Next morning a council was held, and the commission and the Company's letter were read. The latter strongly inculcated unanimity and concord among the members of the government; it also directed that past abuses and oppressions should be inquired into, and their recurrence be prevented. It would seem that the three new members conceived their chief business to be to listen to all kinds of charges from all quarters against the governor-general, and to be at concord only among themselves, and to unite in showing him neither favour nor justice.. At least so we might infer from their conduct; and henceforth we shall have to contemplate acts and scenes discreditable to the English name.

They would fain have set about their selfimposed task at once; but on Hastings' observing that Mr. Barwell was at some distance, they agreed to wait till the 25th for his return. On that day was read a minute of the governor's, giving a view of his policy and conduct since the time of his appointment. They denounced the treaty of Benâres as impolitic, and the war not only so, but unjust. But to understand the matter clearly, they required the whole of Mr. Middleton's correspondence to be laid before them. This Hastings refused, as that correspondence having been secret, it must have contained many other matters which it would not have been honourable, or perhaps even safe, to make public; but he offered to produce every part of it that related to the subject under consideration. Not content with expressing their indignation and hinting their suspicions, the majority, as we shall henceforth call the three, voted Middleton's immediate recall.

It might be supposed, that men who had so peremptorily pronounced on the injustice of the Rohilla war, would have been anxious to obliterate the disgrace of the British name, to cause the innocent Rohillas to be restored to their country, and to force the vizîr to make them some compensation. But their justice and humanity were of a different kind; and it sufficed them if they could blacken the governor's character. They forthwith wrote, without knowing whether the war was ended or not, to Col. Champion, who was to take Middleton's place for the present, to insist on immediate payment of the forty lacs, the price of the extermination of the Rohillas, and of all other sums due by the vizîr on other accounts. also to lead his troops, within fourteen days, into Oude; and in case of the vizîr's not complying with his demands, to withdraw from him, and enter the Company's territories. Hastings remonstrated, but of course in vain, against these measures, as precipitate, and dangerous to the Company's interests.

He was

In the beginning of 1775 the vizîr died, and was succeeded as Sûbahdâr of Oude by his son, who took the title of Asof-ud-dowlah, to whom also, after some delay, the emperor granted the office of vizîr. In public treaties it is generally understood, that they are to be of a permanent character, and not to depend on the life of the persons making them; those therefore made with Shujahud-dowlah should in justice extend to his successor. But the majority took a different view. They maintained, that all engagements with the late Sûbahdar were personal, and that the present one must make new terms for himself; and through

Mr. Bristow, whom they had sent to replace Mr. Middleton, they forced a new treaty on Asof-uddowlah. By this the Company were to guarantee him Corah and Allahabâd, and he in return was to cede to them the territory of Benâres, held by Rajah Cheit Sing, raise the allowance to their troops to 260,000 rupees a month, and pay all the money due by his late father. Mr. Hastings refused to concur in these terms, as in themselves unjust, and beyond the power of Azof-ud-dowlah to fulfil. The Directors, in their first letter on the subject, disapproved of the conduct of the council, holding their engagements with Shujah-ud-dowlah to be permanent. But in their second, after they had heard of the increase of revenue, and of pay of the troops, they signified their entire approbation of the treaty that had been concluded. În fact, at this time, the Directors were sure to approve of every measure, however unjust, that brought money to their treasury.

Every one who could frame a charge of any na. ture against the governor-general met with favour from the majority, who received all sorts of persons for this purpose at their private residences. Thither then repaired discontented or place-seeking Englishmen, and crafty natives, especially Nundcomar; and charges of peculation soon began to be brought forward. The first accusation came from the Ranee of Burdwân, the widow of the rajah who had held the zemindary of that district. Her son, a minor, had been at first left under her guardianship, but he had afterwards been withdrawn from it, and the affairs of the zemindary were managed by persons appointed by the English. She now accused the Dewan of corruption, and Mr. Graham, the resident, of supporting him for the sake of the bribes which he obtained from him. The majority resolved that the Dewan should be removed, at least for a time, and that the Ranee should, as she desired, be allowed to come to Calcutta with her son. Hastings and Barwell opposed these measures, as unjust or unnecessary. Mr. Graham made an indignant reply. Among other things, he showed that he had left Burdwan six weeks after the rajah's death, an event antedated three years by the Ranee, for the sake of making out a case against him. He also required that the Ranee should give security to pay an equivalent penalty, in case she failed to establish her charges. This was a law or usage of the country, in order to put a check to false or calumnious accusations. The majority, however, would not impose it. A variety of accounts were presented, in which were entered various sums paid by the Dewan to the servants of the Company, among which was a petty sum of 1500 rupees to Mr. Hastings himself! The whole amounted to upwards of nine lacs; but nothing could be proved.

