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diff --git a/18192-8.txt b/18192-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7547762 --- /dev/null +++ b/18192-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12426 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund +Burke, Vol. X. (of 12), by Edmund Burke + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. X. (of 12) + +Author: Edmund Burke + +Release Date: April 17, 2006 [EBook #18192] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORKS OF THE RIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Murray, Susan Skinner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + + + + + + + + +THE WORKS + +OF + +THE RIGHT HONOURABLE + +EDMUND BURKE + + +IN TWELVE VOLUMES + +VOLUME THE TENTH + + +[Illustration: Burke Coat of Arms.] + + +LONDON +JOHN C. NIMMO +14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C. +MDCCCLXXXVII + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. X. + + +SPEECHES IN THE IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE, + LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL. + + SPEECH IN OPENING THE IMPEACHMENT. + THIRD DAY: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1788 3 + FOURTH DAY: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19 99 + + SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE OF CHARGE. + FIRST DAY: TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 1789 149 + SECOND DAY: SATURDAY, APRIL 25 240 + THIRD DAY: TUESDAY, MAY 5 306 + FOURTH DAY: THURSDAY, MAY 7 396 + + + + +SPEECHES + +IN + +THE IMPEACHMENT + +OF + +WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE + +LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL. + + + +SPEECH IN OPENING. + +(CONTINUED.) + +FEBRUARY, 1788. + + + + +SPEECH + +IN + +OPENING THE IMPEACHMENT. + +THIRD DAY: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1788. + + +My Lords,--The gentlemen who are appointed by the Commons to manage this +prosecution, have directed me to inform your Lordships, that they have +very carefully and attentively weighed the magnitude of the subject +which they bring before you with the time which the nature and +circumstances of affairs allow for their conducting it. + +My Lords, on that comparison, they are very apprehensive, that, if I +should go very largely into a preliminary explanation of the several +matters in charge, it might be to the prejudice of an early trial of the +substantial merits of each article. We have weighed and considered this +maturely. We have compared exactly the time with the matter, and we have +found that we are obliged to do as all men must do who would manage +their affairs practicably, to make our opinion of what might be most +advantageous to the business conform to the time that is left to perform +it in. We must, as all men must, submit affairs to time, and not think +of making time conform to our wishes; and therefore, my Lords, I very +willingly fall in with the inclinations of the gentlemen with whom I +have the honor to act, to come as soon as possible to close fighting, +and to grapple immediately and directly with the corruptions of +India,--to bring before your Lordships the direct articles, to apply the +evidence to the articles, and to bring the matter forward for your +Lordships' decision in that manner which the confidence we have in the +justice of our cause demands from the Commons of Great Britain. + +My Lords, these are the opinions of those with whom I have the honor to +act, and in their opinions I readily acquiesce. For I am far from +wishing to waste any of your Lordships' time upon any matter merely +through any opinion I have of the nature of the business, when at the +same time I find that in the opinion of others it might militate against +the production of its full, proper, and (if I may so say) its immediate +effect. + +It was my design to class the crimes of the late Governor of Bengal,--to +show their mutual bearings,--how they were mutually aided and grew and +were formed out of each other. I proposed first of all to show your +Lordships that they have their root in that which is the origin of all +evil, avarice and rapacity,--to show how that led to prodigality of the +public money,--and how prodigality of the public money, by wasting the +treasures of the East India Company, furnished an excuse to the +Governor-General to break its faith, to violate all its most solemn +engagements, and to fall with a hand of stern, ferocious, and +unrelenting rapacity upon all the allies and dependencies of the +Company. But I shall be obliged in some measure to abridge this plan; +and as your Lordships already possess, from what I had the honor to +state on Saturday, a general view of this matter, you will be in a +condition to pursue it when the several articles are presented. + +My Lords, I have to state to-day the root of all these +misdemeanors,--namely, the pecuniary corruption and avarice which gave +rise and primary motion to all the rest of the delinquencies charged to +be committed by the Governor-General. + +My Lords, pecuniary corruption forms not only, as your Lordships will +observe in the charges before you, an article of charge by itself, but +likewise so intermixes with the whole, that it is necessary to give, in +the best manner I am able, a history of that corrupt system which +brought on all the subsequent acts of corruption. I will venture to say +there is no one act, in which tyranny, malice, cruelty, and oppression +can be charged, that does not at the same time carry evident marks of +pecuniary corruption. + +I stated to your Lordships on Saturday last the principles upon which +Mr. Hastings governed his conduct in India, and upon which he grounds +his defence. These may all be reduced to one short word,--_arbitrary +power_. My Lords, if Mr. Hastings had contended, as other men have often +done, that the system of government which he patronizes, and on which he +acted, was a system tending on the whole to the blessing and benefit of +mankind, possibly something might be said for him for setting up so +wild, absurd, irrational, and wicked a system,--something might be said +to qualify the act from the intention; but it is singular in this man, +that, at the time he tells you he acted on the principles of arbitrary +power, he takes care to inform you that he was not blind to the +consequences. Mr. Hastings foresaw that the consequences of this system +was corruption. An arbitrary system, indeed, must always be a corrupt +one. My Lords, there never was a man who thought he had no law but his +own will, who did not soon find that he had no end but his own profit. +Corruption and arbitrary power are of natural unequivocal generation, +necessarily producing one another. Mr. Hastings foresees the abusive and +corrupt consequences, and then he justifies his conduct upon the +necessities of that system. These are things which are new in the world; +for there never was a man, I believe, who contended for arbitrary power, +(and there have been persons wicked and foolish enough to contend for +it,) that did not pretend, either that the system was good in itself, or +that by their conduct they had mitigated or had purified it, and that +the poison, by passing through their constitution, had acquired salutary +properties. But if you look at his defence before the House of Commons, +you will see that that very system upon which he governed, and under +which he now justifies his actions, did appear to himself a system +pregnant with a thousand evils and a thousand mischiefs. + +The next thing that is remarkable and singular in the principles upon +which the Governor-General acted is, that, when he is engaged in a +vicious system which clearly leads to evil consequences, he thinks +himself bound to realize all the evil consequences involved in that +system. All other men have taken a directly contrary course: they have +said, "I have been engaged in an evil system, that led, indeed, to +mischievous consequences, but I have taken care, by my own virtues, to +prevent the evils of the system under which I acted." + +We say, then, not only that he governed arbitrarily, but +corruptly,--that is to say, that he was a giver and receiver of bribes, +and formed a system for the purpose of giving and receiving them. We +wish your Lordships distinctly to consider that he did not only give and +receive bribes accidentally, as it happened, without any system and +design, merely as the opportunity or momentary temptation of profit +urged him to it, but that he has formed plans and systems of government +for the very purpose of accumulating bribes and presents to himself. +This system of Mr. Hastings's government is such a one, I believe, as +the British nation in particular will disown; for I will venture to say, +that, if there is any one thing which distinguishes this nation +eminently above another, it is, that in its offices at home, both +judicial and in the state, there is less suspicion of pecuniary +corruption attaching to them than to any similar offices in any part of +the globe, or that have existed at any time: so that he who would set up +a system of corruption, and attempt to justify it upon the principle of +utility, that man is staining not only the nature and character of +office, but that which is the peculiar glory of the official and +judicial character of this country; and therefore, in this House, which +is eminently the guardian of the purity of all the offices of this +kingdom, he ought to be called eminently and peculiarly to account. +There are many things, undoubtedly, in crimes, which make them frightful +and odious; but bribery, filthy hands, a chief governor of a great +empire receiving bribes from poor, miserable, indigent people, this is +what makes government itself base, contemptible, and odious in the eyes +of mankind. + +My Lords, it is certain that even tyranny itself may find some specious +color, and appear as a more severe and rigid execution of justice. +Religious persecution may shield itself under the guise of a mistaken +and over-zealous piety. Conquest may cover its baldness with its own +laurels, and the ambition of the conqueror may be hid in the secrets of +his own heart under a veil of benevolence, and make him imagine he is +bringing temporary desolation upon a country only to promote its +ultimate advantage and his own glory. But in the principles of that +governor who makes nothing but money his object there can be nothing of +this. There are here none of those specious delusions that look like +virtues, to veil either the governed or the governor. If you look at Mr. +Hastings's merits, as he calls them, what are they? Did he improve the +internal state of the government by great reforms? No such thing. Or by +a wise and incorrupt administration of justice? No. Has he enlarged the +boundary of our government? No: there are but too strong proofs of his +lessening it. But his pretensions to merit are, that he squeezed more +money out of the inhabitants of the country than other persons could +have done,--money got by oppression, violence, extortion from the poor, +or the heavy hand of power upon the rich and great. + +These are his merits. What we charge as his demerits are all of the same +nature; for, though there is undoubtedly oppression, breach of faith, +cruelty, perfidy, charged upon him, yet the great ruling principle of +the whole, and that from which you can never have an act free, is +money,--it is the vice of base avarice, which never is, nor ever appears +even to the prejudices of mankind to be, anything like a virtue. Our +desire of acquiring sovereignty in India undoubtedly originated first in +ideas of safety and necessity; its next step was a step of ambition. +That ambition, as generally happens in conquest, was followed by gains +of money; but afterwards there was no mixture at all; it was, during Mr. +Hastings's time, altogether a business of money. If he has extirpated a +nation, I will not say whether properly or improperly, it is because +(says he) you have all the benefit of conquest without expense; you have +got a large sum of money from the people, and you may leave them to be +governed by whom and as they will. This is directly contrary to the +principles of conquerors. If he has at any time taken any money from the +dependencies of the Company, he does not pretend that it was obtained +from their zeal and affection to our cause, or that it made their +submission more complete: very far from it. He says they ought to be +independent, and all that you have to do is to squeeze money from them. +In short, money is the beginning, the middle, and the end of every kind +of act done by Mr. Hastings: pretendedly for the Company, but really for +himself. + +Having said so much about the origin, the first principle, both of that +which he makes his merit and which we charge as his demerit, the next +step is, that I should lay open to your Lordships, as clearly as I can, +what the sense of his employers, the East India Company, and what the +sense of the legislature itself, has been upon those merits and demerits +of money. + +My Lords, the Company, knowing that these money transactions were likely +to subvert that empire which was first established upon them, did, in +the year 1765, send out a body of the strongest and most solemn +covenants to their servants, that they should take no presents from the +country powers, under any name or description, except those things which +were publicly and openly taken for the use of the Company,--namely, +_territories_ or _sums of money_ which might be obtained by treaty. They +distinguished such presents as were taken from any persons privately, +and unknown to them, and without their authority, from subsidies: and +that this is the true nature and construction of their order I shall +contend and explain afterwards to your Lordships. They have said, +nothing shall be taken for their private use; for though in that and in +every state there may be subsidiary treaties by which sums of money may +be received, yet they forbid their servants, their governors, whatever +application they might pretend to make of them, to receive, under any +other name or pretence, more than a certain, marked, simple sum of +money, and this not without the consent and permission of the Presidency +to which they belong. This is the substance, the principle, and the +spirit of the covenants, and will show your Lordships how radicated an +evil this of bribery and presents was judged to be. + +When these covenants arrived in India, the servants refused at first to +execute them,--and suspended the execution of them, till they had +enriched themselves with presents. Eleven months elapsed, and it was not +till Lord Clive reached the place of his destination that the covenants +were executed: and they were not executed then without some degree of +force. Soon afterwards the treaty was made with the country powers by +which Sujah ul Dowlah was reëstablished in the province of Oude, and +paid a sum of 500,000_l._ to the Company for it. It was a public +payment, and there was not a suspicion that a single shilling of private +emolument attended it. But whether Mr. Hastings had the example of +others or not, their example could not justify his briberies. He was +sent there to put an end to all those examples. The Company did +expressly vest him with that power. They declared at that time, that the +whole of their service was totally corrupted by bribes and presents, and +by extravagance and luxury, which partly gave rise to them, and these, +in their turn, enabled them to pursue those excesses. They not only +reposed trust in the integrity of Mr. Hastings, but reposed trust in his +remarkable frugality and order in his affairs, which they considered as +things that distinguished his character. But in his defence we have him +quite in another character,--no longer the frugal, attentive servant, +bred to business, bred to book-keeping, as all the Company's servants +are; he now knows nothing of his own affairs, knows not whether he is +rich or poor, knows not what he has in the world. Nay, people are +brought forward to say that they know better than he does what his +affairs are. He is not like a careful man bred in a counting-house, and +by the Directors put into an office of the highest trust on account of +the regularity of his affairs; he is like one buried in the +contemplation of the stars, and knows nothing of the things in this +world. It was, then, on account of an idea of his great integrity that +the Company put him into this situation. Since that he has thought +proper to justify himself, not by clearing himself of receiving bribes, +but by saying that no bad consequences resulted from it, and that, if +any such evil consequences did arise from it, they arose rather from his +inattention to money than from his desire of acquiring it. + +I have stated to your Lordships the nature of the covenants which the +East India Company sent out. Afterwards, when they found their servants +had refused to execute these covenants, they not only very severely +reprehended even a moment's delay in their execution, and threatened the +exacting the most strict and rigorous performance of them, but they sent +a commission to enforce the observance of them more strongly; and that +commission had it specially in charge never to receive presents. They +never sent out a person to India without recognizing the grievance, and +without ordering that presents should not be received, as the main +fundamental part of their duty, and upon which all the rest depended, as +it certainly must: for persons at the head of government should not +encourage that by example which they ought by precept, authority, and +force to restrain in all below them. That commission failing, another +commission was preparing to be sent out with the same instructions, when +an act of Parliament took it up; and that act, which gave Mr. Hastings +power, did mould in the very first stamina of his power this principle, +in words the most clear and forcible that an act of Parliament could +possibly devise upon the subject. And that act was made not only upon a +general knowledge of the grievance, but your Lordships will see in the +reports of that time that Parliament had directly in view before them +the whole of that monstrous head of corruption under the name of +presents, and all the monstrous consequences that followed it. + +Now, my Lords, every office of trust, in its very nature, forbids the +receipt of bribes. But Mr. Hastings was forbidden it, first, by his +official situation,--next, by covenant,--and lastly, by act of +Parliament: that is to say, by all the things that bind mankind, or that +can bind them,--first, moral obligation inherent in the duty of their +office,--next, the positive injunctions of the legislature of the +country,--and lastly, a man's own private, particular, voluntary act and +covenant. These three, the great and only obligations that bind mankind, +all united in the focus of this single point,--that they should take no +presents. + +I am to mark to your Lordships, that this law and this covenant did +consider indirect ways of taking presents--taking them by others, and +such like--directly in the very same light as they considered taking +them by themselves. It is perhaps a much more dangerous way; because it +adds to the crime a false, prevaricating mode of concealing it, and +makes it much more mischievous by admitting others into the +participation of it. Mr. Hastings has said, (and it is one of the +general complaints of Mr. Hastings,) that he is made answerable for the +acts of other men. It is a thing inherent in the nature of his +situation. All those who enjoy a great superintending trust, which is to +regulate the whole affairs of an empire, are responsible for the acts +and conduct of other men, so far as they had anything to do with +appointing them, or holding them in their places, or having any sort of +inspection into their conduct. But when a Governor presumes to remove +from their situations those persons whom the public authority and +sanction of the Company have appointed, and obtrudes upon them by +violence other persons, superseding the orders of his masters, he +becomes doubly responsible for their conduct. If the persons he names +should be of notorious evil character and evil principles, and if this +should be perfectly known to himself, and of public notoriety to the +rest of the world, then another strong responsibility attaches on him +for the acts of those persons. + +Governors, we know very well, cannot with their own hands be continually +receiving bribes,--for then they must have as many hands as one of the +idols in an Indian temple, in order to receive all the bribes which a +Governor-General may receive,--but they have them vicariously. As there +are many offices, so he has had various officers for receiving and +distributing his bribes; he has a great many, some white and some black +agents. The white men are loose and licentious; they are apt to have +resentments, and to be bold in revenging them. The black men are very +secret and mysterious; they are not apt to have very quick resentments, +they have not the same liberty and boldness of language which +characterize Europeans; and they have fears, too, for themselves, which +makes it more likely that they will conceal anything committed to them +by Europeans. Therefore Mr. Hastings had his black agents, not one, two, +three, but many, disseminated through the country: no two of them, +hardly, appear to be in the secret of any one bribe. He has had likewise +his white agents,--they were necessary,--a Mr. Larkins and a Mr. +Croftes. Mr. Croftes was sub-treasurer, and Mr. Larkins +accountant-general. These were the last persons of all others that +should have had anything to do with bribes; yet these were some of his +agents in bribery. There are few instances, in comparison of the whole +number of bribes, but there are some, where two men are in the secret of +the same bribe. Nay, it appears that there was one bribe divided into +different payments at different times,--that one part was committed to +one black secretary, another part to another black secretary. So that it +is almost impossible to make up a complete body of all his bribery: you +may find the scattered limbs, some here and others there; and while you +are employed in picking them up, he may escape entirely in a prosecution +for the whole. + +The first act of his government in Bengal was the most bold and +extraordinary that I believe ever entered into the head of any man,--I +will say, of any tyrant. It was no more or less than a general, almost +exceptless confiscation, in time of profound peace, of all the landed +property in Bengal, upon most extraordinary pretences. Strange as this +may appear, he did so confiscate it; he put it up to a pretended public, +in reality to a private corrupt auction; and such favored landholders as +came to it were obliged to consider themselves as not any longer +proprietors of the estates, but to recognize themselves as farmers under +government: and even those few that were permitted to remain on their +estates had their payments raised at his arbitrary discretion; and the +rest of the lands were given to farmers-general, appointed by him and +his committee, at a price fixed by the same arbitrary discretion. + +It is necessary to inform your Lordships that the revenues of Bengal +are, for the most part, territorial revenues, great quit-rents issuing +out of lands. I shall say nothing either of the nature of this property, +of the rights of the people to it, or of the mode of exacting the rents, +till that great question of revenues, one of the greatest which we shall +have to lay before you, shall be brought before your Lordships +particularly and specially as an article of charge. I only mention it +now as an exemplification of the great principle of corruption which +guided Mr. Hastings's conduct. + +When the ancient nobility, the great princes, (for such I may call +them,) a nobility, perhaps, as ancient as that of your Lordships, (and a +more truly noble body never existed in that character,)--my Lords, when +all the nobility, some of whom have borne the rank and port of princes, +all the gentry, all the freeholders of the country, had their estates in +that manner confiscated,--that is, either given to themselves to hold on +the footing of farmers, or totally confiscated,--when such an act of +tyranny was done, no doubt some good was pretended. This confiscation +was made by Mr. Hastings, and the lands let to these farmers for five +years, upon an idea which always accompanies his acts of oppression, the +idea of _moneyed merit_. He adopted this mode of confiscating the +estates, and letting them to farmers, for the avowed purpose of seeing +how much it was possible to take out of them. Accordingly, he set them +up to this wild and wicked auction, as it would have been, if it had +been a real one,--corrupt and treacherous, as it was,--he set these +lands up for the purpose of making that discovery, and pretended that +the discovery would yield a most amazing increase of rent. And for some +time it appeared so to do, till it came to the touchstone of experience; +and then it was found that there was a defalcation from these monstrous +raised revenues which were to cancel in the minds of the Directors the +wickedness of so atrocious, flagitious, and horrid an act of treachery. +At the end of five years what do you think was the failure? No less than +2,050,000_l._ Then a new source of corruption was opened,--that is, how +to deal with the balances: for every man who had engaged in these +transactions was a debtor to government, and the remission of that debt +depended upon the discretion of the Governor-General. Then the persons +who were to settle the composition of that immense debt, who were to see +how much was recoverable and how much not, were able to favor, or to +exact to the last shilling; and there never existed a doubt but that not +only upon the original cruel exaction, but upon the remission +afterwards, immense gains were derived. This will account for the manner +in which those stupendous fortunes which astonish the world have been +made. They have been made, first by a tyrannous exaction from the people +who were suffered to remain in possession of their own land as +farmers,--then by selling the rest to farmers at rents and under hopes +which could never be realized, and then getting money for the relaxation +of their debts. But whatever excuse, and however wicked, there might +have been for this wicked act, namely, that it carried upon the face of +it some sort of appearance of public good,--that is to say, that sort of +public good which Mr. Hastings so often professed, of ruining the +country for the benefit of the Company,--yet, in fact, this business of +balances is that _nidus_ in which have been nustled and bred and born +all the corruptions of India, first by making extravagant demands, and +afterwards by making corrupt relaxations of them. + +Besides this monstrous failure, in consequence of a miserable exaction +by which more was attempted to be forced from the country than it was +capable of yielding, and this by way of experiment, when your Lordships +come to inquire who the farmers-general of the revenue were, you would +naturally expect to find them to be the men in the several countries who +had the most interest, the greatest wealth, the best knowledge of the +revenue and resources of the country in which they lived. Those would be +thought the natural, proper farmers-general of each district. No such +thing, my Lords. They are found in the body of people whom I have +mentioned to your Lordships. They were almost all let to Calcutta +banians. Calcutta banians were the farmers of almost the whole. They +sub-delegated to others, who sometimes had sub-delegates under them _ad +infinitum_. The whole formed a system together, through the succession +of black tyrants scattered through the country, in which you at last +find the European at the end, sometimes indeed not hid very deep, not +above one between him and the farmer, namely, his banian directly, or +some other black person to represent him. But some have so managed the +affair, that, when you inquire who the farmer is,--Was such a one +farmer? No. Cantoo Baboo? No. Another? No,--at last you find three deep +of fictitious farmers, and you find the European gentlemen, high in +place and authority, the real farmers of the settlement. So that the +zemindars were dispossessed, the country racked and ruined, for the +benefit of an European, under the name of a farmer: for you will easily +judge whether these gentlemen had fallen so deeply in love with the +banians, and thought so highly of their merits and services, as to +reward _them_ with all the possessions of the great landed interest of +the country. Your Lordships are too grave, wise, and discerning, to make +it necessary for me to say more upon that subject. Tell me that the +banians of English gentlemen, dependants on them at Calcutta, were the +farmers throughout, and I believe I need not tell your Lordships for +whose benefit they were farmers. + +But there is one of these who comes so nearly, indeed so precisely, +within this observation, that it is impossible for me to pass him by. +Whoever has heard of Mr. Hastings's name, with any knowledge of Indian +connections, has heard of his banian, Cantoo Baboo. This man is well +known in the records of the Company, as his agent for receiving secret +gifts, confiscations, and presents. You would have imagined that he +would at least have kept _him_ out of these farms, in order to give the +measure a color at least of disinterestedness, and to show that this +whole system of corruption and pecuniary oppression was carried on for +the benefit of the Company. The Governor-General and Council made an +ostensible order by which no collector, or person concerned in the +revenue, should have any connection with these farms. This order did not +include the Governor-General in the words of it, but more than included +him in the spirit of it; because his power to protect a farmer-general +in the person of his own servant was infinitely greater than that of any +subordinate person. Mr. Hastings, in breach of this order, gave farms to +his own banian. You find him the farmer of great, of vast and extensive +farms. Another regulation that was made on that occasion was, that no +farmer should have, except in particular cases, which were marked, +described, and accurately distinguished, a greater farm than what paid +10,000_l._ a year to government. Mr. Hastings, who had broken the first +regulation by giving any farm at all to his banian, finding himself +bolder, broke the second too, and, instead of 10,000_l._, gave him farms +paying a revenue of 130,000_l._ a year to government. Men undoubtedly +have been known to be under the dominion of their domestics; such +things have happened to great men: they never have happened justifiably +in my opinion. They have never happened excusably; but we are acquainted +sufficiently with the weakness of human nature to know that a domestic +who has served you in a near office long, and in your opinion +faithfully, does become a kind of relation; it brings on a great +affection and regard for his interest. Now was this the case with Mr. +Hastings and Cantoo Baboo? Mr. Hastings was just arrived at his +government, and Cantoo Baboo had been but a year in his service; so that +he could not in that time have contracted any great degree of friendship +for him. These people do not live in your house; the Hindoo servants +never sleep in it; they cannot eat with your servants; they have no +second table, in which they can be continually about you, to be +domesticated with yourself, a part of your being, as people's servants +are to a certain degree. These persons live all abroad; they come at +stated hours upon matters of business, and nothing more. But if it had +been otherwise, Mr. Hastings's connection with Cantoo Baboo had been but +of a year's standing; he had before served in that capacity Mr. Sykes, +who recommended him to Mr. Hastings. Your Lordships, then, are to judge +whether such outrageous violations of all the principles by which Mr. +Hastings pretended to be guided in the settlement of these farms were +for the benefit of this old, decayed, affectionate servant of one year's +standing: your Lordships will judge of that. + +I have here spoken only of the beginning of a great, notorious system of +corruption, which branched out so many ways and into such a variety of +abuses, and has afflicted that kingdom with such horrible evils from +that day to this, that I will venture to say it will make one of the +greatest, weightiest, and most material parts of the charge that is now +before you; as I believe I need not tell your Lordships that an attempt +to set up the whole landed interest of a kingdom to auction must be +attended, not only in that act, but every consequential act, with most +grievous and terrible consequences. + +My Lords, I will now come to a scene of peculation of another kind: +namely, a peculation by the direct sale of offices of justice,--by the +direct sale of the successions of families,--by the sale of +guardianships and trusts, held most sacred among the people of India: by +the sale of them, not, as before, to farmers, not, as you might imagine, +to near relations of the families, but a sale of them to the unfaithful +servants of those families, their own perfidious servants, who had +ruined their estates, who, if any balances had accrued to the +government, had been the cause of those debts. Those very servants were +put in power over their estates, their persons, and their families, by +Mr. Hastings, for a shameful price. It will be proved to your Lordships, +in the course of this business, that Mr. Hastings has done this in +another sacred trust, the most sacred trust a man can have,--that is, in +the case of those _vakeels_, (as they call them,) agents, or attorneys, +who had been sent to assert and support the rights of their miserable +masters before the Council-General. It will be proved that these vakeels +were by Mr. Hastings, for a price to be paid for it, put in possession +of the very power, situation, and estates of those masters who sent them +to Calcutta to defend them from wrong and violence. The selling offices +of justice, the sale of succession in families, of guardianships and +other sacred trusts, the selling masters to their servants, and +principals to the attorneys they employed to defend themselves, were all +parts of the same system; and these were the horrid ways in which he +received bribes beyond any common rate. + +When Mr. Hastings was appointed in the year 1773 to be Governor-General +of Bengal, together with Mr. Barwell, General Clavering, Colonel Monson, +and Mr. Francis, the Company, knowing the former corrupt state of their +service, (but the whole corrupt system of Mr. Hastings at that time not +being known or even suspected at home,) did order them, in discharge of +the spirit of the act of Parliament, to make an inquiry into all manner +of corruptions and malversations in office, without the exception of any +persons whatever. Your Lordships are to know that the act did expressly +authorize the Court of Directors to frame a body of instructions, and to +give orders to their new servants appointed under the act of Parliament, +lest it should be supposed that they, by their appointment under the +act, could supersede the authority of the Directors. The Directors, +sensible of the power left in them over their servants by the act of +Parliament, though their nomination was taken from them, did, agreeably +to the spirit and power of that act, give this order. + +The Council consisted of two parties: Mr. Hastings and Mr. Barwell, who +were chosen and kept there upon the idea of their local knowledge; and +the other three, who were appointed on account of their great parts and +known integrity. And I will venture to say that those three gentlemen +did so execute their duty in India, in all the substantial parts of it, +that they will serve as a shield to cover the honor of England, whenever +this country is upbraided in India. + +They found a rumor running through the country of great peculations and +oppressions. Soon after, when it was known what their instructions were, +and that the Council was ready, as is the first duty of all governors, +even when there is no express order, to receive complaints against the +oppressions and corruptions of government in any part of it, they found +such a body (and that body shall be produced to your Lordships) of +corruption and peculation in every walk, in every department, in every +situation of life, in the sale of the most sacred trusts, and in the +destruction of the most ancient families of the country, as I believe in +so short a time never was unveiled since the world began. + +Your Lordships would imagine that Mr. Hastings would at least ostensibly +have taken some part in endeavoring to bring these corruptions before +the public, or that he would at least have acted with some little +management in his opposition. But, alas! it was not in his power; there +was not one, I think, but I am sure very few, of these general articles +of corruption, in which the most eminent figure in the crowd, the +principal figure as it were in the piece, was not Mr. Hastings himself. +There were a great many others involved; for all departments were +corrupted and vitiated. But you could not open a page in which you did +not see Mr. Hastings, or in which you did not see Cantoo Baboo. Either +the black or white side of Mr. Hastings constantly was visible to the +world in every part of these transactions. + +With the other gentlemen, who were visible too, I have at present no +dealing. Mr. Hastings, instead of using any management on that occasion, +instantly set up his power and authority, directly against the majority +of the Council, directly against his colleagues, directly against the +authority of the East India Company and the authority of the act of +Parliament, to put a dead stop to all these inquiries. He broke up the +Council, the moment they attempted to perform this part of their duty. +As the evidence multiplied upon him, the daring exertions of his power +in stopping all inquiries increased continually. But he gave a credit +and authority to the evidence by these attempts to suppress it. + +Your Lordships have heard that among the body of the accusers of this +corruption there was a principal man in the country, a man of the first +rank and authority in it, called Nundcomar, who had the management of +revenues amounting to 150,000_l._ a year, and who had, if really +inclined to play the small game with which he has been charged by his +accusers, abundant means to gratify himself in playing great ones; but +Mr. Hastings has himself given him, upon the records of the Company, a +character which would at least justify the Council in making some +inquiry into charges made by him. + +First, he was perfectly competent to make them, because he was in the +management of those affairs from which Mr. Hastings is supposed to have +received corrupt emolument. He and his son were the chief managers in +those transactions. He was therefore perfectly competent to it.--Mr. +Hastings has cleared his character; for though it is true, in the +contradictions in which Mr. Hastings has entangled himself, he has +abused and insulted him, and particularly after his appearance as an +accuser, yet before this he has given this testimony of him, that the +hatred that had been drawn upon him, and the general obloquy of the +English nation, was on account of his attachment to his own prince and +the liberties of his country. Be he what he might, I am not disposed, +nor have I the least occasion, to defend either his conduct or his +memory. + +It is to no purpose for Mr. Hastings to spend time in idle objections to +the character of Nundcomar. Let him be as bad as Mr. Hastings represents +him. I suppose he was a caballing, bribing, intriguing politician, like +others in that country, both black and white. We know associates in dark +and evil actions are not generally the best of men; but be that as it +will, it generally happens that they are the best of all discoverers. If +Mr. Hastings were the accuser of Nundcomar, I should think the +presumptions equally strong against Nundcomar, if he had acted as Mr. +Hastings has acted.--He was not only competent, but the most competent +of all men to be Mr. Hastings's accuser. But Mr. Hastings has himself +established both his character and his competency by employing him +against Mahomed Reza Khân. He shall not blow hot and cold. In what +respect was Mr. Hastings better than Mahomed Reza Khân, that the whole +rule, principle, and system of accusation and inquiry should be totally +reversed in general, nay, reversed in the particular instance, the +moment he became accuser against Mr. Hastings?--Such was the accuser. He +was the man that gave the bribes, and, in addition to his own evidence, +offers proof by other witnesses. + +What was the accusation? Was the accusation improbable, either on +account of the subject-matter or the actor in it? Does such an +appointment as that of Munny Begum, in the most barefaced evasion of his +orders, appear to your Lordships a matter that contains no just +presumptions of guilt, so that, when a charge of bribery comes upon it, +you are prepared to reject it, as if the action were so clear and proper +that no man could attribute it to an improper motive? And as to the +man,--is Mr. Hastings a man against whom a charge of bribery is +improbable? Why, he owns it. He is a professor of it. He reduces it into +scheme and system. He glories in it. He turns it to merit, and declares +it is the best way of supplying the exigencies of the Company. Why, +therefore, should it be held improbable?--But I cannot mention this +proceeding without shame and horror. + +My Lords, when this man appeared as an accuser of Mr. Hastings, if he +was a man of bad character, it was a great advantage to Mr. Hastings to +be accused by a man of that description. There was no likelihood of any +great credit being given to him. + +This person, who, in one of those sales of which I have already given +you some account in the history of the last period of the revolutions of +Bengal, had been, or thought he had been, cheated of his money, had made +some discoveries, and been guilty of that great irremissible sin in +India, the disclosure of peculation. He afterwards came with a second +disclosure, and was likely to have odium enough upon the occasion. He +directly charged Mr. Hastings with the receipt of bribes, amounting +together to about 40,000_l._ sterling, given by himself, on his own +account and that of Munny Begum. The charge was accompanied with every +particular which could facilitate proof or detection,--time, place, +persons, species, to whom paid, by whom received. Here was a fair +opportunity for Mr. Hastings at once to defeat the malice of his enemies +and to clear his character to the world. His course was different. He +railed much at the accuser, but did not attempt to refute the +accusation. He refuses to permit the inquiry to go on, attempts to +dissolve the Council, commands his banian not to attend. The Council, +however, goes on, examines to the bottom, and resolves that the charge +was proved, and that the money ought to go to the Company. Mr. Hastings +then broke up the Council,--I will not say whether legally or illegally. +The Company's law counsel thought he might legally do it; but he +corruptly did it, and left mankind no room to judge but that it was done +for the screening of his own guilt: for a man may use a legal power +corruptly, and for the most shameful and detestable purposes. And thus +matters continued, till he commenced a criminal prosecution against this +man,--this man whom he dared not meet as a defendant. + +Mr. Hastings, instead of answering the charge, attacks the accuser. +Instead of meeting the man in front, he endeavored to go round, to come +upon his flanks and rear, but never to meet him in the face, upon the +ground of his accusation, as he was bound by the express authority of +law and the express injunctions of the Directors to do. If the bribery +is not admitted on the evidence of Nundcomar, yet his suppressing it is +a crime, a violation of the orders of the Court of Directors. He +disobeyed those instructions; and if it be only for disobedience, for +rebellion against his masters, (putting the corrupt motive out of the +question,) I charge him for this disobedience, and especially on account +of the principles upon which he proceeded in it. + +Then he took another step: he accused Nundcomar of a conspiracy,--which +was a way he then and ever since has used, whenever means were taken to +detect any of his own iniquities. + +And here it becomes necessary to mention another circumstance of +history: that the legislature, not trusting entirely to the +Governor-General and Council, had sent out a court of justice to be a +counter security against these corruptions, and to detect and punish any +such misdemeanors as might appear. And this court I take for granted has +done great services. + +Mr. Hastings flew to this court, which was meant to protect in their +situations informers against bribery and corruption, rather than to +protect the accused from any of the preliminary methods which must +indispensably be used for the purpose of detecting their guilt,--he flew +to this court, charging this Nundcomar and others with being +conspirators. + +A man might be convicted as a conspirator, and yet afterwards live; he +might put the matter into other hands, and go on with his information; +nothing less than _stone-dead_ would do the business. And here happened +an odd concurrence of circumstances. Long before Nundcomar preferred his +charge, he knew that Mr. Hastings was plotting his ruin, and that for +this purpose he had used a man whom he, Nundcomar, had turned out of +doors, called Mohun Persaud. Mr. Hastings had seen papers put upon the +board, charging him with this previous plot for the destruction of +Nundcomar; and this identical person, Mohun Persaud, whom Nundcomar had +charged as Mr. Hastings's associate in plotting his ruin, was now again +brought forward as the principal evidence against him. I will not enter +(God forbid I should!) into the particulars of the subsequent trial of +Nundcomar; but you will find the marks and characters of it to be these. +You will find a close connection between Mr. Hastings and the +chief-justice, which we shall prove. We shall prove that one of the +witnesses who appeared there was a person who had been before, or has +since been, concerned with Mr. Hastings in his most iniquitous +transactions. You will find, what is very odd, that in this trial for +forgery with which this man stood charged, forgery in a private +transaction, all the persons who were witnesses or parties to it had +been, before or since, the particular friends of Mr. Hastings,--in +short, persons from that rabble with whom Mr. Hastings was concerned, +both before and since, in various transactions and negotiations of the +most criminal kind. But the law took its course. I have nothing more to +say than that the man is gone,--hanged justly, if you please; and that +it did so happen,--luckily for Mr. Hastings,--it so happened, that the +relief of Mr. Hastings, and the justice of the court, and the resolution +never to relax its rigor, did all concur just at a happy nick of time +and moment; and Mr. Hastings, accordingly, had the full benefit of them +all. + +His accuser was supposed to be what men may be, and yet very competent +for accusers, namely, one of his accomplices in guilty actions,--one of +those persons who may have a great deal to say of bribes. All that I +contend for is, that he was in the closest intimacy with Mr. Hastings, +was in a situation for giving bribes,--and that Mr. Hastings was proved +afterwards to have received a sum of money from him, which may be well +referred to bribes. + +This example had its use in the way in which it was intended to operate, +and in which alone it could operate. It did not discourage forgeries: +they went on at their usual rate, neither more nor less: but it put an +end to all accusations against all persons in power for any corrupt +practice. Mr. Hastings observes, that no man in India complains of him. +It is generally true. The voice of all India is stopped. All complaint +was strangled with the same cord that strangled Nundcomar. This murdered +not only that accuser, but all future accusation; and not only defeated, +but totally vitiated and reversed all the ends for which this country, +to its eternal and indelible dishonor, had sent out a pompous embassy of +justice to the remotest parts of the globe. + +But though Nundcomar was put out of the way by the means by which _he_ +was removed, a part of the charge was not strangled with him. Whilst the +process against Nundcomar was carrying on before Sir Elijah Impey, the +process was continuing against Mr. Hastings in other modes; the receipt +of a part of those bribes from Munny Begum, to the amount of 15,000_l._, +was proved against him, and that a sum to the same amount was to be paid +to his associate, Mr. Middleton. As it was proved at Calcutta, so it +will be proved at your Lordships' bar to your entire satisfaction by +records and living testimony now in England. It was, indeed, obliquely +admitted by Mr. Hastings himself. + +The excuse for this bribe, fabricated by Mr. Hastings, and taught to +Munny Begum, when he found that she was obliged to prove it against him, +was, that it was given to him for his entertainment, according to some +pretended custom, at the rate of 200_l._ sterling a day, whilst he +remained at Moorshedabad. My Lords, this leads me to a few reflections +on the apology or defence of this bribe. We shall certainly, I hope, +render it clear to your Lordships that it was not paid in this manner as +a daily allowance, but given in a gross sum. But take it in his own way, +it was no less illegal, and no less contrary to his covenant; but if +true under the circumstances, it was an horrible aggravation of his +crime. The first thing that strikes is, that visits from Mr. Hastings +are pretty severe things, and hospitality at Moorshedabad is an +expensive virtue, though for provision it is one of the cheapest +countries in the universe. No wonder that Mr. Hastings lengthened his +visit, and made it extend near three months. Such hosts and such guests +cannot be soon parted. Two hundred pounds a day for a visit! It is at +the rate of 78,000_l._ a year for himself; and as I find his companion +was put on the same allowance, it will be 146,000_l._ a year for +hospitality to two English gentlemen. I believe that there is not a +prince in Europe who goes to such expensive hospitality of splendor. + +But that you may judge of the true nature of this hospitality of +corruption, I must bring before you the business of the visitor and the +condition of the host, as stated by Mr. Hastings himself, who best knows +what he was doing. He was, then, at the old capital of Bengal at the +time of this expensive entertainment, on a business of retrenchment, and +for the establishment of a most harsh, rigorous, and oppressive economy. +He wishes the task were assigned to spirits of a less gentle kind. By +Mr. Hastings's account, he was giving daily and hourly wounds to his +humanity in depriving of their sustenance hundreds of persons of the +ancient nobility of a great fallen kingdom. Yet it was in the midst of +this galling duty, it was at that very moment of his tender sensibility, +that, from the collected morsels plucked from the famished mouths of +hundreds of decayed, indigent, and starving nobility, he gorged his +ravenous maw with 200_l._ a day for his entertainment. In the course of +all this proceeding your Lordships will not fail to observe he is never +corrupt, but he is cruel; he never dines with comfort, but where he is +sure to create a famine. He never robs from the loose superfluity of +standing greatness; he devours the fallen, the indigent, the +necessitous. His extortion is not like the generous rapacity of the +princely eagle, who snatches away the living, struggling prey; he is a +vulture, who feeds upon the prostrate, the dying, and the dead. As his +cruelty is more shocking than his corruption, so his hypocrisy has +something more frightful than his cruelty; for whilst his bloody and +rapacious hand signs proscriptions, and now sweeps away the food of the +widow and the orphan, his eyes overflow with tears, and he converts the +healing balm that bleeds from wounded humanity into a rancorous and +deadly poison to the race of man. + +Well, there was an end to this tragic entertainment, this feast of +Tantalus. The few left on the pension-list, the poor remnants that had +escaped, were they paid by his administratrix and deputy, Munny Begum? +Not a shilling. No fewer than forty-nine petitions, mostly from the +widows of the greatest and most splendid houses of Bengal, came before +the Council, praying in the most deplorable manner for some sort of +relief out of the pittance assigned them. His colleagues, General +Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis, men who, when England is +reproached for the government of India, will, I repeat it, as a shield +be held up between this nation and infamy, did, in conformity to the +strict orders of the Directors, appoint Mahomed Reza Khân to his old +offices, that is, to the general superintendency of the household and +the administration of justice, a person who by his authority might keep +some order in the ruling family and in the state. The Court of Directors +authorized them to assure those offices to him, with a salary reduced +indeed to 30,000_l._ a year, during his good behavior. But Mr. Hastings, +as soon as he obtained a majority by the death of the two best men ever +sent to India, notwithstanding the orders of the Court of Directors, in +spite of the public faith solemnly pledged to Mahomed Reza Khân, without +a shadow of complaint, had the audacity to dispossess him of all his +offices, and appoint his bribing patroness, the old dancing-girl, Munny +Begum, once more to the viceroyalty and all its attendant honors and +functions. + +The pretence was more insolent and shameless than the act. Modesty does +not long survive innocence. He brings forward the miserable pageant of +the Nabob, as he called him, to be the instrument of his own disgrace, +and the scandal of his family and government. He makes him to pass by +his mother, and to petition us to appoint Munny Begum once more to the +administration of the viceroyalty. He distributed Mahomed Reza Khân's +salary as a spoil. + +When the orders of the Court to restore Mahomed Reza Khân, with their +opinion on the corrupt cause of his removal, and a second time to pledge +to him the public faith for his continuance, were received, Mr. +Hastings, who had been just before a pattern of obedience, when the +despoiling, oppressing, imprisoning, and persecuting this man was the +object, yet, when the order was of a beneficial nature, and pleasant to +a well-formed mind, he at once loses all his old principles, he grows +stubborn and refractory, and refuses obedience. And in this sullen, +uncomplying mood he continues, until, to gratify Mr. Francis, in an +agreement on some of their differences, he consented to his proposition +of obedience to the appointment of the Court of Directors. He grants to +his arrangement of convenience what he had refused to his duty, and +replaces that magistrate. But mark the double character of the man, +never true to anything but fraud and duplicity. At the same time that he +publicly replaces this magistrate, pretending compliance with his +colleague and obedience to his masters, he did, in defiance of his own +and the public faith, privately send an assurance to the Nabob, that is, +to Munny Begum,--informs her that he was compelled by necessity to the +present arrangement in favor of Mahomed Reza Khân, but that on the first +opportunity he would certainly displace him again. And he kept faith +with his corruption; and to show how vainly any one sought protection in +the lawful authority of this kingdom, he displaced Mahomed Reza Khân +from the lieutenancy and controllership, leaving him only the judicial +department miserably curtailed. + +But does he adhere to his old pretence of freedom to the Nabob? No such +thing. He appoints an absolute master to him under the name of Resident, +a creature of his personal favor, Sir John D'Oyly, from whom there is +not one syllable of correspondence and not one item of account. How +grievous this yoke was to that miserable captive appears by a paper of +Mr. Hastings, in which he acknowledges that the Nabob had offered, out +of the 160,000_l._ payable to him yearly, to give up to the Company no +less than 40,000_l._ a year, in order to have the free disposal of the +rest. On this all comment is superfluous. Your Lordships are furnished +with a standard by which you may estimate his real receipt from the +revenue assigned to him, the nature of the pretended Residency, and its +predatory effects. It will give full credit to what was generally +rumored and believed, that substantially and beneficially the Nabob +never received fifty out of the one hundred and sixty thousand pounds; +which will account for his known poverty and wretchedness, and that of +all about him. + +Thus by his corrupt traffic of bribes with one scandalous woman he +disgraced and enfeebled the native Mahomedan government, captived the +person of the sovereign, and ruined and subverted the justice of the +country. What is worse, the steps taken for the murder of Nundcomar, his +accuser, have confirmed and given sanction not only to the corruptions +then practised by the Governor-General, but to all of which he has since +been guilty. This will furnish your Lordships with some general idea +which will enable you to judge of the bribe for which he sold the +country government. + +Under this head you will have produced to you full proof of his sale of +a judicial office to a person called Khân Jehan Khân, and the modes he +took to frustrate all inquiry on that subject, upon a wicked and false +pretence, that, according to his religious scruples, he could not be +sworn. + +The great end and object I have in view is to show the criminal +tendency, the mischievous nature of these crimes, and the means taken to +elude their discovery. I am now giving your Lordships that general view +which may serve to characterize Mr. Hastings's administration in all the +other parts of it. + +It was not true in fact, as Mr. Hastings gives out, that there was +nothing now against him, and that, when he had got rid of Nundcomar and +his charge, he got rid of the whole. No such thing. An immense load of +charges of bribery remained. They were coming afterwards from every part +of the province; and there was no office in the execution of justice +which he was not accused of having sold in the most flagitious manner. + +After all this thundering the sky grew calm and clear, and Mr. Hastings +sat with recorded peculation, with peculation proved upon oath on the +minutes of that very Council,--he sat at the head of that Council and +that board where his peculations were proved against him. These were +afterwards transmitted and recorded in the registers of his masters, as +an eternal monument of his corruption, and of his high disobedience, and +flagitious attempts to prevent a discovery of the various peculations of +which he had been guilty, to the disgrace and ruin of the country +committed to his care. + +Mr. Hastings, after the execution of Nundcomar, if he had intended to +make even a decent and commonly sensible use of it, would naturally have +said, "This man is justly taken away who has accused me of these crimes; +but as there are other witnesses, as there are other means of a further +inquiry, as the man is gone of whose perjuries I might have reason to be +afraid, let us now go into the inquiry." I think he did very ill not to +go into the inquiry when the man was alive; but be it so, that he was +afraid of him, and waited till he was removed, why not afterwards go +into such an inquiry? Why not go into an inquiry of all the other +peculations and charges upon him, which were innumerable, one of which I +have just mentioned in particular, the charge of Munny Begum, of having +received from her, or her adopted son, a bribe of 40,000_l._? + +Is it fit for a governor to say, will Mr. Hastings say before this +august assembly, "I may be accused in a court of justice,--I am upon my +defence,--let all charges remain against me,--I will not give you an +account"? Is it fit that a governor should sit with recorded bribery +upon him at the head of a public board and the government of a great +kingdom, when it is in his power by inquiry to do it away? No: the +chastity of character of a man in that situation ought to be as dear to +him as his innocence. Nay, more depended upon it. His innocence regarded +himself; his character regarded the public justice, regarded his +authority, and the respect due to the English in that country. I charge +it upon him, that not only did he suppress the inquiry to the best of +his power, (and it shall be proved,) but he did not in any one instance +endeavor to clear off that imputation and reproach from the English +government. He went further; he never denied hardly any of those charges +at the time. They are so numerous that I cannot be positive; some of +them he might meet with some sort of denial, but the most part he did +not. + +The first thing a man under such an accusation owes to the world is to +deny the charge; next, to put it to the proof; and lastly, to let +inquiry freely go on. He did not permit this, but stopped it all in his +power. I am to mention some exceptions, perhaps, hereafter, which will +tend to fortify the principle tenfold. + +He promised, indeed, the Court of Directors (to whom he never denied the +facts) a full and liberal explanation of these transactions; which full +and liberal explanation he never gave. Many years passed; even +Parliament took notice of it; and he never gave them a liberal +explanation, or any explanation at all of them. A man may say, "I am +threatened with a suit in a court, and it may be very disadvantageous to +me, if I disclose my defence." That is a proper answer for a man in +common life, who has no particular character to sustain; but is that a +proper answer for a governor accused of bribery, that accusation +transmitted to his masters, and his masters giving credit to it? Good +God! is that a state in which a man is to say, "I am upon the +defensive--I am on my guard,--I will give you no satisfaction,--I have +promised it, but I have already deferred it for seven or eight years"? +Is not this tantamount to a denial? + +Mr. Hastings, with this great body of bribery against him, was +providentially freed from Nundcomar, one of his accusers, and, as good +events do not come alone, (I think there is some such proverb,) it did +so happen that all the rest, or a great many of them, ran away. But, +however, the recorded evidence of the former charges continued; no new +evidence came in; and Mr. Hastings enjoyed that happy repose which +branded peculation, fixed and eternized upon the records of the Company, +must leave upon a mind conscious of its own integrity. + +My Lords, I will venture to say, there is no man but owes something to +his character. It is the grace, undoubtedly, of a virtuous, firm mind +often to despise common, vulgar calumny; but if ever there is an +occasion in which it does become such a mind to disprove it, it is the +case of being charged in high office with pecuniary malversation, +pecuniary corruption. There is no case in which it becomes an honest +man, much less a great man, to leave upon record specific charges +against him of corruption in his government, without taking any one step +whatever to refute them. + +Though Mr. Hastings took no step to refute the charges, he took many +steps to punish the authors of them; and those miserable people who had +the folly to make complaints against Mr. Hastings, to make them under +the authority of an act of Parliament, under every sanction of public +faith, yet, in consequence of those charges, every person concerned in +them has been, as your Lordships will see, since his restoration to +power, absolutely undone, brought from the highest situation to the +lowest misery, so that they may have good reason to repent they ever +trusted an English Council, that they ever trusted a Court of Directors, +that they ever trusted an English act of Parliament, that they ever +dared to make their complaints. + +And here I charge upon Mr. Hastings, that, by never taking a single step +to defeat or detect the falsehood of any of those charges against him, +and by punishing the authors of them, he has been guilty of such a +subversion of all the principles of British government as will deserve, +and will I dare say meet, your Lordships' most severe animadversion. + +In the course of this inquiry we find a sort of pause in his +peculations, a sort of gap in the history, as if pages were torn out. +No longer we meet with the same activity in taking money that was before +found; not even a trace of complimentary presents is to be found in the +records during the time whilst General Clavering, Colonel Monson, and +Mr. Francis formed the majority of the Council. There seems to have been +a kind of truce with that sort of conduct for a while, and Mr. Hastings +rested upon his arms. However, the very moment Mr. Hastings returned to +power, peculation began again just at the same instant; the moment we +find him free from the compulsion and terror of a majority of persons +otherwise disposed than himself, we find him at his peculation again. + +My Lords, at this time very serious inquiries had begun in the House of +Commons concerning peculation. They did not go directly to Bengal, but +they began upon the coast of Coromandel, and with the principal +governors there. There was, however, an universal opinion (and justly +founded) that these inquiries would go to far greater lengths. Mr. +Hastings was resolved, then, to change the whole course and order of his +proceeding. Nothing could persuade him, upon any account, to lay aside +his system of bribery: that he was resolved to persevere in. The point +was now to reconcile it with his safety. The first thing he did was to +attempt to conceal it; and accordingly we find him depositing very great +sums of money in the public treasury through the means of the two +persons I have already mentioned, namely, the deputy-treasurer and the +accountant,--paying them in and taking bonds for them as money of his +own, and bearing legal interest. This was his method of endeavoring to +conceal some at least of his bribes: for I would not suggest, nor have +your Lordships to think, that I believe that these were his only +bribes,--for there is reason to think there was an infinite number +besides; but it did so happen that they were those bribes which he +thought might be discovered, some of which he knew were discovered, and +all of which he knew might become the subject of a Parliamentary +inquiry. + +Mr. Hastings said he might have concealed them forever. Every one knows +the facility of concealing corrupt transactions everywhere, in India +particularly. But this is by himself proved not to be universally true, +at least not to be true in his own opinion; for he tells you, in his +letter from Cheltenham, that he _would_ have concealed the Nabob's +100,000_l._, but that the magnitude rendered it easy of discovery. He, +therefore, avows an intention of concealment. + +But it happens here, very singularly, that this sum, which his fears of +discovery by _others_ obliged him to discover _himself_, happens to be +one of those of which no trace whatsoever appears, except merely from +the operation of his own apprehensions. There is no collateral +testimony: Middleton knew nothing of it; Anderson knew nothing of it; it +was not directly communicated to the faithful Larkins or the trusty +Croftes;--which proves, indeed, the facility of concealment. The fact +is, you find the application always upon the discovery. But concealment +or discovery is a thing of accident. + +The bribes which I have hitherto brought before your Lordships belong to +the first period of his bribery, before he thought of the doctrine on +which he has since defended it. There are many other bribes which we +charge him with having received during this first period, before an +improving conversation and close virtuous connection with great lawyers +had taught him how to practise bribes in such a manner as to defy +detection, and instead of punishment to plead merit. I am not bound to +find order and consistency in guilt: it is the reign of disorder. The +order of the proceeding, as far as I am able to trace such a scene of +prevarication, direct fraud, falsehood, and falsification of the public +accounts, was this. From bribes he knew he could never abstain; and his +then precarious situation made him the more rapacious. He knew that a +few of his former bribes had been discovered, declared, recorded,--that +for the moment, indeed, he was secure, because all informers had been +punished and all concealers rewarded. He expected hourly a total change +in the Council, and that men like Clavering and Monson might be again +joined to Francis, that some great avenger should arise from their +ashes,--"_Exoriare, aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor_,"--and that a more +severe investigation and an infinitely more full display would be made +of his robbery than hitherto had been done. He therefore began, in the +agony of his guilt, to cast about for some device by which he might +continue his offence, if possible, with impunity,--and possibly make a +merit of it. He therefore first carefully perused the act of Parliament +forbidding bribery, and his old covenant engaging him not to receive +presents. And here he was more successful than upon former occasions. If +ever an act was studiously and carefully framed to prevent bribery, it +is that law of the 13th of the King, which he well observes admits no +latitudes of construction, no subterfuge, no escape, no evasion. Yet has +he found a defence of his crimes even in the very provisions which were +made for their prevention and their punishment. Besides the penalty +which belongs to every informer, the East India Company was invested +with a fiction of property in all such bribes, in order to drag them +with more facility out of the corrupt hands which held them. The +covenant, with an exception of one hundred pounds, and the act of +Parliament, without any exception, declared that the Governor-General +and Council should receive no presents _for their own use_. He therefore +concluded that the system of bribery and extortion might be +clandestinely and safely carried on, provided the party taking the +bribes had an inward intention and mental reservation that they should +be privately applied to the Company's service in any way the briber +should think fit, and that on many occasions this would prove the best +method of supply for the exigencies of their service. + +He accordingly formed, or pretended to form, a private bribe exchequer, +collateral with and independent of the Company's public exchequer, +though in some cases administered by those whom for his purposes he had +placed in the regular official department. It is no wonder that he has +taken to himself an extraordinary degree of merit. For surely such an +invention of finance, I believe, never was heard of,--an exchequer +wherein extortion was the assessor, fraud the cashier, confusion the +accountant, concealment the reporter, and oblivion the remembrancer: in +short, such as I believe no man, but one driven by guilt into frenzy, +could ever have dreamed of. + +He treats the official and regular Directors with just contempt, as a +parcel of mean, mechanical book-keepers. He is an eccentric book-keeper, +a Pindaric accountant. I have heard of "the poet's eye in a fine frenzy +rolling." Here was a revenue exacted from whom he pleased, at what times +he pleased, in what proportions he pleased, through what persons he +pleased, by what means he pleased, to be accounted for or not, at his +discretion, and to be applied to what service he thought proper. I do +believe your Lordships stand astonished at this scheme; and indeed I +should be very loath to venture to state such a scheme at all, however I +might have credited it myself, to any sober ears, if, in his defence +before the House of Commons, and before the Lords, he had not directly +admitted the fact of taking the bribes or forbidden presents, and had +not in those defences, and much more fully in his correspondence with +the Directors, admitted the fact, and justified it upon these very +principles. + +As this is a thing so unheard-of and unexampled in the world, I shall +first endeavor to account as well as I can for his motives to it, which +your Lordships will receive or reject, just as you shall find them tally +with the evidence before you: I say, his motives to it; because I +contend that public valid reasons for it he could have none; and the +idea of making the corruption of the Governor-General a resource to the +Company never did or could for a moment enter into his thoughts. I shall +then take notice of the juridical constructions upon which he justifies +his acting in this extraordinary manner; and lastly, show you the +concealments, prevarications, and falsehoods with which he endeavors to +cover it. Because wherever you find a concealment you make a discovery. +Accounts of money received and paid ought to be regular and official. + +He wrote over to the Court of Directors, that there were certain sums +of money he had received and which were not his own, but that he had +received them for their use. By this time his intercourse with gentlemen +of the law became more considerable than it had been before. When first +attacked for presents, he never denied the receipt of them, or pretended +to say they were for public purposes; but upon looking more into the +covenants, and probably with better legal advice, he found that no money +could be legally received for his own use; but as these bribes were +directly given and received as for his own use, yet (says he) "there was +an inward destination of them in my own mind to your benefit, and to +your benefit have I applied them." + +Now here is a new system of bribery, contrary to law, very ingenious in +the contrivance, but, I believe, as unlikely to produce its intended +effect upon the mind of man as any pretence that was ever used. Here Mr. +Hastings changes his ground. Before, he was accused as a peculator; he +did not deny the fact; he did not refund the money; he fought it off; he +stood upon the defensive, and used all the means in his power to prevent +the inquiry. That was the first era of his corruption,--a bold, +ferocious, plain, downright use of power. In the second, he is grown a +little more careful and guarded,--the effect of subtilty. He appears no +longer as a defendant; he holds himself up with a firm, dignified, and +erect countenance, and says, "I am not here any longer as a delinquent, +a receiver of bribes, to be punished for what I have done wrong, or at +least to suffer in my character for it. No: I am a great inventive +genius, who have gone out of all the ordinary roads of finance, have +made great discoveries in the unknown regions of that science, and have +for the first time established the corruption of the supreme magistrate +as a principle of resource for government." + +There are crimes, undoubtedly, of great magnitude, naturally fitted to +create horror, and that loudly call for punishment, that have yet no +idea of _turpitude_ annexed to them; but unclean hands, bribery, +venality, and peculation are offences of turpitude, such as, in a +governor, at once debase the person and degrade the government itself, +making it not only _horrible_, but vile and contemptible in the eyes of +all mankind. In this humiliation and abjectness of guilt, he comes here +not as a criminal on his defence, but as a vast fertile genius who has +made astonishing discoveries in the art of government,--"_Dicam insigne, +recens, alio indictum ore_"--who, by his flaming zeal and the prolific +ardor and energy of his mind, has boldly dashed out of the common path, +and served his country by new and untrodden ways; and now he generously +communicates, for the benefit of all future governors and all future +governments, the grand arcanum of his long and toilsome researches. He +is the first, but, if we do not take good care, he will not be the last, +that has established the corruption of the supreme magistrate among the +settled resources of the state; and he leaves this principle as a +bountiful donation, as the richest deposit that ever was made in the +treasury of Bengal. He claims glory and renown from that by which every +other person since the beginning of time has been dishonored and +disgraced. It has been said of an ambassador, that he is a person +employed to tell lies for the advantage of the court that sends him. His +is patriotic bribery, and public-spirited corruption. He is a peculator +for the good of his country. It has been said that private vices are +public benefits. He goes the full length of that position, and turns his +private peculation into a public good. This is what you are to thank him +for. You are to consider him as a great inventor upon this occasion. Mr. +Hastings improves on this principle. He is a robber in gross, and a +thief in detail,--he steals, he filches, he plunders, he oppresses, he +extorts,--all for the good of the dear East India Company,--all for the +advantage of his honored masters, the Proprietors,--all in gratitude to +the dear perfidious Court of Directors, who have been in a practice to +heap "insults on his person, slanders on his character, and indignities +on his station,--who never had the confidence in him that they had in +the meanest of his predecessors." + +If you sanction this practice, if, after all you have exacted from the +people by your taxes and public imposts, you are to let loose your +servants upon them, to extort by bribery and peculation what they can +from them, for the purpose of applying it to the public service only +whenever they please, this shocking consequence will follow from it. If +your Governor is discovered in taking a bribe, he will say, "What is +that to you? mind your business; I intend it for the public service." +The man who dares to accuse him loses the favor of the Governor-General +and the India Company. They will say, "The Governor has been doing a +meritorious action, extorting bribes for our benefit, and you have the +impudence to think of prosecuting him." So that the moment the bribe is +detected, it is instantly turned into a merit: and we shall prove that +this is the case with Mr. Hastings, whenever a bribe has been +discovered. + +I am now to inform your Lordships, that, when he made these great +discoveries to the Court of Directors, he never tells them who gave him +the money, upon what occasion he received it, by what hands, or to what +purposes he applied it. + +When he can himself give no account of his motives, and even declares +that he cannot assign any cause, I am authorized and required to find +motives for him,--corrupt motives for a corrupt act. There is no one +capital act of his administration that did not strongly imply +corruption. When a man is known to be free from all imputation of taking +money, and it becomes an established part of his character, the errors +or even crimes of his administration ought to be, and are in general, +traced to other sources. You know it is a maxim. But once convict a man +of bribery in any instance, and once by direct evidence, and you are +furnished with a rule of irresistible presumption that every other +irregular act by which unlawful gain may arise is done upon the same +corrupt motive. _Semel malus prĉsumitur semper malus._ As for good acts +candor, charity, justice oblige me not to assign evil motives, unless +they serve some scandalous purpose or terminate in some manifest evil +end, so justice, reason, and common sense compel me to suppose that +wicked acts have been done upon motives correspondent to their nature: +otherwise I reverse all the principles of judgment which can guide the +human mind, and accept even the symptoms, the marks and criteria of +guilt, as presumptions of innocence. One that confounds good and evil is +an enemy to the good. + +His conduct upon these occasions may be thought irrational. But, thank +God, guilt was never a rational thing: it distorts all the faculties of +the mind; it perverts them; it leaves a man no longer in the free use of +his reason; it puts him into confusion. He has recourse to such +miserable and absurd expedients for covering his guilt as all those who +are used to sit in the seat of judgment know have been the cause of +detection of half the villanies in the world. To argue that these could +not be his reasons, because they were not wise, sound, and substantial, +would be to suppose, what is not true, that bad men were always discreet +and able. But I can very well from the circumstances discover motives +which may affect a giddy, superficial, shattered, guilty, anxious, +restless mind, full of the weak resources of fraud, craft, and intrigue, +that might induce him to make these discoveries, and to make them in the +manner he has done. Not rational, and well-fitted for their purposes, I +am very ready to admit. For God forbid that guilt should ever leave a +man the free, undisturbed use of his faculties! For as guilt never rose +from a true use of our rational faculties, so it is very frequently +subversive of them. God forbid that prudence, the first of all the +virtues, as well as the supreme director of them all, should ever be +employed in the service of any of the vices! No: it takes the lead, and +is never found where justice does not accompany it; and if ever it is +attempted to bring it into the service of the vices, it immediately +subverts their cause. It tends to their discovery, and, I hope and +trust, finally to their utter ruin and destruction. + +In the first place, I am to remark to your Lordships, that the accounts +he has given of one of these sums of money are totally false and +contradictory. Now there is not a stronger presumption, nor can one +want more reason to judge a transaction fraudulent, than that the +accounts given of it are contradictory; and he has given three accounts +utterly irreconcilable with each other. He is asked, "How came you to +take bonds for this money, if it was not your own? How came you to +vitiate and corrupt the state of the Company's records, and to state +yourself a lender to the Company, when in reality you were their +debtor?" His answer was, "I really cannot tell; I have forgot my +reasons; the distance of time is so great," (namely, a time of about two +years, or not so long,) "I cannot give an account of the matter; perhaps +I had this motive, perhaps I had another," (but what is the most +curious,) "perhaps I had none at all which I can now recollect." You +shall hear the account which Mr. Hastings himself gives, his own +fraudulent representation, of these corrupt transactions. "For my +motives for withholding the several receipts from the knowledge of the +Council, or of the Court of Directors, and for taking bonds for part of +these sums and paying others into the treasury as deposits on my own +account, I have generally accounted in my letter to the Honorable the +Court of Directors of the 22d of May, 1782,--namely, that I either chose +to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving bonds +for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which my +memory at that distance of time could verify, and that I did not think +it worth my care to observe the same means with the rest. It will not be +expected that I should be able to give a more correct explanation of my +intentions after a lapse of three years, having declared at the time +that many particulars had escaped my remembrance; neither shall I +attempt to add more than the clearer affirmation of the facts implied +in that report of them, and such inferences as necessarily, or with a +strong probability, follow them." + +My Lords, you see, as to any direct explanation, that he fairly gives it +up: he has used artifice and stratagem, which he knows will not do; and +at last attempts to cover the treachery of his conduct by the treachery +of his memory. Frequent applications were made to Mr. Hastings upon this +article from the Company,--gentle hints, _gemitus columbĉ_,--rather, +little amorous complaints that he was not more open and communicative; +but all these gentle insinuations were never able to draw from him any +further account till he came to England. When he came here, he left not +only his memory, but all his notes and references, behind in India. When +in India the Company could get no account of them, because he himself +was not in England; and when he was in England, they could get no +account, because his papers were in India. He then sends over to Mr. +Larkins to give that account of his affairs which he was not able to +give himself. Observe, here is a man taking money privately, corruptly, +and which was to be sanctified by the future application of it, taking +false securities to cover it, and who, when called upon to tell whom he +got the money from, for what ends, and on what occasion, neither will +tell in India nor can tell in England, but sends for such an account as +he has thought proper to furnish. + +I am now to bring before you an account of what I think much the most +serious part of the effects of his system of bribery, corruption, and +peculation. My Lords, I am to state to you the astonishing and almost +incredible means he made use of to lay all the country under +contribution, to bring the whole into such dejection as should put his +bribes out of the way of discovery. Such another example of boldness and +contrivance I believe the world cannot furnish. + +I have already shown, amongst the mass of his corruptions, that he let +the whole of the lands to farm to the banians; next, that he sold the +whole Mahomedan government of that country to a woman. This was bold +enough, one should think; but without entering into the circumstances of +the revenue change in 1772, I am to tell your Lordships that he had +appointed six Provincial Councils, each consisting of many members, who +had the ordinary administration of civil justice in that country, and +the whole business of the collection of the revenues. + +These Provincial Councils accounted to the Governor-General and Council, +who in the revenue department had the whole management, control, and +regulation of the revenue. Mr. Hastings did in several papers to the +Court of Directors declare, that the establishment of these Provincial +Councils, which at first he stated only as experimental, had proved +useful in the experiment,--and on that use, and upon that experiment, he +had sent even the plan of an act of Parliament, to have it confirmed +with the last and most sacred authority of this country. The Court of +Directors desired, that, if he thought any other method more proper, he +would send it to them for their approbation. + +Thus the whole face of the British government, the whole of its order +and constitution, remained from 1772 to 1781. He had got rid, some time +before this period, by death, of General Clavering, by death, of Colonel +Monson, and by vexation and persecution, and his consequent dereliction +of authority, he had shaken off Mr. Francis. The whole Council +consisting only of himself and Mr. Wheler, he, having the casting vote, +was in effect the whole Council; and if ever there was a time when +principle, decency, and decorum rendered it improper for him to do any +extraordinary acts without the sanction of the Court of Directors, that +was the time. Mr. Wheler was taken off,--despair perhaps rendering the +man, who had been in opposition futilely before, compliable. The man is +dead. He certainly did not oppose him; if he had, it would have been in +vain. But those very circumstances which rendered it atrocious in Mr. +Hastings to make any change induced him to make this. He thought that a +moment's time was not to be lost,--that other colleagues might come, +where he might be overpowered by a majority again, and not able to +pursue his corrupt plans. Therefore he was resolved,--your Lordships +will remark the whole of this most daring and systematic plan of bribery +and peculation,--he resolved to put it out of the power of his Council +in future to check or control him in any of his evil practices. + +The first thing he did was to form an ostensible council at Calcutta for +the management of the revenues, which was not effectually bound, except +it thought fit, to make any reference to the Supreme Council. He +delegated to them--that is, to four covenanted servants--those functions +which by act of Parliament and the Company's orders were to be exercised +by the Council-General; he delegated to four gentlemen, creatures of his +own, his own powers, but he laid them out to good interest. It appears +odd that one of the first acts to a Governor-General, so jealous of his +power as he is known to be, as soon as he had all the power in his own +hands, should be to put all the revenues out of his own control. This +upon the first view is an extraordinary proceeding. His next step was, +without apprising the Court of Directors of his intention, or without +having given an idea of any such intention to his colleagues while +alive, either those who died in India, or those who afterwards returned +to Europe, in one day, in a moment, to annihilate the whole authority of +the Provincial Councils, and delegate the whole power to these four +gentlemen. + +These four gentlemen had for their secretary an agent given them by Mr. +Hastings: a name that you will often hear of; a name at the sound of +which all India turns pale; the most wicked, the most atrocious, the +boldest, the most dexterous villain that ever the rank servitude of that +country has produced. My Lords, I am speaking with the most assured +freedom, because there never was a friend of Mr. Hastings, there never +was a foe of Mr. Hastings, there never was any human person, that ever +differed on this occasion, or expressed any other idea of Gunga Govind +Sing, the friend of Mr. Hastings, whom he intrusted with this important +post. But you shall hear, from the account given by themselves, what the +Council thought of their functions, of their efficiency for the charge, +and in whose hands that efficiency really was. I beg, hope, and trust, +that your Lordships will learn from the persons themselves who were +appointed to execute the office their opinion of the real execution of +it, in order that you may judge of the plan for which he destroyed the +whole English administration in India. + +"The Committee must have a dewan, or executive officer, call him by what +name you please. This man, in fact, has all the revenue paid at the +Presidency at his disposal, and can, if he has any abilities, bring all +the renters under contribution. It is little advantage to restrain the +Committee themselves from bribery or corruption, when their executive +officer has the power of practising both undetected. To display the arts +employed by a native on such occasions would fill a volume. He discovers +the secret resources of the zemindars and renters, their enemies and +competitors; and by the engines of hope and fear, raised upon these +foundations, he can work them to his purpose. The Committee, with the +best intentions, best abilities, and steadiest application, must after +all be a tool in the hands of their dewan." + +Your Lordships see what the opinion of the Council was of their own +constitution. You see for what it was made. You see for what purposes +the great revenue trust was taken from the Council-General, from the +supreme government. You see for what purposes the executive power was +destroyed. You have it from one of the gentlemen of this commission, at +first four in number, and afterwards five, who was the most active, +efficient member of it. You see it was made for the purpose of being a +tool in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing; that integrity, ability, and +vigilance could avail nothing; that the whole country might be laid +under contribution by this man, and that he could thus practise bribery +with impunity. Thus your Lordships see the delegation of all the +authority of the country, above and below, is given by Mr. Hastings to +this Gunga Govind Sing. The screen, the veil, spread before this +transaction, is torn open by the very people themselves who are the +tools in it. They confess they can do nothing; they know they are +instruments in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing; and Mr. Hastings uses his +name and authority to make them such in the hands of the basest, the +wickedest, the corruptest, the most audacious and atrocious villain ever +heard of. It is to him all the English authority is sacrificed, and four +gentlemen are appointed to be his tools and instruments. Tools and +instruments for what? They themselves state, that, if he has the +inclination, he has the power and ability to lay the whole country under +contribution, that he enters into the most minute secrets of every +individual in it, gets into the bottom of their family affairs, and has +a power totally to subvert and destroy them; and we shall show upon that +head, that he well fulfilled the purposes for which he was appointed. +Did Mr. Hastings pretend to say that he destroyed the Provincial +Councils for their corruptness or insufficiency, when he dissolved them? +No: he says he has no objection to their competency, no charge to make +against their conduct, but that he has destroyed them for his new +arrangement. And what is his new arrangement? Gunga Govind Sing. Forty +English gentlemen were removed from their offices by that change. Mr. +Hastings did it, however, very economically; for all these gentlemen +were instantly put upon pensions, and consequently burdened the +establishment with a new charge. Well, but the new Council was formed +and constituted upon a very economical principle also. These five +gentlemen, you will have it in proof, with the necessary expenses of +their office, were a charge of 62,000_l._ a year upon the establishment. +But for great, eminent, capital services, 62,000_l._, though a much +larger sum than what was thought fit to be allowed for the members of +the Supreme Council itself, may be admitted. I will pass it. It shall be +granted to Mr. Hastings, that these pensions, though they created a new +burden on the establishment, were all well disposed, provided the +Council did their duty. But you have heard what they say themselves: +they are not there put to do any duty; they