promptitude, a discretion was not vested in the court of directors, to afford such assistance as circumstances seemed to demand. That discretion was recognized, when they advanced a sum of money in aid of the subscription for the relief of the Spitalfield weavers, and on several other occasions. Would it, he asked, he right, when assistance was called for on the moment, for the executive body, unmindful of that discretion, to demur, and to put off those whose case required immediate notice, by observing, "We must decliue interfering, until we have made a reference to the court of proprietors?"(Hear! hear ) It became a great body, like the East-India Company, whenever their aid was called for in support of an ordinary charity, or to assist the relatives of the heroes who had fallen at Waterloo, to act with promptness as well as with diberality.

Mr. Howorth approved of that discretion to which the hon. chairman had adverted, being vested in the court of directors; and he believed, that from begin. ning to end, it had been used in a way honorable to the Company, and serviceable to the interests of humanity and justice. (Hear! hear!) But, though it was quite necessary, on the spur of the occasion, that the executive body should exercise this discretion, before a majority of the proprietors could be called on to give their assent, yet it appeared to him, that the directors should afterwards procure the sauction of the general court for what they had done.

The resolution was then agreed to.

The motions for coufirming the resolutions of the court of directors, granting pensions to Captain John Coggan, late master-attendant; Mr. John Holland, late freight accomptant; Alr. Peter Frost, late pepper warehouse-keeper; Mr. Robert H. Peart, clerk, secretary's office; Mr. J. M. Neale, ditto; and Mr. W. Marter, clerk, accomptant's office were agreed to without observation.

On the Chairman moving " That the court do confirm the resolution of the court of directors, of the 1st of February 1815, granting a pension of £350, from the fee-fund, to Mr. W. Coward an elder.".

Mr. Hume said, he did not rise to oppose the proposition then before the court; but he thought the present a fair opportunity for making a few observations connected with a subject of very great interest and importance. It was a pleasure to be called upon to concur in any plan to alleviate the distress of deserving individuals; and he took it for granted that the court of directors, in awarding those pensions, had been actuated by the purest and noblest feelings. But when they looked to the situation of their ser

vants at home, of those who owed their all to the servants abroad; when they considered that the Company owed so much to those servants, who were toiling for them in the East, he did think it right that some attention should be paid to the wants of individuals who forwarded their interests in India, and that some effort should be made to see how far the Company could alleviate their distresses. He knew that this was a delicate subject, because it interfered with their agents abroad, he meant at the factories ; but when a very extraordinary increase had taken place in the military department, great beyond any thing that was imagined, he thought the subject which he now pressed on the attention of the court should not be passed by unnoticed. He hoped the Company would make some provision for very old servants, who had passed most of their days in India; who had, in consequence, lost all their early friends there, and who had but little opportunity of communicating with this country. It was a most dreadful thing for a man, after thirty-five or forty years residence there, to be abandoned to penury and wretchedness. If something were set aside from their patronage, to reward those ancient servants who had laboured for them in India, it would produce effects incalculably beneficial. He now held in his hand a petition which the forms of the court did not permit him to state before.

The Chairman, to order, "The subject the hon. proprietor is now discussing, has not the least bearing on the question before the court."

Mr. Hume thought the subject was one connected with considerations of humanity, as it related to rewards given to their servants, in the decline of life, for past exertions; and the observations he had made (which it rested with the directors themselves to attend to or not), were of a similar character. He held in his hand a petition to the Duke of York, given in only a week ago, by an old servant of the Company, praying for an ensigncy for his son. Now this might be prevented, if they would set apart some of their military patronage.

The Chairman, to order-" The question before the court is totally distinct and separate from that which the hon. proprietor is discussing."

Mr. Hume said, the question related to rewards for services; and all he had to state, connected with it, was, the lamanity and propriety of setting aside a part of their military patronage for the benefit of those individuals, whose services in India precluded the possibility of their having access to any person here who could assist them. The individual to whom he had alluded had thirteen children, all

grown up, and had been thirty-six years in the service, and he might be dismissed from it in a moment, without any provision. He did not mean to submit any motion on the subject, but he hoped the practice would not be in future as it had heretofore been, one which excluded all general application from cadets abroad. His object in making those remarks was to impress on the directors, in the present abundance of patronage, the necessity of setting some portion of it apart for the purpose he had mentioned. He had himself served for several years as a military man, and he had known very many cases in which such assistance was greatly wanted. He considered it an act of justice towards those persons who had been long in their service, that something should be done for them.

The resolution was then agreed to. After which the confirmation of the grant of £300 per ann. to Lady Winterton, widow of the late accomptant general, was carried unanimously.

The Chairman-"I have uow to acquaint the court, that it is also met to confirm the resolution of the general court of the 17th ult. approving and confirming the resolution of the court of directors of the 28th August, 1816, appointing Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Bryce, on the retired list of the Fort St. George establishment, as a military assistant to the auditor, at a salary of £300 per annum.

The question having been put.

