John Malcolm

“ The newspapers will make known to you the distracted state of affairs in almost every part of the extended empire of Great Britain. It is no wonder that our East India affairs should partake of the same confusion. Administration, and the Directors, seem to think of nothing but the present moment. The one seems resolved to strip the Company of all they can; and the other to submit to any thing, rather than risk their stations, power, and authority at the next general election."—"Parliamentary concerns have embroiled me more than is good for my health, and already I begin to grow tired of them." ”

“ If we mean to avoid giving umbrage to the European powers, and to keep up the appearance of the present form of government, we ought not to exact one farthing of revenue more from the province. For my own part, I think, after we have made this year's experiment, and, by the regular payment of the rents, find we have not over-rated the countries, that if Bengal was let out for five, six, or seven years, it would be for the advantage of the Company, of individuals, and add stability to our possessions by inspiring the inhabitants with just ideas of our justice and moderation. ”

“ Such is the detail of a combination of officers, which threatened with the most imminent danger the newly established authority of the Company over the rich provinces of Bengal and Bahar. Never did Lord Clive display more prominently that superior knowledge of human nature, that intimate acquaintance with the feelings and motives of military men, or that firmness and decision by which alone those can be kept in subordination, than on this trying occasion. ”

“ Continue in the full exertion of that steadiness and resolution with which you began your government. Your judgment is sound. Set a just value, then, upon every opinion of your own, and always entertain a prudent degree of suspicion of the advice of any man who can possibly be biassed by self-interested motives. Before I touch upon particulars, permit me to urge, in general, the necessity there is for you and the whole Council and Committee to join in holding the military under due subordination and subjection. ”

“ Your intention of declining the government, I must confess, is the only one that seems to carry any weight. Your situation I believe, is a very agreeable one, and your conduct, I am persuaded, will bring advantage to the Company and honour to yourself. Yet let us not forget, Sykes, the principles upon which you and I have hitherto acted, of sacrificing private convenience to public good. To doubt my friendship, because I cannot carry it to such lengths, is not to know me. I have loved you as a brother; yet a brother cannot alter my sentiments of [Pg 154] what is right and wrong. ”

“ That society excluded from the salt trade a body of powerful and wealthy Europeans, who raised a clamour, in name of the natives, but solely for their own private views. On the plan, as reformed by Lord Clive, the natives were restored to their former employment, and Europeans excluded. But when the trade was thrown open to all indiscriminately, natives and Europeans, the change, though in form the result of sound principles of government and of political economy, was really, in substance, quite the reverse. ”

“ But now that the Company have appointed so many field officers, who are immediately in their own service, the salutary effects are visible; and I hope not only to see the strictest discipline and subordination enforced, but likewise economy established; for unless luxury and extravagance be abolished, discipline must fail, and the officers and soldiers be rendered incapable of doing their duty to their country and the Company. My grand object, you know, is, that none under the rank of field officers should have money to throw away. ”

“ How the interests of the Company's servants were to be consulted by any plan that admitted them to the profits, yet excluded them in every shape from the trade, it is not easy to imagine. Lord Clive and the Committee did, therefore, what then, and in all succeeding times, it has been found necessary to do, in India, and in every distant possession, to form and execute a plan on their own responsibility, and to leave the future approbation or disapprobation to their distant masters. ”

“ In vain can we expect our affairs shall flourish abroad, when all is going to ruin at home. The Directors are so divided among themselves, and so much taken up in struggling for power at every general election, that they have quite lost sight of the Company's interest, which is daily sacrificed to their own views, and the views of particular Proprietors, to answer their purposes."—
"With regard to myself, having struggled long enough against the tide to very little purpose, I am determined the approaching election shall put an end to my activity, in support of any set of men whatever. ”

“ Not only the Directors, but every man of consequence from Bengal, have been examined upon oath before the House of Lords; so that thousands of people are now well acquainted with the revenues, forces, and politics of India, and of Bengal in particular. Permit me here again, my friend, to remind you of the conspicuous situation you are placed in. Consider well the great expectations which this nation entertains of extricating itself out of its present difficulties, by the skill and conduct of the Governor of Bengal. You must therefore exert yourself to the utmost to fulfil its hopes ”

“ To reclaim men from dissipation, to revive a general spirit of industry, to lead the minds of all from gaudy dreams of sudden-acquired wealth to a patient expectation of growing fortunes, were no less difficult in execution than necessary to the existence of the Company. ”

“ A bold, active, and resolute ruler, like Frederick of Prussia, or Lord Clive, may, by the force of personal character, reduce expenses, for a given time, within the narrowest bounds; but the natural tendency of a prosperous country is, to contrive means of consuming on the spot, by indulgences, which come to be considered as necessaries, and by corresponding salaries or allowances, the whole sum that is raised by taxation. ”

“ To conclude, the style and diction of this last letter is so contrary to Sir Robert Barker's natural disposition, that I am persuaded some evil-minded persons, who have their own interests more than your reputation at heart, have been the occasion, through misrepresentation. However, since my friendship for you is mistrusted, and the regard and attention which I have shown for your welfare, from the day of your embarkation to this hour, forgotten, I can only lament your misfortune and mine, that there should be men in the world who can make these impressions. ”

“ I have been seven hundred miles up the country, and have been very conversant with His Majesty, the Great Mogul. He has made me one of the first omrahs, or nobles, of his empire. I have concluded a peace for the Company, which I hope will last, and obtained from the King a grant of a revenue of 2,000,000l. sterling per annum for them for ever; and, what is more, I have put them on a way of securing this immense revenue, in such a manner that it is almost impossible to deprive the Company of it, at least for some years to come. ”

