Chapter IX (1)

_Ambitious Schemes of the French in North America..... Rise
and Conduct of the Ohio Company..... Letter from the
Governor of Virginia to the French Commander at Riviere-au-
Beuf..... Perfidious Practices of the French in Nova
Scotia..... Major Laurence defeats the French Neutrals.....
British Ambassador at Paris amused with general Promises.....
Session opened..... Supplies granted..... Repeal of the Act
for naturalizing Jews..... Motion for repealing a former Act
favourable to the Jews..... East India Mutiny Bill..... Case
of Le ------ Session closed..... Death of Mr. Pelham.....
Change in the Ministry..... New Parliament assembled and
prorogued..... Disputes in the Irish Parliament.....
Transactions in the East Indies..... Account of the English
Settlements on the Malabar and Coromandel Coast.....
Disputes about the Government of Arcot..... Mahommed Ali
Khan supported by the English..... Mr. Clive takes
Arcot..... and defeats the Enemy in the Plains of Arani, and
at Koveripauk..... He reduces three Forts, and takes M.
d’Anteuil..... Chunda Saib taken and put to Death, and his
Army routed...... Convention between the East India
Companies of England and France..... General View of the
British Colonies in North America..... New England and New
York..... New Jersey..... Pennsylvania..... Maryland.....
Virginia..... The two Carolinas..... Georgia..... The
French surprise Logs-Town, on the Ohio..... Conference with
the Indians at Albany..... Colonel Washington defeated and
taken by the French on the Ohio..... Divisions among the
British Colonies..... The hereditary Prince of Hesse-Cassel
professes the Roman Catholic Religion..... Parliament of
Paris recalled from Exile..... Affairs of Spain and
Portugal..... Session opened..... Supplies granted..... Bill
in behalf or Chelsea Pensioners..... Oxfordshire
Election..... Message from the King to the House of
Commons..... Court of Versailles amuses the English
Ministry..... Session closed_

AMBITIOUS SCHEMES OF THE FRENCH.

While the British ministry depended upon the success of the conferences between the commissaries of the two crowns at Paris, the French were actually employed in executing their plans of encroachment upon the British colonies of North America. Their scheme was to engross the whole fur trade of that continent; and they had already made great progress in extending a chain of forts, connecting their settlements on the river Mississippi with their possessions in Canada, along the great lakes of Erie and Ontario, which last issues into the river St. Lawrence. By these means they hoped to exclude the English from all communication and traffic with the Indian nations, even those that lay contiguous to the British settlements, and confine them within a line of their drawing, beyond which they should neither extend their trade nor plantations. Their commercial spirit did not keep pace with the gigantic strides of their ambition; they could not supply all those Indians with the necessaries they wanted, so that many of the natives had recourse to the English settlements; and this commerce produced a connexion, in consequence of which the British adventurers ventured to travel with merchandise as far as the banks of the river Ohio, that runs into the Mississippi, a great way on the other side of the Apalachian mountains, beyond which none of our colonists had ever attempted to penetrate. The tract of country lying along the Ohio is so fertile, pleasant, and inviting, and the Indians, called Twightees, who inhabit those delightful plains, were so well disposed towards a close alliance with the English, that, as far back as the year one thousand seven hundred and sixteen, Mr. Spotswood, governor of Virginia, proposed a plan for erecting a company to settle such lands upon this river as should be ceded to them by treaty with the natives; but the design was at that time frustrated, partly by the indolence and timidity of the British ministry, who were afraid of giving umbrage to the French, and partly by the jealousies and divisions subsisting between the different colonies of Great Britain. The very same circumstances encouraged the French to proceed in their project of invasion. At length they penetrated from the banks of the river St. Lawrence, across lake Champlain, and upon the territory of New York, built with impunity, and indeed without opposition, the fort of Crown Point, the most insolent and dangerous encroachment that they had hitherto carried into execution.

RISE AND CONDUCT OF THE OHIO COMPANY.

