FOOTNOTES:
[168] Dated 9th May, 1771.
[169] This was on the illumination in consequence of the release from the Tower of the Lord Mayor and Alderman Oliver, who had been committed to custody for imprisoning a Serjeant-at-arms of the House of Commons.
[170] Then Secretary of State.
[171] 12th May.
[172] This was when a rupture was expected between the Courts of St. James's and Versailles.
[173] Dated 7th January, 1772.
[174] 21st January, 1772.
[175] Almon's Debates, for 1772, p. 360.; Annual Register, 1772.
[176] A native trader, and agent.
[177] Lord Clive's speech is given in Almon's Debates, and was published separately.
[178] Almon's Debates.
[179] 13th April.
[180] 10th June.
[181] 15th June.
[182] Walcot, 20th September, 1772.
[183] Letter to Mr. Strachey, dated Walcot, 7th November, 1772.
[184] The Parliament had been summoned to meet before the Christmas holidays, for the despatch of business.
[185] An abstract of it may be found in the Historical View of Plans for the Government of British India, Lond. 1793, 4to., pp. 55-70.
[186] Seventh Report of the Committee of Secresy, 1773, pp. 51, 52. The historical articles of the Annual Register for 1772 and 1773 are ably written, and show a great acquaintance with Indian affairs and the feelings of parties. Mill's History gives a good abstract of these proceedings.
[187] Lieutenant-General the Hon. —— Monckton; George Cuming, Wm. Devaynes, Peter Lascelles, Daniel Wier, and Edward Wheler, Esquires.
[188] 2d February, 1773.
[189] Mr. Strachey's paper.
[190] Almon's Debates, 1773.
[191] Third Report of the Select Committee, p. 19.
[192] Mr. Sulivan.
[193] A gentleman who was present, on the 3d of May, at the debate already mentioned, in writing to a friend, observes: "Lord Clive's speech was certainly a very able one, but it was not calculated to conciliate matters. He laid about him on all sides: he reprehended the Court of Directors, past and present: the Court of Proprietors, the citizens of London, the country gentlemen of England, the servants of the Company abroad, the Secret and Select Committees, the Opposition, the Minister and Ministry. He paid a compliment to the King. He declared he would support Government, where he could do it honourably. He offended the Opposition, without gaining the Minister. I suspected so then,—I am now convinced of it." Of the debate of the 10th he says, "I was in the House all this day, and had the mortification to hear the transactions in India, for these last sixteen years, treated, without distinction, as a disgrace to this nation; but without the smallest idea of restoring to the injured natives of India the territories and revenues said to have been so unjustly acquired."
[194] The letter of 30th of September, 1765, from the Select Committee to the Court of Directors, in which par. 5-13. contain the details of the delinquency of Mr. Johnstone, the Governor, and Council.
[195] The question relating to Meer Jaffier's legacy, the subject of the Fifth Report of the Select Committee.
[196] This report of Colonel Burgoyne's speech is from the notes in pencil of a member who was present.
[197] It is to be regretted that no correct report of Lord Clive's speech has been preserved. The notes now given, chiefly from Almon's Debates, have the air of being made up of fragments of speeches delivered at different times at this crisis. Some assistance has been derived from a letter of Archibald Sarton, Esq., who was present.
[198] Mr. Samuel Wilks.
[199] "On this point," says a well-informed writer in the Annual Register (1773, p. 107.), "the grand struggle was made. Those who speculate, observed an extraordinary division of those who, on all other occasions, acted together. The Minister declared in favour of the words of censure on Lord Clive, and divided in the minority. The Attorney-General was a principal in the attack; the Solicitor-General managed the defence. The courtiers went different ways. The most considerable part of the opposition supported Lord Clive, though he had joined administration and supported them in their proceedings against the Company."
[200] There is a very great confusion in the Parliamentary Reports regarding the proceedings connected with the attack on Lord Clive. Reports were then published only surreptitiously, and were often incorrect. The dates of the different debates are given differently in different publications; and speeches are referred to wrong occasions, or several mixed up together. This is the case even with Almon's Debates, in which what is given as Lord Clive's speech of 3d May, 1773, contains portions, evidently inaccurate, of his speeches on that and future days.
