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By the St. George, Captain Swainson, for Calcutta :-Col. Brooks; Capts. Applin and Martin; Lieuts. Hughes and Shiel; Messrs. Willis, Earl, Ingholm, Bellares, Sellars, M'Garth, and Boyd; Messdames Brookes, Applin, Bush, and servant; Misses Brookes, (2) Finden, and servant, and Cassiday.

THE ORIENTAL HERALD.

No. 68.-AUGUST, 1829.-VOL. 22.

MR. PLAYFAIR'S DEFENCE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY-
MONOPOLY OF THE CHINA TRADE.*

THE nearer we approach to the great question of Eastern commerce and dominion, which must soon be discussed in Parliament, the more we are impressed with the immense weight of the task which we have undertaken, and the responsibility attached to its conscientious discharge. Placed, as we are, at the bar of the British public, the avowed, earnest, uncompromising advocates of the rights and liberties, the peace, happiness, and prosperity of our Indian fellow-subjects, pledged to demonstrate the utter incorrigible theoretic inaptitude of the system, under which they are doomed to live, and the urgent necessity of commencing a zealous, active, and vigorous reform; the revolution of every new month adds to the strong sense of duty which animates our efforts, an imperious conviction of increasing obligation, under which nothing but the consciousness of unimpeachable motives, and the approving encouragement of the true friends of human improvement could possibly sustain us.

To enlarge the means of enjoyment, and accelerate the progress of social happiness at home, by unfolding the boundless resources and capabilities of the East; to open to those whose benevolence is perpetually seeking occasions of philanthropic employment, a field of unlimited promise and extent; to place before the Legislature and people of England, a true representation of the cruel, heartless, unprincipled system of Indian rule, which not only in the immediate sphere of its exercise, but from one extremity of Asia to the other, has rendered the British name an object of opprobrium, detestation, and contempt; these are the exalted objects for which, spite of the discountenance of power, and the discouragement of

Remarks on the East India Company's Charter, as connected with the interests of this country, and the general welfare of India.' Oriental Herald, Vol. 22.

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popular indifference, we have not feared to toil, and in which, while the present iniquitous system continues, we are determined to persevere.

In the course of the protracted struggle, the successful issue of which may already in the distance be descried, it has not escaped us, that many, knowing no standard of estimation but the mean, sordid, unworthy considerations by which their own conduct may be regulated, have presumed to insinuate doubts as to the purity of the motives which actuate the determined opposition by which this work has for some time checked the extravagancies, exposed the oppressions, and controlled the despotism of the East India Company. It is easy for those who would gladly escape from our scrutiny, to patch the veil which we have rent asunder, and again shroud themselves in impenetrable darkness; to discredit our authority, and find reasons for our zeal, in the suggestion of private pique, or the reminiscences of personal injury. These are not, we boldly affirm, the stimulants of our hostility, nor is there any colour for the pretence in the manner of its conduct. Were it otherwise, the victims of unconstitutional power are surely good evidence of its excesses, the sufferers of abuse deserve, at least, as much credit as its abettors. Our Indian Government is, in its best state, a grievance. It is necessary that the correctives should be uncommonly vigorous, and the work of men, sanguine, warm, and even impassioned in the cause.' That we are warm and impassioned in the cause, why should we deny? So were Burke, Fox, Sheridan, Grenville, and the rest of the long list of illustrious men, who have embraced, and still avow their principles; principles, the truth and justice of which is demonstrated by the continued experience of the utter incapacity of the Company, the increasing confusion of their affairs, and the hopeless wretchedness of the people of India.

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It is, indeed, much to be regretted, that a question in which such a multitude of various and important considerations are involved, cannot be settled by a fair and liberal understanding between the Government and the Company; it is lamentable to observe the pertinacity with which the latter cling to their exorbitant privileges, and the obstacles they oppose to every suggestion of useful reform. That the people at the India House are intimately acquainted with every branch of their complicated system, that they are aware of the injurious effects produced by it in their own dominions, and the impediments which it presents to the full development of the resources of this country, might be proved by innumerable citations from their correspondence with the King's Government at home, and with their own in Asia. If the familiarity with Indian details which they possess, and the ability and experience of their servants were employed to inform the conscience, and direct the deliberations of the legislature; if they would abandon their character of partizans, and enter into a generous and patriotic

alliance for the public good, then, indeed, the difficulties which embarrass this question would disappear, we would gladly modulate our tone to their altered temper, and instead of an angry contest, we might hope for a calm, dispassionate and temperate inquiry. Unfortunately, however, the supposed interests of the respective litigants are so various and discordant, that a consummation devoutly to be wished, seems scarcely attainable. The battle, we fear, will be fought, as hitherto; every inch of the ground disputed, every stratagem which practised ingenuity can devise, employed; skilful disputants will be engaged to discolour and distort; ponderous folios abstracted, to mystify and conceal; alleged experience will discredit unanswerable argument, every fact be met with peremptory contradiction. Thus it was in 1813, between Mr. Rickards and Mr. Grant, and thus, no doubt, it will be again. But time has refuted the prophecies of the latter, and the assertions of Mr. Rickards have been more than proved. Mr. Grant was a dexterous and plausible advocate; forty years of almost uninterrupted official service, had rendered his own defence identical with that of the Company's policy, and he will be admitted to have conducted it with ability and zeal. Had he lived, however, until now, he must have yielded to the testimony of facts and figures, which the experience of the last fifteen years affords; and surely it would have been as painful to him to reflect on the indiscriminate resistance which he opposed to every innovation, as it must now be satisfactory to Mr. Rickards, to witness the full reality of his anticipations. Indeed, the points at issue are too momentous to be made the instruments of party objects or personal aggrandizement. Twenty years hence, pre-engagements, pre-possessions, promises and pledges, will be poor apologies for the neglect of the duty of today. When the advantages now derivable from extended intercourse with Asia, shall have been lost by our mismanagement or indifference, when our industrious artisans and manufacturers shall pine in hopeless misery and want, when civil war shall convulse our Indian Empire, and the hopes of civilization and Christianity vanish with the power and influence of England, the recollection of pensioned relatives, and the enjoyment of corrupt emolument, will afford but meagre consolation to the authors of such aggravated ruin.

A pamphlet has recently been published by a gentleman of the name of Playfair,' entitled, Remarks on the East India Company's Charter, as connected with the interests of this country and the general welfare of India.' The object of the writer is to prove that the existing system of Indian government cannot be surpassed, and that the commercial Monopoly is at least as beneficial to the country as to the Company itself. We must do Mr. Playfair the justice to say, that though sufficiently positive and dogmatical, he conducts the discussion with temper and moderation; and if the ability of his arguments were at all commensurate with his zeal, he

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