This charge having failed, a new one was brought forward. A statement was made by a native, that the foujdar of Hooghly was paid by the Company 72,000 rupees a year, and that out of this he annually paid the governor 36,000, and his native secretary 4000, having only 32,000 for himself; for which sum the accuser would undertake to do the duties of the office, and thus save the Company 40,000 rupees a year, of which they were now defrauded by Mr. Hastings. The motives of this person are tolerably clear; yet the majority went

A. D. 1775.

into the case. The foujdar having objected to be sworn, which Hindoos of high caste regard as a degradation, he was held to be guilty, and dismissed, and the office was given to another—not, however, the accuser-at 36,000 rupees a year.

Any one, we are persuaded, who considers the preceding conduct of the majority, must feel that it was malignity toward Hastings, and not a love of justice, that actuated them. This was certainly Hastings' own feeling; he viewed them as his enemies and his accusers, and would not allow them to be his judges. He denied their right, sitting in council and in his presence, to receive charges against him, and asserted that he would not lower the dignity of his office by answering charges made by any one who chose to come before them. If they wanted to inquire into his conduct, let them resolve themselves into a committee, and then lay the charges before the Supreme Court or the Directors. And he declared his resolution to dissolve the council as soon as they should enter on any inquiry relating to himself. This he always did, and he and Mr. Barwell retired; but the majority then voted Gen. Clavering into the chair and proceeded.

On the 11th March, Mr. Francis stated to the Board that he had been waited on that morning by Nundcomar, who had delivered him a paper which he requested him to lay before them. He did not think, he added, that he had a right to refuse a person of Nundcomar's rank. As to the contents of the paper, he knew them not, but had a suspicion that it contained charges against the governor of taking bribes from himself and from Munnee Begum. Some days after, another paper from Nundcomar was presented; and Monson then moved that he should be called before them to substantiate his charge. Hastings refused in very strong terms, and he dwelt indignantly on the unworthy conduct of Francis. He said he had expected this attack; for he had seen a paper containing many accusations against him, which he was told had been carried to Col. Monson by Nundcomar, who had been some hours in private with him, explaining the charges. Monson denied having seen any paper containing charges against the governor-general (perhaps he meant he had not read such a paper); but he made no reply to the charge of the private interview. The motion, however, was carried of course; Hastings and Barwell retired; Nundcomar was then examined, and a resolution was passed, that Hastings had received 3,54,000 rupees, which of right belonged to the Company; and by another resolution he was called on to refund them. Hastings refused to receive or answer these resolutions; and it was then resolved that the proceedings should be transmitted to the Company's attorney, to consult counsel how to proceed for the recovery of the money.

The facts of the case were these. After Nundcomar had opened the business, as above related, Mr. Grant, accountant to the council at Moorshedabâd, sent some accounts which he said he had received from a native who had been a clerk in the Nabob's treasury, from which it appeared that Munnee Begum had received 9,67,963 rupees more than she had accounted for. The clerk,. when examined, stated that her head-eunuch had endeavoured to induce him to restore the papers and

105

return to her service; and Mr. Grant declared himself willing to swear that similar attempts had been made on himself. The majority, Hastings and Barwell in vain opposing, determined to send Mr. Goring to investigate the conduct of the Begum, whose power was meanwhile to be withdrawn from her and committed to Rajah Goordass. The instructions to Mr. Goring were, to receive from the Begum all the accounts of the Nizâmut for the last eight years, and deliver them to gentlemen who were to examine and report on them to the Board. This might be expected to occupy some time; but he reached Moorshedabâd on the 20th May, and on the 22nd he sent to Calcutta memorandums of payments to Hastings and others, obtained, as it seems, by intimidation, and with a view to the inculpation of Hastings. In these it was stated that 1,50,000 rupees had been given to the governor, as entertainment money, when he went to Moorshedabâd, in 1772, and a similar sum to Mr. Middleton. The latter, we may here observe, was never denied; the former Mr. Hastings, at a subsequent period, acknowledged and attempted to justify 3.

The prime mover in all this business, as we may see, was Nundcomar. Him Hastings regarded as his deadly enemy, and him, he owns 4, he hated above all men living. We must therefore be cautious in examining every thing relating to this

man.

