General Conway lamented the fate of the noble lord, who must continue to lie at the mercy of his most inveterate enemies and persecutors, without a possibility of redress, till relieved by orders to be sent from Europe.

Mr. Wombwell rose to explain, and moved, that some of the papers on the table might be read; particularly a copy of the minutes of what passed between lord Pigot and one of the counsellors at Madras, Mr. Floyer, relative to a difference of opinion.

counts transmitted home by Mr. Stratton, of revenging himself upon all who had ofand the other counsellors, who stood in fended him: would you let loose Marius the same predicament. He contended, on the friends of Sylla? It was not a sithat this was evidence not to be contro-tuation desirable for human nature to be verted, or explained away. It was a re- placed in. cord against the parties, the truth and au thenticity of which they could not now dare to appeal from. He said, the effect of this evidence throughout, led to the most certain self-conviction. He gave the highest encomiums on the virtues and military talents of lord Pigot; and was so very able, pointed, convincing, and severe, that several of the members, in a transport of approbation, forgot themselves so far, as to testify it in accents of Bravo! Hear him!-which they accompanied with a clapping of hands [a conduct unprecedented.] He observed, that there was a remarkable deficiency in the House, which shewed the opinion that men in office had of the business. One learned gentleman, the Attorney General, was ill; the next in the law did not chuse to be present, to risk defending such a proceeding as that now condemned; he supposed he too was ill. A noble lord (G. Germain), who was upon every occasion so anxious to discountenance rebellion in the west, might have been supposed an equal enemy to it in the east, but he also was absent. Many, however, as were absent from this dirty business, there were enough, he feared, present, to insure its success.

Mr. Henry Dundas observed, how unparliamentary it was to call on a gentleman for proof of what he said, as if nobody was to advance any thing in that House without proof at hand; and how absurd it was to give the theatrical applause to a gentleman for a ready turn. He remarked, that the resolution of the last court of proprietors was when 700 were present, whereas the preceding one was when there was no more than 500, consequently the last was the genuine opinion; for as to ministerial influence, as he knew not the fact, he could not admit the supposition. The resolution of recalling all, he thought a very wise one, since it was certain they had fallen into many factions; and when once that was the case, no good could be expected from continuing them; besides, the proper enquiry into the transaction could not be had without lord Pigot's assistance here: if it was found he was injured, there were means enough in this country to reward him. Another circumstance was, the impropriety of replacing lord Pigot in a capacity

Mr. Burke said, he had been twice on his legs; first, when the right hon. general spoke; and a second time, when the last hon. gentleman, a chairman of the East India.Company, stood up, to move for the reading of the papers. From that gentleman's situation, and his means of knowing the true state of affairs in India, he expected to have heard something interesting on the subject, and accordingly relinquished his turn; but now that he disappointed that expectation, by forbearing to say a syllable, but to read papers which were open to every member, he was in the judgment of the committee, whether he had not a right to be heard.

Mr. Wombwell replied, that he did not mean to fatigue the committee, with reading a voluminous state of facts already known. He only pointed to a particular circumstance which he asserted in debate, and was called upon by the gentlemen on the other side to prove: and wished, therefore, it might now be corroborated by the minutes taken in council at the very time the matter happened; and that in the presence of the parties. It was a collateral proof; it would confirm the conversation which, he asserted, had passed. clerk began to read; and the House began to be noisy.]

