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The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12) written by Edmund Burke

E >> Edmund Burke >> The Works Of The Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IX. (of 12)




IV. That the Resident, Bristow, did then openly depute Major Palmer
aforesaid, with the concurrence of the Vizier, and the approbation of
the Governor-General, to the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, at Rampoor; and that
the said Palmer was to "endeavor to convince the Nabob that _all doubts
of his attachment to the Vizier are ceased, and whatever claims may be
made on him are founded upon the basis of his interest and advantage and
a plan of establishing his right to the possession of his jaghire_."

That the sudden ceasing of the said doubts, without any inquiry of the
slightest kind, doth warrant a strong presumption of the Resident's
conviction that they never really existed, but were artfully feigned, as
a pretence for some harsh interposition; and that the indecent mockery
of establishing, as a matter of favor, for a pecuniary consideration,
rights which were never impeached but by the treaty of Chunar, (an
instrument recorded by Warren Hastings himself to be founded on
falsehood and injustice,) doth powerfully prove the true purpose and
object of all the duplicity, deceit, and double-dealing with which that
treaty was projected and executed.

V. That the said Palmer was instructed by the Resident, Bristow, with
the subsequent approbation of the Governor-General, "to obtain from
Fyzoola Khan _an annual tribute_"; to which the Resident adds,--"_If
you can procure from him, over and above this, a peshcush_ [or fine] _of
at least five lacs_, it would be rendering an essential service to the
Vizier, and add to _the confidence his Excellency would hereafter repose
in the attachment of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan_." And that the said
Governor-General, Hastings, did give the following extraordinary ground
of calculation, as the basis of the said Palmer's negotiation for the
annual tribute aforesaid.

"_It was certainly understood_, at the time the treaty was concluded,
(of which this stipulation was a part,) that it applied _solely to
cavalry_: as the Nabob Vizier, possessing the service of our forces,
could not possibly require infantry, and least of all such infantry as
Fyzoola Khan could furnish; and _a single horseman included in the aid
which Fyzoola Khan might furnish would prove a literal compliance with
the said stipulation_. The number, therefore, of horse implied by it
ought at least to be ascertained: _we will suppose five thousand_, and,
allowing the exigency for their attendance to exist only in the
proportion of _one year in five_, reduce the demand to one thousand for
the computation of the subsidy, which, at the rate of _fifty rupees_ per
man, will amount to fifty thousand _per mensem_. This may serve for the
basis of this article in the negotiation upon it."

VI. That the said Warren Hastings doth then continue to instruct the
said Palmer in the alternative of a refusal from Fyzoola Khan. "If
Fyzoola Khan shall refuse to treat for a subsidy, and claim the benefit
of his original agreement in its literal expression, _he possesses a
right which we cannot dispute_, and it will in that case remain only to
fix the precise number of horse which he shall furnish, which ought at
least to exceed twenty-five hundred."

VII. That, in the above-recited instruction, the said Warren Hastings
doth insinuate (for he doth not directly assert),--

1st. That we are entitled by treaty to five thousand troops, which he
says were undoubtedly intended to be all cavalry.

2d. That the said Hastings doth then admit that a single horseman,
included in the aid furnished by Fyzoola Khan, would prove a literal
compliance.

3d. That the said Hastings doth next resort again to the supposition of
our right to the whole five thousand cavalry.

4th. That the said Hastings doth afterwards think, in the event of an
explanation of the treaty, and a settlement of the proportion of
cavalry, instead of a pecuniary commutation, it will be all we can
demand that the number should _at least exceed twenty-five hundred_.

5th. That the said Hastings doth, in calculating the supposed time of
their service, assume an arbitrary estimate of one year of war to four
of peace; which (however moderate the calculation may appear on the
average of the said Hastings's own government) doth involve a principle
in a considerable degree repugnant to the system of perfect peace
inculcated in the standing orders of the Company.

6th. That, in estimating the pay of the cavalry to be commuted, the
said Hastings doth fix the pay of each man at fifty rupees a month;
which on five thousand troops, all cavalry, (as the said Hastings
supposes the treaty of Lall-Dang to have meant,) would amount to an
expense of thirty lacs a year, or between 300,000_l._ or 400,000_l._ And
this expense, strictly resulting (according to the calculations of the
said Hastings) from the intention of Sujah ul Dowlah's grant to Fyzoola
Khan, was designed to be supported out of a jaghire valued at fifteen
lacs only, or something more than 150,000_l._ of yearly revenue, just
half the amount of the expense to be incurred in consideration of the
said jaghire.

