ny ought to contract with-for there was a moral certainty that they would perform their engagements. They ought rather to deal with a man on a good sound principle, which offered a fair prospect for the fulfilment of the engagement entered into, than take a smaller price, leaving the company at the mercy of those who made the tender, to give up the contract, on paying 5,000 or 10,0001.

Mr. R. Jackson. Having heard the papers read, and having attended to the clear and candid statement contained in them, and to the explanation given by the hon. chairman, the question appeared to him to stand thus :-The law, if acted up to, might operate with somewhat of undue severity, and, therefore, the court of directors were anxious to administer relief, under the circumstances of the case. The court had not yet had an opportunity of perusing the opinion of his hon. and learned friend (Mr. Bosanquet) on the point propounded to him. But, he believed, as far as he was acquainted with the act, that the court of directors could not proceed without legislative authority. Therefore, if he understood the hon. chairman rightly, it was intended to apply to the legislature, not for any specific allowance, but to enable the court of directors, under the powers called for, to exercise their discretion, and act with equity, under all the circumstances of the case. It might be questioned, whether this was a dangerous power to place in the hands of the directors, since it went to alter a system that had been acted on for twenty years. He confessed he spoke with something like a practical feeling, (and he believed the same feeling was entertained by others) which he had spent so many years of his youth, in bringing forward and maturing. He was most anxious that it should be preserved. He precisely hoped that it would be kept up, because on its stability depended the great question, whether America or England should be the traders to the East Indies.

(Hear, heur.) Therefore, he looked with a strong jealousy, he trusted with a laudable jealousy, to any proposition which tended to alter it. This resolution might appear to some to be an infraction of that principle which he was as careful and as anxious as he could be to preserve. It therefore came to this, whether the power sought for by the court of directors should be given on the mere ceremony of reading those papers, or whether individuals should have an opportunity of reading and examining them, in order that they might be satisfied, that the bill or act demanded, was as pure and perfect in itself, as he understood it was. To urge this as a question would be useless-because the wish of the directors, in a case like this, would certainly be the feeling

of the majority of proprietors. He therefore would take the liberty humbly to advise, that the delay of a few days should be granted. He did so, on two grounds, -first, that the most jealous should be satisfied that the great principle of the shipping system was not likely to be infringed-and next, that contractors should learn, that they were not, too lightly, to be relieved from the fulfilment of their contracts; for, when over, they thought they had nothing to do, but to get their claim for relief attended to by the directors, and that they would then pass through the court of proprietors, almost per forma, they would not care what low prices they tendered.—(Hear, hear.) As surely as the concession of 1803, was now quoted as an authority for remission, so surely would the present request, if too lightly granted, be quoted for remission on some future occasion; and, instead of having fair tenders, all kinds of contractors and speculators would send in proposals, which, they were conscious would not remunerate them; and they would depend on getting their claims to compensation easily passed through the court of proprietors, by which a good profit would be ultimately secured. For these two reasons, he begged leave to advise (and he felt that he would have the sanction of every gentleman present for offering the suggestion) that a future day should be appointed for considering the question. In his opinion, it was most proper that delay should take place, since it would shew to the persons calling for relief, that their demand would not be complied with, except on mature deliberation-and it would give gentlemen, not conversant with the subject, an opportunity of investigating it, and thus enable them to decide correctly on the proposition. With these feelings, he hoped a few days would be granted for the consideration of the papers.

