Chapter 4

The Duke objects to any removal of the seat of government to the upper provinces. It would there be exposed to the sudden inroads of cavalry. In India a cloud of cavalry rises like a squall in the Mediterranean. At Calcutta the Government, protected by the rivers, is safe, and always accessible from England.

_June 19._

Rode to town. Met Rosslyn. He told me Lord Clanrickarde [Footnote: Lord Clanrickarde was son-in-law of Mr. Canning.] intended to make some observations on foreign policy this evening.

Had some conversation with the Duke. He doubted whether the Supreme Government _could_ leave Calcutta and preserve its powers. I told him of the newspaper report of to-day that leases for sixty years were to be given to indigo planters, and this without any authority from home. He seems to have suspected from the first that Lord W. would do some monstrous thing, and certainly he does seem to be emancipating himself.

House. Lord Clanrickarde made his little speech. Aberdeen his. Then Lord Holland, and then the Duke. Afterwards Goderich. Lord Holland talked as usual very vaguely. No notice had been given, and few people knew there was anything to be done. So ends the House for this year.

_June 20, 1829._

Cabinet. King's speech. Some time occupied in wording it, but no material alterations. Aberdeen's the worst part. The King is made to _auspicate_ and to pray, but not to trust that the Franchise Bill and the Relief Bill will be productive of good.

The Chancellor has prosecuted the 'Morning Journal' for a libel accusing him of having taken money for Sugden's appointment as Solicitor-General. I heard him tell Lord Bathurst, with reference to another calumny against him, that he had fortunately preserved through his secretary the grounds on which he had given every living he had disposed of.

_June 21._

Had a visit from Loch. He wishes the despatch to Lord William to be worded more gently, as he thinks Lord William _meant_ well. This shall be done.

_June 22._

Wrote draft paragraphs to the effect above stated to Lord W. Bentinck, and added a paragraph giving the Duke's reasoning against the removal of the Government from Calcutta to the north-west provinces.

I had some conversation in the House with Lord Lauderdale on China trade, &c. He seems friendly to the Company and to the Government.

Went to the House at 4. Found a good many peers there. By mere mistake a Bill, slightly and necessarily amended by the Lords, was not sent down to the Commons, although directions to that effect were given, and it by accident was placed amongst the Bills ready for the Royal assent. So it received the Royal assent. It became necessary to pass a Bill to make this Bill valid in law. Lord Shaftesbury thought our House ought to inform the Commons we had discovered the error; but the Speaker, [Footnote: C. Manners Sutton, afterwards Lord Canterbury.] to make a flourish, insisted on announcing it first to the House of Commons. All the steps to be taken were settled between the Speaker, Lord Shaftesbury, and Courtenay. When I went down I found it had not been settled that anything should be done first by us. I suggested that Lord Shaftesbury should acquaint the House with the circumstance, and that we should appoint a Committee to inquire before the message from the Commons came up. This was done.

We ordered a message to be sent, but before our messengers left the House we heard the Commons would not receive a message, so I moved that the order we had just made should be rescinded, and we had a second conference. The Commons were well satisfied with our reply. The last sentence had been, 'The Lords hope the Commons will be satisfied with this explanation.' As we in the first paragraph expressed our desire to preserve a good understanding between the two Houses, and in the second one regret that this mistake had taken place, I thought it was going too far to express _a hope_ only that our explanation would be satisfactory.

We inserted 'the Lords _doubt not_,' instead of 'the Lords _hope_.'

At night received a letter from the Duke of Wellington, saying he thought we might get Courtenay to resign at once and get in Lord Chandos. I am to see him at ten to-morrow on the subject.

_June 23, 1829._

Wrote early to the Chairs and begged them to come to me immediately. Sent Loch the Duke's note and told him why Lord Chandos's being brought in was of so much importance. Saw the Duke at 10. The King was very much out of humour yesterday. He wanted to make Nash a baronet. The Duke refused. The King then went upon his Speech, which he did not like and had altered. He left out the specific mention of the Relief and Franchise Bill, and there he was right, and he converted the prayer that the measure might tranquillise Ireland, &c., into a _hope_ that it would--thus making it a little stronger, but that he did not know.