Governor Spotswood’s scheme for an Ohio company was revived immediately after the peace of Aix-la-Cha-pelle, when certain merchants of London, who traded to Maryland and Virginia, petitioned the government on this subject, and were indulged not only with a grant of a great tract of ground to the southward of Pennsylvania, which they promised to settle, but also with an exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians on the banks of the river Ohio. This design no sooner transpired, than the French governor of Canada took the alarm, and wrote letters to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania giving them to understand, that as the English inland traders had encroached on the French territories and privileges, by trading with the Indians under the protection of his sovereign, he would seize them wherever they could be found, if they did not immediately desist from that illicit practice. No regard being paid to this intimation, he next year caused three British traders to be arrested. Their effects were confiscated, and they themselves conveyed to Quebec, from whence they were sent prisoners to Rochelle in France, and there detained in confinement. In this situation they presented a remonstrance to the earl of Albemarle, at that time English ambassador in Paris, and he claiming them as British subjects, they were set at liberty. Although, in answer to his lordship’s memorial, the court of Versailles promised to transmit orders to the French governors in America, to use all their endeavours for preventing any disputes that might have a tendency to alter the good correspondence established between the two nations; in all probability the directions given were seemingly the very reverse of these professions, for the French commanders, partisans, and agents in America, took every step their busy genius could suggest, to strengthen their own power, and weaken the influence of the English, by embroiling them with the Indian nations. This task they found the more easy, as the natives had taken offence against the English, when they understood that their lands were given away without their knowledge, and that there was a design to build forts in their country without their consent and concurrence. Indeed, the person whom the new company employed to survey the banks of the Ohio, concealed his design so carefully, and behaved in other respects in such a dark mysterious manner, as could not fail to arouse the jealousy of a people naturally inquisitive, and very much addicted to suspicion. How the company proposed to settle this acquisition in despite of the native possessors, it is not easy to conceive, and it is still more unaccountable that they should have neglected the natives, whose consent and assistance they might have procured at a very small expense. Instead of acting such a fair, open, and honourable part, they sent a Mr. Gist to make a clandestine survey of the country, as far as the falls of the river Ohio; and, as we have observed above, his conduct alarmed both the French and Indians. The erection of this company was equally disagreeable to the separate traders of Virginia and Pennsylvania, who saw themselves on the eve of being deprived of a valuable branch of traffic, by the exclusive charter of a monopoly; and therefore they employed their emissaries to foment the jealousy of the Indians. The French having in a manner commenced hostilities against the English, and actually built forts on the territories of the British allies at Niagara, and on the lake Erie, Mr. Hamilton, governor of Pennsylvania, communicated this intelligence to the assembly of the province, and represented the necessity of erecting truck-houses, or places of strength and security, on the river Ohio, to which the traders might retire in case of insult or molestation. The proposal was approved, and money granted for the purpose; but the assembly could not agree about the manner in which they should be erected; and in the meantime the French fortified themselves at leisure, and continued to harass the traders belonging to the British settlements. Repeated complaints of these encroachments and depredations being represented to Mr. Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia, he, towards the latter end of this very year, sent major Washington with a letter to the commanding officer of a fort which the French had built on the Riviere-au-Beuf, which falls into the Ohio, not far from the lake Erie. In this letter Mr. Dinwiddie expressed his surprise that the French should build forts and make settlements on the river Ohio, in the western part of the colony of Virginia, belonging to the Crown of Great Britain. He complained of these encroachments, as well as of the injuries done to the subjects of Great Britain, in open violation of the law of nations, and of the treaties actually subsisting between the two crowns. He desired to know by whose authority and instructions his Britannic majesty’s territories had been invaded; and required him to depart in peace, without further prosecuting a plan which must interrupt the harmony and good understanding which his majesty was desirous to continue and cultivate with the most christian king. To this spirited intimation the officer replied, that it was not his province to specify the evidence, and demonstrate the right of the king his master to the lands situated on the river Ohio; but he would transmit the letter to the marquis du Quesne, and act according to the answer he should receive from that nobleman. In the meantime, he said he did not think himself obliged to obey the summons of the English governor; that he commanded the fort by virtue of an order from his general, to which he was determined to conform with all the precision and resolution of a good officer. Mr. Dinwiddie expected no other reply, and therefore had projected a fort to be erected near the forks of the river. The province undertook to defray the expense, and the stores for that purpose were already provided; but by some fatal over sight, the concurrence of the Indians was neither obtained nor solicited, and therefore they looked upon this measure with an evil eye, as a manifest invasion of their property.

PERFIDY OF THE FRENCH.

While the French thus industriously extended their encroachments to the southward, they were not idle in the gulf of St. Lawrence, but seized every opportunity of distressing the English settlement of Nova Scotia. We have already observed, that the town of Halifax was no sooner built, than they spirited up the Indians of that neighbourhood to commit hostilities against the inhabitants, some of whom they murdered, and others they carried prisoners to Louisbourg, where they sold them for arms and ammunition, the French pretending that they maintained this traffic from motives of pure compassion, in order to prevent the massacre of the English captives, whom, however, they did not set at liberty without exacting an exorbitant ransom. As these skulking parties of Indians were generally directed and headed by French commanders, repeated complaints were made to the governor of Louisbourg, who still answered, that his jurisdiction did not extend over the Indians, and that their French conductors were chosen from the inhabitants of Annapolis, who thought proper to remain in that country after it was ceded to the English, and were in fact the subjects of Great Britain. Even while the conferences were carried on for ascertaining the limits of Nova Scotia, the governor of Canada detached M. la Come, with some regular troops, and a body of militia, to fortify a post on the bay of Chignecto, on pretence that this and a great part of the peninsula belonged to his government. The possession of this post not only secured to the Indians of the continent a free entrance into the peninsula, and a safe retreat in case of pursuit; but also encouraged the French inhabitants of Annapolis to rise in open rebellion against the English government.

MAJOR LAURENCE DEFEATS THE FRENCH NEUTRALS.

