twelve to fifteen hundred pounds; so that it would seem that Mr. B.'s circumstances were very easy. In his opinion, if the case were fairly stated, it resolved itself into this that because Mr. B.'s agents did not conduct his affairs properly, he came here and said to the proprietors, "you must make good my loss, because I was prevented working more mischief." It was acting quite in opposition to the ordinary course of things, for a person who had misconducted himself, and who had been prevented from doing further mischief, to come to those whom he wished to injure, and demand of them to pay his losses. He was opposed to the motion on the ground that Mr. B.'s losses were entirely brought on by his misconduct, and the bad management of his agent; it would be a waste of the money of his co-propriethose give any sum for the remuneration of tors to losses.

Mr. Gahagan said that the speech of the hon. proprietor opposite (Mr. Poynder) had been entirely taken up with the object of proving the inexpediency of a free press in India. How far he had a right to do that, was a question he would not discuss now; but he thought that a much fitter time might have been adopted than the present, as the only question before the court was that of the misfortunes of Mr. B.

The hon. proprietor had noticed what he pleased to designate the lawyer-like and technical manner in which the motion was drawn up, so as to shut out from dis.. cussion the merits of Mr. B.'s case. Whether it was lawyer-like and technical was of little consequence; but he could assure the hon. proprietor that great pains had been taken in the wording of the motion, to avoid giving any occasion for entering upon the merits of Mr. B. The hon. proprietor had taken quite a wrong view of the motion: he had said, that before the proprietors voted away a sum of money to an individual, it was proper for them to consider the merits of that person. He entirely agreed with the hon. proprietor, but he thought that the present question was a little different; for it was not granting money to Mr. B. as a remuneration for past services; if that were the case, it would be quite proper to discuss how far he had merited such remuneration. He recollected that, when it was once proposed to vote a sum of money to a gentleman, who was now canvassing for a seat in the direction (and he wished him every success in his attempt), he opposed it in the strongest manner; but being advised to read the papers, he there found a case that fully deserved remuneration. But the case of Mr. B. was not one of remuneration; the court was not called upon to give a quid pro quo. It was admitted that Mr. B.'s misfortunes were brought upon him by his own misconduct, and that he thereby

became justly subjected to the punishment which the law ordained; and if the case had stopped there, there would have beerr no room for the present application. But the question now was, whether, after Mr. B. had expiated his offence by the punishment which the law inflicted on him in his deportation from India-whether, after this, the government had not unintentionally destroyed his property. In such a case, he thought the court bound to give remuneration. He thought that the government had not intended to produce the ruin which had fallen on Mr. B.; to prove which, he would read an extract from Dr. Muston's letter to Mr. Bayley:-"I heard from Mr. Harington that it was your opinion that no license would be granted to me, unless I became proprietor of the concern, or an actual transfer of the property was made from the present proprietors to others, who should apply with me and the printer, jointly, for a license to publish a paper. If this be the case I have misunderstood Lord Amherst, who appeared to me to require only the exclusion of Mr. B. from all and every power of interference or control, and in no way to injure that gentleman's property. Indeed his lordship distinctly stated it to be his wish not to injure the property vested in the Columbian press; but this wish cannot be realized if the property be transferred from the present proprietors." If it could be shewn, then, that the property, which Lord Amherst did not wish to injure, had been totally destroyed, did it not become that court to replace that property, were it only to make his lordship right with himself? The hon. proprietor opposite had, in the course of his speech, adverted to every act of Mr. B. in India, and in doing so, he had travelled out of the record: he had stated that the jury in India had acquitted Mr. B. through fear. Now he would like to know what reason they had to be frightened? It had been repeatedly said that there was a public in India, and therefore the jury must have been part of that public, and he could not suppose that they were frightened at themselves. In turbulent times the eloquence and ability of an advocate might work upon the minds of a jury so as to induce them to acquit a guilty person; but it was not fair that a jury should be accused by any one of giving a bad verdict, only because it did not agree with his opinion. But what connexion had this with the proper question before them; namely, the destruction of Mr. B.'s property after he left India? The hon. proprietor had alluded to the arguments of Mr. Bosanquet and Mr. Serjeant Spankie against the freedom of the press. It was admitted that Mr. B. abused the liberty of the press, that he merited the punishment inflicted on him; but what was complained of was the destruction of his property after