can do no duty; their +abilities, their integrity, avail them nothing; they are tools in the +hands of Gunga Govind Sing. Mr. Hastings, then, has loaded the revenue +with 62,000_l._ a year to make Gunga Govind Sing master of the kingdoms +of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. What must the thing to be moved be, when +the machinery, when the necessary tools, for Gunga Govind Sing have cost +62,000_l._ a year to the Company? There it is; it is not my +representation, not the representation of observant strangers, of good +and decent people, that understand the nature of that service, but the +opinion of the tools themselves. + +Now did Mr. Hastings employ Gunga Govind Sing without a knowledge of his +character? His character was known to Mr. Hastings: it was recorded long +before, when he was turned out of another office. "During my long +residence," says he, "in this country, this is the first time I heard of +the character of Gunga Govind Sing being infamous. No information I have +received, though I have heard _many_ people speak ill of him, ever +pointed to any particular _act_ of infamy committed by Gunga Govind +Sing. I have no intimate knowledge of Gunga Govind Sing. What I +understand of his character has been from Europeans as well as natives." +After,--"He had many enemies at the time he was proposed to be employed +in the Company's service, and not _one advocate_ among the natives who +had immediate access to myself. I think, therefore, if his character had +been such as has been described, the knowledge of it could hardly have +failed to have been ascertained to me by the _specific_ facts. I have +heard him loaded, as I have many others, with general reproaches, but +have never heard any one express a doubt of _his abilities_." Now, if +anything in the world should induce you to put the whole trust of the +revenues of Bengal, both above and below, into the hands of a single +man, and to delegate to him the whole jurisdiction of the country, it +must be that he either was, or at least was reputed to be, a man of +integrity. Mr. Hastings does not pretend that he is reputed to be a man +of integrity. He knew that he was not able to contradict the charge +brought against him, and that he had been turned out of office by his +colleagues, for reasons assigned upon record, and approved by the +Directors, for malversation in office. He had, indeed, crept again into +the Calcutta Committee; and they were upon the point of turning him out +for malversation, when Mr. Hastings saved them the trouble by turning +out the whole Committee, consisting of a president and five members. So +that in all times, in all characters, in all places, he stood as a man +of a bad character and evil repute, though supposed to be a man of great +abilities. + +My Lords, permit me for one moment to drop my representative character +here, and to speak to your Lordships only as a man of some experience in +the world, and conversant with the affairs of men and with the +characters of men. + +I do, then, declare my conviction, and wish it may stand recorded to +posterity, that there never was a _bad man_ that had ability for _good +service_. It is not in the nature of such men; their minds are so +distorted to selfish purposes, to knavish, artificial, and crafty means +of accomplishing those selfish ends, that, if put to any good service, +they are poor, dull, helpless. Their natural faculties never have that +direction; they are paralytic on that side; the muscles, if I may use +the expression, that ought to move it, are all dead. They know nothing, +but how to pursue selfish ends by wicked and indirect means. No man ever +knowingly employed a bad man on account of his abilities, but for evil +ends. Mr. Hastings knew this man to be bad; all the world knew him to be +bad; and how did he employ him? In such a manner as that he might be +controlled by others? A great deal might be said for him, if this had +been the case. There might be circumstances in which such a man might be +used in a subordinate capacity. But who ever thought of putting such a +man virtually in possession of the whole authority both of the Committee +and the Council-General, and of the revenues of the whole country? + +As soon as we find Gunga Govind Sing here, we find him employed in the +way in which he was meant to be employed: that is to say, we find him +employed in taking corrupt bribes and corrupt presents for Mr. Hastings. +Though the Committee were tools in his hands, he was a tool in the hands +of Mr. Hastings; for he had, as we shall prove, constant, uniform, and +close communications with Mr. Hastings. And, indeed, we may be saved a +good deal of the trouble of proof; for Mr. Hastings himself, by +acknowledging him to be his bribe-broker, has pretty well authenticated +a secret correspondence between them. For the next great bribe as yet +discovered to be taken by Mr. Hastings, about the time of his great +operation of 1781, was the bribe of 40,000_l._, which we charge to have +been privately taken from one of two persons, but from which is not yet +ascertained, but paid to him through this flagitious black agent of his +iniquities, Gunga Govind Sing. The discovery is made by another agent of +his, called Mr. Larkins, one of his white bribe-confidants, and by him +made Accountant-General to the Supreme Presidency. For this sum, so +clandestinely and corruptly taken, he received a bond to himself, on his +own account, as for money lent to the Company. For, upon the frequent, +pressing, tender solicitations of the Court of Directors, always +insinuated to him in a very delicate manner, Mr. Hastings had written to +Mr. Larkins to find out, if he could, some of his own bribes; and +accordingly Mr. Larkins sent over an account of various bribes,--an +account which, even before it comes directly in evidence before you, it +will be pleasant to your Lordships to read. In this account, under the +head, "_Dinagepore, No. 1_," I find "_Duplicate copy of the particulars +of debts, in which the component parts of sundry sums received on the +account of the Honorable Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies +were received by Mr. Hastings and paid to the Sub-Treasurer_." We find +here, "_Dinagepore peshcush, four lacs of rupees, cabooleat_": that is, +an agreement to pay four lacs of rupees, of which three were received +and one remained in balance at the time this account was made out. All +that we can learn from this account, after all our researches, after all +the Court of Directors could do to squeeze it out of him, is, that he +received from Dinagepore, at twelve monthly payments, a sum of about +three lacs of rupees, upon an engagement to pay him four; that is, he +received about 30,000_l._ out of 40,000_l._ which was to be paid him: +and we are told that he received this sum through the hands of Gunga +Govind Sing; and that he was exceedingly angry with Gunga Govind Sing +for having kept back or defrauded him of the sum of 10,000_l._ out of +the 40,000_l._ To keep back from him the fourth part of the whole bribe +was very reprehensible behavior in Gunga Govind Sing, certainly very +unworthy of the great and high trust which Mr. Hastings reposed in his +integrity. My Lords, this letter tells us Mr. Hastings was much +irritated at Gunga Govind Sing. You will hereafter see how Mr. Hastings +behaves to persons against whom he is irritated for their frauds upon +him in their joint concerns. In the mean time Gunga Govind Sing rests +with you as a person with whom Mr. Hastings is displeased on account of +infidelity in the honorable trust of bribe undertaker and manager. + +My Lords, you are not very much enlightened, I believe, by seeing these +words, _Dinagepore peshcush_. We find a province, we find a sum of +money, we find an agent, and we find a receiver. The _province_ is +_Dinagepore_, the _agent_ is _Gunga Govind Sing_, the _sum_ agreed on is +40,000_l._, and the _receiver_ of a part of that is _Mr. Hastings_. This +is all that can be seen. Who it was that gave this sum of money to Mr. +Hastings in this manner does no way appear; it is _murder by persons +unknown_: and this is the way in which Mr. Hastings, after all the +reiterated solicitations of Parliament, of the Company, and the public, +has left the account of this bribe. + +Let us, however, now see what was the state of transactions at +Dinagepore at that period. For, if Mr. Hastings in the transactions at +that period did anything for that country, it must be presumed this +money was given for those acts; for Mr. Hastings confesses it was a sum +of money corruptly received, but honestly applied. It does not signify +much, at first view, from whom he received it; it is enough to fix upon +him that he did receive it. But because the consequences of his bribes +make the main part of what I intend to bring before your Lordships, I +shall beg to state to you, with your indulgence, what I have been able +to discover by a very close investigation of the records respecting this +business of Dinagepore. + +Dinagepore, Rungpore, and Edrackpore make a country, I believe, pretty +nearly as large as all the northern counties of England, Yorkshire +included. It is no mean country, and it has a prince of great, ancient, +illustrious descent at the head of it, called the Rajah of Dinagepore. + +I find, that, about the month of July, 1780, the Rajah of Dinagepore, +after a long and lingering illness, died, leaving an half-brother and an +adopted son. A litigation respecting the succession instantly arose in +the family; and this litigation was of course referred to, and was +finally to be decided by, the Governor-General in Council,--being the +ultimate authority to which the decision of all these questions was to +be referred. This cause came before Mr. Hastings, and I find that he +decided the question in favor of the adopted son of the Rajah against +his half-brother. I find that upon that decision a rent was settled, and +a peshcush, or fine, paid. So that all that is in this transaction is +fair and above-board: there is a dispute settled; there is a fine paid; +there is a rent reserved to the Company; and the whole is a fair +settlement. But I find along with it very extraordinary acts; for I find +Mr. Hastings taking part in favor of the minor, agreeably to the +principles of others, and contrary to his own. I find that he gave the +guardianship of this adopted son to the brother of the Ranny, as she is +called, or the widow of the deceased Rajah; and though the hearing and +settling of this business was actually a part of the duty of his office, +yet I find, that, when the steward of the province of Dinagepore was +coming down to represent this case to Mr. Hastings, Mr. Hastings, on +pretence that it would only tend to increase the family dissensions, so +far from hearing fully all the parties in this business, not only sent +him back, but ordered him to be actually turned out of his office. If, +then, the 40,000_l._ be the same with the money taken from the Rajah in +1780, to which account it seems to refer, (for it was taken in regular +payments, beginning July, 1780, and ending at the same period in 1781,) +it was a sum of money corruptly taken by him as a judge in a litigation +of inheritance between two great parties. So that he received the sum of +40,000_l._ for a judgment; which, whether that judgment was right or +wrong, true or false, he corruptly received. + +This sum was received, as your Lordships will observe, through Gunga +Govind Sing. He was the broker of the agreement: he was the person who +was to receive it by monthly instalments, and he was to pay it to Mr. +Hastings. His son was in the office of Register-General of the whole +country, who had in his custody all the papers, documents, and +everything which could tend to settle a litigation among the parties. If +Mr. Hastings took this bribe from the Rajah of Dinagepore, he took a +bribe from an infant of five years old through the hands of the +Register. That is, the judge receives a bribe through the hands of the +keeper of the genealogies of the family, the records and other +documents, which must have had the principal share in settling the +question. + +This history of this Dinagepore peshcush is the public one received by +the Company, and which is entered upon the record,--but not the private, +and probably the true history of this corrupt transaction. + +Very soon after this decision, very soon after this peshcush was given, +we find all the officers of the young Rajah, who was supposed to have +given it, turned out of their employment by Gunga Govind Sing,--by the +very man who received the peshcush for Mr. Hastings. We find them all +turned out of their employments; we find them all accused, without any +appearance or trace in the records of any proof of embezzlement, of +neglect in the education of the minor Rajah, of the mismanagement of his +affairs, or the allotment of an unsuitable allowance. And accordingly, +to prevent the relations of his adopted mother, to prevent those who +might be supposed to have an immediate interest in the family, from +abusing the trust of his education and the trust of the management of +his fortune, Gunga Govind Sing, (for I trust your Lordships would not +suffer me, if I had a mind, to quote that tool of a thing, the Committee +of Revenue, bought at 62,000_l._ a year,--you would not suffer me to +name it, especially when you know all the secret agency of bribes in the +hand of Gunga Govind Sing,)--this Gunga Govind Sing produces soon after +another character, to whom he consigns the custody of the whole family +and the whole province. + +I will do Mr. Hastings the justice to say, that, if he had known there +was another man more accomplished in all iniquity than Gunga Govind +Sing, he would not have given him the first place in his confidence. But +there is another next to him in the country, whom you are to hear of +by-and-by, called Debi Sing. This person, in the universal opinion of +all Bengal, is ranked next to Gunga Govind Sing; and, what is very +curious, they have been recorded by Mr. Hastings as rivals in the same +virtues. + + Arcades ambo, + Et cantare pares, et respondere parati. + +But Mr. Hastings has the happiest modes in the world: these rivals were +reconciled on this occasion, and Gunga Govind Sing appoints Debi Sing, +superseding all the other officers for no reason whatever upon record. +And because, like champions, they ought to go in pairs, there is an +English gentleman, one Mr. Goodlad, whom you will hear of presently, +appointed along with him. Absolute strangers to the Rajah's family, the +first act they do is to cut off a thousand out of sixteen hundred a +month from his allowance. They state (though there was a great number of +dependants to maintain) that six hundred would be enough to maintain +him. There appears in the account of these proceedings to be such a +flutter about the care of the Rajah, and the management of his +household: in short, that there never was such a tender guardianship as, +always with the knowledge of Mr. Hastings, is exercised over this poor +Rajah, who had just given (if he did give) 40,000_l._ for _his own_ +inheritance, if it was his due,--for the inheritance of _others_, if it +was not his due. One would think he was entitled to some mercy; but, +probably because the money could not otherwise be supplied, his +establishment was cut down by Debi Sing and Mr. Goodlad a thousand a +month, which is just twelve thousand a year. + +When Mr. Hastings had appointed those persons to the guardianship who +had an interest in the management of the Rajah's education and fortune, +one should have thought, before they were turned out, he would at least +have examined whether such a step was proper or not. No: they were +turned out without any such examination; and when I come to inquire into +the proceedings of Gunga Govind Sing's Committee, I do not find that the +new guardians have brought to account one single shilling they received, +appointed as they were by that council newly made to superintend all the +affairs of the Rajah. There is not one word to be found of an account: +Debi Sing's honor, fidelity, and disinterestedness, and that of Mr. +Goodlad, is sufficient; and that is the way in which the management and +superintendence of one of the greatest houses in that country is given +to the guardianship of strangers. And how is it managed? We find Debi +Sing in possession of the Rajah's family, in possession of his affairs, +in the management of his whole zemindary; and in the course of the next +year he is to give him in farm the whole of the revenues of these three +provinces. Now whether the peshcush was received for the nomination of +the Rajah as a bribe in judgment, or whether Mr. Hastings got it from +Debi Sing as a bribe in office, for appointing him to the guardianship +of a family that did not belong to him, and for the dominion of three +great and once wealthy provinces,--(which is best or worst I shall not +pretend to determine,)--you find the Rajah in his possession; you find +his education, his household, in his possession; the public revenues are +in his possession; they are given over to him. + +If we look at the records, the letting of these provinces appears to +have been carried on by the new Committee of Revenue, as the course and +order of business required it should. But by the investigation into Mr. +Hastings's money transactions, the insufficiency and fallacy of these +records is manifest beyond a doubt. From this investigation it is +discovered that it was in reality a bargain secretly struck between the +Governor-General and Debi Sing, and that the Committee were only +employed in the mere official forms. From the time that Mr. Hastings +new-modelled the revenue system, nothing is seen in its true shape. We +now know, in spite of the fallacy of these records, who the true grantor +was: it will not be amiss to go a little further in supplying their +defects, and to inquire a little concerning the grantee. This makes it +necessary for me to inform your Lordships who Debi Sing is. + + [_Mr. Burke read the Committee's recommendation of Debi Sing to the + Governor-General and Council; but the copy of the paper alluded to + is wanting._] + + * * * * * + +Here is a choice; here is Debi Sing presented for his knowledge in +business, his trust and fidelity, and that he is a person against whom +no objection can be made. This is presented to Mr. Hastings, by him +recorded in the Council Books, and by him transmitted to the Court of +Directors. Mr. Hastings has since recorded, that he knew this Debi Sing, +(though he here publicly authorizes the nomination of him to all that +great body of trusts,)--that he knew him to be a man completely capable +of the most atrocious iniquities that were ever charged upon man. Debi +Sing is appointed to all those great trusts, through the means of Gunga +Govind Sing, from whom he (Mr. Hastings) had received 30,000_l._ as a +part of a bribe. + +Now, though it is a large field, though it is a thing that I must +confess I feel a reluctance almost in venturing to undertake, exhausted +as I am, yet such is the magnitude of the affair, such the evil +consequences that followed from a system of bribery, such the horrible +consequences of superseding all the persons in office in the country to +give it into the hands of Debi Sing, that, though it is the public +opinion, and though no man that has ever heard the name of Debi Sing +does not know that he was only second to Gunga Govind Sing, yet it is +not to my purpose, unless I prove that Mr. Hastings knew his character +at the very time he accepts him as a person against whom no exception +could be made. + +It is necessary to inform your Lordships who this Debi Sing was, to whom +these great trusts were committed, and those great provinces given. + +It may be thought, and not unnaturally, that, in this sort of corrupt +and venal appointment to high trust and office, Mr. Hastings has no +other consideration than the money he received. But whoever thinks so +will be deceived. Mr. Hastings was very far from indifferent to the +character of the persons he dealt with. On the contrary, he made a most +careful selection; he had a very scrupulous regard to the aptitude of +the men for the purposes for which he employed them, and was much guided +by his experience of their conduct in those offices which had been sold +to them upon former occasions. + +Except Gunga Govind Sing, (whom, as justice required, Mr. Hastings +distinguished by the highest marks of his confidence,) there was not a +man in Bengal, perhaps not upon earth, a match for this Debi Sing. He +was not an unknown subject, not one rashly taken up as an experiment. He +was a tried man; and if there had been one more desperately and +abandonedly corrupt, more wildly and flagitiously oppressive, to be +found unemployed in India, large as his offers were, Mr. Hastings would +not have taken this money from Debi Sing. + +Debi Sing was one of those who in the early stages of the English power +in Bengal attached himself to those natives who then stood high in +office. He courted Mahomed Reza Khân, a Mussulman of the highest rank, +of the tribe of Koreish, whom I have already mentioned, then at the head +of the revenue, and now at the head of the criminal justice of Bengal, +with all the supple assiduity of which those who possess no valuable art +or useful talent are commonly complete masters. Possessing large funds, +acquired by his apprenticeship and novitiate in the lowest frauds, he +was enabled to lend to this then powerful man, in the several +emergencies of his variable fortune, very large sums of money. This +great man had been brought down by Mr. Hastings, under the orders of the +Court of Directors, upon a cruel charge, to Calcutta. He was accused of +many crimes, and acquitted, 220,000_l._ in debt: that is to say, as soon +as he was a great debtor, he ceased to be a great criminal. + +Debi Sing obtained by his services no slight influence over Mahomed Reza +Khân, a person of a character very different from his. + +From that connection he was appointed to the farm of the revenue, and +inclusively of the government of Purneah, a province of very great +extent, and then in a state of no inconsiderable opulence. In this +office he exerted his talents with so much vigor and industry that in a +very short time the province was half depopulated and totally ruined. + +The farm, on the expiration of his lease, was taken by a set of +adventurers in this kind of traffic from Calcutta. But when the new +undertakers came to survey the object of their future operations and +future profits, they were so shocked at the hideous and squalid scenes +of misery and desolation that glared upon them in every quarter, that +they instantly fled out of the country, and thought themselves but too +happy to be permitted, on the payment of a penalty of twelve thousand +pounds, to be released from their engagements. + +To give in a few words as clear an idea as I am able to give of the +immense volume which might be composed of the vexations, violence, and +rapine of that tyrannical administration, the territorial revenue of +Purneah, which had been let to Debi Sing at the rate of 160,000_l._ +sterling a year, was with difficulty leased for a yearly sum under +90,000_l._, and with all rigor of exaction produced in effect little +more than 60,000_l._, falling greatly below one half of its original +estimate: so entirely did the administration of Debi Sing exhaust all +the resources of the province; so totally did his baleful influence +blast the very hope and spring of all future revenue. + +The administration of Debi Sing was too notoriously destructive not to +cause a general clamor. It was impossible that it should be passed over +without animadversion. Accordingly, in the month of September, 1772, Mr. +Hastings, then at the head of the Committee of Circuit, removed him for +maladministration; and he has since publicly declared on record that he +knew him to be capable of all the most horrid and atrocious crimes that +can be imputed to man. + +This brand, however, was only a mark for Mr. Hastings to find him out +hereafter in the crowd, to identify him for his own, and to call him +forth into action, when his virtues should be sufficiently matured for +the services in which he afterwards employed him, through his +instruments, Mr. Anderson and Gunga Govind Sing. In the mean time he +left Debi Sing to the direction of his own good genius. + +Debi Sing was stigmatized in the Company's records, his reputation was +gone, but his funds were safe. In the arrangement made by Mr. Hastings, +in the year 1773, by which Provincial Councils were formed, Debi Sing +became deputy-steward, or secretary, (soon in effect and influence +principal steward,) to the Provincial Council of Moorshedabad, the seat +of the old government, and the first province of the kingdom; and to his +charge were committed various extensive and populous provinces, yielding +an annual revenue of one hundred and twenty lacs of rupees, or +1,500,000_l._ This division of Provincial Council included Rungpore, +Edrackpore, and others, where he obtained such a knowledge of their +resources as subsequently to get possession of them. + +Debi Sing found this administration composed mostly of young men, +dissipated and fond of pleasure, as is usual at that time of life, but +desirous of reconciling those pleasures, which usually consume wealth, +with the means of making a great and speedy fortune,--at once eager +candidates for opulence, and perfect novices in all the roads that lead +to it. Debi Sing commiserated their youth and inexperience, and took +upon him to be their guide. + +There is a revenue in that country, raised by a tax more productive than +laudable. It is an imposition on public prostitutes, a duty upon the +societies of dancing-girls,--those seminaries from which Mr. Hastings +has selected an administrator of justice and governor of kingdoms. Debi +Sing thought it expedient to farm this tax,--not only because he +neglected no sort of gain, but because he regarded it as no contemptible +means of power and influence. Accordingly, in plain terms, he opened a +legal brothel, out of which he carefully reserved (you may be sure) the +very flower of his collection for the entertainment of his young +superiors: ladies recommended not only by personal merit, but, according +to the Eastern custom, by sweet and enticing names which he had given +them. For, if they were to be translated, they would sound,--Riches of +my Life, Wealth of my Soul, Treasure of Perfection, Diamond of Splendor, +Pearl of Price, Ruby of Pure Blood, and other metaphorical descriptions, +that, calling up dissonant passions to enhance the value of the general +harmony, heightened the attractions of love with the allurements of +avarice. A moving seraglio of these ladies always attended his progress, +and were always brought to the splendid and multiplied entertainments +with which he regaled his Council. In these festivities, whilst his +guests were engaged with the seductions of beauty, the intoxications of +the most delicious wines of France, and the voluptuous vapor of perfumed +India smoke, uniting the vivid satisfactions of Europe with the torpid +blandishments of Asia, the great magician himself, chaste in the midst +of dissoluteness, sober in the centre of debauch, vigilant in the lap of +negligence and oblivion, attended with an eagle's eye the moment for +thrusting in business, and at such times was able to carry without +difficulty points of shameful enormity, which at other hours he would +not so much as have dared to mention to his employers, young men rather +careless and inexperienced than intentionally corrupt. Not satisfied +with being pander to their pleasures, he anticipated and was purveyor to +their wants, and supplied them with a constant command of money; and by +these means he reigned with an uncontrolled dominion over the province +and over its governors. + +For you are to understand that in many things we are very much +misinformed with regard to the true seat of power in India. Whilst we +were proudly calling India a British government, it was in substance a +government of the lowest, basest, and most flagitious of the native +rabble, to whom the far greater part of the English who figured in +employment and station had from their earliest youth been slaves and +instruments. Banians had anticipated the period of their power in +premature advances of money, and have ever after obtained the entire +dominion over their nominal masters. + +By these various ways and means Debi Sing contrived to add job to job, +employment to employment, and to hold, besides the farms of two very +considerable districts, various trusts in the revenue,--sometimes +openly appearing, sometimes hid two or three deep in false names, +emerging into light or shrouding himself in darkness, as successful or +defeated crimes rendered him bold or cautious. Every one of these trusts +was marked with its own fraud; and for one of those frauds, committed by +him in another name, by which he became deeply in balance to the +revenue, he was publicly whipped _by proxy_. + +All this while Mr. Hastings kept his eye upon him, and attended to his +progress. But as he rose in Mr. Hastings's opinion, he fell in that of +his immediate employers. By degrees, as reason prevailed, and the fumes +of pleasure evaporated, the Provincial Council emerged from their first +dependence, and, finding nothing but infamy attending the councils and +services of such a man, resolved to dismiss him. In this strait and +crisis of his power the artist turned himself into all shapes. He +offered great sums individually, he offered them collectively, and at +last put a _carte blanche_ on the table,--all to no purpose. "What are +you?--stones? Have I not men to deal with? Will flesh and blood refuse +me?" + +When Debi Sing found that the Council had entirely escaped, and were +proof against his offers, he left them with a sullen and menacing +silence. He applied where he had good intelligence that these offers +would be well received, and that he should at once be revenged of the +Council, and obtain all the ends which through them he had sought in +vain. + +Without hesitation or scruple Mr. Hastings sold a set of innocent +officers,--sold his fellow-servants of the Company, entitled by every +duty to his protection,--sold English subjects, recommended by every tie +of national sympathy,--sold the honor of the British government +itself,--without charge, without complaint, without allegation of crime +in conduct, or of insufficiency in talents: he sold them to the most +known and abandoned character which the rank servitude of that clime +produces. For _him_ he entirely broke and quashed the Council of +Moorshedabad, which had been the settled government for twelve years, (a +long period in the changeful history of India,)--at a time, too, when it +had acquired a great degree of consistency, an official experience, a +knowledge and habit of business, and was making full amends for early +errors. + +For now Mr. Hastings, having buried Colonel Monson and General +Clavering, and having shaken off Mr. Francis, who retired half dead from +office, began at length to respire; he found elbow-room once more to +display his genuine nature and disposition, and to make amends in a riot +and debauch of peculation for the forced abstinence to which he was +reduced during the usurped dominion of honor and integrity. + +It was not enough that the English were thus sacrificed to the revenge +of Debi Sing. It was necessary to deliver over the natives to his +avarice. By the intervention of bribe-brokerage he united the two great +rivals in iniquity, who before, from an emulation of crimes, were +enemies to each other,--Gunga Govind Sing and Debi Sing. He negotiated +the bribe and the farm of the latter through the former; and Debi Sing +was invested in farm for two years with the three provinces of +Dinagepore, Edrackpore, and Rungpore,--territories making together a +tract of land superior in dimensions to the northern counties of +England, Yorkshire included. + +To prevent anything which might prove an obstacle on the full swing of +his genius, he removed all the restraints which had been framed to give +an ostensible credit, to give some show of official order, to the plans +of revenue administration framed from time to time in Bengal. An +officer, called a _dewan_, had been established in the provinces, +expressly as a check on the person who should act as farmer-general. +This office he conferred along with that of farmer-general on Debi Sing, +in order that Debi might become an effectual check upon Sing; and thus +these provinces, without inspection, without control, without law, and +without magistrates, were delivered over by Mr. Hastings, bound hand and +foot, to the discretion of the man whom he had before recorded as the +destroyer of Purneah, and capable of every the most atrocious wickedness +that could be imputed to man. + +Fatally for the natives of India, every wild project and every corrupt +sale of Mr. Hastings, and those whose example he followed, is covered +with a pretended increase of revenue to the Company. Mr. Hastings would +not pocket his bribe of 40,000_l._ for himself without letting the +Company in as a sharer and accomplice. For the province of Rungpore, the +object to which I mean in this instance to confine your attention, +7,000_l._ a year was added. But lest this avowed increase of rent should +seem to lead to oppression, great and religious care was taken in the +covenant so stipulated with Debi Sing, that _this_ increase should not +arise from any additional assessment whatsoever on the country, but +solely from improvements in the cultivation, and the encouragement to be +given to the landholder and husbandman. But as Mr. Hastings's bribe, of +a far greater sum, was not guarded by any such provision, it was left to +the discretion of the donor in what manner he was to indemnify himself +for it. + +Debi Sing fixed the seat of his authority at Dinagepore, where, as soon +as he arrived, he did not lose a moment in doing his duty. If Mr. +Hastings can forget his covenant, you may easily believe that Debi Sing +had not a more correct memory; and accordingly, as soon as he came into +the province, he instantly broke every covenant which he had entered +into as a restraint on his avarice, rapacity, and tyranny, which, from +the highest of the nobility and gentry to the lowest husbandmen, were +afterwards exercised, with a stern and unrelenting impartiality, upon +the whole people. For, notwithstanding the province before Debi Sing's +lease was, from various causes, in a state of declension, and in balance +for the revenue of the preceding year, at his very first entrance into +office he forced from the zemindars or landed gentry an enormous +increase of their tribute. They refused compliance. On this refusal he +threw the whole body of zemindars into prison, and thus in bonds and +fetters compelled them to sign their own ruin by an increase of rent +which they knew they could never realize. Having thus gotten them under, +he added exaction to exaction, so that every day announced some new and +varied demand, until, exhausted by these oppressions, they were brought +to the extremity to which he meant to drive them, the sale of their +lands. + +The lands held by the zemindars of that country are of many +descriptions. The first and most general are those that pay revenue; the +others are of the nature of demesne lands, which are free, and pay no +rent to government. The latter are for the immediate support of the +zemindars and their families,--as from the former they derive their +influence, authority, and the means of upholding their dignity. The +lands of the former description were immediately attached, sequestered, +and sold for the most trifling consideration. The rent-free lands, the +best and richest lands of the whole province, were sold,--sold for--what +do your Lordships think? They were sold for less than one year's +purchase,--at less than one year's purchase, at the most underrated +value; so that the fee-simple of an English acre of rent-free land sold +at the rate of seven or eight shillings. Such a sale, on such terms, +strongly indicated the purchaser. And how did it turn out in fact? The +purchaser was the very agent and instrument of Mr. Hastings, Debi Sing +himself. He made the exaction; he forced the sale; he reduced the rate; +and he became the purchaser at less than one year's purchase, and paid +with the very money which he had extorted from the miserable vendors. + +When he had thus sold and separated these lands, he united the whole +body of them, amounting to about 7,000_l._ sterling a year (but, +according to the rate of money and living in that country, equivalent to +a rental in England of 30,000_l._ a year); and then having raised in the +new letting, as on the sale he had fraudulently reduced those lands, he +reserved them as an estate for himself, or to whomsoever resembling +himself Mr. Hastings should order them to be disposed. + +The lands, thus sold for next to nothing, left of course the late +landholder still in debt. The failure of fund, the rigorous exaction of +debt, and the multiplication of new arbitrary taxes next carried off the +goods. + +There is a circumstance attending this business which will call for +your Lordships' pity. Most of the landholders or zemindars in that +country happened at that time to be women. The sex there is in a state +certainly resembling imprisonment, but guarded as a sacred treasure with +all possible attention and respect. None of the coarse male hands of the +law can reach them; but they have a custom, very cautiously used in all +good governments there, of employing female bailiffs or sergeants in the +execution of the law, where that sex is concerned. Guards, therefore, +surrounded the houses; and then female sergeants and bailiffs entered +into the habitations of these female zemindars, and held their goods and +persons in execution,--nothing being left but what was daily threatened, +their life and honor. The landholders, even women of eminent rank and +condition, (for such the greatest part of the zemindars then were,) fled +from the ancient seats of their ancestors, and left their miserable +followers and servants, who in that country are infinitely numerous, +without protection and without bread. The monthly instalment of Mr. +Hastings's bribe was become due, and his rapacity must be fed from the +vitals of the people. + +The zemindars, before their own flight, had the mortification to see all +the lands assigned to charitable and to religious uses, the humane and +pious foundations of themselves and their ancestors, made to support +infirmity and decrepitude, to give feet to the lame and eyes to the +blind, and to effect which they had deprived themselves of many of the +enjoyments of life, cruelly sequestered and sold at the same market of +violence and fraud where their demesne possessions and their goods had +been before made away with. Even the lands and funds set aside for +their funeral ceremonies, in which they hoped to find an end to their +miseries, and some indemnity of imagination for all the substantial +sufferings of their lives,--even the very feeble consolations of death, +were, by the same rigid hand of tyranny,--a tyranny more consuming than +the funeral pile, more greedy than the grave, and more inexorable than +death itself,--seized and taken to make good the honor of corruption and +the faith of bribery pledged to Mr. Hastings or his instruments. + +Thus it fared with the better and middling orders of the people. Were +the lower, the more industrious, spared? Alas! as their situation was +far more helpless, their oppression was infinitely more sore and +grievous, the exactions yet more excessive, the demand yet more +vexatious, more capricious, more arbitrary. To afford your Lordships +some idea of the condition of those who were served up to satisfy Mr. +Hastings's hunger and thirst for bribes, I shall read it to you in the +very words of the representative tyrant himself, Rajah Debi Sing. Debi +Sing, when he was charged with a fraudulent sale of the ornaments of +gold and silver of women, who, according to the modes of that country, +had starved themselves to decorate their unhappy persons, argued on the +improbability of this part of the charge in these very words. + +"It is notorious," says he, "that poverty generally prevails amongst the +husbandmen of Rungpore, more perhaps than in any other parts of the +country. They are seldom possessed of any property, except at the time +they reap their harvest; and at others barely procure their subsistence. +And this is the cause that such numbers of them were swept away by the +famine. Their effects are only a little earthen-ware, and their houses +only a handful of straw, the sale of a _thousand_ of which would not +perhaps produce twenty shillings." + +These were the opulent people from whose superfluities Mr. Hastings was +to obtain a gift of 40,000_l._, over and above a large increase of rent, +over and above the exactions by which the farmer must reimburse himself +for the advance of the money by which he must obtain the natural profit +of the farm as well as supply the peculium of his own avarice. + +Therefore your Lordships will not be surprised at the consequences. All +this unhappy race of little farmers and tillers of the soil were driven +like a herd of cattle by his extortioners, and compelled by +imprisonments, by fetters, and by cruel whippings, to engage for more +than the whole of their substance or possible acquisition. + +Over and above this, there was no mode of extortion, which the inventive +imagination of rapacity could contrive, that was not contrived, and was +not put in practice. On its own day your Lordships will hear, with +astonishment, detestation, and horror, the detail of these tyrannous +inventions; and it will appear that the aggregate of these superadded +demands amounted to as great a sum as the whole of the compulsory rent +on which they were piled. + +The country being in many parts left wholly waste and in all parts +considerably depopulated by the first rigors, the full rate of the +district was exacted from the miserable survivors. Their burdens were +increased, as their fellow-laborers, to whose joint efforts they were to +owe the means of payment, diminished. Driven to make payments beyond all +possible calculation, previous to receipts and above their means, in a +very short time they fell into the hands of usurers. + +The usurers, who under such a government held their own funds by a +precarious tenure, and were to lend to those whose substance was still +more precarious, to the natural hardness and austerity of that race of +men had additional motives to extortion, and made their terms +accordingly. And what were the terms these poor people were obliged to +consent to, to answer the bribes and peshcush paid to Mr. +Hastings?--five, ten, twenty, forty per cent? No! at an interest of six +hundred per cent per annum, payable by the day! A tiller of land to pay +six hundred per cent to discharge the demands of government! What +exhaustless fund of opulence could supply this destructive resource of +wretchedness and misery? Accordingly, the husbandman ground to powder +between the usurer below and the oppressor above, the whole crop of the +country was forced at once to market; and the market glutted, +overcharged, and suffocated, the price of grain fell to the fifth part +of its usual value. The crop was then gone, but the debt remained. An +universal treasury extent and process of execution followed on the +cattle and stock, and was enforced with more or less rigor in every +quarter. We have it in evidence, that in those sales five cows were sold +for not more than seven or eight shillings. All other things were +depreciated in the same proportion. The sale of the instruments of +husbandry succeeded to that of the corn and stock. Instances there are, +where, all other things failing, the farmers were dragged from the court +to their houses, in order to see them first plundered, and then burnt +down before their faces. It was not a rigorous collection of revenue, it +was a savage war made upon the country. + +The peasants were left little else than their families and their bodies. +The families were disposed of. It is a known observation, that those who +have the fewest of all other worldly enjoyments are the most tenderly +attached to their children and wives. The most tender of parents sold +their children at market. The most fondly jealous of husbands sold their +wives. The tyranny of Mr. Hastings extinguished every sentiment of +father, son, brother, and husband! + +I come now to the last stage of their miseries. Everything visible and +vendible was seized and sold. Nothing but the bodies remained. + +It is the nature of tyranny and rapacity never to learn moderation from +the ill-success of first oppressions; on the contrary, all oppressors, +all men thinking highly of the methods dictated by their nature, +attribute the frustration of their desires to the want of sufficient +rigor. Then they redouble the efforts of their impotent cruelty, which +producing, as they must ever produce, new disappointments, they grow +irritated against the objects of their rapacity; and then rage, fury, +and malice, implacable because unprovoked, recruiting and reinforcing +their avarice, their vices are no longer human. From cruel men they are +transformed into savage beasts, with no other vestiges of reason left +but what serves to furnish the inventions and refinements of ferocious +subtlety, for purposes of which beasts are incapable and at which fiends +would blush. + +Debi Sing and his instruments suspected, and in a few cases they +suspected justly, that the country people had purloined from their own +estates, and had hidden in secret places in the circumjacent deserts, +some small reserve of their own grain to maintain themselves during the +unproductive months of the year, and to leave some hope for a future +season. But the under-tyrants knew that the demands of Mr. Hastings +would admit no plea for delay, much less for subtraction of his bribe, +and that he would not abate a shilling of it to the wants of the whole +human race. These hoards, real or supposed, not being discovered by +menaces and imprisonment, they fell upon the last resource, the naked +bodies of the people. And here, my Lords, began such a scene of +cruelties and tortures as I believe no history has ever presented to the +indignation of the world,--such as I am sure, in the most barbarous +ages, no politic tyranny, no fanatic persecution, has ever yet exceeded. +Mr. Paterson, the commissioner appointed to inquire into the state of +the country, makes his own apology and mine for opening this scene of +horrors to you in the following words: "That the punishments inflicted +upon the ryots, both of Rungpore and Dinagepore, for non-payment, were +in many instances of such a nature that I would rather wish to draw a +veil over them than shock your feelings by the detail, but that, however +disagreeable the task may be to myself, it is absolutely necessary, for +the sake of justice, humanity, and the honor of government, that they +should be exposed, to be prevented in future." + +My Lords, they began by winding cords round the fingers of the unhappy +freeholders of those provinces, until they clung to and were almost +incorporated with one another; and then they hammered wedges of iron +between them, until, regardless of the cries of the sufferers, they had +bruised to pieces and forever crippled those poor, honest, innocent, +laborious hands, which had never been raised to their mouths but with a +penurious and scanty proportion of the fruits of their own soil; but +those fruits (denied to the wants of their own children) have for more +than fifteen years past furnished the investment for our trade with +China, and been sent annually out, and without recompense, to purchase +for us that delicate meal with which your Lordships, and all this +auditory, and all this country, have begun every day for these fifteen +years at their expense. To those beneficent hands that labor for our +benefit the return of the British government has been cords and hammers +and wedges. But there is a place where these crippled and disabled hands +will act with resistless power. What is it that they will not pull down, +when they are lifted to heaven against their oppressors? Then what can +withstand such hands? Can the power that crushed and destroyed them? +Powerful in prayer, let us at least deprecate and thus endeavor to +secure ourselves from the vengeance which these mashed and disabled +hands may pull down upon us. My Lords, it is an awful consideration: let +us think of it. + +But to pursue this melancholy, but necessary detail. I am next to open +to your Lordships, what I am hereafter to prove, that the most +substantial and leading yeomen, the responsible farmers, the parochial +magistrates and chiefs of villages, were tied two and two by the legs +together; and their tormentors, throwing them with their heads +downwards, over a bar, beat them on the soles of the feet with rattans, +until the nails fell from the toes; and then attacking them at their +heads, as they hung downward, as before at their feet, they beat them +with sticks and other instruments of blind fury, until the blood gushed +out at their eyes, mouths, and noses. Not thinking that the ordinary +whips and cudgels, even so administered, were sufficient, to others (and +often also to the same who had suffered as I have stated) they applied, +instead of rattan and bamboo, whips made of the branches of the bale +tree,--a tree full of sharp and strong thorns, which tear the skin and +lacerate the flesh far worse than ordinary scourges. For others, +exploring with a searching and inquisitive malice, stimulated by an +insatiate rapacity, all the devious paths of Nature for whatever is most +unfriendly to man, they made rods of a plant highly caustic and +poisonous, called _Bechettea_, every wound of which festers and +gangrenes, adds double and treble to the present torture, leaves a crust +of leprous sores upon the body, and often ends in the destruction of +life itself. At night, these poor innocent sufferers, these martyrs of +avarice and extortion, were brought into dungeons; and in the season +when nature takes refuge in insensibility from all the miseries and +cares which wait on life, they were three times scourged, and made to +reckon the watches of the night by periods and intervals of torment. +They were then led out, in the severe depth of winter, which there at +certain seasons would be severe to any, to the Indians is most severe +and almost intolerable,--they were led out before break of day, and, +stiff and sore as they were with the bruises and wounds of the night, +were plunged into water; and whilst their jaws clung together with the +cold, and their bodies were rendered infinitely more sensible, the blows +and stripes were renewed upon their backs; and then, delivering them +over to soldiers, they were sent into their farms and villages to +discover where a few handfuls of grain might be found concealed, or to +extract some loan from the remnants of compassion and courage not +subdued in those who had reason to fear that their own turn of torment +would be next, that they should succeed them in the same punishment, and +that their very humanity, being taken as a proof of their wealth, would +subject them (as it did in many cases subject them) to the same inhuman +tortures. After this circuit of the day through their plundered and +ruined villages, they were remanded at night to the same prison, +whipped, as before, at their return to the dungeon, and at morning +whipped at their leaving it, and then sent, as before, to purchase, by +begging in the day, the reiteration of the torture in the night. Days of +menace, insult, and extortion, nights of bolts, fetters, and +flagellation, succeeded to each other in the same round, and for a long +time made up all the vicissitude of life to these miserable people. + +But there are persons whose fortitude could bear their own suffering; +there are men who are hardened by their very pains, and the mind, +strengthened even by the torments of the body, rises with a strong +defiance against its oppressor. They were assaulted on the side of their +sympathy. Children were scourged almost to death in the presence of +their parents. This was not enough. The son and father were bound close +together, face to face and body to body, and in that situation cruelly +lashed together, so that the blow which escaped the father fell upon the +son, and the blow which missed the son wound over the back of the +parent. The circumstances were combined by so subtle a cruelty that +every stroke which did not excruciate the sense should wound and +lacerate the sentiments and affections of nature. + +On the same principle, and for the same ends, virgins, who had never +seen the sun, were dragged from the inmost sanctuaries of their houses, +and in the open court of justice, in the very place where security was +to be sought against all wrong and all violence, (but where no judge or +lawful magistrate had long sat, but in their place the ruffians and +hangmen of Warren Hastings occupied the bench,) these virgins, vainly +invoking heaven and earth, in the presence of their parents, and whilst +their shrieks were mingled with the indignant cries and groans of all +the people, publicly were violated by the lowest and wickedest of the +human race. Wives were torn from the arms of their husbands, and +suffered the same flagitious wrongs, which were indeed hid in the +bottoms of the dungeons in which their honor and their liberty were +buried together. Often they were taken out of the refuge of this +consoling gloom, stripped naked, and thus exposed to the world, and then +cruelly scourged; and in order that cruelty might riot in all the +circumstances that melt into tenderness the fiercest natures, the +nipples of their breasts were put between the sharp and elastic sides of +cleft bamboos. Here in my hand is my authority; for otherwise one would +think it incredible. But it did not end there. Growing from crime to +crime, ripened by cruelty for cruelty, these fiends, at length outraging +sex, decency, nature, applied lighted torches and slow fire--(I cannot +proceed for shame and horror!)--these infernal furies planted death in +the source of life, and where that modesty, which, more than reason, +distinguishes men from beasts, retires from the view, and even shrinks +from the expression, there they exercised and glutted their unnatural, +monstrous, and nefarious cruelty,--there, where the reverence of nature +and the sanctity of justice dares not to pursue, nor venture to describe +their practices. + +These, my Lords, were sufferings which we feel all in common, in India +and in England, by the general sympathy of our common nature. But there +were in that province (sold to the tormentors by Mr. Hastings) things +done, which, from the peculiar manners of India, were even worse than +all I have laid before you; as the dominion of manners and the law of +opinion contribute more to their happiness and misery than anything in +mere sensitive nature can do. + +The women thus treated lost their caste. My Lords, we are not here to +commend or blame the institutions and prejudices of a whole race of +people, radicated in them by a long succession of ages, on which no +reason or argument, on which no vicissitudes of things, no mixtures of +men, or foreign conquest, have been able to make the smallest +impression. The aboriginal Gentoo inhabitants are all dispersed into +tribes or castes,--each caste born to an invariable rank, rights, and +descriptions of employment, so that one caste cannot by any means pass +into another. With the Gentoos, certain impurities or disgraces, though +without any guilt of the party, infer loss of caste; and when the +highest caste, that of Brahmin, which is not only noble, but sacred, is +lost, the person who loses it does not slide down into one lower, but +reputable,--he is wholly driven from all honest society. All the +relations of life are at once dissolved. His parents are no longer his +parents; his wife is no longer his wife; his children, no longer his, +are no longer to regard him as their father. It is something far worse +than complete outlawry, complete attainder, and universal +excommunication. It is a pollution even to touch him; and if he touches +any of his old caste, they are justified in putting him to death. +Contagion, leprosy, plague, are not so much shunned. No honest +occupation can be followed. He becomes an _halicore_, if (which is rare) +he survives that miserable degradation. + +Upon those whom all the shocking catalogue of tortures I have mentioned +could not make to flinch one of the modes of losing caste for Brahmins +and other principal tribes was practised. It was to harness a bullock at +the court-door, and to put the Brahmin on his back, and to lead him +through the towns, with drums beating before him. To intimidate others, +this bullock, with drums, (the instrument, according to their ideas, of +outrage, disgrace, and utter loss of caste,) was led through the +country; and as it advanced, the country fled before it. When any +Brahmin was seized, he was threatened with this pillory, and for the +most part he submitted in a moment to whatever was ordered. What it was +may be thence judged. But when no possibility existed of complying with +the demand, the people by their cries sometimes prevailed on the tyrants +to have it commuted for cruel scourging, which was accepted as mercy. To +some Brahmins this mercy was denied, and the act of indelible infamy +executed. Of these men one came to the Company's commissioner with the +tale, and ended with these melancholy words: "I have suffered this +indignity; my caste is lost; my life is a burden to me: I call for +justice." He called in vain. + +Your Lordships will not wonder that these monstrous and oppressive +demands, exacted with such tortures, threw the whole province into +despair. They abandoned their crops on the ground. The people, in a +body, would have fled out of its confines; but bands of soldiers +invested the avenues of the province, and, making a line of +circumvallation, drove back those wretches, who sought exile as a +relief, into the prison of their native soil. Not suffered to quit the +district, they fled to the many wild thickets which oppression had +scattered through it, and sought amongst the jungles, and dens of +tigers, a refuge from the tyranny of Warren Hastings. Not able long to +exist here, pressed at once by wild beasts and famine, the same despair +drove them back; and seeking their last resource in arms, the most +quiet, the most passive, the most timid of the human race rose up in an +universal insurrection; and, what will always happen in popular tumults, +the effects of the fury of the people fell on the meaner and sometimes +the reluctant instruments of the tyranny, who in several places were +massacred. The insurrection began in Rungpore, and soon spread its fire +to the neighboring provinces, which had been harassed by the same person +with the same oppressions. The English Chief in that province had been +the silent witness, most probably the abettor and accomplice, of all +these horrors. He called in first irregular, and then regular troops, +who by dreadful and universal military execution got the better of the +impotent resistance of unarmed and undisciplined despair. I am tired +with the detail of the cruelties of peace. I spare you those of a cruel +and inhuman war, and of the executions which, without law or process, or +even the shadow of authority, were ordered by the English Revenue Chief +in that province. + +In our Indian government, whatever grievance is borne is denied to +exist, and all mute despair and sullen patience is construed into +content and satisfaction. But this general insurrection, which at every +moment threatened to blaze out afresh, and to involve all the provinces +in its flames, rent in pieces that veil of fraud and mystery that covers +all the miseries of all the provinces. Calcutta rung with it; and it was +feared it would go to England. The English Chief in the province, Mr. +Goodlad, represented it to Mr. Hastings's Revenue Committee to be (what +it was) the greatest and most serious disturbance that ever happened in +Bengal. But, good easy man, he was utterly unable to guess to what cause +it was to be attributed. He thought there was some irregularity in the +collection, but on the whole judged that it had little other cause than +a general conspiracy of the husbandmen and landholders, who, as Debi +Sing's lease was near expiring, had determined not to pay any more +revenue. + +Mr. Hastings's Committee of Revenue, whilst these wounds were yet +bleeding, and whilst a total failure was threatened in the rents of +these provinces, thought themselves obliged to make an inquiry with some +sort of appearance of seriousness into the causes of it. They looked, +therefore, about them carefully, and chose what they judged would be +most plausible and least effective. They thought that it was necessary +to send a special commissioner into the province, and one, too, whose +character would not instantly blast the credit of his mission. They cast +their eyes on a Mr. Paterson, a servant of the Company, a man of fair +character, and long standing in the service. Mr. Paterson was a person +known to be of a very cool temper, placid manners, moderate and middle +opinions, unconnected with parties; and from such a character they +looked for (what sometimes is to be expected from it) a compromising, +balanced, neutralized, equivocal, colorless, confused report, in which +the blame was to be impartially divided between the sufferer and the +oppressor, and in which, according to the standing manners of Bengal, he +would recommend oblivion as the best remedy, and would end by remarking, +that retrospect could have no advantage, and could serve only to +irritate and keep alive animosities; and by this kind of equitable, +candid, and judge-like proceeding, they hoped the whole complaint would +calmly fade away, the sufferers remain in the possession of their +patience, and the tyrant of his plunder. In confidence of this event +from this presumed character, Mr. Hastings's Committee, in appointing +Mr. Paterson their commissioner, were not deficient in arming him with +powers equal to the object of his commission. He was enabled to call +before him all accountants, to compel the production of all accounts, to +examine all persons,--not only to inquire and to report, but to decide +and to redress. + +Such is the imperfection of human wisdom that the Committee totally +failed in their well-laid project. They were totally mistaken in their +man. Under that cold outside the commissioner, Paterson, concealed a +firm, manly, and fixed principle, a deciding intellect, and a feeling +heart. My Lords, he is the son of a gentleman of a venerable age and +excellent character in this country, who long filled the seat of +chairman of the Committee of Supply in the House of Commons, and who is +now enjoying repose from his long labors in an honorable age. The son, +as soon as he was appointed to this commission, was awed by and dreaded +the consequences. He knew to what temptation he should be exposed, from +the known character of Debi Sing, to suppress or to misrepresent facts. +He therefore took out a letter he had from his father, which letter was +the preservation of his character and destruction of his fortune. This +letter he always resorted to in all trying exigencies of his life. He +laid the letter before him, and there was enjoined such a line of +integrity, incorruptness, of bearing every degree of persecution rather +than disguising truth, that he went up into the country in a proper +frame of mind for doing his duty. + +He went to Rungpore strongly impressed with a sense of the great trust +that was placed in him; and he had not the least reason to doubt of full +support in the execution of it,--as he, with every other white man in +Bengal, probably, and every black, except two, was ignorant of the fact, +that the Governor-General, under whose delegated authority he was sent, +had been bribed by the farmer-general of those provinces, and had sold +them to his discretion for a great sum of money. If Paterson had known +this fact, no human consideration would have induced him, or any other +man of common prudence, to undertake an inquiry into the conduct of Debi +Sing. Pity, my Lords, the condition of an honest servant in Bengal. + +But Paterson was ignorant of this dark transaction, and went simply to +perform a duty. He had hardly set his foot in the province, when the +universal, unquestioned, uncontradicted testimony of the whole people, +concurring with the manifest evidence of things which could not lie, +with the face of an utterly ruined, undone, depopulated country, and +saved from literal and exceptionless depopulation only by the +exhibition of scattered bands of wild, naked, meagre, half-famished +wretches, who rent heaven with their cries and howlings, left him no +sort of doubt of the real cause of the late tumults. In his first +letters he conveyed his sentiments to the Committee with these memorable +words. "In my two reports I have set forth in a general manner the +oppressions which provoked the ryots to rise. I shall, therefore, not +enumerate them now. Every day of my inquiry serves but to confirm the +facts. The wonder would have been, if they had not risen. It was not +collection, but real robbery, aggravated by corporal punishment and +every insult of disgrace,--and this not confined to a few, but extended +over every individual. Let the mind of man be ever so much inured to +servitude, still there is a point where oppressions will rouse it to +resistance. Conceive to yourselves what must be the situation of a ryot, +when he sees everything he has in the world seized, to answer an +exaggerated demand, and sold at so low a price as not to answer one half +of that demand,--when he finds himself so far from being released, that +he remains still subject to corporal punishment. But what must be his +feelings, when his tyrant, seeing that kind of severity of no avail, +adds family disgrace and loss of caste! You, Gentlemen, who know the +reserve of the natives in whatever concerns their women, and their +attachment to their castes, must allow the full effect of these +prejudices under such circumstances." + +He, however, proceeded with steadiness and method, and in spite of every +discouragement which could be thrown in his way by the power, craft, +fraud, and corruption of the farmer-general, Debi Sing, by the collusion +of the Provincial Chief, and by the decay of support from his +employers, which gradually faded away and forsook him, as his occasions +for it increased. Under all these, and under many more discouragements +and difficulties, he made a series of able, clear, and well-digested +reports, attended with such evidence as never before, and, I believe, +never will again appear, of the internal provincial administration of +Bengal,--of evils universally understood, which no one was ever so +absurd as to contradict, and whose existence was never denied, except in +those places where they ought to be rectified, although none before +Paterson had the courage to display the particulars. By these reports, +carefully collated with the evidence, I have been enabled to lay before +you some of the effects, in one province and part of another, of +Governor Hastings's general system of bribery. + +But now appeared, in the most striking light, the good policy of Mr. +Hastings's system of 1780, in placing this screen of a Committee between +him and his crimes. The Committee had their lesson. Whilst Paterson is +left collecting his evidence and casting up his accounts in Rungpore, +Debi Sing is called up, in seeming wrath, to the capital, where he is +received as those who have robbed and desolated provinces, and filled +their coffers with seven hundred thousand pounds sterling, have been +usually received at Calcutta, and sometimes in Great Britain. Debi Sing +made good his ground in Calcutta, and when he had well prepared his +Committee, in due time Paterson returns, appears, and reports. + +Persons even less informed than your Lordships are well apprised that +all officers representing government, and making in that character an +authorized inquiry, are entitled to a presumptive credit for all their +proceedings, and that their reports of facts (where there is no evidence +of corruption or malice) are in the first instance to be taken for +truth, especially by those who have authorized the inquiry; and it is +their duty to put the burden of proof to the contrary on those who would +impeach or shake the report. + +Other principles of policy, and other rules of government, and other +maxims of office prevailed in the Committee of Mr. Hastings's devising. +In order to destroy that just and natural credit of the officer, and the +protection and support they were bound to afford him, they in an instant +shift and reverse all the relations in which the parties stood. + +This executive board, instituted for the protection of the revenue and +of the people, and which was no court of justice in fact or name, turned +their own representative officer, reporting facts according to his duty, +into a voluntary accuser who is to make good his charge at his peril; +the farmer-general, whose conduct was not criminally attacked, but +appeared as one of the grounds of a public inquiry, is turned into a +culprit before a court of justice, against whom everything is to be +juridically made out or not admitted; and the members of an executive +board, by usurpation and fraud, erect themselves into judges bound to +proceed by strict rules of law. + +By this infamous juggle they took away, as far as in them lay, the +credit due to the proceedings of government. They changed the natural +situation of proofs. They rejected the depositions of Paterson's +witnesses, as not on oath, though they had never ordered or authorized +them so to be taken. + +They went further, and disabled, in a body, all the deponents +themselves, whether on oath or not on oath by discrediting the whole +province as a set of criminals who gave evidence to palliate their own +rebellion. They administered interrogatories to the commissioner instead +of the culprit. They took a base fellow, whom they had themselves +ordered their commissioner to imprison for crimes, (crimes charged on +him, not by the commissioner, but by themselves,) and made him a +complainant and a witness against him in the stupidest and most +improbable of all accusations,--namely, that Paterson had menaced him +with punishment, if he did not, in so many words, slander and calumniate +Debi Sing; and then the Committee, seating this wretch as an assessor at +their own board, who a few days before would have trembled like a +whipped slave at the look of an European, encouraged him to interrogate +their own commissioner. + +[_Here Mr. Burke was taken ill, and obliged to sit down. After some time +Mr. Burke again addressed the House._] + +My Lords, I am sorry to break the attention of your Lordships in such a +way. It is a subject that agitates me. It is long, difficult, and +arduous; but with the blessing of God, if I can, to save you any further +trouble, I will go through it this day. + +I am to tell your Lordships, that the next step they took was, after +putting Mr. Paterson as an accuser to make good a charge which he made +out but too much to their satisfaction, they changed their battery. + +[_Mr. Burke's illness increased; upon which the House, on the motion of +His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, adjourned._] + + + + +SPEECH + +IN + +OPENING THE IMPEACHMENT. + +FOURTH DAY: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1788. + + +My Lords,--In any great undertaking, a failure in the midst of it, even +from infirmity, though to be regarded principally as a misfortune, is +attended with some slight shadow of disgrace; but your Lordships' +humanity, and your love of justice, have remedied everything, and I +therefore proceed with confidence this day. + +My Lords, I think (to the best of my remembrance) the House adjourned at +the period of time in which I was endeavoring to illustrate the +mischiefs that happened from Mr. Hastings's throwing off his +responsibility, by delegating his power to a nominal Council, and in +reality to a black bad man, a native of the country, of the worst +character that could be found in it,--and the consequence of it, in +preventing the detection and the punishment of the grossest abuses that +ever were known to be committed in India, or any other part of the +world. + +My Lords, I stated to you that Mr. Commissioner Paterson was sent into +that country. I stated that he was sent into it with all the authority +of government, with power to hear, and not only to hear and to report, +but to redress, the grievances which he should find in the country. In +short, there was nothing wanting to his power but an honest support. +Your Lordships will be convinced that the road to fortune was easy to +him. Debi Sing for a favorable report would have given a large sum of +money. Your Lordships will be convinced that the Committee would not +have received such a report as a proof of bribery. They would rather +consider him as a man whose conduct tended to conciliate, and to soften +troublesome and difficult matters, and to settle the order of government +as soon as possible. + +Some of the things contained in his reports I have taken the liberty of +laying before your Lordships, but very faintly, very imperfectly, and +far short of my materials. I have stated, that the criminal, against +whom the commissioner had made his report, instead of being punished by +that strong hand of power which Mr. Hastings has thought proper to use +upon other occasions, when he has endeavored to make princes, or persons +in the rank and with the attributes of sovereign princes, feel whenever +they have incurred his private resentments,--that this man was put into +every situation of offence or defence which the most litigious and +prevaricating laws that ever were invented in the very bosom of +arbitrary power could afford him, or by which peculation and power were +to be screened from the cries of an oppressed people. + +Mr. Paterson, I stated, from being a commissioner directed to report, +under the authority of government, to that government, was considered as +a voluntary accuser, obliged to make good the articles of his charge. +But I believe I stated that he did not long remain in that condition. + +I shall now proceed to state to your Lordships, that this Debi Sing, +fortified by this protection, which was extended even to the lowest of +his instruments, thought it high time to assume the superiority that +belonged to a personage who had the Governor-General for his +_pensioner_. No longer the sneaking tone of apology; no longer the +modest allegations that the commissioner was misinformed;--he boldly +accuses the representative of English government of forgery in order to +destroy him; he criminates and recriminates, and lays about him without +mercy. + +Things were now in a proper train; the Committee find the cause growing +and ripening to their wishes;--answers, replies, objections, and +interrogatories,--accounts opposed to accounts,--balances now on the one +side, now on the other,--now debtor becomes creditor, and creditor +debtor,--until the proceedings were grown to the size of volumes, and +the whole well fitted to perplex the most simple facts, and to darken +the meridian sunshine of public notoriety. They prepared a report for +the Governor-General and Council suitable to the whole tenor of their +proceedings. Here the man whom they had employed and betrayed appeared +in a new character. Observe their course with him. First he was made a +commissioner. Then he was changed from a commissioner to be a voluntary +accuser. He now undergoes another metamorphosis: he appears as a culprit +before Mr. Hastings, on the accusation of the donor of Mr. Hastings's +bribes. He is to answer to the accusations of Debi Sing. He is permitted +to find materials for his own defence; and he, an old Company's servant, +is to acknowledge it as a favor to be again suffered to go into the +province, without authority, without station, without public character, +under the discountenance and frowns, and in a manner under prosecution, +of the government. As a favor, he is suffered to go again into Rungpore, +in hopes of finding among the dejected, harassed, and enslaved race of +Hindoos, and in that undone province, men bold enough to stand forward, +against all temptations of emolument, and at the risk of their lives, +with a firm adherence to their original charge,--and at a time when they +saw _him_ an abandoned and persecuted private individual, whom they had +just before looked upon as a protecting angel, carrying with him the +whole power of a beneficent government, and whom they had applied to, as +a magistrate of high and sacred authority, to hear the complaints and to +redress the grievances of a whole people. + +A new commission of junior servants was at the same time sent out to +review and reëxamine the cause, to inquire into the inquiry, to examine +into the examination, to control the report, to be commissioners upon +the commission of Mr. Paterson. Before these commissioners he was made +to appear as an accused person, and was put upon his defence, but +without the authority and without the favor which ought to go with an +accused person for the purpose of enabling him to make out such defence. + +These persons went down into that country, and, after spending a long +time in mere matters of form, found they could not do without a +representative of Debi Sing, and accordingly they ordered Debi Sing to +send up his _vakeel_. + +I forgot to state to your Lordships what the condition of Debi Sing was +during this proceeding. This man had been ordered to Calcutta on two +grounds: one, on the matter of his flagitious misconduct at Rungpore; +and the other, for a great failure in the payment of his stipulated +revenue. Under this double accusation, he was to be considered, +according to the usual mode of proceeding in such cases, as a prisoner; +and he was kept, not in the common gaol of Calcutta, not in the prison +of the fort, not in that gaol in which Rajah Nundcomar, who had been +prime-minister of the empire, was confined, but, according to the mild +ways of that country, where they choose to be mild, and the persons are +protected by the official influence of power, under a free custody. He +was put under a guard of sepoys, but not confined to his house; he was +permitted to go abroad, where he was daily in conference with those who +were to judge him; and having an address which seldom fails, and a +dexterity never wanting to a man possessed of 700,000_l._, he converted +this guard into a retinue of honor: their bayonets were lowered, their +muskets laid aside; they attended him with their side-arms, and many +with silver verges in their hands, to mark him out rather as a great +magistrate attended by a retinue than a prisoner under guard. + +When he was ordered to send a vakeel to defend his conduct, he refused +to send him. Upon which the commissioners, instead of saying, "If you +will not send your agent, we will proceed in our inquiry without him," +(and, indeed, it was not made necessary by the commission that he should +be there either by vakeel or otherwise,) condescendingly admitted his +refusal, and suffered him to come up in person. He accordingly enters +the province, attended with his guard, in the manner I have before +mentioned, more as a person returning in triumph from a great victory +than as a man under the load of all those enormous charges which I have +stated. He enters the province in this manner; and Mr. Paterson, who saw +himself lately the representative of the India Company, (an old servant +of the Company is a great man in that country,) was now left naked, +destitute, without any mark of official situation or dignity. He was +present, and saw all the marks of imprisonment turned into marks of +respect and dignity to this consummate villain whom I have the +misfortune of being obliged to introduce to your Lordships' notice. Mr. +Paterson, seeing the effect of the proceeding everywhere, seeing the +minds of the people broken, subdued, and prostrate under it, and that, +so far from having the means of detecting the villanies of this insolent +criminal, appearing as a magistrate, he had not the means of defending +even his own innocence, because every kind of information fled and was +annihilated before him, represented to these young commissioners that +this appearance of authority tended to strike terror into the hearts of +the natives, and to prevent his receiving justice. The Council of +Calcutta took this representation into their deliberate consideration; +they found that it was true, that, if he had such an attendance any +longer in this situation, (and a large attendance it was, such as the +Chancellor of this kingdom or the Speaker of the House of Commons does +not appear with,) it would have an evil appearance. On the other hand, +say they, "_If he should be left under a guard, the people would +consider him as under disgrace._" They therefore took a middle way, and +ordered the guard not to attend him with fixed bayonets, which had the +appearance of the custody of a prisoner, but to lower their muskets and +unfix their bayonets. + +The next step of these commissioners is to exclude Mr. Paterson from all +their deliberations; and in order that both parties might be put on an +equality, one would naturally conclude that the culprit, Debi Sing, was +likewise excluded. Far from it: he sat upon the bench. Need I say any +more upon this subject? The protection followed. + +In this situation Mr. Paterson wrote one of the most pathetic memorials +that ever was penned to the Council of Calcutta, submitting to his hard +fate, but standing inflexibly to his virtue that brought it upon him. To +do the man justice, he bore the whole of this persecution like an hero. +He never tottered in his principles, nor swerved to the right or to the +left from the noble cause of justice and humanity in which he had been +engaged; and when your Lordships come to see his memorials, you will +have reason to observe that his abilities are answerable to the dignity +of his cause, and make him worthy of everything that he had the honor to +suffer for it. + +To cut short the thread of this shocking series of corruption, +oppression, fraud, and chicanery, which lasted for upwards of four +years: Paterson remains without employment; the inhabitants of great +provinces, whose substance and whose blood was sold by Mr. Hastings, +remain without redress; and the purchaser, Debi Sing, that corrupt, +iniquitous, and bloody tyrant, instead of being proceeded against by the +Committee in a civil suit for retribution to the sufferers, is handed +over to the false semblance of a trial, on a criminal charge, before a +Mahometan judge,--an equal judge, however. The judge was Mahomed Reza +Khân, his original patron, and the author of all his fortunes,--a judge +who depends on him, as a debtor depends upon his creditor. To that +judge is he sent, without a distinct charge, without a prosecutor, and +without evidence. The next ships will bring you an account of his +honorable acquittal. + +I have stated before that I considered Mr. Hastings as responsible for +the characters of the people he employed,--doubly responsible, if he +_knew_ them to be bad. I therefore charge him with putting in situations +in which any evil may be committed persons of known evil characters. + +My Lords, I charge him, as chief governor, with destroying the +institutions of the country, which were designed to be, and ought to +have been, controls upon such a person as Debi Sing. + +An officer, called dewan, or steward of the country, had always been +placed as a control on the farmer; but that no such control should in +fact exist, that he, Debi Sing, should be let loose to rapine, +slaughter, and plunder in the country, both offices were conferred on +him. Did Mr. Hastings vest these offices in him? No: but if Mr. Hastings +had kept firm to the duties which the act of Parliament appointed him to +execute, all the revenue appointments must have been made by him; but, +instead of making them himself, he appointed Gunga Govind Sing to make +them; and for that appointment, and for the whole train of subordinate +villany which followed the placing iniquity in the chief seat of +government, Mr. Hastings is answerable. He is answerable, I say, first, +for destroying his own legal capacity, and, next, for destroying the +legal capacity of the Council, not one of whom ever had, or could have, +any true knowledge of the state of the country, from the moment he +buried it in the gulf of mystery and of darkness, under that collected +heap of villany, Gunga Govind Sing. From that moment he destroyed the +power of government, and put everything into his hands: for this he is +answerable. + +The Provincial Councils consisted of many members, who, though they +might unite in some small iniquities perhaps, could not possibly have +concealed from the public eye the commission of such acts as these. +Their very numbers, their natural competitions, the contentions that +must have arisen among them, must have put a check, at least, to such a +business. And therefore, Mr. Hastings having destroyed every check and +control above and below, having delivered the whole into the hands of +Gunga Govind Sing, for all the iniquities of Gunga Govind Sing he is +responsible. + +But he did not know Debi Sing, whom he employed. I read, yesterday, and +trust it is fresh in your Lordships' remembrance, that Debi Sing was +presented to him by that set of tools, as they call themselves, who +acted, as they themselves tell us they must act, entirely and implicitly +under Gunga Govind Sing,--that is to say, by Gunga Govind Sing himself, +the confidential agent of Mr. Hastings. + +Mr. Hastings is further responsible, because he took a bribe of +40,000_l._ from some person in power in Dinagepore and Rungpore, the +countries which were ravaged in this manner, through the hands of Gunga +Govind Sing,--through the medium of that very person whom he had +appointed to exercise all the authorities of the Supreme Council above +and of all subordinate Councils below. Having, therefore, thus appointed +a Council of tools in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing, at the expense of +62,000_l._ a year, to supersede all the English provincial +authorities,--having appointed them for the purpose of establishing a +bribe-factor general, a general receiver and agent of bribes through all +that country, Mr. Hastings is responsible for all the consequences of +it. + +I have thought it necessary, and absolutely necessary it is, to state +what the consequence of this clandestine mode of supplying the Company's +exigencies was. Your Lordships will see that their exigencies are to be +supplied by the ruin of the landed interest of a province, the +destruction of the husbandmen, and the ruin of all the people in it. +This is the consequence of a general bribe-broker, an agent like Gunga +Govind Sing, superseding all the powers and controls of government. + +But Mr. Hastings has not only reduced bribery to a system of government +practically, but theoretically. For when he despaired any longer of +concealing his bribes from the penetrating eye of Parliament, then he +took another mode, and declared, as your Lordships will see, that it was +the best way of supplying the necessities of the East India Company in +the pressing exigencies of their affairs; that thus a relief to the +Company's affairs might be yielded, which, in the common, ostensible +mode, and under the ordinary forms of government, and publicly, never +would be yielded to them. So that bribery with him became a supplement +to exaction. + +The best way of showing that a theoretical system is bad is to show the +practical mischiefs that it produces: because a thing may look specious +in theory, and yet be ruinous in practice; a thing may look evil in +theory, and yet be in its practice excellent. Here a thing in theory, +stated by Mr. Hastings to be productive of much good, is in reality +productive of all those horrible mischiefs I have stated. That Mr. +Hastings well knew this appears from an extract of the Bengal Revenue +Consultations, 21st January, 1785, a little before he came away. + +Mr. Hastings says,--"I entirely acquit Mr. Goodlad of all the charges: +he has disproved them. It was the duty of the accuser to prove them. +Whatever crimes may be established against Rajah Debi Sing, it does not +follow that Mr. Goodlad was responsible for them; and I so well know the +character and abilities of Rajah Debi Sing, that I can easily conceive +that it was in his power both to commit the enormities which are laid to +his charge, and to conceal the grounds of them from Mr. Goodlad, who had +no authority but that of receiving the accounts and rents of the +district from Rajah Debi Sing, and occasionally to be the channel of +communication between him and the Committee." + +We shall now see what things Mr. Hastings did, what course he was in, a +little before his departure,--with what propriety and consistency of +character he has behaved from the year of the commencement of his +corrupt system, in 1773, to the end of it, when he closed it in 1785, +when the bribes not only mounted the chariot, but boarded the barge, +and, as I shall show, followed him down the Ganges, and even to the sea, +and that he never quitted his system of iniquity, but that it survived +his political life itself. + +One of his last political acts was this. + +Your Lordships will remember that Mr. Goodlad was sent up into the +country, whose conduct was terrible indeed: for that he could not be in +place and authority in that country, and be innocent, while such things +were doing, I shall prove. But that is not now my consideration. + +The Governor-General's minute, just read, is this. "I entirely acquit +Mr. Goodlad of all the charges: he has disproved them. It was the duty +of the accuser to prove them" (the accuser, namely, the commissioner). +"Whatever crimes may be established against Rajah Debi Sing, it does not +follow that Mr. Goodlad was responsible for them; and I so well know the +character," &c., &c., &c. + +Now your Lordships perceive he has acquitted Mr. Goodlad. He is clear. +Be it that he is fairly and conscientiously acquitted. But what is Mr. +Hastings's account of Rajah Debi Sing? He is presented to him in 1781, +by Gunga Govind Sing, as a person against whose character there could be +no exception, and by him accepted in that light. Upon the occasion I +have mentioned, Mr. Hastings's opinion of him is this: "I so well know +the character and abilities of Rajah Debi Sing, that I can easily +conceive that it was in his power both to commit the enormities which +are laid to his charge, and to conceal the grounds of them from Mr. +Goodlad, who had no authority but that of receiving the accounts and +rents of the district from Rajah Debi Sing, and occasionally to be the +channel of communication between him and the Committee." + +Thus your Lordships see what Mr. Hastings's opinion of Debi Sing was. We +shall prove it at another time, by abundance of clear and demonstrative +evidence, that, whether he was bad or no, (but we shall prove that bad +he was indeed,) _even he_ could hardly be so bad as he was in the +opinion which Mr. Hastings entertained of him; who, notwithstanding, now +disowns this mock Committee, instituted by himself, but, in reality, +entirely managed by Gunga Govind Sing. This Debi Sing was accepted as an +unexceptionable man; and yet Mr. Hastings knows both his power of doing +mischief and his artifice in concealing it. If, then, Mr. Goodlad is to +be acquitted, does it not show the evil of Mr. Hastings's conduct in +destroying those Provincial Councils which, as I have already stated, +were obliged to book everything, to minute all the circumstances which +came before them, together with all the consultations respecting them? +He strikes at the whole system at once, and, instead of it, he leaves an +Englishman, under pretence of controlling Gunga Govind Sing's agent, +appointed for the very purpose of giving him bribes, in a province where +Mr. Hastings says that agent had the power of committing such +enormities, and which nobody doubts his disposition to commit,--he +leaves him, I say, in such a state of inefficiency, that these +iniquities could be concealed (though every one true) from the person +appointed there to inspect his conduct! What, then, could be his +business there? Was it only to receive such sums of money as Debi Sing +might put into his hands, and which might have been easily sent to +Calcutta? Was he to be of use as a communication between Debi Sing and +the Committee, and in no other way? Here, then, we have that English +authority which Mr. Hastings left in the country,--here the native +authority which he settled, and the establishment of native iniquity in +a regular system under Gunga Govind Sing,--here the destruction of all +English inspection. I hope I need say no more to prove to your Lordships +that this system, taken nakedly as it thus stands, founded in mystery +and obscurity, founded for the very express purpose of conveying +bribes, as the best mode of collecting the revenue and supplying the +Company's exigencies through Gunga Govind Sing, would be iniquitous upon +the face and the statement of it. But when your Lordships consider what +horrid effects it produced, you will easily see what the mischief and +abomination of Mr. Hastings's destroying these Provincial Councils and +protecting these persons must necessarily be. If you had not known in +theory, you must have seen it in practice. + +But when both practice and theory concur, there can be no doubt that a +system of private bribery for a revenue, and of private agency for a +constitutional government, must ruin the country where it prevails, must +disgrace the country that uses it, and finally end in the destruction of +the revenue. For what says Mr. Hastings? "I was to have received +40,000_l._ in bribes, and 30,000_l._ was actually applied to the use of +the Company." Now I hope I shall demonstrate, if not, it will be by some +one abler than me demonstrated, in the course of this business, that +there never was a bribe received by Mr. Hastings that was not instantly +followed with a deficiency in the revenue,--this is clear, and what we +undertake to prove,--and that Debi Sing himself was, at the time Mr. +Hastings came away, between twenty and thirty thousand pounds debtor to +the Company. So that, in truth, you always find a deficiency of revenue +nearly equal, and in some instances I shall show double, to all the +bribes Mr. Hastings received: from whence it will be evident that he +never could nor did receive them under that absurd and strange idea of a +resource to government. + +I must re-state to your Lordships, because I wish you never to forget, +that this Committee of Revenue was, in their own opinion, and from their +own certain knowledge and mere motion, if motion can be attributed +originally to instruments, mere tools; that they knew that they were +tools in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing. There were two persons +principal in it,--Mr. Shore, who was the acting President, and Mr. +Anderson, who was President in rank, and President in emolument, but +absent for a great part of the time upon a foreign embassy. It is the +recorded opinion of the former, (for I must beg leave to read again a +part of the paper which has already been read to your Lordships,) that +"the Committee, with the best intentions, best abilities, and steadiest +application, must, after all, be a tool in the hands of their dewan." + +Now do you believe, in the first place, that men will long have +abilities, will long have good intentions, and will long, above all, +have steady application, when they know they are but tools in the hands +of another,--when they know they are tools for his own corrupt purposes? + +In the next place, I must beg leave to state to you, that, on the +constitution of this Committee, Mr. Hastings made them all take a solemn +oath that they would never receive any present whatever. It was not +enough to trust to a general covenant; it was not enough to trust to the +penal act of 1773: he bound the Committee by a new oath, and forced them +to declare that they would not receive any bribes. As soon as he had so +secured them against receiving bribes, he was resolved to make them +inefficient,--a good way to secure them against bribes, by taking from +them the power of bribe-worthy service. This was a good counter-security +to their oath. But Mr. Hastings put a dewan there, against whom there +was no security; he let loose this dewan to frustrate their intentions, +their application, their abilities, and oath: that is, there was a +person at that board who was more than the board itself, who might riot +in peculation and plunder from one end of the country to the other. He +was there to receive bribes for Mr. Hastings; the Committee were to be +pure with impotent hands; and then came a person with ample power for +Mr. Hastings himself. And lest this person should not have power enough +in this Committee, he is made the general bribe-broker to Mr. Hastings. +This secret under-current, as your Lordships will see, is to counteract +everything, and, as fast as one part is rendered pure, totally to +corrupt all the rest. + +But, my Lords, this was not the private opinion of Mr. Shore only, a man +of great abilities, and intimately acquainted with the revenue, who must +know when he was in a situation to do good and when not. The other +gentleman whom I have mentioned, Mr. Hastings's confidant in everything +but his bribes, and supposed to be in his closest secrets, is Mr. +Anderson. I should remark to your Lordships, that Mr. Anderson is a man +apparently of weak nerves, of modest and very guarded demeanor, as we +have seen him in the House of Commons; it is in that way only I have the +honor of knowing him. Mr. Anderson being asked whether he agreed in the +opinion and admitted the truth of his friend Mr. Shore's statement +relative to the dewan of the Committee, his answer was this: "I do not +think that I should have written it quite so strong, but I do in a great +measure agree to it: that is, I think there is a great deal of truth in +the observation; I think, in particular, that it would require great +exertion in the Committee, and great abilities on the part of the +President, to restrain effectually the conduct of the dewan; I think it +would be difficult for the Committee to interpose a sufficient control +to guard against all the abuses of the dewan." + +There is the real President of the Committee,--there the most active, +efficient member of it. They are both of one opinion concerning their +situation: and I think this opinion of Mr. Anderson is still more +strong; for, as he thinks he should have written it with a little more +guard, but should have agreed in substance, you must naturally think the +strongest expression the truest representation of the circumstance. + +There is another circumstance that must strike your Lordships relative +to this institution. It is where the President says that the use of the +President would be to exert his best abilities, his greatest +application, his constant guard,--for what?