In the spring of the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty, general Cornwallis, governor of Halifax, detached major Laurence with a few men to reduce them to obedience. At his approach they burned their town to ashes, forsook their possessions, and threw themselves under the protection of M. la Corne, who, thus reinforced, found himself at the head of fifteen hundred men, well provided with arms and ammunition. Major Laurence being unable to cope with him in the field, demanded an interview, at which he desired to know for what cause the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia had shaken off their allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, and violated the neutrality which they had hitherto affected to profess. The French officer, without pretending to account for their behaviour, gave him to understand in general terms, that he had orders to defend his post, and these orders he was determined to obey. The English major finding himself too weak to attack their united force, and having no orders to commit hostilities against any but the Indians and their open abettors, returned to Halifax, without having been able to fulfil the purpose of his expedition. Immediately after his retreat, the French neutrals (so they were called) returned to their habitations which they had abandoned, and, in conjunction with the Indians, renewed their depredations upon the inhabitants of Halifax and its dependent settlements. The English governor, justly incensed at these outrages, and seeing they would neither submit to the English government themselves, nor allow others to enjoy it with tranquillity, resolved to expel them effectually from the country they so ill deserved to possess. Major Laurence was again detached with a thousand men, transported by sea to Chignecto, where he found the French and Indians intrenched in order to dispute his landing. Notwithstanding this opposition, he made a descent with a few companies, received and returned a smart fire, and rushing into their intrenchments, obliged them to fly with the utmost precipitation, leaving a considerable number killed and wounded on the spot. The fugitives saved themselves by crossing a river, on the farther bank of which la Corne stood at the head of his troops, drawn up in order to receive them as friends and dependents. He had by this time erected a fort, which he denominated Beau Séjour; and now the English built another on the opposite side of the river, which was called after its founder St. Laurence. This being provided with a good garrison, served as a check upon the French, and in some measure restrained the incursions of these barbarians. Not that it effectually answered this purpose; for the Indians and Neutrals still seized every opportunity of attacking the English in the interior parts of the peninsula. In the course of the succeeding year they surprised the little town of Dartmouth, on the other side of Halifax-bay, where they killed and scalped a great number of people, and carried off some prisoners. For these expeditions the French always supplied them with boats, canoes, arms, and ammunition; and indeed they were conducted with such care and secrecy, that it was almost impossible to prevent their success. One sure remedy against the sudden and stolen incursions of those savages might have been found in the use of staunch hounds, which would have run upon the foot, detected the skulking parties of the Indians, and frustrated all their ambuscades; but this expedient, so easy and practicable, was never tried, though frequently recommended in public to the attention of the government, and the consideration of the colonists. The Indians continued to plunder and massacre the British subjects with impunity, and were countenanced by the French government in that country, who now strengthened their lodgement on the neck of the peninsula with an additional fort, distinguished by the name of Bayeverte; and built a third at the mouth of St. John’s river, on the north side of the bay of Fundy.

BRITISH AMBASSADOR AT PARIS AMUSED WITH GENERAL PROMISES.

All these previous steps to a rupture with England were taken with great deliberation, while the commissaries of both nations were disputing about the limits of the very country which they thus arrogantly usurped; and they proceeded to perfect their chain of forts to the southward, without paying the least regard to the expostulations of the English governors, or to a memorial presented at Versailles by the earl of Albemarle, the British minister. He demanded that express orders should be sent to M. de la Jonquire, the commander for the French in America, to desist from violence against the British subjects in that country; that the fort of Niagara should be immediately razed; that the subjects of Great Britain, who had been made prisoners, should be set at liberty, and indemnified for the losses they had sustained; and that the persons who had committed these excesses should be punished in an exemplary manner. True it is, six Englishmen, whom they had unjustly taken, were immediately dismissed; and the ambassador amused with general promises of sending such instructions to the French governor in America, as should anticipate any cause of complaint for the future; but, far from having any intention to perform these promises, the court of Versailles, without all doubt, exhorted la Jonquire to proceed in bringing its ambitious schemes to perfection.

SESSION OPENED.

Every incident in America seemed to prognosticate war, when the session of parliament was opened on the fifteenth day of November; yet his majesty, on this occasion, told them that the events of the year had not made it necessary for him to offer any thing in particular to their consideration relating to foreign affairs. He even declared that the continuance of the public tranquillity, and the general state of Europe, remained upon the same footing as when they last parted; and assured them of his steadiness in pursuing the most effectual measures to preserve to his people the blessings of peace. He expressed uncommon concern that the horrid crimes of robbery and murder were of late rather increased than diminished, and earnestly recommended this important object to their serious attention. Affectionate addresses were presented by both houses in answer to this harangue; and, what was very remarkable, they were proposed and passed without question or debate.

The commons continued the same number of seamen and land-forces for the ensuing year, which had been granted in the last session, and made suitable provision for all the exigences of the state. The whole supply amounted to two millions seven hundred and ninety-seven thousand nine hundred and sixteen pounds, ten shillings and twopence, to be raised by a land-tax of two shillings in the pound, a malt-tax, a continuation of certain duties on wine, vinegar, cider, and beer imported, a sum taken from the sinking-fund, and the overplus of certain grants, funds, and duties. The provisions made considerably exceeded the grants; but this excess was chargeable with the interest of what should be borrowed upon the credit in the land or malt-tax, there being a clause of credit in both, as also with the deficiency (if any should happen) in the sums they were computed to produce. The house agreed to all these resolutions almost unanimously; indeed, no opposition was made to any of them, but that for continuing the same number of land-forces, which was carried by a great majority.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

REPEAL OF THE ACT FOR NATURALIZING JEWS.