In the month of April an indictment was preferred against Nundcomar, and Messrs. Joseph and Francis Fowke, in the Supreme Court, at the instance of Mr. Hastings, Mr. Barwell, Mr. G. Vansittart, Mr. Hastings' banyan, and the Roy Royan of Calcutta, for a conspiracy, to force a man named Cummâl-ud-dîn to write a petition against them. After the examination before the judges, Mr. F. Fowke was discharged, and Nundcomar and Mr. J. Fowke were held to bail, at the suit of Mr. Hastings and Mr. Vansittart, the other parties having withdrawn their names. On the following day the majority paid Nundcomar a visit of ceremony.

A few days after (May 6) Nundcomar was arrested, on a charge of forgery, at the suit of a native named Mohun Persâd, and committed to the common gaol, notwithstanding his wealth, his rank, and his being a Brahmin by caste. The majority, of course, declared on his side; and while he lay in prison, as we have seen, they promoted his son Goordass. He was brought to trial, tried by a jury of Englishmen, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. None of the natives, however, had the slightest idea that the sentence would be carried into execution. The fatal day (Aug. 5) at length arrived, and there was no reprieve. Nundcomar

He said

3 In his Defence before the House of Lords. that the Act of Parliament prohibiting the receipt of presents had not been passed at that time; that it was the custom of the country, and that the Nabob, when he visited Calcutta, received one thousand rupees a-day on this account; that he added nothing to his fortune by it, and must have charged the Company as large a sum if he had not received it. This, however, was two thousand rupees a-day for the time he was at Moorshedabâd; but Hastings was notorious for want of economy in his own affairs, and did not look closely after the expenditure of those about him. Mr. Wilson (Mill, iii. 635), if we rightly understand him, says that this money "was acknowledged, and carried to account."

4 See his letter in Gleig.

took a solemn leave of his friends, and then occupied himself writing notes and examining accounts. He mounted the palankeen which was to convey him to the place of execution, and ascended the steps of the scaffold with the utmost firmness, in the presence of an immense crowd. When all was ready the drop fell, and Nundcomar soon ceased to exist. The Hindoos uttered a wild and piercing cry, and fled from the spot; and none remained but the officers of justice, and a few Brahmins, who were to take charge of the body.

The execution of Nundcomar, it is well known, was the subject of much discussion, and even of a parliamentary impeachment, where Mr. Burke did not hesitate to assert that Mr. Hastings had murdered him by the hands of Sir Elijah Impey. We will, therefore, dwell a little on the subject.

The crime for which Nundcomar suffered, was unknown as a capital offence to either Hindoo or Mohammedan laws. The act with which he was charged took place in 1770, and the supreme court with its powers was not created till 1774, he, therefore, it would appear, suffered on an ex post facto law. Further, the law making forgery capital, did not extend to India, as the colonies are never included unless expressly named in the statute, and one Indian for an offence against another Indian should have been tried by a native tribunal. Such were the arguments of those who asserted the injustice of the sentence; to which it was replied by Sir Elijah Impey, that Nundcomar, by making Calcutta his residence, was amenable to English law, and that the doctrine was false of a penal statute not extending to a colony not named in it; that natives had hitherto been subject to, and tried by English law in the courts of Calcutta, and that ignorance of the law is no excuse for the breach of it. As to this last argument, we may observe, that nothing but narrow-minded legal pedantry would cause any man to make use of it; the preceding one has more apparent weight; for owing to an omission in the charter of justice granted in 1753, the company's servants had sometimes extended the penalties of English law to natives, and one native had not long before been tried and convicted of forgery and sentenced to death by the mayor's court, but he had been recommended to mercy and pardoned. On the whole, by the mere letter of the law, the court that condemned Nundcomar was not to blame. By this alone the judges, who were mere lawyers, were guided; the spirit of the law, and the principles of equity, seem to have been unknown to them; and when the counsel for the prisoner asked the foreman of the jury to join in an application to the judges for mercy, the chiefjustice censured him severely in open court.

On Hastings this event has cast a shade of suspicion which, perhaps, will never be dispelled. Nundcomar was his accuser; he had instituted legal proceedings against him, which were likely to fail; when a native, who could hardly be supposed to know or admire English law, charges him with an offence committed some years before 5;

5 Mr. Wilson, however, says that proceedings had been commenced by Mohammed Persâd, in the Dewannee Adawlut, and Nundcomar had been confined, but was liberated by Hastings; the forged instrument had been deposited in the mayor's court, and was transferred with all its

the chief justice, who was Hastings' school-fellow and friend, acts with extreme rigour; Hastings who had power to respite, declines to exercise it, and rather submits to lie under the imputation of removing in this manner a dangerous witness, and of thus deterring others from appearing against him. The very circumstance of the prisoner being his enemy would, we think, have caused a man of generous feelings to make every effort to save his life".

