Counsel having been admitted, it appeared in evidence that government had received little less than £2,000,000 annually from the company, which at the same time had lost £1,000,000 by the indemnity agreement on tea, of which £700,000 went to government, and the remainder to the purchasers. It was shown that the profits of their trade for the last five years would have afforded a dividend of twelve and a half per cent. to the proprietors; whereas they had scarcely divided more than six per cent., whilst government had been benefited to such an immense amount. The great abuses, and gradation of extravagance in the civil and military departments, were duly set forth, and stated to be proper objects of regulation, whereby great savings, vastly superior to the expenses of supervisors, might be effected; other abuses also in the erection of barracks and forts, as well as in the levying of certain taxes, were shown to be capable of correction. Until the select committee of lord Clive was appointed, the civil and military expenses at Bengal had never exceeded £700,000: next year they came up to £900,000; and so on, till in 1771 they reached £1,800,000: this showed that a commission of able and upright men might effect savings of vast importance. It was finally contended, that the company claimed a right of managing their own concerns by charter, and in return for signal services rendered to the nation.

The evidence, thus given at the bar, served to establish the great delinquency of the company's servants, but not the competency of the company itself to redress abuses: the mention of the select committee was peculiarly unfortunate; for although formed for the very purpose of redressing them, it had given rise to the enormities complained of. The question was, whether the present exigences and imbecillity of the company warranted the interposition of parliament: on the side of ministers, the bill was acknowleged to be a stretch of authority, justifiable only by cogent necessity; which necessity clearly existed, so as to take precedence of all other law: lord John Cavendish thought differently; he said, 'when extraordinary remedies become the ordinary engines of government, they are signs of a weak ministry. Men of abilities foresee great evils; and if such arise, they know how to remove them, without offering violence to the general system, and to those sacred institutions, which are to human society what gravitation is to the universe.'

Mr. Burke's speech on this occasion attracted great attention. He observed, that in 1767 parliament took the state of the

company's trade and revenue into consideration, for the maintenance of public faith and public credit, for the increase of its commerce and resources, and for the security of its stockholders. One and forty hours,' said he, did the house sit on this business; and what was the result? what did this mountain in labor bring forth? No mouse truly, but a fair round sum of £400,000 a year to government.' Thus did parliament support public faith and the company's interests, by extracting from its necessities a reasonable sum to pay off the arrears of the civil list; arrears so honorably and usefully contracted! The eyes of parliament were dazzled by its lucrative bargain: the company, without the aid of precedent or light of experience, without chart or compass, was allowed to steer at random through this perilous ocean: the wonder would have been, if they had not been lost. The distress of the company,' said the honorable gentleman, arises from the improvidence of administration, and the short-sightedness of parliament, in not forming for it a system of government suitable to its form and constitution. Or am I mistaken? Were the affairs of the. company designedly left in confusion? Were the directors left without any effectual control over delinquent servants? Was the collection of the revenues left without any check? Was the tyranny of a double government, like our double cabinet, tolerated with a view of seeing the concerns of the company become an absolute chaos of disorder, and of giving to government a handle for seizing the territorial revenue? I know that this was the original scheme of administration, and I violently suspect that it never has been relinquished. If the ministry have no sinister view, if they do not mean by this unconstitutional step to extend the influence of the crown, they will now speak out, and explicitly declare their intentions: their silence may be justly construed into a confession of such a design; and they will thenceforth be considered as the determined enemies of the liberty of their country. God knows, that the places and pensions, and expectances furnished by the British establishment, are too powerful for the small remains of patriotism and public spirit that remain in our island: what then will become of us, if Bengal, if the Ganges, pour in a new tide of corruption? Should the evil genius of British liberty so ordain it, I fear this house will be so far from removing the corruption of the east, that it will be corrupted by it: I dread more from the infection of that place, than I hope from the virtue of this house. Was it not the sudden plunder of the east that gave the final blow to the freedom of Rome?