The act for permitting Jews to be naturalized, which had, during the last session, triumphed over such an obstinate opposition, was by this time become the object of national horror and execration. Every part of the kingdom resounded with the reproach of the ministry who had enforced such an odious measure; and the two brothers, who engrossed the greater part of the administration, trembled at the prospect of what this clamour might produce at the general election, this being the last session of the present parliament. So eager were the ministers to annul this unpopular measure, that, immediately after the peers had agreed to the nature and forms of an address to his majesty, the duke of Newcastle, with that precipitation so peculiar to his character, poured forth an abrupt harangue in that house, importing, that the disaffected had made a handle of the act passed last session in favour of the Jews, to raise discontents among many of his majesty’s good subjects; and as the act was in itself of little importance, he was of opinion it ought to be repealed; for this purpose he presented a bill ready framed, which was read and committed, though not without some debate. The naturalization bill, now devoted as a sacrifice to the resentment of the people, containing a clause disabling all naturalized Jews from purchasing, inheriting, or receiving any advowson or presentation, or right to any ecclesiastical benefice or promotion, school, hospital, or donative; and by the first draft of the bill, which his grace now presented, it was intended that this clause should not be repealed. It was the opinion, however, of the majority, that such a clause standing unrepealed might imply, that the Jews, by being thus expressly excluded from the possession of any ecclesiastical right of presentation, would be considered as having the power and privilege of purchasing and inheriting any lay-property in the kingdom. On this consideration an amendment was made in the bill, the clause in question was left out, and the whole act of naturalization repealed without exception.*

* The reverend bench of bishops had, with a laudable spirit
of christian meekness and philanthropy, generally approved
of the indulgence granted to their Hebrew brethren; and now
they acquiesced in the proposed repeal with the same passive
discretion, though one of the number contended for the
saving clause which the duke of Newcastle had recommended.

Though the lords, in general, concurred in the expediency of the repeal, it was opposed by some few, as too great a sacrifice to the idle and unfounded clamours of the multitude; and upon this side of the debate a great power of elocution was displayed by earl Temple, who had lately succeeded to this title on the death of his mother, a nobleman of distinguished abilities, and the most amiable disposition, frank, liberal, humane, and zealously attached to the interest and honour of his country. In the lower house, the members of both parties seemed to vie with each other in demonstrations of aversion to this unpopular act. On the very first day of the session, immediately after the motion for an address to his majesty, sir James Dash-wood, an eminent leader in the opposition, gave the commons to understand, that he had a motion of very great importance to make, which would require the attention of every member, as soon as the motion for the address should be discussed; he therefore desired they would not quit the house, until he should have an opportunity to explain his proposal. Accordingly, they had no sooner agreed to the motion for an address of thanks to his majesty, than he stood up again, and having expatiated upon the just and general indignation which the act of the preceding session, in favour of the Jews, had raised among the people, he moved to order that the house should be called over on Tuesday the fourth day of December, for taking that act into consideration; but being given to understand, that it was not usual to appoint a call of the house for any particular purpose, he agreed that the motion should be general. It was seconded by lord Parker, his opposite in political interests; the house agreed to it without opposition, and the call was ordered accordingly. They were anticipated, however’, by the lords, who framed and transmitted to them a bill on the same subject, to the purport of which the commons made an objection; for every member, having the fear of the general election before his eyes, carefully avoided every expression which could give umbrage to his constituents; but violent opposition was made to the preamble, which ran in the following strain:--“Whereas an act of parliament was made and passed in the twenty-fifth year of his majesty’s reign, intituled, An act to permit persons professing the Jewish religion, to be naturalized by parliament, and for other purposes therein mentioned; and whereas occasion has been taken, from the said act, to raise discontents and disquiets in the minds of his majesty’s subjects, be it enacted, &c.” This introduction was considered as an unjust reflection upon the body of the people in general, and in particular upon those who had opposed the bill in the course of the preceding session. Sir Roger Newdigate therefore moved, that the expression should be varied to this effect: “Whereas great discontents and disquietudes had from the said act arisen.” The consequence of this motion was an obstinate debate, in which it was supported by the earl of Egmont, and divers other able orators; but Mr. Pel ham and Mr. Pitt were numbered among its opponents. The question being put for the proposed alteration, it was of course carried in the negative; the bill, after the third reading, passed _nemine contradicente_, and in due time obtained the royal assent.

MOTION FOE REPEALING A FORMER ACT FAVOURABLE TO THE JEWS.

