diff options
Diffstat (limited to '18315.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 18315.txt | 14580 |
1 files changed, 14580 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/18315.txt b/18315.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e7dc79 --- /dev/null +++ b/18315.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14580 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund +Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.), 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. XII. (of XII.) + +Author: Edmund Burke + +Release Date: May 5, 2006 [EBook #18315] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF EDMUND BURKE *** + + + + +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 Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + + + + + + + +THE WORKS + +OF + +THE RIGHT HONOURABLE + +EDMUND BURKE + + +IN TWELVE VOLUMES + +VOLUME THE TWELFTH + + +[Illustration: Burke Coat of Arms.] + + +LONDON +JOHN C. NIMMO +14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C. +MDCCCLXXXVII + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. XII. + + PAGE + +SPEECHES IN THE IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS, +ESQUIRE, LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL. (CONTINUED.) + + SPEECH IN GENERAL REPLY. + + FIFTH DAY: SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 1794 3 + + SIXTH DAY: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11 75 + + SEVENTH DAY: THURSDAY, JUNE 12 143 + + EIGHTH DAY: SATURDAY, JUNE 14 235 + + NINTH DAY: MONDAY, JUNE 16 335 + +GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS 401 + +INDEX 407 + + + + +SPEECHES + +IN + +THE IMPEACHMENT + +OF + +WARREN HASTINGS, ESQUIRE, + +LATE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BENGAL. + + +SPEECH IN GENERAL REPLY. + +(CONTINUED.) + +June, 1794. + + + + +SPEECH + +IN + +GENERAL REPLY. + +FIFTH DAY: SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 1794. + + +My Lords,--We will now resume the consideration of the remaining part of +our charge, and of the prisoner's attempts to defend himself against it. + +Mr. Hastings, well knowing (what your Lordships must also by this time +be perfectly satisfied was the case) that this unfortunate Nabob had no +will of his own, draws down his poor victim to Chunar by an order to +attend the Governor-General. If the Nabob ever wrote to Mr. Hastings, +expressing a request or desire for this meeting, his letter was +unquestionably dictated to him by the prisoner. We have laid a ground of +direct proof before you, that the Nabob's being at Chunar, that his +proceedings there, and that all his acts were so dictated, and +consequently must be so construed. + +I shall now proceed to lay before your Lordships the acts of oppression +committed by Mr. Hastings through his two miserable instruments: the +one, his passive instrument, the Nabob; the other, Mr. Middleton, his +active instrument, in his subsequent plans for the entire destruction of +that country. In page 513 of the printed Minutes you have Mr. +Middleton's declaration of his promptitude to represent everything +agreeably to Mr. Hastings's wishes. + + "My dear Sir,--I have this day answered your public letter in the + form you seemed to expect. I hope there is nothing in it that may + to you appear too pointed. If you wish the matter to be otherwise + understood than I have taken up and stated it, I need not say I + shall be ready to conform to whatever you may prescribe, and to + take upon myself any share of the blame of the hitherto + non-performance of the stipulations made on behalf of the Nabob; + though I do assure you I myself represented to his Excellency and + the ministers, conceiving it to be your desire, that the apparent + assumption of the reins of his government, (for in that light he + undoubtedly considered it at the first view,) as specified in the + agreement executed by him, was not meant to be fully and literally + enforced, but that it was necessary you should have something to + show on your side, as the Company were deprived of a benefit + without a requital; and upon the faith of this assurance alone, I + believe I may safely affirm, his Excellency's objections to signing + the treaty were given up. If I have understood the matter wrong, or + misconceived your design, I am truly sorry for it. However, it is + not too late to correct the error; and I am ready to undertake, + and, God willing, to carry through, whatever you may, on the + receipt of my public letter, tell me is your final resolve. + + "If you determine, at all events, that the measures of reducing the + Nabob's army, &c., shall be immediately undertaken, I shall take it + as a particular favor, if you will indulge me with a line at + Fyzabad, that I may make the necessary previous arrangements with + respect to the disposal of my family, which I would not wish to + retain here, in the event either of a rupture with the Nabob, or + the necessity of employing our forces on the reduction of his + aumils and troops. This done, I can begin the work in three days + after my return from Fyzabad." + +Besides this letter, which I think is sufficiently clear upon the +subject, there is also another much more clear upon your Lordships' +minutes, much more distinct and much more pointed, expressive of his +being resolved to make such representations of every matter as the +Governor-General may wish. Now a man who is master of the manner in +which facts are represented, and whose subsequent conduct is to be +justified by such representations, is not simply accountable for his +conduct; he is accountable for culpably attempting to form, on false +premises, the judgment of others upon that conduct. This species of +delinquency must therefore be added to the rest; and I wish your +Lordships to carry generally in your minds, that there is not one single +syllable of representation made by any of those parties, except where +truth may happen to break out in spite of all the means of concealment, +which is not to be considered as the representation of Mr. Hastings +himself in justification of his own conduct. + +The letter which I have just now read was written preparatory to the +transaction which I am now going to state, called _the treaty of +Chunar_. Having brought his miserable victim thither, he forced him to +sign a paper called a treaty: but such was the fraud in every part of +this treaty, that Mr. Middleton himself, who was the instrument and the +chief agent in it, acknowledges that the Nabob was persuaded to sign it +by the assurance given to him that it never was to be executed. Here, +then, your Lordships have a prince first compelled to enter into a +negotiation, and then induced to accede to a treaty by false assurances +that it should not be executed, which he declares nothing but force +should otherwise have compelled him to accede to. + +The first circumstance in this transaction that I shall lay before your +Lordships is that the treaty is declared to have for its objects two +modes of relieving the Nabob from his distresses,--from distresses which +we have stated, and which Mr. Hastings has not only fully admitted, but +has himself proved in the clearest manner to your Lordships. The first +was by taking away that _wicked rabble_, the British troops, represented +by Mr. Hastings as totally ruinous to the Nabob's affairs, and +particularly by removing that part of them which was called the new +brigade. Another remedial part of the treaty regarded the British +pensioners. It is in proof before your Lordships that Mr. Hastings +agreed to recall from Oude that body of pensioners, whose conduct there +is described in such strong terms as being ruinous to the Vizier and to +all his affairs. These pensioners Mr. Hastings engaged to recall; but he +never did recall them. We refer your Lordships to the evidence before +you, in proof that these odious pensioners, so distressing to the Nabob, +so ruinous to his affairs, and so disgraceful to our government, were +not only _not_ recalled by Mr. Hastings, but that, both afterwards, and +upon the very day of signing the treaty, (as Mr. Middleton himself tells +you,) upon that very day, I say, he recommended to the Nabob that these +pensioners might remain upon that very establishment which, by a solemn +treaty of his own making and his own dictating, he had agreed to +relieve from this intolerable burden. + +Mr. Hastings, your Lordships will remember, had departed from Benares, +frustrated in his designs of extorting 500,000_l._ from the Rajah for +the Company's use. He had ravaged the country, without obtaining any +benefit for his masters: the British soldiers having divided the only +spoil, and nothing remaining for the share of his employers but +disgrace. He was therefore afraid to return without having something of +a lucrative pecuniary nature to exhibit to the Company. Having this +object in view, Oude appears to have first presented itself to his +notice, as a country from which some advantage of a pecuniary kind might +be derived; and accordingly he turned in his head a vast variety of +stratagems for effecting his purpose. + +The first article that occurs in the treaty of Chunar is a power given +to the Nabob to resume all the jaghires not guarantied by the Company, +and to give pensions to all those persons who should be removed from +their jaghires. + +Now the first thing which would naturally occur to a man, who was going +to raise a revenue through the intervention of the prince of the +country, would be to recommend to that prince a better economy in his +affairs, and a rational and equal assessment upon his subjects, in order +to furnish the amount of the demand which he was about to make upon him. +I need not tell your Lordships, trained and formed as your minds are to +the rules and orders of good government, that there is no way by which a +prince can justly assess his subjects but by assessing them all in +proportion to their respective abilities, and that, if a prince should +make such a body as the House of Lords in this kingdom (which comes +near the case I am going to state) separately the subject of assessment, +such a thing would be contrary to all the principles of regular and just +taxation in any country in the universe. Some men may possibly, by +locality or privileges, be excepted from certain taxes, but no taxation +ever can be just that is thrown upon some particular class only; and if +that class happen to be small and the demand great, the injustice done +is directly proportionable to the greatness of the exaction, and +inversely to the number of the persons who are the objects of it: these +are clear, irrefragable, and eternal principles. But if, instead of +exacting a part by a proportionable rate, the prince should go further +and attempt to shake the whole mass of property itself, a mass perhaps +not much less than that which is possessed by the whole peers of Great +Britain, by confiscating the whole of the estates at once, as a +government resource, without the charge or pretence of any crime, I say +that such an act would be oppressive, cruel, and wicked in the highest +degree. Yet this is what Mr. Hastings projected, and actually did +accomplish. + +My Lords, at the treaty of Chunar, as it is called, Mr. Hastings (for he +always artfully feels his way as he proceeds) first says, that the Nabob +shall be permitted to do this act, if he pleases. He does not assume the +government. He does not compel the Nabob to do anything. He does not +force upon him this abandoned and wicked confiscation of the property of +the whole nobility of a great country. All that he says is this,--"The +Nabob _may be permitted_ to resume these jaghires." Why permitted? If +the act had been legal, proper, and justifiable, he did not want our +permission; he was a sovereign in his own dominions. But Mr. Hastings +recollected that some of these jaghires (as they are called, and on +which I shall say a very few words to your Lordships) were guarantied by +the Company. The jaghires of his own house, of his mother and +grandmother, were guarantied by us. I must inform your Lordships, that, +upon some of our other exactions at an earlier period, the Nabob had +endeavored to levy a forced loan upon the jaghiredars. This forced loan +was made and submitted to by those people upon a direct assurance of +their rights in the jaghires, which right was guarantied by the British +Resident, not only to the Begums, and to the whole family of the Nabob, +but also to all the other objects of the tax. + +Before I proceed, I will beg leave to state to you briefly the nature of +these jaghires. The jaghiredars, the holders of jaghires, form the body +of the principal Mahometan nobility. The great nobility of that country +are divided into two parts. One part consists of the zemindars, who are +the ancient proprietors of land, and the hereditary nobility of the +country: these are mostly Gentoos. The Mahometans form the other part, +whose whole interest in the land consists in the jaghires: for very few +indeed of them are zemindars anywhere, in some of the provinces none of +them are so; the whole of them are jaghiredars. + +We have heard, my Lords, much discussion about jaghires. It is in proof +before your Lordships that they are of two sorts: that a jaghire +signifies exactly what the word _fee_ does in the English language, or +_feodum_ in the barbarous Latin of the Feudists; that it is a word which +signifies a salary or a maintenance, as did originally the English word +_fee_, derived from the word _feod_ and _feodum_. These jaghires, like +other fees and like other feods, were given in land, as a maintenance: +some with the condition of service, some without any condition; some +were annexed to an office, some were granted as the support of a +dignity, and none were granted for a less term than life, except those +that were immediately annexed to a lease. We have shown your Lordships +(and in this we have followed the example of Mr. Hastings) that some of +them are fees granted actually in perpetuity; and in fact many of them +are so granted. We are farther to tell your Lordships, that by the +custom of the empire they are almost all grown, as the feods in Europe +are grown, by use, into something which is at least virtually an +inheritance. This is the state of the jaghires and jaghiredars. + +Among these jaghires we find, what your Lordships would expect to find, +an ample provision for all the nobility of that illustrious family of +which the Nabob is the head: a prince whose family, both by father and +mother, notwithstanding the slander of the prisoner against his +benefactor, was undoubtedly of the first and most distinguished nobility +of the Mahometan empire. Accordingly, his uncles, all his near +relations, his mother, grandmother, all possessed jaghires, some of very +long standing, and most of them not given by the Nabob. + +I take some pains in explaining this business, because I trust your +Lordships will have a strong feeling against any confiscation for the +purpose of revenue. Believe me, my Lords, if there is anything which +will root the present order of things out of Europe, it will begin, as +we see it has already begun in a neighboring country, by confiscating, +for the purposes of the state, grants made to classes of men, let them +be held by what names or be supposed susceptible of what abuses soever. +I will venture to say that Jacobinism never can strike a more deadly +blow against property, rank, and dignity than your Lordships, if you +were to acquit this man, would strike against your own dignity, and the +very being of the society in which we live. + +Your Lordships will find in your printed Minutes who the jaghiredars +were, and what was the amount of their estates. The jaghires of which +Mr. Hastings authorized the confiscation, or what he calls a +_resumption_, appear from Mr. Purling's account, when first the forced +loan was levied upon them under his Residentship, to amount to +285,000_l._ sterling per annum; which 285,000_l._, if rated and valued +according to the different value of provisions and other necessaries of +life in that country and in England, will amount, as near as may be, to +about 600,000_l._ a year. I am within compass. Everybody conversant with +India will say it is equivalent at least to 600,000_l._ a year in +England; and what a blow such a confiscation as this would be on the +fortunes of the peers of Great Britain your Lordships will judge. I like +to see your estates as great as they are; I wish they were greater than +they are; but whatever they are, I wish, above all that they should be +perpetual. For dignity and property in this country, _Esto perpetua_ +shall be my prayer this day, and the last prayer of my life. The +Commons, therefore, of Great Britain, those guardians of property, who +will not suffer the monarch they love, the government which they adore, +to levy one shilling upon the subject in any other way than the law and +statutes of this kingdom prescribe, will not suffer, nor can they bear +the idea, that any single class of people should be chosen to be the +objects of a contrary conduct, nor that even the Nabob of Oude should be +permitted to act upon such a flagitious principle. When an English +governor has substituted a power of his own instead of the legal +government of the country, as I have proved this man to have done, if he +found the prince going to do an act which would shake the property of +all the nobility of the country, he surely ought to raise his hand and +say, "You shall not make my name your sanction for such an atrocious and +abominable act as this confiscation would be." + +Mr. Hastings, however, whilst he gives, with an urbanity for which he is +so much praised, his consent to this confiscation, adds, there must be +pensions secured for all persons losing their estates, who had the +security of our guaranty. Your Lordships know that Mr. Hastings, by his +guaranty, had secured their jaghires to the Nabob's own relations and +family. One would have imagined, that, if the estates of those who were +without any security were to be confiscated at his pleasure, those at +least who were guarantied by the Company, such as the Begums of Oude and +several of the principal nobility of the Nabob's family, would have been +secure. He, indeed, says that pensions shall be given them; for at this +time he had not got the length of violating, without shame or remorse, +all the guaranties of the Company. "There shall," says he, "be pensions +given." If pensions were to be given to the value of the estate, I ask, +What has this violent act done? You shake the security of property, and, +instead of suffering a man to gather his own profits with his own hands, +you turn him into a pensioner upon the public treasury. I can conceive +that such a measure will render these persons miserable dependants +instead of independent nobility; but I cannot conceive what financial +object can be answered by paying that in pension which you are to +receive in revenue. This is directly contrary to financial economy. For +when you stipulate to pay out of the treasury of government a certain +pension, and take upon you the receipts of an estate, you adopt a +measure by which government is almost sure of being a loser. You charge +it with a certain fixed sum, and, even upon a supposition that under the +management of the public the estate will be as productive as it was +under the management of its private owner, (a thing highly improbable,) +you take your chance of a reimbursement subject to all the extra +expense, and to all the accidents that may happen to a public revenue. +This confiscation could not, therefore, be justified as a measure of +economy; it must have been designed merely for the sake of shaking and +destroying the property of the country. + +The whole transaction, my Lords, was an act of gross violence, ushered +in by a gross fraud. It appears that no pensions were ever intended to +be paid; and this you will naturally guess would be the event, when such +a strange metamorphosis was to be made as that of turning a great landed +interest into a pensionary payment. As it could answer no other purpose, +so it could be intended for no other, than that of getting possession of +these jaghires by fraud. This man, my Lords, cannot commit a robbery +without indulging himself at the same time in the practice of his +favorite arts of fraud and falsehood. + +And here I must again remind your Lordships, that at the time of the +treaty of Chunar the jaghires were held in the following manner. Of the +285,000_l._ a year which was to be confiscated, the old grants of Sujah +Dowlah, [and?] the grandfather of the Nabob, amounted to near two thirds +of the whole, as you will find in the paper to which we refer you. By +this confiscation, therefore, the Nabob was authorized to _resume_ +grants of which he had not been the grantor. + + [_Mr. Burke here read the list of the jaghires._] + +Now, my Lords, you see that all these estates, except 25,782_l._ a year, +were either jaghires for the Nabob's own immediate family, settled by +his father upon his mother, and by his father's father upon his +grandmother, and upon Salar Jung, his uncle, or were the property of the +most considerable nobility, to the gross amount of 285,000_l._ Mr. +Hastings confesses that the Nabob reluctantly made the confiscation to +the extent proposed. Why? "Because," says he, "the orderlies, namely, +certain persons so called, subservient to his debaucheries, were persons +whom he wished to spare." Now I am to show you that this man, whatever +faults he may have in his private morals, (with which we have nothing at +all to do,) has been slandered throughout by Mr. Hastings. Take his own +account of the matter. "The Nabob," says he, "would have confiscated all +the rest, except his orderlies, whom he would have spared; but I, +finding where his partiality lay, compelled him to sacrifice the whole; +for otherwise he would have sacrificed the good to save the bad: +whereas," says Mr. Hastings, "in effect my principle was to sacrifice +the good, and at the same time to punish the bad." Now compare the +account he gives of the proceedings of Asoph ul Dowlah with his own. +Asoph ul Dowlah, to save some unworthy persons who had jaghires, would, +if left to his own discretion, have confiscated those only of the +deserving; while Mr. Hastings, to effect the inclusion of the worthless +in the confiscation, confiscates the jaghires of the innocent and the +virtuous men of high rank, and of those who had all the ties of Nature +to plead for the Nabob's forbearance, and reduced them to a state of +dependency and degradation. + +Now, supposing these two villanous plans, neither of which your +Lordships can bear to hear the sound of, to stand equal in point of +morality, let us see how they stand in point of calculation. The +unexceptionable part of the 285,000_l._ amounted to 260,000_l._ a year; +whereas, supposing every part of the new grants had been made to the +most unworthy persons, it only amounted to 25,000_l._ a year. Therefore, +by his own account, given to you and to the Company, upon this occasion +he has confiscated 260,000_l._ a year, the property of innocent, if not +of meritorious individuals, in order to punish by confiscation those who +had 25,000_l._ a year only. This is the account he gives you himself of +his honor, his justice, and his policy in these proceedings. + +But, my Lords, he shall not escape so. It is in your minutes, that so +far was the Nabob from wishing to save the new exceptionable grants, +that, at the time of the forced loan I have mentioned, and also when the +resumption was proposed, he was perfectly willing to give up every one +of them, and desired only that his mother, his uncles, and his +relations, with other individuals, the prime of the Mahometan nobility +of that country, should be spared. Is it not enough that this poor +Nabob, this wretched prince, is made a slave to the man now standing at +your bar, that he is made by him a shame and a scandal to his family, +his race, and his country, but he must be cruelly aspersed, and have +faults and crimes attributed to him that do not belong to him? I know +nothing of his private character and conduct: Mr. Hastings, who deals in +scandalous anecdotes, knows them: but I take it upon the face of Mr. +Purling's assertion, and I say, that the Nabob would have consented to +an arbitrary taxation of the jaghires, and would have given up to +absolute confiscation every man except those honorable persons I have +mentioned. + +The prisoner himself has called Mr. Wombwell to prove the names of those +infamous persons with a partiality for whom Mr. Hastings has aspersed +the Nabob, in order to lay the ground for the destruction of his family. +They amount to only six in number; and when we come to examine these +six, we find that their jaghires were perfectly contemptible. The list +of the other jaghiredars, your Lordships see, fills up pages; and the +amount of their incomes I have already stated. Your Lordships now see +how inconsiderable, both in number and amount, were the culpable +jaghires, in the destruction of which he has involved the greater number +and the meritorious. You see that the Nabob never did propose any +exemption of the former at any time; that this was a slander and a +calumny on that unhappy man, in order to defend the violent acts of the +prisoner, who has recourse to slander and calumny as a proper way to +defend violence, outrage, and wrongs. + +We have now gone through the first stage of Mr. Hastings's confiscation +of the estates of these unhappy people. When it came to be put in +execution, Mr. Middleton finds the Nabob reluctant in the greatest +degree to make this sacrifice of his family and of all his nobility. It +touched him in every way in which shame and sympathy can affect a man. +He falls at the feet of Mr. Middleton; he says, "I signed the treaty of +Chunar upon an assurance that it was never meant to be put in force." +Mr. Middleton nevertheless proceeds; he sends the family of the Nabob +out of the country; but he entertains fears of a general revolt as the +consequence of this tyrannical act, and refers the case back to Mr. +Hastings, who insists upon its being executed in its utmost extent. The +Nabob again remonstrates in the strongest manner; he begs, he prays, he +dissembles, he delays. One day he pretends to be willing to submit, the +next he hangs back, just as the violence of Mr. Hastings or his own +natural feelings and principles of justice dragged him one way or +dragged him another. Mr. Middleton, trembling, and under the awe of that +_dreadful responsibility_ under which your Lordships may remember Mr. +Hastings had expressly laid him upon that occasion, ventures at once to +usurp the Nabob's government. He usurped it openly and avowedly. He +declared that he himself would issue his purwannahs as governor of the +country, for the purpose of executing this abominable confiscation. He +assumed, I say, to himself the government of the country, and Mr. +Hastings had armed him with a strong military force for that purpose; he +declared he would order those troops to march for his support; he at +last got this reluctant, struggling Nabob to consent in the manner we +have described. + +I shall now read to your Lordships Mr. Middleton's letters, that you may +hear these men with their own mouths describing their own acts, and that +your Lordships may then judge whether the highest tone and language of +crimination comes up to their own description of their own proceedings. + + "_Lucknow, the 6th of Dec., 1781._ + + "Finding the Nabob wavering in his determination about the + resumption of the jaghires, I this day, in presence of, and with + the minister's concurrence, ordered the necessary purwannahs to be + written to the several aumils for that purpose, and it was my firm + resolution to have dispatched them this evening, with proper people + to see them punctually and implicitly carried into execution; but + before they were all transcribed, I received a message from the + Nabob, who had been informed by the minister of the resolution I + had taken, entreating that I would withhold the purwannahs till + to-morrow morning, when he would attend me, and afford me + satisfaction on this point. As the loss of a few hours in the + dispatch of the purwannahs appeared of little moment, and as it is + possible the Nabob, seeing that the business will at all events be + done, may make it an act of his own, I have consented to indulge + him in his request; but, be the result of our interview whatever it + may, nothing shall prevent the orders being issued to-morrow, + either by him or myself, with the concurrence of the ministers. + Your pleasure respecting the Begums I have learnt from Sir Elijah, + and the measure heretofore proposed will soon follow the resumption + of the jaghires; from both, or, indeed, from the former alone, I + have no doubt of the complete liquidation of the Company's + balance." + + + "_Lucknow, the 7th Dec., 1781._ + + "My dear Sir,--I had the honor to address you yesterday, informing + you of the steps I had taken in regard to the resumption of the + jaghires. This morning the Vizier came to me, according to his + agreement, but seemingly without any intention or desire to yield + me satisfaction on the subject under discussion; for, after a great + deal of conversation, consisting on his part of trifling evasion + and puerile excuses for withholding his assent to the measure, + though at the same time professing the most implicit submission to + your wishes, I found myself without any other resource than the one + of employing that exclusive authority with which I consider your + instructions to vest me. I therefore declared to the Nabob, in + presence of the minister and Mr. Johnson, who I desired might bear + witness of the conversation, that I construed his rejection of the + measure proposed as a breach of his solemn promise to you, and an + unwillingness to yield that assistance which was evidently in his + power towards liquidating his heavy accumulated debt to the + Company, and that I must in consequence determine, in my own + justification, to issue immediately the purwannahs, which had only + been withheld in the sanguine hope that he would be prevailed upon + to make that his own act, which nothing but the most urgent + necessity could force me to make mine. He left me without any + reply, but afterwards sent for his minister, and authorized him to + give me hopes that my requisition would be complied with; on which + I expressed my satisfaction, but declared that I could admit of no + further delays, and, unless I received his Excellency's formal + acquiescence before the evening, I should then most assuredly issue + my purwannahs: which I have accordingly done, not having had any + assurances from his Excellency that could justify a further + suspension. I shall as soon as possible inform you of the effect of + the purwannahs, which in many parts I am apprehensive it will be + found necessary to enforce with military aid; I am not, however, + entirely without hopes that the Nabob, when he sees the inefficacy + of further opposition, may alter his conduct, and prevent the + confusion and disagreeable consequences which would be too likely + to result from the prosecution of a measure of such importance + without his concurrence. His Excellency talks of going to Fyzabad, + for the purpose heretofore mentioned, in three or four days; I wish + he may be serious in this intention, and you may rest assured I + shall spare no pains to keep him to it." + + + "_Lucknow, 28th December, 1781._ + + "If your new demand is to be insisted upon, which your letter seems + to portend, I must beg your precise orders upon it; as, from the + difficulties I have within these few days experienced in carrying + the points you had enjoined with the Nabob, I have the best grounds + for believing that he would consider it a direct breach of the late + agreement, and totally reject the proposal as such; and I must own + to you, that, in his present fermented state of mind, I could + expect nothing less than despair and a declared rupture. + + "He has by no means been yet able to furnish me with means of + paying off the arrears due to the temporary brigade, to the + stipulated term of its continuance in his service. The funds + necessary for paying off and discharging his own military + establishment under British officers, and his pension list, have + been raised, on the private credit of Mr. Johnson and myself, from + the shroffs of this place, to whom we are at this moment pledged + for many lacs of rupees; and without such aid, which I freely and + at all hazards yielded, because I conceived it was your anxious + desire to relieve the Nabob as soon as possible of this heavy + burden, the establishment must have been at his charge to this + time, and probably for months to come, while his resources were + strained to the utmost to furnish jaidads for its maintenance to + this period. I therefore hesitate not to declare it utterly + impossible for him, under any circumstances whatever, to provide + funds for the payment of the troops you now propose to send him. + + "The wresting Furruckabad, Kyraghur, and Fyzoola Khan's country + from his government, (for in that light, my dear Sir, I can + faithfully assure you, he views the measures adopted in respect to + those countries,) together with the resumption of all the jaghires, + so much against his inclination, have already brought the Nabob to + a persuasion that nothing less than his destruction, or the + annihilation of every shadow of his power, is meant; and all my + labors to convince him to the contrary have proved abortive. A + settled melancholy has seized him, and his health is reduced beyond + conception; and I do most humbly believe that the march of four + regiments of sepoys towards Lucknow, under whatever circumstances + it might be represented, would be considered by him as a force + ultimately to be used in securing his person. In short, my dear + Sir, it is a matter of such immediate moment, and involving, + apparently, such very serious and important consequences, that I + have not only taken upon me to suspend the communication of it to + the Nabob until I should be honored with your further commands, but + have also ventured to write the inclosed letter to Colonel Morgan: + liberties which I confidently trust you will excuse, when you + consider that I can be actuated by no other motive than a zeal for + the public service, and that, if, after all, you determine that the + measure shall be insisted on, it will be only the loss of six or at + most eight days in proposing it. But in the last event, I earnestly + entreat your orders may be explicit and positive, that I may + clearly know what lengths you would wish me to proceed in carrying + them into execution. I again declare it is my firm belief, and + assure yourself, my dear Mr. Hastings, I am not influenced in this + declaration by any considerations but my public duty and my + personal attachment to you, that the enforcing the measure you have + proposed would be productive of an open rupture between us and the + Nabob; nay, that the first necessary step towards carrying it into + effect must be, on our part, a declaration of hostility." + +Your Lordships have now before your eyes proofs, furnished by Mr. +Hastings himself from his correspondence with Mr. Middleton, +irrefragable proofs, that this Nabob, who is stated to have made the +proposition himself, was dragged to the signature of it; and that the +troops which are supposed, and fraudulently stated, (and I wish your +Lordships particularly to observe this,) to have been sent to assist +him in this measure, were considered by him as a body of troops sent to +imprison him, and to free him from all the troubles and pains of +government. + +When Mr. Hastings sent the troops for the purpose, as he pretended, of +assisting the Nabob in the execution of a measure which was really +adopted in direct opposition to the wishes of that prince, what other +conclusion could be drawn, but that they were sent to overawe, not to +assist him? The march of alien troops into a country upon that occasion +could have no object but hostility; they could have been sent with no +other design but that of bringing disgrace upon the Nabob, by making him +the instrument of his family's ruin, and of the destruction of his +nobility. Your Lordships, therefore, will not wonder that this miserable +man should have sunk into despair, and that he should have felt the +weight of his oppression doubly aggravated by its coming from such a man +as Mr. Hastings, and by its being enforced by such a man as Mr. +Middleton. + +And here I must press one observation upon your Lordships: I do not know +a greater insult that can be offered to a man born to command than to +find himself made the tool of a set of obscure men, come from an unknown +country, without anything to distinguish them but an usurped power. +Never shall I, out of compliment to any persons, because they happen to +be my own countrymen, disguise my feelings, or renounce the dictates of +Nature and of humanity. If we send out obscure people, unknowing and +unknown, to exercise such acts as these, I must say it is a bitter +aggravation of the victim's suffering. Oppression and robbery are at all +times evils; but they are more bearable, when exercised by persons whom +we have been habituated to regard with awe, and to whom mankind for ages +have been accustomed to bow. + +Now does the history of tyranny furnish, does the history of popular +violence deposing kings furnish, anything like the dreadful deposition +of this prince, and the cruel and abominable tyranny that has been +exercised over him? Consider, too, my Lords, for what object all this +was done. Was Mr. Hastings endeavoring, by his arbitrary interference +and the use of his superior power, to screen a people from the +usurpation and power of a tyrant,--from any strong and violent acts +against property, against dignity, against nobility, against the freedom +of his people? No: you see here a monarch deposed, in effect, by persons +pretending to be his allies, and assigning what are pretended to be his +wishes as the motive for using his usurped authority in the execution of +these acts of violence against his own family and his subjects. You see +him struggling against this violent prostitution of his authority. He +refuses the sanction of his name, which before he had given up to Mr. +Hastings to be used as he pleased, and only begs not to be made an +instrument of wrong which his soul abhors, and which would make him +infamous throughout the world. Mr. Middleton, however, assumes the +sovereignty of the country. "I," he says, "am Nabob of Oude: the +jaghires shall be confiscated: I have given my orders, and they shall be +supported by a military force." + +I am ashamed to have so far distrusted your Lordships' honorable and +generous feelings as to have offered you, upon this occasion, any +remarks which you must have run before me in making. Those feelings +which you have, and ought to have, feelings born in the breasts of all +men, and much more in men of your Lordships' elevated rank, render my +remarks unnecessary. I need not, therefore, ask what you feel, when a +foreign resident at a prince's court takes upon himself to force that +prince to act the part of a tyrant, and, upon his resistance, openly and +avowedly assumes the sovereignty of the country. You have it in proof +that Mr. Middleton did this. He not only put his own name to the orders +for this horrible confiscation, but he actually proceeded to dispossess +the jaghiredars of their lands, and to send them out of the country. And +whom does he send, in the place of this plundered body of nobility, to +take possession of the country? Why, the usurers of Benares. Yes, my +Lords, he immediately mortgages the whole country to the usurers of +Benares, for the purpose of raising money upon it: giving it up to those +bloodsuckers, dispossessed of that nobility, whose interest, whose duty, +whose feelings, and whose habits made them the natural protectors of the +people. + +My Lords, we here see a body of usurers put into possession of all the +estates of the nobility: let us now see if this act was necessary, even +for the avowed purposes of its agents,--the relief of the Nabob's +financial difficulties, and the payment of his debts to the Company. Mr. +Middleton has told your Lordships that these jaghires would pay the +Company's debt completely in two years. Then would it not have been +better to have left these estates in the hands of their owners, and to +have oppressed them in some moderate, decent way? Might they not have +left the jaghiredars to raise the sums required by some settlement with +the bankers of Benares, in which the repayment of the money within five +or six years might have been secured, and the jaghiredars have had in +the mean time something to subsist upon? Oh, no! these victims must have +nothing to live upon. They must be turned out. And why? Mr. Hastings +commands it. + +Here I must come in aid of Mr. Middleton a little; for one cannot but +pity the miserable instruments that have to act under Mr. Hastings. I do +not mean to apologize for Mr. Middleton, but to pity the situation of +persons who, being servants of the Company, were converted, by the +usurpation of this man, into his subjects and his slaves. The mind of +Mr. Middleton revolts. You see him reluctant to proceed. The Nabob begs +a respite. You find in the Resident a willingness to comply. Even Mr. +Middleton is placable. Mr. Hastings alone is obdurate. His resolution to +rob and to destroy was not to be moved, and the estates of the whole +Mahometan nobility of a great kingdom were confiscated in a moment. Your +Lordships will observe that his orders to Mr. Middleton allow no +forbearance. He writes thus to him. + + "Sir,--My mind has been for some days suspended between two + opposite impulses: one arising from the necessity of my return to + Calcutta; the other, from the apprehension of my presence being + more necessary and more urgently wanted at Lucknow. Your answer to + this shall decide my choice. + + "I have waited thus long in the hopes of hearing that some progress + had been made in the execution of the plan which I concluded with + the Nabob in September last. I do not find that any step towards + it has been yet taken, though three months are elapsed, and little + more than that period did appear to me requisite to have + accomplished the most essential parts of it, and to have brought + the whole into train. This tardiness, and the opposition prepared + to the only decided act yet undertaken, have a bad appearance. I + approve the Nabob's resolutions to deprive the Begums of their + ill-employed treasures. In both services, it must be your care to + prevent an abuse of the powers given to those that are employed in + them. You yourself ought to be personally present. You must not + allow any negotiation or forbearance, but must prosecute both + services, until the Begums are at the entire mercy of the Nabob, + their jaghires in the quiet possession of his aumils, and their + wealth in such charge as may secure it against private + embezzlement. You will have a force more than sufficient to effect + both these purposes. + + "The reformation of his army and the new settlement of his revenues + are also points of immediate concern, and ought to be immediately + concluded. Has anything been done in either? + + "I now demand and require you most solemnly to answer me. Are you + confident in your own ability to accomplish all these purposes, and + the other points of my instructions? If you reply that you are, I + will depart with a quiet and assured mind to the Presidency, but + leave you a dreadful responsibility, if you disappoint me. If you + tell me that you cannot rely upon your power, and the other means + which you possess for performing these services, I will free you + from the charge. I will proceed myself to Lucknow, and I will + myself undertake them; and in that case, I desire that you will + immediately order bearers to be stationed, for myself and two other + gentlemen, between Lucknow and Allahabad, and I will set out from + hence in three days after the receipt of your letter. + + "I am sorry that I am under the necessity of writing in this + pressing manner. I trust implicitly to your integrity, I am certain + of your attachment to myself, and I know that your capacity is + equal to any service; but I must express my doubts of your firmness + and activity, and above all of your recollection of my + instructions, and of their importance. My conduct in the late + arrangements will be arraigned with all the rancor of disappointed + rapacity, and my reputation and influence will suffer a mortal + wound from the failure of them. They have already failed in a + degree, since no part of them has yet taken place, but the removal + of our forces from the Dooab and Rohilcund, and of the British + officers and pensioners from the service of the Nabob, and the + expenses of the former thrown without any compensation on the + Company. + + "I expect a supply of money equal to the discharge of all the + Nabob's arrears, and am much disappointed and mortified that I am + not now able to return with it. + + "Give me an immediate answer to the question which I have herein + proposed, that I may lose no more time in fruitless inaction." + +About this time Mr. Hastings had received information of our inquiries +in the House of Commons into his conduct; and this is the manner in +which he prepares to meet them. "I must get money. I must carry with me +that great excuse for everything, that salve for every sore, that +expiation for every crime: let me provide that, all is well. You, Mr. +Middleton, try your nerves: are you equal to these services? Examine +yourself; see what is in you: are you man enough to come up to it?" says +the great robber to the little robber, says Roland the Great to his puny +accomplice. "Are you equal to it? Do you feel yourself a man? If not, +send messengers and dawks to me, and I, the great master tyrant, will +come myself, and put to shame all the paltry delegate tools of +despotism, that have not edge enough to cut their way through and do the +services I have ordained for them." + +I have already stated to your Lordships his reason and motives for this +violence, and they are such as aggravated his crime by attempting to +implicate his country in it. He says he was afraid to go home without +having provided for the payment of the Nabob's debt. Afraid of what? Was +he afraid of coming before a British tribunal, and saying, "Through +justice, through a regard for the rights of an allied sovereign, through +a regard to the rights of his people, I have not got so much as I +expected"? Of this no man could be afraid. The prisoner's fear had +another origin. "I have failed," says he to himself, "in my first +project. I went to Benares to rob; I have lost by my violence the fruits +of that robbery. I must get the money somewhere, or I dare not appear +before a British House of Commons, a British House of Lords, or any +other tribunal in the kingdom; but let me get money enough, and they +won't care how I get it. The estates of whole bodies of nobility may be +confiscated; a people who had lived under their protection may be given +up into the hands of foreign usurers: they will care for none of these +things; they will suffer me to do all this, and to employ in it the +force of British troops, whom I have described as a set of robbers, +provided I can get money." These were Mr. Hastings's views; and, in +accordance with them, the jaghires were all confiscated, the jaghiredars +with their families were all turned out, the possessions delivered up to +the usurer, in order that Mr. Hastings might have the excuse of money to +plead at the bar of the House of Commons, and afterwards at the bar of +the House of Lords. If your Lordships, in your sacred character of the +first tribunal in the world, should by your judgment justify those +proceedings, you will sanction the greatest wrongs that have been ever +known in history. + +But to proceed. The next thing to be asked is, Were the promised +pensions given to the jaghiredars? I suppose your Lordships are not idle +enough to put that question to us. No compensation, no consideration, +was given or stipulated for them. If there had been any such thing, the +prisoner could have proved it,--he would have proved it. The means were +easy to him. But we have saved him the trouble of the attempt. We have +proved the contrary, and, if called upon, we will show you the place +where this is proved. + +I have now shown your Lordships how Mr. Hastings, having with such +violent and atrocious circumstances usurped the government of Oude, (I +hope I need not use any farther proof that the Nabob was in effect +non-existent in the country,) treated all the landed property. The next +question will be, How has he treated whatever moneyed property was left +in the country? My Lords, he looked over that immense waste of his own +creating, not as Satan viewed the kingdoms of the world and saw the +power and glory of them,--but he looked over the waste of Oude with a +diabolical malice which one could hardly suppose existed in the +prototype himself. He saw nowhere above-ground one single shilling that +he could attach,--no, not one; every place had been ravaged; no money +remained in sight. But possibly some might be buried in vaults, hid from +the gripe of tyranny and rapacity. "It must be so," says he. "Where can +I find it? how can I get at it? There is one illustrious family that is +thought to have accumulated a vast body of treasures, through a course +of three or four successive reigns. It does not appear openly; but we +have good information that very great sums of money are bricked up and +kept in vaults under ground, and secured under the guard and within the +walls of a fortress": the residence of the females of the family, a +guard, as your Lordships know, rendered doubly and trebly secure by the +manners of the country, which make everything that is in the hands of +women sacred. It is said that nothing is proof against gold,--that the +strongest tower will not be impregnable, if Jupiter makes love in a +golden shower. This Jupiter commences making love; but he does not come +to the ladies with gold for their persons, he comes to their persons for +their gold. This impetuous lover, Mr. Hastings, who is not to be stayed +from the objects of his passion, would annihilate space and time between +him and his beloved object, the jaghires of these ladies, had now, +first, their treasure's affection. + +Your Lordships have already had a peep behind the curtain, in the first +orders sent to Mr. Middleton. In the treaty of Chunar you see a desire, +obliquely expressed, to get the landed estates of all these great +families. But even while he was meeting with such reluctance in the +Nabob upon this point, and though he also met with some resistance upon +the part even of Mr. Middleton, Mr. Hastings appears to have given him +in charge some other still more obnoxious and dreadful acts. "While I +was meditating," says Mr. Middleton, in one of his letters, "upon this +[the resumption of the jaghires], your orders came to me through Sir +Elijah Impey." What these orders were is left obscure in the letter: it +is yet but as in a mist or cloud. But it is evident that Sir Elijah +Impey did convey to him some project for getting at more wealth by some +other service, which was not to supersede the first, but to be +concurrent with that upon which Mr. Hastings had before given him such +dreadful charges and had loaded him with such horrible responsibility. +It could not have been anything but the seizure of the Begum's +treasures. He thus goaded on two reluctant victims,--first the reluctant +Nabob, then the reluctant Mr. Middleton,--forcing them with the bayonet +behind them, and urging on the former, as at last appears, to violate +the sanctity of his mother's house. + +Your Lordships have been already told by one of my able fellow Managers, +that Sir Elijah Impey is the person who carried up the message alluded +to in Mr. Middleton's letter. We have charged it, as an aggravation of +the offences of the prisoner at your bar, that the Chief-Justice, who, +by the sacred nature of his office, and by the express provisions of the +act of Parliament under which he was sent out to India to redress the +wrongs of the natives, should be made an instrument for destroying the +property, real and personal, of this people. When it first came to our +knowledge that all this private intrigue for the destruction of these +high women was carried on through the intrigue of a Chief-Justice, we +felt such shame and such horror, both for the instrument and the +principal, as I think it impossible to describe, or for anything but +complete and perfect silence to express. + +But by Sir Elijah Impey was that order carried up to seize and +confiscate the treasures of the Begums. We know that neither the Company +nor the Nabob had any claim whatever upon these treasures. On the +contrary, we know that two treaties had been made for the protection of +them. We know that the Nabob, while he was contesting about some +elephants and carriages, and some other things that he said were in the +hands of their steward, did allow that the treasures in the custody of +his grandmother and of his mother's principal servants were their +property. This is the Nabob who is now represented by Mr. Hastings and +his counsel to have become the instrument of destroying his mother and +grandmother, and everything else that ought to be dear to mankind, +throughout the whole train of his family. + +Mr. Hastings, having resolved to seize upon the treasures of the Begums, +is at a loss for some pretence of justifying the act. His first +justification of it is on grounds which all tyrants have ready at their +hands. He begins to discover a legal title to that of which he wished to +be the possessor, and on this title sets up a claim to these treasures. +I say Mr. Hastings set up this claim, because by this time I suppose +your Lordships will not bear to hear the Nabob's name on such an +occasion. The prisoner pretended, that, by the Mahometan law, these +goods did belong to the Nabob; but whether they did or did not, he had +himself been an active instrument in the treaty for securing their +possession to the Begums,--a security which he attempts to unlock by his +constructions of the Mahometan law. Having set up this title, the +guaranty still remained; and how is he to get rid of that? In his usual +way. "You have rebelled, you have taken up arms against your own son," +(for that is the pretext,) "and therefore my guaranty is gone, and your +goods, whether you have a title to them or not, are to be confiscated +for your rebellion." This is his second expedient by way of +justification. + +Your Lordships will observe the strange situation in which we are here +placed. If the fact of the rebellion can be proved, the discussion of +the title to the property in question will be totally useless; for, if +the ladies had actually taken up arms to cut the Nabob's throat, it +would require no person to come from the dead to prove to us that the +Nabob, but not Mr. Hastings, had a right, for his own security and for +his own indemnification, to take those treasures, which, whether they +belonged to him or not, were employed in hostilities against him. The +law of self-defence is above every other law; and if any persons draw +the sword against you, violence on your part is justified, and you may +use your sword to take from them that property by which they have been +enabled to draw their sword against you. + +But the prisoner's counsel do not trust to this justification; they set +up a title of right to these treasures: but how entirely they have +failed in their attempts to substantiate either the one or the other of +these his alleged justifications your Lordships will now judge. And +first with regard to the title. The treasure, they say, belonged to the +state. The grandmother and mother have robbed the son, and kept him out +of his rightful inheritance. They then produce the Hedaya to show you +what proportion of the goods of a Mussulman, when he dies, goes to his +family; and here, certainly, there is a question of law to be tried. But +Mr. Hastings is a great eccentric genius, and has a course of proceeding +of his own: he first seizes upon the property, and then produces some +Mahometan writers to prove that it did not belong to the persons who +were in possession of it. You would naturally expect, that, when he was +going to seize upon those goods, he would have consulted his +Chief-Justice, (for, as Sir Elijah Impey went with him, he might have +consulted him,) and have thus learnt what was the Mahometan law: for, +though Sir Elijah had not taken his degree at a Mahometan college, +though he was not a mufti or a moulavy, yet he had always muftis and +moulavies near him, and he might have consulted them. But Mr. Hastings +does not even pretend that such consultations or conferences were ever +had. If he ever consulted Sir Elijah Impey, where is the report of the +case? When were the parties before him? Where are the opinions of the +moulavies? Where is the judgment of the Chief-Justice? Was he fit for +nothing but to be employed as a messenger, as a common tipstaff? Was he +not fit to try these rights, or to decide upon them? He has told you +here, indeed, negatively, that he did not know any title Mr. Hastings +had to seize upon the property of the Begums, except upon his hypothesis +of the rebellion. He was asked if he knew any other. He answered, No. It +consequently appears that Mr. Hastings, though he had before him his +doctors of all laws, who could unravel for him all the enigmas of all +the laws in the world, and who had himself shone upon questions of +Mahometan law, in the case of the Nuddea Begum, did not dare to put this +case to Sir Elijah Impey, and ask what was his opinion concerning the +rights of these people. He was tender, I suppose, of the reputation of +the Chief-Justice. For Sir Elijah Impey, though a very good man to write +a letter, or take an affidavit in a corner, or run on a message, to do +the business of an under-sheriff, tipstaff, or bum-bailiff, was not fit +to give an opinion on a question of Mahometan law. + +You have heard Ali Ibrahim Khan referred to. This Mahometan lawyer was +carried by Mr. Hastings up to Benares, to be a witness of the vast good +he had done in that province, and was made Chief-Justice there. All, +indeed, that we know of him, except the high character given of him by +Mr. Hastings, is, I believe, that he is the Ali Ibrahim Khan whom in the +Company's records I find mentioned as a person giving bribes upon some +former occasion to Mr. Hastings; but whatever he was besides, he was a +doctor of the Mahometan law, he was a mufti, and was made by Mr. +Hastings the principal judge in a criminal court, exercising, as I +believe, likewise a considerable civil jurisdiction, and therefore he +was qualified as a lawyer; and Mr. Hastings cannot object to his +qualifications either of integrity or of knowledge. This man was with +him. Why did not he consult him upon this law? Why did he not make him +out a case of John Doe and Richard Roe, of John Stokes and John a Nokes? +Why not say, "Sinub possesses such things, under such and such +circumstances: give me your opinion upon the legality of the +possession"? No, he did no such thing. + +Your Lordships, I am sure, will think it a little extraordinary, that +neither this chief-justice made by himself, nor that other chief-justice +whom he led about with him in a string,--the one an English +chief-justice, with a Mahometan suit in his court, the other a Mahometan +chief-justice of the country,--that neither of them was consulted as +lawyers by the prisoner. Both of them were, indeed, otherwise employed +by him. For we find Ali Ibrahim Khan employed in the same subservient +capacity in which Sir Elijah Impey was,--in order, I suppose, to keep +the law of England and the law of Mahomet upon a just par: for upon this +equality Mr. Hastings always values himself. Neither of these two +chief-justices, I say, was ever consulted, nor one opinion taken; but +they were both employed in the correspondence and private execution of +this abominable project, when the prisoner himself had not either +leisure or perhaps courage to give his public order in it till things +got to greater ripeness. + +To Sir Elijah Impey, indeed, he did put a question; and, upon my word, +it did not require an Oedipus or a Sphinx to answer it. Says he, "I +asked Sir Elijah Impey." What? a question on the title between the Nabob +and his mother? No such thing. He puts an hypothetical question. +"Supposing," says he, "a rebellion to exist in that country; will the +Nabob be justified in seizing the goods of the rebels?" That is a +question decided in a moment; and I must have a malice to Sir Elijah +Impey of which I am incapable, to deny the propriety of his answer. But +observe, I pray you, my Lords, there is something peculiarly good and +correct in it. He does not take upon him to say one word of the actual +existence of a rebellion, though he was at the time in the country, and, +if there had been any, he must have been a witness to it; but, so chaste +was his character as a judge, that he would not touch upon the juries' +office. "I am chief-justice here," says he, "though a little wandering +out of my orbit; yet still the sacred office of justice is in me. Do you +take upon you the fact; I find the law." Were it not for this sacred +attention to separate jurisdictions, he might have been a tolerable +judge of the fact,--just as good a judge as Mr. Hastings: for neither of +them knew it any other way, as it appears afterwards, but by rumor and +reports,--reports, I believe, of Mr. Hastings's own raising; for I do +not know that Sir Elijah Impey had anything to do with them. + +But to proceed. With regard to the title of these ladies, according to +the Mahometan law, you have nothing laid before you by the prisoner's +counsel but a quotation cut out with the scissors from a Mahometan +law-book, (which I suspect very much the learned gentlemen have never +read through,) declaring how a Mahometan's effects are to be +distributed. But Mr. Hastings could not at the time have consulted that +learned counsel who now defends him upon the principles of the Hedaya, +the Hedaya not having been then published in English; and I will venture +to say, that neither Sir Elijah Impey nor Ali Ibrahim Khan, nor any +other person, high or low, in India, ever suggested this defence, and +that it was never thought of till lately found by the learned counsel in +the English translation of the Hedaya. "God bless me!" now says Mr. +Hastings, "what ignorance have I been in all this time! I thought I was +seizing this unjustly, and that the pretence of rebellion was necessary; +but my counsel have found out a book, since published, and from it they +produce the law upon that subject, and show that the Nabob had a right +to seize upon the treasures of his mother." But are your Lordships so +ignorant--(your Lordships are not ignorant of anything)--are any men so +ignorant as not to know that in every country the common law of +distribution of the estate of an intestate amongst private individuals +is no rule with regard to the family arrangements of great princes? Is +any one ignorant, that, from the days of the first origin of the Persian +monarchy, the laws of which have become rules ever since for almost all +the monarchs of the East, the wives of great men have had, independent +of the common distribution of their goods, great sums of money and great +estates in land, one for their girdle, one for their veil, and so on, +going through the rest of their ornaments and attire,--and that they +held great estates and other effects over which the reigning monarch or +his successor had no control whatever? Indeed, my Lords, a more curious +and extraordinary species of trial than this of a question of right +never was heard of since the world began. Mr. Hastings begins with +seizing the goods of the Begums at Fyzabad, nine thousand miles from +you, and fourteen years after tries the title in an English court, +without having one person to appear for these miserable ladies. I trust +you will not suffer this mockery; I hope this last and ultimate shame +will be spared us: for I declare to God, that the defence, and the +principles of it, appear to me ten thousand times worse than the act +itself. + +Now, my Lords, this criminal, through his counsel, chooses, with their +usual flippancy, to say that the Commons have been _cautious_ in stating +this part of the charge, knowing that they were on tender ground, and +therefore did not venture to say _entitled_, but _possessed of_ only. A +notable discovery indeed! We are as far from being taken in by such +miserable distinctions as we are incapable of making them. We certainly +have not said that the Begums were entitled to, but only that they were +possessed of, certain property. And we have so said because we were not +competent to decide upon their title, because your Lordships are not +competent to decide upon their title, because no part of this tribunal +is competent to decide upon their title. You have not the parties before +you; you have not the cause before you,--but are getting it by oblique, +improper, and indecent means. You are not a court of justice to try that +question. The parties are at a distance from you; they are neither +present themselves, nor represented by any counsel, advocate, or +attorney: and I hope no House of Lords will ever judge and decide upon +the title of any human being, much less upon the title of the first +women in Asia, sequestered, shut up from you, at nine thousand miles' +distance. + +I believe, my Lords, that the Emperor of Hindostan little thought, while +Delhi stood, that an English subject of Mr. Hastings's description +should domineer over the Vizier of his empire, and give the law to the +first persons in his dominions. He as little dreamed of it as any of +your Lordships now dream that you shall have your property seized by a +delegate from Lucknow, and have it tried by what tenure a peer or +peeress of Great Britain hold, the one his estate, and the other her +jointure, dower, or her share of goods, her paraphernalia, in any court +of Adawlut in Hindostan. If any such thing should happen, (for we know +not what may happen; we live in an age of strange revolutions, and I +doubt whether any more strange than this,) the Commons of Great Britain +would shed their best blood sooner than suffer that a tribunal at +Lucknow should decide upon any of your titles, for the purpose of +justifying a robber that has taken your property. We should do the best +we could, if such a strange circumstance occurred. + +The House of Commons, who are virtually the representatives of Lucknow, +and who lately took 500,000_l._ of their money, will not suffer the +natives first to be robbed of their property, and then the titles, which +by the laws of their own country they have to the goods they possess, to +be tried by any tribunal in Great Britain. Why was it not tried in India +before Mr. Hastings? One would suppose that an English governor, if +called to decide upon such a claim of the Nabob's, would doubtless be +attended by judges, muftis, lawyers, and all the apparatus of legal +justice. No such thing. This man marches into the country, not with +moulavies, not with muftis, not with the solemn apparatus of Oriental +justice,--no: he goes with colonels, and captains, and majors,--these +are his lawyers: and when he gets there, he demands from the parties, +not their title,--no: "Give me your money!" is his cry. It is a shame +(and I will venture to say, that these gentlemen, upon recollection, +will feel ashamed) to see the bar justify what the sword is ashamed of. +In reading this correspondence, I have found these great muftis and +lawyers, these great chief-justices, attorneys-general, and +solicitors-general, called colonels and captains, ashamed of these +proceedings, and endeavoring to mitigate their cruelty; yet we see +British lawyers in a British tribunal supporting and justifying these +acts, on the plea of defective titles. + +The learned counsel asks, with an air of triumph, whether these ladies +possessed these treasures by jointure, dower, will, or settlement. What +was the title? Was it a deed of gift?