done to weaken this case. On the contrary, many circumstances had arisen to strengthen it; and the only thing by which it could be said to be weakened at all was, the conduct of Capt. Charretie himself, in not having applied at an earlier period to the Court of Proprietors for that which the Board of Control seemed indisposed to grant. But the Court was now appealed to, and he would ask them whether they were inclined to support the Court of Directors in their resolution? (Hear!) Did they think that the Directors had sufficiently investigated this case? If they were of opinion that the resolution of the Court of Directors was a proper one, then he asked them to support the case of this unfortunate officer, and to concur with the Court of Directors in that resolution. His only wish was that justice should be done to this individual, who had been shut out from his claim to compensation by circumstances not under his own control, except by not having taken means to bring it before the Court at an earlier period. He did not think it was necessary for him to trouble the Court further, but if any hon. proprietor wished for any further documents or information, he should be ready to supply him with all that was in his possession, in order to strengthen the claims of so good and respectable a man. Before moving the resolution of which he had given notice, he begged to hand in the testimony of various officers as to the opinion they entertained of Capt. Charretie, and the testimony of various owners of ships, who were ready to state their willingness and determination to give that gentleman the command of a ship, within the limited time. (Hear, hear!) If the Court of Directors were supported by the Court of Proprietors, all difficulty on the part of the Board of Control would be done away with, The hon. proprietor then proposed the following motion :

That this Court, having considered the case of Capt. Charretie, declares its full and entire concurrence with the resolution of the Court of Directors, held the 2nd September, 1835, in favour of Capt. Charretie's claim, that, as a special case, he is entitled to the maritime compensation pension of £200 per annum, and that the Court of Directors be requested to take the necessary steps for carrying this resolution into effect.

Mr. Fielder, in rising to second the motion, said, he never rose with more pleasure than in this case, in having to support the cause of an unfortunate son of the ocean. He thought it right, in the first instance, that he should call the attention of the Court to that resolution by which a commander in the East-India Company's service was entitled to receive £200 a year out of the compensation fund, if he had been actually employed within a period of five years preceding the 28th of August, 1833. It was no fault on the part of this unfortunate commander that he was not in receipt of that £200 a year; it was no fault, he said, of that gentleman that he had not been actually employed in the service within the limited period. The next thing was that, in addition to that, there was a prospective provision arising from the dropping in of annuities which was appropriated to officers who did not come under the general rule for compensation. The reason that Capt. Charretie did not serve ten years was owing to no fault of his own, but to his having been burnt out of one the Company's own ships. He would appeal to the Committee of Finance on that subject, and ask them whether that was not fully proved. It was unnecessary, therefore, to say more upon that point. He did not mean to rely upon other circumstances relating to this unfortunate gentleman's case, but he would just observe that Capt. Charretie was formerly in possession of £300 a year, which he lost by the death of his wife, and that, during the time he was in the East-India Company's service, he had met with a loss of not less than £20,000. It was true that that did not arise from any thing for which the Company was answerable; but he mentioned these circumstances to shew that the whole life of this gentleman was not a "Comedy of Errors," but a Tragedy of Troubles." The directors had looked upon this case with that humanity which characterized the whole of their conduct in regard to the maritime as well as other affairs of the Company. They referred the case to their Financial and Home Committee. That Committee looked into every document, closely investigated the whole of the case, and solemnly determined that this was a special case, and that Capt. Charretie was entitled to receive

66

They

£200 a year compensation, commencing from the 22nd April, 1834. made their report, but the directors did not pin their faith upon that report of the Financial and Home Committee. They considered the whole of the documents-looked into the case for themselves, and considered it over and over again. He did not wish to speak but with the greatest respect of the late Board of Commissioners. He thought that every board, however mistaken he might consider its conduct, was entitled to the greatest respect; but he was very sorry to be obliged to say, that the late Board of Commissioners did that which no other board or any committee of any public department in the country ever did before. They came to a strong resolution on the subject, but gave not a single reason whatever for their decision. The Court knew that the highest tribunal in the land, the House of Lords, never came to a decision without assigning a reason for it. It was the same in all Courts of Equity, in the Court of Admiralty, and all the Ecclesiastical Courts. In fact, no other board or committee, than the late Board of Commissioners, ever came to a decision without giving their reason for that decision. He could not agree with that line of conduct, although he would admit the truth of the old Scotch proverb, that their reasons might be very good and yet their judgments might be very bad. Why should the Board of Commissioners come to a decision directly against the unanimous decision of the Board of Directors without assigning a reason for doing so? But he would not take up the time of the Court farther. The decision of the Court of Directors was so strongly in favour of this unfortunate gentleman's case (and it was not a hasty decision), that he should weaken the appeal if he occupied more of their time than to add, that he was sure no hand would be held up in that Court against this claim of Capt. Charretie. In conclusion, he would repeat, that he never stood forward to support any case with such conscientious good feeling as he did this. (Hear, hear !)