that

terest in this question: it was true he had an interest in it, but it was not of a pecuniary nature; it was an interest infinitely stronger and more powerful in his estimation than any pecuniary interest could possibly be. (Hear, hear!) It had been asserted that he had assisted Mr. B. with loans of money: this, however, he denied. Mr. B. did not owe him one shilling, and what was more, he never asked him for any assistance. (Hear, hear!) He had, however, been assisted by his friends: they had, much to the credit of their feelings, come forward freely with their aid, in order to prevent Mr. B. and his family from being turned into 'the streets; they had interposed to prevent him from being placed in that situation to which the hon. proprietor (Sir J. Sewell) had alluded; and on his escape from which misfortune, the hon. proprietor had congratulated Mr. B., though rather in ambiguous terms. (Hear, hear!) Mr. B. had been assisted, charitably assisted he would say, by those friends who, greatly to their honour, had commisserated, and endeavoured to alleviate his situation; and he presumed that was not a circumstance which would militate against Mr. B. It could not, he thought, operate, he would not say against Mr. B.'s claim, but against the object which his friends had in view in bringing this question before the court; on the contrary, he rather believed that it would be considered as strengthening the appeals so forcibly made to the feelings of the proprietors on this occasion. With regard to the manner in which Mr. B. lived, he could tell the hon. proprietor that he lived in the most humble and frugal manner. It would, perhaps, surprise the court if he stated the extreme moderation of that unfortunate gentleman; he had given up a comforta ble dwelling, which he was induced to take on his return to this country, because he hoped to enjoy the proceeds of that property which he possessed in India, but which, from the course pursued, had vanished, and had left scarcely a shadow behind. He was largely in debt to his agents, and he was compelled, by his distress, to remove from the comfortable dwelling he had taken for himself and family, and to retire to a small house in the suburbs of this great city. (Hear, hear!) Such was the case; and he pledged himself, if it were necessary, to put it in the power of any gentleman in that court to satisfy himself of the truth of this statement. This was the situation of Mr. B. at the present moment. He sat down every day of his life to the most homely fare, without even a glass of wine or a glass of malt liquor on his table; he was obliged to content himself with the crystal stream. If gentlemen had doubts as to this statement, an opportunity would be afforded them to remove those doubts by

Mr. B. and his friends-for friends he had who would stand by him, whatever might be the result of this day's discussion. He was proud to say that Mr. B. had friends who would uphold and advocate the cause of justice against oppression, over and over again, even to the termination of the Company's charter, and to the conclusion of that which might follow. Indeed, he hoped that they never would lose sight of the object they had in view, so far as they had the means of restoring Mr. B. to that af fluence of which he had been deprived. The object of his hon. friends was to make an appeal to the humanity of the court, to grant to Mr. B. a small, a very small portion of that property which he had lost, or, to speak more properly, of which he had been deprived; not, as he was willing to believe, with the intention of the government of India, or of the authorities in this country-but which had been lost, unavoidably lost, under the circumstances which occurred subsequently to his leaving India. In making this appeal to their humanity, he was happy to think, whatever might be said in that court (or rather whatever might not be said in that court), that a great body of the proprietors at large would be disposed to adopt the resolution now under consideration. He would say that out of the court, and even within its walls, he had met with very few proprietors who did not acknow ledge that they were disposed to give Mr. B. some remuneration. He trusted, when they came to the ballot, that those feelings which ought to influence all humane and liberal minds, would operate to grant to Mr. B. the sum which was this day called for; and that a very large body of those who attended the ballot would be found to sanction the proposition now made. He was sure that such a result would not be unacceptable to the heart of the hon. chair. man.* He felt great pleasure in stating what had been reported out of doors, namely, that the grant which was lately given to another unfortunate gentleman (Mr. Arnot), whose case had already been before that court, was to be mainly attributed to that hon. gentleman; to him, it appeared, the merit of that humane act was chiefly owing. If that grant had been stopped, as he was sorry to learn had been the case in another quarter (the Board of Control), he trusted that the delay would be but temporary. If there were any want of form that rendered it necessary to postpone that measure of justice, he hoped the defee would be remedied, and that the wi of the court would be speedily com with; and if the result of the ballo

