VII. 1769. May 8. CHAP. city. At the close of the poll a majority was against him of nearly four to one. Two days, however, after the election, the house of commons resolved that Mr. Luttrell ought to have been returned for Middlesex; and the deputy-clerk was ordered to enrol his name instead of Mr. Wilkes. A petition from the freeholders, within 14 days, brought the matter to the issue of a parliamentary debate. It was urged, by those who opposed the late resolution of the house, that no principle was more sacred in the constitution, than that all the representatives of the country should be the real choice of the people. The legislature, as composed of king, lords, and commons, had the right of legislation, and not the house of commons singly. All the circumstances by which men are incapacitated from serving in parliament were already defined by law; and according to the gravest explainers of the law, among those disqualifications there was nothing which applied sufficiently to Mr. Wilkes. It was shewn, that he was not, by any construction whatever, under legal disability; and by a very just distinction of terms it was urged, that the term expulsion, as being the lesser term, and included in that of disability, could not be taken as the greater, so as to comprehend the other. In examining the generality of precedents upon which expulsion was identified with disability, they were found to have existed during 18 years of irregular and arbitrary proceedings, from the year 1642 to 1660, when 49 members had been incapacitated; but to manifest the illegal complexion of the measure, it was proved that new writs had never been issued for electing others in their places. On the other side it was contended, that unless the house of commons had the power of superadding disability to expulsion, its privileges would only be inefficient VII. 1769. and ridiculous, since an expelled member, how- CHAP. ever obnoxious, might be returned by the obstinacy of his constituents ;-the house, it was asserted, is the sole court of judicature in cases of election; and in these must be accounted the dernier resort. The people were enjoined to recollect, that as the commons were their own representatives, every infringement on their dignity was also an infringement on their own; and that if, in the present instance, an obstinate adherence to error prevented the electors of Middlesex from exercising the rights of freemen, it was themselves that they had to blame, and not the hand of the legislature. A long train of precedents followed these arguments, under the two heads of exclusion and expulsion. The latter cases, apparently the most applicable to the present times, in particular that of Sir Robert Walpole, were proved, however, to be radically different from Mr. Wilkes's, and to overthrow the principle which they were brought to establish. The debate was concluded by a vote of the house, confirming the disability of Mr. Wilkes. A prorogation of parliament succeeded the day after the final decision against the May 9. Middlesex petition. In the royal speech a great deal of commendation was lavished on the conduct of both houses. In relating the transactions of India, we have already mentioned the reformations either attempted or effected by Lord Clive, in the civil as well as military department. Finding his health injured, by a residence in that climate, he returned, after he had, to the utmost of his power, completed the object of his mission. Soon after his lordship's departure, hostilities again broke out between the company and the natives; and a new enemy started up in that country, of intrepidity and talents almost unrivalled in the history of Hindostan, 1767. CHAP. This was Hyder Ali, or Hyder Naig, whose activity VII. and intrigues had emboldened him, from the rank of a subordinate commander, to usurp the government of the Mysore. When arrived at this eminent station, perceiving that the power of the British opposed an insurmountable obstacle to the extension of his empire, he laboured successfully to persuade the Nizam of the Decan to coincide with his views, and declare against their interest. The council of Madras immediately dispatched a force, under Colonel Smith, to meet these opponents. The battle of Errour, near Trinomaly, was lost by the Indian powers, in spite of all the skill and gallantry of Hyder Ali. The Nizam immediately concluded a peace and ceded to the company a large territory, including the dominion of Hyder. That able prince was not, however, to be subdued so easily. He retreated before the British in his own province; and when they had inconsiderately proceeded too far, he got between Colonel Smith's army and the Carnatic, and ravaged with impunity the territories of their favourite ally the nabob of Arcot. On the 4th of October 1768, an obstinate engagement was fought between the Indian troops and a small army under Colonel Wood, in which the former were defeated; but Hyder, still undaunted after his defeat, left the Carnatic, and proceeded to Madras, where, in spite of his adverse circumstances, he reduced the English to propose a negociation for peace. The conditions were equitable. All forts and places captured were restored; and no compensation required on either side for the expence of hostilities. A treaty of peace, an alliance, and stipulations for a free trade, were mutually accepted. The war, though attended with many victories to the company's troops, was yet adverse to its interests." Great pecuniary distress was experienced almost April 3, 1769. VII. 1769. RHODES HOUSE *CXFORD* LIBRARY immediately after its commencement. The pre- CHAP. 1769. CHAP. from one of the secretaries of state, (Lord Weymouth), importing that it would be necessary for the court of directors to take into consideration a proposal of government, for giving unlimited powers, in adjusting all maritime affairs in India, to that officer who should command the squadron sent out at their request; and this proposition the directors were instructed to lay before the proprietors at large. It was not without jealousy and August 30. discontent that the company received this intimation. If authority, they said, were once given to the king's officers to interfere authoritatively in the affairs of India, whenever any contest should arise between the king's servants and the company's, the event would be fatal to the latter. It was shewn, that commerce was a thing of so delicate a nature, that the restraints and exertions of power, though seemingly intended for its defence, had generally proved its destruction; that in France the East-India company had been laid at the feet of monarchy, and therefore languished in decay; whilst in Holland the states had wisely left it to itself, and there it flourished in prosperity. The yearly profits of the company, they as serted, were fairly divided; and government were paid besides so large a bounty for the charter, that no pretext could be urged for an arbitrary demand like the present. In answer to all this they were told, that the king's commission, added to the company's negociations, would impress more respect upon strangers than a mere corporation of merchants; that if government should not interpose to defend the territorial acquisitions in India, the company, for the sake of enjoying a few years of wealth and trade monopolized in their own hands, would suffer those dominions to be lost by their indifference to future events: for it was folly to suppose, that without the strong arm of Bri |