--was it a devise?--was it _donatio +causa mortis?_--was it dower?--was it jointure?--what was it? To all +which senseless and absurd questions we answer, You asked none of these +questions of the parties, when you guarantied to them, by a solemn +treaty, the possession of their goods. Then was the time to have asked +these questions: but you asked none of them. You supposed their right, +and you guarantied it, though you might then have asked what was their +right. But besides the force and virtue of the guaranty, these unhappy +princesses had ransomed themselves from any claim upon their property. +They paid a sum of money, applied to your use, for that guaranty. They +had a treble title,--by possession, by guaranty, by purchase. + +Again, did you ask these questions, when you went to rob them of their +landed estates, their money, their ornaments, and even their +wearing-apparel? When you sent those great lawyers, Major ----, Major +----, and the other majors, and colonels, and captains, did you call on +them to exhibit their title-deeds? No: with a pistol at their breast, +you demanded their money. Instead of forging a charge of rebellion +against these unhappy persons, why did you not then call on them for +their vouchers? No rebellion was necessary to give validity to a civil +claim. What you could get by an ordinary judgment did not want +confiscation called to its aid. When you had their eunuchs, their +ministers, their treasurers, their agents and attorneys in irons, did +you then ask any of these questions? No. "Discover the money you have in +trust, or _you_ go to corporal punishment,--_you_ go to the castle of +Chunar,--here is another pair of irons!"--this was the only language +used. + +When the Court of Directors, alarmed at the proceedings against these +ancient ladies, ordered their Indian government to make an inquiry into +their conduct, the prisoner had then an opportunity and a duty imposed +upon him of entering into a complete justification of his conduct: he +might have justified it by every civil, and by every criminal mode of +process. Did he do this? No. Your Lordships have in evidence the manner, +equally despotic, _rebellious_, insolent, fraudulent, tricking, and +evasive, by which he positively refused all inquiry into the matter. How +stands it now, more than twelve years after the seizure of their goods, +at ten thousand miles' distance? You ask of these women, buried in the +depths of Asia, secluded from human commerce, what is their title to +their estate. Have you the parties before you? Have you summoned them? +Where is their attorney? Where is their agent? Where is their counsel? +Is this law? Is this a legal process? Is this a tribunal,--the highest +tribunal of all,--that which is to furnish the example for, and to be a +control on all the rest? But what is worse, you do not come _directly_ +to the trial of this right to property. You are desired to surround and +circumvent it; you are desired obliquely to steal an iniquitous +judgment, which you dare not boldly ravish. At this judgment you can +only arrive by a side wind. You have before you a criminal process +against an offender. One of the charges against him is, that he has +robbed matrons of high and reverend place. His defence is, that they had +not the apt deeds to entitle them in law to this property. _In_ this +cause, with only the delinquent party before you, you are called upon to +try their title on his allegations of its invalidity, and by acquitting +him to divest them not only of their goods, but of their honor,--to call +them disseizors, wrong-doers, cheats, defrauders of their own son. No +hearing for them,--no pleading,--all appeal cut off. Was ever a man +indicted for a robbery, that is, for the forcible taking of the goods +possessed by another, suffered to desire the prosecutor to show the +deeds or other instruments by which he acquired those goods? The idea is +contemptible and ridiculous. Do these men dream? Do they conceive, in +their confused imaginations, that you can be here trying such a +question, and venturing to decide upon it? Your Lordships will never do +that, which if you did do, you would be unfit to subsist as a tribunal +for a single hour; and if we, on our part, did not bring before you this +attempt, as the heaviest aggravation of the prisoner's crimes, we +should betray our trust as representatives of the Commons of Great +Britain. Having made this protest in favor of law, of justice, and good +policy, permit me to take a single step more. + +I will now show your Lordships that it is very possible, nay, very +probable, and almost certain, that a great part of what these ladies +possessed was a saving of their own, and independent of any grant. It +appears in the papers before you, that these unfortunate ladies had +about 70,000_l._ a year, landed property. Mr. Bristow states in evidence +before your Lordships, that their annual expenses did not exceed a lac +and a half, and that their income was about seven lacs; that they had +possessed this for twenty years before the death of Sujah Dowlah, and +from the death of that prince to the day of the robbery. Now, if your +Lordships will calculate what the savings from an income of 70,000_l._ a +year will amount to, when the party spends about 15,000_l._ a year, you +will see that by a regular and strict economy these people may have +saved considerable property of their own, independent of their titles to +any other property: and this is a rational way of accounting for their +being extremely rich. It may be supposed, likewise, that they had all +those advantages which ladies of high rank usually have in that +country,--gifts at marriage, &c. We know that there are deeds of gift by +husbands to their wives during their lifetime, and many other legal +means, by which women in Asia become possessed of very great property. +But Mr. Hastings has taught them the danger of much wealth, and the +danger of economy. He has shown them that they are saving, not for their +families, for those who may possibly stand in the utmost need of it, +but for tyrants, robbers, and oppressors. + +My Lords, I am really ashamed to have said so much upon the subject of +their titles. And yet there is one observation more to be made, and then +I shall have done with this part of the prisoner's defence. It is, that +the Nabob himself never has made a claim on this ground; even Mr. +Hastings, his despotic master, could never get him regularly and +systematically to make such a claim; the very reverse of this is the +truth. When urged on to the commission of these acts of violence by Mr. +Middleton, you have seen with what horror and how reluctantly he lends +his name; and when he does so, he is dragged like a victim to the stake. +At the beginning of this affair, where do we find that he entered this +claim, as the foundation of it? Upon one occasion only, when dragged to +join in this wicked act, something dropped from his lips which seemed +rather to have been forced into his mouth, and which he was obliged to +spit out again, about the possibility that he might have had some right +to the effects of the Begums. + +We next come to consider the manner in which these acts of violence were +executed. They forced the Nabob himself to accompany their troops, and +their Resident, Mr. Middleton, to attack the city and to storm the fort +in which these ladies lived, and consequently to outrage their persons, +to insult their character, and to degrade their dignity, as well as to +rob them of all they had. + +That your Lordships may learn something of one of these ladies, called +the Munny Begum, I will refer you to Major Browne's evidence,--a man who +was at Delhi, the fountain-head of all the nobility of India, and must +have known who this lady was that has been treated with such indignity +by the prisoner at your bar. Major Browne was asked, "What was the +opinion at Delhi respecting the rank, quality, and character of the +Princesses of Oude, or of either of them?"--"The elder, or Munny Begum, +was," says he, "a woman of high rank: she was, I believe, the daughter +of Saadut Ali Khan, a person of high rank in the time of Mahommed +Shah."--"Do you know whether any woman in all Hindostan was considered +of superior rank or birth?"--He answers, "I believe not, except those of +the royal family. She was a near relation to Mirza Shaffee Khan, who was +a noble of nobles, the first person at that day in the empire." In +answer to another question put by a noble Lord, in the same examination, +respecting the conversation which he had with Mirza Shaffee Khan, and of +which he had given an account, he says, "He [Mirza Shaffee Khan] spoke +of the attempt to seize the treasures of the Begums, which was then +suspected, in terms of resentment, and as a disgrace in which he +participated, as being related by blood to the house of Sufdar Jung, who +was the husband of the old Begum." He says afterwards, in the same +examination, that he, the Begum's husband, was the second man, and that +her father was the first man, in the Mogul empire. Now the Mogul empire, +when this woman came into the world, was an empire of that dignity that +kings were its subjects; and this very Mirza Shaffee Khan, that we speak +of, her near relation, was then a prince with a million a year revenue, +and a man of the first rank, after the Great Mogul, in the whole empire. + +My Lords, these were people that ought to have been treated with a +little decorum. When we consider the high rank of their husbands, their +fathers, and their children, a rank so high that we have nothing in +Great Britain to compare with theirs, we cannot be surprised that they +were left in possession of great revenues, great landed estates, and +great moneyed property. All the female parts of these families, whose +alliance was, doubtless, much courted, could not be proffered in +marriage, and endowed in a manner agreeably to the dignity of such +persons, but with great sums of money; and your Lordships must also +consider the multitude of children of which these families frequently +consisted. The consequences of this robbery were such as might naturally +be expected. It is said that not one of the females of this family has +since been given in marriage. + +But all this has nothing to do with the rebellion. If they had, indeed, +rebelled to cut their own son's throat, there is an end of the business. +But what evidence have you of this fact? and if none can be produced, +does not the prisoner's defence aggravate infinitely his crime and that +of his agents? Did they ever once state to these unfortunate women that +any such rebellion existed? Did they ever charge them with it? Did they +ever set the charge down in writing, or make it verbally, that they had +conspired to destroy their son, a son whom Mr. Hastings had brought +there to rob them? No, this was what neither Mr. Hastings nor his agent +ever did: for as they never made a civil demand upon them, so they never +made a criminal charge against them, or against any person belonging to +them. + +I save your Lordships the trouble of listening to the manner in which +they seized upon these people, and dispersed their guard. Mr. Middleton +states, that they found great difficulties in getting at their +treasures,--that they stormed their forts successively, but found great +reluctance in the sepoys to make their way into the inner inclosures of +the women's apartments. Being at a loss what to do, their only resource, +he says, was to threaten that they would seize their eunuchs. These are +generally persons who have been bought slaves, and who, not having any +connections in the country where they are settled, are supposed to guard +both the honor of the women, and their treasures, with more fidelity +than other persons would do. We know that in Constantinople, and in many +other places, these persons enjoy offices of the highest trust, and are +of great rank and dignity; and this dignity and rank they possess for +the purpose of enabling them to fulfil their great trusts more +effectually. The two principal eunuchs of the Begums were Jewar and +Behar Ali Khan, persons of as high rank and estimation as any people in +the country. These persons, however, were seized, not, says Mr. +Hastings, for the purpose of extorting money, as assumed in the charge, +but as agents and principal instruments of exciting the insurrection +before alluded to, &c. Mr. Hastings declares that they were not seized +for the purpose of extorting money, but that they were seized in order +to be punished for their crimes, and, _eo nomine_, for this crime of +rebellion. Now this crime could not have been committed immediately by +[the?] women themselves; for no woman can come forward and head her own +troops. We have not heard that any woman has done so since the time of +Zenobia, in another part of the East; and we know that in Persia no +person can behold the face of a woman of rank, or speak to females of +condition, but through a curtain: therefore they could not go out +themselves, and be active in a rebellion. But, I own, it would be some +sort of presumption against them, if Jewar Ali Khan and Behar Ali Khan +had headed troops, and been concerned in acts of rebellion; and the +prisoner's counsel have taken abundance of pains to show that such +persons do sometimes head armies and command legions in the East. This +we acknowledge that they sometimes do. If these eunuchs had behaved in +this way, if they had headed armies and commanded legions for the +purposes of rebellion, it would have been a fair presumption that their +mistresses were concerned in it. But instead of any proof of such facts, +Mr. Hastings simply says, "We do not arrest them for the purpose of +extorting money, but as a punishment for their crimes." By Mr. +Middleton's account you will see the utter falsity of this assertion. +God knows what he has said that is true. It would, indeed, be singular +not to detect him in a falsity, but in a truth. I will now show your +Lordships the utter falsity of this wicked allegation. + +There is a letter from Mr. Middleton to Sir Elijah Impey, dated Fyzabad, +the 25th of January, 1782, to which I will call your Lordships' +attention. + + "Dear Sir Elijah,--I have the satisfaction to inform you that we + have at length so far obtained the great object of our expedition + to this place as to commence on the receipt of money, of which, in + the course of this day, we have got about six lacs. I know not yet + what amount we shall actually realize, but I think I may safely + venture to pronounce it will be equal to the liquidation of the + Company's balance. It has been at once the most important and the + most difficult point of duty which has ever occurred in my office; + and the anxiety, the hopes and fears, which have alternately + agitated my mind, cannot be described or conceived but by those who + have been witness to what has passed in the course of this long + contest. The [Nabob's] ministers have supported me nobly, and + deserve much commendation. Without the shrewd discernment and + knowledge of the finesse and tricks of the country which Hyder Beg + Khan possesses, I believe we should have succeeded but + indifferently; for I soon found that no real advantage was to be + obtained by proceeding at once to violent extremities with the + Begum, and that she was only to be attacked through the medium of + her confidential servants, who it required considerable address to + get hold of. However, we at last effected it; and by using some few + severities with them, we at length came at the secret hoards of + this old lady. I will write you more particulars hereafter. + + "I am sorry to inform you my little boy still continues in a very + precarious way, though somewhat better than when I had last the + honor to address you. My respects to Lady Impey. And believe me, + with great regard, my dear Sir Elijah, your faithful, obliged, and + most affectionate humble servant, + + "NATHANIEL MIDDLETON." + +My Lords, we produce this letter to your Lordships, because it is a +letter which begins with "_Dear Sir Elijah_," and alludes to some family +matters, and is therefore more likely to discover the real truth, the +true genius of a proceeding, than all the formal and official stuff that +ever was produced. You see the tenderness and affection in which they +proceed. You see it is his _dear Sir Elijah_. You see that he does not +tell the dear Sir Elijah, the Chief-Justice of India, the pillar of the +law, the great conservator of personal liberty and private property,--he +does not tell him that he has been able to convict these eunuchs of any +crime; he does not tell him he has the pleasure of informing him what +matter he has got upon which a decision at law may be grounded; he does +not tell him that he has got the least proof of the want of title in +those ladies: not a word of the kind. You cannot help observing the soft +language used in this tender billet-doux between Mr. Middleton and Sir +Elijah Impey. You would imagine that they were making love, and that you +heard the voice of the turtle in the land. You hear the soft cooing, the +gentle addresses,--"Oh, my hopes!" to-day, "My fears!" to-morrow,--all +the language of friendship, almost heightened into love; and it comes at +last to "_I have got at the secret hoards of these ladies_.--Let us +rejoice, my dear Sir Elijah; this is a day of rejoicing, a day of +triumph; and this triumph we have obtained by seizing upon the old +lady's eunuchs,--in doing which, however, we found a great deal of +difficulty." You would imagine, from this last expression, that it was +not two eunuchs, with a few miserable women clinging about them, that +they had to seize, but that they had to break through all the guards +which we see lovers sometimes breaking through, when they want to get at +their ladies. Hardly ever did the beauty of a young lady excite such +rapture; I defy all the charms this country can furnish to produce a +more wonderful effect than was produced by the hoards of these two old +women, in the bosoms of Sir Elijah Impey and Mr. Middleton. "We have +got," he exultingly says, "we have got to the secret hoards of this old +lady!" And I verily believe there never was a passion less dissembled; +there Nature spoke; there was truth triumphant, honest truth. Others may +feign a passion; but nobody can doubt the raptures of Mr. Hastings, Sir +Elijah Impey, and Mr. Middleton. + +My Lords, one would have expected to have found here something of their +crimes, something of their rebellion, for he talks of a few "necessary +severities." But no: you find the real criminal, the real object, was +the secret hoards of the old ladies. It is true, _a few severities_ were +necessary to obtain that object: however, they did obtain it. How then +did they proceed? First, they themselves took and received, in weight +and tale, all the money that was in the place. I say _all_; for whether +there was any more they never have discovered, with all their search, +from that day to this. Therefore we fairly presume that they had +discovered all that there was to discover with regard to money. They +next took from these unfortunate people an engagement for the amount of +treasure at a definite sum, without knowing whether they had it or not, +whether they could procure it or not. The Bhow Begum has told us, as +your Lordships have it in evidence, that they demanded from her a +million of money; that she, of course, denied having any such sums; but +Mr. Middleton forced her unfortunate eunuchs or treasurers, by some _few +severities_, to give their bond for 600,000_l._ + +You would imagine, that, when these eunuchs had given up all that was in +their power, when they had given a bond for what they had not, (for they +were only the treasurers of other people,) that the bond would not have +been rigidly exacted. But what do Mr. Hastings and Mr. Middleton, as +soon as they get their plunder? They went to their own assay-table, by +which they measured the rate of exchange between the coins in currency +at Oude and those at Calcutta, and add the difference to the sum for +which the bond was given. Thus they seize the secret hoards, they +examine it as if they were receiving a debt, and they determine what +this money would and ought to produce at Calcutta: not considering it as +coming from people who gave all they had to give, but as what it would +produce at the mint at Calcutta, according to a custom made for the +profit of the Residents; even though Mr. Hastings, upon another +occasion, charged upon Mr. Bristow as a crime that he had made that +profit. This money, my Lords, was taken to that assay-table, which they +had invented for their own profit, and they made their victims pay a +rupee and a half batta, or exchange of money, upon each gold mohur; by +which and other charges they brought them 60,000_l._ more in debt, and +forced them to give a bond for that 60,000_l._ + +Your Lordships have seen in what manner these debts were +contracted,--and that they were contracted by persons engaging, not for +themselves, for they had nothing; all their property was apparently +their mistresses'. You will now see in what manner the payment of them +was exacted; and we shall beg leave to read to you their own accounts of +their own proceedings. Your Lordships will then judge whether they were +proceeding against rebels as rebels, or against wealthy people as +wealthy people, punishing them, under pretence of crimes, for their own +profit. + +In a letter from Mr. Middleton to Mr. Hastings, after two other +paragraphs, he goes on thus. + +"It remained only to get possession of her wealth; and to effect this, +it was then and is still my firm and unalterable opinion that it was +indispensably necessary to employ temporizing expedients, and to work +upon the hopes and fears of the Begum herself, and more especially upon +those of her principal agents, through whose means alone there appeared +any probable chance of our getting access to the hidden treasures of the +late Vizier; and when I acquaint you that by far the greatest part of +the treasure which has been delivered to the Nabob was taken from the +most secret recesses in the houses of the two eunuchs, whence, of +course, it could not have been extracted without the adoption of those +means which could induce the discovery, I shall hope for your +approbation of what I did. I must also observe, that no further rigor +than that which I exerted could have been used against females in this +country, to whom there can be no access. The Nabob and Salar Jung were +the only two that could enter the zenanah: the first was a son, who was +to address a parent, and, of course, could use no language or action but +that of earnest and reiterated solicitation; and the other was, in all +appearance, a traitor to our cause. Where force could be employed, it +was not spared: the troops of the Begum were driven away and dispersed; +their guns taken; her fort, and the outward walls of her house seized +and occupied by our troops, at the Nabob's requisition; and her chief +agents imprisoned and put in irons. No further step was left. And in +this situation they still remain, and are to continue (excepting only a +remission of the irons) until the final liquidation of the payment; and +if then you deem it proper, no possible means of offence being left in +her hands or those of her agents, all her lands and property having been +taken, I mean, with your sanction, to restore her house and servants to +her, and hope to be favored with your early reply, as I expect that a +few days will complete the final surrender of all that is further +expected from the Begum." + +There are some things in this letter which I shall beg your Lordships to +remark. There is mention made of a few preliminary severities used by +Mr. Middleton, in order to get at their money. Well, he did get at the +money, and he got a bond for the payment of an additional sum, which +they thought proper to fix at about six hundred thousand pounds, to +which was added another usurious bond for sixty thousand; and in order +to extort these forced bonds, and to make up their aggravated crimes of +usury, violence, and oppression, they put these eunuchs into prison, +without food and water, and loaded their limbs with fetters. This was +their second imprisonment; and what followed these few severities your +Lordships will remark,--still more severities. They continued to +persecute, to oppress, to work upon these men by torture and by the fear +of torture, till at last, having found that all their proceedings were +totally ineffectual, they desire the women to surrender their house; +though it is in evidence before you, that to remove a woman from her own +house to another house without her consent is an outrage of the greatest +atrocity, on account of which many women have not only threatened, but +have actually put themselves to death. Mr. Hastings himself, in the case +of Munny Begum, had considered such a proposition as the last degree of +outrage that could be offered. These women offered to go from house to +house while their residence was searched; but "No," say their +tormentors, "the treasure may be bricked up, in so large a house, in +such a manner that we cannot find it." + +But to proceed with the treatment of these unfortunate men. I will read +to your Lordships a letter of Mr. Middleton to Captain Leonard Jaques, +commanding at Fyzabad, 18th March, 1782. + + "Sir,--I have received your letter of the 13th instant. The two + prisoners, Behar and Jewar Ali Khan, having violated their written + solemn engagement with me for the payment of the balance due to the + Honorable Company on the Nabob's assignments accepted by them, and + declining giving me any satisfactory assurances on that head, I am + under the disagreeable necessity of recurring to severities to + enforce the said payment. This is, therefore, to desire that you + immediately cause them to be put in irons, and kept so until I + shall arrive at Fyzabad, to take further measures, as may be + necessary." + +Here is the answer of Captain Jaques to Mr. Middleton. + + "_April 23d, 1782._ + + "Sir,--Allow me the honor of informing you that the place the + prisoners Behar Ali Khan and Jewar Ali Khan are confined in is + become so very unhealthy, by the number obliged to be on duty in so + confined a place at this hot season of the year, and so situated, + that no reduction can with propriety be made from their guard, it + being at such a distance from the battalion." + +You see, my Lords, what a condition these unfortunate persons were in at +that period; you see they were put in irons, in a place highly +unhealthy; and from this you will judge of the treatment which followed +the _few severities_. The first yielded a bond for 600,000_l._; the +second, a bond for 60,000_l._; the third was intended to extort the +payment of these bonds, and completed their series. + +I will now read a letter from Captain Jaques to Mr. Middleton, from the +printed Minutes, dated _Palace, Fyzabad, May 18th, 1782_, consequently +written nearly a month after the former. + + "Sir,--The prisoners Behar and Jewar Ali Khan, who seem to be very + sickly, have requested their irons might be taken off for a few + days, that they might take medicine, and walk about the garden of + the place where they are confined, to assist the medicine in its + operation. Now, as I am sure they would be equally as secure + without their irons as with them, I think it my duty to inform you + of this request, and desire to know your pleasure concerning it. + + (Signed) "LEONARD JAQUES." + +On the 22d May, 1782, Captain Jaques's humane proposal is thus replied +to by Mr. Middleton. + + "I am sorry it is not in my power to comply with your proposal of + easing the prisoners for a few days of their fetters. Much as my + humanity may be touched by their sufferings, I should think it + inexpedient to afford them any alleviation while they persist in a + breach of their contract with me; and, indeed, no indulgence could + be shown them without the authority of the Nabob, who, instead of + consenting to moderate the rigors of their situation, would be most + willing to multiply them. + + (Signed) "NATHANIEL MIDDLETON." + +I will now call your Lordships' attention to other letters connected +with this transaction. + + _Letter from Major Gilpin to Mr. Middleton, June 5th, 1782._ + + "Sir,--Agreeably to your instructions, I went to the prisoners, + Behar and Jewar Ali Khan, accompanied by Hoolas Roy, who read the + papers respecting the balance now due, &c., &c. + + "In general terms they expressed concern at not being able to + discharge the same without the assistance of the Begum, and + requested indulgence to send a message to her on that subject, and + in the evening they would give an answer. + + "I went at the time appointed for the answer, but did not receive a + satisfactory one; in consequence of which I desired them to be + ready, at the shortest notice, to proceed to Lucknow, and explained + to them every particular contained in your letter of the 1st + instant respecting them. + + "Yesterday morning I sent for Letafit Ali Khan, and desired him to + go to the Bhow Begum, and deliver the substance of my instructions + to her, which he did, and returned with the inclosed letter from + her. From some circumstances which I have heard to-day, I am + hopeful the prisoners will soon think seriously of their removal, + and pay the balance rather than submit themselves to an + inconvenient journey to Lucknow." + + + _To Major Gilpin, commanding at Fyzabad, from Mr. Middleton._ + + "Sir,--I have been favored with your letter of the 5th instant, + informing me of the steps you had taken in consequence of my + instructions of the 1st, and covering a letter from the Bhow Begum, + which is so unsatisfactory that I cannot think of returning an + answer to it. Indeed, as all correspondence between the Begum and + me has long been stopped, I request you will be pleased to inform + her that I by no means wish to resume it, or maintain any friendly + intercourse with her, until she has made good my claim upon her for + the balance due. + + "I have now, in conformity to my former instructions, to desire + that the two prisoners, Behar and Jewar Ali Khan, may be + immediately sent, under a sufficient guard, to Lucknow, unless, + upon your imparting to them this intimation, either they or the + Begum should actually pay the balance, or give you such assurances + or security for the assets to be immediately forthcoming as you + think can be relied upon; in which case you will of course suspend + the execution of this order." + + + _Mr. Richard Johnson to Major Gilpin. Lucknow, 24th June, 1782._ + + "Sir,--I have received the honor of your letter of the 20th. The + prisoners arrived here this morning. Lieutenant Crow has delivered + them over to Captain Waugh, and returns to you in a day or two. + + "I think their hint to you a very good one, and worth improving + upon. Was the Bhow Begum to think that she must go to Allahabad, or + any other place, while her palace is searched for the hidden + treasure of the late Vizier, it might go further than any other + step that can be immediately taken towards procuring payment of the + balance outstanding. + + "The prisoners are to be threatened with severities to-morrow, to + make them discover where the balance may be procurable, the fear of + which may possibly have a good effect; and the apprehensions of the + Begum lest they should discover the hidden treasure may induce her + to make you tenders of payment, which you may give any reasonable + encouragement to promote that may occur to you. + + "The jaghire cannot be released to her on any other terms, nor even + to the Nabob, until the five lacs for which it was granted be paid + up; and the prisoners must also be detained until the full fifty + lacs be liquidated: consequently nothing but the fear of an + increase of demand, upon breach of the first engagement on her + part, will induce her to prompt payment." + + + _Letter from Mr. Richard Johnson to the Commanding Officer of the + Guard. Lucknow, 23d July, 1782._ + + "Sir,--Some violent demands having been made for the release of the + prisoners, it is necessary that every possible precaution be taken + for their security. You will therefore be pleased to be very strict + in guarding them; and I herewith send another pair of fetters, to + be added to those now upon the prisoners." + + + _Letter from Robert Steere Allen to Richard Johnson, Esq., Acting + Resident. Lucknow, 23d July, 1782._ + + "Sir,--I have received your instructions, and ordered the fetters + to be added; but they are by much too small for their feet. The + utmost regard shall be paid to the security of the prisoners. I + have sent back the fetters, that you may have them altered, if you + think proper." + + + _Letter from Mr. Johnson to the Officer commanding the Guard. + Lucknow, 28th June, 1782._ + + "Sir,--The Nabob having determined to inflict corporal punishment + upon the prisoners under your guard, this is to desire that his + officers, when they shall come, may have free access to the + prisoners, and be permitted to do with them as they shall see + proper, only taking care that they leave them always under your + charge." + +I will now trouble your Lordships with the following passages from Mr. +Holt's evidence. + + "_Q._ Did you ever see the two ministers of the Begum?--_A._ I saw + them brought into Lucknow.--_Q._ In what situation were they, when + you saw them brought into Lucknow?--_A._ They were brought in their + palanquins, attended by a guard of sepoys.--_Q._ Under whose + command were the sepoys?--_A._ That they were brought in by?--_Q._ + Yes.--_A._ I do not recollect.--_Q._ Were those sepoys that brought + in the prisoners part of the Nabob's army, or were they any British + troops?--_A._ To the best of my recollection, they were detached + from a regiment then stationed at Fyzabad.--_Q._ In whose service + was that regiment?--_A._ In the Company's.--_Q._ Were they + imprisoned in any house near that in which you resided?--_A._ They + were imprisoned immediately under the window of the house in which + I resided, close to it.--_Q._ Did you or did you not ever see any + preparations made for any corporal punishment?--_A._ I saw + something of a scaffolding.--_Q._ For what purpose?--_A._ I heard + it was for the purpose of tying them up.--_Q._ Whose prisoners did + you consider these men to be?--_A._ I considered them as prisoners + of the Resident; they were close to his house, and under an + European officer." + +Your Lordships have now seen the whole process, except one dreadful part +of it, which was the threatening to send the Begum to the castle at +Chunar. After all these cruelties, after all these menaces of further +cruelties, after erecting a scaffold for actually exercising the last +degree of criminal punishment, namely, by whipping these miserable +persons in public,--after everything has been done but execution, our +inability to prove by evidence this part of their proceedings has +secured to your Lordships a circumstance of decorum observed on the +stage where murders, executions, whippings, and cruelties are performed +behind the scenes. I know as certainly as a man can know such a thing, +from a document which I cannot produce in evidence here, but I have it +in the handwriting of the Resident, Mr. Bristow, that Behar Ali Khan was +actually scourged in the manner that we speak of. I had it in writing in +the man's hand; I put the question to him, but he refused to answer it, +because he thought it might criminate himself, and criminate us all; but +if your Lordships saw the scaffold erected for the purpose, (and of +this we have evidence,) would you not necessarily believe that the +scourging did follow? All this was done in the name of the Nabob; but if +the Nabob is the person claiming his father's effects, if the Nabob is +the person vindicating a rebellion against himself upon his nearest +relations, why did he not in person take a single step in this matter? +why do we see nothing but his abused name in it? We see no order under +his own hand. We see all the orders given by the cool Mr. Middleton, by +the outrageous Mr. Johnson, by all that gang of persons that the +prisoner used to disgrace the British name. Who are the officers that +stormed their fort? who put on the irons? who sent them? who supplied +them? They are all, all, English officers. There is not an appearance, +even, of a minister of the Nabob's in the whole transaction. The actors +are all Englishmen; and we, as Englishmen, call for punishment upon +those who have thus degraded and dishonored the English name. + +We do not use torture or cruelties, even for the greatest crimes, but +have banished them from our courts of justice; we never suffer them in +any case. Yet those men, in order to force others to break their most +sacred trust, inflict tortures upon them. They drag their poor victims +from dungeon to dungeon, from one place of punishment to another, and +wholly on account of an extorted bond,--for they owed no money, they +could not owe any,--but to got this miserable balance of 60,000_l._, +founded upon their tables of exchange: after they had plundered these +ladies of 500,000_l._ in money, and 70,000_l._ a year in land, they +could not be satisfied without putting usury and extortion upon tyranny +and oppression. To enforce this unjust demand, the miserable victims +were imprisoned, ironed, scourged, and at last threatened to be sent +prisoners to Chunar. This menace succeeded. The persons who had resisted +irons, who had been, as the Begums say, refused food and water, stowed +in an unwholesome, stinking, pestilential prison, these persons +withstood everything till the fort of Chunar was mentioned to them; and +then their fortitude gave way: and why? The fort of Chunar was not in +the dominions of the Nabob, whose rights they pretended to be +vindicating: to name a British fort, in their circumstances, was to name +everything that is most horrible in tyranny; so, at least, it appeared +to them. They gave way; and thus were committed acts of oppression and +cruelty unknown, I will venture to say, in the history of India. The +women, indeed, could not be brought forward and scourged, but their +ministers were tortured, till, for their redemption, these princesses +gave up all their clothes, all the ornaments of their persons, all their +jewels, all the memorials of their husbands and fathers,--all were +delivered up, and valued by merchants at 50,000_l._; and they also gave +up 5,000_l._ in money, or thereabouts: so that, in reality, only about +5,000_l._, a mere nothing, a sum not worth mentioning, even in the +calculations of extortion and usury, remained unpaid. + +But, my Lords, what became of all this money? When you examine these +witnesses here, they tell you it was paid to Hyder Beg Khan. Now they +had themselves received the money in tale at their own assay-table. And +when an account is demanded of the produce of the goods, they shrink +from it, and say it was Hyder Beg Khan who received the things and sold +them. Where is Hyder Beg Khan's receipt? The Begums say (and the thing +speaks for itself) that even gold and jewels coming from them lost their +value; that part of the goods were spoilt, being kept long unsold in +damp and bad warehouses; and that the rest of the goods were sold, as +thieves sell their spoil, for little or nothing. In all this business +Mr. Hastings and Mr. Middleton were themselves the actors, chief actors; +but now, when they are called to account, they substitute Hyder Beg Khan +in their place, a man that is dead and gone, and you hear nothing more +of this part of the business. + +But the sufferings of these eunuchs did not end here; they were, on +account of this odd 5,000_l._, confined for twelve months,--not +prisoners at large, like this prisoner who thrusts his sore leg into +your Lordships' faces every day, but in harsh and cruel confinement. +These are the persons that I feel for. It is their dungeon, it is their +unrevenged wrongs that move me. It is for these innocent, miserable, +unhappy men, who were guilty of no offence but fidelity to their +mistresses, in order to vex and torture whom (the first women in Asia) +in the persons of their ministers these cruelties were exercised,--these +are they for whom I feel, and not for the miserable sore leg or whining +cant of this prisoner. He has been the author of all these wrongs; and +if you transfer to him any of the sympathy you owe to these sufferers, +you do wrong, you violate compassion. Think of their irons. Has not this +criminal, who put on these irons, been without one iron? Has he been +threatened with torture? Has he been locked up without food and water? +Have his sufferings been aggravated as the sufferings of these poor men +were aggravated? What punishment has been inflicted, and what can be +inflicted upon him, in any manner commensurate with the atrocity of his +crimes? + +At last, my Lords, these unhappy men were released. Mr. Bristow, who had +been sent to Lucknow, writes to Mr. Hastings, and informs him that +severities could do no more, that imprisonments and menaces could get no +more money. I believe not, for I doubt much whether any more was to be +got. But whether there was or not, all the arts of extortion, fortified +by all the arts of tyranny, of every name and species, had failed, and +therefore Mr. Bristow released the prisoners,--but without any warrant +for so doing from Mr. Hastings, who, after having received this letter +from Mr. Bristow, gets the Supreme Council to order these very +severities to be continued till the last farthing was paid. In order to +induce the Council to sanction this measure, he suppressed Mr. Bristow's +declaration, that severities could do nothing more in exacting further +payments; and the Resident, I find, was afterwards obliquely punished +for his humanity by Mr. Hastings. + +Mr. Bristow's letter is dated the 12th of December, and he thus writes. + +"The battalion at Fyzabad" (where the Begums and their ministers had +been confined) "is recalled, and my letter to the board of the 1st +instant has explained my conduct to the Begum. The letter I addressed +her, a translation of which I beg leave to inclose, (No. 2,) was with a +view of convincing her that you readily assented to her being freed from +the restraints which had been imposed upon her, and that your +acquiescence in her sufferings was a measure of necessity, to which you +were forced by her extraordinary conduct. I wished to make it appear +this was a matter on which you directed me to consult the Vizier's +pleasure, that it might be known you were the spring from whence she was +restored to her dignity and consequence." + +On the 3d of March following, the Council agree to send the following +order to Mr. Bristow. + +"We desire you will inform us if any and what means have been taken for +recovering the balance due from the Begum at Fyzabad, and, if necessary, +that you recommend it to the Vizier to enforce the most effectual means +for that purpose." + +My Lords, you see the fraud he has put upon the Council. You will find +that Mr. Bristow's letters, up to the 3d of March, had been suppressed; +and though then communicated, yet he instigated his cat's-paw, that +blind and ignorant Council, to demand from the Vizier the renewal of +these very severities and cruelties, the continuance of which the +letters in his pocket had shown him were of no effect. Here you have an +instance of his implacable cruelty; you see that it never relaxes, never +remits, and that, finding all the resources of tyranny useless and +ineffective, he is still willing to use them, and for that purpose he +makes a fraudulent concealment of the utter inefficacy of all the means +that had been used. + +But, you will ask, what could make him persevere in these acts of +cruelty, after his avarice had been more than satiated? You will find it +is this. He had had some quarrel with these women. He believed that they +had done him some personal injury or other, of which he nowhere informs +you. But, as you find that in the case of Cheyt Sing he considered his +visit to General Clavering as an horrid outrage against himself, which +he never forgave, and revenged to the ruin of that miserable person, so +you find that he has avowed the same malicious disposition towards the +Begums, arising from some similar cause. In page 367 of your printed +Minutes, he says,--"I am sorry that I must in truth add, that a part of +the resentment of the Begums was, as I had too much reason to suspect, +directed to myself personally. The incidents which gave rise to it are +too light to be mixed with the professed subject and occasion of this +detail; and as they want the authenticity of recorded evidence, I could +lay no claim to credit in my relation of them. At some period I may be +induced to offer them to the world, my ultimate and unerring judges, +both of that and of every other trait in my political character." + +My Lords, you have an anecdote here handed to you which is the key of a +great part of this transaction. He had determined upon some deep and +desperate revenge for some injury or affront of some kind or other that +he thought he had received from these people. He accuses them of a +personal quarrel with himself; and yet he has not the honor or honesty +to tell you what it was,--what it was that could induce them to +entertain such a personal resentment against him as to ruin themselves +and their country by their supposed rebellion. He says, that some time +or other he will tell it to the world. Why did he not tell his counsel, +and authorize them to tell a story which could not be unimportant, as it +was connected with a rebellion which shook the British power in India to +its foundation? And if it be true that this rebellion had its rise in +some wicked act of this man, who had offended these women, and made +them, as he says, his mortal enemies, you will then see that you never +can go so deep with this prisoner that you do not find in every criminal +act of his some other criminal act. In the lowest deep there is still a +lower deep. In every act of his cruelty there is some hidden, dark +motive, worse than the act itself, of which he just gives you a hint, +without exposing it to that open light which truth courts and falsehood +basely slinks from. + +But cruelly as they have suffered, dreadfully as they have been robbed, +insulted as they have been, in every mode of insult that could be +offered to women of their rank, all this must have been highly +aggravated by coming from such a man as Mr. Middleton. You have heard the +audacious and insulting language he has held to them, his declining to +correspond with them, and the mode of his doing it. There are, my Lords, +things that embitter the bitterness of oppression itself: contumelious +acts and language, coming from persons who the other day would have +licked the dust under the feet of the lowest servants of these ladies, +must have embittered their wrongs, and poisoned the very cup of malice +itself. + +Oh! but they deserved it. They were concerned in a wicked, outrageous +rebellion: first, for expelling their own son from his dominions; and, +secondly, for expelling and extirpating the English nation out of +India.--Good God Almighty! my Lords, do you hear this? Do you understand +that the English nation had made themselves so odious, so particularly +hateful, even to women the most secluded from the world, that there was +no crime, no mischief, no family destruction, through which they would +not wade, for our extermination? Is this a pleasant thing to hear of? +Rebellion is, in all parts of the world, undoubtedly considered as a +great misfortune: in some countries it must be considered as a +presumption of some fault in government: _nowhere is it boasted of as +supplying the means of justifying acts of cruelty and insult, but with +us_. + +We have, indeed, seen that a rebellion did exist in Baraitch and +Goruckpore. It was an universal insurrection of the people: an +insurrection for the very extermination of Englishmen,--for the +extermination of Colonel Hannay,--for the extermination of Captain +Gordon,--for the extermination of Captain Williams, and of all the other +captains and colonels exercising the office of farmer-general and +sub-farmer-general in the manner that we have described. We know that +there did exist in that country such a rebellion. But mark, my Lords, +against whom!--against these mild and gracious sovereigns, Colonel +Hannay, Captain Gordon, Captain Williams. Oh, unnatural and abominable +rebellion!--But will any one pretend to say that the Nabob himself was +ever attacked by any of these rebels? No: the attacks were levelled +against the English. The people rose in favor of their lawful sovereign, +against a rebellion headed by Mr. Middleton, who, you see, usurped his +authority,--headed by Colonel Hannay,--headed by Captain Gordon,--headed +by all those abominable persons exercising, under the Nabob's name, an +authority destructive to himself and his subjects. Against them there +was a rebellion. But was this an unnatural rebellion,--a rebellion +against usurped authority, to save the prince, his children, and state, +from a set of vile usurpers? + +My Lords, I shall soon close our proceeding for this day, because I wish +to leave this part of our charge strongly and distinctly impressed upon +your Lordships' memory, and because nothing can aggravate it. I shall +next proceed, in the farther examination of the prisoner's defence, to +dissipate, as I trust we have done, and as I hope we shall do, all the +miserable stuff they have given by way of defence. I shall often have +occasion to repeat and press upon your Lordships that that miserable +defence is a heavy aggravation of his crime. At present, I shall +conclude, leaving this part of our charge with the impression upon your +Lordships' minds that this pretended rebellion was merely an +insurrection against the English, excited by their oppression. + +If the rebellion was against the Nabob, or if he was the author of the +oppression which caused it, why do the English only appear to be +concerned in both of them? How comes it that the Nabob never appears to +have expressed any resentment against the rebels? We shall prove beyond +a doubt, that the Begums had nothing to do with it. There was, indeed, +as I have already said, what may be called a rebellion; but it was a +rebellion against--not the Nabob, but in favor of the lawful prince of +the country,--against the usurpers of his authority and the destroyers +of his country. With this, as a rebellion, Mr. Hastings has charged +these women; he has charged them with a war against their son, for the +purpose of exterminating the English. Look, I pray you, at the whole +business, consider all the circumstances of it, and ask yourselves +whether this is not a charge, not only so grossly improbable, but so +perfectly impossible, that there is not any evidence which can make it +even plausible. Consider next, my Lords, on the other side, the evidence +of their innocence, and then ask yourselves whether any additional +matter could make its probability in the least degree more probable. My +Lords, the evidence we have produced is neither more nor less than that +of almost all the persons who have had a share in exciting that +rebellion, and who, to justify their own horrible cruelty, have +attempted to charge the natural consequences of that cruelty upon these +unhappy women. + +But where, all this time, is the Nabob, against whom this rebellion is +pretended to be directed? Was it ever even insinuated to him that his +mother had raised a rebellion against him? When were the proofs shown to +him? Did he ever charge her with it? He surely must have been most +anxious to prevent and suppress a rebellion against himself: but not one +word on that subject has ever come out of his mouth; nor has any one +person been produced to show that he was informed of the existence of +such a rebellion. The persons said to be rebels are his mother and +grandmother; and I again ask, Was there the least intimation given to +him by Mr. Middleton, or by any other person, of their being even +suspected of rebellion against him? There was, indeed, a hint of some +rebellion, which the creatures of Mr. Hastings got at obliquely; but +neither the person against whom the rebellion is supposed to exist, nor +the persons who were said to be guilty of it, were ever either informed +of or charged with it. I defy the prisoner and his whole gang to produce +one word ever uttered by any one of them, from which the Nabob or +Begums could learn that they were supposed to be concerned in the +rebellion: so that none of those who were said to be the principal +actors in the scene ever heard of the parts they were acting from the +actual authors and managers of the business. Not one word was uttered of +a charge made, much less of proof given. Nothing was heard but "Give me +the money!"