At this time Sir G. A. Robinson. chairman, was in the chair; Mr. C. the chairman, having left the co time.

is a person whose conduct is contrary to our rules and regulations-seize him tipstaff, put him on board, and hurry him from the country." This they had a right to do; but the law said, "touch not that individual's property." When Dr. Muston applied for a license, their own regulations, framed in April, should have pointed out to the government what they ought to have done; they might have said, at once, we will grant no license, and there would have been an end of the matter: Mr. B.'s agents would then have known how to have proceeded. But they would not do this; they delayed their determination from time to time, and those delays were fatal to Mr. B.'s interest. Government said, "we know whose property this is, and while it is in such possession we are afraid of it: it belongs at present to Mr. B., and so long as it is his, so long as he is in any way connected with it, we shall withhold a license."- This declaration was fully carried into execution; and when the property of Mr. B. was deteriorated by the act of the government not, as he had said before, knowingly and - cold-bloodedly-when, in consequence of these proceedings, Mr. B. was deprived of the means of living like a gentleman, was it too much to ask the court to grant him this sum, which, though by no means an equivalent for his losses, would send him away in some degree satisfied? (Hear, hear!) He would just remark upon one observation made by the hon. gentleman below him (Sir J. Sewell), although he was almost ashamed to notice the point. That hon. proprietor had alluded to the circumstances of Mr. B.: what those circumstances were he (Mr. G.) professed not to know he disclaimed all knowledge of Mr. B.'s private affairs-he knew not whether that gentleman was rich or poor, though probably the latter was the case; this was a subject which he would not descend to inquire into. But if, as the hon. gentleman had said, Mr. B. had purchased shares in companies that were flourishing-if he had laid out his money, not in those wild schemes which had vanished into air and ruined those who were connected with them, but in others of a stable and profitable character, he congratulated that gentleman on the fact with all his heart. He was glad that, while he was floating about in the waters of misfortune, he had been enabled to seize a plank, and thus to save himself from being swallowed up in the vortex of destruction. (Hear, hear!)

Sir C. Forbes.-Considering this as an appeal to the humane feelings and liberal disposition of this court; considering that the object of those who signed this requisition, and of his hon. friends who supported this question, was to place the case of Mr. B., so far as it was connected with proceedings subsequent to his arrival in

He

this country, in the most powerful light before the proprietors, he would abstain from saying one word on those occurrences which took place prior to that event. would confine himself to that which appeared to him to be admitted on all hands; namely, that Mr. B. had suffered very heavy losses; that these losses were not, and could not be, in the contemplation of the government of India, when the measures were resorted to which had produced them, and that his situation at present was such as called on the court to extend to him that degree of assistance which would prevent him and his family from being reduced to want and beggary. Viewing these as the points that were to be considered, he would not at all enter into the subject of the advisability of establishing a free press in India. With respect to that question, he believed it was in the perfect recollection of the court, that when he delivered his sentiments on it, he always guarded his observations so as to pre. vent any of them from being construed into an admission of the propriety of establishing a completely free and unrestricted press in that country. Having said thus much, he would now apply himself to the observations that bad fallen from the hon. proprietor on the floor (Sir J. Sewell); and, first, as to the state of Mr. B.'s pecuniary circumstances-he had reason to know, that Mr. B. would make known with pleasure what his situation was--nay, upon that point he courted inquiry. He knew that that gentleman was very far from being in the situation described by the hon. proprietor; if he were one sixpence before the world, it was a fact quite contrary to what he (Sir C. F.) believed. He believed, and indeed he knew, that Mr. B. was deeply indebted to his agents in India, who, he was sure, would bear out that statement. If Mr. B. had purchased shares such as had been described by the hon. proprietor, he (Sir C. F.) was perfectly unacquainted with the circumstance. That Mr. B. held a quantity of East-India stock, which enabled him to sit and speak in that court, was unquestionably the case; but that this stock was not his own, he also knew. (Hear, hear!) He begged not to be misunderstood; what he meant to say was, that Mr. B. had been assisted by his friends to obtain that stock-he had not purchased it with his own property; neither had he purchased it with property advanced by him (Sir C. F.) He made this remark, because it had been insinuated in other quarters, nay, he had seen it asserted in print, that he had assisted Mr. B. He, therefore, was not only justified in denying the statement, but he was absolutely called on, in the most direct terms, to disavow every thing of the kind. (Hear, hear!) It was said that he had an in

