INDIA.] AFFAIRS IN MADRAS. 267 James's increased the Opposition rage. Through her it was endeavoured to aim an insidious blow against the consort of the Sovereign. What other ground, it was malignantly asked, except some sordid interest, some share in the plundered "wealth of Ormus and of Ind," could propitiate towards the relict of Mr. Imhoff the most pure and spotless of Queens? All the satirical poems of that period teem with such attacks. * In the council-chamber of Bengal the decease of General Clavering was nearly balanced by the arrival of Mr. Wheler. The new member took part, in most cases, against the Governor-General with Francis. But, besides that he showed himself a far less acrimonious opponent, the power of the casting-vote still left on every question the practical ascendancy in the hands of Hastings. From the supreme government of India let us pass to the subordinate-Council of Madras. There, though on a smaller scale, dissension had grown to a still more formidable height. Some years since a war had been waged against the petty kingdom of Tanjore. The Rajah, one of the Mahratta princes, had been taken prisoner and deposed. The territory had been seized and transferred to the Nabob of Arcot. At home the Directors, after no small amount of wavering, had disapproved these measures. They despatched peremptory orders to restore, without loss of time, the Rajah to his throne. Moreover, they sent out to the chief place at Madras a personal friend of the Rajah, the former Governor, Pigot, who had recently been raised to an Irish peerage. Thus from the first moment of his landing again on Indian ground, Lord Pigot found himself in direct opposition to the leading members of his Council. He did, however, proceed to Tanjore and reinstate the Rajah. But on his return he saw a formidable combination leagued against him; at its head Mahomed Ali, the Nabob of Arcot. * Thus in the Political Eclogues: "O'er Mornington French prattle holds command; 66 And in the Rolliad we are invited to a description of "the ivory "bed which was lately presented to Her Majesty by Mrs. Hastings." Mahomed Ali, the old ally of the English, and maintained in his dominion by their means, had not, as was expected, fixed his residence in any of his own palaces or cities. Abandoning all appearance of state, he dwelt in a common country-house, near the suburbs of Madras. There he was ever intriguing and caballing with several of the Company's servants. They would supply him with money at any sudden call, and well knew how to make such loans most highly advantageous to themselves. Foremost among these usurers stood Mr. Paul Benfield, a man to whom Burke's eloquence has given immortal fame, — if fame indeed it should be called! For, as the misdeeds of Verres will live for ever in the glowing denunciations of Cicero, so has the genius of Burke poured its imperishable lustre over the whole tortuous track of the Madras money-lenders, and rescued from oblivion the "Debts of the Nabob of Arcot."* Paul Benfield was of humble birth and of no patrimony. He had filled a small place in the Company's service at a salary of a few hundred pounds a year, and was chiefly conspicuous for keeping the finest carriages and horses at Madras. His ostentatious habits of expense did not seem consistent with any large accumulation of wealth. To the public surprise he now brought forward a claim on the Nabob, for money lent to the amount of 162,000l., besides another claim on individuals in Tanjore to the amount of 72,000l. For the whole of this enormous sum he held assignments on the revenues and standing crops in Tanjore; and he pleaded that his interest ought not to be affected by the reinstatement of the Rajah. The Nabob, when consulted on the matter, at once admitted and confirmed the claim. In this case Lord Pigot might well suspect collusion. He might also reasonably question the right of the Nabob to make any such assignments in Tanjore. The majority of his Council, however, were inclined to favour these demands, and there ensued a long train of angry altercations. At length the issue was taken on a side-point of small importance-the desire of Lord Pigot to appoint Mr. Russel, one of his own friends, as Resident at Tanjore. Finding * See his great speech of Feb. 28. 1785. INDIA.] LORD PIGOT ARRESTED. 269 himself out-voted, Lord Pigot first set the dangerous example-so soon to recoil upon himself of overstepping the bounds of law. He assumed that the Governor was an integral part of the Council; that he was not bound by the majority against him, and might refuse to carry out any decision in which he had not concurred. The opposite doctrine was maintained, no less vehemently, by the other members. Upon this an arbitrary order from Lord Pigot declared them suspended from their functions; and they, in return, concerted measures for his arrest. The commander of the forces, Sir Robert Fletcher (the same who, in Bengal, had been cashiered), was at that time ill; but the second in command, Colonel Stuart, was upon their side. On the 24th of August, 1776, the Colonel passed the greater part of the day, in company or in