Henry George Keene

“ At the end of the eighteenth century Englishmen were awakening to a sense of the duties of humanity, and felt that the position and the doings of English traders and officials in the East were not always to be defended. The outcry of 1785 and the unanimous condemnation of Hastings by both sides of the House of Commons were the first outcome of this feeling. Although partly due to political motives, and further tainted by insincere rhetoric and extravagant hyperbole, the impeachment was something more than mere hypocrisy or hysterics. ”

“ Want of local experience, however, led Impey to remark that `the nature of the defence (which undoubtedly turned the scale against the prisoner) was such that, if it were not believed, it must prove fatal; `whereas in India, then, as now, a good defence is often supported in the law courts by much false evidence. But, in the opinion of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, `no man ever had, or could have, a fairer trial than Nuncomar, and Impey in particular behaved with absolute fairness, and as much indulgence as was compatible with his duty.' The jury found a verdict of guilty. ”

“ Elphinstone was apparently quite aevoid of those ardent religious feelings which have inspired so many Indian heroes. In one of his later journals he makes his one allusion to religion; it is an encomium on Pope's 'Universal Prayer.' His attitude through life was rather that of an ancient philosopher. It is remarkable that a man so sceptical, retiring, unselfish, and modest should be one of the chief founders of the Anglo-Indian empire ”

“ In December 1764 Hastings returned to England in his majesty's ship Medway. While his colleagues had been making their fortunes by corruption and private trade, he had continued honourably poor. He was, however, able to buy an annuity of 200l. for the widow of his uncle Howard, who was left in poverty, and to pass some years in London, keeping himself before the India House with a view to speedy re-employment. In the meantime his active mind had struck out the project for the improvement of the minds and habits of Indian civilians, afterwards realised by the East India College at Haileybury ”

“ Where Edwardes was more of an originator he was less of a success; his extreme zeal for mission work in Afghanistan, for instance, can hardly be said to have been endorsed by events.
It is as a man of action that he deserves unstinted praise. He had a natural military genius, independent of professional training, and a strength of will and talent for administration, which stood in no need of technical instruction. If he was thrown into the world before he had completed his education, he was compensated by being surrounded at an early age by highly formative conditions. ”

“ His unambitious spirit shrank from a seat in parliament, and he declined the successive offers of the governor-generalship of India, the permanent under-secretaryship of the board of control, and a special mission to Canada. With chambers in the Albany and quarters in friendly country houses, he occupied the earlier years of his retirement in study, interrupted by visits to Italy. He moved in London society, becoming a member of the 'Dilettanti,' and attending occasionally at public dinners and meetings. ”

“ The second Benares address, of 1788, declared that Hastings, by appointing the most distinguished of the Brahmans and Musalmans to preside over their affairs, had ‘rendered the inhabitants much happier than they were during the administration of Chait Singh.’ From Rajmahal came an address which, after testifying to the consideration that he always showed to the heads of native society, added that ‘he was not covetous of other men's money, and was not open to corruption. No war arose in his time’ (they were only thinking of their own province) ”

“ In 1770 the country had been scourged by famine. It was about the time of Hastings's first appointment as governor that the company at last determined to ‘stand forth as diwán,’ in other words to sweep away all native agency in the control of revenue and finance administration. The deputy diwáns of Bengal and Bihar were to be dismissed and brought to trial for malversation, Rája Nand Kumar being employed in the prosecution. The revenue appeared incapable of increase, but the debt was growing. ”

“ His conduct excited the opposition of Lord Teignmouth, who was not by any means a wholesale supporter of Hastings. As Macaulay remarked, whatever Burke's ‘sagacity described was refracted and discoloured by his passions and his imagination’ (‘Life of Pitt,’ in Encycl. Brit.) Nor was Burke likely to forget the fate of the India Bill of 1783, which caused the fall of the coalition ministry. To crown all came the malignant promptings of Francis. It was hopeless to attempt to convince Burke that in India the social fabric had been ruined by the most complete and sanguinary anarchy. ”

“ One of the first matters which the directors commended to the attention of the new governor was the inquiry into the conduct of Shatáb Rai and Muhamad Raza Khán the two deputy-governors, by whose agency the collections and fiscal administration had been formerly carried out. Rája Nand Kumar was engaged in the preparation of the evidence against them, and possibly expected to be put into the place of one or both of them on their conviction. The directors never contemplated this. The court took care to remind Hastings of Nand Kumar's character as a reason for excluding him from power. ”