terest

terest in this question: it was true he had an interest in it, but it was not of a pecuniary nature; it was an interest infinitely stronger and more powerful in his estimation than any pecuniary interest could possibly be. (Hear, hear!) It had been asserted that he had assisted Mr. B. with loans of money: this, however, he denied. Mr. B. did not owe him one shilling, and what was more, he never asked him for any assistance. (Hear, hear!) He had, however, been assisted by his friends: they had, much to the credit of their feelings, come forward freely with their aid, in order to prevent Mr. B. and his family from being turned into the streets; they had interposed to prevent him from being placed in that situation to which the hon. proprietor (Sir J. Sewell) had alluded; and on his escape from which misfortune, the hon. proprietor had congratulated Mr. B., though rather in ambiguous terms. (Hear, hear!) Mr. B. had been assisted, charitably assisted he would say, by those friends who, greatly to their honour, had commisserated, and endeavoured to alleviate his situation; and he presumed that was not a circumstance which would militate against Mr. B. It could not, he thought, operate, he would not say against Mr. B.'s claim, but against the object which his friends had in view in bringing this question before the court; on the contrary, he rather believed that it would be considered as strengthening the appeals so forcibly made to the feelings of the proprietors on this occasion. With regard to the manner in which Mr. B. lived, he could tell the hon. proprietor that he lived in the most humble and frugal manner. It would, perhaps, surprise the court if he stated the extreme moderation of that unfortunate gentleman; he had given up a comfortable dwelling, which he was induced to take on his return to this country, because he hoped to enjoy the proceeds of that property which he possessed in India, but which, from the course pursued, had vanished, and had left scarcely a shadow behind. He was largely in debt to his agents, and he was compelled, by his distress, to remove from the comfortable dwelling he had taken for himself and family, and to retire to a small house in the suburbs of this great city. (Hear, hear! Such was the case; and he pledged himself, if it were necessary, to put it in the power of any gentleman in that court to satisfy himself of the truth of this statement. This was the situation of Mr. B. at the present moment. He sat down every day of his life to the most homely fare, without even a glass of wine or a glass of malt liquor on his table; he was obliged to content himself with the crystal stream. If gentlemen had doubts as to this statement, an opportunity would be afforded them to remove those doubts by

Mr. B. and his friends-for friends he had who would stand by him, whatever might be the result of this day's discussion. He was proud to say that Mr. B. had friends who would uphold and advocate the cause of justice against oppression, over and over again, even to the termination of the Company's charter, and to the conclusion of that which might follow. Indeed, he hoped that they never would lose sight of the object they had in view, so far as they had the means of restoring Mr. B. to that af fluence of which he had been deprived. The object of his hon. friends was to make an appeal to the humanity of the court, to grant to Mr. B. a small, a very small portion of that property which he had lost, or, to speak more properly, of which he had been deprived; not, as he was willing to believe, with the intention of the government of India, or of the authorities in this country-but which had been lost, unavoidably lost, under the circumstances which occurred subsequently to his leaving India. In making this appeal to their humanity, he was happy to think, whatever might be said in that court (or rather whatever might not be said in that court), that a great body of the proprietors at large would be disposed to adopt the resolution now under consideration. He would say that out of the court, and even within its walls, he had met with very few proprietors who did not acknowledge that they were disposed to give Mr. B. some remuneration. He trusted, when they came to the ballot, that those feelings which ought to influence all humane and liberal minds, would operate to grant to Mr. B. the sum which was this day called for; and that a very large body of those who attended the ballot would be found to sanction the proposition now made. He was sure that such a result would not be unacceptable to the heart of the hon. chairman. * He felt great pleasure in stating what had been reported out of doors, namely, that the grant which was lately given to another unfortunate gentleman (Mr. Arnot), whose case had already been before that court, was to be mainly attributed to that hon. gentleman; to him, it appeared, the merit of that humane act was chiefly owing. If that grant had been stopped, as he was sorry to learn had been the case in another quarter (the Board of Control), he trusted that the delay would be but temporary. If there were any want of form that rendered it necessary to postpone that measure of justice, he hoped the defect would be remedied, and that the wishes of the court would be speedily complied with; and if the result of the ballot now called