The Duke of Cumberland, on hearing of Castlereagh's appointment, said, 'Whoever ratted he would not,' alluding to Lord Londonderry, who has been nibbling at the Cumberland faction. However, Lord Londonderry is much annoyed at Castlereagh's taking office. He neither likes the expense of an election for Downshire, nor losing a vote he thought he could dispose of.

Hardinge will not sit again for Durham. Without Hardinge Lord Londonderry will have trouble enough there.

The King was much out of humour during the Chapter of the Garter, and said everything was done wrong.

Saw the Chairs. They had just got a letter from Sir John Malcolm, resigning from December 1, 1830. This would have been in any case a long time for Courtenay to wait out of office; but they said the idea of his being proposed had got wind, and several of the Directors were very adverse. Neither of the Chairs likes him, and if they supported him they would do it very reluctantly. As Loch goes out of office in April, and we cannot tell who will be deputy, and six new Directors come in, there really are not the means of saying to Courtenay, 'You are sure of your election,' and without this he could not be asked to resign.

I took the Chairs to the Duke. He received them very cordially, told them I had stated the circumstances to him, and he gave up the point.

We then talked of the legality of the removal of the Supreme Government from Calcutta. On looking into the acts it seems very doubtful whether any act done by the Governor-General in Council away from Calcutta would be valid unless it were one of the acts the Governor-General might do of his own authority. For instance, 'a regulation' issued by the Governor-General in Council at Meerut would not be valid, because the Governor-General alone could not issue one.

The Duke said Lord William did everything with the best intentions; but he was a _wrong-headed man_, and if he went wrong he would continue in the wrong line. Other men might go wrong and find it out, and go back; but if he went wrong he would either not find it out, or, if he did, he would not go back.

_June 24._

Sat as Commissioner to prorogue Parliament. The King's alteration in the Speech certainly made it better and stronger. He now expresses his _sincere hope_ the measures of the session will produce tranquillity, &c. People thought the Speech rather short and jejune.

Dined at the 'Albion' with the Directors. The dinner was given to Lord Dalhousie. There were there the Duke, the Chancellor, Peel, Sir J. Murray, Lord Rosslyn and Goulburn, the Speaker, the Attorney General, Courtenay, Ashley, and Bankes; Duke of Buccleuch, Lord Camden, Lord Montagu, Lord Hill, Sir Herbert Taylor, Sir Byam Martin, Sir A. Dickson, Colonel Houston, Lord Dalhousie, and Sir Sidney Beckwith, and their aides-de-camp; a great many Directors, and in all rather more than 100 people.

The Duke, in returning thanks, spoke of the cordiality and good understanding existing between the Directors and the Government, _which was never more necessary to the Company than now_.

I said the good understanding would always exist while such men as Loch were in the chair, and while I was at the Board of Control. I paid a high compliment to Loch, and then congratulated them on the appointments of the two Generals. Their mildness of manner, their benevolence of character, and the goodness of their natures would obtain for them the affectionate devotion of a grateful soldiery, and, educated in a school of continued victories, they were the fittest leaders of an army which had never met an enemy it had not subdued. I ended by saying I was sure they would devote themselves to the maintenance under all circumstances, not only of the efficiency, but of an object which they would pursue with equal interest-- _of the happiness and well-being of the native army of India_. I spoke rather well, was attentively heard, and well received. I sat by the Duke of Buccleuch. We had a good deal of conversation. He seems a fine young man. Lord Rosslyn complained he could never see a draft till it was a month old, and that there had been no new despatches placed in the boxes since he came into office. I told him no one complained more of the same thing than Aberdeen did when Dudley was in office, and I believe all Foreign Secretaries had a shyness about showing their drafts till they were sent off and unalterable.

_June 25._

At the office found a letter with enclosures from Colonel Macdonald, dated Tabriz April 20. What he has been doing in Persia I do not know.

