How dared he to make these experiments?  In what manner can he be justified for playing fast and loose with the dearest interests, and perhaps with the very existence, of a nation?  Attend to the manner in which he justifies himself, and you will find the whole secret let out.  “The easy accumulation of too much wealth,” he says, “had been Cheyt Sing’s ruin; it had buoyed him up with extravagant and ill-founded notions of independence, which I very much wished to discourage in the future Rajah.  Some part, therefore, of the superabundant produce in the country I turned into the coffers of the sovereign by an augmentation of the tribute.”—­Who authorized him to make any augmentation of the tribute?  But above all, who authorized him to augment it upon this principle?—­“I must take care the tributary prince does not grow too rich; if he gets rich, he will get proud.”—­This prisoner has got a scale like that in the almanac,—­“War begets poverty, poverty peace,” and so on.  The first rule that he lays down is, that he will keep the new Rajah in a state of poverty; because, if he grows rich, he will become proud, and behave as Cheyt Sing did.  You see the ground, foundation, and spirit of the whole proceeding.  Cheyt Sing was to be robbed.  Why?  Because he is too rich.  His successor is to be reduced to a miserable condition.  Why?  Lest he should grow rich and become troublesome.  The whole of his system is to prevent men from growing rich, lest, if they should grow rich, they should grow proud, and seek independence.  Your Lordships see that in this man’s opinion riches must beget pride.  I hope your Lordships will never be so poor as to cease to be proud; for, ceasing to be proud, you will cease to be independent.

Having resolved that the Rajah should not grow rich, for fear he should grow proud and independent, he orders him to pay forty lacs of rupees, or 400,000_l._, annually to the Company.  The tribute had before been 250,000_l._, and he all at once raised it to 400,000_l._ Did he previously inform the Council of these intentions?  Did he inform them of the amount of the gross collections of the country, from any properly authenticated accounts procured from any public office?

I need not inform your Lordships, that it is a serious thing to draw out of a country, instead of 250,000_l._, an annual tribute of 400,000_l._ There were other persons besides the Rajah concerned in this enormous increase of revenue.  The whole country is interested in its resources being fairly estimated and assessed; for, if you overrate the revenue which it is supposed to yield to the great general collector, you necessitate him to overrate every under-collector, and thereby instigate them to harass and oppress the people.  It is upon these grounds that we have charged the prisoner at your bar with having acted arbitrarily, illegally, unjustly, and tyrannically:  and your Lordships will bear in mind that these acts were done by his sole authority, which authority we have shown to have been illegally assumed.