--irons,--new irons,--new imprisonment,--and at last the +castle of Chunar. + +And here I beg leave to pause, and to leave upon your minds the +impression, first, of the wrong that was done, the violence, and the +robbery,--and, secondly, of the pretences, both civil and criminal, by +which they have attempted to justify their proceedings. + + + + +SPEECH + +IN + +GENERAL REPLY. + +SIXTH DAY, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1794. + + +My Lords,--Your Lordships will recollect that we closed the last day of +your proceeding in this trial at a most interesting part of our charge, +or rather of our observations upon that charge. We closed at that awful +moment when we found the first women of Oude pillaged of all their +landed and of all their moneyed property, in short, of all they +possessed. We closed by reciting to you the false pretence on which this +pillage was defended, namely, that it was the work of the Nabob. Now we +had before proved to you, from evidence adduced by the prisoner himself, +that this Nabob was a mere tool in his hands; and therefore, if this +pretence be true, it aggravates his guilt: for surely the forcing a son +to violate the property of his mother must everywhere be considered a +crime most portentous and enormous. At this point we closed; and after +the detail which has been given you already of these horrible and +iniquitous proceedings, some apology may perhaps be necessary for +entering again into the refutation of this iniquitous pretence. + +My honorable fellow Manager who preceded me in this business did, in his +remarks upon the inference drawn by the prisoner's counsel from the +seizure of the Begums' treasures by the Nabob, as evidence of their +guilt, as he ought to do,--he treated it with proper contempt. I +consider it, indeed, to be as little an evidence of their guilt as he +does, and as little a defence of that seizure as he does. But I consider +it in another and in a new light, namely, as a heavy aggravation of the +prisoner's crimes, and as a matter that will let you into the whole +spirit of his government; and I warn your Lordships against being +imposed on by evasions, of which if it were possible for you to be the +dupes, you would be unfit to be judges of the smallest matters in the +world, civil or criminal. + +The first observation which I shall beg leave to make to your Lordships +is this, that the whole of the proceedings, from beginning to end, has +been a mystery of iniquity, and that in no part of them have the orders +of the Company been regarded, but, on the contrary, the whole has been +carried on in a secret and clandestine manner. + +It is necessary that your Lordships should be acquainted with the manner +in which the correspondence of the Company's servants ought to be +carried on and their proceedings regulated; your Lordships, therefore, +will please to hear read the orders given concerning correspondence of +every kind with the country powers. You will remember the period when +these orders were issued, namely, the period at which the act passed for +the better direction of the servants of the Company. By this act Mr. +Hastings was appointed to be Governor-General, and the Court of +Directors was required by that act to prepare orders and instructions, +which Mr. Hastings was required by the same act to comply with. You will +see what these instructions and orders were, and in what manner he has +complied with them. + + + _Extract of General Instructions to the Governor-General and + Council, 29th of March, 1774._ + + "We direct that you assemble in Council twice every week, and that + all the members be duly summoned; that the correspondence with the + princes or country powers in India be carried on by the + Governor-General only, but that all letters sent by him be first + approved in Council, and that he lay before the Council, at their + next meeting, all letters received by him in the course of such + correspondence, for their information. We likewise direct that a + copy of such parts of the country correspondence be communicated to + our Board of Trade: (to be constituted as hereinafter mentioned) as + may any ways relate to the business of their department." + +You will observe, my Lords, two important circumstances in these +instructions: first, that, after the board had regularly met, the +Persian correspondence, kept by the Governor only, was to be +communicated to the Council; and, secondly, that he should write no +answer to any part of the business until he had previously consulted the +Council upon it. Here is the law of the land,--an order given in +pursuance of an act of Parliament. Your Lordships will consider how Mr. +Hastings comported himself with regard to those orders: for we charge it +as a substantive crime, independent of the criminal presumptions arising +from it, that he violated an act of Parliament which imposed direct +instructions upon him as to the manner in which he was to conduct all +matters of business with the native powers. + +My Lords, we contend strongly that all the positive rules and +injunctions of the law, though they are merely positive, and do not +contain anything but mere matters of regulation, shall be strictly +observed. The reason is this, and a serious reason it is: official +tyranny and oppression, corruption, peculation, and bribery are crimes +so secret in their nature that we can hardly ever get to the proof of +them without the assistance of rules, orders, and regulations of a +positive nature, intended to prevent the perpetration of these crimes, +and to detect the offender in case the crimes should be actually +perpetrated. You ought, therefore, to presume, that, whenever such rules +or laws are broken, these crimes are intended to be committed; for you +have no means of security against the commission of secret crimes but by +enforcing positive laws, the breach of which must be always plain, open, +and direct. Such, for instance, is the spirit of the laws, that, +although you cannot directly prove bribery or smuggling in a hundred +cases where they have been committed, you can prove whether the proper +documents, proper cockets, proper entries in regular offices have been +observed and performed, or not. By these means you lock the door against +bribery, you lock the door against corruption, against smuggling and +contraband trade. But how? By falling upon and attacking the offence? +No, by falling upon and attacking the breach of the regulation. You +prove that the man broke the regulation, and, as he could have no other +motive or interest in breaking it, you presume that he broke it +fraudulently, and you punish the man not for the crime the regulation +was meant to prevent, but you punish him for the breach of the +regulation itself. + +Next to the breach of these positive instructions, your Lordships will +attend to the consequent concealment and mystery by which it was +accompanied. All government must, to preserve its authority, be sincere +in its declarations and authentic in its acts. Whenever in any matter of +policy there is a mystery, you must presume a fraud; whenever in any +matter of money there is concealment, you must presume misconduct: you +must therefore affix your punishment to the breach of the rule; +otherwise the conviction of public delinquents would be unattainable. + +I have therefore put before you that rule which he has violated; and we, +the Commons, call upon your Lordships to enforce that rule, and to +avenge the breach of it. You have seen the consequences of breaking the +rule; and we have charged and do charge it as a heavy aggravation of +those consequences, that, instead of consulting the Council, instead of +laying the whole correspondence before them, instead of consulting them +upon his answers, he went himself up into the country, took his +Majesty's chief-justice along with him, and made that person the +instrument of those wrongs, violences, robberies, and concealments +which we call upon your Lordships to punish. + +My Lords, an extraordinary circumstance occurred in the course of our +proceedings in another place, which I must state, to show you in what a +horrible manner your laws have been trampled upon and despised. None of +the proceedings which have been last stated to your Lordships respecting +the seizure of the treasures of the Begums appear upon any public record +whatever. From the manner in which they came to our knowledge, your +Lordships will perceive what must have been the prisoner's own opinion +of the horrible nature of proceedings which he thought so necessary to +be concealed. + +Whilst we were inquiring into the violences committed against the +Begums, in breach of the treaty entered into with them, there came into +my hands an anonymous letter containing a full account of all the matter +which has lately been stated to you. It came anonymously; and I did not +know from what quarter it came. I do not even know with certainty at +this hour: I say, not with certainty, for I can only form a conjecture. +This anonymous communication enabled us to produce all the +correspondence with Mr. Middleton respecting the cruelties exercised +towards the Begums and their eunuchs in order to extort money. We found +the names of Major Gilpin and several other persons in these letters. We +also found in them a strong fox smell of a Sir Elijah Impey, that his +brush and crime had left behind him; we traced him by that scent; and as +we proceeded, we discovered the footsteps of as many of the wolves as +Mr. Hastings thought proper to leave there. We sent for and examined Mr. +Middleton, and Major Gilpin produced his correspondence. When we applied +to Mr. Middleton, we found that all this part of his correspondence had +been torn out of his book; but having come at it by means of our +anonymous communication, we subsequently proved and established it, in +the manner we have done before your Lordships. Here, then, you have +important matter which this anonymous letter has brought to light; and +otherwise the whole of this correspondence, so essential to the +interests and justice of Great Britain, would have been concealed by +this wicked man. Thus, I say, his violation of a positive law would have +remained undiscovered, if mere accident had not enabled us to trace this +iniquity to its source. Therefore I begin our proceedings this day by +stating to your Lordships this fact, and by calling upon your justice to +punish him for this violation of the laws of his country. + +We have told you who the instruments were by which all this wickedness +was committed, Mr. Middleton and Mr. Johnson, persons who were sent as +ambassadors to represent the interests of the Company at the court of an +independent prince. Over this prince they usurped an absolute power; +they even made use of British officers in his own service and receiving +his pay, to enslave his person, and to force him to rob his kindred. +These agents were aided by an English chief-justice, sent under the +authority of an act of Parliament to represent the sovereign majesty of +English justice, and to be a restraint upon the misconduct of the +Company's servants. These are the instruments with which this man works. +We have shown you his system; we have shown you his instruments: we will +now proceed with the examination of the pretences upon which this horrid +and nefarious act is attempted to be justified. We have not entered into +this examination for the sake of refuting things that want no +refutation, but for the purpose of showing you the spirit of the whole +proceeding, and making it appear to your Lordships, as I trust it will +appear, that the wicked act done there is not half so bad as the wicked +defence made here. + +The first part of Sir Elijah Impey's commission, as your Lordships will +remember, was to seize upon the Begums' treasures. He had likewise +another budget of instructions, which has been discovered in the trunks +of which your Lordships have heard,--secret instructions to be given by +him to Mr. Middleton for the furtherance of this business. And that his +office of Chief-Justice should not lie dormant, he was commissioned to +seek for affidavits or written testimony from any persons, for the +purpose of convicting these women of a design of atrociously revolting +against their son, and deposing him from the government, with a view of +getting rid of the English inhabitants. This was the accusation; and the +evidence to support it Sir Elijah Impey was sent to collect. + +My Lords, I must here observe to your Lordships that there is no act of +violence which, merely as an act of violence, may not in some sort be +borne: because an act of violence infers no principle; it infers nothing +but a momentary impulse of a bad mind, proceeding, without law or +justice, to the execution of its object. For at the same time that it +pays no regard to law, it does not debauch it, it does not wrest it to +its purposes: the law disregarded still exists; and hope still exists in +the sufferer, that, when law shall be resorted to, violence will cease, +and wrongs will be redressed. But whenever the law itself is debauched, +and enters into a corrupt coalition with violence, robbery, and wrong, +then all hope is gone; and then it is not only private persons that +suffer, but the law itself, when so corrupted, is often perverted into +the worst instrument of fraud and violence; it then becomes most odious +to mankind, and an infinite aggravation of every injury they suffer. + +We have therefore in our charge strongly reprobated Sir Elijah Impey's +going to take such affidavits. "Oh! but," they say, "a judge may take an +affidavit in his chamber privately; and he may take an affidavit, though +not exactly in the place of his jurisdiction, to authenticate a bond, or +the like."--We are not to be cheated by words. It is not dirty shreds of +worn-out parchments, the sweepings of Westminster Hall, that shall serve +us in place of that justice upon, which the world stands. Affidavits! We +know that in the language of our courts affidavits do not signify a body +of evidence to sustain a criminal charge, but are generally relative to +matter [matters?] in process collateral to the charge, which, not coming +before the jury, are made known to the judge by way of affidavit. + +But was it ever heard, or will it be borne, that a person exercising a +judicial office under his Majesty should walk beyond the sphere of his +jurisdiction,--that he should desert the station in which he was placed +for the protection of the natives, and should march to such a place as +Lucknow in order to take depositions for criminating persons in that +country, without so much as letting these poor victims know one article +in the depositions so taken? These depositions, my Lords, were made to +criminate, they were meant to justify a forfeiture, and are not in the +nature of those voluntary affidavits which, whether made within +jurisdiction or without, whether made publicly or privately, signify +comparatively nothing to the cause. I do not mean, to say that any +process of any court has not its weight, when the matter is within it in +the ordinary course of proceedings: it is the extraordinary course, the +extrajudicial conduct, which divests it of that just weight it otherwise +would have. + +This chief-justice goes to Lucknow, where he holds his court, such as it +was. He is ready to authenticate any process by the signature of the +English chief-justice, in a court which he holds by night, in a court +which he holds in darkness and secrecy. He holds his court in Fyzabad; +he holds it, unknown to the Nabob of Oude, in his own capital, and +without giving him the least knowledge of or any notice of what he was +proceeding to do. He holds it at the lodgings of Colonel Morgan, a +pensioner of the Nabob; and the person assisting him is Mr. Middleton, +who is likewise, as we have proved to you, one of the Nabob's +pensioners, a monopolizer of trade in the country, and a person who +received much the major part of his emoluments from the Nabob's hands. + +In that clandestine manner, in the Nabob's own house, in his own capital +city, in the lodging of his dependant and pensioner, Colonel Morgan, +with no other witness that we know of than Mr. Middleton, was this +iniquitous, dark procedure held, to criminate the mother of the Nabob. +We here see a scene of dark, mysterious contrivance: let us now see what +is brought out in the face of open day. The attestations themselves, +which you have seen on the record before you. They were brought +out--where? there? No: they were brought out in another place; they were +brought out at Calcutta,--but were never communicated to the Nabob. He +never knew anything of the matter. Let us now see what those +attestations were. Your Lordships will bear in mind that I do not advert +to this thing, which they bring as evidence, in the way of imputation of +its being weak, improper, and insufficient evidence, but as an +incontrovertible proof of crimes, and of a systematic design to ruin +the accused party, by force there and by chicane here: these are the +principles upon which I am going to talk to you upon this abominable +subject,--of which, I am sorry to say, I have no words sufficient to +express my horror. No words can express it; nor can anything but the +severity of your Lordships' judgments find an adequate expression of it. +It is not to be expressed in words, but in punishment. + +Having stated before whom the evidence collected in this body of +affidavits was taken, I shall now state who the persons were that gave +it. They were those very persons who were guilty of robbing and ruining +the whole country: yes, my Lords, the very persons who had been accused +of this in the mass by Mr. Hastings himself. They were nothing less than +the whole body of those English officers who were usurping the office of +farmers-general, and other lucrative offices in the Nabob's government, +and whose pillage and peculations had raised a revolt of the whole +kingdom against themselves. These persons are here brought in a mass to +clear themselves of this charge by criminating other persons, and +clandestinely imputing to them the effect of their own iniquity. + +But supposing these witnesses to be good for anything, supposing it fit +that the least attention should be paid them, the matter of their +testimony may very possibly be true without criminating the Begum. It +criminates Saadut Ali Khan, the brother of the Nabob; the word Begum is +never mentioned in the crimination but in conjunction with his; and much +the greater part of it criminates the Nabob himself. Now, my Lords, I +will say, that the matter of these affidavits, forgetting who the +deponents were, may possibly be true, as far as respects Saadut Ali +Khan, but that it is utterly as improbable, which is the main point and +the stress of the thing, with respect to the Begums, as it is impossible +with respect to the Nabob. That Saadut Ali, being a military man, a man +ambitious and aspiring to greatness, should take advantage of the abuses +of the English government and of the discontent of the country, that he +should, I say, raise a revolt against his brother is very possible; but +it is scarcely within possibility that the mother of the Nabob should +have joined with the illegitimate son against her legitimate son. I can +only say that in human affairs there is the possibility of truth in +this. It is possible she might wish to depose her legitimate son, her +only legitimate son, and to depose him for the sake of a bastard son of +her husband's,--to exalt him at the expense of the former, and to exalt, +of course, the mother of that bastard at her own expense, and to her own +wrong. But I say, that this, though possible, is grossly improbable. The +reason why the Begum is implicated in this charge with Saadut Ali by the +affidavits cannot escape your notice. Their own acquittal might be the +only object of the deponents in their crimination of the latter; but the +treasures of the former were the objects of their employers, and these +treasures could not be come at but by the destruction of the Begums. + +But, my Lords, there are other affidavits, or whatever your Lordships +may call them, that go much further. In order to give a color to the +accusation, and make it less improbable, they say that the Nabob himself +was at the bottom of it, and that he joined with his brother and his +mother to extirpate out of his dominions that horrible grievance, the +English brigade officers,--those English officers who were the +farmers-general, and who, as we have proved by Mr. Hastings's own +evidence, had ruined the country. Nothing is more natural than that a +man, sensible of his duty to himself and his subjects, should form a +scheme to get rid of a band of robbers that were destroying his country +and degrading and ruining his family. Thus you see a family compact +naturally accounted for: the Nabob at the head of it, his mother joining +her own son, and a natural brother joining in the general interests of +the family. This is a possible case. But is this the case pressed by +them? No: they pass lightly over the legitimate son; they scarcely touch +upon Saadut Ali Khan; they sink the only two persons that could give +probability or possibility to this business, and endeavor to throw the +whole design upon these two unfortunate women. + +Your Lordships see the wickedness and baseness of the contrivance. They +first, in order to keep the whole family in terror, accuse the whole +family; then, having possessed themselves of the treasures of the Begums +upon another pretence, they endeavor to fix upon them that improbable +guilt which they had with some degree of probability charged upon the +whole family, as a farther justification of that spoliation. Your +Lordships will see what an insult is offered to the Peers of Great +Britain, in producing before you, by way of defence, such gross, +scandalous, and fraudulent proceedings. + +Who the first set of witnesses were which they produced before their +knight-errant chief-justice, Sir Elijah Impey, who wandered in search of +a law adventure, I have laid open to your Lordships. You have now had +an account of the scandalous manufacture of that batch of affidavits +which was in the budget of Sir Elijah Impey,--that Pandora's box which I +have opened, and out of which has issued every kind of evil. This +chief-justice went up there with the death-warrant of the Begums' +treasures, and, for aught he knew, the death-warrant of their persons. +At the same time that he took these affidavits he became himself a +witness in this business; he appears as a witness. How? Did he know any +one circumstance of the rebellion? No, he does not even pretend to do +so. "But," says he, "in my travels I was obliged to avoid Fyzabad, upon +account of the suspected rebellion there." Another chief-justice would +have gone fifty miles about to avoid Lucknow, for everybody knows that +Lucknow was the focus and centre of extortion, corruption, and +peculation, and that a worse air for the lungs of a chief-justice could +not be found in the world. If his lungs wanted the benefit of pure air, +he would even have put himself in the focus of a rebellion, to have kept +at a distance from the smell of carrion and putrid corruption of every +kind that was at Lucknow. A chief-justice may go to a place where a +rebellion is raging, he may die a martyr to his honor; but a +chief-justice who puts himself into the focus of peculation, into the +focus of bribery, into the focus of everything that is base and +corrupt,--what can we expect from him but that he will be engaged in +clandestine jobs there? The former might kill Sir Elijah Impey, the +knight-errant, but the chief-justice would remain pure and entire; +whereas Sir Elijah Impey has escaped from Lucknow, and the chief-justice +is left by Mr. Hastings to shift for himself. + +After mentioning this violation of the laws of hospitality by Sir Elijah +Impey, I would ask, Was any notice given by him, or by any of Mr. +Hastings's agents, to the Nabob, who was so immediately interested in +this matter? Was any notice given to the Begums that any such charge was +entertained against them? Not a word. Was it notified to the eunuchs? +Was it to Saadut Ali Khan? Not a word. They were all within their power. +The eunuchs were a year in irons, and they were subjected to the want of +food and water for a part of that year. They were dragged from Fyzabad +to Lucknow, and from Lucknow to Fyzabad. During all that time was there +a word mentioned to them by any one person on the part of Mr. Hastings, +that they were accused of this matter? Not a word. + +We now submit to your Lordships' vindictive justice and condemnation +this recriminatory defence, in which every principle of justice has been +violated. And now I will ask your Lordships whether you would have +suffered such a procedure in the case of the prisoner at your bar. It +was asked by a person of great authority in this House, when we were +going to produce certain evidence against Mr. Hastings, (we do not say +whether we offered to produce it properly or improperly,--that is +another matter,)--we were asked, I say, whether our intentions of +producing that evidence had been communicated to Mr. Hastings. Had he +had an opportunity of cross-examining the witnesses who had given that +evidence? No, he added, that evidence must be rejected. Now I say to +your Lordships, upon the same ground, deal with the Begums as you dealt +with Mr. Hastings. Do not keep two weights and measures for different +persons in the same cause. You would not suffer such evidence to be +produced against him; you will not assuredly suffer such evidence to be +produced to you in his favor and against them. + +My Lords, the cause between this man and these unfortunate women is at +last come into Westminster Hall; the cause is come to a solemn trial; +and we demand other witnesses and other kinds of proof than what these +affidavits furnish. My Lords, the persons who have been examined here +are almost all of them the same persons who made these affidavits; but +there is this material difference in their evidence: at your Lordships' +bar they sunk all those parts of their former evidence which criminated +the Nabob and Saadut Ali, and confined their testimony wholly to what +related to the Begums. We were obliged, by a cross-examination, to +squeeze out of them the disavowal of what they had deposed on the former +occasion. The whole of their evidence we leave to the judgment of your +Lordships, with these summary remarks: first, that they are the persons +who were to profit by their own wrong; they are the persons who had +seven months' arrears paid to them out of the money of these unfortunate +ladies; they are the persons who, to justify the revolt which they had +caused in the country by their robbery, charge their own guilt upon +others. The credibility of their evidence is therefore gone. But if it +were not affected by these circumstances, Mr. Hastings has put an end to +it by telling you that there is not one of them who is to be credited +upon his oath,--no, not in a court-martial; and can it, therefore, be +expected that in a case of peculation they will do otherwise than acquit +the party accused? He has himself laid before you the horrible state of +the whole service; your Lordships have it fresh in your memories, and +ringing in your ears. You have also heard from witnesses brought by Mr. +Hastings himself, that these soldiers committed misdemeanors of the very +same kind with those which we have stated. They ought not, therefore, to +be listened to for a moment; and we aver that it is an aggravation of +the prisoner's crimes, that he has brought the instruments of his guilt, +the persons of whom he has complained as having ruined and destroyed +that country, and whom he had engaged, at the Nabob's desire, in the +treaty of Chunar, to send out of the country, as being a nuisance in +it,--to bring, I say, these people here, to criminate, at a distance of +nine thousand miles, these unfortunate women, where they have neither +attorney or agent who can from local knowledge cross-examine them. He +has the audacity to bring these people here; and in what manner they +comport themselves, when they come here, your Lordships have seen. + +There is one of them whom we cannot pass by: that is, Captain Gordon. +The other witnesses, who appeared here as evidences to criminate the +Begums, did it by rumors and hearsays. They had heard some person say +that the Begums had encouraged rebellion, always coupling them with +Saadut Ali Khan, and sometimes with the Nabob, because there might have +been some probability for their charge in the transactions with Saadut +Ali Khan, which, though impossible with regard to the Begums, they +thought would implicate him [them?] in his designs. But Captain Gordon +is to give a different account of the proceedings. + +Captain Gordon was one of Colonel Hannay's under-farmers. He was hunted +out of the country and, as one of the Begums says, pursued by a +thousand of the zemindars, for robbing the whole country. This woman, +through respect to the British name, that name which guarantied her +possessions to her, receives this Captain Gordon and Captain Williams +with every mark of kindness, hospitality, and protection, that could be +given them. She conveys them from the borders to the city of Fyzabad, +and from Fyzabad, her capital, supposed to be the nest of her rebellion, +on to their place of destination. They both write her letters full of +expressions of gratitude and kindness for the services that they had +received. They then pass on to Lucknow to Sir Elijah Impey, and there +they sink every word of kindness, of any service or protection that they +had received, or of any acknowledgment that they had ever made of it. +They sink all this: not one word of it appears in their affidavits. + +How, then, did we come to the knowledge of it? We got it from Major +Gilpin, who was examined in the course of these proceedings; and we used +it in our charge, from the papers that we hold in our hands. Mr. +Hastings has confessed the fact; and Mr. Middleton has endeavored to +slur it over, but could not completely conceal it. We have established +the fact, and it is in evidence before your Lordships. + +You have now, then, in this manner, got these testimonials given by +English officers in favor of these women; and by the same means the +letters of the latter accusing the former are come to your hands: and +now these same English officers come here with their recriminatory +accusation. Now why did they not make it at Lucknow? Why did not Mr. +Hastings, when Mr. Middleton had such papers for him in his hands, why, +I ask, did not Mr. Hastings procure some explanation of the +circumstances whilst he was in India? I will read your Lordships the +letter, that you may not only know, but feel, the iniquity of this +business. + + + _Letter from the Mother of the Vizier to Mr. Hastings; received the + 6th of January, 1782._ + + "Our situation is pretty well, and your good health is constantly + prayed for. I had sent Behar Ali Khan to you. Accordingly people + invented a falsehood, that Behar Ali Khan was gone to get the + deputyship of the Subah; and some persons here were saying, + 'Wherefore has she sent Behar Ali Khan to Calcutta to the Nabob + Amaud ul Dowlah? We will never permit the affair to succeed.' And + accordingly it has so happened. For they say that you also have not + put your seal to the treaty: and the people here say, 'Why does the + noble lady correspond with the English gentlemen?' On this account, + I did not send a letter at the time when you came this way. Now the + state of affairs here is thus. On the 27th Zehedja, Asoph ul Dowlah + Banadur, without my knowledge, sent his own aumils into my + jaghires. I accordingly wrote several times to Mr. Middleton on + this business: that his seal was to the treaty and writing of + discharge; why did he not negotiate in my favor? Mr. Middleton + replied, 'The Nabob is the master.' I wrote frequently, but without + effect. Being helpless, I represent to you the state of my affairs, + that, notwithstanding the existence of this treaty, I have been + treated in this manner. It is useless for me to stay here. Whatever + is is a compact; whenever any one deviates from his compact, he + meets with no credit for the future; and the light of mine eyes, + Asoph ul Dowlah, wrote to me that he had sent his own aumils into + my jaghires, and would pay ready money from his treasury. Reflect + on my security for his adhering to his future engagements, from the + consideration of his conduct under his past promises. I do not + agree to his ready money. Let me have my jaghires as formerly; + otherwise, leaving this place, I will wait on you at Benares, and + thence will go towards Shahjehanabad, because he has not adhered to + his engagement. Send letters to Asoph ul Dowlah, and to Mr. + Middleton, and Hussein Reza Khan, and Hyder Beg Khan, not to molest + the Begum's jaghires, and to let them remain, as formerly, with the + Begum's aumils. And it is here suspected of me that my aumil + plundered the property of Mr. John Gordon. The case is this. Mr. + John Gordon arrived at Taunda, a jaghire of mine, fighting with the + zemindars of Acberpore, which belongs to the Khalseh. Accordingly, + Mr. John Gordon having come to Taunda, my aumil performed whatever + appertained to his duty. Afterwards Mr. John Gordon wrote to me to + send my people, that he might come with them to Fyzabad. I sent + people accordingly to bring Mr. John Gordon, and the said gentleman + arrived here in complete safety; and Mr. John Gordon is now + present. Ask him yourself of these matters. Mr. John Gordon will + represent matters in detail; the truth will then become known, how + ill-founded the calumny is. Should you come here for a few days, it + will be very well, and if not, I will wait on you; and your coming + here is very necessary, that all my affairs may become arranged. + And send a speedy answer to my letters, and a letter to Asoph ul + Dowlah, and Mr. Middleton, and Hussein Reza Khan, and Hyder Beg + Khan, on the subject of ceasing to molest my jaghires. And send me + constantly news of your health, for my peace of mind depends + thereon." + +This letter was transmitted to Mr. Hastings. I desire your Lordships +will remark upon this letter, for it is a most important one indeed. It +is hardly worth observing that all this correspondence came out of the +various trunks of which your Lordships have already heard, and that this +letter is out of the trunk of Mr. Hastings's private Persian secretary +and interpreter, Mr. Jonathan Scott. Now, my Lords, in this letter there +are several things worthy of your Lordships' observation. The first is, +that this woman is not conscious of having ever been accused of any +rebellion: the only accusation that ever came to her ears was, that +Captain Gordon said that his baggage had been robbed by one of her +aumils. She denies the truth of this charge; and she produces +testimonials of their good behavior to him; and, what is the essential +point of all, she desires Mr. Hastings to apply to this Mr. John Gordon, +and to know from him what truth or falsehood there is in that +accusation, and what weight there is in the attestation she produces. +"Mr. Gordon is now present," says she; "ask him yourself of these +matters." This reasonable request was not complied with. Mr. Gordon +swears before Sir Elijah Impey to the robbery; but he never mentions the +paper he had written, in which he confessed that he owed his life to +this very lady. No inquiry was made into this matter. Colonel Hannay +was then alive. Captain Gordon was alive, and she refers to him: yet +that very man was sworn before Sir Elijah Impey, and accuses his +prisoner. Did the prisoner at your bar make that attestation known to +the Begum, whose letter at that very time was in his possession, in Mr. +Scott's trunk,--that very letter in which he is desired to make the +inquiry from Captain Gordon? + +Mr. Hastings is acquainted with the facts stated by the Begum, and with +Captain Gordon's accusation. Did he afterwards inform her of this +accusation? or did he ask this Captain Gordon one question in India, +where the matter might be ventilated? Not one word, my Lords. Therefore +we fix upon him fraud, deceit, and the production of false evidence, +after the woman had desired to have the man who was the evidence against +her examined upon the spot. This he does not do, but with much more +prudence he brings him here. And for what? To discredit his own +testimony, and the written evidence. And how does he discredit them? +There are two of these papers, which I beg leave to read to your +Lordships. + + + _Copy of a Letter to Jewar and Behar Ali Khan, from Mr. Gordon._ + + "Sirs, my indulgent friends, remain under, &c., &c., &c. After + compliments, I have the pleasure to inform you, that yesterday, + having taken leave of you, I passed the night at Noorgunge, and + next morning about ten or eleven o'clock, through your favor and + benevolence, arrived safe at Goondah. Mir Aboo Buksh Zemindar and + Mir Rustum Ali accompanied me. + + "To what extent can I prolong the praises of you, my beneficent + friends? May the Supreme Being, for this benign, compassionate, + humane action, have you in His keeping, and increase your property, + and speedily grant me the pleasure of an interview; until which + time continue to favor me with friendly letters, and oblige me by + any commands in my power to execute. May your wishes be ever + crowned with success! My compliments," &c., &c., &c. + + + _Copy of an Address from Mr. Gordon to the Begum._ + + "Begum Saib of exalted dignity and generosity, whom God preserve! + After presenting the usual professions of servitude, &c., in the + customary manner, my address is presented. + + "Your gracious letter, in answer to the petition of your servant + from Goondah, exalted me. From the contents, I became unspeakably + impressed with the honor it conferred. May the Almighty protect + that royal purity, and bestow happiness, increase of wealth, and + prosperity! The welfare of your servant is entirely owing to your + favor and benevolence; a few days have elapsed since I arrived at + Goondah, with the Colonel Saib. + + "This is presented for your Highness's information. I cherish hopes + from your generosity, that, considering me in the light of one of + your servants, you will always continue to exalt and honor me with + your gracious letters. May the sun of prosperity continually + shine!" + +These acknowledgments of the Begum's friendly disposition and services +were concealed, when the charge was made against this woman at Lucknow +before Sir Elijah Impey: I wish to impress this upon your Lordships' +mind; and that before Mr. Hastings left Bengal, in the trunk of Major +Scott, his private Persian interpreter, was this letter. Did he make +that inquiry of Captain Gordon? No. Did he make that inquiry of Colonel +Hannay? Did he make any inquiry into the matter, after his perusal of +these letters? Or did he give this poor woman any opportunity of +obtaining justice against this Captain Gordon, who, after acknowledging +that he owed his life to her favor, calumniates and traduces her to her +utter destruction? No, he never did; and therefore he is chargeable, and +I charge him, with everything that is wrongful in Captain Gordon's +evidence. + +These papers, which carry with them a clear refutation of all the +charges against the Begum, are never once produced, though Captain +Gordon was referred to expressly for inquiry and explanation of the +whole transaction by the woman herself. You hear nothing of them; there +is no appearance of them in the affidavits; no such papers were laid +before the Supreme Council; none were transmitted to the Court of +Directors: but at last the House of Commons having come at the truth of +this matter, Mr. Hastings, not daring to deny the existence of these +papers, brings Captain Gordon to be examined here, in order to prove +that papers which he had himself written were false. Is this to be +tolerated? What will your Lordships think of a man that comes to attest +his own infamy,--to declare that he has written papers containing +falsehoods, and to invalidate the false testimony which he had before +given? Is he to be suffered, I say, to come here, and endeavor to prove +the absolute falsity of his own deeds by his own evidence? + +The next point for your Lordships' consideration is the evidence which +he produces to prove the falsity of a paper written by himself. Why, he +himself is the sole evidence. And how does he prove it? Why, says he, +"The reason of my writing that letter was this: she had sent a person +with me as an escort, and this person was desirous of receiving some +proof that he had done his duty; and therefore I wrote a complaisant +letter. I meant nothing by it. It was written merely to satisfy the mind +of the man." Now is that the way in which formal and solemn letters, +written upon great occasions to great people, are to be explained away? +If he had said nothing but "Your servant, such a one, has done his +duty," this explanation might pass. But you see it has another +complexion. It speaks of his owing his life to her. But if you admit +that it is possible (for possibilities have an unknown extent) that he +wrote such a letter at such a time and for such a purpose, and that the +letter he wrote was false, and that the falsity of the letter is proved +by his own testimony given in an affidavit which we have also reason to +believe is false, your Lordships must at the same time admit that it is +one of the most complex pieces of fraud and falsehood that, I believe, +ever existed in the world. But it is worse than all this. There is +another letter, written some days after, which I will read to you, and +which he has not pretended to say was written only to testify that a +messenger had executed his commission properly. + +"Your gracious letter," (he thus writes,) "in answer to the petition of +your servant from Goondah, exalted me. From the contents, I became +unspeakably impressed with the honor it conferred." + +My Lords, this letter was not sent back by a messenger, in +acknowledgment of his having done his duty, but was written in +consequence of a correspondence in the nature of a petition for +something or other which he made to the Begum. That petition they have +suppressed and sunk. It is plain, however, that the petition had been +sent, and was granted; and therefore the apology that is made for the +former letter does not apply to this letter, which was written +afterwards. + +How, then, do they attempt to get rid of this difficulty? Why, says +Captain Gordon, "_The Colonel Saib_ (by whom was meant Colonel Hannay) +was not at Goondah, as stated in the letter, but at Succara, about +eighteen miles from it, and therefore you ought not to pay much regard +to this paper." But he does not deny the letter, nor was it possible for +him to deny it. He says Colonel Hannay was not there. But how do we know +whether Colonel Hannay was there or not? We have only his own word for +it. But supposing he was not there, and that it was clearly proved that +he was eighteen miles distant from it, Major Naylor was certainly with +Captain Gordon at the time. Might not his Persian scribe (for he does +not pretend to say he wrote the letter himself) take Major Naylor for a +colonel, (for he was the superior officer to Captain Gordon,) and think +him the Colonel Saib? For errors of that kind may be committed in our +own country. Every day we may take a major for a lieutenant-colonel. +This was an error that might easily have happened in such a case. He was +in as high rank as Colonel Hannay; for Colonel Hannay at that time was +only a major. I do not believe either of them was properly entitled to +the name of Colonel Saib. I am ashamed, my Lords, to be obliged to +remark upon this prevarication. Their own endeavors to get rid of their +own written acts by contradictory evidence and false constructions +sufficiently clear these women of the crimes of which they were accused; +and I may now ask the prisoner at your bar how he dares to produce +Captain Gordon here, how he dares thus to insult the Peers, how he dares +thus to insult the public justice of his country, after not having dared +to inquire, upon the spot, of this man, to whom he was referred by the +Begums for an account of this very transaction? + +I hope your Lordships have got enough of this kind of evidence. All the +rest is of the same batch, and of the same description,--made up of +nothing but hearsays, except in one particular only. This I shall now +mention to your Lordships. Colonel Popham and another gentleman have +told you, that, in a battle with Cheyt Sing's forces, they took +prisoners two wounded nudjeeves or swordsmen, and that these men told +them that they were sent there by the Begums,--that they had got two +rupees and two wounds, but that they thought two rupees a bad +compensation for two wounds. These two men, with their two wounds and +two rupees, had, however, been dismissed. It does not appear that this +accident was considered by these officers to be of consequence enough to +make them ever tell one word of it to Mr. Hastings, though they knew he +was collecting evidence of the disaffection of the Begums, of all kinds, +good, bad, and indifferent, from all sorts of persons. + +My Lords, I must beg leave to say a few words upon this matter; because +I consider it as one of the most outrageous violations of your +Lordships' dignity, and the greatest insult that was ever offered to a +court of justice. A nudjeeve is a soldier armed with a sword. It appears +in evidence that the Nabob had several corps of nudjeeves in his +service; that the Begums had some nudjeeves; and that Colonel Hannay had +a corps of nudjeeves. It is well known that every prince in Hindostan +has soldiers of that description,--in like manner, probably, as the +princes of Europe have their guards. The whole, then, amounts to this: +that a story told by two men who were wounded in an action far from the +place from which they were supposed to come, who were not regularly +examined, not cross-examined, not even kept for examination, and whose +evidence was never reported, is to be a reason why you are to believe +that these Begums were concerned in a rebellion against their son, and +deserved to forfeit all their lands and goods, and to suffer the +indignities that we have stated. + +My Lords, I am really ashamed to mention so scandalous a thing; but let +us put a case: let us suppose that we had accused Mr. Hastings of +instigating the Rajah of Berar to fall upon some of the country powers, +and that the evidence we produced at your bar to prove it was, that an +officer had taken two nudjeeves, who declared they were instigated by +Mr. Hastings to go into the service of that Rajah: could you bear such a +thing? would you suffer such evidence to be produced? or do you think +that we should have so little regard for our own reputation as to +venture to produce such evidence before you? Again, we have charged Mr. +Hastings with committing several acts of violence against the Begums. +Let us suppose our proof to be, that two persons who never appeared +before nor since, that two grenadiers in English uniforms, (which would +be a great deal stronger than the case of the nudjeeves, because they +have no particular uniform belonging to them,) that two English +grenadiers, I say, had been taken prisoners in some action and let go +again, who said that Mr. Hastings had instigated them to make war upon +the Begums: would your Lordships suffer such evidence to be produced +before you? No. And yet two of the first women in India are to be +stripped of all they have in the world upon no better evidence than that +which you would utterly reject. You would not disgrace the British +peerage, you would not disgrace this court of justice, you would not +disgrace human reason itself, by confiscating, on such evidence, the +meanest property of the meanest wretch. You would not subject to the +smallest fine for the smallest delinquency, upon such evidence. I will +venture to say, that, in an action of assault and battery, or in an +action for the smallest sum, such evidence would be scouted as odious +and contemptible, even supposing that a perfect reliance might be placed +upon its truth. And yet this is the sort of evidence upon which the +property, the dignity, and the rank of some of the first persons in Asia +are to be destroyed,--by which a British guaranty, and the honor and +dignity of the crown of Great Britain, and of the Parliament itself, +which sent out this man, are to be forfeited. + +Observe, besides, my Lords, that the two swordsmen said they were sent +by the Begums. Now they could not be sent by the Begums in their own +person. This was a thing in India impossible. They might, indeed, have +been sent by Jewar and Behar Ali Khan: and then we ask again, How came +these ministers not to be called to an account at the time? Why were +they not called upon for their muster-rolls of these nudjeeves? No, +these men and women suffer the penalty, but they never hear the +accusation nor the evidence. + +But to proceed with the evidence of this pretended rebellion. Captain +Williams has told your Lordships that he once had a great number of +letters and papers to prove this rebellion of the Begums. But he +declares that he has lost all these letters. A search was ordered to be +made in Mr. Hastings's record-office, called a trunk; and accordingly in +the trunk is found a paper worthy of such a place and such a cause. This +letter, which has been made use of to criminate the Begums, has not +their names mentioned, nor is there any possibility of their being +included in it. By this paper which is preserved you may judge of the +whole of the papers that are lost. Such a letter, I believe, was never +before brought as evidence in a court of justice. It is a letter said to +have been intercepted, and is as follows. + + "To the most noble * * * * *, whose prosperity be everlasting! + + "It is represented, that the august purwannah [command], having + completed his honorable arrival on the 16th of the month in the + evening, highly exalted me. It is ordered that I should charge + Medeporee, and the other enrolled sepoys belonging to my district, + and take bonds from them that none of them go for service to the + Rajah; and that, when four or five hundred men, nudjeeves and + others, are collected, I should send them to the presence. + According to the order, I have written to Brejunekar Shah Rehemet + Ullah, who is in Bhooaparah, charging him to take bonds from them, + and that whatever sepoys fit for service are collected he should + send to the presence. As at this time the wind is contrary, the + sepoys will not * * * * without travelling charges; for I have + learnt from a letter previously received from Brejunekar Shah + Rehemet Ullah, that the people there also are badly inclined. By + the grace of God, the unalterable glory shall be * * * * *. Zehan + Beg and the nudjeeves who were in the fort of Aneelah have gone off + to Goruckpore." + +This is a letter of somebody or other employed by somebody or other for +the recruiting service,--it should seem, by the word "presence," +somebody employed in enlisting forces for the Nabob. The charge against +the Begum was, that she had joined with the rebellious Rajahs to +exterminate her son's government and the English influence in that +country. In this very paper you see that the soldiers entering into that +service, and officers who are to contract for soldiers, are expressly +bound not to join the Rajahs; and this they produce as proof that the +Begums had joined the Rajahs, and had joined them in a rebellion, for +the purpose of exterminating their son, in the first instance, and the +English afterwards. + +There is another circumstance which makes their own acts the refutation +of their false pretences. This letter says that the country is +disaffected, and it mentions the ill-disposed parts of the country. Now +we all know that the country was ill-disposed; and we may therefore +conclude this paper was written by, and addressed to, some person who +was employed against the persons so ill-disposed,--namely, the very +Rajahs so mentioned before. The prisoner's counsel, after producing this +paper, had the candor to declare that they did not see what use could be +made of it. No, to be sure, they do not see what use can be made of it +for their cause; but I see the use that can be made of it against their +cause. I say that the lost papers, upon which they do so much insist, +deserve no consideration, when the only paper that they have preserved +operates directly against them; and that therefore we may safely infer, +that, if we had the rest of the contents of this trunk, we should +probably find them make as strongly against them as this paper does. You +have no reason to judge of them otherwise than by the specimen: for how +can you judge of what is lost but from what remains? + +The man who hid these papers in his trunk never understood one word of +the Persian language, and consequently was liable to every kind of +mistake, even though he meant well. But who is this man? Why, it is +Captain Williams,--the man who in his affidavits never mentioned the +Begums without mentioning Saadut Ali. It is Captain Williams,--whom we +charge to have murdered a principal man of the country by his own hand, +without law or legal process. It is Captain Williams,--one of those +British officers whom Mr. Hastings states to be the pests of the +country. This is the man who comes here as evidence against these women, +and produces this monstrous paper. + +All the evidence they had produced to you amounts to no more than that +such a man _believes_ such a man _heard of something_; and to close the +whole of this hearsay account, Sir Elijah Impey, who always comes in as +a supplement, declares that no man doubted of the existence of this +rebellion, and of the guilt of the Begums, any more than of the +rebellion of 1745: a comparison which, I must say, is, by way of +evidence, a little indecorous in a chief-justice of India. Your +Lordships are sufficiently acquainted with the history of that rebellion +to know, that, when Lord Lovat was tried at this bar, the proceedings +against him were not founded on second-hand hearsay. The existence of +the rebellion of 1745 was proved, notwithstanding its notoriety; but +neither notoriety nor proof would have signified anything, if Lord +Lovat's participation in it had not been brought home to him directly, +personally, and particularly. Yet a chief-justice, sent to India to +represent the sacred majesty of the crown of England, has gone so far as +to say at your bar that no more doubt could be entertained of the +existence either of the rebellion or the guilt of the Begums than of the +rebellion in 1745. Besides, he forgets that he himself carried the order +to confiscate these people's property without any trial whatever. But +this is the way of proceeding by an English chief-justice in India,--a +chief-justice who had rendered himself the instrument, the +letter-carrier, the messenger, I had almost said the executioner of Mr. +Hastings. + +From this view of the whole matter your Lordships will form an estimate +of the spirit of Indian government and Indian justice. But to blow away +and to put an end to all their false pretences, their hearsays, and talk +of nudjeeves, and wounds, and the like, I ask, Who is the first witness +that we have produced upon this occasion? It is the Nabob himself, +negativing all these pretences. Did he believe them? Not a word from him +of any rebellion, actual or suspected. Sir Elijah Impey, indeed, said +that he was obliged to wheel round, and to avoid that dangerous place, +Fyzabad. His friends urged him to this. "For God's sake," say they, +"have a reverend care of your sacred person! What will become of the +justice of India, what will become of the natives, if you, their +legitimate protector, should fall into the hands of these wicked, +rebellious women at Fyzabad?" But although the Chief-Justice does this, +the Nabob, whose deposition is said to be the first object of this +rebellion, takes leave of Mr. Hastings at the very moment when it is +raging in the highest possible degree, and gallops into its very focus. + +And under what circumstances does he do this? He had brought some +considerable forces with him. No man of his rank in that country ever +goes without them. He left a part of these forces with Mr. Hastings, +notwithstanding he was going into the centre of the rebellion. He then +went on with a corps of about a thousand horse. He even left a part of +these with Mr. Middleton, and galloped, attended by a few horse, into +the very capital, where the Begums, we are told, had ten thousand armed +men. He put himself into their power, and, not satisfied with this, the +very first thing we hear of him after his arrival is, that he paid his +mother a friendly visit,--thus rushing into the den of a lioness who was +going to destroy her own whelp. Is it to be credited, my Lords, that a +prince would act thus who believed that a conspiracy was formed against +him by his own mother? Is it to be credited that any man would trust a +mother who, contrary to all the rules of Nature and policy, had +conspired to destroy her own son? + +Upon this matter your Lordships have the evidence of Captain Edwards, +who was aide-de-camp to the Nabob, who was about his person, his +attendant at Chunar, and his attendant back again. I am not producing +this to exculpate the Begums,--for I say you cannot try them here, you +have not the parties before you, they ought to have been tried on the +spot,--but I am going to demonstrate the iniquity of this abominable +plot beyond all doubt: for it is necessary your Lordships should know +the length, breadth, and depth of this mystery of iniquity. + +Captain Edwards being asked,--"Whether he ever heard any native of +credit and authority in the Nabob's dominions, who appeared to believe +the rebellion of the Begums?--_A._ No, I never did.--_Q._ Have you any +reason to believe that the Nabob gave credit to it?--_A._ I really +cannot rightly presume to say whether the Nabob did or did not; but I am +apt to believe that he did not.--_Q._ Have you any reason, and what, to +form a belief about it?--_A._ I have. I think, if he supposed the +rebellion, ever existed at Fyzabad, he would have been the first person +to take and give the alarm to the British troops.--_Q._ And no such +alarm was taken or given to the British troops?--_A._ No, I think not: +as I was always about his person, and in the camp, I think I certainly +must have known it or heard of it; but I never did." + +We assure your Lordships, you will find upon your printed Minutes, that +Captain Edwards says he was credibly informed that the Nabob left behind +him a part of his guard of horse; and that, so desirous was he to go +into the power of this cruel lioness, his mother, that he advanced, as +he is a vigorous man, and a bold and spirited rider, leaving all his +guards behind him, and rode before them into the middle of Fyzabad. +There is some more evidence to the same purpose in answer to the +question put next to that which I read before. + +"_Q._ When you did hear of the rebellion, did not you understand it to +have been alleged that one object of it was to dethrone the Nabob +himself, as well as to extirpate the English?--_A._ I understood that +the intention of the princesses, the Begums, was to extirpate the +English troops out of the country and out of those dominions, and +likewise to depose her son, and set another son, who seems to have been +a greater favorite of that family, upon the throne, in the room of the +present Nabob; and that son's name is Saadut Ali. I have only heard this +from report. I have no other knowledge but mere report. I understood +from the report, she was to extirpate the English, and depose her son +who is now upon the throne.--_Q._ Was it after or before the seizing of +the treasures, that you heard a circumstantial account of the supposed +object of the rebellion?--_A._ The report was more general after the +seizing of the treasures; but yet there were reports prevailing in the +neighborhood that our troops were sent there in consequence of the +charge that was made by Colonel Hannay and some of his officers of +rebellion existing then at Fyzabad, or having existed, I cannot rightly +say which.--_Q._ Was that report after the order for the troops to march +to Fyzabad?--_A._ It was more general, it was very general then when the +troops did march there, and more general after the seizing of the +treasures.--_Q._ When did the troops first march?--_A._ It was some time +in the month of January, I believe, in the year 1782.--_Q._ While you +was with the Nabob in passing from Lucknow to Chunar, and while you was +with him or the army returning from Chunar, did you then, out of the +whole army, regular or irregular, ever hear of any report of the Begums +being in rebellion?--_A._ No, I do not recollect I ever did.--_Q. (Upon +cross-examination.)_ Do you recollect at what time in August, 1781, you +left Lucknow to proceed with the Nabob to Chunar?