I have written to him to call upon me on Saturday.

Called on the Duke to tell him the substance--which is, that the Turks have already 30,000 men and sixty pieces of cannon at Erzeroum. That a dispossessed Pacha is in arms at Akiska. That the Russians have reinforced the garrisons of Natshiran and Abbasabad, and have withdrawn all their troops to the left bank of the Araxes, with the exception of those who garrison Bayazid. The plague seems rife at Erivan. The Russians about Count Paskewitz abuse the English very much.

_June 27._

The Chairs told me Lord W. Bentinck had extended to all persons the benefit of the regulation as to coffee planters, _omitting, however_, all the restrictive clauses. They think very seriously of this, and very justly. The Calcutta newspapers consider the principle of colonisation to be conceded.

We must abrogate this 'Regulation' without loss of time. I went to the Duke to tell him of it. He said Lord W. Bentinck was not to be trusted, and we should be obliged to recall him. He is gone down in a steamboat to Penang.

No news of much importance at the Cabinet room, except that Lord Heytesbury's despatches confirm the account of the sickness of the Russian army.

The Turks seem to have given the Russians a great smash at Eski Arnaut.

_June 30._

A battle near Schumla between the Russians and Turks. The Turks were besieging Pravadi. Diebitsch marched from Silistria and moved upon their communications with Schumla. The Turks seem to have been surprised. They fought gallantly, however, and seem to have caused the Russians great loss.

Saw Arbuthnot. He came to the India Board to speak about his friend, Russell Ellice, whom he wishes to make a Director. We afterwards talked of the House and the Government. I think all will turn out well. We have six months before us, but certainly at present we are weak in the House of Commons, though I believe gathering strength in the country, and already very strong there. If we play the great game, striking at the mass, we must succeed. It would never do to go picking up individuals. We must do our best for the country, and we shall have it with us. The worst of it is, the King is the most faithless of men, and Cumberland is at work.

The Duke asked Hardinge the other day what he thought of the Government. He said he thought that by losing Canningites and Brunswickers it was fifty weaker than Lord Liverpool's, and these fifty go the other way, making a difference of one hundred on a division. Lord Camden thought if the Brunswickers would not come in we must get a few Whigs--Abercromby, Sir James Graham, the Althorpe people. Stanley would come for anything good, and Brougham too.

Arbuthnot asked me if I thought Lord Rosslyn would be cordial with us. I said Yes. His letter of acceptance was most cordial, and with the Lords he was on excellent terms. The only danger would be if Peel and the Commoners were shy.

Lord Grey, I said, I did not think in very good humour, but he would differ on foreign politics rather than on questions of a domestic nature. The Duke will not be coquetting with him, because he says very honestly he should be exciting expectations in Lord Grey which, while the King lives, he does not think he can gratify.

Saw Mr. Elphinstone by appointment. I wished to have his opinion with regard to the new settlement of Indian Government, which may take place on the expiration of the present Charter. He seemed to think that the Administration of the Government in the King's name would be agreeable to the Civil and Military Services, and to people in England. He doubted whether, as regarded the princes of India, it would signify much, as they now pretty well understood us. He doubted whether the orders of Government here would be better obeyed. He thought there might be an advantage in keeping the King's authority in reserve, to be used only on grand occasions. He confessed, however, that 'having been educated, and having lived under the existing system, he was not best qualified to propose to another. He had his prejudices.' He thought the best mode of arriving at the truth would be by taking the opinions of practical Indians as to reforms and alterations suggested by theoretical men.

I asked him to consider the expediency of dividing the territory as now into three unequal Presidencies, of giving to the Governor-General the labour of superintending the Administration in detail of the Bengal Presidency--of having Members of Council. I told him there were many minor points of detail discoverable only by those employed at home, which required and must receive amendment. Such, for instance, is the interpretation given to the Act of Parliament, by which a _regulation_ must be sanctioned or rejected _in extenso,_ there being no power to alter a word, or to reject part and take the rest.