[201] 14th October, 1773.
[202] Adolphus's History of England, vol. ii. p. 25. note.
[203] Dr. John Moore.
[204] These attempts had the effect of making known some instances of Lord Clive's disinterested conduct. The following is an extract of a letter from Mr. Sage to Captain Archibald Swinton (March, 1774), who had written to inquire into the truth of some of these allegations:—"In contradiction of the imputation on Lord Clive, of having accepted of presents when he was last in India, I declare that I never heard of his receiving any, beyond the congratulatory khilats or dresses[205]; and I remember, when I was Chief at Benares, that Bulwaut Sing, when he went to meet Lord Clive at Chupprah, carried with him two very fine diamonds, in order to present them to his Lordship, which I know he brought back again, and declared that Lord Clive had refused to accept them." Letter in Swinton MSS.
The testimony of another gentleman, who believed that he had some reason to complain of Lord Clive, and who acknowledges that he was, at the time, prejudiced against him, directly contradicts a similar report. "It will be easily believed," says he, in a letter written after Lord Clive's death, "that Lord Clive, who had been sent to India to reform abuses, had left many enemies in Bengal, who sedulously circulated reports unfavourable to him; among the rest, that he had amassed immense wealth, when he was occupied in making the political arrangements with the Mogul and his ministers. Although mortified and disappointed at what I considered his Lordship's neglect of me, in justice to him and to myself, I must be allowed to say, that after the most diligent inquiries into Lord Clive's negotiations at that time, both with the Mogul and Sujah-u-Dowlah, so far from having made any addition to his fortune at that period, he had refused to accept the present even of a diamond ring. In consequence of some dispute between the Vizier and his deputy, Sir Robert Barker was directed, by the government of Calcutta, to pay Sujah-u-Dowlah a visit at Fiezabad, in which I, of course, accompanied him.[206] It may be supposed that I availed myself of such an opportunity of endeavouring to ascertain the truth or falsehood of the above-mentioned reports. And I do not hesitate to declare, most solemnly, that Sujah-u-Dowlah himself personally assured me, that it was true he had offered him a large sum of money, together with a casket of valuable jewels; but with great politeness, yet without a moment's hesitation, the offer had been peremptorily refused."—"Few men, under similar circumstances," continues the narrator, "would have refused to have added at least half a million to his fortune. At the instant this information was received, it is possible some little puerile resentment was still lurking in my mind against his Lordship; but, from that time, I have always strenuously contradicted all such groundless reports, and, to the best of my feeble abilities, have done justice to his character." These extracts are not given to do honour to Lord Clive's character; but, when an accusation is made, an answer is looked for, and it is enough if it wipes off a stain. Lord Clive, during his last residence in India, was under a covenant to receive no presents, and that engagement he faithfully fulfilled. In doing so, he merely acted as an honest man. But his upright discharge of his duty, in enforcing the same rule against others, converted into enemies numbers who, by his honour and vigilance, were prevented from benefiting by a custom, that from a change of circumstances had become an intolerable abuse.
[205] These were all allowed for in his accounts as Governor, which he had presented to the Company.
[206] As Persian Interpreter.
[207] 15th May, 1765.
[208] It is painful to perceive that a writer so intelligent, so industrious, and so anxious to be impartial, as Mr. Mill, should have conceived what, in several instances, seem to be unjust prejudices against Lord Clive. Thus, he blames him for superseding the Council by the Select Committee. But it is clear that if Lord Clive had allowed his acts to be controlled by the Council, as it was constituted, "the sixteen Governors," he could have effected nothing. All that he did was in spite of them. The majority seem to have been thoroughly corrupt. It was only by means of the Select Committee, which he animated with his own spirit, that any redress of grievances was possible. Lord Clive always saw and wrote that these unwieldy Councils were totally unfit for the government of the country; and every successive legislature has sanctioned his opinion, by reducing their numbers more and more. A large executive council and a large representative body, nobody knows better than Mr. M., are totally different things. If the one is a blessing, the other is a nuisance.
[209] Political India, vol. ii. p. 29-32.
[210] Seir Mutaqherin, vol. iii. p. 150. Note.