--to prevent his dewan from +being guilty of bribery and being guilty of oppressions. So here is an +executive constitution in which the chief executive minister is to be in +such a situation and of such a disposition that the chief employment of +the presiding person in the Committee is to guard against him and to +prevent his doing mischief. Here is a man appointed, of the greatest +possible power, of the greatest possible wickedness, in a situation to +exert that power and wickedness for the destruction of the country, and +without doubt it would require the greatest ability and diligence in the +person at the head of that Council to prevent it. Such a constitution, +allowed and alleged by the persons themselves who composed it, was, I +believe, never heard of in the world. + +Now that I have done with this part of the system of bribery, your +Lordships will permit me to follow Mr. Hastings to his last parting +scene. He parted with his power, he parted with his situation, he parted +with everything, but he never could part with Gunga Govind Sing. He was +on his voyage, he had embarked, he was upon the Ganges, he had quitted +his government; and his last dying sigh, his last parting voice, was +"Gunga Govind Sing!" It ran upon the banks of the Ganges, as another +plaintive voice ran upon the banks of another river (I forget whose); +his last accents were, "Gunga, Gunga Govind Sing!" It demonstrates the +power of friendship. + +It is said by some idle, absurd moralists, that friendship is a thing +that cannot subsist between bad men; but I will show your Lordships the +direct contrary; and, after having shown you what Gunga Govind Sing was, +I shall bring before you Mr. Hastings's last act of friendship for him. +Not that I have quite shown you everything, but pretty well, I think, +respecting this man. There is a great deal concerning his character and +conduct that is laid by, and I do believe, that, whatever time I should +take up in expatiating upon these things, there would be "in the lowest +deep still a lower deep"; for there is not a day of the inquiry that +does not bring to light more and more of this evil against Mr. Hastings. + +But before I open the papers relative to this act of Mr. Hastings's +friendship for Gunga Govind Sing, I must re-state some circumstances, +that your Lordships may understand thoroughly the nature of it. Your +Lordships may recollect, that, about the time of the succession of the +minor Rajah of Dinagepore, who was then but five or six years of age, +and when Mr. Hastings left Bengal eight or nine, Mr. Hastings had +received from that country a bribe of about 40,000_l._ There is a +fidelity even in bribery; there is a truth and observance even in +corruption; there is a justice, that, if money is to be paid for +protection, protection should be given. My Lords, Mr. Hastings received +this bribe through Gunga Govind Sing; then, at least, through Gunga +Govind Sing he ought to take care that that Rajah should not be +robbed,--that he should not be robbed, if Gunga Govind Sing could help +it,--that, above all, he should not be robbed by Gunga Govind Sing +himself. But your Lordships will find that the last act of Mr. +Hastings's life was to be an accomplice in the most cruel and perfidious +breach of faith, in the most iniquitous transaction, that I do believe +ever was held out to the indignation of the world with regard to private +persons. When he departed, on the 16th of February, 1785, when he was on +board, in the mouth of the Ganges, and preparing to visit his native +country, let us see what the last act of his life then was. Hear the +last tender accents of the dying swan upon the Ganges. + +"The regret which I cannot but feel in relinquishing the service of my +honorable employers would be much embittered, were it accompanied by the +reflection that I have neglected the merits of a man who deserves no +less of them than of myself, Gunga Govind Sing, who from his earliest +youth had been employed in the collection of the revenues, and was about +eleven years ago selected for his superior talents to fill the office of +dewan to the Calcutta Committee. He has from that time, with a short +intermission, been the principal native agent in the collection of the +Company's revenues; and I can take upon myself to say that he has +performed the duties of his office with fidelity, diligence, and +ability. To myself he has given proofs of a constancy and attachment +which neither the fears nor expectations excited by the prevalence of a +different influence could shake,--and at a time, too, when these +qualities were so dangerous, that, far from finding them amongst the +generality of his countrymen, I did not invariably meet with them +amongst my own. With such a sense of his merits, it is natural that I +should feel a desire of rewarding him,--for justice, gratitude, +generosity, and even policy, demand it; and I resort to the board for +the means of performing so necessary a duty, in full confidence, that, +as those which I shall point out are neither incompatible with the +Company's interest nor prejudicial to the rights of others, they will +not be withheld from me. At the request, therefore, of Gunga Govind +Sing, I deliver the accompanying _durkhausts_, or petitions, for grants +of lands lying in different districts, the total _jumma_, or rent, of +which amount to Rupees 2,38,061. 12. 1." + +Your Lordships recollect that Mr. Larkins was one of the bribe-agents of +Mr. Hastings,--one, I mean, of a corporation, but not corporate in their +acts. My Lords, Mr. Larkins has told you, he has told us, and he has +told the Court of Directors, that Mr. Hastings parted in a quarrel with +Gunga Govind Sing, because he had not faithfully kept his engagement +with regard to his bribe, and that, instead of 40,000_l._ from +Dinagepore, he had only paid him 30,000_l._ My Lords, that iniquitous +men will defraud one another I can conceive; but you will perceive by +Mr. Hastings's behavior at parting, that he either had in fact received +this money from Gunga Govind Sing, or in some way or other had abundant +reason to be satisfied,--that he totally forgot his anger upon this +occasion, and that at parting his last act was to ratify _grants of +lands_ (so described by Mr. Hastings) to Gunga Govind Sing. Your +Lordships will recollect the tender and forgiving temper of Mr. +Hastings. Whatever little bickerings there might have been between them +about their small money concerns, the purifying waters of the Ganges had +washed away all sins, enmities, and discontent. By some of those arts +which Gunga Govind Sing knows how to practise, (I mean conciliatory, +honest arts,) he had fairly wiped away all resentment out of Mr. +Hastings's mind; and he, who so long remembered the affront offered him +by Cheyt Sing, totally forgets Gunga Govind Sing's fraud of 10,000_l._, +and attempts to make others the instruments of giving him what he calls +his reward. + +Mr. Hastings states, among Gunga Govind's merits, that he had, from the +time of its institution, and with a very short intermission, served the +office of dewan to the Calcutta Committee. That short intermission was +when he was turned out of office upon proof of peculation and +embezzlement of public money; but of this cause of the intermission in +the political life and political merits of Gunga Govind Sing Mr. +Hastings does not tell you. + +Your Lordships shall now hear what opinion a member of the Provincial +Council at Calcutta, in which he had also served, had of him. + +"Who is Gunga Govind Sing?" The answer is, "He was, when I left Bengal, +dewan to the Committee of Revenue.--What was his office and power during +Mr. Hastings's administration since 1780?--He was formerly dewan to the +Provincial Council stationed at Calcutta, of which I was a member. His +conduct then was licentious and unwarrantable, oppressive and +extortionary. He was stationed under us to be an humble and submissive +servant, and to be of use to us in the discharge of our duty. His +conduct was everything the reverse. We endeavored to correct the +mischiefs he was guilty of as much as possible. In one attempt to +release fifteen persons illegally confined by him, we were dismissed our +offices: a different pretence was held out for our dismission, but it +was only a pretence. Since his appointment as dewan to the present +Committee of Revenue, his line of conduct has only been a continuance of +what I have described, but upon a larger scale.--What was the general +opinion of the natives of the use he made of his power? He was looked up +to by the natives as the second person in the government, if not the +first. He was considered as the only channel for obtaining favor and +employment from the Governor. There is hardly a native family of rank or +credit within the three provinces whom he has not some time or other +distressed and afflicted; scarce a zemindary that he has not dismembered +and plundered.--Were you in a situation to know this to be true?--I +certainly was.--What was the general opinion, and your own, concerning +his wealth?--It is almost impossible to form a competent judgment, his +means of acquiring it have been so extensive. I had an account shown to +me, about July, 1785, stating his acquisitions at three hundred and +twenty lacs of rupees,--that is, 3,200,000_l._" + +My Lords, I have only to add, that, from the best inquiries I have been +able to make, those who speak highest of his wealth are those who obtain +the greatest credit. The estimate of any man's wealth is uncertain; but +the enormity of his wealth is universally believed. Yet Mr. Hastings +seemed to act as if he needed a reward; and it is therefore necessary to +inquire what recommended him particularly to Mr. Hastings. Your +Lordships have seen that he was on the point of being dismissed for +misbehavior and oppression by that Calcutta Committee his services to +which Mr. Hastings gives as one proof of his constant and uniform good +behavior. "He had executed," he says, "the duties of his office with +fidelity, diligence, and ability." These are his public merits; but he +has private merits. "To myself," says he, "he has given proofs of +constancy and attachment." + +Now we, who have been used to look very diligently over the Company's +records, and to compare one part with another, ask what those services +were, which have so strongly recommended him to Mr. Hastings, and +induced him to speak so favorably of his public services. What those +services are does not appear; we have searched the records for them, +(and those records are very busy and loquacious,) about that period of +time during which Mr. Hastings was laboring under an eclipse, and near +the dragon's mouth, and all the drums of Bengal beating to free him from +this dangerous eclipse. During this time there is nothing publicly done, +there is nothing publicly said, by Gunga Govind Sing. There were, then, +some services of Gunga Govind Sing that lie undiscovered, which he takes +as proofs of attachment. What could they be? They were not public; +nobody knows anything of them; they must, by reference to the time, as +far as we can judge of them, be services of concealment: otherwise, in +the course of this business, it will be necessary, and Mr. Hastings will +find occasion, to show what those personal services of Gunga Govind +Sing to him were. _His_ services to Gunga Govind Sing were pretty +conspicuous: for, after he was turned out for peculation, Mr. Hastings +restored him to his office; and when he had imprisoned fifteen persons +illegally and oppressively, and when the Council were about to set them +at liberty, they were set at liberty themselves, they were dismissed +their offices. Your Lordships see, then, what his public services were. +His private services are unknown: they must be, as we conceive from +their being unknown, of a suspicious nature; and I do not go further +than suspicion, because I never heard, and I have not been without +attempts to make the discovery, what those services were that +recommended him to Mr. Hastings. + +Having looked at his public services, which are well-known scenes of +wickedness, barbarity, and corruption, we next come to see what his +reward is. Your Lordships hear what reward he thought proper to secure +for himself; and I believe a man who has power like Gunga Govind Sing, +and a disposition like Gunga Govind Sing, can hardly want the means of +rewarding himself; and if every virtue rewards itself, and virtue is +said to be its own reward, the virtue of Gunga Govind Sing was in a good +way of seeking its own reward. Mr. Hastings, however, thought it was not +right that such a man should reward himself, but that it was necessary +for the honor and justice of government to find him a reward. Then the +next thing is, what that reward shall be. It is a grant of lands. Your +Lordships will observe, that Mr. Hastings declares some of these lands +to be unoccupied, others occupied, but not by the just owners. Now these +were the very lands of the Rajah of Dinagepore from whence he had taken +the bribe of 40,000_l._ My Lords, this was a monstrous thing. Mr. +Hastings had the audacity, as his parting act, when he was coming to +England, and ought to have expected (whatever he did expect) the +responsibility of this day,--he was, I say, shameless enough not only to +give this recommendation, but to perpetuate the mischiefs of his reign, +as he has done, to his successors: for he has really done so, by making +it impossible, almost, to know anything of the true state of that +country; and he has thereby made them much less responsible and criminal +than before in any ill acts they may have done since his time. But Mr. +Hastings not only recommends and backs the petition of Gunga Govind Sing +with his parting authority, which authority he made the people there +believe would be greater in England than it was in India, but he is an +evidence; he declares, that, "to his own knowledge, these lands are +vacant, and confessedly, therefore, by the laws of this as well as of +most other countries, in the absolute gift of government." + +My Lords, as I said, Mr. Hastings becomes a witness, and I believe in +the course of the proceedings you will find a false witness, for Gunga +Govind Sing. "To my own knowledge," says he, "they are vacant." Why, I +cannot find that Mr. Hastings had ever been in Dinagepore; or if he had, +it must have been only as a passenger. He had not the supervision of the +district, in any other sense than with that kind of eagle eye which he +must have had over all Bengal, and which he had for no other purposes +than those for which eagles' eyes are commonly used. He becomes, you +see, a witness for Gunga Govind Sing, and orders to be given him, as a +recompense for all the iniquitous acts this man committed, the lands of +that very Rajah who through the hands of Gunga Govind Sing had given an +enormous bribe to Mr. Hastings. These lands were not without an +ownership, but were lands in the hands of the Rajah, and were to be +severed from the zemindary, and given to Gunga Govind Sing. The manner +of obtaining them is something so shocking, and contains such a number +of enormities completed in one act, that one can scarce imagine how such +a compound could exist. + +This man, besides his office of dewan to the Calcutta Committee, which +gave him the whole management and power of the revenue, was, as I have +stated, at the head of all the registers in the kingdom, whose duty it +was to be a control upon him as dewan. As Mr. Hastings destroyed every +other constitutional settlement of the country, so the office which was +to be a check upon Gunga Govind Sing, namely, the register of the +country, had been superseded, and revived in another shape, and given to +the own son of this very man. God forbid that a son should not be under +a certain and reasonable subordination! But though in this country we +know a son may possibly be free from the control of his father, yet the +meanest slave is not in a more abject condition of slavery than a son is +in that country to his father; for it extends to the power of a Roman +parent. The office of register is to take care that a full and fair rent +is secured to government; and above all, it is his business to take care +of the body of laws, the _Rawaj-ul-Mulk_, or custom of the country, of +which he is the guardian as the head of the law. It was his business to +secure that fundamental law of the government, and fundamental law of +the country, that a zemindary cannot be split, or any portion of it +separated, without the consent of the government. This man betrayed his +trust, and did privately, contrary to the duty of his office, get this +minor Rajah, who was but an infant, who was but nine years old at the +time, to make over to him a part of his zemindary, to a large amount, +under color of a fraudulent and fictitious sale. By the laws of that +country, by the common laws of Nature, the act of this child was void. +The act was void as against the government, by giving a zemindary +without the consent of the government to the very man who ought to have +prevented such an act. He has the same sacred guardianship of minors +that the Chancellor of England has. This man got to himself those lands +by a fraudulent, and probably forged deed,--for that is charged too; but +whether it was forged or not, this miserable minor was obliged to give +the lands to him: he did not dare to quarrel with him upon such an +article; because he who would purchase could take. The next step was to +get one of his nearest relations to seem to give a consent; because +taking it of the minor was too gross. The relation, who could no more +consent by the law of that country than the law of this, gave apparently +his consent. And these were the very lands that Mr. Hastings speaks of +as "lands entirely at the disposal of government." + +All this came before the Council. The moment Mr. Hastings was gone, +India seemed a little to respire; there was a vast, oppressive weight +taken off it, there was a mountain removed from its breast; and persons +did dare then, for the first time, to breathe their complaints. And +accordingly, this minor Rajah got some person kind enough to tell him +that he was a minor, that he could not part with his estate; and this, +with the other shocking and illegal parts of the process, was stated by +him to the Council, who had Mr. Hastings's recommendation of Gunga +Govind Sing before them. The Council, shocked to see a minor attempted +to be dispossessed in such a manner by him who was the natural guardian +of all minors, shocked at such an enormous, daring piece of iniquity, +began to inquire further, and to ask, "How came this his near relation +to consent?" He was apparently partner in the fraud. Partner in the +fraud he was, but not partner in the profit; for he was to do it without +getting anything for it: the wickedness was in him, and the profit in +Gunga Govind Sing. In consequence of this inquiry, the man comes down to +account for his conduct, and declares another atrocious iniquity, that +shows you the powers which Gunga Govind Sing possessed. "Gunga Govind +Sing," says he, "is master of the country; he had made a great festival +for the burial of his mother; all those of that caste ought to be +invited to the funeral festival; he would have disgraced me forever, if +I had not been invited to that funeral festival." These funeral +festivals, you should know, are great things in that country, and +celebrated in this manner, and, you may depend upon it, in a royal +manner by him, upon burying his mother: any person left out was marked, +despised, and disgraced. "But he had it in his power, and I was +threatened to be deprived of my caste by his register, who had the caste +in his absolute disposition." Says he, "I was under terror, I was under +duress, and I did it." + +Gunga Govind Sing was fortified by the opinion, that the Governor, +though departed, virtually resided in that country. God grant that his +power may be extirpated out of it now! I doubt it; but, most assuredly, +it was residing in its plenitude when he departed from thence; and there +was not a man in India who was not of opinion, either that he was +actually to return to govern India again, or that his power is such in +England as that he might govern it here. And such were the hopes of +those who had intentions against the estates of others. Gunga Govind +Sing, therefore, being pressed to the wall by this declaration of the +Rajah's relation, when he could say nothing against it, when it was +clear and manifest, and there were only impudent barefaced denials, and +asseverations against facts which carried truth with themselves, did not +in his answer pretend to say that a zemindary might be parted without +the consent of the government, that a minor might be deprived of it, +that the next relation had a power of disposing of it. He did indeed +say, but nobody believed him, that he had used no force upon this +relation; but as every one knew the act would be void, he was driven to +Mr. Hastings's great refuge,--he was driven to say, "The government in +this country has arbitrary power; the power of government is everything, +the right of the subject nothing; they have at all times separated +zemindaries from their lawful proprietors. Give me what Mr. Hastings has +constantly given to other people without any right, or shadow or +semblance of right at all." God knows, it is well that I walk with my +authority in my hand; for there are such crimes, such portentous, +incredible crimes, to be brought before your Lordships, that it would +hardly be believed, were it not that I am constantly, as I hope I shall +constantly be, guarded with evidence, and that the strongest that can +be, even the evidence of the parties themselves. + +"From your inquiry," Gunga Govind Sing says to the Council, "every +circumstance will appear in its true colors. With respect to the +alienation of parts of zemindaries, the extent and consequence of the +great zemindars depend in a great measure on the favor and countenance +of the ruling powers. By what means did this zemindar of Dinagepore get +possession of Purgunnah Buttassim after the death of Rycobad Chowdry in +1158, of Purgunnah Coolygong after the death of Sahebrance Chowderanne +in the same year, notwithstanding his heirs existed, and of Purgunnah +Suntoe, &c., during the lifetime of Sumboonant, the zemindar, in 1167, +all without right, title, or pecuniary consideration? This has been the +case with many purgunnahs in his zemindary, and indeed exists in many +other zemindaries besides since the Company's accession. Ramkissen, in +1172, got possession of Nurrulloor, the zemindary of Mahomed Ali. The +purgunnah of Ichanguipore, &c., was in three divisions in 1173. The +petition of Govind Deo Sheopersaud was made over to the son of Bousser +Chowdry, possessor of the third share. Purgunnah Baharbund belonged to +the zemindary of Ranny Bhowanny, and in 1180 was made over to Lucknaut +Nundy. All these changes took place in the lifetime of the rightful +possessors, without right, title, or purchase." + +Your Lordships have not heard before of Lucknaut Nundy. He was the son +of a person of whom your Lordships have heard before, called Cantoo +Baboo, the banian of Mr. Hastings. Mr. Hastings has proved in abundance +of other cases that a grant to father and son is the same thing. The +fathers generally take out grants in the names of their sons: and the +Ranny Bhowanny, possessing the zemindary of Radshi, an old lady of the +first rank and family in India, was stripped of part of her zemindary, +and it was given to Lucknaut Nundy, the son of Mr. Hastings's banian; +and then (you see the consequence of good examples) comes Gunga Govind +Sing, and says, "I am as good a man as he; there is a zemindary given; +then do as much for Gunga Govind Sing as you have done for Cantoo +Baboo." Here is an argument drawn from the practice of Mr. Hastings. And +this shows your Lordships the necessity of suppressing such iniquities +by punishing the author of them. You will punish Mr. Hastings, and no +man will hereafter dare to rob minors, no man will hereafter dare to rob +widows, to give to the vilest of mankind, their own base instruments for +their own nefarious purposes, the lands of others, without right, title, +or purchase. + +My Lords, I will not after this state to you the false representation of +the value of these lands which this man gave in to government. He +represented it to be much less than it was, when he desired the grant of +them,--as shall be stated, when it comes before your Lordships, at the +proper time. But at present I am only touching upon principles, and +bringing examples so far as they illustrate principles, and to show how +precedents spread. + +I believe your Lordships will conceive better of the spirit of these +transactions by my intermixing with them, as I shall endeavor to do, as +much as possible of the grounds of them. I will venture to say, that no +description that I can give, no painting, if I was either able or +willing to paint, could make these transactions appear to your Lordships +with the strength which they have in themselves; and your Lordships +will be convinced of this, when you see, what nobody could hardly +believe, that a man can say, "It was given to others without right, +title, or purchase,--give it to me without right, title, or purchase; +give me the estates of minors without right, title, or purchase, because +Mr. Hastings gave the estates of widows without right, title, or +purchase." + +Of this exemplary grant, of this pattern for future proceedings, I will +show your Lordships the consequence. I will read to your Lordships part +of the examination of a witness, taken from a report of a committee of +the House of Commons. + +"Are you acquainted with the situation of the zemindary of +Baharbund?--It lies to the eastward of Dinagepore and Rungpore. I was +stationed in that neighborhood.--To whom did it originally belong?--I +believe, to the zemindary of Radshi, belonging to Ranny Bhowanny.--For +what reason was it taken from the Ranny of Radshi and given to Cantoo +Baboo?--I do not exactly recollect: I believe, on some plea of +incapacity or insufficiency in her to manage it, or some pretended +decline in the revenue, owing to mismanagement.--On what terms was it +granted to Cantoo Baboo or his son?--I believe it was a grant in +perpetuity, at the revenue of Rupees 82,000 or 83,000 per annum.--What +amount did he collect from the country?--I cannot tell. The year I was +in that neighborhood, the settlement with his under-tenants was +something above 3,53,000 rupees. The inhabitants of the country objected +to it. They assembled in a body of about five thousand, and were +proceeding to Calcutta to make known their grievances to the Committee +of Revenue. They were stopped at Cossimbazar by Noor Sing Baboo, the +brother of Cantoo Baboo, and there the matter was compromised,--in what +manner I cannot say." + +Your Lordships see, Mr. Hastings's banian got this zemindary belonging +to this venerable lady; unable to protect herself; that it was granted +to him without right, title, or purchase. To show you that Mr. Hastings +had been in a constant course of such proceeding, here is a petition +from a person called ---- for some favor from government which it is not +necessary now to state. In order to make good his claim, he states what +nobody denied, but which is universally known in fact. Says he, "I have +never entertained any such intention or idea," that is, of seizing upon +other people's zemindaries; "neither am I at all desirous of acquiring +any other person's zemindary in this country," &c.... + + [_The document read here is wanting, ending_] "as several Calcutta + banians have done," &c. + +He states it as a kind of constant practice, by which the country had +been robbed under Mr. Hastings, known and acknowledged to be so, to +seize upon the inheritance of the widow and the fatherless. In this +manner did Gunga Govind Sing govern himself, upon the direct precedent +of Cantoo Baboo, the banian of Mr. Hastings; and this other instrument +of his in like manner calls upon government for favor of some kind or +other, upon the same principle and the same precedent. + +Your Lordships now see how necessary it was to say something about +arbitrary power. For, first, the wicked people of that country (Mr. +Hastings's instruments, I mean) pretend right, title, purchase, grant; +and when their frauds in all these legal means are discovered, then they +fly off, and have recourse to arbitrary power, and say, "It is true I +can make out no right, title, grant, or purchase; the parties are +minors; I am bound to take care of their right: but you have arbitrary +power; you have exercised it upon other occasions; exercise it upon +this; give me the rights of other people." This was the last act, and I +hope will be the last act, of Mr. Hastings's wicked power, done by the +wickedest man in favor of the wickedest man, and by the wickedest means, +which failed upon his own testimony. + +To bring your Lordships to the end of this business, which I hope will +lead me very near to the end of what I have to trouble your Lordships +with, I will now state the conduct of the Council, and the resolution +about Gunga Govind Sing. I am to inform your Lordships that there was a +reference made by the Council to the Committee of Revenue, namely, to +Gunga Govind Sing himself,--a reference with regard to the right, title, +mode, and proceeding, and many other circumstances; upon which the +Committee, being such as I have described, very naturally were silent. +Gunga Govind Sing _loquitur solus_,--in the manner you have just heard; +the Committee were the chorus,--they sometimes talk, fill up a vacant +part,--but Gunga Govind Sing was the great actor, the sole one. The +report of this Committee being laid before the Council, Mr. Stables, one +of the board, entered the following minute on the 15th of May, 1785. + +"I have perused the several papers upon this subject, and am sorry to +observe that the Committee of Revenue are totally silent on the most +material points therein, and sending the petition to them has only been +so much time thrown away: I mean, on the actual value of the lands in +question, what the amount derived from them has been in the last year, +and what advantages or disadvantages to government by the sale, and +whether, in their opinion, the supposed sale was compulsive or not. But +it is not necessary for the discussion of the question respecting the +regularity or irregularity of the pretended sale of Salbarry to Gunga +Govind Sing, the dewan, to enter into the particular assertions of each +party. + +"The representations of the Rajah's agent, confirmed by the petitions of +his principal, positively assert the sale to have been compulsive and +violent; and the dewan as positively denies it, though the fears he +expresses, 'that their common enemies would set aside the act before it +was complete,' show clearly that they were sensible the act was +unjustifiable, if they do not tend to falsify his denial. + +"But it is clearly established and admitted by the language and writings +of both parties, that there has been a most unwarrantable collusion in +endeavoring to alienate the rights of government, contrary to the most +positive original laws of the constitution of these provinces, 'that no +zemindar and other landholder, paying revenue to government, shall be +permitted to alienate his lands without the express authority of that +government.' + +"The defence set up by Gunga Govind Sing does not go to disavow the +transaction; for, if it did, the deed of sale, &c., produced by himself, +and the petition to the board for its confirmation, would detect him: on +the contrary, he openly admits its existence, and only strives to show +that it was a voluntary one on the part of the Ranny and the servants of +the Rajah. Whether voluntary or not, it was equally criminal in Gunga +Govind Sing, as the public officer of government: because diametrically +opposite to the positive and repeated standing orders of that government +for the rule of his conduct, as dewan, and native guardian of the public +rights intrusted especially to his care; because it was his duty, not +only not to be guilty of a breach of those rules himself, but, as dewan, +and exercising the efficient office of _kanungo_, to prevent, detect, +expose, and apprise his employers of every instance attempted to the +contrary; because it was his duty to prevent the government being +defrauded, and the Rajah, a child of nine years old, robbed of his +hereditary possessions, as he would have been, if this transaction had +not been detected: whereas, on the contrary, the dewan is himself the +principal mover and sole instrument in that fraud and robbery, if I am +rightly informed, to the amount of 42,474 rupees[1] in perpetuity, by +which he alone was to benefit; and because he has even dared to stand +forward in an attempt to obtain our sanction, and thereby make us +parties to (in my opinion) a false deed and fraudulent transaction, as +his own defence now shows the bill of sale and all its collateral papers +to be. + +"If offences of this dark tendency and magnitude were not to be punished +in a public manner, the high example here set the natives employed +under the government by their first native officer would very soon +render our authority contemptible, and operate to the destruction of the +public revenues. I will not dwell further on the contradictions in these +papers before us on this subject. + +"But I beg leave to point out how tenacious the government have been of +insuring implicit obedience to their rules on this subject in +particular, and in prohibiting conduct like that here exhibited against +their public officer, and how sacredly they have viewed the public +institutes on this subject, which have been violated and trampled on; +and it will suffice to show their public orders on a similar instance +which happened some time ago, and which the dewan, from his official +situation, must have been a party in detecting. + +"I desire the board's letter to the Committee on this subject, dated the +31st May, 1782, may be read, and a copy be annexed to this minute. + +"I therefore move the board that Gunga Govind Sing may be forthwith +required to surrender the original deeds produced by him as a title to +the grant of Salbarry, in order that they may be returned to the Rajah's +agents, to be made null and void. + +"I further move the board, that the dewan, Gunga Govind Sing, together +with his naib, Prawn Kishin Sing, his son, and all his dependants, be +removed from their offices, and that the Roy Royan, Rajah Rajebullub, +whose duty only Gunga Govind Sing virtually is to perform, be reinstated +in the exercise of the duties of his department; and that Gunga Govind +Sing be ordered to deliver up all official papers of the circar to the +Committee of Revenue and the Roy Royan, and that they be ordered +accordingly to take charge of them, and finally settle all accounts." + +This motion was overruled, and no final proceeding appears. + +My Lords, you have heard the proceedings of the court before which Gunga +Govind Sing thought proper to appeal, in consequence of the power and +protection of Mr. Hastings being understood to exist after he left +India, and authenticated by his last parting deed. Your Lordships will +judge by that last act of Mr. Hastings what the rest of his whole life +was. + +My Lords, I do not mean now to go further than just to remind your +Lordships of this, that Mr. Hastings's government was one whole system +of oppression, of robbery of individuals, of destruction of the public, +and of suppression of the whole system of the English government, in +order to vest in the worst of the natives all the powers that could +possibly exist in any government,--in order to defeat the ends which all +governments ought in common to have in view. Thus, my Lords, I show you +at one point of view what you are to expect from him in all the rest. I +have, I think, made out as clear as can be to your Lordships, so far as +it was necessary to go, that his bribery and peculation was not +occasional, but habitual,--that it was not urged upon him at the moment, +but was regular and systematic. I have shown to your Lordships the +operation of such a system on the revenues. + +My Lords, Mr. Hastings pleads one constant merit to justify those +acts,--namely, that they produce an increase of the public revenue; and +accordingly he never sells to any of those wicked agents any trusts +whatever in the country, that you do not hear that it will considerably +tend to the increase of the revenue. Your Lordships will see, when he +sold to wicked men the province of Bahar in the same way in which Debi +Sing had this province of Dinagepore, that consequences of a horrid and +atrocious nature, though not to so great an extent, followed from it. I +will just beg leave to state to your Lordships, that the kingdom of +Bahar is annexed to the kingdom of Bengal; that this kingdom was +governed by another Provincial Council; that he turned out that +Provincial Council, and sold that government to two wicked men: one of +no fortune at all, and the other of a very suspicious fortune; one a +total bankrupt, the other justly excommunicated for his wickedness in +his country, and then in prison for misdemeanors in a subordinate +situation of government. Mr. Hastings destroyed the Council that +imprisoned him; and, instead of putting one of the best and most +reputable of the natives to govern it, he takes out of prison this +excommunicated wretch, hated by God and man,--this bankrupt, this man of +evil and desperate character, this mismanager of the public revenue in +an inferior station; and, as he had given Bengal to Gunga Govind Sing, +he gave this province to Rajahs Kelleram and Cullian Sing. It was done +upon this principle, that they would increase and very much better the +revenue. These men seemed to be as strange instruments for improving a +revenue as ever were chosen, I suppose, since the world began. Perhaps +their merit was giving a bribe of 40,000_l._ to Mr. Hastings. How he +disposed of it I don't know. He says, "I disposed of it to the public, +and it was in a case of emergency." You will see in the course of this +business the falsehood of that pretence; for you will see, though the +obligation is given for it as a round sum of money, that the payment +was not accomplished till a year after; that therefore it could not +answer any immediate exigence of the Company. Did it answer in an +increase of the revenue? The very reverse. Those persons who had given +this bribe of 40,000_l._ at the end of that year were found 80,000_l._ +in debt to the Company. The Company always loses, when Mr. Hastings +takes a bribe; and when he proposes an increase of the revenue, the +Company loses often double. But I hope and trust your Lordships will +consider this idea of a monstrous rise of rent, given by men of +desperate fortunes and characters, to be one of the grievances instead +of one of the advantages of this system. + +It has been necessary to lay these facts before you, (and I have stated +them to your Lordships far short of their reality, partly through my +infirmity, and partly on account of the odiousness of the task of going +through things that disgrace human nature,) that you may be enabled +fully to enter into the dreadful consequences which attend a system of +bribery and corruption in a Governor-General. On a transient view, +bribery is rather a subject of disgust than horror,--the sordid practice +of a venal, mean, and abject mind; and the effect of the crime seems to +end with the act. It looks to be no more than the corrupt transfer of +property from one person to another,--at worst a theft. But it will +appear in a very different light, when you regard the consideration for +which the bribe is given,--namely, that a Governor-General, claiming an +arbitrary power in himself, for that consideration delivers up the +properties, the liberties, and the lives of an whole people to the +arbitrary discretion of any wicked and rapacious person, who will be +sure to make good from their blood the purchase he has paid for his +power over them. It is possible that a man may pay a bribe merely to +redeem himself from some evil. It is bad, however, to live under a power +whose violence has no restraint except in its avarice. But no man ever +paid a bribe for a power to charge and tax others, but with a view to +oppress them. No man ever paid a bribe for the handling of the public +money, but to peculate from it. When once such offices become thus +privately and corruptly venal, the very worst men will be chosen (as Mr. +Hastings has in fact constantly chosen the very worst); because none but +those who do not scruple the use of any means are capable, consistently +with profit, to discharge at once the rigid demands of a severe public +revenue and the private bribes of a rapacious chief magistrate. Not only +the worst men will be thus chosen, but they will be restrained by no +dread whatsoever in the execution of their worst oppressions. Their +protection is sure. The authority that is to restrain, to control, to +punish them is previously engaged; he has his retaining fee for the +support of their crimes. Mr. Hastings never dared, because he could not, +arrest oppression in its course, without drying up the source of his own +corrupt emolument. Mr. Hastings never dared, after the fact, to punish +extortion in others, because he could not, without risking the discovery +of bribery in himself. The same corruption, the same oppression, and the +same impunity will reign through all the subordinate gradations. + +A fair revenue may be collected without the aid of wicked, violent, and +unjust instruments. But when once the line of just and legal demand is +transgressed, such instruments are of absolute necessity; and they +comport themselves accordingly. When we know that men must be well paid +(and they ought to be well paid) for the performance of honorable duty, +can we think that men will be found to commit wicked, rapacious, and +oppressive acts with fidelity and disinterestedness for the sole +emolument of dishonest employers? No: they must have their full share of +the prey, and the greater share, as they are the nearer and more +necessary instruments of the general extortion. We must not, therefore, +flatter ourselves, when Mr. Hastings takes 40,000_l._ in bribes for +Dinagepore and its annexed provinces, that from the people nothing more +than 40,000_l._ is extorted. I speak within compass, four times forty +must be levied on the people; and these violent sales, fraudulent +purchases, confiscations, inhuman and unutterable tortures, +imprisonment, irons, whips, fines, general despair, general +insurrection, the massacre of the officers of revenue by the people, the +massacre of the people by the soldiery, and the total waste and +destruction of the finest provinces in India, are things of course,--and +all a necessary consequence involved in the very substance of Mr. +Hastings's bribery. + +I therefore charge Mr. Hastings with having destroyed, for private +purposes, the whole system of government by the six Provincial Councils, +which he had no right to destroy. + +I charge him with having delegated to others that power which the act of +Parliament had directed him to preserve unalienably in himself. + +I charge him with having formed a committee to be mere instruments and +tools, at the enormous expense of 62,000_l._ per annum. + +I charge him with having appointed a person their dewan to whom these +Englishmen were to be subservient tools,--whose name, to his own +knowledge, was, by the general voice of India, by the general recorded +voice of the Company, by recorded official transactions, by everything +that can make a man known, abhorred, and detested, stamped with infamy; +and with giving him the whole power which he had thus separated from the +Council-General, and from the Provincial Councils. + +I charge him with taking bribes of Gunga Govind Sing. + +I charge him with not having done that bribe-service which fidelity even +in iniquity requires at the hands of the worst of men. + +I charge him with having robbed those people of whom he took the bribes. + +I charge him with having fraudulently alienated the fortunes of widows. + +I charge him with having, without right, title, or purchase, taken the +lands of orphans, and given them to wicked persons under him. + +I charge him with having removed the natural guardians of a minor Rajah, +and with having given that trust to a stranger, Debi Sing, whose +wickedness was known to himself and all the world, and by whom the +Rajah, his family, and dependants were cruelly oppressed. + +I charge him with having committed to the management of Debi Sing three +great provinces; and thereby with having wasted the country, ruined the +landed interest, cruelly harassed the peasants, burnt their houses, +seized their crops, tortured and degraded their persons, and destroyed +the honor of the whole female race of that country. + +In the name of the Commons of England, I charge all this villany upon +Warren Hastings, in this last moment of my application to you. + +My Lords, what is it that we want here to a great act of national +justice? Do we want a cause, my Lords? You have the cause of oppressed +princes, of undone women of the first rank, of desolated provinces, and +of wasted kingdoms. + +Do you want a criminal, my Lords? When was there so much iniquity ever +laid to the charge of any one? No, my Lords, you must not look to punish +any other such delinquent from India. Warren Hastings has not left +substance enough in India to nourish such another delinquent. + +My Lords, is it a prosecutor you want? You have before you the Commons +of Great Britain as prosecutors; and I believe, my Lords, that the sun, +in his beneficent progress round the world, does not behold a more +glorious sight than that of men, separated from a remote people by the +material bounds and barriers of Nature, united by the bond of a social +and moral community,--all the Commons of England resenting, as their +own, the indignities and cruelties that are offered to all the people of +India. + +Do we want a tribunal? My Lords, no example of antiquity, nothing in the +modern world, nothing in the range of human imagination, can supply us +with a tribunal like this. My Lords, here we see virtually, in the +mind's eye, that sacred majesty of the crown, under whose authority you +sit, and whose power you exercise. We see in that invisible authority, +what we all feel in reality and life, the beneficent powers and +protecting justice of his Majesty. We have here the heir-apparent to the +crown, such as the fond wishes of the people of England wish an +heir-apparent of the crown to be. We have here all the branches of the +royal family, in a situation between majesty and subjection, between the +sovereign and the subject,--offering a pledge in that situation for the +support of the rights of the crown and the liberties of the people, both +which extremities they touch. My Lords, we have a great hereditary +peerage here,--those who have their own honor, the honor of their +ancestors and of their posterity to guard, and who will justify, as they +have always justified, that provision in the Constitution by which +justice is made an hereditary office. My Lords, we have here a new +nobility, who have risen and exalted themselves by various merits,--by +great military services which have extended the fame of this country +from the rising to the setting sun. We have those who, by various civil +merits and various civil talents, have been exalted to a situation which +they well deserve, and in which they will justify the favor of their +sovereign, and the good opinion of their fellow-subjects, and make them +rejoice to see those virtuous characters that were the other day upon a +level with them now exalted above them in rank, but feeling with them in +sympathy what they felt in common with them before. We have persons +exalted from the practice of the law, from the place in which they +administered high, though subordinate, justice, to a seat here, to +enlighten with their knowledge and to strengthen with their votes those +principles which have distinguished the courts in which they have +presided. + +My Lords, you have here also the lights of our religion, you have the +bishops of England. My Lords, you have that true image of the primitive +Church, in its ancient form, in its ancient ordinances, purified from +the superstitions and the vices which a long succession of ages will +bring upon the best institutions. You have the representatives of that +religion which says that their God is love, that the very vital spirit +of their institution is charity,--a religion which so much hates +oppression, that, when the God whom we adore appeared in human form, He +did not appear in a form of greatness and majesty, but in sympathy with +the lowest of the people, and thereby made it a firm and ruling +principle that their welfare was the object of all government, since the +Person who was the Master of Nature chose to appear Himself in a +subordinate situation. These are the considerations which influence +them, which animate them, and will animate them, against all +oppression,--knowing that He who is called first among them, and first +among us all, both of the flock that is fed and of those who feed it, +made Himself "the servant of all." + +My Lords, these are the securities which we have in all the constituent +parts of the body of this House. We know them, we reckon, we rest upon +them, and commit safely the interests of India and of humanity into your +hands. Therefore it is with confidence, that, ordered by the Commons, + +I impeach Warren Hastings, Esquire, of high crimes and misdemeanors. + +I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament +assembled, whose Parliamentary trust he has betrayed. + +I impeach him in the name of all the Commons of Great Britain, whose +national character he has dishonored. + +I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose laws, rights, +and liberties he has subverted, whose properties he has destroyed, whose +country he has laid waste and desolate. + +I impeach him in the name and by virtue of those eternal laws of justice +which he has violated. + +I impeach him in the name of human nature itself, which he has cruelly +outraged, injured, and oppressed, in both sexes, in every age, rank, +situation, and condition of life. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Vakeel states Mofussil Jumma, of Salbarry, for 1,191 + + S* R* 96,229 +Purchase money 53,755 + ------ +Per annum, loss 42,474 + + + + +SPEECHES + +IN + +THE IMPEACHMENT + +OF + +WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE, + +LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL. + + * * * * * + +SPEECH ON THE SIXTH ARTICLE OF CHARGE. + +April and May, 1789. + + + + +NOTE. + + + After Mr. Burke had concluded the opening speeches, the first + article of the impeachment was brought forward, on the 22d of + February, 1788, by Mr. Fox, and supported by Mr. Grey on the 25th. + After the evidence upon this article had been adduced, it was + summed up and enforced by Mr. Anstruther, on the 11th day of April + following. + + The next article with which the Commons proceeded was brought + forward on the 15th of April, 1788, by Mr. Adam, and supported by + Mr. Pelham; and the evidence, in part upon the second article of + charge, was summed up and enforced, on the 3d of June, by Mr. + Sheridan. + + On the 21st of April, 1789, Mr. Burke opened the sixth charge, + bribery and corruption, in the following speech, which was + continued on the 25th of April, and on the 6th and 7th May, in the + same session. + + + + +SPEECH + +ON + +THE SIXTH ARTICLE OF CHARGE. + +FIRST DAY: TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 1789. + + +My Lords,--An event which had spread for a considerable time an +universal grief and consternation through this kingdom, and which in its +issue diffused as universal and transcendent a joy, has in the +circumstances both of our depression and of our exaltation produced a +considerable delay, if not a total suspension, of the most important +functions of government. + +My Lords, we now resume our office,--and we resume it with new and +redoubled alacrity, and, we trust, under not less propitious omens than +when we left it, in this House, at the end of the preceding session. We +come to this duty with a greater degree of earnestness and zeal, because +we are urged to it by many and very peculiar circumstances. This day we +come from an House where the last steps were taken (and I suppose +something has happened similar in this) to prepare our way to attend +with the utmost solemnity, in another place, a great national +thanksgiving for having restored the sovereign to his Parliament and the +Parliament to its sovereign. + +But, my Lords, it is not only in the house of prayer that we offer to +the First Cause the acceptable homage of our rational nature,--my Lords, +in this House, at this bar, in this place, in every place where His +commands are obeyed, His worship is performed. And, my Lords, I must +boldly say, (and I think I shall hardly be contradicted by your +Lordships, or by any persons versed in the law which guides us all,) +that the highest act of religion, and the highest homage which we can +and ought to pay, is an imitation of the Divine perfections, as far as +such a nature can imitate such perfections, and that by this means alone +we can make our homage acceptable to Him. + +My Lords, in His temple we shall not forget that His most distinguished +attribute is justice, and that the first link in the chain by which we +are held to the Supreme Judge of All is justice; and that it is in this +solemn temple of representative justice we may best give Him praise, +because we can here best imitate His divine attributes. If ever there +was a cause in which justice and mercy are not only combined and +reconciled, but incorporated, it is in this cause of suffering nations, +which we now bring before your Lordships this second session of +Parliament, unwearied and unfatigued in our persevering pursuit; and we +feel it to be a necessary preliminary, a necessary fact, a necessary +attendant and concomitant of every public thanksgiving, that we should +express our gratitude by our virtues, and not merely with our mouths, +and that, when we are giving thanks for acts of mercy, we should render +ourselves worthy of them by doing acts of mercy ourselves. My Lords, +these considerations, independent of those which were our first movers +in this business, strongly urge us at present to pursue with all zeal +and perseverance the great cause we have now in hand. And we feel this +to be the more necessary, because we cannot but be sensible that light, +unstable, variable, capricious, inconstant, fastidious minds soon tire +in any pursuit that requires strength, steadiness, and perseverance. +Such persons, who we trust are but few, and who certainly do not +resemble your Lordships nor us, begin already to say, How long is this +business to continue? Our answer is, It is to continue till its ends are +obtained. + +We know, that, by a mysterious dispensation of Providence, injury is +quick and rapid, and justice slow; and we may say that those who have +not patience and vigor of mind to attend the tardy pace of justice +counteract the order of Providence, and are resolved not to be just at +all. We, therefore, instead of bending the order of Nature to the laxity +of our characters and tempers, must rather confirm ourselves by a manly +fortitude and virtuous perseverance to continue within those forms, and +to wrestle with injustice, until we have shown that those virtues which +sometimes wickedness debauches into its cause, such as vigor, energy, +activity, fortitude of spirit, are called back and brought to their true +and natural service,--and that in the pursuit of wickedness, in the +following it through all the winding recesses and mazes of its +artifices, we shall show as much vigor, as much constancy, as much +diligence, energy, and perseverance, as any others can do in endeavoring +to elude the laws and triumph over the justice of their country. My +Lords, we have thought it the more necessary to say this, because it has +been given out that we might faint in this business. No: we follow, and +trust we shall always follow, that great emblem of antiquity, in which +the person who held out to the end of a long line of labors found the +reward of all the eleven in the twelfth. Our labor, therefore, will be +our reward; and we will go on, we will pursue with vigor and diligence, +in a manner suitable to the Commons of Great Britain, every mode of +corruption, till we have thoroughly eradicated it. + +I think it necessary to say a word, too, upon another circumstance, of +which there is some complaint, as if some injustice had arisen from +voluntary delay on our part. + +I have already alluded to, first, the melancholy, then the joyful +occasion of this delay; and I shall now make one remark on another part +of the complaint, which I understand was formally made to your Lordships +soon after we had announced our resolution to proceed in this great +cause of suffering nations before you. It has been alleged, that the +length of the pursuit had already very much distressed the person who is +the object of it,--that it leaned upon a fortune unequal to support +it,--and that 30,000_l._ had been already spent in the preliminary +preparations for the defence. + +My Lords, I do admit that all true, genuine, and unadulterated justice +considers with a certain degree of tenderness the person whom it is +called to punish, and never oppresses those by the process who ought not +to be oppressed but by the sentence of the court before which they are +brought. The Commons have heard, indeed, with some degree of +astonishment, that 30,000_l._ hath been laid out by Mr. Hastings in this +business. We, who have some experience in the conduct of affairs of this +nature, we, who profess to proceed with regard not to the economy so +much as to the rigor of this prosecution, (and we are justified by our +country in so doing,) upon a collation and comparison of the public +expenses with those which the defendant is supposed to have incurred, +are much surprised to hear it. We suppose that his solicitors can give a +good account to him of those expenses,--that the thing is true,--and +that he has actually, through them, incurred this expense. We have +nothing to do with this: but we shall remove any degree of uneasiness +from your Lordships' minds, and from our own, when we show you in the +charge which we shall bring before you this day, that one bribe only +received by Mr. Hastings, the smallest of his bribes, or nearly the +smallest, the bribe received from Rajah Nobkissin, is alone more than +equal to have paid all the charges Mr. Hastings is stated to have +incurred; and if this be the case, your Lordships will not be made very +uneasy in a case of bribery by finding that you press upon the sources +of peculation. + +It has also been said that we weary out the public patience in this +cause. The House of Commons do not call upon your Lordships to do +anything of which they do not set the example. They have very lately sat +in the Colchester Committee as many, within one or two, days +successively as have been spent in this trial interruptedly in the +course of two years. Every cause deserves that it should be tried +according to its nature and circumstances; and in the case of the +Colchester Committee, in the trial of paltry briberies of odd pounds, +shillings, and pence, in the corruption of a returning officer, who is +but a miller, they spent nearly the same number of days that we have +been inquiring into the ruin of kingdoms by the peculation and bribery +of the chief governor of the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. +Therefore God forbid that we should faint at thrice thirty days, if the +proceedings should be drawn into such a length, when for a small crime +as much time has been spent as has yet been spent in this great cause! + +Having now cleared the way with regard to the local and temporary +circumstances of this case,--having shown your Lordships that too much +time has not been spent in it,--having no reason to think, from the time +which has hitherto been spent, that time will be unnecessarily spent in +future,--I trust your Lordships will think that time ought neither to be +spared nor squandered in this business: we will therefore proceed, +article by article, as far as the discretion of the House of Commons +shall think fit, for the justice of the case, to limit the inquiry, or +to extend it. + +We are now going to bring before your Lordships the sixth article. It is +an article of charge of bribery and corruption against Mr. Hastings; but +yet we must confess that we feel some little difficulty _in limine_. We +here appear in the name and character not only of representatives of the +Commons of Great Britain, but representatives of the inhabitants of +Bengal: and yet we have had lately come into our hands such ample +certificates, such full testimonials, from every person in whose cause +we complain, that we shall appear to be in the strangest situation in +the world,--the situation of persons complaining, who are disavowed by +the persons in whose name and character they complain. This would have +been a very great difficulty in the beginning, especially as it is come +before us in a flood-tide of panegyric. No encomium can be more exalted +or more beautifully expressed. No language can more strongly paint the +perfect satisfaction, the entire acquiescence, of all the nations of +Bengal, and their wonderful admiration of the character of the person +whom we have brought as a criminal to your bar upon their part. I do +admit that it is a very awkward circumstance; but yet, at the same time, +the same candor which has induced the House of Commons to bring before +you the bosom friends and confidants of Mr. Hastings as their evidence +will not suffer them to suppress or withhold for a moment from your +Lordships this universal voice of Bengal, as an attestation in Mr. +Hastings's favor, and we shall produce it as a part of our evidence. Oh, +my Lords, consider the situation of a people who are forced to mix their +praises with their groans, who are forced to sign, with hands which have +been in torture, and with the thumb-screws but just taken from them, an +attestation in favor of the person from whom all their sufferings have +been derived! When we prove to you the things that we shall prove, this +will, I hope, give your Lordships a full, conclusive, and satisfactory +proof of the misery to which these people have been reduced. You will +see before you, what is so well expressed by one of our poets as the +homage of tyrants, "that homage with the mouth which the heart would +fain deny, but dares not." Mr. Hastings has received that homage, and +that homage we mean to present to your Lordships: we mean to present it, +because it will show your Lordships clearly, that, after Mr. Hastings +has ransacked Bengal from one end to the other, and has used all the +power which he derives from having every friend and every dependant of +his in every office from one end of that government to the other, he has +not, in all those panegyrics, those fine high-flown Eastern encomiums, +got one word of refutation or one word of evidence against any charge +whatever which we produce against him. Every one knows, that, in the +course of criminal trials, when no evidence of _alibi_ can be brought, +when all the arts of the Old Bailey are exhausted, the last thing +produced is evidence to character. His cause, therefore, is gone, when, +having ransacked Bengal, he has nothing to say for his conduct, and at +length appeals to his character. In those little papers which are given +us of our proceedings in our criminal courts, it is always an omen of +what is to follow: after the evidence of a murder, a forgery, or +robbery, it ends in his character: "He has an admirable character; I +have known him from a boy; he is wonderfully good; he is the best of +men; I would trust him with untold gold": and immediately follows, +"Guilty,--Death." This is the way in which, in our courts, character is +generally followed by sentence. The practice is not modern. Undoubtedly +Mr. Hastings has the example of criminals of high antiquity; for Caius +Verres, Antonius, and every other man who has been famous for the +pillage and destruction of provinces, never failed to bring before their +judges the attestations of the injured to their character. Voltaire +says, "_Les bons mots sont toujours redits_." A similar occasion has +here produced a similar conduct. He has got just the same character as +Caius Verres got in another cause; and the _laudationes_, which your +Lordships know always followed, to save trouble, we mean ourselves to +give your Lordships; we mean to give them with this strong presumption +of guilt, that in all this panegyric there is not one word of defence to +a single article of charge; they are mere lip-honors: but we think we +derive from those panegyrics, which Mr. Hastings has had sent over as +evidence to supply the total want of it, an indication of the +impossibility of attaining it. Mr. Hastings has brought them here, and I +must say we are under some difficulty about them, and the difficulty is +this. We think we can produce before your Lordships proofs of barbarity +and peculation by Mr. Hastings; we have the proofs of them in specific +provinces, where those proofs may be met by contrary proofs, or may lose +their weight from a variety of circumstances. We thought we had got the +matter sure, that everything was settled, that he could not escape us, +after he had himself confessed the bribes he had taken from the specific +provinces. But in what condition are we now? We have from those specific +provinces the strongest attestations that there is not any credit to be +paid to his own acknowledgments. In short, we have the complaints, +concerning these crimes of Mr. Hastings, of the injured persons +themselves; we have his own confessions; we shall produce both to your +Lordships. But these persons now declare, that not only their own +complaints are totally unfounded, but that Mr. Hastings's confessions +are not true, and not to be credited. These are circumstances which your +Lordships will consider in the view you take of this wonderful body of +attestation. + +It is a pleasant thing to see in these addresses the different character +and modes of eloquence of different countries. In those that will be +brought before your Lordships you will see the beauty of chaste European +panegyric improved by degrees into high, Oriental, exaggerated, and +inflated metaphor. You will see how the language is first written in +English, then translated into Persian, and then retranslated into +English. There may be something amusing to your Lordships in this, and +the beauty of these styles may, in this heavy investigation, tend to +give a little gayety and pleasure. We shall bring before you the +European and Asiatic incense. You will have the perfume-shops of the two +countries. + +One of the accusations which we mean to bring against Mr. Hastings is +upon the part of the Zemindar Radanaut, of the country of Dinagepore. +Now hear what the Zemindar says himself. "As it has been learned by me, +the mutsuddies, and the respectable officers of my zemindary, that the +ministers of England are displeased with the late Governor, Warren +Hastings, Esquire, upon the suspicion that he oppressed us, took money +from us by deceit and force, and ruined the country, therefore we, upon +the strength of our religion, which we think it incumbent on and +necessary for us to abide by, following the rules laid down in giving +evidence, declare the particulars of the acts and deeds of Warren +Hastings, Esquire, full of circumspection and caution, civility and +justice, superior to the conduct of the most learned, and, by +representing what is fact, wipe away the doubts that have possessed the +minds of the ministers of England; that Mr. Hastings is possessed of +fidelity and confidence, and yielding protection to us; that he is clear +of the contamination of mistrust and wrong, and his mind is free of +covetousness or avarice. During the time of his administration no one +saw other conduct than that of protection to the husbandman, and +justice. No inhabitant ever experienced afflictions, no one ever felt +oppression from him; our reputations have always been guarded from +attacks by his prudence, and our families have always been protected by +his justice. He never omitted the smallest instance of kindness towards +us, but healed the wounds of despair with the salve of consolation by +means of his benevolent and kind behavior, never permitting one of us to +sink in the pit of despondence. He supported every one by his goodness, +overset the designs of evil-minded men by his authority, tied the hand +of oppression with the strong bandage of justice, and by these means +expanded the pleasing appearance of happiness and joy over us. He +reëstablished justice and impartiality. We were during his government in +the enjoyment of perfect happiness and ease, and many of us are thankful +and satisfied. As Mr. Hastings was well acquainted with our manners and +customs, he was always desirous, in every respect, of doing whatever +would preserve our religious rites, and guard them against every kind of +accident and injury, and at all times protected us. Whatever we have +experienced from him, and whatever happened from him, we have written +without deceit or exaggeration." + +My Lords, here is a panegyric; and, directly contrary to the usual mode +of other accusers, we begin by producing the panegyrics made upon the +person whom we accuse. We shall produce along with the charge, and give +as evidence, the panegyric and certificate of the persons whom we +suppose to have suffered these wrongs. We suffer ourselves even to +abandon, what might be our last resource, his own confession, by showing +that one of the princes from whom he confesses that he took bribes has +given a certificate of the direct contrary. + +All these things will have their weight upon your Lordships' minds; and +when we have put ourselves under this disadvantage, (what disadvantage +it is your Lordships will judge,) at least we shall stand acquitted of +unfairness in charging him with crimes directly contrary to the +panegyrics in this paper contained. Indeed, I will say this for him, +that general charge and loose accusation may be answered by loose and +general panegyric, and that, if ours were of that nature, this panegyric +would be sufficient to overset our accusation. But we come before your +Lordships in a different manner and upon different grounds. I am ordered +by the Commons of Great Britain to support the charge that they have +made, and persevere in making, against Warren Hastings, Esquire, late +Governor-General of Bengal, and now a culprit at your bar: First, for +having taken corruptly several bribes, and extorted by force, or under +the power and color of his office, several sums of money from the +unhappy natives of Bengal. The next article which we shall bring before +you is, that he is not only personally corrupted, but that he has +personally corrupted all the other servants of the Company,--those under +him, whose corruptions he ought to have controlled, and those above him, +whose business it was to control his corruptions. + +We purpose to make good to your Lordships the first of these, by +submitting to you, that part of those sums which are specified in the +charge were taken by him with his own hand and in his own person, but +that much the greater part have been taken from the natives by the +instrumentality of his black agents, banians, and other +dependants,--whose confidential connection with him, and whose agency on +his part in corrupt transactions, if his counsel should be bold enough +to challenge us to the proof, we shall fully prove before you. The next +part, and the second branch of his corruption, namely, what is commonly +called his active corruption, distinguishing the personal under the name +of passive, will appear from his having given, under color of contracts, +a number of corrupt and lucrative advantages from a number of +unauthorized and unreasonable grants, pensions, and allowances, by which +he corrupted actively the whole service of the Company. And, lastly, we +shall show, that, by establishing a universal connivance from one end of +the service to the other, he has not only corrupted and contaminated it +in all its parts, but bound it in a common league of iniquity to support +mutually each other against the inquiry that should detect and the +justice that should punish their offences. These two charges, namely, of +his active and passive corruption, we shall bring one after the other, +as strongly and clearly illustrating and as powerfully confirming each +other. + +The first which we shall bring before you is his own passive +corruption,--so we commonly call it. Bribes are so little known in this +country that we can hardly get clear and specific technical names to +distinguish them; but in future, I am afraid, the conduct of Mr. +Hastings will improve our law vocabulary. The first, then, of these +offences with which Mr. Hastings stands charged here is receiving bribes +himself, or through his banians. Every one of these are overt acts of +the general charge of bribery, and they are every one of them, +separately taken, substantive crimes. But whatever the criminal nature +of these acts was, (and the nature was very criminal, and the +consequences to the country very dreadful,) yet we mean to prove to your +Lordships that they were not single acts, that they were not acts +committed as opportunity offered, or as necessity tempted or urged upon +the occasion, but that they are parts of a general systematic plan of +corruption, for advancing his fortune at the expense of his integrity; +that he has, for that purpose, not only taken the opportunity of his own +power, but made whole establishments, altered and perverted others, and +created complete revolutions in the country's government, for the +purpose of making the power which ought to be subservient to legal +government subservient to corruption; that, when he could no longer +cover these fraudulent proceedings by artifice, he endeavored to justify +them by principle. These artifices we mean to detect; these principles +we mean to attack, and, with your Lordships' aid, to demolish, destroy, +and subvert forever. + +My Lords, I must say, that in this business, which is a matter of +collusion, concealment, and deceit, your Lordships will, perhaps, not +feel the same degree of interest as in the others. Hitherto you have had +before you crimes of dignity: you have had before you the ruin and +expulsion of great and illustrious families, the breach of solemn public +treaties, the merciless pillage and total subversion of the first houses +in Asia. But the crimes which are the most striking to the imagination +are not always the most pernicious in their effects: in these high, +eminent acts of domineering tyranny, their very magnitude proves a sort +of corrective to their virulence. The occasions on which they can be +exercised are rare; the persons upon whom they can be exercised few; the +persons who can exercise them, in the nature of things, are not many. +These high tragic acts of superior, overbearing tyranny are privileged +crimes; they are the unhappy, dreadful prerogative, they are the +distinguished and incommunicable attributes, of superior wickedness in +eminent station. + +But, my Lords, when the vices of low, sordid, and illiberal minds infect +that high situation,--when theft, bribery, and peculation, attended with +fraud, prevarication, falsehood, misrepresentation, and forgery--when +all these follow in one train,--when these vices, which gender and spawn +in dirt, and are nursed in dunghills, come and pollute with their slime +that throne which ought to be a seat of dignity and purity, the evil is +much greater; it may operate daily and hourly; it is not only imitable, +but improvable, and it will be imitated, and will be improved, from the +highest to the lowest, through all the gradations of a corrupt +government. They are reptile vices. There are situations in which the +acts of the individual are of some moment, the example comparatively of +little importance. In the other, the mischief of the example is +infinite. + +My Lords, when once a Governor-General receives bribes, he gives a +signal to universal pillage to all the inferior parts of the service. +The bridles upon hard-mouthed passion are removed; they are taken away; +they are broken. Fear and shame, the great guards to virtue next to +conscience, are gone. Shame! how can it exist?