The Court

Mr. Weeding said, that having taken rather a prominent part respecting the compensation fund, of which this formed a claim, he would trouble the Court with a very few observations upon this subject. He thought that the main ground in favour of Capt. Charretie's claim was, that the error had lain with the East-India Company, not with himself. When this gentleman was last in command of the Bombay, and employed in the service, it was in the year 1828, so as to be within a few months of the five years ending in August, 1833. He was certainly in command of another ship in 1829, but he was not dismissed from his former service. It appeared that there had been a quarrel between some of his officers and certain military officers on board his ship, the Bombay; an inquiry took place into his conduct, in India, and he was acquitted, after a due investigation, of every part of the charge. of Directors wished to review that inquiry on his arrival in this country. so; but took up more time for the purpose than they should have done. guilty then of delay; and, because the fault was with them, it was right that they should give every support they could to this unfortunate gentleman, who would, but for their delay, have been legally within the time they had prescribed as to the limit for their compensation. He was acquitted by them, but they had made him lose his legal right to the compensation which he now claimed. He might also add, that when Capt. Charretie was in Bengal, he had been considered the most proper person to take the superior command of one of the Company's ships, and had saved £10,000 worth of property which was entrusted to him, by his diligent and praiseworthy exertions. (Hear!)

They did

They were

The Chairman said, there was no objection on the part of the Court of Directors to the motion.

Major Oliphant said, it appeared to him that every military man who was subjected to a court of inquiry, and acquitted, would be entitled to his rank and pay during the time he was under that inquiry. In the same way, then, Capt. Charretie having been placed, he might say, upon his trial within the prescribed period, and acquitted, was justly entitled, in his opinion, to this allowance, and that he did not ask it as a favour, but as a matter of right..

Sir R. Campbell fully acquiesced in the opinion that Capt. Charretie was legally entitled to compensation.

Mr. Twining considered it desirable that this resolution should go up to the Board of Control with a very strong expression of the unanimous feeling on the part of the Court, and he had the greatest pleasure in giving his concurrence to the motion which had been so ably brought forward, because he thought that there were few men whose cases had been under their consideration who, during a long series of adverse circumstances, had displayed more of resolution or judgment in extricating himself from difficulties, and securing the property of others committed to his care, than Capt. Charretie. And he the more readily gave his support to the motion, because he thought it was clear, from the circumstances which had been stated, that Capt. Charretie never could have intended to waver as to his continuing in the service of the Company. Many officers might have made many successful voyages, and might still be anxious to remain in that situation which entitled them to compensation; but in Capt. Charretie's case there was no waver at all; he had always been devoted to the service, and had no other means of supporting his family. It was highly honourable to the Board of Directors that they had come to the resolution which had been quoted upon this subject; and he trusted that, when it came to be considered by the Board of Control, there would be no hesitation in carrying this object into effect.

The motion was then put and carried unanimously.

THE SUTTEE.

