|
Francis, Philip (1740-1818) a council member in the government of warren hastings, an originator of the idea of permanent settlement, parliamentarian and writer. Amongst the British in Bengal, Philip Francis became famous for his persistent opposition to Warren Hastings. His luxurious lifestyle made him a subject of gossip among the Europeans in Calcutta. While most of the Europeans lived in small rented houses, Francis had built on his own a huge mansion and, in imitation of the Mughals, maintained over one hundred servants and slaves for his comfort. He had several mistresses and concubines to serve him. Francis became particularly famous for his role in organising the impeachment of his foe, Warren Hastings. Born in Dublin on 22 October 1740, Philip Francis got his education at St. Paul where he got proficiency in Latin, French, Portuguese and Spanish. After holding some diplomatic posts in the European capitals, Francis got selection from parliament to serve as a member of the Fort William Council, which was established under the regulating act, 1773. He arrived at Calcutta on 19 October 1774. While abolishing the farming system in 1777, Francis presented an elaborate plan for concluding a permanent settlement with zamindars. A long debate took place in the council on the plan and finally the court of directors ordered to make revenue sttlement with zamindars on annual basis, and never with revenue farmers. This experiment also failed to stabilise the government revenue collection. In the long run, the plan of Philip Francis for a permanent settlement with zamindars was revived in 1789. The Permanent Settlement concluded in 1793 by lord cornwallis was thus theoretically rooted in the plan of Philip Francis, though Cornwallis never acknowledged the debt to him. The official acrimony and personal relations between Hastings and Francis took such an unfortunate turn in the end that it became a public scandal in the Calcutta society. To gather support in his favour, Hastings even exposed Francis's 'reprehensible' private conduct including his affairs with native women and wives of European colleagues. Francis challenged him in contemporary European style in a duel. It took place on 17 August 1780. Francis lost the duel, and left India immediately after the incident. Hastings could rule unopposed since then.
In 1784, Francis returned to parliament from Yarmouth,
Isle of Wight. It is said that he went to parliament to punish Hastings.
He could persuade Edmund Burke and some other vocal members critical of
the monopoly trade of the company to move a motion to impeach Hastings.
The long list of allegations against him included receiving bribes from
various native nobles and zamindars, oppressions, misuse of powers, interfering
justice, undermining British image and so on. The motion was adopted and
Hastings was recalled to appear before parliament. The long parliamentary
trial ruined Hastings both physically and financially. Francis retired
from parliamentary politics in 1807 and died on 23 December 1818. [Sirajul
Islam] |