--it will soon blush away +its awkward sensibility. Shame, my Lords, cannot exist long, when it is +seen that crimes which naturally bring disgrace are attended with all +the outward symbols, characteristics, and rewards of honor and of +virtue,--when it is seen that high station, great rank, general +applause, vast wealth follow the commission of peculation and bribery. +Is it to be believed that men can long be ashamed of that which they see +to be the road to honor? As to fear, let a Governor-General once take +bribes, there is an end of all fear in the service. What have they to +fear? Is it the man whose example they follow that is to bring them +before a tribunal for their punishment? Can he open any inquiry? He +cannot: he that opens a channel of inquiry under these circumstances +opens a high-road to his own detection. Can he make any laws to prevent +it? None: for he can make no laws to restrain that practice without the +breach of his own laws immediately in his own conduct. If we once can +admit, for a single instant, in a Governor-General, a principle, however +defended, upon any pretence whatever, to receive bribes in consequence +of his office, there is an end of all virtue, an end of the laws, and no +hope left in the supreme justice of the country. We are sensible of all +these difficulties; we have felt them; and perhaps it has required no +small degree of exertion for us to get the better of these difficulties +which are thrown in our way by a Governor-General accepting bribes, and +thereby screening and protecting the whole service in such iniquitous +proceedings. + +With regard to this matter, we are to state to your Lordships, in order +to bring it fully and distinctly before you, what the nature of this +distemper of bribery is in the Indian government. We are to state what +the laws and rules are which have been opposed to prevent it, and the +utter insufficiency of all that have been proposed: to state the +grievance, the instructions of the Company and government, the acts of +Parliament, the constructions upon the acts of Parliament. We are to +state to your Lordships the particular situation of Mr. Hastings; we are +to state the trust the Company had in him for the prevention of all +those evils; and then we are to prove that every evil, that all those +grievances which the law intended to prevent, which there were covenants +to restrain, and with respect to which there were encouragements to +smooth and make easy the path of duty, Mr. Hastings was invested with a +special, direct, and immediate trust to prevent. We are to prove to your +Lordships that he is the man who, in his own person collectively, has +done more mischief than all those persons whose evil practices have +produced all those laws, those regulations, and even his own +appointment. + +The first thing that we shall do is to state, and which we shall prove +in evidence, that this vice of bribery was the ancient, radical, +endemical, and ruinous distemper of the Company's affairs in India, from +the time of their first establishment there. Very often there are no +words nor any description which can adequately convey the state of a +thing like the direct evidence of the thing itself: because the former +might be suspected of exaggeration; you might think that which was +really fact to be nothing but the coloring of the person that explained +it; and therefore I think that it will be much better to give to your +Lordships here a direct state of the Presidency at the time when the +Company enacted those covenants which Mr. Hastings entered into, and +when they took those measures to prevent the very evils from persons +placed in those very stations and in those very circumstances in which +we charge Mr. Hastings with having committed the offences we now bring +before you. + +I wish your Lordships to know that we are going to read a consultation +of Lord Clive's, who was sent out for the express purpose of reforming +the state of the Company, in order to show the magnitude of the +pecuniary corruptions that prevailed in it. + + "It is from a due sense of the regard we owe and profess to your + interests and to our own honor, that we think it indispensably + necessary to lay open to your view a series of transactions too + notoriously known to be suppressed, and too affecting to your + interest, to the national character, and to the existence of the + Company in Bengal, to escape unnoticed and uncensured,--transactions + which seem to demonstrate that every spring of this government was + smeared with corruption, that principles of rapacity and oppression + universally prevailed, and that every spark of sentiment and public + spirit was lost and extinguished in the unbounded lust of unmerited + wealth. + + "To illustrate these positions, we must exhibit to your view a most + unpleasing variety of complaints, inquiries, accusations, and + vindications, the particulars of which are entered in our + Proceedings and the Appendix,--assuring you that we undertake this + task with peculiar reluctance, from the personal regard we entertain + for some of the gentlemen whose characters will appear to be deeply + affected. + + "At Fort St. George we received the first advices of the demise of + Mir Jaffier and of Sujah Dowlah's defeat. It was there firmly + imagined that no definite measures would be taken, either in respect + to a peace or filling the vacancy in the nizamut, before our + arrival,--as the 'Lapwing' arrived in the month of January with your + general letter, and the appointment of a committee with express + powers to that purpose, for the successful exertion of which the + happiest occasion now offered. However, a contrary resolution + prevailed in the Council. The opportunity of acquiring immense + fortunes was too inviting to be neglected, and the temptation too + powerful to be resisted. A treaty was hastily drawn up by the board, + or rather transcribed, with few unimportant additions, from that + concluded with Mir Jaffier,--and a deputation, consisting of Messrs. + Johnstone, senior, Middleton, and Leycester, appointed to raise the + natural son of the deceased Nabob to the subahdarry, in prejudice of + the claim of the grandson; and for this measure such reasons are + assigned as ought to have dictated a diametrically opposite + resolution. Meeran's son was a minor, which circumstance alone would + have naturally brought the whole administration into our hands, at a + juncture when it became indispensably necessary we should realize + that shadow of power and influence which, having no solid + foundation, was exposed to the danger of being annihilated by the + first stroke of adverse fortune. But this inconsistence was not + regarded; nor was it material to the views for precipitating the + treaty, which was pressed on the young Nabob at the first interview, + in so earnest and indelicate a manner as highly disgusted him and + chagrined his ministers; while not a single rupee was stipulated for + the Company, whose interests were sacrificed, that their servants + might revel in the spoils of a treasury before impoverished, but now + totally exhausted. + + "This scene of corruption was first disclosed, at a visit the Nabob + was paid, to Lord Clive and the gentlemen of the Committee, a few + days after our arrival. He there delivered to his Lordship a letter + filled with bitter complaints of the insults and indignities he had + been exposed to, and the embezzlement of near twenty lacs of rupees, + issued from his treasury for purposes unknown, during the late + negotiations. So public a complaint could not be disregarded, and it + soon produced an inquiry. We referred the letter to the board, in + expectation of obtaining a satisfactory account of the application + of this money, and were answered only by a warm remonstrance entered + by Mr. Leycester against that very Nabob in whose elevation he + boasts of having been a principal agent. + + "Mahomed Reza Khân, the Naib Subah, was then called upon to account + for this large disbursement from the treasury; and he soon delivered + to the Committee the very extraordinary narrative entered in our + Proceedings the 6th of June, wherein he specifies the several names + and sums, by whom paid, and to whom, whether in cash, bills, or + obligations. So precise, so accurate an account as this of money for + secret and venal services was never, we believe, before this period, + exhibited to the Honorable Court of Directors,--at least, never + vouched by such undeniable testimony and authentic documents: by + Juggut Seet, who himself was obliged to contribute largely to the + sums demanded; by Muley Ram, who was employed by Mr. Johnstone in + all those pecuniary transactions; by the Nabob and Mahomed Reza + Khân, who were the heaviest sufferers; and, lastly, by the + confession of the gentlemen themselves whose names are specified in + the distribution list. + + "Juggut Seet expressly declared in his narrative, that the sum which + he agreed to pay the deputation, amounting to 125,000 rupees, was + extorted by menaces; and since the close of our inquiry, and the + opinions we delivered in the Proceedings of the 21st June, it fully + appears that the presents from the Nabob and Mahomed Reza Khân, + exceeding the immense sum of seventeen lacs, were not the voluntary + offerings of gratitude, but contributions levied on the weakness of + the government, and violently exacted from the dependent state and + timid disposition of the minister. The charge, indeed, is denied on + the one hand, as well as affirmed on the other. Your honorable board + must therefore determine how far the circumstance of extortion may + aggravate the crime of disobedience to your positive orders, the + exposing the government in a manner to sale, and receiving the + infamous wages of corruption from opposite parties and contending + interests. We speak with boldness, because we speak from conviction + founded upon indubitable facts, that, besides the above sums + specified in the distribution account to the amount of 228,125 + pounds sterling, there was likewise to the value of several lacs of + rupees procured from Nundcomar and Roydullub, each of whom aspired + at and obtained a promise of that very employment it was + predetermined to bestow on Mahomed Reza Khân. + + (Signed at the end) + + "CLIVE. + W^M B. SUMNER. + JOHN CARNAC. + H. VERELST. + FRA^S SYKES." + +This paper cannot be denied to be a paper of weight and authenticity, +because it is signed by a gentleman now in this House, who sits on one +side of the gentleman at your bar, as his bail. This grievance, +therefore, so authenticated, so great, and described in so many +circumstances, I think it might be sufficient for me, in this part of +the business, to show was, when Mr. Hastings was sent to India, a +prevalent evil. + +But, my Lords, it is necessary that I should show to you something more, +because, _prima fronte_, this is some exculpation of Mr. Hastings: for, +if he was only a partaker in a general misconduct, it was rather _vitium +loci et vitium temporis_ than _vitium hominis_. This might be said in +his exculpation. But I am next to show your Lordships the means which +the Company took for removing this grievance; and that Mr. Hastings's +peculiar trust, the great specific ground of his appointment, was a +confidence that he would eradicate this very evil, of which we are going +to prove that he has been one of the principal promoters. I wish your +Lordships to advert to one particular circumstance,--namely, that the +two persons who were bidders at this time, and at this auction of +government, for the favor and countenance of the Presidency at Calcutta, +were Mahomed Reza Khân and Rajah Nundcomar. I wish your Lordships to +recollect this by-and-by, when we shall bring before you the very same +two persons, who, in the same sort of transaction, and in circumstances +exactly similar, or very nearly so, were candidates for the favor of Mr. +Hastings. + +My Lords, our next step will be to show you that the Company in 1768 had +made a covenant expressly forbidding the taking of presents of above +400_l._ value in each present by the Governor-General. I take it for +granted, this will not be much litigated. They renewed and enforced that +with other covenants and other instructions; and at last came an act of +Parliament, in the clearest, the most definite, the most specific words +that all the wisdom of the legislature, intent upon the eradication of +this evil, could use, to prevent the receiving of presents. + +My Lords, I think it is necessary to state, that there has been some +little difficulty concerning this word, _presents_. Bribery and +extortion have been covered by the name of presents, and the authority +and practice of the East has been adduced as a palliation of the crime. +My Lords, no authority of the East will be a palliation of the breach of +laws enacted in the West: and to those laws of the West, and not the +vicious customs of the East, we insist upon making Mr. Hastings liable. +But do not your Lordships see that this is an entire mistake? that there +never was any custom of the East for it? I do not mean vicious practices +and customs, which it is the business of good laws and good customs to +eradicate. There are three species of presents known in the East,--two +of them payments of money known to be legal, and the other perfectly +illegal, and which has a name exactly expressing it in the manner our +language does. It is necessary that your Lordships should see that Mr. +Hastings has made use of a perversion of the names of authorized gifts +to cover the most abominable and prostituted bribery. The first of those +presents is known in the country by the name of _peshcush_: this +_peshcush_ is a fine paid, upon the grant of lands, to the sovereign, or +whoever grants them. The second is the _nuzzer_, or _nuzzerana_, which +is a tribute of acknowledgment from an inferior to a superior. The last +is called _reshwat_, in the Persian language,--that is to say, a bribe, +or sum of money clandestinely and corruptly taken,--and is as much +distinguished from the others as, in the English language, a fine or +acknowledgment is distinguished from a bribe. To show your Lordships +this, we shall give in evidence, that, whenever a peshcush or fine is +paid, it is a sum of money publicly paid, and paid in proportion to the +grant,--and that the sum is entered upon the very grant itself. We shall +prove the nuzzer is in the same manner entered, and that all legal fees +are indorsed upon the body of the grant for which they are taken: and +that they are no more in the East than in the West any kind of color or +pretence for corrupt acts, which are known by the circumstance of their +being clandestinely taken, and which are acknowledged and confessed to +be illegal and corrupt. Having stated that Mr. Hastings, in some of the +evidence that we shall produce, endeavors to confound these three +things, I am only to remark that the nuzzer is generally a very small +sum of money, that it sometimes amounts to one gold mohur, that +sometimes it is less, and that, in all the records of the Company, I +have never known it exceed one gold mohur, or about thirty-five +shillings,--passing by the fifty gold mohurs which were given to Mr. +Hastings by Cheyt Sing, and a hundred gold mohurs which were given to +the Mogul, as a nuzzer, by Mahomed Ali, Nabob of Arcot. + +The Company, seeing that this nuzzer, though small in each sum, might +amount at last to a large tax upon the country, (and it did so in fact,) +thought proper to prohibit any sum of money to be taken upon any pretext +whatever; and the Company in the year 1775 did expressly explode the +whole doctrine of peshcush, nuzzer, and every other private lucrative +emolument, under whatever name, to be taken by the Governor-General, and +did expressly send out an order that that was the construction of the +act, and that he was not even to take a nuzzer. Thus we shall show that +that act had totally cut up the whole system of bribery and corruption, +and that Mr. Hastings had no sort of color whatever for taking the money +which we shall prove he has taken. + +I know that positive prohibitions, that acts of Parliament, that +covenants, are things of very little validity indeed, as long as all the +means of corruption are left in power, and all the temptations to +corrupt profit are left in poverty. I should really think that the +Company deserved to be ill served, if they had not annexed such +appointments to great trusts as might secure the persons intrusted from +the temptations of unlawful emolument, and, what in all cases is the +greatest security, given a lawful gratification to the natural passions +of men. Matrimony is to be used, as a true remedy against a vicious +course of profligate manners; fair and lawful emoluments, and the just +profits of office, are opposed to the unlawful means which might be made +use of to supply them. For, in truth, I am ready to agree, that for any +man to expect a series of sacrifices without a return in blessings, to +expect labor without a prospect of reward, and fatigue without any means +of securing rest, is an unreasonable demand in any human creature from +another. Those who trust that they shall find in men uncommon and heroic +virtues are themselves endeavoring to have nothing paid them but the +common returns of the worst parts of human infirmity. And therefore I +shall show your Lordships that the Company did provide large, ample, +abundant means for supporting the Governor-General,--that Lord Clive, in +the year 1765, and the Council with him, of which Mr. Sumner, I am glad +and proud to say, was one, did fix such an allowance as they thought a +sufficient security to the Governor-General against the temptations +attendant upon his situation; and therefore, after they had fixed this +sum, they say, "that, although by this means the Governor will not be +able to amass a million or half a million in the space of two or three +years, yet he will acquire a very handsome independency, and be in that +very situation which a man of honor and true zeal for the service would +wish to possess. Thus situated, he may defy all opposition in Council; +he will have nothing to ask, nothing to propose, but what he wishes for +the advantage of his employers; he may defy the law, because there can +be no foundation for a bill of discovery; and he may defy the obloquy of +the world, because there can be nothing censurable in his conduct. In +short, if stability can be insured to such a government as this, where +riches have been acquired in abundance in a small space of time, by all +ways and means, and by men with or without capacities, it must be +effected by a Governor thus restricted,"--that is, a Governor restricted +from every emolument but that of his salary. I must remark, that this +salary and these emoluments were not settled upon the vague speculations +of men taking the measure of their necessities for India from the +manners of England; but it was fixed by the Council themselves,--fixed +in India,--fixed by those who knew and were in the situation of the +Governor-General, and who knew what was necessary to support his dignity +and to preserve him from the temptation of corruption: and they have +laid open to you such a body of advantages arising from it as would lead +any man, who had a regard to his honor or conscience, to think himself +happy in having such a provision made for him, and at the same time +every temptation to act corruptly removed far from him. + +The emoluments of the office, though reduced from the original plan +which Lord Clive had proposed, may be computed at near 30,000_l._ a +year, when Mr. Hastings was President: 22,000_l._ in certain money, and +the rest in other advantages. Whatever it was, I have shown that it was +thought sufficient by those who were the best judges, and who, in +carving for others, were carving for themselves their own allowance at +the time. But, my Lords, I am to give a better opinion of the +sufficiency of that provision to guard against the temptation, out of +Mr. Hastings's own mouth. He says, in his letter to the Court of +Directors, "Although I disclaim the consideration of my own interest in +these speculations, and flatter myself that I proceed upon more liberal +grounds, yet I am proud to avow the feelings of an honest ambition that +stimulates me to aspire at the possession of my present station for +years to come. Those who know my natural turn of mind will not ascribe +this to sordid views. A very few years' possession of the government +would undoubtedly enable me to retire with a fortune amply fitted to the +measure of my desires, were I to consult only my ease: but in my present +situation I feel my mind expand to something greater; I have catched the +desire of applause in public life." + +Here Mr. Hastings confesses that the emoluments affixed to office were +not only sufficient for the purposes and ends which the nature of his +office demanded, and the support of present dignity, but that they were +sufficient to secure him, in a very few years, a comfortable retreat; +but his object in wishing to hold his office long was _to catch applause +in public life_. What an unfortunate man is he, who has so often told +us, in so many places, and through so many mouths, that, after fourteen +years' possession of an office which was to make him a comfortable +fortune in a few years, he is at length bankrupt in fortune, and for his +applause in public life is now at your Lordships' bar, and his accuser +is his country! This, my Lords, is to be unfortunate: but there are some +misfortunes that never do or ever can arrive but through crimes. He was +a deserter from the path of honor. At the turning of the two ways he +made a glorious choice,--he caught at the applause of ambition: which +though I am ready to consent is not virtue, yet surely a generous +ambition for applause for public services in life is one of the best +counterfeits of virtue, and supplies its place in some degree; and it +adds a lustre to real virtue, where it exists as the substratum of it. +Human nature, while it is made as it is, never can wholly repudiate it +for its imperfection, because there is something yet more perfect. But +what shall we say to the deserter of that cause, who, having glory and +honor before him, has chosen to plunge himself into the downward road to +sordid riches? + +My Lords, I have shown the grievances that existed. I have shown the +means that existed to put Mr. Hastings beyond a temptation to those +practices of which we accuse him, even in his own opinion,--if he will +not follow his example in the House of Commons, and disavow this letter, +as he has done his defence before them, and say he never wrote it. That +situation which was to afford him a comfortable fortune in a few years +he has held for many years, and therefore he has not one excuse to make +for himself; but I shall show your Lordships much greater and stronger +proofs, that will lean heavy upon him in the day of your sentence. The +first, the peculiar, trust that was put in him, was to redress all those +grievances. + +My Lords, I have stated to you the condition of India in 1765. You may +suppose that the means that were taken, the regulations that were made +by the Company at that period of time, had operated their effect, and +that by the beginning of the year 1772, when Mr. Hastings came first to +his government, these evils did not then require, perhaps, so vigorous +an example, or so much diligence in putting an end to them; but, my +Lords, I have to show you a very melancholy truth, that, notwithstanding +all these means, the Company was of opinion that all these disorders had +increased, and accordingly they say, without entering into all the +grievous circumstances of this letter, which was wrote on the 10th of +April, 1773, "We wish we could refute the observation, that almost every +attempt made by us and our administration at your Presidency for +reforming abuses has rather increased them, and added to the misery of a +country we are so anxious to protect and cherish." They say, that, "when +oppression pervades the whole country, when youths have been suffered +with impunity to exercise sovereign jurisdiction over the natives, and +to acquire rapid fortunes by monopolizing of commerce, it cannot be a +wonder to us or yourselves that Dadney merchants do not come forward to +contract with the Company, that the manufactures find their way through +foreign channels, or that our investments are at once enormously dear +and of a debased quality. It is evident, then, that the evils which have +been so destructive to us lie too deep for any partial plans to reach or +correct; it is therefore our resolution to aim at the root of those +evils, and we are happy in having reason to believe that in every just +and necessary regulation we shall meet with the approbation and support +of the legislature, who consider the public as materially interested in +the Company's prosperity." + +This is to show your Lordships that Mr. Hastings was armed with great +powers to correct great abuses, and that there was reposed in him a +special trust for that purpose. And now I shall show, by the +twenty-fifth paragraph of the same letter, that they intrusted Mr. +Hastings with this very great power from some particular hope they had, +not only of his abstaining himself, which is a thing taken for granted, +but of his restraining abuses through every part of the service; and +therefore they say, "that, in order to effectuate this great end, the +first step must be to restore perfect obedience and due subordination to +your administration. Our Governor and Council must reassume and exercise +their delegated powers upon every just occasion,--punish delinquents, +cherish the meritorious, discountenance that luxury and dissipation +which, to the reproach of government, prevailed in Bengal. Our +President, Mr. Hastings, we trust, will set the example of temperance, +economy, and application; and upon this, we are sensible, much will +depend. And here we take occasion to indulge the pleasure we have in +acknowledging Mr. Hastings's services upon the coast of Coromandel, in +constructing with equal labor and ability the plan which has so much +improved our investments there; and as we are persuaded he will +persevere in the same laudable pursuit through every branch of our +affairs in Bengal, he, in return, may depend on the steady support and +favor of his employers." Here are not only laws to restrain abuse, here +are not only salaries to prevent the temptation to it, but here are +praises to animate and encourage him, here is what very few men, even +bad in other respects, have resisted,--here is a great trust put in him, +to call upon him with particular vigor and exertion to prevent all +abuses through the settlement, and particularly these abuses of +corruption. Much trust is put in his frugality, his order, his +management of his private affairs; and from thence they hope that he +would not ruin his own fortune, but improve it by honorable means, and +teach the Company's servants the same order and management, in order to +free them from temptation to rapacity in their own particular +situations. There have been known to be men, otherwise corrupt and +vicious, who, when great trust was put in them, have called forth +principles of honor latent in their minds; and men who were nursed, in a +manner, in corruption have been not only great reformers by institution, +but greater reformers by the example of their own conduct. Then I am to +show, that, soon after his coming to that government, there were means +given him instantly of realizing those hopes and expectations, by +putting into his hands several arduous and several difficult +commissions. + +My Lords, in the year 1772 the Company had received alarming advices of +many disorders throughout the country: there were likewise, at the same +time, circumstances in the state of the government upon which they +thought it necessary to make new regulations. The famine which prevailed +in and devastated Bengal, and the ill use that was made of that calamity +to aggravate the distress for the advantage of individuals, produced a +great many complaints, some true, some exaggerated, but universally +spread, as I believe is in the memory of those who are not very young +among us. This obliged the Company to a very serious consideration of an +affair which dishonored and disgraced their government, not only at +home, but through all the countries in Europe, much more than perhaps +even more grievous and real oppressions that were exercised under them. +It had alarmed their feelings, it had been marked, and had called the +attention of the public upon them in an eminent manner. + +Your Lordships remember the death of Jaffier Ali Khân, the first of +those subahs who introduced the English power into Bengal. He died about +four or five years before this period. He was succeeded by two of his +sons, who succeeded to one another in a very rapid succession. The first +was the person of whom we have read an account to you. He was the +natural son of the Nabob by a person called Munny Begum, who, for the +corrupt gifts the circumstances of which we have recited, had, in +prejudice of the lawful issue of the Nabob, been raised to the _musnud_; +but as bastard slips, it is said in King Richard, (an abuse of a +Scripture phrase,) do not take deep root, this bastard slip, Nujim ul +Dowlah, shortly died, and the legitimate son, Syef ul Dowlah, succeeded +him. After him another legitimate son, Mobarek ul Dowlah, succeeded in a +minority. When I say _succeeded_, I wish your Lordships to understand +that there is no regular succession in the office of subah or viceroy +of the kingdom; but, in general, succession has been considered, and +persons have been put in that place upon some principles resembling a +regular succession. That regular succession had been broken in favor of +a natural son, and the mother of that natural son did obtain the +superiority in the female part of the family for a time. + +In consequence of these two circumstances, namely, the famine, and the +abuses that were supposed to arise from it, and from the circumstance of +the minority of Mobarek ul Dowlah, who now reigns or appears to +reign,--in consequence of these two circumstances, the Company gave two +sets of orders. + +The first order related to Mahomed Reza Khân, who was (as your Lordships +remember I took, in the beginning of this affair, means of explaining) +lord-deputy of the province under the native government, the English +holding the dewanny,--and deputy dewan, or high-steward, under the name +of the English, and had the command of the whole revenue; and who was +accused before the Company (the channel of which accusation we now +learn) of having aggravated that famine by a monopoly for his own +benefit. The Company, upon these loose and general charges, ordered that +he should be divested of his office, that he should be brought down to +Calcutta, and there be obliged to render an account of his conduct. + +The next regulation they made was concerning the effective government of +the country, which was become vacant by the removal of Mahomed Reza +Khân. The offices which he held were in effect these: he was guardian to +the Nabob by the appointment of the Company; he had the care and +management of his family; he had the care of the public justice; and he +represented that shadow of government to foreign nations which it was +the policy of the Company, at that time, to keep up. This was the person +whom Mr. Hastings was ordered to remove; in consequence of which removal +all these offices were to be supplied,--of guardian of the Nabob's +person and manager of his family, of chief magistrate, and of +representative of the fallen dignity of the native government to the +foreign nations which traded to Bengal. + +To these orders was added an instruction of a very remarkable nature, +which was a third trust that was given to Mr. Hastings: that during the +Nabob's minority he should reduce the annual allowance, which was +thirty-two lacs, to sixteen; and that to prevent the abuse of this +restricted sum, and to prevent its being directed by the minister's +authority to other purposes than that for which the Company allowed it, +(that is to say, allowed him out of what was his own,) of these sixteen +lacs an account was to be regularly kept, as a check upon the person so +appointed, which account was ordered to be transmitted to Calcutta, and +to be sent to England. + +Now we are to show your Lordships what Mr. Hastings's conduct was upon +all these occasions; and for this we mean to produce testimony recorded +in the Company's books, and authentic documents taken from the public +offices of that country. At the same time I do admit that there never +was a positive testimony that did not stand something in need of the +support of presumption: for, as we know that witnesses may be perjured, +and as we know that documents can be forged, we have recourse to a known +principle in the laws of all countries, that circumstances cannot lie; +and therefore, if the testimony that is given was ever so clear and +positive, yet, if it is contrary to the circumstances of the country, if +it is contrary to the circumstances of the facts to which it alludes, if +the deposition is totally adverse and alien to the characters of the +persons, then I will say, that, though the testimonies should be many, +though they should be consistent, and though they should be clear, yet +they will still leave some degree of hesitation and doubt upon every +mind timorous in the execution of justice, as every mind ought to be. +If, for instance, ten witnesses were to swear that the Chief-Justice of +England, that the Lord High-Chancellor, or the Archbishop of Canterbury, +was seen, in the robes of his function, at noonday, robbing upon the +highway, it is not the clearness, the weight, the authority of +testimonies, that could make me believe it; I should attribute it to any +cause, either corruption, mistake, error, or madness, rather than +believe that fact. Why? Because it is totally alien to the character of +the persons, the situation, the circumstances, and to all the rules of +probability. But if, on the contrary, the crime charged has a perfect +relation with the person, with his known conduct, with his known habits, +with the situation and circumstances of the place that he is in, and +with the very corrupt inherent nature of the act that he does, then much +less proof than we are able to produce will serve; and according to the +nature and strength of the presumptions arising from the inherent nature +of a vicious principle and vicious motives in the act, will be +strengthened the weakest evidence, or, if it comes to a sufficient +height, the whole burden of proof will be turned upon the party +accused. And thus we shall think ourselves bound to show your Lordships, +in every step of this proceeding, that there is an inherent presumption +of corruption in every act. We shall show the presumptions which +preceded, we shall show the presumptions which accompanied the proof; +and these, with the subsequent presumptions, will make it impossible to +disbelieve them. Such a body of proof was never given upon any such +occasion: and it is such proof as will prevail against the whole voice +of corruption, that amazing, active, diligent, spreading voice, which +has been made, by buzzing in every part of this country, sometimes to +sound like the public voice; it will put it to silence, by showing that +your Lordships have proceeded upon the strongest evidence, active and +passive. + +First, Mr. Hastings received a positive order to seize upon Mahomed Reza +Khân. That order he executed with a military promptitude of obedience, +which will show your Lordships what are the services which are congenial +to his own mind, and which find in him always a ready acquiescence, a +faithful agent, and a spirited instrument in the execution. The very day +after he received the order, he sent up, privately, without +communicating with the Council, from whom he was not ordered to keep +this proceeding a secret,--he sent up, and found that great and +respectable man and respectable magistrate, who was in all those high +offices which I have stated: and if I was to compare them to +circumstances and situations in this country, I should say he had united +in himself the character of First Lord of the Treasury, the character of +Chief-Justice, the character of Lord High-Chancellor, and the character +of Archbishop of Canterbury: a man of great gravity, dignity, and +authority, and advanced in years; had once 100,000_l._ a year for the +support of his dignity, and had at that time 50,000_l._ This man, +sitting in his garden, reposing himself after the toils of his +situation, (for he was one of the most laborious men in the world,) was +suddenly arrested, and, without a moment's respite, dragged down to +Calcutta, and there by Mr. Hastings (exceeding the orders of the +Company) confined near two years under a guard of soldiers. Mr. Hastings +kept this great man for several months without even attempting the trial +upon him. How he tried him afterwards your Lordships may probably in the +course of this business inquire; and you will then judge, from the +circumstances of that trial, that, as he was not tried for his crime, so +neither was he acquitted for his innocence;--but at present I leave him +in that situation. Mr. Hastings, unknown to the Council, having executed +the orders of the Company in the last degree of rigor to this unhappy +man, keeps him in that situation, without a trial, under a guard, +separated from his country, disgraced and dishonored, and by Mr. +Hastings's express order not suffered either to make a visit or receive +a visitor. + +There was another commission for Mr. Hastings contained in these orders. +The Company, because they were of opinion that justice could not be +easily obtained while the first situations of the country were filled +with this man's adherents, desired Mr. Hastings to displace them: +leaving him a very large power, and confiding in his justice, prudence, +and impartiality not to abuse a trust of such delicacy. But we shall +prove to your Lordships that Mr. Hastings thought it necessary to turn +out, from the highest to the lowest, several hundreds of people, for no +other reason than that they had been put in their employments by that +very man whom the English government had formerly placed there. If _we_ +were to insist that we could not possibly try Mr. Hastings, or come at +his wickedness, until we had eradicated his influence in Bengal, and +left not one man in it who was during his government in any place or +office whatever, yet, though we should readily admit that we could not +do the whole without it, at the same time, rather than make a general +massacre of every person presumed to be under his influence, we would +leave some of his crimes unproved. He did avow and declare, that, unless +he turned all these persons out of their offices, he could never hope to +come at the truth of any charges against Mahomed Reza Khân, against whom +no specific charge had been made. Yet, upon loose and general charges, +did he seize upon this man, confine him in this manner, and every person +who derived any place or authority from him, high or low, was turned +out. Mr. Hastings had in the Company's orders something to justify him +in rigor, but he had likewise a prudential power over that rigor; and he +not only treated this man in the manner described, but every human +creature connected with him, as if they had been all guilty, without any +charge whatever against them. These are his reasons for taking this +extraordinary step. + +"I pretend not to enter into the views of others. My own were these. +Mahomed Reza Khân's influence still prevailed generally throughout the +country. In the Nabob's household, and at the capital, it was scarce +affected by his present disgrace. His favor was still courted, and his +anger dreaded. Who, under such discouragements, would give information +or evidence against him? His agents and creatures filled every office of +the nizamut and dewanny. How was the truth of his conduct to be +investigated by these? It would be superfluous to add other arguments to +show the necessity of prefacing the inquiry by breaking his influence, +removing his dependants, and putting the direction of all the affairs +which had been committed to his care into the hands of the most powerful +or active of his enemies." + +My Lords, if _we_ of the House of Commons were to desire and to compel +the East India Company, or to address the crown, to remove, according to +their several situations and several capacities, every creature that had +been put into office by Mr. Hastings, because we could otherwise make no +inquiry into his conduct, should we not be justified by his own example +in insisting upon the removal of every creature of the reigning power +before we could inquire into his conduct? We have not done that, though +we feel, as he felt, great disadvantages in proceeding in the inquiry +while every situation in Bengal is notoriously held by his +creatures,--always excepting the first of all, but which we could show +is nothing under such circumstances. Then what do I infer from +this,--from his obedience to the orders of the Company, carried so much +beyond necessity, and prosecuted with so much rigor,--from the inquiry +being suspended for so long a time,--from every person in office being +removed from his situation,--from all these precautions being used as +prefatory to the inquiry, when he himself says, that, after he had used +all these means, he found not the least benefit and advantage from them? +The use I mean to make of this is, to let your Lordships see the great +probability and presumption that Mr. Hastings, finding himself in the +very selfsame situation that had occurred the year before, when +Nundcomar was sold to Mahomed Reza Khân, of selling Mahomed Reza Khân to +Nundcomar, made a corrupt use of it, and that, as Mahomed Reza Khân was +not treated with severity for his crimes, so neither was he acquitted +for his innocence. The Company had given Mr. Hastings severe orders, and +very severely had he executed them. The Company gave him no orders not +to institute a present inquiry; but he, under pretence of business, +neglected that inquiry, and suffered this man to languish in prison to +the utter ruin of his fortune. + +We have in part shown your Lordships what Mr. Hastings's own manner of +proceeding with regard to a public delinquent is; but at present we +leave Mahomed Reza Khân where he was. Do your Lordships think that there +is no presumption of Mr. Hastings having a corrupt view in this +business, and of his having put this great man, who was supposed to be +of immense wealth, under contributions? Mr. Hastings never trusted his +colleagues in this proceeding; and what reason does he give? Why, he +supposed that they must be bribed by Mahomed Reza Khân. "For," says he, +"as I did not know their characters at that time, I did not know whether +Mahomed Reza Khân had not secured them to his interest by the known ways +in which great men in the East secure men to their interest." He never +trusted his colleagues with the secret; and the person that he employed +to prosecute Mahomed Reza Khân was his bitter enemy, Nundcomar. I will +not go the length of saying that the circumstance of enmity disables a +person from being a prosecutor; under some circumstances it renders a +man incompetent to be a witness; but this I know, that the circumstance +of having no other person to rely upon in a charge against any man but +his enemy, and of having no other principle to go upon than what is +supposed to be derived out of that enmity, must form some considerable +suspicion against the proceeding. But in this he was justified by the +Company; for Nundcomar, the great rival of Mahomed Reza Khân, was in the +worst situation with the Company as to his credit. This Nundcomar's +politics in the country had been by Mr. Hastings himself, and by several +persons joined with him, cruelly represented to the Company; and +accordingly he stood so ill with them, by reason of Mr. Hastings's +representations and those of his predecessors, that the Company ordered +and directed, that, if he could be of any use in the inquiry into +Mahomed Reza Khân's conduct, some reward should be given him suitable to +his services; but they caution Mr. Hastings at the same time against +giving him any trust which he might employ to the disadvantage of the +Company. Now Mr. Hastings began, before he could experience any service +from him, by giving him his reward, and not the base reward of a base +service, _money_, but every trust and power which he was prohibited from +giving him. Having turned out every one of Mahomed Reza Khân's +dependants, he filled every office, as he avows, with the creatures of +Nundcomar. Now when he uses a cruel and rigorous obedience in the case +of Mahomed Reza Khân, when he breaks through the principles of his +former conduct with regard to Nundcomar, when he gives _him_, Nundcomar, +trust, whom he was cautioned not to trust, and when he gives him that +reward before any service could be done,--I say, when he does this, in +violation of the Company's orders and his own principles, it is the +strongest evidence that he now found them in the situation in which they +were in 1765, when bribes were notoriously taken, and that each party +was mutually sold to the other, and faith kept with neither. The +situation in which Mr. Hastings thus placed himself should have been +dreaded by him of all things, because he knew it was a situation in +which the most outrageous corruption had taken place before. + +There is another circumstance which serves to show that in the +persecution of these great men, and the persons employed by them, he +could have no other view than to extort money from them. There was a +person of the name of Shitab Roy, who had a great share in the conduct +of the revenues of Bahar. Mr. Hastings, in the letter to the Company, +complaining of the state of their affairs, and saying that there were +great and suspicious balances in the kingdom of Bahar, does not even +name the name of Shitab Roy. There was an English counsellor, a +particular friend of Mr. Hastings's, there, under whose control Shitab +Roy acted. Without any charges, without any orders from the Company, Mr. +Hastings dragged down that same Shitab Roy, and in the same ignominious +prison he kept him the same length of time, that is, one year and three +months, without trial; and when the trial came on, there was as much +appearance of collusion in the trial as there was of rigor in the +previous process. This is the manner in which Mr. Hastings executed the +command of the Company for removing Mahomed Reza Khân. + +When a successor to Mahomed Reza Khân was to be appointed, your +Lordships naturally expect, from the character I have given of him, and +from the nature of his functions, that Mr. Hastings would be +particularly precise, would use the utmost possible care in nominating a +person to succeed him, who might fulfil the ends and objects of his +employment, and be at the same time beyond all doubt and suspicion of +corruption in any way whatever. Let us now see how he fills up that +office thus vacant. When the Company ordered Mahomed Reza Khân to be +dispossessed of his office, they ordered at the same time that the +salary of his successor should be reduced: that 30,000_l._ was a +sufficient recompense for that office. Your Lordships will see by the +allowance for the office, even reduced as it was, that they expected +some man of great eminence, of great consequence, and fit for those +great and various trusts. They cut off the dewanny from it, that is, the +collection of the revenues; and having lessened his labors, they +lessened his reward.--They ordered that this person, who was to be +guardian of the Nabob in his minority, and who was to represent the +government, should have but 30,000_l._ The order they give is this. + +"And that as Mahomed Reza Khân can no longer be considered by us as one +to whom such a power can safely be committed, we trust to your local +knowledge the selection of some person well qualified for the affairs of +government, and of whose attachment to the Company you shall be well +assured. Such person you will recommend to the Nabob, to succeed Mahomed +Reza, as minister of the government, and guardian of the Nabob's +minority; and we persuade ourselves that the Nabob will pay such regard +to your recommendation as to invest him with the necessary power and +authority. + +"As the advantages which the Company may receive from the appointment of +such minister will depend on his readiness to promote our views and +advance our interest, we are willing to allow him so liberal a +gratification as may excite his zeal and insure his attachment to the +Company; we therefore empower you to grant to the person whom you shall +think worthy of this trust an annual allowance not exceeding three lacs +of rupees, which we consider not only as a munificent reward for any +services he shall render the Company, but sufficient to enable him to +support his station with suitable rank and dignity. And here we must +add, that, in the choice you shall make of a person to be the active +minister of the Nabob's government, we hope and trust that you will show +yourselves worthy of the confidence we have placed in you by being +actuated therein by no other motives than those of the public good and +the safety and interest of the Company." + +My Lords, here they have given a reward, and they have described a +person fit to succeed in all capacities the man whom they had thought +fit to depose. Now, as we have seen how Mr. Hastings obeyed the +Company's orders in the manner of removing Mahomed Reza Khân from his +office, let us see how he obeyed their order for filling it up. Your +Lordships will naturally suppose that he made all the orders of +Mahometan and Hindoo princes to pass in strict review before him; that +he had considered their age, authority, dignity, the goodness of their +manners; and upon the collation of all these circumstances had chosen a +person fit to be a regent to guard the Nabob's minority from all +rapacity whatever, and fit to instruct him in everything. I will give +your Lordships Mr. Hastings's own idea of the person necessary to fill +such offices. + +"That his rank ought to be such as at least ought not to wound the +Nabob's honor, or lessen his credit in the estimation of the people, by +the magisterial command which the new guardian must exercise over +him,--with abilities and vigor of mind equal to the support of that +authority; and the world will expect that the guardian be especially +qualified by his own acquired endowments to discharge the duties of that +relation in the education of his young pupil, to inspire him with +sentiments suitable to his birth, and to instruct him in the principles +of his religion." + +This, upon another occasion, is Mr. Hastings's sense of the man who +ought to be placed in that situation of trust in which the Company +ordered him to place him. Did Mr. Hastings obey that order? No, my +Lords, he appointed no man to fill that office. What, no man at all? No, +he appointed no person at all in the sense which is mentioned there, +which constantly describes a person at least of the male sex: he +appointed a woman to fill that office; he appointed a woman, in a +country where no woman can be seen, where no woman can be spoken to by +any one without a curtain between them; for all these various duties, +requiring all these qualifications described by himself, he appointed a +woman. Do you want more proof than this violent transgression of the +Company's orders upon that occasion that some corrupt motive must have +influenced him? + +My Lords, it is necessary for me to state the situation of the family, +that you may judge from thence of the corrupt motives of Mr. Hastings's +proceedings. The Nabob Jaffier Ali Khân had among the women of his +seraglio a person called Munny Begum. She was a dancing-girl, whom he +had seen at some entertainment; and as he was of a licentious turn, this +dancing-girl, in the course of her profession as a prostitute, so far +inveigled the Nabob, that, having a child or pretending to have had a +child by him, he brought her into the seraglio; and the Company's +servants sold to that son the succession of that father. This woman had +been sold as a slave,--her profession a dancer, her occupation a +prostitute. And, my Lords, this woman having put her natural son, as we +state, and shall prove, in the place of the legitimate offspring of the +Nabob, having got him placed by the Company's servants on the musnud, +she came to be at the head of that part of the household which relates +to the women: which is a large and considerable trust in a country where +polygamy is admitted, and where women of great rank may possibly be +attended by two thousand of the same sex in inferior situations. As soon +as the legitimate son of the Nabob came to the musnud, there was no +ground for keeping this woman any longer in that situation; and upon an +application of the Company to Mahomed Reza Khân to know who ought to +have the right of superiority, he answered, as he ought to have done, +that, though all the women of the seraglio ought to have honor, yet the +mother of the Nabob ought to have the superiority of it. Therefore this +woman was removed, and the mother of the Nabob was placed in her +situation. In that situation Mr. Hastings found the seraglio. If his +duties had gone no further than the regulation of an Eastern household, +he ought to have kept the Nabob's mother there by the rules of that +country. + +What did he do? Not satisfied with giving to this prostitute every favor +that she could desire, (and money must be the natural object of such a +person,) Mr. Hastings deposes the Nabob's own mother, turns her out of +the employment, and puts at the head of the seraglio this prostitute, +who at the best, in relation to him, could only be a step-mother. If you +heard no more, do your Lordships want anything further to convince you +that this must be a violent, atrocious, and corrupt act,--suppose it had +gone no further than the seraglio? But when I call this woman a +dancing-girl, I state something lower than Europeans have an idea of +respecting that situation. She was born a slave, bred a dancing-girl. +Her dancing was not any of those noble and majestic movements which make +part of the entertainment of the most wise, of the education of the most +virtuous, which improve the manners without corrupting the morals of all +civilized people, and of which, among uncivilized people, the professors +have their due share of admiration; but these dances were not decent to +be seen nor fit to be related. I shall pass them by. Your Lordships are +to suppose the lowest degree of infamy in occupation and situation, when +I tell you that Munny Begum was a slave and a dancing-girl. + +The history of the Munny Begum is this. "At a village called Balkonda, +near Sekundra, there lived a widow, who, from her great poverty, not +being able to bring up her daughter Munny, gave her to a slave-girl +belonging to Summin Ali Khân, whose name was Bissoo. During the space of +five years she lived at Shahjehanabad, and was educated by Bissoo after +the manner of a dancing-girl. Afterwards the Nabob Shamut Jung, upon +the marriage of Ikram ul Dowlah, brother to the Nabob Surajah ul Dowlah, +sent for Bissoo Beg's set of dancing-girls from Shahjehanabad, of which +Munny Begum was one, and allowed them ten thousand rupees for their +expenses, to dance at the wedding. While the ceremony was celebrating, +they were kept by the Nabob; but some months afterwards he dismissed +them, and they took up their residence in this city. Mir Mahomed Jaffier +Khân then took them into keeping, and allowed Munny and her set five +hundred rupees per month, till at length, finding that Munny was +pregnant, he took her into his own house. She gave birth to the Nabob +Nujim ul Dowlah, and in this manner has she remained in the Nabob's +family ever since." + +Now it required a very peculiar mode of selection to take such a woman, +so circumstanced, (resembling whom there was not just such another,) to +depose the Nabob's own mother from the superiority of the household, and +to substitute this woman. It would have been an abominable abuse, and +would have implied corruption in the grossest degree, if Mr. Hastings +had stopped there. He not only did this, but he put _her_, this woman, +in the very place of Mahomed Reza Khân: he made her guardian, he made +her regent, he made her viceroy, he made her the representative of the +native government of the country in the eyes of strangers. There was not +a trust, not a dignity in the country, which he did not put, during the +minority of this unhappy person, her step-son, into the hands of this +woman. + +Reject, if you please, the strong presumption of corruption in +disobeying the order of the Company directing him to select a _man_ fit +to supply the place of Mahomed Reza Khân, to exercise all the great and +arduous functions of government and of justice, as well as the +regulation of the Nabob's household; and then I will venture to say, +that neither your Lordships, nor any man living, when he hears of this +appointment, does or can hesitate a moment in concluding that it is the +result of corruption, and that you only want to be informed what the +corruption was. Here is such an arrangement as I believe never was +before heard of: a secluded woman in the place of a man of the world; a +fantastic dancing-girl in the place of a grave magistrate; a slave in +the place of a woman of quality; a common prostitute made to superintend +the education of a young prince; and a step-mother, a name of horror in +all countries, made to supersede the natural mother from whose body the +Nabob had sprung. + +These are circumstances that leave no doubt of the grossest and most +flagrant corruption. But was there no application made to Mr. Hastings +upon that occasion? The Nabob's uncle, whom Mr. Hastings declares to be +a man of no dangerous ambition, no alarming parts, no one quality that +could possibly exclude him from that situation, makes an application to +Mr. Hastings for that place, and was by Mr. Hastings rejected. The +reason he gives for his rejection is, because he cannot put any man in +it without danger to the Company, who had ordered him to put a man into +it. One would imagine the trust to be placed in him was such as enabled +him to overturn the Company in a moment. Now the situation in which the +Nabob's uncle, Yeteram ul Dowlah, would have been placed was this: he +would have had no troops, he would have had no treasury, he would have +had no collections of revenue, nothing, in short, that could have made +him dangerous, but he would have been an absolute pensioner and +dependant upon the Company, though in high office; and the least attempt +to disturb the Company, instead of increasing, would have been +subversive of his own power. If Mr. Hastings should still insist that +there might be danger from the appointment of a man, we shall prove that +he was of opinion that there could be no danger from any one,--that the +Nabob himself was a mere shadow, a cipher, and was kept there only to +soften the English government in the eyes and opinion of the natives. + +My Lords, I will detail these circumstances no further, but will bring +some collateral proofs to show that Mr. Hastings was at that very time +conscious of the wicked and corrupt act he was doing. For, besides this +foolish principle of policy, which he gives as a reason for defying the +orders of the Company, and for insulting the country, that had never +before seen a woman in that situation, and _his_ declaration to the +Company, that their government cannot be supported by private justice, +(a favorite maxim, which he holds upon all occasions,) besides these +reasons which he gave for his politic injustice, he gives the following. +The Company had ordered that 30,000_l._ should be given to the person +appointed. He knew that the Company could never dream of giving this +woman 30,000_l._ a year, and he makes use of that circumstance to +justify him in putting her in that place: for he says, the Company, in +the distressed state of its affairs, could never mean to give 30,000_l._ +a year for the office which they order to be filled; and accordingly, +upon principles of economy, as well as upon principles of prudence, he +sees there could be no occasion for giving this salary, and that it will +be saved to the Company. But no sooner had he given her the appointment +than that appointment became a ground for giving her that money. The +moment he had appointed her, he overturns the very principle upon which +he had appointed her, and gives the 30,000_l._ to her, and the officers +under her, saving not one shilling to the Company by this infamous +measure, which he justified only upon the principle of economy. The +30,000_l._ was given, the principle of economy vanished, a shocking +arrangement was made, and Bengal saw a dancing-girl administering its +justice, presiding over all its remaining power, wealth, and influence, +exhibiting to the natives of the country their miserable state of +degradation, and the miserable dishonor of the English Company in Mr. +Hastings's abandonment of all his own pretences. + +But there is a still stronger presumption. The Company ordered that this +person, who was to have the management of the Nabob's revenue, and who +was to be his guardian, should keep a strict account, which account +should be annually transmitted to the Presidency, and by the Presidency +to Europe; and the purpose of it was, to keep a control upon the reduced +expenses of the sixteen lac which were ordered in the manner I +mentioned. Your Lordships will naturally imagine that that control was +kept safe. No, here is the order of the Directors, and you will see how +Mr. Hastings obeyed it. + +"As the disbursement of the sums allotted to the Nabob for the +maintenance of his household and family and the support of his dignity +will pass through the hands of the minister who shall be selected by +you, conformable to our preceding orders, we expect that you will +require such minister to deliver annually to your board a regular and +exact account of the application of the several sums paid by the Company +to the Nabob. This you will strictly examine; and we trust that you will +not suffer any part of the Nabob's stipend to be appropriated to the +minister's own use, or wasted among the unnecessary dependants of the +court, but that the whole amount be applied to the purposes for which it +was assigned by us." + +One would have imagined, that, after Mr. Hastings had made so suspicious +an arrangement, (I will not call it by any worse name,) he would have +removed all suspicion with regard to money,--that he would have obeyed +the Company by constituting the control which they had ordered to be +placed over a man, even a fit man, and a man worthy of the trust +committed to him. But what is his answer, when three years after he is +desired to produce this account? His answer is,--"I can save the board +the trouble of this reference by acquainting them that no such accounts +have ever been transmitted, nor, as I can affirm with most certain +knowledge, any orders given for that purpose, either to Gourdas, to +whose office it did not properly belong, nor to the Begum, who had the +actual charge and responsibility of those disbursements." + +He has given to this woman the charge of all the disbursements of the +Company; the officer whom you would imagine would be responsible was not +responsible, but to this prostitute and dancing-girl the whole of the +revenue was given; when he was ordered to transmit that account, he not +only did not produce that account, but had given no order that it +should be kept: so that no doubt can be left upon your Lordships' minds, +that the sixteen lac, which were reserved for the support of the dignity +of the government of that country, were employed for the purpose of Mr. +Hastings's having a constant bank, from which he should draw every +corrupt emolument he should think fit for himself and his associates. +Thus your Lordships see that he appointed an improper person to the +trust without any control, and that the very accounts which were to be +the guardians of his purity, and which were to remove suspicion from +him, he never so much as directed or ordered. If any one can doubt that +that transaction was in itself corrupt, I can only say that his mind +must be constituted in a manner totally different from that which +prevails in any of the higher or lower branches of judicature in any +country in the world. The suppression of an account is a proof of +corruption. + +When Mr. Hastings committed these acts of violence against Mahomed Reza +Khân, when he proceeded to make arrangements in the Company's affairs of +the same kind with those in which corruption had been before exercised, +he was bound by a particular responsibility that there should be nothing +mysterious in his own conduct, and that at least all the accounts should +be well kept. He appointed a person nominally for that +situation,--namely, the Rajah Gourdas. Who was he? A person acting, he +says, under the influence of Rajah Nundcomar, whom he had declared was +not fit to be employed or trusted: all the offices were filled by him. +But had Rajah Gourdas, whose character is that of an excellent man, +against whom there could lie no reasonable objection on account of his +personal character, and whose want of talents was to be supplied by +those of Nundcomar, (and of _his_ parts Mr. Hastings spoke as highly as +possible,)--had he, I say, the management? No: but Munny Begum. Did she +keep any accounts? No. + +Mr. Hastings was ordered, and a very disagreeable and harsh order it +was, to take away one half of the Nabob's allowance which he had by +treaty. I do not charge Mr. Hastings with this reduction: he had nothing +to do with that. Sixteen lac were cut off, and sixteen left; these two +sums had been distributed, one for the support of the seraglio and the +dignity of the state, the other for the court establishment and the +household. The sixteen lac which was left, therefore, required to be +well economized, and well administered. There was a rigor in the +Company's order relative to it, which was, that it should take place +from an antedated time, that is, a whole year prior to the communication +of their order to the Nabob. The order was, that the Nabob's stipend +should be reduced to sixteen lac a year from the month of January. Mr. +Hastings makes this reflection upon it, in order to leave no doubt upon +your mind of his integrity in administering that great trust: he says,-- + +"Your order for the reduction of the Nabob's stipend was communicated to +him in the month of December, 1771. He remonstrated against it, and +desired it might be again referred to the Company. The board entirely +acquiesced in his remonstrance, and the subsequent payments of his +stipend were paid as before. I might easily have availed myself of this +plea. I might have treated it as an act of the past government, with +which I had no cause to interfere, and joined in asserting the +impossibility of his defraying the vast expense of his court and +household without it, which I could have proved by plausible arguments, +drawn from the actual amount of the nizamut and bhela establishments; +and both the Nabob and Begum would have liberally purchased my +forbearance. Instead of pursuing this plan, I carried your orders +rigidly and literally into execution. I undertook myself the laborious +and reproachful task of limiting his charges, from an excess of his +former stipend, to the sum of his reduced allowance." + +He says in another place,--"The stoppage of the king's tribute was an +act of mine, and I have been often reproached with it. It was certainly +in my power to have continued the payment of it, and to have made my +terms with the king for any part of it which I might have chosen to +reserve for my own use. He would have thanked me for the remainder." + +My Lords, I believe it is a singular thing, and what your Lordships have +been very little used to, to see a man in the situation of Mr. Hastings, +or in any situation like it, so ready in knowing all the resources by +which sinister emolument may be made and concealed, and which, under +pretences of public good, may be transferred into the pocket of him who +uses those pretences. He is resolved, if he is innocent, that his +innocence shall not proceed from ignorance. He well knows the ways of +falsifying the Company's accounts; he well knows the necessities of the +natives, and he knows that by paying a part of their dues they will be +ready to give an acquittance of the whole. These are parts of Mr. +Hastings's knowledge of which your Lordships will see he also well +knows how to avail himself. + +But you would expect, when he reduced the allowance to sixteen lac, and +took credit to himself as if he had done the thing which he professed, +and had argued from his rigor and cruelty his strict and literal +obedience to the Company, that he had in reality done it. The very +reverse: for it will be in proof, that, after he had pretended to reduce +the Company's allowance, he continued it a twelvemonth from the day in +which he said he had entirely executed it, to the amount of 90,000_l._, +and entered a false account of the suppression in the Company's +accounts; and when he has taken a credit as under pretence of reducing +that allowance, he paid 90,000_l._ more than he ought. Can you, then, +have a doubt, after all these false pretences, after all this fraud, +fabrication, and suppression which he made use of, that that 90,000_l._, +of which he kept no account and transmitted no account, was money given +to himself for his own private use and advantage? + +This is all that I think necessary to state to your Lordships upon this +monstrous part of the arrangement; and therefore, from his rigorous +obedience in cases of cruelty, and, where control was directed, from his +total disobedience, and from his choice of persons, from his suppression +of the accounts that ought to have been produced, and falsifying the +accounts that were kept, there arises a strong inference of corruption. +When your Lordships see all this in proof, your Lordships will justify +me in saying that there never was (taking every part of the arrangement) +such a direct, open violation of any trust.--I shall say no more with +regard to the appointment of Munny Begum. + +My Lords, here ended the first scene, and here ends that body of +presumption arising from the transaction and inherent in it. My Lords, +the next scene that I am to bring before you is the positive proof of +corruption in this transaction, in which I am sure you already see that +corruption must exist. The charge was brought by a person in the highest +trust and confidence with Mr. Hastings, a person employed in the +management of the whole transaction, a person to whom the management, +subordinate to Munny Begum, of all the pecuniary transactions, and all +the arrangements made upon that occasion, was intrusted. + +On the 11th day of March, 1775, Nundcomar gives to Mr. Francis, a member +of the Council, a charge against Mr. Hastings, consisting of two parts. +The first of these charges was a vast number of corrupt dealings, with +respect to which he was the informer, not the witness, but to which he +indicated the modes of inquiry; and they are corrupt dealings, as Mr. +Hastings himself states them, amounting to millions of rupees, and in +transactions every one of which implies in it the strongest degree of +corruption. The next part was of those to which he was not only an +informer, but a witness, in having been the person who himself +transmitted the money to Mr. Hastings and the agents of Mr. Hastings; +and accordingly, upon this part, which is the only part we charge, his +evidence is clear and full, that he gave the money to Mr. Hastings,--he +and the Begum (for I put them together). He states, that Mr. Hastings +received for the appointment of Munny Begum to the rajahship two lacs of +rupees, or about 22,000_l._, and that he received in another gross sum +one lac and a half of rupees: in all making three lac and a half, or +about 36,000_l._ This charge was signed by the man, and accompanied with +the account. + +Mr. Hastings, on that day, made no reflection or observation whatever +upon this charge, except that he attempted to excite some suspicion that +Mr. Francis, who had produced it, was concerned in the charge, and was +the principal mover in it. He asks Mr. Francis that day this question:-- + +"The Governor-General observes, as Mr. Francis has been pleased to +inform the board that he was unacquainted with the contents of the +letter sent in to the board by Nundcomar, that he thinks himself +justified in carrying his curiosity further than he should have +permitted himself without such a previous intimation, and therefore begs +leave to ask Mr. Francis whether he was before this acquainted with +Nundcomar's intention of bringing such charges against him before the +board. + +"_Mr. Francis._--As a member of this Council, I do not deem myself +obliged to answer any question of mere curiosity. I am willing, however, +to inform the Governor-General, that, though I was totally unacquainted +with the contents of the paper I have now delivered in to the board till +I heard it read, I did apprehend in general that it contained some +charge against him. It was this apprehension that made me so +particularly cautious in the manner of receiving the Rajah's letter. I +was not acquainted with Rajah Nundcomar's intention of bringing in such +charges as are mentioned in the letter. + + "Warren Hastings. + J. Clavering. + Geo. Monson. + P. Francis." + +Now what the duty of Mr. Hastings and the Council was, upon receiving +such information, I shall beg leave to state to your Lordships from the +Company's orders; but, before I read them, I must observe, that, in +pursuance of an act of Parliament, which was supposed to be made upon +account of the neglect of the Company, as well as the neglects of their +servants, and for which general neglects responsibility was fixed upon +the Company for the future, while for the present their authority was +suspended, and a Parliamentary commission sent out to regulate their +affairs, the Company did, upon that occasion, send out a general code +and body of instructions to be observed by their servants, in the 35th +paragraph of which it is said,-- + +"We direct that you immediately cause the strictest inquiry to be made +into all oppressions which may have been committed either against the +natives or Europeans, and into all abuses that may have prevailed in the +collection of the revenues, or any part of the civil government of the +Presidency: and that you communicate to us all information which you may +be able to learn relative thereto, or to any dissipation or embezzlement +of the Company's money." + +Your Lordships see here that there is a direct duty fixed upon them to +forward, to promote, to set on foot, without exception of any persons +whatever, an inquiry into all manner of corruption, peculation, and +oppression. Therefore this charge of Nundcomar's was a case exactly +within the Company's orders; such a charge was not sought out, but was +actually laid before them; but if it had not been actually laid before +them, if they had any reason to suspect that such corruptions existed, +they were bound by this order to make an active inquiry into them. + +Upon that day (11th March, 1775) nothing further passed; and, on the +part of Mr. Hastings, that charge, as far as we can find, might have +stood upon the records forever, without his making the smallest +observation upon it, or taking any one step to clear his own character. +But Nundcomar was not so inattentive to his duties as an accuser as Mr. +Hastings was to his duties as an inquirer; for, without a moment's +delay, upon the first board-day, two days after, Nundcomar came and +delivered the following letter. + +"I had the honor to lay before you, in a letter of the 11th instant, an +abstracted, but true account of the Honorable Governor in the course of +his administration. What is there written I mean not the least to alter: +far from it. I have the strongest written vouchers to produce in support +of what I have advanced; and I wish and entreat, for my honor's sake, +that you will suffer me to appear before you, to establish the fact by +an additional, incontestable evidence." + +My Lords, I will venture to say, if ever there was an accuser that +appeared well and with weight before any court, it was this man. He does +not shrink from his charge; he offered to meet the person he charged +face to face, and to make good his charge by his own evidence, and +further evidence that he should produce. Your Lordships have also seen +the conduct of Mr. Hastings on the first day; you have seen his +acquiescence under it; you have seen the suspicion he endeavored to +raise. Now, before I proceed to what Mr. Hastings thought of it, I must +remark upon this accusation, that it is a specific accusation, coming +from a person knowing the very transaction, and known to be concerned in +it,--that it was an accusation in writing, that it was an accusation +with a signature, that it was an accusation with a person to make it +good, that it was made before a competent authority, and made before an +authority bound to inquire into such accusation. When he comes to +produce his evidence, he tells you, first, the sums of money given, the +species in which they were given, the very bags in which they were put, +the exchange that was made by reducing them to the standard money of the +country; he names all the persons through whose hands the whole +transaction went, eight in number, besides himself, Munny Begum, and +Gourdas, being eleven, all referred to in this transaction. I do believe +that since the beginning of the world there never was an accusation +which was more deserving of inquiry, because there never was an +accusation which put a false accuser in a worse situation, and that put +an honest defendant in a better; for there was every means of collation, +every means of comparison, every means of cross-examining, every means +of control. There was every way of sifting evidence, in which evidence +could be sifted. Eleven witnesses to the transaction are referred to; +all the particulars of the payment, every circumstance that could give +the person accused the advantage of showing the falsehood of the +accusation, were specified. General accusations may be treated as +calumnies; but particular accusations, like these, afford the defendant, +if innocent, every possible means for making his defence: therefore the +very making no defence at all would prove, beyond all doubt, a +consciousness of guilt. + +The next thing for your Lordships' consideration is the conduct of Mr. +Hastings upon this occasion. You would imagine that he would have +treated the accusation with a cold and manly disdain; that he would +have challenged and defied inquiry, and desired to see his accuser face +to face. This is what any man would do in such a situation. I can +conceive very well that a man composed, firm, and collected in himself, +conscious of not only integrity, but known integrity, conscious of a +whole life beyond the reach of suspicion,--that a man placed in such a +situation might oppose general character to general accusation, and +stand collected in himself, poised on his own base, and defying all the +calumnies in the world. But as it shows a great and is a proof of a +virtuous mind to despise calumny, it is the proof of a guilty mind to +despise a specific accusation, when made before a competent authority, +and with competent means to prove it. As Mr. Hastings's conduct was what +no man living expected, I will venture to say that no expression can do +it justice but his own. Upon reading the letter, and a motion being made +that Rajah Nundcomar be brought before the board to prove the charge +against the Governor-General, the Governor-General enters the following +minute. + +"Before the question is put, I declare that I will not suffer Nundcomar +to appear before the board as my accuser. I know what belongs to the +dignity and character of the first member of this administration. I will +not sit at this board in the character of a criminal, nor do I +acknowledge the members of this board to be my judges. I am reduced on +this occasion to make the declaration, that I look upon General +Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis as my accusers. I cannot +prove this in the direct letter of the law, but in my conscience I +regard them as such, and I will give my reasons for it. On their arrival +at this place, and on the first formation of the Council, they thought +proper to take immediate and decisive measures in contradiction and for +the repeal of those which were formed by me in conjunction with the last +administration. I appealed to the Court of Directors from their acts. +Many subsequent letters have been transmitted both by them and by me to +the Court of Directors: by me, in protestation against their conduct; by +them, in justification of it. Quitting this ground, they since appear to +me to have chosen other modes of attack, apparently calculated to divert +my attention and to withdraw that of the public from the subject of our +first differences, which regarded only the measures that were necessary +for the good of the service, to attacks directly and personally levelled +at me for matters which tend to draw a personal and popular odium upon +me: and fit instruments they have found for their purpose,--Mr. Joseph +Fowke, Mahrajah Nundcomar, Roopnarain Chowdry, and the Ranny of Burdwan. + +"It appears incontestably upon the records that the charges preferred by +the Ranny against me proceeded from the office of Mr. Fowke. All the +papers transmitted by her came in their original form written in the +English language,--some with Persian papers, of which they were supposed +to be translations, but all strongly marked with the character and idiom +of the English language. I applied on Saturday last for Persian +originals of some of the papers sent by her, and I was refused: I am +justified in declaring my firm belief that no such originals exist. + +"With respect to Nundcomar's accusations, they were delivered by the +hands of Mr. Francis, who has declared that he was called upon by Rajah +Nundcomar, as a duty belonging to his office as a councillor of this +state, to lay the packet which contained them before the board,--that he +conceived that he could not, consistent with his duty, refuse such a +letter at the instance of a person of the Rajah's rank, and did +accordingly receive it, and laid it before the board,--declaring at the +same time that he was unacquainted with the contents of it. I believe +that the Court of Directors, and those to whom those proceedings shall +be made known, will think differently of this action of Mr. Francis: +that Nundcomar was guilty of great insolence and disrespect in the +demand which he made of Mr. Francis; and that it was not a duty +belonging to the office of a councillor of this state to make himself +the carrier of a letter, which would have been much more properly +committed to the hands of a peon or hircarra, or delivered by the writer +of it to the secretary himself. + +"Mr. Francis has acknowledged that he apprehended in general that it +contained some charge against me. If the charge was false, it was a +libel. It might have been false for anything that Mr. Francis could know +to the contrary, since he was unacquainted with the contents of it. In +this instance, therefore, he incurred the hazard of presenting a libel +to the board: this was not a duty belonging to his office as a +councillor of this state. I must further inform the board that I have +been long since acquainted with Nundcomar's intentions of making this +attack upon me. Happily, Nundcomar, among whose talents for intrigue +that of secrecy is not the first, has been ever too ready to make the +first publication of his own intentions. I was shown a paper containing +many accusations against me, which I was told was carried by Nundcomar +to Colonel Monson, and that he himself was employed for some hours in +private with Colonel Monson, explaining the nature of those charges. + +"I mention only what I was told; but as the rest of the report which was +made to me corresponds exactly with what has happened since, I hope I +shall stand acquitted to my superiors and to the world in having given +so much credit to it as to bring the circumstance upon record. I cannot +recollect the precise time in which this is said to have happened, but I +believe it was either before or at the time of the dispatch of the +'Bute' and 'Pacific.' The charge has since undergone some alteration; +but of the copy of the paper which was delivered to me, containing the +original charge, I caused a translation to be made; when, suspecting the +renewal of the subject in this day's consultation, I brought it with me, +and I desire it may be recorded, that, when our superiors, or the world, +if the world is to be made the judge of my conduct, shall be possessed +of these materials, they may, by comparing the supposed original and +amended list of accusations preferred against me by Nundcomar, judge how +far I am justified in the credit which I give to the reports above +mentioned. I do not mean to infer from what I have said that it makes +any alteration in the nature of the charges, whether they were delivered +immediately from my ostensible accusers, or whether they came to the +board through the channel of patronage; but it is sufficient to +authorize the conviction which I feel in my own mind, that those +gentlemen are parties in the accusations of which they assert the right +of being the judges. + +"From the first commencement of this administration, every means have +been tried both to deprive me of the legal authority with which I have +been trusted, and to proclaim the annihilation of it to the world; but +no instance has yet appeared of this in so extraordinary a degree as in +the question now before the board. The chief of the administration, your +superior, Gentlemen, appointed by the legislature itself, shall I sit at +this board to be arraigned in the presence of a wretch whom you all know +to be one of the basest of mankind? I believe I need not mention his +name; but it is Nundcomar. Shall I sit here to hear men collected from +the dregs of the people give evidence, at his dictating, against my +character and conduct? I will not. You may, if you please, form +yourselves into a committee for the investigation of these matters in +any manner which you may think proper; but I will repeat, that I will +not meet Nundcomar at the board, nor suffer Nundcomar to be examined at +the board; nor have you a right to it, nor can it answer any other +purpose than that of vilifying and insulting me to insist upon it. + +"I am sorry to have found it necessary to deliver my sentiments on a +subject of so important a nature in an unpremeditated minute, drawn from +me at the board, which I should have wished to have had leisure and +retirement to have enabled me to express myself with that degree of +caution and exactness which the subject requires. I have said nothing +but what I believe and am morally certain I shall stand justified for in +the eyes of my superiors and the eyes of the world; but I reserve to +myself the liberty of adding my further sentiments in such a manner and +form as I shall hereafter judge necessary." + +My Lords, you see here the picture of Nundcomar drawn by Mr. Hastings +himself; you see the hurry, the passion, the precipitation, the +confusion, into which Mr. Hastings is thrown by the perplexity of +detected guilt; you see, my Lords, that, instead of defending himself, +he rails at his accuser in the most indecent language, calling him a +wretch whom they all knew to be the basest of mankind,--that he rails at +the Council, by attributing their conduct to the worst of motives,--that +he rails at everybody, and declares the accusation to be a libel: in +short, you see plainly that the man's head is turned. You see there is +not a word he says upon this occasion which has common sense in it; you +see one great leading principle in it,--that he does not once attempt to +deny the charge. He attempts to vilify the witness, he attempts to +vilify those he supposes to be his accusers, he attempts to vilify the +Council; he lags upon the accusation, he mixes it with other +accusations, which had nothing to do with it, and out of the whole he +collects a resolution--to do what? To meet his adversary and defy him? +No,--that he will not suffer him to appear before him: he says, "I will +not sit at this board in the character of a criminal, nor do I +acknowledge the board to be my judges." + +He was not called upon to acknowledge them to be his judges. Both he and +they were called upon to inquire into all corruptions without exception. +It was his duty not merely [not?] to traverse and oppose them while +inquiring into acts of corruption, but he was bound to take an active +part in it,--that if they had a mind to let such a thing sleep upon +their records, it was his duty to have brought forward the inquiry. They +were not his judges, they were not his accusers; they were his +fellow-laborers in the inquiry ordered by the Court of Directors, their +masters, and by which inquiry he might be purged of that corruption with +which he stood charged. + +He says, "Nundcomar is a wretch whom you all know to be the basest of +mankind." I believe they did not know the man to be a wretch, or the +basest of mankind; but if he was a wretch, and if he was the basest of +mankind, if he was guilty of all the crimes with which we charge Mr. +Hastings, (not one of which was ever proved against him,)--if any of +your Lordships were to have the misfortune to be before this tribunal, +before any inquest of the House of Commons, or any other inquest of this +nation, would you not say that it was the greatest possible advantage to +you that the man who accused you was a miscreant, the vilest and basest +of mankind, by the confession of all the world? Do mankind really, then, +think that to be accused by men of honor, of weight, of character, upon +probable charges, is an advantage to them, and that to be accused by the +basest of mankind is a disadvantage? No: give me, if ever I am to have +accusers, miscreants, as he calls him,--wretches, the basest and vilest +of mankind. "The board," says he, "are my accusers." If they were, it +was their duty; but they were not his accusers, but were inquiring into +matters which it was equally his duty to inquire into. He would not +suffer Nundcomar to be produced; he would not suffer Nundcomar to be +examined; he rather suffered such an accusation to stand against his +name and character than permit it to be inquired into. Do I want any +other presumption of his guilt, upon such an occasion, than such conduct +as this? + +This man, whom he calls a wretch, the basest and vilest of mankind, was +undoubtedly, by himself, in the records of the Company, declared to be +one of the first men of that country, everything that a subject could +be, a person illustrious for his birth, sacred with regard to his caste, +opulent in fortune, eminent in situation, who had filled the very first +offices in that country; and that he was, added to all this, a man of +most acknowledged talents, and of such a superiority as made the whole +people of Bengal appear to be an inferior race of beings compared to +him,--a man whose outward appearance and demeanor used to cause +reverence and awe, and who at that time was near seventy years of age, +which, without any other title, generally demands respect from mankind. +And yet this man he calls the basest of mankind, a name which no man is +entitled to call another till he has proved something to justify him in +so doing; and notwithstanding his opulence, his high rank, station, and +birth, he despises him, and will not suffer him to be heard as an +accuser before him. I will venture to say that Mr. Hastings, in so +doing, whether elevated by philosophy or inflated by pride, is not like +the rest of mankind. We do know, that, in all accusations, a great part +of their weight and authority comes from the character, the situation, +the name, the description, the office, the dignity of the persons who +bring them; mankind are so made, we cannot resist this prejudice; and it +has weight, and ever will have _primâ facie_ weight, in all the +tribunals in the world. If, therefore, Rajah Nundcomar was a man who (it +is not degrading to your Lordships to say) was equal in rank, according +to the idea of his country, to any peer in this House, as sacred as a +bishop, of as much gravity and authority as a judge, and who was +prime-minister in the country in which he lived, with what face can Mr. +Hastings call this man a wretch, and say that he will not suffer him to +be brought before him? If, indeed, joined with such circumstances, the +accuser be a person of bad morals, then, I admit, those bad morals take +away from their weight; but for a proof of that you must have some other +grounds than the charges and the railing of the culprit against him. + +I might say that his passion is a proof of his guilt; and there is an +action which is more odious than the crimes he attempts to cover,--_for +he has murdered this man by the hands of Sir Elijah Impey_; and if his +counsel should be unwise enough to endeavor to detract from the credit +of this man by the pretended punishment to which he was brought, we will +open that dreadful scene to your Lordships, and you will see that it +does not detract from his credit, but brings an eternal stain and +dishonor upon the justice of Great Britain: I say nothing further of it. +As he stood there, as he gave that evidence that day, the evidence was +to be received; it stands good, and is a record against Mr. +Hastings,--with this addition, that he would not suffer it to be +examined. He railed at his colleagues. He says, if the charge was false, +they were guilty of a libel. No: it might have been the effect of +conspiracy, it might be punished in another way; but if it was false, it +was no libel. And all this is done to discountenance inquiry, to bring +odium upon his colleagues for doing their duty, and to prevent that +inquiry which could alone clear his character. + +Mr. Hastings had himself forgotten the character which he had given of +Nundcomar; but he says that his colleagues were perfectly well +acquainted with him, and knew that he was a wretch, the basest of +mankind. But before I read to you the character which Mr. Hastings gave +of him, when he recommended him to the Presidency, (to succeed Mahomed +Reza Khân,) I am to let your Lordships understand fully the purpose for +which Mr. Hastings gave it. Upon that occasion, all the Council, whom he +stated to lie under suspicion of being bought by Mahomed Reza Khân, all +those persons with one voice cried out against Nundcomar; and as Mr. +Hastings was known to be of the faction the most opposite to Nundcomar, +they charged him with direct inconsistency in raising Nundcomar to that +exalted trust,--a charge which Mr. Hastings could not repel any other +way than by defending Nundcomar. The weight of their objections chiefly +lay to Nundcomar's political character; his moral character was not +discussed in that proceeding. Mr. Hastings says,-- + +"The President does not take upon him to vindicate the moral character +of Nundcomar; his sentiments of this man's former political conduct are +not unknown to the Court of Directors, who, he is persuaded, will be +more inclined to attribute his present countenance of him to motives of +zeal and fidelity to the service, in repugnance perhaps to his own +inclinations, than to any predilection in his favor. He is very well +acquainted with most of the facts alluded to in the minute of the +majority, having been a principal instrument in detecting them: +nevertheless he thinks it but justice to make a distinction between the +violation of a trust and an offence committed against our government by +a man who owed it no allegiance, nor was indebted to it for protection, +but, on the contrary, was the minister and actual servant of a master +whose interest naturally suggested that kind of policy which sought, by +foreign aids, and the diminution of the power of the Company, to raise +his own consequence, and to reëstablish his authority. He has never been +charged with any instance of infidelity to the Nabob Mir Jaffier, the +constant tenor of whose politics, from his first accession to the +nizamut till his death, corresponded in all points so exactly with the +artifices which were detected in his minister that they may be as fairly +ascribed to the one as to the other: their immediate object was beyond +question the aggrandizement of the former, though the latter had +ultimately an equal interest in their success. The opinion which the +Nabob himself entertained of the services and of the fidelity of +Nundcomar evidently appeared in the distinguished marks which he +continued to show him of his favor and confidence to the latest hour of +his life. + +"His conduct in the succeeding administration appears not only to have +been dictated by the same principles, but, if we may be allowed to speak +favorably of any measures which opposed the views of our own government +and aimed at the support of an adverse interest, surely it was not only +not culpable, but even praiseworthy. He endeavored, as appears by the +abstracts before us, to give consequence to his master, and to pave the +way to his independence, by obtaining a firman from the king for his +appointment to the subahship; and he opposed the promotion of Mahomed +Reza Khân, because he looked upon it as a supersession of the rights and +authority of the Nabob. He is now an absolute dependant and subject of +the Company, on whose favor he must rest all his hopes of future +advancement." + +The character here given of him is that of an excellent patriot, a +character which all your Lordships, in the several situations which you +enjoy or to which you may be called, will envy,--the character of a +servant who stuck to his master against all foreign encroachments, who +stuck to him to the last hour of his life, and had the dying testimony +of his master to his services. + +Could Sir John Clavering, could Colonel Monson, could Mr. Francis know +that this man, of whom Mr. Hastings had given that exalted character +upon the records of the Company, was the basest and vilest of mankind? +No, they ought to have esteemed him the contrary: they knew him to be a +man of rank, they knew him to be a man perhaps of the first capacity in +the world, and they knew that Mr. Hastings had given this honorable +testimony of him on the records of the Company but a very little time +before; and there was no reason why they should think or know, as he +expresses it, that he was the basest and vilest of mankind. From the +account, therefore, of Mr. Hastings himself, he was a person competent +to accuse, a witness fit to be heard; and that is all I contend for. Mr. +Hastings would not hear him, he would not suffer the charge he had +produced to be examined into. + +It has been shown to your Lordships that Mr. Hastings employed Nundcomar +to inquire into the conduct and to be the principal manager of a +prosecution against Mahomed Reza Khân. Will you suffer this man to +qualify and disqualify witnesses and prosecutors agreeably to the +purposes which his own vengeance and corruption may dictate in one case, +and which the defence of those corruptions may dictate in another? Was +Nundcomar a person fit to be employed in the greatest and most sacred +trusts in the country, and yet not fit to be a witness to the sums of +money which he paid Mr. Hastings for those trusts? Was Nundcomar a fit +witness to be employed and a fit person to be used in the prosecution of +Mahomed Reza Khân, and yet not fit to be employed against Mr. Hastings, +who himself had employed him in the very prosecution of Mahomed Reza +Khân? + +If Nundcomar was an enemy to Mr. Hastings, he was an enemy to Mahomed +Reza Khân; and Mr. Hastings employed him, avowedly and professedly on +the records of the Company, on account of the very qualification of that +enmity. Was he a wretch, the basest of mankind, when opposed to Mr. +Hastings? Was he not as much a wretch, and as much the basest of +mankind, when Mr. Hastings employed him in the prosecution of the first +magistrate and Mahometan of the first descent in Asia? Mr. Hastings +shall not qualify and disqualify men at his pleasure; he must accept +them such as they are; and it is a presumption of his guilt accompanying +the charge, (which I never will separate from it,) that he would not +suffer the man to be produced who made the accusation. And I therefore +contend, that, as the accusation was so made, so witnessed, so detailed, +so specific, so entered upon record, and so entered upon record in +consequence of the inquiries ordered by the Company, his refusal and +rejection of inquiry into it is a presumption of his guilt. + +He is full of his idea of dignity. It is right for every man to preserve +his dignity. There is a dignity of station, which a man has in trust to +preserve; there is a dignity of personal character, which every man by +being made man is bound to preserve. But you see Mr. Hastings's idea of +dignity has no connection with integrity; it has no connection with +honest fame; it has no connection with the reputation which he is bound +to preserve. What, my Lords, did he owe nothing to the Company that had +appointed him? Did he owe nothing to the legislature,--did he owe +nothing to your Lordships, and to the House of Commons, who had +appointed him? Did he owe nothing to himself? to the country that bore +him? Did he owe nothing to the world, as to its opinion, to which every +public man owes a reputation? What an example was here held out to the +Company's servants! + +Mr. Hastings says, "This may come into a court of justice; it will come +into a court of justice: I reserve my defence on the occasion till it +comes into a court of justice, and here I make no opposition to it." To +this I answer, that the Company did not order him so to reserve himself, +but ordered him to be an inquirer into those things. Is it a lesson to +be taught to the inferior servants of the Company, that, provided they +can escape out of a court of justice by the back-doors and sally-ports +of the law, by artifice of pleading, by those strict and rigorous rules +of evidence which have been established for the protection of innocence, +but which by them might be turned to the protection and support of +guilt, that such an escape is enough for them? that an Old Bailey +acquittal is enough to establish a fitness for trust? and if a man shall +go acquitted out of such a court, because the judges are bound to acquit +him against the conviction of their own opinion, when every man in the +market-place knows that he is guilty, that he is fit for a trust? Is it +a lesson to be held out to the servants of the Company, that, upon the +first inquiry which is made into corruption, and that in the highest +trust, by the persons authorized to inquire into it, he uses all the +powers of that trust to quash it,--vilifying his colleagues, vilifying +his accuser, abusing everybody, but never denying the charge? His +associates and colleagues, astonished at this conduct, so wholly unlike +everything that had ever appeared of innocence, request him to consider +a little better. They declare they are not his accusers; they tell him +they are not his judges; that they, under the orders of the Company, are +making an inquiry which he ought to make. He declares he will not make +it. Being thus driven to the wall, he says, "Why do you not form +yourselves into a committee? I won't suffer these proceedings to go on +as long as I am present." Mr. Hastings plainly had in view, that, if the +proceedings had been before a committee, there would have been a doubt +of their authenticity, as not being before a regular board; and he +contended that there could be no regular board without his own presence +in it: a poor, miserable scheme for eluding this inquiry; partly by +saying that it was carried on when he was not present, and partly by +denying the authority of this board. + +I will have nothing to do with the great question that arose upon the +Governor-General's resolution to dissolve a board, whether the board +have a right to sit afterwards; it is enough that Mr. Hastings would not +suffer them, as a Council, to examine into what, as a Council, they were +bound to examine into. He absolutely declared the Council dissolved, +when they did not accept his committee, for which they had many good +reasons, as I shall show in reply, if necessary, and which he could have +no one good reason for proposing;--he then declares the Council +dissolved. The Council, who did not think Mr. Hastings had a power to +dissolve them while proceeding in the discharge of their duty, went on +as a Council. They called in Nundcomar to support his charge: Mr. +Hastings withdrew. Nundcomar was asked what he had to say further in +support of his own evidence. Upon which he produces a letter from Munny +Begum, the dancing-girl that I have spoken of, in which she gives him +directions and instructions relative to his conduct in every part of +those bribes; by which it appears that the corrupt agreement for her +office was made with Mr. Hastings through Nundcomar, before he had +quitted Calcutta. It points out the execution of it, and the manner in +which every part of the sum was paid: one lac by herself in Calcutta; +one lac, which she ordered Nundcomar to borrow, and which he did borrow; +and a lac and a half which were given to him, Mr. Hastings, besides this +purchase money, under color of an entertainment. This letter was +produced, translated, examined, criticized, proved to be sealed with the +seal of the Begum, acknowledged to have no marks but those of +authenticity upon it, and as such was entered upon the Company's +records, confirming and supporting the evidence of Nundcomar, part by +part, and circumstance by circumstance. And I am to remark, that, since +this document, so delivered in, has never been litigated or controverted +in the truth of it, from that day to this, by Mr. Hastings, so, if there +was no more testimony, here is enough, upon this business. Your +Lordships will remark that this charge consisted of two parts: two lacs +that were given explicitly for the corrupt purchase of the office; and +one lac and a half given in reality for the same purpose, but under the +color of what is called an entertainment. + +Now in the course of these proceedings it was thought necessary that Mr. +Hastings's banian, Cantoo Baboo, (a name your Lordships will be well +acquainted with, and who was the minister in this and all the other +transactions of Mr. Hastings,) should be called before the board to +explain some circumstances in the proceedings. Mr. Hastings ordered his +banian, a native, not to attend the sovereign board appointed by +Parliament for the government of that country, and directed to inquire +into transactions of this nature. He thus taught the natives not only to +disobey the orders of the Court of Directors, enforced by an act of +Parliament, but he taught his own servant to disobey, and ordered him +not to appear before the board. Quarrels, duels, and other mischiefs +arose. In short, Mr. Hastings raised every power of heaven and of hell +upon this subject: but in vain: the inquiry went on. + +Mr. Hastings does not meet Nundcomar: he was afraid of him. But he was +not negligent of his own defence; for he flies to the Supreme Court of +Justice. He there prosecuted an inquiry against Nundcomar for a +conspiracy. Failing in that, he made other attempts, and disabled +Nundcomar from appearing before the board by having him imprisoned, and +thus utterly crippled that part of the prosecution against him. But as +guilt is never able thoroughly to escape, it did so happen, that the +Council, finding monstrous deficiencies in the Begum's affairs, finding +the Nabob's allowance totally squandered, that the most sacred pensions +were left unpaid, that nothing but disorder and confusion reigned in all +his affairs, that