y part of India, that a very minute detail may well
be spared on this point. It has not yet been contended, by any enemy to
the reform, that they have observed any public agreement. When I hear
that they have done so in any one instance, (which hitherto, I confess,
I never heard alleged,) I shall speak to the particular treaty. The
Governor General has even amused himself and the Court of Directors in
a very singular letter to that board, in which he admits he has not been
very delicate with regard to public faith; and he goes so far as to
state a regular estimate of the sums which the Company would have lost,
or never acquired, if the rigid ideas of public faith entertained by his
colleagues had been observed. The learned gentleman[55] over against me
has, indeed, saved me much trouble. On a former occasion, he obtained no
small credit for the clear and forcible manner in which he stated, what
we have not forgot, and I hope he has not forgot, that universal,
systematic breach of treaties which had made the British faith
proverbial in the East.

It only remains, Sir, for me just to recapitulate some heads.--The
treaty with the Mogul, by which we stipulated to pay him 260,000_l._
annually, was broken. This treaty they have broken, and not paid him a
shilling. They broke their treaty with him, in which they stipulated to
pay 400,000_l._ a year to the Subah of Bengal. They agreed with the
Mogul, for services admitted to have been performed, to pay Nudjif Cawn
a pension. They broke this article with the rest, and stopped also this
small pension. They broke their treaties with the Nizam, and with Hyder
Ali. As to the Mahrattas, they had so many cross treaties with the
states-general of that nation, and with each of the chiefs, that it was
notorious that no one of these agreements could be kept without grossly
violating the rest. It was observed, that, if the terms of these several
treaties had been kept, two British armies would at one and the same
time have met in the field to cut each other's throats. The wars which
desolate India originated from a most atrocious violation of public
faith on our part. In the midst of profound peace, the Company's troops
invaded the Mahratta territories, and surprised the island and fortress
of Salsette. The Mahrattas nevertheless yielded to a treaty of peace by
which solid advantages were procured to the Company. But this treaty,
like every other treaty, was soon violated by the Company. Ag