I have had myself opportunities of seeing with my own eyes, and of hearing with my own ears, the consequences of good and bad government; and this happened at the time when the Shah-zada-aaly-goher, who is now our Emperor, under the name of Shah-aalem, was waging war against the English nation in the plains of Azim-abad. As soon as it became certain that the Imperial Prince intended an expedition into the province of Bahar, and that he was coming to Azim-abad, there was not an inhabitant, or a citizen, who, on the strength of the favours and good government which they had formerly experienced from the Prince’s forefathers and ancestors, did not pray for victory to him, and for prosperity to his undertaking; they seemed to have but one mouth and but one heart, on that subject, although not one of them had yet received any favour from him, or tasted of the crumbs that might have fallen from the table of His Goodness. But when he came himself, and they experienced from his unruly troops, and from his disorderly Generals, every act of oppression and extortion imaginable; and, on the other hand, they saw every day what a strict discipline the English officers of those days did observe, and how those amongst them that travelled, carried so strict a hand upon their people, as to suffer not a blade of grass to be touched or spoiled, and no kind of injury to be offered to the feeblest man; then indeed the scales were turned, and when the same Prince made his second and third expedition into those parts, I heard the people load him with imprecations, and pray for victory and prosperity to the English army. But those same people feel nothing for them now, fully sensible that these new rulers pay no regard or attention to the concerns of Hindo­stanies, and that they suffer them to be mercilessly plundered, fleeced, oppressed, and tormented by those officers of their appointing, and by their other dependants; those same people, I say, reduced now to despair, have altered their language, and totally changed in their hearts, on finding that their rulers had so far altered from what they had seemed to be.

Amongst the various grievances complained of, this is one of the most stinging kind. The head Harcara, or head Spy, in several of the best English houses, never fails to become their Major Domo, and the hinge upon which turn most transactions, although he should be, as he is in general, a man of the lowest clan, and of the vilest kind*. This man, for the sake of shewing his power, is ever disposed to use Gentlemen of ancient or illustrious families in an unworthy manner. Should any one of those unfortunate men, tired of eternal insults and stoppages, carry his humiliation so far as to submit to such usage, and dishonor himself by making a present, he is allowed to walk farther within the house, and to appear in the master’s presence; else, if he pretend to intrench himself within the prerogative of his rank and birth, he from that moment becomes exposed to a variety of affronts and indignities, and he is suffered to languish in the yard with the crowd, without being ever permitted to go as far as the master’s hall of audience. This head Spy, already linked and in con­federacy The first cause of the decline of the prosperity of these countries is the natural unsociable­ness of the English in general, and the inacces­sibleness of their rulers in particular. with the Moonshy, (or Persian Secretary), and the Divan, (or confidant), as well as with every one of the dependants of that house, gives what turn he pleases to any petitioner’s business, and meanwhile he enjoys the highest influence in the decision; whilst Gentlemen of high descent and great pretensions are left in the anti-chamber, ranged against the wall like so many statues, and in fact they are deemed so many by-standers of no account. This grievance is to be found, not in this or that house, it is found in all. Every man in office has such a household, upon such a pattern, and such a set of people about him; and although he be not the actual ruler of the country, yet wherever he goes, he is sure of acting as Sovereign. Now every household being composed of such a set of servants, as have been described, it follows that as the people of this land stand, every one of them, in the relation of subjects, with respect to the English, it may be easily conceived what must be the case of the former, and how little probability there is for their yielding a blind obedience to such a numerous set of masters, and to such numerous sets of servants and dependants.

The second cause, which contributes to raise a wall between the conquerors and the conquered, is their differing in language, as well as in almost every action and every custom in life.

The tongue, which is the key of the treasures of the heart and mind, and which serves as a medium to strengthen the bands of society, as well as an organ to unlock the secrets of the heart, happens to be deprived of its office between the Hindostanies and the English. Most of the English Gentlemen do not under­stand the language of their subjects, and none of these last understand a word of English. It follows, of course, that a company of Hindians, having business with their English rulers, looks very much like a number of pictures set up against the wall; and this happens not only because the Gentlemen having always a deal of business of their own to transact, cannot afford much of their time to others, but chiefly because they cannot understand each other, and are unable to have a communication of ideas. Whence it follows that no benefit is reaped by either description of men from such an intercourse; but as the Hindians are always the petitioners, they always prove the greatest losers from that inconvenience, being always at a loss what to do next. And if the Moonshy or the Divan happen to be the interpreter of communication, and the canal of comprehension and expla­nation, it becomes necessary for the petitioner that, after having said a few words to the master, he explains the rest entirely to the Moonshy, on which occasion the latter asks the whole matter over again; and it is seldom but the suitor is thereby put off his guard, and gives rise to much discontent and much dissatis­faction on either side. Were these men now, who rule every­where, to remain for a length of time in command, they would become acquainted with the language, customs, and usages of one district, and would acquire a full knowledge of the several individuals that dwell in the same; nor is there any doubt, but that they would rule much better, and become much likelier to promote the welfare of the people, than would be a stranger, who always comes thoroughly unacquainted with either men, language, or country.

On the other hand, as these rulers have all their necessaries from their own country, it follows that the handycraftsmen and artificers of this land suffer constantly, live in distress, and find it difficult to procure a livelihood sufficient to support their lives. For as the English are now the rulers and the masters of this country, as well as the only rich men in it, to whom can those poor people look up for offering the productions of their art, so as to benefit by their expenses? It is only some artificers that can find a livelihood with the English, such as carpenters, silver-smiths, iron-smiths, &c; nay, they subsist upon better terms than they did under the Hindostany Government, and possibly two or three trades more, the names whereof I cannot now recollect, may fare the better for these strangers. But as to those numerous artificers of other denominations, they have no other resource left than that of begging or thieving. Numbers, therefore have already quitted their homes and countries; and numbers unwilling to leave their abodes, have made a covenant with hunger and distress, and ended their lives in a corner of their cottages. To heighten this picture now, let us imagine that at such a time of general distress and want of employment as this, when to get a meal at night is become a matter of so much difficulty, we are perpetually cursed with shoals of peons or messengers, and constables of the Fodjdary office, all let loose upon the necessitous people, whom they torment by every invention which chicane and accusation can contrive. These wretches, under pretence of diet-money to themselves, harass the people with so much cruelty, that the shaft has sunk to the quick, and the knife has cut through to the bone; and it is thus that the Fodjdary office, originally set up for the ease of the subject, has been perverted into a scene of extortion and tyranny. Nor does such an evil come alone and by itself; it comes along with the want of employment, and the want of subsistence, and over and above the vexation of being often impressed for public service. Nor does that evil make any distinction betwixt the high, the low, or the middling; nor is there any one to recur to in so much distress, but God Almighty. As the English Gentle­men, to rid themselves of the necessity of hearing these poor people, have made them over to the Fodjdars; and these Fodjdars, with their substitutes, find their own welfare in undoing these poor people; they go on without remorse in their iniquitous proceedings, and make nothing of spreading every day upon their table the carcass of some wretched, as an addition to their dessert.