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Were any apology necessary for thisReport, a sufficient one would be where MajorHart says, "When I add that Major-generalMacaulay was my junior officer; that, in consequenceof my dismission, he succeeded to thevery regiment which, at this hour, I should haveotherwise commanded, and became a generalofficer so much sooner by my dismission; I amsatisfied that the Honourable Court (of Directors)will think his conduct a most materialfeature in the future consideration of my case."—India-House-Papers,p. 362.[Pg 4]
Another instance of Major Hart's sinisterattack is, where Major-general Macaulay hasreplied to it, saying, "There remains afarther slanderous insinuation of Major Hart's,that I think myself bound to notice. He hascharged upon me, as a leading motive in the censureof his conduct, a settled design of placingmyself in the command of the fortress of Palamcottah,and of the forces in the field in Tinnevelly,to his exclusion! This strange chargehe more than once gave distinct hints of to myself.But he made it directly in the course ofhis last visit to me, in June 1815, when he behavedso coarsely. It will, I have little doubt,seem somewhat strange, even to your Lordship,(Harris, the commander-in-chief,) but so it is,that to this hour I do not know to whom I owethat command. I not only never made applicationdirectly or indirectly for it, but the idea ofapplying for it never once entered my mind.—Papers,p. 388.
But Major-general Macaulay scarce neededthis reply, since it is Major Hart himself whocan affirm his own error. The Major says,[Pg 5]"I shall not however pretend to defend the actacknowledged of my having carried to the field aquantity of private grain.[A] No, my Lord,(Harris,) most deeply and sensibly do I feeland deplore the error of my conduct.—Papers,p. 352.
And yet, notwithstanding this pretended acknowledgmentof real error, it is the Board ofControul which, in order to allow Major Hartto hold private grain, must set aside the veryregulation upon this subject. The 39th Regulationsays, "it being the principle of the presentsystem, by liberal and avowed allowances,to place this department upon so respectable afooting as to leave no temptation to seek forunauthorized advantages, the Commissary ofGrain is not on any account, directly or indirectly,to derive any other advantage or emolumentfrom this situation than the salary fixed byGovernment. The strictest economy is, ther