--_A._ No, I cannot +rightly mention the date: all that I know is this, that I accompanied +the Nabob, Mr. Middleton, and his attendants, all the way from Lucknow +to Chunargur. I really cannot recollect; I have no notes, and it is so +distant a time since that I do not recollect the particulars of the +month or the day; but I recollect perfectly I accompanied the Nabob all +the way from Lucknow to Chunar, and returned again with him until he +struck off on the road for Fyzabad." + +Your Lordships see plainly the whole of this matter. When they had +resolved to seize the Begums' treasures, they propagated this report +just in proportion to their acts. As they proceeded, the report grew +hotter and hotter. This man tells you when it was that the propagation +of this report first began, when it grew hot, and when it was in its +greatest heat. He tells you that not one native of credit in the country +believed it,--that he did not think the Nabob himself believed it; and +he gives a reason that speaks for itself, namely, that he, the Nabob, +would have been the first man to give the alarm, if he believed in a +rebellion, as he was to be the object of it. He says the English were +the principal spreaders of the report. It was, in fact, a wicked report, +propagated by Mr. Middleton and the English agents for the purpose of +justifying their iniquitous spoliation of the Begums. + +This is the manner in which the matter stands upon the ground of +rebellion, with the exception of Major Gilpin's and Hyder Beg Khan's +testimony. This last man we have proved to have been kept in his office +by Mr. Hastings's influence, and to have been entirely under his +government. When this dependant comes to give his attestation, he gives +a long account of all the proceedings of Cheyt Sing's rebellion, with +which the rebellion charged on the Begums was supposed to be coincident; +and he ends it very remarkably,--that he tells the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth. But it is also remarkable, that even this Hyder +Beg Khan never mentions by name the rebellion of the Begums, nor says +that he ever heard a word about it: a strong proof that he did not dare, +in the face of his country, to give countenance to such a falsehood. + +Major Gilpin's evidence leaves not even the shadow of a pretence for +this charge. He had the Begums and their eunuchs under his custody for a +full year; he was strictly ordered to watch them and to guard them; and +during all that time he lived at Fyzabad. He was the man who commanded +the troops, who had all the witnesses in his power, who had daily access +to all parties at Fyzabad, and who, moreover, was a person attached to +Mr. Hastings in the strongest manner. Your Lordships will now be pleased +to hear read to you this part of Major Gilpin's evidence. + +"_Q._ Had you any opportunity of knowing the character of the Begums, +and whether they were disaffected to our government?--_A._ I had a very +good opportunity of knowing, from the circumstance of my having +commanded so long there. The elder Begum, it was generally understood, +(and I have reason to believe,) was disaffected to our government; and +my sentiments of her conduct stand recorded in my correspondence to the +court of Lucknow to that effect; but with respect to the Bhow Begum, I +acquit her entirely of any disaffection to our government, so far as +comes to my knowledge: appearances were for some time against her; but, +on cool, deliberate inquiry, I found there was no ground for supposing +her guilty of any rebellious principles, at the time of Cheyt Sing's +rebellion.--_Q._ Whether that, according to your belief, is not your +present opinion?--_A._ I think I have answered that very fully, that it +was upon those very principles that I did form an opinion of her +innocence; how far they are justifiable or right I will not take upon me +to say upon oath; there was no one circumstance that came to my +knowledge, during my residence at Fyzabad or my residence in India, that +I would wish to withhold from your Lordships.--_Q._ You state here, +'upon cool, deliberate inquiry': what was that cool, deliberate +inquiry?--_A._ That cool, deliberate inquiry was the conversations I had +with the ministers and the people of Fyzabad, and the letters from +herself expressing her innocence; and it appeared to me from those +letters that she really was our friend and ally." + +The same witness goes on afterwards to say:-- + +"_Q._ I understood you to say, that originally the report prevailed with +respect to both the Begums, but that you was induced to alter that +opinion with respect to the younger Begum, in consequence of Mr. +Gordon's letters, and the intelligence of some of her ministers and +other persons: were not those other persons in the interest of the +younger Begum?--_A._ In general the town of Fyzabad were in her +interest.--_Q._ In what sense do you mean generally in her interest? +Were the persons you conversed with merely those who were in her service +and household, or the inhabitants of Fyzabad in general?--_A._ Both: I +held conversations with both her own body-servants and the inhabitants +of the city." + +A little lower down, in the same page:-- + +"_Q._ What do you mean by the word rebellion, as applied to the Begums? +In what sense do you use it?--_A._ In raising troops, and in other acts +of rebellion, in the common acceptation of the word.--_Q._ Against +whom?--_A._ Against the Nabob's government and the British government +jointly: but I beg to know the particular time and circumstance the +question alludes to.--_Q._ I understand you to have said you understood +the elder Begum was in a constant state of rebellion. In what sense do +you use the word rebellion? Did you say the elder Begum was in a +constant state of rebellion?--_A._ I always understood her to be +disaffected to the English government: it might not be a proper +expression of mine, the word rebellion.--_Q._ Do you know of any act by +the elder Begum against the Vizier?--_A._ I cannot state any.--_Q._ Do +you know of any act which you call rebellion, committed by the elder +Begum against the Company?--_A._ I do not know of any particular +circumstance, only it was generally supposed that she was disaffected to +the Company.--_Q._ What acts of disaffection or hostility towards the +English do you allude to, when you speak of the conversation of the +world at the time?--_A._ I have answered that question as fully as I +can,--that it was nothing but conversation,--that I knew of no +particular act or deed myself." + +This man, then, declares, as your Lordships have heard, that, upon cool, +deliberate inquiry made at Fyzabad from all the inhabitants, he did not +believe in the existence of any rebellion;--that as to the Bhow Begum, +the grandmother, who was a person that could only be charged with it in +a secondary degree, and as conspiring with the other, he says he knows +no facts against her, except that at the battle of Buxar, in the year +1764, she had used some odd expressions concerning the English, who were +then at war with her son Sujah Dowlah. This was long before we had any +empire or pretence to empire in that part of India: therefore the +expression of a rebellion, which he had used with regard to her, was, he +acknowledged, improper, and that he only meant he had formed some +opinion of her disaffection to the English. + +As to the Begum, he positively acquits her of any rebellion. If he, +therefore, did not know it, who was an active officer in the very centre +of the alleged rebellion, and who was in possession of all the persons +from whom information was to be got, who had the eunuchs in prison, and +might have charged them with this rebellion, and might have examined and +cross-examined them at his pleasure,--if this man knew nothing about it, +your Lordships will judge of the falsehood of this wicked rumor, spread +about from hand to hand, and which was circulated by persons who at the +same time have declared that they never heard of it before Sir Elijah +Impey went up into the country, the messenger of Mr. Hastings's orders +to seize the treasures of the Begums, and commissioned to procure +evidence in justification of that violence and robbery. + +I now go to another part of this evidence. There is a person they call +Hoolas Roy,--a man in the employment of the Resident, Mr. Middleton. The +gentlemen who are counsel for the prisoner have exclaimed, "Oh! he was +nothing but a news-writer. What! do you take any notice of him?" Your +Lordships would imagine that the man whom they treat in this manner, and +whose negative evidence they think fit to despise, was no better than +the writers of those scandalous paragraphs which are published in our +daily papers, to misrepresent the proceedings of this court to the +public. But who in fact is this Hoolas Roy, whom they represent, for the +convenience of the day, to be nothing but a news-writer? I will read to +your Lordships a letter from Major Naylor to Colonel Jaques, commanding +the second battalion, twentieth regiment. + + "Sir,--Hoolas Roy, the person appointed by the Nabob for + transacting the business for which the troops are required here, + will hold constant communication and intercourse with you; and as + he is instructed and acquainted with the best method to accomplish + this business, Mr. Middleton requests implicit attention to be paid + to what he may from time to time represent respecting the prisoners + or the business on which he is employed; in short, as he is the + person nominated by the Nabob, he wishes Hoolas Roy to be + considered in the same light as if he himself was present." + +Mr. Middleton, in a letter to Lieutenant Francis Rutledge, writes thus +of him:-- + + "Sir,--When, this note is delivered to you by Hoolas Roy, I have to + desire that you order the two prisoners to be put in irons, keeping + them from all food, &c., agreeable to my instructions of + yesterday." + +You will first see in how confidential a manner Hoolas Roy was employed, +and in what light he was held: that he was employed to carry some +instructions which do not indeed appear, but were accompanied by an +order from Mr. Middleton. "When these instructions shall come to you, to +put these prisoners in irons and keep them without food, &c." The Begums +say, without food and water. _Et cetera_ are words of large import; but +he was "to keep them without food, &c., agreeable to my instructions of +yesterday." This was a pretty general warrant for sufferings. This +Hoolas Roy, this mere news-writer, was not only intrusted with this +warrant, but Mr. Middleton declares him to be a person who was to be +received there, and to represent the Nabob, and very justly too; for he, +Mr. Middleton, was undoubtedly the real nabob of the country. The man, +therefore, whom they talk of in this contemptuous manner in order to +make slight of an observation we made, and which I shall make again, and +whom they affect to consider as a mere paragraph-monger in some +scandalous newspaper, was a man vested by Mr. Middleton with authority +equal to that of the Nabob himself. + +Mr. Hastings not only thought him of consequence enough to be a witness +to the severities used on the ministers of the Begums, but he considered +that he would afterwards be a fit witness to the rebellion. I pray your +Lordships to mark this: he sent for this Hoolas Roy, (who is now nothing +but a mere paragraph-monger,)--he sent for him from Fyzabad to +Benares,--a pretty long journey; and at last caused him to be examined +before Sir Elijah Impey. He has, however, sunk his evidence: a +suppression which is strongly in favor of the Begums, and equally strong +against their accuser. Here we have a man who was intrusted with all +their orders,--who represented the English government,--who represented +the Nabob's government: this man is sent for by Mr. Hastings; he gives +his deposition before Sir Elijah Impey; and the deposition so given is +not to be found either upon the Company's record, in Sir Elijah Impey's +trunk, in Jonathan Scott's trunk, nor in any other place whatever. The +evidence of a witness who could speak most clearly, as probably he did, +and most decisively, upon this subject, is sunk. They suppress, and dare +not produce, the affidavit of the man who was at the bottom of every +secret of both governments. They had the folly to let you know, +obliquely, that he had been sent for by Mr. Hastings, but they conceal +the information obtained from him: a silence more damning than any +positive evidence could be. You have here a proof of their practice of +producing such evidence only as they thought most favorable to their +wicked purposes, in the destruction of this great and ancient family. + +But all the English, they say, believed in the existence of this +rebellion. This we deny. Mr. Purling, who was Resident the year before +its pretended explosion, has told you that he never knew of anything +like a plot carrying on by these women. We were almost ashamed to put +the question to him. Did Mr. Bristow, the next Resident, know or +believe in this plot? He seems, indeed, to have been induced to give +some oblique hints to Mr. Hastings of improper conduct on the part of +the Begums, but without stating what it was. In a letter to Mr. +Hastings, he appears to endeavor to soften the cruel temper of this +inflexible man by going a little way with him, by admitting that he +thought they had behaved improperly. When Mr. Wombwell, another +Resident, is asked whether any Englishman doubted of it, he says Mr. +Bristow doubted of it. No one, indeed, who reads these papers, can avoid +seeing that Mr. Bristow did not believe one word of it,--no more, in +fact, than did Mr. Hastings, or anybody else. + +But, my Lords, let us go from these inferior agents and servants of the +Company to their higher officers. Did Mr. Stables believe it? This +gentleman was Mr. Hastings's colleague in the Council,--a man of as +much honor, I really believe, as ever went to India,--a faithful old +servant of the Company, and very worthy of credit. I believe there is +not a spot upon him during all his long service under the Company: if +any, it is his being a little too obsequious, sometimes, to Mr. +Hastings. Did he believe it? No, he did not: and yet he was one of the +persons authorized to investigate it coolly, and most able to do so. + +Upon the whole, then, the persons who best knew the state of the country +did not believe it; the Nabob did not believe it; the Begums were never +charged with it; no ground of suspicion is suggested, except loose +rumors and the story of two nudjeeves. Under these circumstances the +treasures of these ancient ladies were seized, their property +confiscated, and the Nabob dragged most reluctantly to this act. Yes, +my Lords, this poor, miserable victim was forced to violate all the laws +of Nature, all decency, all property, to rob his own mother, for the +benefit of Mr. Hastings. All this he was forced to do: he was made the +reluctant instrument of punishing his mother and grandmother for a plot +of which even their accusers do not pretend to say that the parties +accused had ever received any intimation. + +My Lords, in forming your judgment upon this nefarious proceeding, your +Lordships will not fail to advert to the fundamental principles, the +acknowledged maxims and established rules, of all judgment and +justice,--that conviction ought to precede execution, that trial ought +to precede conviction, and that a prosecutor's information and evidence +ought to be the preliminary step and substance of the trial. Here +everything was reversed: Sir Elijah Impey goes up with the order for +execution; the party accused is neither arraigned nor tried; this same +Sir Elijah then proceeds to seek for witnesses and to take affidavits; +and in the mean time neither the Nabob, the ostensible prosecutor, nor +his mother and grandmother, the parties accused, knew one word of the +matter. + +But possibly some peculiarity in the circumstances of the case rendered +such a proceeding necessary, and may justify it. No such peculiarity has +been proved or even alleged; nay, it is in the highest degree improbable +that it could have existed. Mr. Hastings had another opportunity of +doing himself justice. When an account of this business was transmitted +to the Court of Directors, they ordered him to inquire into it: and your +Lordships will see what he did in consequence of this order. Your +Lordships will then judge of the extreme audacity of the defence which +he has made of this act at your bar, after having refused to institute +any inquiry into it, although, he had the positive order of the Court of +Directors, and was in the place where that inquiry could be made +effectually, and in the place where the unfortunate women could have an +opportunity of clearing themselves. + +I will first read to your Lordships an extract from the letter of the +Court of Directors to the board at Calcutta, dated the 14th of February, +1783. + + "4. By the second article of the treaty [of Chunar] the Nabob is + permitted to resume such jaghires as he shall think proper, with a + reserve, that all such jaghiredars, for the amount of whose + jaghires the Company are guaranties, shall, in case of a resumption + of their lands, be paid the amount of the net collections through + the Resident. + + "5. We do not see how the Governor-General could consent to the + resumption of such lands as the Company had engaged should remain + in the hands of those who possessed them previous to the execution + of the late treaty, without stronger proofs of the Begums' + defection than have been laid before us; neither can we allow it to + be good policy to reduce the several jaghiredars, and thus uniting + the territory, and the troops maintained for the protection of that + territory, under one head, who, by that means, at some future + period, may become a very powerful enemy to the Company. + + "6. With respect to the resumption of the jaghires possessed by the + Begums in particular, and the subsequent seizure of the treasure + deposited with the Vizier's mother, which the Governor-General, in + his letter to the board, 23d January, 1782, has declared he + strenuously encouraged and supported, we hope and trust, for the + honor of the British nation, that the measure appeared to be fully + justified in the eyes of all Hindostan. The Governor-General has + informed us that it can be well attested, that the Begums + principally excited and supported the late commotions, and that + they carried their inveteracy to the English nation so far as to + aim at our utter extirpation. + + "7. It must have been publicly known that in 1775 the Resident at + the Vizier's court not only obtained from the Begum, widow of the + late Sujah Dowlah, on the Nabob's account, thirty lacs of rupees, + half of which was to be paid to the Company, but also the + forbearance of twenty-six lacs, for the repayment of which she had + security in land, on the Nabob's agreeing to renounce all further + claims upon her, and that to this agreement the Company were + guaranties. + + "8. We find that on the 21st December, 1775, the Begum complained + of a breach of engagements on the part of the Nabob, soliciting + your protection for herself, her mother, and for all the women + belonging to the seraglio of the late Nabob, from the distresses to + which they were reduced; in consequence whereof it was agreed in + consultation, 3d January, 1776, to remonstrate with the + Vizier,--the Governor-General remarking, that, as the + representative of our government has become an agent in this + business, and has pledged the honor and faith of the Company for + the punctual observance of the conditions under which the treaty + was concluded, you had a right to interfere, and justice demanded + it, if it should appear that those engagements have been violated. + And the board at the same time resolved, that, as soon as the + Begum's engagements with the Nabob, to which Mr. Bristow is a + party, shall be fulfilled on her part, this government will think + themselves bound to protect her against any further demand or + molestation. + + "9. If, therefore, the disaffection of the Begums was not a matter + of public notoriety, we cannot but be alarmed for the effects which + these subsequent transactions must have had on the minds of the + natives of India. The only consolation we feel upon this occasion + is, that the amount of those jaghires for which the Company were + guaranties is to be paid through our Resident at the court of the + Vizier; and it very materially concerns the credit of your + government on no account to suffer such payments to be evaded. + + "10. If it shall hereafter be found that the Begums did not take + that hostile part against the Company which has been represented, + as well in the Governor-General's Narrative as in several documents + therein referred to,--and as it nowhere appears, from the papers at + present in our possession, that they excited any commotion previous + to the imprisonment of Rajah Cheyt Sing, but only armed themselves + in consequence of that transaction,--and as it is probable that + such a conduct proceeded entirely from motives of self-defence, + under an apprehension that they themselves might likewise be laid + under unwarrantable contributions,--we direct that you use your + influence with the Vizier that their jaghires may be restored to + them; but if they should be under apprehensions respecting the + future conduct of the Vizier, and wish our further protection, it + is our pleasure that you afford those ladies an asylum within the + Company's territories, and there be paid the amount of the net + collections of their jaghires, agreeably to the second article of + the late treaty, through the medium of our Resident, as may be + ascertained upon an average estimate of some years back." + +You see, my Lords, the Directors had received every one of his false +impressions. They had conceived an idea, that, after the rebellion of +Cheyt Sing, (but not before, upon his own showing,) the Begums had shown +a disposition to arm. They here assume a false fact, which Mr. Hastings +stated in his representation of the business to them. They assume a +variety of other false facts: they assume that the amount of the +jaghires of the Begums were to be paid them in regular pensions; whereas +they were totally confiscated, without any compensation at all. And yet, +upon Mr. Hastings's own showing, they found the transaction to be so +dishonorable to the British government, that they desire him to make +inquiry into it, and give redress accordingly. + +Here, then, is another order of the Company, another call upon Mr. +Hastings to examine to the bottom of this affair. The Directors, after +giving him credit for that enormous mass of falsehoods which we have +proved him to have stated in his Narrative, found themselves so utterly +dissatisfied, that they gave this conditional order to restore the +Begums to their jaghires. Your Lordships will find it in evidence upon +your minutes, that he contumaciously disobeyed this order,--that he +would not consent to the propositions of the Council for inquiring into +the conduct of these injured women, but stifled every attempt that was +made by others to do them justice. And yet he here has the effrontery to +propose that your Lordships should inquire into the business at your +bar,--that you should investigate a matter here which he refused to +inquire into on the spot, though expressly ordered by his masters so to +do. + +I will now read to your Lordships a short extract from his own narrative +of his own proceedings. It begins with reciting part of a note entered +by Mr. Macpherson in the Consultations of the Council, at the time when +the orders of the Court of Directors which I have just alluded to were +taken into consideration. + +"What the Court of Directors seem to have most at heart are, first, that +the engagement of the second article of the Benares treaty should be +faithfully fulfilled,--and, secondly, to guard against the future +misconduct of the Vizier, if he should be disposed to oppress the +Begums; that we should therefore ascertain whether the amount of the +jaghires of the Begums is regularly paid to them through the Company's +Resident, and give them notice that no future demands shall be made upon +them. This the Governor-General might, I think, do in a letter that +would make the Begums sensible of their past misconduct, yet inform them +of the lenity and gracious intentions of the Company, in ordering them +an asylum in Bengal, in case of future distress." + +In consequence of the foregoing opinion from Mr. Macpherson, the +following minute was delivered by the Governor-General. + +"I should gladly acquiesce in the motion made by Mr. Macpherson, if I +thought it possible to frame a letter to the Begums in any terms which +should at the same time convey the intimation proposed by it and not +defeat the purpose of it, or be productive of evils greater than any +which exist in consequence of the proceedings which have already taken +place, and which time has almost obliterated. The orders of the Court of +Directors are conditional; they require nothing, but in the event of +discoveries made subsequent to the advices which were before you on the +14th February last, in alleviation of the former conduct of the Begums. +Nothing has since appeared in relation to them, but their refusal, or +rather that of one, to fulfil her engagements for the payment of the +remainder of the sum exacted from her by the Nabob Vizier in the +beginning of last year. Whatever obedience may be due to the clear +ascertained spirit of the orders of the Court of Directors, this +obligation cannot extend to points to which neither the letter nor +evident spirit of their orders apply. If I am rightly informed, the +Nabob Vizier and the Begums are on terms of mutual good-will. It would +ill become this government to interpose its influence by any act which +might tend to revive their animosities: and a very slight occasion would +be sufficient to effect it. It will be to little purpose to tell them +that their conduct has, in our estimation of it, been very wrong, and at +the same time to announce to them the orders of our superiors, which +more than indicate the reverse. They will instantly take fire on such a +declaration, proclaim the judgment of the Company in their favor, demand +a reparation of the acts which they will construe wrongs with such a +sentence warranting that construction,--and either accept the +invitation, to the proclaimed scandal of the Vizier, which will not add +to the credit of our government, or remain in his dominions, but not +under his authority, to add to his vexations and the disorders of the +country, by continual intrigues and seditions. Enough already exists to +affect his peace, and the quiet of his people; if we cannot heal, let us +not inflame the wounds which have been inflicted. + +"If the Begums think themselves aggrieved to such a degree as to justify +them in an appeal to a foreign jurisdiction,--to appeal to it against a +man standing in the relation of son and grandson to them,--to appeal to +the justice of those who have been the abettors and instruments of their +imputed wrongs,--let us at least permit them to be the judges of their +own feelings, and prefer their complaints before we offer to redress +them: they will not need to be prompted. I hope I shall not depart from +the simplicity of official language, in saying, that the majesty of +justice ought to be approached with solicitation, not descend to provoke +or invite it, much less to debase itself by the suggestion of wrongs and +the promise of redress, with the denunciation of punishment before +trial, and even before accusation." + +My Lords, if, since the beginning of the world, such a paper as this was +ever before written by a person standing in the relation of a servant to +his master, I shall allow that every word we have said to your Lordships +upon this occasion to mark his guilt ought to be expunged from your +minutes and from our charges. + +Before I proceed to make any observations upon this act of open +rebellion against his superiors, I must beg your Lordships to remark the +cruelty of purpose, the hostile feeling, towards these injured women, +which were displayed in this daring defiance. Your Lordships will find +that he never is a rebel to one party without being a tyrant to some +others; that _rebel_ and _tyrant_ are correlative terms, when applied to +him, and that they constantly go together. + +It is suggested by the Directors, that the Nabob is the persecutor, the +oppressor, and that Mr. Hastings is the person who is to redress the +wrong. But here they have mistaken the matter totally. For we have +proved to your Lordships that Mr. Hastings was the principal in the +persecution, and that the Nabob was only an instrument. "If I am rightly +informed," he says, "the Nabob and the Begums are on terms of mutual +good-will. It would ill become this government to interpose its +influence by any act which might tend to revive their animosities: and a +very slight occasion would be sufficient to effect it." What animosities +had they towards each other? None that we know of. Mr. Hastings gets the +Nabob to rob his mother; and then he supposes, contrary to truth, +contrary to fact, contrary to everything your Lordships have heard, that +the Nabob would fall into a fury, if his mother was to obtain any +redress,--and that, if the least inquiry into this business was made, it +would create a flame in the Nabob's mind, on account of the active, +energetic, spirited part he had taken in these transactions. +"Therefore," says he, "oh, for God's sake, soothe the matter! It is a +green wound; don't uncover it; do nothing to irritate. It will be to +little purpose to tell them that their conduct has in our estimation of +it been very wrong, and at the same time announce to them the orders of +our superiors, which more than indicate the reverse." Now, my Lords, to +what does all this amount? "First," says he, "I will not do them +justice,--I will not enter upon an inquiry into their wrongs." Why? +"Because they charge us with having inflicted them." Then, surely, for +that reason, you ought to commence an inquiry. "No," says he, "that +would be telling them that our superiors suspect we are in the wrong." +But when his superiors more than indicated suspicions, was he not bound +tenfold to make that inquiry, for his honor and for their satisfaction, +which they direct him to make? No, he will not do it, "because," says +he, "the Begums would either accept the offer of an asylum in the +Company's territories, to the proclaimed scandal of the Vizier, which +would not add to the credit of our government, or they would remain in +his dominions, but not under his authority, to add to his vexations, and +the disorders of the country, by continual intrigues and seditions." + +You see, my Lords, this man is constantly thrusting this peaceable Nabob +before him; goading and pushing him on, as if with a bayonet behind, to +the commission of everything that is base and dishonorable. You have him +here declaring that he will not satisfy the Directors, his masters, in +their inquiries about those acts, for fear of the Nabob's taking +umbrage, and getting into a flame with his mother,--and for fear the +mother, supported by the opinion of the Directors, should be induced to +resent her wrongs. What, I say, does all this amount to? It amounts to +this:--"The Begums accuse me of doing them injustice; the Directors +indicate a suspicion that they have been injured; therefore I will not +inquire into the matter." Why? "Because it may raise disturbances." But +what disturbance could it raise? The mother is disarmed, and could not +hurt the Nabob. All her landed estates he knew were confiscated; he knew +all her money was in his own possession; he knew she had not the means, +if she had been disposed, to create intrigues and cabals;--what +disturbance, then, could be created by his sending a letter to know what +she had to say upon the subject of her wrongs? + +"_If_" says he, "_the Begums think themselves aggrieved._" Observe, my +Lords, that the institution of an inquiry is no measure of the Begums; +it is an order of the Court of Directors, made by them upon his own +representation of his own case, and upon nothing else. The Begums did +not dare to murmur; they did not dare to ask for redress, God knows the +poor creatures were, at or about the time, his +prisoners,--robbed,--stripped of everything,--without hope and without +resource. But the Directors, doing their duty upon that occasion, did +condemn him upon his own false representations contained in that bundle +of affidavits upon which his counsel now contend that your Lordships +should acquit him.--"But," says he, "are they to _appeal to a foreign +jurisdiction_?" When these women were to be robbed, we were not +foreigners to them; on the contrary, we adjudged them guilty of +rebellion. We sent an English chief-justice to collect materials of +accusation against them. We sent English officers to take their money. +The whole was an English transaction. When wrong is to be done, we have +then an interest in the country to justify our acting in it; but when +the question is of redressing wrongs, when the question is of doing +justice, when the question is of inquiry, when the question is of +hearing complaints, then it is a foreign jurisdiction. You are to suffer +Mr. Hastings--to make it foreign, or to make it domestic, just as it +answers his purposes.--But they are "_to appeal against a man standing +in the relation of son and grandson to them, and to appeal to the +justice of those who have been the abettors and instruments of their +imputed wrongs_." Why, my Lords, if he allows that he is the abettor of, +and the instrument to which the Directors impute these wrongs, why, I +ask, does he, with those charges lying upon him, object to all inquiry +in the manner you have seen? + +But the Company's Governor is, it seems, all at once transformed into a +great sovereign;--"_the majesty of justice ought to be approached with +solicitation_." Here, my Lords, he forgets at once the Court of +Directors, he forgets the laws of England, he forgets the act of +Parliament, he forgets that any obedience is due to his superiors. The +Begums were to approach him by the orders of the Court of Directors; he +sets at nought these orders, and asserts that he must be approached with +solicitations. + +"_Time_," says he, "_has obliterated their sufferings._" Oh, what a balm +of oblivion time spreads over the wrongs, wounds, and afflictions of +others, in the mind of the person who inflicts those wrongs and +oppressions! The oppressor soon forgets. This robbery took place in +17[81]; it was in the year 1783 when he asserted that the waters of +Lethe had been poured over all their wrongs and oppressions. Your +Lordships will mark this insulting language, when he says that both the +order of the Directors and the application of the Begums for redress +must be _solicitations to him_. + + [Here Mr. Burke was interrupted by Mr. Hastings, who said, "My + Lords, there was no order. I find a man's patience may be + exhausted. I hear so many falsehoods, that I must declare there was + no order of the Court of Directors. Forgive me, my Lords. He may + say what he pleases; I will not again controvert it. But there is + no order; if there is, read it." Mr. Burke then proceeded.] + +Judge you, my Lords, what the insolence, audacity, and cruelty of this +man must have been, from his want of patience in his present situation, +and when he dares to hold this language here. Your Lordships will reckon +with him for it, or the world will reckon with you. + + [Mr. Hastings here again interrupted Mr. Burke, and said, "There + was no order for inquiry."] + +_Mr. Burke._--Your Lordships have heard the letter read,--I mean the +letter from the Directors, which I read just now. You will judge whether +it is an order or not. I did hope within these two days to put an end to +this business; but when your Lordships hear us charged with direct +falsehood at your bar, when you hear this wicked wretch who is before +you-- + + [_From a Lord._--Order! order! order!] + +_Mr. Burke._--Order, my Lords, we call for, in the name of the Commons! +Your Lordships have heard us accused at your bar of falsehood, after we +had read the order upon which our assertion was founded. This man, whom +we have described as the scourge and terror of India, this man gets up, +and charges us, not with a mistake, an error, a wrong construction, but +a direct falsehood,--and adds, that his patience is worn out with the +falsehood he hears. This is not an English court of justice, if such a +thing is permitted. We beg leave to retire, and take instructions from +our constituents. He ought to be sent to Bridewell for going on in this +manner. + + [_Mr. Wyndham here read the letter again._] + +_Mr. Burke._--With regard to the ravings of this unhappy man, I am sure, +if I were only considering what passed from him to the Managers in this +box, and knowing what allowance is due to a wounded conscience, brought +before an awful tribunal, and smarting under the impressions of its own +guilt, I would pass them over. But, my Lords, we have the honor of the +Commons, we have the honor of this court to sustain. [Your Lordships, +the other day, for an offence committed against a constable, who was +keeping the way under your orders, did, very justly, and to the great +satisfaction of the public, commit the party to Bridewell, for a much +slighter insult against the honor and dignify of your court.] And I +leave it, therefore, for the present, till your Lordships can seriously +consider what the mode of proceeding in this matter ought to be.--I now +proceed. + + * * * * * + +We have read to your Lordships the orders of the Court of Directors: I +again say we consider them as orders: your Lordships are as good judges +of the propriety of the term as we are. You have heard them read; you +have also heard that the Council at Calcutta considered them as orders, +for resolutions were moved upon them; and Mr. Stables, in evidence +before you here, who was one of the Council, so considered them: and yet +this man has the frantic audacity in this place to assert that they were +not orders, and to declare that he cannot stand the repetition of such +abominable falsehoods as are perpetually urged against him. We cannot +conceive that your Lordships will suffer this; and if you do, I promise +you the Commons will not suffer the justice of the country to be trifled +with and insulted in this manner: because, if such conduct be suffered +by your Lordships, they must say that very disagreeable consequences +will ensue, and very disagreeable inferences will be drawn by the public +concerning it. You will forgive, and we know how to forgive, the ravings +of people smarting under a conscious sense of their guilt. But when we +are reading documents given in evidence, and are commenting upon them, +the use of this kind of language really deserves your Lordships' +consideration. As for us, we regard it no more than we should other +noise and brawlings of criminals who in irons may be led through the +streets, raving at the magistrate that has committed them. We consider +him as a poor, miserable man, railing at his accusers: it is natural he +should fall into all these frantic ravings, but it is not fit or natural +that the Court should indulge him in them. Your Lordships shall now hear +in what sense Mr. Wheler and Mr. Stables, two other members of the +Council, understood this letter. + +Mr. Wheler thus writes.--"It always has been and always will be my wish +to conform implicitly to the orders of the Court of Directors, and I +trust that the opinion which I shall give upon that part of the Court's +letter which is now before us will not be taken up against its meaning, +as going to a breach of them. The orders at present under the board's +consideration are entirely provisional. Nothing has passed since the +conclusion of the agreement made by the Governor-General with the Vizier +at Chunar which induces me to alter the opinion which I before held, as +well from the Governor-General's reports to this board as the opinions +which I have heard of many individuals totally unconcerned in the +subject, that the Begums at Fyzabad did take a hostile part against the +Company during the disturbances in Benares; and I am impressed with a +conviction that the conduct of the Begums did not proceed entirely from +motives of self-defence. But as the Court of Directors appear to be of a +different opinion, and conceive that there ought to be stronger proofs +of the defection of the Begums than have been laid before them, I think, +that, before we decide on their orders, the late and present Resident at +the Vizier's court, and the commanding officers in the Vizier's country, +ought to be required to collect and lay before the board all the +information they can obtain with respect to the defection of the Begums +during the troubles in Benares, and their present disposition to the +Company." + +Mr. Stables, September 9th, 1783, writes thus.--"The Court of Directors, +by their letter of the 14th February, 1783, seem not to be satisfied +that the disaffection of the Begums to this government is sufficiently +proved by the evidence before them. I therefore think that the late and +present Resident and commanding officers in the Vizier's country at the +time should be called upon to collect what further information they can +on this subject, in which the honor and dignity of this government is so +materially concerned, that such information may be immediately +transmitted to the Court of Directors." + +When questioned upon this subject at your Lordships' bar, he gives this +evidence.--"_Q._ What was your motive for proposing that +investigation?--_A._ A letter from the Court of Directors; I conceived +it to be ordered by them.--_Q._ Did you conceive the letter of the Court +of Directors positively to direct that inquiry?--_A._ I did so certainly +at the time, and I beg to refer to the minutes which expressed it."--A +question was put to the same witness by a noble lord. "_Q._ The witness +has stated, that at the time he has mentioned he conceived the letter +from the Court of Directors to order an inquiry, and that it was upon +that opinion that he regulated his conduct, and his proposal for such +inquiry. I wish to know whether the expression, '_at the time_,' was +merely casual, or am I to understand from it that the witness has +altered his opinion of the intention of this letter since that +time?--_A._ I certainly retain that opinion, and I wished the inquiry to +go on." + +My Lords, you see that his colleagues so understood it; you see that we +so understood it; and still you have heard the prisoner, after charging +us with falsehood, insultingly tell us we may go on as we please, we may +go on in our own way. If your Lordships think that it was not a positive +order, which Mr. Hastings was bound to obey, you will acquit him of the +breach of it. But it is a most singular thing, among all the astonishing +circumstances of this case, that this man, who has heard from the +beginning to the end of his trial breaches of the Company's orders +constantly charged upon him,--(nay, I will venture to say, that there is +not a single step that we have taken in this prosecution, or in +observations upon evidence, in which we have not charged him with an +avowed direct breach of the Company's order,--you have heard it ten +times this day,--in his defence before the Commons he declares he did +intentionally, in naming Mr. Markham, break the Company's orders,)--it +is singular, I say, that this man should now pretend to be so sore upon +this point. What is it now that makes him break through all the rules of +common decency and common propriety, and show all the burnings of guilt, +upon being accused of the breach of one of the innumerable orders which +he has broken, of which he has avowed the breaking, and attempted to +justify himself a thousand times in the Company's books for having +broken? + +My Lords, one of his own body, one of the Council, has sworn at your bar +what he repeatedly declared to be his sense of it. We consider it as one +of the strongest orders that can be given, because the reason of the +order is added to it: the Directors declaring, that, if it should not be +found upon inquiry, (you see, my Lords, it puts the very case,)--"if you +do not find such and such things, we shall consider the English honor +wounded and stained, and we direct you to make reparation." There are, +in fact, two orders contained in this letter, which we take to be +equally strong and positive,--and we charge him with the breach of both: +namely, the order for inquiry, and the conditional order of restoring to +the Begums their jaghires, or making satisfaction for them; and in case +of any apprehension of reluctance in the Nabob, to bring them for +security into the Company's territories. The two last positive orders +are preceded by the supposition of an inquiry which was to justify him +either in the acts he had done or to justify him in making restitution. +He did neither the one nor the other. We aver that he disobeyed all +these orders. And now let his impatience break out again. + +Your Lordships have seen, amongst the various pretences by which this +man has endeavored to justify his various delinquencies, that of fearing +to offend the Nabob by the restoration of their jaghires to the Begums +is one. Your Lordships will form your own judgment of the truth or +falsehood of this pretence, when you shall have heard the letter which I +shall now read to you, written to Mr. Hastings by the Nabob himself. + + + _Letter from the Nabob Vizier to Mr. Hastings, 25th February, + 1782._ + + "You performed on every occasion towards me whatever was becoming + of friendship: I, too, have done whatever affection required and + you commanded; and in future also, whatever may be your pleasure, + there shall be no deviation therefrom, because whatever you direct + is altogether for my benefit. The business for which I came to + Fyzabad is become settled by your favor: particulars will become + known to your wisdom from the writings of Mr. Middleton. I am + grateful for your favors. If in these matters you sincerely approve + me, communicate it, for it will be a comfort to me. Having + appointed my own aumils to the jaghire of the lady mother, I have + engaged to pay her cash. She has complied with my views. Her + pleasure is, that, after receiving an engagement, he should deliver + up the jaghires. What is your pleasure in this matter? If you + command, it will comfort the lady mother giving her back the + jaghire after I have obtained my views; or I will have it under my + aumil. I am obedient to your pleasure." + +Your Lordships here see the Begum a suppliant to have her jaghire +restored, (after entering into some engagement that might have been +required of her,) and the Nabob, in a tone equally suppliant, expressing +his consent, at least, that her request should be complied with, if the +command of Mr. Hastings could be procured. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, in order to save your Lordships' time, and that I might not +overload this business, I did not intend to have troubled you with any +observations upon this part of it; but the charge of falsehood which the +prisoner at your bar has had the audacity to bring against us has +induced me to lay it more particularly before, you. We have now done +with it; but before we retire, your Lordships will permit me to +recapitulate briefly the substance of what has now been urged respecting +his conduct towards these miserable women. We accuse him of reiterated +breaches of the orders of the Court of Directors, both in the letter and +spirit of them, and of his contempt of the opinions which his colleagues +in office had formed of them. We charge him with the aggravation of +these delinquencies, by the oppression and ruin which they brought upon +the family of the Nabob, by the infraction of treaties, and by the +disrepute which in his person was sustained by the government he +represented, and by the stain left upon the justice, honor, and good +faith of the English nation. We charge him with their farther +aggravation by sundry false pretences alleged by him in justification of +this conduct, the pretended reluctance of the Nabob, the fear of +offending him, the suggestion of the Begums having forgotten and +forgiven the wrongs they had suffered, and of the danger of reviving +their discontent by any attempt to redress them, and by his insolent +language, that the majesty of justice with which he impudently invests +himself was only to be approached with solicitation. We have farther +stated, that the pretence that he was only concerned in this business as +an accessary is equally false; it being, on the contrary, notorious, +that the Nabob was the accessary, forced into the service, and a mere +instrument in his hands, and that he and Sir Elijah Impey (whose +employment in this business we stated as a farther aggravation) were the +authors and principal agents. And we farther contend, that each of these +aggravations and pretences is itself, in fact and in its principle, a +substantive crime. + +Your Lordships witnessed the insolence with which this man, stung to the +quick by the recital of his crime, interrupted me; and you heard his +recrimination of falsehood against us. We again avouch the truth of all +and every word we have uttered, and the validity of every proof with +which we have supported them. Let his impatience, I say, now again burst +forth,--he who feels so sensibly everything that touches him, and yet +seeks for an act of indemnity for his own atrocities, by endeavoring to +make you believe that the wrongs of a desolated family are within one +year forgotten by them, and buried in oblivion. + +I trust, my Lords, that both his prosecutors and his judges will evince +that patience which the criminal wants. Justice is not to wait to have +its majesty approached with solicitation. We see that throne in which +resides invisibly, but virtually, the majesty of England; we see your +Lordships representing, in succession, the juridical authority in the +highest court in this kingdom: but we do not approach you with +solicitation; we make it a petition of right; we claim it; we demand it. +The right of seeking redress is not suppliant, even before the majesty +of England; it comes boldly forward, and never thinks it offends its +sovereign by claiming what is the right of all his people. + +We have now done with this business: a business as atrocious as any that +is known in the history of mankind; a business that has stained, +throughout all Asia, the British character, and by which our fame for +honor, integrity, and public faith has been forfeited; a business which +has introduced us throughout that country as breakers of faith, +destroyers of treaties, plunderers of the weak and unprotected, and has +dishonored and will forever dishonor the British name. Your Lordships +have had all this in evidence. You have seen in what manner the Nabob, +his country, his revenues, his subjects, his mother, his family, his +nobility, and all their fortunes, real and personal, have been disposed +of by the prisoner at your bar; and having seen this, you will by the +impatience of this criminal estimate the patience of the unfortunate +women into whose injuries he refused to inquire. What he would not do +the Commons have done. They know that you have a feeling different from +that which he manifested on this occasion; they do not approach you +suppliantly, but demand justice; they insist, that, as the Commons have +done their part, your Lordships will perform yours. + + * * * * * + +We shall next proceed to show your Lordships how he acted towards +another set of women, the women of the late Sujah Dowlah, and for whom +the Directors had ordered a maintenance to be secured by an express +treaty. You will see that he is cruel towards the weak sex, and to all +others in proportion as they are weak and powerless to resist him. You +will see, I say, when he had usurped the whole government of Oude, and +brought it into a servile dependence on himself, how these women fared; +and then your Lordships will judge whether or not, and in what degree, +he is criminal. + + + + +SPEECH + +IN + +GENERAL REPLY. + +SEVENTH DAY. THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1794. + + +My Lords,--When I had last the honor of addressing your Lordships from +this place, my observations were principally directed to the unjust +confiscation and seizure of the jaghires and treasures of the Begums, +without previous accusation, or trial, or subsequent inquiry into their +conduct, in violation of a treaty made with them and guarantied by the +East India Company,--to the long imprisonment and cruel treatment of +their ministers, and to the false pretences and abominable principles by +which the prisoner at your bar has attempted to justify his conduct. The +several acts of violence and of oppression were, as we have shown your +Lordships, committed with circumstances of aggravated atrocity highly +disgraceful to the British name and character,--and particularly by his +forcing the Nabob to become the means and instrument of reducing his +mother and grandmother and their families to absolute want and distress. + +I have now to call your attention to his treatment of another branch of +this miserable family,--the women and children of the late Nabob Sujah +ul Dowlah. These persons were dependent upon the Begums, and by the +confiscation of their property, and by the ruin of various persons who +would otherwise have contributed to their maintenance, were reduced to +the last extremity of indigence and want. Being left without the common +necessaries of life, they were driven to the necessity of breaking +through all those local principles of decorum which constitute the +character of the female sex in that part of the world; and after +fruitless supplications and shrieks of famine, they endeavored to break +the inclosure of the palace, and to force their way to the market-place, +in order to beg for bread. When they had thus been forced to submit to +the extremity of disgrace and degradation, by exposing themselves to +public view with the starving children of their late sovereign, the +brothers and sisters of the reigning prince, they were, in this attempt, +attacked by the sepoys armed with bludgeons, and driven back by blows +into the palace. + +My Lords, we have first laid before you the sufferings and disgraces of +women of the first distinction in Asia, protected by their rank, +protected by their sex, protected by their near relation to the prince +of the country, protected by two guaranties of the representative of the +British government in India. We now come to another class of women, who +suffered by the violent misappropriation of the revenues of the Nabob, +by which their regular allowance was taken from them; and your Lordships +will find that this man's crimes, at every step we take, ripen in guilt, +his acts of positive injustice are always aggravated by his conduct with +regard to the consequences of them, and form but a small part in the +mass of oppression and tyranny which we have brought before you. + +My Lords, the unjust seizure of the jaghires and treasures of the +Begums, out of which those women were maintained, reduced them to a +state of indigence, and exposed them not only to the sufferings which +belong to the physical nature of man, but also to the indignities which +particularly affected their sex and condition. But before I proceed, I +will beg leave to restate to your Lordships and recall to your memory +who these women were. + +The Nabob Sujah Dowlah had but one legitimate wife. Though the Mahometan +law admits of this number's being extended in certain cases even to +four, yet it is for the most part held disreputable, especially when a +person is married to a woman of the first distinction, to have more than +one legitimate wife. Upon looking into the Hedaya, your Lordships will +see with what extreme rigor fornication is forbidden; but we know that +persons of high rank, by customs that supersede both religion and laws, +add to the number of their wives, or substitute in their room wives of a +subordinate description, and indulge themselves in this license to an +unlimited degree. You will find in Chardin's Travels, where he treats of +the subject of marriage, that such is the custom of all the princes of +the East. The wives of this subordinate class, though they are in +reality no better than concubines, and are subject to the power and +caprices of their lords, are yet allowed, in the eye of the severest +moralists, to have some excuse for their frailty and their weakness; and +they accordingly always do find a degree of favor in this world, and +become the object of particular protection. + +We know that Sujah ul Dowlah was a man unquestionably in his manners +very licentious with regard to women, that he had a great number of +these women in his family, and that his women and the women attendant +upon the persons of his favorites had increased to a very great number. +We know that his sons amounted to twenty,--or, according to Mr. +Hastings's own account, to nineteen. Montesquieu supposes that there are +more females born in the East than in the West. But he says this upon no +good ground. We know by better and more regular information concerning +this matter, that the birth of males and females in that country is in +the same proportion as it is here; and therefore, if you suppose that he +had twenty sons, you may suppose he had about nineteen daughters. By the +customs of that country, all these sons and daughters were considered as +persons of eminent distinction, though inferior to the legitimate +children,--assuming the rank of their father, without considering the +rank which their mother held. All these wives with their children, and +all their female servants and attendants, amounting in the whole to +about eight hundred persons, were shut up in what they call the _Khord +Mohul_, or Lesser Palace. This place is described by one of the +witnesses to be about as large as St. James's Square. Your Lordships +have been told, that, in other circumstances as well as this, these +women were considered as objects of a great degree of respect, and of +the greatest degree of protection. I refer your Lordships to the treaty +by which their maintenance was guarantied by the English government. + +In order to let your Lordships see that I state nothing to you but what +is supported not only by general history, which is enough to support an +account of general manners, but by the particular and peculiar opinions +of a person best informed of the nature of the case, I will refer you to +the Nabob himself: for, undoubtedly, the Nabob of Oude, the Vizier of +the Empire, the Subahdar of the country, was most likely to be the best +judge of what respect was due to the women of his father's family. I +will therefore read to your Lordships, from his own letters, what the +Nabob's opinion was upon this subject. + + + _Extract of a Letter from the Vizier, received 23d of August, + 1782._ + + "I never found resource equal to the necessary expenses. Every + year, by taking from the ministers, and selling the articles of my + harkhanna, I with great distress transacted the business. But I + could not take care of my dependants: so that some of my brothers, + from their difficulties, arose and departed; and the people of the + Khord Mohul of the late Nabob, who are all my mothers, from their + distresses are reduced to poverty and involved in difficulties. No + man of rank is deficient in the care of his dependants, in + proportion to his ability." + + + _Another Letter from the Vizier, received the 31st July, 1784._ + + "My brother, dear as life, Saadut Ali Khan, has requested that I + would permit his mother to go and reside with him. My friend, all + the mothers of my brothers, and the women of the late Nabob, whom I + respect as my own mothers, are here, and it is incumbent upon me to + support them: accordingly I do it; and it is improper that they + should be separated, nor do I approve it. By God's blessing and + your kindness, I hope that all the women of the late Nabob may + remain here; it is the wish also of my grandmother and my mother + that they should." + +Your Lordships now see in what degree of estimation the Nabob held these +women. He regarded the wives of his father as his honorary mothers; he +considers their children as his brethren; he thinks it would be highly +dishonorable to his government, if one of them was taken out of the +sanctuary in which they are placed, and in which, he says, the great of +the country are obliged to maintain their dependants. This is the +account given by the person best acquainted with the usages of the +country, best acquainted with his own duties, best acquainted with his +own wishes. + +Now, my Lords, you will see in what light another person, the agent of a +trading company, who designates himself under the name of Majesty, and +assumes other great distinctions, presumes also to consider these +persons,--and in what contempt he is pleased to hold what is respected +and what is held sacred in that country. What I am now going to quote is +from the prisoner's second defence. For I must remind your Lordships +that Mr. Hastings has made three defences,--one in the House