natic, as the means of procuring the most advantageous terms, and furnishing Lord Macartney with the plea of necessity for concluding a peace after his own manner: and what further confirms the truth of this fact is, that repeated reports, as well as the alarms of the inhabitants to the westward, leave us no reason to doubt that Tippoo is approaching towards us. His lordship has issued public orders, that the garrison store of rice, for which we are indebted to the exertions of the Bengal government, should be immediately disposed of, and has strictly forbid all private grain to be sold; by which act he effectually prohibits all private importation of grain, and may eventually cause as horrid a famine as that which we experienced at the close of last year, from the same short-sighted policy and destructive prohibitions of Lord Macartney.

"But as he has the fabrication of the reeords in his own hands, he trusts to those partial representations of his character and conduct, because the signatures of those members of government whom he seldom consults, are affixed, as a public sanction; but you may form a just idea of their correctness and propriety, when you are informed, that his lordship, upon my noticing the heavy disbursements made for secret service money, ordered the sums to be struck off, and the accounts to be erased from the cash-book of the company; and I think I cannot give you a better proof of his management of my country and revenues, than by calling your attention to his conduct in the Ongole province, and by referring you to his lordship's administration of your own jaghire, from whence he has brought to the public account the sum of twelve hundred pagodas for the last year's revenue, yet blazons forth his vast merits and exertions, and expects to receive the thanks of his committee and council.-I will beg leave to refer you to my minister, James Macpherson, esq. for a more particular account of my sufferings and miseries, to whom I have transmitted copies of all papers that passed with his lordship.

"I cannot conclude without calling your attention to the situation of my different creditors, whose claims are the claims of justice, and whose demands I am bound by honour, and every moral obligation, to discharge; it is not therefore without great concern I have heard insinuations tending to question the legality of their right to the payment of those just debts; they proceeded from advances made by them openly and honourably for the support of my own and the public affairs. But I hope the tongue of calumny will never drown the voice

of truth and justice; and while that is heard, the wisdom of the English nation cannot fail to accede to an effectual remedy for their distresses, by any arrangement in which their claims may be duly considered, and equitably provided for; and for this purpose my minister, Mr. Macpherson, will readily subscribe, in my name, to any agreement you may think proper to adopt, founded on the same principles with either of the engagements I entered into with the supreme government of Bengal, for our mutual interest and advantage.—I always pray for your happiness and prosperity."

6th September, and Postscript of 7th September, 1783. Translation of a Letter from the Nabob of Arcot to the Chairman and Directors of the East India Company.-Received from Mr. James Macpherson, 14th January, 1784.

"I REFER you, gentlemen, to my inclosed duplicate, as well as to my minister, Mr. Macpherson, for the particulars of my sufferings. There is no word or action of mine that is not perverted; and though it was my intention to have sent my son Ameer-ul-Omrah, who is well versed in my affairs, to Bengal, to impress those gentlemen with a full sense of my situation, yet I find myself obliged to lay it aside, from the insinuations of the calumniating tongue of Lord Macartney, that takes every licence to traduce every action of my life, and that of my son. I am informed that Lord Macartney, at this late moment, intends to write a letter; I am ignorant of the subject; but fully perceive, that by delaying to send it till the very eve of the dispatch, he means to deprive me of all possibility of communicating my reply, and forwarding it for the information of my friends in England. Conscious of the weak ground on which he stands, he is obliged to have recourse to these artifices to mislead the judgment, and support for a time his unjustifiable measures by deceit and imposition. I wish only to meet and combat his charges and allegations fairly and openly; and I have repeatedly and urgently demanded to be furnished with copies of those parts of his fabricated records relative to myself; but as he well knows I should refute his sophistry, I cannot be surprised at his refusal, though I lament that it prevents you, gentlemen, from a clear investigation of his conduct towards me.

"Inclosed you have a translation of an arzee from the killidar of Vellore: I have thousands of the same kind; but this just now received

will serve to give you some idea of the miseries brought upon this my devoted country, and the wretched inhabitants that remain in it, by the oppressive hand of Lord Macartney's management; nor will the embezzlements of collections thus obtained, when brought before you in proof, appear less extraordinary, which shall certainly be done in due time."