[211] Biog. Britannica, 2d edit., art. Clive.
[212] Biog. Brit., ut supra.
[213] Historical Views, &c. p. 57.
[214] Historical View of Plans, &c. p. 62.
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
AND THE
RIGHT HON. LORD CLIVE,
RESPECTING
THE FUND
ESTABLISHED FOR RELIEF OF THE HONOURABLE COMPANY'S MILITARY
Dated April 6. 1770:
TOGETHER WITH
GENERAL REGULATIONS
FOR TRANSACTING THE BUSINESS OF THE SAID FUND,
AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PENSIONERS.
[NOTES TO AGREEMENT
see TN at end.]
[[Sidenote A]: The eight lacks to bear 8 per cent. interest.]
[[Sidenote B]: Interest to be paid in London.]
[Sidenote C]: Court of Directors and their successors to be perpetual trustees.]
[[Sidenote D]: The trust to commence from the 29th of September, 1769.]
[[Sidenote E]: To be for relief and maintenance of European officers and soldiers, invalids or superannuated, their widows, or widows of officers and soldiers dying in the service.]
[[Sidenote F]: Commissioned, staff, or warrant officers, to have half the ordinary stated pay they were entitled to whilst in service.]
[[Sidenote G]: Serjeants, corporals, and private men, the like pay as the Chelsea pensioners of the same degrees.]
[[Sidenote H]: Widows of officers and soldiers, one fourth of the ordinary stated pay their husbands enjoyed whilst in service.]
[[Sidenote I]: To be paid yearly and every year during their natural lives.]
[[Sidenote J]: Widows to be admitted on such testimonials only as the Court of Directors shall approve.]
[[Sidenote K]: To continue during widowhood, and no longer.]
[[Sidenote L]: No officer or soldier to be admitted, unless disabled by wounds, or rendered incapable by age or other accidents. The Directors to be judges.]
[[Sidenote M]: Officers and soldiers must produce a certificate from their commanding officer, of their being invalids and unfit for service in India; and an approbation of such certificate from the Governor and Council. The Court may admit petitioners in the Company's service residing in England, if they shall judge them fit objects.]
[[Sidenote N]: A colonel must swear he is not possessed of, or entitled to, real and personal estate to the value of 4,000l.; a lieutenant-colonel, of 3,000l.; a major, of 2,500l.; a captain, of 2,000l.; a lieutenant, of 1,000l.; and an ensign of 750l.]
[[Sidenote O]: Widows must lay before the Court satisfactory evidence that their respective husbands did not die worth the sums above specified.]
[[Sidenote P]: To be entitled from the times of their arrival in England.]
[[Sidenote Q]: All disputes or doubts concerning qualifications of petitioners, distribution, or times of payment, to be decided by the Court of Directors only.]
[[Sidenote R]: Interest on the eight lacks due 29th September 1769, value 24,128l., to be erected into capital, and to carry 8 per cent. interest from that time.]
[[Sidenote S]: The contingent fund is to be appropriated for all incident expenses of carrying the fund into execution, and for such objects of charity belonging to the military, their widows or families, as the Court shall think fit.]
[[Sidenote T]: If the Company should lose or part with their territorial possessions in Bengal, so that Lord Clive's jaghire should cease before the term agreed upon, or if the Company should cease to maintain a military force in India before 1784, in either case the five lacks to be restored to Lord Clive or his executors, but chargeable with the proportion of all the pensions assigned on the eight lacks generally.]
[[Sidenote U]: If the Company employ no military force in India after 1784, the interest of the eight lacks to be applied for relief of officers and seamen, invalids or superannuated, and the widows of such of them as shall die in their service, during widowhood only.]
[[Sidenote V]: If after 1784, the Company shall cease to employ either troops or shipping, they shall repay Lord Clive, or his executors, the five lacks chargeable with the pensions that may then be upon them.]
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE EAST INDIA COMPANY AND THE RIGHT HON. LORD CLIVE.
Preamble.
