Item #4111720 A Letter to the Earl of Shelburne, on the Subject of Mr. Secretary Townshend's Letter to the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the East India Company. EAST INDIA COMPANY, Sir Charles COOTE, Earl of Bellamont.

A Letter to the Earl of Shelburne…
A Letter to the Earl of Shelburne, on the Subject of Mr. Secretary Townshend's Letter to the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the East India Company.

London: John Debrett, 1783.

Octavo, 26pp, disbound.

A printed letter critical of Thomas Townshend's involvement as Home Secretary in the affairs of the East India Company, published before the contentious resignation of Warren Hastings as Governor of Bengal. The letter was addressed by Lord Bellamont to the Earl of Shelburne, then Prime Minister in the final months of the American War of Independence. Bellamont, an inveterate letter-writer, was an Irish peer and a pest; painted by Reynolds, he was known as the "Hibernian Seducer".

A printed letter critical of Thomas Townshend's involvement as Home Secretary in the affairs of the East India Company, published before the contentious resignation of Warren Hastings as Governor of Bengal. The letter was addressed by Lord Bellamont to the Earl of Shelburne, then Prime Minister in the final months of the American War of Independence. Bellamont, an inveterate letter-writer, was an Irish peer and a pest; painted by Reynolds, he was known as the "Hibernian Seducer".

Coote's pamphlet charges Townshend with having overstepped the bounds of his authority in the controversy surrounding Warren Hastings, the Governor of Bengal. Hastings had aroused animosity in exposing the endemic corruption and cronyism of British merchants in India; when the Directors of the East India Company sought his removal, Townshend intervened and stated that the dismissal was 'directly repugnant to the sense of the House of Commons'. He is attacked here for acting with undue authority, and for misrepresenting both parliament and the King. In this poisonous political climate Warren Hastings resigned in 1784 and returned to England to face impeachment in parliament. The trial ran for seven years and culminated in Hastings' acquittal in 1795.

Condition Report: Some very light foxing, a good copy.

Price (AUD): $585.00

US$384.24   Other currencies

Ref: #4111720

Condition Report