of Commons, +another in the lobby of the House of Commons, and a third at your +Lordships' bar. The second defence, though delivered without name, to +the members in the lobby of the House of Commons, has been proved at +your Lordships' bar to be written by himself. This lobby, this +out-of-door defence, militates in some respects, as your Lordships will +find, with the in-door defence; but it probably contains the real +sentiments of Mr. Hastings himself, delivered with a little more +freeness when he gets into the open air,--like the man who was so vain +of some silly plot he had hatched, that he told it to the +hackney-coachman, and every man he met in the streets. + +He says,--"Begums are the ladies of an Eastern prince; but these women +are also styled the ladies of the late Vizier, and their sufferings are +painted in such strong colors that the unsuspecting reader is led to mix +the subjects together, and to suppose that these latter, too, were +princesses of Oude, that all their sufferings proceeded from some act of +mine, or had the sanction of my authority or permission. The fact is, +that the persons of the Khord Mohul (or Little Seraglio) were young +creatures picked up wherever youth and beauty could be found, and mostly +purchased from amongst the most necessitous and meanest ranks of the +people, for the Nabob's pleasures." In the in-door defence, he says, +"The said women, who were mostly persons of low condition, and the said +children, if any such there were, lived in the Khord Mohul, on an +establishment entirely distinct from the said Begums'." + +My Lords, you have seen what was the opinion of the Nabob, who ought to +know the nature and circumstances of his father's palace, respecting +these women; you hear what Mr. Hastings's opinion is: and now the +question is, whether your Lordships will consider these women in the +same light in which the person does who is most nearly connected with +them and most likely to know them, or in the way in which Mr. Hastings +has thought proper, within doors and without doors, to describe them. +Your Lordships will be pleased to observe that he has brought no proof +whatever of facts which are so boldly asserted by him in defiance of +proof to the contrary, totally at variance with the letter of the son of +the man to whom these women belonged. Your Lordships, I say, will remark +that he has produced not one word of evidence, either within the House +of Commons or the House of Peers, or in the lobby, or anywhere else, to +verify any one word he has said. He slanders these women in order to +lessen that compassion which your Lordships might have for the +sufferings he inflicted upon them. But admitting that some of these +women were of a meaner condition, and that they derived nothing from +their connection with the dignity of the person by whom they had +children, (and we know that in the whole they amounted to about +fourscore children, the Nabob having a race like the patriarchs of old, +as many great persons in that part of the world still have,)--supposing, +I say, all this to be true, yet, when persons are reduced from ease and +affluence to misery and distress, they naturally excite in the mind a +greater degree of compassion by comparing the circumstances in which +they once stood with those into which they are fallen: for famine, +degradation, and oppression were famine, degradation, and oppression to +those persons, even though they were as mean as Mr. Hastings chooses to +represent them. But I hope, as you will sympathize with the great on +account of their condition, that you will sympathize with all mankind on +the ground of the common condition of humanity which belongs to us all; +therefore I hope your Lordships will not consider the calumny of Mr. +Hastings against those women as any other than as an aggravation of his +offence against them. That is the light in which the House of Commons +considered it; for they had heard both his in-door and out-door defence, +and they still persevered in making the charge, and do persevere in +making it still. + +We have first stated what these women were,--in what light they stood +with the Nabob,--in what light they stood with the country at large. I +have now to state in what light they stood with the British government, +previous to this invasion of their rights; and we will prove they were +the actual subjects of a guaranty by the Company. + + + _Extract from an Agreement made by Mr. Middleton, to all the + Particulars of which he engages to procure a Treaty from the Nabob + Asoph ul Dowlah, after his Arrival, and that he will also sign it, + as follows._ + + "First, That, whenever the Begum shall choose to go to Mecca, she + shall be permitted to go. + + "Second, That, when the Nabob shall arrive, I [Mr. Middleton] will + procure suitable allowances to be made to the ladies of the zenanah + and the children of the late Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah, and take care + that they are paid. + + "Third, That the festivals (_shadee_) and marriages of the children + of the late Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah shall be at the disposal of the + Begum: whenever she thinks proper, she shall marry them; and + whatever money shall be necessary for these expenses shall be paid + by the Nabob. + + "Fourth, That the syer of Coda Gunge and Ali Gunge shall be + retained by the Begum as heretofore. + + "Fifth, That I [Mr. Middleton] will, upon the arrival of the Nabob, + procure Vizier Gunge and the garden of Sepoy Dand Khan, or their + equivalent, for the Begum. + + "Sixth, That I [Mr. Middleton] will endeavor to obtain from the + Nabob the sum of 1,150,000 rupees on account of the purchase of + Metchee Bohaun, and the house of Sahebjee, and the fort of the + Gossim, with the land and garden and the barraderry on the banks of + Goomply [Goomty?], and bazaar and garden of the house of Mahnarain + and the house of Beng Peofand at Lucknow: all of which the Nabob + Asoph ul Dowlah has assumed possession of. + + "Seventh, That I will settle with the Nabob the allowances to be + made in ready money to the ladies of the zenanah and others + specified, in the following amount: Total, 17 lacs 250 rupees per + month. + + "Eighth, Upon the arrival of the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah Bahadur, I + will endeavor with all my influence to settle the monthly + allowances of Mohrum Ali Khan and Mahmud Eltifant Khan, &c., the + attendants of the Begums. + + "Ninth, That, if the Begum shall go to Mecca, she shall leave her + mahals and jaghires to the Begum, the mother of Asoph ul Dowlah, + who shall remit the revenues thereof to the Burree Begum: no one + shall prevent her enjoying her jaghires." + +Now, my Lords, we will read the copy of an engagement under the seal of +the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah, and under the seal and signature, in English, +of Mr. Middleton, as follows. + + "First, I, who am the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah Bahadur, do agree that + the jaghires and the gunges and monthly allowance of the officers + and servants, and of the ladies of the zenanah, and of those + specified in the accounts annexed, shall be at the disposal and + under the management and authority of the Begum, and no one shall + oppose or prevent it: this I will punctually observe. In this + agreement Mr. Middleton and the English are engaged. + + "Second, Whenever the Begum may choose to go to Mecca, I will not + oppose it. + + "Third, Whenever the Begum should go to Mecca, she shall leave her + lands, jaghires, &c., either in the care of my mother or of me; and + I will procure bills for the amount of their revenues, and send + them to her: no one shall oppose this. + + "Fourth, The Begum shall have authority over all the ladies of her + zenanah; she shall let them remain with me, and not let them go + anywhere without my permission, or keep them with her. + + "Fifth, The jaghires Coda Gunge and Ali Gunge, &c., with the mahal + and syer belonging to the Begum and made over, shall remain as + heretofore in her possession: Total, 14,460 rupees per month. + + "Eighth, The Begum has authority over the ladies and attendants of + the zenanah; neither myself nor any one else will oppose it. + + "Ninth, The Begum, my grandmother, shall have the authority in all + festivals, and in the marriage of the children of the late Nabob + Sujah ul Dowlah, and, with the consent of my mother and myself, + shall regulate them: excepting in the festivals (_shadee_), the + authority is mine. + + "The English are guaranties to the above engagements, so long as + the Begum shall exist." + + +Your Lordships will observe something here worthy of your notice. You +will first perceive, that the very treaty in which Mr. Hastings, by his +representative, Mr. Middleton, was a party concerned, supposes that the +Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah had other children besides the reigning prince by +his sole legitimate wife; and yet Mr. Hastings, in his defence, has +thought proper, with a full knowledge of that circumstance, to doubt +whether there were any other children. You next see that these women +have Mr. Middleton's (that is, Mr. Hastings's) guaranty for the +allowances which are made and settled upon them, and for the maintenance +of their attendants, for the security and enjoyment of their own +possessions, for their having a law officer of high rank, a moulavy, of +their own. In short, there is a regular establishment formed for all +these women: they are not separated as a part distinct from the Begums, +but they are put by this very guaranty entirely under their management; +the maintenance of the children is secured; the whole order and economy +of their establishment is delivered entirely to the Begum, the +grandmother, and the Begum, the mother, of the Nabob. + +My Lords, you see that all these arrangements have the solemn guaranty +of the Company, and that these women form a very considerable part of +that guaranty; and therefore your Lordships will not treat their +sufferings, inflicted in violation of the Company's own settlement and +guaranty, as a matter of no consideration for you. + +But to proceed.--We have proved to your Lordships that the Nabob was +reduced to a state of the greatest possible misery and distress; that +his whole revenue was sequestered into the hands of Mr. Hastings's +agents; that by the treaty of Chunar he was to be relieved from the +expense of a body of troops with which he had been burdened without his +own voluntary consent,--nay, more, the temporary brigade, which Mr. +Hastings proposed to take off, but kept on, which he considers not only +as a great distress to his finances, but a dreadful scourge and calamity +to his country,--there was a whole pension-list upon it, with such +enormous pensions as 18,000_l._ a year to Sir Eyre Coote, and other +pensions, that Mr. Hastings proposed to take off, but did not; that, in +proportion as the Nabob's distress increased, Mr. Hastings's demands +increased too; he was not satisfied, with taking from him for the +Company, but he took from him for himself; he demanded six hundred +thousand pounds as a loan, when he knew he had neither money nor credit. + +The consequence of these acts of violence was, that these people, +besieged by the English troops, and deprived of every resource, even of +the funds of charity, by which the protectors of the family, male and +female, might have relieved them, but which the cruel rapacity of Mr. +Hastings had either entirely taken away or greatly diminished, were +reduced to the last extremity of distress. + +After the length of time which has elapsed since we first brought these +matters with their proofs, I shall beg leave, before you go to judgment, +to refresh your memory with a recital of a part of that evidence, in +order that your Lordships may again fully and distinctly comprehend the +nature and extent of the oppression, cruelty, and injustice committed by +Mr. Hastings, and by which you may estimate the punishment you will +inflict upon him. + + + _Letter from Captain Leonard Jaques to Richard Johnson, Esq., + Resident at the Vizier's Court; March 6th, 1782._ + + "Sir,--The women belonging to the Khord Mohul complain of their + being in want of every necessary of life, and are at last drove to + that desperation, that they at night get on the top of the zenanah, + make a great disturbance, and last night not only abused the + sentinels posted in the gardens, but threw dirt at them; they + threatened to throw themselves from the walls of the zenanah, and + also to break out of it. Humanity obliges me to acquaint you of + this matter, and to request to know if you have any direction to + give me concerning it. I also beg leave to acquaint you, I sent for + Letafit Ali Khan, the cojah who has the charge of them, who informs + me their complaint is well grounded,--that they have sold + everything they had, even to the clothes from their backs, and now + have no means of existing. Inclosed, I transmit you a letter from + Mandall on the subject." + + + _Letter from Captain Jaques to Richard Johnson, Esq., March 7th, + 1782._ + + "Sir,--I beg leave to address you again concerning the women in the + Khord Mohul. Their behavior last night was so furious that there + seemed the greatest probability of their proceeding to the utmost + extremities, and that they would either throw themselves from the + walls or force the doors of the zenanah. I have made every inquiry + concerning the cause of their complaints, and find from Letafit Ali + Khan that they are in a starving condition, having sold all their + clothes and necessaries, and now have not wherewithal to support + nature. And as my instructions are quite silent upon this head, + should be glad to know how to proceed in case they were to force + the doors of the zenanah; as I suspect it will happen, should no + subsistence be very quickly sent to them." + + + _Letter from Major Gilpin to John Bristow, Esq., Resident at the + Court of Lucknow; 30th October, 1782._ + + "Last night, about eight o'clock, the women in the Khord Mohul + Zenanah, under the charge of Letafit Ali Khan, assembled on the + tops of the buildings, crying in a most lamentable manner for + food,--that for the last four days they had got but a very scanty + allowance, and that yesterday they had got none. The melancholy + cries of famine are more easily imagined than described; and from + their representations, I fear that the Nabob's agents for that + business are very inattentive. I therefore think it requisite to + make you acquainted with the circumstance, that his Excellency the + Nabob may cause his agents to be more circumspect in their conduct + to these poor, unhappy women." + + + _Letter from Mr. Bristow to Major Gilpin; Fyzabad, 4th November, + 1782._ + + "Sir,--I have received your letters of the 12th, 19th, 27th, and + 30th ultimo. I communicated the contents of that of the 30th to the + minister, who promised me to issue orders for the payment of a sum + of money to relieve the distress of the Khord Mohul. I shall also + forward a bill for 10,000 rupees to you in the course of three or + four days; and if in the mean time you may find means to supply to + the amount of that sum, I will become personally responsible to + you for the repayment." + + + _Letter from Major Gilpin to John Bristow, Esq., at the Court of + Lucknow; Fyzabad, 15th November, 1782._ + + "Sir,--The repeated cries of the women in the Khord Mohul Zenanah + for subsistence have been truly melancholy. They beg most piteously + for liberty, that they may earn their daily bread by laborious + servitude, or be relieved from their misery by immediate death. In + consequence of their unhappy situation, I have this day taken the + liberty of drawing on you in favor of Ramnarain at ten days' sight, + for twenty son Kerah rupees, ten thousand of which I have paid to + Cojah Letafit Ali Khan, under whose charge that zenanah is." + +These, my Lords, are the state of the distresses in the year 1782, and +your Lordships will see that they continued almost, with only occasional +reliefs, during the period of that whole year. Now we enter into the +year 1783, to show you that it continued during the whole time; and then +I shall make a very few remarks upon it. + +I will now read to your Lordships a part of Mr. Holt's evidence, by +which it is proved that Mr. Hastings was duly advertised of all these +miserable and calamitous circumstances. + + "_Q._ Whether you saw a letter of intelligence from Fyzabad + containing a relation of the treatment of the women in the Khord + Mohul?--_A._ Yes, I did, and translated it.--_Q._ From whom did it + come?--_A._ Hoolas Roy.--_Q._ Who was he?--_A._ An agent of the + Resident at Fyzabad, employed for the purpose of transmitting + information to the Resident.--_Q._ Was that paper transmitted to + Mr. Hastings?--_A._ To the best of my recollection, it was + transmitted to the Board, after I had attested it.--_Q._ Do you + remember at what distance of time after the receipt of the + intelligence respecting the distresses of the Khord Mohul that paper + was transmitted to Calcutta?--_A._ I cannot say.--_Q._ Do you + believe it was transmitted within ten months after the time it was + received?--_A._ I understood it to be a letter received just before + it was transmitted.--_Q._ Then you understand it was transmitted + as soon as received?--_A._ Yes, in the course of three days.--_Q._ + Can you bring to your mind the time at which the translation was + made?--_A._ To the best of my recollection, it was in January, + 1784.--_Q._ Whether the distresses that had been complained of had + ceased for above a twelvemonth before the distresses of the Khord + Mohul?--_A._ I understood they were new distresses.--_Q._ Then you + state that that account transmitted in 1784 was, as you understand, + an account of new distresses?--_A._ Yes." + +I shall now refer your Lordships to page 899 of your printed Minutes. + + [The Managers for the Commons acquainted the House, that they would + next read the paper of intelligence which had been authenticated by + Mr. Holt, in his evidence at the bar, relative to the miserable + situation of these women, which they meant to bring home to Mr. + Hastings.] + + + _An Extract of a Consultation of the 17th February, 1784._ + + "At a Council: present, the Honorable Warren Hastings, Esq., + Governor-General, President, Edward Wheler and John Stables, + Esqrs.; Mr. Macpherson absent from the Presidency for the benefit + of his health: the following letter and its inclosures were + received from Mr. Bristow on the 8th instant, and circulated. + + "'Honorable Sir, and Gentlemen,--I have the honor to forward, for + your further information, the inclosure No. 3; it contains a + relation of the hardships endured by the ladies of the late + Vizier's zenanah.' + + (Signed) 'JOHN BRISTOW.' + + + "_Translation of a Paper of Intelligence from Fyzabad._ + + "'The ladies, their attendants, and servants were still as + clamorous as last night. Letafit, the darogah, went to them, and + remonstrated with them on the impropriety of their conduct, at the + same time assuring them that in a few days all their allowances + would be paid, and should that not be the case, he would advance + them ten days' subsistence, upon condition that they returned to + their habitations. None of them, however, consented to his + proposal, but were still intent upon making their escape through + the bazaar, and in consequence formed themselves in the following + order,--the children in the front, behind them the ladies of the + seraglio, and behind them again their attendants; but their + intentions were frustrated by the opposition which they met with + from Letafit's sepoys. The next day Letafit went twice to the + women, and used his endeavors to make them return into the zenanah, + promising to advance them ten thousand rupees, which, upon the + money being paid down, they agreed to comply with; but night coming + on, nothing transpired. + + "'On the day following, their clamors were more violent than usual. + Letafit went to confer with them on the business of yesterday, + offering the same terms. Depending upon the fidelity of his + promises, they consented to return to their apartments, which they + accordingly did, except two or three of the ladies, and most of + their attendants. Letafit went then to Hossmund Ali Khan, to + consult with him about what means they should take. They came to a + resolution of driving them in by force, and gave orders to their + sepoys to beat any one of the women who should attempt to move + forward; the sepoys accordingly assembled, and each one being + provided with a bludgeon, they drove them, by dint of beating, into + the zenanah. The women, seeing the treachery of Letafit, proceeded + to throw stones and bricks at the sepoys, and again attempted to + get out; but finding that impossible, from the gates being shut, + they kept up a continual discharge till about twelve o'clock, when, + finding their situation desperate, they returned into the Rung + Mohul, and forced their way from thence into the palace, and + dispersed themselves about the house and gardens. After this they + were desirous of getting into the Begum's apartments; but she, + being apprised of their intentions, ordered the doors to be shut. + In the mean time Letafit and Hossmund Ali Khan posted sentries to + secure the gates of the Lesser Mohul. During the whole of this + conflict, the ladies and women remained exposed to the view of the + sepoys. + + "'The Begum then sent for Letafit and Hossmund Ali Khan, whom she + severely reprimanded, and insisted upon knowing the cause of this + infamous behavior. They pleaded in their defence the impossibility + of helping it, as the treatment the women had met with had only + been conformable to his Excellency the Vizier's orders. The Begum + alleged, that, even admitting that the Nabob had given these + orders, they were by no means authorized in this manner to disgrace + the family of Sujah Dowlah, and should they not receive their + allowances for a day or two, it could be of no great moment; what + had passed was now at an end, but that the Vizier should certainly + be acquainted with the whole of the affair, and that whatever he + directed she should implicitly comply with. The Begum then sent for + two of the children who were wounded in the affray of last night, + and after endeavoring to soothe them, she again sent to Letafit and + Hossmund Ali Khan, and in the presence of the children again + expressed her disapprobation of their conduct, and the + improbability of Asoph ul Dowlah's suffering the ladies and + children of Sujah Dowlah to be disgraced by being exposed to the + view of the sepoys. Upon which Letafit produced the letter from the + Nabob, representing that he was amenable only to the order of his + Excellency, and that whatever he ordered it was his duty to obey; + and that, had the ladies thought proper to have retired quietly to + their apartments, he would not have used the means he had taken to + compel them. The Begum again observed, that what had passed was now + over. She then gave the children four hundred rupees and dismissed + them, and sent word by Sumrud and the other eunuchs, that, if the + ladies would peaceably retire to their apartments, Letafit would + supply them with three or four thousand rupees for their present + expenses, and recommended them not to incur any further disgrace, + and that, if they did not think proper to act agreeably to her + directions, they would do wrong. The ladies followed her advice, + and about ten at night went back to the zenanah. The next morning + the Begum waited upon the mother of Sujah Dowlah, and related to + her all the circumstances of the disturbance. The mother of Sujah + Dowlah returned for answer, that, after there being no accounts + kept by crores of revenue, she was not surprised that the family of + Sujah Dowlah, in their endeavors to procure subsistence, should be + obliged to expose themselves to the meanest of the people. After + bewailing their misfortunes and shedding many tears, the Begum took + her leave and returned home.'" + +As a proof of the extremity of the distress which reigned in the Khord +Mohul, your Lordships have been told that these women must have perished +through famine, if their gaolers, Captain Jaques and Major Gilpin, had +not raised money upon their own credit, and supplied them with an +occasional relief. And therefore, when they talk of his peculation, of +his taking but a bribe here and a bribe there, see the consequences of +his system of peculation, see the consequences of a usurpation which +extinguishes the natural authority of the country, see the consequences +of a clandestine correspondence that does not let the injuries of the +country come regularly before the authorities in Oude to relieve it, +consider the whole mass of crimes, and then consider the sufferings that +have arisen in consequence of it. + +My Lords, it was not corporal pain alone that these miserable women +suffered. The unsatisfied cravings of hunger and the blows of the +sepoys' bludgeons could touch only the physical part of their nature. +But, my Lords, men are made of two parts,--the physical part, and the +moral. The former he has in common with the brute creation. Like theirs, +our corporeal pains are very limited and temporary. But the sufferings +which touch our moral nature have a wider range, and are infinitely more +acute, driving the sufferer sometimes to the extremities of despair and +distraction. Man, in his moral nature, becomes, in his progress through +life, a creature of prejudice, a creature of opinions, a creature of +habits, and of sentiments growing out of them. These form our second +nature, as inhabitants of the country and members of the society in +which Providence has placed us. This sensibility of our moral nature is +far more acute in that sex which, I may say without any compliment, +forms the better and more virtuous part of mankind, and which is at the +same time the least protected from the insults and outrages to which +this sensibility exposes them. This is a new source of feelings, that +often make corporal distress doubly felt; and it has a whole class of +distresses of its own. These are the things that have gone to the heart +of the Commons. + +We have stated, first, the sufferings of the Begum, and, secondly, the +sufferings of the two thousand women (I believe they are not fewer in +number) that belong to them, and are dependent upon them, and dependent +upon their well-being. We have stated to you that the Court of Directors +were shocked and astonished, when they received the account of the +first, before they had heard the second. We have proved they desired him +to redress the former, if, upon inquiry, he found that his original +suspicions concerning their conduct were ill-founded. He has declared +here that he did not consider these as orders. Whether they were orders +or not, could anything have been more pressing upon all the duties and +all the sentiments of man than at least to do what was just,--that is, +to make such an inquiry as in the result might justify his acts, or have +entitled them to redress? Not one trace of inquiry or redress do we +find, except we suppose, as we hear nothing after this of the famine, +that Mr. Bristow, who seems to be a man of humanity, did so effectually +interpose, that they should no longer depend for the safety of their +honor on the bludgeons of the sepoys, by which alone it seems they were +defended from the profane view of the vulgar, and which we must state as +a matter of great aggravation in this case. + +The counsel on the other side say that all this intelligence comes in an +anonymous paper without date, transmitted from a newspaper-writer at +Fyzabad. This is the contempt with which they treat this serious paper, +sent to Mr. Hastings himself by official authority,--by Hoolas Roy, who +was the news-writer at Fyzabad,--the person appointed to convey +authentic intelligence concerning the state of it to the Resident at +Lucknow. The Resident received it as such; he transmitted it to Mr. +Hastings; and it was not till this hour, till the counsel were +instructed (God forgive them for obeying such instructions!) to treat +these things with ridicule, that we have heard this Hoolas Roy called a +common news-writer of anonymous information, and the like. If the +information had come in any way the least authentic, instead of coming +in a manner the most authentic in which it was possible to come to Mr. +Hastings, he was bound by every feeling of humanity, every principle of +regard to his own honor and his employers', to see whether it was true +or false; if false, to refute it; if true, to afford redress: he has +done neither. Therefore we charge him with being the cause; we charge +upon him the consequences, with all the aggravations attending them; and +we call both upon justice and humanity for redress, as far as it can be +afforded to these people, and for the severest punishments which your +Lordships can inflict upon the author of these evils. If, instead of the +mass of crimes that we have brought before you, this singly had been +charged upon the prisoner, I will say that it is a greater crime than +any man has ever been impeached for before the House of Lords, from the +first records of Parliament to this hour. + +I need not remind your Lordships of one particular circumstance in this +cruel outrage. No excuse or pretence whatever is brought forward in its +justification. With respect to the Begums, they have been charged with +rebellion; but who has accused the miserable inhabitants of the Khord +Mohul of rebellion, or rebellious designs? What hearsay is there, even, +against them of it? No: even the persons permitted by Mr. Hastings to +rob and destroy the country, and who are stated by him to have been so +employed,--not one of that legion of locusts which he had sent into the +country to eat up and devour the bread of its inhabitants, and who had +been the cause both of the famine itself and of the inability of the +Begums to struggle with it,--none of these people, I say, ventured even +a hearsay about these women. + +Were the sufferers few? There were eight hundred of them, besides +children. Were they persons of any rank and consequence? We are told +that they were persons of considerable rank and distinction, connected +with and living under the protection of women of the first rank in Asia. +Were they persons not deserving pity? We know that they were innocent +women and children, not accused, and unsuspected, of any crime. He has +taken into his head to speak contemptuously of these women of the Khord +Mohul: but your Lordships will consider both descriptions generally with +some respect; and where they are not objects of the highest respect, +they will be objects of your compassion. Your Lordships, by your +avenging justice, will rescue the name of the British government from +the foulest disgrace which this man has brought upon it. + +An account of these transactions, as we have proved by Mr. Holt's +evidence, was regularly transmitted and made known to him. But why do I +say made known to him? Do not your Lordships know that Oude was +his,--that he treated it like his private estate,--that he managed it in +all its concerns as if it were his private demesne,--that the Nabob +dared not do a single act without him,--that he had a Resident there, +nominated by himself, and forced upon the Nabob, in defiance of the +Company's orders? Yet, notwithstanding all this, we do not find a trace +of anything done to relieve the aggravated distresses of these +unfortunate people. + +These are some of the consequences of that abominable system which, in +defiance of the laws of his country, Mr. Hastings established in Oude. +He knew everything there; he had spies upon his regular agents, and +spies again upon them. We can prove, (indeed, he has himself proved,) +that, besides his correspondence with his avowed agents, Major Palmer +and Major Davy, he had secret correspondence with a whole host of agents +and pensioners, who did and must have informed him of every circumstance +of these affairs. But if he had never been informed of it at all, the +Commons contend, and very well and justly contend, that he who usurps +the government of a country, who extinguishes the authority of its +native sovereign, and places in it instruments of his own, and that in +defiance of those whose orders he was bound to obey, is responsible for +everything that was done in the country. We do charge him with these +acts of delinquencies and omissions, we declare him responsible for +them; and we call for your Lordships' judgment upon these outrages +against humanity, as cruel perhaps as ever were suffered in any country. + +My Lords, if there is a spark of manhood, if there is in your breasts +the least feeling for our common humanity, and especially for the +sufferings and distresses of that part of human nature which is made by +its peculiar constitution more quick and sensible,--if, I say, there is +a trace of this in your breasts, if you are yet alive to such feelings, +it is impossible that you should not join with the Commons of Great +Britain in feeling the utmost degree of indignation against the man who +was the guilty cause of this accumulated distress. You see women, whom +we have proved to be of respectable rank and condition, exposed to what +is held to be the last of indignities in that country,--the view of a +base, insulting, ridiculing, or perhaps vainly pitying populace. You +have before you the first women in Asia, who consider their honor as +joined with that of these people, weeping and bewailing the calamities +of their house. You have seen that in this misery and distress the sons +of the Nabob were involved, and that two of them were wounded in an +attempt to escape: and yet this man has had the impudence to declare his +doubts of the Nabob's having had any children in the place, though the +account of what was going on had been regularly transmitted to him. +After this, what is there in his conduct that we can wonder at? + +My Lords, the maintenance of these women had been guarantied by the +Company; but it was doubly guarantied under the great seal of humanity. +The conscience of every man, and more especially of the great and +powerful, is the keeper of that great seal, and knows what is due to its +authority. For the violation of both these guaranties, without even the +vain and frivolous pretence of a rebellion, and for all its +consequences, Mr. Hastings is answerable; and he will not escape your +justice by those miserable excuses which he has produced to the Court of +Directors, and which he has produced here in his justification. My +Lords, that justification we leave with your Lordships. + + * * * * * + +We now proceed to another part of our charge, which Mr. Hastings has not +thought proper to deny, but upon which we shall beg leave to make a few +observations. You will first hear read to you, from the 17th article of +our charge, the subject-matter to which we now wish to call your +attention. + + "That in or about the month of March, 1783, three of the said + brothers of the Nabob, namely, Mirza Hyder Ali, Mirza Imayut Ali, + and Mirza Syef Ali, did represent to the said Bristow that they + were in distress for dry bread and clothes, and in consequence of + such representation were relieved by the intervention of the said + Bristow, but soon after the deputation of the said Warren Hastings + to Oude, in the year 1784, that is to say, some time in or about + the month of September, in the said year 1784, the said Mirza Hyder + Ali, one of the three princes aforesaid, did fly to the province of + Benares, and did remain there in great distress; and that, although + the said Warren Hastings did write to the said Nabob an account of + the aforesaid circumstances, in certain loose, light, and + disrespectful expressions concerning the said Mirza Hyder Ali, he + did not, as he was in duty bound to do, in any wise exert that + influence which he actually and notoriously possessed over the mind + of the said Nabob, for the relief of the said prince, the brother + of the said Nabob, but, without obtaining any satisfactory and + specific assurances, either from the said Nabob or the said + minister, the said Warren Hastings did content himself with + advising the said prince to return to his brother, the said Nabob." + +The answer of Mr. Hastings to that part of the 17th article states:-- + + "And the said Warren Hastings says, that in or about the month of + July, in the year 1783, a paper was received, inclosed in a letter + to the Governor-General and Council, from Mr. Bristow, purporting + to be a translation of a letter from three brothers of the said + Vizier, in which they did represent themselves to be in distress + for dry bread and clothes; but whether such distress actually + existed, and was relieved by the said Bristow, the said Warren + Hastings cannot set forth. + + "And the said Warren Hastings further says, that some time in the + month of September, 1784, the said Warren Hastings, being then at + Benares, did receive information that Mirza Hyder Ali was arrived + there, and the said Warren Hastings, not knowing before that time + that there was any such person, did write to the Nabob Vizier, to + the purport or effect following:--'A few days since I learnt that a + person called Mirza Hyder Ali was arrived at Benares, and calls + himself a son of the deceased Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah, and I was also + told that he came from Fyzabad; as I did not know whether he left + Fyzabad with or without your consent, I therefore did not pay him + much attention, and I now trouble you to give me every information + on this subject, how he came here, and what your intentions are + about him; he remains here in great distress, and I therefore wish + to know your sentiments.' + + "And the said Warren Hastings further says, that, having received + an answer from the said Vizier, he did, on or about the 13th of + October, 1784, inclose the same in a letter to the said Mirza, of + which letter the following is a copy:--'An answer is arrived to + what I wrote on your account to the Nabob Vizier, which I inclose + to you: having read it, you will send it back. I conceive you had + better go to the Nabob Vizier's presence, who will certainly afford + you protection and assistance. I will write what is proper to carry + with you to the Nabob, and it will in every respect be for your + good; whatever may be your intention on this head, you will write + to me.' + + "And the said Warren Hastings submits, that it was no part of his + duty as Governor-General to interfere with the said Vizier on + behalf of the said Mirza, or to obtain from the said Vizier any + specific assurances on the subject." + +Continuation of the 17th article of the charge:-- + + "That, in order to avoid famine at home, another of the said + Nabob's brothers, by name Mirza Jungli, was under the necessity of + flying from his native country, and did seek protection from a + certain Mahometan lord called Mirza Shuffee Khan, then + prime-minister of the Mogul, from whom he did go to the camp of the + Mahratta chief Mahdajee Sindia, where he did solicit and obtain a + military command, together with a grant of lands, or jaghire, for + the subsistence of himself, his family, and followers; but wishing + again to be received under the protection of the British + government, the said Mirza Jungli, in 1783, did apply to the said + Resident Bristow, through David Anderson, Esquire, then on an + embassy in the camp of the said Sindia; and in consequence of such + application, the said Bristow, sensible of the disgrace which the + exile of the said Mirza Jungli reflected both on the said Nabob of + Oude and the British nation, did negotiate with the said Nabob and + his ministers for the return of the said Mirza Jungli, and for the + settlement and regular payment of some proper allowance for the + maintenance of the said Mirza Jungli; but the allowance required + was ultimately refused; and although the whole of the transactions + aforesaid were duly represented to the said Warren Hastings by the + said Anderson and by the said Bristow, and although he had himself + received, so early as the 23d of August, 1782, a letter from the + Vizier, grievously complaining of the cruel and extortious demands + made upon him by the said Warren Hastings, in which letter he did + expressly mention the flight of his brothers, and the distresses of + the women of his late father, who he said were all as his mothers, + and that his said brothers, from the resumption of their jaghires, + were reduced to great affliction and distress, and he did attribute + the said flight of some of his brethren, and the distresses of the + rest, and of the women who stood in a species of maternal relation + to him, as owing to the aforesaid oppressive demands, yet he, the + said Warren Hastings, did cruelly, inhumanly, and corruptly decline + to make any order for the better provision of any of the said + eminent family, or for the return of the said prince, who had fled + from his brother's court to avoid the danger of perishing by + famine." + +Answer of Mr. Hastings to that part of the charge:-- + + "And the said Warren Hastings further says, that he was informed + that Mirza Jungli, in the said article also mentioned, did leave + his native country in distress, and did go to Mirza Shuffee Khan, + in the said article also mentioned; and the said Warren Hastings + likewise admits he was informed that the said Mirza Jungli did + afterwards leave the said Mirza Shuffee Khan, and repair to the + camp of Mahdajee Sindia, with a view of obtaining some + establishment for himself and followers. + + "And the said Warren Hastings further says, that in certain letters + written by David Anderson, Esquire, and John Bristow, Esquire, it + was represented that the said Mirza Jungli did apply to the said + Bristow, through the said Anderson, then on an embassy in the camp + of the said Sindia, and that in consequence thereof the said + Bristow did, amongst other things, apply to the said Nabob Vizier + for a certain allowance to be made for the said Mirza, and for the + regular payment thereof, and that a certain allowance was + accordingly settled by the said Vizier on the said Mirza; and the + said Warren Hastings says, that information of the above + transactions was transmitted to the Board of Council, and that a + letter from the said Vizier was received on the 23d of August, + 1782, containing certain representations of the distresses of + himself and his family; and he admits that no order was made by + him, the said Warren Hastings, for the provision of any of the said + family, or for the return of the said Mirza; but the said Warren + Hastings denies that he was guilty of any cruelty, inhumanity, or + corruption, or of any misconduct whatsoever, in the matters + aforesaid." + +Continuation of the charge:-- + + "That some time in or about the month of December, 1783, the Nabob + Bahadur, another of the brothers of the said Nabob of Oude, did + represent to the said Bristow, that he, the said Nabob Bahadur, had + not received a farthing of his allowance for the current year, and + was without food; and being wounded by an assassin, who had also + murdered his aunt in the very capital of Oude, the said Nabob + Bahadur had not a daum to pay the surgeon, who attended him for the + love of God alone. That at or about the period of this said + representation the said Bristow was recalled, and the said Warren + Hastings proceeded up to Lucknow, but did not inquire into the said + representations transmitted by the said Bristow to Calcutta, nor + did order any relief." + +Mr. Hastings's answer to the part of the charge last read:-- + + "And the said Warren Hastings further says, that on the 29th of + January, 1784, after the recall of the said Bristow, he, the said + Bristow, did transmit to the Governor-General and Council two + letters, one dated 28th of December, 1783, the other 7th of + January, 1784, purporting to be written by the said Nabob Bahadur, + addressed to him, the said Bristow, to the effect in the said + article stated; and the said Warren Hastings admits, that, when at + Lucknow, he did not institute any inquiry into the supposed + transaction in the said 17th article stated, or make any order + concerning the said Bahadur, and he denies that it was his duty so + to do." + +Here is the name of this Nabob from a list of the jaghiredars stated by +Mr. Purling, page 485 printed Minutes. Amongst the names of jaghiredars, +the times when granted, and the amount of the jaghires, there occurs +that of the Nabob Bahadur, with a grant of a jaghire of the amount of +20,000 rupees. + + [The _Lord Chancellor_ here remarked, that what had been + just read was matter of the 17th article of the charge + and parts of the answer to it, and that, upon looking + back to the former proceedings, it has escaped his + attention, if any matter contained in the 17th article + had been made matter of the charge; that it therefore + seemed to him that it could not be brought in upon a + reply, not having been made matter of the charge + originally. + + _Mr. Burke._ My Lords, I have to say to this, that I + believe you have heard these facts made matter of charge + by the House of Commons, that I conceive they have been + admitted by the prisoner, and that the Commons have + nothing to do with the proofs of anything in their + charge which is fully and in terms admitted. The proofs + which they have produced to your Lordships were upon + matters which were contested; but here the facts are + admitted in the fullest manner. We neither have + abandoned them, intended to abandon them, or ever shall + abandon them; we have made them, as a charge, upon + record; the answers to them have been recorded, which + answers are complete admissions of every fact in the + charge. + + _Lord Chancellor._ I do not make myself understood. The + objection is not that there has not been evidence given + upon the 17th article, but at the close of the case on + the part of the Managers for the House of Commons no + mention having been made of the matter contained in the + 17th article, that therefore, although it may all have + been admitted by the answer to be true, yet in justice, + if from that answer you ground the charge, it is + necessary the defendant should be heard upon it. + + _Mr. Burke._ If your Lordships choose that the defendant + shall be heard upon it, we have no kind of objection, + nor ever had, or proposed an objection to the defendant + being heard upon it. Your Lordships know that the + defendant's counsel value themselves upon having + abandoned their defence against certain parts of the + charge; your Lordships know that they declared that they + broke off thus in the middle of their defence in order + to expedite this business. + + _Lord Chancellor._ Referring to the proceedings, I think + it a matter perfectly clear, that, in the course of the + charge, after certain articles had been gone through, + the Managers for the Commons closed the case there, + leaving therefore all the other articles, excepting + those that had been discussed, as matters standing with + the answers against them, but not insisted upon in + making out the charge. Of course, therefore, if the + defendant had gone into any of those articles, the + defendant must have been stopped upon them, because he + would then have been making a case in defence to that + which had not been made a case in the prosecution. The + objection, therefore, is not at all that no evidence has + been examined. To be sure, it would be an answer to that + to say, you are now proceeding upon an admission; but + even upon those facts that are admitted, (if the facts + are admitted that are insisted upon as matter in + charge,) that should come in the original state of the + cause, and the defendant in common justice must be heard + upon that, and then, and then only, come the + observations in reply. + + _Mr. Burke._ We do not know, not are informed, that any + charge, information, or indictment, that is before the + court, and upon record, and is not denied by the + defendant, does not stand in full force against him. We + conceive it to be so; we conceive it to be agreeable to + the analogy of all proceedings; and the reason why we + did not go into and insist upon it was, that, having a + very long cause before us, and having the most full and + complete admission upon this subject, we did not proceed + further in it. The defendant defends himself by averring + that _it was not his duty_. It was not our business to + prove that it was his duty. It was he that admitted the + facts assumed to be the foundation of his duty; the + negative he was bound to prove, and he never offered to + prove it. All that I can say upon this point is, that + his delinquency in the matter in question appeared to us + to be a clear, distinct case,--to be a great + offence,--an offence charged upon the record, admitted + upon the record, and never by us abandoned. As to his + defence having been abandoned, we refer your Lordships + to the last petition laid by him upon your table, (that + libellous petition, which we speak of as a libel upon + the House of Commons,) and which has no validity but as + it asserts a matter of fact from the petitioner; and + there you will find that he has declared explicitly, + that, for the accommodation and ease of this business, + and for its expedition, he did abandon his defence at a + certain period. + + _Lord Chancellor._ A charge consisting of a variety of + articles in their nature (however connected with each + other in their subject, but in their nature) distinct + and specific, if only certain articles are pressed in + the charge, to those articles only can a defence be + applied; and all the other articles, that are not made + matter of charge _originally_, have never, in the course + of any proceeding whatever, been taken up _originally_ + in reply. + + _Mr. Burke._ With great respect to your Lordship's + judgment, we conceive that the objection taken from our + not having at a certain period argued or observed upon + the prisoner's answer to the articles not insisted upon + is not conclusive; inasmuch as the record still stands, + and as our charge still stands. It was never abandoned; + and the defendant might have made a justification to it, + if he had thought fit: he never did think fit so to do. + If your Lordships think that we ought not to argue upon + it here in our reply, because we did not argue upon it + before,--well and good; but we have argued and do argue + in our reply many things to which he never gave any + answer at all. I shall beg leave, if your Lordships + please, to retire with my fellow Managers for a moment, + to consult whether we shall press this point or not. We + shall not detain your Lordships many minutes. + + (_The Managers withdrew: in a few minutes the Managers + returned, again into the Hall._) + + _Mr. Burke._ My Lords, the Managers have consulted among + themselves upon this business; they first referred to + your printed proceedings, in order to see the particular + circumstance on which the observation of your Lordship + is founded; we find it thus stated:--"Then the Managers + for the Commons informed the Lords, that, saving to + themselves their undoubted rights and privileges, the + Commons were content to rest their charge here." We + rested our charge there, not because we meant to efface + any precedent matter of the charge which had been made + by us, and of which the facts had been admitted by the + defendant, but, simply saving our rights and privileges, + that is, to resume, (and to make new matter, if we + thought fit,) the Commons were content to rest the + charge there. + + I have further to remark to your Lordships, that the + counsel for the defendant have opened a vast variety of + matter that is not upon record, either on our part or on + theirs, in order to illustrate and to support their + cause; and they have spoken day after day upon the + principles on which their defence was made. My great + object now is an examination of those principles, and to + illustrate the effects of these principles by examples + which are not the less cogent, the less weighty, and the + less known, because they are articles in this charge. + Most assuredly they are not. If your Lordships recollect + the speeches that were made here, you know that great + merit was given to Mr. Hastings for matters that were + not at all in the charge, and which would put us under + the greatest difficulties, if we were to take no notice + of them in our reply. For instance, his merits in the + Mahratta war, and a great mass of matter upon that + subject, were obliquely, and for other purposes, brought + before you, upon which they argued. That immense mass of + matter, containing an immense mass of principles, and + which was sometimes supported by alleged facts, + sometimes by none, they have opened and argued upon, as + matter relative to principle. In answer to their + argument, we propose to show the mischiefs that have + happened from the mischievous principles laid down by + Mr. Hastings, and the mischievous consequences of them. + + If, however, after this explanation, your Lordships are + of opinion that we ought not to be allowed to take this + course, wishing to fall in with your Lordships' + sentiments, we shall abandon it. But we will remind your + Lordships that such things stand upon your records; that + they stand unanswered and admitted on your records; and + consequently they cannot be destroyed by any act of + ours, but by a renunciation of the charge, which + renunciation we cannot make, because the defendant has + clearly and fully admitted it to be founded in fact. We + cannot plead error; we cannot retract it. And why? + Because he has admitted it. We therefore only remind + your Lordships that the charge stands uncontradicted; + and that the observation we intended to make upon it was + to show your Lordships that the principles upon which he + defends all such conduct are totally false and + groundless. But though your Lordships should be of + opinion that we cannot press it, yet we cannot abandon + it; it is not in your power, it is not in our power, it + is not in his power to abandon that charge. You cannot + acquit him of that charge; it is impossible. If, + however, your Lordships, for the accommodation of + business, method of proceedings, or any circumstance of + that kind, wish we should say no more upon the subject, + we close the subject there. Your Lordships are in + possession both of the charge and the admission; and we + wish, and we cannot wish better than, to leave it as it + is upon the record. + + The _Lord Chancellor_ here said,--The opinion of the + Lords can only be with me matter of conjecture. I + certainly was not commanded by the House to state the + observation that had occurred to me; but in the position + in which it now stands, I feel no difficulty in saying, + as my own judgment, that nothing can be matter in reply + that does not relate to those articles that were pressed + in the original charge; and therefore, in this position + of the business of reply, you cannot go into new matter + arising out of other articles that were not originally + insisted upon. + + _Mr. Burke._ We were aware of the objection that might + be made to admitting our observations, if considered as + observations upon the 17th article, but not when + considered with reference to facts on the record before + you, for the purpose of disproving the principles upon + which the defendant and his counsel had relied: that was + the purpose for which we proposed chiefly to make them. + But your Lordship's [the Lord Chancellor's] own personal + authority will have great weight with us, and, unless we + perceive some other peer differ from you, we will take + it in the course we have constantly done. We never have + sent your Lordships out of the hall to consent + [consult?] upon a matter upon which that noble lord + appeared to have formed a decision in his own mind; we + take for granted that what is delivered from the + woolsack, to which no peer expresses a dissent, is the + sense of the House; as such we take it, and as such we + submit to it in this instance. + + Therefore, leaving this upon the record as it stands, + without observing upon it, and submitting to your + Lordships' decision, that we cannot, according to order, + observe in reply upon what was not declared by us to be + a part of the charges we meant to insist upon, we + proceed to another business.] + +We have already stated to your Lordships, and we beg to remind you of +it, the state and condition of the country of Oude when Mr. Hastings +first came to it,--his subsequent and immediate usurpation of all the +powers of government, and the use he made of them,--the tyranny he +exercised over the Nabob himself,--the tyranny he exercised upon his +mother and grandmother, and all the other females of his family, and +their dependants of every description, to the number of about eight +hundred persons,--the tyranny exercised (though we are not at liberty +to press it now) upon his brethren. We have shown you how he confiscated +the property of all the jaghiredars, the nobility of the country. We +have proved to your Lordships that he was well acquainted with all the +misery and distress occasioned by these proceedings, and that he +afforded the sufferers no relief. We now proceed to review the effect of +this general mass of usurpation, tyranny, and oppression upon the +revenues and the prosperity of the country. + +Your Lordships will first be pleased to advert to the state in which Mr. +Hastings found the country,--in what state he found its revenues,--who +were the executive ministers of the government,--what their conduct was, +and by whom they were recommended and supported. For the evidence of +these facts we refer your Lordships to your printed Minutes: there, my +Lords, they stand recorded: they never can be expunged out of your +record, and the memory of mankind, whether we be permitted to press them +at this time upon your Lordships or not. Your Lordships will there find +in what manner the government was carried on in Oude in 1775, before the +period of Mr. Hastings's usurpation. Mr. Hastings, you will find, has +himself there stated that the minister was recommended by the Begums; +and you will remark this, because Mr. Hastings afterwards makes her +interference in the government of her son a part of his crimination of +the Begum. + + * * * * * + +The Resident at the court of Oude thus writes on the 2d of March, 1775. + + "Notwithstanding the confidence the Nabob reposes in Murtezza Khan, + the Begums are much dissatisfied with his elevation. They + recommended to his Excellency to encourage the old servants of the + government, whose influence in the country, and experience, might + have strengthened his own authority, and seated him firmly on the + musnud. In some measure this, too, may appear consistent with the + interests of the Company; for, as Elija Khan and the old ministers + have by frequent instances within their own knowledge experienced + the power of our government, such men, I should conceive, are much + more likely to pay deference to the Company than a person who at + present can have but a very imperfect idea of the degree of + attention which ought to be paid to our connection with the Nabob." + +Your Lordships see that the Begums recommended the old servants, +contrary to the maxims of Rehoboam,--those who had served his father and +had served the country, and who were strongly inclined to support the +English interest there. Your Lordships will remark the effects of the +Begum's influence upon the state of things in 1775, that the Nabob had +been advised by his mother to employ the confidential servants of his +father,--persons conversant in the affairs of the country, persons +interested in it, and persons who were well disposed to support the +English connection. Your Lordships will now attend to a letter from Mr. +Bristow, at Lucknow, to the board, dated 28th November, 1775. + + "I also neglected no part of my duty on the spot, but advised the + minister, even at Lucknow, according to my letter of the 3d + instant, to recommend it to the Nabob to dismiss his useless and + mutinous troops, which measure seems by present appearances to have + succeeded beyond expectation: as the rest of the army do now pay + the greatest attention to his Excellency's orders; already the + complaints of the violences the troops used to commit are greatly + decreased; they profess obedience; and, by the best intelligence I + can obtain of their disposition, there seems to be little doubt + that the example made by disbanding Bussunt's corps has every good + effect we could wish, which had crossed the river and voluntarily + surrendered their arms the day before yesterday to the Nabob." + +His next letter is dated 13th June, 1776. + + "Honorable Sir and