This Indenture, made the 6th day of April, in the tenth year of the reign of our sovereign Lord George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, and in the year of our Lord 1770; between the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, of the one part, and the Right Honourable Robert Lord Clive, Baron of Plassey, in the kingdom of Ireland, and Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, of the other part. Whereas Meer Mahomed Jaffier Cawn, deceased, late Nabob of the kingdom or province of Bengal, did before his death, in the presence of three witnesses, (to wit) Najim al Dowla, his son, Lady Begam, his wife, and Meha Rajah Nuncomar, according to the form and manner of testamentary acts used in that country, bequeath unto the said Robert Lord Clive, out of the monies and effects which the said nabob had in his possession, the sum of three lacks of rupees, 50,000 rupees in money, 50,000 rupees in jewels, and one lack in gold mohurs, in all five lacks of rupees, as by the contents of the said bequest, contained in three certificates, made by the aforesaid witnesses, in the Persian language, and the translations thereof into the English language, now in the custody of the said Company, may more fully appear: And whereas, at the time of the said Meer Jaffier's death, the said Robert Lord Clive was at sea, on his voyage from England to India, and after his arrival in the province of Bengal, Najim al Dowla, eldest son of the said Meer Jaffier, did, agreeably to the commands of his said father, pay to the said Robert Lord Clive the said five lacks of sicca rupees, of the value of 62,833l. 6s. 8d. sterling, which the said Robert Lord Clive paid into the said East India Company's treasury at Calcutta, at different times, in the year of our Lord 1766, and thereupon notes were signed to his Lordship for the same five lacks of sicca rupees, carrying interest after the rate of 8l. per cent. per annum sterling, until paid: And whereas the said Robert Lord Clive, being zealous for the prosperity of the said Company, the security of their territories and territorial revenues in India belonging to them, and their trade and commerce, which greatly depend on the bravery and conduct of the said Company's troops, and considering that the establishment of a provision for such of the officers and private men employed in the Company's service as should be disabled by age, war, or disease contracted during their service, would tend to induce fit persons to enter into the said service, and encourage the bravery of the soldiery employed therein, hath proposed to the Court of Directors of the said United Company to appropriate the interest of the said five lacks of rupees for the support of a certain number of officers, non-commission officers, and private men, in the service of the said Company, who from wounds, length of service, or diseases contracted during their service, were unable or unfit to serve any longer, and whose fortunes might be too scanty to afford the officers a decent, and the private men a comfortable, subsistence in their native country; and also to make some provision for the widows of such officers and private men, as should have been entitled to the said bounty, or whose husbands should have lost their lives in the said United Company's service: And whereas Syf-ul Dowla, the present Nabob of Bengal aforesaid, hath given to the said United Company the sum of three lacks of rupees, as an addition to the above-mentioned fund: And whereas the said three lacks of rupees were carried to account in the said United Company's treasury, in the month of April, 1767, and the said Company's note for the said three lacks of sicca rupees, amounting to the sum of 37,700l. sterling, carrying interest after the rate of 8l. by the hundred by the year, was issued from the said Company's treasury at Calcutta, payable to the said Robert Lord Clive: And whereas the said Robert Lord Clive hath also proposed that the said Court of Directors, and their successors, shall be perpetual trustees of the said fund of five lacks of rupees, as well as of the said three lacks of rupees, for the due application and appropriation of the interest and produce thereof, which said trust the said Court of Directors have consented and agreed to accept of: And whereas it has been agreed by and between the said Robert Lord Clive and the said Court of Directors, that the said eight lacks of rupees shall, from the 29th day of September, which was in the year of our Lord 1766, carry interest at and after the said rate of 8l. by the hundred by the year,[A] upon and subject to the several trusts, conditions, agreements, and provisoes herein-after mentioned: And whereas the said Robert Lord Clive, in pursuance of the said agreement, hath delivered up the said cash notes for five lacks, and three lacks of rupees, to the said Court of Directors, to be cancelled: Now this Indenture witnesseth, that for the better and more effectually carrying the aforesaid agreement into execution, it is hereby mutually covenanted, concluded, declared, and agreed, by and between the said Robert Lord Clive and the said United Company, that the said eight lacks of rupees shall remain in the hands or treasury of the said United Company, who shall yearly, and every year, at their house or office in Leadenhall Street, London,[B] or