I have elsewhere[185] adverted to this point, and shown that Clive, in accordance with the usages of the Company's service in India, at that period, received presents, as Commander in Chief, to a very large amount. His acceptance of this reward (as it was termed) of his labours and success, was open and avowed; and, though subsequently made the subject of a charge against him, we do not find that at the time any one arraigned, either the amount of the donation, or the principle of receiving it. The fact is, that at that epoch of our Indian government, the public officers of the Company had very limited salaries: their perquisites and advantages, when employed on civil, military, or political stations, appear to have been such as had been enjoyed by native functionaries, performing the duties to which they, in times of conquest and revolution, had succeeded. These, on ordinary occasions, were derived from a per centage on particular branches of revenue, privileges of trade, or presents from inferiors, and were always considerable; but when such events occurred as negotiating a peace[186], or replacing a monarch upon a throne, the money, gifts, and territorial grants to the chief instruments of such changes, were limited only by the moderation of one party and the ability of the other. Public servants[187], in receiving, instead of a regulated salary, the fees and profits which had been enjoyed by the natives to whose offices they had succeeded in newly-acquired territories, only followed the usage of the country; and they were sanctioned in it by their own Government. It suited the character of the Indian administration in England, and was altogether adapted to that of our first rule in India. That it was loose, undefined, and liable to great abuses, is admitted. The evils of such a system became manifest, and were remedied; but assuredly, while it continued, the public servant, who drew his emoluments from open and recognised sources, was no more blamable than some of the first men in England, who hold offices that continue to be paid by fees or fines, in the manner established by their ancestors. Clive, independent of the share of the donation to the Select Committee, of which he was a member, was offered a present of sixteen lacs of rupees[188] by Meer Jaffier, after he had placed that prince on the throne; and he took it, as a boon which he deemed himself fully warranted in accepting. He acquired, on this occasion, as he stated, great wealth; but its acquisition injured no interests either of individuals or of the state he served; and did not, in the slightest degree, compromise the obligations of public duty; for the gift was unsolicited, free, and unconditional.