And that a basis of negotiation so inconsistent, so arbitrary, and so
unjust is contrary to that uprightness and integrity which should mark
the transactions of a great state, and is highly derogatory to the honor
of this nation.

VIII. That, notwithstanding the seeming moderation and justice of the
said Hastings in admitting the clear and undoubted right of Fyzoola Khan
to insist on his treaty, the head of instruction immediately succeeding
doth afford just reason for a violent presumption that such apparent
lenity was but policy, to give a color to his conduct: he, the said
Hastings, in the very next paragraph, bringing forth a new engine of
oppression, as follows.

"To demand the surrender of all the ryots [or peasants] of the Nabob
Vizier's dominions to whom Fyzoola has given protection and service, _or
an annual tribute in compensation for the loss sustained by the Nabob
Vizier in his revenue thus transferred to Fyzoola Khan_.

"You have stated the increase of his jaghire, occasioned by this act,
at the moderate sum of fifteen lacs. _The tribute ought at least to be
one third of that amount_.

"We conceive that Fyzoola Khan himself may be disposed to yield to the
preceding demand, on the additional condition of being allowed to hold
his lands in _ultumgaw_ [or an inheritable tenure] instead of his
present tenure by _jaghire_ [or a tenure for life]. This we think the
Vizier can have no objection to grant, and we recommend it; _but for
this a fine, or peshcush, ought to be immediately paid, in the customary
proportion of the jumma, estimated at thirty lacs_."

IX. That the Resident, Bristow, (to whom the letter containing Major
Palmer's instructions is addressed,) nowhere attributes the increase of
Fyzoola Khan's revenues to this protection of the fugitive ryots,
subjects of the Vizier; that the said Warren Hastings was, therefore,
not warranted to make that a pretext of such a peremptory demand. That,
as an inducement to make Fyzoola Khan agree to the said demand, it is
offered to settle his lands upon a tenure which would secure them to his
children; but that settlement is to bring with it a new demand of a fine
of thirty lacs, or 300,000_l._ and upwards; that the principles of the
said demand are violent and despotic, and the inducement to acquiescence
deceitful and insidious; and that both the demand and the inducement are
derogatory to the honor of this nation.

X. That Major Palmer aforesaid proceeded under these instructions to
Rampoor, where his journey "_to extort a sum of money_" was previously
known from Allif Khan, vakeel of Fyzoola Khan at the Vizier's court; and
that, notwithstanding the assurances of the friendly disposition of
government given by the said Hastings, (as is herein related,) the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan did express the most serious and desponding apprehensions,
both by letter and through his vakeel, to the Resident, Bristow, who
represents them to Major Palmer in the following manner.

"The Nabob Fyzoola Khan complains of the distresses he has this year
suffered from the drought. The whole collections have, with great
management, amounted to about twelve lacs of rupees, from which sum he
has to support his troops, his family, and several relations and
dependants of the late Rohilla chiefs. _He says, it clearly appears to
be intended to deprive him of his country, as the high demand you have
made of him is inadmissible._ Should he have assented to it, it would be
impossible to perform the conditions, and then his reputation would be
injured by a breach of agreement. _Allif Khan further represents, that
it is his master's intention, in case the demand should not be
relinquished by you, first to proceed to Lucknow, where he proposes
having an interview with the Vizier and the Resident; if he should not
be able to obtain his own terms for a future possession of his jaghire,
he will set off for Calcutta in order to pray for justice from the
Honorable the Governor-General._ He observes, it is the custom of the
Honorable Company, when they deprive a chief of his country, to grant
him some allowance. This he expects from Mr. Hastings's bounty; _but if
he should be disappointed, he will certainly set off upon a pilgrimage
to Mecca and Medina, and renounce the cares of the world_.--_He directs
his vakeel to ascertain whether the English intend to deprive him of his
country_; for if they do, he is ready to surrender it, upon receiving an
order from the Resident."