Translation of an Arzee, in the Persian Language, from Uzzeem ul Doen Cawn, the KilLidar of Vellore, to the Nabob, dated 1st September, 1783. Inclosed in the Nabob's Letter to the Court of Directors, September, 1783. "I HAVE repeatedly represented to your highness the violences and oppressions exercised by the present amildar [collector of revenue] of Lord Macartney's appointment, over the few remaining inhabitants of the district of Vellore, Ambore, Saulguda, &c.

"The outrages and violences now committed, are of that astonishing nature as were never known or heard of during the administration of the circar. Hyder Naik, the cruellest of tyrants, used every kind of oppression in the circar countries; but even his measures were not like those now pursued. Such of the inhabitants as had escaped the sword and pillage of Hyder Naik, by taking refuge in the woods, and within the walls of Vellore, &c. on the arrival of Lord Macartney's amildar to Vellore, and in consequence of his cowle of protection and support, most cheerfully returned to the villages, set about the cultivation of the lands, and with great pains rebuilt their cottages.-But now the amildar has imprisoned the wives and children of the inhabitants, seized the few jewels that were on the bodies of the women, and then, before the faces of their husbands, flogged them, in order to make them produce other jewels and effects, which he said they had buried somewhere under ground, and to make the inhabitants bring him money, notwithstanding there was yet no cultivation in the country. Terrified with the flagellations, some of them produced their jewels, and wearing apparel of their women, to the amount of ten or fifteen pagodas, which they had hidden; others, who declared they had none, the amildar flogged their women severely, tied cords around their breasts, and tore the sucking children from their teats, and exposed them to the scorching heat of the sun. Those children died, as did the wife of Ramsoamy, an inhabitant of Bringpoor. Even this could not stir up compassion

in the breast of the amildar. Some of the children that were somewhat large, he exposed to sale. In short, the violences of the amildar are so astonishing, that the people, on seeing their present situation, remember the loss of Hyder with regret. With whomsoever the amildar finds a single measure of natelinee, or rice, he takes it way from him, and appropriates it to the expenses of the Sibindy that he keeps up. No revenues are collected from wretched inhabitants. Those ryots [yeomen] the countries, but from the effects of the poor who intended to return to their habitations, hearing of those violences, have fied for refuge, with their wives and children, into Hyder's country. Every day is ushered in closed with these violences and disturbances. I have no power to do any thing; and who will hear what I have to say? My business is to inform your highness, who are my master. The people bring their complaints to me, and I tell them I will write to your highness.”*

Translation of a Tellinga Letter from Veirs Permaul, Head Dubash to Lord Macartney, in his own hand-writing, to Rajah Ramchunda, the renter of Ongole; dated 25th of

[The above-recited practices, or practices similar to them, have prevailed in almost every part of the miserable countries on the coast of they prevailed as strongly and generally as they Coromandel, for near twenty years past. That could prevail, under the administration of the nabob, there can be no question, notwithstan ding the assertion in the beginning of the above petition; nor will it be otherwise, whilst affairs are conducted upon the principles which influence the present system. Whether the particu lars here asserted are true or false, neither the thought proper to enquire. If they are true, in court of directors nor their ministry have order to bring them to affect Lord Macartney, it ought to be proved that the complaint was made to him; and that he had refused redress. Iastead of this fair course, the complaint is carried to the court of directors. The above is one of the documents transmitted by the nabob, in proof of his charge of corruption against Lord Macartney. If genuine, it is conclusive, at kast manager. If it be a forgery (as in all likelihood against Lord Macartney's principle agent and it is) it is conclusive against the nabob and his evil counsellors; and fully demonstrates, if any thing further were necessary to demonstate, the necessity of the clause in Mr. Fox's bill probibiting the residence of the native princes in the company's principal settlements; which clause was, for obvious reasons, not admitted into Mr. Pitt's. It shews too the absolute necessity of a his English evil counsellors and creditors, by severe and exemplary punishment on certain of whom such practices are carried on.]

the Hindoo month Mausay, in the year Plavanamal, corresponding to 5th March, 1782. I PRESENT my respects to you, and am very well here, wishing to hear frequently of your welfare.

Your peasher Vancatroyloo has brought the

Visseel Bakees, and delivered them to me, as also what you sent him for me to deliver to my master, which I have done. My master at first refused to take it, because he is unacquainted with your disposition, or what kind of a person you are. But after I made encomiums on your goodness and greatness of mind, and took my oath to the same, and that it would not become public, but be held as precious as our lives, my master accepted it. You may remain satisfied, that I will get the Ongole business settled in your name; I will cause the jamaubundee to be settled agreeable to your desire. It was formerly the nabob's intention to give this business to you, as the governour knows full well, but did not at that time agree to it, which you must be well acquainted with.