The Chairman believed he could say with perfect correctness, that the court of directors did not come forward, to state any proposition against the sense of the proprietors. If it were the wish of the court to delay this matter for a short time, there certainly could be no objection to it. At the same time, he begged leave to state, that the court of directors had offered to the consideration of the proprietors the resolution that had been read, because, in the former case, of 1803, there was but one deliberation on it. Besides there was this point to be considered that the present direction was leading to a close, and it was better, in his opinion, that those persons, under whom the business had originated, should finish it, than to leave it open for discussion, at a remote period. If, therefore, any near approaching day were proposed,

ob glaring beatogr The court of directors, however, maintained, that it was a question of money, which they alone had in their hands, and over which the board had legally no power whatever. And they resisted the power of that body to put their hands into the company's purse on any occasion. (Hear, hear This was the main feature of the dispute. As he had observed before, it was a question of power; and, having stated these facts to the proprietors, he had only further to say, that the papers necessary to a full understanding of the case were now ready, It remained with the proprietors to express their wish, either to have them exhibited, in the house, in manuscript, or to have them printed, if they were not too voluminous. He should now sit down anxious to hear the sentiments of the court on the subject he had introduced.

Mr. Hume. I understood it was the Intention of the court of directors that the papers alluded to should be read."

The Chairman." That might be thought an ea parte proceeding. This is a case in which it was necessary to enter very much into the conduct of the individual whose proceedings gave rise to the question. In stating their view of it, the directors were obliged to go, at consideraable length, into a narrative of the fact. They wished, however, not to bear hard on that individual, but merely to speak to the question of power, and the proceedings that had given rise to it. The course pursued by the board of controul was a very extraordinary one; and the directors not only wished the proprietors, but the publie to know it."

Mr. Hume said, the resolution of the court of directors ought to be read, on this very ground. He considered the present to be a question of vital importance. It was simply this-whether the company were to exist or not? (Hear, hear.)whether they are to have power, directly or indirectly, to manage their finances? And whether it was or was not necessary to keep his majesty's ministers, not merely to the tenor, but to the express letter of the law, as it was almost universally understood, and had been acted on up to the present time? How had it been understood? That it debarred the board of control from all interference with the pecuniary affairs of the company. Every gentleman, he was convinced, who heard the resolution of the court of directors read, would feel that the present was a case that called for an open, decided, and manly expression of the determina tion of the proprietors to support their executive body.(Hear, hear.) If they did not do so, their attendance in that court was useless. (Hear, hear.) He therefore submitted to the proprietors, Asiat. Journ.-No. IV.

that they should have the resolution of the court of directors read, for their satisfaction and information. If it was thought that it contained partial reflections on the individual from whose case this business had arisen, he would request the court to suspend any opinion they might be inclined to form on those points, and to confine themselves to the abstract question between the board of control, and the court of directors. He had read the resolution, and he thought it contained some passages that might have been left out. But their introduction had evidently been occasioned by the anxious wish of the directors to go to the very beginning of the transaction, and to give to the proprietors the fullest possible information. He submitted that this document ought to be read-and then it would be for the court to determine, whether the whole correspondence between the court miting it entirely to the exertion of power, of directors and the board of control, liwithout any reference to the conduct in India, of the individual so often alluded to, should be laid before them. They would then to whether the board of control had a right to interfere with any power, or to alter any dispatch about to be sent out to India, respecting money matters? This duty the proprie tors would have to perform, both as it was connected with their own interests, and with those of the country at large. He had seen some of the correspondence, and every letter that he had perused strongly supported the course taken by the di rectors, and clearly proved the right they had to object to the conduct of the board of control. Indeed, so conclusive were the arguments, that he was at a loss to see the smallest ground on which his majesty in council could call on the directors to obey the orders of the board of control, in relation to this dispatch. The documents should, he conceived, be read and then, at a future day, no very remote one he hoped, the court could deliberate on the subject, and pass such resolutions as might appear proper. They ought, as far as the court had an opportunity of doing so, to let his majesty's ministers know, that they were not to act contrary to the fair meaning of the act of the legis lature. They might appeal to his majes ty in council; but even he, elevated as his situation was, had no right to decide on any other foundation, but that of the law he ought, in every instance, to act up to the spirit of the law. (Hear, hear The trifling expense of printing the papers was nothing, when compared with the immense magnitude of the point in dispute; and, when the resolution was read, he really believed, that there was not an individual in the court, who would object to having the whole of the corresVOL. I. 3 D

pondence, as far as it respected the question of power, laid before them.