XI. That, after much negotiation, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, "being fully
sensible that an engagement to furnish military aid, _however clearly
the conditions might be stated, must be a source of perpetual
misunderstanding and inconveniencies_," did at length agree with Major
Palmer to give fifteen lacs, or 150,000_l._ and upwards, by four
instalments, that he might be exempted from all future claims of
military service; that the said Palmer represents it to be his belief,
"_that no person, not known to possess your_ [the said Hastings's]
_confidence and support in the degree that I am supposed to do_, would
have obtained nearly so good terms"; but from what motive "terms so
good" were granted, and how the confidence and support of the said
Hastings did truly operate on the mind of Fyzoola Khan, doth appear to
be better explained by another passage in the same letter, where the
said Palmer congratulates himself on _the satisfaction which he gave to
Fyzoola Khan_ in the conduct of this negotiation, as he spent a month in
order to effect "by argument and persuasion _what he could have obtained
in an hour by threats and compulsions_."


PART IX.

FULL VINDICATION OF FYZOOLA KHAN BY MAJOR PALMER AND MR. HASTINGS.

I. That, in the course of the said negotiation for establishing the
rights of the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, Major Palmer aforesaid did communicate
to the Resident, Bristow, and through the said Resident to the
Council-General of Bengal, the full and direct denial of the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan to all and every of the charges made or pretended to be
made against him, as follows.

"Fyzoola Khan persists in denying the infringement on his part of any
one article in the treaty, or the neglect of any obligation which it
imposed upon him.

"He does not admit of _the improvements reported to be made_ in his
jaghire, and even asserts that the collections this year will fall short
of the original _jumma_ [or estimate] by reason of the long drought.

"He denies having exceeded the limited number of Rohillas in his
service;

"And having refused the required aid of cavalry, made by Johnson, to act
with General Goddard.

"He observes, respecting the charge of evading the Vizier's requisition
for the cavalry lately stationed at Daranagur, to be stationed at
Lucknow, that he is not bound by treaty to maintain a stationary force
for the service of the Vizier, but to supply an aid of two or three
thousand troops in time of war.

"Lastly, he asserts, that, so far from encouraging the ryots [or
peasants] of the Vizier to settle in his jaghire, it has been his
constant practice to deliver them up to the Aumil of Rohilcund, whenever
he could discover them."

II. That, in giving his opinions on the aforesaid denials of the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan, the said Palmer did not controvert any one of the
constructions of the treaty advanced by the said Nabob.

That, although the said Palmer, "from general appearances as well as
universal report, did not doubt that the jumma of the jaghire is
_greatly increased_," yet he, the said Palmer, did not intimate that it
was increased in any degree near _the amount reported_, as it was drawn
out in a regular estimate transmitted to the said Palmer expressly for
the purposes of his negotiation, which was of course by him produced to
the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, and to which specifically the denial of Fyzoola
Khan must be understood to apply.

That the said Palmer did not hint any doubt of the deficiency affirmed
by Fyzoola Khan in the collections for the current year: and,

That, if any increase of jumma did truly exist, whatever it may have
been, the said Palmer did acknowledge it "to have been solemnly
relinquished (in a private agreement) by the Vizier."

That, although the said Palmer did suppose the number of Rohillas
(employed "in ordinary occupations) in Rampoor alone to exceed that
limited by the treaty for his [Fyzoola Khan's] service," yet the said
Palmer did by no means imply that the Nabob Fyzoola Khan _maintained in
his service_ a single man more than was allowed by treaty; and by a
particular and minute account of the troops of Fyzoola Khan, transmitted
by the Resident, Bristow, to the said Palmer, the number was stated but
at 5,840, probably including officers, who were not understood to be
comprehended in the treaty.

That the said Palmer did further admit it "_to be not clearly expressed_
in the treaty, whether the restriction included Rohillas of all
descriptions"; but, at any rate, he adds, "it does not appear that their
number is formidable, or that he [Fyzoola Khan] _could by any means
subsist such numbers as could cause any serious alarm to the Vizier_;
neither is there any appearance of their entertaining any views beyond
the quiet possession of the advantages which they at present enjoy."

And that, in a subsequent letter, in which the said Palmer thought it
prudent "to vindicate himself from any possible insinuation that he
meant to sacrifice the Vizier's interest," he, the said Palmer, did
positively attest the new claim on Fyzoola Khan for the protection of
the Vizier's ryots to be wholly without foundation, as the Nabob Fyzoola
Khan "had proved to him [Palmer], by producing receipts of various dates
and for great numbers of these people surrendered upon requisition from
the Vizier's officers."