Your peasher Vancatroyloo is a very careful good man-he is well experienced in business-he has bound me by an oath to keep all this business secret, and that his own, yours, and my lives are responsible for it. I write this letter to you with the greatest reluctance, and I signified the same to your peasher, and declared that I would not write to you by any means; to this the peasher urged, that if I did not write to his master, how could he know to whom he (the peasher) delivered the money, and what must his master think of it? therefore I write you this letter, and send it by my servant Ramanah, accompanied by the peasher's servant, and it will come safe to your hands: after perusal you will send it back to me immediately-until I receive it I don't like to eat my victuals, or take any sleep. Your peasher took his oath, and urged me to write

this for your satisfaction, and has engaged to ine that I shall have this letter returned to me in the space of twelve days.

The present governour is not like the former governours-he is a very great man in Europe and all the great men of Europe are much obliged to him for his condescension in his custom when he makes friendship with any accepting the government of this place. It is one to continue it always, and if he is at enmity with any one, he never will desist till he has worked his destruction; he is now exceedingly displeased with the nabob, and you will understand by and by that the nabob's business cannot be carried on; he (the nabob) will have no power to do any thing in his own affairs; you have therefore no room to fear him. You may remain with a contented mind-I desired the your satis

governour to write you a letter for faction; the governour said he would do so

when the business was settled. This letter you must peruse as soon as possible, and send it back with all speed by the bearer Ramadoo, accompanied by three or four of your people, to the end that no accident may happen on the road. These people must be ordered to march in the night only, and to arrive here with the greatest dispatch. You sent ten mangoes for my master, and two for me, all which I have delivered to my master, thinking that ten was this for your information, and salute you with not sufficient to present him with. I write ten thousand respects.

I, Muttu Kistnah, of Madras Patnam,

dubash, declare, That I perfectly
understand the Gentoo language;
and do most solemnly affirm, that the
foregoing is a true translation of the
annexed paper writing from the Gen-
too language.
(Signed)

Muttu Kistnah.

VOL. 1.-29

MR. BURKE's speech on the report of the army estimates has not been correctly stated in some of the public papers. It is of consequence to him not to be misunderstood. The matter which incidentally came into discussion is of the most serious importance. It is thought that the heads and substance of the speech will answer the purpose sufficiently. If in making the abstract, through defect of memory, in the person who now gives it, any difference at all should be perceived from the speech as it was spoken, it will not, the editor imagines, be found in any thing which may amount to a retraction of the opinions he then maintained, or to any softening in the expressions in which they were conveyed.

Mr. Burke spoke a considerable time in answer to various arguments which had been insisted upon by Mr. Grenville and Mr. Pitt, for keeping an increased peace establishment, and against an improper jealousy of the ministers, in whom a full confidence, subject to responsibility, ought to be placed, on account of their knowledge of the real situation of affairs; the exact state of which it frequently happened, that they could not disclose, with out violating the constitutional and political secrecy, necessary to the well-being of their country.

Mr. Burke said in substance, That confidence might become a vice, and jealousy a virtue, according to circumstances. That confidence, of all public virtues, was the most dangerous, and jealousy in a house of commons, of all public vices, the most tolerable; especially where the number and the charge of standing armies, in time of peace, was the question.

That in the annual mutiny bill, the annual army was declared to be for the purpose of preserving the balance of power in Europe. The propriety of its being larger or smaller depended, therefore, upon the true state of that

balance. If the increase of peace establishments demanded of parliament agreed with the manifest appearance of the balance, confidence in ministers, as to the particulars, would be very proper. If the increase was not at all supported by any such appearance, he thought great jealousy might, and ought to be, entertained on that subject.

That he did not find, on a review of all Europe, that, politically, we stood in the smallest degree of danger from any one state or kingdom it contained; nor that any other foreign powers than our own allies were likely to obtain a considerable preponderance in the scale.

That France had hitherto been our first object, in all considerations concerning the balance of power. The presence or absence of France totally varied every sort of speculation relative to that balance.

That France is, at this time, in a political light, to be considered as expunged out of the system of Europe. Whether she could ever appear in it again, as a leading power, was not easy to determine: but at present he considered France as not politically existing; and most assuredly it would take up much time to restore her to her former active existenceGallos quoque in bellis floruisse audivimus, might possibly be the language of the rising generation. He did not mean to deny that it was our duty to keep our eye on that nation, and to regulate our preparation by the symp toms of her recovery.