in any other house or place where the business of the said Company shall be transacted and carried on, pay and allow the sum of 8042l. 13s. 4d. of lawful money of Great Britain, for and in lieu of interest of the said eight lacks of rupees, being after the rate of 8l. by the hundred by the year, to such persons, in such proportions, and for such purposes, as are herein-after mentioned of and concerning the same. And it is further covenanted, concluded, and agreed upon, between the said parties, that [C]the Court of Directors of the said United Company, and their successors, shall be perpetual trustees, subject to the agreements and provisoes herein-after contained, of the said fund of eight lacks of rupees, for the due application and appropriation of the interest and produce thereof, from the 29th day of September[D] last past, to and amongst, and for the relief and maintenance of European officers and soldiers,[E] who shall become invalids or superannuated in the said United Company's service, and of their widows, and also the widows of such officers and soldiers as shall die in the said United Company's service, in the shares, dividends, and proportions following; (that is to say,) to all commissioned and staff or warrant officers,[F] one moiety or half part of the ordinary stated pay they were respectively entitled to whilst in commission or service; to all serjeants, corporals, and private men,[G] the like pay as is allowed and payable to the out-pensioners, of the same ranks or degrees, belonging to Chelsea Hospital; and to the several widows[H] of all such officers and soldiers, one quarter or fourth part of the ordinary stated pay their respective husbands were entitled to when in the said United Company's service, yearly and every year, during their several and respective natural lives.[I] But it is declared, that the provisions hereby intended for such widows shall be paid upon such certificates and testimonials[J] only as the Court of Directors for the time being shall think reasonable or necessary to entitle them thereunto, and shall be payable during their respective widowhoods, but no longer;[K] and in case of their intermarriages, then such provision shall from thenceforth cease. Provided always, and it is hereby further concluded and agreed upon, by and between the said parties, that no officer or soldier is to be or shall be entitled to any bounty or provision, under or by virtue of these presents, unless he shall, in the judgment of the Court of Directors of the said United Company for the time being,[L] be found disabled by wounds, or rendered incapable by age or other accidents, and unless he shall produce a certificate from and under the hand of[M] his commanding officer of his being an invalid, and rendered incapable of further service in India, together with an approbation of such certificate by the Governor and Council of the Presidency where such officer shall have served; but nevertheless, if any officer or soldier in the said Company's service, residing or being in England, shall apply to the said Court of Directors to be admitted to the said bounty or provision, the said Court of Directors shall admit such officer or soldier thereunto, if they shall adjudge him to be a proper object of such bounty. Provided also, and it is hereby further concluded and agreed upon, that the bounty or provision hereby intended for and in favour of the said officers, is only to extend to such of them as shall be obliged, through any of the misfortunes above-mentioned, to return to England in indigent circumstances; and that all and every such officers applying for such bounty shall, previous to their becoming entitled thereto, according to their several ranks or commissions, make oath in the most solemn manner, before the Governor and Council, to the purport and effect following; (that is to say,) [N]a colonel shall swear that he, or any person or persons in trust for him, is or are not seised or possessed of or entitled unto any real and personal estate, to the amount in value together of 4,000l.; a lieutenant-colonel, to the amount in value of 3,000l.; a major, to the amount in value of 2,500l.; a captain, to the amount in value of 2,000l.; a lieutenant, to the amount in value of 1,000l.; and an ensign or cornet, to the amount in value of 750l. And in case of the death of any officer of the ranks above mentioned in the said United Company's service, the[O] widow of every such officer, before she shall be admitted to partake of the said bounty or pension, shall produce and lay before the Court of Directors of the said United Company such evidence as to them shall seem reasonable, that her husband, under whom she derives such claim, did not die seised or possessed of real and personal estate to the amount herein-before specified, according to his respective rank in the said service. Provided nevertheless, and it is further concluded and agreed upon, that the several persons applying for the benefit of the said fund or bounty shall be admitted and become entitled thereto,[P] according to the times of their respective arrivals in England; and in case [Q]any disputes or differences shall happen or arise, touching or concerning the qualifications of persons claiming right to pensions under these presents, or the distribution thereof, or the times of their being respectively entitled thereto, such differences or disputes shall, from time to time, be decided and adjusted by the Court of Directors of the said United Company, and not otherwise.