As to the majority, who certainly must have had the power to prevent the execution of the sentence, we fear that we must agree with Hastings' biographer, in suspecting that they let Nundcomar perish, in order to have a charge against Hastings.

Charges, now that Nundcomar was gone, ceased to come in against the governor-general. By an order of the Court of Directors, Mohammed Reza Khan was appointed to the offices held by Goordass, and the latter was made Roy Royan. The Directors also censured Hastings for allowing his banyan to farm several districts in Bengal, contrary to the finance regulations of 1772. His defence was, that he himself had no share in the profits, of which, in fact, there were little or none7.

The plan which had been devised for collecting the revenue had proved a failure; the produce was not what had been anticipated, for the farmers in general had contracted for more than they were able to pay. Angry debates, of course, took place in the Council. Hastings then proposed that each member should devise a plan, to be forwarded to the Directors. That of himself and Mr. Barwell

other papers to the Supreme Court, on whose very first sitting of oyer and terminer the indictment was prepared and tried. This would, indeed, exonerate Hastings completely; but is it not most strange, that neither he himself nor any of his defenders should have noticed the circumstance? Mill, Gleig, and Thornton, seem all equally ignorant of it.

6 It is said, no doubt, that he could not interfere with the

proceedings of the Supreme Court; but he showed in a sub

sequent case that he could, and would interfere.

It is a remarkable trait in Hastings' character, that he never seems to have been conscious of acting wrong. This may, as is asserted, have proceeded from his enormous selfesteem; but he appears also to have held, that whatever law allows is right. The circumstances of his marriage seem to show this. In the ship in which he sailed to India, in 1769, there was as a passenger a German baron, named Imhoff, who was going out as a portrait painter to Madras. He was accompanied by his wife, a very attractive young woman, and by whose charms Hastings was captivated. She attended him in an illness on board. The intimacy was continued at Madras; they accompanied him to Bengal. There is no reason to suppose there was any thing improper between Hastings and the baroness; but all this time, a suit for a divorce was going on in the courts of Franconia; and when it was obtained, Hastings married the lady, taking also her three children, and in the words of the gentle biographer, "the baron returned to his native country a richer man than he ever could have hoped to become, by the mere exercise of his skill as a painter;" i.e. he sold his wife, almost like the former Smithfield sales of wives. It is worthy of remark, that Hastings was the most affectionate of husbands, and that their union was eminently happy. He acted like a father to her children. 7 Mr. Wilson says he needed to make no defence, as it was collectors that were mentioned (see p. 101), and he was no collector. But surely he acted against the spirit of the law.

A. D. 1776-77.

was to let the districts on leases for life, or for two joint-lives, giving the preference always to the Zemindar, when his offer was a fair one. Mr. Francis, going on the erroneous principle, that the property in the land was neither in the sovereign nor in the cultivator, but in the Zemindar, proposed a land-tax, fixed once for all, and never to be changed, on the Zemindars, the ryots to be protected against them by leases. The Directors did not deem it advisable to adopt either of these plans; but directed that the lands should be let for one year, on the most advantageous terms, but not by auction. The average of the collections of the preceding years was finally made the basis of the new arrangement, and this continued to be the mode for some years.

In the beginning of September, 1776, Col. Monson died; and as this event made the two parties equal in number at the board, and the governor necessarily had the casting voice, Hastings became once more supreme. A very curious and obscure transaction is connected with this affair.