That it was to her strength, not to her form of government, which we were to attend; because republics, as well as monarchies, were susceptible of ambition, jealousy, and anger, the usual causes of war.

But if, while France continued in this swoon, we should go on increasing our expenses, we should certainly make ourselves less a match for her, when it became our concern to arm.

It was said, that as she had speedily fallen, she might speedily rise again. He doubted this. That the fall from an height was with an accelerated velocity; but to lift a weight up to that height again was difficult, and opposed by the laws of physical and political gravitation. In a political view, France was low indeed. She had lost every thing, even to her name.

'Jacet ingens littore truncus, Avolsumque humeris caput, et sine nomine corpus."*

He was astonished at it-he was alarmed at it-he trembled at the uncertainty of all human greatness.

Since the house had been prorogued in the summer much work was done in France. The French had shewn themselves the ablest architects of ruin that had hitherto existed in the world. In that very short space of time they had completely pulled down to the ground, their monarchy; their church; their nobility; their law; their revenue; their army; their navy; their commerce; their arts; and their manufactures. They had done their business for us as rivals, in a way in which twenty Ramillies or Blenheims could never have done it. Were we absolute conquerours, and France to lie prostrate at our feet, we should be ashamed to send a commission to settle their affairs, which could impose so hard a law upon the French, and so destructive of all their consequence as a nation, as that they had imposed on them

selves.

France, by the mere circumstance of its vicinity, had been, and in a degree always must be, an object of our vigilance, either with regard to her actual power, or to her influence and example. As to the former, he had spoken; as to the latter, (her example,) he should say a few words: for by this example our friendship and our intercourse with that nation had once been, and might again, become more dangerous to us than their worst hostility.

In the last century, Louis the Fourteenth had established a greater and better disciplined military force than ever had been before seen

* Mr. Burke, probably, had in his mind the remainder of the passage, and was filled with some congenial apprehensions:

"Hæc finis Priami fatorum; hic exitus illum Sorte tulit, Trojam incensam, et prolapsa videntem

Pergama; tot quandam populis, terrisque, su

perbum Regnatorem Asia. Jacet ingens littore truncus, Avolsumque humeris caput, et sine nomine

corpus.

At me tum primum sævus circumstetit horror; Obstupui: subiit chari genitoris imago”—

in Europe, and with it a perfect despotism. Though that despotism was proudly arrayed in manners, gallantry, splendour, magnificence, and even covered over with the imposing robes of science, literature, and arts, it was, in government, nothing better than a painted and gilded tyranny; in religion, a hard, stern intolerance, the fit companion and auxiliary to the despotic tyranny which prevailed in its government. The same character of despotism insinuated itself into every court of Europe-the same spirit of disproportioned magnificencethe same love of standing armies, above the ability of the people. In particular, our then sovereigns, King Charles and King James, fell in love with the government of their neighbour, so flattering to the pride of kings. A similarity of sentiments brought on connections equally dangerous to the interests and liberties of their country. It were well that the infec tion had gone no farther than the throne. The admiration of a government flourishing and successful, unchecked in its operations, and seeming therefore to compass its objects more speedily and effectually, gained something upon all ranks of people. The good patriots of that day, however, struggled against it. They sought nothing more anxiously than to break off all communication with France, and to beget a total alienation from its councils and its example; which, by the animosity prevalent between the abettors of their religious system and the assertors of ours, was, in some degree, effected.

This day the evil is totally changed in France; but there is an evil there. The disease is altered; but the vicinity of the two natural mental habits of mankind are such, countries remains, and must remain; and the that the present distemper of France is far more likely to be contagious than the old one; for it is not quite easy to spread a passion for servitude among the people: but in all evils of the opposite kind our natural inclinations are flattered. In the case of despotism there is the foedum crimen servitutis; in the last the falsa species libertatis; and accordingly, as the historian says, pronis auribus accipitur.

In the last age we were in danger of being entangled by the example of France in the net of a relentless despotism. It is not necessary to say any thing upon that example. It exists no longer. Our present danger from the example of a people, whose character knows no medium, is, with regard to government, a danger from anarchy; a danger of being led through an admiration of successful fraud and violence, to an imitation of the excesses of an irrational,