[R] And whereas the interest due from the said United Company upon the said cash notes herein-before mentioned amounted, on the 29th day of September last, to the sum of 24,128l., now it is hereby further concluded and agreed, by and between the said parties to these presents, that the said sum of 24,128l. shall remain in the hands of the said United Company in India, and shall be deemed and considered as capital, and shall carry interest from the said 29th day of September last, at and after the rate of 8l. by the hundred by the year, which [S]interest or yearly produce thereof shall be from time to time paid, disposed of, and distributed by the Court of Directors of the said United Company for the time being, in the first place, for the discharging all incident charges and expenses attending carrying into execution the fund hereby established, and subject thereto, unto and amongst such objects of charity, belonging to the said United Company's military service, or the widows or families of such objects, as the said Court of Directors shall in their discretion think fit. Provided also, and the said United Company do hereby covenant, promise, and agree, to and with the said Robert Lord Clive, his executors, administrators, and assigns, that in case the said United Company shall at any time hereafter, by any means whatsoever,[T] otherwise than by the fate of war, be dispossessed or deprived of, or part with their territorial possessions in Bengal, and the revenues arising thereby, so that the jaghire granted unto and now enjoyed by the said Robert Lord Clive shall, during the term agreed upon between the said United Company and the said Robert Lord Clive for the continuation thereof, cease to be paid unto his said Lordship, or his assigns, or in case the said United Company shall, at any time before the year of our Lord 1784, [U]cease to employ and maintain in their immediate pay and service a military force in the East Indies, then and in either of the said cases, the said United Company shall and will forthwith pay unto the said Robert Lord Clive, his executors, administrators, or assigns, at their treasury in Calcutta aforesaid, the full sum of five lacks of sicca rupees, to and for his and their own proper use and benefit, but subject nevertheless with the interest of the aforesaid three lacks of rupees, in the proportion the said respective sums bear to each other, to the payment of all such pensions and annuities, as shall, at the time either of the aforesaid contingencies shall happen, be payable out of or chargeable upon the said trust fund, which said pensions and annuities it is hereby fully understood and agreed, shall continue to be paid and payable out of the interest of the said eight lacks of rupees, or such part thereof as shall be wanting and necessary, during the lives of the several persons then entitled thereto. And it is hereby further concluded and agreed upon, between the said parties to these presents, that in case, at any time after the commencement of the said year of our Lord 1784, it shall so happen that the said United Company shall have no military force in their actual pay or service in the East Indies, that then and in such case the interest and produce of the said trust fund of eight lacks of rupees shall from thenceforth, from time to time, be applied, paid, and distributed towards the support, relief, and provision of marine officers and seamen who shall become invalids or superannuated in the said United Company's service, and the widows of such of them as shall die in the said service, during their respective widowhoods only, in such shares and proportions, in manner and form, as, in case such event shall happen, shall be concluded and agreed upon between the said United Company and the said Robert Lord Clive, or his legal representative or representatives. And lastly, it is hereby expressly stipulated and agreed, and the said United Company do hereby covenant with the said Robert Lord Clive, his executors, administrators, and assigns, that in case it shall happen that the said United Company, after the commencement of the said year of our Lord 1784,[V] shall cease to employ a military force in their actual pay and service in the East Indies, and also ships for carrying on their trade and commerce, then and in such case, as soon as the said event shall happen, the said United Company shall and will pay unto the said Robert Lord Clive, his executors, administrators, or assigns, for his and their own use, at their treasury in Calcutta aforesaid, the full sum of five lacks of sicca rupees, but subject nevertheless with the interest of the said three lacks of rupees, in the proportion the said sums bear to each other, to the payment of all such pensions and annuities, for the lives of the persons then entitled thereto only, as shall, at the time such event shall happen, be payable out of or chargeable upon the said trust fund, according to the true intent and meaning of these presents. In witness whereof the said United Company have hereunto affixed their common seal, and the said Robert Lord Clive hath set his hand and seal, the day and year first above written.
(Company's Seal.) (L.S.) CLIVE.