Mr. Marriott then rose to bring forward the motion of which he had on a former oceasion given notice, to the effect-" That the hon. Directors be requested, in the case of the suttee which was lately permitted in the territory of the Nizam, and in all cases of a similar nature, to recommend to the foreign rulers the immediate abolition of that inhuman and sanguinary rite, as the same has already been effected in the dominions of the hon. Company." The present motion was founded on the following statement, taken from the Madras United Service Gazette of October last, and which appeared in The Asiatic Journal for December following. The statement ran thus:-" We are surprised to learn from a correspondent at Jaulnah, that a suttee was perpetrated at that station on the 1st inst. We presume, however, that this revolting scene could not have taken place within the limits of the cantonment, since the British authorities would doubtless have interfered to prevent such an infringement of what, thanks to our late Governor-General, has become the law of the land, though unable beyond their own lines to offer any direct interference with the Nizam's subjects. The particulars of this atrocious ceremony we give in the words of our correspondent, as follows:- A rich brahmin died (I believe) on the 30th ult., and on the following morning it was bruited that a suttee would take place in the course of the day, the widow of the deceased having, by the advice of the brahmins, determined on sacrificing herself upon the funeral pyre of her husband. I attended the dreadful spectacle, which was conducted much as described by those who have witnessed the like before. About 3,000 persons were congregated on the occasion. The widow walked round amongst them, distributing her valuables as she passed, and salaaming to the assembled persons. She then walked to the pile of wood, &c., and, seating herself on it, requested to have her husband's head placed in her lap, but this was denied her, and the poor victim was forced to lay herself down by the side of the corpse. The attendant brahmins, however, told her not to attempt the sacrifice if she did not feel equal to support the torture. Her resolution was unchangeable, and she repeated that it was her determination to be a suttee, and that she had no fear of the agony attendant thereon. The woman was then warned against attempting to escape from the pile after the fire should be lighted, as she would be instantly thrown back into the flames by the attendant priests. The wretches were, however, saved all trouble on this particular, as the poor creature, under the extremity of torture, made not an effort even to rise,

and only screamed out,' My God! my God!' until past utterance. Such was the scene enacted at Jaulnah on the 1st inst., a scene disgraceful to the Government that can even give its tacit countenance to such deeds of atrocity." He could not by possibility assume that there could be any opposition offered to his motion; and although he very much regretted the absence of an excellent individual, an hon. member of that body (Mr. Poynder), who had, on a previous day, occupied the attention of the Court with a description of the horrors of the suttee system, in a speech of six hours' duration (hear, hear !), yet he was inclined to think that the subject was too well known to the proprietors to render it necessary for him now to address them at any length, with a view to induce them to support his resolution. (Hear, hear!) The Court was perfectly conversant with the history of the horrid tragedies of sutteeism; but, thank God, and the late Governor of India, Lord W. Bentinck, the system was abolished in our dominions. He trusted that the Court would hasten to urge its abolition also by those native princes over whom their influence extended. He believed that one hon. proprietor present had been upon this particular station, in the Nizam's territory, and could speak as to there being no kind of danger whatever; and as his hon. friend (Mr. Weeding) said, if they would but use their influence, the thing would be put an end to at once. The practice of suttee was very common formerly, as appeared by the papers that were laid before Parliament, which gave the names and castes of 666 of those unfortunate women who annually, on an average of ten years, devoted themselves on the funeral pile. Was that a state of things which could be allowed to continue? But if he were allowed, he would direct the attention of the Court to a work which had been published, containing Grant's remarks in his tracts on the state of Asiatic society. The extract he should read would be found in page 62; and from the facts there put forth, some judg ment might be formed as to the number of scenes of this description which were to be witnessed in the eastern districts. The extract thus proceeded :-" No judgment can be formed of the number from the transactions of this kind occasionally seen about the English settlements; by far the greater part takes place in the interior of the country, out of the view and intelligence of foreigners. Roger, a writer of great credit in the last century, relates that the Kheterees compelled their women to burn, reckoning it a disgrace if their wives were not laid on the funeral pile with them, and that, during his residence at Paliamcotta, a man of distinction of that caste dying, sixty of his wives were burnt alive with his corpse. A Hindu of education stated to a friend of the writer, his conjecture that the victims thus annually burnt in the Bengal provinces amounted to 15,000. The calculation, indeed, seems excessive; yet, if we adopt moderate data, the result will be enormous." Then let him point their attention to the portion of the fourth chapter of the same work, on the question of an inquiry into the measures which might be adopted by Great Britain for the management of Asiatic colonies. The work said: "Supposing it to be in our power to convince them of the criminality of the annual sacrifice of so many human victims on the funeral pile; of the profession of robbery, comprehending murder; of the indulgence of one class of people in the whole catalogue of flagitious crimes, without any adequate punishment; of the forfeiture of the lives of others, according to their institutes, for the merest trifles; of the arbitrary imposition of burdensome rites, devoid of all moral worth ; of the pursuit of revenge by offerings to vindictive deities; of the establishment of lying, false evidence, gaming, and other immoralities, by law; of the pardon of capital offences for money; of trying to purchase the expiation of wilful and habitual iniquity by ceremonial observances; and of the worship of stocks, stones, impure and malevolent deities,-no man living surely would affirm that we ought, that we are at liberty, to withhold from them this conviction." These remarks, he begged to state, were published in the year 1797, but were written in 1792. He rejoiced that much of the reproach that once lay against this corporation had of late years been removed. The question now was, not whether they were endangering their empire by an extensive circulation of the Scriptures there. They had extended to it ecclesiastical and missionary establishments, formed by various sections of the Chris

