The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 10 (of 12)Burke, Edmund
History
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 10 (of 12)
Burke, Edmund
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1760-1820; Political science -- Early works to 1800
But though this continued longer than was for the good of the country,
yet it did not continue absolutely and relatively long; because the
Court of Directors, as soon as they heard of this iniquitous
appointment, which glared upon them in all the light of its infamy,
immediately wrote the strongest, the most decided, and the most
peremptory censure upon him, attributing his acts, every one of them, to
the same causes to which I attribute them. As a proof that the Court of
Directors saw the thing in the very light in which I represent it to
your Lordships, and indeed in which every one must see it, you will find
that they reprobate all his idle excuses,--that they reprobate all the
actors in the scene,--that they consider everything to have been done,
not by the Nabob, but by himself,--that the object of the appointment of
Munny Begum was _money_, and that the consequence of that appointment
was the robbery of the Nabob's treasury. "We by no means approve your
late proceedings, on the application of the Nabob Mobarek ul Dowlah for
the removal of the Naib Subahdar. The requisition of Mobarek ul Dowlah
was improper and unfriendly; because he must have known that the late
appointment of Mahomed Reza Khan to the office of Naib Subahdar had been
marked with the Company's special approbation, and that the Court of
Directors had assured him of their favor so long as a firm attachment
to the Company's interest and a proper discharge of the duties of his
station should render him worthy of their protection. We therefore
repeat our declaration, that to require the dismission of a
prime-minister thus circumstanced, without producing the smallest proof
of his infidelity to the Company, or venturing to charge him with one
instance of maladministration in the discharge of his public duty, was
improper and inconsistent with the friendship subsisting between the
Nabob of Bengal and the Company." And further on they say,--"The Nabob
having intimated that he had repeatedly stated the trouble and
uneasiness which he had suffered from the naibship of the nizamut being
vested in Mahomed Reza Khan, we observe one of the members of your board
desired the Nabob's repeated letters on the subject might be read, but
this reasonable request was overruled, on a plea of saving the board's
time, which we can by no means admit as a sufficient objection. The
Nabob's letters of the 25th and 30th August, of the 3d September and
17th November, leave us no doubt of the true design of this
extraordinary business being to bring forward Munny Begum, and again to
invest her with improper power and influence, notwithstanding our former
declaration, that so great a part of the Nabob's allowance had been
embezzled or misapplied under her superintendence."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account