III. That, over and above the aforesaid complete refutation of the
different charges and pretexts under which exactions had been practised,
or attempted to be practised, on the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, the said Palmer
did further condemn altogether the principle of calculation assumed in
such exactions (even if they had been founded in justice) by the
following explanation of the nature of the tenure by which, under the
treaty of Lall-Dang, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan held his possessions as a
jaghiredar.

"There are no precedents in the ancient usage of the country for
ascertaining the _nuzzerana_ [customary present] or _peshcush_ [regular
fine] of grants of this nature: _they were bestowed by the prince as
rewards or favors_; and the accustomary present in return was adapted to
the dignity of the donor rather than to the value of the gift,--_to
which it never, I believe, bore any kind of proportion_."

IV. That a sum of money ("which of course was to be received by the
Company") being now obtained, and the "_interests both of the Company
and the Vizier_" being thus much "_better promoted_" by "_establishing
the rights_" of Fyzoola Khan than they could have been by "_depriving
him of his independency_," when every undue influence of secret and
criminal purposes was removed from the mind of the Governor-General,
Warren Hastings, Esquire, he, the said Hastings, did also concur with
his friend and agent, Major Palmer, in the vindication of the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan, and in the most ample manner.

That the said Warren Hastings did now clearly and explicitly understand
the clauses of the treaty, "that Fyzoola Khan should send _two_ or
_three_ [and not _five_] thousand men, or _attend in person, in case it
was requisite_."

That the said Warren Hastings did now confess that the right of the
Vizier under the treaty was at best "but _a precarious and unserviceable
right_; and that he thought fifteen lacs, or 150,000_l._ and upwards, an
ample equivalent," (or, according to the expression of Major Palmer, _an
excellent bargain_,) as in truth it was, "for expunging an article of
such a tenor and so loosely worded."

And, finally, that the said Hastings did give the following description
of the general character, disposition, and circumstances of the Nabob
Fyzoola Khan.

"The rumors which had been spread of his hostile designs against the
Vizier were totally groundless, and if he had been inclined, he had not
the means to make himself formidable; on the contrary, being in the
decline of life, and possessing a very fertile and prosperous jaghire,
it is more natural to suppose that Fyzoola Khan wishes to spend the
remainder of his days in quietness than that he is preparing to embark
in active and offensive scenes which must end in his own destruction."

V. Yet that, notwithstanding this virtual and implied crimination of his
whole conduct toward the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, and after all the aforesaid
acts systematically prosecuted in open violation of a positive treaty
against a prince who had an hereditary right to more than he actually
possessed, for whose protection the faith of the Company and the nation
was repeatedly pledged, and who had deserved and obtained the public
thanks of the British government,--when, in allusion to certain of the
said acts, the Court of Directors had expressed to the said Hastings
their wishes "to be considered rather as the guardians of the honor and
property of the native powers than as the instruments of oppression,"
he, the said Hastings, in reply to the said Directors, his masters, did
conclude his official account of the final settlement with Fyzoola Khan
with the following indecent, because unjust, exultation:--

"Such are the measures which we shall ever wish to observe towards our
allies or dependants upon our frontiers."




APPENDIX

TO THE

EIGHTH AND SIXTEENTH CHARGES.[26]


Copy of a Letter from Warren Hastings, Esquire, to William Devaynes,
Esquire, Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India
Company, dated Cheltenham, 11th of July, 1785, and printed by order
of the House of Commons.

_To William Devaynes, Esquire, Chairman of the Honorable the Court of
Directors._

Sir,--The Honorable Court of Directors, in their general letter to
Bengal by the "Surprise," dated the 16th March, 1784, were pleased to
express their desire that I should inform them of the periods when each
sum of the presents mentioned in my address of the 22d May, 1782, was
received, what were my motives for withholding the several receipts from
the knowledge of the Council, or of the Court of Directors, and what
were my reasons for taking bonds for part of these sums, and for paying
other sums into the treasury as deposits on my own account.

