foundation.  But as the letters are in the name and under the signature of a person of great rank and consequence among the natives,—­as they contain matter of the most serious nature,—­as they charge the most enormous crimes, and corruptions of the grossest kind, on a British governor,—­and as they refer to the Nabob’s minister in Great Britain for proof and further elucidation of the matters complained of,—­common decency and common policy demanded an inquiry into their truth or falsehood.  The writing is obviously the product of some English pen.  If, on inquiry, these charges should be made good, (a thing very unlikely,) the party accused would become a just object of animadversion.  If they should be found (as in all probability they would be found) false and calumnious, and supported by forgery, then the censure would fall on the accuser; at the same time the necessity would be manifest for proper measures towards the security of government against such infamous accusations.  It is as necessary to protect the honest fame of virtuous governors as it is to punish the corrupt and tyrannical.  But neither the Court of Directors nor the Board of Control have made any inquiry into the truth or falsehood of these charges.  They have covered over the accusers and accused with abundance of compliments; they have insinuated some oblique censures; and they have recommended perfect harmony between the chargers of corruption and peculation and the persons charged with these crimes.]

13th October, 1782. Extract of a Translation of a Letter from the Nabob of Arcot to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the East India Company.

Fatally for me, and for the public interest, the Company’s favor and my unbounded confidence have been lavished on a man totally unfit for the exalted station in which he has been placed, and unworthy of the trusts that have been reposed in him.  When I speak of one who has so deeply stabbed my honor, my wounds bleed afresh, and I must be allowed that freedom of expression which the galling reflection of my injuries and my misfortunes naturally draws from me.  Shall your servants, unchecked, unrestrained, and unpunished, gratify their private views and ambition at the expense of my honor, my peace, and my happiness, and to the ruin of my country, as well as of all your affairs?  No sooner had Lord Macartney obtained the favorite object of his ambition than he betrayed the greatest insolence towards me, the most glaring neglect of the common civilities and attentions paid me by all former governors in the worst of times, and even by the most inveterate of my enemies.  He insulted my servants, endeavored to defame my character by unjustly censuring my administration, and extended his boundless usurpation to the whole government of my dominions, in all the branches of judicature and police; and, in violation of the express articles of the agreements, proceeded to send renters into the countries, unapproved of by