Sealed and delivered, being first duly stamped, by the within-named Robert Lord Clive, in the presence of
Richard Holt,
Thomas Morton.
GENERAL REGULATIONS
FOR TRANSACTING THE BUSINESS OF THE MILITARY FUND.
At a Court of Directors of the East India Company,
14th January, 1824.
The Court having had under their consideration the regulations established for transacting the business of the Military Fund; resolved, That the following regulations be now established, and that, for the future, the paymaster do govern himself thereby in conducting the business of the fund.
1. That every petitioning officer and soldier shall produce a certificate from his commanding officer of his being an invalid, and rendered incapable of further service in India, together with an approbation of such certificate by the Governor and Council of the Presidency where such officer or soldier shall have served.
2. That every commissioned officer shall previously make oath before the Governor and Council, viz. a colonel, that he, or any person in trust for him, is not possessed of or entitled to real and personal estate to the value of 4,000l.; a lieutenant-colonel, of 3,000l.; a major, of 2,500l.; a captain, of 2,000l.; a lieutenant, of 1,000l.; and an ensign, of 750l.; and shall furnish a declaration, acknowledging themselves to be acquainted with the resolution of the Court of Directors, which precludes all officers who are admitted pensioners on the military fund from returning again to the service.
3. That all commissioned officers and widows of commissioned officers, admitted on the Fund, shall receive pensions at the rates of infantry pay, according to the respective ranks of the parties.
4. That all non-commissioned officers and privates shall be paid according to the rates allowed by resolution of court of the 14th April, 1819.
5. That all officers shall be entitled from the periods up to which they may have been paid in India, or from the date of their pay on furlough ceasing; and all non-commissioned officers and privates, from the times of their respective debarkations in England.
6. That commissioned officers and their widows shall be paid their pensions in arrears, and shall receive them at the Company's office in London only, either in person or by power of attorney, half-yearly, at Midsummer and at Christmas.
7. That non-commissioned officers and private men shall, immediately upon admission, be paid in advance, for the remaining number of days of the current half year; and at the expiration thereof, every succeeding half year in advance.
8. That non-commissioned officers and private men residing within twenty-five miles of London, shall be paid at the Company's office in London, and not otherwise.
9. That such non-commissioned officers and private men as reside at a greater distance from London, or in Scotland or Ireland, be made at such times, by such persons, and in such manner, as the Court of Directors shall from time to time find convenient, in person, and not otherwise.
10. That non-commissioned officers and private men shall receive on admission a certificate thereof, signed by the paymaster of this fund, containing a description of such pensioner, his age, and other particulars; which certificate the pensioner shall exhibit to the persons directed to pay them each time of payment, and no pension shall be paid unless this certificate is produced by the pensioner.
11. That country pensioners shall receive in advance for the first half year, from Midsummer or Christmas next ensuing the date of their admission, on producing the above certificate only to the persons appointed to pay them; but in the months of October, or April after receiving such first half-yearly payment, every pensioner shall make two affidavits, of the same tenor and date, before a magistrate, conformably to the printed instructions he shall receive from the paymaster of the fund; one of which affidavits must be transmitted to the said paymaster in London, in the months of October and April in each year, the other, together with the pensioner's certificate of admission, must be exhibited to the person that shall be empowered to pay him.
12. That no pensioner shall be paid in the country, unless the above-mentioned affidavit has been timely received by the paymaster of this fund in London.
13. That if a pensioner does not claim his pension in person, or transmit an affidavit for three half years, he shall be considered as dead; but if such pensioner shall afterwards furnish satisfactory proof of his identity to the Court of Directors, he shall be again placed on the pension list, and be allowed arrears for two years, but for no longer period.
14. That widows of commissioned officers must lay before the Court such evidence as to them shall seem reasonable, that their husbands, under whom they derive their claim, did not die possessed of real and personal estate to the amount specified in Regulation the second, according to their respective ranks in the service; and further, that they had not, at the period of their marriage, property settled upon them by their husbands, which, together with the property left by the husband, would exclude them from the benefit of the fund.
15. That widows of commissioned officers be paid in person, or by power of attorney, at the Company's office in London only.
