The minutes of the last court having been gone through,

The Chairman (Sir G. A. Robinson, Bart.) was about to submit certain papers to the court, when

Dr. Gilchrist rose, and said he hoped he would be allowed, before they proceeded with the business of the day, to make one or two observations, which would lead to a question that he meant to put to the hon. chairman. The answer the hon. chairman might give to that question would regulate his conduct with respect to the subject to which it referred.

The Chairman said he conceived it would be more in order if the hon. proprietor postponed asking his question until the business of the day was concluded.

Dr. Gilchrist." I have no objection to follow whatever course you, as chairman of this Court of Directors, may advise. But I hope, when I feel it necessary to address the court, that I may not be disturbed and interrupted by different members rising unnecessarily to order.”

The Chairman laid before the court, in conformity with the 19th section of the 6th chapter of the By-Laws, a list of superannuations granted to officers of the Company in England, since the last general court of the 7th ult.

The Chairman." I have further to acquaint the court, that certain papers, which have been presented to Parliament since the last general court, are now laid before the proprietors, in conformity with cap. 1, sec. 4, of the By-Laws."

The papers were

An account of the number of writers sent out in each year, from 1821 to 1825, inclusive; distinguishing the number sent to each presidency, and to China, in each year.

An account of the number of cadets sent in each year, from 1821 to 1825, inclusive; distinguishing the number sent in each year to each of the presidencies, and the number educated at Addiscombe.

The Chairman stated, that it was ordained by the By-Law, sec. 2, cap. 3, that the By-Laws should be read at the first general court after the annual election.

The By-Laws were read short accordingly.

EAST-INDIA NAVAL FORCE BILL.

The Chairman." I am to acquaint the court that it is specially summoned for the Asiatic Journ. Vol. XXI. No. 126.

purpose of laying before the proprietors the draft of a bill now before Parliament, "for defraying the expense of any additional naval force to be employed in the East-Indies." The draft of the bill, and the correspondence connected with it, shall now be read,"

The bill was then read as follows:

"Whereas by an act passed in the fiftythird year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Third, intituled An Act for continuing in the East-India Company for a further term the possession of the British territories in India, together with certain exclusive privileges; for establishing further regulations for the government of the said territories, and the better administration of justice within the same; and for regulating the trade to and from the places within the limits of the said Company's charter;' provision is made for defraying all the charges and expenses of raising and maintaining the forces, as well European as native, military, artillery and marine, on the establishments in the East-Indies and parts within the limits aforesaid, and of maintaining the forts and garrisons there, and providing warlike and naval stores; and whereas it is expedient that similar provisions should be made for payment by the said Company of the expenses of any naval force which now is, or at any time hereafter may be sent to the East-Indies or parts aforesaid, for the purpose of being employed in hostilities with any of the native powers: be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, that all the charges and expenses of sending out and employing, in the East-Indies and parts aforesaid, the naval force which hath been lately sent out by his Majesty, upon the representation of the Court of Directors of the said United Company, with the approbation of the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, and also all the charges and expenses of any naval force which may hereafter be sent out by his Majesty, his heirs or successors, upon the representation of the Court of Directors of the said United Company, and with the approbation of the said Commissioners, for the purpose of being employed in hostilities against any of the native powers in the East-Indies or parts aforesaid, shall be borne by the said United Company as part of their political charges, and the amount thereof shall from time to time, as the same shall be ascertained, be paid into the receipt of the exchequer, in such manner as the Commissioners of 5 F

his

his Majesty's treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland shall direct."

The correspondence was then read, as follows:

"India Board, 28th Jan. 1826. "Gentlemen: I lose no time in transmitting to you the copy of a letter which I have received from Lord Melville, concerning the expense of the additional naval force which has been stationed in the EastIndies, in consequence of the application which I made to the Lords of the Admiralty in concert with you, after the receipt of the secret letter of the 31st June 1825, from the Governor-general in Council.

"It is, I am satisfied, unnecessary to dwell upon the policy and expedience of this augmentation. I feel confident that you will concur in the justice of the principle upon which Lord Melville's suggestion is founded, since it seems but reasonable that the revenues of India should defray an increase of charge, rendered necessary solely by an Indian war.

"It will, of course, be understood that this augmentation is to cease with the necessity which gave rise to it, in the same manner as is directed by the 53d Geo. III. with regard to any increase of the King's land forces above the prescribed number. "I have, &c.

"C. W. W. WYNN." "The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the East-India Company."

