ENGLAND. 
of merchant-(hips. No fooner had admiral Rodney taken 
upon him the command in the Weft Indies, than every 
poffible exertion was made to bring on a general adtion, 
which count de Guichen, who commanded the French 
fleet, cautioufty avoided ; but intelligence being received 
that in the night of tire 15th of April, 1780, they had put 
to fea with their whole force, Rodney, who was ftationed 
at St. Lucie, immediately followed, and early on the 
morning of the 17th he came in fight of the enemy ; at 
noon the admiral made the fignal for a general and clofe 
engagement, himfelf fetting a noble example of courage 
to the fleet by bearing down upon tire French admiral, 
whom he fought with unremitting fury till the enemy 
bore away, leaving the Sandwich, which from caufes not 
eafily or clearly afcertainable, was very ill fupported in 
this adtion, a mere wreck upon the water. Other partial 
and indecifive encounters alfo took place, in which little 
inferiority of (kill or courage was difcernible on the part 
of the French officers or feamen. 
During thefe tranfadfions in the Weft Indies, don Gal¬ 
vez, the Spanilh governor of Louifiana, reduced the Bri- 
tifli fettlements on the Miffiffippi, and had made great 
progrefs in the conqueft of the province of Weft Florida, 
though Penfacola held out to the next year. As a very 
inadequate counterbalance to thefe f'uccefles, an expedi¬ 
tion had been undertaken from Jamaica to the Spanifit 
main ; and the fortrefs of Omoa, which contained a con- 
(iderable booty in fpecie and merchandife, was taken by 
ftorrn, but foon afterwards evacuated. A very heavy 
misfortune in the autumn of this year took place, in the 
entire capture of the outward-bound Eaft and Weft India 
fleets, in the Bay of Bifcay, by the Spaniards; a lofs 
which had no parallel in the naval and commercial hif- 
tory of Great Britain, fince the famous capture of the 
Smyrna fleet, in the reign of king William. 
On the 3d of September, 1780, the Mercury, a congrefs 
packet, was taken by the Veftul friga.e, off the banks of 
Newfoundland. On-board this packer was Mr. Laurens, 
prefident of the American congrefs, charged with a com- 
million to Holland. On being brought to England, he 
was examined by the privy council, and committed clofe 
prifoner to the Tower, on an accuCation of high treafon. 
His papers, which had been thrown overboard, and by 
great dexterity and diligence recovered and deciphered, 
were found to contain the lketch of a treaty of amity and 
commerce between the republic of Holland and the dates 
of America. This treaty appeared to be in a train of ne- 
gociation, and to have received the fandtion and appro¬ 
bation of M. Van Berkel, counfellor and penfionary of 
Amfterdam. Such was the high offence taken by the 
court of London at this difeovery, that orders were tranf- 
nritted to fir Jofeph Yorke immediately to leave the 
Hague, and a declaration of war was made againft Holland 
on the 20th of December, 1780. This was a meafure to¬ 
tally unexpedfed on the part of the (fates general, wdio 
were ill-prepared for fuch a rupture. Before the de¬ 
parture of count Welderen from the court of London, he 
delivered, by order of the dates, a letter to lord Stormont, 
which his lordfliip returned unopened; the war having 
been decided on in the cabinet as inevitable. 
A very confiderable portion of the fir ft feffion of the 
new parliament, w'hich met on the 31ft of Odtober, 1780, 
was occupied in the confideration of the affairs of India, 
from the period in which the memorable bill of regula¬ 
tion framed by lord North, A. D. 1773, pafted into a 
law. In the mobth of April, a772, took place, in confe- 
Xtuence of the removal of governor Cartier, the memo¬ 
rable appointment of Warren Haftings, efq. as governor- 
general of Bengal ; a man, whofe conduct throughout 
ail the inferior gradations of office (food confefledly un¬ 
impeached. The members of the fupreme council at the 
fame time appointed under him were, fir John Clavering, 
colonel Monfon, and Philip Francis, efq. That the reader 
may be enabled to form a competent idea of the nature of 
Indian politics, and of the mode of traffic by which fuch 
Vol, VI. No, 388. 