I have been kindly apprised that the information required as above is
yet expected from me. I hope that the circumstances of my past
situation, when considered, will plead my excuse for having thus long
withheld it. The fact is, that I was not at the Presidency when the
"Surprise" arrived; and when I returned to it, my time and attention
were so entirely engrossed, to the day of my final departure from it, by
a variety of other more important occupations, of which, Sir, I may
safely appeal to your testimony, grounded on the large portion
contributed by myself of the volumes which compose our Consultations of
that period, that the submission which my respect would have enjoined me
to pay to the command imposed on me was lost to my recollection, perhaps
from the stronger impression which the first and distant perusal of it
had left on my mind that it was rather intended as a reprehension for
something which had given offence in my report of the original
transaction than as expressive of any want of a further elucidation of
it.

I will now endeavor to reply to the different questions which have been
stated to me in as explicit a manner as I am able. To such information
as I can give the Honorable Court is fully entitled; and where that
shall prove defective, I will point out the easy means by which it may
be rendered more complete.

First, I believe I can affirm with certainty, that the several sums
mentioned in the account transmitted with my letter above mentioned were
received at or within a very few days of the dates which are prefixed to
them in the account; but as this contains only the gross sums, and each
of these was received in different payments, though at no great distance
of time, I cannot therefore assign a greater degree of accuracy to the
account. Perhaps the Honorable Court will judge this sufficient for any
purpose to which their inquiry was directed; but if it should not be so,
I will beg leave to refer for a more minute information, and for the
means of making any investigation which they may think it proper to
direct, respecting the particulars of this transaction, to Mr. Larkins,
your Accountant-General, who was privy to every process of it, and
possesses, as I believe, the original paper, which contained the only
account that I ever kept of it. In this each receipt was, as I
recollect, specifically inserted, with the name of the person by whom it
was made; and I shall write to him to desire that he will furnish you
with the paper itself, if it is still in being and in his hands, or with
whatever he can distinctly recollect concerning it.

For my motives for withholding the several receipts from the knowledge
of the Council, or of the Court of Directors, and for taking bonds for
part of these sums, and paying others into the treasury as deposits on
my own account, I have generally accounted in my letter to the Honorable
the Court of Directors of the 22d May, 1782: namely, that "I either
chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving
bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which
my memory at that distance of time could verify; and that I did not
think it worth my care to observe the same means with the rest." It will
not be expected that I should be able to give a more correct explanation
of my intentions after a lapse of three years, having declared at the
time that many particulars had escaped my remembrance; neither shall I
attempt to add more than the clearer affirmation of the facts implied in
that report of them, and such inferences as necessarily, or with a
strong probability, follow them.

I have said that the three first sums of the account were paid into the
Company's treasury without passing through my hands. The second of these
was forced into notice by its destination and application to the expense
of a detachment which was formed and employed against Mahdajee Sindia
under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Camac, as I particularly
apprised the Court of Directors in my letter of the 29th November, 1780.
The other two were certainly not intended, when I received them, to be
made public, though intended for public service, and actually applied to
it. The exigencies of the government were at that time my own, and every
pressure upon it rested with its full weight upon my mind. Wherever I
could find allowable means of relieving those wants, I eagerly seized
them; but neither could it occur to me as necessary to state on our
Proceedings every little aid which I could thus procure, nor do I know
how I could have stated it, without appearing to court favor by an
ostentation which I disdain, nor without the chance of exciting the
jealousy of my colleagues by the constructive assertion of a separate
and unparticipated merit, derived from the influence of my station, to
which they might have laid an equal claim. I should have deemed it
particularly dishonorable to receive for my own use money tendered by
men of a certain class, from whom I had interdicted the receipt of
presents to my inferiors, and bound them by oath not to receive them. I
was therefore more than ordinarily cautious to avoid the suspicion of
it, which would scarcely have failed to light upon me, had I suffered
the money to be brought directly to my own house, or to that of any
person known to be in trust for me: for these reasons I caused it to be
transported immediately to the treasury. There, you well know, Sir, it
could not be received without being passed to some credit, and this
could only be done by entering it as a loan or as a deposit: the first
was the least liable to reflection, and therefore I had obviously
recourse to it. Why the second sum was entered as a deposit I am utterly
ignorant: possibly it was done without any special direction from me;
possibly because it was the simplest mode of entry, and therefore
preferred, as the transaction itself did not require concealment, having
been already avowed.