the Nabob's education was neglected, that he could +scarcely read or write, that there was scarcely any mark of a man left +in him except those which Nature had at first imprinted,--I say, all +these abuses being produced in a body before them, they thought it +necessary to send up to inquire into them; and a considerable deficiency +or embezzlement appearing in the Munny Begum's account of the young +Nabob's stipend, she voluntarily declared, by a writing under her seal, +that she had given 15,000_l._ to Mr. Hastings for an entertainment. + +Mr. Hastings, finding that the charge must come fully against him, +contrived a plan which your Lordships will see the effects of presently, +and this was, to confound this lac and an half, or 15,000_l._, with the +two lacs given directly and specifically as a bribe,--intending to avail +himself of this finesse whenever any payment was to be proved of the two +lacs, which he knew would be proved against him, and which he never did +deny; and accordingly your Lordships will find some confusion in the +proofs of the payment of those sums. The receipt of two lacs is proved +by Nundcomar, proved with all the means of detection which I have +stated; the receipt of the lac and a half is proved by Munny Begum's +letter, the authenticity of which was established, and never denied by +Mr. Hastings. In addition to these proofs, Rajah Gourdas, who had the +management of the Nabob's treasury, verbally gave an account perfectly +corresponding with that of Nundcomar and the Munny Begum's letter; and +he afterwards gave in writing an attestation, which in every point +agrees correctly with the others. So that there are three witnesses upon +this business. And he shall not disqualify Rajah Gourdas, because, +whatever character he thought fit to give Nundcomar, he has given the +best of characters to Rajah Gourdas, who was employed by Mr. Hastings in +occupations of trust, and therefore any objections to his competency +cannot exist. Having got thus far, the only thing that remained was to +examine the records of the public offices, and see whether any trace of +these transactions was to be found there. These offices had been thrown +into confusion in the manner you will hear; but, upon strict inquiry, +there was a _shomaster_, or office paper, produced, from which it +appears that the officer of the treasury, having brought to the Nabob an +account of one lac and a half which he said had been given to Mr. +Hastings, desired to know from him under what head of expense it should +be entered, and that he, the Nabob, desired him to put it under the head +of expenses for entertaining Mr. Hastings. If there had been a head of +entertainment established as a regular affair, the officer would never +have gone to the Nabob and asked under what name to enter it; but he +found an irregular affair, and he did not know what head to put it +under. And from the whole of the proceedings it appears that three lacs +and a half were paid: two lac by way of bribe, one lac and a half under +the color of an entertainment. Mr. Hastings endeavors to invalidate the +first obliquely, not directly, for he never directly denied it; and he +partly admits the second, in hopes that all the proof of payment of the +first charge should be merged and confounded in the second. And +therefore your Lordships will see from the beginning of that business +till it came into the hands of Mr. Smith, his agent, then appearing in +the name and character of agent and solicitor to the Company, that this +was done to give some appearance and color to it by a false +representation, as your Lordships will see, of every part of the +transaction. + +The proof, then, of the two lacs rests upon the evidence of Nundcomar, +the letter of Munny Begum, and the evidence of Rajah Gourdas. The +evidence of the lac and a half, by way of entertainment, was at first +the same; and afterwards begins a series of proofs to which Mr. Hastings +has himself helped us. For, in the first place, he produces this office +paper in support of his attempt to establish the confusion between the +payment of the two lacs and of the lac and a half. He did not himself +deny that he received a lac and a half, because with respect to that lac +and a half he had founded some principle of justification. Accordingly +this office paper asserts and proves this lac and a half to have been +given, in addition to the other proofs. Then Munny Begum herself is +inquired of. There is a commission appointed to go up to her residence; +and the fact is proved to the satisfaction of Mr. Goring, the +commissioner. The Begum had put a paper of accounts, through her son, +into his hands, which shall be given at your Lordships' bar, in which +she expressly said that she gave Mr. Hastings a lac and a half for +entertainment. But Mr. Hastings objects to Mr. Goring's evidence upon +this occasion. He wanted to supersede Mr. Goring in the inquiry; and he +accordingly appoints, with the consent of the Council, two creatures of +his own to go and assist in that inquiry. The question which he directs +these commissioners to put to Munny Begum is this:--"Was the sum of +money charged by you to be given to Mr. Hastings given under an idea of +entertainment customary, or upon what other ground, or for what other +reason?" He also desires the following questions may be proposed to the +Begum:--"Was any application made to you for the account which you have +delivered of three lacs and a half of rupees said to have been paid to +the Governor and Mr. Middleton? or did you deliver the account of your +own free will, and unsolicited?" My Lords, you see that with regard to +the whole three lacs and a half of rupees the Begum had given an account +which tended to confirm the payment of them; but Mr. Hastings wanted to +invalidate that account by supposing she gave it under restraint. The +second question is,--"In what manner was the application made to you, +and by whom?" But the principal question is this:--"On what account was +the one lac and a half given to the Governor-General which you have laid +to his account? Was it in consequence of any requisition from him, or of +any previous agreement, or of any established usage?" When a man asks +concerning a sum of money, charged to be given to him by another person, +on what account it was given, he does indirectly admit that that money +actually was paid, and wants to derive a justification from the mode of +the payment of it; and accordingly that inference was drawn from the +question so sent up, and it served as an instruction to Munny Begum; and +her answer was, that it was given to him, as an ancient usage and +custom, for an entertainment. So that the fact of the gift of the money +is ascertained by the question put by Mr. Hastings to her, and her +answer. And thus at last comes his accomplice in this business, and +gives the fullest testimony to the lac and a half. + +I must beg leave, before I go further, to state the circumstances of +the several witnesses examined upon this business. They were of two +kinds: voluntary witnesses, and accomplices forced by inquiry and +examination to discover their own guilt. Of the first kind were +Nundcomar and Rajah Gourdas: these were the only two that can be said to +be voluntary in the business, and who gave their information without +much fear, though the last unwillingly, and with a full sense of the +danger of doing it. The other was the evidence of his accomplice, Munny +Begum, wrung from her by the force of truth, in which she confessed that +she gave the lac and a half, and justifies it upon the ground of its +being a customary entertainment. Besides this, there is the evidence of +Chittendur, who was one of Mr. Hastings's instruments, and one of the +Begum's servants. He, being prepared to confound the two lacs with the +one lac and a half, says, upon his examination, that a lac and a half +was given; but upon examining into the particulars of it, he proves that +the sum he gave was two lacs, and not a lac and a half: for he says that +there was a dispute about the other half lac; Nundcomar demanded +interest, which the Begum was unwilling to allow, and consequently that +half lac remained unpaid. Now this half lac can be no part of the lac +and a half, which is admitted on all hands, and proved by the whole body +of concurrent testimony, to have been given to Mr. Hastings in one +lumping sum. When Chittendur endeavors to confound it with the lac and a +half, he clearly establishes the fact that it was a parcel of the two +lacs, and thus bears evidence, in attempting to prevaricate in favor of +Mr. Hastings, that one lac and a half was paid, which Mr. Hastings is +willing to allow; but when he enters into the particulars of it, he +proves by the subdivision of the payment, and by the non-payment of part +of it, that it accords with the two lacs, and not with the lac and a +half. + +There are other circumstances in these accounts highly auxiliary to this +evidence. The lac and a half was not only attested by Rajah Gourdas, by +the Begum, by Chittendur, by the Begum again upon Mr. Hastings's own +question, indirectly admitted by Mr. Hastings, proved by the orders for +it to be written off to expense, (such a body of proof as perhaps never +existed,) but there is one proof still remaining, namely, a paper, which +was produced before the Committee, and which we shall produce to your +Lordships. It is an authentic paper, delivered in favor of Mr. Hastings +by Major Scott, who acted at that time as Mr. Hastings's agent, to a +committee of the House of Commons, and authenticated to come from Munny +Begum herself. All this body of evidence we mean to produce; and we +shall prove, first, that he received the two lacs,--and, secondly, that +he received one lac and a half under the name of entertainment. With +regard to the lac and a half, Mr. Hastings is so far from controverting +it, even indirectly, that he is obliged to establish it by testimonies +produced by himself, in order to sink in that, if he can, the two lacs, +which he thinks he is not able to justify, but which he fears will be +proved against him. The lac and a half, I do believe, he will not be +advised to contest; but whether he is or no, we shall load him with it, +we shall prove it beyond all doubt. But there are other circumstances +further auxiliary in this business, which, from the very attempts to +conceal it, prove beyond doubt the fraudulent and wicked nature of the +transaction. In the account given by the Begum, a lac, which is for Mr. +Hastings's entertainment, is entered in a suspicious neighborhood; for +there is there entered a lac of rupees paid for the subahdarry sunnuds +to the Mogul through the Rajah Shitab Roy. Upon looking into the +account, and comparing it with another paper produced, the first thing +we find is, that this woman charges the sum paid to be a sum due; and +then she charges this one lac to have been paid when the Mogul was in +the hands of the Mahrattas, when all communication with him was stopped, +and when Rajah Shitab Roy, who is supposed to have paid it, was under +confinement in the hands of Mr. Hastings. Thus she endeavors to conceal +the lac of rupees paid to Mr. Hastings. + +In order to make this transaction, which, though not in itself +intricate, is in some degree made so by Mr. Hastings, clear to your +Lordships, we pledge ourselves to give to your Lordships, what must be a +great advantage to the culprit himself, a syllabus, the heads of all +this charge, and of the proofs themselves, with their references, to +show how far the proof goes to the two lacs, and then to the one lac and +a half singly. This we shall put in writing, that you may not depend +upon the fugitive memory of a thing not so well, perhaps, or powerfully +expressed as it ought to be, and in order to give every advantage to the +defendant, and to give every facility to your Lordships' judgment: and +this will, I believe, be thought a clear and fair way of proceeding. +Your Lordships will then judge whether Mr. Hastings's conduct at the +time, his resisting an inquiry, preventing his servant appearing as an +evidence, discountenancing and discouraging his colleagues, raising +every obstruction to the prosecution, dissolving the Council, +preventing evidence and destroying it as far as lay in his power by +collateral means, be not also such presumptive proofs as give double +force to all the positive proof we produce against him. + +The lac and a half, I know, he means to support upon the custom of +entertainment; and your Lordships will judge whether or not a man who +was ordered and had covenanted never to take more than 400_l._ could +take 16,000_l._ under color of an entertainment. That which he intends +to produce as a justification we charge, and your Lordships and the +world will think, to be the heaviest aggravation of his crime. And after +explaining to your Lordships the circumstances under which this +justification is made, and leaving a just impression of them upon your +minds, I shall beg your Lordships' indulgence to finish this member of +the business to-morrow. + +It is stated and entered in the account, that an entertainment was +provided for Mr. Hastings at the rate of 200_l._ a day. He stayed at +Moorshedabad for near three months; and thus you see that visits from +Mr. Hastings are pretty expensive things: it is at the rate of +73,000_l._ a year for his entertainment. We find that Mr. Middleton, an +English gentleman who was with him, received likewise (whether under the +same pretence I know not, and it does not signify) another sum equal to +it; and if these two gentlemen had stayed in that country a year, their +several allowances would have been 146,000_l._ out of the Nabob's +allowance of 160,000_l._ a year: they would have eat up nearly the whole +of it. And do you wonder, my Lords, that such guests and such hosts are +difficult to be divided? Do you wonder that such visits, when so well +paid for and well provided for, were naturally long? There is hardly a +prince in Europe who would give to another prince of Europe from his +royal hospitality what was given upon this occasion to Mr. Hastings. + +Let us now see what was Mr. Hastings's business during this long +protracted visit. First, he tells you that he came there to reduce all +the state and dignity of the Nabob. He tells you that he felt no +compunction in reducing that state; that the elephants, the menagerie, +the stables, all went without mercy, and consequently all the persons +concerned in them were dismissed also. When he came to the abolition of +the pensions, he says,--"I proceeded with great pain, from the +reflection that I was the instrument in depriving whole families, all at +once, of their bread, and reducing them to a state of penury: convinced +of the necessity of the measure, I endeavored to execute it with great +impartiality." Here he states the work he was employed in, when he took +this two hundred pounds a day for his own pay. "It was necessary to +begin with reforming the useless servants of the court, and retrenching +the idle parade of elephants, menageries, &c., which loaded the civil +list. This cost little regret in performing; but the Resident, who took +upon himself the chief share in this business, acknowledges that he +suffered considerably in his feelings, when he came to touch on the +pension list. Some hundreds of persons of the ancient nobility of the +country, excluded, under our government, from almost all employments, +civil or military, had, ever since the revolution, depended on the +bounty of the Nabob; and near ten lacs were bestowed that way. It is not +that the distribution was always made with judgment or impartial, and +much room was left for a reform; but when the question was to cut off +entirely the greatest part, it could not fail to be accompanied with +circumstances of real distress. The Resident declares, that, even with +some of the highest rank, he could not avoid discovering, under all the +pride of Eastern manners, the manifest marks of penury and want. There +was, however, no room left for hesitation: to confine the Nabob's +expenses within the limited sum, it was necessary that pensions should +be set aside." + +Here, my Lords, is a man sent to execute one of the most dreadful +offices that was ever executed by man,--to cut off, as he says himself, +with a bleeding heart, the only remaining allowance made for hundreds of +the decayed nobility and gentry of a great kingdom, driven by our +government from the offices upon which they existed. In this moment of +anxiety and affliction, when he says he felt pain and was cut to the +heart to do it,--at this very moment, when he was turning over fourteen +hundred of the ancient nobility and gentry of this country to downright +want of bread,--just at that moment, while he was doing this act, and +feeling this act in this manner, from the collected morsels forced from +the mouths of that indigent and famished nobility he gorged his own +ravenous maw with an allowance of two hundred pounds a day for his +entertainment. As we see him in this business, this man is unlike any +other: he is also never corrupt but he is cruel; he never dines without +creating a famine; he does not take from the loose superfluity of +standing greatness, but falls upon the indigent, the oppressed, and +ruined; he takes to himself double what would maintain them. His is +unlike the generous rapacity of the noble eagle, who preys upon a +living, struggling, reluctant, equal victim; his is like that of the +ravenous vulture, who falls upon the decayed, the sickly, the dying, and +the dead, and only anticipates Nature in the destruction of its object. +His cruelty is beyond his corruption: but there is something in his +hypocrisy which is more terrible than his cruelty; for, at the very time +when with double and unsparing hands he executes a proscription, and +sweeps off the food of hundreds of the nobility and gentry of a great +country, his eyes overflow with tears, and he turns the precious balm +that bleeds from wounded humanity, and is its best medicine, into fatal, +rancorous, mortal poison to the human race. + +You have seen, that, when he takes two hundred pounds a day for his +entertainment, he tells you that in this very act he is starving +fourteen hundred of the ancient nobility and gentry. My Lords, you have +the blood of nobles,--if not, you have the blood of men in your veins: +you feel as nobles, you feel as men. What would you say to a cruel Mogul +exactor, by whom after having been driven from your estates, driven from +the noble offices, civil and military, which you hold, driven from your +bishoprics, driven from your places at court, driven from your offices +as judges, and, after having been reduced to a miserable flock of +pensioners, your very pensions were at last wrested from your mouths, +and who, though at the very time when those pensions were wrested from +you he declares them to have been the only bread of a miserable decayed +nobility, takes himself two hundred pounds a day for his entertainment, +and continues it till it amounts to sixteen thousand pounds? I do +think, that, of all the corruptions which he has not owned, but has not +denied, or of those which he does in effect own, and of which he brings +forward the evidence himself, the taking and claiming under color of an +entertainment is ten times the most nefarious. + +I shall this day only further trouble your Lordships to observe that he +has never directly denied this transaction. I have tumbled over the +records, I have looked at every part, to see whether he denies it. He +did not deny it at the time, he did not deny it to the Court of +Directors: on the contrary, he did in effect acknowledge it, when, +without directly acknowledging it, he promised them a full and liberal +explanation of the whole transaction. He never did give that +explanation. Parliament took up the business; this matter was reported +at the end of the Eleventh Report; but though the House of Commons had +thus reported it, and made that public which before was upon the +Company's records, he took no notice of it. Then another occasion +arises: he comes before the House of Commons; he knows he is about to be +prosecuted for those very corruptions; he well knows these charges exist +against him; he makes his defence (if he will allow it to be his +defence); but, though thus driven, he did not there deny it, because he +knew, that, if he had denied it, it could be proved against him. I +desire your Lordships will look at that paper which we have given in +evidence, and see if you find a word of denial of it: there is much +discourse, much folly, much insolence, but not one word of denial. Then, +at last, it came before this tribunal against him. I desire to refer +your Lordships to that part of his defence to the article in which this +bribe is specifically charged: he does not deny it there; the only +thing which looks like a denial is one sweeping clause inserted, (in +order to put us upon the proof,) that all the charges are to be +conceived as denied; but a specific denial to this specific charge in no +stage of the business, from beginning to end, has he once made. + +And therefore here I close that part of the charge which relates to the +business of Nundcomar. Your Lordships will see such a body of +presumptive proof and positive proof as never was given yet of any +secret corrupt act of bribery; and there I leave it with your Lordships' +justice. I beg pardon for having detained you so long; but your +Lordships will be so good as to observe that no business ever was +covered with more folds of iniquitous artifice than this which is now +brought before you. + + + + +SPEECH + +ON + +THE SIXTH ARTICLE OF CHARGE. + + +SECOND DAY: SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 1789. + + +My Lords,--When I last had the honor of addressing your Lordships, I +endeavored to state with as much perspicuity as the nature of an +intricate affair would admit, and as largely as in so intricate an +affair was consistent with the brevity which I endeavored to preserve, +the proofs which had been adduced against Warren Hastings upon an +inquiry instituted by an order of the Court of Directors into the +corruption and peculation of persons in authority in India. My Lords, I +have endeavored to show you by anterior presumptive proofs, drawn from +the nature and circumstances of the acts themselves inferring guilt, +that such actions and such conduct could be referable only to one cause, +namely, _corruption_; I endeavored to show you afterwards, my Lords, +what the specific nature and extent of the corruption was, as far as it +could be fully proved; and lastly, the great satisfactory presumption +which attended the inquiry with regard to Mr. Hastings,--namely, that, +contrary to law, contrary to his duty, contrary to what is owed by +innocence to itself, Mr. Hastings resisted that inquiry, and employed +all the power of his office to prevent the exercise of it, either in +himself or in others. These presumptions and these proofs will be +brought before your Lordships, distinctly and in order, at the end of +this opening. + +The next point on which I thought it necessary to proceed was relative +to the presumptions which his subsequent conduct gave with regard to his +guilt: because, my Lords, his uniform tenor of conduct, such as must +attend guilt, both in the act, at the time of the inquiry, and +subsequent to it, will form such a body of satisfactory evidence as I +believe the human mind is not made to resist. + +My Lords, there is another reason why I choose to enter into the +presumptions drawn from his conduct and the fact, taking his conduct in +two parts, if it may be so expressed, _omission_ and _commission_, in +order that your Lordships should more fully enter into the consequences +of this system of bribery. But before I say anything upon that, I wish +your Lordships to be apprised, that the Commons, in bringing this bribe +of three lac and a half before your Lordships, do not wish by any means +to have it understood that this is the whole of the bribe that was +received by Mr. Hastings in consequence of delivering up the whole +management of the government of the country to that improper person whom +he nominated for it. My Lords, from the proofs that will be adduced +before you, there is great probability that he received very nearly a +hundred thousand pounds; there is positive proof of his receiving fifty; +and we have chosen only to charge him with that of which there is such +an accumulated body of proof as to leave no doubt upon the minds of your +Lordships. All this I say, because we are perfectly apprised of the +sentiments of the public upon this point: when they hear of the enormity +of Indian peculation, when they see the acts done, and compare them +with the bribes received, the acts seem so enormous and the bribes +comparatively so small, that they can hardly be got to attribute them to +that motive. What I mean to state is this: that, from a collective view +of the subject, your Lordships will be able to judge that enormous +offences have been committed, and that the bribe which we have given in +proof is a specimen of the nature and extent of those enormous bribes +which extend to much greater sums than we are able to prove before you +in the manner your Lordships would like and expect. + +I have already remarked to your Lordships, that, after this charge was +brought and recorded before the Council in spite of the resistance made +by Mr. Hastings, in which he employed all the power and authority of his +station, and the whole body of his partisans and associates in iniquity, +dispersed through every part of these provinces,--after he had taken all +these steps, finding himself pressed by the proof and pressed by the +presumption of his resistance to the inquiry, he did think it necessary +to make something like a defence. Accordingly he has made what he calls +a justification, which did not consist in the denial of that fact, or +any explanation of it. The mode he took for his defence was abuse of his +colleagues, abuse of the witnesses, and of every person who in the +execution of his duty was inquiring into the fact, and charging them +with things which, if true, were by no means sufficient to support him, +either in defending the acts themselves, or in the criminal means he +used to prevent inquiry into them. His design was to mislead their +minds, and to carry them from the accusation and the proof of it. With +respect to the passion, violence, and intemperate heat with which he +charged them, they were proceeding in an orderly, regular manner; and if +on any occasion they seem to break out into warmth, it was in +consequence of that resistance which he made to them, in what your +Lordships, I believe, will agree with them in thinking was one of the +most important parts of their functions. If they had been intemperate in +their conduct, if they had been violent, passionate, prejudiced against +him, it afforded him only a better means of making his defence; because, +though in a rational and judicious mind the intemperate conduct of the +accuser certainly proves nothing with regard to the truth or falsehood +of his accusation, yet we do know that the minds of men are so +constituted that an improper mode of conducting a right thing does form +some degree of prejudice against it. Mr. Hastings, therefore, unable to +defend himself upon principle, has resorted as much as he possibly could +to prejudice. And at the same time that there is not one word of denial, +or the least attempt at a refutation of the charge, he has loaded the +records with all manner of minutes, proceedings, and letters relative to +everything but the fact itself. The great aim of his policy, both then, +before, and ever since, has been to divert the mind of the auditory, or +the persons to whom he addressed himself, from the nature of his cause, +to some collateral circumstance relative to it,--a policy to which he +has always had recourse; but that trick, the last resource of despairing +guilt, I trust will now completely fail him. + +Mr. Hastings, however, began to be pretty sensible that this way of +proceeding had a very unpromising and untoward look; for which reason he +next declared that he reserved his defence for fear of a legal +prosecution, and that some time or other he would give a large and +liberal explanation to the Court of Directors, to whom he was answerable +for his conduct, of his refusing to suffer the inquiry to proceed, of +his omitting to give them satisfaction at the time, of his omitting to +take any one natural step that an innocent man would have taken upon +such an occasion. Under this promise he has remained from that time to +the time you see him at your bar, and he has neither denied, exculpated, +explained, or apologized for his conduct in any one single instance. + +While he accuses the intemperance of his adversaries, he shows a degree +of temperance in himself which always attends guilt in despair: for +struggling guilt may be warm, but guilt that is desperate has nothing to +do but to submit to the consequences of it, to bear the infamy annexed +to its situation, and to try to find some consolation in the effects of +guilt with regard to private fortune for the scandal it brings them into +in public reputation. After the business had ended in India, the causes +why he should have given the explanation grew stronger and stronger: for +not only the charges exhibited against him were weighty, but the manner +in which he was called upon to inquire into them was such as would +undoubtedly tend to stir the mind of a man of character, to rouse him to +some consideration of himself, and to a sense of the necessity of his +defence. He was goaded to make this defence by the words I shall read to +your Lordships from Sir John Clavering. + +"In the late proceedings of the Revenue Board it will appear that there +is no species of peculation from which the Honorable Governor-General +has thought it reasonable to abstain." He further says, in answer to +Mr. Hastings, "The malicious view with which this innuendo" (an innuendo +of Mr. Hastings) "is thrown out is only worthy of a man who, having +disgraced himself in the eyes of every man of honor both in Asia and in +Europe, and having no imputation to lay to our charge, has dared to +attempt in the dark what malice itself could not find grounds to aim at +openly." + +These are the charges which were made upon him,--not loosely, in the +heat of conversation, but deliberately, in writing, entered upon record, +and sent to his employers, the Court of Directors, those whom the law +had set over him, and to whose judgment and opinion he was responsible. +Do your Lordships believe that it was conscious innocence that made him +endure such reproaches, so recorded, from his own colleague? Was it +conscious innocence that made him abandon his defence, renounce his +explanation, and bear all this calumny, (if it was calumny,) in such a +manner, without making any one attempt to refute it? Your Lordships will +see by this, and by other minutes with which the books are filled, that +Mr. Hastings is charged quite to the brim with corruptions of all sorts, +and covered with every mode of possible disgrace. For there is something +so base and contemptible in the crimes of peculation and bribery, that, +when they come to be urged home and strongly against a man, as here they +are urged, nothing but a consciousness of guilt can possibly make a +person so charged support himself under them. Mr. Hastings considered +himself, as he has stated, to be under the necessity of bearing them. +What is that necessity? Guilt. Could he say that Sir John Clavering (for +I say nothing now of Colonel Monson and Mr. Francis, who were joined +with him) was a man weak and contemptible? I believe there are those +among your Lordships who remember that Sir John Clavering was known +before he went abroad, and better known by his conduct after, to be a +man of the most distinguished honor that ever served his Majesty; he +served his Majesty in a military situation for many years, and +afterwards in that high civil situation in India. It is known that +through every step and gradation of a high military service, until he +arrived at the highest of all, there never was the least blot upon him, +or doubt or suspicion of his character; that his temper for the most +part, and his manners, were fully answerable to his virtues, and a noble +ornament to them; that he was one of the best natured, best bred men, as +well as one of the highest principled men to be found in his Majesty's +service; that he had passed the middle time of life, and come to an age +which makes men wise in general; so that he could be warmed by nothing +but that noble indignation at guilt which is the last thing that ever +was or will be extinguished in a virtuous mind. He was a man whose voice +was not to be despised; but if his character had been personally as +contemptible as it was meritorious and honorable in every respect, yet +his situation as a commissioner named by an act of Parliament for the +express purpose of reforming India gave him a weight and consequence +that could not suffer Mr. Hastings, without a general and strong +presumption of his guilt, to acquiesce in such recorded minutes from +him. But if he had been a weak, if he had been an intemperate man, (in +reality he was as cool, steady, temperate, judicious a man as ever was +born,) the Court of Directors, to whom Mr. Hastings was responsible by +every tie and every principle, and was made responsible at last by a +positive act of Parliament obliging him to yield obedience to their +commands as the general rule of his duty,--the Court of Directors, I +say, perfectly approved of every part of General Clavering's, Colonel +Monson's, and Mr. Francis's conduct; they approved of this inquiry which +Mr. Hastings rejected; and they have declared, "that the powers and +instructions vested in and given to General Clavering and the other +gentlemen were such as fully authorized them in every inquiry that seems +to have been their object ... Europeans."[2] + +Now after the supreme authority, to which they were to appeal in all +their disputes, had passed this judgment upon this very inquiry, the +matter no longer depended upon Mr. Hastings's opinion; nor could he be +longer justified in attributing that to evil motives either of malice or +passion in his colleagues. When the judges who were finally to determine +who was malicious, who was passionate, who was or was not justified +either in setting on foot the inquiry or resisting it, had passed that +judgment, then Mr. Hastings was called upon by all the feelings of a +man, and by his duty in Council, to give satisfaction to his masters, +the Directors, who approved of the zeal and diligence shown in that very +inquiry, the passion of which he only reprobated, and upon which he +grounded his justification. + +If anything but conscious guilt could have possibly influenced him to +such more than patience under this accusation, let us see what was his +conduct when the scene was changed. General Clavering, fatigued and +broken down by the miseries of his situation, soon afterwards lost a +very able and affectionate colleague, Colonel Monson, (whom Mr. Hastings +states to be one of the bitterest of his accusers,) a man one of the +most loved and honored of his time, a person of your Lordships' noble +blood, and a person who did honor to it, and if he had been of the +family of a commoner, well deserved to be raised to your distinction. +When that man died,--died of a broken heart, to say nothing else,--and +General Clavering felt himself in a manner without help, except what he +derived from the firmness, assiduity, and patience of Mr. Francis, +sinking like himself under the exertion of his own virtues, he was +resolved to resign his employment. The Court of Directors were so +alarmed at this attempt of his to resign his employment, that they wrote +thus: "When you conceived the design of quitting our service, we imagine +you could not have heard of the resignation of Mr. Hastings ... your +zeal and ability."[3] + +My Lords, in this struggle, and before he could resign finally, another +kind of resignation, the resignation of Nature, took place, and Sir John +Clavering died. The character that was given Sir John Clavering at that +time is a seal to the whole of his proceedings, and the use that I shall +make of it your Lordships will see presently. "The abilities of General +Clavering, the comprehensive knowledge he had attained of our affairs +... to the East India Company."[4] + +And never had it a greater loss. There is the concluding funeral +oration made by his masters, upon a strict, though by no means partial, +view of his conduct. My Lords, here is the man who is the great accuser +of Mr. Hastings, as he says. What is he? a slight man, a man of mean +situation, a man of mean talents, a man of mean character? No: of the +highest character. Was he a person whose conduct was disapproved by +their common superiors? No: it was approved when living, and ratified +when dead. This was the man, a man equal to him in every respect, upon +the supposed evil motives of whom alone was founded the sole +justification of Mr. Hastings. + +But be it, then, that Sir John Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. +Francis were all of them the evil-minded persons that he describes them +to be, and that from dislike to them, from a kind of manly resentment, +if you please, against such persons, an hatred against malicious +proceedings, and a defiance of them, he did not think proper, as he +states, to make his defence during that period of time, and while +oppressed by that combination,--yet, when he got rid of the two former +persons, and when Mr. Francis was nothing, when the whole majority was +in his hand, and he was in full power, there was a large, open, full +field for inquiry; and he was bound to re-institute that inquiry, and to +clear his character before his judges and before his masters. Mr. +Hastings says, "No: they have threatened me with a prosecution, and I +reserve myself for a court of justice." + +Mr. Hastings has now at length taken a ground, as you will see from all +his writings, which makes all explanation of his conduct in this +business absolutely impossible. For, in the first place, he says, "As a +prosecution is meditated against me, I will say nothing in explanation +of my conduct, because I might disclose my defence, and by that means do +myself a prejudice." On the other hand, when the prosecution is dropped, +as we all know it was dropped in this case, then he has a direct +contrary reason, but it serves him just as well: "Why, as no prosecution +is intended, no defence need be made." So that, whether a prosecution is +intended or a prosecution dropped, there is always cause why Mr. +Hastings should not give the Court of Directors the least satisfaction +concerning his conduct, notwithstanding, as we shall prove, he has +reiteratedly promised, and promised it in the most ample and liberal +manner. But let us see if there be any presumption in his favor to rebut +the presumption which he knew was irresistible, and which, by making no +defence for his conduct, and stopping the inquiry, must necessarily lie +upon him. He reserves his defence, but he promises both defence and +explanation. + +Your Lordships will remark that there is nowhere a clear and positive +denial of the fact. Promising a defence, I will admit, does not directly +and _ex vi termini_ suppose that a man may not deny the fact, because it +is just compatible with the defence; but it does by no means exclude the +admission of the fact, because the admission of the fact may be attended +with a justification: but when a man says that he will explain his +conduct with regard to a fact, then he admits that fact, because there +can be no explanation of a fact which has no existence. Therefore Mr. +Hastings admits the fact by promising an explanation, and he shows he +has no explanation nor justification to give by never having given it. +Goaded, provoked, and called upon for it, in the manner I have +mentioned, he chooses to have a feast of disgrace, (if I may say so,) to +have a riot of infamy, served up to him day by day for a course of +years, in every species of reproach that could be given by his +colleagues, and by the Court of Directors, "from whom," he says, "I +received nothing but opprobrious and disgraceful epithets," and he says +"that his predecessors possessed more of their confidence than he had." +Yet for years he lay down in that sty of disgrace, fattening in it, +feeding upon that offal of disgrace and excrement, upon everything that +could be disgustful to the human mind, rather than deny the fact and put +himself upon a civil justification. Infamy was never incurred for +nothing. We know very well what was said formerly:-- + + "Populus me sibilat; at mihi plaudo + Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca." + +And never did a man submit to infamy for anything but its true reward, +_money_. Money he received; the infamy he received along with it: he was +glad to take his wife with all her goods; he took her with her full +portion, with every species of infamy that belonged to her; and your +Lordships cannot resist the opinion that he would not have suffered +himself to be disgraced with the Court of Directors, disgraced with his +colleagues, disgraced with the world, disgraced upon an eternal record, +unless he was absolutely guilty of the fact that was charged upon him. + +He frequently expresses that he reserves himself for a court of justice. +Does he, my Lords? I am sorry that Mr. Hastings should show that he +always mistakes his situation; he has totally mistaken it: he was a +servant, bound to give a satisfactory account of his conduct to his +masters, and, instead of that, he considers himself and the Court of +Directors as litigant parties,--them as the accusers, and himself as the +culprit. What would your Lordships, in private life, conceive of a +steward who was accused of embezzling the rents, robbing and oppressing +the tenants, and committing a thousand misdeeds in his stewardship, and +who, upon your wishing to make inquiry into his conduct, and asking an +explanation of it, should answer, "I will give no reply: you may intend +to prosecute me and convict me as a cheat, and therefore I will not give +you any satisfaction": what would you think of that steward? You could +have no doubt that such a steward was a person not fit to be a steward, +nor fit to live. + +Mr. Hastings reserves himself for a court of justice: that single +circumstance, my Lords, proves that he was guilty. It may appear very +odd that his guilt should be inferred from his desire of trial in a +court in which he could be acquitted or condemned. But I shall prove to +you from that circumstance that Mr. Hastings, in desiring to be tried in +a court of justice, convicts himself of presumptive guilt. + +When Mr. Hastings went to Bengal in the year 1772, he had a direction +exactly similar to this which he has resisted in his own case: it was to +inquire into grievances and abuses. In consequence of this direction, he +proposes a plan for the regulation of the Company's service, and one +part of that plan was just what you would expect from him,--that is, the +power of destroying every Company's servant without the least +possibility of his being heard in his own defence or taking any one +step to justify himself, and of dismissing him at his own discretion: +and the reason he gives for it is this. "I shall forbear to comment upon +the above propositions: if just and proper, their utility will be +self-apparent. One clause only in the last article may require some +explanation, namely, the power proposed for the Governor of recalling +any person from his station without assigning a reason for it. In the +charge of oppression," (now here you will find the reason why Mr. +Hastings wishes to appeal to a court of justice, rather than to give +satisfaction to his employers,) "though supported by the cries of the +people and the most authentic representations, it is yet impossible in +most cases to obtain legal proofs of it; and unless the discretionary +power which I have recommended be somewhere lodged, the assurance of +impunity from any formal inquiry will baffle every order of the board, +as, on the other hand, the fear of the consequence will restrain every +man within the bounds of his duty, if he knows himself liable to suffer +by the effects of a single control." You see Mr. Hastings himself is of +opinion that the cries of oppression, though extorted from a whole +people by the iron hand of severity,--that these cries of a whole +people, attended even with authentic documents sufficient to satisfy the +mind of any man, may be totally insufficient to convict the oppressor in +a court; and yet to that court, whose competence he denies, to that very +court, he appeals, in that he puts his trust, and upon that ground he +refuses to perform the just promise he had given of any explanation to +those who had employed him. + +Now I put this to your Lordships: if a man is of opinion that no public +court can truly and properly bring him to any account for his conduct, +that the forms observable in courts are totally adverse to it, that +there is a general incompetency with regard to such a court, and yet +shuns a tribunal capable and competent, and applies to that which he +thinks is incapable and incompetent, does not that man plainly show that +he has rejected what he thinks will prove his guilt, and that he has +chosen what he thinks will be utterly insufficient to prove it? And if +this be the case, as he asserts it to be, with an under servant, think +what must be the case of the upper servant of all: for, if an inferior +servant is not to be brought to justice, what must be the situation of a +Governor-General? It is impossible not to see, that, as he had conceived +that a court of justice had not sufficient means to bring his crimes to +light and detection, nor sufficient to bring him to proper and adequate +punishment, therefore he flew to a court of justice, not as a place to +decide upon him, but as a sanctuary to secure his guilt. Most of your +Lordships have travelled abroad, and have seen in the unreformed +countries of Europe churches filled with persons who take sanctuary in +them. You do not presume that a man is innocent because he is in a +sanctuary: you know, that, so far from demonstrating his innocence, it +demonstrates his guilt. And in this case, Mr. Hastings flies not to a +court for trial, but as a sanctuary to secure him from it. + +Let us just review the whole of his conduct; let us hear how Mr. +Hastings has proceeded with regard to this whole affair. The court of +justice dropped; the prosecution in Bengal ended. With Sir Elijah Impey +as chief-justice, who, as your Lordships have seen, had a most close and +honorable connection with the Governor-General, (all the circumstances +of which I need not detail to you, as it must be fresh in your +Lordships' memory,) he had not much to fear from the impartiality of the +court. He might be sure the forms of law would not be strained to do him +mischief; therefore there was no great terror in it. But whatever terror +there might be in it was overblown, because his colleagues refused to +carry him into it, and therefore that opportunity of defence is gone. In +Europe he was afraid of making any defence, but the prosecution here was +also soon over; and in the House of Commons he takes this ground of +justification for not giving any explanation, that the Court of +Directors had received perfect satisfaction of his innocence; and he +named persons of great and eminent character in the profession, whose +names certainly cannot be mentioned without highly imposing upon the +prejudices and weighing down almost the reason of mankind. He quotes +their opinions in his favor, and argues that the exculpation which they +give, or are supposed to give him, should excuse him from any further +explanation. + +My Lords, I believe I need not say to great men of the profession, many +of the first ornaments of which I see before me, that they are very +little influenced in the seat of judgment by the opinions which they +have given in the chamber, and they are perfectly in the right: because +while in the chamber they hear but one part of the cause; it is +generally brought before them in a very partial manner, and they have +not the lights which they possess when they sit deliberately down upon +the tribunal to examine into it; and for this reason they discharge +their minds from every prejudice that may have arisen from a foregone +partial opinion, and come uninfluenced by it as to a new cause. This, we +know, is the glory of the great lawyers who have presided and do preside +in the tribunals of this country; but we know, at the same time, that +those opinions (which they in their own mind reject, unless supported +afterwards by clear and authentic testimony) do weigh upon the rest of +mankind at least: for it is impossible to separate the opinion of a +great and learned man from some consideration of the person who has +delivered that opinion. + +Mr. Hastings, being conscious of this, and not fearing the tribunal +abroad for the reason that I gave you, namely, his belief that it was +not very adverse to him, and also knowing that the prosecution there was +dropped, had but one thing left for his consideration, which was, how he +should conflict with the tribunal at home: and as the prosecution must +originate from the Court of Directors, and be authorized by some great +law opinions, the great point with him was, some way or other, by his +party, I will not say by what means or circumstances, but by some party +means, to secure a strong interest in the executive part of the India +House. My Lords, was that interest used properly and fairly? I will not +say that friendship and partiality imply injustice; they certainly do +not; but they do not imply justice. The Court of Directors took up this +affair with great warmth; they committed it to their solicitor, and the +solicitor would naturally (as most solicitors do) draw up a case a +little favorably for the persons that employed him; and if there was any +leaning, which upon my word I do not approve in the management of any +cause whatever, yet, if there was a leaning, it must be a leaning for +the client. + +Now the counsel did not give a decided opinion against the prosecution, +but upon the face of the case they expressed great doubts upon it; for, +with such a strange, disorderly, imperfect, and confused case as was +laid before them, they could not advise a prosecution; and in my opinion +they went no further. And, indeed, upon that case that went before them, +I, who am authorized by the Commons to prosecute, do admit that a great +doubt might lie upon the most deciding mind, whether, under the +circumstances there stated, a prosecution could be or ought to be +pursued. I do not say which way my mind would have turned, upon that +very imperfect state of the case; but I still allow so much to their +very great ability, great minds, and sound judgment, that I am not sure, +if it was _res integra_, I would not have rather hesitated myself (who +am now here an accuser) what judgment to give. + +It does happen that there are very singular circumstances in this +business, to which your Lordships will advert; and you will consider +what weight they ought to have upon your Lordships' minds. The person +who is now the solicitor of the Company is a very respectable man in the +profession,--Mr. Smith; he was at that time also the Company's +solicitor, and he has since appeared in this cause as Mr. Hastings's +solicitor. Now there is something particular in a man's being the +solicitor to a party who was prosecuting another, and continuing +afterwards in his office, and becoming the solicitor to the party +prosecuted. It would be nearly as strange as if our solicitor were to be +the solicitor of Mr. Hastings in this prosecution and trial before your +Lordships. It is true, that we cannot make out, nor do we attempt to +prove, that Mr. Smith was at that time actually Mr. Hastings's +solicitor: all that we shall attempt to make out is, that the case he +produced was just such a case as a solicitor anxious for the +preservation of his client, and not anxious for the prosecution, would +have made out. + +My Lords, I have next to remark, that the opinion which the counsel gave +in this case, namely, a very doubtful opinion, accompanied with strong +censure of the manner in which the case was stated, was drawn from them +by a case in which I charge that there were _misrepresentation_, +_suppression_, and _falsification_. + +Now, my Lords, in making this charge I am in a very awkward and +unpleasant situation; but it is a situation in which, with all the +disagreeable circumstances attending it, I must proceed. I am, in this +business, obliged to name many men: I do not name them wantonly, but +from the absolute necessity, as your Lordships will see, of the case. I +do not mean to reflect upon this gentleman: I believe, at the time when +he made this case, and especially the article which I state as a +_falsification_, he must have trusted to some of the servants of the +Company, who were but young in their service at that time. There was a +very great error committed; but by whom, or how, your Lordships in the +course of this inquiry will find. What I charge first is, that the case +was improperly stated; secondly, that it was partially stated; and that +afterwards a further report was made upon reference to the same officer +in the committee. Now, my Lords, of the three charges which I have made, +the two former, namely, the misrepresentation and suppression, were +applicable to the case; but all the three, misrepresentation, +suppression, and falsification, were applicable to the report. + +This I say in vindication of the opinions given, and for the +satisfaction of the public, who may be imposed upon by them. I wish the +word to be understood. When I say _imposed_, I always mean by it the +weight and authority carried: a meaning which this word, perhaps, has +not got yet thoroughly in the English language; but in a neighboring +language _imposing_ means, that it weighs upon men's minds with a +sovereign authority. To say that the opinions of learned men, though +even thus obtained, may not have weight with this court, or with any +court, is a kind of compliment I cannot pay to them at the expense of +that common nature in which I and all human beings are involved. + +He states in the case the covenants and the salary of Mr. Hastings, and +his emoluments, very fairly. I do not object to any part of that. He +then proceeds to state very partially the business upon which the +Committee of Circuit went, and without opening whose conduct we cannot +fully bring before you this charge of bribery. He then states, "that, an +inquiry having been made by the present Supreme Council of Bengal +respecting the conduct of the members of the last administration, +several charges have been made, stating moneys very improperly received +by Mr. Hastings during the time of the late administration: amongst +these is one of his having received 150,000 rupees of Munny Begum, the +guardian of the Nabob, who is an infant." + +In this statement of the case everything is put out of its true place. +Mr. Hastings was not charged with receiving a lac and a half of rupees +from Munny Begum, the guardian of the Nabob,--for she was not then his +guardian; but he was charged with receiving a lac and a half of rupees +for removing the Nabob's own mother, who was his natural guardian, and +substituting this step-mother, who was a prostitute, in her place; +whereas here it supposes he found her a guardian, and that she had made +him a present, which alters the whole nature of the case. The case, in +the recital of the charge, sets out with what every one of your +Lordships knows now not to be the truth of the fact, nor the thing that +in itself implies the criminality: he ought to have stated that in the +beginning of the business. The suppressions in the recital are amazing. +He states an inquiry having been made by the Supreme Council of Bengal +respecting the conduct of the members of the last administration. That +inquiry was made in consequence of the charge, and not the charge +brought forward, as they would have it believed, in consequence of the +inquiry. There is no mention that that inquiry had been expressly +ordered by the Court of Directors; but it is stated as though it was a +voluntary inquiry. Now there is always something doubtful in voluntary +inquiries with regard to the people concerned. He then supposes, upon +this inquiry, that to be the charge which is not the charge at all. The +crime, as I have stated, consisted of two distinct parts, but both +inferring the same corruption: the first, two lac of rupees taken +expressly for the nomination of this woman to this place; and the other, +one lac and a half of rupees, in effect for the same purpose, but under +the name and color of an entertainment. The drawer of the case, finding +that in the one case, namely, the two lac of rupees, the evidence was +more weak, but that no justification could be set up,--finding in the +other, the lac and a half of rupees, the proof strong and not to be +resisted, but that some justification was to be found for it, lays aside +the charge of the two lac totally; and the evidence belonging to it, +which was considered as rather weak, is applied to the other charge of a +lac and a half, the proof of which upon its own evidence was +irresistible. + +My speech I hope your Lordships consider as only pointing out to your +attention these particulars. Your Lordships will see it exemplified +throughout the whole, that, when there is evidence (for some evidence is +brought) that does belong to the lac and a half, it is entirely passed +by, the most material circumstances are weakened, the whole strength and +force of them taken away. Every one knows how true it is of evidence, +_juncta juvant_: but here everything is broken and smashed to pieces, +and nothing but disorder appears through the whole. For your Lordships +will observe that the proof that belongs to one thing is put as +belonging to another, and the proof of the other brought in a weak and +imperfect manner in the rear of the first, and with every kind of +observation to rebut and weaken it; and when this evidence is produced, +which appears inapplicable almost in all the parts, in many doubtful, +confused, and perplexed, and in some even contradictory, (which it will +be when the evidence to one thing is brought to apply and bear upon +another,) good hopes were entertained in consequence that that would +happen which in part did happen, namely, that the counsel, distracted +and confused, and finding no satisfaction in the case, could not advise +a prosecution. + +But what is still more material and weighty, many particulars are +suppressed in this case, and still more in the report; and turning from +the case to the proceedings of the persons who are supposed to have the +management of the inquiry, they bring forward, as an appendix to this +case, Mr. Hastings's own invectives and charge against these persons, at +the very same time that they suppress and do not bring forward, either +in the charge or upon the report, what the other party have said in +their own justification. The consequence of this management was, that a +body of evidence which would have made this case the clearest in the +world, and which I hope we shall make to appear so to your Lordships, +was rendered for the most part inapplicable, and the whole puzzled and +confused: I say, for the most part, for some parts did apply, but +miserably applied, to the case. From their own state of the case they +would have it inferred that the fault was not in their way of +representing it, but in the infirmity, confusion, and disorder of the +proofs themselves; but this, I trust we shall satisfy you, is by no +means the case. I rest, however, upon the proof of partiality in this +business, of the imposition upon the counsel, whether designed or not, +and of the bias given by adding an appendix with Mr. Hastings's own +remarks upon the case, without giving the reasons of the other parties +for their conduct. Now, if there was nothing else than the fallacious +recital, and afterwards the suppression, I believe any rational and +sober man would see perfect, good, and sufficient ground for laying +aside any authority that can be derived from the opinions of persons, +though of the first character (and I am sure no man living does more +homage to their learning, impartiality, and understanding than I do): +first, because the statement of the case has thrown the whole into +confusion; and secondly, as to the matter added as an appendix, which +gives the representation of the delinquent and omits the representation +of his prosecutors, it is observed very properly and very wisely by one +of the great men before whom this evidence was laid, that "the evidence, +as it is here stated, is still more defective, if the appendix is +adopted by the Directors and meant to make a part of the case; for that +throws discredit upon all the information so collected." Certainly it +does; for, if the delinquent party, who is to be prosecuted, be heard +with his own representation of the case, and that of his prosecutors be +suppressed, he is master both of the lawyers and of the mind of mankind. + +My Lords, I have here attempted to point out the extreme inconsistencies +and defects of this proceeding; and I wish your Lordships to consider, +with respect to these proceedings of the India House in their +prosecutions, that it is in the power of some of their officers to make +statements in the manner that I have described, then to obtain the names +of great lawyers, and under their sanction to carry the accused through +the world as acquitted. + +These are the material circumstances which will be submitted to your +Lordships' sober consideration in the course of this inquiry. I have now +stated them on these two accounts: first, to rebut the reason which Mr. +Hastings has assigned for not giving any satisfaction to the Court of +Directors, namely, because they did not want it, having dropped a +prosecution upon great authorities and opinions; and next, to show your +Lordships how a business begun in bribery is to be supported only by +fraud, deceit, and collusion, and how the receiving of bribes by a +Governor-General of Bengal tends to taint the whole service from +beginning to end, both at home and abroad. + +But though upon the partial case that was presented to them these great +lawyers did not advise a prosecution, and though even upon a full +representation of a case a lawyer might think that a man ought not to be +prosecuted, yet he may consider him to be the vilest man upon earth. We +know men are acquitted in the great tribunals in which several Lords of +this country have presided, and who perhaps ought not to have been +brought there and prosecuted before them, and yet about whose +delinquency there could be no doubt. But though we have here sufficient +reason to justify the great lawyers whose names and authorities are +produced, yet Mr. Hastings has extended that authority beyond the length +of their opinions. For, being no longer under the terror of the law, +which, he said, restrained him from making his defence, he was then +bound to give that satisfaction to his masters and the world which every +man in honor is bound to do, when a grave accusation is brought against +him. But this business of the law I wish to sleep from this moment, till +the time when it shall come before you; though I suspect, and have had +reason (sitting in committees in the House of Commons) to believe, that +there was in the India House a bond of iniquity, somewhere or other, +which was able to impose in the first instance upon the solicitor, the +guilt of which, being of another nature, I shall state hereafter, that +your Lordships may be able to discover through whose means and whose +fraud Mr. Hastings obtained these opinions. + +If, however, all the great lawyers had been unanimous upon that +occasion, still it would have been necessary for Mr. Hastings to say, "I +cannot, according to my opinion, be brought to give an account in a +court of justice, and I have got great lawyers to declare, that, upon +the case laid before them, they cannot advise a prosecution; but now is +the time for me to come forward, and, being no longer in fear that my +defence may be turned against me, I will produce my defence for the +satisfaction of my masters and the vindication of my own character." But +besides this doubtful opinion (for I believe your Lordships will find it +no better than a doubtful opinion) given by persons for whom I have the +highest honor, and given with a strong censure upon the state of the +case, there were also some great lawyers, men of great authority in the +kingdom, who gave a full and decided opinion that a prosecution ought to +be instituted against him; but the Court of Directors decided otherwise, +they overruled those opinions, and acted upon the opinions in favor of +Mr. Hastings. When, therefore, he knew that the great men in the law +were divided upon the propriety of a prosecution, but that the Directors +had decided in his favor, he was the more strongly bound to enter into a +justification of his conduct. + +But there was another great reason which should have induced him to do +this. One great lawyer, known to many of your Lordships, Mr. Sayer, a +very honest, intelligent man, who had long served the Company and well +knew their affairs, had given an opinion concerning Mr. Hastings's +conduct in stopping these prosecutions. There was an abstract question +put to Mr. Sayer, and other great lawyers, separated from many of the +circumstances of this business, concerning a point which incidentally +arose; and this was, whether Mr. Hastings, as Governor-General, had a +power so to dissolve the Council, that, if he declared it dissolved, +they could not sit and do any legal and regular act. It was a great +question with the lawyers at the time, and there was a difference of +opinion on it. Mr. Sayer was one of those who were inclined to be of +opinion that the Governor-General had a power of dissolving the Council, +and that the Council could not legally sit after such dissolution. But +what was his remark upon Mr. Hastings's conduct?--and you must suppose +his remark of more weight, because, upon the abstract question, he had +given his opinion in favor of Mr. Hastings's judgment. "The meeting of +the Council depends on the pleasure of the Governor; and I think the +duration of it must do so, too. But it was as great a crime to dissolve +the Council upon base and sinister motives as it would be to assume the +power of dissolving, if he had it not. I believe he is the first +Governor that ever dissolved a Council inquiring into his behavior, when +he was innocent. Before he could summon three Councils and dissolve +them, he had time fully to consider what would be the result of such +conduct, _to convince everybody, beyond a doubt, of his conscious +guilt_." + +Mr. Sayer, then, among other learned people, (and if he had not been the +man that I have described, yet, from his intimate connection with the +Company, his opinion must be supposed to have great weight,) having used +expressions as strong as the persons who have ever criminated Mr. +Hastings most for the worst of his crimes have ever used to qualify and +describe them, and having ascribed his conduct to base and sinister +motives, he was bound upon that occasion to justify that strong conduct, +allowed to be legal, and charged at the same time to be violent. Mr. +Hastings was obliged then to produce something in his justification. He +never did. Therefore, for all the reasons assigned by himself, drawn +from the circumstances of prosecution and non-prosecution, and from +opinions of lawyers and colleagues, the Court of Directors at the same +time censuring his conduct, and strongly applauding the conduct of those +who were adverse to him, Mr. Hastings was, I say, from those accumulated +circumstances, bound to get rid of the infamy of a conduct which could +be attributed to nothing but base and sinister motives, and which could +have no effect but to convince men of his consciousness that he was +guilty. From all these circumstances I infer that no man could have +endured this load of infamy, and to this time have given no explanation +of his conduct, unless for the reason which this learned counsel gives, +and which your Lordships and the world will give, namely, his conscious +guilt. + +After leaving upon your minds that presumption, not to operate without +proof, but to operate along with the proof, (though, I take it, there +are some presumptions that go the full length of proof,) I shall not +press it to the length to which I think it would go, but use it only as +auxiliary, assisting, and compurgatory of all the other evidences that +go along with it. + +There is another circumstance which must come before your Lordships in +this business. If you find that Mr. Hastings has received the two lac of +rupees, then you will find that he was guilty, without color or pretext +of any kind whatever, of acting in violation of his covenant, of acting +in violation of the laws, and all the rules of honor and conscience. If +you find that he has taken the lac and a half, which he admits, but +which he justifies under the pretence of an entertainment, I shall beg +to say something to your Lordships concerning that justification. + +The justification set up is, that he went up from Calcutta to +Moorshedabad, and paid a visit of three months, and that there an +allowance was made to him of two hundred pounds a day in lieu of an +entertainment. Now, my Lords, I leave it to you to determine, if there +was such a custom, whether or no his covenant justifies his conformity +with it. I remember Lord Coke, talking of the Brehon law in Ireland, +says it is no law, but a lewd custom. A governor is to conform himself +to the laws of his own country, to the stipulations of those that employ +him, and not to the lewd customs of any other country: those customs are +more honored in the breach than in the observance. If Mr. Hastings was +really feasted and entertained with the magnificence of the country, if +there was an entertainment of dancing-girls brought out to amuse him in +his leisure hours, if he was feasted with the hookah and every other +luxury, there is something to be said for him, though I should not +justify a Governor-General wasting his days in that manner. But in fact +here was no entertainment that could amount to such a sum; and he has +nowhere proved the existence of such a custom. + +But if such a custom did exist, which I contend is more honored in the +breach than in the observance, that custom is capable of being abused to +the grossest extortion; and that it was so abused will strike your +Lordships' minds in such a manner that I hardly need detail the +circumstances of it. What! two hundred pounds to be given to a man for +one day's entertainment? If there is an end of it there, it ruins +nobody, and cannot be supposed, to a great degree, to corrupt anybody; +but when that entertainment is renewed day after day for three months, +it is no longer a compliment to the man, but a great pecuniary +advantage, and, on the other hand, to the person giving it, a grievous, +an intolerable burden. It then becomes a matter of the most serious and +dreadful extortion, tending to hinder the people who give it not only +from giving entertainment, but from having bread to eat themselves. +Therefore, if any such entertainment was customary, the custom was +perverted by the abuse of its being continued for three months together. +It was longer than Ahasuerus's feast. There is a feast of reason and a +flow of soul; but Mr. Hastings's feast was a feast of avarice and a flow +of money. No wonder he was unwilling to rise from such a table: he +continued to sit at that table for three months. + +In his covenant he is forbidden expressly to take any allowance above +400_l._, and forbidden to take any allowance above 100_l._, without the +knowledge, consent, and approbation of the Council to which he belongs. +Now he takes 16,000_l._, not only without the consent of the Council, +but without their knowledge,--without the knowledge of any other human +being: it is kept hid in the darkest and most secret recesses of his own +black agents and confidants, and those of Munny Begum. Why is it a +secret? Hospitality, generosity, virtues of that kind, are full of +display; there is an ostentation, a pomp, in them; they want to be shown +to the world, not concealed. The concealment of acts of charity is what +makes them acceptable in the eyes of Him with regard to whom there can +be no concealment; but acts of corruption are kept secret, not to keep +them secret from the eye of Him, whom the person that observes the +secrecy does not fear, nor perhaps believe in, but to keep them secret +from the eyes of mankind, whose opinions he does fear, in the immediate +effect of them, and in their future consequences. Therefore he had but +one reason to keep this so dark and profound a secret, till it was +dragged into day in spite of him; he had no reason to keep it a secret, +but his knowing it was a proceeding that could not bear the light. +Charity is the only virtue that I ever heard of that derives from its +retirement any part of its lustre; the others require to be spread +abroad in the face of day. Such candles should not be hid under a +bushel, and, like the illuminations which men light up when they mean to +express great joy and great magnificence for a great event, their very +splendor is a part of their excellence. We upon our feasts light up this +whole capital city; we in our feasts invite all the world to partake +them. Mr. Hastings feasts in the dark; Mr. Hastings feasts alone; Mr. +Hastings feasts like a wild beast; he growls in the corner over the +dying and the dead, like the tigers of that country, who drag their prey +into the jungles. Nobody knows of it, till he is brought into judgment +for the flock he has destroyed. His is the entertainment of Tantalus; it +is an entertainment from which the sun hid his light. + +But was it an entertainment upon a visit? Was Mr. Hastings upon a visit? +No: he was executing a commission for the Company in a village in the +neighborhood of Moorshedabad, and by no means upon a visit to the Nabob. +On the contrary, he was upon something that might be more properly +called a _visitation_. He came as a heavy calamity, like a famine or a +pestilence on a country; he came there to do the severest act in the +world,--as he himself expresses, to take the bread, literally the bread, +from above a thousand of the nobles of the country, and to reduce them +to a situation which no man can hear of without shuddering. When you +consider, that, while he was thus entertained himself, he was famishing +fourteen hundred of the nobility and gentry of the country, you will not +conceive it to be any extenuation of his crimes, that he was there, not +upon a visit, but upon a duty, the harshest that could be executed, both +to the persons who executed and the people who suffered from it. + +It is mentioned and supposed in the observations upon this case, though +no circumstances relative to the persons or the nature of the visit are +stated, that this expense was something which he might have charged to +the Company and did not. It is first supposed by the learned counsel who +made the observation, that it was a public, allowed, and acknowledged +thing; then, that he had not charged the Company anything for it. I have +looked into that business. In the first place, I see no such custom; and +if there was such a custom, there was the most abusive misemployment of +it. I find that in that year there was paid from the Company's cash +account to the Governor's travelling charges (and he had no other +journey at that end of the year) thirty thousand rupees, which is about +3,000_l._; and when we consider that he was in the receipt of near +30,000_l._, besides the nuzzers, which amount to several thousand a +year, and that he is allowed 3,000_l._ by the Company for his travelling +expenses, is it right to charge upon the miserable people whom he was +defrauding of their bread 16,000_l._ for his entertainment? + +I find that there are also other great sums relative to the expenses of +the Committee of Circuit, which he was upon. How much of them is +applicable to him I know not. I say, that the allowance of three +thousand pounds was noble and liberal; for it is not above a day or +two's journey to Moorshedabad, and by his taking his road by Kishenagur +he could not be longer. He had a salary to live upon, and he must live +somewhere; and he was actually paid three thousand pounds for travelling +charges for three months, which was at the rate of twelve thousand +pounds a year: a large and abundant sum. + +If you once admit that a man for an entertainment shall take sixteen +thousand pounds, there never will be any bribe, any corruption, that may +not be justified: the corrupt man has nothing to do but to make a visit, +and then that very moment he may receive any sum under the name of this +entertainment; that moment his covenants are annulled, his bonds and +obligations destroyed, the act of Parliament repealed, and it is no +longer bribery, it is no longer corruption, it is no longer peculation; +it is nothing but thanks for obliging inquiries, and a compliment +according to the mode of the country, by which he makes his fortune. + +What hinders him from renewing that visit? If you support this +distinction, you will teach the Governor-General, instead of attending +his business at the capital, to make journeys through the country, +putting every great man of that country under the most ruinous +contributions; and as this custom is in no manner confined to the +Governor-General, but extends, as it must upon that principle, to every +servant of the Company in any station whatever, then, if each of them +were to receive an entertainment, I will venture to say that the +greatest ravage of an hostile army could not, indeed, destroy the +country more entirely than the Company's servants by such visits. + +Your Lordships will see that there are grounds for suspicion, not +supported with the same evidence, but with evidence of great +probability, that there was another entertainment given at the expense +of another lac of rupees; and there is also great probability that Mr. +Hastings received two lac of rupees, and Mr. Middleton another lac. The +whole of the Nabob's revenues would have been exhausted by these two +men, if they had stayed there a whole year: and they stayed three +months. Nothing will be secured from the Company's servants, so long as +they can find, under this name, or under pretence of any corrupt custom +of the country, a vicious excuse for this corrupt practice. The excuse +is worse than the thing itself. I leave it, then, with your judgment to +decide whether you will or not, if this justification comes before you, +establish a principle which would put all Bengal in a worse situation +than an hostile army could do, and ruin all the Company's servants by +sending them from their duty to go round robbing the whole country under +the name of entertainments. + +My Lords, I have now done with this first part,--namely, the presumption +arising from his refusal to make any defence, on pretence that the +charge brought against him might be referred to a court of justice, and +from the non-performance of his promise to give satisfaction to his +employers,--and when that pretence was removed, still refusing to give +that satisfaction, though suffering as he did under a load of infamy and +obloquy, and though urged to give it by persons of the greatest +character. I have stated this to your Lordships as the strongest +presumption of guilt, and that this presumption is strengthened by the +very excuse which he fabricated for a part of his bribes, when he knew +that the proof of them was irresistible, and that this excuse is a high +aggravation of his guilt,--that this excuse is not supported by law, +that it is not supported by reason, that it does not stand with his +covenant, but carries with it a manifest proof of corruption, and that +it cannot be justified by any principle, custom, or usage whatever. My +Lords, I say I have done with the presumption arising from his conduct +as it regarded the fact specifically charged against him, and with +respect to the relation he stood in to the Court of Directors, and from +the attempt he made to justify that conduct. I believe your Lordships +will think both one and the other strong presumptions of his +criminality, and of his knowledge that the act he was doing was +criminal. + +I have another fact to lay before your Lordships, which affords a +further presumption of his guilt, and which will show the mischievous +consequences of it; and I trust your Lordships will not blame me for +going a little into it. Your Lordships know we charge that the +appointment of such a woman as Munny Begum to the guardianship of the +Nabob, to the superintendency of the civil justice of the country, and +to the representation of the whole government, was made for no other +purpose than that through this corrupt woman sixteen thousand pounds a +year, the whole tattered remains of the Nabob's grandeur, might be a +prey to Mr. Hastings: it could be for no other. Now your Lordships would +imagine, that, after this, knowing he was already grievously suspected, +he would have abstained from giving any further ground for suspicion by +a repetition of the same acts through the same person; as no other +reason could be furnished for such acts, done directly contrary to the +order of his superiors, but that he was actuated by the influence of +bribery. Your Lordships would imagine, that, when this Munny Begum was +removed upon a charge of corruption, Mr. Hastings would have left her +quiet in tranquil obscurity, and that he would no longer have attempted +to elevate her into a situation which furnished against himself so much +disgrace and obloquy to himself, and concerning which he stood charged +with a direct and positive act of bribery. Your Lordships well know, +that, upon the deposition of that great magistrate, Mahomed Reza Khân, +this woman was appointed to supply his place. The Governor-General and +Council (the majority of them being then Sir John Clavering, Colonel +Monson, and Mr. Francis) had made a provisional arrangement for the +time, until they should be authorized to fill up the place in a proper +manner. Soon after, there came from Europe a letter expressing the +satisfaction which the Court of Directors had received in the acquittal +of Mahomed Reza Khân, expressing a regard for his character, an high +opinion of his abilities, and a great disposition to make him some +recompense for his extreme sufferings; and accordingly they ordered +that he should be again employed. Having no exact ideas of the state of +employments in that country, they made a mistake in the specific +employment for which they named him; for, being a Mahometan, and the +head of the Mahometans in that country, he was named to an office which +must be held by a Gentoo. But the majority I have just named, who never +endeavored by any base and delusive means to fly from their duty, or not +to execute it at all, because they were desired to execute it in a way +in which they could not execute it, followed the spirit of the order; +and finding that Mahomed Reza Khân, before his imprisonment and trial, +had been in possession of another employment, they followed the spirit +of the instructions of the Directors and replaced him in that +employment: by which means there was an end put to the government of +Munny Begum, the country reverted to its natural state, and men of the +first rank in the country were placed in the first situations in it. The +seat of judicature was filled with wisdom, gravity, and learning, and +Munny Begum sunk into that situation into which a woman who had been +engaged in the practices that she had been engaged in naturally would +sink at her time of life. Mr. Hastings resisted this appointment. He +trifled with the Company's orders on account of the letter of them, and +endeavored to disobey the spirit of them. However, the majority overbore +him; they put Mahomed Reza Khân into his former situation; and as a +proof and seal to the honor and virtue of their character, there was not +a breath of suspicion that they had any corrupt motive for this conduct. +They were odious to many of the India House here; they were odious to +that corrupt influence which had begun and was going on to ruin India; +but in the face of all this odium, they gave the appointment to Mahomed +Reza Khân, because the act contained in itself its own justification. +Mr. Hastings made a violent protest against it, and resisted it to the +best of his power, always in favor of Munny Begum, as your Lordships +will see. Mr. Hastings sent this protest to the Directors; but the +Directors, as soon as the case came before them, acknowledged their +error, and praised the majority of the Council, Sir John Clavering, +Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis, for the wise and honorable part they +had taken upon the occasion, by obeying the spirit and not the +letter,--commended the act they had done,--confirmed Mahomed Reza Khân +in his place,--and to prevent that great man from being any longer the +sport of fortune, any longer the play of avarice between corrupt +governors and dancing-girls, they gave him the pledged faith of the +Company that he should remain in that office as long as his conduct +deserved their protection: it was a good and an honorable tenure. My +Lords, soon afterwards there happened two lamentable deaths,--first of +Colonel Monson, afterwards of General Clavering. Thus Mr. Hastings was +set loose: there was an inspection and a watch upon his conduct, and no +more. He was then just in the same situation in which he had stood in +1772. What does he do? Even just what he did in 1772. He deposes Mahomed +Reza Khân, notwithstanding the Company's orders, notwithstanding their +pledged faith; he turns him out, and makes a distribution of two lacs +and a half of rupees, the salary of that great magistrate, in the manner +I will now show your Lordships. He made an arrangement consisting of +three main parts: the first was with regard to the women, the next with +regard to the magistracy, the last with regard to the officers of state +of the household. + +The first person that occurred to Mr. Hastings was Munny Begum; and he +gave her, not out of that part of the Nabob's allowance which was to +support the seraglio, but out of the allowance of this very magistrate, +just as if such a thing had been done here out of the salary of a Lord +Chancellor or a Lord Chief-Justice,--out of these two lacs and a half of +rupees, that is, about twenty-four or twenty-five thousand pounds a +year, he ordered an allowance to be made to Munny Begum of 72,000 rupees +per annum, or 7,200_l._ a year; for the Nabob's own mother, whom he +thrust, as usual, into a subordinate situation, he made an allowance of +3,000_l._; to the Sudder ul Huk Khân, which is, translated into English, +the Lord Chief-Justice, he allowed the same sum that he did to the +dancing-girl, (which was very liberal in him, and I am rather astonished +to find it,) namely, 7,200_l._ a year. And who do you think was the next +public officer he appointed? It was the Rajah Gourdas, the son of +Nundcomar, and whose testimony he has attempted both before and since +this occasion to weaken. To him, however, he gave an employment of +6,000_l._ a year, as if to make through the son some compensation to the +manes of the father. And in this manner he distributes, with a wild and +liberal profusion, between magistrates and dancing-girls, the whole +spoil of Mahomed Reza Khân, notwithstanding the Company's direct and +positive assurance given to him. Everything was done, at the same time, +to put, as it was before, into the hands of this dancing-girl the +miserable Nabob's whole family; and that the fund for corruption might +be large enough, he did not take the money for this dancing-girl out of +the Nabob's separate revenue, of which he and the dancing-girl had the +private disposal between them. + +Now upon what pretence did he do all this? The Nabob had represented to +Mr. Hastings that he was now of age,--that he was an independent, +sovereign prince,--that, being independent and sovereign in his +situation, and being of full age, he had a right to manage his own +concerns himself; and therefore he desired to be admitted to that +management. And, indeed, my Lords, ostensibly, and supposing him to have +been this independent prince, and that the Company had no authority or +had never exercised any authority over him through Mr. Hastings, there +might be a good deal said in favor of this request. But what was the +real state of the case? The Nabob was a puppet in the hands of Mr. +Hastings and Munny Begum; and you will find, upon producing the +correspondence, that he confesses that she was the ultimate object and +end of this request. + +I think this correspondence, wherein a son is made to petition, in his +own name, for the elevation of a dancing-girl, his step-mother, above +himself and everybody else, will appear to your Lordships such a +curiosity as, I believe, is not to be found in the state correspondence +of the whole world. The Nabob begins thus:--"The excellency of that +policy by which her Highness the Begum" (meaning Munny Begum) "(may her +shadow be far extended!) formerly, during the time of her +administration, transacted the affairs of the nizamut in the very best +and most advantageous manner, was, by means of the delusions of enemies +disguised under the appearance of friends, hidden from me. Having lately +seriously reflected on my own affairs, I am convinced that it was the +effect of maternal affection, was highly proper, and for my +interest,--and that, except the said Begum is again invested with the +administration, the regulation and prosperity of this family, which is +in fact her own, cannot be effected. For this cause, from the time of +her suspension until now, I have passed my time, and do so still, in +great trouble and uneasiness. As all affairs, and particularly the +happiness and prosperity of this family, depend on your pleasure, I now +trouble you, in hopes that you, likewise concurring in this point, will +be so kind as to write in fit and proper terms to her Highness the +Begum, that she will always, as formerly, employ her authority in the +administration of the nizamut and the affairs of this family." + +This letter, my Lords, was received upon the 23d of August; and your +Lordships may observe two things in it: first, that, some way or other, +this Nabob had been (as the fact was) made to express his desire of +being released from his subjection to the Munny Begum, but that now he +has got new lights, all the mists are gone, and he now finds that Munny +Begum is not only the fittest person to govern him, but the whole +country. This young man, whose incapacity is stated, and never denied, +by Mr. Hastings, and by Lord Cornwallis, and by all the rest of the +world who know him, begins to be charmed with the excellency of the +policy of Munny Begum. Such is his violent impatience, such the +impossibility of his existing an hour but under the government of Munny +Begum, that he writes again on the 25th of August, (he had really the +impatience of a lover,) and within five days afterwards writes +again,--so impatient, so anxious and jealous is this young man to be put +under the government of an old dancing-woman. He is afraid lest Mr. +Hastings should imagine that some sinister influence had prevailed upon +him in so natural and proper a request. He says, "Knowing it for my +interest and advantage that the administration of the affairs of the +nizamut should be restored to her Highness the Munny Begum, I have +already troubled you with my request, that, regarding my situation with +an eye of favor, you will approve of this measure. I am credibly +informed that some one of my enemies, from selfish views, has, for the +purpose of oversetting this measure, written you that the said Begum +procured from me by artifice the letter I wrote you on this subject. +This causes me the greatest astonishment. Please to consider, that +artifice and delusion are confined to cheats and impostors, and can +never proceed from a person of such exalted rank, who is the head and +patron of all the family of the deceased Nabob, my father,--and that to +be deluded, being a proof of weakness and folly, can have no relation to +me, except the inventor of this report considers me as void of +understanding, and has represented me to the gentlemen as a blockhead +and an idiot. God knows how harshly such expressions appear to me; but, +as the truth or falsehood has not yet been fully ascertained, I have +therefore suspended my demand of satisfaction. Should it be true, be so +kind as to inform me of it, that the person may be made to answer for +it." + +My Lords, here is a very proper demand. The Nabob is astonished at the +suspicion, that such a woman as Munny Begum, whose trade in youth had +been delusion, should be capable of deluding anybody. Astonishing it +certainly was, that a woman who had been a deluder in youth should be +suspected to be the same in old age, and that he, a young man, should be +subject to her artifices. "They must suspect me to be a great +blockhead," he says, "if a man of my rank is to be deluded." There he +forgot that it is the unhappy privilege of great men to be cheated, to +be deluded, much more than other persons; but he thought it so +impossible in the case of Munny Begum, that he says, "Produce me the +traitor that could suppose it possible for me to be deluded, when I call +for this woman as the governor of the country. I demand satisfaction." I +rather wonder that Mr. Hastings did not inform him who it was that had +reported so gross and improbable a tale, and deliver him up to the fury +of the Nabob. + +Mr. Hastings is absolutely besieged by him; for he receives another +letter upon the 3d of September. Here are four letters following one +another quick as post expresses with horns sounding before them. "Oh, I +die, I perish, I sink, if Munny Begum is not put into the government of +the country!