CHAPTER XXIII. SUMMARY-GOVERNORS-GENERAL. FROM PLASSY, 1757, TO PROCLAMATION OF QUEEN Clive-Governor of Bengal-Warren Hastings, 1st Governor-General- UNTIL the battle of Plassy in 1757 the progress of the British in India was little better than a series of obscure, if heroic struggles, for leave to trade, and to defend their limited possessions against the exactions and capricious tyranny of the native rulers of the country, or the jealousy of foreign rivals in eastern enterprize. The battle of Plassy was the turning point of our fortunes, the commencement of our dominion. Clive, the Warwick of the time, deposed one king of Bengal and set up another. In 1759 the Dutch squadron was captured in the Hooghly; while in the following two years the French were defeated at Wandewash by Sir Eyre Coote, they were driven out of the Carnatic, and by the fall of Pondicherry their power was annihilated. In subsequent years the British, with ever-advancing standards, take Moorshedabad, Monghyr, and Patna, and after defeating the Emperor Shah Alam II. and the Viceroy of Oude, aided by the ex-Nawab of Bengal, Meer Cossim, had the power hitherto exercised by right of conquest legally confirmed by an imperial edict constituting them the imperial Dewans or collectors of revenue for the provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, on payment of a moderate tribute. In 1767 Clive leaves India, and Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore, appears in the field, and two years afterwards he suddenly approaches Madras when a peace is arranged. He said, "I do not fear the English from what I see, but from what I do not see!" Warren Hastings, 1772-85, the first GovernorGeneral, discontinues payment of tribute to the Emperor of Delhi. During his reign the Rohillas were defeated; Salsette fell to our arms. Colonel Maclean, the agent of Hastings in England, tendered his resignation in consequence of dissatisfaction of Home Authorities, which is accepted, but Hastings repudiates the act of his agent and retains his high office. About the same time Lord Pigot, Governor of Madras, is unlawfully arrested by his own council and dies. Renewal of war with France; Pondicherry capitulates to General Munro. In 1780 Captain Popham carries Gwalior by escalade; Bassein surrenders to Goddard. Scindia is defeated by Carnac and granted favourable terms. Colonel Baillie's force is cut to pieces by Hyder Ali. Sir Eyre Coote takes command of Madras army and defeats Hyder Ali in repeated engagements. In the same year, 1781, the Dutch settlements in India and Ceylon were taken by the English. Cheyt Singh, Rajah of Benares, deposed by Hastings with extraordinary coolness and resolution, under most perilous circum stances. Braithwaite's force annihilated by Tippoo Sultan. Naval engagement with French without result. Death of Hyder Ali. Hastings concludes a treaty favourable to England with Oude, and aids in spoliation of the Begums. In 1783 the brave and distinguished veteran Sir Eyre Coote, sinks under infirmity and the toils of war. There is peace with the French, but war with Tippoo Sultan, which was concluded in the following year. Various accusations were brought against Hastings, and the chief accuser was a Brahman, Rajah Nuncomar, who was himself soon after found guilty of forgery and hanged. Besides the conquest of Rohilchund, Hastings was involved in many and great wars with the Mahrattas and Hyder Ali of Mysore, and sent at a critical moment, as already mentioned, with that prescience for which he was remarkable, a small force under Colonel Goddard from Calcutta to Surat, which in the face of many difficulties it effected, having defeated the armies of Scindia and Holkar and taken Bassein by assault. It was to meet the expenditure incurred by these wars that he was led to demand the large sums of money from the Rajah of Benares and the Begums of Oude. However we may deplore the means used for raising funds necessary for carrying on to a successful issue the great designs of the Governor-General, he acted with a single eye to promote the prosperity and glory of his country by consolidating and extending its dominion, over whose destiny he watched with a vigilance that never slumbered, a resolution that never faltered, or enquired too nicely into the means to attain the end. In 1785 Hastings returns to England, and in 1787 is formally impeached by the Commons before the House of Peers, when Burke and Sheridan deliver most eloquent orations, and in 1795 he is acquitted but financially almost ruined by the expense of the trial, and was allowed to live and die utterly neglected by the government. In extreme old age when he appeared to give evidence at the bar of the House of Commons every head was uncovered by a simultaneous impulse to do reverence to the great patriot and statesman. Lord Cornwallis, 1787-93.-After an interval of two years Lord Cornwallis was appointed Governor General, and in 1791 takes command of the army in the field, defeats Tippoo Sultan under the walls of his capital, Seringapatam, and many strong places surrender to his In the following year he appears again before Seringapatam, when Tippoo gives two of his sons as hostages, cedes territory, and pays a large sum of money. arms. But however successful as a soldier, Lord Cornwallis is better remembered in connection with the permanent settlement of the land tax in Bengal. Lord Cornwallis was for his eminent services raised to a Marquisate. Sir John Shore, Lord Teignmouth, 1795-98, who carried out the non-intervention policy of the Court of Directors, the period of his rule was not distinguished by very important events; however, he was neither deficient in promptitude nor courage when he felt he was called upon to interfere in the deposition of the illegitimate and worthless Nawab Nasir Ali of Oude in the face of a dangerous opposition. Sir John Shore was elevated to the peerage as Lord Teignmouth, and sailed from India in March, 1798. Lord Mornington, Marquis Wellesley, 1798-1805, commenced his magnificent rule in 1798 which was adorned by the victories of Lord Lake, Sir Arthur Wellesley, and other great commanders. In the beginning of this century the sway of the British extended over Rohilchund and part of Oude. Lord Wellesley's wars with the Mahrattas issued in the conquest of the fertile plains between the Jumna and the Ganges, from Cawnpore up to Delhi and Meerut, in 1803. Lord Wellesley's far-reaching imperial policy which embraced within its scope Europe as well as Asia, not only added kingdom after kingdom to the extent of our dominion, but elevated at critical periods of our history the power and glory of the British name. By the destruction of Tippoo Saib, the ruthless tyrant of Seringapatam, and his dynasty; by the reduction of the pretensions of the Soubadar of the Deccan, the Nizam of Hydrabad; by the protection and restoration of the Peishwah; by the overthrow of the great Mahratta leaders, Scindia, the Rajah of Berar, and Holkar; by the rescue and protection of the blind, aged, and helpless Emperor of Hindostan, no rival, whether |