it, is the same with that of the country*; and it is from ignorance chiefly, and the meanness of mercantile prejudice, that they ever oppress it. But the real interest of the servants, is by no means the same with that of the country, and the most perfect information would not necessarily put an end to their oppressions. The regulations, accordingly, which have been sent out from Europe, though they have been frequently weak, have upon most occasions been well meaning. More intelligence, and perhaps less good meaning, has sometimes appeared in those established by the servants in India. It is a very singular government in which every member of the administration wishes to get out of the country, and consequently to have done with the government as soon as he can, and to whose interest, the day after he has left it, and carried his whole fortune with him, it is perfectly indifferent though the whole country was swallowed up by an earthquake. I mean not, however, by any thing which I have here said, to throw any odious imputation upon the general character of the servants of the East India company, and much less upon that of any particular persons. It is the system of government, the situation in which they are placed, that I mean to censure, not the character of those who have acted in it. They acted as their situation naturally directed, and they who have clamoured the loudest against them would probably not have acted better themselves. In war and negociation, the councils of Ma * The interest of every proprietor of India stock, however, is by no means the same with that of the country in the government of which his vote gives him some influence. See book w chap. i. part 3. drid and Calcutta, have, upon several occasions, conducted themselves with a resolution and decisive wisdom which would have done honour to the senate of Rome in the best days of that republic. The members of those councils, however, had been bred to professions very different from war and politics. But their situation alone, without education, experience, or even example, seems to have formed in them all at once the great qualities which it required, and to have inspired them both with abilities and virtues which they themselves could not well know that they possessed. If upon some occasions, therefore, it has animated them to actions of magnanimity which could not well have been expected from them, we should not wonder if, upon others, it has prompted them to exploits of somewhat a different nature. Such exclusive companies, therefore, are nuisances in every respect; always more or less inconvenient to the countries in which they are established, and destructive to those which have the misfortune to fall under their government. APPENDIX. THE two following Accounts are subjoined, in order to illustrate and confirm what is said in the Fifth Chapter of the Fourth Book, concerning the Tonnage Bounty to the White-herring Fishery. The Reader, I believe, may depend upon the accuracy of both accounts. An Account of Busses fitted out in Scotland for Eleven Years, with the Number of empty Barrels carried out, and the Number of Barrels of Herrings caught ; also, the Bounty at a Medium on each Barrel of Seasteeks, and on each Barrel when fully packed. Years. Number of Empty Barrels Barrels of Her- Bounty paid on the Busses. carried out. rings caught. Busses. And if the herrings are exported, there is besides a premium of ....... So that the bounty paid by Government in money for each barrel, is..... But if to this, the duty of the salt usually taken credit for as expended in curing each barrel, which, at a medium, is, of foreign, one bushel and one fourth of a bushel, at 10s. a bushel, be added, viz. the bounty on each barrel would amount to VOL. II. ........ 0 2 8 £0 14 11 ........ 12 6 ..£1 7 54 Kk If the herrings are cured with British salt, it will stand thus, vis. Bounty as before....... But if to this bounty the duty on two bushels of Scotch salt, at 1s. 6d. per bushel, supposed to be the quantity at a medium used in curing each barrel, is added, viz..... the bounty on each barrel will amount to.......... ........£0 14 11 ...... 3 0 £0 17 114 And, when buss herrings are entered for home consumption in Scotland, and pay the shilling a barrel of duty, the bounty stands thus, to wit, as before.. From which the Is. a barrel is to be deducted... ...£0 12 22 ...0 1 0 £0 11 3 But to that there is to be added again, the duty of the foreign salt used in curing a barrel of herrings, viz..................... 12 6 So that the premium allowed for each barrel of herrings entered for home consumption is........ ....£1 3 94 If the herrings are cured with British salt, it will stand as follows, viz. Bounty on each barrel brought in by the busses as above, £0 12 34 From which deduct the 1s. a barrel paid at the time they are entered for home consumption....... But if to the bounty, the duty on two bushels of Scotch salt, at 1s. 6d. per bushel, supposed to be the quantity at a medium used in curing each barrel, is added. viz........... the premium for each barrel entered for home consumption will be 010 £0 11 3 030 ........£0 14 3 Though the loss of duties upon herrings exported cannot, perhaps, properly be considered as bounty, that upon herrings entered for home consumption certainly may. An Account of the Quantity of Foreign Salt imported into Scotland, and of Scotch Salt delivered Duty free from the Works there, for the Fishery, from the 5th of April 1771 to the 5th of April 1782, with the Medium of both for one Year. It is to be observed, that the bushel of foreign salt weighs 84 lb. that of British salt, 56 lb. only. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. Edinburgh, printed by John Brown. |