Sirs,--It is Elija Khan's first object to + regulate the Vizier's revenue; and I must do him the justice to + say, that the short time he has been in office he has been + indefatigable, and already settled the greater part of the province + of Oude, and fixed on the districts for the assignments of the army + subsidy; Corah and Allahabad he has disposed of, and called for the + Dooab and Rohilcund accounts, in order to adjust them as soon as + possible. This activity will, I hope, produce the most salutary + effects,--as, the present juncture being the commencement of the + season for the cultivation, the aumils, by being thus early placed + in their offices, have the opportunity of advancing _tukavy_, + encouraging the ryots, and making their agreements in their several + districts, in letting under-farms, or disposing of the lands in + such a manner as they may judge most expedient. If, though similar + to the late minister's conduct, a delay of two or three months + should occur in the settlement of the lands, the people throughout + the country would be disheartened, and inevitably a very heavy + balance accrue on the revenue. I have troubled the honorable board + with this detail, in the first place, to show the propriety of + Elija Khan's conduct, and, in the next, the essential service that + will be rendered to the Vizier by continuing Colonel Parker's + detachment during the whole rains in Corah, if required by the + Vizier." + +My Lords, you have now had a view of the state of Oude, previous to the +first period of our connection with it. Your Lordships have seen and +understand that part of the middle period, with which we do not mean to +trouble you again. You will now be pleased to attend to a letter from +Fyzoola Khan to the Governor-General, received the 13th of February, +1778. + + "This country of Cuttah, which formerly depended on the Rohilla + States, and which I consider as now appertaining to the Company, + was very populous and flourishing; but since the commencement of + the Nabob Vizier's government, the farmers appointed by his + ministers have desolated the country. Its situation is at present + very ruinous; thousands of villages, formerly populous, are now + utterly deserted, and no trace left of them. I have already written + to Roy Buckstowr Sing a full account of the tyranny and oppression + exercised by the farmers, to be communicated to you: the constant + revenue of a country depends on the care of its rulers to preserve + it in a flourishing state. I have been induced to make the + representation by my attachment to the interest of the Company; for + otherwise it is no concern of mine. Should these oppressions + continue one or two years longer, and the rulers take no measures + to put a stop to them, the whole country will be a desert." + +My Lords, upon these statements I have only to make this remark,--that +you have seen the first state of this country, and that the period when +it had fallen into the state last described was about two years after +Mr. Hastings had obtained the majority in the Council and began to +govern this country by his lieutenants. We know that the country was put +by him under military collectors: you see the consequences. The person +who makes this representation to Mr. Hastings of the state of the +country, of its distress and calamity, and of the desolation of a +thousand of the villages formerly flourishing in it, is no less a person +than a prince of a neighboring country, a person of whom you have often +heard, and to whom the cause of humanity is much indebted, namely, +Fyzoola Khan,--a prince whose country the English Resident, travelling +through, declares to be cultivated like a garden. That this was the +state of the Rohilla country is owing to its having very fortunately +been one of those that escaped the dominion of Mr. Hastings. + +We will now read to your Lordships a letter from Sir Eyre Coote to the +board at Calcutta, dated the 11th of September, 1779. + + "Honorable Sir and Sirs,--The day before yesterday I encamped near + Allahabad, where the Vizier did me the honor of a visit; and + yesterday morning, in my way hither, I returned it, and was + received by his Excellency with every mark of respect and + distinction. This morning he called here, and we had some general + conversation, which principally turned upon the subject of his + attachment to the English, and his readiness to show the sincerity + of it upon all occasions. It is to be wished we had employed the + influence which such favorable sentiments must have given us more + to the benefit of the country and ourselves; but I fear the + distresses which evidently appear on the face of the one, and the + failure of the revenues to the other, are not to be wholly ascribed + to the Vizier's mismanagement." + +This is the testimony of Mr. Hastings's own pensioner, Sir Eyre Coote, +respecting the known state of the country during the time of this +horrible usurpation, which Sir Eyre Coote mentions under the soft name +of our _influence_. But there could be but one voice upon the subject, +and that your Lordships shall now hear from Mr. Hastings himself. We +refer your Lordships to the Minute of the Governor-General's +Consultation, Fort William, 21st May, 1781: he is here giving his +reasons for going into the upper provinces. + + "The province of Oude having fallen into a state of great disorder + and confusion, its resources being in an extraordinary degree + diminished, and the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah having earnestly + entreated the presence of the Governor-General, and declared, that, + unless some effectual measures are taken for his relief, he must be + under the necessity of leaving his country, and coming down to + Calcutta, to present his situation to this government,--the + Governor-General therefore proposes, with the concurrence of Mr. + Wheler, to visit the province of Oude as speedily as the affairs of + the Presidency will admit, in hopes that, from a minute and + personal observation of the circumstances of that country, the + system of management which has been adopted, and the characters + and conduct of the persons employed, he may possibly be able to + concert and establish some plan by which the province of Oude may + in time be restored to its former state of affluence, good order, + and prosperity." + +Your Lordships have now the whole chain of the evidence complete, with +regard to the state of the country, up to the period of Mr. Hastings's +journey into the country. You see that Mr. Hastings himself admits it to +have been formerly in a most flourishing, orderly, and prosperous state. +Its condition in 1781 he describes to you in words than which no enemy +of his can use stronger, in order to paint the state in which it then +was. In this state he found it, when he went up in the year 1781; and he +left it, with regard to any substantial regulation that was executed or +could be executed, in the state in which he found it,--after having +increased every one of those grievances which he pretended to redress, +and taken from it all the little resources that remained in it. + +We now come to a subsequent period, at which time the state of the +country is thus described by Mr. Bristow, on the 12th December, 1782. + + "Despotism is the principle upon which every measure is founded, + and the people in the interior parts of the country are ruled at + the discretion of the aumil or foujdar for the time being. They + exercise, within the limits of their jurisdiction, the powers of + life and death, and decisions in civil and other cases, in the same + extent as the sovereign at the capital. The forms prescribed by the + ancient institutions of the Mogul empire are unattended to, and the + will of the provincial magistrate is the sole law of the people. + The total relaxation of the Vizier's authority, his inattention and + dislike to business, leave the aumils in possession of this + dangerous power, unawed, uncontrolled by any apprehension of + retrospection, or the interference of justice. I can hardly quote + an instance, since the Vizier's accession to the musnud, of an + aumil having been punished for oppression, though the complaints of + the people and the state of the country are notorious proofs of the + violences daily committed: it is even become unsafe for travellers + to pass, except in large bodies; murders, thefts, and other + enormities shocking to humanity, are committed in open day." + +In another paragraph of the same letter, he says,-- + + "Such has been the system of this government, that the oppressions + have generally originated with the aumils. They have been rarely + selected for their abilities or integrity, but from favor, or the + means to advance a large sum upon being appointed to their office. + The aumil enters upon his trust ruined in reputation and fortune; + and unless he accomplishes his engagements, which is seldom the + case, disgrace and punishment follow. Though the balance of revenue + may be rigorously demanded of him, it has not been usual to + institute any inquiry for oppression. The zemindars, thus left at + the mercy of the aumils, are often driven to rebellion. The weak + are obliged to submit to his exactions, or fly the country; and the + aumil, unable to reduce the more powerful, is compelled to enter + into a disgraceful compromise. Every zemindar looks to his fort for + protection, and the country is crowded with them: Almas Ali Khan + asserts there are not less than seven hundred in his districts. + Hence it has become a general custom to seize the brother, son, or + some near relation or dependant of the different zemindars, as + hostages for the security of the revenue: a great aumil will + sometimes have three or four hundred of these hostages, whom he is + obliged to confine in places of security. A few men like Almas Ali + Khan and Coja Ain ul Din have, from their regularity in the + performance of pecuniary engagements, rendered themselves useful to + the Vizier. A strict scrutiny into his affairs was at all times + irksome to his Excellency, and none of the ministers or officers + about his person possessing the active, persevering spirit + requisite to conduct the detail of engagements for a number of + small farms, it became convenient to receive a large sum from a + great farmer without trouble or deficiency. This system was + followed by the most pernicious consequences; these men were above + all control, they exacted their own terms, and the districts they + farmed were most cruelly oppressed. The revenue of Rohilcund is + reduced above a third, and Almas Ali Khan's administration is well + known to have been extremely violent." + +We will next read to your Lordships an extract from Captain Edwards's +evidence. + + "_Q._ Had you any opportunity of observing the general face of the + country in the time of Sujah Dowlah?--_A._ I had.--_Q._ Did you + remark any difference in the general state of the country at that + time and the period when you made your latter observation?--did you + observe any difference between the condition of the country at that + time, that of Sujah Dowlah in the year 1774, and the latter period + you have mentioned?--_A._ I did,--a very material difference.--_Q._ + In what respect?--_A._ In the general aspect that the country bore, + and the cultivation of the country,--that it was infinitely better + cultivated in 1774 than it was in 1783.--_Q._ You said you had no + opportunity of observing the face of the country till you was + appointed aide-de-camp to the Nabob?--_A._ No,--except by marching + and countermarching. I marched in the year 1774 through the Nabob + Sujah ul Dowlah's provinces into Rohilcund.--_Q._ Had you those + opportunities from the time of your going there in 1774?--_A._ I + had; but not so much as I had after being appointed aide-de-camp to + the Vizier, because I was always before in a subordinate situation: + I marched in a direct line before, with the troops; but afterwards, + when I was aide-de-camp to his Excellency, I was my own master, and + made frequent excursions into the different parts of the + country.--_Q._ Had you an opportunity of observing the difference in + the general happiness and disposition of the people?--_A._ I + had.--_Q._ Did you observe a difference in that respect also between + your first coming and the year 1783?--_A._ Yes, a very sensible + difference: in Sujah ul Dowlah's time the country was in a very + flourishing state, in merchandise, cultivation, and every article of + commerce, and the people then seemed to be very happy under his + government, which latterly was not the case; because the country in + reality appeared in the year 1774 in a flourishing state, and in the + year 1783 it appeared comparatively forlorn and desolate.--_Q._ Was + the court of Asoph ul Dowlah, when you left India, equal in point + of splendor to what it was in the time of Sujah ul Dowlah?--_A._ By + no means: it was not equally splendid, but far inferior.--_Q._ Were + the dependants and officers belonging to the court paid in the same + punctual manner?--_A._ No: I really cannot say whether they were + paid more regularly in Sujah Dowlah's time, only they appeared more + wealthy and more able to live in a splendid style in his time than + they ever have done since his death." + +Here, then, your Lordships see the state of the country in 1783. Your +Lordships may trace the whole progress of these evils, step by step, +from the death of Sujah ul Dowlah to the time of Mr. Hastings's +obtaining a majority in the Council, after which he possessed the sole +and uncontrolled management of the country; you have seen also the +consequences that immediately followed till the year 1784, when he went +up a second time into the country. + +I do not know, my Lords, that it is necessary to make any observation +upon this state of things. You see that the native authority was, as we +have proved, utterly extinguished by Mr. Hastings, and that there was +no superintendent power but his. You have heard of the oppressions of +the farmers of the revenues; and we have shown you that these farmers +generally were English officers. We have shown you in what manner +Colonel Hannay, one of these farmers sent by Mr. Hastings, acted, and +particularly the accumulation of hostages which were made by him. We +have shown you, that by their arbitrary and tyrannical proceedings all +regular government was subverted, and that the country experienced the +last and most dreadful effects of anarchy. We have shown you that no +other security was left to any human being, but to intrench themselves +in such forts as they could make, and that these forts, in one district +only of the country, had increased in number to the amount of seven +hundred. Your Lordships also know, that, when the prisons and mud forts +in which Colonel Hannay kept his hostages confined were full, he kept +them in uncovered cages in the open air. You know that all these farmers +of revenue were either English and military men, or natives under an +abject submission to them; you know that they had the whole country in +assignments, that the jaghires were all confiscated for their benefits; +and you find that the whole system had its origin at the time when Mr. +Hastings alone formed in effect the authority of the Supreme Council. +The weakness of the Nabob, as Sir Eyre Coote tells you, could not have +been alone the cause of these evils, and that our influence over him, if +not actually the cause of the utter ruin, desolation, and anarchy of +that country, might have been successfully exerted in preventing. + +When your Lordships shall proceed to judgment upon these accumulated +wrongs, arising out of the usurped power of the prisoner at your bar, +and redressed by him in no one instance whatever, let not the usurpation +itself of the Nabob's power be considered as a trivial matter. When any +prince at the head of a great country is entirely stripped of everything +in his government, civil or military, by which his rank may be +distinguished or his virtues exercised, he is in danger of becoming a +mere animal, and of abandoning himself wholly to sensual gratifications. +Feeling no personal interest in the institutions or in the general +welfare of the country, he suffers the former (and many wise and +laudable institutions existed in the provinces of the Nabob, for their +good order and government) to fall into disuse, and he leaves the +country itself to persons in inferior situations, to be wasted and +destroyed by them. You find that in Oude, the very appearance of justice +had been banished out of it, and that every aumil exercised an arbitrary +power over the lives and fortunes of the people. My Lords, we have the +proofs of all these facts in our hands; they are in your Lordships' +minutes; and though we can state nothing stronger than is stated in the +papers themselves, yet we do not so far forget our duty as not to point +out to your Lordships such observations as arise out of them. + +To close the whole, your Lordships shall how hear read an extract from a +most curious and extraordinary letter, sent by him to the Court of +Directors, preparatory to his return to England. + + "My only remaining fear is, that the members of the Council, seeing + affairs through a different medium from that through which I view + them, may be disposed, if not to counteract the system which I have + formed, to withhold from it their countenance and active support. + While I myself remain, it will be sufficient if they permit it to + operate without interruption; and I almost hope, in the event of a + new administration of your affairs which shall confine itself to + the same forbearance, and manifest no symptoms of intended + interference, the objects of my arrangements will be effectually + attained; for I leave them in the charge of agents whose interests, + ambition, and every prospect of life are interwoven with their + success, and the hand of Heaven has visibly blest the soil with + every elementary source of progressive vegetation: but if a + different policy shall be adopted, if new agents are sent into the + country and armed with authority for the purpose of vengeance or + corruption, to no other will they be applied. If new demands are + raised on the Nabob Vizier, and accounts overcharged on one side + with a wide latitude taken on the other to swell his debt beyond + the means of payment,--if political dangers are portended, to + ground on them the pleas of burdening his country with unnecessary + defences and enormous subsidies,--or if, even abstaining from + direct encroachment on the Nabob's rights, your government shall + show but a degree of personal kindness to the partisans of the late + usurpation, or by any constructive indication of partiality and + disaffection furnish ground for the expectation of an approaching + change of system, I am sorry to say that all my labors will prove + abortive; for the slightest causes will be sufficient to deject + minds sore with the remembrance of past conflicts, and to elevate + those whose only dependence is placed in the renewal of the + confusion which I have labored with such zeal to eradicate, and + will of course debilitate the authority which can alone insure + future success. I almost fear that this denunciation of effects + from causes so incompetent, as they will appear to those who have + not had the experience which I have had of the quick sensibility + which influences the habits of men placed in a state of polity so + loose, and subject to the continual variations of capricious and + despotic authority, will be deemed overcharged, or perhaps void of + foundation; nor, if they should come to pass, will it be easy to + trace them with any positive evidence to their connection: yet it + is my duty to apprise you of what I apprehend, on grounds which I + deem of absolute certainty, may come to pass; and I rely on your + candor for a fair interpretation of my intention." + +Here, my Lords, the prisoner at your bar has done exactly what his +bitterest accuser would do: he goes through, head by head, every one of +the measures which he had himself pursued in the destruction of the +country; and he foretells, that, if any one of those measures should +again be pursued, or even if good cause should be given to suspect they +would be renewed, the country must fall into a state of inevitable +destruction. This supersedes all observation. This paper is a +recapitulated, minute condemnation of every step which he took in that +country, and which steps, are every one of them upon your Lordships' +minutes. + +But, my Lords, we know very well the design of these pretended +apprehensions, and why he wished to have that country left in the state +he speaks of. He had left a secret agent of his own to control that +ostensible government, and to enable him, sitting in the place where he +now sits, to continue to govern those provinces in the way in which he +now governs them. + + [_A murmur having arisen here, Mr. Burke proceeded._] + +If I am called upon to reword what I have just said, I shall repeat my +words, and show strong grounds and reasons to indicate that he governs +Oude now as much as he ever did. + +You see, my Lords, that the reform which he pretended to make in 1781 +produced the calamities which he states to have existed in 1784. We +shall now show that the reform which he pretended to make in 1784 +brought on the calamities which Lord Cornwallis states in his evidence +to have existed in 1787. + +We will now read two letters from Lord Cornwallis: the first is dated +the 16th November, 1787. + + "I was received at Allahabad and attended to Lucknow by the Nabob + and his ministers with every mark of friendship and respect. I + cannot, however, express how much I was concerned, during my short + residence at his capital, and my progress through his dominions, to + be witness of the disordered state of his finances and government, + and of the desolate appearances of his country. The evils were too + alarming to admit of palliation, and I thought it my duty to exhort + him, in the most friendly manner, to endeavor to apply effectual + remedies to them. He began with urging as apology, that, whilst he + was not certain of the expense [extent?] of our demands upon him, + he had no real interest in being economical in his expenses, and + that, while we interfered in the internal management of his + affairs, his own authority and that of his ministers were despised + by his own subjects. It would have been useless to discuss these + topics with him; but while I repeated my former declarations of our + being determined to give no ground in future for similar + complaints, he gave me the strongest assurances of his being + resolved to apply himself earnestly to the encouragement of + agriculture, and to endeavor to revive the commerce of his + country." + +The second is dated the 25th April, 1788. + + "Till I saw the Vizier's troops, I was not without hope that upon + an emergency he would have been able to have furnished us with some + useful cavalry; but I have no reason to believe that he has any in + his service upon which it would be prudent to place any dependence; + and I think it right to add, that his country appears to be in so + ruined a state, and his finances in so much disorder, that even in + case of war we ought not to depend upon any material support from + him." + +My Lords, I have only to remark upon these letters, that, so far as they +go, they prove the effects of Mr. Hastings's reformation, from which he +was pleased to promise the Company such great things. But when your +Lordships know that he had left his dependant and minister, Hyder Beg +Khan, there, whose character, as your Lordships will find by a reference +to your minutes he has represented as black as hell, to be the real +governor there, and to carry on private correspondence with him here, +and that he had left Major Palmer, his private agent, for a considerable +time in that country to carry on his affairs, your Lordships will easily +see how it has come to pass that the Vizier, such a man as you have +heard him described to be, was not alone able to restore prosperity to +his country. + +My Lords, you have now seen what was the situation of the country in +Sujah Dowlah's time, prior to Mr. Hastings's interference with the +government of it, what it was during his government, and what situation +it was in when Lord Cornwallis left it. Nothing now remains but to call +your Lordships' attention to perhaps the most extraordinary part of +these transactions. But before we proceed, we will beg leave to go back +and read to your Lordships the Nabob's letter of the 24th February, +1780. + + "I have received your letter, and understand the contents. I cannot + describe the solidity of your friendship and brotherly affection + which subsisted between you and my late father. From the friendship + of the Company he received numberless advantages; and I, + notwithstanding I was left an orphan, from your favor and that of + the Company was perfectly at ease, being satisfied that everything + would be well, and that I should continue in the same security that + I was during my father's lifetime, from your protection. I + accordingly, from the day of his death, have never omitted to + cultivate your favor, and the protection of the Company; and + whatever was the desire and directions of the Council at that time + I have ever since conformed to, and obeyed with readiness. Thanks + be given to God that I have never as yet been backward in + performing the will of the English Company, of the Council, and of + you, and have always been from my heart ready to obey them, and + have never given you any trouble from my difficulties or wishes. + This I have done simply from my own knowledge of your favor towards + me, and from my being certain that you would learn the particulars + of my distresses and difficulties from other quarters, and would + then show your friendship and good-will in whatever was for my + advantage. But when the knife had penetrated to the bone, and I was + surrounded with such heavy distresses that I could no longer live + in expectations, I then wrote an account of my difficulties. The + answer which I have received to it is such, that it has given me + inexpressible grief and affliction. I never had the least idea or + expectation from you and the Council that you would ever have + given your orders in so afflicting a manner, in which you never + before wrote, and which I could not have imagined. As I am resolved + to obey your orders, and directions of the Council, without any + delay, as long as I live, I have, agreeably to those orders, + delivered up all my private papers to him [the Resident], that, + when he shall have examined my receipts and expenses, he may take + whatever remains. As I know it to be my duty to satisfy you, the + Company, and Council, I have not failed to obey in any instance, + but requested of him that it might be done so as not to distress me + in my necessary expenses: there being no other funds but those for + the expenses of my mutsuddies, household expenses, and servants, + &c. He demanded these in such a manner, that, being remediless, I + was obliged to comply with what he required. He has accordingly + stopped the pensions of my old servants for thirty years, whether + sepoys, mutsuddies, or household servants, and the expenses of my + family and kitchen, together with the jaghires of my grandmother, + mother, and aunts, and of my brothers and dependants, which were + for their support. I had raised fifteen hundred horse and three + battalions of sepoys to attend upon me; but, as I have no resources + to support them, I have been obliged to remove the people stationed + in the mahals, and to send his people into the mahals, so that I + have not now one single servant about me. Should I mention what + further difficulties I have been reduced to, it would lay me open + to contempt. Although I have willingly assented to this which + brings such distress on me, and have in a manner altogether ruined + myself, yet I failed not to do it for this reason, because it was + for your satisfaction, and that of the Council; and I am patient, + and even thankful, in this condition; but I cannot imagine from + what cause you have conceived displeasure against me. From the + commencement of my administration, in every circumstance, I + received strength and security from your favor, and that of the + Council; and in every instance you and the Council have shown your + friendship and affection for me; but at present, that you have sent + these orders, I am greatly perplexed." + +We will not trouble your Lordships with the remainder of the letter, +which is all in the same style of distress and affliction, and of the +abject dependence of a man who considers himself as insulted, robbed, +and ruined in that state of dependence. + +In addition to the evidence contained in this letter, your Lordships +will be pleased to recollect the Nabob's letter which we read to your +Lordships yesterday, the humble and abject style of which you will never +forget. Oh, consider, my Lords, this instance of the fate of human +greatness! You must remember that there is not a trace anywhere, in any +of the various trunks of Mr. Hastings, that he ever condescended so much +as to give an answer to the suppliant letters of that unhappy man. There +was no mode of indignity with which he did not treat his family; there +was no mode of indignity with which he did not treat his person; there +was no mode of indignity with which he did not treat his minister, Hyder +Beg Khan,--this man whom he represents to be the most infamous and +scandalous of mankind, and of whom he, nevertheless, at the same time +declares, that his only support with the Vizier was the support which +he, Warren Hastings, as representative of the English government, gave +him. + +We will now read a paper which perhaps ought not to have been received +in evidence, but which we were willing to enter in your minutes as +evidence, in order that everything should come before you. Your +Lordships have heard the Nabob speak of his misery, distress, and +oppression; but here he makes a complete defeasance, as it were, of the +whole charge, a direct disavowal of every one of the complaints, and +particularly that of having never received an answer to these +complaints. Oh, think, I say, my Lords, of the degraded, miserable, and +unhappy state to which human nature may be reduced, when you hear this +unhappy man declare that all the charges which we have made upon this +subject relative to him, and which are all either admitted by him or +taken from his own representation, are now stated by him in a paper +before you to be all false, and that there is not a word of the +representation which he had made of Mr. Hastings that has the least +truth in it! Your Lordships will find this in that collection of various +papers which ought to be preserved and put into every museum in Europe, +as one of the most extraordinary productions that was ever exhibited to +the world. + + + _Papers received the 8th of March, 1788, and translated pursuant to + an Order of the Governor-General in Council, dated the 21th of + April, 1788, under the Seal of His Excellency the Nabob Asoph ul + Dowlah, Asoph Jah Bahadur, Vizier ul Momalik._ + + "I have at this time learnt that the gentlemen in power in England, + upon the suspicion that Mr. Hastings, during his administration, + acted contrary to the rules of justice and impartiality, and, + actuated by motives of avidity, was inimical towards men without + cause; that he broke such engagements and treaties as had been made + between the Company and other chiefs; that he extended the hand of + oppression over the properties of men, tore up the roots of + security and prosperity from the land, and rendered the ryots and + subjects destitute by force and extortion.--As this accusation, in + fact, is destitute of uprightness and void of truth, therefore, + with a view to show the truth in its true colors, I have written + upon this sheet with truth and sincerity, to serve as an evidence, + and to represent real facts,--to serve also as information and + communication, that Mr. Hastings, from the commencement of his + administration until his departure for England, whether during the + lifetime of the deceased Nabob, of blessed memory, Vizier ul Moolk, + Sujah ul Dowlah Bahadur, my father, or during my government, did + not at any time transact contrary to justice any matter which took + place from the great friendship between me and the Company, nor in + any business depart from the path of truth and uprightness, but + cultivated friendship with integrity and sincerity, and in every + respect engaged himself in the duties of friendship with me, my + ministers and confidants. I am at all times, and in every way, + pleased with and thankful for his friendly manners and qualities; + and my ministers and confidants, who have always, every one of + them, been satisfied with his conduct, are forever grateful for his + friendship and thankful for his virtues. As these matters are real + facts, and according to truth, I have written these lines as an + evidence, and transmit this paper to England, through the + government of Calcutta, for the information of the gentlemen of + power and rank in England." + +Observe, my Lords, the candor of the Commons. We produce this evidence, +which accuses us, as Mr. Hastings does, of uttering everything that is +false; we choose to bring our shame before the world, and to admit that +this man, on whose behalf and on the behalf of whose country we have +accused Mr. Hastings, has declared that this accusation (namely, this +impeachment) is destitute of uprightness and without truth. But, my +Lords, this is not only a direct contradiction to all he has ever said, +to all that has been proved to you by us, but a direct contradiction to +all the representations of Mr. Hastings himself. Your Lordships will +hence see what credit is to be given to these papers. + +Your Lordships shall now hear what Hyder Beg Khan says: that Hyder Beg +Khan who stands recorded in your minutes as the worst of mankind; who is +represented as writing letters without the Nabob's consent, and in +defiance of him; the man of whom Mr. Hastings says, that the Nabob is +nothing but a tool in his hands, and that the Nabob is and ever must be +a tool of somebody or other. Now, as we have heard the tool speak, let +us hear how the workman employed to work with this tool speaks. + + + _Extract from Hyder Beg Khan's Letter to the Governor and Council._ + + "It is at this time learnt by the Nabob Vizier, and us, his + ministers, that the gentlemen of power in England are displeased + with Mr. Hastings, on the suspicion that during his administration + in this country, from motives of avidity, he committed oppressions + contrary to the rules of justice, took the properties of men by + deceit and force, injured the ryots and subjects, and rendered the + country destitute and ruined. As the true and upright disposition + of Mr. Hastings is in every respect free of this suspicion, we + therefore with truth and sincerity declare by these lines, written + according to fact, that Mr. Hastings, from the first of his + appointment to the government of this country until his departure + for Europe, during his authority in the management of the affairs + of the country, whether in the lifetime of the Nabob Sujah ul + Dowlah Bahadur, deceased, or whether during the present reign, did + not, in any matters which took place from the great friendship + between this government and the Company, act in any wise upon + motives of avidity, and, not having, in any respect, other than + justice and propriety in intention, did not swerve from their + rules. He kept his Excellency the Vizier always pleased and + satisfied" (you will remember, my Lords, the last expressions of + his pleasure and satisfaction) "by his friendship and attention in + every matter. He at all times showed favor and kindness towards us, + the ministers of this government; and under his protection having + enjoyed perfect happiness and comfort, we are from our hearts + satisfied with and grateful for his benevolence and goodness." + +Here, my Lords, you have the character which Hyder Beg Khan gives of Mr. +Hastings,--of the man who he knew had loaded him, as he had done, with +every kind of indignity, reproach, and outrage with which a man can be +loaded. Your Lordships will see that this testimony repeats, almost word +for word, the testimony of the Vizier Nabob,--which shows who the real +writer is. + +My Lords, it is said, that there is no word in the Persian language to +express gratitude. With these signal instances of gratitude before us, I +think we may venture to put one into their dictionary. Mr. Hastings has +said he has had the pleasure to find from the people of India that +gratitude which he has not met with from his own countrymen, the House +of Commons. Certainly, if he has done us services, we have been +ungrateful indeed; if he has committed enormous crimes, we are just. Of +the miserable, dependent situation to which these people are reduced, +that they are not ashamed to come forward and deny everything they have +given under their own hand,--all these things show the portentous nature +of this government, they show the portentous nature of that phalanx with +which the House of Commons is at present at war, the power of that +captain-general of every species of Indian iniquity, which, under him, +is embodied, arrayed, and paid, from Leadenhall Street to the +furthermost part of India. + +We have but one observation more to offer upon this collection of +_razinamas_, upon these miserable testimonials given by these wretched +people in contradiction to all their own previous +representations,--directly in contradiction to those of Mr. Hastings +himself,--directly in contradiction to those of Lord +Cornwallis,--directly in contradiction to truth itself. It is this. Here +is Mr. Hastings with his agents canvassing the country, with all that +minuteness with which a county is canvassed at an election; and yet in +this whole book of razinamas not one fact adduced by us is attempted to +be disproved, not one fact upon which Mr. Hastings's defence can be +founded is attempted to be proved. There is nothing but bare vile +panegyrics, directly belied by the state of facts, directly belied by +the persons themselves, directly belied by Mr. Hastings at your bar, and +by all the whole course of the correspondence of the country. + +We here leave to your Lordships' judgment the consideration of the +elevated rank of the persons aggrieved and degraded to the lowest state +of dependence and actual distress,--the consideration of the condition +of the country gentlemen, who were obliged to hide their heads, wherever +they could, from the plunderers and robbers established under his +authority in every part of the country, and that of the miserable common +people, who have been obliged to sell their children through want of +food to feed them,--the consideration, I say, of the manner in which +this country, in the highest, in the middle, and in the lowest classes +of its inhabitants, nay, in physical works of God, was desolated and +destroyed by this man. + +Having now done with the province of Oude, we will proceed to the +province of Bengal, and consider what was the kind of government which +he exercised there, and in what manner it affected the people that were +subjected to it. + + * * * * * + +Bengal, like every part of India subject to the British empire, contains +(as I have already had occasion to mention) three distinct classes of +people, forming three distinct social systems. The first is the +Mahometans, which, about seven hundred years ago, obtained a footing in +that country, and ever since has in a great degree retained its +authority there. For the Mahometans had settled there long before the +foundation of the Bengal empire, which was overturned by Tamerlane: so +that this people, who are represented sometimes loosely as strangers, +are people of ancient and considerable settlement in that country; and +though, like Mahometan settlers in many other countries, they have +fallen into decay, yet, being continually recruited from various parts +of Tartary under the Mogul empire, and from various parts of Persia, +they continue to be the leading and most powerful people throughout the +peninsula; and so we found them there. These people, for the most part, +follow no trades or occupation, their religion and laws forbidding them +in the strictest manner to take usury or profit arising from money that +is in any way lent; they have, therefore, no other means for their +support but what arises from their adherence to and connection with the +Mogul government and its viceroys. They enjoy under them various +offices, civil and military,--various employments in the courts of law, +and stations in the army. Accordingly a prodigious number of people, +almost all of them persons of the most ancient and respectable families +in the country, are dependent upon and cling to the subahdars or +viceroys of the several provinces. They, therefore, who oppress, +plunder, and destroy the subahdars, oppress, rob, and destroy an immense +mass of people. It is true that a supervening government, established +upon another, always reduces a certain portion of the dependants upon +the latter to want. You must distress, by the very nature of the +circumstances of the case, a great number of people; but then it is your +business, when, by the superiority which you have acquired, however you +may have acquired it, (for I am not now considering whether you have +acquired it by fraud or force, or whether by a mixture of both,) when, I +say, you have acquired it, it is your business not to oppress those +people with new and additional difficulties, but rather to console them +in the state to which they are reduced, and to give them all the +assistance and protection in your power. + +The next system is composed of the descendants of the people who were +found in the country by the Mahometan invaders. The system before +mentioned comprehends the official interest, the judicial interest, the +court interest, and the military interest. This latter body includes +almost the whole landed interest, commercial interest, and moneyed +interest of the country. For the Hindoos not being forbidden by their +laws or religious tenets, as laid down in the Shaster, many of them +became the principal money-lenders and bankers; and thus the Hindoos +form the greatest part both of the landed and moneyed interest in that +country. + +The third and last system is formed of the English interest; which in +reality, whether it appears directly or indirectly, is the governing +interest of the whole country,--of its civil and military interest, of +its landed, moneyed, and revenue interest; and what to us is the +greatest concern of all, it is this system which is responsible for the +government of that country to the government of Great Britain. It is +divided into two parts: one emanating from the Company, and afterwards +regulated by act of Parliament; the other a judicial body, sent out by +and acting under the authority of the crown itself. The persons +composing that interest are those whom we usually call the servants of +the Company. They enter into that service, as your Lordships know, at an +early period of life, and they are promoted accordingly as their merit +or their interest may provide for them. This body of men, with respect +to its number, is so small as scarcely to deserve mentioning; but, from +certain circumstances, the government of the whole country is fallen +into their hands. Amongst these circumstances, the most important and +essential are their having the public revenues and the public purse +entirely in their own hands, and their having an army maintained by that +purse, and disciplined in the European manner. + +Such was the state of that country when Mr. Hastings was appointed +Governor in 1772. Your Lordships are now to decide upon the manner in +which he has comported himself with regard to all these three interests: +first, whether he has made the ancient Mahometan families as easy as he +could; secondly, whether he has made the Hindoo inhabitants, the +zemindars and their tenants, as secure in their property and as easy in +their tenure as he could; and lastly, whether he has made the English +interest a blessing to the country, and, whilst it provided moderate, +safe, and proper emoluments to the persons that were concerned in it, it +kept them from oppression and rapine, and a general waste and ravage of +the country: whether, in short, he made all these three interests pursue +that one object which all interests and all governments ought to pursue, +the advantage and welfare of the people under them. + +My Lords, in support of our charge against the prisoner at your bar, +that he acted in a manner directly the reverse of this, we have proved +to you that his first acts of oppression were directed against the +Mahometan government,--that government which had been before, not only +in name, but in effect, to the very time of his appointment, the real +government of the country. After the Company had acquired its right over +it, some shadow still remained of the ancient government. An allowance +was settled for the Nabob of Bengal, to support the dignity of his +court, which amounted to between four and five hundred thousand pounds a +year. In this was comprehended the support of the whole mass of +nobility,--the soldiers, serving or retired,--all the officers of the +court, and all the women that were dependent upon them,--the whole of +the criminal jurisdiction of the country, and a very considerable part +of the civil law and the civil government. These establishments formed +the constitutional basis of their political government. + +The Company never had (and it is a thing that we can never too often +repeat to your Lordships)--the Company never had of right despotic power +in that country, to overturn any of these establishments. The Mogul, who +gave them their charters, could not give them such a power,--he did not +_de facto_ give them such a power; the government of this country did +not by act of Parliament, and the Company did not and could not by their +delegation, give him such a power; the act by which he was appointed +Governor did not give him such a power. If he exercised it, he usurped +it; and therefore, every step we take in the examination of his conduct +in Bengal, as in every step we take upon the same subject everywhere +else, we look for the justification of his conduct to laws,--the Law of +Nations, the laws of this country, and the laws of the country he was +sent to govern. + +The government of that country, by the ancient constitution of the Mogul +empire, besides the numberless individual checks and counter-checks in +the inferior officers [offices?], is divided into the viceroyal part and +the subahdarry part. The viceroyal part takes in all criminal justice +and political government. Mr. Hastings found the country under a +viceroy, governing according to law, acting by proper judges and +magistrates under him: he himself not being the judicial, but executive +power of the country,--that which sets the other in action, and does not +supersede it or supply its place. The other, the subahdarry power, which +was by the grant of the dewanny conferred upon the Company, had under +its care the revenues, as much of the civil government as is concerned +with the revenues, and many other matters growing out of it. These two +offices are cooerdinate and dependent on each other. The Company, after +contracting to maintain the army out of it, got the whole revenue into +their power. The army being thus within their power, the subahdar by +degrees vanished into an empty name. + +When we thus undertook the government of the country, conscious that we +had undertaken a task which by any personal exertion of our own we were +unable to perform in any proper or rational way, the Company appointed a +native of the country, Mahomed Reza Khan, who stands upon the records of +the Company, I venture to say, with such a character as no man perhaps +ever did stand, to execute the duties of both offices. Upon the +expulsion of Cossim Ali Khan, the Nabob of Bengal, all his children were +left in a young, feeble, and unprotected state; and in that state of +things, Lord Clive, Mr. Sumner, who sits near Mr. Hastings, and the rest +of the Council, wisely appointed Mahomed Reza Khan to fulfil the two +offices of deputy-viceroy and deputy-dewan, for which he had immense +allowances, and great jaghires and revenues, I allow. He was a man of +that dignity, rank, and consideration, added to his knowledge of law and +experience in business, that Lord Clive and Mr. Sumner, who examined +strictly his conduct at that time, did not think that 112,000_l._ a +year, the amount of the emoluments which had been allowed him, was a +great deal too much; but at his own desire, and in order that these +emoluments might be brought to stated and fixed sums, they reduced it to +90,000_l._,--an allowance which they thought was not more than +sufficient to preserve the state of so great a magistrate, and a man of +such rank, exercising such great employments. The whole revenue of the +Company depended upon his talents and fidelity; and you will find, that, +on the day in which he surrendered the revenues into our hands, the +dewanny, under his management, was a million more than it produced on +the day Mr. Hastings left it. For the truth of this I refer your +Lordships to a letter of the Company sent to the Board of Control. This +letter is not in evidence before your Lordships, and what I am stating +is merely historical. But I state the facts, and with the power of +referring for their proof to documents as authentic as if they were +absolutely in evidence before you. Assuming, therefore, that all these +facts may be verified by the records of the Company, I have now to state +that this man, by some rumors true or false, was supposed to have +misconducted himself in a time of great calamity in that country. A +great famine had about this time grievously afflicted the whole province +of Bengal.--I must remark by the way, that these countries are liable to +this calamity; but it is greatly blessed by Nature with resources which +afford the means of speedy recovery, if their government does not +counteract them. Nature, that inflicts the calamity, soon heals the +wound; it is in ordinary seasons the most fertile country, inhabited by +the most industrious people, and the most disposed to marriage and +settlement, probably, that exists in the whole world; so that population +and fertility are soon restored, and the inhabitants quickly resume +their former industrious occupations. + +During the agitation excited in the country by the calamity I have just +mentioned, Mahomed Reza Khan, through the intrigues of Rajah Nundcomar, +one of his political rivals, and of some English faction that supported +him, was accused of being one of the causes of the famine. In answer to +this charge, he alleged, what was certainly a sufficient justification, +that he had acted under the direction of the English board, to which his +conduct throughout this business was fully known. The Company, however, +sent an order from England to have him tried; but though he frequently +supplicated the government at Calcutta that his trial should be +proceeded in, in order that he might be either acquitted and discharged +or condemned, Mr. Hastings kept him in prison two years, under pretence +(as he wrote word to the Directors) that Mahomed Reza Khan himself was +not very desirous to hasten the matter. In the mean time the Court of +Directors, having removed him from his great offices, authorized and +commanded Mr. Hastings (and here we come within the sphere of your +minutes) to appoint a successor to Mahomed Reza Khan, fit to fulfil the +duties of his station. Now I shall first show your Lordships what sort +of person the Court of Directors described to him as most fit to fill +the office of Mahomed Reza Khan, what sort of person he did appoint, and +then we will trace out to you the consequences of that appointment. + + + _Letter from the Court of Directors to the President and Council at + Fort William, dated 28th August, 1771._ + + "Though we have not a doubt but that, by the exertion of your + abilities, and the care and assiduity of our servants in the + superintendency of the revenues, the collections will be conducted + with more advantage to the Company and ease to the natives than by + means of a naib dewan, we are fully sensible of the expediency of + supporting some ostensible minister in the Company's interest at + the Nabob's court, to transact the political affairs of the sircar, + and interpose between the Company and the subjects of any European + power, in all cases wherein they may thwart our interest or + encroach on our authority; and as Mahomed Reza Khan can no longer + be considered by us as one to whom such a power can be safely + 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 secure + 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, (thirty thousand + pounds,) 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." + +Here, my Lords, a person was to be named fit to fill the office and +supply the place of Mahomed Reza Khan, who was deputy-viceroy of Bengal, +at the head of the criminal justice of the country, and, in short, at +the head of the whole ostensible Mahometan government; he was also to +supply the place of Mahomed Reza Khan as naib dewan, from which Reza +Khan was to be removed: for you will observe, the Directors always speak +of a man fit to perform all the duties of Mahomed Reza Khan; and amongst +these he was to be as the guardian of the Nabob's person, and the +representative of his authority and government. + +Mr. Hastings, having received these orders from the Court of Directors, +did--what? He alleges in his defence, that no positive commands were +given him. But a very sufficient description was given of the person who +ought to succeed Mahomed Reza Khan, in whom the Company had before +recognized all the necessary qualities; and they therefore desire him to +name a similar person. But what does Mr. Hastings do in consequence of +this authority? He names no man at all. He searches into the seraglio of +the Nabob, and names a woman to be the viceroy of the province, to be +the head of the ostensible government, to be the guardian of the Nabob's +person, the conservator of his authority, and a proper representative of +the remaining majesty of that government. + +Well, my Lords, he searched the seraglio. When you have to take into +consideration the guardianship of a person of great dignity, there are +two circumstances to be attended to: one, a faithful and affectionate +guardianship of his person; and the other, a strong interest in his +authority, and the means of exercising that authority in a proper and +competent manner. Mr. Hastings, when he was looking for a woman in the +seraglio, (for he could find women only there,) must have found actually +in authority there the Nabob's own mother: certainly a person who by +nature was most fit to be his guardian; and there is no manner of doubt +of her being sufficiently competent to that duty. Here, then, was a +legitimate wife of the Nabob Jaffier Ali Khan, a woman of rank and +distinction, fittest to take care of the person and interests, as far as +a woman could take care of them, of her own son. In this situation she +had been placed before, during the administration of Mahomed Reza Khan, +by the direct orders of the Governor, Sir John Cartier. She had, I say, +been put in possession of that trust which it was natural and proper to +give to such a woman. But what does Mr. Hastings do? He deposes this +woman. He strips her of her authority with which he found her invested +under the sanction of the English government. He finds out a woman in +the seraglio, called Munny Begum, who was bound to the Nabob by no tie +whatever of natural affection. He makes this woman the guardian of the +young Nabob's person. She had a son who had been placed upon the musnud +after the death of his father, Sujah Dowlah, and had been appointed his +guardian. This young Nabob died soon afterwards, and was succeeded by +Nujim ul Dowlah, another natural son of Sujah Dowlah. This prince being +left without a mother, this woman was suffered to retain the +guardianship of the Nabob till his death. When Mobarek ul Dowlah, a +legitimate son of Sujah Dowlah, succeeded him, Sir John Cartier did what +his duty was: he put the Nabob's own mother into the place which she was +naturally entitled to hold, the guardianship of her own son, and +displaced Munny Begum. The whole of the arrangement by which Munny Begum +was appointed guardian of the two preceding Nabobs stands in the +Company's records stigmatized as a transaction base, wicked, and +corrupt. We will read to your Lordships an extract from a letter which +has the signature of Mr. Sumner, the gentleman who sits here by the side +of Mr. Hastings, and from which you will learn what the Company and the +Council thought of the original nomination of Munny Begum and of her +son. You will find that they considered her as a great agent and +instrument of all the corruption there; and that this whole transaction, +by which the bastard son of Munny Begum was brought forward to the +prejudice of the legitimate son of the Nabob, was considered to be, what +it upon the very face of it speaks itself to be, corrupt and scandalous. + + + _Extract of a General Letter from the President and Council at + Calcutta, Bengal, to the Select Committee of the Directors._ + + Paragraph 5.--"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 definitive measures would be taken, + either with 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 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 the 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. + + "6. This scene of corruption was first disclosed at a visit the + Nabob 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 indignity 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. + + "7. Mahomed Reza Khan, 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 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 these pecuniary transactions; by the Nabob and + Mahomed Reza Khan, who were the heaviest sufferers; and, lastly, by + the confession of the gentlemen themselves whose names are + specified in the distribution list. + + "8. 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 of June, + it fully appears that the presents from the Nabob and Mahomed Reza + Khan, 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 evidence, + that, besides the above sums specified in the distribution account, + to the amount of 228,125_l._ sterling, there was likewise to the + value of several lacs of rupees procured from Nundcomar and Roy + Dullub, each of whom aspired at and obtained a promise of that very + employment it was predetermined to bestow on Mahomed Reza Khan. + + (Signed at the end,) + "CLIVE. + W^M B. SUMNER. + JOHN CARNAC. + H. VERELST. + FRA^S SYKES." + +My Lords, the persons who sign this letter are mostly the friends, and +one of them is the gentleman who is bail for and sits near Mr. Hastings. +They state to you this horrible and venal transaction, by which the +government was set to sale, by which a bastard son was elevated to the +wrong of the natural and legitimate heir, and in which a prostitute, his +mother, was put in the place of the honorable and legitimate mother of +the representative of the family. + +Now, if there was one thing more than another under heaven, which Mr. +Hastings ought to have shunned, it was the suspicion of being concerned +in any such infamous transaction as that which is here recorded to be +so,--a transaction in which the country government had before been sold +to this very woman and her offspring, and in which two great candidates +for power in that country fought against each other, and perhaps the +largest offerer carried it. + +When a Governor-General sees the traces of corruption in the conduct of +his predecessors, the traces of injustice following that corruption, the +traces of notorious irregularity in setting aside the just claimants in +favor of those that have no claim at all, he has that before his eyes +which ought to have made him the more scrupulously avoid, and to keep at +the farthest distance possible from, the contagion and even the +suspicion of being corrupted by it. Moreover, my Lords, it was in +consequence of these very transactions that the new covenants were made, +which bind the servants of the Company never to take a present of above +two hundred pounds, or some such sum of money, from any native in +circumstances there described. This covenant I shall reserve for +consideration in another part of this business. It was in pursuance of +this idea, and to prevent the abuse of the prevailing custom of visiting +the governing powers of that country with a view of receiving presents +from them, that the House of Commons afterwards, in its inquiries, took +up this matter and passed the Regulating Act in 1773. + +But to return to Munny Begum.