Even this concession of the ministry did not allay the resentment of the people, and their apprehension of encroachment from the Jews. Another act still subsisted, by virtue of which any person professing the Jewish religion might become a free denizen of Great Britain, after having resided seven years in any of his majesty’s colonies in America; and this was now considered as a law, having the same dangerous tendency, of which the other was now in a fair way of being convicted. It was moved, therefore, in the lower house, that a part of this former act might be read; then the same member made a motion for an address to his majesty, desiring that the house might have the perusal of the lists transmitted from the American colonies to the commissioners for trade and plantations, containing the names of all such persons professing the Jewish religion, as had entitled themselves to the benefit of the said act, since the year one thousand seven hundred and forty. These lists were accordingly presented, and left upon the table for the perusal of the members; but as this act contained no limitation of time within which the benefit of it should be claimed, and as this claim was attended with a good deal of trouble and some expense, very few persons had availed themselves of it in that period. Nevertheless, as a great number of Jews were already entitled to claim this indulgence, and as it remained an open channel through which Great Britain might be deluged with those people, all of whom the law would hold as natural-born subjects, and their progeny as freed from all tha restriction contained in the act with respect to naturalized foreigners, lord Harley moved for leave to bring in a bill to repeal so much of the said act as related to persons professing the Jewish religion, who should come to settle in any British colony after a certain time. The motion was seconded by sir James Dashwood, and supported by the earl of Egmont; but being found unequal to the interest and elocution of Mr. Pelham and Mr. Pitt, was rejected by the majority.

{1754}

EAST-INDIA MUTINY BILL.

The next object that claimed the attention of the commons, was a bill for improving the regulations already made to prevent the spreading of a contagious distemper, which raged among the horned cattle in different parts of the kingdom. The last bill of this session that had the good fortune to succeed, was brought in for punishing mutiny and desertion of officers and soldiers in the service of the East India company, and for the punishment of offences committed in the East Indies and the island of St. Helena. This being a measure of a very extraordinary nature, all the members were ordered to attend the house on the day fixed for the second reading; at the same time all charters, commissions, and authorities, by which any power relative to a military jurisdiction, or the exercise of martial law, had been granted or derived from the crown to the said company, were submitted to the perusal of the members. The bill was by many considered as a dangerous extension of military power, to the prejudice of the civil rights enjoyed by British subjects, and as such violently contested by the earl of Egmont, lord Strange, and Mr. Alderman Beckford. Their objections were answered by the solicitor-general and Mr. Yorke. The bill, after some warm debates, being espoused by the ministry, was enacted into a law, and despatched to the East Indies by the first opportunity.

Some other motions were made, and petitions presented on different subjects, which, as they miscarried, it will be unnecessary to particularize. It may not be amiss, however, to record an exemplary act of justice done by the commons on a person belonging to a public office, whom they detected in the practice of fraud and imposition. Notwithstanding the particular care taken in the last session, to prevent the monopolizing of tickets in the state lottery, all those precautions had been eluded in a scandalous manner by certain individuals, intrusted with the charge of delivering the tickets to the contributors, according to the intent of the act, which expressly declared that not more than twenty should be sold to any one person. Instead of conforming to these directions of the legislature, they and their friends engrossed great numbers, sheltering themselves under a false list of feigned names for the purpose; by which means they not only defeated the equitable intention of the commons, but in some measure injured the public credit; inasmuch as their avarice had prompted them to subscribe for a greater number than they had cash to purchase, so that there was a deficiency in the first payment, which might have had a bad effect on the public affairs. These practices were so flagrant and notorious as to attract the notice of the lower house, where an inquiry was begun, and prosecuted with a spirit of real patriotism, in opposition to a scandalous cabal, who endeavoured with equal eagerness and perseverance to screen the delinquents. All their efforts however proved abortive; and a committee, appointed to examine particulars, agreed to several severe resolutions against one Le ----, who had amassed a large fortune by this and other kinds of peculation. They voted him guilty of a breach of trust, and a direct violation of the lottery act; and an address was presented to his majesty, desiring he might be prosecuted by the attorney-general for these offences. He was accordingly sued in the court of king’s bench, and paid a fine of one thousand pounds, for having committed frauds by which he had gained forty times that sum; but he was treated with such gentleness as remarkably denoted the clemency of that tribunal.

SESSION CLOSED.

The session ended in the beginning of April, when the king gave the parliament to understand, that he should say nothing at present on foreign affairs; but assured them of his fixed resolution to exert his whole power in maintaining the general tranquillity, and adhering to such measures for that purpose as he had hitherto pursued in conjunction with his allies. He, in very affectionate terms, thanked both houses for the repeated proofs they had given of their zealous attachment and loyalty to his person and government. He enumerated the salutary measures they had taken for lessening the national debt, and augmenting the public credit, extending navigation and commerce, reforming the morals of the people, and improving the regulations of civil economy. He concluded with declaring, that he securely relied upon the loyalty and good affection of his people, and had no other aim than their permanent happiness. In a little time after the close of this session they were dissolved by proclamation, and new writs issued by the lord-chancellor for convoking a new parliament. The same ceremonies were practised with respect to the convocations of Canterbury and York, though they no longer retained their former importance; nor indeed were they suffered to sit and deliberate upon the subjects which formerly fell under their cognizance and discussion.

DEATH OF MR. PELHAM. CHANGE IN THE MINISTRY.

