778 



ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY. 



a powerful opposition. The company therefore 

 thought it advisable, in 1744, to advance .1,000,000 

 sterling, at 3 per cent., for the service of government , 

 in consideration of an extension of their cliarier till 

 1780. 



4th Period. The political power of the British 

 in India commenced in 1748. The French had 

 already set the example. In 1740, a French battalion 

 Iiad destroyed the army of the nabob of the Car- 

 natic, anil, soon after, the French officers succeeded 

 in disciplining Indian troops according to the Euro- 

 pean method. The inferiority of the native Indian 

 troops opposed to European soldiers, and the facility 

 of instructing Indian soldiers, known by the name of 

 Seapoys, in the European discipline, was Urns proved. 

 Ambition and avarice, political and mercantile cun- 

 niiisr, could now act on a larger scale ; and the inde- 

 I eiuU'itce of the Indian princes was gone whenever 

 this trading company, which was already encroach- 

 ing upon all the rights, both of the rulers and the 

 people of those countries, should establish a perman- 

 ent military force. Thus far, the military organiza- 

 tion of the company had been merely on the defen- 

 sive : it now became able to act offensively ; and the 

 entire difference of the European and Indian notions 

 of law could never fail to furnish opportunities to 

 put this new means of power into action. The rights 

 of succession, and all the rights of princes, subjects, 

 and families, were so much disputed on the different 

 principles of the Indian, Moliammedan, and British 

 laws, tliat the company (wliich often interposed as 

 arbitrator) easily succeeded in extending their legal 

 jurisdiction. If called to account in Europe for any 

 of its undertakings, it was easy to uphold the correct- 

 ness of its conduct, politically, on the ground of self- 

 defence, which, at the distance of several thousand 

 miles, could not be called in question ; and, in legal 

 matters, by taking advantage of the impenetrable 

 labyrinth of law. Edmund Burke, who experienced, 

 in the case of Hastings (q. v.), this impregnability of 

 the company, accused them justly " of having sold 

 every monarch, prince, and state in India, broken every 

 contract, and ruined every prince and every state who 

 had trusted them." The high officers in India, what- 

 ever great names may appear among them, become 

 despotic from situation : 1. because each receives 

 an inheritance of injustice, which must be maintain- 

 ed ; 2. because public opinion has no influence ;* 3. 

 because no moral and religious connexion, not even 

 that of language, exists between the ruled and the 

 rulers ; 4. because no fear of dangerous insurrec- 

 tions can exist, on account of the great division of 

 the Hindoo and Mohammedan classes and interests ; 

 5. because the officers of the company have no 

 object but to make money with a view of spending 

 it in Britain as soon as they have accumulated 

 sufficient to satisfy their wishes, and therefore are 

 not disposed to make opposition against abuses. In 

 1749, the robberies of the company began with its 

 protection of the pretender of Tanjore. Under pre- 

 tence of illegitimacy, the nabob of tlu's district was 

 driven out, for the purpose of obtaining some cessions 

 of territory, and then restored, on making further 

 concessions. The rapid progress of the company in 

 the art of extending their possessions appears from 

 their treaties with Surrajah-Dowlah, the nabob of 



* The East Indian government formerly took (Treat pains to 

 prevent the expression and consolidation of public opinion 

 Thus nexvspaperp, which are so free in England, were under 

 strict regulations in India. In September, 1835, however, the 

 eupreme government of India freed the press from all restric- 

 tions, and it is now fully as free as the press in England or 

 America, Tbe newspapers are now very numerous ; ant 

 tx>sides about twenty English newspapers of various denomi- 

 nations, there are others printed in the Persian, Hindustani, 

 <-uzratee', Tamil, and Telegu languages. 



Bengal, in 1757. when large and rich provinces were 

 the reward of their faithless policy. This enlarge- 

 ment of territory caused such enormous expenditures* 

 the difficulties of governing increased so greatly 

 with the increase of power, the numerous officers 

 became so much more independent, rapacious, and 

 disobedient, that thefinances of the company suffered. 

 The direction in London was now nothing more than 

 a mere control of the real government, which had its 

 seat in India. Its orders were antiquated before they 

 reached Calcutta. The governors having the advan- 

 tage of being on the spot, it was to be expected thst 

 they would obey only when personal interests requir- 

 ed it. Thus the repeated prohibition to carry on a 

 traffic in the interior, with salt, tolcco, and betel 

 nuts, was entirely disregarded, with the express con- 

 sent of the East Indian councils ; and, long after the 

 directors Iiad forbidden the officers of the company 

 to accept presents from the Indian princes, it was 

 proved that they had openly received them, to the 

 amount of .6,000,000, from the family of the nabob 

 of Bengal alone. On this account, the internal situa- 

 tion of the company became constantly worse, and, 

 in 1772, it was compelled to raise a loan, at first 

 of 600,000, from the bank, and afterwards of 

 1,400,000 from the government, for its current 

 expenses. The public dissatisfaction was the greater, 

 as it had been expected that the extension of British 

 power in India would liave brought much wealth 

 into the mother country. At the same time, great 

 complaints were made against the unprincipled con- 

 duct of the company's officers towards the princes 

 and people of India ; and, as the expected advan- 

 tages appeared not to have been obtained, it now 

 began to be proclaimed, that the rights of humanity 

 had been trampled upon. The popular hatred was 

 unjustly directed against the directors ; their power 

 was to be limited ; they, who had to manage a dis- 

 obedient world, were to be still more cramped. 

 Control was demanded ; as if a control wliich sympa. 

 thizes with the oppressors, and has no connexion 

 with the oppressed, could avail anything ; as it 

 oppression were a single act, which might be pre- 

 vented by superintendence, or punished like a crime : 

 and what would be the effect of a controlling power 

 whose commands would require 6 9 montlis to be 

 conveyed to the spot, and as much more time before 

 the result could be known in Europe ? And, if the 

 company had obtained a power by force, which could 

 only be preserved by the same means, on what prin- 

 ciple should the control act ? Burke's famous, but 

 unsuccessful struggle of seven years, againstHastings, 

 and in the cause of humanity in India, proved, that 

 the only possible control of the officers in India, is 

 the public opinion of the British nation. One party 

 asserted that all would be well as soon as the com- 

 pany divided its power with the ministry. Another 

 party maintained, that all that was wanting to the 

 Hindoo was the benefit of British law. Some thought 

 it would be sufficient merely to increase the difficulty 

 of becoming a director. Thus the incomplete reform 

 of 1773 took place. Instead of 500, 1000 was 

 made necessary to give the right of a vote, 3000 

 for two votes, 6000 for three votes, and 10,000 

 for four votes. Only six directors were to be annu- 

 ally elected. A governor-general, with four coun- 

 sellors (at first named by parliament, that is, by 

 the ministry, but afterwards by the directors, for 

 five years), was to be placed over the provinces of 

 Bengal, Bahar and Orissa ; the other provinces were 

 to be dependent upon him. As a counterpoise to 

 this concentration of power, a supreme court was 

 established in Calcutta, with a chief justice and 

 three associate judges, who were independent of the 

 company, and were appointed by the crown. All the 