--This very person, that had got into power +by the means already mentioned, did Mr. Hastings resort to, knowing her +to be well skilled in the trade of bribery,--knowing her skilful +practice in business of this sort,--knowing the fitness of her eunuchs, +instruments, and agents, to be dealers in this kind of traffic. This +very woman did Mr. Hastings select, stigmatized as she was in the +Company's record, stigmatized by the very gentleman who sits next to +him, and whose name you have heard read to you as one of those members +of the Council that reprobated the horrible iniquity of the transaction +in which this woman was a principal agent. For though neither the young +Nabob nor his mother ought to have been raised to the stations in which +they were placed, and were placed there for the purpose of facilitating +the receipt of bribes, yet the order of Nature was preserved, and the +mother was made the guardian of her own son: for though she was a +prostitute and he a bastard, yet still she was a mother and he a son; +and both Nature and legitimate disposition with regard to the +guardianship of a son went together. + +But what did Mr. Hastings do? Improving upon the preceding transaction, +improving on it by a kind of refinement in corruption, he drives away +the lawful mother from her lawful guardianship; the mother of nature he +turns out, and he delivers her son to the stepmother to be the guardian +of his person. That your Lordships may see who this woman was, we shall +read to you a paper from your Lordships' minutes, produced before Mr. +Hastings's face, and never contradicted by him from that day to this. + + At a Consultation, 24th July, 1775.--"Shah Chanim, deceased, was + sister to the Nabob Mahub ul Jung by the same father, but different + mothers; she married Mir Mahomed Jaffier Khan, by whom she had a + son and a daughter; the name of the former was Mir Mahomed Sadduc + Ali Khan, and the latter was married to Mir Mahomed Cossim Khan + Sadduc. Ali Khan had two sons and two daughters; the sons' names + are Mir Sydoc and Mir Sobeem, who are now living; the daughters + were married to Sultan Mirza Daood. + + "Baboo Begum, the mother of the Nabob Mobarek ul Dowlah, was the + daughter of Summin Ali Khan, and married Mir Mahomed Jaffier Khan. + The history of 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 Khan, 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 this 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 Khan + 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 she has remained in the + Nabob's family ever since." + +My Lords, I do not mean to detain you long upon this part of the +business, but I have thought it necessary to advert to these +particulars. As to all the rest, the honorable and able Manager who +preceded me has sufficiently impressed upon your Lordships' minds the +monstrous nature of the deposing of the Nabob's mother from the +guardianship of her son, for the purpose of placing this woman there at +the head of all his family and of his domestic concerns in the seraglio +within doors, and at the head of the state without, together with the +disposal of the whole of the revenue that was allowed him. Mr. Hastings +pretends, indeed, to have appointed at the same time a trusty mutsuddy +to keep the accounts of the revenue; but he has since declared that no +account had been kept, and that it was in vain to desire it or to call +for it. This is the state of the case with respect to the appointment of +Munny Begum. + +With regard to the reappointment of Mahomed Reza Khan, you have heard +from my worthy fellow Manager that he was acquitted of the charges that +had been brought against him by Mr. Hastings, after a long and lingering +trial. The Company was perfectly satisfied with the acquittal, and +declared that he was not only acquitted, but honorably acquitted; and +they also declared that he had a fair claim to a compensation for his +sufferings. They not only declared him innocent, but meritorious. They +gave orders that he should be considered as a person who was to be +placed in office again upon the first occasion, and that he had entitled +himself to this favor by his conduct in the place which he had before +filled. + +The Council of the year 1775, (whom I can never mention nor shall +mention without honor,) who complied faithfully with the act of +Parliament, who never disobeyed the orders of the Company, and to whom +no man has imputed even the shadow of corruption, found that this Munny +Begum had acted in the manner which my honorable fellow Manager has +stated: that she had dissipated the revenue, that she had neglected the +education of the Nabob, and had thrown the whole judicature of the +country into confusion. They ordered that she should be removed from her +situation; that the Nabob's own mother should be placed at the head of +the seraglio, a situation to which she was entitled; and with regard to +the rest of the offices, that Mahomed Reza Khan should be employed to +fill them. + +Mr. Hastings resisted these propositions with all his might; but they +were by that happy momentary majority carried against him, and Mahomed +Reza Khan was placed in his former situation. But Mr. Hastings, though +thus defeated, was only waiting for what he considered to be the +fortunate moment for returning again to his corrupt, vicious, +tyrannical, and disobedient habits. The reappointment of Mahomed Reza +Khan had met with the fullest approbation of the Company; and they +directed, that, as long as his good behavior entitled him to it, he +should continue in the office. Mr. Hastings, however, without alleging +any ill behavior, and for no reason that can be assigned, but his +corrupt engagement with Munny Begum, overturned (upon the pretence of +restoring the Nabob to his rights) the whole of the Company's +arrangement, as settled by the late majority, and approved by the Court +of Directors. + +I have now to show you what sort of a man the Nabob was, who was thus +set up in defiance of the Company's authority; what Mr. Hastings himself +thought of him; what the judges thought of him; and what all the world +thought of him. + +I must first make your Lordships acquainted with a little preliminary +matter. A man named Roy Rada Churn had been appointed vakeel, or agent, +to manage the Nabob's affairs at Calcutta. One of this man's creditors +attached him there. Roy Rada Churn pleaded his privilege as the vakeel +or representative of a sovereign prince. The question came to be tried +in the Supreme Court, and the issue was, Whether the Nabob was a +sovereign prince or not. I think the court did exceedingly wrong in +entertaining such a question; because, in my opinion, whether he was or +was not a sovereign prince, any person representing him ought to be left +free, and to have a proper and secure means of concerting his affairs +with the Council. It was, however, taken otherwise; the question was +brought to trial, whether the Nabob was a sovereign prince sufficient to +appoint and protect a person to manage his affairs, under the name of an +ambassador. In that cause did Mr. Hastings come forward to prove, by a +voluntary affidavit, that he had no pretensions, no power, no authority +at all,--that he was a mere pageant, a thing of straw,--and that the +Company exercised every species of authority over him, in every +particular, and in every respect; and that, therefore, to talk of him as +an efficient person was an affront to the common sense of mankind: and +this you will find the judges afterwards declared to be their opinion. + +I will here press again one remark, which perhaps you may recollect that +I have made before, that the chief and most usual mode in which all the +villanies perpetrated in India, by Mr. Hastings and his co-partners in +iniquity, has been through the medium and instrumentality of persons +whom they pretended to have rights of their own, and to be acting for +themselves; whereas such persons were, in fact, totally dependent upon +him, Mr. Hastings, and did no one act that was not prescribed by him. +In order, therefore, to let you see the utter falsehood, fraud, +prevarication, and deceit of the pretences by which the native powers of +India are represented to be independent, and are held up as the +instruments of defying the laws of this kingdom, under pretext of their +being absolute princes, I will read the affidavit of Warren Hastings, +Esquire, Governor-General of Bengal, made the 31st July, 1775. + + "This deponent maketh oath, and saith, That the late President and + Council did, in or about the month of August, 1772, by their own + authority appoint Munny Begum, relict of the late Nabob, Mir + Jaffier Ali Khan, to be guardian to the present Nabob, Mobarek ul + Dowlah, and Rajah Gourdas, son of Maha Rajah Nundcomar, to be dewan + of the said Nabob's household, allowing to the said Munny Begum a + salary of 140,000 rupees per annum, and to the said Rajah Gourdas, + for himself and officers, a salary of 100,000 rupees per annum: + That the said late President and Council did, in or about the month + of August, 1772, plan and constitute regular and distinct courts of + justice, civil and criminal, by their own authority, for + administration of justice to the inhabitants throughout Bengal, + without consulting the said Nabob or requiring his concurrence, and + that the said civil courts were made solely dependent on the + Presidency of Calcutta; and the said criminal courts were put under + the inspection and control of the Company's servants, although + ostensibly under the name of the Nazim, as appears from the + following extracts from the plan for the administration of justice, + constituted by the President and Council as aforesaid." + +My Lords, we need not go through all the circumstances of this +affidavit, which is in your minutes, and, to save time, I will refer +your Lordships to them. This affidavit, as I have already said, was put +into the court to prove that the Nabob had no power or authority at all; +but what is very singular in it, and which I recommend to the particular +notice of your Lordships, when you are scrutinizing this matter, is, +that there is not a single point stated, to prove the nullity of this +Nabob's authority, that was not Mr. Hastings's on particular act. Well, +the Governor-General swears; the judge of the court refers to him in his +decision; he builds and bottoms it upon the Governor-General's +affidavit;--he swears, I say, that the Council, by their own authority, +appointed Munny Begum to be guardian to the Nabob. + +"By what authority," the Governor-General asks, "did the Council erect +courts of law and superintend the administration of justice, without any +communication with the Nabob? Had the Nabob himself any idea that he was +a sovereign? Does he complain of the reduction of his stipend or the +infringement of treaties? No; he appears to consider himself to be, what +in fact he really is, absolutely dependent on the Company, and to be +willing to accept any pittance they would allow him for his maintenance: +he claims no rights. Does he complain that the administration of justice +is taken into the hands of the Company? No: by the treaty, the +protection of his subjects is delivered up to the Company; and he well +knew, that, whoever may be held up as the ostensible prince, the +administration of justice must be in the hands of those who have power +to enforce it." He goes on,--"The Governor-General, who, I suppose, had +a delicacy to state more than what had before been made public, closes +his affidavit with saying that all he has deposed to he believes to be +publicly known, as it is particularly set forth in the printed book +entitled 'Reports of the Committee of the House of Commons.' I knew," he +adds, "it was there, and was therefore surprised at this application; it +is so notorious, that everybody in the settlement must have known it: +when I say everybody, I mean with an exception to the gentlemen who have +applied to the court. The only reason I can give for their applying is +the little time they have been in the country." The judge (I think it is +Chief-Justice Impey) then goes on,--"Perhaps this question might have +been determined merely on the dates of the letters to the +Governor-General; but as the Council have made the other a serious +question, I should not have thought that I had done my duty, if I had +not given a full and determinate opinion upon it: I should have been +sorry, if I had left it doubtful whether the empty name of a Nabob +should be thrust between a delinquent and the laws, so as effectually to +protect him from the hand of justice." + +My Lords, the court, as you see, bottoms its determination on what we +stand upon here, Mr. Hastings's evidence, that the empty name of a +pretended sovereign should not be thrust forth between a delinquent and +justice. + +What does Mr. Le Maistre, the other judge, say upon this occasion? "With +regard to this phantom, that man of straw, Mobarek ul Dowlah, it is an +insult on the understanding of the court to have made the question of +his sovereignty. But as it came from the Governor-General and Council, I +have too much respect for that body to treat it ludicrously, and I +confess I cannot consider it seriously, and we always shall consider a +letter of business from the Nabob the same as a letter from the +Governor-General and Council." + +This is the unanimous opinion of all the judges concerning the state and +condition of the Nabob. We have thus established the point we mean to +establish: that any use which shall be made of the Nabob's name for the +purpose of justifying any disobedience to the orders of the Company, or +of bringing forward corrupt and unfit persons for the government, could +be considered as no other than the act of the persons who shall make +such a use of it; and that no letter that the Nabob writes to any one in +power was or could be considered as any other than the letter of that +person himself. This we wish to impress upon your Lordships, because, as +you have before seen the use that has been made in this way of the Nabob +of Oude, you may judge of the use that has been made of the name of +Hyder Beg Khan, and of the names of all the eminent persons of the +country. + +One word more and I have done. If, whilst you remark the use that is +made of this man's name, your Lordships shall find that this use has +ever been made of his name for his benefit, or for the purpose of giving +him any useful or substantial authority, or of meliorating his condition +in any way whatever; forgive the fraud, forgive the disobedience. But if +we have shown your Lordships that it was for no other purpose than to +disobey the orders of the Company, to trample upon the laws of his +country, to introduce back again, and to force into power, those very +corrupt and wicked instruments which had formerly done so much +mischief, and for which mischief they were removed, then we shall not +have passed our time in vain, in endeavoring to prove that this man, in +the opinion of a court of justice, and by public notoriety, and by Mr. +Hastings's own opinion, was held to be fit for nothing but to be made a +tool in his hands. + + * * * * * + +Having stated to your Lordships generally the effects produced upon the +Mahometan interest of Bengal by the misconduct of the prisoner at your +bar with respect to the appointment of the guardian of the Nabob or +Subahdar of that province, and of the ministers of his government, I +shall have the honor of attending your Lordships another day, and shall +show you the use that has been made of this government and of the +authority of the Nabob, who, as your Lordships have seen, was the mere +phantom of power; and I shall show how much a phantom he was for every +good purpose, and how effectual an instrument he was made for every bad +one. + + + + +SPEECH + +IN + +GENERAL REPLY. + +EIGHTH DAY: SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1794 + + +My Lords,--Your Lordships heard, upon the last day of the meeting of +this high court, the distribution of the several matters which I should +have occasion to lay before you, and by which I resolved to guide +myself in the examination of the conduct of Mr. Hastings with regard to +Bengal. I stated that I should first show the manner in which he +comported himself with regard to the people who were found in possession +of the government when we first entered into Bengal. We have shown to +your Lordships the progressive steps by which the native government was +brought into a state of annihilation. We have stated the manner in which +that government was solemnly declared by a court of justice to be +depraved, and incompetent to act, and dead in law. We have shown to your +Lordships (and we have referred you to the document) that its death was +declared upon a certificate of the principal attending physician of the +state, namely, Mr. Warren Hastings himself. This was declared in an +affidavit made by him, wherein he has gone through all the powers of +government, of which he had regularly despoiled the Nabob Mobarek ul +Dowlah, part by part, exactly according to the ancient formula by which +a degraded knight was despoiled of his knighthood: they took, I say, +from him all the powers of government, article by article,--his helmet, +his shield, his cuirass; at last they hacked off his spurs, and left him +nothing. Mr. Hastings laid down all the premises, and left the judges to +draw the conclusion. + +Your Lordships will remark (for you will find it on your minutes) that +the judges have declared this affidavit of Mr. Hastings to be a +_delicate_ affidavit. We have heard of affidavits that were true; we +have heard of affidavits that were perjured; but this is the first +instance that has come to our knowledge (and we receive it as a proof of +Indian refinement) of a delicate affidavit. This affidavit of Mr. +Hastings we shall show to your Lordships is not entitled to the +description of a good affidavit, however it might be entitled, in the +opinion of those judges, to the description of a delicate affidavit,--a +phrase by which they appear to have meant that he had furnished all the +proofs of the Nabob's deposition, but had delicately avoided to declare +him expressly deposed. The judges drew, however, this indelicate +conclusion; the conclusion they drew was founded upon the premises; it +was very just and logical; for they declared that he was a mere cipher. +They commended Mr. Hastings's delicacy, though they did not imitate it; +but they pronounced sentence of deposition upon the said Nabob, and they +declared that any letter or paper that was produced from him could not +be considered as an act of government. So effectually was he removed by +the judges out of the way, that no minority, no insanity, no physical +circumstances, not even death itself, could put a man more completely +out of sight. They declare that they would consider his letters in no +other light than as the letters of the Company, represented by the +Governor-General and Council. Thus, then, we find the Nabob legally +dead. + +We find next, that he was politically dead. Mr. Hastings, not satisfied +with the affidavit he made in court, has thought proper upon record to +inform the Company and the world of what he considered him to be civilly +and politically. + + + _Minute entered by the Governor-General._ + + "_The Governor-General._--I object to this motion," (a motion + relative to the trial above alluded to,) "because I do not + apprehend that the declaration of the judges respecting the Nabob's + sovereignty will involve this government in any difficulties with + the French or other foreign nations." (Mark, my Lords, these + political effects.) "How little the screen of the Nabob's name has + hitherto availed will appear in the frequent and inconclusive + correspondence which has been maintained with the foreign + settlements, the French especially, since the Company have thought + proper to stand forth in their real character in the exercise of + the dewanny. From that period the government of these provinces has + been wholly theirs; nor can all the subtleties and distinctions of + political sophistry conceal the possession of power, where the + exercise of it is openly practised and universally felt in its + operation. In deference to the commands of the Company, we have + generally endeavored, in all our correspondence with foreigners, to + evade the direct avowal of our possessing the actual rule of the + country,--employing the unapplied term government, for the power to + which we exacted their submission; but I do not remember any + instance, and I hope none will be found, of our having been so + disingenuous as to disclaim our own power, or to affirm that the + Nabob was the real sovereign of these provinces. In effect, I do + not hesitate to say that I look upon this state of indecision to + have been productive of all the embarrassments which we have + experienced with the foreign settlements. None of them have ever + owned any dominion but that of the British government in these + provinces. Mr. Chevalier has repeatedly declared, that he will not + acknowledge any other, but will look to that only for the support + of the privileges possessed by his nation, and shall protest + against that alone as responsible for any act of power by which + their privileges may be violated or their property disturbed. The + Dutch, the Danes, have severally applied to this government, as to + the ruling power, for the grant of indulgences and the redress of + their grievances. In our replies to all, we have constantly assumed + the prerogatives of that character, but eluded the direct avowal of + it; under the name of influence we have offered them protection, + and we have granted them the indulgences of government under + elusive expressions, sometimes applied to our treaties with the + Nabobs, sometimes to our own rights as the dewan; sometimes openly + declaring the virtual rule which we held of these provinces, we + have contended with them for the rights of government, and + threatened to repel with force the encroachments on it; we in one + or two instances have actually put these threats into execution, by + orders directly issued to the officers of government and enforced + by detachments from our own military forces; the Nabob was never + consulted, nor was the pretence ever made that his orders or + concurrence were necessary: in a word, we have always allowed + ourselves to be treated as principals, we have treated as + principals, but we have contented ourselves with letting our + actions insinuate the character which we effectually possessed, + without asserting it. + + "For my own part, I have ever considered the reserve which has been + enjoined us in this respect as a consequence of the doubts which + have long prevailed, and which are still suffered to subsist, + respecting the rights of the British government and the Company to + the property and dominion of these provinces, not as inferring a + doubt with respect to any foreign power. It has, however, been + productive of great inconveniences; it has prevented our acting + with vigor in our disputes with the Dutch and French. The former + refuse to this day the payment of the _bahor peshcush_, although + the right is incontestably against them, and we have threatened to + enforce it. Both nations refuse to be bound by our decrees, or to + submit to our regulations; they refuse to submit to the payment of + the duties on the foreign commerce but in their own way, which + amounts almost to a total exemption; they refuse to submit to the + duty of ten per cent which is levied upon foreign salt, by which, + unless a stop can be put to it by a more decisive rule, they will + draw the whole of that important trade into their own colonies; and + even in the single instance in which they have allowed us to + prescribe to them, namely, the embargo on grain, on the + apprehension of a dearth, I am generally persuaded that they + acquiesced from the secret design of taking advantage of the + general suspension, by exporting grain clandestinely under cover of + their colors, which they knew would screen them from the rigorous + examination of our officers. We are precluded from forming many + arrangements of general utility, because of the want of control + over the European settlements; and a great part of the defects + which subsist in the government and commercial state of the country + are ultimately derived from this source. I have not the slightest + suspicion that a more open and decided conduct would expose us to + worse consequences from the European nations; on the contrary, we + have the worst of the argument while we contend with them under + false colors, while they know us under the disguise, and we have + not the confidence to disown it. What we have done and may do under + an assumed character is full as likely to involve us in a war with + France, a nation not much influenced by logical weapons, (if such + can be supposed to be the likely consequence of our own trifling + disagreements with them,) as if we stood forth their avowed + opponents. To conclude, instead of regretting, with Mr. Francis, + the occasion which deprives us of so useless and hurtful a + disguise, I should rather rejoice, were it really the case, and + consider it as a crisis which freed the constitution of our + government from one of its greatest defects." + +Now, my Lords, the delicacy of the affidavit is no more; the great +arcanum of the state is avowed: it is avowed that the government is +ours,--that the Nabob is nothing. It is avowed to foreign nations; and +the disguise which we have put on, Mr. Hastings states, in his opinion, +to be hurtful to the affairs of the Company. Here we perceive the exact +and the perfect agreement between his character as a delicate +affidavit-maker in a court of justice and his indelicate declarations +upon the records of the Company for the information of the whole world +concerning the real arcanum of the Bengal government. + +Now I cannot help praising his consistency upon this occasion, whether +his policy was right or wrong. Hitherto we find the whole consistent, we +find the affidavit perfectly supported. The inferences which delicacy at +first prevented him from producing better recollection and more perfect +policy made him here avow. In this state things continued. The Nabob, +your Lordships see, is dead,--dead in law, dead in politics, dead in a +court of justice, dead upon the records of the Company. Except in mere +animal existence, it is all over with him. + +I have now to state to your Lordships, that Mr. Hastings, who has the +power of putting even to death in this way, possesses likewise the art +of restoring to life. But what is the medicine that revives them? Your +Lordships, I am sure, will be glad to know what nostrum, not hitherto +pretended to by quacks in physic, by quacks in politics, nor by quacks +in law, will serve to revive this man, to cover his dead bones with +flesh, and to give him life, activity, and vigor. My Lords, I am about +to tell you an instance of a recipe of such infallible efficacy as was +never before discovered. His cure for all disorders is disobedience to +the commands of his lawful superiors. When the orders of the Court of +Directors are contrary to his own opinions, he forgets them all. Let the +Court of Directors but declare in favor of his own system and his own +positions, and that very moment, merely for the purpose of declaring his +right of rebellion against the laws of his country, he counteracts them. +Then these dead bones arise,--or, to use a language more suitable to +the dignity of the thing, Bayes's men are all revived. "Are these men +dead?" asks Mr. Bayes's friend. "No," says he, "they shall all get up +and dance immediately." But in this ludicrous view of Mr. Hastings's +conduct, your Lordships must not lose sight of its great importance. You +cannot have in an abstract, as it were, any one thing that better +develops the principles of the man, that more fully develops all the +sources of his conduct, and of all the frauds and iniquities which he +has committed, in order at one and the same time to evade his duty to +the Court of Directors, that is to say, to the laws of his country, and +to oppress, crush, rob, and ill-treat the people that are under him. + +My Lords, you have had an account of the person who represented the +Nabob's dignity, Mahomed Reza Khan; you have heard of the rank he bore, +the sufferings that he went through, his trial and honorable acquittal, +and the Company's order that the first opportunity should be taken to +appoint him Naib Subah, or deputy of the Nabob, and more especially to +represent him in the administering of justice. Your Lordships are also +acquainted with what was done in consequence of those orders by the +Council-General, in the restoration and reestablishment of the executive +power in this person,--not in the poor Nabob, a poor, helpless, +ill-bred, ill-educated boy, but in the first Mussulman of the country, +who had before exercised the office of Naib Subah, or deputy +viceroy,--in order to give some degree of support to the expiring honor +and justice of that country. The majority, namely, General Clavering, +Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis, whose names, as I have before said, +will, for obedience to the Company, fidelity to the laws, honor to +themselves, and a purity untouched and unimpeached, stand distinguished +and honored, in spite of all the corrupt and barking virulence of India +against them,--these men, I say, obeyed the Company: they had no secret +or fraudulent connection with Mahomed Reza Khan; but they reinstated him +in his office. + +The moment that real death had carried away two of the most virtuous of +this community, and that Mr. Hastings was thereby reestablished in his +power, he returned to his former state of rebellion to the Company, and +of fraud and oppression upon the people. And here we come to the +revivificating medicine. I forgot to tell your Lordships, that this +Nabob, whose letters were declared by a court of law, with his own +approbation, to be in effect letters of the Governor-General and +Council, concludes a formal application transmitted to them, and dated +17th November, 1777, with a demand of the restoration of his rights. Mr. +Hastings upon this enters the following minute:-- + + "The Nabob's demands are grounded upon positive rights, which will + not admit of a discussion; he has an incontestable right to the + management of his own household; he has an incontestable right to + the nizamut." + +My Lords, you have heard his affidavit, you have heard his avowed and +recorded opinion. In direct defiance of both, because he wishes to make +doubtful the orders of the Company and to evade his duty, he here makes +without any delicacy a declaration, which if it be true, the affidavit +is a gross perjury, let it be managed with what delicacy he pleases. The +word _nizamut_, which he uses, may be unfamiliar to your Lordships. In +India it signifies the whole executive government, though the word +strictly means viceroyalty: all the princes of that country holding +their dominions as representatives of the Mogul, the great nominal +sovereign of the empire. To convince you that it does so, take his own +explanation of it. + + "It is his by inheritance: the adawlut and the foujdarry having + been repeatedly declared by the Company and by this government to + appertain to the nizamut. The adawlut, namely, the distribution of + civil justice, and the foujdarry, namely, the executive criminal + justice of that country, that is to say, the whole sovereign + government of the courts of justice, have been declared by the + Company to appertain to the nizamut." + +I beg of your Lordships to recollect, when you take into your +consideration the charges of the House of Commons, that the person they +accuse, and persons suborned by him, have never scrupled to be guilty, +without sense of shame, of the most notorious falsehoods, the most +glaring inconsistencies, and even of perjury itself; and that it is thus +they make the power of the Company dead or alive, as best suits their +own wicked, clandestine, and fraudulent purposes, and the great end of +all their actions and all their politics plunder and peculation. + +I must here refer your Lordships to a minute of Mr. Francis's, which I +recommend to your reading at large, and to your very serious +recollection, in page 1086; because it contains a complete history of +Mr. Hastings's conduct, and of its effects upon this occasion. + +And now to proceed.--The Nabob, in a subsequent application to the +Company's government at Calcutta, desires that Munny Begum may be +allowed to take on herself the whole administration of the affairs of +the nizamut, (not the superiority in the administration of the affairs +of the seraglio only, though this would have been a tyrannical +usurpation of the power belonging to the legitimate mother of the +Nabob,) without the interference of any person whatever; and he adds, +that by this the Governor will give him complete satisfaction. In all +fraudulent correspondence you are sure to find the true secret of it at +last. It has been said by somebody, that the true sense of a letter is +to be learnt from its postscript. But this matter is so clumsily +managed, that, in contempt of all decency, the first thing the Nabob +does is to desire he may be put into the hands of Munny Begum, and that +without the interference of anybody whatever. + +The next letter, immediately following on the heels of the former, was +received by the Council on the 12th of February, 1778. In this letter he +desires that Mahomed Reza Khan may be removed from his office in the +government; and he expresses his hopes, that, as he himself is now come +to years of maturity, and by the blessing of God is not so devoid of +understanding as to be incapable of conducting his affairs, he says, "I +am therefore hopeful, from your favor and regard to justice, that you +will deliver me from the authority of the aforesaid Mahomed Reza Khan, +and give your permission that I take on myself the management of the +adawlut and foujdarry." There is no doubt of this latter application, in +contradiction to the former, having arisen from a suspicion that the +appointment of Munny Begum would be too gross, and would shock the +Council; and Mr. Hastings therefore orders the second letter to be +written from the Nabob, in which he claims the powers of government for +himself. Then follows a letter from the Governor-General, informing the +Nabob that it had been agreed, that, his Excellency being now arrived at +years of maturity, the control of his own household, and the courts +dependent on the nizamut and foujdarry, should be placed in his hands; +and Mahomed Reza Khan was directed at the same time to resign his +authority to the Nabob. + +Here your Lordships see Munny Begum in effect completely invested with, +and you will see how she has used her power: for I suppose your +Lordships are sick of the name of Nabob, as a real actor in the +government. You now see the true parties in the transaction,--namely, +the lover, Warren Hastings, Esquire, and Munny Begum, the object of his +passion and flame, to which he sacrifices as much as Antony ever did to +Cleopatra. You see the object of his love and affection placed in the +administration of the viceroyalty; you see placed at her disposal the +administration of the civil judicature, and of the executory +justice,--together with the salary which was intended for Mahomed Reza +Khan. + +Your Lordships will be pleased to remember that this distribution of the +Nabob's government was made in direct defiance of the orders of the +Company. And as a further proof of this defiance, it will not escape +your Lordships, that, before this measure was carried into execution, +Mr. Barwell being one day absent from the Council, Mr. Hastings fell +into a minority; and it was agreed, upon that occasion, that the whole +affair should be referred home to the Court of Directors, and that no +arrangement should be made till the Directors had given their opinion. +Mr. Hastings, the very moment after Mr. Barwell's return to his seat in +the Council, rescinds this resolution, which subjected the orders of the +Court of Directors to their own reconsideration; and he hurries headlong +and precipitately into the execution of his first determination. Your +Lordships will also see in this act what sort of use Mr. Hastings made +of the Council; and I have therefore insisted upon all these practices +of the prisoner at your bar, because there is not one of them in which +some principle of government is not wounded, if not mortally wounded. + +My Lords, we have laid before you the consequences of this proceeding. +We have shown what passed within the walls of the seraglio, and what +tyranny was exercised by this woman over the multitude of women there. I +shall now show your Lordships in what manner she made use of her power +over the _supreme judicature_, to peculate, and to destroy the country; +and I shall adduce, as proofs of this abuse of her authority, the facts +I am about to relate, and of which there is evidence before your +Lordships. + +There was an ostensible man, named Sudder ul Huk Khan, placed there at +the head of the administration of justice, with a salary of seven +thousand pounds a year of the Company's money. This man, in a letter to +the Governor-General and Council, received the 1st of September, 1778, +says,--"His Highness himself [the Nabob] is not deficient in regard for +me, but certain bad men have gained an ascendency over his temper, by +whose instigation he acts." You will see, my Lords, how this poor man +was crippled in the execution of his duty, and dishonored by the +corruption of this woman and her eunuchs, to whom Mr. Hastings had given +the supreme government, and with it an uncontrolled influence over all +the dependent parts. After thus 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 with their advice, +and appoint creatures of their recommendation to the different offices, +from which they might draw profit to themselves." In a subsequent letter +to the Governor, Sudder ul Huk Khan 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 sircar; 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. + +Now I have only to remark to your Lordships, that the first and +immediate operation of Mr. Hastings's regulation, which put everything +into the hands of this wicked woman for her corrupt purposes, was, that +the office of chief-justice was trampled upon and depraved, and made use +of to plunder the Company of money, which was appropriated to their own +uses,--and that the person ostensibly holding this office was forced to +become the instrument in the hands of this wicked woman and her two +wicked eunuchs. This, then, was the representation which the +chief-justice made to Mr. Hastings, as one of the very first fruits of +his new arrangement. I am now to tell you what his next step was. This +same Mr. Hastings, who had made the Nabob master of everything and +placed everything at his disposal, who had maintained that the Nabob was +not to act a secondary part and to be a mere instrument in the hands of +the Company, who had, as you have seen, revived the Nabob, now puts him +to death again. He pretends to be shocked at these proceedings of the +Nabob, and, not being able to prevent their coming before the Council of +the Directors at home, he immediately took Sudder ul Huk Khan under his +protection. + +Now your Lordships see Mr. Hastings appearing in his own character +again,--exercising the power he had pretended to abdicate, whilst the +Nabob sinks and subsides under him. He becomes the supporter of Sudder +ul Huk Khan, now that the infamy of the treatment he received could no +longer be concealed from the Council. On the 1st of September, 1778, the +Governor informs the Nabob, "that it is highly expedient that Sudder ul +Huk Khan should have full control in all matters relative to his office, +and the sole appointment and dismission of the sudder and mofussil +officers; and that his seal and signature should be authentic to all +papers having relation to the business intrusted to him: I therefore +intimate to you, that he should appoint and dismiss all the officers +under him, and that your Excellency should not interfere in any one +[way?]." + +The Nabob, in a letter to the Governor, received the 3d of September, +1778, says,--"Agreeably to your pleasure, I have relinquished all +concern with the affairs of the foujdarry and adawlut, leaving the +entire management in Sudder ul Huk Khan's hands." Here you see the Nabob +again reduced to his former state of subordination. This +chief-justiceship, which was declared to be his inherent right, he is +obliged to submit to the control of Mr. Hastings, and to declare that he +will not interfere at all in a matter which Mr. Hastings had declared to +be his incommunicable attribute. I do not say that Mr. Hastings +interfered improperly. Certainly it was not fit that the highest court +of justice in all Bengal should be made the instrument of the rapacity +of a set of villains with a prostitute at their head: just as if a gang +of thieves in England, with their prostitutes at their head, should +seize the judge which ought to punish them, and endeavor to make use of +his name in their iniquitous transactions. But your Lordships will find +that Mr. Hastings is here acting a merely ostensible part, and that he +has always a means of defeating privately what he declares publicly to +be his intention. Your Lordships will see soon how this ended. Mr. +Hastings gets the Nabob to give up all his authority over the +chief-justice; but he says not one word of Munny Begum, the person who +had the real authority in her hands, and who was not forbidden to +interfere with him. Mr. Hastings's order is dated the 1st September, +1778. On the 3d of September, the Nabob is said to have relinquished all +concern with Sudder ul Huk Khan. In a letter received the 30th of +September, (that is, about twenty-seven days after the date of Mr. +Hastings's order,) you will see how this pretended order was managed. +Sudder ul Huk Khan thus writes, in a letter received the 30th of +September. + + "Yatibar Ali Khan," (Munny Begum's chief eunuch,) "from the amount + of salaries of the officers of the adawlut and foujdarry, which + before my arrival he had received for two months from the sircar, + made disbursements according to his own pleasure. He had before + caused the sum of 7,400 rupees, on account of the price of mine and + my peshcar's khelauts, to be carried to account, and now + continually sends a man to demand from me 4,300 and odd rupees, as + a balance of the price of khelauts, and constantly presses me to + take it from the amount of the salaries of the officers of the + adawlut and foujdarry and send it to him; and I shall be under the + necessity of complying. I mention this for your information." + +My Lords, you see again how Mr. Hastings's pretended orders were obeyed. +They were orders addressed to the Nabob, whom he knew to be nothing, and +who could neither control or take the least share in the execution of +them; but he leaves the thing loose as to Manny Begum and her eunuchs, +who he knew could alone carry them into effect. Your Lordships see that +the first use made of the restored authority of the Nabob was, under +various pretences, to leave the salaries of the officers of government +unprovided for, to rob the public treasury, and to give the Company's +money to the eunuchs, who were acting in the manner I have stated to +you. + +Information of these proceedings reaches Calcutta; a regular complaint +from a person in the highest situation in the government is made, and +the Governor-General is obliged again to take up the matter; and I +shall now read to your Lordships a letter of the 10th of October, 1778, +which contains a representation so pointed and so very just of the fatal +effects which his interference in the administration of justice had +produced as not to stand in need of any comment from me. It speaks too +plainly to require any. + + + _The Governor-General's Letter to the Nabob_. + + "At your Excellency's request I sent Sudder ul Huk Khan 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 Khan. This is + absolutely necessary to restore the country to a state of + tranquillity; and if your Excellency has any plan to propose for + the management of the affairs in future, be pleased to communicate + it to me, and every attention shall be paid to give your Excellency + satisfaction." + +My Lords, I think I have read enough to you for our present +purpose,--referring your Lordships for fuller information to your +Minutes, page 1086, which I beg you to read with the greatest attention. + +I must again beg your Lordships to remark, that, though Mr. Hastings has +the impudence still to pretend that he wishes for the restoration of +order and justice in the country, yet, instead of writing to Munny Begum +upon the business, whom he knew to be the very object complained of, and +whose eunuchs are expressly mentioned in the complaint, he writes to the +Nabob, whom he knew to be a pageant in his own court and government, and +whose name was not even mentioned in this last complaint. Not one word +is said, even in this letter to the Nabob, of Munny Begum or of her +eunuchs. My Lords, when you consider his tacit support of the authors of +the grievance, and his ostensible application for redress to the man +who he knew never authorized and could not redress the grievance, you +must conclude that he meant to keep the country in the same state for +his own corrupt purposes. In this state the country in fact continued; +Munny Begum and her eunuchs continued to administer and squander the +Company's money, as well as the Nabob's; robberies and murders continued +to prevail throughout the country. No appearance was left of order, law, +or justice, from one end of Bengal to the other. + +The account of this state of things was received by the Court of +Directors with horror and indignation. On the 27th of May, 1779, they +write, as you will find in page 1063 of your printed Minutes, a letter +to their government at Calcutta, condemning their proceedings and the +removal of Mahomed Reza Khan, and they order that Munny Begum shall be +displaced, and Mahomed Reza Khan restored again to the seat of justice. + +Mr. Francis, upon the arrival of these reiterated orders, moved in +Council for an obedience to them. Mr. Hastings, notwithstanding he had +before his eyes all the horrible consequences that attended his new +arrangement, still resists that proposition. By his casting voice in the +Council he counter-orders the orders of the Court of Directors, and +sanctions a direct disobedience to their authority, by a resolution that +Mahomed Reza Khan should not be restored to his employment, but that +this Sudder ul Huk Khan, who still continued in the condition already +described, should remain in the possession of his office. I say nothing +of Sudder ul Huk Khan; he seems to be very well disposed to do his duty, +if Mr. Hastings's arrangements had suffered him to do it; and indeed, +if Mahomed Reza Khan had been reinstated, and no better supported by Mr. +Hastings than Sudder ul Huk Khan, he could probably have kept the +country in no better order, though, perhaps, his name, and the authority +and weight which still adhered to him in some degree, might have had +some influence. + +My Lords, you have seen his defiance of the Company; you have seen his +defiance of all decency; you see his open protection of prostitutes and +robbers of every kind ravaging Bengal; you have seen this defiance of +the authority of the Court of Directors flatly, directly, and +peremptorily persisted in to the last. Order after order was reiterated, +but his disobedience arose with an elastic spring in proportion to the +pressure that was upon it. + +My Lords, here there was a pause. The Directors had been disobeyed; and +you might suppose that he would have been satisfied with this act of +disobedience. My Lords, he was resolved to let the native governments of +the country know that he despised the orders of the Court of Directors, +and that, whenever he pretended to obey them, in reality he was resolved +upon the most actual disobedience. An event now happened, the +particulars of which we are not to repeat here. Disputes, conducted, on +Mr. Francis's side, upon no other principle, that we can discover, but a +desire to obey the Company's orders, and to execute his duty with +fidelity and disinterestedness, had arisen between him and Mr. Hastings. +Mr. Francis, about the time we have been speaking of, finding resistance +was vain, reconciles himself to him,--but on the most honorable terms as +a public man, namely, that he should continue to follow and obey the +laws, and to respect the authority of the Court of Directors. Upon this +reconciliation, it was agreed that Mahomed Reza Khan should be restored +to his office. For this purpose Mr. Hastings enters a minute, and writes +to the Nabob an ostensible letter. But your Lordships will here see an +instance of what I said respecting a double current in all Mr. +Hastings's proceedings. Even when he obeys or pretends to obey the +Company's orders, there is always a private channel through which he +defeats them all. + + + _Letter from Mr. Hastings to the Nabob Mobarek ul Dowlah, written + the 10th of February, 1780._ + + "The Company, whose orders are peremptory, have directed that + Mahomed Reza Khan shall be restored to the offices he held in + January, 1778. It is my duty to represent this to your Excellency, + and to recommend your compliance with their request, that Mahomed + Reza Khan may be invested with the offices assigned to him under + the nizamut by the Company." + +Your Lordships see here that Mr. Hastings informs the Nabob, that, +having received peremptory orders from the Company, he restores and +replaces Mahomed Reza Khan. Mahomed Reza Khan, then, is in +possession,--and in possession by the best of all titles, the orders of +the Company. But you will also see the manner in which he evades his +duty, and vilifies in the eyes of these miserable country powers the +authority of the Directors. He is prepared, as usual, with a defeasance +of his own act; and the manner in which that defeasance came to our +knowledge is this. We knew nothing of this private affair, till Mr. +Hastings, in his answer before the House of Commons, finding it +necessary to destroy the validity of some of his own acts, brought +forward Sir John D'Oyly. He was brought forward before us, not as a +witness in his own person for the defence of Mr. Hastings, but as a +narrator who had been employed by Mr. Hastings as a member of that +Council which, as you have heard, drew up his defence. My Lords, you +have already seen the public agency of this business, you have heard +read the public letter sent to the Nabob: there you see the ostensible +part of the transaction. Now hear the banian, Sir John D'Oyly, give an +account of his part in it, extracted from Mr. Hastings's defence before +the House of Commons. + + "I was appointed Resident [at the Court of the Nabob] on the + resignation of Mr. Byam Martin, in the month of January, 1780, and + took charge about the beginning of February of the same year. The + substance of the instructions I received was, to endeavor, by every + means in my power, to conciliate the good opinion and regard of the + Nabob and his family, that I might be able to persuade him to adopt + effectual measures for the better regulation of his expenses, which + were understood to have greatly exceeded his income; that I might + prevent his forming improper connections, or taking any steps + derogatory to his rank, and by every means in my power support his + credit and dignify in the eyes of the world; and with respect to + the various branches of his family, I was instructed to endeavor to + put a stop to the dissensions which had too frequently prevailed + amongst them. The Nabob, on his part, was recommended to pay the + same attention to my advice as he would have done to that of the + Governor-General in person. Some time, I think, in the month of + February of the same year, I received a letter from Mr. Hastings, + purporting that the critical situation of affairs requiring the + union and utmost exertion of every member of the government to give + vigor to the acts necessary for its relief, he had agreed to an + accommodation with Mr. Francis; but to effect this point he had + been under the necessity of making some painful sacrifices, and + particularly that of the restoration of Mahomed Reza Khan to the + office of Naib Subah, a measure which he knew must be highly + disagreeable to the Nabob, and which nothing but the urgent + necessity of the case should have led him to acquiesce in; that he + relied on me to state all these circumstances in the most forcible + manner to the Nabob, and to urge his compliance, assuring him that + it should not continue longer than until the next advices were + received from the Court of Directors." + +Here Mr. Hastings himself lets us into the secrets of his government. He +writes an ostensible letter to the Nabob, declaring that what he does is +in conformity to the orders of the Company. He writes a private letter, +in which he directs his agent to assure the Nabob that what he had done +was not in compliance with the orders of the Company, but in consequence +of the arrangement he had made with Mr. Francis, which arrangement he +thought necessary for the support of his own personal power. His design, +in thus explaining the transaction to the Nabob, was in order to +prevent the native powers from looking to any other authority than his, +and from having the least hopes of redress of their complaints from the +justice of this country or from any legal power in it. He therefore +tells him that Mahomed Reza Khan was replaced, not in obedience to the +orders of the Company, but to gratify Mr. Francis. If he quarrels with +Mr. Francis, he makes that a reason for disobeying the orders of his +masters; if he agrees with him, he informs the people concerned in the +transaction, privately, that he acts, not in consequence of the orders +that he has received, but from other motives. But that is not all. He +promises that he will take the first opportunity to remove Mahomed Reza +Khan from his office again. Thus the country is to be re-plunged into +the same distracted and ruined state in which it was before. And all +this is laid open fully and distinctly before you. You have it on the +authority of Sir John D'Oyly. Sir John D'Oyly is a person in the secret; +and one man who is in the secret is worth a thousand ostensible persons. + +Mahomed Reza Khan, I must now tell you, was accordingly reinstated in +all his offices, and the Nabob was reduced to the situation, as Mr. +Hastings upon another occasion describes it, of a mere cipher. But mark +what followed,--mark what this Sir John D'Oyly is made to tell you, or +what Mr. Hastings tells you for him: for whether Sir John D'Oyly has +written this for Mr. Hastings, or Mr. Hastings for Sir John D'Oyly, I do +not know; because they seem, as somebody said of two great friends, that +they had but one will, one bed, and one hat between them. These +gentlemen who compose Mr. Hastings's Council have but one style of +writing among them; so that it is impossible for you to determine by +which of the masters of this Roman school any paper was +written,--whether by D'Oyly, by Shore, or by Hastings, or any other of +them. They have a style in common, a kind of bank upon which they have a +general credit; and you cannot tell to whose account anything is to be +placed. + +But to proceed.