[The

Mr. Burke again rose, and urged his former plea for being heard, in preference to the papers now reading. He said, it was impossible to contend further, the hon. gentleman was in possession; if, however, he intended by that means to tire and thin the House, he was, for his part, contented to wait till all the heavy folios now lying on the table were read through; and, to prepare himself for the task, would send for his night-cap.-[Here a cry of

go on, go on !]
ceeded, and in answer to Mr. Dundas, he
affirmed, that lord Pigot was a man of too
nice a sense of honour to accept of any
salvo it was in the power of administration
to bestow; even though they covered him
with ribbons and court favours, instead of
a single ribbon and a pension. He ob-
served, that he never heard of so extraor-
dinary a species of proof, as what the hon.
gentleman who moved for the reading of
the papers produced. He asserted a fact
of lord Pigot's ill treatment of the council,
and in order to prove it, he reads a letter
from one of the council, that is, from the
party, which is another assertion of the
same thing. There's proof for you! But
it may be complete and substantial, ac-
cording to the ideas which he recommends
to the great body he is at the head of.
However, what the gentleman thinks, or
what he so proves, is of very little conse-
quence in this business. But the learned
gentleman (Mr. Dundas) has attempted
to reply to some of the ablest orations that
ever were heard in this or any other as-
sembly. The learned gentleman's argu-
ment for recalling the whole body, be-
cause factions had broken out among
them, was, in his judgment, the most fri-
volous imaginable. If this was to be
adopted as a rule of conduct, which it
must be, as the argument clearly went to
that, all governors and their councils must
be recalled as soon as factions broke out,
which would be preposterous. If this
mode of reasoning was good, the governor
general of Bengal and his council, should
be recalled, since there were the most out-
rageous factions among them; accusing
each other of the most enormous crimes.
Why not recall them? The hon. gentle-
man knew better; for Mr. Hastings had
the nabob of Arcot for his friend; a most
powerful friend in the court and ministry
of England; so powerful, that for himself,
if he wanted any favour of great magni-
tude, he knew of no canvasser he should
so much wish for as that nabob. This
same prince of the Carnatic, who, it was
plain, would soon be our master in all
those territories, would be delighted to
hear the doctrine laid down by the learned
gentleman, that governors, &c. are to be
recalled when factions arise in their coun-
cils; for he would never find the least dif-
ficulty in bribing a majority, the moment
a governor should be hardy enough to op-
pose his will: his treasures would at once
secure factions, and factions would secure

Mr. Burke then pro- | his recall, which would be a very pretty
situation for any governor and council to
be in. The learned gentleman's other ar-
guments of not restoring lord Pigot for
fear of his revenge, was of the same com-
plexion. It was surprizing so learned a
gentleman should use no arguments but
what went too far; they proved so much,
that they tumbled all proof about his ears.
So a governor is to be illegally, cruelly,
and without any adequate reason, deposed,
imprisoned, and his life threatened, by a
bribed, corrupted council, and you are not
to restore him, lest he then uses his power
without moderation! Was there ever so
farcical a system! that the principle of
doing mischief was to be maintained, and
its consequences endured, lest by disarm-
ing the authors, and restoring authority to
its rightful possessors, you might run the
risk of having it exerted too rigidly on the
delinquents. If this was logic, there was
at once an end of law and justice.

He

Lord North treated the power of the nabob of Arcot, his intrigues in India and England, and the arts of his agents and ambassadors, as the ideal, ill-founded suggestions of ill informed or designing men. He represented the nabob as a needy, miserable, ill-treated, dependent prince, without power, protection, or internal resources; and therefore, totally unable to either influence or bribe; totally incapable of persuading, by motives of fear, or through the means of influence or corruption. defended the recall of lord Pigot, and said, his lordship had expressly broke through the late Act for regulating the affairs of the Company, which likewise annexes the punishment to the breach of it. That Act said, "That any governor, or other officer, civil or military, who shall accept of any present after such a day, shall forfeit double the value, and be incapable ever after of serving the Company." This was the letter of the Act, and his lordship had most certainly incurred the penalty and the consequence.

It was not a question concerning the malum in se; whether accepting the tea service was or was not a crime. It was a mere question respecting the malum prohibitum. Had his lordship offended, or not? Clearly, therefore, in that narrow view of the question, distinct from every collateral consideration, he did not see how it could remain a subjectof debate for an instant, whether his lordship was longer eligible to serve the Company in any civil or military capacity..