In the beginning of March, the ministry of Great Britain had been left without a head by the death of Mr. Pelham, which was not only sincerely lamented by his sovereign, but also regretted by the nation in general, to whose affection he had powerfully recommended himself by the candour and humanity of his conduct and character, even while he pursued measures which they did not entirely approve. The loss of such a minister was the more deeply felt by the government at this juncture, being the eve of a general election for a new parliament, when every administration is supposed to exert itself with redoubled vigilance and circumspection. He had already concerted the measures for securing a majority, and his plan was faithfully executed by his friends and adherents, who still engrossed the administration. His brother, the duke of Newcastle, was appointed first lord commissioner of the treasury, and succeeded as secretary of state by sir Thomas Robinson, who had long resided as ambassador at the court of Vienna. The other department of this office was still retained by the earl of Holdernesse, and the function of chancellor of the exchequer was performed as usual by the lord chief-justice of the king’s bench, until a proper person could be found to fill that important office; but in the course of the summer it was bestowed upon Mr. Legge, who acquitted himself with equal honour and capacity. Divers other alterations were made of less importance to the public, sir George Lyttelton was appointed cofferer, and the earl of Hillsborough comptroller of the household. Mr. George Grenville, brother to earl Temple, became treasurer of the navy; and Mr. Charles Townshend, of whom we shall have occasion to speak in the sequel, took his place as a commissioner at the board of admiralty, in the room of lord Barrington, made master of the wardrobe. Lord Hardwicke, the chancellor, was promoted to the dignity of an earl. The place of lord chief-justice of the king’s-bench becoming vacant by the death of sir William Lee, was filled with sir Dudley Ryder, and he was succeeded by Mr. Murray in the office of attorney-general.

NEW PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED AND PROROGUED.

The elections for the new parliament generally succeeded according to the wish of the ministry; for opposition was now dwindled down to the lowest state of imbecility. It had received a mortal wound by the death of the late prince of Wales, whose adherents were too wise to pursue an _ignis fatuus_, without any prospect of success or advantage. Some of them had prudently sung their palinodia to the ministry, and been gratified with profitable employments; while others, setting too great a price upon their own importance, kept aloof till the market was over, and were left to pine in secret over their disappointed ambition. The maxims of tory-ism had been relinquished by many, as the barren principles of a losing game; the body of the people were conciliated to the established government; and the harmony that now, for the first time, subsisted among all the branches of the royal family, had a wonderful effect in acquiring a degree of popularity which they had never before enjoyed. The writs being returned, the new parliament was opened on the last day of May by the duke of Cumberland, and some other peers, who acted by virtue of a commission from his majesty. The commons having chosen for their speaker the right hon. Arthur Onslow, who had honourably filled that high office in four preceding parliaments, he was presented and approved by the commissioners. Then the lord high-chancellor harangued both houses, giving them to understand, that his majesty had indulged them with this early opportunity of coming together, in order to complete without loss of time certain parliamentary proceedings, which he judged would be for the satisfaction of his good subjects; but he did not think proper to lay before them any points of general business, reserving every thing of that nature to the usual time of their assembling in the winter. On the fifth day of June this short session was closed, and the parliament prorogued by the lords-commissioners.

DISPUTES IN THE IRISH PARLIAMENT.

In the beginning of this year violent disputes arose between the government and the house of commons in Ireland, on the almost forgotten subjects of privilege and prerogative. The commons conceived they had an undoubted right to apply the surplus of their revenue towards national purposes, without the consent of their sovereign; and accordingly, in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, prepared a bill with this preamble, “Whereas, on the twenty-fifth day of March last, a considerable balance remained in the hands of the vice-treasurer or receivers-general of the kingdom, or their deputy or deputies, unapplied; and it will be for your majesty’s service, and for the ease of your faithful subjects in this kingdom, that so much thereof as can be conveniently spared should be paid, agreeably to your majesty’s most gracious intentions, in discharge of part of the national debt.” This appropriation gave great offence to the advocates for prerogatives in England, who affirmed that the commons had no right to apply any part of the unappropriated revenue, nor even to take any such affair into consideration, without the previous consent of the crown, expressed in the most explicit terms. It was in consequence of this doctrine, that the duke of Dorset, lord-lieutenant of Ireland, told them in the next session of parliament, held in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-one, he was commanded by the king to aquaint them, that his majesty, ever attentive to the ease and happiness of his subjects, would graciously consent and recommend it to them, that such a part of the money then remaining in the treasury, as should be thought consistent with the public service, be applied towards the further reduction of the national debt. This declaration alarmed the commons, zealous as they were for the preservation of their privileges; and in their address of thanks, which, like that of the parliament of Great Britain, used always to echo back the words of the speech, they made no mention of his majesty’s consent; but only acknowledged his gracious attention to their ease and happiness, in recommending to them the application of the surplus. They accordingly resolved to apply one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of that overplus towards the discharge of the national debt; and, in the preamble of the bill, framed for this purpose, made no mention of his majesty’s consent, though before they had acknowledged his goodness in recommending this application. The ministry in England were highly offended at this purposed omission, which they construed into a wilful encroachment on the prerogative; and the bill was sent back with an alteration in the preamble, signifying his majesty’s consent as well as recommendation. The Irish house of commons being at that time deeply engaged in a minute inquiry into the conduct of a gentleman, a servant of the crown, and a member of their own house, accused of having misapplied a large sum of money, with which he had been intrusted for rebuilding or repairing the barracks, were now unwilling to embroil themselves farther with the government, until this affair should be discussed. They therefore passed the bill with the alteration, and proceeded with their inquiry. The person was convicted of having misapplied the public money, and ordered to make the barracks fit for the reception and accommodation of the troops at his own expense. They did not, however, neglect to assert what they thought their rights and privileges, when the next opportunity occurred. The duke of Dor-get, when he opened the session of this year, repeated the expression of his majesty’s gracious consent, in mentioning the surplus of the public money. They again omitted that word in their address; and resolved, in their bill of application, not only to sink this odious term, but likewise to abate in their complaisance to the crown, by leaving out that expression of grateful acknowledgment, which had met with such a cold reception above. By this time the contest had kindled up two violent factions, and diffused a general spirit of resentment through the whole Irish nation. The committee who prepared the bill, instead of inserting the usual compliments in the preamble, mentioned nothing but a recital of facts, and sent it over in a very plain dress, quite destitute of all embroidery. The ministry, intent upon vindicating the prerogative from such an unmannerly attack, filled up the omissions of the committee, and sent it back with this alteration: “And your majesty, ever attentive to the ease and happiness of your faithful subjects, has been graciously pleased to signify that you would consent, and to recommend it to us, that so much of the money remaining in your majesty’s treasury as should be necessary to be applied to the discharge of the national debt, or such part thereof as should be thought expedient by parliament.” This then being the crisis which was to determine a constitutional point of such importance, namely, whether the people in parliament assembled have a right to deliberate upon, and vote the application of any part of the unappropriated revenue, without the previous consent of the crown; those who were the most zealously attached to the liberties of their country, resolved to exert themselves in opposing what they conceived to be a violation of those liberties; and the bill, with its alterations, was rejected by a majority of five voices. The success of their endeavours was celebrated with the most extravagant rejoicing, as a triumph of patriotism over the arts of ministerial corruption; and, on the other hand, all the servants of the crown, who had joined the popular cry on this occasion, were in a little time dismissed from their employments. The rejection of the bill was a great disappointment to the creditors of the public, and the circulation of cash was almost stagnated. These calamities were imputed to arbitrary designs in the government; and the people began to be inflamed with an enthusiastic spirit of independency, which might have produced mischievous effects, had not artful steps been taken to bring over the demagogues, and thus divert the stream of popular clamour from the ministry to those very individuals who had been the idols of popular veneration. The speaker of the house of commons was promoted to the dignity of an earl; and some other patriots were gratified with lucrative employments. His majesty’s letter arrived for paying off seventy-five thousand five hundred pounds of the national debt. The circulation was thus animated, and the resentment of the populace subsiding, the kingdom retrieved its former tranquillity.