In 1775 Hastings, when galled by the mode in which he was continually thwarted by the majority, empowered Mr. Graham and a Col. M'Lean, who were returning to Europe, to tender his resignation unless certain conditions therein specified could be obtained. It is to be observed that Lord North's ministry, partly in consequence of the accounts they received from the majority, partly from their desire to get the patronage of India, were hostile to Hastings. The same was the case with some of the most influential Directors. On the 8th of May, 1776, a motion was carried in the Court of Directors to address his majesty, praying him to remove Hastings and Barwell from office. But in a Court of Proprietors on the 15th, a motion that the Directors should be recommended to reconsider their resolution, was carried by a majority of 106, though the whole strength of the ministry and their adherents was put forth to defeat it. The resolution respecting the removal of Hastings and Barwell was afterwards rescinded; but still some of Hastings' friends did not think he could hold out against his powerful enemies, and they endeavoured to secure for him an honourable retreat. Matters were in part arranged with the minister, and then M'Lean wrote to the Court of Directors, stating that he was authorised to offer the governor-general's resignation, and requesting them to nominate a successor. On the 18th December, the letter was taken into consideration, and M'Lean was called in and questioned as to his authority. He offered to give it; but as in the papers to which he must refer, it was mixed up with very confidential matters, he requested to be allowed to submit them to only three of the Directors. The chairman, deputy, and Mr. Becher were appointed to confer with him, and they reported (Mr. Becher, however, not concurring) that they had seen Mr. Hastings' instructions in his own handwriting, declaring that he would resign if conditions ("of which," they add, "there is no probability") could not be obtained; that Mr. G. Vansittart declared that he was present when the instructions were given, and that Mr. Stuart declared that Mr. Hastings had told him he had given them. It was then unanimously resolved,

8 See p. 28.

107

that the resignation should be accepted, and Mr. Wheeler was nominated to fill the vacant place in the council, and the consent of the crown to the appointment was obtained.

On the 19th June, 1777, the intelligence reached Bengal. Hastings immediately declared that he had not resigned, and would not resign; Clavering maintained that he himself was now governorgeneral: Barwell adhered to the one, Francis to the other. There were two councils and two governors-general. Orders and counter-orders were issued. There seemed to be no mode of decision but an appeal to force; when Hastings proposed, and the other party agreed to leave the matter to the decision of the judges of the Supreme Court. This decision was, as in justice it must have been, in favour of Hastings; for, in the Directors' letter, his resignation was spoken of not as a thing that had occurred, but which was expected to occur; and Gen. Clavering had no right whatever to assume the office till Hastings had formally resigned it to him. But in their mutual desire of annoying each other, neither party thought much of what was right and proper.

This soon appeared by the way in which Hastings used his victory. He and Barwell immediately passed a series of violent and absurd resolutions, declaring that Gen. Clavering, by his late usurpation, had forfeited his office of senior councillor, and his place of commander-in-chief, &c. Mr. Francis tried to act as mediator, and exhibited on the occasion a good deal of sense and judgment; but Hastings would listen to no arguments. The judges were again appealed to, and they again decided agreeably to laws and justice, declaring that Gen. Clavering had not forfeited his offices. Hastings was obliged to yield to this authority : but Barwell soon obtained the post he coveted, for Gen. Clavering died in August, his death being, as it was thought, accelerated by the irritation of his mind, caused by the constant state of warfare in which he was kept; for he seems to have been in the main an honest well-meaning man. Mr. Wheeler now came into the council, and, as he usually sided with Francis, the council was divided as hereto

fore.

:

One of the first acts of Hastings, after the death of Col. Monson, had been to remove Mr. Bristow from the residency of Oude, and re-appoint his friend Middleton. He owned he had no fault to find with Mr. Bristow and the act need not be too severely censured, as it was merely what takes place in a change of ministry at home. Hastings at the same time reversed another appointment of the majority by recalling Mr. F. Fowke, who had been placed as a kind of resident at Benâres in 1775. His pretext was, that the mission had been special, and that its purposes had been accomplished. Next day, however, he moved, and, of course, carried a resolution, that a civil servant of the Company's, with an assistant, should be sent to reside at Benâres! The name of the former was Graham, of the latter Barwell. Justly might Gen. Clavering, in his minute, call this " a vindictive measure, couched under the appearance of a public service." The Directors expressed their strong disapprobation of these measures, and ordered both those gentlemen to be re-instated; but Hastings took no heed of their commands. Here again we are not to condemn him too unconditionally;

the majority in the Direction were his personal enemies, and were glad of any opportunity of mortifying him; and it was to the Proprietors, and not to the Directors, that he looked for support and approbation.

Soon after Mr. Wheeler took his seat in council, Mr. Hastings laid before the Board a letter from the young Nabob, complaining of Mohammed Reza Khân's severity, and praying that, as he was now twenty years old, he might be allowed to administer his own government and affairs. Francis and Wheeler said, as that regulation had been made by the Company, the letter should be transmitted to the Directors; Hastings and Barwell maintained that justice admitted of no delay. Each party on this occasion used the arguments of their opponents on the subject in 1775. The prayer of the Nabob was granted; and then letters came from him requesting that Munnee Begum should have the management of the Nizâmut, without the interference of any person. Accordingly Goordass and others were reinstated in their offices, and their united salaries came to 18,000 rupees more than Mohammed Reza Khân had received, and the affairs of the country soon fell into a precious state of confusion. A due regard for his own character, and the opinion of the world, would have withheld a man of more prudence than Mr. Hastings from engaging in such a business as this 9.

