Page:Ruffhead - The Statutes at Large - vol 11.djvu/859

A. D. 1773. as shall any way relate to the Civil or Military Affairs and Government of the said Company; all which Copies shall be fairly written, and shall be signed by Two or more of the Directors of the said Company.

X. And it is hereby further enacted, That Warren Hastings Esquire shall be the First Governor-general; and that Lieutenant-general John Clavering, the Honourable George Monson, Richard Barwell Esquire, and Philip Francis Esquire, shall be the Four First Counsellors; and they, and each of them, shall hold and continue in his and their respective Offices for and during the Term of Five Years from the Time of their Arrival at Fort William in Bengal, and taken upon them the Government of the said Presidency, and shall not be removeable, in the mean Time, except by His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, upon Representation made by the Court of Directors of the said United Company for the Time being: And in case of the Avoidance of the Office of such Governor-general by Death, Resignation, or Removal, his Place shall, during the Remainder of the Term aforesaid, as often as the Case shall happen, be supplied by the Person of the Council who stands next in Rank to such Governor-general; and, in case of the Death, Removal, Resignation, or Promotion, of any of the said Council, the Directors of the said United Company are hereby impowered, for and during the Remainder of the said Term of Five Years, to nominate and appoint, by and with the Consent of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, to be signified under His or Their Sign Manual, a Person to succeed to the Office so become vacant in the said Council; and, until such Appointment shall be made, all the Powers and Authorities vested in the Governor-general and Council shall rest and continue in, and be exercised and executed by, the Governor-general and Council remaining and surviving; and from and after the Expiration of the said Term of Five Years, the Power of nominating and removing the succeeding Governor-general and Council shall be vested in the Directors of the said United Company.

XI. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said several Provisions, relating to the said Governor-general and Council, shall commence and take Place from and immediately after the Time that publick Proclamation shall be made of the Arrival of the said Governor-general and Counsellors herein-before appointed, or any Three of them, at Fort William in Bengal; which Proclamation the said Governor-general and Council are hereby required to make.

XII. Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall extend, or be construed to extend, to prevent, controul, or restrain the said United Company from constituting and appointing such Officers, Factors, or Agents, as they shall think proper and necessary, by virtue or in pursuance of any Powers, Rights, or Privileges, granted to them by any former Act or Acts of Parliament, or by any Charter or Charters, for managing, conducting, and transacting the Trade and Commerce of the said Company, at and within the said Presidency of Fort William in Bengal.

XIII. And whereas His late Majesty King George the Second did, by His Letters Patent, bearing Date at Westminster the Eighth Day of January, in the Twenty-sixth Year of His Reign, grant unto the said United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies His Royal Charter, thereby, amongst other Things, constituting and establishing Courts of Civil, Criminal, and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, at the said United Company’s respective Settlements at Madras-patnam, Bombay on the Island of Bombay, and Fort William in Bengal; which said Charter does not sufficiently provide for the due Administration of Justice in such Manner as the State and Condition of the Company’s Presidency of Fort William in Bengal, so long as the said Company shall continue in the Possession of the Territorial Acquisitions before mentioned, do and must require; be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty, by Charter, or Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, to erect and establish a Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William aforesaid, to consist of a Chief Justice and Three other Judges, being Barristers in England or Ireland, of not less than Five Years standing, to be named from Time to Time by His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors; which said Supreme Court of Judicature shall have, and the same Court is hereby declared to have, full Power and Authority to exercise and perform all Civil, Criminal, Admiralty, and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, and to appoint such Clerks, and other Ministerial Officers of the said Court, with such reasonable Salaries, as shall be approved of by the said Governor-general and Council; and to form and establish such Rules of Practice, and such Rules for the Process of the said Court, and to do all such other Things as shall be found necessary for the Administration of Justice, and the due Execution of all or any of the Powers which, by the said Charter, shall or may be granted and committed to the said Court; and also shall be, at all Times, a Court of Record, and shall be a Court of Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol Delivery, in and for the said Town of Calcutta, and Factory of Fort William, in Bengal aforesaid, and the Limits thereof, and the Factories subordinate thereto.

XIV. Provided nevertheless, and be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said new Charter which His Majesty is herein-before impowered to grant, and the JurisdictionJurisdiction, [sic] Powers, and Authorities, to be thereby established, shall and may extend to all British Subjects who shall reside in the Kingdoms, or Provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, or any of them, under the Protection of the said United Company; and the same Charter shall be competent and effectual: And the Supreme Court of Judicature therein, and thereby to be established, shall have full Power and Authority to hear and determine all Complaints against any of His Majesty’s Subjects for any Crimes, Misdemeanours, or Oppressions, committed, or to be committed; and also to entertainentertain, [sic] hear, and determine, any Suits or Actions whatsoever, against any of His Majesty’s Subjects in Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, and any Suit, Action or Complaint against any Person who shall, at the Time when such