Mr. Elphinstone seems to dread a long peace in India. We hold everything together by the Native Army, and we cannot retain that unless we retain the affections of the European officers. In the present state of our finances this is difficult.

_July 1._

At half-past five received a letter from the Chairman, and the draft relative to the removal of the Governor from Calcutta. The Court wished to have it back to-day. That was impossible; but they have omitted words I inserted in the _précis,_ and must restore, declaring that had the removal been legal, still the Members of Council would have been ordered back. I have now been obliged to give reasons for this addition, and the reasons will be so much worse, as matters of record, that I have suggested to the Chairman he had better substitute a draft containing the words.

I think we must detain the _Pallas_ that it may take out both letters--this and the one relating to the leases which is not yet prepared, or we must have an overland dispatch.

Delay is one of the inconveniences attending the present system of Indian Government. I told the Chairman in my private note that if we allowed Lord W. Bentinck to emancipate himself in this manner we should really be abandoning all real control over the Government of India. I see clearly there is a Bentinck party in the Court.

_July 2._

Saw Hardinge. We had some conversation upon the subject of the Government. He seems more alarmed than I am. I trust to the King's fears and the Duke's fortune; besides, we have the country.

Hardinge told me the King was very much out of humour. The admission of Lord Rosslyn had not answered. None followed. Lord Durham, Calthorpe, and others left Lord Lansdowne to coalesce with Lord Grey. Hardinge wished me to try Herries again, with the view of opening the Mint by making him Chancellor of the Exchequer in India; but I told him Herries said his domestic circumstances made it impossible, and the Duke did not seem to like it at all.

Herries thinks Lord Durham would be glad to be Minister at Naples; for my part I am sure nothing will win Lord Grey but a place for Lord Grey himself, and _that_, in the present state of the King's mind, the Duke is not in a condition to offer.

_July 4._

Cabinet at half-past three.

The Duke read a list of the several points to be considered before the next Session. I cannot recollect half of them. East India Charter; Bank Charter; Usury Laws; East Retford; Duties on Sugar; Duties on Tobacco; Canada; West Indies; Education in Ireland; Irish and English Churches; Poor in Ireland; Public Works; Commission on Ecclesiastical Courts; Reform of English Courts; Reform of Welsh Judicature; Reform of Courts of Equity; Scotch Law of Entail; Salaries of Scotch Judges--_increase_; Salaries of English Judges--_reduction_; Grand Juries, Ireland; Militia Laws; Stamp Duties, &c., &c.

The only talk we had was about Irish Poor, and Public Works in Ireland. The feeling seemed against anything like Poor Laws, and against Public Works too. This is mine. The first productive of mischief, the second useless.

Undoubtedly it is a great hardship that the English parish should have the burden of Irish poor, but on the other hand in many cases the payers of poor's rates in these parishes have derived advantage from Irish labour.

Fitzgerald, Peel, and Goulburn are to look into this subject, and all connected with Ireland.

Fitzgerald, Peel, Lord Rosslyn, and, I think, either Herries or Goulburn seemed to think the opposition to the continuance of the China monopoly would be much greater than we expected. Fitzgerald seemed desirous the question of commerce should be reserved, and that of Government decided. I told him the two were inseparably connected.

_July 6._

Wrote to Lord W. Bentinck telling him I much regretted the having been obliged to send the two letters, relative to the removal of the Government, and the leases--told him the Duke coincided in opinion with the Court.

I then expressed my surprise that the Local Government did not obey better. Said they seemed to forget the orders of the Directors were the King's orders transmitted through the channel of the Court and the Board. I added I should endeavour to introduce into every branch of Indian Government the subordination and the improvements now established in the King's service--depended on his co-operation, &c. I sent the letter to the Duke to ask him if I should send it.

_July 7._

At quarter to six a messenger arrived from the Duke, to whom I sent yesterday my letter to Lord W. asking if I should send it? The Duke desires to see the despatches to which it refers. I have accordingly begged Jones to send them to him. I shall however be in town early myself to-morrow.