Mr. Dempster said, the noble lord's ar

gument was a mere quibble, applied to the case of lord Pigot, and the character and situation of the donor. He attributed the whole of the troubles at Madras to the intrigues and corrupt arts the nabob used to raise a faction against his lordship, both here and in India.

Mr. Macdonald allowed, that there were strong reasons to believe the council were influenced by corruption; but as there was no direct or substantial proof before the House, the House could only equitably judge according to the proofs on the table, which in his opinion fully justified the resolutions of the general court.

The Committee divided; ayes 67, noes 90. A motion was then made, That the chairman do now leave the chair, which was agreed to without a division. So that the Resolutions were lost.

Debate in the Commons on the Servants' Tax.] May 26. In a Committee of the whole House on the Servants' Tax Bill,

6

to Great Britain, do beseech him to use that influence he so deservedly possesses with his gracious sovereign, to induce him to offer such terms to the deluded Americans, as may regain not only their obedience, but affections; to intreat him to employ his faithful servants, sir William and lord Howe, as ambassadors rather than warriors, as ministers of peace, not as ministers of vengeance. Let the noble lord indulge his own humane disposition, as I trust he will, in following this advice, he will not only meet with the zealous support of an unimportant individual like myself; he will, I am confident, meet with that of a large majority of this House; and what is still more, he will be gratified with the most pleasing of all rewards to a liberal mind, the heart-issuing applause of an approving and grateful nation. 1 profess I am not so sanguine as to expect a revenue from a ravaged and impoverished country; I am not so obstinate as to persist in playing a game, at which I am convinced I must be a loser; I am not so fine a gentleman, as to despise the vulgar adage, which tells us, "It is folly to throw good money after bad;" I am not, therefore, for squandering any more solid British guineas, with the doubtful and distant hope of hereafter obtaining some flimsy American paper; I am not for lavishing more millions in search of a peppercorn, which perchance we never may be able to wring from them. It is, indeed, Sir, a melancholy consideration to those gentlemen who many years ago voted for laying a duty on stamps in America, that in pursuit of that object, unhappily entered into, and fatally persevered in, we are now on the eve of deliberating on a Bill for laying an additional duty on stamps in Great Britain.

Sir Charles Bunbury moved to add, after the word servants,' the words, " of 16 years of age and upwards." In opening his motion, he said, it was impossible to consider of the taxes without turning his mind to the occasion of them. That the American war, though begun upon the justest principles, was no longer justifiable in prudence or in policy; that he thought it necessary before the close of the session to declare his opinion upon this important subject, lest administration should be misled, and imagine that all those who, like himself, had supported government in this unhappy contest, were of the declared and uncontradicted opinion of that hon. member, a brother country gentleman (Mr. Vyner) who, on the day the army was voted, had conjured the noble lord (North) to remember that taxation was the object of the war; that in hopes of forcing the Americans to contribute to the public burthen, he then voted for the large number of troops proposed, and would give 13s. in the pound, rather than consent to any peace, if that object was not obtained. I, Sir, (said sir Charles) who am, I flatter myself, as zealous a friend to government and my country as the hon. gentleman, who have as high an opinion of the abilities and good intentions of the noble lord at the head of administration, do implore him, not to re-vocate, and trust, if he be not entitled to member, but forget the object of the war; and being convinced, that a continuation of this disastrous contest must be ruinous

It is a mortifying reflection to other gentlemen, who have been led to support this ruinous war, from an idea that the honour and dignity of the country required it; that in attempting to maintain national dignity, they are driven to the necessity of lowering the dignity of the individual man, and that by the proposition of the noble lord now before us, that proud animal is made a taxable commodity, and reduced to the humiliating level of salt, soap, and candles. For man, in this oppressed state, I stand up a feeble but zealous ad

favour, he will at least have the same measure of justice as his fellow-sufferers, salt and candles; and that an ounce of him