I do not like to treat harshly the errors into which a very young
person may fall: but the man who employs him, and puts him into a
situation for which he has neither capacity nor experience, is
responsible for the consequences of such an appointment; and Mr.
Hastings is doubly responsible in this case, because he placed Mr.
Markham as Resident merely to show that he defied the authority of the
Court of Directors.
But, my Lords, let us proceed. We find Mr. Hastings resolved to exact
forty lacs from the country, although he had no proof that such a
tribute could be fairly collected. He next assigns to this boy, the
Rajah, emoluments amounting to about 60,000_l._ a year. Let us now see
upon what grounds he can justify the assignment of these emoluments. I
can perceive none but such as are founded upon the opinion of its being
necessary to the support of the Rajah's dignity. Now, when Mr. Markham,
who is the sole ostensible actor in the management of the new Rajah, as
he had been a witness to the deposition of the former, comes before you
to give an account of what he thought of Cheyt Sing, who appears to have
properly supported the dignity of his situation, he tells you that about
a lac or a lac and a half (10,000_l.
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