What reason have we to expect a better fate? I conjure you, by every thing which man ought to hold sacred; I conjure you, by the spirits of your forefathers, who so nobly fought and bled in the cause for which I now plead; I conjure you, by what includes every thing, by your country, not to yield to the temptations which the East in the hands of the crown holds out; not to sink into the gulf of corruption, and to drag after you your posterity, your country. I obtest heaven and earth, that in all places and at all times, I have hitherto shoved by the gilded hand of corruption, and endeavored to stem the torrent which threatens to overwhelm this land. On the whole, the bill is dangerous in itself, as being the first step towards a total invasion of the company's territories in Bengal; and, should we admit the motives which lead to it to be good, yet such a step is dangerous as a precedent. I do not, however, deny that the house has power to pass it, but you have not the right there is a perpetual confusion in gentlemen's ideas from inattention to this material distinction; from which, properly considered, it will appear, that this bill is contrary to the eternal laws of right and wrong; laws that ought to bind all men, and, above all men, legislative assemblies.' On a division, the bill passed by a majority of 153 to 28. In the house of lords it met with only a faint opposition, but produced a protest, declaring that it was the duty of the company to appoint a commission for correcting abuses; and that a neglect of applying legal powers to the ends for which they were given, would rather have been a matter of delinquency: that government, it was said, must be full of deceit and violence, where men are to be punished if they decline, or restrained if they attempt to exercise their lawful powers. When this question was settled, the two houses adjourned for the Christmas recess.

:

CHAP. XIV.

GEORGE III. (CONTINUED.)-1773.

Affair of the Caribbs of St. Vincent's-Disturbances in other colonies-Augmentation of half-pay to captains of the navyAttempts made to relieve dissenters from subscription-Affairs of the East India company-Conduct of lord Clive arraigned and defended-His death-Operations of the city faction-Statement of affairs under lord North's administration-Birth of prince Augustus Frederic, and of princess Sophia of Glocester -Wilkes's impotent efforts to annoy the king, &c.-Parliamentary reward given to Mr. Harrison-Warlike preparations of France counteracted by English diplomacy-Affairs of Ireland under lord Harcourt-Affairs of North America-Opposition of principles Disputes between governor Hutchinson and the assembly of Massachussetts-A long delay of hostilities impracticable-Publication of governor Hutchinson's lettersProceedings of the privy council on the subject-Franklin's examination, &c.-Petition of the colonists dismissed-Exasperation of the people at Boston on the arrival of tea-shipsOccurrences which took place in consequence-Renewed altercations between the governor and assembly-The latter votes articles of impeachment against the chief justice-Rejected by the governor-Assembly dissolved-Domestic occurrencesMilitary discipline-Voyage of captain Phipps-Meeting of parliament-Rev. John Horne brought to the bar of the house of commons for a libel on the speaker, and discharged-Mr. Grenville's bill for trying controverted elections made per

manent.

ONE of the earliest questions which occupied the attention of parliament, when re-assembled, had been brought before it in December, but deferred till after the recess it related to the Caribbs, or aboriginal inhabitants of the West Indian island of St. Vincent's, ceded to Great Britain at the peace; who had not been mentioned at the cession, but were in possession of the most fertile parts of the island: these the British settlers wished them to exchange for tracts which were said to be more appropriate to their occupations of hunting and fishing; but the proposal was received with indignation by a brave people, animated by an ardent love of liberty, and passionately attached to their native plains: in reply, they declared that they had held their lands independent of the king

of France, and would still hold them independent of the king of England. The planters, apprehensive of a contest with such inflexible neighbors, who could number a thousand fighting men in their tribe, submitted a plan to government for transporting them to Africa, which was too hastily accepted: the aboriginals determined on resistance; and two regiments were despatched from North America, to join about an equal number in the island, for the purpose of reducing them to subjection the rainy season, however, and sickness, added to the difficulties of the country, prevented our troops from making much progress, until the account of these hostilities came before parliament, and was made the subject of severe animadversion. Motions concerning the cause of the war and the state of our troops gave rise to many animated debates; and though negatived by large majorities of a subservient house, excited public attention to a great degree: intelligence however at length arrived, that a peace had been concluded; in which the Caribbs acknowleged themselves subject to British laws in their intercourse with the whites, retaining their ancient customs in their intercourse with each other, and ceding certain districts to the new inhabitants. The native and negro population of provinces under other governments, about this time raised insurrections against the European settlers; particularly that of Surinam, a colony belonging to the Dutch; which nation has ever been notorious for treating its slaves and dependents with extreme rigor and injustice. The insurgents were so irritated by their wrongs, so well provided with arms, and so expert in the use of them, that it became necessary to send ships and troops from Holland, and to proceed against them as regular enemies; not so however in the punishments and executions that followed. In Brazil and Chili similar disturbances had lately arisen, to which latter country an armament was sent from Spain.

On the ninth of February a petition from the captains of the navy was presented by lord Howe, praying for a small increase of their half-pay; and though opposed by the minister, from a principle of economy, and the danger of opening a door to similar claims, a motion was carried in favor of that gallant class of men, whose allowance was increased by the addition of two shillings a day.

A farther attempt was made to relieve dissenters from subscription; and a bill, differing in many respects from that of last year, being brought in, was supported by similar arguments and similar success in the commons; but it was rejected by