“ Clive's last act had been to withdraw the Europeans from out-stations, and to limit their interference with the internal trade; a measure which, however exceptionable it would be in a country where equal law existed, had become absolutely necessary where European delinquency had no adequate check, and where the grossest injustice could be practised by white traders and their agents, on the timid and defenceless natives. ”

“ However, I have the satisfaction of informing you, that I have already made a great progress towards reforming those enormous abuses of power, which cry aloud for redress. The inhabitants have been laid under contribution by both civil and military, their goods taken from them at an under price, and presents of money have either been extorted from them, or given for interfering in the affairs of government by insisting on men of high employments being turned out, and others appointed in their room. ”

“ In the revolution of 1757, effected by Lord Clive, great stress had been laid on its necessity; but every succeeding revolution had been sustained on the same ground,—a ground that never would be wanting. It appeared that, by the treaty with Sujah-u-Dowlah, the Company were confirmed in all the privileges they had formerly enjoyed; the Company had their factories restored; and to individuals who had suffered, a compensation was made. ”

“ I have found the pride, ambition, resentment, and self-interestedness of individuals so incompatible with the public good, that I should have given up the contest long ago, if I had not set the greatest value upon my own reputation, which is all I must expect to preserve upon my return to England, after so odious and disagreeable an undertaking. ”

“ In this situation you see the necessity of exerting yourself in time, provided the Directors give you proper powers, without which, I confess, you can do nothing; for self-interest or ignorance will obstruct every plan you can form for the public good.
"You are upon the spot, and will learn my conduct from disinterested persons; and I wish your government to be attended, as mine was, with success to the Company, and with the consciousness of having discharged every duty with firmness and fidelity. ”

“ When, in this general turmoil, the acts of almost every man who had filled any conspicuous situation in India were passed in review, and commented on with all the virulence of party spirit, it is not to be imagined that one who had acted so eminent a part in the events of the East, and who had taken so active a share in those at home, as Lord Clive had done, should escape without reproach. No man, from his situation, had made more enemies ”

“ When all mean advantages are disclaimed and held in contempt by gentlemen high in the service, reformation will, of course, be with greater ease introduced among inferiors. You will do me the justice to believe that I mean this as a general observation only, and not as a necessary hint, either to yourself or any of the field officers of your regiment, as I know you are all men of honour and principle. ”

“ But exclusive of the part I take in your success on my account, my regard and affection for you lead me to reflect, that the reputation as well as private satisfaction of your future [Pg 213] life in England, must grow out of the honour which you may, and I trust will, acquire by a resolute and unspotted administration of the Company's affairs in Bengal. Your integrity and the goodness of your heart must be acknowledged by all who know you; and it is with pleasure I observe, that you have set out with a due attention to other necessary and public qualifications. ”

“ For my part, I have ever been of opinion that all reformation abroad, until a thorough reformation takes place at home, can only be temporary, and must in the end prove futile. If we cannot have an able, honest, and independent Court of Directors at home, and a Governor and Council-General abroad of the same stamp, there is no salvation for the Company, and we shall at last be drove to the dreadful alternative of either seeing the whole of our possessions fall into the hands of Government, or of our inveterate enemies the French ”

“ They had, most justly and wisely, deprived their servants of their means of illicit gain; they now rashly deprived them also of what had been substituted as a lawful provision; they referred these discontented and powerful men, who had vast wealth within their reach, to a future and uncertain time, when their masters should be at leisure to pay some attention to their immediate and urgent necessities. An inferior man would have hesitated and faltered: Clive saw that decision was necessary for the crisis. ”

“ Another evil which may arise from it is, that you may pay too great an attention to the reports of the natives, and be inclined to look upon things in the worst, instead of the best, light. A proper confidence in yourself, and never-failing hope of success, will be a bar to this and every other ill that your situation is liable to; and, as I am sure that you are not wanting in abilities for the great office of Governor, I must add that an opportunity is now given you of making yourself one of the most distinguished characters of this country. ”

“ In all his trials, and in very painful circumstances, under which most men would have sunk, he had supported himself by the strong consciousness that he was doing his duty, and meriting the applause of his employers and of the world. It is not surprising, that when he thought himself deserted, and believed that he was the object of the jealousy and slight of the very persons whom he had so illustriously served, his disappointment and resentment should be extreme, and that his sensitive and exasperated mind should almost doubt the existence of human gratitude. ”

“ Our wide and extended possessions are become too great for the mother country, or for our abilities, to manage. America is making great strides towards independency; so is Ireland. The East Indies also, I think, cannot remain long to us, if our present constitution be not altered. A Direction for a year only, and that time entirely taken up in securing Directors for the year to come, cannot long maintain that authority which is requisite for the managing and governing such extensive, populous, rich, and powerful kingdoms as the [Pg 242] East India Company are at present possessed of. ”

“ Affairs in India had in the mean time taken a very unfavourable turn. Even during the three years of the government of Mr. Verelst, a man of good judgment, of industry, and the purest intentions, a deficiency of funds was severely felt. This was not so much from a decline in the revenues, though Lord Clive had perhaps estimated them beyond their real amount, as from various other causes. The civil, military, and commercial expenses were daily increasing, when the steady hand that had checked their natural tendency to excess was removed. ”