as senior member of council, adam became governor general of india on lord hastings's departure in january 1823. his rule lasted for seven months, until the arrival of lord amherst in august of the same year. it saw the suppression of the freedom of the english press in india. james silk buckingham had established the "calcutta journal", which published severe comments on the government. adam cancelled buckingham's license for residence in india, and passed regulations restricting newspaper criticism. buckingham appealed to the court of proprietors at home, to the house of commons, and to the privy council; but the action of adam was upheld by each of these three bodies. another unpopular act of adam's governor-generalship was to withdraw official support from the banking firm of palmer, who had acquired great influence with the nizam of hyderabad.