail between the Company and the Rajah, and impede the great objects of the general system we have already so fully explained to you.

But although it is not our opinion that any further claim should be made on the Rajah for his share of the extraordinary expenses of the late war, it is by no means our intention in any manner to affect the just claim which the Nabob has on the Rajah for the arrears due to him on account of peshcush, for the regular payment of which we became guaranty by the treaty of 1762; but we have already expressed to you our hopes that the Nabob may be induced to allow these arrears and the growing payments, when due, to be received by the Company, and carried in discharge of his debt to us. You are at the same time to use every means to convince him, that, when this debt shall be discharged, it is our intention, as we are bound by the above treaty, to exert ourselves to the utmost of our power to insure the constant and regular payment of it into his own hands.

We observe, by the plan sent to us by our Governor of Fort St. George, on the 30th October, 1781, that an arrangement is there proposed for the receipt of those arrears from the Rajah in three years.

We are unable to decide how far this proposal may be consistent with the present state of the Rajah's resources; but we direct you to use all proper means to bring these arrears to account as soon as possible, consistently with a due attention to this consideration.

CLAUSES H.

You will observe, that, by the 38th section of the late act of Parliament, it is enacted, that, for settling upon a permanent foundation the present indeterminate rights of the Nabob of Arcot and the Rajah of Tanjore with respect to each other, we should take into our immediate consideration the said indeterminate rights and pretensions, and take and pursue such measures as in our judgment and discretion shall be best calculated to ascertain and settle the same, according to the principles and the terms and stipulations contained in the treaty of 1762 between the said Nabob and the said Rajah.

On a retrospect of the proceedings transmitted to us from your Presidency, on the subject of the disputes which have heretofore arisen between the Nabob and the Rajah, we find the following points remain unadjusted, viz.

1st, Whether the jaghire of Arnee shall be enjoyed by the Nabob, or delivered up, either to the Rajah, or the descendants of Tremaul Row, the late jaghiredar.

2d, Whether the fort and district of Hanamantagoody, which is admitted by both parties to be within the Marawar, ought to be possessed by the Nabob, or to be delivered up by him to the Rajah.

3rd, To whom the government share of the crop of the Tanjore country, of the year 1775-6, properly belongs.

Lastly, Whether the Rajah has a right, by usage and custom, or ought, from the necessity of the case, to be permitted to repair such part of the Anicut, or dam and banks of the Cavery, as lie within the district of Trichinopoly, and to take earth and sand in the Trichinopoly territory for the repairs of the dam and banks within either or both of those districts.

In order to obtain a complete knowledge of the facts and circ.u.mstances relative to the several points in dispute, and how far they are connected with the treaty of 1762, we have with great circ.u.mspection examined into all the materials before us on these subjects, and will proceed to state to you the result of our inquiries and deliberations.

The objects of the treaty of 1762 appear to be restricted to the arrears of tribute to be paid to the Nabob for his past claims, and to the quantum of the Rajah's future tribute or peshcush; the cancelling of a certain bond given by the Rajah's father to the father of the Nabob; the confirmation to the Rajah of the districts of Coveladdy and Elangaud, and the restoration of Tremaul Row to his jaghire of Arnee, in condescension to the Rajah's request, upon certain stipulations, viz., that the fort of Arnee and Doby Gudy should be retained by the Nabob; that Tremaul Row should not erect any fortress, walled paG.o.da, or other stronghold, nor any wall round his dwelling-house exceeding eight feet high or two feet thick, and should in all things behave himself with due obedience to the government; and that he should pay yearly, in the month of July, unto the Nabob or his successors, the sum of ten thousand rupees: the Rajah thereby becoming the security for Tremaul Row, that he should in all things demean and behave himself accordingly, and pay yearly the stipulated sum.

Upon a review of this treaty, the only point now in dispute, which appears to us to be so immediately connected with it as to bring it within the strict line of our duty to ascertain and settle according to the terms and stipulations of the treaty, is that respecting Arnee. For, although the other points enumerated may in some respects have a relation to that treaty, yet, as they are foreign to the purposes expressed in it, and could not be in the contemplation of the contracting parties at the time of making it, those disputes cannot in our comprehension fall within the line of description of rights and pretensions to be now ascertained and settled by us, according to any of the terms and stipulations of it.

In respect to the jaghire of Arnee, we do not find that our records afford us any satisfactory information by what t.i.tle the Rajah claims it, or what degree of relations.h.i.+p or connection has subsisted between the Rajah and the Killadar of Arnee, save only that by the treaty of 1762 the former became the surety for Tremaul Row's performance of his engagements specified therein, as the conditions for his restoration to that jaghire; on the death of Tremaul Row, we perceive that he was succeeded by his widow, and after her death, by his grandson Seneewasarow, both of whom were admitted to the jaghire by the Nabob.