--I therefore desire to have her put into the government of +the country, and that you will not keep me longer in this painful +suspense, but will be kindly pleased to write immediately to the Munny +Begum, that she take on herself the administration of the affairs of the +nizamut, which is, in fact, her own family, without the interference of +any other person whatever: by this you will give me complete +satisfaction." Here is a correspondence more like an amorous than a +state correspondence. What is this man so eager about, what in such a +rage about, that he cannot endure the smallest delay of the post with +common patience? Why, lest this old woman (who is not his mother, and +with whom he had no other tie of blood) should not be made mistress of +himself and the whole country! However, in a very few months afterwards +he himself is appointed by Mr. Hastings to the government; and you may +easily judge by the preceding letters who was to govern. It would be an +affront to your Lordships' judgment to attempt to prove who was to +govern, after he had desired to put the whole government of affairs into +the hands of Munny Begum. + +Now, Munny Begum having obtained this salary, and being invested with +this authority, and made in effect the total and entire governor of the +country, as I have proved by the Nabob's letters, let us see the +consequences of it; and then I desire to know whether your Lordships can +believe that in all this haste, which, in fact, is Mr. Hastings's haste +and impatience, (for we shall prove that the Nabob never did or could +take a step but by his immediate orders and directions,)--whether your +Lordships can believe that Mr. Hastings would incur all the odium +attending such transactions, unless he had some corrupt consideration. + +My Lords, very soon after these appointments were made, consisting of +Munny Begum at the head of the affairs, the Lord Chief-Justice under +her, and under her direction, and Rajah Gourdas as steward of the +household, the first thing we hear is, just what your Lordships expect +to hear upon such a case, that this unfortunate chief-justice, who was a +man undoubtedly of but a poor, low disposition, but, I believe, a +perfectly honest, perfectly well-intentioned man, found it absolutely +impossible for him to execute his office under the direction of Munny +Begum; and accordingly, in the month of September following, he sends a +complaint to Mr. Hastings, "that certain bad men had gained an +ascendency over the Nabob's temper, by whose instigation he acts." After +complaining of the slights he receives from the Nabob, he adds, "Thus +they cause the Nabob to treat me, sometimes with indignity, at others +with kindness, just as they think proper to advise him: their view is, +that, by compelling me to displeasure at such unworthy treatment, they +may force me either to relinquish my station, or to join with them, and +act by their advice, and appoint creatures of their recommendation to +the different offices, from which they might draw profit to themselves." +This is followed by another letter, in which he shows who those corrupt +men were that had gained the ascendency over the Nabob's +temper,--namely, the eunuchs of Munny Begum: one of them her direct +instrument in bribery with Mr. Hastings. What you would expect from such +a state of things accordingly happened. Everything in the course of +justice was confounded; all official responsibility destroyed; and +nothing but a scene of forgery, peculation, and knavery of every kind +and description prevailed through the country, and totally disturbed all +order and justice in it. He says, "The Begum's ministers, before my +arrival, with the advice of their counsellors, caused the Nabob to sign +a receipt, in consequence of which they received at two different times +near fifty thousand rupees, in the name of the officers of the Adawlut, +Foujdarry, &c., from the Company's circar; and having drawn up an +account-current in the manner they wished, they got the Nabob to sign +it, and then sent it to me." In the same letter he asserts "that these +people have the Nabob entirely in their power." + +My Lords, you see here Mr. Hastings enabling the corrupt eunuchs of this +wicked old woman to draw upon the Company's treasury at their pleasure, +under forged papers of the Nabob, for just such moneys as they please, +under the name and pretence of giving it to the officers of justice, but +which they distribute among themselves as they think fit. This complaint +was soon followed by another, and they furnish, first, the strongest +presumptive proof of the corrupt motives of Mr. Hastings; and, secondly, +they show the horrible mischievous effects of his conduct upon the +country. + +In consequence of the first complaint, Mr. Hastings directs this +independent Nabob not to concern himself any longer with the Foujdarry. +The Nabob, who had before declared that the superintendence of all the +offices belonged to him, and was to be executed by himself, or under his +orders, instantly obeys Mr. Hastings, and declares he will not interfere +in the business of the courts any more. Your Lordships will observe +further that the complaint is not against the Nabob, but against the +creatures and the menial servants of Munny Begum: and yet it is the +Nabob he forbids to interfere in this business; of the others he takes +no notice; and this is a strong proof of the corrupt dealings of Mr. +Hastings with this woman. When the whole country was fallen into +confusion under the administration of this woman, and under her corrupt +ministers, men base-born and employed in the basest offices, (the men of +the household train of the women of rank in that country are of that +description,) he writes to the Nabob again, and himself confesses the +mischiefs that had arisen from his corrupt arrangements. + +"At your Excellency's request, I sent Sudder ul Huk Khân to take on him +the administration of the affairs of the Adawlut and Foujdarry, and +hoped by that means not only to have given satisfaction to your +Excellency, but that through his abilities and experience these affairs +would have been conducted in such manner as to have secured the peace of +the country and the happiness of the people; and it is with the greatest +concern I learn that this measure is so far from being attended with the +expected advantages, that the affairs both of the Foujdarry and Adawlut +are in the greatest confusion imaginable, and daily robberies and +murders are perpetrated throughout the country. This is evidently owing +to the want of a proper authority in the person appointed to superintend +them. I therefore addressed your Excellency on the importance and +delicacy of the affairs in question, and of the necessity of lodging +full power in the hands of the person chosen to administer them. In +reply to which your Excellency expressed sentiments coincident with +mine. Notwithstanding which, your dependants and people, actuated by +selfish and avaricious views, have by their interference so impeded the +business as to throw the whole country into a state of confusion, from +which nothing can retrieve it but an unlimited power lodged in the hands +of the superintendent. I therefore request that your Excellency will +give the strictest injunctions to all your dependants not to interfere +in any manner with any matter relative to the affairs of the Adawlut and +Foujdarry, and that you will yourself relinquish all interference +therein, and leave them entirely to the management of Sudder ul Huk +Khân. This is absolutely necessary to restore the country to a state of +tranquillity." + +My Lords, what evidence do we produce to your Lordships of the +consequences of Mr. Hastings's corrupt measures? His own. He here gives +you the state into which the country was thrown by the criminal +interference of the wicked woman whom he had established in power, +totally superseding the regular judicial authority of the country, and +throwing everything into confusion. As usual, there is such irregularity +in his conduct, and his crimes are so multiplied, that all the +contrivances of ingenuity are unable to cover them. Now and then he +comes and betrays himself; and here he confesses you his own weakness, +and the effects of his own corruption: he had appointed Munny Begum to +this office of power, he dare not say a word to her upon her abuse of +it, but he lays the whole upon the Nabob. When the Chief-Justice +complains that these crimes were the consequence of Munny Begum's +interference, and were committed by her creatures, why did he not say to +the Nabob, "The Begum must not interfere; the Begum's eunuchs must not +interfere"? He dared not: because that woman had concealed all the +bribes but one from public notice to gratify him; she and Yatibar Ali +Khân, her minister, who had the principal share in this destruction of +justice and perversion of all the principal functions of government, had +it in their power to discover the whole. Mr. Hastings was obliged, in +consequence of that concealment, to support her and to support him. +Every evil principle was at work. He bought a mercenary silence to pay +the same back to them. It was a wicked silence, the concealment of their +common guilt. There was at once a corrupt gratitude operating mutually +by a corrupt influence on both, and a corrupt fear influencing the mind +of Mr. Hastings, which did not permit him to put an end to this scene of +disorder and confusion, bought at the expense of twenty-four thousand +pounds a year to the Company. You will hereafter see what use he makes +of the evidence of Yatibar Ali Khân, and of this woman, for concealing +their guilt. + +Your Lordships will observe that the virtuous majority, whose reign was +but short, and two of whom died of grief and vexation under the +impediments which they met with from the corruptions and oppositions of +Mr. Hastings, (their indirect murderer,--for it is well known to the +world that their hearts were thus broken,) put their conduct out of all +suspicion. For they ordered an exact account to be kept by Mahomed Reza +Khân,--though, certainly, if any person in the country could be trusted, +he, upon his character, might; but they did not trust him, because they +knew the Company did not suffer them to trust any man: they ordered an +exact account to be kept by him of the Nabob's expenses, which finally +must be the Company's expenses; they ordered the account to be sent down +yearly, to be controlled, if necessary, whilst the means of control +existed.--What was Mr. Hastings's conduct? He did not give the persons +whom he appointed any order to produce any account, though their +character and circumstances were such as made an account ten thousand +times more necessary from them than from those from whom it had been in +former times by the Company strictly exacted. So that his not ordering +any account to be given of the money that was to be expended leaves no +doubt that the appointment of Munny Begum was in pursuance of his old +system of bribery, and that he maintained her in office, to the +subversion of public justice, for the purpose of robbing, and of +continuing in the practice of robbing, the country. + +But though this continued longer than was for the good of the country, +yet it did not continue absolutely and relatively long; because the +Court of Directors, as soon as they heard of this iniquitous +appointment, which glared upon them in all the light of its infamy, +immediately wrote the strongest, the most decided, and the most +peremptory censure upon him, attributing his acts, every one of them, to +the same causes to which I attribute them. As a proof that the Court of +Directors saw the thing in the very light in which I represent it to +your Lordships, and indeed in which every one must see it, you will find +that they reprobate all his idle excuses,--that they reprobate all the +actors in the scene,--that they consider everything to have been done, +not by the Nabob, but by himself,--that the object of the appointment of +Munny Begum was _money_, and that the consequence of that appointment +was the robbery of the Nabob's treasury. "We by no means approve your +late proceedings, on the application of the Nabob Mobarek ul Dowlah for +the removal of the Naib Subahdar. The requisition of Mobarek ul Dowlah +was improper and unfriendly; because he must have known that the late +appointment of Mahomed Reza Khân to the office of Naib Subahdar had been +marked with the Company's special approbation, and that the Court of +Directors had assured him of their favor so long as a firm attachment +to the Company's interest and a proper discharge of the duties of his +station should render him worthy of their protection. We therefore +repeat our declaration, that to require the dismission of a +prime-minister thus circumstanced, without producing the smallest proof +of his infidelity to the Company, or venturing to charge him with one +instance of maladministration in the discharge of his public duty, was +improper and inconsistent with the friendship subsisting between the +Nabob of Bengal and the Company." And further on they say,--"The Nabob +having intimated that he had repeatedly stated the trouble and +uneasiness which he had suffered from the naibship of the nizamut being +vested in Mahomed Reza Khân, we observe one of the members of your board +desired the Nabob's repeated letters on the subject might be read, but +this reasonable request was overruled, on a plea of saving the board's +time, which we can by no means admit as a sufficient objection. The +Nabob's letters of the 25th and 30th August, of the 3d September and +17th November, leave us no doubt of the true design of this +extraordinary business being to bring forward Munny Begum, and again to +invest her with improper power and influence, notwithstanding our former +declaration, that so great a part of the Nabob's allowance had been +embezzled or misapplied under her superintendence." + +At present I do not think it necessary, because it would be doing more +than enough, it would be slaying the slain, to show your Lordships what +Mr. Hastings's motives were in acting against the sense of the East +India Company, appointed by an act of Parliament to control him,--that +he did it for a corrupt purpose, that all his pretences were false and +fraudulent, and that he had his own corrupt views in the whole of the +proceeding. But in the statement which I have given of this matter, I +beg your Lordships to observe the instruments with which Mr. Hastings +acts. The great men of that country, and particularly the Subahdar +himself, the Nabob, are and is in so equivocal a situation, that it +afforded him two bolting-holes, by which he is enabled to resist the +authority of the Company, and exercise an arbitrary authority of his +own: for, though the Nabob has the titles of high sovereignty, he is the +lowest of all dependants; he appears to be the master of the +country,--he is a pensioner of the Company's government. + +When Mr. Hastings wants him to obey and answer his corrupt purposes, he +finds him in the character of a pensioner: when he wants his authority +to support him in opposition to the authority of the Company, +immediately he invests him with high sovereign powers, and he dare not +execute the orders of the Company for fear of doing some act that will +make him odious in the eyes of God and man. We see how he appointed all +officers for him, and forbade his interference in all affairs. When the +Company see the impropriety and the guilt of these acts, and order him +to rescind them, and appoint again Mahomed Reza Khân, he declares he +will not, that he cannot do it in justice, but that he will consent to +send him the order of the Company, but without backing it with any order +of the board: which, supposing even there had been no private +communication, was, in other words, commanding him to disobey it. So +this poor man, who a short time before was at the feet of Mr. Hastings, +whom Mr. Hastings declared to be a pageant, and swore in a court of +justice that he was but a pageant, and followed that affidavit with +long declarations in Council that he was a pageant in sovereignty, and +ought in policy ever to be held out as such,--this man he sets up in +opposition to the Company, and refuses to appoint Mahomed Reza Khân to +the office which was guarantied to him by the express faith of the +Company, pledged to his support. Will any man tell me that this +resistance, under such base, though plausible pretences, could spring +from any other cause than a resolution of persisting systematically in +his course of corruption and bribery through Munny Begum? + +But there is another circumstance that puts this in a stronger light. He +opposes the Nabob's mock authority to the authority of the Company, and +leaves Mahomed Reza Khân unemployed, because, as he says, he cannot in +justice execute orders from the Company (though they are his undoubted +masters) contrary to the rights of the Nabob. You see what the rights of +the Nabob were: the rights of the Nabob were, to be governed by Munny +Begum and her scandalous ministers. But, however, we now see him exalted +to be an independent sovereign; he defies the Company at the head of +their armies and their treasury; that name that makes all India shake +was defied by one of its pensioners. My Lords, human greatness is an +unstable thing. This man, so suddenly exalted, was as soon depressed; +and the manner of his depression is as curious as that of his exaltation +by Mr. Hastings, and will tend to show you the man most clearly. + +Mr. Francis, whose conduct all along was directed by no other principles +than those which were in conformity with the plan adopted by himself and +his virtuous colleagues, namely, an entire obedience to the laws of his +country, and who constantly had opposed Mr. Hastings, upon principles of +honor, and principles of obedience to the authority of the Company under +which he acted, had never contended for any one thing, in any way, or in +any instance, but obedience to them, and had constantly asserted that +Mahomed Reza Khân ought to be put into employment. Mr. Hastings as +constantly opposed him; and the reason he gave for it was, that it was +against the direct rights of the Nabob, and that they were rights so +sacred that they could not be infringed even by the sovereign authority +of the Company ordering him to do it. He had so great an aversion to the +least subtraction of the Nabob's right, that, though expressly commanded +by the Court of Directors, he would not suffer Mahomed Reza Khân to be +invested with his office under the Company's authority. The Nabob was +too sovereign, too supreme, for him to do it. But such is the fate of +human grandeur, that a whimsical event reduced the Nabob to his state of +pageant again, and made him the mere subject of--you will see whom. Mr. +Hastings found he was so embarrassed by his disobedience to the spirit +of the orders of the Company, and by the various wild projects he had +formed, as to make it necessary for him, even though he had a majority +in the Council, to gain over at any price Mr. Francis. Mr. Francis, +frightened by the same miserable situation of affairs, (for this +happened at a most dangerous period,--the height of the Mahratta war,) +was willing likewise to give up his opposition to Mr. Hastings, to +suspend the execution of many rightful things, and to concede them to +the public necessity. Accordingly he agreed to terms with Mr. Hastings. +But what was the price of that concession? Any base purpose, any +desertion of public duty? No: all that he desired of Mr. Hastings was, +that he should obey the orders of the Company; and among other acts of +the obedience required was this, that Mahomed Reza Khân should be put +into his office. + +You have heard how Mr. Hastings opposed the order of the Company, and on +what account he opposed it. On the 1st of September he sent an order to +the Nabob, now become his subject, to give up this office to Mahomed +Reza Khân: an act which he had before represented as a dethroning of the +Nabob. The order went on the 1st of September, and on the 3d this great +and mighty prince, whom all earth could not move from the assertion of +his rights, gives them all up, and Mahomed Reza Khân is invested with +them. So there all his pretences were gone. It is plain that what had +been done before was for Munny Begum, and that what he now gave up was +from necessity: and it shows that the Nabob was the meanest of his +servants; for in truth he ate his daily bread out of the hands of Mr. +Hastings, through Munny Begum. + +Mahomed Reza Khân was now invested again with his office; but such was +the treachery of Mr. Hastings, that, though he wrote to the Nabob that +this was done in consequence of the orders of the Company, he did +clandestinely, according to his usual mode, assure the Nabob that +Mahomed Reza Khân should not hold the place longer than till he heard +from England. He then wrote him another letter, that he should hold it +no longer than while he submitted to his present necessity, (thus giving +up to his colleague what he refused to the Company,) and engaged, +privately, that he would dismiss Mahomed Reza Khân again. And +accordingly, the moment he thought Mr. Francis was not in a condition to +give him trouble any longer, that moment he again turned out Mahomed +Reza Khân from that general superintendence of affairs which the Company +gave him, and deposed him as a minister, leaving him only a very +confined authority as a magistrate. + +All these changes, no less than four great revolutions, if I may so call +them, were made by Mr. Hastings for his own corrupt purposes. This is +the manner in which Mr. Hastings has played with the most sacred objects +that man ever had a dealing with: with the government, with the justice, +with the order, with the dignity, with the nobility of a great country: +he played with them to satisfy his own wicked and corrupt purposes +through the basest instrument. + +Now, my Lords, I have done with these presumptions of corruption with +Munny Begum, and have shown that it is not a slight crime, but that it +is attended with a breach of public faith, with a breach of his orders, +with a breach of the whole English government, and the destruction of +the native government, of the police, the order, the safety, the +security, and the justice of the country,--and that all these are much +concerned in this cause. Therefore the Commons stand before the face of +the world, and say, We have brought a cause, a great cause, a cause +worthy the Commons of England to prosecute, and worthy the Lords to +judge and determine upon. + +I have now nothing further to state than what the consequences are of +Mr. Hastings taking bribes,--that Mr. Hastings's taking of bribes is not +only his own corruption, but the incurable corruption of the whole +service. I will show, first, that he was named in 1773 to put an end to +that corruption. I will show that he did not,--that he knowingly and +willingly connived at it,--and that that connivance was the principal +cause of all the disorders that have hitherto prevailed in that country. +I will show you that he positively refused to obey the Company's order +to inquire into and to correct the corruptions that prevailed in that +country; next, that he established an avowed system of connivance, in +order to gain over everything that was corrupt in the country; and that, +lastly, to secure it, he gave up all the prosecutions, and enervated and +took away the sole arm left to the Company for the assertion of +authority and the preservation of good morals and purity in their +service. + +My Lords, here is a letter, in the year 1773, in which the Court of +Directors had, upon his own representation, approved some part of his +conduct. He is charmed with their approbation; he promises the greatest +things; but I believe your Lordships will see, from the manner in which +he proceeds at that very instant, that a more deliberate system, for not +only being corrupt himself, but supporting corruption in others, never +was exhibited in any public paper. + +"While I indulge the pleasure which I receive from the past successes of +my endeavors, I own I cannot refrain from looking back with a mixture of +anxiety on the omissions by which I am sensible I may since have +hazarded the diminution of your esteem. All my letters addressed to your +Honorable Court, and to the Secret Committee, repeat the strongest +promises of prosecuting the inquiries into the conduct of your servants +which you had been pleased to commit particularly to my charge. You will +readily perceive that I must have been sincere in those declarations; +since it would have argued great indiscretion to have made them, had I +foreseen my inability to perform them. I find myself now under the +disagreeable necessity of avowing that inability; at the same time I +will boldly take upon me to affirm, that, on whomsoever you might have +delegated that charge, and by whatever powers it might have been +accompanied, it would have been sufficient to occupy the entire +attention of those who were intrusted with it, and, even with all the +aids of leisure and authority, would have proved ineffectual. I dare +appeal to the public records, to the testimony of those who have +opportunities of knowing me, and even to the detail which the public +voice can report of the past acts of this government, that my time has +been neither idly nor uselessly employed: yet such are the cares and +embarrassments of this various state, that, although much may be done, +much more, even in matters of moment, must necessarily remain neglected. +To select from the miscellaneous heap which each day's exigencies +present to our choice those points on which the general welfare of your +affairs most essentially depends, to provide expedients for future +advantages and guard against probable evils, are all that your +administration can faithfully promise to perform for your service with +their united labors most diligently exerted. They cannot look back +without sacrificing the objects of their immediate duty, which are those +of your interests, to endless researches, which can produce no real +good, and may expose your affairs to all the ruinous consequences of +personal malevolence, both here and at home." + +My Lords, this is the first man, I believe, that ever took credit for +his sincerity from his breach of his promises. "I could not," he says, +"have made these promises, if I had not thought that I could perform +them. Now I find I cannot perform them, and you have in that +non-performance and in that profession a security for my sincerity when +I promised them." Upon this principle, any man who makes a promise has +nothing to do afterwards, but to say that he finds himself (without +assigning any particular cause for it) unable to perform it,--not only +to justify himself for his non-performance, but to justify himself and +claim credit for sincerity in his original profession. The charge was +given him specially, and he promised obedience, over and over, upon the +spot, and in the country, in which he was no novice, for he had been +bred in it: it was his native country in one sense, it was the place of +his renewed nativity and regeneration. Yet this very man, as if he was a +novice in it, now says, "I promised you what I now find I cannot +perform." Nay, what is worse, he declares no man could perform it, if he +gave up his whole time to it. And lastly, he says, that the inquiry into +these corruptions, even if you succeeded in it, would do more harm than +good. Now was there ever an instance of a man so basely deserting a +duty, and giving so base a reason for it? His duty was to put an end to +corruption in every channel of government. It cannot be done. Why? +Because it would expose our affairs to malignity and enmity, and end, +perhaps, to our disadvantage. Not only will he connive himself, but he +advises the Company to do it. For fear of what? For fear that their +service was so abandoned and corrupt, that the display of the evil would +tend more to their disreputation than all their attempts to reform it +would tend to their service. + +Mr. Hastings should naturally have imagined that the law was a resource +in this desperate case of bribery. He tells you, that in "that charge of +oppression, though they were supported by the cries of the people and +the most authentic representations, it is yet impossible in most cases +to obtain legal proofs." Here is a system of total despair upon the +business, which I hope and believe is not a desperate one, and has not +proved a desperate one, whenever a rational attempt has been made to +pursue it. Here you find him corrupt, and you find, in consequence of +that corruption, that he screens the whole body of corruption in India, +and states an absolute despair of any possibility, by any art or +address, of putting an end to it. Nay, he tells you, that, if corruption +did not exist, if it was not connived at, that the India Company could +not exist. Whether that be a truth or not I cannot tell; but this I +know, that it is the most horrible picture that ever was made of any +country. It might be said that these were excuses for omissions,--sins +of omission he calls them. I will show that they were systematic, that +Mr. Hastings did uniformly profess that he would connive at abuses, and +contend that abuses ought to be connived at. When the whole mystery of +the iniquity, in which he himself was deeply concerned, came to +light,--when it appeared that all the Company's orders were +contravened,--that contracts were given directly contrary to their +orders, and upon principles subversive of their government, leading to +all manner of oppression and ruin to the country,--what was Mr. +Hastings's answer? "I must here remark, that the majority ... I had not +the power of establishing it."[5] Then he goes on and states other cases +of corruption, at every one of which he winks. Here he states another +reason for his connivance. "Suppose again," (for he puts another +supposition, and these suppositions are not hypotheses laid down for +argument, but real facts then existing before the Council examining into +grievances,)--"suppose again, that any person had benefited himself ... +unprofitable discussion."[6] + +Here is a direct avowal of his refusing to examine into the conduct of +persons in the Council, even in the highest departments of government, +and the best paid, for fear he should dissatisfy them, and should lose +their votes, by discovering those peculations and corruptions, though he +perfectly knew them. Was there ever, since the world began, any man who +would dare to avow such sentiments, until driven to the wall? If he +could show that he himself abhorred bribes, and kept at a distance from +them, then he might say, "I connive at the bribes of others"; but when +he acknowledges that he takes bribes, how can you doubt that he buys a +corrupt confederacy, and puts an end to any hope through him of +reformation of the abuses at Bengal? But your Lordships will see that he +not only connived at abuse, but patronized it and supported it for his +own political purposes; since he here confesses, that, if inquiry into +it created him ill-humor, and produced him an opposition in Council, he +sacrificed it to the power of the Company, and the constitution of their +government. Did he so? The Company ordered him to prosecute those +people, and their constitution required that they should be prosecuted. +"No," says Mr. Hastings, "the conniving at it procures a majority of +votes." The very thing that he bought was not worth half the price he +paid for it. He was sent to reform corruptions, and, in order that he +might reform corruptions, he winked at, countenanced, and patronized +them, to get a majority of votes; and what was, in fact, a sacrifice to +his own interest, ambition, and corruption, he calls a sacrifice to the +Company. He puts, then, this alternative: "Either give everything into +my hand, suffer me to go on, and have no control, or else I wink at +every species of corruption." It is a remarkable and stupendous thing, +that, when all the world was alarmed at the disorders of the Company, +when that alarm occasioned his being sent out, and when, in consequence +of that alarm, Parliament suspended the constitution of the Company, and +appointed another government, Mr. Hastings should tell that Company that +Parliament had done wrong, and that the person put at the head of that +government was to wink at those abuses. Nay, what is more, not only does +Mr. Hastings declare, upon general principles, that it was impossible to +pursue all the delinquencies of India, and that, if possible to pursue +them, mischief would happen from it, but your Lordships will observe +that Mr. Hastings, in this business, during the whole period of the +administration of that body which was sent out to inquire into and +reform the corruptions of India, did not call one person to an account; +nor, except Mr. Hastings, this day, has any one been called to an +account, or punished for delinquency. Whether he will be punished or no, +time will show. I have no doubt of your Lordships' justice, and of the +goodness of our cause. + +The table of the House of Commons groaned under complaints of the evils +growing in India under this systematic connivance of Mr. Hastings. The +Directors had set on foot prosecutions, to be conducted God knows how; +but, such as they were, they were their only remedy; and they began to +consider at last that these prosecutions had taken a long oblivious nap +of many years; and at last, knowing that they were likely, in the year +1782, to be called to a strict account about their own conduct, the +Court of Directors began to rouse themselves, and they write thus: +"Having in several of our letters to you very attentively perused all +the proceedings referred to in these paragraphs, relative to the various +forgeries on the Company's treasuries, we lament exceedingly that the +parties should have been so long in confinement without being brought to +trial." + +Here, my Lords, after justice had been asleep awhile, it revived. They +directed two things: first, that those suits should be pursued; but +whether pursued or not, that an account of the state of them should be +given, that they might give orders concerning them. + +Your Lordships see the orders of the Company. Did they not want to +pursue and to revive those dormant prosecutions? They want to have a +state of them, that they may know how to direct the future conduct of +them with more effect and vigor than they had yet been pursued with. You +will naturally imagine that Mr. Hastings did not obey their orders, or +obeyed them languidly. No, he took another part. He says, "Having +attentively read and weighed the arguments ... for withdrawing them."[7] + +Thus he begins with the general principle of connivance; he directly +avows he does it for a political purpose; and when the Company directs +he shall proceed in the suits, instead of deferring to their judgment, +he takes the judgment on himself, and says theirs is untenable; he +directly discharges the prosecutions of the Company, supersedes the +authority of his masters, and gives a general release to all the persons +who were still suffering by the feeble footsteps of justice in that +country. He gave them an act of indemnity, and that was the last of his +acts. + +Now, when I show the consequence of his bribery, the presumptions that +arise from his own bribes, his attention to secure others from the +punishment of theirs, and, when ordered to carry on a suit, his +discharging it,--when we see all this, can we avoid judging and forming +our opinions upon two grand points: first, that no man would proceed in +that universal patronage of guilt, unless he was guilty himself; next, +that, by a universal connivance for fourteen years, he is himself the +cause and mainspring of all the evils, calamities, extortion, and +bribery, that have prevailed and ravaged that country for so long a +time? There is, indeed, no doubt either of his guilt, or of the +consequences of it, by which he has extinguished the last expiring hope +and glimpse that remained of procuring a remedy for India of the evils +that exist in it. + +I would mention, that, as a sort of postscript, when he could no longer +put the government into the hands of that infamous woman, Munny Begum, +he sent an amorous, sentimental letter to the Company, describing her +miserable situation, and advising the Company to give her a pension of +seventy-two thousand rupees a year, to maintain her. He describes her +situation in such a moving way as must melt every heart. He supposes her +to be reduced to want by the cruel orders of the Company, who retain +from her money which they were never obliged to give her. This +representation, which he makes with as much fairness as he represents +himself to be in a state of the most miserable poverty and distress, he +alone made to the Company, because his colleagues would not countenance +him in it; and we find, upon looking over Lord Cornwallis's last +examination into the whole state of this unhappy family, that this woman +was able to lend to Mobarek ul Dowlah twenty thousand pounds. Mr. +Hastings, however, could not avoid making this representation; because +he knew, that, if he quitted the country without securing that woman, by +giving her a hope that she could procure by his credit here that money +which by his authority he had before procured for her, she might then +make a discovery of all the corruption that had been carried on between +them; and therefore he squanders away the treasures of the Company, in +order to secure himself from any such detection, and to procure for +himself _razinamas_ and all those fine things. He knew that Munny Begum, +that the whole seraglio, that all the country, whom he had put under the +dominion of Sir John D'Oyly, that all those people might have made a +discovery of all his corrupt proceedings; he therefore gets the Nabob to +appoint Sir John D'Oyly his agent here, with a view of stopping his +mouth, and by the hope of another 160,000_l._ a year to prevent his +giving an account of the dilapidation and robbery that was made of the +160,000_l._ which had been left him. + + * * * * * + +I have now finished what I proposed to say relative to his great fund of +bribery, in the first instance of it,--namely, the administration of +justice in the country. There is another system of bribery which I shall +state before my friends produce the evidence. He put up all the great +offices of the country to sale; he makes use of the trust he had of the +revenues in order to destroy the whole system of those revenues, and to +bind them and make them subservient to his system of bribery: and this +will make it necessary for your Lordships to couple the consideration of +the charge of the revenues, in some instances, with that of bribery. + +The next day your Lordships meet (when I hope I shall not detain you so +long) I mean to open the second stage of his bribery, the period of +discovery: for the first stage was the period of concealment. When he +found his bribes could no longer be concealed, he next took upon him to +discover them himself, and to take merit from them. + +When I shall have opened the second scene of his peculation, and his new +principles of it, when you see him either treading in old corruptions, +and excelling the examples he imitated, or exhibiting new ones of his +own, in which of the two his conduct is the most iniquitous, and +attended with most evil to the Company, I must leave your Lordships to +judge. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Document wanting. + +[3] Document wanting. + +[4] Document wanting. + +[5] Document wanting. + +[6] Document wanting. + +[7] Document wanting. + + + + +SPEECH + +ON + +THE SIXTH ARTICLE OF CHARGE. + +THIRD DAY: TUESDAY, MAY 5, 1789. + + +My Lords,--Agreeably to your Lordships' proclamation, which I have just +heard, and the duty enjoined me by the House of Commons, I come forward +to make good their charge of high crimes and misdemeanors against Warren +Hastings, Esquire, late Governor-General of Bengal, and now a prisoner +at your bar. + +My Lords, since I had last the honor of standing in this place before +your Lordships, an event has happened upon which it is difficult to +speak and impossible to be silent. My Lords, I have been disavowed by +those who sent me here to represent them. My Lords, I have been +disavowed in a material part of that engagement which I had pledged +myself to this House to perform. My Lords, that disavowal has been +followed by a censure. And yet, my Lords, so censured and so disavowed, +and by such an authority, I am sent here again, to this the place of my +offence, under the same commission, by the same authority, to make good +the same charge, against the same delinquent. + +My Lords, the situation is new and awful: the situation is such as, I +believe, and I am sure, has nothing like it on the records of +Parliament, nor, probably, in the history of mankind. My Lords, it is +not only new and singular, but, I believe, to many persons, who do not +look into the true interior nature of affairs, it may appear that it +would be to me as mortifying as it is unprecedented. But, my Lords, I +have in this situation, and upon the consideration of all the +circumstances, something more to feed my mind with than mere +consolation; because, my Lords, I look upon the whole of these +circumstances, considered together, as the strongest, the most decisive, +and the least equivocal proof which the Commons of Great Britain can +give of their sincerity and their zeal in this prosecution. My Lords, is +it from a mistaken tenderness or a blind partiality to me, that, thus +censured, they have sent me to this place? No, my Lords, it is because +they feel, and recognize in their own breasts, that active principle of +justice, that zeal for the relief of the people of India, that zeal for +the honor of Great Britain, which characterizes me and my excellent +associates, that, in spite of any defects, in consequence of that zeal +which they applaud, and while they censure its mistakes, and, because +they censure its mistakes, do but more applaud, they have sent me to +this place, instructed, but not dismayed, to pursue this prosecution +against Warren Hastings, Esquire. Your Lordships will therefore be +pleased to consider this, as I consider it, not as a thing honorable to +me, in the first place, but as honorable to the Commons of Great +Britain, in whose honor the national glory is deeply concerned; and I +shall suffer myself with pleasure to be sacrificed, perhaps, in what is +dearer to me than my life, my reputation, rather than let it be supposed +that the Commons should for one moment have faltered in their duty. I, +my Lords, on the one hand, feeling myself supported and encouraged, +feeling protection and countenance from this admonition and warning +which has been given to me, will show myself, on the other hand, not +unworthy so great and distinguished a mark of the favor of the +Commons,--a mark of favor not the consequence of flattery, but of +opinion. I shall feel animated and encouraged by so noble a reward as I +shall always consider the confidence of the Commons to be: the only +reward, but a rich reward, which I have received for the toils and +labors of a long life. + +The Commons, then, thus vindicated, and myself thus encouraged, I shall +proceed to make good the charge in which the honor of the Commons, that +is, the national honor, is so deeply concerned. For, my Lords, if any +circumstance of weakness, if any feebleness of nerve, if any yielding to +weak and popular opinions and delusions were to shake us, consider what +the situation of this country would be. This prosecution, if weakly +conceived, ill digested, or intemperately pursued, ought never to have +been brought to your Lordships' bar: but being brought to your +Lordships' bar, the nation is committed to it, and the least appearance +of uncertainty in our minds would disgrace us forever. _Esto perpetua_, +has been said. To the glory of this nation, much more be it said, _Esto +perpetua_; and I will say, that, as we have raised and exhibited a +theatre of justice which has excited the admiration of all Europe, there +would be a sort of lustre in our infamy, and a splendor in the disgrace +that we should bring upon ourselves, if we should, just at that moment, +turn that theatre of our glory into a spectacle of dishonor beyond what +has ever happened to any country of the world. + +The Commons of Great Britain, whilst willing to keep a strong and firm +hand over all those who represent them in any business, do at the same +time encourage them in the prosecution of it, by allowing them a just +discretion and latitude wherever their own orders have not marked a +distinction. I shall therefore go on with the more cheerful confidence, +not only for the reasons that I have stated, but for another and +material reason. I know and am satisfied, that, in the nobleness of your +judgment, you will always make a distinction between the person that +gives the order and the organ that is to execute it. The House of +Commons know no such thing as indiscretion, imprudence, or impropriety: +it is otherwise with their instruments. Your Lordships very well know, +that, if you hear anything that shall appear to you to be regular, apt +to bring forward the charge, just, prudent, cogent, you are to give it +to the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled; if you should +hear from me (and it must be from me alone, and not from any other +member of the Committee) anything that is unworthy of that situation, +that comes feeble, weak, indigested, or ill-prepared, you are to +attribute that to the instrument. Your Lordships' judgment would do this +without my saying it. But whilst I claim it on the part of the Commons +for their dignity, I claim for myself the necessary indulgence that must +be given to all weakness. Your Lordships, then, will impute it where you +would have imputed it without my desire. It is a distinction you would +naturally have made, and the rather because what is alleged by us at the +bar is not the ground upon which you are to give judgment. If not only +I, but the whole body of managers, had made use of any such expressions +as I made use of,--even if the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament +assembled, if the collective body of Parliament, if the voice of Europe, +had used them,--if we had spoken with the tongues of men and angels, +you, in the seat of judicature, are not to regard what we say, but what +we prove; you are to consider whether the charge is well substantiated, +and proof brought out by legal inference and argument. You know, and I +am sure the habits of judging which your Lordships have acquired by +sitting in judgment must better inform you than any other men, that the +duties of life, in order to be well performed, must be methodized, +separated, arranged, and harmonized in such a manner that they shall not +clash with one another, but each have a department assigned and +separated to itself. My Lords, in that manner it is that we, the +prosecutors, have nothing to do with the principles which are to guide +the judgment, that we have nothing to do with the defence of the +prisoner. Your Lordships well know, that, when we come before you, you +hear a party; that, when the accused come before you, you hear a party: +that it is for you to doubt, and wait till you come to the close, before +you decide; that it is for us, the prosecutors, to have decided before +we came here. To act as prosecutors, we ought to have no doubt or +hesitation, nothing trembling or quivering in our minds upon the +occasion. We ought to be fully convinced of guilt, before we come to +you. It is, then, our business to bring forward the proofs,--to enforce +them with all the clearness, illustration, example, that we can bring +forward,--that we are to show the circumstances that can aggravate the +guilt,--that we are to go further, show the mischievous consequences and +tendency of those crimes to society,--and that we are, if able so to do, +to arouse and awaken in the minds of all that hear us those generous and +noble sympathies which Providence has planted in the breasts of all men, +to be the true guardians of the common rights of humanity. Your +Lordships know that this is the duty of the prosecutors, and that +therefore we are not to consider the defence of the party, which is +wisely and properly left to himself; but we are to press the accusation +with all the energy of which it is capable, and to come with minds +perfectly convinced before an august and awful tribunal which at once +tries the accuser and the accused. + +Having stated thus much with respect to the Commons, I am to read to +your Lordships the resolution which the Commons have come to upon this +great occasion, and upon which I shall take the liberty to say a very +few words. + +My Lords, the Commons have resolved last night, and I did not see the +resolution till this morning, "that no direction or authority was given +by this House to the committee appointed to manage the impeachment +against Warren Hastings, Esquire, to make any charge or allegation +against the said Warren Hastings respecting the condemnation or +execution of Nundcomar; and that the words spoken by the Right Honorable +Edmund Burke, one of the said managers, _videlicet_, that he (meaning +Mr. Hastings) murdered that man (meaning Nundcomar) by the hands of Sir +Elijah Impey, ought not to have been spoken." + +My Lords, this is the resolution of the House of Commons. Your +Lordships well know and remember my having used such or similar words, +and the end and purpose for which I used them. I owe a few words of +explanation to the Commons of Great Britain, who attend in a committee +of the whole House to be the observers and spectators of my conduct. I +owe it to your Lordships, I owe it to this great auditory, I owe it to +the present times and to posterity, to make some apology for a +proceeding which has drawn upon me the disavowal of the House which I +represent. Your Lordships will remember that this charge which I have +opened to your Lordships is primarily a charge founded upon the evidence +of the Rajah Nundcomar; and consequently I thought myself obliged, I +thought it a part of my duty, to support the credit of that person, who +is the principal evidence to support the direct charge that is brought +before your Lordships. I knew that Mr. Hastings, in his anticipated +defence before the House of Commons, had attempted to shake the credit +of that witness. I therefore thought myself justified in informing your +Lordships, and in warning him, that, if he did attempt to shake the +credit of an important witness against him by an allegation of his +having been condemned and executed for a forgery, I would endeavor to +support his credit by attacking that very prosecution which brought on +that condemnation and that execution; and that I did consider it, and +would lay grounds before your Lordships to prove it, to be a murder +committed, instead of a justification set up, or that ought to be set +up. + +Now, my Lords, I am ordered by the Commons no longer to persist in that +declaration; and I, who know nothing in this place, and ought to know +nothing in this place, but obedience to the Commons, do mean, when Mr. +Hastings makes that objection (if he shall be advised to make it) +against the credit of Rajah Nundcomar, not thus to support that credit; +and therefore that objection to the credit of the witness must go +unrefuted by me. My Lords, I must admit, perhaps against my private +judgment, (but that is of no consideration for your Lordships, when +opposed to the judgment of the House of Commons,) or, at least, not +contest, that a first minister of state, in a great kingdom, who had the +benefit of the administration, and of the entire and absolute command of +a revenue of fifteen hundred thousand pounds a year, had been guilty of +a paltry forgery in Calcutta; that this man, who had been guilty of this +paltry forgery, had waited for his sentence and his punishment, till a +body of English judges, armed with an English statute, came to Calcutta; +and that this happened at the very happy nick and moment when he was +accusing Mr. Hastings of the bribery with which we now in the name of +the Commons charge him; that it was owing to an entirely fortuitous +concurrence of circumstances, in which Mr. Hastings had no share, or +that it was owing to something beyond this, something that is rather +pious than fortuitous, namely, that, as Mr. Hastings tells you himself, +"all persuasions of men were impressed with a superstitious belief that +a fortunate influence directed all my actions to their destined ends." +I, not being at that time infected with the superstition, and +considering what I thought Mr. Hastings's guilt to be, and what I must +prove it to be as well as I can, did not believe that Providence did +watch over Mr. Hastings, so as in the nick of time, like a god in a +machine, to come down to save him in the moment of his imminent peril +and distress: I did not think so, but I must not say so. + +But now, to show that it was not weakly, loosely, or idly, that I took +up this business, or that I anticipated a defence which it was not +probable for Mr. Hastings to make, (and I wish to speak to your +Lordships in the first instance, but to the Commons in the next,) I will +read part of Mr. Hastings's defence before the House of Commons: it is +in evidence before your Lordships. He says,--"My accuser" (meaning +myself, then acting as a private member of Parliament) "charges me with +'the receipt of large sums of money, corruptly taken before the +promulgation of the Regulating Act of 1773, contrary to my covenants +with the Company, and with the receipt of very large sums taken since, +in defiance of that law, and contrary to my declared sense of its +provisions.' And he ushers in this charge in the following pompous +diction: 'That in March, 1775, the late Rajah Nundcomar, a native Hindoo +of the highest caste in his religion, and of the highest rank in +society, by the offices which he had held under the country government, +did lay before the Council an account of various sums of money,' &c. It +would naturally strike every person ignorant of the character of +Nundcomar, that an accusation made by a person of the highest caste in +his religion and of the highest rank by his offices demanded particular +notice, and acquired a considerable degree of credit, from a prevalent +association of ideas that a nice sense of honor is connected with an +elevated rank of life: but when this honorable House is informed that my +accuser knew (though he suppressed the facts) that this person, of high +rank and high caste, had forfeited every pretension to honor, veracity, +and credit,--that there are facts recorded on the very Proceedings which +my accuser partially quotes, proving this man to have been guilty of a +most flagrant forgery of letters from Munny Begum and the Nabob Yeteram +ul Dowlah, (independent of the forgery for which he suffered death,) of +the most deliberate treachery to the state, for which he was confined, +by the orders of the Court of Directors, to the limits of the town of +Calcutta, in order to prevent his dangerous intrigues, and of having +violated every principle of common honesty in private life,--I say, when +this honorable House is acquainted it is from mutilated and garbled +assertions, founded on the testimony of such an evidence, without the +whole matter being fairly stated, I do hope and trust it will be +sufficient for them to reject _now_ these vague and unsupported charges, +in like manner as they were _before_ rejected by the Court of Directors +and his Majesty's ministers, when they were first made by General +Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis.--I must here interrupt the +course of my defence to explain on what grounds I employed or had any +connection with a man of so flagitious a character as Nundcomar." + +My Lords, I hope this was a good and reasonable ground for me to +anticipate the defence which Mr. Hastings would make in this +House,--namely, on the known, recognized, infamous character of +Nundcomar, with regard to certain proceedings there charged at large, +with regard to one forgery for which he suffered and two other forgeries +with which Mr. Hastings charged him. I, who found that the Commons of +Great Britain had received that very identical charge of Nundcomar, and +given it to me in trust to make it good, did naturally, I hope +excusably, (for that is the only ground upon which I stand,) endeavor to +support that credit upon which the House acted. I hope I did so; and I +hope that the goodness of that intention may excuse me, if I went a +little too far on that occasion. I would have endeavored to support that +credit, which it was much Mr. Hastings's interest to shake, and which he +had before attempted to shake. + +Your Lordships will have the goodness to suppose me now making my +apology, and by no manner of means intending to persist either in this, +or in anything which the House of Commons shall desire me not to declare +in their name. But the House of Commons has not denied me the liberty to +make you this just apology: God forbid they should! for they would be +guilty of great injustice, if they did. The House of Commons, whom I +represent, will likewise excuse me, their representative, whilst I have +been endeavoring to support their characters in the face of the world, +and to make an apology, and only an humble apology, for my conduct, for +having considered that act in the light that I represented it,--and +which I did merely from my private opinion, without any formal +instruction from the House. For there is no doubt that the House is +perfectly right, inasmuch as the House did neither formally instruct me +nor at all forbid my making use of such an argument; and therefore I +have given your Lordships the reason why it was fit to make use of such +argument,--if it was right to make use of it. I am in the memory of your +Lordships that I did conceive it to be relevant, and it was by the +poverty of the language I was led to express my private feelings under +the name of a _murder_. For, if the language had furnished me, under the +impression of those feelings, with a word sufficient to convey the +complicated atrocity of that act, as I felt it in my mind, I would not +have made use of the word _murder_. It was on account of the language +furnishing me with no other I was obliged to use that word. Your +Lordships do not imagine, I hope, that I used that word in any other +than a moral and popular sense, or that I used it in the legal and +technical sense of the word _murder_. Your Lordships know that I could +not bring before this bar any commoner of Great Britain on a charge for +murder. I am not so ignorant of the laws and constitution of my country. +I expressed an act which I conceived to be of an atrocious and evil +nature, and partaking of some of the moral evil consequences of that +crime. What led me into that error? Nine years' meditation upon that +subject. + +My Lords, the prisoner at the bar in the year 1780 sent a petition to +the House of Commons complaining of that very chief-justice, Sir Elijah +Impey. The House of Commons, who then had some trust in me, as they have +some trust still, did order me, along with persons more wise and +judicious than myself, several of whom stand near me, to make an inquiry +into the state of the justice of that country. The consequence of that +inquiry was, that we began to conceive a very bad opinion both of the +complainant and defendant in that business,--that we found the English +justice to be, as we thought it, and reported it to the House, a +grievance, instead of a redress, to the people of India. I could bring +before your Lordships, if I did not spare your patience, whole volumes +of reports, whole bodies of evidence, which, in the progress we have +made in the course of eight or nine years, brought to my mind such a +conviction as will never be torn from my heart but with my life; and I +should have no heart that was fit to lodge any honest sentiment, if I +departed from my opinion upon that occasion. But when I declare my own +firm opinion upon it,--when I declare the reasons that led me to +it,--when I mention the long meditation that preceded my founding a +judgment upon it, the strict inquiry, the many hours and days spent in +consideration, collation, and comparison,--I trust that infirmity which +could be actuated by no malice to one party or the other may be excused; +I trust that I shall meet with this indulgence, when your Lordships +consider, that, as far as you know me, as far as my public services for +many years account for me, I am a man of a slow, laborious, inquisitive +temper, that I do seldom leave a pursuit without leaving marks, perhaps +of my weakness, but leaving marks of that labor, and that, in +consequence of that labor, I made that affirmation, and thought the +nature of the cause obliged me to support and substantiate it. It is +true that those who sent me here have sagacity to decide upon the +subject in a week; they can in one week discover the errors of my labors +for nine years. + +Now that I have made this apology to you, I assure you, you shall never +hear me, either in my own name here, much less in the name of the +Commons, urge one thing to you in support of the credit of Nundcomar +grounded upon that judgment, until the House shall instruct and order me +otherwise; because I know, that, when I can discover their sentiments, +I ought to know nothing here but what is in strict and literal obedience +to them. + +My Lords, another thing might make me, perhaps, a little willing to be +admitted to the proof of what I advanced, and that is, the very answer +of Mr. Hastings to this charge, which the House of Commons, however, +have adopted, and therefore in some degree purified. "To the malicious +part of this charge, which is the condemnation of Nundcomar for a +forgery, I do declare, in the most solemn and unreserved manner, that I +had no concern, either directly or indirectly, in the apprehending, +prosecuting, or executing of Nundcomar. He suffered for a crime of +forgery which he had committed in a private trust that was delegated to +him, and for which he had been prosecuted in the dewanny courts of the +country before the institution of the Supreme Court of Judicature. To +adduce this circumstance, therefore, as a confirmation of what was +before suspicious from his general depravity of character, is just as +reasonable as to assert that the accusations of Empson and Dudley were +confirmed because they suffered death for their atrocious acts." + +My Lords, this was Mr. Hastings's defence before the House of Commons, +and it is now in evidence before your Lordships. In this defence, he +supposes the charge which was made originally before the Commons, and +which the Commons voted, (though afterwards, for the convenience of +shortening it, the affair was brought before your Lordships in the way +in which it is,)--he supposes, I say, the whole to proceed from a +malicious intention; and I hope your Lordships will not think, and I +hope the Commons, reconsidering this matter, will not think, that, when +such an imputation of malice was made for the purpose of repelling this +corroborating argument which was used in the House of Commons to prove +his guilt, I was wrong in attempting to support the House of Commons +against his imputation of malice. + +I must observe where I am limited and where I am not. I am limited, +strictly, fully, (and your Lordships and my country, who hear me, will +judge how faithfully I shall adhere to that limitation,) not to support +the credit of Nundcomar by any allegation against Mr. Hastings +respecting his condemnation or execution; but I am not at all limited +from endeavoring to support his credit against Mr. Hastings's charges of +other forgeries, and from showing you, what I hope to show you clearly +in a few words, that Nundcomar cannot be presumed guilty of forgery with +more probability than Mr. Hastings is guilty of bringing forward a light +and dangerous (for I use no other words than a light and dangerous) +charge of forgery, when it serves his purpose. Mr. Hastings charges +Nundcomar with two other forgeries. "These two forgeries," he says, "are +facts recorded in the very Proceedings which my accuser partially +quotes, proving this man to have been guilty of a most flagrant forgery +of a letter from Munny Begum, and of a letter from the Nabob Yeteram ul +Dowlah"; and therefore he infers malice in those who impute anything +improper to him, knowing that the proof stood so. Here he asserts that +there are records before the House of Commons, and on the Company's +Proceedings and Consultations, proving Nundcomar to have been guilty of +these two forgeries. Turn over the next page of his printed defence, and +you find a very extraordinary thing. You would have imagined that this +forgery of a letter from Munny Begum, which, he says, is recognized and +proved on the Journals, was a forgery charged by Munny Begum herself, or +by somebody on her part, or some person concerned in this business. +There is no other charge of it whatever, but the charge of Warren +Hastings himself. He wants you to discredit a man for forgery upon no +evidence under heaven but that of his own, who thinks proper, without +any sort of authority, without any sort of reference, without any sort +of collateral evidence, to charge a man with that very direct forgery. +"You are," he says, "well informed of the reasons which first induced me +to give any share of my confidence to Nundcomar, with whose character I +was acquainted by an experience of many years. The means which he +himself took to acquire it were peculiar to himself. He sent a messenger +to me at Madras, on the first news of my appointment to this Presidency, +with pretended letters from Munny Begum and the Nabob Yeteram ul Dowlah, +the brother of the Nabob Jaffier Ali Khân, filled with bitter invectives +against Mahomed Reza Khân, and of as warm recommendations, as I +recollect, of Nundcomar. I have been since informed by the Begum that +the letter which bore her seal was a complete forgery, and that she was +totally unacquainted with the use which had been made of her name till I +informed her of it. Juggut Chund, Nundcomar's son-in-law, was sent to +her expressly to entreat her not to divulge it. Mr. Middleton, whom she +consulted on the occasion, can attest the truth of this story." + +Mr. Middleton is dead, my Lords. This is not the Mr. Middleton whom your +Lordships have heard and know well in this House, but a brother of that +Mr. Middleton, who is since dead. Your Lordships find, when we refer to +the records of the Company for the proof of this forgery, that there is +no other than the unsupported assertion of Mr. Hastings himself that he +was guilty of it. Now that was bad enough; but then hear the rest. Mr. +Hastings has charged this unhappy man, whom we must not defend, with +another forgery; he has charged him with a forgery of a letter from +Yeteram ul Dowlah to Mr. Hastings. Now you would imagine that he would +have given his own authority at least for that assertion, which he says +was proved. He goes on and says, "I have not yet had the curiosity to +inquire of the Nabob Yeteram ul Dowlah whether his letter was of the +same stamp; but I cannot doubt it." + +Now here he begins, in this very defence which is before your Lordships, +to charge a forgery upon the credit of Munny Begum, without supporting +it even by his own testimony,--and another forgery in the name of +Yeteram ul Dowlah, which he said he had not even the curiosity to +inquire into, and yet desires you, at the same time, to believe it to be +proved. Good God! in what condition do men of the first character and +situation in that country stand, when we have here delivered to us, as a +record of the Company, Mr. Hastings's own assertions, saying that these +forgeries were proved, though you have for the first nothing but his own +unsupported assertion, and for the second his declaration only that he +had not the curiosity to inquire into it! I am not forbidden by the +Commons to state how and on what slight grounds Warren Hastings charges +the natives of the country with forgery; neither am I forbidden to bring +forward the accusation which Mr. Hastings made against Nundcomar for a +conspiracy, nor the event of it, nor any circumstance relative to it. I +shall therefore proceed in the best manner I can. There was a period, +among the revolutions of philosophy, when there was an opinion, that, if +a man lost one limb or organ, the strength of that which was lost +retired into what was left. My Lords, if we are straitened in this, then +our vigor will be redoubled in the rest, and we shall use it with double +force. If the top and point of the sword is broken off, we shall take +the hilt in our hand, and fight with whatever remains of the weapon +against bribery, corruption, and peculation; and we shall use double +diligence under any restraint which the wisdom of the Commons may lay +upon us, or your Lordships' wisdom may oblige us to submit to. + +Having gone through this business, and shown in what manner I am +restrained, where I am not to repel Mr. Hastings's defence, and where I +am left at large to do it, I shall submit to the strict injunction with +the utmost possible humility, and enjoy the liberty which is left to me +with vigor, with propriety, and with discretion, I trust. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, when the circumstance happened which has given occasion to the +long parenthesis by which my discourse has been interrupted, I remember +I was beginning to open to your Lordships the second period of Mr. +Hastings's scheme and system of bribery. My Lords, his bribery is so +extensive, and has had such a variety in it, that it must be +distinguished not only with regard to its kind, but must be likewise +distinguished according to the periods of bribery and the epochas of +peculation committed by him. In the first of those periods we shall +prove to your Lordships, I believe, without the aids that we hoped for, +(your Lordships allowing, as I trust you will do, a good deal for our +situation,)--we shall be able, I say, to prove that Mr. Hastings took, +as a bribe for appointing Munny Begum, three lac and an half of rupees; +we shall prove the taking at the same time the Rajeshaye bribes. Mr. +Hastings at that time followed bribery in a natural manner: he took a +bribe; he took it as large as he could; he concealed it as well as he +could; and he got out of it by artifice or boldness, by use of trick or +use of power, just as he was enabled: he acted like a wild, natural man, +void of instruction, discipline, and art. + +The second period opened another system of bribery. About this time he +began to think (from what communication your Lordships may guess) of +other means by which, when he could no longer conceal any bribe that he +had received, he not only might exempt himself from the charge and the +punishment of guilt, but might convert it into a kind of merit, and, +instead of a breaker of laws, a violator of his trust, a receiver of +scandalous bribes, a peculator of the first magnitude, might make +himself to be considered as a great, distinguishing, eminent financier, +a collector of revenue in new and extraordinary ways, and that we should +thus at once praise his diligence, industry, and ingenuity. The scheme +he set on foot was this: he pretended that the Company could not exist +upon principles of strict justice, (for so he expresses it,) and that +their affairs, in many cases, could not be so well accommodated by a +regular revenue as by privately taking money, which was to be applied to +their service by the person who took it, at his discretion. This was the +principle he laid down. It would hardly be believed, I imagine, unless +strong proof appeared, that any man could be so daring as to hold up +such a resource to a regular government, which had three million of +known, avowed, a great part of it territorial, revenue. But it is +necessary, it seems, to piece out the lion's skin with a fox's tail,--to +tack on a little piece of bribery and a little piece of peculation, in +order to help out the resources of a great and flourishing state; that +they should have in the knavery of their servants, in the breach of +their laws, and in the entire defiance of their covenants, a real +resource applicable to their necessities, of which they were not to +judge, but the persons who were to take the bribes; and that the bribes +thus taken were, by a mental reservation, a private intention in the +mind of the taker, unknown to the giver, to be some time or other, in +some way or other, applied to the public service. The taking such bribes +was to become a justifiable act, in consequence of that reservation in +the mind of the person who took them; and he was not to be called to +account for them in any other way than as he thought fit. + +My Lords, an act of Parliament passed in the year 1773, the whole drift +of which, I may say, was to prevent bribery, peculation, and extortion +in the Company's servants; and the act was penned, I think, with as much +strictness and rigor as ever act was penned. The 24th clause of Chap. +63, 13 Geo. III., has the following enactment: "And be it further +enacted by the authority aforesaid, that, from and after the first day +of August, 1774, no person holding or exercising any civil or military +office under the crown, or the said United Company, in the East Indies, +shall accept, receive, or take, directly or indirectly, by himself, or +any other person or persons on his behalf, or for his use or benefit, +of and from any of the Indian princes or powers, or their ministers or +agents, or any of the natives of Asia, any present, gift, donation, +gratuity, or reward, pecuniary or otherwise, upon any account, or on any +pretence whatsoever, or any promise or engagement for any present, gift, +donation, gratuity, or reward: and if any person, holding or exercising +any such civil or military office, shall be guilty of any such offence, +and shall be thereof legally convicted," &c., &c. It then imposes the +penalties: and your Lordships see that human wisdom cannot pen an act +more strongly directed against taking bribes upon any pretence whatever. + +This act of Parliament was in affirmance of the covenant entered into by +the servants of the Company, and of the explicit orders of the Company, +which forbid any person whatever in trust, "directly or indirectly, to +accept, take, or receive, or agree to accept, take, or receive, any +gift, reward, gratuity, allowance, donation, or compensation, in money, +effects, jewels, _or otherwise howsoever_, from any of the Indian +princes, sovereigns, subahs, or nabobs, or any of their ministers, +servants, or agents, exceeding the value of four thousand rupees, &c., +&c. And that he, the said Warren Hastings, shall and will convey, +assign, and make over to the said United Company, for their sole and +proper use and benefit, all and every such gifts, rewards, gratuities, +allowances, donations, or compensations whatsoever, which, contrary to +the true intent and meaning of these presents, shall come into the +hands, possession, or power of the said Warren Hastings, or any other +person or persons in trust for him or for his use." + +The nature of the covenant, the act of Parliament, and the Company's +orders are clear. First, they have not forbidden their +Governor-General, nor any of their Governors, to take and accept from +the princes of the country, openly and publicly, for their use, any +territories, lands, sums of money, or other donations, which may be +offered in consequence of treaty or otherwise. It was necessary to +distinguish this from every other species of acceptance, because many +occasions occurred in which fines were paid to the Company in +consequence of treaties; and it was necessary to authorize the receipt +of the same in the Company's treasury, as an open and known proceeding. +It was never dreamed that this should justify the taking of bribes, +privately and clandestinely, by the Governor, or any other servant of +the Company, for the purpose of its future application to the Company's +use. It is declared that all such bribes and money received should be +the property of the Company. And why? As a means of recovering them out +of the corrupt hands that had taken them. And therefore this was not a +license for bribery, but a prohibitory and penal clause, providing the +means of coercion, and making the prohibition stronger. Now Mr. Hastings +has found out that this very coercive clause, which was made in order to +enable his superiors to get at him and punish him for bribery, is a +license for him to receive bribes. He is not only a practitioner of +bribery, but a professor, a doctor upon the subject. His opinion is, +that he might take presents or bribes to himself; he considers the penal +clause which the Company attached to their prohibition, and by which all +such bribes are constructively declared to be theirs, in order to +recover them out of his hands, as a license to receive bribes, to extort +money; and he goes with the very prohibition in his hand, the very +means by which he was to be restrained, to exercise an unlimited +bribery, peculation, and extortion over the unhappy natives of the +country. + +The moment he finds that the Company has got a scent of any one of his +bribes, he comes forward and says, "To be sure, I took it as a bribe; I +admit the party gave me it as a bribe: I concealed it for a time, +because I thought it was for the interest of the Company to conceal it; +but I had a secret intention, in my own mind, of applying it to their +service: you shall have it; but you shall have it as I please, and when +I please; and this bribe becomes sanctified the moment I think fit to +apply it to your service." Now can it be supposed that the India +Company, or that the act of Parliament, meant, by declaring that the +property taken by a corrupt servant, contrary to the true intent of his +covenant, was theirs, to give a license to take such property,--and that +one mode of obtaining a revenue was by the breach of the very covenants +which were meant to prevent extortion, peculation, and corruption? What +sort of body is the India Company, which, coming to the verge of +bankruptcy by the robbery of half the world, is afterwards to subsist +upon the alms of peculation and bribery, to have its strength recruited +by the violation of the covenants imposed upon its own servants? It is +an odd sort of body to be so fed and so supported. This new constitution +of revenue that he has made is indeed a very singular contrivance. It is +a revenue to be collected by any officer of the Company, (for they are +all alike forbidden, and all alike permitted,)--to be collected by any +person, from any person, at any time, in any proportion, by any means, +and in any way he pleases; and to be accounted for, or not to be +accounted for, at the pleasure of the collector, and, if applied to +their use, to be applied at his discretion, and not at the discretion of +his employers. I will venture to say that such a system of revenue never +was before thought of. The next part is an exchequer, which he has +formed, corresponding with it. You will find the board of exchequer made +up of officers ostensibly in the Company's service, of their public +accountant and public treasurer, whom Mr. Hastings uses as an accountant +and treasurer of bribes, accountable, not to the Company, but to +himself, acting in no public manner, and never acting but upon his +requisition, concealing all his frauds and artifices to prevent +detection and discovery. In short, it is an exchequer in which, if I may +be permitted to repeat the words I made use of on a former occasion, +extortion is the assessor, in which fraud is the treasurer, confusion +the accountant, oblivion the remembrancer. That these are not mere +words, I will exemplify as I go through the detail: I will show you that +every one of the things I have stated are truths, in fact, and that +these men are bound by the condition of their recognized fidelity to Mr. +Hastings to keep back his secrets, to change the accounts, to alter the +items, to make him debtor or creditor at pleasure, and by that means to +throw the whole system of the Company's accounts into confusion. + +I have shown the impossibility of the Company's having intended to +authorize such a revenue, much less such a constitution of it as Mr. +Hastings has drawn from the very prohibitions of bribery, and such an +exchequer as he has formed upon the principles I have stated. You will +not dishonor the legislature or the Company, be it what it may, by +thinking that either of them could give any sanction to it. Indeed, you +will not think that such a device could ever enter into the head of any +rational man. You are, then, to judge whether it is not a device to +cover guilt, to prevent detection by destroying the means of it; and at +the same time your Lordships will judge whether the evidence we bring +you to prove that revenue is a mere pretext be not stronger than the +strange, absurd reasons which he has produced for forming this new plan +of an exchequer of bribery. + +My Lords, I am now going to read to you a letter in which Mr. Hastings +declares his opinion upon the operation of the act, which he now has +found the means, as he thinks, of evading. My Lords, I will tell you, to +save you a good deal of reading, that there was certain prize-money +given by Sujah ul Dowlah to a body of the Company's troops serving in +the field,--that this prize-money was to be distributed among them; but +upon application being made to Mr. Hastings for his opinion and sanction +in the distribution, Mr. Hastings at first seemed inclined to give way +to it, but afterwards, upon reading and considering the act of +Parliament, before he allowed the soldiery to receive this public +donation, he thus describes his opinion of the operation of the act. + + +_Extract of a Letter from Mr. Hastings to Colonel Champion, 31 August, +1774._ + +"Upon a reference to the new act of Parliament, I was much disappointed +and sorry to find that our intentions were entirely defeated by a clause +in the act, (to be in force after the 1st of August, 1774,) which +divests us of the power to grant, and expressly prohibits the army to +receive, the Nabob's intended donation. Agreeable to the positive sense +of this clause, notwithstanding it is expressed individually, there is +not a doubt but the army is included with all other persons in the +prohibition from receiving presents or donations; a confirmation of +which is, that in the clause of exceptions, wherein 'counsellors-at-law, +physicians, surgeons, and chaplains are permitted to receive the fees +annexed to their profession,' no mention whatever is made of any +latitude given to the army, or any circumstances wherein it would be +allowable for them to receive presents.... This unlucky discovery of an +exclusion by act of Parliament, which admits of no abatement or evasion +wherever its authority extends, renders a revisal of our proceedings +necessary, and leaves no option to our decision. It is not like the +ordinances of the Court of Directors, where a favorable construction may +be put, and some room is left for the interposition of the authority +vested in ourselves,--but positive and decisive, admitting neither of +refinement nor misconstruction. I should be happy, if in this instance a +method could be devised of setting the act aside, which I should most +willingly embrace; but, in my opinion, an opposition would be to incur +the penalty." + + * * * * * + +Your Lordships see, Mr. Hastings considered this act to be a most +unlucky discovery: indeed, as long as it remained in force, it would +have been unlucky for him, because it would have destroyed one of the +principal sources of his illegal profits. Why does he consider it +unlucky? Because it admits of no reservation, no exception, no +refinement whatever, but is clear, positive, decisive. Now in what case +was it that Mr. Hastings made this determination? In the case of a +donation publicly offered to an army serving in the field by a prince +then independent of the Company. If ever there was a circumstance in +which any refinement, any favorable construction of the act could be +used, it was in favor of a body of men serving in the field, fighting +for their country, spilling their blood for it, suffering all the +inconveniences of that climate. It was undoubtedly voluntarily offered +to them by the party, in the height of victory, and enriched by the +plunder of whole provinces. I believe your Lordships will agree with me, +that, if any relaxation, any evasion, of an act of Parliament could be +allowed, if the intention of the legislature could for a moment be +trifled with, or supposed for a moment doubtful, it was in this +instance; and yet, upon the rigor of the act, Mr. Hastings refuses that +army the price of their blood, money won solely almost by their arms for +a prince who had acquired millions by their bravery, fidelity, and +sufferings. This was the case in which Mr. Hastings refused a public +donation to the army; and from that day to this they have never received +it. + +If the receipt of this public donation could be thus forbidden, whence +has Mr. Hastings since learned that he may privately take money, and +take it not only from princes, and persons in power, and abounding in +wealth, but, as we shall prove, from persons in a comparative degree of +penury and distress? that he could take it from persons in office and +trust, whose power gave them the means of ruining the people for the +purpose of enabling themselves to pay it? Consider in what a situation +the Company must be, if the Governor-General can form such a secret +exchequer of direct bribes, given _eo nomine_ as bribes, and accepted as +such, by the parties concerned in the transaction, to be discovered only +by himself, and with only the inward reservation that I have spoken of. + +In the first place, if Mr. Hastings should die without having made a +discovery of all his bribes, or if any other servant of the Company +should imitate his example without his heroic good intentions in doing +such villanous acts, how is the Company to recover the bribe-money? The +receivers need not divulge it till they think fit; and the moment an +informer comes, that informer is ruined. He comes, for instance, to the +Governor-General and Council, and charges, say, not Mr. Hastings, but +the head of the Board of Revenue, with receiving a bribe. "Receive a +bribe? So I did; but it was with an intention of applying it to the +Company's service. There I nick the informer: I am beforehand with him: +the bribe is sanctified by my inward jesuitical intention. I will make a +merit of it with the Company. I have received 40,000_l._ as a bribe; +there it is for you: I am acquitted; I am a meritorious servant: let the +informer go and seek his remedy as he can." Now, if an informer is once +instructed that a person who receives bribes can turn them into merit, +and take away his action from him, do you think that you ever will or +can discover any one bribe? But what is still worse, by this method +disclose but one bribe, and you secure all the rest that you possibly +can receive upon any occasion. For instance, strong report prevails that +a bribe of 40,000_l._ has been given, and the receiver expects that +information will be laid against him. He acknowledges that he has +received a bribe of 40,000_l._, but says that it was for the service of +the Company, and that it is carried to their account. And thus, by +stating that he has taken some money which he has accounted for, but +concealing from whom that money came, which is exactly Mr. Hastings's +case, if at last an information should be laid before the Company of a +specific bribe having been received of 40,000_l._, it is said by the +receiver, "Lord! this is the 40,000_l._ I told you of: it is broken into +fragments, paid by instalments; and you have taken it and put it into +your own coffers." + +Again, suppose him to take it through the hand of an agent, such as +Gunga Govind Sing, and that this agent, who, as we have lately +discovered, out of a bribe of 40,000_l._, which Mr. Hastings was to have +received, kept back half of it, falls into their debt like him: I desire +to know what the Company can do in such a case. Gunga Govind Sing has +entered into no covenants with the Company. There is no trace of his +having this money, except what Mr. Hastings chooses to tell. If he is +called upon to refund it to the Company, he may say he never received +it, that he was never ordered to extort this money from the people; or +if he was under any covenant not to take money, he may set up this +defence: "I am forbidden to receive money; and I will not make a +declaration which will subject me to penalties": or he may say in India, +before the Supreme Court, "I have paid the bribe all to Mr. Hastings"; +and then there must be a bill and suit there, a bill and suit here, and +by that means, having one party on one side the water and the other +party on the other, the Company may never come to a discovery of it. And +that in fact this is the way in which one of his great bribe-agents has +acted I shall prove to your Lordships by evidence. + +Mr. Hastings had squeezed out of a miserable country a bribe of +40,000_l._, of which he was enabled to bring to the account of the +Company only 20,000_l._, and of which we should not even have known the +existence, if the inquiries pursued with great diligence by the House of +Commons had not extorted the discovery: and even now that we know the +fact, we can never get at the money; the Company can never receive it; +and before the House had squeezed out of him that some such money had +been received, he never once told the Court of Directors that his black +bribe-agent, whom he recommended to their service, had cheated both them +and him of 20,000_l._ out of the fund of the bribe-revenue. If it be +asked, Where is the record of this? Record there is none. In what office +is it entered? It is entered in no office; it is mentioned as privately +received for the Company's benefit: and you shall now further see what a +charming office of receipt and account this new exchequer of Mr. +Hastings's is. + +For there is another and a more serious circumstance attending this +business. Every one knows, that, by the law of this, and, I believe, of +every country, any money which is taken illegally from any person, as +every bribe or sum of money extorted or paid without consideration is, +belongs to the person who paid it, and he may bring his action for it, +and recover it. Then see how the Company stands. The Company receives a +bribe of 40,000_l._ by Mr. Hastings; it is carried to its account; it +turns bribery into a revenue; it sanctifies it. In the mean time, the +man from whom this money is illegally taken sues Mr. Hastings. Must not +he recover of Mr. Hastings? Then, if so, must not Mr. Hastings recover +it again from the Company? The Company undoubtedly is answerable for it. +And here is a revenue which every man who has paid it may drag out of +the treasury again. Mr. Hastings's donations of his bribes to the +treasury are liable to be torn from it at pleasure by every man who +gives the money. First it may be torn from him who receives it; and then +he may recover it from the treasury, to which he has given it. + +But admitting that the taking of bribes can be sanctified by their +becoming the property of the Company, it may still be asked, For what +end and purpose has the Company covenanted with Mr. Hastings that money +taken extorsively shall belong to the Company? Is it that satisfaction +and reparation may be awarded against the said Warren Hastings to the +said Company for their own benefit? No: it is for the benefit of the +injured persons; and it is to be carried to the Company's account, "but +in trust, nevertheless, and to the intent that the said Company may and +do render and pay over the moneys received or recovered by them to the +parties injured or defrauded, which the said Company accordingly hereby +agree and covenant to do." Now here is a revenue to be received by Mr. +Hastings for the Company's use, applied at his discretion to that use, +and which the Company has previously covenanted to restore to the +persons that are injured and damaged. This is a revenue which is to be +torn away by the action of any person,--a revenue which they must +return back to the person complaining, as they in justice ought to do: +for no nation ever avowed making a revenue out of bribery and +peculation. They are, then, to restore it back again. But how can they +restore it? Mr. Hastings has applied it: he has given it in presents to +princes,--laid it out in budgeros,--in pen, ink, and wax,--in salaries +to secretaries: he has laid it out just in any way he pleased: and the +India Company, who have covenanted to restore all this money to the +persons from whom it came, are deprived of all means of performing so +just a duty. Therefore I dismiss the idea that any man so acting could +have had a good intention in his mind: the supposition is too weak, +senseless, and absurd. It was only in a desperate cause that he made a +desperate attempt: for we shall prove that he never made a disclosure +without thinking that a discovery had been previously made or was likely +to be made, together with an exposure of all the circumstances of his +wicked and abominable concealment. + +You will see the history of this new scheme of bribery, by which Mr. +Hastings contrived by avowing some bribes to cover others, attempted to +outface his delinquency, and, if possible, to reconcile a weak breach of +the laws with a sort of spirited observance of them, and to become +infamous for the good of his country. + +The first appearance of this practice of bribery was in a letter of the +29th of November, 1780. The cause which led to the discovery was a +dispute between him and Mr. Francis at the board, in consequence of a +very handsome offer made by Mr. Hastings to the board relative to a +measure proposed by him, to which he found one objection to be the +money that it would cost. He made the most generous and handsome offer, +as it stands upon record, that perhaps any man ever made,--namely, that +he would defray the expense out of his own private cash, and that he had +deposited with the treasurer two lac of rupees. This was in June, 1780, +and Mr. Francis soon after returned to Europe. I need not inform your +Lordships, that Mr. Hastings had before this time been charged with +bribery and peculation by General Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. +Francis. He suspected that Mr. Francis, then going to Europe, would +confirm this charge by the suspicious nature and circumstances of this +generous offer; and this suspicion was increased by the connection which +he supposed, and which we can prove he thought, Mr. Francis had with +Cheyt Sing. Apprehending, therefore, that he might discover and bring +the bribe to light some way or other, he resolved to anticipate any such +discovery by declaring, upon the 29th of November, that this money was +not his own. I will mention to your Lordships hereafter the +circumstances of this money. He says, "My present reason for adverting +to my conduct," (that is, his offer of two lac of rupees out of his own +private cash for the Company's service, upon the 26th of June, 1780,) +"on the