“ On 1 Jan. 1865 Edwardes was driven to Europe by a failure both of his wife's health and of his own strength. He left India for ever, regretted by Lawrence, as 'a born ruler of men.'
The short remnant of his days was chiefly spent in London, where Edwardes devoted himself to the cause of public and private benevolence. He was a vice-president of the Church Missionary Society and a supporter of the City Mission, and he took charge of Lawrence's family while his old chief was labouring in India as viceroy. ”

“ On being left supreme in council, Hastings pressed his demands on the Rája Chait Singh, founding them on the cession of the sovereignty of Benares to the company by the nawáb of Oudh, to whom it had pertained, and on cogent military reasons. In July 1781 he proceeded to Benares to enforce his orders, but the rája resisted, some of Hastings's sepoys were cut up in the street, and he himself had to make his retreat to the neighbouring fort of Chunár. Chait Singh called on the mother of the nawáb of Oudh, with whom he had an understanding, to send men to his aid, and broke into open revolt. ”

“ Even the princes of the Rajputs, the most ancient ruling houses in the world, had always paid tribute to that empire. The Mahrattas similarly held to ransom their own tributary and protected states. It was in accordance with native practice and opinion that the British government in Calcutta should do likewise. The paramount power protected the minor states, and the minor states compensated for the protection by contributions of money and men. Among the feudatories of Bengal none was more protected, or paid less for his protection, than Rája Chait Singh, zemindár of Benares. ”

“ Holwell returned to Calcutta in August 1751. In his new post he gave so much satisfaction that his salary was increased from two to six thousand rupees a year, and he rose to be seventh in the council by which the company's affairs were managed. On 18 June 1756 the settlement was attacked by Suráj ud Dowlah, the nawáb of Bengal; and, after a brief attempt of defence, which Holwell afterwards stigmatised as a 'tragedy of errors,' the governor and many of the senior officers went on board ship and escaped down the river, leaving the rest of the white people to their fate. ”

“ With his success and his shortcomings, in his acquirements no less than in his limitations, he is a typical figure in a class to whom the nation owes a debt of gratitude. With the dashing spirit of the cavalier the early Punjab officer united something of the earnestness of the Ironside, but the very qualities which aided them in their rapid rise perhaps hindered them in after life. ”

“ In May 1799 the brigade took part in the siege of Seringapatam, where Keene led the company carrying the scaling-ladders for the storming party (4 May) . The fatigues of Indian campaigning having affected his health, he obtained an appointment in the Madras civil service through his uncle, Lord Harris, the commander-in-chief, in February 1801. After a short visit to England he entered the college of Fort William, Calcutta, then newly established by the Marquis of Wellesley for the training of young civil officers. ”

“ In July the grand jury expressed in an address to Impey their satisfaction at his conduct of the trial, and some merchants, Armenians, and natives of Calcutta, presented similar addresses to all the judges, in which Impey was extravagantly eulogised. A letter drawn up by Farrer for presentation to the judges by the council, and intended to accompany a petition from the prisoner for a reprieve, was privately examined on 1 Aug. by the majority of the council, the enemies of Hastings and Impey, and they recommended Farrer not to proceed further in the matter. ”

“ In December 1854 he returned to the East as captain and lieutenant-colonel, and served during the rest of the Crimean war, never having been absent from duty for a day, except when attacked by cholera. He returned to England in 1856 by way of Greece, Italy, and Switzerland, and did not again go on active service. The remainder of his life was devoted to ornithology, a science in which he had already made his first steps in 1845, when he contributed to a Madras journal some descriptions of rare birds from the Straits archipelago. ”

“ His fellow students and private friends, by a stained window in King's College chapel, attested their loving admiration, and he was likewise commemorated in his first district, Bunnoo, where the capital town is now known, according to Punjab fashion, as 'Edwardesábád.'
The great characteristic of Edwardes is the combination of bright intelligence with strong prejudices. These, if they sometimes warped his judgment, always inspired and sustained his conduct. ”

“ He combined through life a love of books with a love of sport and a devotion to public business. Early in 1802 Elphinstone arrived at Poona. The then peshwa, Bajee Rao, representative of the Brahmin dynasty, who, from being minister at the court of Satára, had risen to the virtual head of the Mahratta confederacy, was an avowed poltroon. On Sindhia coalescing with the bhonsla of Berar in a manner which threatened the stability of Wellesley's arrangements, war was declared against him by the British. ”