Mr. Hume said, he felt it to be part of his duty to make a few observations on this appointment. He did not rise to oppose the nomination of Col. Bryce, but to observe on the circumstances under which it took place. He was quite at a loss to conceive why a military officer should be selected to do the duties of the audit office. If he were correct, the duties of that office were connected with mere matters of accompts; and, in his view of the subject, no better person than a good accomptant could have been placed in the situation. The present auditor was not, he believed, a military man, nor did he know that any military man had been employed in this department, from the earliest period down to the present time, except in the instance then before them. Why Colonel Bryce, who had retired on a pension for upwards of eight years, was selected to transact business of this nature, he could not imagine. The hon. Deputy Chairman, at the last meeting, stated that the directors were under the necessity of placing an individual in an office in that house who had not been reared up in it, because there was not talent enough within doors to fill the situation. This was the ground which he Asiatic Journ.-No. 28.

stated for deviating from an established rule. Now he would ask of the hon. Deputy Chairman, whether he meant to say that, amongst three hundred servants not a man could be found possessing abilities sufficient to act in that office? or was he to understand, that there were amongst them persons possessing the requisite talents, but that, being employed in other departments, they could not be transferred without injury to the service?

The Deputy Chairman-" I believe the hon. proprietor has answered the question himself, by his last supposition. Although there is much talent in the house, it cannot be spared from the departments in which it is now employed, without retarding and embarrassing the Company's service.

Mr. Hume received this explanation with pleasure, because it removed from the minds of the officers of that house the belief that a most unmerited statement had been made respecting them, for whether it arose from misapprehension or not he could not say, but the expression he alluded to had been felt as a most unfair observation by those to whom it related. If the fact were that the house did not afford sufficient abilities, the fault would lie with the directors themselves, because it was their duty to see that, in the different departments, men of industry and talents were employed. There was another part of the subject on which he would now offer a few remarks: since the last general court he had been informed, that a gentleman of the name of Grant had been appointed assistant examiner of India correspondence. He understood that Mr. Grant never was in the Company's service, either at home or abroad. How the appointment of a person of that description could be justified, he was completely at a loss to imagine. It was, with one exception, the most novel proceeding, the most unjust act to their servants, and the most improper use of the power placed in the hands of the directors, that he had ever heard of, and he wondered they were hardy enough to venture on it. Whether the individual in question was pressed on the executive body by the board of control, or forced on them by the autho rity of an individual director, he knew not; but of this he was certain, that the appointment was contrary to the system long pursued in their service. The established system was, to proceed by seniority-to arrive successively at different, ranks, by a regular course of gradation. The officers of that house, who had been trained from their early youth in the differeut departments to which they belonged, and who consequently were well acVOL. V. 3 D

quainted with the duties they had to discharge, naturally looked forward to promotion. Impelled by the hope of advancement, all their energies were called forth; but if those who ought to protect them, violated the salutary plans that were formed for their benefit; if they foisted on them new persons, individuals unknown in the house, they would destroy that confidence between the employer and the employed, which never should be lost sight of, and while they cut the ground from under their servants feet, they would most assuredly injure themselves. Such conduct would paralyse all the efforts of their servants; it would destroy all their energies, and produce effects ruinous to the interests of the Company. He would now consider the subject in another point of view. He would consider it as a constitutional question. Patronage was placed in the hands of the directors for public purposes. It was imparted to them for the public good, and he would maintain, that for the use or abuse of that patronage they were accountable to the public. If, then, in the disposal of that patronage, they violated, in this instance, the established system that was formed for the benefit of their servants, what was to prevent them from doing so in others? If they themselves violated that established system which was interwoven with the administration of their concerns; if they deviated from that rule of precedence and succession, in consequence of their anxiety to preserve which the legislature had found it necessary to introduce a special clause of provision; how could they refuse an application from those who were in power, to sanction another infringement of that system? With what proprie ty could they, if they were to-morrow called on to appoint persons to situations in their home service, who had not been bred in the house, but who had powerful interest, decline acceding to the request? They could not say, it is contrary to the rule of our service," for they had broken it. They could not say, "it is not in our power to infringe the rule," for they had already broken in upon it. If they pursued this course in the exercise of their patronage, they would, long before their charter had expired, feel the deepest regret that they had so proceeded.

The Chairman" With respect to Mr. Alexander Grant, I must distinctly state to the court, that his appointment did not take place in consequence of any influence exercised by the board of commissioners, who never heard of his name; neither was it effected by the power or authority of any individual director. The necessity of the case called for a man of peculiar talents; such a man was sought for, and the abilities alone of Mr. Grant recommended him to the situation. On this ground,

and on this ground only, did the appointment take place.. I never, to my knowledge, saw this, gentleman; but some of my colleagues were acquainted with his abilities, and will probably speak of them. I, and the directors in general, are exceedingly alive to the interests of the Company's servants on the whole of the establishment, and it gives us great pain when any new person is introduced amongst them; but we are bound to see the important trust committed to our hands, ably and faithfully discharged. It occurred, on this occasion, that there was a want of talent properly to perform the duties of the department, and it was found necessary to look out of doors for an efficient assistant, When I say this, I do not mean to insinuate that abilities are scarce within our walls. There are a great many persons in the house perfectly capable of filling the situation alluded to, but they are all usefully employed, and could not be withdrawn from the offices they now act in without great detriment to the service."