occasion I have mentioned, is to obviate the false conclusions +or purposed misrepresentations which may be made of it, either as an +artifice of ostentation or as the effect of corrupt influence, by +assuring you that the money, by whatever means it came into your +possession, was not my own,--that I had myself no right to it, nor would +or could have received it, but for the occasion, which prompted me to +avail myself of the accidental means which were at that instant +afforded me of accepting and converting it to the property and use of +the Company: and with this brief apology I shall dismiss the subject." + +My Lords, you see what an account Mr. Hastings has given of some obscure +transaction by which he contradicts the record. For, on the 26th of +June, he generously, nobly, full of enthusiasm for their service, offers +to the Company money of his own. On the 29th of November he tells the +Court of Directors that the money he offered on the former day was not +his own,--that his assertion was totally false,--that the money was not +his,--that he had no right to receive it,--and that he would not have +received it, but for the occasion, which prompted him to avail himself +of the accidental means which at that instant offered. + +Such is the account sent by their Governor in India, acting as an +accountant, to the Company,--a company with whom everything is matter of +account. He tells them, indeed, that the sum he had offered was not his +own,--that he had no right to it,--and that he would not have taken it, +if he had not been greatly tempted by the occasion; but he never tells +them by what means he came at it, the person from whom he received it, +the occasion upon which he received it, (whether justifiable or not,) or +any one circumstance under heaven relative to it. This is a very +extraordinary account to give to the public of a sum which we find to be +somewhere above twenty thousand pounds, taken by Mr. Hastings in some +way or other. He set the Company blindly groping in the dark by the very +pretended light, the ignis-fatuus, which he held out to them: for at +that time all was in the dark, and in a cloud: and this is what Mr. +Hastings calls _information_ communicated to the Company on the subject +of these bribes. + +You have heard of obscurity illustrated by a further +obscurity,--_obscurum per obscurius_. He continues to tell +them,--"Something of affinity to this anecdote may appear in the first +aspect of another transaction, which I shall proceed to relate, and of +which it is more immediately my duty to inform you." He then tells them +that he had contrived to give a sum of money to the Rajah of Berar, and +the account he gives of that proceeding is this. "We had neither money +to spare, nor, in the apparent state of that government in its relation +to ours, would it have been either prudent or consistent with our public +credit to have afforded it. It was, nevertheless, my decided opinion +that some aid should be given, not less as a necessary relief than as an +indication of confidence, and a return for the many instances of +substantial kindness which we had within the course of the two last +years experienced from the government of Berar. I had an assurance that +such a proposal would receive the acquiescence of the board; but I knew +that it would not pass without opposition, and it would have become +public, which might have defeated its purpose. Convinced of the +necessity of the expedient, and assured of the sincerity of the +government of Berar, from evidences of stronger proof to me than I could +make them appear to the other members of the board, I resolved to adopt +it and take the entire responsibility of it upon myself. In this mode a +less considerable sum would suffice. I accordingly caused three lac of +rupees to be delivered to the minister of the Rajah of Berar resident in +Calcutta. He has transmitted it to Cuttack. Two thirds of this sum I +have raised by my own credit, and shall charge it in my official +accounts; the other third I have supplied from the cash in my hands +belonging to the Honorable Company." + +Your Lordships see in this business another mode which he has of +accounting with the Company, and informing them of his bribe. He begins +his account of this transaction by saying that it has something of +affinity to the last anecdote,--meaning the account of the first bribe. +An anecdote is made a head of an account; and this, I believe, is what +none of your Lordships ever have heard of before,--and I believe it is +yet to be learned in this commercial nation, a nation of accurate +commercial account. The account he gives of the first is an anecdote; +and what is his account of the second? A relation of an anecdote: not a +near relation, but something of affinity,--a remote relation, cousin +three or four times removed, of the half-blood, or something of that +kind, to this anecdote: and he never tells them any circumstance of it +whatever of any kind, but that it has some affinity to the former +anecdote. But, my Lords, the thing which comes to some degree of +clearness is this, that he did give money to the Rajah of Berar. And +your Lordships will be so good as to advert carefully to the proportions +in which he gave it. He did give him two lac of rupees of money raised +by his own credit, his own money; and the third he advanced out of the +Company's money in his hands. He might have taken the Company's money +undoubtedly, fairly, openly, and held it in his hands, for a hundred +purposes; and therefore he does not tell them that even that third was +money he had obtained by bribery and corruption. No: he says it is money +of the Company's, which he had in his hand. So that you must get +through a long train of construction before you ascertain that this sum +was what it turns out to be, a bribe, which he retained for the Company. +Your Lordships will please to observe, as I proceed, the nature of this +pretended generosity in Mr. Hastings. He is always generous in the same +way. As he offered the whole of his first bribe as his own money, and +afterward acknowledged that no part of it was his own, so he is now +generous again in this latter transaction,--in which, however, he shows +that he is neither generous nor just. He took the first money without +right, and he did not apply it to the very service for which it was +pretended to be taken. He then tells you of another anecdote, which, he +says, has an affinity to that anecdote, and here he is generous again. +In the first he appears to be generous and just, because he appears to +give his own money, which he had a right to dispose of; then he tells +you he is neither generous nor just, for he had taken money he had no +right to, and did not apply it to the service for which he pretended to +have received it. And now he is generous again, because he gives two lac +of his own money,--and just, because he gives one lac which belonged to +the Company; but there is not an idea suggested from whom he took it. + +But to proceed, my Lords. In this letter he tells you he had given two +thirds his own money and one third the Company's money. So it stood upon +the 29th of November, 1780. On the 5th of January following we see the +business take a totally different turn; and then Mr. Hastings calls for +three Company's bonds, upon two different securities, antedated to the +1st and 2d of October, for the three lac, which he before told them was +two thirds his own money and one third the Company's. He now declares +the whole of it to be his own, and he thus applies by letter to the +board, of which he himself was a majority. + + "Honorable Sir and Sirs,--Having had occasion to disburse the sum + of three lacs of sicca rupees on account of secret services, which + having been advanced from my own private cash, I request that the + same may be repaid to me in the following manner. + + "A bond to be granted me upon the terms of the second loan, bearing + date from 1st October, for one lac of sicca rupees. + + "A bond to be granted me upon the terms of the first loan, bearing + date from 1st October, for one lac of sicca rupees." + + "A bond to be granted me upon the terms of the first loan, bearing + date from the 2d October, for one lac of sicca rupees." + +Here are two accounts, one of which must be directly and flatly false: +for he could not have given two thirds his own, and have supplied the +other third from money of the Company's, and at the same time have +advanced the whole as his own. He here goes the full length of the +fraud: he declares that it is all his own,--so much his own that he does +not trust the Company with it, and actually takes their bonds as a +security for it, bearing an interest to be paid to him when he thinks +proper. + +Thus it remained from the 5th of January, 1781, till 16th December, +1782, when this business takes another turn, and in a letter of his to +the Company these bonds become all their own. All the money advanced is +now, all of it, the Company's money. First he says two thirds were his +own; next, that the whole is his own; and the third account is, that the +whole is the Company's, and he will account to them for it. + +Now he has accompanied this account with another very curious one. For +when you come to look into the particulars of it, you will find there +are three bonds declared to be the Company's bonds, and which refer to +the former transactions, namely, the money for which he had taken the +bonds; but when you come to look at the numbers of them, you will find +that one of the three bonds which he had taken as his own disappears, +and another bond, of another date, and for a much larger sum, is +substituted in its place, of which he had never mentioned anything +whatever. So that, taking his first account, that two thirds is his own +money, then that it is all his own, in the third that it is all the +Company's money, by a fourth account, given in a paper describing the +three bonds, you will find that there is one lac which he does not +account for, but substitutes in its place a bond before taken as his +own. He sinks and suppresses one bond, he gives two bonds to the +Company, and to supply the want of the third, which he suppresses, he +brings forward a bond for another sum, of another date, which he had +never mentioned before. Here, then, you have four different accounts: if +any one of them is true, every one of the other three is totally false. +Such a system of cogging, such a system of fraud, such a system of +prevarication, such a system of falsehood, never was, I believe, before +exhibited in the world. + +In the first place, why did he take bonds at all from the Company for +the money that was their own? I must be cautious how I charge a legal +crime. I will not charge it to be forgery, to take a bond from the +Company for money which was their own. He was employed to make out bonds +for the Company, to raise money on their credit. He pretends he lent +them a sum of money, which was not his to lend: but he gives their own +money to them as his own, and takes a security for it. I will not say +that it is a forgery, but I am sure it is an offence as grievous, +because it is as much a cheat as a forgery, with this addition to it, +that the person so cheating is in a trust; he violates that trust, and +in so doing he defrauds and falsifies the whole system of the Company's +accounts. + +I have only to show what his own explanation of all these actions was, +because it supersedes all observation of mine. Hear what prevaricating +guilt says for the falsehood and delusion which had been used to cover +it; and see how he plunges deeper and deeper upon every occasion. This +explanation arose out of another memorable bribe, which I must now beg +leave to state to your Lordships. + +About the time of the receipt of the former bribes, good fortune, as +good things seldom come singly, is kind to him; and when he went up and +had nearly ruined the Company's affairs in Oude and Benares, he received +a present of 100,000_l._ sterling, or thereabouts. He received bills for +it in September, 1781, and he gives the Company an account of it in +January, 1782. Remark in what manner the account of this money was +given, and the purposes for which he intends to apply it. He says, in +this letter, "I received the offer of a considerable sum of money, both +on the Nabob's part and that of his ministers, as a present to myself, +not to the Company: I accepted it without hesitation, and gladly, being +entirely destitute both of means and credit, whether for your service or +the relief of my own necessities." My Lords, upon this you shall hear a +comment, made by some abler persons than me. This donation was not made +in species, but in bills upon the house of Gopaul Doss, who was then a +prisoner in the hands of Cheyt Sing. After mentioning that he took this +present for the Company, and for their exigencies, and partly for his +own necessities, and in consequence of the distress of both, he desires +the Company, in the moment of this their greatest distress, to award it +to him, and therefore he ends, "If you should adjudge the deposit to me, +I shall consider it as the most honorable approbation and reward of my +labors: and I wish to owe my fortune to your bounty. I am now in the +fiftieth year of my life: I have passed thirty-one years in the service +of the Company, and the greatest part of that time in employments of the +highest trust. My conscience allows me boldly to claim the merit of zeal +and integrity; nor has fortune been unpropitious to their exertions. To +these qualities I bound my pretensions. I shall not repine, if you shall +deem otherwise of my services; nor ought your decision, however it may +disappoint my hope of a retreat adequate to the consequence and +elevation of the office which I now possess, to lessen my gratitude for +having been so long permitted to hold it, since it has at least enabled +me to lay up a provision with which I can be contented in a more humble +station." + +And here your Lordships will be pleased incidentally to remark the +circumstance of his condition of life and his fortune, to which he +appeals, and upon account of which he desires this money. Your +Lordships will remember that in 1773 he said, (and this I stated to you +from himself,) that, if he held his then office for a very few years, he +should be enabled to lay by an ample provision for his retreat. About +nine years after that time, namely, in the month of January, 1782, he +finds himself rather pinched with want, but, however, not in so bad a +way but that the holding of his office had enabled him to lay up a +provision with which he could be contented in a more humble station. He +wishes to have affluence; he wishes to have dignity; he wishes to have +consequence and rank: but he allows that he has competence. Your +Lordships will see afterwards how miserably his hopes were disappointed: +for the Court of Directors, receiving this letter from Mr. Hastings, did +declare, that they could not give it to him, because the act had ordered +that "no fees of office, perquisites, emoluments, or advantages +whatsoever, should be accepted, received, or taken by such +Governor-General and Council, or any of them, in any manner or on any +account or pretence whatsoever"; "and as the same act further directs, +'that no Governor-General, or any of the Council, shall directly take, +accept, or receive, of or from any person or persons, in any manner or +on any account whatsoever, any present, gift, donation, gratuity, or +reward, pecuniary or otherwise, or any promise or engagement for any +present, gift, donation, gratuity, or reward,' we cannot, were we so +inclined, decree the amount of this present to the Governor-General. And +it is further enacted, 'that any such present, gift, gratuity, donation, +or reward, accepted, taken, or received, shall be deemed and construed +to have been received to and for the sole use of the Company.'" And +therefore they resolved, most unjustly and most wickedly, to keep it to +themselves. The act made it in the first instance the property of the +Company, and they would not give it him. And one should think this, with +his own former construction of the act, would have made him cautious of +taking bribes. You have seen what weight it had with him to stop the +course of bribes which he was in such a career of taking in every place +and with both hands. + +Your Lordships have now before you this hundred thousand pounds, +disclosed in a letter from Patna, dated the 20th January, 1782. You find +mystery and concealment in every one of Mr. Hastings's discoveries. For +(which is a curious part of it) this letter was not sent to the Court of +Directors in their packet regularly, but transmitted by Major Fairfax, +one of his agents, to Major Scott, another of his agents, to be +delivered to the Company. Why was this done? Your Lordships will judge, +from that circuitous mode of transmission, whether he did not thereby +intend to leave some discretion in his agent to divulge it or not. We +are told he did not; but your Lordships will believe that or not, +according to the nature of the fact. If he had been anxious to make this +discovery to the Directors, the regular way would have been to send his +letter to the Directors immediately in the packet: but he sent it in a +box to an agent; and that agent, upon due discretion, conveyed it to the +Court of Directors. Here, however, he tells you nothing about the +persons from whom he received this money, any more than he had done +respecting the two former sums. + +On the 2d of May following the date of this Patna letter he came down to +Calcutta with a mind, as he himself describes it, greatly agitated. All +his hope of plundering Benares had totally failed. The produce of the +robbing of the Begums, in the manner your Lordships have heard, was all +dissipated to pay the arrears of the armies: there was no fund left. He +felt himself agitated and full of dread, knowing that he had been +threatened with having his place taken from him several times, and that +he might be called home to render an account. He had heard that +inquiries had begun in a menacing form in Parliament; and though at that +time Bengal was not struck at, there was a charge of bribery and +peculation brought against the Governor of Madras. With this dread, with +a mind full of anxiety and perturbation, he writes a letter, as he +pretends, on the 22d of May, 1782. Your Lordships will remark, that, +when he came down to Calcutta from his expedition up the country, he did +not till the 22d of May give any account whatever of these +transactions,--and that this letter, or pretended letter, of the 22d of +May was not sent till the 16th of December following. We shall clearly +prove that he had abundant means of sending it, and by various ways, +before the 16th of December, 1782, when he inclosed in another letter +that of the 22d of May. This is the letter of discovery; this is the +letter by which his breast was to be laid open to his employers, and all +the obscurity of his transactions to be elucidated. Here are indeed new +discoveries, but they are like many new-discovered lands, exceedingly +inhospitable, very thinly inhabited, and producing nothing to gratify +the curiosity of the human mind. + +This letter is addressed to the Honorable the Court of Directors, dated +Fort William, 22d May, 1782. He tells them he had promised to account +for the ten lacs of rupees which he had received, and this promise, he +says, he now performs, and that he takes that opportunity of accounting +with them likewise for several other sums which he had received. His +words are,-- + +"This promise I now perform, and, deeming it consistent with the spirit +of it, I have added such other sums as have been occasionally converted +to the Company's property through my means, in consequence of the like +original destination. Of the second of these sums you have already been +advised in a letter which I had the honor to address the Honorable Court +of Directors, dated 29th November, 1780. Both this and the third article +were paid immediately to the treasury, by my order to the sub-treasurer +to receive them on the Company's account, but never passed through my +hands. The three sums for which bonds were granted were in like manner +paid to the Company's treasury, without passing through my hands, but +their _application_ was not specified. The sum of 50,000 current rupees +was received while I was on my journey to Benares, and applied as +expressed in the account. + +"As to the manner in which these sums have been expended, the reference +which I have made of it in the accompanying account, to the several +accounts in which they are credited, renders any other specification of +it unnecessary,--_besides_ that these accounts either have or will have +received a much stronger authentication than any that I could give to +mine." + +I wish your Lordships to attend to the next paragraph, which is meant by +him to explain why he took bribes at all,--why he took bonds for some of +them, as moneys of his own, and not moneys of the Company,--why he +entered some upon the Company's accounts, and why of the others he +renders no account at all. Light, however, will beam upon you as we +proceed. + +"Why these sums were taken by me,--why they were, except the second, +quietly transferred to the Company's use,--why bonds were taken for the +first, and not for the rest,--might, were this matter exposed to the +view of the public, furnish a variety of conjectures, to which it would +be of little use to reply. Were your Honorable Court to question me on +these points, I would answer, that the sums were taken for the Company's +benefit, at times when the Company very much needed them,--that I either +chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving +bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which +my memory could at this distance of time verify, and that I did not +think it worth my care to observe the same means with the rest. I trust, +Honorable Sirs, to your breasts for a candid interpretation of my +actions,--and assume the freedom to add, that I think myself, on such a +subject, on such _an occasion_, entitled to it." + +Lofty, my Lords! You see, that, after the Directors had expected an +explanation for so long a time, he says, "Why these sums were taken by +me, and, except the second, quietly transferred to the Company's use, I +cannot tell; why bonds were taken for the first, and not for the rest, I +cannot tell: if this matter were exposed to view, it would furnish a +variety of conjectures." Here is an account which is to explain the most +obscure, the most mysterious, the most evidently fraudulent +transactions. When asked how he came to take these bonds, how he came +to use these frauds, he tells you he really does not know,--that he +might have this motive for it, that he might have another motive for +it,--that he wished to conceal it from public curiosity,--but, which is +the most extraordinary, he is not quite sure that he had any motive for +it at all, which his memory can trace. The whole of this is a period of +a year and a half; and here is a man who keeps his account upon +principles of whim and vagary. One would imagine he was guessing at some +motive of a stranger. Why he came to take bonds for money not due to +him, and why he enters some and not others,--he knows nothing of these +things: he begs them not to ask about it, because it will be of no use. +"You foolish Court of Directors may conjecture and conjecture on. You +are asking me why I took bonds to myself for money of yours, why I have +cheated you, why I have falsified my account in such a manner. I will +not tell you." + +In the satisfaction which he had promised to give them he neither +mentions the persons, the times, the occasions, or motives for any of +his actions. He adds, "I did not think it worth my care to observe the +same means with the rest." For some purposes, he thought it necessary to +use the most complicated and artful concealments; for some, he could not +tell what his motives were; and for others, that it was mere +carelessness. Here is the exchequer of bribery!--have I falsified any +part of my original stating of it?--an exchequer in which the man who +ought to pay receives, the man who ought to give security takes it, the +man who ought to keep an account says he has forgotten; an exchequer in +which oblivion was the remembrancer; and, to sum up the whole, an +exchequer into the accounts of which it was useless to inquire. This is +the manner in which the account of near two hundred thousand pounds is +given to the Court of Directors. You can learn nothing in this business +that is any way distinct, except a premeditated design of a concealment +of his transactions. That is avowed. + +But there is a more serious thing behind. Who were the instruments of +his concealment? No other, my Lords, than the Company's public +accountant. That very accountant takes the money, knowing it to be the +Company's, and that it was only pretended to be advanced by Mr. Hastings +for the Company's use. He sees Mr. Hastings make out bonds to himself +for it, and Mr. Hastings makes him enter him as creditor, when in fact +he was debtor. Thus he debauches the Company's accountant, and makes him +his confederate. These fraudulent and corrupt acts, covered by false +representations, are proved to be false not by collation with anything +else, but false by a collation with themselves. This, then, is the +account, and his explanation of it; and in this insolent, saucy, +careless, negligent manner, a public accountant like Mr. Hastings, a man +bred up a book-keeper in the Company's service, who ought to be exact, +physically exact, in his account, has not only been vicious in his own +account, but made the public accounts vicious and of no value. + +But there is in this account another curious circumstance with regard to +the deposit of this sum of money, to which he referred in his first +paragraph of his letter of the 29th of November, 1780. He states that +this deposit was made and passed into the hands of Mr. Larkins on the +1st of June. It did so; but it is not entered in the Company's accounts +till November following. Now in all that intermediate space where was +it? what account was there of it? It was entirely a secret between Mr. +Larkins and Mr. Hastings, without a possibility of any one discovering +any particular relative to it. Here is an account of two hundred +thousand pounds received, juggled between the accountant and him, +without a trace of it appearing in the Company's books. Some of those +committees, to whom, for their diligence at least, I must say the public +have some obligation, and in return for which they ought to meet with +some indulgence, examining into all these circumstances, and having +heard that Mr. Hastings had deposited a sum of money in the hands of the +Company's sub-treasurer in the month of June, sent for the Company's +books. They looked over those books, but they did not find the least +trace of any such sum of money, and not any account of it: nor could +there be, because it was not paid to the Company's account till the +November following. The accountant had received the money, but never +entered it from June till November. Then, at last, have we an account of +it. But was it even then entered regularly upon the Company's accounts? +No such thing: it is a deposit carried to the Governor-General's credit. + + [_The entry of the several species in which this deposit was made + was here read from the Company's General Journal of 1780 and 1781._] + +My Lords, when this account appears at last, when this money does emerge +in the public accounts, whose is it? Is it the Company's? No: Mr. +Hastings's. And thus, if, notwithstanding this obscure account in +November, the Directors had claimed and called for this affinity to an +anecdote,--if they had called for this anecdote and examined the +account,--if they had said, "We observe here entered two lac and +upwards; come, Mr. Hastings, let us see where this money is,"--they +would find that it is Mr. Hastings's money, not the Company's; they +would find that it is carried to his credit. In this manner he hands +over this sum, telling them, on the 22d of May, 1782, that not only the +bonds were a fraud, but the deposit was a fraud, and that neither bonds +nor deposit did in reality belong to him. Why did he enter it at all? +Then, afterwards, why did he not enter it as the Company's? Why make a +false entry, to enter it as his own? And how came he, two years after, +when he does tell you that it was the Company's and not his own, to +alter the public accounts? But why did he not tell them at that time, +when he pretends to be opening his breast to the Directors, from whom he +received it, or say anything to give light to the Company respecting it? +who, supposing they had the power of dispensing with an act of +Parliament, or licensing bribery at their pleasure, might have been +thereby enabled to say, "Here you ought to have received it,--there it +might be oppressive and of dreadful example." + +I have only to state, that, in this letter, which was pretended to be +written on the 22d of May, 1782, your Lordships will observe that he +thinks it his absolute duty (and I wish to press this upon your +Lordships, because it will be necessary in a comparison which I shall +have hereafter to make) to lay open all their affairs to them, to give +them a full and candid explanation of his conduct, which he afterwards +confesses he is not able to do. The paragraph has been just read to you. +It amounts to this: "I have taken many bribes,--have falsified your +accounts,--have reversed the principle of them in my own favor; I now +discover to you all these my frauds, and think myself entitled to your +confidence upon this occasion." Now all the principles of diffidence, +all the principles of distrust, nay, more, all the principles upon which +a man may be convicted of premeditated fraud, and deserve the severest +punishment, are to be found in this case, in which he says he holds +himself to be entitled to their confidence and trust. If any of your +Lordships had a steward who told you he had lent you your own money, and +had taken bonds from you for it, and if he afterwards told you that that +money was neither yours nor his, but extorted from your tenants by some +scandalous means, I should be glad to know what your Lordships would +think of such a steward, who should say, "I will take the freedom to +add, that I think myself, on such a subject, on such an occasion, +entitled to your confidence and trust." You will observe his cavalier +mode of expression. Instead of his exhibiting the rigor and severity of +an accountant and a book-keeper, you would think that he had been a +reader of sentimental letters; there is such an air of a novel running +through the whole, that it adds to the ridicule and nausea of it: it is +an oxymel of squills; there is something to strike you with horror for +the villany of it, something to strike you with contempt for the fraud +of it, and something to strike you with utter disgust for the vile and +bad taste with which all these base ingredients are assorted. + +Your Lordships will see, when the account which is subjoined to this +unaccountable letter comes before you, that, though the Company had +desired to know the channels through which he got those sums, there is +not (except by a reference that appears in another place to one of the +articles) one single syllable of explanation given from one end to the +other, there is not the least glimpse of light thrown upon these +transactions. But we have since discovered from whom he got these +bribes; and your Lordships will be struck with horror, when you hear it. + +I have already remarked to you, that, though this letter is dated upon +the 22d of May, it was not dispatched for Europe till December +following; and he gets Mr. Larkins, who was his agent and instrument in +falsifying the Company's accounts, to swear that this letter was written +upon the 22d of May, and that he had no opportunity to send it, but by +the "Lively" in December. On the 16th of that month he writes to the +Directors, and tells them that he is quite shocked to find he had no +earlier opportunity of making this discovery, which he thought himself +bound to make; though this discovery, respecting some articles of it, +had now been delayed nearly two years, and though it since appears that +there were many opportunities, and particularly by the "Resolution," of +sending it. He was much distressed, and found himself in an awkward +situation, from an apprehension that the Parliamentary inquiry, which he +knew was at this time in progress, might have forced from him this +notable discovery. He says, "I do not fear the consequences of any +Parliamentary process." Indeed, he needed not to fear any Parliamentary +inquiry, if it produced no further discovery than that which your +Lordships have in the letter of the 22d of May, and in the accounts +subjoined to it. He says, that "the delay is of no public consequence; +but it has produced a situation which, with respect to myself, I regard +as unfortunate, because it exposes me to the meanest imputation, from +the occasion which the late Parliamentary inquiries have since +furnished." + +Now here is a very curious letter, that I wish to have read for some +other reasons, which will afterwards appear, but principally at present +for the purpose of showing you that he held it to be his duty and +thought it to the last degree dishonorable not to give the Company an +account of those secret bribes: he thought it would reflect upon him, +and ruin his character forever, if this account did not come voluntarily +from him, but was extorted by terror of Parliamentary inquiry. In this +letter of the 16th December, 1782, he thus writes. + +"The delay is of no public consequence, but it has produced a situation +which, with respect to myself, I regard as unfortunate; because it +exposes me to the meanest imputation, from the occasion which the late +Parliamentary inquiries have since furnished, but which were unknown +when my letter was written, and written in the necessary consequence of +a promise made to that effect in a former letter to your Honorable +Committee, dated 20th January last. However, to preclude the possibility +of such reflections from affecting me, I have desired Mr. Larkins, who +was privy to the whole transaction, to affix to the letter his affidavit +of the date in which it was written. I own I feel most sensibly the +mortification of being reduced to the necessity of using such +precautions to guard my reputation from dishonor. If I had at any time +possessed that degree of confidence from my immediate employers which +they never withheld from the meanest of my predecessors, I should have +disdained to use these attentions. How I have drawn on me a different +treatment I know not; it is sufficient that I have not merited it. And +in the course of a service of thirty-two years, and ten of these +employed in maintaining the powers and discharging the duties of the +first office of the British government in India, that honorable court +ought to know whether I possess the integrity and honor which are the +first requisites of such a station. If I wanted these, they have +afforded me but too powerful incentives to suppress the information +which I now convey to them through you, and to appropriate to my own use +the sums which I have already passed to their credit, by the unworthy +and, pardon me, if I add, dangerous, reflections which they have passed +upon me for the first communication of this kind: and your own +experience will suggest to you, that there are persons who would profit +by such a warning. + +"Upon the whole of these transactions, which to you, who are accustomed +to view business in an official and regular light, may appear +unprecedented, if not improper, I have but a few short remarks to +suggest to your consideration. + +"If I appear in any unfavorable light by these transactions, I resign +the common and legal security of those who commit crimes or errors. I am +ready to answer every particular question that may be put against +myself, upon honor or upon oath. + +"The sources from which these reliefs to the public service have come +would never have yielded them to the Company publicly; and the +exigencies of your service (exigencies created by the exposition of +your affairs, and faction in your councils) required those supplies. + +"I could have concealed them, had I had a wrong motive, from yours and +the public eye forever; and I know that the difficulties to which a +spirit of injustice may subject me for my candor and avowal are greater +than any possible inconvenience that could have attended the +concealment, except the dissatisfaction of my own mind. These +difficulties are but a few of those which I have suffered in your +service. The applause of my own breast is my surest reward, and was the +support of my mind in meeting them. Your applause, and that of my +country, are my next wish in life." + +Your Lordships will observe at the end of this letter, that this man +declares his first applause to be from his own breast, and that he next +wishes to have the applause of his employers. But reversing this, and +taking their applause first, let us see on what does he ground his hope +of their applause? Was it on his former conduct? No: for he says that +conduct had repeatedly met with their disapprobation. Was it upon the +confidence which he knew they had in him? No: for he says they gave more +of their confidence to the meanest of his predecessors. Observe, my +Lords, the style of insolence he constantly uses with regard to all +mankind. Lord Clive was his predecessor, Governor Cartier was his +predecessor, Governor Verelst was his predecessor: every man of them as +good as himself: and yet he says the Directors had given "more of their +confidence to the _meanest_ of his predecessors." But what was to +entitle him to their applause? A clear and full explanation of the +bribes he had taken. Bribes was to be the foundation of their +confidence in him, and the clear explanation of them was to entitle him +to their applause! Strange grounds to build confidence upon!--the rotten +ground of corruption, accompanied with the infamy of its avowal! Strange +ground to expect applause!--a discovery which was no discovery at all! +Your Lordships have heard this discovery, which I have not taken upon me +to state, but have read his own letter on the occasion. Has there, at +this moment, any light broken in upon you concerning this matter? + +But what does he say to the Directors? He says, "Upon the whole of these +transactions, which to you, who are accustomed to view business in an +official and regular light, may appear unprecedented, if not improper, I +have but a few short remarks to suggest to your consideration." He looks +upon them and treats them as a set of low mechanical men, a set of +low-born book-keepers, as base souls, who in an account call for +explanation and precision. If there is no precision in accounts, there +is nothing of worth in them. You see he himself is an eccentric +accountant, a Pindaric book-keeper, an arithmetician in the clouds. "I +know," he says, "what the Directors desire: but they are mean people; +they are not of elevated sentiments; they are modest; they avoid +ostentation in taking of bribes: I therefore am playing cups and balls +with them, letting them see a little glimpse of the bribes, then +carrying them fairly away." Upon this he founds the applause of his own +breast. + + Populus me sibilat; at mihi plaudo + Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca. + +That private _ipse plaudo_ he may have in this business, which is a +business of money; but the applause of no other human creature will he +have for giving such an account as he admits this to be,--irregular, +uncertain, problematical, and of which no one can make either head or +tail. He despises us also, who are representatives of the people, and +have amongst us all the regular officers of finance, for expecting +anything like a regular account from him. He is hurt at it; he considers +it as a cruel treatment of him; he says, "Have I deserved this +treatment?" Observe, my Lords, he had met with no treatment, if +treatment it may be called, from us, of the kind of which he complains. +The Court of Directors had, however, in a way shameful, abject, low, and +pusillanimous, begged of him, as if they were his dependants, and not +his masters, to give them some light into the account; they desire a +receiver of money to tell from whom he received it, and how he applied +it. He answers, They may be hanged for a parcel of mean, contemptible +book-keepers, and that he will give them no account at all. He says, "If +you sue me"--There is the point: he always takes security in a court of +law. He considers his being called upon by these people, to whom he +ought as a faithful servant to give an account, and to do which he was +bound by an act of Parliament specially intrusting him with the +administration of the revenues, as a gross affront. He adds, that he is +ready to resign his defence, and to answer upon honor or upon oath. +Answering upon honor is a strange way they have got in India, as your +Lordships may see in the course of this inquiry. But he forgets, that, +being the Company's servant, the Company may bring a bill in Chancery +against him, and force him upon oath to give an account. He has not, +however, given them light enough or afforded them sufficient ground for +a fishing bill in Chancery. Yet he says, "If you call upon me in a +Chancery way, or by Common Law, I really will abdicate all forms, and +give you some account." In consequence of this the Company did demand +from him an account, regularly, and as fully and formally as if they had +demanded it in a court of justice. He positively refused to give them +any account whatever; and they have never, to this very day in which we +speak, had any account that is at all clear or satisfactory. Your +Lordships will see, as I go through this scene of fraud, falsification, +iniquity, and prevarication, that, in defiance of his promise, which +promise they quote upon him over and over again, he has never given them +any account of this matter. + +He goes on to say (and the threat is indeed alarming) that by calling +him to account they may provoke him--to what? "To appropriate," he says, +"to my own use the sums which I have already passed to your credit, by +the unworthy and, pardon me, if I add, dangerous, reflections which you +have passed upon me for the first communication of this kind." They +passed no reflections: they said they would neither praise nor blame +him, but pressed him for an account of a matter which they could not +understand: and I believe your Lordships understand it no more than +they, for it is not in the compass of human understanding to conceive or +comprehend it. Instead of an account of it, he dares to threaten them: +"I may be tempted, if you should provoke me, not to be an honest +man,--to falsify your account a second time, and to reclaim those sums +which I have passed to your credit,--to alter the account again, by the +assistance of Mr. Larkins." What a dreadful declaration is this of his +dominion over the public accounts, and of his power of altering them! a +declaration, that, having first falsified those accounts in order to +deceive them, and afterwards having told them of this falsification in +order to gain credit with them, if they provoke him, he shall take back +the money he had carried to their account, and make them his debtors for +it! He fairly avows the dominion he has over the Company's accounts; and +therefore, when he shall hereafter plead the accounts, we shall be able +to rebut that evidence, and say, "The Company's accounts are corrupted +by you, through your agent, Mr. Larkins; and we give no credit to them, +because you not only told the Company you could do so, but we can prove +that you have actually done it." What a strange medley of evasion, +pretended discovery, real concealment, fraud, and prevarication appears +in every part of this letter! + +But admitting this letter to have been written upon the 22d of May, and +kept back to the 16th of December, you would imagine that during all +that interval of time he would have prepared himself to give some light, +some illustration of these dark and mysterious transactions, which +carried fraud upon the very face of them. Did he do so? Not at all. Upon +the 16th of December, instead of giving them some such clear accounts as +might have been expected, he falls into a violent passion for their +expecting them; he tells them it would be dangerous; and he tells them +they knew who had profited by these transactions: thus, in order to +strike terror into their breasts, hinting at some frauds which they had +practised or protected. What weight this may have had with them I know +not; but your Lordships will expect in vain, that Mr. Hastings, after +giving four accounts, if any one of which is true, the other three must +necessarily be false,--after having thrown the Company's accounts into +confusion, and being unable to tell, as he says himself, why he did +so,--will at last give some satisfaction to the Directors, who +continued, in a humble, meek way, giving him hints that he ought to do +it.--You have heard nothing yet but the consequences of their refusing +to give him the present of a hundred thousand pounds, which he had taken +from the Nabob. They did right to refuse it to him; they did wrong to +take it to themselves. + +We now find Mr. Hastings on the river Ganges, in September, 1784,--that +Ganges whose purifying water expiates so many sins of the Gentoos, and +which, one would think, would have washed Mr. Hastings's hands a little +clean of bribery, and would have rolled down its golden sands like +another Pactolus. Here we find him discovering another of his bribes. +This was a bribe taken upon totally a different principle, according to +his own avowal: it is a bribe not pretended to be received for the use +of the Company,--a bribe taken absolutely entirely for himself. He tells +them that he had taken between thirty and forty thousand pounds. This +bribe, which, like the former, he had taken without right, he tells them +that he intends to apply to his own purposes, and he insists upon their +sanction for so doing. He says, he had in vain, upon a former occasion, +appealed to their honor, liberality, and generosity,--that he now +appeals to their justice; and insists upon their decreeing this +bribe--which he had taken without telling them from whom, where, or on +what account--to his own use. + +Your Lordships remember, that in the letter which he wrote from Patna, +on the 20th of January, 1782, he there states that he was in tolerable +good circumstances, and that this had arisen from his having continued +long in their service. Now, he has continued two years longer in their +service, and he is reduced to beggary! "This," he says, "is a single +example of a life spent in the accumulation of crores for your benefit, +and doomed in its close to suffer the extremity of private want, and to +sink in obscurity." + +So far back as in 1773 he thought that he could save an exceeding good +fortune out of his place. In 1782 he says, with gratitude, that he has +made a decent private competency; but in two years after he sunk to the +extremity of private want. And how does he seek to relieve that want? By +taking a bribe: bribes are no longer taken by him for the Company's +service, but for his own. He takes the bribe with an express intention +of keeping it for his own use, and he calls upon the Company for their +sanction. If the money was taken without right, no claim of his could +justify its being appropriated to himself: nor could the Company so +appropriate it; for no man has a right to be generous out of another's +goods. When he calls upon their justice and generosity, they might +answer, "If you have a just demand upon our treasury, state it, and we +will pay it; if it is a demand upon our generosity, state your merits, +and we will consider them." "But I have paid myself by a bribe; I have +taken another man's money; and I call upon your justice--to do what? to +restore it to its owner? no--to allow me to keep it myself." Think, my +Lords, in what a situation the Company stands! "I have done a great +deal for you; this is the jackal's portion; you have been the lion; I +have been endeavoring to prog for you; I am your bribe-pander, your +factor of corruption, exposing myself to every kind of scorn and +ignominy, to insults even from you. I have been preying and plundering +for you; I have gone through every stage of licentiousness and lewdness, +wading through every species of dirt and corruption, for your advantage. +I am now sinking into the extremity of private want; do give me +this--what? money? no, this bribe; rob me the man who gave me this +bribe; vote me--what? money of your own? that would be generous: money +you owe me? that would be just: no, money which I have extorted from +another man; and I call upon your justice to give it me." This is his +idea of justice. He says, "I am compelled to depart from that liberal +plan which I originally adopted, and to claim from your justice (for you +have forbid me to appeal to your generosity) the discharge of a debt +which I can with the most scrupulous integrity aver to be justly due, +and which I cannot sustain." Now, if any of the Company's servants may +say, "I have been extravagant, profuse,--it was all meant for your +good,--let me prey upon the country at my pleasure,--license my bribes, +frauds, and peculations, and then you do me justice,"--what country are +we in, where these ideas are ideas of generosity and justice? + +It might naturally be expected that in this letter he would have given +some account of the person from whom he had taken this bribe. But here, +as in the other cases, he had a most effectual oblivion; the Ganges, +like Lethe, causes a drowsiness, as you saw in Mr. Middleton; they +recollect nothing, they know nothing. He has not stated, from that day +to this, from whom he took that money. But we have made the discovery. +And such is the use of Parliamentary inquiries, such, too, both to the +present age and posterity, will be their use, that, if we pursue them +with the vigor which the great trust justly imposed upon us demands, and +if your Lordships do firmly administer justice upon this man's frauds, +you will at once put an end to those frauds and prevarications forever. +Your Lordships will see, that, in this inquiry, it is the diligence of +the House of Commons, which he has the audacity to call _malice_, that +has discovered and brought to light the frauds which we shall be able to +prove against him. + +I will now read to your Lordships an extract from that stuff, called a +defence, which he has either written himself or somebody else has +written for him, and which he owns or disclaims, just as he pleases, +when, under the slow tortures of a Parliamentary impeachment, he +discovered at length from whom he got this last bribe. + +"The last part of the charge states, that, in my letter to the Court of +Directors of the 21st February, 1784, I have confessed to have received +another sum of money, the amount of which is not declared, but which, +from the application of it, could not be less than thirty-four thousand +pounds sterling, &c. In the year 1783, when I was actually in want of a +sum of money for my private expenses, owing to the Company not having at +that time sufficient cash in their treasury to pay my salary, I borrowed +three lacs of rupees of Rajah Nobkissin, an inhabitant of Calcutta, whom +I desired to call upon me with a bond properly filled up. He did so; but +at the time I was going to execute it he entreated I would rather +accept the money than execute the bond. I neither accepted the offer nor +refused it; and my determination upon it remained suspended between the +alternative of keeping the money, as a loan to be repaid, and of taking +it, and applying it, as I had done other sums, to the Company's use. And +there the matter rested till I undertook my journey to Lucknow, when I +determined to accept the money for the Company's use; and these were my +motives. Having made disbursements from my own cash for services, which, +though required to enable me to execute the duties of my station, I had +hitherto omitted to enter into my public accounts, I resolved to +reimburse myself in a mode most suitable to the situation of the +Company's affairs, by charging these disbursements in my durbar accounts +of the present year, and crediting them by a sum privately received, +which was this of Nobkissin's. If my claim on the Company were not +founded in justice, and _bonâ fide_ due, my acceptance of three lacs of +rupees from Nobkissin by no means precludes them from recovering that +sum from me. No member of this Honorable House suspects me, I hope, of +the meanness and guilt of presenting false accounts." + +We do not _suspect_ him of presenting false accounts: we can prove, we +are now radically proving, that he presents false accounts. We suspect +no man who does not give ground for suspicion; we accuse no man who has +not given ground for accusation; and we do not attempt to bring before a +court of justice any charges which we shall not be able decisively to +prove. This will put an end to all idle prattle of malice, of groundless +suspicions of guilt, and of ill-founded charges. We come here to bring +the matter to the test, and here it shall be brought to the test, +between the Commons of Great Britain and this East India delinquent. In +his letter of the 21st of February, 1784, he says he has never benefited +himself by contingent accounts; and as an excuse for taking this bribe +from Nobkissin, which he did not discover at the time, but many years +afterwards, at the bar of the House of Commons, he declares that he +wanted to apply it to the contingent account for his expenses, that is, +for what he pretended to have laid out for the Company, during a great +number of years. He proceeds:-- + +"If it should be objected, that the allowance of these demands would +furnish a precedent for others of the like kind, I have to remark, that +in their whole amount they are but the aggregate of a contingent account +of twelve years; and if it were to become the practice of those who have +passed their prime of life in your service, and filled, as I have filled +it, the first office of your dominion, to glean from their past accounts +all the articles of expense which their inaccuracy or indifference hath +overlooked, your interests would suffer infinitely less by the precedent +than by a single example of a life spent in the accumulation of crores +for your benefit and doomed in its close to suffer the extremity of +private want and to sink in obscurity." + +Here is the man that has told us at the bar of the House of Commons that +he never made up any contingent accounts; and yet, as a set-off against +this bribe, which he received for himself, and never intended to apply +to the current use of the Company, he feigns and invents a claim upon +them, namely, that he had, without any authority of the Company, +squandered away in stationery and budgeros, and other idle services, a +sum amounting to 34,000_l._ But was it for the Company's service? Is +this language to be listened to? "Everything I thought fit to expend I +have expended for the Company's service. I intended, indeed, at that +time, to have been generous. I intended out of my own pocket to have +paid for a translation of the code of Gentoo laws. I was then in the +prime of my life, flowing in money, and had great expectations: I am now +old; I cannot afford to be generous: I will look back into all my former +accounts, pen, ink, wax, everything that I generously or prodigally +spent as my own humor might suggest; and though, at the same time, I +know you have given me a noble allowance, I now make a charge upon you +for this sum of money, and intend to take a bribe in discharge of it." +Now suppose Lord Cornwallis, who sits in the seat, and I hope will long, +and honorably and worthily, fill the seat, which that gentleman +possessed,--suppose Lord Cornwallis, after never having complained of +the insufficiency of his salary, and after having but two years ago said +he had saved a sufficient competency out of it, should now tell you that +30,00_l._ a year was not enough for him, and that he was sinking into +want and distress, and should justify upon that alleged want taking a +bribe, and then make out a bill of contingent expenses to cover it, +would your Lordships bear this? + +Mr. Hastings has told you that he wanted to borrow money for his own +use, and that he applied to Rajah Nobkissin, who generously pressed it +upon him as a gift. Rajah Nobkissin is a banian: you will be astonished +to hear of generosity in a banian; there never was a banian and +generosity united together: but Nobkissin loses his banian qualities at +once, the moment the light of Mr. Hastings's face beams upon him. +"Here," says Mr. Hastings, "I have prepared bonds for you." +"Astonishing! how can you think of the meanness of bonds? You call upon +me to lend you 34,000_l._, and propose bonds? No, you shall have it: you +are the Governor-General, who have a large and ample salary; but I know +you are a generous man, and I emulate your generosity: I give you all +this money." Nobkissin was quite shocked at Mr. Hastings's offering him +a bond. My Lords, a Gentoo banian is a person a little lower, a little +more penurious, a little more exacting, a little more cunning, a little +more money-making, than a Jew. There is not a Jew in the meanest corner +of Duke's Place in London that is so crafty, so much a usurer, so +skilful how to turn money to profit, and so resolved not to give any +money but for profit, as a Gentoo broker of the class I have mentioned. +But this man, however, at once grows generous, and will not suffer a +bond to be given to him; and Mr. Hastings, accordingly, is thrown into +very great distress. You see sentiment always prevailing in Mr. +Hastings. The sentimental dialogue which must have passed between him +and a Gentoo broker would have charmed every one that has a taste for +pathos and sentiment. Mr. Hastings was pressed to receive the money as a +gift. He really does not know what to do: whether to insist upon giving +a bond or not,--whether he shall take the money for his own use, or +whether he shall take it for the Company's use. But it may be said of +man as it is said of woman: the woman who deliberates is lost: the man +that deliberates about receiving bribes is gone. The moment he +deliberates, that moment his reason, the fortress, is lost, the walls +shake, down it comes,--and at the same moment enters Nobkissin into the +citadel of his honor and integrity, with colors flying, with drums +beating, and Mr. Hastings's garrison goes out, very handsomely indeed, +with the honors of war, all for the benefit of the Company. Mr. Hastings +consents to take the money from Nobkissin; Nobkissin gives the money, +and is perfectly satisfied. + +Mr. Hastings took the money with a view to apply it to the Company's +service. How? To pay his own contingent bills. "Everything that I do," +says he, "and all the money I squander, is all for the Company's +benefit. As to particulars of accounts, never look into them; they are +given you upon honor. Let me take this bribe: it costs you nothing to be +just or generous. I take the bribe: you sanctify it." But in every +transaction of Mr. Hastings, where we have got a name, there we have got +a crime. Nobkissin gave him the money, and did not take his bond, I +believe, for it; but Nobkissin, we find, immediately afterwards enters +upon the stewardship or management of one of the most considerable +districts in Bengal. We know very well, and shall prove to your +Lordships, in what manner such men rack such districts, and exact from +the inhabitants the money to repay themselves for the bribes which had +been taken from them. These bribes are taken under a pretence of the +Company's service, but sooner or later they fall upon the Company's +treasury. And we shall prove that Nobkissin, within a year from the time +when he gave this bribe, had fallen into arrears to the Company, as +their steward, to the amount of a sum the very interest of which, +according to the rate of interest in that country, amounted to more than +this bribe, taken, as was pretended, for the Company's service. Such are +the consequences of a banian's generosity, and of Mr. Hastings's +gratitude, so far as the interest of the country is concerned; and this +is a good way to pay Mr. Hastings's contingent accounts. But this is not +all: a most detestable villain is sent up into the country to take the +management of it, and the fortunes of all the great families in it are +given entirely into his power. This is the way by which the Company are +to keep their own servants from falling into "the extremity of private +want." And the Company itself, in this pretended saving to their +treasury by the taking of bribes, lose more than the amount of the +bribes received. Wherever a bribe is given on one hand, there is a +balance accruing on the other. No man, who had any share in the +management of the Company's revenues, ever gave a bribe, who did not +either extort the full amount of it from the country, or else fall in +balance to the Company to that amount, and frequently both. In short, +Mr. Hastings never was guilty of corruption, that blood and rapine did +not follow; he never took a bribe, pretended to be for their benefit, +but the Company's treasury was proportionably exhausted by it. + +And now was this scandalous and ruinous traffic in bribes brought to +light by the Court of Directors? No: we got it in the House of Commons. +These bribes appear to have been taken at various times and upon various +occasions; and it was not till his return from Patna, in February, 1782, +that the first communication of any of them was made to the Court of +Directors. Upon the receipt of this letter, the Court of Directors +wrote back to him, requiring some further explanation upon the subject. +No explanation was given, but a communication of other bribes was made +in his letter, said to be written in May of the same year, but not +dispatched to Europe till the December following. This produced another +requisition from the Directors for explanation. And here your Lordships +are to observe that this correspondence is never in the way of letters +written and answers given; but he and the Directors are perpetually +playing at hide-and-seek with each other, and writing to each other at +random: Mr. Hastings making a communication one day, the Directors +requiring an explanation the next; Mr. Hastings giving an account of +another bribe on the third day, without giving any explanation of the +former. Still, however, the Directors are pursuing their chase. But it +was not till they learned that the committees of the House of Commons +(for committees of the House of Commons had then some weight) were +frowning upon them for this collusion with Mr. Hastings, that at last +some honest men in the Direction were permitted to have some ascendency, +and that a proper letter was prepared, which I shall show your +Lordships, demanding from Mr. Hastings an exact account of all the +bribes that he had received, and painting to him, in colors as strong at +least as those I use, his bribery, his frauds, and peculations,--and +what does them great honor for that moment, they particularly direct +that the money which was taken from the Nabob of Oude should be carried +to his account. These paragraphs were prepared by the Committee of +Correspondence, and, as I understand, approved by the Court of +Directors, but never were sent out to India. However, something was +sent, but miserably weak and lame of its kind; and Mr. Hastings never +answered it, or gave them any explanation whatever. He now, being +prepared for his departure from Calcutta, and having finished all his +other business, went up to Oude upon a chase in which just now we cannot +follow him. He returned in great disgust to Calcutta, and soon after set +sail for England, without ever giving the Directors one word of the +explanation which he had so often promised, and they had repeatedly +asked. + +We have now got Mr. Hastings in England, where you will suppose some +satisfactory account of all these matters would be obtained from him. +One would suppose, that, on his arrival in London, he would have been a +little quickened by a menace, as he expresses it, which had been thrown +out against him in the House of Commons, that an inquiry would be made +into his conduct; and the Directors, apprehensive of the same thing, +thought it good gently to insinuate to him by a letter, written by whom +and how we do not know, that he ought to give some explanation of these +accounts. This produced a letter which I believe in the business of the +whole world cannot be paralleled: not even himself could be his parallel +in this. Never did inventive folly, working upon conscious guilt, and +throwing each other totally in confusion, ever produce such a false, +fraudulent, prevaricating letter as this, which is now to be given to +you. + +You have seen him at Patna, at Calcutta, in the country, on the Ganges: +now you see him at the waters at Cheltenham; and you will find his +letter from that place to comprehend the substance of all his former +letters, and to be a digest of all the falsity, fraud, and nonsense +contained in the whole of them. Here it is, and your Lordships will +suffer it to be read. I must beg your patience; I must acknowledge that +it has been the most difficult of all things to explain, but much more +difficult to make pleasant and not wearisome, falsity and fraud pursued +through all its artifices; and therefore, as it has been the most +painful work to us to unravel fraud and prevarication, so there is +nothing that more calls for the attention, the patience, the vigilance, +and the scrutiny of an exact court of justice. But as you have already +had almost the whole of the man, do not think it too much to hear the +rest in this letter from Cheltenham. It is dated, Cheltenham, 11th of +July, 1785, addressed to William Devaynes, Esquire;[8] and it begins +thus:-- + +"Sir,--The Honorable Court of Directors, in their general letter to +Bengal by the 'Surprise,' dated the 16th of March, 1784, were pleased to +express their desire that I should inform them of the periods when each +sum of the presents mentioned in my address of the 22d May, 1782, was +received,--what were my motives for withholding the several receipts +from the knowledge of the Council, or of the Court of Directors,--and +what were my reasons for taking bonds for part of these sums, and for +paying other sums into the treasury as deposits, on my own account." + +I wish your Lordships to pause a moment. Here is a letter written in +July, 1785. You see that from the 29th of December [November?], 1780, +till that time, during which interval, though convinced in his own +conscience and though he had declared his own opinion of the necessity +of giving a full explanation of these money transactions, he had been +imposing upon the Directors false and prevaricating accounts of them, +they were never able to obtain a full disclosure from him. + +He goes on:--"I have been kindly apprised that the information required +as above is yet expected from me. I hope that the circumstances of my +past situation, when considered, will plead my excuse for having thus +long withheld it. The fact is, that I was not at the Presidency when the +'Surprise' arrived; and when I returned to it, my time and attention +were so entirely engrossed, to the day of my final departure from it, by +a variety of other more important occupations, of which, Sir, I may +safely appeal to your testimony, grounded on the large portion +contributed by myself of the volumes which compose our Consultations of +that period,"-- + +These Consultations, my Lords, to which he appeals, form matter of one +of the charges that the Commons have brought against Mr. +Hastings,--namely, a fraudulent attempt to ruin certain persons employed +in subordinate situations under him, for the purpose, by intruding +himself into their place, of secretly carrying on his own transactions. +These volumes of Consultations were written to justify that act. + +He next says,--"The submission which my respect would have enjoined me +to pay to the command imposed on me was lost to my recollection, perhaps +from the stronger impression which the first and distant perusal of it +had left on my mind, that it was rather intended as a reprehension for +something which had given offence in my report of the original +transaction than an expression of any want of a further elucidation of +it." + +Permit me to make a few remarks upon this extraordinary passage. A +letter is written to him, containing a repetition of the request which +had been made a thousand times before, and with which he had as often +promised to comply. And here he says, "It was lost to my recollection." +Observe his memory: he can forget the command, but he has an obscure +recollection that he thought it a reprehension rather than a demand! Now +a reprehension is a stronger mode of demand. When I say to a servant, +"Why have you not given me the account which I have so often asked for?" +is he to answer, "The reason I have not given it is because I thought +you were railing at and abusing me"? + +He goes on:--"I will now endeavor to reply to the different questions +which have been stated to me, in as explicit a manner as I am able. To +such information as I can give the Honorable Court is fully entitled; +and where that shall prove defective, I will point out the only means by +which it may be rendered more complete." + +In order that your Lordships may thoroughly enter into the spirit of +this letter, I must request that you will observe how handsomely and +kindly these tools of Directors have expressed themselves to him, and +that even their baseness and subserviency to him were not able to draw +from him anything that could be satisfactory to his enemies: for as to +these his friends, he cares but little about satisfying them, though +they call upon him in consequence of his own promise; and this he calls +a reprehension. They thus express themselves:--"Although it is not our +intention to express any doubt of the integrity of the +Governor-General,--on the contrary, after having received the presents, +we cannot avoid expressing our approbation of his conduct in bringing +them to the credit of the Company,--yet we must confess the statement of +those transactions appears to us in many points so unintelligible, that +we feel ourselves under the necessity of calling on the Governor-General +for an explanation, agreeable to his promise voluntarily made to us. We +therefore desire to be informed of the different periods when each sum +was received, and what were the Governor-General's motives for +withholding the several receipts from the knowledge of the Council and +of the Court of Directors, and what were his reasons for taking bonds +for part of these sums and paying other sums into the treasury as +deposits upon his own account." Such is their demand, and this is what +his memory furnishes as nothing but a reprehension. + +He then proceeds:--"First, I believe I can affirm with certainty that +the several sums mentioned in the account transmitted with my letter +above mentioned were received at or within a very few days of the dates +which are affixed to them in the account. But as this contains only the +gross sums, and each of these was received in different payments, though +at no great distance of time, I cannot therefore assign a great degree +of accuracy to the account."--Your Lordships see, that, after all, he +declares he cannot make his account accurate. He further adds, "Perhaps +the Honorable Court will judge this sufficient"--that is, this +explanation, namely, that he can give none--"for any purpose to which +their inquiry was directed; but if it should not be so, I will beg leave +to refer, for a more minute information, and for the means of making any +investigation which they may think it proper to direct, respecting the +particulars of this transaction, to Mr. Larkins, your +accountant-general, who was privy to every process of it, and possesses, +as I believe, the original paper, which contained the only account that +I ever kept of it." + +Here is a man who of his bribe accounts cannot give an account in the +country where they are carried on. When you call upon him in Bengal, he +cannot give the account, because he is in Bengal; when he comes to +England, he cannot give the account here, because his accounts are left +in Bengal. Again, he keeps no accounts himself, but his accounts are in +Bengal, in the hands of somebody else: to him he refers, and we shall +see what that reference produced. + +"In this, each receipt was, as I recollect, specifically inserted, with +the name of the person by whom it was made; and I shall write to him to +desire that he will furnish you with the paper itself, if it is still in +being and in his hands, or with whatever he can distinctly recollect +concerning it."--Here are accounts kept for the Company, and yet he does +not know whether they are in existence anywhere. + +"For my motives for withholding the several receipts from the knowledge +of the Council or of the Court of Directors, and for taking bonds for +part of these sums, and paying others into the treasury as deposits on +my own account, I have generally accounted in my letter to the Honorable +the Court of Directors of the 22d of May, 1782,--namely, that I either +chose to conceal the first receipts from public curiosity by receiving +bonds for the amount, or possibly acted without any studied design which +my memory at that distance of time could verify, and that I did not +think it worth my care to observe the same means with the rest. It will +not be expected that I should be able to give a more correct explanation +of my intentions after a lapse of three years, having declared at the +time that many particulars had escaped my remembrance; neither shall I +attempt to add more than the clearer affirmation of the facts implied in +that report of them, and such inferences as necessarily or with a strong +probability follow them." + +You have heard of that Oriental figure called, in the banian language, a +_painche_, in English, a _screw_. It is a puzzled and studied involution +of a period, framed in order to prevent the discovery of truth and the +detection of fraud; and surely it cannot be better exemplified than in +this sentence: "Neither shall I attempt to add more than the clearer +affirmation of the facts implied in that report of them, and such +inferences as necessarily or with a strong probability follow them." +Observe, that he says, not _facts stated_, but _facts implied in the +report_. And of what was this to be a report? Of things which the +Directors declared they did not understand. And then the inferences +which are to follow these implied facts are to follow them--But how? +_With a strong probability_. If you have a mind to study this Oriental +figure of rhetoric, the _painche_, here it is for you in its most +complete perfection. No rhetorician ever gave an example of any figure +of oratory that can match this. + +But let us endeavor to unravel the whole passage. First he states, that, +in May, 1782, he had forgotten his motives for falsifying the Company's +accounts; but he affirms the facts contained in the report, and +afterwards, very rationally, draws such inferences as necessarily or +with a strong probability follow them. And if I understand it at all, +which God knows I no more pretend to do than Don Quixote did those +sentences of lovers in romance-writers of which he said it made him run +mad to attempt to discover the meaning, the inference is, "Why do you +call upon me for accounts now, three years after the time when I could +not give you them? I cannot give them you. And as to the papers relating +to them, I do not know whether they exist; and if they do, perhaps you +may learn something from them, perhaps you may not: I will write to Mr. +Larkins for those papers, if you please." Now, comparing this with his +other accounts, you will see what a monstrous scheme he has laid of +fraud and concealment to cover his peculation. He tells them,--"I have +said that the three first sums of the account were paid into the +Company's treasury without passing through my hands. The second of these +was forced into notice by its destination and application to the expense +of a detachment which was formed and employed against Mahdajee Sindia, +under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Camac, as I particularly +apprised the Court of Directors in my letter of the 29th December +[November?], 1780." He does not yet tell the Directors from whom he +received it: we have found it out by other collateral means.--"The other +two were certainly not intended, when I received them, to be made +public, though intended for public service, and actually applied to it. +The exigencies of government were at that time my own, and every +pressure upon it rested with its full weight upon my mind. Wherever I +could find allowable means of relieving those wants, I eagerly seized +them."--Allowable means of receiving bribes! for such I shall prove them +to be in the particular instances.--"But neither could it occur to me as +necessary to state on our Proceedings every little aid that I could thus +procure; nor do I know how I could have stated it without appearing to +court favor by an ostentation which I disdained, nor without the chance +of exciting the jealousy of my colleagues by the constructive assertion +of a separate and unparticipated merit, derived from the influence of my +station, to which they might have had an equal claim." + +Now we see, that, after hammering his brains for many years, he does +find out his motive, which he could not verify at the time,--namely, +that, if he let his colleagues know that he was receiving bribes, and +gaining the glory of receiving them, they might take it into their heads +likewise to have their share in the same glory, as they were joined in +the same commission, enjoyed the same powers, and were subject to the +same restrictions. It was, indeed, scandalous in Mr. Hastings, not +behaving like a good, fair colleague in office, not to let them know +that he was going on in this career of receiving bribes, and to deprive +them of their share in the glory of it: but they were grovelling +creatures, who thought that keeping clean hands was some virtue.--"Well, +but you have applied some of these bribes to your own benefit: why did +you give no account of those bribes?" "I did not," he says, "because it +might have excited the envy of my colleagues." To be sure, if he was +receiving bribes for his own benefit, and they not receiving such +bribes, and if they had a liking to that kind of traffic, it is a good +ground of envy, that a matter which ought to be in common among them +should be confined to Mr. Hastings, and he therefore did well to conceal +it; and on the other hand, if we suppose him to have taken them, as he +pretends, for the Company's use, in order not to excite a jealousy in +his colleagues for being left out of this meritorious service, to which +they had an equal claim, he did well to take bonds for what ought to be +brought to the Company's account. These are reasons applicable to his +colleagues, who sat with him at the same board,--Mr. Macpherson, Mr. +Stables, Mr. Wheler, General Clavering, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis: +he was afraid of exciting their envy or their jealousy. + +You will next see another reason, and an extraordinary one it is, which +he gives for concealing these bribes from his inferiors. But I must +first tell your Lordships, what, till the proof is brought before you, +you will take on credit,--indeed, it is on his credit,--that, when he +formed the Committee of Revenue, he bound them by a solemn oath, "not, +under any name or pretence whatever, to take from any zemindar, farmer, +person concerned in the revenue, or any other, any gift, gratuity, +allowance, or reward whatever, or anything beyond their salary"; and +this is the oath to which he alludes. Now his reason for concealing his +bribes from his inferiors, this Committee, under these false and +fraudulent bonds, he states thus:--"I should have deemed it particularly +dishonorable to receive for my own use money tendered by men of a +certain class, from whom I had interdicted the receipt of presents to +my inferiors, and bound them by oath not to receive them: I was +therefore more than ordinarily cautious to avoid the suspicion of it, +which would scarcely have failed to light upon me, had I suffered the +money to be brought to my own house, or that of any person known to be +in trust for me." + +My Lords, here he comes before you, avowing that he knew the practice of +taking money from these people was a thing dishonorable in itself. "I +should have deemed it particularly dishonorable to receive for my own +use money tendered by men of a certain class, from whom I had +interdicted the receipt of presents to my inferiors, and bound them by +oath not to receive them." He held it particularly dishonorable to +receive them; he had bound others by an oath not to receive them: but he +received them himself; and why does he conceal it? "Why, because," says +he, "if the suspicion came upon me, the dishonor would fall upon my +pate." Why did he, by an oath, bind his inferiors not to take these +bribes? "Why, because it was base and dishonorable so to do; and because +it would be mischievous and ruinous to the Company's affairs to suffer +them to take bribes." Why, then, did he take them himself? It was ten +times more ruinous, that he, who was at the head of the Company's +government, and had bound up others so strictly, should practise the +same himself; and "therefore," says he, "I was more than ordinarily +cautious." What! to avoid it? "No; to carry it on in so clandestine and +private a manner as might secure me from the suspicion of that which I +know to be detestable, and bound others up from practising." + +We shall prove that the kind of men from whom he interdicted his +Committee to receive bribes were the identical men from whom he received +them himself. If it was good for him, it was good for them to be +permitted these means of extorting; and if it ought at all to be +practised, they ought to be admitted to extort for the good of the +Company. Rajah Nobkissin was one of the men from whom he interdicted +them to receive bribes, and from whom he received a bribe for his own +use. But he says he concealed it from them, because he thought great +mischief might happen even from their suspicion of it, and lest they +should thereby be inclined themselves to practise it, and to break their +oaths. + +You take it, then, for granted that he really concealed it from them? No +such thing. His principal confidant in receiving these bribes was Mr. +Croftes, who was a principal person in this Board of Revenue, and whom +he had made to swear not to take bribes: he is the confidant, and the +very receiver, as we shall prove to your Lordships. What will your +Lordships think of his affirming and averring a direct falsehood, that +he did it to conceal it from these men, when one of them was his +principal confidant and agent in the transaction? What will you think of +his being more than ordinarily cautious to avoid the suspicion of it? He +ought to have avoided the crime, and the suspicion would take care of +itself. + +"For these reasons," he says, "I caused it to be transported immediately +to the treasury. There I well knew, Sir, it could not be received, +without being passed to some credit; and this could only be done by +entering it as a loan or as a deposit. The first was the least liable to +reflection, and therefore I had obviously recourse to it. Why the +second sum was entered as a deposit I am utterly ignorant. Possibly it +was done without any special direction from me; possibly because it was +the simplest mode of entry, and therefore preferred, as the transaction +itself did not require concealment, having been already avowed." + +My Lords, in fact, every word of this is either false or groundless: it +is completely fallacious in every part. The first sum, he says, was +entered as a loan, the second as a deposit. Why was this done? Because, +when you enter moneys of this kind, you must enter them under some name, +some head of account; "and I entered them," he says, "under these, +because otherwise there was no entering them at all." Is this true? Will +he stick to this? I shall desire to know from his learned counsel, some +time or other, whether that is a point he will take issue upon. Your +Lordships will see there were other bribes of his which he brought under +a regular official head, namely, _durbar charges_; and there is no +reason why he should not have brought these under the same head. +Therefore what he says, that there is no other way of entering them but +as loans and deposits, is not true. He next says, that in the second sum +there was no reason for concealment, because it was avowed. But that +false deposit was as much concealment as the false loan, for he entered +that money as his own; whereas, when he had a mind to carry any money to +the Company's account, he knew how to do it, for he had been accustomed +to enter it under a general name, called durbar charges,--a name which, +in its extent at least, was very much his own invention, and which, as +he gives no account of those charges, is as large and sufficient to +cover any fraudulent expenditure in the account as, one would think, any +person could wish. You see him, then, first guessing one thing, then +another,--first giving this reason, then another; at last, however, he +seems to be satisfied that he has hit upon the true reason of his +conduct. + +Now let us open the next paragraph, and see what it is.--"Although I am +firmly persuaded that these were my sentiments on the occasion, yet I +will not affirm that they were. Though I feel their impression as the +remains of a series of thoughts retained on my memory, I am not certain +that they may not have been produced by subsequent reflection on the +principal fact, combining with it the probable motives of it. Of this I +am certain, that it was my design originally to have concealed the +receipt of all the sums, except the second, even from the knowledge of +the Court of Directors. They had answered my purpose of public utility, +and I had almost dismissed them from my remembrance." + +My Lords, you will observe in this most astonishing account which he +gives here, that several of these sums he meant to conceal forever, even +from the knowledge of the Directors. Look back to his letter of 22d May, +1782, and his letter of the 16th of December, and in them he tells you +that he might have concealed them, but that he was resolved not to +conceal them; that he thought it highly dishonorable so to do; that his +conscience would have been wounded, if he had done it; and that he was +afraid it would be thought that this discovery was brought from him in +consequence of the Parliamentary inquiries. Here he says of a discovery +which he values himself upon making voluntarily, that he is afraid it +should be attributed to arise from motives of fear. Now, at last, he +tells you, from Cheltenham, at a time when he had just cause to dread +the strict account to which he is called this day, first, that he cannot +tell whether any one motive which he assigns, either in this letter or +in the former, were his real motive or not; that he does not know +whether he has not invented them since, in consequence of a train of +meditation upon what he might have done or might have said; and, lastly, +he says, contrary to all his former declarations, "that he had never +meant nor could give the Directors the least notice of them at all, as +they had answered his purpose, and he had dismissed them from his +remembrance." "I intended," he says, "always to keep them secret, though +I have declared to you solemnly, over and over again, that I did not. I +do not care how you discovered them; I have forgotten them; I have +dismissed them from my remembrance." Is this the way in which money is +to be received and accounted for? + +He then proceeds thus:--"But when fortune threw a sum of money in my way +of a magnitude which could not be concealed, and the peculiar delicacy +of my situation at the time I received it made me more circumspect of +appearances, I chose to apprise my employers of it, which I did hastily +and generally: hastily, perhaps, to prevent the vigilance and activity +of secret calumny; and generally, because I knew not the exact amount of +which I was in the receipt, but not in the full possession. I promised +to acquaint them with the result as soon as I should be in possession of +it; and, in the performance of my promise, I thought it consistent with +it to add to the amount all the former appropriations of the same kind: +my good genius then suggesting to me, with a spirit of caution which +might have spared me the trouble of this apology, had I universally +attended to it, that, if I had suppressed them, and they were afterwards +known, I might be asked what were my motives for withholding a part of +these receipts from the knowledge of the Court of Directors and +informing them of the rest, it being my wish to clear up every doubt." + +I am almost ashamed to remark upon the tergiversations and +prevarications perpetually ringing the changes in this declaration. He +would not have discovered this hundred thousand pounds, if he could have +concealed it: he would have discovered it, lest malicious persons should +be telling tales of it. He has a system of concealment: he never +discovers anything, but when he thinks it can be forced from him. He +says, indeed, "I could conceal these things forever, but my conscience +would not give me leave": but it is guilt, and not honesty of +conscience, that always prompts him. At one time it is the malice of +people and the fear of misrepresentation which induced him to make the +disclosure; and he values himself on the precaution which this fear had +suggested to him. At another time it is the magnitude of the sum which +produced this effect: nothing but the impossibility of concealing it +could possibly have made him discover it. This hundred thousand pounds +he declares he would have concealed, if he could; and yet he values +himself upon the discovery of it. Oh, my Lords, I am afraid that sums of +much greater magnitude have not been discovered at all! Your Lordships +now see some of the artifices of this letter. You see the variety of +styles he adopts, and how he turns himself into every shape and every +form. But, after all, do you find any clear discovery? do you find any +satisfactory answer to the Directors' letter? does he once tell you from +whom he received the money? does he tell you for what he received it, +what the circumstances of the persons giving it were, or any explanation +whatever of his mode of accounting for it? No: and here, at last, after +so many years' litigation, he is called to account for his +prevaricating, false accounts in Calcutta, and cannot give them to you. + +His explanation of his conduct relative to the bonds now only remains +for your Lordships' consideration. Before he left Calcutta, in July, +1784 [1781?], he says, when he was going upon a service which he thought +a service of danger, he indorsed the false bonds which he had taken from +the Company, declaring them to be none of his. You will observe that +these bonds had been in his hands from the 9th or 15th of January (I am +not quite sure of the exact date) to the day when he went upon this +service, some time in the month of July, 1784 [1781?]. This service he +had formerly declared he did not apprehend to be a service of danger; +but he found it to be so after: it was in anticipation of that danger +that he made this attestation and certificate upon the bonds. But who +ever saw them? Mr. Larkins saw them, says he: "I gave them Mr. Larkins." +We will show you hereafter that Mr. Larkins deserves no credit in this +business,--that honor binds him not to discover the secrets of Mr. +Hastings. But why did he not deliver them up entirely, when he was going +upon that service? for all pretence of concealment in the business was +now at an end, as we shall prove. Why did he not cancel these bonds? +Why keep them at all? Why not enter truly the state of the account in +the Company's records? "But I indorsed them," he says. "Did you deliver +them so indorsed into the treasury?" "No, I delivered them indorsed into +the hands of my bribe-broker and agent." "But why not destroy them, or +give them up to the Company, and say you were paid, which would have +been the only truth in this transaction? Why did you not indorse them +before? Why not, during the long period of so many years, cancel them?" +No, he kept them to the very day when he was going from Calcutta, and +had made a declaration that they were not his. Never before, upon any +account, had they appeared; and though the Committee of the House of +Commons, in the Eleventh Report, had remarked upon all these scandalous +proceedings and prevarications, yet he was not stimulated, even then, to +give up these bonds. He held them in his hands till the time when he was +preparing for his departure from Calcutta, in spite of the Directors, in +spite of the Parliament, in spite of the cries of his own conscience, in +a matter which was now grown public, and would knock doubly upon his +reputation and conduct. He then declares they are not for his own use, +but for the Company's service. But were they then cancelled? I do not +find a trace of their being cancelled. In this letter of the 17th of +January, 1785, he says with regard to these bonds, "The following sums +were paid into the treasury, and bonds granted for the same in the name +of the Governor-General, in whose possession the bonds remain, with a +declaration upon each, indorsed and signed by him, that he has no claim +on the Company for the amount either of principal or interest, no part +of the latter having been received." + +To the account of the 22d of May, of the indorsement, is added the +declaration upon oath. But why any man need to declare upon oath that +the money which he has fraudulently taken and concealed from another +person is not his is the most extraordinary thing in the world. If he +had a mind to have it placed to his credit as his own, then an oath +would be necessary; but in this case any one would believe him upon his +word. He comes, however, and says, "This is indorsed upon oath." Oath! +before what magistrate? In whose possession were the bonds? Were they +given up? There is no trace of that upon the record, and it stands for +him to prove that they were ever given up, and in any hands but Mr. +Larkins's and his own. So here are the bonds, begun in obscurity and +ending in obscurity, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, corruption to +corruption, and fraud to fraud. This is all we see of these bonds, till +Mr. Larkins, to whom he writes some letter concerning them which does +not appear, is called to read a funeral sermon over them. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, I am come now near the period of this class of Mr. Hastings's +bribes. I am a little exhausted. There are many circumstances that might +make me wish not to delay this business by taking up another day at your +Lordships' bar, in order to go through this long, intricate scene of +corruption. But my strength now fails me. I hope within a very short +time, to-morrow or the next court-day, to finish it, and to go directly +into evidence, as I long much to do, to substantiate the charge; but it +was necessary that the evidence should be explained. You have heard as +much of the drama as I could go through: bear with my weakness a little: +Mr. Larkins's letter will be the epilogue to it. I have already incurred +the censure of the prisoner; I mean to increase it, by bringing home to +him the proof of his crimes, and to display them in all their force and +turpitude. It is my duty to do it; I feel it an obligation nearest to my +heart. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] See this letter in the Appendix to the Eighth and Sixteenth Charges, +Vol. IX. pp. 319-325, in the present edition. + + + + +SPEECH + +ON + +THE SIXTH ARTICLE OF CHARGE. + + +FOURTH DAY: THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1789. + + +My Lords,--When I had the honor last to address you from this place, I +endeavored to press this position upon your minds, and to fortify it by +the example of the proceedings of Mr. Hastings,--that obscurity and +inaccuracies in a matter of account constituted a just presumption of +fraud. I showed, from his own letters, that his accounts were confused +and inaccurate. I am ready, my Lords, to admit that there are situations +in which a minister in high office may use concealment: it may be his +duty to use concealment from the enemies of his masters; it may be +prudent to use concealment from his inferiors in the service. It will +always be suspicious to use concealment from his colleagues and +coördinates in office; but when, in a money transaction, any man uses +concealment with regard to them to whom the money belongs, he is guilty +of a fraud. My Lords, I have shown you that Mr. Hastings kept no +account, by his own confession, of the moneys that he had privately +taken, as he pretends, for the Company's service, and we have but too +much reason to presume for his own. We have shown you, my Lords, that he +has not only no accounts, but no memory; we have shown that he does not +even understand his own motives; that, when called upon to recollect +them, he begs to guess at them; and that as his memory is to be supplied +by his guess, so he has no confidence in his guesses. He at first finds, +after a lapse of about a year and a half, or somewhat less, that he +cannot recollect what his motives were to certain actions which upon the +very face of them appeared fraudulent. He is called to an account some +years after, to explain what they were, and he makes a just reflection +upon it,--namely, that, as his memory did not enable him to find out his +own motive at the former time, it is not to be expected that it would be +clearer a year after. Your Lordships will, however, recollect, that in +the Cheltenham letter, which is made of no perishable stuff, he begins +again to guess; but after he has guessed and guessed again, and after he +has gone through all the motives he can possibly assign for the action, +he tells you he does not know whether those were his real motives, or +whether he has not invented them since. + +In that situation the accounts of the Company were left with regard to +very great sums which passed through Mr. Hastings's hands, and for which +he, instead of giving his masters credit, took credit to himself, and, +being their debtor, as he confesses himself to be at that time, took a +security for that debt as if he had been their creditor. This required +explanation. Explanation he was called upon for, over and over again; +explanation he did not give, and declared he could not give. He was +called upon for it when in India: he had not leisure to attend to it +there. He was called upon for it when in Europe: he then says he must +send for it to India. With much prevarication, and much insolence too, +he confesses himself guilty of falsifying the Company's accounts by +making himself their creditor when he was their debtor, and giving false +accounts of this false transaction. The Court of Directors was slow to +believe him guilty; Parliament expressed a strong suspicion of his +guilt, and wished for further information. Mr. Hastings about this time +began to imagine his conscience to be a faithful and true +monitor,--which it were well he had attended to upon many occasions, as +it would have saved him his appearance here,--and it told him that he +was in great danger from the Parliamentary inquiries that were going on. +It was now to be expected that he would have been in haste to fulfil the +promise which he had made in the Patna letter of the 20th of January, +1782; and accordingly we find that about this time his first agent, +Major Fairfax, was sent over to Europe, which agent entered himself at +the India House, and appeared before the Committee of the House of +Commons, as an agent expressly sent over to explain whatever might +appear doubtful in his conduct. Major Fairfax, notwithstanding the +character in which Mr. Hastings employed him, appeared to be but a +letter-carrier: he had nothing to say: he gave them no information in +the India House at all: to the Committee (I can speak with the clearness +of a witness) he gave no satisfaction whatever. However, this agent +vanished in a moment, in order to make way for another, more +substantial, more efficient agent,--an agent perfectly known in this +country,--an agent known by the name given to him by Mr. Hastings, who, +like the princes of the East, gives titles: he calls him an incomparable +agent; and by that name he is very well known to your Lordships and the +world. This agent, Major Scott, who I believe was here prior to the +time of Major Fairfax's arrival in the character of an agent, and for +the very same purposes, was called before the Committee, and examined, +point by point, article by article, upon all that obscure enumeration of +bribes which the Court of Directors declare they did not understand; but +he declared that he could speak nothing with regard to any of these +transactions, and that he had got no instructions to explain any part of +them. There was but one circumstance which in the course of his +examination we drew from him,--namely, that one of these articles, +entered in the account of the 22d of May as a deposit, had been received +from Mr. Hastings as a bribe from Cheyt Sing. He produced an extract of +a letter relative to it, which your Lordships in the course of this +trial may see, and which will lead us into a further and more minute +inquiry on that head; but when that committee made their report in 1783, +not one single article had been explained to Parliament, not one +explained to the Company, except this bribe of Cheyt Sing, which Mr. +Hastings had never thought proper to communicate to the East India +Company, either by himself, nor, as far as we could find out, by his +agent; nor was it at last otherwise discovered than as it was drawn out +from him by a long examination in the Committee of the House of Commons. +And thus, notwithstanding the letters he had written and the agents he +employed, he seemed absolutely and firmly resolved to give his employers +no satisfaction at all. What is curious in this proceeding is, that Mr. +Hastings, all the time he conceals, endeavors to get himself the credit +of a discovery. Your Lordships have seen what his discovery is; but Mr. +Hastings, among his other very extraordinary acquisitions, has found an +effectual method of concealment through discovery. I will venture to +say, that, whatever suspicions there might have been of Mr. Hastings's +bribes, there was more effectual concealment in regard to every +circumstance respecting them in that discovery than if he had kept a +total silence. Other means of discovery might have been found, but this, +standing in the way, prevented the employment of those means. + +Things continued in this state till the time of the letter from +Cheltenham. The Cheltenham letter declared that Mr. Hastings knew +nothing of the matter,--that he had brought with him no accounts to +England upon the subject; and though it appears by this very letter that +he had with him at Cheltenham (if he wrote the letter at Cheltenham) a +great deal of his other correspondence, that he had his letter of the +22d of May with him, yet any account that could elucidate that letter he +declared that he had not; but he hinted that a Mr. Larkins, in India, +whom your Lordships will be better acquainted with, was perfectly +apprised of all that transaction. Your Lordships will observe that Mr. +Hastings has all his faculties, some way or other, in deposit: one +person can speak to his motives; another knows his fortune better than +himself; to others he commits the sentimental parts of his defence; to +Mr. Larkins he commits his memory. We shall see what a trustee of memory +Mr. Larkins is, and how far he answers the purpose which might be +expected, when appealed to by a man who has no memory himself, or who +has left it on the other side of the water, and who leaves it to another +to explain for him accounts which he ought to have kept himself, and +circumstances which ought to be deposited in his own memory. + +This Cheltenham letter, I believe, originally became known, as far as I +can recollect, to the House of Commons, upon a motion of Mr. Hastings's +own agent: I do not like to be positive upon that point, but I think +that was the first appearance of it. It appeared likewise in public: for +it was thought so extraordinary and laborious a performance, by the +writer or his friends, (as indeed it is,) that it might serve to open a +new source of eloquence in the kingdom, and consequently was printed, I +believe, at the desire of the parties themselves. But however it became +known, it raised an extreme curiosity in the public to hear, when Mr. +Hastings could say nothing, after so many years, of his own concerns and +his own affairs, what satisfaction Mr. Larkins at last would give +concerning them. This letter was directed to Mr. Devaynes, Chairman of +the Court of Directors. It does not appear that the Court of Directors +wrote anything to India in consequence of it, or that they directed this +satisfactory account of the business should be given them; but some +private communications passed between Mr. Hastings, or his agents, and +Mr. Larkins. There was a general expectation upon this occasion, I +believe, in the House of Commons and in the nation at large, to know +what would become of the portentous inquiry. Mr. Hastings has always +contrived to have half the globe between question and answer: when he +was in India, the question went to him, and then he adjourned his answer +till he came to England; and when he came to England, it was necessary +his answer should arrive from India; so that there is no manner of doubt +that all time was given for digesting, comparing, collating, and making +up a perfect memory upon the occasion. + +But, my Lords, Mr. Larkins, who has in custody Mr. Hastings's memory, no +small part of his conscience, and all his accounts, did, at last, in +compliance with Mr. Hastings's desire, think proper to send an account. +Then, at last, we may expect light. Where are we to look for accounts, +but from an accountant-general? Where are they to be met with, unless +from him? And accordingly, in that night of perplexity into which Mr. +Hastings's correspondence had plunged them, men looked up to the dawning +of the day which was to follow that star, the little Lucifer, which with +his lamp was to dispel the shades of night, and give us some sort of +light into this dark, mysterious transaction. At last the little lamp +appeared, and was laid on the table of this House of Commons, on the +motion of Mr. Hastings's friends: for we did not know of its arrival. It +arrives, with all the intelligence, all the memory, accuracy, and +clearness which Mr. Larkins can furnish for Mr. Hastings upon a business +that before was nothing but mystery and confusion. The account is +called,-- + +_"Copy of the particulars of the dates on which the component parts of +sundry sums included in the account of sums received on the account of +the Honorable Company by the Governor-General, or paid to their Treasury +by his order, and applied to their service, were received for Mr. +Hastings, and paid to the Sub-Treasurer."_ + +The letter from Mr. Larkins consisted of two parts: first, what was so +much wanted, an account; next, what was wanted most of all to such an +account as he sent, a comment and explanation. The account consisted of +two members: one gave an account of several detached bribes that Mr. +Hastings had received within the course of about a year and a half; and +the other, of a great bribe which he had received in one gross sum of +one hundred thousand pounds from the Nabob of Oude. It appeared to us, +upon looking into these accounts, that there was some geography, a +little bad chronology, but nothing else in the first: neither the +persons who took the money, nor the persons from whom it was taken, nor +the ends for which it was given, nor any other circumstances are +mentioned. + +The first thing we saw was _Dinagepore_. I believe you know this piece +of geography,--that it is one of the provinces of the kingdom of Bengal. +We then have a long series of months, with a number of sums added to +them; and in the end it is said, that on the 18th and 19th of Asin, +(meaning part of September and part of October,) were paid to Mr. +Croftes two lac of rupees; and then remains one lac, which was taken +from a sum of three lac six thousand nine hundred and seventy-three +rupees. After we had waited for Mr. Hastings's own account, after it had +been pursued through a series of correspondence in vain, after his +agents had come to England to explain it, this is the explanation that +your Lordships have got of this first article, Dinagepore. Not the +person paid to, not the person paying, are mentioned, nor any other +circumstance, except the signature, _G.G.S._: this might serve for +_George Gilbert Sanders_, or any other name you please; and seeing +_Croftes_ above it, you might imagine it was an Englishman. And this, +which I call a geographical and a chronological account, is the only +account we have. Mr. Larkins, upon the mere face of the account, sadly +disappoints us; and I will venture to say that in matters of account +Bengal book-keeping is as remote from good book-keeping as the Bengal +_painches_ are remote from all the rules of good composition. We have, +however, got some light: namely, that one G.G.S. has paid some money to +Mr. Croftes for some purpose, but from whom we know not, nor where; that +there is a place called Dinagepore; and that Mr. Hastings received some +money from somebody in Dinagepore. + +The next article is _Patna_. Your Lordships are not so ill acquainted +with the geography of India as not to know that there is such a place as +Patna, nor so ill acquainted with the chronology of it as not to know +that there are three months called Baisakh, Asin, Chait. Here was paid +to Mr. Croftes two lac of rupees, and there was left a balance of about +two more. But though you learn with regard to the province of Dinagepore +that there is a balance to be discharged by G.G.S., yet with regard to +Patna we have not even a G.G.S.: we have no sort of light whatever to +know through whose hands the money passed, nor any glimpse of light +whatever respecting it. + +You may expect to be made amends in the other province, called _Nuddea_, +where Mr. Hastings had received a considerable sum of money. There is +the very same darkness: not a word from whom received, by whom received, +or any other circumstance, but that it was paid into the hands of Mr. +Hastings's _white banian_, as he was commonly called in that country, +into the hands of Mr. Croftes, who is his white agent in receiving +bribes: for he was very far from having but one. + +After all this inquiry, after so many severe animadversions from the +House of Commons, after all those reiterated letters from the +Directors, after an application to Mr. Hastings himself, when you are +hunting to get at some explanation of the proceedings mentioned in the +letter of the month of May, 1782, you receive here by Mr. Larkins's +letter, which is dated the 5th of August, 1786, this account, which, to +be sure, gives an amazing light into this business: it is a letter for +which it was worth sending to Bengal, worth waiting for with all that +anxious expectation with which men wait for great events. Upon the face +of the account there is not one single word which can tend to illustrate +the matter: he sums up the whole, and makes out that there was received +five lac and fifty thousand rupees, that is to say, 55,000_l._, out of +the sum of nine lac and fifty thousand engaged to be paid: namely,-- + +From Dinagepore 4,00,000 +From Nuddea 1,50,000 +And from Patna 4,00,000 + -------- + 9,50,000 + -------- + Or £95,000 + +Now you have got full light! _Cabooleat_ signifies a contract, or an +agreement; and this agreement was, to pay Mr. Hastings, as one should +think, certain sums of money,--it does not say from whom, but only that +such a sum of money was paid, and that there remains such a balance. +When you come and compare the money received by Mr. Croftes with these +cabooleats, you find that the cabooleats amount to 95,000_l._, and that +the receipt has been about 55,000_l._, and that upon the face of this +account there is 40,000_l._ somewhere or other unaccounted for. There +never was such a mode of account-keeping, except in the new system of +this bribe exchequer. + +Your Lordships will now see, from this luminous, satisfactory, and clear +account, which could come from no other than a great accountant and a +great financier, establishing some new system of finance, and +recommending it to the world as superior to those old-fashioned foolish +establishments, the Exchequer and Bank of England, what lights are +received from Mr. Hastings. + +However, it does so happen that from these obscure hints we have been +able to institute examinations which have discovered such a mass of +fraud, guilt, corruption, and oppression as probably never before +existed since the beginning of the world; and in that darkness we hope +and trust the diligence and zeal of the House of Commons will find light +sufficient to make a full discovery of his base crimes. We hope and +trust, that, after all his concealments, and though he appear resolved +to die in the last dike of prevarication, all his artifices will not be +able to secure him from the siege which the diligence of the House of +Commons has laid to his corruptions. + +Your Lordships will remark, in a paragraph, which, though it stands +last, is the first in principle, in Mr. Larkins's letter, that, having +before given his comment, he perorates, as is natural upon such an +occasion. This peroration, as is usual in perorations, is in favor of +the parties speaking it, and _ad conciliandum auditorem_. "Conscious," +he says, "that the concern which I have had in these transactions needs +neither an apology nor an excuse,"--that is rather extraordinary, +too!--"and that I have in no action of my life sacrificed the duty and +fidelity which I owed to my honorable employers either to the regard +which I felt for another or to the advancement of my own fortune, I +shall conclude this address, firmly relying upon the candor of those +before whom it may be submitted for its being deemed a satisfactory as +well as a circumstantial compliance with the requisition in conformity +to which the information it affords has been furnished,"--meaning, as +your Lordships will see in the whole course of the letter, that he had +written it in compliance with the requisition and in conformity to the +information he had been furnished with by Mr. Hastings,--"without which +it would have been as base as dishonorable for me spontaneously to have +afforded it: for, though the duty which every man owes to himself should +render him incapable of making an assertion not strictly true, no man +actuated either by virtuous or honorable sentiments could mistakenly +apprehend, that, unless he betrayed the confidence reposed in him by +another, he might be deemed deficient in fidelity to his employers." + +My Lords, here is, in my opinion, a discovery very well worthy your +Lordships' attention; here is the accountant-general of the Company, who +declares, and fixes it as a point of honor, that he would not have made +a discovery so important to them, if Mr. Hastings himself had not +authorized him to make it: a point to which he considers himself bound +by his honor to adhere. Let us see what becomes of us, when the +principle of honor is so debauched and perverted. A principle of honor, +as long as it is connected with virtue, adds no small efficacy to its +operation, and no small brilliancy and lustre to its appearance: but +honor, the moment that it becomes unconnected with the duties of +official function, with the relations of life, and the eternal and +immutable rules of morality, and appears in its substance alien to them, +changes its nature, and, instead of justifying a breach of duty, +aggravates all its mischiefs to an almost infinite degree; by the +apparent lustre of the surface, it hides from you the baseness and +deformity of the ground. Here is Mr. Hastings's agent, Mr. Larkins, the +Company's general accountant, prefers his attachment to Mr. Hastings to +his duty to the Company. Instead of the account which he ought to give +to them in consequence of the trust reposed in him, he thinks himself +bound by honor to Mr. Hastings, if Mr. Hastings had not called for that +explanation, not to have given it: so that, whatever obscurity is in +this explanation, it is because Mr. Hastings did not authorize or +require him to give a clearer. Here is a principle of treacherous +fidelity, of perfidious honor, of the faith of conspirators against +their masters, the faith of robbers against the public, held up against +the duty of an officer in a public situation. You see how they are bound +to one another, and how they give their fidelity to keep the secrets of +one another, to prevent the Directors having a true knowledge of their +affairs; and I am sure, if you do not destroy this honor of conspirators +and this faith of robbers, that there will be no other honor and no +other fidelity among the servants in India. Mr. Larkins, your Lordships +see, adheres to the principle of secrecy. + +You will next remark that Mr. Hastings had as many bribe-factors as +bribes. There was confidence to be reposed in each of them, and not one +of these men appears to be in the confidence of another. You will find +in this letter the policy, the frame, and constitution of this new +exchequer. Mr. Croftes seems to have known things which Mr. Larkins did +not; Mr. Larkins knew things which Gunga Govind Sing did not; Gunga +Govind Sing knew things which none of the rest of the confederates knew. +Cantoo Baboo, who appears in this letter as a principal actor, was in a +secret which Mr. Larkins did not know; it appears likewise, that there +was a Persian moonshee in a secret of which Cantoo Baboo was ignorant; +and it appears that Mr. Palmer was in the secret of a transaction not +intrusted to any of the rest. Such is the labyrinth of this practical +_painche_, or screw, that, if, for instance, you were endeavoring to +trace backwards some transaction through Major Palmer, you would be +stopped there, and must go back again; for it had begun with Cantoo +Baboo. If in another you were to penetrate into the dark recess of the +black breast of Cantoo Baboo, you could not go further; for it began +with Gunga Govind Sing. If you pierce the breast of Gunga Govind Sing, +you are again stopped; a Persian moonshee was the confidential agent. If +you get beyond this, you find Mr. Larkins knew something which the +others did not; and at last you find Mr. Hastings did not put entire +confidence in any of them. You will see, by this letter, that he kept +his accounts in all colors, black, white, and mezzotinto; that he kept +them in all languages,--in Persian, in Bengalee, and in a language +which, I believe, is neither Persian nor Bengalee, nor any other known +in the world, but a language in which Mr. Hastings found it proper to +keep his accounts and to transact his business. The persons carrying on +the accounts are Mr. Larkins, an Englishman, Cantoo Baboo, a Gentoo, and +a Persian moonshee, probably a Mahometan. So all languages, all +religions, all descriptions of men are to keep the account of these +bribes, and to make out this valuable account which Mr. Larkins gave +you! + +Let us now see how far the memory, observation, and knowledge of the +persons referred to can supply the want of them in Mr. Hastings. These +accounts come at last, though late, from Mr. Larkins, who, I will +venture to say, let the banians boast what they will, has skill perhaps +equal to the best of them: he begins by explaining to you something +concerning the present of the ten lac. I wish your Lordships always to +take Mr. Hastings's word, where it can be had,--or Mr. Larkins's, who +was the representative of and memory-keeper to Mr. Hastings; and then I +may perhaps take the liberty of making some observations upon it. + + +_Extract of a Letter from William Larkins, Accountant-General of Bengal, +to the Chairman of the East India Company, dated 5th August, 1786._ + +"Mr. Hastings returned from Benares to Calcutta on the 5th February, +1782. At that time I was wholly ignorant of the letter which on the 20th +January he wrote from Patna to the Secret Committee of the Honorable +the Court of Directors. The rough draught of this letter, in the +handwriting of Major Palmer, is now in my possession. Soon after his +arrival at the Presidency, he requested me to form the account of his +receipts and disbursements, which you will find journalized in the +280th, &c., and 307th pages of the Honorable Company's general books of +the year 1781-2. My official situation as accountant-general had +previously convinced me that Mr. Hastings could not have made the issues +which were acknowledged as received from him by some of the paymasters +of the army, unless he had obtained some such supply as that which he +afterwards, viz., on the 22d May, 1782, made known to me, when I +immediately suggested to him the necessity of his transmitting that +account which accompanied his letter of that date, till when the promise +contained in his letter of 20th January had entirely escaped his +recollection." + +The first thing I would remark on this (and I believe your Lordships +have rather gone before me in the remark) is, that Mr. Hastings came +down to Calcutta on the 5th of February; that then, or a few days after, +he calls to him his confidential and faithful friend, (not his official +secretary, for he trusted none of his regular secretaries with these +transactions,)--he calls him to help him to make out his accounts during +his absence. You would imagine that at that time he trusted this man +with his account. No such thing: he goes on with the accountant-general, +accounting with him for money expended, without ever explaining to that +accountant-general how that money came into his hands. Here, then, we +have the accountant making out the account, and the person accounting. +The accountant does not in any manner make an objection, and say, "Here +you are giving me an account by which it appears that you have expended +money, but you have not told me where you received it: how shall I make +out a fair account of debtor and creditor between you and the Company?" +He does no such thing. There lies a suspicion in his breast that Mr. +Hastings must have taken some money in some irregular way, or he could +not have made those payments. Mr. Larkins begins to suspect him. "Where +did you lose this bodkin?" said one lady to another, upon a certain +occasion. "Pray, Madam, where did you find it?" Mr. Hastings, at the +very moment of his life when confidence was required, even when making +up his accounts with his accountant, never told him one word of the +matter. You see he had no confidence in Mr. Larkins. This makes out one +of the propositions I want to impress upon your Lordships' minds, that +no one man did he let into every part of his transactions: a material +circumstance, which will help to lead your Lordships' judgment in +forming your opinion upon many parts of this cause. + +You see that Mr. Larkins suspected him. Probably in consequence of those +suspicions, or from some other cause, he at last told him, upon the 22d +of May, 1782, (but why at that time, rather than at any other time, does +not appear; and this we shall find very difficult to be accounted +for,)--he told him that he had received a bribe from the Nabob of Oude, +of 100,000_l._ He informs him of this on the 22d of May, which, when the +accounts were making up, he conceals from him. And he communicates to +him the rough draught of his letter to the Court of Directors, informing +them that this business was not transacted by any known secretary of the +Company, nor with the intervention of any interpreter of the Company, +nor passed through any official channel whatever, but through a +gentleman much in his confidence, his military secretary; and, as if +receiving bribes, and receiving letters concerning them, and carrying on +correspondence relative to them, was a part of military duty, the rough +draught of this letter was in the hands of this military secretary. Upon +the communication of the letter, it rushes all at once into the mind of +Mr. Larkins, who knows Mr. Hastings's recollection, who knows what does +and what does not escape it, and who had a memory ready to explode at +Mr. Hastings's desire, "Good God!" says he, "you have promised the +Directors an account of this business!"--a promise which Mr. Larkins +assures the Directors, upon his word, had entirely escaped Mr. +Hastings's recollection. Mr. Hastings, it seems, had totally forgotten +the promise relative to the paltry sum of 100,000_l._ which he had made +to the Court of Directors in the January before; he never once thought +of it, no, not even when he was making up his accounts of that very +identical sum, till the 22d of May. So that these persons answer for one +another's bad memory: and you will see they have good reason. Mr. +Hastings's want of recollection appears in things of some moment. +However lightly he may regard the sum of 100,000_l._, which, considering +the enormous sums he has received, I dare say he does,--for he totally +forgot it, he knew nothing about it,--observe what sort of memory this +registrar and accountant of such sums as 100,000_l._ has. In what +confusion of millions must it be, that such sums can be lost to Mr. +Hastings's recollection! However, at last it was brought to his +recollection, and he thought that it was necessary to give some account +of it. And who is the accountant whom he produces? His own memory is no +accountant. He had dismissed the matter (as he happily expresses it in +the Cheltenham letter) from his memory. Major Palmer is not the +accountant. One is astonished that a man who had had 100,000_l._ in his +hands, and laid it out, as he pretends, in the public service, has not a +scrap of paper to show for it. No ordinary or extraordinary account is +given of it. Well, what is to be done in such circumstances? He sends +for a person whose name you have heard and will often hear of, the +faithful Cantoo Baboo. This man comes to Mr. Larkins, and he reads to +him (be so good as to remark the words) from a Bengal paper the account +of the detached bribes. Your Lordships will observe that I have stated +the receipt of a number of detached bribes, and a bribe in one great +body: one, the great _corps d'armée_; the other, flying scouting bodies, +which were only to be collected together by a skilful man who knew how +to manage them, and regulate the motions of those wild and disorderly +troops. When No. 2 was to be explained, Cantoo Baboo failed him; he was +not worth a farthing as to any transaction that happened when Mr. +Hastings was in the Upper Provinces, where though he was his faithful +and constant attendant through the whole, yet he could give no account +of it. Mr. Hastings's moonshee then reads three lines from a paper to +Mr. Larkins. Now it is no way even insinuated that both the Bengal and +Persian papers did not contain the account of other immense sums; and, +indeed, from the circumstance of only three lines being read from the +Persian paper, your Lordships will be able, in your own minds, to form +some judgment upon this business. + +I shall now proceed with his letter of explanation. "The particulars," +he goes on to say, "of the paper No. 1 were read to me from a Bengal +paper by Mr. Hastings's banian, Cantoo Baboo; and if I am not mistaken, +the three first lines of that No. 2 were read over to me from a Persian +paper by his moonshee. The translation of these particulars, made by me, +was, as I verily believe, the first complete memorandum that he ever +possessed of them in the English language; and I am confident, that, if +I had not suggested to him the necessity of his taking this precaution, +he would at this moment have been unable to have afforded any such +information concerning them." + +Now, my Lords, if he had not got, on the intimation of Mr. Larkins, some +scraps of paper, your Lordships might have at this day wanted that +valuable information which Mr. Larkins has laid before you. +These, however, contain, Mr. Larkins says, "the first +complete"--what?--account, do you imagine?--no, "the first complete +_memorandum_." You would imagine that he would himself, for his own use, +have notched down, somewhere or other, in short-hand, in Persian +characters, short without vowels, or in some other way, _memorandums_. +But he had not himself even a memorandum of this business; and +consequently, when he was at Cheltenham, and even here at your bar, he +could never have had any account of a sum of 200,000_l._, but by this +account of Mr. Larkins, taken, as people read them, from detached pieces +of paper. + +One would have expected that Mr. Larkins, being warned that day, and +cautioned by the strange memory of Mr. Hastings, and the dangerous +situation, therefore, in which he himself stood, would at least have +been very guarded and cautious. Hear what he next says upon this +subject. "As neither of the other sums passed through his hands, these" +(meaning the scraps) "contained no such specification, and consequently +could not enable him to afford the information with which he has +requested me to furnish you; and it is more than probable, that, if the +affidavit which I took on the 16th December, 1782, had not exposed my +character to the suspicion of my being capable of committing one of the +basest trespasses upon the confidence of mankind, I should, at this +distance of time, have been equally unable to have complied with this +request: but after I became acquainted with the insinuation suggested in +the Eleventh Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, I +thought it but too probable, that, unless I was possessed of the +original memorandum which I had made of these transactions, I might not +at some distant period be able to prove that I had not descended to +commit so base an action. I have therefore always most carefully +preserved every paper which I possessed regarding these transactions." + +You see that Mr. Hastings had no memorandums of his accounts; you see, +that, after Mr. Larkins had made his memorandums of them, he had no +design of guarding or keeping them; and you will commend those wicked +and malicious committees who by their reports have told an +accountant-general and first public officer of revenue, that, in order +to guard his character from their suspicions, it was necessary that he +should keep some paper or other of an account. We have heard of the +base, wicked, and mercenary license that has been used by these +gentlemen of India towards the House of Commons: a license to libel and +traduce the diligence of the House of Commons, the purity of their +motives, and the fidelity of their actions, by which the very means of +informing the people are attempted to be used for the purpose of leaving +them in darkness and delusion. But, my Lords, when the +accountant-general declares, that, if the House of Commons had not +expressed, as they ought to express, much diffidence and distrust +respecting these transactions, and even suspected him of perjury, this +very day that man would not have produced a scrap of those papers to +you, but might have turned them to the basest and most infamous of uses. +If, I say, we have saved these valuable fragments by suspecting his +integrity, your Lordships will see suspicion is of some use: and I hope +the world will learn that punishment will be of use, too, in preventing +such transactions. + +Your Lordships have seen that no two persons knew anything of these +transactions; you see that even memorandums of transactions of very +great moment, some of which had passed in the year 1779, were not even +so much as put in the shape of complete memoranda until May, 1782; you +see that Mr. Hastings never kept them: and there is no reason to imagine +that a black banian and a Persian moonshee would have been careful of +what Mr. Hastings himself, who did not seem to stimulate his accountants +to a vast deal of exactness and a vast deal of fidelity, was negligent. +You see that Mr. Larkins, our last, our only hope, if he had not been +suspected by the House of Commons, probably would never have kept these +papers; and that you could not have had this valuable cargo, such as it +is, if it had not been for the circumstance Mr. Larkins thinks proper to +mention. + +From the specimen which we have given of Mr. Hastings's mode of +accounts, of its vouchers, checks, and counter-checks, your Lordships +will have observed that the mode itself is past describing, and that the +checks and counter-checks, instead of being put upon one another to +prevent abuse, are put upon each other to prevent discovery and to +fortify abuse. When you hear that one man has an account of receipt, +another of expenditure, another of control, you say that office is well +constituted: but here is an office constituted by different persons +without the smallest connection with each other; for the only purpose +which they have ever answered is the purpose of base concealment. + +We shall now proceed a little further with Mr. Larkins. The first of the +papers from which he took the memoranda was a paper of Cantoo Baboo. It +contained detached payments, amounting in the whole, with the cabooleat, +or agreement, to about 95,000_l._ sterling, and of which it appears that +there was received by Mr. Croftes 55,000_l._, and no more. + +Now will your Lordships be so good as to let it rest in your memory what +sort of an exchequer this is, even with regard to its receipts? As your +Lordships have seen the economy and constitution of this office, so now +see the receipt. It appears that in the month of May, 1782, out of the +sums beginning to be received in the month of Shawal, that is in July, +1779, there was, during that interval, 40,000_l._ out of 95,000_l._ sunk +somewhere, in some of the turnings over upon the gridiron, through some +of those agents and panders of corruption which Mr. Hastings uses. Here +is the _valuable_ revenue of the Company, _which is to supply them in +their exigencies, which is to come from sources which otherwise never +would have yielded it_,--which, though small in proportion to the other +revenue, yet is a diamond, something that by its value makes amends for +its want of bulk,--falling short by 40,000_l._ out of 95,000_l._ Here is +a system made for fraud, and producing all the effects of it. + +Upon the face of this account, the agreement was to yield to Mr. +Hastings, some way or other, to be paid to Mr. Croftes, 95,000_l._, and +there was a deficiency of 40,000_l._ Would any man, even with no more +sense than Mr. Hastings, who wants all the faculties of the human mind, +who has neither memory nor judgment, any man who was that poor +half-idiot creature that Mr. Hastings pretends to be, engage in a +dealing that was to extort from some one or other an agreement to pay +95,000_l._ which was not to produce more than 55,000_l._? What, then, is +become of it? Is it in the hands of Mr. Hastings's wicked bribe-brokers, +or in his own hands? Is it in arrear? Do you know anything about it? +Whom are you to apply to for information? Why, to G.G.S.--G.G.S. I find +to be, what indeed I suspected him to be, a person that I have mentioned +frequently to your Lordships, and that you will often hear of, commonly +called Gunga Govind Sing,--in a short word, the wickedest of the whole +race of banians: the consolidated wickedness of the whole body is to be +found in this man. + +Of the deficiency which appears in this agreement with somebody or other +on the part of Mr. Hastings through Gunga Govind Sing you will expect to +hear some explanation. Of the first sum, which is said to have been paid +through Gunga Govind Sing, amounting on the cabooleat to four lac, and +of which no more than two lac was actually received,--that is to say, +half of it was sunk,--we have this memorandum only: "Although Mr. +Hastings was extremely dissatisfied with the excuses Gunga Govind Sing +assigned for not paying Mr. Croftes the sum stated by the paper No. 1 to +be in his charge, he never could obtain from him any further payments +on this account." Mr. Hastings is exceedingly dissatisfied with those +excuses, and this is the whole account of the transaction. This is the +only thing said of Gunga Govind Sing in the account: he neither states +how he came to be employed, or for what he was employed. It appears, +however, from the transaction, as far as we can make our way through +this darkness, that he had actually received 10,000_l._ of the money, +which he did not account for, and that he pretended that there was an +arrear of the rest. So here Mr. Hastings's bribe-agent admits that he +had received 10,000_l._, but he will not account for it; he says there +is an arrear of another 10,000_l._; and thus it appears that he was +enabled to take from somebody at Dinagepore, by a cabooleat, 40,000_l._, +of which Mr. Hastings can get but 20,000_l._: there is cent per cent +loss upon it. Mr. Hastings was so exceedingly dissatisfied with this +conduct of Gunga Govind Sing, that you would imagine a breach would have +immediately ensued between them. I shall not anticipate what some of my +honorable friends will bring before your Lordships; but I tell you, +that, so far from quarrelling with Gunga Govind Sing, or being really +angry with him, it is only a little pettish love quarrel with Gunga +Govind Sing: _amantium irĉ amoris integratio est_. For Gunga Govind +Sing, without having paid him one shilling of this money, attended him +to the Ganges; and one of the last acts of Mr. Hastings's government was +to represent this man, who was unfaithful even to fraud, who did not +keep the common faith of thieves and robbers, this very man he +recommends to the Company as a person who ought to be rewarded, as one +of their best and most faithful servants. And how does he recommend him +to be rewarded? By giving him the estate of another person,--the way in +which Mr. Hastings desires to be always rewarded himself: for, in +calling upon the Company's justice to give him some money for expenses +with which he never charged them, he desires them to assign him the +money upon some person of the country. So here Mr. Hastings recommends +Gunga Govind Sing not only to trust, confidence, and employment, which +he does very fully, but to a reward taken out of the substance of other +people. This is what Mr. Hastings has done with Gunga Govind Sing; and +if such are the effects of his anger, what must be the effect of his +pleasure and satisfaction? Now I say that Mr. Hastings, who, in fact, +saw this man amongst the very last with whom he had any communication in +India, could not have so recommended him after this known fraud, in one +business only, of 20,000_l._,--he could not so have supported him, he +could not so have caressed him, he could not so have employed him, he +could not have done all this, unless he had paid to Mr. Hastings +privately that sum of money which never was brought into any even of +these miserable accounts, without some payment or other with which Mr. +Hastings was and ought to be satisfied, or unless Gunga Govind Sing had +some dishonorable secret to tell of him which he did not dare to provoke +him to give a just account of, or, lastly, unless the original agreement +was that half or a third of the bribe should go to Gunga Govind Sing. + +Such is this patriotic scheme of bribery, this public-spirited +corruption which Mr. Hastings has invented upon this occasion, and by +which he thinks out of the vices of mankind to draw a better revenue +than out of any legal source whatever; and therefore he has resolved to +become the most corrupt of all Governors-General, in order to be the +most useful servant to the finances of the Company. + +So much as to the first article of Dinagepore peshcush. All you have is, +that G.G.S is Gunga Govind Sing; that he has cheated the public of half +of it; that Mr. Hastings was angry with him, and yet went away from +Bengal, rewarding, praising, and caressing him. Are these things to pass +as matters of course? They cannot so pass with your Lordships' sagacity: +I will venture to say that no court, even of _pie-poudre_, could help +finding him guilty upon such a matter, if such a court had to inquire +into it. + +The next article is _Patna_. Here, too, he was to receive 40,000_l._; +but from whom this deponent saith not. At this circumstance Mr. Larkins, +who is a famous deponent, never hints once. You may look through his +whole letter, which is a pretty long one, (and which I will save your +Lordships the trouble of hearing read at length now, because you will +have it before you when you come to the Patna business,) and you will +only find that somebody had engaged to pay him 40,000_l._, and that but +half of this sum was received. You want an explanation of this. You have +seen the kind of explanation given in the former case, a conjectural +explanation of G.G.S. But when you come to the present case, who the +person paying was, why the money was not paid, what the cause of failure +was, you are not told: you only learn that there was that sum deficient; +and Mr. Larkins, who is our last resort and final hope of elucidation in +this transaction, throws not the smallest glimpse of light upon it. We +of the House of Commons have been reduced to form the best legitimate +conjectures we could upon this business, and those conjectures have led +us to further evidence, which will enable us to fix one of the most +scandalous and most mischievous bribes, in all the circumstances of it, +upon Mr. Hastings, that was ever known. If he extorted 40,000_l._ under +pretence of the Company's service, here is again another failure of half +the money. Oh, my Lords, you will find that even the remaining part was +purchased with the loss of one of the best revenues in India, and with +the grievous distress of a country that deserved well your protection, +instead of being robbed to give 20,000_l._ to the Company, and another +20,000_l._ to some robber or other, black or white. When I say, given to +some other robber, black or white, I do not suppose that either +generosity, friendship, or even communion, can exist in that country +between white men and black: no, their colors are not more adverse than +their characters and tempers. There is not that _idem velle et idem +nolle_, there are none of those habits of life, nothing, that can bind +men together even in the most ordinary society: the mutual means of such +an union do not exist between them. It is a money-dealing, and a +money-dealing only, which can exist between them; and when you hear that +a black man is favored, and that 20,000_l._ is pretended to be left in +his hands, do not believe it: indeed, you cannot believe it; for we will +bring evidence to show that there is no friendship between those +people,--and that, when black men give money to a white man, it is a +bribe,--and that, when money is given to a black man, he is only a +sharer with the white man in their infamous profits. We find, however, +somebody, anonymous, with 20,000_l._ left in his hands; and when we come +to discover who the man is, and the final balance which appears against +him in his account with the Company, we find that for this 20,000_l._, +which was received for the Company, they paid such a compound interest +as was never before paid for money advanced: the most violently griping +usurer, in dealing with the most extravagant heir, never made such a +bargain as Mr. Hastings has made for the Company by this bribe. +Therefore it could be nothing but fraud that could have got him to have +undertaken such a revenue. This evidently shows the whole to be a +pretence to cover fraud, and not a weak attempt to raise a revenue,--and +that Mr. Hastings was not that idiot he represents himself to be, a man +forgetting all his offices, all his duties, all his own affairs, and all +the public affairs. He does not, however, forget how to make a bargain +to get money; but when the money is to be recovered for the Company, (as +he says,) he forgets to recover it: so that the accuracy with which he +begins a bribe, _acribus initiis et soporosâ fine_, and the carelessness +with which he ends it, are things that characterize, not weakness and +stupidity, but fraud. + +The next article we proceed to is _Nuddea_. Here we have more light; but +does Mr. Larkins anywhere tell you anything about Nuddea? No it appears +as if the account had been paid up, and that the cabooleat and the +payments answer and tally with each other; yet, when we come to produce +the evidence upon these parts, you will see most abundant reason to be +assured that there is much more concealed than is given in this +account,--that it is an account current, and not an account +closed,--and that the agreement was for some other and greater sum than +appears. It might be expected that the Company would inquire of Mr. +Hastings, and ask, "From whom did he get it? Who has received it? Who is +to answer for it?" But he knew that they were not likely to make any +inquiry at all,--they are not that kind of people. You would imagine +that a mercantile body would have some of the mercantile excellencies, +and even you would allow them perhaps some of the mercantile faults. But +they have, like Mr. Hastings, forgotten totally the mercantile +character; and, accordingly, neither accuracy nor fidelity of account do +they ever require of Mr. Hastings. They have too much confidence in him; +and he, accordingly, acts like a man in whom such confidence, without +reason, is reposed. + +Your Lordships may perhaps suppose that the payment of this money was an +act of friendship and generosity in the people of the country. No: we +have found out, and shall prove, from whom he got it; at least we shall +produce such a conjecture upon it as your Lordships will think us bound +to do, when we have such an account before us. Here on the face of the +account there is no deficiency; but when we look into it, we find +skulking in a corner a person called Nundulol, from whom there is +received 58,000 rupees. You will find that he, who appears to have paid +up this money, and which Mr. Hastings spent as he pleased in his journey +to Benares, and who consequently must have had some trust reposed in +him, was the wickedest of men, next to those I have mentioned,--always +giving the first rank to Gunga Govind Sing, _primus inter pares_, the +second to Debi Sing, the third to Cantoo Baboo: this man is fit to be +one next on a par with them. Mr. Larkins, when he comes to explain this +article, says, "I believe it is for a part of the Dinagepore peshcush, +which would reduce the balance to about 5,000_l._": but he does not +pretend to know what it is given for; he gives several guesses at it; +"but," he says, "as I do not know, I shall not pretend to give more than +my conjecture upon it." He is in the right; because we shall prove +Nundulol never did have any thing to do with the Dinagepore peshcush. +These are very extraordinary proceedings. It is my business simply to +state them to your Lordships now; we will give them in afterwards in +evidence, and I will leave that evidence to be confirmed and fortified +by further observations. + +One of the objects of Mr. Larkins's letter is to illustrate the bonds. +He says, "The two first stated sums" (namely, Dinagepore and Patna, in +the paper marked No. 1, I suppose, for he seems to explain it to be +such) "are sums for a part of which Mr. Hastings took two bonds: viz., +No. 1539, dated 1st October, 1780, and No. 1540, dated 2d October, 1780, +each for the sum of current rupees 1,16,000, or sicca rupees one lac. +The remainder of that amount was carried to the credit of the head, +_Four per Cent Remittance Loan:_ Mr. Hastings having taken a bond for +it, (No. 89,) which has been since completely liquidated, conformable to +the law." But before I proceed with the bonds, I will beg leave to +recall to your Lordships' recollection that Mr. Larkins states in his +letter that these sums were received in November. How does this agree +with another state of the transaction given by Mr. Hastings, namely, +that the time of his taking the bonds was the 1st and 2d of October? Mr. +Larkins, therefore, who has thought proper to say that the money was +received in the month of November, has here given as extraordinary an +instance either of fraudulent accuracy or shameful official inaccuracy +as was ever perhaps discovered. The first sums are asserted to be paid +to Mr. Croftes on the 18th and 19th of Asin, 1187. The month of Asin +corresponds with the month of September and part of October, and not +with November; and it is the more extraordinary that Mr. Larkins should +mistake this, because he is in an office which requires monthly +payments, and consequently great monthly exactness, and a continual +transfer from one month to another: we cannot suppose any accountant in +England can be more accurately acquainted with the succession of months +than Mr. Larkins must have been with the comparative state of Bengal and +English months. How are we to account for this gross inaccuracy? If you +have a poet, if you have a politician, if you have a moralist +inaccurate, you know that these are cases which, from the narrow bounds +of our weak faculties, do not perhaps admit of accuracy. But what is an +inaccurate _accountant_ good for? "Silly man, that dost not know thy own +silly trade!" was once well said: but the trade here is not silly. You +do not even praise an accountant for being accurate, because you have +thousands of them; but you justly blame a public accountant who is +guilty of a gross inaccuracy. But what end could his being inaccurate +answer? Why not name October as well as November? I know no reason for +it; but here is certainly a gross mistake: and from the nature of the +thing, it is hardly possible to suppose it to be a mere mistake. But +take it that it is a mistake, and to have nothing of fraud, but mere +carelessness; this, in a man valued by Mr. Hastings for being very +punctilious and accurate, is extraordinary. + +But to return to the bonds. We find a bond taken in the month of Shawal, +1186, or 1779, but the receipt is said to be in Asin, 1780: that is to +say, there was a year and about three months between the collection and +the receipt; and during all that period of time an enormous sum of money +had lain in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing, to be employed when Mr. +Hastings should think fit. He employed it, he says, for the Mahratta +expedition. Now he began that letter on the 29th of November by telling +you that the bribe would not have been taken from Cheyt Sing, if it had +not been at the instigation of an exigency which it seems required a +supply of money, to be procured lawfully or unlawfully. But in fact +there was no exigency for it before the Berar army came upon the borders +of the country,--that army which he invited by his careless conduct +towards the Rajah of Berar, and whose hostility he was obliged to buy +off by a sum of money; and yet this bribe was taken from Cheyt Sing long +before he had this occasion for it. The fund lay in Gunga Govind Sing's +hands; and he afterwards applied to that purpose a part of this fund, +which he must have taken without any view whatever to the Company's +interest. This pretence of the exigency of the Company's affairs is the +more extraordinary, because the first receipt of these moneys was some +time in the year 1779 (I have not got the exact date of the agreement); +and it was but a year before that the Company was so far from being in +distress, that he declared he should have, at very nearly the period +when this bribe became payable, a very large sum (I do not recollect the +precise amount) in their treasury. I cannot certainly tell when the +cabooleat, or agreement, was made; yet I shall lay open something very +extraordinary upon that subject, and will lead you, step by step, to the +bloody scenes of Debi Sing. Whilst, therefore, Mr. Hastings was carrying +on these transactions, he was carrying them on without any reference to +the pretended object to which he afterwards applied them. It was an old, +premeditated plan; and the money to be received could not have been +designed for an exigency, because it was to be paid by monthly +instalments. The case is the same with respect to the other cabooleats: +it could not have been any momentary exigence which he had to provide +for by these sums of money; they were paid regularly, period by period, +as a constant, uniform income, to Mr. Hastings. + +You find, then, Mr. Hastings first leaving this sum of money for a year +and three months in the hands of Gunga Govind Sing; you find, that, when +an exigence pressed him by the Mahrattas suddenly invading Bengal, and +he was obliged to refer to his bribe-fund, he finds that fund empty, and +that, in supplying money for this exigence, he takes a bond for two +thirds of his own money and one third of the Company's. For, as I stated +before, Mr. Larkins proves of one of these accounts, that he took, in +the month of January, for this bribe-money, which, according to the +principles he lays down, was the Company's money, three bonds as for +money advanced from his own cash. Now this sum of three lacs, instead of +being all his own, as it should appear to be in the month of January, +when he took the bonds, or two thirds his own and one third the +Company's, as he said in his letter of the 29th of November, turns out, +by Mr. Larkins's account, paragraph 9, which I wish to mark to your +Lordships, to be two thirds the Company's money and one third his own; +and yet it is all confounded under bonds, as if the money had been his +own. What can you say to this heroic sharper disguised under the name of +a patriot, when you find him to be nothing but a downright cheat, first +taking money under the Company's name, then taking their securities to +him for their own money, and afterwards entering a false account of +them, contradicting that by another account?--and God knows whether the +third be true or false. These are not things that I am to make out by +any conclusion of mine; here they are, made out by himself and Mr. +Larkins, and, comparing them with his letter of the 27th, you find a +gross fraud covered by a direct falsehood. + +We have now done with Mr. Larkins's account of the bonds, and are come +to the other species of Mr. Hastings's frauds, (for there is a great +variety in them,) and first to Cheyt Sing's bribe. Mr. Larkins came to +the knowledge of the bond-money through Gunga Govind Sing and through +Cantoo Baboo. Of this bribe he was not in the secret originally, but was +afterwards made a confidant in it; it was carried to him; and the +account he gives of it I will state to your Lordships. + +"The fourth sum stated in Mr. Hastings's account was the produce of +sundry payments made to me by Sadamund, Cheyt Sing's buckshee, who +either brought or sent the gold mohurs to my house, from whence they +were taken by me to Mr. Croftes, either on the same night or early in +the morning after: they were made at different times, and I well +remember that the same people never came twice. On the 21st June, 1780, +Mr. Hastings sent for me, and desired that I would take charge of a +present that had been offered to him by Cheyt Sing's buckshee, under the +plea of atoning for the opposition which he had made towards the payment +of the extra subsidy for defraying part of the expenses of the war, but +really in the hope of its inducing Mr. Hastings to give up that claim; +with which view the present had first been offered. Mr. Hastings +declared, that, although he would not take this for his own use, he +would apply it to that of the Company, in removing Mr. Francis's +objections to the want of a fund for defraying the extra expenses of +Colonel Camac's detachment. On my return to the office, I wrote down the +substance of what Mr. Hastings had said to me, and requested Mr. James +Miller, my deputy, to seal it up with his own seal, and write upon it, +that he had then done so at my request. He was no further informed of my +motive for this than merely that it contained the substance of a +conversation which had passed between me and another gentleman, which, +in case that conversation should hereafter become the subject of +inquiry, I wished to be able to adduce the memorandum then made of it, +in corroboration of my own testimony; and although that paper has +remained unopened to this hour, and notwithstanding that I kept no +memorandum whatever of the substance thereof, yet, as I have wrote this +representation under the most scrupulous adherence to what I conceived +to be truth, should it ever become necessary to refer to this paper, I +am confident that it will not be found to differ materially from the +substance of this representation." + +I forgot to mention, that, besides these two bonds, which Mr. Hastings +declared to be the Company's, and one bond his own, that he slipped into +the place of the bond of his own a much better, namely, a bond of +November, which he never mentioned to the Company till the 22d of May; +and this bond for current rupees 1,74,000, or sicca rupees 1,50,000, was +taken for the payment stated in the paper No. 1 to have been made to Mr. +Croftes on the 11th Aghan, 1187, which corresponds to the 23d of +November, 1780. This is the Nuddea money, and this is all that you know +of it; you know that this money, for which he had taken this other bond +from the Company, was not his own neither, but bribes taken from the +other provinces. + +I am ashamed to be troublesome to your Lordships in this dry affair, but +the detection of fraud requires a good deal of patience and assiduity, +and we cannot wander into anything that can relieve the mind: if it was +in my power to do it, I would do it. I wish, however, to call your +Lordships' attention to this last bribe before I quit these bonds. Such +is the confusion, so complicated, so intricate are these bribe accounts, +that there is always something left behind, glean never so much from the +paragraphs of Mr. Hastings and Mr. Larkins. "I could not bring them to +account," says Mr. Larkins. "They were received before the 1st and 2d of +October." Why does not the running treasury account give an account of +them? The Committee of the House of Commons examined whether the running +treasury account had any such account of sums deposited. No such thing. +They are said by Mr. Hastings to be deposited in June: they were not +deposited in October, nor any account of them given till the January +following. "These bonds," says he, "I could not enter as regular money, +to be entered on the Company's account, or in any public way, until I +had had an order of the Governor-General and Council." But why had not +you an order of the Governor-General and Council? We are not calling on +you, Mr. Larkins, for an account of your conduct: we are calling upon +Mr. Hastings for an account of his conduct, and which he refers to you +to explain. Why did not Mr. Hastings order you to carry them to the +public account? "Because," says he, "there was no other way." Every one +who knows anything of a treasury or public banking-place knows, that if +any person brings money as belonging to the public, that the public +accountant is bound, no doubt, to receive it and enter it as such. +"But," says he, "I could not do it until the account could be settled, +as between debtor and creditor: I did not do it till I could put on one +side durbar charges, secret service, to such an amount, and balance that +again with bonds to Mr. Hastings." That is, he could not make an entry +regularly in the Company's books until Mr. Hastings had enabled him to +commit one of the grossest frauds and violations of a public trust that +ever was committed, by ordering that money of the Company's to be +considered as his own, and a bond to be taken as a security for it from +the Company, as if it was his own. + +But to proceed with this deposit. What is the substance of Mr. Larkins's +explanation of it? The substance of this explanation is, that here was a +bribe received by Mr. Hastings from Cheyt Sing, guarded with such +scrupulous secrecy, that it was not carried to the house of Mr. Croftes, +who was to receive it finally, but to the house of Mr. Larkins, as a +less suspected place; and that it was conveyed in various sums, no two +people ever returning twice with the various payments which made up that +sum of 23,000_l._ or thereabouts. Now do you want an instance of +prevarication and trickery in an account? If any person should inquire +whether 23,000_l._ had been paid by Cheyt Sing to Mr. Hastings, there +was not any one man living, or any person concerned in the transaction, +except Mr. Larkins, who received it, that could give an account of how +much he received, or who brought it. As no two people are ever his +confidants in the same transaction in Mr. Hastings's accounts, so here +no two people are permitted to have any share whatever in bringing the +several fragments that make up this sum. This bribe, you might imagine, +would have been entered by Mr. Larkins to some public account, at least +to the fraudulent account of Mr. Hastings. No such thing. It was never +entered till the November following. It was not entered till Mr. Francis +had left Calcutta. All these corrupt transactions were carried on +privately by Mr. Hastings alone, without any signification to his +colleagues of his carrying on this patriotic traffic, as he called it. +Your Lordships will also consider both the person who employs such a +fraudulent accountant, and his ideas of his duty in his office. These +are matters for your Lordships' grave determination; but I appeal to +you, upon the face of these accounts, whether you ever saw anything so +gross,--and whether any man could be daring enough to attempt to impose +upon the credulity of the weakest of mankind, much more to impose upon +such a court as this, such accounts as these are. + +If the Company had a mind to inquire what is become of all the debts due +to them, and where is the cabooleat, he refers them to Gunga Govind +Sing. "Give us," say they, "an account of this balance that remains in +your hands." "I know," says he, "of no balance." "Why, is there not a +cabooleat?" "Where is it? What are the date and circumstances of it? +There is no such cabooleat existing." This is the case even where you +have the name of the person through whose hands the money passed. But +suppose the inquiry went to the payments of the Patna cabooleat. "Here," +they say, "we find half the money due: out of forty thousand pounds +there is only twenty thousand received: give us some account of it." Who +is to give an account of it? Here there is no mention made of the name +of the person who had the cabooleat: whom can they call upon? Mr. +Hastings does not remember; Mr. Larkins does not tell; they can learn +nothing about it. If the Directors had a disposition, and were honest +enough to the Proprietors and the nation to inquire into it, there is +not a hint given, by either of those persons, who received the Nuddea, +who received the Patna, who received the Dinagepore peshcush. + +But in what court can a suit be instituted, and against whom, for the +recovery of this balance of 40,000_l._ out of 95,000_l._? I wish your +Lordships to examine strictly this account,--to examine strictly every +part, both of the account itself, and Mr. Larkins's explanation: compare +them together, and divine, if you can, what remedy the Company could +have for their loss. Can your Lordships believe that this can be any +other than a systematical, deliberate fraud, grossly conducted? I will +not allow Mr. Hastings to be the man he represents himself to be: he was +supposed to be a man of parts; I will only suppose him to be a man of +mere common sense. Are these the accounts we should expect from such a +man? And yet he and Mr. Larkins are to be magnified to heaven for great +financiers; and this is to be called book-keeping! This is the Bengal +account saved so miraculously on the 22d of May. + +Next comes the Persian account. You have heard of a present to which it +refers. It has been already stated, but it must be a good deal farther +explained. Mr. Larkins states that this account was taken from a paper, +of which three lines, and only three lines, were read to him by a +Persian moonshee; and it is not pretended that this was the whole of it. +The three lines read are as follows. + +"From the Nabob" (meaning the Nabob + of Oude) "to the Governor-General, + six lac £60,000 + +From Hussein Reza Khân and Hyder Beg + Khân to ditto, three lac 30,000 + +And ditto to Mrs. Hastings, one lac 10,000." + +Here, I say, are the three lines that were read by a Persian moonshee. +Is he a man you can call to account for these particulars? No: he is an +anonymous moonshee; his name is not so much as mentioned by Mr. Larkins, +nor hinted at by Mr. Hastings; and you find these sums, which Mr. +Hastings mentions as a sum in gross given to himself, are not so. They +were given by three persons: one, six lacs, was given by the Nabob to +the Governor; another, of three lacs more, by Hussein Reza Khân [and +Hyder Beg Khân?]; and a third, one lac, by both of them clubbing, as a +present to Mrs. Hastings. This is the first discovery that appears of +Mrs. Hastings having been concerned in receiving presents for the +Governor-General and others, in addition to Gunga Govind Sing, Cantoo +Baboo, and Mr. Croftes. Now, if this money was not received for the +Company, is it proper and right to take it from Mrs. Hastings? Is there +honor and justice in taking from a lady a gratuitous present made to +her? Yet Mr. Hastings says he has applied it all to the Company's +service. He has done ill, in suffering it to be received at all, if she +has not justly and properly received it. Whether, in fact, she ever +received this money at all, she not being upon the spot, as I can find, +at the time, (though, to be sure, a present might be sent her,) I +neither affirm nor deny, farther than that, as Mr. Larkins says, there +was a sum of 10,000_l._ from these ministers to Mrs. Hastings. Whether +she ever received any other money than this, I also neither affirm nor +deny. But in whatever manner Mrs. Hastings received this or any other +money, I must say, in this grave place in which I stand, that, if the +wives of Governors-General, the wives of Presidents of Council, the +wives of the principal officers of the India Company, through all the +various departments, can receive presents, there is an end of the +covenants, there is an end of the act of Parliament, there is an end to +every power of restraint. Let a man be but married, and if his wife may +take presents, that moment the acts of Parliament, the covenants, and +all the rest expire. There is something, too, in the manners of the East +that makes this a much more dangerous practice. The people of the East, +it is well known, have their zenanah, the apartment for their wives, as +a sanctuary which nobody can enter,--a kind of holy of holies, a +consecrated place, safe from the rage of war, safe from the fury of +tyranny. The rapacity of man has here its bounds: here you shall come, +and no farther. But if English ladies can go into these zenanahs and +there receive presents, the natives of Hindostan cannot be said to have +anything left of their own. Every one knows that in the wisest and best +time of the Commonwealth of Rome, towards the latter end of it, (I do +not mean the best time for morals, but the best for its knowledge how to +correct evil government, and to choose the proper means for it,) it was +an established rule, that no governor of a province should take his wife +along with him into his province,--wives not being subject to the laws +in the same manner as their husbands; and though I do not impute to any +one any criminality here, I should think myself guilty of a scandalous +dereliction of my duty, if I did not mention the fact to your Lordships. +But I press it no further: here are the accounts, delivered in by Mr. +Larkins at Mr. Hastings's own requisition. + +The three lines which were read out of a Persian paper are followed by a +long account of the several species in which this present was received, +and converted by exchange into one common standard. Now, as these three +lines of paper, which are said to have been read out of a Persian paper, +contain an account of bribes to the amount of 100,000_l._, and as it is +not even insinuated that this was the whole of the paper, but rather the +contrary indirectly implied, I shall leave it for your Lordships, in +your serious consideration, to judge what mines of bribery that paper +might contain. For why did not Mr. Larkins get the whole of that paper +read and translated? The moment any man stops in the midst of an +account, he is stopping in the midst of a fraud. + +My Lords, I have one farther remark to make upon these accounts. The +cabooleats, or agreements for the payments of these bribes, amount, in +the three specified provinces, to 95,000_l._ Do you believe that these +provinces were thus particularly favored? Do you think that they were +chosen as a little demesne for Mr. Hastings? that they were the only +provinces honored with his protection, so far as to take bribes from +them? Do you perceive anything in their local situation that should +distinguish them from other provinces of Bengal? What is the reason why +Dinagepore, Patna, Nuddea, should have the post of honor assigned them? +What reason can be given for not taking bribes also from Burdwan, from +Bissunpore, in short, from all the sixty-eight collections which +comprise the revenues of Bengal, and for selecting only three? How came +he, I say, to be so wicked a servant, that, out of sixty-eight +divisions, he chose only three to supply the exigencies of the Company? +He did not do his duty in making this distinction, if he thought that +bribery was the best way of supplying the Company's treasury, and that +it formed the most useful and effectual resource for them,--which he has +declared over and over again. Was it right to lay the whole weight of +bribery, extortion, and oppression upon those three provinces, and +neglect the rest? No: you know, and must know, that he who extorts from +three provinces will extort from twenty, if there are twenty. You have a +standard, a measure of extortion, and that is all: _ex pede Herculem_: +guess from thence what was extorted from all Bengal. Do you believe he +could be so cruel to these provinces, so partial to the rest, as to +charge them with that load, with 95,000_l._, knowing the heavy +oppression they were sinking under, and leave all the rest untouched? +You will judge of what is concealed from us by what we have discovered +through various means that have occurred, in consequence both of the +guilty conscience of the person who confesses the fact with respect to +these provinces, and of the vigor, perseverance and sagacity of those +who have forced from him that discovery. It is not, therefore, for me to +say that the 100,000_l._ and 95,000_l._ only were taken. Where the +circumstances entitle me to go on, I must not be stopped, but at the +boundary where human nature has fixed a barrier. + +You have now before you the true reason why he did not choose that this +affair should come before a court of justice. Rather than this exposure +should be made, he to-day would call for the mountains to cover him: he +would prefer an inquiry into the business of the three seals, into +anything foreign to the subject I am now discussing, in order to keep +you from the discovery of that gross bribery, that shameful peculation, +that abandoned prostitution and corruption, which he has practised with +indemnity and impunity to this day, from one end of India to the other. + +At the head of the only account we have of these transactions stands +Dinagepore; and it now only remains for me to make some observations +upon Mr. Hastings's proceedings in that province. Its name, then, and +that money was taken from it, is all that appears; but from whom, by +what hands, by what means, under what pretence it was taken, he has not +told you, he has not told his employers. I believe, however, I can tell +from whom it was taken, and I believe it will appear to your Lordships +that it must have been taken from the unhappy Rajah of Dinagepore; and I +shall in a very few words state the circumstances attending, and the +service performed for it: from these you will be able to form a just +opinion concerning this bribe. + +Dinagepore, a large province, was possessed by an ancient family, the +last of which, about the year 1184 of their era, the Rajah Bija Naut, +had no legitimate issue. When he was at the point of death, he wished to +exclude from the succession to the zemindary his half-brother, Cantoo +Naut, with whom he had lived upon ill terms for many years, by adopting +a son. Such an adoption, when a person has a half-brother, as he had, in +my poor judgment is not countenanced by the Gentoo laws. But Gunga +Govind Sing, who was placed, by the office he held, at the head of the +registry, where the records were kept by which the rules of succession +according to the custom of the country are ascertained, became master of +these Gentoo laws; and through his means Mr. Hastings decreed in favor +of the adoption. We find that immediately after this decree Gunga Govind +Sing received a cabooleat on Dinagepore for the sum of 40,000_l._, of +which it appears that he has actually exacted 30,000_l._, though he has +paid to Mr. Hastings only 20,000_l._ We find, before the young Rajah had +been in possession a year, his natural guardians and relations, on one +pretence or another, all turned out of their offices. The peshcush, or +fixed annual rent, payable to the Company for his zemindary, fell into +arrear, as might naturally be expected, from the Rajah's inability to +pay both his rent and this exorbitant bribe, extorted from a ruined +family. Instantly, under pretext of this arrearage, Gunga Govind Sing, +and the fictitious Committee which Mr. Hastings had made for his wicked +purposes, composed of Mr. Anderson, Mr. Shore, and Mr. Croftes, who were +but the tools, as they tell us themselves, of Gunga Govind Sing, gave +that monster of iniquity, Debi Sing, the government of this family. They +put this noble infant, this miserable Rajah, together with the +management of the provinces of Dinagepore and Rungpore, into his wicked +and abominable hands, where the ravages he committed excited what was +called a rebellion, that forced him to fly from the country, and into +which I do not wonder he should be desirous that a political and not a +juridical inquiry should be made. The savage barbarities which were +there perpetrated I have already, in the execution of my duty, brought +before this House and my country; and it will be seen, when we come to +the proof, whether what I have asserted was the effect either of a +deluded judgment or disordered imagination, and whether the facts I +state cannot be substantiated by authentic reports, and were none of my +invention, and, lastly, whether the means that were taken to discredit +them do not infinitely aggravate the guilt of the offenders. Mr. +Hastings wanted to fly from judicial inquiry; he wanted to put Debi Sing +anywhere but in a court of justice. A court of justice, where a direct +assertion is brought forward, and a direct proof applied to it, is an +element in which he cannot live for a moment. He would seek refuge +anywhere, even in the very sanctuary of his accusers, rather than abide +a trial with him in a court of justice. But the House of Commons was too +just not to send him to this tribunal, whose justice they cannot doubt, +whose penetration he cannot elude, and whose decision will justify those +managers whose characters he attempted to defame. + +But this is not all. We find, that, after the cruel sale of this infant, +who was properly and directly under the guardianship of the Company, +(for the Company acts as steward and dewan of the province, which office +has the guardianship of minors,) after he had been robbed of 40,000_l._ +by the hands of Gunga Govind Sing, and afterwards, under pretence of his +being in debt to the Company, delivered into the hands of that monster, +Debi Sing, Mr. Hastings, by way of anticipation of these charges, and in +answer to them, has thought proper to produce the certificate from this +unfortunate boy which I will now again read to you. + + "I, Radanaut, Zemindar of Purgunnah Havelly Punjera, commonly + called Dinagepore:--As it has been learnt by me, the mutsuddies, + and the respectable officers of my zemindary, that the ministers of + England are displeased with the late Governor, Warren Hastings, + Esquire, upon the suspicion that he oppressed us, took money from + us by deceit and force, and ruined the country; therefore we, upon + the strength of our religion, which we think it incumbent on and + necessary for us to abide by, following the rules laid down in + giving evidence, declare the particulars of the acts and deeds of + Warren Hastings, Esquire, full of circumspection and caution, + civility and justice, superior to the caution of the most learned, + and, by representing what is fact, wipe away the doubts that have + possessed the minds of the ministers of England: that Mr. Hastings + is possessed of fidelity and confidence, and yielding protection to + us; that he is clear of the contamination of mistrust and wrong, + and his mind is free of covetousness or avarice. During the time of + his administration, no one saw other conduct than that of + protection to the husbandmen, and justice; no inhabitant ever + experienced afflictions, no one ever felt oppression from him. Our + reputations have always been guarded from attacks by his prudence, + and our families have always been protected by his justice. He + never omitted the smallest instance of kindness towards us, but + healed the wounds of despair with the salve of consolation, by + means of his benevolent and kind behavior, never permitting one of + us to sink in the pit of despondence. He supported every one by his + goodness, overset the designs of evil-minded men by his authority, + tied the hands of oppression with the strong bandage of justice, + and by these means expanded the pleasing appearance of happiness + and joy over us. He reëstablished justice and impartiality. We + were, during his government, in the enjoyment of perfect happiness + and ease, and many of us are thankful and satisfied. As Mr. + Hastings was well acquainted with our manners and customs, he was + always desirous, in every respect, of doing whatever would preserve + our religious rites, and guard them against every kind of accident + and injury, and at all times protected us. Whatever we have + experienced from him, and whatever happened from him, we have + written without deceit or exaggeration." + +My Lords, this Radanaut, zemindar of the purgunnah, who, as your +Lordships hear, bears evidence upon oath to all the great and good +qualities of the Governor, and particularly to his absolute freedom from +covetousness,--this person, to whom Mr. Hastings appeals, was, as the +Committee state, a boy between five and six years old at the time when +he was given into the hands of Debi Sing, and when Mr. Hastings left +Bengal, which was in 1786 [1785?], was between eleven and twelve years +old. This is the sort of testimony that Mr. Hastings produces, to prove +that he was clear from all sort of extortion, oppression, and +covetousness, in this very zemindary of Dinagepore. This boy, who is so +observant, who is so penetrating, who is so accurate in his knowledge of +the whole government of Mr. Hastings, was, I say, when he left his +government, at the utmost, but eleven years and a half old. Now to what +an extremity is this unhappy man at your bar driven, when, oppressed by +this accumulative load of corruption charged upon him, and seeing his +bribery, his prevarication, his fraudulent bonds brought before you, he +gives the testimony of this child, who for the greatest part of his time +lived three hundred miles from the seat of Mr. Hastings's government! +Consider the miserable situation of this poor, unfortunate boy, made to +swear, with all the solemnities of his religion, that Mr. Hastings was +never guilty in his province of any act of rapacity! Such are the +testimonies, which are there called _razinamas_, in favor of Mr. +Hastings, with which all India is said to sound. Do we attempt to +conceal them from your Lordships? No, we bring them forth, to show you +the wickedness of the man, who, after he has robbed innocence, after he +has divided the spoil between Gunga Govind Sing and himself, gets the +party robbed to perjure himself for his sake,--if such a creature is +capable of being guilty of perjury. We have another razinama sent from +Nuddea, by a person nearly under the same circumstances with Radanaut, +namely, Maha Rajah Dirauje Seo Chund Behadre, only made to differ in +some expressions from the former, that it might not appear to originate +from the same hand. These miserable razinamas he delivers to you as the +collected voice of the country, to show how ill-founded the impressions +are which committees of the House of Commons (for to them they allude, I +suppose) have taken concerning this man, during their inquiries into the +management of the affairs of the Company in India. + +Before I quit this subject, I have only to give you the opinion of Sir +Elijah Impey, a name consecrated to respect forever, (your Lordships +know him in this House as well as I do,) respecting these petitions and +certificates of good behavior. + + * * * * * + +"From the reasons and sentiments that they contain," &c.[9] + + * * * * * + +The moment an Englishman appears, as this gentleman does, in the +province of Dinagepore, to collect certificates for Mr. Hastings, it is +a command for them, the people, to say what he pleases. + +And here, my Lords, I would wish to say something of the miserable +situation of the people of that country; but it is not in my commission, +and I must be silent, and shall only request your Lordships to observe +how this crime of bribery grows in its magnitude. First, the bribe is +taken, through Gunga Govind Sing, from this infant, for his succession +to the zemindary. Next follows the removal from their offices, and +consequent ruin, of all his nearest natural relations. Then the delivery +of the province to Debi Sing, upon the pretence of the arrears due to +the Company, with all the subsequent horrors committed under the +management of that atrocious villain. And lastly, the gross subornation +of perjury, in making this wretched minor, under twelve years of age, +bear testimony upon oath to the good qualities of Mr. Hastings and of +his government,--this minor, I say, who lived three hundred miles from +the seat of his government, and who, if he knew anything at all of his +own affairs, must have known that Mr. Hastings was the cause of all his +sufferings. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, I have now gone through the whole of what I have in charge. I +have laid before you the covenants by which the Company have thought fit +to guard against the avarice and rapacity of their Governors. I have +shown that they positively forbid the taking of all sorts of bribes and +presents; and I have stated the means adopted by them for preventing the +evasion of their orders, by directing, in all money transactions, the +publicity of them. I have farther shown, that, in order to remove every +temptation to a breach of their orders, the next step was the framing a +legal fiction, by which presents and money, under whatever pretence +taken, were made the legal property of the Company, in order to enable +them to recover them out of any rapacious hands that might violate the +new act of Parliament. I have also stated this act of Parliament. I have +stated Mr. Hastings's sense of it. I have stated the violation of it by +his taking bribes from all quarters. I have stated the fraudulent bonds +by which he claimed a security for money as his own which belonged to +the Company. I have stated the series of frauds, prevarications, +concealments, and all that mystery of iniquity, which I waded through +with pain to myself, I am sure, and with infinite pain, I fear, to your +Lordships. I have shown your Lordships that his evasions of the clear +words of his covenant and the clear words of an act of Parliament were +such as did not arise from an erroneous judgment, but from a corrupt +intention; and I believe you will find that his attempt to evade the law +aggravates infinitely his guilt in breaking it. In all this I have only +_opened_ to you the package of this business; I have opened it to +ventilate it, and give air to it; I have opened it, that a quarantine +might be performed,--that the sweet air of heaven, which is polluted by +the poison it contains, might be let loose upon it, and that it may be +aired and ventilated before your Lordships touch it. Those who follow me +will endeavor to explain to your Lordships what Mr. Hastings has +endeavored to involve in mystery, by bringing proof after proof that +every bribe that was here concealed was taken with corrupt purposes and +followed with the most pernicious consequences. These are things which +will be brought to you in proof. I have only regarded the system of +bribery; I have endeavored to show that it is a system of mystery and +concealment, and consequently a system of fraud. + +You now see some of the means by which fortunes have been made by +certain persons in India; you see the confederacies they have formed +with one another for their mutual concealment and mutual support; you +will see how they reply to their own deceitful inquiries by fraudulent +answers; you will see that Cheltenham calls upon Calcutta, as one deep +calls upon another, and that the call which is made for explanation is +answered in mystery; in short, you will see the very constitution of +their minds here developed. + +And now, my Lords, in what a situation are we all placed! This +prosecution of the Commons, I wish to have it understood, and I am sure +I shall not be disclaimed in it, is a prosecution not only for the +punishing a delinquent, a prosecution not merely for preventing this and +that offence, but it is a great censorial prosecution, for the purpose +of preserving the manners, characters, and virtues that characterize the +people of England. The situation in which we stand is dreadful. These +people pour in upon us every day. They not only bring with them the +wealth which they have acquired, but they bring with them into our +country the vices by which it was acquired. Formerly the people of +England were censured, and perhaps properly, with being a sullen, +unsocial, cold, unpleasant race of men, and as inconstant as the climate +in which they are born. These are the vices which the enemies of the +kingdom charged them with: and people are seldom charged with vices of +which they do not in some measure partake. But nobody refused them the +character of being an open-hearted, candid, liberal, plain, sincere +people,--qualities which would cancel a thousand faults, if they had +them. But if, by conniving at these frauds, you once teach the people of +England a concealing, narrow, suspicious, guarded conduct,--if you teach +them qualities directly the contrary to those by which they have +hitherto been distinguished,--if you make them a nation of concealers, a +nation of dissemblers, a nation of liars, a nation of forgers,--my +Lords, if you, in one word, turn them into a people of _banians_, the +character of England, that character which, more than our arms, and more +than our commerce, has made us a great nation, the character of England +will be gone and lost. + +Our liberty is as much in danger as our honor and our national +character. We, who here appear representing the Commons of England, are +not wild enough not to tremble both for ourselves and for our +constituents at the effect of riches. _Opum metuenda potestas._ We dread +the operation of money. Do we not know that there are many men who wait, +and who indeed hardly wait, the event of this prosecution, to let loose +all the corrupt wealth of India, acquired by the oppression of that +country, for the corruption of all the liberties of this, and to fill +the Parliament with men who are now the object of its indignation? +To-day the Commons of Great Britain prosecute the delinquents of India: +to-morrow the delinquents of India may be the Commons of Great Britain. +We know, I say, and feel the force of money; and we now call upon your +Lordships for justice in this cause of money. We call upon you for the +preservation of our manners, of our virtues. We call upon you for our +national character. We call upon you for our liberties; and hope that +the freedom of the Commons will be preserved by the justice of the +Lords. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[9] This document cannot be found + + +END OF VOL. X. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of the Right Honourable +Edmund Burke, Vol. X. 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