tian church. The suttee system had been abolished in their own territory; the pilgrim tax had been relinquished; and there had furthermore been an abandonment of revenue from the worship and services of idolatry. (Hear, hear!) It was the observation of Mr. Chaplin, formerly their commissioner in the Deccan, whose object was to keep things as they were, by imputing fanaticism, enthusiasm, and Methodism to all who opposed idolatrous taxation, that "the proposition to abolish the pilgrim tax appears to me too extravagant to have been entertained for a moment by any but weakminded zealots, whose next step would be, to overthrow all the Hindu temples and to erect Methodist conventicles on their ruins." But they did not mean to overthrow Hindu temples. They might fall of themselves, unless that Company attempted to prop and support them. And here he must say, he could not but regret the late awful edict of Lord Auckland, who seemed to have been disposed to fasten upon that body for ever the payment of £6,000 per annum for the support of the pagoda at Juggernaut. He trusted that that subject would, before long, come under the review of the Court. He could not anticipate that any objection would be made to his motion, and therefore he should not take up more time of the Court than to say, that he entered that Court without having applied to any one to second his motion; but he doubted not that it would meet with support, and, he trusted, would pass without any objection on the part of the Court of Directors. (Hear, hear !)

Major Oliphant said, he rose for the purpose of seconding the motion. Having been personally alluded to by the hon. proprietor who had just sat down, as having been Resident at the court of Hyderabad, he would state that he was there for eighteen years; and if his voice were worth any thing in this matter, he begged to say, that his firm belief was, that a single expression, on the part of the Resident, that it was the desire of the British Government to put a stop to sutteeism in the Nizam's dominions, would have the effect they wished for. It was a Mussulman government, but the actual ruler of the state was the Hindu minister, Chundoo Loll; and that individual was as much a creature of our will as if an Englishman had the rule of government. He therefore stated, that an expression from the Resident to the rajah would for ever put a stop to the suttee. If they wanted any thing for their own benefit, as it would be to the prejudice of the Nizam, they could not ask it; but when it was to put a stop to this most inhuman custom,-and which he believed the natives themselves would gladly get rid of, if it were not for shame of acting contrary to the opinions of brahmans,-it was their bounden duty to use with discretion the power and influence which they possessed; and if they did so, he had no doubt that the object would be attained.

The motion was then put from the chair, when

Mr. Weeding rose and said, that he could not doubt that that Court would agree to exert its influence over all the native princes of India, as well as those who were under their control, to put a stop to this most horrible practice. (Hear!) It was now fourteen years since, in that Court, after a long debate the gentlemen on the other side of the bar concurred with gentlemen without the bar in recommending to the Government of India to put an end to the practice of sutteeism. That was in 1828. No sooner was that resolution come to, than Lord William Bentinck, then Governor-General of India, took the subject seriously into his consideration, and, at the beginning of 1829, the Council of India framed a law declaring it to be culpable homicide for any person to aid or abet in the destruction of human life by burning or burying alive and the Government of India was to use its influence in all quarters to obtain an observance of that law. They might remember that the argument which then had great force with them, and he used it for one, was, that it was quite impossible for them to fear that any religious feeling would be raised up against it, as they were only preventing a son or a brother from inflicting a cruel death on his mother or sister. He could not therefore imagine but that the Court of Directors would without any delay convey to their Government in India an order to use all means short of force to obtain that end. He hoped indeed that no force would be resorted to; but still, all their influence might be exerted to prevail upon the native princes Asiat. Journ N. S.Vor. 37. No. 148. (2 0)