business, with Lord Pigot; he both breakfasted and dined with him as his familiar friend, and was driving in the carriage with him when, according to the Colonel's previous orders, the carriage was surrounded and stopped by troops. His Lordship was then informed that he was their prisoner. As such he was forthwith conveyed to St. Thomas's Mount. There he was left in an officer's house, with a battalion of artillery to guard him, while all the powers of Government were assumed and administered by his opponents in the Council. This violent act of the Council of Madras against their Governor, produced, at a later period, a keen discussion in the House of Commons. Admiral Pigot declared, on that occasion, that his brother had been offered a bribe amounting to 600,000l. in English money, only to defer, and that for a short and specified time, the reinstatement of the Rajah of Tanjore. On the other hand, Mr. Stratton, one of the members of the Council' who had ordered the Governor's arrest, said it was a fact well known, that Lord Pigot might have had his liberty again in three days, had he chosen to accept it.* In the Courts of Directors and Proprietors there appeared upon this subject the usual fluctuation. There was, however, a better reason for it, in a case where beyond all doubt neither party had been free from blame. * Debate in the House of Commons, April 16. 1779. At length it was agreed that the members of the Council who had concurred in this arrest should be recalled; and on their return they became liable, under Resolutions of the House of Commons, to a trial and a fine. At the same time a commission was prepared under the Company's seal, by which Lord Pigot was restored to his office; but he was directed within one week to give up the Government to his successor, and embark for England. By these means it was intended to avoid a triumph, or the appearance of a triumph, to either side. But long before these orders could be received in India, Lord Pigot was beyond the reach of any human sentence. After eight months of confinement he died at St. Thomas's Mount. Early in 1778 the government of Madras was assumed by Sir Thomas Rumbold. He might avoid dissensions with his Council, but on other grounds he incurred, and not unjustly, the censure of the Court of Directors. In less than three years we find him utterly dismissed from their service. He was accused of tyranny to the Chiefs of the Northern Circars, of injustice to the Nizam, of arrogance to Hyder Ali. Nor did even his personal character stand clear from all reproach. It was proved that, during his two years of government, he was enabled to remit to London more than three times the amount of his legal salary.* In the Session of 1782 a Bill of Pains and Penalties against him for breaches of public trust was brought in by Mr. Dundas; but ceased to attract attention, or to be actively pressed, amidst the Ministerial changes that ensued. Well might Mr. Fox observe, however: "If the Bill should be lost for want of at"tendance, that would not clear the character of Sir "Thomas Rumbold." * Second Report of the Committee of Secrecy, 1781. Sir Thomas alleged, in reply, that he had at the time property of his own in India; and this was proved by the evidence and accounts of his attorney, Mr. Price. But, on making full allowance for these, says Professor Wilson, "there still remains a considerable sum to be "accounted for, to explain the large amount of his remittances to “England.” (Note to Mill's Hist. vol. iv. p. 151., and another, p. 172.) INDIA.] THE MAHRATTA STATES. 271 CHAPTER LXIX. INDIA. In the last two chapters we have traced the progress of our Eastern empire when not assailed, nor even threatened, by any European enemy. The scene is now about to change. That war which, commencing in North America, troubled not England only but also France and Spain, cast its baleful shadows to the Mexican seas on the one side, and to the shores of Coromandel on the other. Then it was that the experience, the energy, the high statesmanship of Hastings were signally displayed. Then it was, that the value of his services was felt even by his adversaries in Downing Street or Leadenhall. Lord North, to his honour, laid aside all party resentment. As he afterwards stated in the House of Commons, he knew the abilities of Mr. Hastings, and felt that this was not the time for any change in the government of India.* Thus, when the period of Five Years fixed by the Regulating Act had expired, the Governor-General was quietly and without a struggle re-appointed. At the beginning of 1778, the tidings were already rife among the native races, that YENGHI DUNIA, or New World, as they called America, had broken loose from the country of the COOMPANY SAHIB.† Already might they hear the rising sounds of exultation from the rival settlements of Chandernagore and Pondicherry. But the first sign or symptom that reached Hastings of French cabals in India came from the Mahratta States. These had grown to greatness in the decline of the Mogul empire and risen on its ruins, but had since been weakened *Speech, June 1. 1786. Parl. Hist. vol. xxvi. p. 46. |