Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 25.djvu/147

H course, if indeed he had the requisite power. It is true that Hastings, against his own judgment, and under protest, had lately employed Nand Kumar. He had also provided for the son. But he had never concealed the distrust of Nand Kumar which he shared with most Anglo-Indian statesmen of the period. He had lately declared his enmity openly, and instituted a charge of conspiracy in which Nand Kumar was included. Immediately upon the opening of the new supreme court, and before the institution of the conspiracy charge, a solicitor named Driver had renewed an application, made in the mayor's court, praying for the delivery of papers, among which was an instrument on which his client proposed to prosecute Nand Kumar. (The petition is dated in January 1775, and refers to a former petition of March 1774.) About the same time Hastings finally broke with Nand Kumar, and forbade his appearance at Government House. On 11 March Nand Kumar preferred to the council his charges of corruption against Hastings, who was called upon to answer to the charges, and refused to appear at the bar of his own council. In April Nand Kumar and his associates were committed for conspiracy, avowedly on the motion of the governor-general. Meanwhile the proceedings of Driver's client had been instituted, and Nand Kumar was, in May, committed on a charge of forgery by two magistrates, who have never been shown to have been creatures of Hastings (, Story of Nuncomar, ch. ix.). These facts are compatible with the very simple supposition that the prosecution was undertaken on private grounds, though not without knowledge that the state of public affairs was opportune.

Meanwhile Hastings was busy with Indian law. The peculiar code of the Sunnites or orthodox Muslims had already been made into a digest under the Emperor Aurungzeb. But the Hindu law was only to be found scattered over a number of Sanscrit text-books of various date and authority. Hastings therefore invited the best known experts to Calcutta, and charged them with the compilation of a volume of which he afterwards caused an English translation to be made by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed [q. v.], sending advanced sheets to Lord Mansfield in England.

In 1775 Hastings began a further attempt to make gang-robbery the subject of special legislation. But the opposition in his council objected to the punishment of the harbourers, and the scheme collapsed. Nor did he neglect any fair opportunity of extending the influence of his employers, or of adding to the knowledge of neighbouring nations—meagre enough—which Englishmen then possessed. A small war with hill tribes on his northern frontier opened communications with the Teshu lama of Thibet, and a diplomatic mission was sent into that remote and still mysterious region. It was headed by George Bogle [q. v.], and a detailed account of the proceedings and results will be found in Markham's ‘Narratives,’ London, 1876.

Meanwhile the revenue raised for the company in Calcutta showed but little improvement. Hastings had stopped some of the drains on it; the tribute to the emperor ceased when he threw aside British protection, and the districts which had been assigned to him were transferred, for a consideration, to the nawáb of Oudh. Some military reductions were effected, not without friction, and the allowance to the titular ruler of Bengal was also diminished. An attempt was made to swell the receipts by giving the company a beneficial interest in the sale of opium to the Chinese. The production and distribution of this drug had been held as a perquisite by the members of the Patna council; it was now farmed for a term of years, and the proceeds credited in the public accounts. The conduct of Hastings in this matter became the subject of one of the charges afterwards brought against him; but it at once appeared that he had suppressed an abuse to the advantage of the state. Moreover, the court of directors had covered his act by their express approbation.

In spite of all efforts the finances continued to ebb. The court made urgent demands for remittances; the exchequer in Calcutta was so drained that the governor-general could not cash his own salary bills, and had to borrow money for his personal expenses. The minor presidencies were equally destitute. At Surat the Bombay government endeavoured to raise money by lending troops to Ragoba, a claimant to the office of peshwa. The majority in the Calcutta council cancelled the arrangement, and although Ragoba's cause was espoused by the court of directors, Hastings was unable to enforce the policy of his employers. In September 1776, however, Monson, one of the hostile members of council, died, and Hastings obtained temporary power, of which he resolved to take advantage. He began by removing the jobbing provincial councils, and putting the internal administration under agents who might be trusted to do their best for the land revenue. Early in 1777 he proceeded to record his intention to ‘make the British nation paramount in India, and to accept of the allegiance of such of our neighbours as shall sue to be enlisted among the friends and allies of the king of