753 
immenfe fortunes were all at once poured into England 
from that opulent country, we fliall, from the docuf 
ments furniffied by the public enquiry into the condudt 
of Mr. Haftings in Hindooftan, give a faint outline of the 
government under which fuch riches were acquired, and 
which called fo loudly for the interference of the Britifh 
parliament. 
The project which had been unjuftly adopted in India, 
and fo univerfally execrated in England, of fetting up the 
lands of the zemindars, polygars, See. to public audtion, 
ftill appeared, from the immediate adoption of this fyftenr 
by the new governor, to be the favourite policy of Mr. 
Haftings himfelf. In the (pace of about two hundred 
years, during which the kingdom, of Bengal and its ap¬ 
pendages had been under the Mahomedan government, 
the original ground rents or heriots, aujjil jumm'a, of the 
zemindars, and other great hereditarydandholders who 
held under the government, had never been railed ; and' 
a permanent intereft being thus created in the land, the 
talookdars, polygars, and 'ryots, who poflefied the fub- 
ordinate rights of property under the zemindars, were 
neither themfelves opprelfed, nor allowed to opprefs the 
adtual occupants and cultivators of the foil. But from 
the period that Bengal fell into the hands of the Englifti, 
this judicious regulation appears to have been annihi¬ 
lated, by unreafonably advancing the fee-farm rents. 
Mr. Haftings, among the firft adis of his government, 
inftituted a committee of circuit, inverted with the power 
to difpofe of all the lands in the province, from the higheft 
zemindar down to the lowed ryot, by public auction, 
to farm for the term of five years. The pretext for this 
bold meafure, was the decay of the public revenue, of 
which, in confequence of this fyftem, Mr. Haftings had 
the courage to prorrjife the court of directors an immedi¬ 
ate and progreffive augmentation ; acknowledging, never- 
thelefs, the country at the fame time to be in a languifh- 
ing date, and that the population had decreafed in the 
proportion of one-third fince the firft grant of the dewan- 
nee, or fovereign jurifdidlion, from the Mogul emperor. 
The mod dreadful confufion began to enftte ; and Mr. 
Haftings, in his minute of April, 1773, confefles, “ That 
the expedted improvement had not taken place, being 
obftrudted by a circumftance which could not be fore- 
feen, viz. the farmers having engaged for a higher re¬ 
venue than their diftridts could afford. It is true (fays 
he) that the lands were almoft all over-bid for ; and many 
let to indigent and defperate adventurers; but this was 
unavoidable in fuch a mode.” The deficiency in the re¬ 
venue was in fadt enormous, falling, in five years, no lefs 
than two millions and a half fhort of the fettlement. The 
lands being on all hands admitted to be partially over¬ 
rated, the governor and council were of courfe called 
upon to exercife a diferetionary power of remillion. 1 his 
at once opened an immenfe field of fraud and peculation, 
and could not fail to prove to individuals, in certain filua- 
tions, an exhauftlefs fource of wealth. The court of di- 
redtors declared themfelves, in the fequel, “ fully aware 
of the duplicity which had been pradtifed in the letting 
out the lands in Bengal; that flagrant corruption and 
great oppreffions had been committed ;” and they ordered 
a profecution to be commenced againft the perfons who 
compofed the committee of circuit. But after long and 
ftudied delays, Mr. Haftings ultimately propofed, and 
carried his propofition in council, “ That orders fhould 
be given for withdrawing the faid profecution.” It is 
worthy of remark, that the banyan, or black fteward, of 
Mr. Haftings, Cantoo Baboo, rented, under the new te¬ 
nure, lands to the value of 150,000!. per annum ; and 
remillions to a very great amount were granted to this 
man, as well as to all thofe whofe reafons appeared to 
the governor and council equally valid. The zemindary 
of Baharbu’nd, taken from the rannee ot Radlhi, was alfo 
given in perpetuity to Cantoo Baboo, at a rent of 82,000 
rupees, although the value of it was rated at 350,000. 
The fame Cantoo Baboo was alfo permitted to contract 
9 F largely 