"Admiralty, 26th Jan. 1826. "Sir: In consequence of the intimation which I received from you some time ago, that it would be desirable, with a view to the hostilities in which the East-India Company are now engaged with the Burman empire, as well as to the possibility of their being at any time hereafter engaged in operations of a similar description, that the naval force in the East-Indies should be increased to such an extent as to admit of a portion of it being so employed, it has been increased accordingly, in the following proportion, viz.

quest that you will take the necessary steps for bringing this matter under the notice of the Court of Directors or the Secret Committee, in order that some arrange. ment upon it may be concluded. It is desirable that this should be done at as early a period as possible, and before the necessary explanations respecting the navy estimates are submitted to the House of Commons.

"I am, &c.

" MELVILLE." "Right Hon. C.W.W. Wynn, &c.”

"Fast-India House, 1st Feb. 1826. "Sir: We have had the honour to receive and to lay before the Court of Directors of the East-India Company your letter dated the 28th ultimo, together with the copy of a letter from Lord Melville, concerning the expense of the additional naval force stationed in the East-Indies, in consequence of the application made to the Lords of the Admiralty after the receipt of the letter from the Bengal Government to the Secret Committee, dated the 31st Jan. 1825.

"In reply, we have the honour to state that the Court of Directors, admitting that the Company should bear the cost of maintaining that proportion of the naval force employed in the East-Indies, which may be stationed there in prosecution of any war in which the Company may exclusively be involved, for purposes connected with the protection and defence of their territorial possessions, will agree that the Company shall be charged with the expense of maintaining such number of ships of the royal navy as may be sent to the East-Indies on the requisition of the Court, for the purposes before referred to; it being understood that the charge to the Company, on that account, shall cease so soon as there shall have been sufficient time for the recal and return of the ships, after due notice that their services are no longer required, such notice to be given by the Court of Directors to the Lords of the Admiralty.

"This principle the court consent to adopt, in respect of the additional force lately sent to India at the request of the Secret Committee, arising out of the Burman war; leaving the former naval establishment of seven vessels, which was deemed necessary for the general protection of the British trade in the Indian seas, as well as any additional force that may hereafter be stationed in the EastIndies for commercial purposes, or for purposes not directly connected with the Company's territorial possessions, chargeable, as at present, to Great Britain.

"These arrangements the Court apprehend will require the sanction of the Legislature, and they will be prepared to concur in an application for that purpose.

"The

"East-India House, 26th April 1826. "Sir: I have received the commands of the Court of Directors of the East-India Company to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date, with copy of a Bill, which it is Mr. Williams Wynn's intention to present to the House of Commons, in consequence of the correspondence which has passed regarding the charge of that portion of the royal navy employed in India, which has been or may be sent thither on the requisition of the Court of Directors, for purposes connected with the defence and security of the Company's possessions.

"In reply I am directed to observe, that in consenting that the Company should bear such charge the Court stated to Mr. Williams Wynn, in a letter dated the 1st of February last, that it must be distinctly understood that the charge to the Company shall cease so soon as there shall have been sufficient time for the recall and return of the ships after due notice that their services are no longer required, such notice to be given by the Court of Directors to the Lords of the Admiralty.'

"The draft of the Bill contains no provision of this kind. The Court submit that this omission should be supplied.

"With this view, the Court have directed the Company's solicitor to prepare a clause for that purpose; also a clause providing that the rate of computation of charge, which may be agreed upon between the Lords of the Admiralty and the Court, shall be binding and conclusive, and shall include all contingencies whatever connected with this service.

"I have, &c.

"J. DART, Secretary." "Thos. Peregrine Courtenay, Esq."

India Board, 4th May 1826.

"Sir: In reply to your letter of the 26th ult., I am directed by the Commissioners for the Affairs of India to acquaint you, that it does not appear to the Board that any special legislative provision is necessary for securing the Indian revenues against being burthened with the charge of the additional naval force which may be employed in India after the circumstances under which the necessity of it has been represented may have ceased. But the Court may be assured that it is distinctly understood, on the part of his Majesty's government, that the charge is to be discontinued when there shall have been sufficient time for the recall and return of the ships, after due notice that their services are no longer required shall have been. given by the Court of Directors to this

Board.