“ Hastings bore a subordinate part in this revolution, but had no share in the gifts that were distributed on that occasion among the members of council. He continued for some months at his post of resident, but in 1761 was summoned to council in Calcutta, where the government had been assumed by Vansittart. The new nawáb, Mír Kásim, showed great annoyance at the conduct of the British officials, who were passing their own private consignments free of transit duty, and lending their flag to pass consignments that belonged to others. ”

“ They met at Alipore, a southern suburb of Calcutta, at 6 a.m. on 17 Aug. 1780. Deliberately choosing a place full of light, and making the seconds measure the shortest distance they could be induced to adopt, Hastings received his adversary's fire, which he instantly returned with such effect that Francis fell dangerously wounded. Had Francis been killed, Hastings must have been tried for murder. Had Hastings fallen, Francis would, at least till another man could come out from home, or say for eighteen months, have had all the powers and patronage of governor-general. ”

“ After the suppression of the mutiny Eyre was appointed to superintend the powder works at Ishapore, near Calcutta. Here, in 1860, he married his cousin, Catherine Mary, daughter of Captain T. Eyre, R.N. In 1861 Eyre was selected by Lord Canning to be a member of the commission on the amalgamation of the company's army with that of the queen, and in 1862 was appointed inspector-general of ordnance in the Bengal army. In April 1863 he was ordered home on sick leave, and retired with the rank of major-general in October 1863. In 1867 he received the second-class decoration of the Star of India. ”

“ The Rohillas were overthrown after a sharp engagement; some severities were used, and the fighting men were deported across the Ganges. Hastings immediately wrote to the British resident at the nawáb's camp, urging him to use his influence to mitigate all harshness, and to impress on the nawáb that Englishmen disapproved ‘with abhorrence of every species of inhumanity and oppression.’ Mill rightly condemns the home authorities, who found fault with the action of Hastings and yet made no amends to the Rohillas. ”

“ Like Hastings, he surmounted by the help of a remarkably amiable temper many keen sorrows, and in spite of ill-health enjoyed life to the last. He was a good scholar, and some of the Latin verses preserved in the 'Life' are at least creditable. He was well versed in French, and he wrote and read Persian. His English style was nervous and manly. Both Impey and Hastings were water-drinkers. ”

“ Holwell had already sent his resignation to the new governor, Vansittart, and now returned to England, where he devoted himself to literary pursuits. His contribution to Eastern knowledge called forth the warm acknowledgements of Voltaire, who said that he gratefully embraced the opportunity of thanking a man 'qui n'a voyagé que pour nous instruire.'
Holwell died at Pinner, near Harrow, 5 Nov. 1798, leaving the reputation of one 'in whom brilliancy of talents, benignity of spirit, social vivacity, and suavity of manners were so united as to render him the most amiable of men' (Gent. Mag.) ”

“ Muhamad Raza and Nand Kumar and some of the civil servants were ready to supply information. From secret hints the new councillors evolved an imputed fabric of corruption. Specific charges of corruption were sent in by Nand Kumar to the council on 11 March. Hastings and Barwell withdrew from the council, where their honour was being discussed, and in April 1775 brought a case of conspiracy against the rája and two Englishmen named Fowke; Hastings having already written home threatening to resign if not supported by the directors. ”

“ The next two years were passed in England, where Edwardes delivered several addresses on Indian affairs, and received the honour of knighthood, with a step in the order of the Bath. He was also made LL.D. by the university of Cambridge. His health now showed signs of amendment, and in the beginning of 1862 he was back in the Punjab, filling the honourable place of commissioner of Umballa. This is a coveted appointment, involving the privilege of working in mountain air during the summer, and Edwardes's life for the next three years was singularly happy. ”

“ Saviour, Jersey, was son of Thomas Herault and Mabel Nicolle, his wife. He entered All Souls's College, Oxford, in October 1597, but never proceeded to a degree. In 1607 he was especially named in a patent addressed to the royal commissioners for examining and expediting the proceedings of the royal courts of the Channel islands, ‘in regard of his experience in the languages and customs of those isles.' In 1611 he obtained from the crown the reversion of the office of bailiff of Jersey, then held by George Paulet, and was sworn on 16 Sept. ”