Strange quarrels and as strange reconciliations take place among public men; we need not therefore be surprised to find Hastings and Francis reconciled. The occasion was as follows. Mr. Barwell, who had made a large fortune in India, where he had spent three and twenty years, was anxious to return to Europe, and Hastings would thus lose his main support; for though Sir Eyre Coote, who had come out as commander-in-chief with a seat in council, voted in general with the governor, he was a crotchety man, and could not always be relied on. It was, therefore, natural that Hastings should wish to soften down the enmity of Francis, who on his part was anxious to see Barwell depart from India, where he still lingered at the earnest wish of Hastings. An arrangement was effected by which, on the governor's agreeing to re-instate Bristow, Fowke, and Mohammed Reza Khân, Francis engaged not to oppose him in certain important matters. Barwell then set sail for Europe.

Mr.

Soon after this a compromise was effected with the chief-justice, which put an end to pretensions of the Supreme Court, which had threatened to ruin the whole of Bengal.

When the Supreme Court was instituted it was given most extensive power. It was a court of common law and of equity, of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery, of admiralty and ecclesiastic affairs. Its criminal jurisdiction, however, was confined to British subjects, or to those in their service; its civil, to those and to such of the natives as had agreed to submit to its decision.

The division of labour among the members of the English bar is very complete; the man who

9" We always have, and always shall consider a letter of business from that Nabob, the same as a letter from the Governor-general and the Council," said the Judges of the Supreme Court, in 1775.

practises in one court rarely enters another. To find men possessing the knowledge requisite for the judges of the Supreme Court, and with minds sufficiently enlarged to believe that there might be something agreeable to reason, and adapted to the state of the country and of society in India in the native laws, was no doubt nearly impossible. It is probable, however, that the ministry gave themselves little trouble on this head; and the men that had interest got the appointments without any great regard to their fitness. Four more unfit men certainly could not have been selected. They were perfect specimens of the narrow-minded, self-sufficient, domineering English lawyer, who, regarding the law of England as being what lawyers, and lawyers alone, proclaim it to be-the perfection of reason,-and holding every other system in sovereign contempt, would force it and their own authority on all those whom, by any legal quirks and subtleties, they could draw within its sphere. When such were the judges, and when we add that a host of attorneys came to India in their train, the reader may be prepared for the results that followed.

We have seen an instance of their criminal justice in the case of Nundcomar. In civil matters they had hardly commenced their duties, when their writs flew about in all directions ; zemindars, and other persons residing at a distance, were ousted on the oath of any person, however mean and discreditable, dragged up to Calcutta, and if they could not give bail, often to a large amount, flung into the noisome prison of that city. Gloom overspread the whole country; the English law, with all its dark enigmas and inconceivable technicalities, hanging over it like a murky cloud. The revenue seemed about to cease altogether; for the authority of the zemindar was subverted, and the ryot withheld his rent. The provincial courts of Dewannee Adawlut were also rendered inoperative; for there were attorneys everywhere to advise the defaulters who were brought before them to sue out a writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court.

The Nizâmut, or penal jurisdiction exercised in the name of the Nabob, the Supreme Court disdained to recognize. "The Act of Parliament,” said one judge, "does not consider him as a sovereign prince; the jurisdiction of this court extends over all his dominions." "This phantom, this man of straw," said another, "it is an insult to the understanding of the Court to have made the question of his sovereignty." As to the Dewannee of the Company, one of the judges declared that there could be no distinction in law or justice between the Company, as a trading Company, and as Dewan of these provinces, and that in their management of the revenues they were subject to the jurisdiction of the king's court. Thus, in effect, did those four presumptuous, inflated men, assume to themselves the government of the three provinces.

We will now give some specimens of their proceedings. On the 2nd January, 1777, a suit commenced before the Provincial Council of Patna, between the widow and the nephew and adopted son of a Mohammedan of rank and property. The widow produced a will in her favour, the nephew maintained it was a forgery, and that at all events his uncle had been for some time of weak intellect. The case was, in the usual manner, referred to the