r. Cartier, and that it was notified by the court of directors to Mr.
Warren Hastings, that it was their wish he should take upon himself the
charge of the government on Mr. Cartier's retirement. During Cartier's
administration, in the year 1770, a dreadful famine occurred in the
province of Bengal; a famine which swept away the Hindu population by
thousands. About the same time Syef-al-Dowla, the son and successor of
Meer Jaffier, died of the smallpox, and his brother, Muharek-al-Dowla,
was appointed musnud. Muharek-al-Dowla was a mere boy, and as soon as
the court of directors heard of his appointment, they issued orders that
the annual stipend of the young nabob should be reduced to sixteen lacs
of rupees. When these orders arrived in India, Warren Hastings, who had
now succeeded Mr. Cartier, immediately put them into execution: an act
for which he was afterwards condemned, as though it had originated
with himself. The reduction was made in order to effect a saving in the
government, but it had no visible effect on the treasury at Calcutta.
The exchequer was empty, debt was daily increasing, and every ship
brought orders from the court of directors for money. In the midst of
this dilemma, the Hindu Nuncomar, the rival of Mohammed Reza Khan, who
had been appointed by English influence to administer both the civil
list of the nabob and the revenues of Bengal, industriously propagated
stories of the minister's corruptibility. Mohammed Reza Khan was accused
of acquiring enormous wealth; of having increased the calamities of
the famine, by monoply of rice and other necessaries of life; and of
entertaining an idea of turning his power against the English. These
rumours, first spread in India, were at length carried to the ears of
the magnates in Leadenhall-street, by the agency of one of Nuncomar's
creatures, and inflamed with cupidity, they resolved upon the minister's
ruin. A letter was sent to Hastings, directing him to take measures, and
to issue his "private orders" for securing the person of Mohammed Reza
Khan, together with his whole family, partizans, and adherents. Hastings
had no choice left him, but implicit obedience to these commands, or
dismissal from office; and unfortunately for his honour--for he was
aware of the innocence of Mohammed Reza Khan--he chose to obey them.
Mohammed Reza Khan was brought without delay to Calcutta, where he was
placed in confinement, and the Rajah Shitab Roy, who had exercised in
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