TRANSACTIONS IN THE EAST INDIES.

The ambition and intrigues of the French court, by which the British interest was invaded and disturbed on the continent of America, had also extended itself to the East Indies, where they endeavoured to embroil the English company with divers nabobs or princes, who governed different parts of the peninsula intra Gangem. That the reader may have a clear and distinct idea of these transactions, we shall exhibit a short sketch of the English forts and settlements in that remote country. The first of these we shall mention is Surat, [348] _[See note 2U, at the end of this Vol.]_ in the province so called, situated between the twenty-first and twenty-second degrees of north latitude; from hence the peninsula stretches into the Indian ocean as far as the latitude of eight north, ending in a point at Cape Comorin, which is the southern extremity. To the northward this peninsula joins to Indostan, and at its greatest breadth extends seven hundred miles. Upon the west, east, and south, it is washed by the sea. It comprehends the kingdoms of Malabar, Decan, Golconda, and Bisnagar, with the principalities of Gingi, Tanjaour, and Madura. The western side is distinguished by the name of the Malabar coast: the eastern takes the denomination of Coromandel; and in different parts of this long sweep, from Surat round Cape Comorin to the bottom of the bay of Bengal, the English and other European powers have, with the consent of the mogul, established forts and trading settlements. All these kingdoms, properly speaking, belong to the mogul; but his power was so weakened by the last invasion of Kouli Khan, that he has not been able to assert his empire over this remote country; the tributary princes of which, and even the nabobs, who were originally governors appointed under their authority, have rendered themselves independent, and exert an absolute dominion over their respective territories, without acknowledging his superiority either by tribute or homage. These princes, when they quarrel among themselves, naturally have recourse to the assistance of such European powers as are settled in or near their dominions; and in the same manner the East Indian companies of the European powers which happen to be at war with each other, never fail to interest the nabobs in the dispute.

ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS.