The Chairman." The correspondence which has been read, will explain to the court the principle on which the present arrangement has been made with the Court of Directors, and on which the bill now in progress through Parliament has been brought in. It cannot, I think, be questioned, that in a measure which is purely and solely calculated for the support of the power and protection of the possessions of the East-India Company, it would be either reasonable or right that Great Britain should be charged with the expense of carrying it into effect. (Hear!) The Court of Directors having taken that view of the subject, the arrangement which is now before the court has been concluded with his Majesty's government; I have, therefore only to propose, "that this court, adverting to the correspondence which has now been read, concurs in the provisions of the said bill."

The Deputy Chairman (the Hon. H. Lindsay) seconded the motion.

Dr. Gilchrist hoped that he would not be interrupted whilst he was addressing the court, as he had been on former occasions. He was determined to express his opinions, and he made this declaration in the outset, lest any attempt should be made to gag him. He felt a desire to speak for the purpose of doing good to the Com5 F 2

pany,

pany, and no interruption should put him down, or prevent him from taking every proper opportunity to declare his sentiments. They were assembled, he believed, on this occasion, to consider a very important question; and they were supposed to be ready at once to give their assent to this measure, and to make observations on a subject which they had had no opportunity of investigating. He thought they ought to have been allowed half an hour's study, at least, before they were called to express an opinion. There was a room in that house which he believed was called the proprietors' room, and to that apartment he went this morning, in the hope that some document connected with the present motion might have been left there for the perusal of the proprietors, so that any individual who wished to do so, might make himself acquainted with the particulars of this specific subject, if it were necessary. He, however, found no such document there; and he could assure the court, that his talents were not such as to enable him, on the moment, to follow any reader who laid the contents of various papers before the proprietors, unless he had previously a glance at the documents. He was completely disappointed in getting any such information. He asked the individual who attended the room whether any papers had been deposited there, to enable him to understand and to speak like a reasonable man on the subject mentioned in the advertisement: he was answered by that individual that he had no papers. If this were the custom of the hon. Company, he must, of course, be contented with whatever information he received from the chair; but, coming to the court in this unprepared way, he could not make up his mind to approve of, or dissent from, the proposition then before them. In another place, they had what was called the King's opposition; and he conceived that he and others, who sat at that (the left-hand) side of the court, had a right to dub themselves "the John Company's opposition." Though John Company might be elsewhere spoken of as an old wife, yet he gloried in that personage, and was happy to be, for the purposes of good, one of John Company's opposition; in that capacity he should be always ready to stand up for the rights and privileges of the proprietors. He was not very well able to speak on the subject of either naval or military tactics, as his studies had been directed to acquirements of a different nature; he wished, therefore, that some of those who were conversant with those subjects had shewn themselves on their posts this day; he was always on his post, and he thought it was the duty of every proprietor to attend those meetings. Ignorant as he confessed himself to be on this subject, he could not help saying,

that it appeared strange to him why the Company's marine at Bombay, which had done good service, had not been employed instead of his Majesty's ships. The Burmese had no seventy-fours as yet; they possessed no maritime force which the Company's marine could not have attacked and defeated. When the Company were at a great expense in keeping up a local marine, he could not see why they should be saddled with an additional burden for sending his Majesty's ships to the EastIndies, against an enemy who had not a vessel that mounted ten guns. He hoped, before the proceedings were finished, that some gentlemen, better able to speak on the subject than he was, would make their appearance and explain this business; particularly as he had had no opportunity to look at a single paper, or to consult any document which could throw the least light on the subject. In the first place, he wished to know, en passant, whether the proprietors had not a right to examine papers connected with subjects of this kind in their own room. Had they, or had they not, such a right?

The Chairman." If the hon. proprietor wishes for an answer to that question, I will state to him, that whenever papers are called for, and directed to be produced by a vote of this court, they are placed in the room to which the hon. proprietor has alluded, for the inspection of the proprie. tors in general; but it is not customary to place in that room, for the inspection of any proprietor, papers that have not been regularly moved for, and ordered to be laid before the court."