At this time Sir G. A. Robinson, the deputy chairman, was in the chair; Mr. C. Marjoribanks, the chairman, having left the court for a short time.

called for were successful, he trusted that the chairman would not be the last in giving his support to the expressed wish of the Court of Proprietors; he believed there were many hon. persons around the chairman who would also feel as he did. This motion, it should be recollected, was not introduced as a demand, it was brought forward as an act of beneficence, compassion, and humanity. On that ground, and on that alone, he called earnestly on that hon. court not to come to an adverse decision, and not to allow what had been stated so eloquently and so ably in favour of Mr. B.-particularly by the hon. proprietor (Mr. J. Smith) whose speech had made a very great impression, and which, from the manner it had been received, must be considered as having had very con siderable weight-not to pass without producing a commensurate effect. He hoped that every gentleman who came to ballot on this question would discard from his breast all unkind feelings towards Mr. B., and that they would act as their better feelings the feelings of compassion and humanity would dictate to them; namely, to give to Mr.B., his wife and his children, one of them an infant only a few months old, that assistance which would enable them to maintain their present rank in society, and secure them from being removed to that situation which had been adverted to by the hon. gentleman on the floor, though not, indeed, with that feeling which he thought belonged to a subject of so melancholy a nature. He did earnestly trust, that when they came to the ballot the proprietors would give to Mr. B. this trifling sum (trifling, compared with his extensive losses), which would, in some degree, repair the misfortunes which he had undergone. (Hear, hear!) He had no interest whatever in this question but the interest of humanity, and he did not believe that any one gentleman who had signed the requisition immediately before the court, or the requisition for the ballot, entertained any other. He begged pardon for delivering his opinions at such length; but it was a subject on which he felt very strongly, and he hoped the court would give him credit for having spoken out on the question. (Hear, hear!)

Mr. Weeding said that, much as he respected the benevolence of the hon. bart. who had just sat down, and believing as he did, that humanity was the sole motive of his conduct on this occasion, still he did not think the course taken by him, and recommended for the adoption of others, could be followed by the court. When the hon. bart. spoke of the interests of humanity, the court could not forget that they had the interests of their common country to look to. The question appeared to him to be a sort of mixed-up one; on one side it was said that this was an appeal

to their compassion, while another party did not hesitate to say that it was a claim upon their justice: if then they granted this money, he should be glad to know on which of these grounds their vote was to proceed. If he could for one moment think that there was the slightest claim of justice in the case, his voice should be raised in support of the proposition; but the contrary was the fact. It had been conceded by the hon. member for Midhurst (Mr. J. Smith), whose character always gave weight to his opinions, and whose speech therefore had made a considerable impression on the court, that Mr. B. had acted most improperly; that hon. member thought, however, that the punishment inflicted on Mr. B. was more than commensurate with the offence, and on that ground he voted for the resolution. Now let the court investigate this question a little more, and it would be found that the hon. member had not said a word

in support of that assertion. He (Mr. Weeding) thought that if he had inquired a little more into the subject, he would not have hazarded the opinion which he had expressed. The hon. member admitted, and it was also admitted by another hon. gent. (Mr. Gahagan), that Mr. B. deserved the penalties of the law; but they went on to argue, that the mischief complained of occurred subsequently to the infliction of that punishment. Now how did that appear? After Mr. B. left India, the Calcutta Journal was continued under the direction of a Mr. Arnott. That individual trod in the steps of Mr. B., and the government found it necessary to remove him. The next editor of the paper was Mr. Sandys, who being a native could not be sent out of the country. He said, "I will stay here and conduct this paper as I please.' "Then," said the government, "we have another power, and we will make use of it-we will take away the license, and you shall not publish this paper; but this is the extremity to which we are reduced by the nature of its writings, by the tone and temper in which the paper has been conducted, and we must do justice to the great interests committed to our care." Where, he should be glad to know, was the injustice of this step? Government had no private end to answer; they were compelled to act thus for the protection of all those great interests which were connected with the British name, or were kept up by means of the British connexion in India. It was to prevent that connexion being shaken to its foundation-it was to prevent our empire in India being convulsed, if not destroyed, that the measure complained of was resorted to. How then was the punishment more than commensurate with the offence? The offence had been continued, and the rigour of the law was challenged and defied by which alone the

offence