The next English settlement to Surat, on the coast of the peninsula, is Bombay, in the kingdom of Decan, a small island, with a very convenient harbour, above five-and-forty leagues to the south of Surat. The town is very populous; but the soil is barren, and the climate unhealthy; and the commerce was rendered very precarious by the neighbourhood of the famous corsair Angria, until his port of Geria was taken, and his fortifications demolished. The English company likewise carry on some traffic at Dabul, about forty leagues further to the south, in the province of Cuncan. In the same southerly progression, towards the point of the peninsula, we arrive at Carwar, in the latitude of fifteen degrees, where there is a small fort and factory belonging to the company, standing on the south side of a bay, with a river capable of receiving ships of pretty large burden. The climate here is remarkably salubrious; the country abounds with provisions of all sorts, and the best pepper of India grows in this neighbourhood. The next English settlement we find at Tilli-cherry, where the company has erected a fort, to defend their commerce of pepper and cardamomoms from the insults of the rajah, who governs this part of Malabar. Hither the English trade was removed from Calicut, a large town that stands fifteen leagues to the southward of Tillicherry, and was as well frequented as any port on the coast of the Indian peninsula. The most southerly settlement which the English possess on the Malabar coast, is that of Anjengo, between the eighth and ninth degrees of latitude. It is defended by a regular fort, situated on a broad river, which falls into the sea, and would be very commodious for trade, were not the water on the bar too shallow to admit ships of considerable burden. Then turning the Cape, and passing through the strait of Chilao, formed by the island of Ceylon, we arrive on the coast of Côromandel, which forms the eastern side of the isthmus. Prosecuting our course in a northern direction, the first English factory we reach is that of Fort St. David’s, formerly called Tegapatan, situated in the latitude of eleven degrees forty minutes north, within the kingdom of Gingi. It was, about six and-twenty years ago, sold by a Mahratta prince to the East India company, and, next to Bombay, is the most considerable settlement we have yet mentioned.*

* The trade consists of long cloths of different colours,
sallampores, morees, dimities, ginghams, and succations.

Its territory extends about eight miles along the coast, and half that space up to the country, which is delightfully watered by a variety of rivers; the soil is fertile, and the climate healthy. The fort is regular, well provided with cannon, ammunition, and a numerous garrison, which is the more necessary, on account of the neighbourhood of the French settlement at Pon-dicherry. But the chief settlement belonging to the company on this coast is that of Madras, or Fort St. George, standing farther to the northward, between the thirteenth and fourteenth degrees of latitude, and not a great way from the diamond mines of Golconda. It is seated on a flat, barren, scorching sand, so near the sea, that in bad weather the walls are endangered by the mighty surges rolled in from the ocean. As the soil is barren, the climate is so intensely hot that it would be altogether uninhabitable, were not the heat mitigated by the sea breezes. On the land side it is defended by a salt water river, which, while it contributes to the security of the place, robs the inhabitants of one great comfort, by obstructing the springs of fresh water. The fort is a regular square, the town surrounded with walls well mounted with artillery, and the place, including the Black Town, is very populous. Madras, with several villages in the neighbourhood, was purchased of the king of Golconda, before the mogul became sovereign of this country. The governor of this place is not only president of Fort St. George, but also of all the other settlements on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, as far as the island of Sumatra. He lives in great pomp, having inferior judges, who pass sentence of death occasionally on malefactors of any nation, except the subjects of Great Britain. All the company’s affairs are directed by him and his council, who are invested with the power of inflicting corporal punishment, short of life and member, upon such Europeans as are in the service, and dispose of all places of trust and profit. By virtue of an act passed in the course of this very session, the military officers belonging to the company were permitted to hold courts-martial, and punish their soldiers according to the degree of their delinquency. In a word, Madras is of the utmost importance to the company for its strength, wealth, and the great returns it makes in calicoes and muslins. Towards the latter end of the last century, the English company had a flourishing factory at Masulipatam, standing on the north side of the river Nagundi, which separates the provinces of Golconda and Bisnagar, in the latitude of sixteen degrees and thirty minutes; but now there is no European settlement here, except a Dutch factory, maintained for carrying on the chintz commerce. At Visgapatam, situated still farther to the northward, the English possess a factory regularly fortified on the side of the river, which, however, a dangerous bar has rendered unfit for navigation. The adjacent country affords cotton cloths, and the best stripped muslins of India. It is chiefly for the use of this settlement that the company maintains a factory at Ganjam, the most eastern town in the province or kingdom of Golconda, situated in a country abounding with rice and sugar-canes. Still farther to the north coast, in the latitude of twenty-two degrees, the company maintains a factory at Balasore, which was formerly very considerable; but hath been of very little consequence since the navigation of the river Huguely Avas improved. At this place every European ship bound for Bengal and the Ganges takes in a pilot. The climate is not counted very salubrious; but the adjacent country is fruitful to admiration, and here are considerable manufacture of cotton and silk. Without skilful pilots, the English would find it very difficult to navigate the different channels through which the river Ganges discharges itself into the sea at the bottom of the bay of Bengal. On the southern branch is a town called Pepely, where there was formerly an English factory, but this was removed to Huguely, one hundred and sixty miles farther up the river; a place which, together with the company’s settlement at Calcutta, were the emporiums of their commerce for the whole kingdom of Bengal. Indeed Huguely is now abandoned by the English, and their whole trade centers at Calcutta or Fort William, which is a regular fortification, containing lodgings for the factors and writers, store-houses for the company’s merchandise, and magazines for their ammunition. As for the governor’s house, which likewise stands within the fort, it is one of the most regular structures in all India. Besides these settlements along the sea-coast of the peninsula, and on the banks of the Ganges, the English East India company possess certain inland fac tories and posts for the convenience and defence of their commerce, either purchased of the nabobs and rajahs, or conquered in the course of the war. As the operations we propose to record were confined to the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, or the interior countries which form the peninsula intra Gangem, it will be unnecessary to describe the factory at Bencoolen, on the island of Sumatra, or any settlement which the English possess in other parts of the East Indies.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

DISPUTE ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT OF ARCOT.