Our

Mr. Lowndes said, as this question affected the rights of the company-and as it was important that the land-marks of the power belonging to the board of control, should be fixed -he hoped the subject would be discharged in a calm and impartial manner. He trusted they would neither lean too much to their feelings, as proprietors; nor, on the other hand, from sentiments of friendship, or from an overwhelming zeal, an ardent loyalty, look with too lenient an eye upon the conduct of His Majesty's ministers. It was their duty to steer clear of Scylla and Charybdis.(a laugh) A few days ago, however, he had been carried away to express his opinion freely in their favour not because he felt that burning loyalty he had alluded to, but because he thought the property-tax was a very good one.(laughter and hisses.) Be that as it might, he hoped the company would now make a gallant stand against the board of control, and show them that they would maintain their first rights, in spite of every attempt to contract their power. This attempt of the board of control ought to be watched with the utmost jealousy-for, of all the passions of the human mind, the love of power was the most general and the most violent. Like air, it entered into every thing. private quarrels were all about power. Even the domestic disputes between man and wife were occasioned by a desire of superiority-they were mere struggles for power.-(laughter.) The love of power, like the brazen serpent, was disposed to swallow up the rest of the passions. The court therefore ought to consider this question, as the hon. gentleman (Mr. Hume) had observed, as affecting the vital interests of the company. point in dispute was, whether they should exist as a company, holding a lease, on certain condition; or whether the board of control should invalidate that lease, and alter it, nolens volens, at their pleasure? The company existed under an act of parliament; and he trusted they would always adhere to, and defend, their rights, whether they were assailed by the administration of the country, or by any other persons. The court would, he had no doubt, consider the subject, like judges the bench, in a candid and impartial manner-neither calling for powers that did not belong to them, nor giving up a single iota of their just rights. It would be most dangerous if any part of their anthority was wrested from them; for, there was an old saying, that, if you gave an inch to a certain description of persons, they would assuredly take an ell.(a laugh. He called on the court to look to the dreadful effects which the thirst of

on

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power had produced in Europe, during the last twenty years. The events which the history of that period recorded, shewed the necessity of opposing every stretch of authority, in the first instance. The court ought not, and would not, give up a particle of the power which was entrusted to their executive, but would, to the last moment, assert their just rights.

Mr. Trower believed there was but one opinion in that court, as to the neces sity of bringing this question under consideration. After the statement which had been made, they were bound to investigate the transaction. They owed it to the gentlemen behind the bar-they owed it to themselves-and they equally owed it to the country in general. The question, therefore, was, in what tangible shape could the subject be brought before the court? Many gentlemen would not like to wade through the immense body of documents, which had accumu lated in eighteen or nineteen years-(hear, hear.)-therefore he thought it would be better if an abstract were made, so as to enable the proprietors to become acquainted with all the essential points of the case. (hear, hear.) It was, as the hon. chairman had very truly observed, a question of power. And experience had too often shewn, that the board of control wished, whenever an opportu nity occurred, to overstep the bounds of the act of parliament, by which their authority was defined.-(hear, hear.)→ The court should, therefore, exercise great jealousy in looking at this transaction. They knew that their court of directors had but one object, and that was in unison with the feelings of the proprietors; but they also knew, that it was a very possible case for the board of control to have views extremely different. He, therefore, desired, that an abstract of the correspondence should be laid before them, which would bring the question under their consideration, in a tangible shape.

Mr. Hume "The necessary documents are not so numerous as the hon. gentleman seems to suppose. The first letter is dated the 30th of May, 1808; there are also letters written in 1809, 1812, and 1814-so that eight or nine letters comprise the whole subject."

