Under such circumstances, we are not to wonder, if the
merchants of foreign countries are discouraged from resorting to
Benares, and if the commerce of that province should annually decay.
_Other_ evils, or imputed evils, have accidentally come to my knowledge,
which I will not now particularize, as I hope, that, with the
assistance of the Resident, they may be _in part_ corrected. One evil I
must mention, because it has been verified by my own observation, and is
of that kind which reflects an unmerited reproach on our general and
national character. When I was at Buxar, the Resident, at my desire,
enjoined the Naib to appoint creditable people to every town through
which our route lay, to persuade and encourage the inhabitants to remain
in their houses, promising to give them guards as I approached, and they
required it for their protection; and that he might perceive how earnest
I was for his observation of this precaution, I repeated it to him in
person, and dismissed him that he might precede me for that purpose.
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