16. That the widows of officers and soldiers, provided it appears they were married previous to their husbands becoming pensioners on this fund, shall receive the pension at the rates fixed by the deed when this fund was originally instituted.
17. That widows of non-commissioned officers and private men shall prove their marriage to the satisfaction of the Court of Directors.
18. That widows of non-commissioned officers and private men, residing within twenty-five miles of London, shall be paid at the Company's office in London only; and those who live at a greater distance shall be paid in the same manner, and upon the same half-yearly affidavits, as the men; and, in either case, they shall receive in person, and not otherwise.
19. That pensions granted to widows shall continue during their widowhood, and no longer.
20. That the pensions of commissioned officers and their widows shall be paid net, without any fee or deduction whatever.
21. That the pensions of such non-commissioned officers and their widows as receive in person in London, shall be paid net, without any fee or deduction whatever.
22. That such of the non-commissioned officers and private men, and such of their widows as are paid in the country, shall each time allow one shilling to the person that pays them, for his trouble.
23. That in cases of insanity, satisfactory proof be made thereof to the Court of Directors, and the pension paid to a churchwarden, in behalf of the parish, towards the pensioner's subsistence.
24. That no pensioner, on their first admission to this fund, shall be allowed to receive arrears of pension for more than two years back from the date of their application.
FOR THE PENSIONERS ON THE FUND ESTABLISHED FOR RELIEF OF THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S MILITARY, ETC.
All non-commissioned officers and private soldiers admitted pensioners on the above fund, residing within twenty-five miles of London, must receive in person at the Company's office there; and such as live at a greater distance from London than twenty-five miles, as well as those in Scotland and Ireland, are hereby required and directed, that early in the months of April and October, every year, they do apply themselves to one of his Majesty's justices of peace in the neighbourhood where they reside, and make two affidavits of the following tenor, and of one date (which affidavits the Court of Directors of the East India Company request the said magistrate to sign and date), viz.:—
"———————— came before me, one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for the county of ————, and made oath, that he was admitted a pensioner on the Military Fund of the Honourable East India Company the —— day of ———— 18—; was then aged about ———— years, and was discharged for ————————, and now lives in the parish of --------, in the county of ————.
"Sworn before me,
this —— day of ————, 18—."
One of the two affidavits, drawn according to the above form, sworn before, dated, and attested by a magistrate, is to be sent by the general post, directed (until further orders) "To the Paymaster of the Honourable East-India Company's Military Fund, at the East-India House, London;" the other affidavit, of the same tenor and date, the pensioner must keep, to show, together with his certificate of admission, signed by the paymaster, to the person who shall be empowered to pay him in the country.
The above-mentioned affidavits must be made and transmitted to London in April and in October, so as to be received by the Company's paymaster full two months before the 24th of June and the 25th of December respectively. They must be drawn on one piece of paper, big enough to fold up in the form of a letter, and the above direction wrote on the back thereof, to avoid unnecessary expense of postage.
No pensioner will be paid unless the above-mentioned affidavit has been timely received, twice a year, by the paymaster of this fund in London; nor unless the other affidavit of the same date, as well as the certificate of admission, are produced by the pensioner every time of payment.
All pensioners are to take particular notice, that neither the whole nor any part of their pension money will be paid at any time, nor under any pretence whatever, to any other person or persons than themselves only; consequently they cannot commission or empower any one to receive for them; and no receipts, acknowledgments, or assignments for money any pensioner may borrow on his pension will be discharged, or paid any regard to, by the paymaster of this fund. But proper care will be taken that the pensioners themselves shall be regularly paid twice a year, in whatever part of England, Scotland, or Ireland they may reside, provided they duly observe the orders and directions contained in the instructions.
Every pensioner who receives in the country, is to allow one shilling, each time of payment, to the person he is paid by.
ERRATUM.
The portrait of Lord Clive is by Dance, R.A., and not by Sir Joshua Reynolds, as is erroneously stated in some of the impressions.
THE END.
London:
Printed by A. Spottiswoode,
New-Street. Square.
TRANSCRIBERS NOTE:
In an attempt to make the legal agreement between the Company and Clive more readable we have stripped out the sidenotes to the agreement and listed them at the beginning with links to the appropriate area of the agreement.