Mr. Drew said, the simple question seemed to be,-the court of directors having exercised their discretion, and that having been overruled by the board of control, sanctioned by the court of King's Bench, and by the King in council, whether the proprietors could now take any step? It was his opinion, that the privy council having decided on the question, and the court of King's Bench having granted a mandamus, it was too late for them to say that the board had as

much power as that which they contended for. However tenacious the proprietors might be of their rights, their proceedings could only end now in their united approbation of the conduct pursued by the directors-they could not alter the charter, nor the law as it has been expounded.

The Chairman said, they had no such expectation. On the contrary, he had stated, that the dispatch ordered to be sent out by the board of control, and the court of King's Bench, was in progress to go to India. They did not hope for a reversal of the judgment. But, as the directors were placed in the extraordinary and most unpleasant situation of having a mandamus served on them from the court of King's Bench, and as gentlemen might very naturally ask, how did you get into that situation? it was considered right that the subject should be brought before the proprietors in the way which he had stated. It was not intended by the directors to bear hard on the individual who had given rise to the whole question. They had acted in that manner which appeared to them to be correct; and, if the case of that person were again to be tried, they certainly would bring forward every thing he had adduced in his defence, as well as the reasons which induced the court of directors to decide as they had done. But, in bringing the question of power before the court, it was impossible to do that exactly. They had only a choice of difficulties; they wished to state the circumstances to the proprietors, as fully as possible, and then to submit it to their wisdom, to act as they pleased. The hon. gentleman (Mr. Hume) stated, that the subject was fully comprised in five or six letters, The letters alluded to were, undoubtedly, proper to be read, but they did not go sufficiently into the merits of the case. They went to support the principles stated in the document drawn up by the directors which had been frequently alluded to. The court of direcfors were not, therefore, anxious that their view of the question should be read, in the first instance, lest they might be accused of a wish to prepossess the proprietors. If, however, gentlemen desired to have an outline of the facts, that document certainly did contain one.

Mr. D. Kinnaird observed, that this subject having been once mentioned by the hon. chairman, no doubt could be entertained of the propriety of its being taken up by the court. The question having been introduced, it appeared that something more than a mere statement of facts ought to come from the chair. Some substantive proposition ought to be made or some act of the court of directors should be laid before the proprie

tors-on which the motion for printing papers might properly be entertained. That motion, he thought, ought to proceed from the directors themselves, in order to bring the question directly under the consideration of the court. The objection made to reading the resolution of the court of directors, shewed that they felt a strong indisposition to prejudice the case, by introducing to the proprietors an officer who had fallen under the censure of the company. But it was a question, whether, having disclaimed that object, such declaration would not satisfy the friends of the hon. officer, and induce them to suffer that document to be read. If the resolution were read, their course would then be quite clear and straight forward. If, however, any objection were opposed to laying it before the court, they might, by a very simple proceeding, obviate the difficulty. Any gentleman, having heard that a mandamus had been directed to the executive body, might request that all papers, relative to the case which ended in that mandamus, should be printed for the use of the proprietors; taking care that none were produced but those which were absolutely necessary. The straight forward way seemed to be, that the court of directors should announce that they had received a mandamus, and that they had, in consequence, entered into a resolution, which being read, they could then hunt the subject up to its origin.

Mr. B. Jackson said, the mode of proceeding was extremely simple. The court of directors had thought it right to put together a statement of facts to justify themselves to their constituents; but, theyobserved, that this statement was open to the charge of being ex parte. From the nature of the thing, it must be soit was impossible that it could be otherwise. Of course many documents were referred to, that would bring under the notice of the court the conduct of an officer who had fallen under the displeasure of the company. But the thing being done, it appeared to him that the document should be read. The business could not stop here-it must be resolved to bring it under the consideration of the court in one way or another, The hon. Chairman might for instance, state at large, by way of speech, the various facts that led to the question. But surely it was the shortest way to have the resolution read, which embraced all the neces sary points. There could be no impropriety in it, because it referred to an individual whose conduct was closely connected with the original proceeding. Those who heard the resolution read, would learn what documents were necessary to be moved for, in order to consider the case candidly and justly with