Dr. Gilchrist.-If they came to a decision on this subject without a perusal of the papers, would they, he demanded, be acting like honest men or rational beings? They were first called on to vote, and afterwards they were to inspect the papers. This was what, in his country, was called "Jedburgh justice;" hang the man first, and try him afterwards. The mode of proceeding now adopted appeared to him to be a little preposterous, to say the least of it. He had seen papers placed in the proprietors' room before, on other occasions, and then gentlemen were enabled to know what was coming forward; but to-day, it was impossible to understand correctly what was laid before the court. As he had before observed, the Company were possessed of the Bombay marine, which was kept up at a very large expense; and he understood that they had lately been expending large sums of money to render that force more efficient; now he should be glad to know, whether they could not, in this case, trust to their own force and to their own servants, especially as they had no European marine, French, Dutch, or any other, to contend against? If the Bombay marine were efficient (and, if it

were

were not, it ought to be made efficient), would it not answer every purpose for which it might be wanted in the Burmese war? They certainly could not expect that government should load the country with expense for the protection of the Company's territories; and, when the Indian government went abroad, as it were, for the purpose of grasping at territories that never belonged to the Company, most assuredly the British nation ought not to bear the expense. (Hear!) This additional naval force, as it appeared to him, was to assist the Company in extending their territories, which was one of the greatest evils that could occur in that quarter. Much had been said about Lord Amherst but perhaps he was not so black as he had been represented; and, for his part, he did not wish to attack a man who had not an opportunity of answering for himself. There was a power greater than that even of the Company, and might not that power have sent out orders which compelled Lord Amherst to go to war, and to prosecute the present unfortunate contest? There was one circumstance connected with Lord Amherst's conduct which placed Lord Amherst's public character in a good point of view, and therefore he would notice it. Nothing gave him more pleasure than, when an individual laboured under a prejudice, to endeavour to remove it; and, in the place of that prejudice, to create an impression in his favour. It appeared that Lord Amherst had lately turned over a new leaf, and began to adopt that liberality of sentiment which so highly distinguished the noble lord who had preceded him in the high office of governorgeneral. Though his lordship was not a Caledonian, he was happy to find that he had been seized with the itch for improvement, and that he was doing a great deal for the natives of India. As he had touched on this topic he would just observe, that to confer benefits and extend information amongst the great body of the people, was infinitely better than sending muskets and bayonets against them. By imparting to them a knowledge of arts and sciences they became good subjects to the Company, whilst a course of severity produced the opposite effect. Perhaps he would be encroaching on their time more than he ought to do, if he read all that it was in his power to read-and that from a government gazette, too-with respect to what Lord Amherst had done for the improvement of the natives. It reflected great credit, both on his head and heart; and, when he got over this unfortunate Burmese war, his conduct, in this respect, would perhaps cover a multitude of sins. In furtherance of the object he had in view, he would read one or two paragraphs, after which he would ask a question, and the answer to that question would shape and

regulate his after conduct. In noticing the improvement which had recently been made in society, with a view to the encouragement of the natives, he could not help adverting to the school which was established in 1822, for the instruction of the Hindoos in medical knowledge.

Mr. Carruthers." I can assure the learned doctor that it is with very great unwillingness I rise to order; but I am not to be deterred from doing my duty by what the learned doctor stated just now; namely, that he would not be put down. I think every member of this court has a right to call another to order (should the hon, chairman not do so), if he conceive that the individual is transgressing a cer tain boundary. I have been the more unwilling to interrupt the learned doctor because he has said that he would not suffer himself to be gagged, and I should be sorry to do any thing which might appear unnecessarily strict. The word

gagged' was, I think, incautiously used by the learned doctor; for, so long as I have sat as a proprietor in this court, I never knew any individual to be interrupted who rose to state his opinion fairly."

General Thornton." I rise to call the hon. proprietor to order. Instead of stating in what point the learned doctor was out of order, the hon. proprietor is commenting on a preceding part of the learned doctor's speech."

Mr. Carruthers." I will state my reason for rising to order. The cause is this: in the outset of his argument, the learned doctor stated that he did not mean to follow up his observations with a motion."

Dr. Gilchrist." I said no such thing; but the reverse. I stated that my future conduct would be regulated by the answer I might receive from the chair. On that answer my conduct will entirely depend.".

The Hon. Col. L. Stanhope." Gentlemen opposite are in the habit of calling us on this side of the court to order, and I trust we shall be allowed the same privi lege. Making use of that privilege, I must say that, in the latter portion of what has fallen from the hon. proprietor (Mr. Carruthers), he has neither spoken to the question before the court, nor yet to the question of order."

The Chairman." In this difference of opinion as to the question of order, the short way will be, I think, for me to pronounce my view of the matter from the chair; and I must say, that the line of argument on which the hon. proprietor (Dr. Gilchrist) has entered is entirely out of order with reference to the subject immediately before the court, which is, the naval force of the Company. The obser vations of the hon. proprietor as to Lord Amherst are perfectly irrelevant."

Dr. Gilchrist said those observations were

not