I told the Duke in my note I should stay in town till late to-morrow to sign the letter as to the six regiments if they passed it. I am glad to have an excuse for not going to Windsor to the Recorder's Report.

_July 8._

Office at 2. Wilson absent, so I could not transact any military business. Carried the letters relative to the leases and the six regiments to the Duke. He said mine about the regiments was _very good indeed_.

The Emperor of Russia seems to have laid himself out most ably at Berlin to captivate the King, and the army, and the people.

Seymour's despatches are useful. He mentions _small_ things, which show the character of men.

The Emperor does not disguise his desire of peace. He wants no _garanties matérielles_ at the Bosphorus for safe passage. He asks the principle of a pecuniary indemnity, but does not seem disposed to contest the details. Bernstorff observed truly, we could not get out of the Greek Treaty without the help of Russia, and Russia wanted us to get out of the way.

The Sultan begins to affect European manners. Calls upon ladies and talks about education! Dines with a merchant! After all, considering his education and his _entourage_, Sultan Mahmoud is the most remarkable man in Europe.

_July 9._

Office at 2. Met Herries. Told him I should send him a statement of our Indian loans, and place Leach at his disposal. We could then talk them over, and see whether we could effect any financial operation. My idea is that by offering some little higher interest in. India we might induce the holders of the remittable loan to give up that privilege of receiving the interest in England if resident here.

Saw Major Cunningham. He looks more than forty, well, certainly, but I should doubt his doing much hard work. He does not think himself a good person to command Irregulars. His Rohillas were almost in as good order as Regulars.

He told me Lieutenant-Colonel Skinner was a man of large landed property. He had raised his corps very much from his own estate and neighbourhood, and was a sort of feudal chieftain. He has been educated like a native, though the son of a Colonel in the Company's service.

Saw Sir Murray Maxwell. [Footnote: He had commanded the 'Alceste,' which took out Lord Amherst as Ambassador to China twelve years before.] It seemed to me Sir Murray wanted to be sent with a frigate to try to open a commercial communication with Pekin. He thinks even Japan might be induced to trade. The instant the Chinese found the ship was gone and Lord Amherst meant to return by land they would have nothing to say to him. They probably took him for a spy.

Sir Murray thinks the Chinese might be led to give a port to the northward.

He describes the Spanish population of Manilla as being very small--the native population large. It is but four days' sail, with a good breeze, from Manilla to Canton. Always a favourable wind. The harbour magnificent.

I think the whole object of his visit was to get a ship, and a sort of half embassy.

_July 10._

Received a letter from Lord Clare, who saw the Duke yesterday. He says the Duke was very kind and told him he should get all the information he could before the Committee of next year. I shall most willingly assist him.

_July 11._

Cabinet. Talked of Ireland. The disposition to outrage seems increasing. The Duke said we were responsible for the success of the measure of this year, and we must put down the armed meetings. Warburton must be ordered to do so. The Duke said emphatically if we do not preserve the peace of Ireland we shall not be a Government. Peel is to write immediately. He thinks the first appearance of a determination to put down these meetings will have the effect of crushing them. We spoke of Poor Laws, Education, and Grand Juries. Lord F. Leveson _despairs_ as to the two first. Upon both the Government will form its opinion. I am glad to see that the more the question of Poor Laws is considered the more the introduction of them appears unadvisable, _or of any approach to them_. I have ever held this opinion.

In Cabinet we again, having done so many weeks ago, considered whether any extension of time should be given to the Brazilians for the termination of their traffic in slaves.

Aberdeen seemed very indulgently inclined towards the slave dealers--not so Peel and Fitzgerald. They seemed first of all to think it would be an awkward Parliamentary case, and Peel protested against our becoming responsible, as we should, for the horrible consequences which might attend the continuance of the trade for six months. The Chancellor thought a vessel leaving the coast of Africa, that is, engaging in the slave trade, at such a period as would afford a reasonable probability of her arriving on March 13, should be safe. I think February 13 was, after much desultory discussion, fixed as the day after which no vessel should leave the coast of Africa.