Mr. Hume said, he was sure the court would feel the force of the observations made by the hon. Chairman. He, however, differed from him with respect to some points. Nineteen persons out of twenty must see, that the title given to Colonel Bryce was, in itself, an incongruity; for, if he understood rightly, that gentleman was to take from the auditor all the military details. Colonel Bryce was accustomed to the business of the field, and the auditor-general was skilled in accounts. He believed, from the intimation he had received, that Colonel Bryce was to take from the auditor-general those military details which at present interfered with his other duties; and he did think, that if any department in the house required attention and efficiency more particularly than another, it was the military department. The grand advantage of military transactions was, that they were quick and summary. were not delayed by the forms which impeded other branches, and if sometimes this hurry occasioned acts of injustice, it more often led to speedy relief. The attention to expedition, in answering the military details of India, had not been such as the case required. When, therefore, an attempt was made to increase the celerity of their proceedings, he felt much pleased at it, and concurred in the appointment, although he doubted the utility of having so many different establishments. He hoped the systems pursued in other great military establishments would be considered, and a useful lesson borrowed from them. He had had time and opportunity for inquiring how affairs were managed at the Horse Guards, and he found that there but one department ex

They

isted. He was convinced, that superior expedition would be the result of a certain division-that of having one officer to preside over the foreign, and another over the home transactions, as he had mentioned at the last court. But, as the business was now conducted, he thought the various references they had from different individuals, and the multitude of representations which they must receive relative to an army of two hundred thousand men, took up much of the time of the court of directors, which would be prevented by the adoption of the system he recommended. He therefore hoped, that, as the directors were now employing officers connected with the military service, they would, while they were about making alterations, introduce the division that he had described, which would silence all complaints from abroad on the subject of delay. He knew, that if they employed talent, they must pay for it, and he would not wish to restrain the liberality of the Company, although he was sensible that excessive salaries never produced adequate services. There was a medium which should be followed in this, as well as in other transactions. He trusted the directors would apply their minds to this subject; and that they would so arrange the civil and military details, that persons coming to their house for information, would at once know where to seek for it. There did, however, appear to him to be a considerable degree of inconsistency in the course adopted by the directors in the two appointments to which he had called the attention of the court. In the first instance, Colonel Bryce, merely because he had been in India, was selected to superintend the military details; in the next, Mr. Grant was appointed assistant examiner of their civil correspondence with India, although he had never been in that country. It was strange that local information and experience had not been looked to, in making an appointment of that description. Instead of selecting an individual acquainted with India, and therefore, more capable of carrying on their civil correspondence with effect, they had most inconsistently appointed a gentleman who never was in İndia, and who had not been brought up in the service. He thought, if they wished to serve themselves efficiently, they could have found many individuals, whose length of service in India, and whose habits of business, would have fitted them to execute the line of duty entrusted to Mr. Grant in the most exemplary man

ner.

It would have been a less invidious proceeding, if one of their servants, so brought up, had been appointed, instead of introducing an individual, entirely a stranger to their affairs, as he understood

was the case with Mr. Grant. He hoped the pledge given by an hon. director now before him (Mr. Grant), who, in 1809, declared his disapprobation of introdu-› cing strangers on their establishment, would be redeemed. That hon. director declared at that time," that though, owing to necessity, persons were then introduced, who had not previously been in the house, yet proper care would be taken to prevent a recurrence of such a circumstance, by placing individuals in training, to fill any future vacancies." He (Mr. H.) knew that persons could not, on the moment, be found, to fill the correspondence department. It required that an individual who attempted it should undergo a proper training; and what he complained of was, that when those strangers were introduced, individuals were not taken from other offices and put into a course of instruction to fit them for that difficult situation. It could not be possible to suppose, after the testimony borne by the hon. Chairman to the merits of their servants, that there were not young men in the different departments, who might, four, five, or six years ago, have been trained up, so as to prevent the necessity of appointing Mr. Grant. If, however, the directors had neglected this precaution, and persons could not be found suited to such situations, as the duty must be done, it was necessary to look elsewhere for the necessary abilities. But they ought now to look forward to a wiser course-a course that would prevent a series of dangerous innovations on their system; and he hoped, while the court agreed to the appointment of Col. Bryce, they would, in justice to the servants of that house, and to their own credit, form a barrier against the introduc tion of strangers by adopting the plan which he recommended.

Mr. Grant (the director) said, the concluding observations of the hon. proprie tor in a manner obliged him to offer himself to the court for a few moments. He believed that the obervation of his, to which the hon. proprietor had alluded, was this, viz:-" that the court of directors would have talent in the India house, let them find it wherever they might." He could not, at this distance of time, recollect the exact expression, but something to this effect was certainly said. He had always felt, and had remarked, during a long series of years, that there was no man in that house, whose abilities were not employed to the best advantage. When talents were developed, the individual possessing them placed in that situation where they could be most beneficially exerted. The force of any peculiar talent was not always discovered until the individual possessing it was settled in some appropriate situation,

was