--Sir John D'Oyly says there, that the Nabob is reduced +again to a cipher. Now hear what he afterwards says. "About the month of +June, 1781, Mr. Hastings, being then at Moorshedabad, communicated to me +his intention of performing his promise to the Nabob, by restoring him +to the management of his own affairs,"--that is to say, by restoring +Munny Begum again, and by turning out Mahomed Reza Khan. Your Lordships +see that he communicated privately his intentions to Sir John D'Oyly, +without communicating one word of them to his colleagues in the Supreme +Council, and without entering any minute in the records of the Council, +by which it could be known to the Directors. + +Lastly, in order to show you in what manner the Nabob was to be restored +to his power, I refer your Lordships to the order he gave to Sir John +D'Oyly for investigating the Nabob's accounts, and for drawing up +articles of instructions for the Nabob's conduct in the management of +his affairs. You will there see clearly how he was restored: that is to +say, that he was taken out of the hands of the first Mussulman in that +country, the man most capable of administering justice, and whom the +Company had expressly ordered to be invested with that authority, and to +put him into the hands of Sir John D'Oyly. Is Sir John D'Oyly a +Mussulman? Is Sir John D'Oyly fit to be at the head of such a +government? What was there that any person could see about him, that +entitled him to or made him a fit person to be intrusted with this +power, in defiance of the Company's orders? And yet Mahomed Reza Khan, +who was to have the management of the Nabob's affairs, was himself put +under the most complete and perfect subjection to this Sir John D'Oyly. +But, in fact, Munny Begum had the real influence in everything. Sir John +D'Oyly himself was only Mr. Hastings's instrument there to preserve it, +and between them they pillaged the Nabob in the most shocking manner, +and must have done so to the knowledge of Mr. Hastings. A letter written +at this time by Mr. Hastings to the Nabob discovers the secret beyond +all power of evasion. + + + _Instructions from the Governor-General to the Nabob Mobarek ul + Dowlah, respecting his Conduct in the Management of his Affairs._ + + "9th. These I make the conditions of the compliance which the + Governor-General and Council have yielded to your late requisition. + It is but just that you should possess what is your acknowledged + right; but their intention would be defeated, and you would be in a + worse situation, if you were to be left a prey, without a guide, + until you have acquired experience, (which, to the strength and + goodness of your understanding, will be the work but of a short + period,) to the rapacity, frauds, and artifices of mankind. You + have offered to give up the sum of four lacs of rupees to be + allowed the free use of the remainder of your stipend. This we have + refused, because it would be contrary to justice. You should + consider this as a proof of the sincerity of the above + arrangements which have been recommended to you, and of their + expediency to your real interests; and your attention to them will + be a means of reconciling the Company to the resolution which we + have taken, and which will be reported to them in a light very + hurtful both to you and to us, if an improper effect should attend + it. These I have ordered Sir John D'Oyly to read in your presence, + and to explain them to you, that no part of them may escape your + notice; and he has my positive orders to remonstrate to you against + every departure from them. Upon all these occasions, I hope and + expect that you will give him a particular and cordial attention, + and regard what he shall say as if said by myself; for I know him + to be a person of the strictest honor and integrity. I have a + perfect reliance on him; and you cannot have a more attached or + more disinterested counsellor. Although I desire to receive your + letters frequently, yet, as many matters will occur which cannot so + easily be explained by letter as by conversation, I desire that you + will on such occasions give your orders to him respecting such + points as you may desire to have imparted to me; and I, postponing + every other concern, will give you an immediate and the most + satisfactory reply concerning them." + +My Lords, here is a man who is to administer his own affairs, who has +arrived at sufficient age to supersede the counsel and advice of the +great Mahometan doctors and the great nobility of the country, and he is +put under the most absolute guardianship of Sir John D'Oyly. But Mr. +Hastings has given Sir John D'Oyly a great character. I cannot confirm +it, because I can confirm the character of none of Mr. Hastings's +instruments. They must stand forth here, and defend their own character +before you. + +Your Lordships will now be pleased to advert to another circumstance in +this transaction. You see here 40,000_l._ a year offered by this man for +his redemption. "I will give you," he says, "40,000_l._ a year to have +the management of my own affairs." Good heavens! Here is a man, who, +according to Mr. Hastings's assertion, had an indisputable right to the +management of his own affairs, but at the same time was notoriously so +little fit to have the management of them as to be always under some +corrupt tyranny or other, offers 40,000_l._ a year out of his own +revenues to be left his own master, and to be permitted to have the +disposal of the remainder. Judge you of the bribery, rapine, and +peculation which here stare you in the face. Judge of the nature and +character of that government for the management of which 40,000_l._, out +of 160,000_l._ a year of its revenue, is offered by a subordinate to the +supreme authority of the country. This offer shows that at this time the +Nabob had it not himself. Who had it? Sir John D'Oyly; he is brought +forward as the person to whom is given the management of the whole. +Munny Begum had the management before. But, whether it be an Englishman, +a Mussulman, a white man or a black man, a white woman or a black woman, +it is all Warren Hastings. + +With respect to the four lacs of rupees, he gets Sir John D'Oyly, in the +narrative that he makes before the House of Commons, positively to deny +in the strongest manner, and he says the Nabob would give oath of it, +that the Nabob never gave a commission to any one to make such an +offer. That such an offer was made had been long published and long in +print, with the remarks such as I have made upon it in the Ninth Report +of the Select Committee; that the Committee had so done was well known +to Mr. Hastings and Sir John D'Oyly; not one word on the part of Mr. +Hastings, not one word on the part of Sir John D'Oyly was said to +contradict it, until the appearance of the latter before the House of +Commons. But, my Lords, there is something much more serious in this +transaction. It is this,--that the evidence produced by Mr. Hastings is +the evidence of witnesses who are mere phantoms; they are persons who +could not, under Mr. Hastings's government, eat a bit of bread but upon +his own terms, and they are brought forward to give such evidence as may +answer his purposes. + +You would naturally have imagined, that, in the House of Commons, where +clouds of witnesses had been before produced by the friends and agents +of Mr. Hastings, he would then have brought forward Sir John to +contradict this reported offer; but not a word from Sir John D'Oyly. At +last he is examined before the Committee of Managers. He refuses to +answer. Why? Because his answers might criminate himself. My Lords, +every answer that most of them have been required to make they are +sensible they cannot make without danger of criminating themselves, +being all involved in the crimes of the prisoner. He has corrupted and +ruined the whole service; there is not one of them that dares appear and +give a fair and full answer in any case, as you have seen in Mr. +Middleton, and many others at your bar. "I will not answer this +question," they say, "because it tends to criminate myself." How comes +it that the Company's servants are not able to give evidence in the +affairs of Mr. Hastings, without its tending to criminate themselves? + +Well,--Sir John D'Oyly is in England,--why is he not called now? I have +not the honor of being intimately acquainted with him, but he is a man +of a reputable and honorable family. Why is he not called by Mr. +Hastings to verify the assertion, and why do they suffer this black +record to stand before your Lordships to be urged by us, and to press it +as we do against him? If he knows that Sir John D'Oyly can acquit him of +this part of our accusation, he would certainly bring him as a witness +to your bar; but he knows he cannot. When, therefore, I see upon your +records that Sir John D'Oyly and Mr. Hastings received such an offer for +the redemption of the Nabob's affairs out of their hands, I conclude, +first, that at the time of this offer the Nabob had not the disposal of +his own affairs,--and, secondly, that those who had the disposal of them +disposed of them so corruptly and prodigally that he thought they could +hardly be redeemed at too high a price. What explanation of this matter +has been attempted? There is no explanation given of it at all. It +stands clear, full, bare in all its nakedness before you. They have not +attempted to produce the least evidence against it. Therefore in that +state I leave it with you; and I shall only add, that Mr. Hastings +continued to make Munny Begum the first object of his attention, and +that, though he could not entirely remove Mahomed Reza Khan from the +seat of justice, he was made a cipher in it. All his other offices were +taken out of his hands and put into the hands of Sir John D'Oyly, +directly contrary to the orders of the Company, which certainly implied +the restitution of Mahomed Reza Khan to all the offices which he had +before held. He was stripped of everything but a feeble administration +of justice, which, I take for granted, could not, under the +circumstances, have been much better in his hands than it had been in +Sudder ul Huk Khan's. + +Mr. Hastings's protection of this woman continued to the last; and when +he was going away, on the 3d of November, 1783, he wrote a sentimental +letter to the Court of Directors in her praise. This letter was +transmitted without having been communicated to the Council. You have +heard of delicate affidavits; here you have a sentimental official +despatch: your Lordships will find it in page 1092 and 1093 of your +printed Minutes. He writes in such a delicate, sentimental strain of +this woman, that I will venture to say you will not find in all the +"Arcadia," in all the novels and romances that ever were published, an +instance of a greater, a more constant, and more ardent affection, +defying time, ugliness, and old age, did ever exist, than existed in Mr. +Hastings towards this old woman, Munny Begum. As cases of this kind, +cases of gallantry abounding in sentimental expressions, are rare in the +Company's records, I recommend it as a curiosity to your Lordships' +reading, as well as a proof of what is the great spring and movement of +all the prisoner's actions. On this occasion he thus speaks of Munny +Begum. + + "She, too, became the victim of your policy, and of the resentments + which succeeded. Something, too, she owed of the source of her + misfortunes to the belief of the personal gratitude which she + might entertain for the public attention which I had shown to her. + Yet, exposed as she was to a treatment which a ruffian would have + shuddered at committing, and which no recollection of past enmities + shall compel me to believe, even for a moment, proceeded from any + commission of authority, she still maintained the decorum of her + character; nor even then, nor before, nor since that period, has + the malice of calumny ever dared to breathe on her + reputation."--Delicate! sentimental!--"Pardon, honorable Sirs, this + freedom of expostulation. I must in honest truth repeat, that your + commands laid the first foundation of her misfortunes; to your + equity she has now recourse through me for their alleviation, that + she may pass the remainder of her life in a state which may at + least efface the remembrance of the years of her affliction; and to + your humanity she and an unseen multitude of the most helpless of + her sex cry for subsistence." + +Moving and pathetic!--I wish to recommend every word of this letter to +your Lordships' consideration, as a model and pattern of perfection. +Observe his pity for a woman who had suffered such treatment from the +servants of the Company (a parcel of ruffians!)--treatment that a +ruffian would be ashamed of! Your Lordships have seen, in the evidence, +what this ruffianism was. It was neither more nor less than what was +necessary in order to get at the accounts, which she concealed, as his +own corrupt transactions. She was told, indeed, that she must privately +remove to another house whilst her papers were examining. Mr. Hastings +can never forget this. He cannot believe that anybody dare send such an +order; and he calls upon you to consider the helplessness of their sex, +and the affronts offered to women. + +For Heaven's sake, my Lords, recollect the manner in which Mr. Hastings +and his creatures treated the Begums of Oude, and consider that this +woman was only threatened (for the threat was never attempted to be +executed) that she must, if she did not deliver up the accounts, +probably be removed to another house, and leave the accounts behind her. +This blot can never be effaced; and for this he desires the Court of +Directors to make her a large allowance to comfort her in her old age. +In this situation Mr. Hastings leaves her. He leaves in the situation I +have described the justice of the country. The only concern he has at +parting is, that this woman may have a large allowance. + +But I have yet to tell your Lordships, and it appears upon your printed +Minutes, that this woman had a way of comforting herself:--for old +ladies of that description, who have passed their youth in amusements, +in dancing, and in gallantries, in their old age are apt to take comfort +in brandy. This lady was a smuggler, and had influence enough to avoid +payment of the duty on spirits, in which article she is the largest +dealer in the district,--as, indeed, she is in almost every species of +trade. Thus your Lordships see that this sentimental lady, whom Mr. +Hastings recommends to the Directors, had ways of comforting herself. +She carried on, notwithstanding her dignity, a trade in spirits. Now a +Mahometan of distinction never carries on any trade at all,--it is an +unknown thing,--very few Mahometans of any rank carry on any trade at +all; but that a Mahometan should carry on a trade in spirits is a +prodigy never heard of before; for a woman of quality, for a woman of +sentiment, to become a dealer in spirits is, my Lords, a thing reserved +for the sentimental age of Mr. Hastings; and I will venture to say that +no man or woman could attempt any such a trade in India, without being +dishonored, ruined in character, and disgraced by it. But she appears +not only to have been a dealer in it, but, through the influence which +Mr. Hastings gave her, to have monopolized the trade in brandy, and to +have evaded the duties. This, then, is the state in which we leave the +two sentimental lovers,--the one consoling herself with brandy, the +other wheedling and whining; and, as Swift describes the progress of an +intrigue in some respects similar, which he calls "The Progress of +Love," whereas this is the Progress of Sentiment, + + "They keep at Staines the Old Blue Boar, + Are cat and dog, and rogue and whore." + +Here they set up the sign of the Old Blue Boar. Munny Begum monopolizes +the trade in spirits; and hence she and Mr. Hastings commence their +sentimental correspondence.--And now, having done with this progress of +love, we return to the progress of justice. + + * * * * * + +We have seen how Sudder ul Huk Khan, the chief-justice of Mr. Hastings's +own nomination, was treated. Now you shall see how justice was left to +shift for herself under Mahomed Reza Khan. In page 1280 of your +Lordships' Minutes you will see the progress of all these +enormities,--of Munny Begum's dealing in spirits, of her engrossing the +trade, of her evading duties,--and, lastly, the extinction of all order +in that country, and the funeral of justice itself. Mr. Shore's evidence +respecting this state of the country will admit of no doubt. + + + _Mr. Shore's Remarks accompanying the Governor-General's Minutes of + the 18th May, 1785._ + + "Foujdarry jurisdiction.--Of the foujdarry jurisdiction nothing has + yet been said. In this department criminal justice is administered, + and it is the only office left to the Nabob. I do not see any + particular reason for changing the system itself, and perhaps it + would on many accounts be improper; but some regulations are highly + necessary. Mahomed Reza is at the head of this department, and is + the only person I know in the country qualified for it. If he were + left to himself, I have not a doubt but he would conduct it well; + but he is so circumscribed by recommendations of particular + persons, and by the protection held out to his officers by + Europeans, that to my knowledge he has not been able to punish + them, even when they have been convicted of the greatest + enormities; and he has often on this account been blamed, where his + hands were tied up." + +My Lords, you now see in this minute of Sir John Shore, now +Governor-General of Bengal, one of Mr. Hastings's own committee for +drawing up his defence, the review which he had just then taken of the +ruins of the government which had been left to him by Mr. Hastings. You +see here not the little paltry things which might deserve in their +causes the animadversion of a rough satirist like Doctor Swift, whom I +have just quoted, but you see things ten thousand times more serious, +things that deserve the thunderbolt of vindictive justice upon the head +of the prisoner at your bar. For you see, that, after he had ostensibly +restored Mahomed Reza Khan, the man who could and would have executed +his office with fidelity and effect, the man who was fit for and +disposed to do his duty, there was still neither law, order, nor justice +in the country. Why? Because of the interposition of Europeans, and men +who must have been patronized and supported by Europeans. All this +happened before Mr. Hastings's departure: so that the whole effect of +the new arrangement of government was known to him before he left +Calcutta. The same pretended remedy was applied. But in fact he left +this woman in the full possession of her power. His last thoughts were +for her; for the justice of the country, for the peace and security of +the people of Bengal, he took no kind of care; these great interests +were left to the mercy of the woman and her European associates. + +My Lords, I have taken some pains in giving you this history. I have +shown you his open acts and secret stratagems, in direct rebellion to +the Court of Directors,--his double government, his false pretences of +restoring the Nabob's independence, leading in effect to a most servile +dependence, even to the prohibition of the approach of any one, native +or European, near him, but through the intervention of Sir John D'Oyly. +I therefore again repeat it, that Sir John D'Oyly, and the English +gentlemen who were patronized and countenanced by Mr. Hastings, had +wrought all that havoc in the country before Mr. Hastings left it. + +I have particularly dwelt upon the administration of justice, because I +consider it as the source of all good, and the maladministration of it +as the source of all evil in the country. Your Lordships have heard how +it was totally destroyed by Mr. Hastings through Sir John D'Oyly, who +was sent there by him for the purpose of forming a clandestine +government of corruption and peculation. This part of our charge speaks +for itself, and I shall dismiss it with a single observation,--that not +the least trace of an account of all these vast sums of money delivered +into the hands of Sir John D'Oyly for the use of the Nabob appears in +any part of the Company's records. The undeniable inferences to be drawn +from this fact are, first, that, wherever we find concealment of money, +and the ceasing of an account, there has been fraud,--and, secondly, +that, if we find this concealment accompanied with the devastation of a +country, and the extinction of justice in it, that devastation of the +country and that extinction of justice have been the result of that +fraudulent peculation. + +I am sure your Lordships will not think that a charge of the +annihilation of administrative justice, in which the happiness and +prosperity of a great body of nobility, of numerous ancient and +respectable families, and of the inhabitants in general of extensive and +populous provinces are concerned, can, if it stood single and alone, be +a matter of trifling moment. And in favor of whom do all these +sacrifices appear to have been made? In favor of an old prostitute, who, +if shown to your Lordships here, like Helen to the counsellors of Troy, +would not, I think, be admitted to have charms that could palliate this +man's abominable conduct; you would not cry out with them,-- + + [Greek: Ou nemesis, ... + Toied' amphi gunaiki polun chronon algea paschein.] + +For I will fairly say that there are some passions that have their +excuses; but the passion towards this woman was the passion of avarice +and rapacity only,--a passion, indeed, which lasted to the end of his +government, and for which he defied the orders of the Court of +Directors, rebelled against his masters, and finally subverted the +justice of a great country. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, I have done with this business. I come next to the third +division of the natives, those who form the landed interest of the +country. A few words only will be necessary upon this part of the +subject. The fact is, that Mr. Hastings, at one stroke, put up the +property of all the nobility and gentry, and of all the freeholders, in +short, the whole landed interest of Bengal, to a public auction, and let +it to the highest bidder. I will make no observations upon the nature of +this measure to your Lordships, who represent so large a part of the +dignity, together with so large a part of the landed interest of this +kingdom: though I think, that, even under your Lordships' restrictive +order, I am entitled so to do; because we have examined some witnesses +upon this point, in the revenue charge. Suffice it to say, that it is in +evidence before your Lordships that this sale was ordered. Mr. Hastings +does not deny it. He says, indeed, he did it not with an ill intention. +My answer is, that it could have been done with no other than a bad +intention. The owners of the land had no way left to save themselves but +to become farmers of their own estates; and from the competition which +naturally took place, (and he himself declared, that the persons, +whether owners or strangers, to whom he let the lands, had agreed to +rents which surpassed their abilities to pay,) I need not tell you what +must have been the consequence, when it got into such rapacious hands, +and was taken out of the hands of its natural proprietors: that the +public revenue had sunk and lost by it, and that the country was wasted +and destroyed. I leave it to your Lordships' own meditation and +reflection; and I shall not press it one step further than just to +remind you of what has been so well opened and pressed by my fellow +Managers. He, Mr. Hastings, confesses that he let the lands to his own +banians; he took his own domestic servants and put them in the houses of +the nobility of the country; and this he did in direct violation of an +express order made by himself, that no banian of a collector (the spirit +of which order implied ten thousand times more strongly the exclusion of +any banians of a Governor-General) should have any one of those farms. +We also find that he made a regulation that no farmers should rent more +than a lac of rupees; but at the same time we find his banians holding +several farms to more than that amount. In short, we find that in every +instance, where, under some plausible pretence or other, the fixed +regulations are violated, it touches him so closely as to make it +absolutely impossible not to suppose that he himself had the advantage +of it. + +For, in the first place, you have proof that he does take bribes, and +that he has corrupt dealings. This is what he admits; but he says that +he has done it from public-spirited motives. Now there is a rule, +formed upon a just, solid presumption of law, that, if you find a man +guilty of one offence contrary to known law, whenever there is a +suspicious case against him of the same nature, the _onus probandi_ that +he is not guilty is turned upon him. Therefore, when I find the +regulations broken,--when I find farms given of more than a lac of +rupees,--when I find them given to the Governor-General's own banian, +contrary to the principle of the regulation, contrary, I say, in the +strongest way to it,--when I find that he accumulates farms beyond the +regulated number,--when I find all these things done, and besides that +the banian has great balances of account against him,--then, by the +presumption of law, I am bound to believe that all this was done, not +for the servants, but for the master. + +It is possible Mr. Hastings might really be in love with Munny Begum; be +it so,--many great men have played the fool for prostitutes, from Mark +Antony's days downwards; but no man ever fell in love with his own +banian. The persons for whom Mr. Hastings was guilty of all this rapine +and oppression have neither relations nor kindred whom they own, nor +does any trace of friendship exist among them; they do not live in +habits of intimacy with any one; they are good fellows and +bottle-companions. + + * * * * * + +I must now proceed to observe upon another matter which has been stated +to your Lordships,--namely, that, as soon as he obtained the majority in +the Council, (that beginning of all evils, that opening of Pandora's +box,) by the death of General Clavering and Colonel Monson, the first +thing he did was to appoint a commission, called an _aumeeny_, to go +through the whole country, to enter every man's house, to examine his +title-deeds, and to demand his papers of accounts of every kind, for the +purpose of enabling himself to take advantage of the hopes and fears of +all the parties concerned, and thus to ravage and destroy all their +property. + +And whom does he place at the head of this commission, to be the manager +of the whole affair? Gunga Govind Sing, another banian of his, and one +of his own domestic servants. This we have discovered lately, and not +without some surprise; for though I knew he kept a rogue in his house, +yet I did not think that it was a common receptacle of thieves and +robbers. I did not know till lately that this Gunga Govind Sing was his +domestic servant; but Mr. Hastings, in a letter to the Court of +Directors, calls him his faithful domestic servant, and as such calls +upon the Company to reward him. To this banian all the Company's +servants are made subject; they are bound to obey all his orders, and +those of his committee. I hope I need not tell your Lordships what sort +of stuff this committee was made of, by which Gunga Govind Sing was +enabled to ravage the whole country. + +But, say his counsel, Mr. Hastings thought that the value of the lands +was thoroughly known; they had been investigated three times over, and +they were all let by public auction to the highest bidder.--This may or +may not be a true test of their value; but it is a test which, as it led +to the almost entire confiscation of the landed interest of Bengal, +Bahar, and Orissa, three great kingdoms, by a dash of that man's pen, +into the hands of his banians and creatures, I can never think of it, +or of its author, without horror. + +Some people say, you ought to hate the crime and love the criminal. No, +that is the language of false morality; you ought to hate the crime and +the criminal, if the crime is of magnitude. If the crime is a small one, +then you ought to be angry with the crime and reluctant to punish the +criminal; but when there are great crimes, then you may hate them +together. What! am I to love Nero? to fall in love with Heliogabalus? is +Domitian to be the subject of my affection? No, we hate the crime, and +we hate the criminal ten times more; and if I use indignant language, if +I use the language of scorn and horror with respect to the criminal, I +use the language that becomes me. + +But, says one of the counsel, the Company might possess a knowledge of +the country in general, but they could not know every _bega_, of it, +(about the third part of an acre of land,) without such a commission. +That is to say, you could not squeeze everything out of the people, +without ordering such a villain as Gunga Govind Sing, (I call things, by +their names,) that most atrocious and wicked instrument of the most +atrocious and wicked tyranny, to examine every man's papers, to oblige +every man to produce his titles and accounts upon pain of criminal +punishment, to be inflicted at the discretion of this commissioner, this +Gunga Govind Sing. For an account of these acts, and for a description +of an aumeeny, I refer your Lordships to the evidence in your Minutes, +from page 1287 to 1301; and I pass on, expressing only my horror and +detestation at it, and wishing to kindle in your Lordships' minds the +same horror and detestation of it. + +Thus you see that Mr. Hastings was not satisfied with confiscation only. +He comes just afterwards with a blister upon the sore. He lets loose +another set of ravagers and inquisitors upon them, under Gunga Govind +Sing, and these poor people are ravaged by the whole tribe of Calcutta +banians. + +Mr. Hastings has himself defined an aumeen in page 1022, where he states +that Nundcomar desired him to make his son an aumeen. "The promise which +he [Nundcomar] says I made him, that he should be constituted aumeen, +that is, inquisitor-general over the whole country, and that I would +delegate to him my whole power and influence, is something more than a +negative falsehood." He justly and naturally reprobates the proposition +of appointing an inquisitor-general over the whole country; and yet we +see him afterwards appointing Gunga Govind Sing such an +inquisitor-general over the whole country, in order that a bega of land +should not escape him. + +Let us see how all this ended, and what it is that leads me directly to +the presumption of corruption against him in this wicked _aumeeny_ +scheme. Now I will admit the whole scheme to have been well intended, I +will forgive the letting all the lands of Bengal by public auction, I +will forgive all he has done with regard to his banians, I shall forgive +him even this commission itself, if he will show your Lordships that +there was the smallest use made of it with regard to the settlement of +the revenues of the Company. If there was not, then there is obviously +one use only that could be made of it, namely, to put all the people of +the whole country under obedience to Gunga Govind Sing. What, then, was +done? Titles and accounts were exacted; the estimate was made, acre by +acre; but we have not been able to find one word on their records of any +return that was made to the Company of this investigation, or of any +settlement or assessment of the country founded upon it, or of any +regulation that was established upon it. Therefore, as an honest man, +and as a man who is standing here for the Commons of Great Britain, I +must not give way to any idle doubts and ridiculous suppositions. I +cannot, I say, entertain any doubts that the only purpose it was +designed to answer was to subject the whole landed interest of the +country to the cruel inquisition of Gunga Govind Sing, and to the cruel +purposes of Mr. Hastings. Show me another purpose and I will give up the +argument: for if there are two ways of accounting for the same act, it +is possible it may be attributed to the better motive; but when we see +that a bad thing was done under pretence of some good, we must attach a +bad motive to it, if the pretence be never fulfilled. + + * * * * * + +I have now done with the landed interest of Bengal. I have omitted much +which might have been pressed upon your Lordships, not from any +indisposition to remark upon the matter more fully, but because it has +been done already by abler persons; I only wished to make some practical +inferences, which, perhaps, in the hurry of my brother Managers, might +possibly have escaped them; I wished to show you that one system of +known or justly presumed corruption pervades the whole of this business, +from one end to the other. Having thus disposed of the native landed +interest, and the native zemindars or landholders of the country, I pass +to the English government. + +My Lords, when we have shown plainly the utter extinction of the native +Mahometan government, when we have shown the extinction of the native +landed interest, what hope can there be for that afflicted country but +in the servants of the Company? When we have shown the corrupt state of +that service, what hope but from the Court of Directors, what hope but +in the superintending control of British tribunals? I think as well of +the body of my countrymen as any man can do. I do not think that any man +sent out to India is sent with an ill purpose, or goes out with bad +dispositions. No: I think the young men who go there are fair and +faithful representatives of the people of the same age,--uncorrupted, +but corruptible from their age, as we all are. They are sent there +young. There is but one thing held out to them,--"You are going to make +your fortune." The Company's service is to be the restoration of decayed +noble families; it is to be the renovation of old, and the making of new +ones. Now, when such a set of young men are sent out with these hopes +and views, and with little education, or a very imperfect one,--when +these people, from whatever rank of life selected, many from the best, +most from the middling, very few from the lowest, but, high, middling, +or low, they are sent out to make two things coincide which the wit of +man was never able to unite, to make their fortune and form their +education at once. What is the education of the generality of the world? +Reading a parcel of books? No. Restraint of discipline, emulation, +examples of virtues and of justice, form the education of the world. If +the Company's servants have not that education, and are left to give +loose to their natural passions, some would be corrupt of course, and +some would be uncorrupt; but probably the majority of them would be +inclined to pursue moderate courses between these two. Now I am to show +you that Mr. Hastings left these servants but this alternative: "Be +starved, be depressed, be ruined, disappoint the hopes of your families, +or be my slaves, be ready to be subservient to me in every iniquity I +shall order you to commit, and to conceal everything I shall wish you to +conceal." This was the state of the service. Therefore the Commons did +well and wisely, when they sent us here, not to attack this or that +servant who may have peculated, but to punish the man who was sent to +reform abuses, and to make Bengal furnish to the world a brilliant +example of British justice. + +I shall now proceed to state briefly the abuses of the Company's +government,--to show you what Mr. Hastings was expected to do for their +reformation, and what he actually did do; I shall then show your +Lordships the effects of the whole. + +I shall begin by reading to your Lordships an extract from the +Directors' letter to Bengal, of the 10th April, 1773. + + "We wish we could refute the observation, that almost every attempt + made by us and our administrations at your Presidency for the + reforming of abuses has rather increased them, and added to the + miseries of the country we are so anxious to protect and cherish. + The truth of this observation appears fully in the late appointment + of supervisors and chiefs. Instituted as they were, to give relief + to the industrious tenants, to improve and enlarge our investments, + to destroy monopolies and retrench expenses, the end has by no + means been answerable to the institution. Are not the tenants more + than ever oppressed and wretched? Are our investments improved? + Have not the raw silk and cocoons been raised upon us fifty per + cent in price? We can hardly say what has not been made a monopoly. + And as to the expenses of your Presidency, they are at length + swelled to a degree we are no longer able to support. These facts + (for such they are) should have been stated to us as capital + reasons why neither our orders of 1771, nor indeed any regulations + whatever, could be carried into execution. But, perhaps, as this + would have proved too much, it was not suggested to us; for nothing + could more plainly indicate a state of anarchy, and that there was + no government existing in our servants in Bengal." + + "And therefore, 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 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 these 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. + + "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. + + "Your settlement being thus put into a train of reform, (without + which, indeed, all regulations will prove ineffectual,) you are + next to revert to the old system, when the business of your + Presidency was principally performed by our own servants, who then + had knowledge of our investments, and every other department of our + concerns: you will therefore fill the several offices with the + factors and writers upon your establishment, (for, with our present + appointments, we are assured there will be sufficient for this + purpose,) and thus you will banish idleness, and its attendants, + extravagance and dissipation. And here we enjoin you to transmit to + us a faithful and minute state of the pay and every known + emolument of all below Council: for, as it is notorious that even + youths in our service expend in equipage, servants, dress, and + living infinitely more than our stated allowances can afford, we + cannot but be anxious to discover the means by which they are + enabled to proceed in this manner; and, indeed, so obnoxious is + this conduct to us, and so injurious in its consequences, that we + expect and require you to show your displeasure to all such as + shall transgress in this respect, contrasting it at the same time + with instances of kindness towards the sober, frugal, and + industrious." + +My Lords, you see the state in which the Directors conceived the country +to be. That it was in this state is not denied by Mr. Hastings, who was +sent out for the purpose of reforming it. The Directors had swept away +almost the whole body of their Bengal servants for supposed corruption; +and they appointed a set of new ones, to regenerate, as it were, the +government of that country. + +Mr. Hastings says, "I was brought to India like other people." This, +indeed, is true; and I hope it will prove an example and instruction to +all mankind never to employ a man who has been bred in base and corrupt +practices, from any hope that his local knowledge may make him the +fittest person to correct such practices. Mr. Hastings goes on to say, +that you could not expect more from him than could be done by a man bred +up, as he was, in the common habits of the country. This is also true. +My Lords, you might as well expect a man to be fit for a perfumer's +shop, who has lain a month in a pig's stye, as to expect that a man who +has been a contractor with the Company for a length of time is a fit +person for reforming abuses. Mr. Hastings has stated in general his +history, his merits, and his services. We have looked over with care the +records relative to his proceedings, and we find that in 1760 and 1761 +he was in possession of a contract for bullocks and a contract for +provisions. It is no way wrong for any man to take a contract, provided +he does not do what Mr. Hastings has condemned in his +regulations,--become a contractor with his masters. But though I do not +bear upon Mr. Hastings for having spent his time in being a +bullock-contractor, yet I say that he ought to have laid aside all the +habits of a bullock-contractor when he was made a great minister for the +reformation of a great service full of abuses. I will show your +Lordships that he never did so; that, on the contrary, being bred in +those bad habits, and having had the education that I speak of, he +persevered in the habits which had been formed in him to the very last. + +I understand it has been imputed as a sort of a crime in me, that I +stated something of the obscurity of Mr. Hastings's birth. The +imputation has no foundation. Can it be believed that any man could be +so absurd as to attack a man's birth, when he is accusing his actions? +No, I have always spoken of the low, sordid, and mercenary habits in +which he was bred; I said nothing of his birth. But, my Lords, I was a +good deal surprised when a friend of his and mine yesterday morning put +into my hands, who had been attacking Mr. Hastings's life and conduct, a +pedigree. I was appealing to the records of the Company; they answer by +sending me to the Herald's Office. Many of your Lordships' pedigrees +are obscure in comparison with that of Mr. Hastings; and I only wonder +how he came to derogate from such a line of nobles by becoming a +contractor for bullocks. + +A man may be an honest bullock-contractor, (God forbid that many of them +in this country should not be very honest!) but I find his terms were +nearly four times as high as those which the House of Commons had +condemned as exorbitant. They were not only unusually high, but the +bullocks were badly supplied, and the contract had not been fairly +advertised. It was therefore agreed to declare the same void at the +expiration of twelve months, on the 1st December, 1763. I say again, +that I do not condemn him for being a bullock-contractor; but I am +suspicious of his honesty, because he has been nursed in bad and vicious +habits. That of contracting with his masters is a bad habit, as he +himself has stated in a record which is printed by the House of Commons. +I condemn him for being a fraudulent bullock-contractor: for he was +turned out of that contract for fraudulent practices; it was declared +void, and given to another at a lower price. After it was so disposed +of, Mr. Hastings himself, condemning his own original contract, which +was at twelve rupees for a certain species of bullocks, took the +contract again at seven; and on these terms it continued. What I +therefore contend for is this, that he carried with him the spirit of a +fraudulent bullock-contractor through the whole of the Company's +service, in its greatest and most important parts. + +My Lords, the wading through all these corruptions is an unpleasant +employment for me; but what am I to think of a man who holds up his +head so high, that, when a matter of account is in discussion, such as +appears in this very defence that I have in my hand, he declares he does +not know anything about it? He cannot keep accounts: that is beneath +him. We trace him throughout the whole of his career engaged in a great +variety of mercantile employments; and yet, when he comes before you, +you would imagine that he had been bred in the study of the sublimest +sciences, and had no concern in anything else,--that he had been engaged +in writing a poem, an Iliad, or some work that might revive fallen +literature. There is but one exception to his abhorrence of accounts: he +always contrives to make up a good account for himself. + +My Lords, we have read to you a letter in which the Court of Directors +have described the disorders of their service, the utter ruin of it, the +corruption that prevailed in it, and the destruction of the country by +it. When we are said to exaggerate, we use no stronger words than they +do. We cannot mince the matter; your Lordships should not mince it; no +little paltry delicacies should hinder you, when there is a country +expiring under all these things, from calling the authors to a strict +account. The Court of Directors sent him that statement; they +recommended to him a radical reformation. What does he do? We will read +his letter of 1773, in which you will find seeds sown for the +propagation of all those future abuses which terminated in the utter and +irremediable destruction of the whole service. After he has praised the +Directors for the trust that they had placed in him, after expressing +his highest gratitude, and so on, he says,-- + + "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 have 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 interest, 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, you see here, that, after admitting that he has promised to +the Court of Directors to do what they ordered him to do, (and he had +promised to make a radical reform in their whole service, and to cure +those abuses which they have stated,) he declares that he will not +execute them; he pleads a variety of other occupations; but as to that +great fundamental grievance he was appointed to eradicate, he declares +he will not even attempt it. "Why did you promise?"--it naturally occurs +to ask him that question. "Why," says he, "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 known my +inability to perform them." This is a kind of argument that belongs to +Mr. Hastings exclusively. Most other people would say, "You may judge of +the sincerity of my promises by my zeal in the performance"; but he +says, "You may judge of the sincerity of my promises, because I would +not promise, if I had not thought I should be able to perform." It runs +in this ridiculous circle: "I promised to obey the Court of Directors; +therefore I knew that I could obey them: but I could not obey them; +therefore I was absolved from my promise, and did not attempt to obey +them." In fact, there is not so much as one grievance or abuse in the +country, that he reformed. And this was systematical in Mr. Hastings's +conduct,--that he was resolved to connive at the whole of the iniquities +of the service, because he was resolved that every one of those existing +iniquities should be practised by himself. "But," says he, "the +reformation required can produce no real good, and may expose your +affairs to all the ruinous consequences of personal malevolence, both +here and at home." This he gives you as a reason why he will not +prosecute the inquiry into abuses abroad,--because he is afraid that you +should punish him at home for doing his duty abroad,--that it will +expose him to malevolence at home; and therefore, to avoid being subject +to malevolence at home, he would not do his duty abroad. + +He follows this with something that is perfectly extraordinary: he +desires, instead of doing his duty, which he declares it is impossible +to do, that he may be invested with an arbitrary power. I refer your +Lordships to pages 2827, 2828, and 2829 of the printed Minutes, where +you will find the system of his government to be formed upon a +resolution not to use any one legal means of punishing corruption, or +for the prevention of corruption; all that he desires is, to have an +absolute arbitrary power over the servants of the Company. There you +will see that arbitrary power for corrupt purposes over the servants of +the Company is the foundation of every part of his whole conduct. Remark +what he says here, and then judge whether these inferences are to be +eluded by any chicane. + + "In the charge of oppression, although 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 consequences will restrain every man within the bounds of his + duty, if he knows himself liable to suffer by the effects of a + single control." + +My Lords, you see two things most material for you to consider in the +judgment of this great cause, which is the cause of nations. The first +thing for you to consider is the declaration of the culprit at your bar, +that a person may be pursued by the cries of a whole people,--that +documents the most authentic and satisfactory, but deficient in +technical form, may be produced against him,--in short, that he may be +guilty of the most enormous crimes,--and yet that legal proofs may be +wanting. This shows you how seriously you ought to consider, before you +reject any proof upon the idea that it is not technical legal proof. To +this assertion of Mr. Hastings I oppose, however, the opinion of a +gentleman who sits near his side, Mr. Sumner, which is much more +probable. + +Mr. Hastings says, that the power of the Council is not effectual +against the inferior servants, that [it?] is too weak to coerce them. +With much more truth Mr. Sumner has said, in his minute, you might +easily coerce the inferior servants, but that the dread of falling upon +persons in high stations discourages and puts an end to complaint. I +quote the recorded authority of the gentleman near him, as being of +great weight in the affairs of the Company, to prove what is infinitely +more probable, the falsehood of Mr. Hastings's assertion, that an +inferior servant cannot be coerced, and that they must riot with +impunity in the spoils of the people. + +But we will go to a much more serious part of the business. After +desiring arbitrary power in this letter, he desires a perpetuation of +it. And here he has given you a description of a bad Governor, to which +I must call your attention, as your Lordships will find it, in every +part of his proceeding, to be exactly applicable to himself and to his +own government. + + "The first command of a state so extensive as that of Bengal is not + without opportunities of private emoluments; and although the + allowance which your bounty has liberally provided for your + servants may be reasonably expected to fix the bounds of their + desires, yet you will find it extremely difficult to restrain men + from profiting by other means, who look upon their appointment as + the measure of a day, and who, from the uncertainty of their + condition, see no room for any acquisition but of wealth, since + reputation and the consequences which follow the successful conduct + of great affairs are only to be attained in a course of years. + Under such circumstances, however rigid your orders may be, or + however supported, I am afraid that in most instances they will + produce no other fruits than either avowed disobedience or the + worst extreme of falsehood and hypocrisy. These are not the + principles which should rule the conduct of men whom you have + constituted the guardians of your property, and checks on the + morals and fidelity of others. The care of self-preservation will + naturally suggest the necessity of seizing the opportunity of + present power, when the duration of it is considered as limited to + the usual term of three years, and of applying it to the provision + of a future independency; therefore every renewal of this term is + liable to prove a reiterated oppression. It is perhaps owing to the + causes which I have described, and a proof of their existence, that + this appointment has been for some years past so eagerly solicited + and so easily resigned. There are yet other inconveniences + attendant on this habit, and perhaps an investigation of them all + would lead to endless discoveries. Every man whom your choice has + honored with so distinguished a trust seeks to merit approbation + and acquire an _eclat_ by innovations, for which the wild scene + before him affords ample and justifiable occasion." + +You see, my Lords, he has stated, that, if a Governor is appointed to +hold his office only for a short time, the consequence would be either +an avowed disobedience, or, what is worse, extreme falsehood and +hypocrisy. Your Lordships know that this man has held his office for a +long time, and yet his disobedience has been avowed, and his hypocrisy +and his falsehood have been discovered, and have been proved to your +Lordships in the course of this trial. You see this man has declared +what are the principles which should rule the conduct of men whom you +have constituted the guardians of your property, and checks upon the +morals and fidelity of others. Mr. Hastings tells you himself directly +what his duty was; he tells you himself, and he pronounces his own +condemnation, what was expected from him, namely, that he should give a +great example himself, and be a check and guardian of the fidelity of +all that are under him. He declares, at the end of this letter, that a +very short continuance in their service would enable him to make a +fortune up to the height of his desire. He has since thought proper to +declare to you that he is a beggar and undone, notwithstanding all his +irregular resources in that very service. + +I have read this letter to your Lordships, that you may contrast it with +the conduct of the prisoner, as stated by us, and proved by the evidence +we have adduced. We have stated and proved that Mr. Hastings did enter +upon a systematic connivance at the peculation of the Company's +servants, that he refused to institute any check whatever for the +purpose of preventing corruption, and that he carried into execution no +one measure of government agreeably to the positive and solemn +engagements into which he had entered with the Directors. We therefore +charge him, not only with his own corruptions, but with a systematic, +premeditated corruption of the whole service, from the time when he was +appointed, in the beginning of the year 1772, down to the year 1785, +when he left it. He never attempted to detect any one single abuse +whatever; he never endeavored once to put a stop to any corruption in +any man, black or white, in any way whatever. And thus he has acted in a +government of which he himself declares the nature to be such that it is +almost impossible so to detect misconduct as to give legal evidence of +it, though a man should be declared by the cries of the whole people to +be guilty. + +My Lords, he desires an arbitrary power over the Company's servants to +be given to him. God forbid arbitrary power should be given into the +hands of any man! At the same time, God forbid, if by power be meant the +ability to discover, to reach, to check, and to punish subordinate +corruption, that he should not be enabled so to do, and to get at, to +prosecute, and punish delinquency by law! But honesty only, and not +arbitrary power, is necessary for that purpose. We well know, indeed, +that a government requiring arbitrary power has been the situation in +which this man has attempted to place us. + +We know, also, my Lords, that there are cases in which the act of the +delinquent may be of consequence, while the example of the criminal, +from the obscurity of his situation, is of little importance: in other +cases, the act of the delinquent may be of no great importance, but the +consequences of the example dreadful. We know that crimes of great +magnitude, that acts of great tyranny, can but seldom be exercised, and +only by a few persons. They are privileged crimes. They are the dreadful +prerogatives of greatness, and of the highest situations only. But when +a Governor-General descends into the muck and filth of peculation and +corruption, when he receives bribes and extorts money, he does acts that +are imitable by everybody. There is not a single man, black or white, +from the highest to the lowest, that is possessed in the smallest degree +of momentary authority, that cannot imitate the acts of such a +Governor-General. Consider, then, what the consequences will be, when it +is laid down as a principle of the service, that no man is to be called +to account according to the existing laws, and that you must either +give, as he says, arbitrary power, or suffer your government to be +destroyed. + +We asked Mr. Anderson, whether the covenant of every farmer of the +revenue did not forbid him from giving any presents to any persons, or +taking any. He answered, he did not exactly remember, (for the memory of +this gentleman is very indifferent, though the matter was in his own +particular province,) but he thought it did; and he referred us to the +record of it. I cannot get at the record; and therefore you must take it +as it stands from Mr. Anderson, without a reference to the record,--that +the farmers were forbidden to take or give any money to any person +whatever, beyond their engagements. Now, if a Governor-General comes to +that farmer, and says, "You must give a certain sum beyond your +engagements," he lets him loose to prey upon the landholders and +cultivators; and thus a way is prepared for the final desolation of the +whole country, by the malversation of the Governor, and by the +consequent oppressive conduct of the farmers. + +Mr. Hastings being now put over the whole country to regulate it, let us +see what he has done. He says, "Let me have an arbitrary power, and I +will regulate it." He assumed arbitrary power, and turned in and out +every servant at his pleasure. But did he by that arbitrary power +correct any one corruption? Indeed, how could he? He does not say he +did. For when a man gives ill examples in himself, when he cannot set on +foot an inquiry that does not terminate in his own corruption, of course +he cannot institute any inquiry into the corruption of the other +servants. + +But again, my Lords, the subordinate servant will say, "I cannot rise" +(properly here, as Mr. Hastings has well observed) "to the height of +greatness, power, distinction, rank, or honor in the government; but I +can make my fortune, according to my degree, my measure, and my place." +His views will be then directed so to make it. And when he sees that the +Governor-General is actuated by no other views,--when he himself, as a +farmer, is confidently assured of the corruptions of his superior,--when +he knows it to be laid down as a principle by the Governor-General, that +no corruption is to be inquired into, and that, if it be not expressly +laid down, yet that his conduct is such as to make it the same as if he +had actually so laid it down,--then, I say, every part of the service is +instantly and totally corrupted. + + * * * * * + +I shall next refer your Lordships to the article of contracts. Five +contracts have been laid before you, the extravagant and corrupt profits +of which have been proved to amount to 500,000_l._ We have shown you, by +the strongest presumptive evidence, that these contracts were given for +the purpose of corrupting the Company's servants in India, and of +corrupting the Company itself in England. You will recollect that +40,000_l._ was given in one morning for a contract which the contractor +was never to execute: I speak of Mr. Sulivan's contract. You will also +recollect that he was the son of the principal person in the Indian +direction, and who, in or out of office, was known to govern it, and to +be supported by the whole Indian interest of Mr. Hastings. You have seen +the corruption of Sir Eyre Coote, in giving to Mr. Croftes the bullock +contract. You have seen the bullock contracts stated to Mr. Hastings's +face, and not denied, to have been made for concealing a number of +corrupt interests. You have seen Mr. Auriol's contract, given to the +secretary of the Company by Mr. Hastings in order that he might have the +whole records and registers of the Company under his control. You have +seen that the contract and commission for the purchase of stores and +provisions, an enormous job, was given to Mr. Belli, an obscure man, for +whom Mr. Hastings offers himself as security, under circumstances that +went to prove that Mr. Belli held this commission for Mr. Hastings. +These, my Lords, are things that cannot be slurred over. The +Governor-General is corrupt; he corrupts all about him; he does it upon +system; he will make no inquiry. + +My Lords, I have stated the amount of the sums which he has squandered +away in these contracts; but you will observe that we have brought +forward but five of them. Good God! when you consider the magnitude and +multiplicity of the Company's dealings, judge you what must be the +enormous mass of that corruption of which he has been the cause, and in +the profits of which he has partaken. When your Lordships shall have +considered this document, his defence, which I have read in part to you, +see whether you are not bound, when he imputes to us and throws upon us +the cause of all his corruption, to throw back the charge by your +decision, and hurl it with indignation upon himself. + +But there is another shameless and most iniquitous circumstance, which I +have forgotten to mention, respecting these contracts. He not only +considered them as means of present power, and therefore protected his +favorites without the least inquiry into their conduct, and with +flagrant suspicion of a corrupt participation in their delinquency, but +he goes still farther: he declares, that, if he should be removed from +his government, he will give them a lease in these exorbitant profits, +for the purpose of securing a corrupt party to support and bear him out +by their evidence, upon the event of any inquiry into his conduct,--to +give him a _razinama_, to give him a flourishing character, whenever he +should come upon his trial. Hear what his principles are; hear what the +man himself avows. + + "_Fort William, October 4, 1779._ + + "In answer to Mr. Francis's insinuation, that it is natural enough + for the agent to wish to secure himself before the expiration of + the present government, I avow the fact as to myself as well as the + agent. When I see a systematic opposition to every measure proposed + by me for the service of the public, by which an individual may + eventually benefit, I cannot hesitate a moment to declare it to be + my firm belief, that, should the government of this country be + placed in the hands of the present minority, they would seek the + ruin of every man connected with me; it is therefore only an act + of common justice in me to wish to secure them, as far as I legally + can, from the apprehension of future oppression." + +Here is the principle avowed. He takes for granted, and he gives it the +name of oppression, that the person who should succeed him would take +away those unlawful and wicked emoluments, and give them to some other. +"But," says he, "I will put out of the Company's power the very means +of redress." + +The document which I am now going to read to your Lordships contains a +declaration by Mr. Hastings of another mean which he used of corrupting +the whole Company's service. + + + _Minute of the Governor-General.--Extract from that Minute._ + + "Called upon continually by persons of high rank and station, both + in national and in the Company's councils, to protect and prefer + their friends in the army, and by the merits and services which + have come under my personal knowledge and observation, I suffer + both pain and humiliation at the want of power to reward the + meritorious, or to show a proper attention to the wishes of my + superiors, without having recourse to means which must be + considered as incompatible with the dignity of my station. The + slender relief which I entreat of the board from this state of + mortification is the authority to augment the number of my staff, + which will enable me to show a marked and particular attention in + circumstances such as above stated, and will be no considerable + burden to the Company." + +My Lords, you here see what he has been endeavoring to effect, for the +express purpose of enabling him to secure himself a corrupt influence in +England. But there is another point much more material, which brings the +matter directly home to this court, and puts it to you either to punish +him or to declare yourselves to be accomplices in the corruption of the +whole service. Hear what the man himself says. I am first to mention to +your Lordships the occasion upon which the passage which I shall read to +you was written. It was when he was making his enormous and shameful +establishment of a Revenue Board, in the year 1781,--of which I shall +say a few words hereafter, as being a gross abuse in itself: he then +felt that the world would be so much shocked at the enormous prodigality +and corrupt profusion of what he was doing, that he at last spoke out +plainly. + + + _A Minute of Mr. Hastings, transmitted in a Letter by Mr. Wheler._ + + "In this, as it must be the case in every reformation, the interest + of individuals has been our principal, if not our only impediment. + We could not at once deprive so large a body of our fellow-servants + of their bread, without feeling that reluctance which humanity must + dictate,--not unaccompanied, perhaps, with some concern for the + consequence which our own credit might suffer by an act which + involved the fortunes of many, and extended its influence to all + their connections. This, added to the justice which was due to your + servants, who were removed for no fault of theirs, but for the + public convenience, induced us to continue their allowances until + other offices could be provided for them, and the more cheerfully + to submit to the expediency of leaving others in a temporary or + partial charge of the internal collections. In effect, the civil + officers [offices?] of this government might be reduced to a very + scanty number, were their exigency alone to determine the list of + your covenanted servants, which at this time consist of no less a + number than two hundred and fifty-two,--many of them the sons of + the first families in the kingdom of Great Britain, and every one + aspiring to the rapid acquisition of lacs, and to return to pass + the prime of their lives at home, as multitudes have done before + them. Neither will the revenues of this country suffice for such + boundless pretensions, nor are they compatible with yours and the + national interests, which may eventually suffer as certain a ruin + from the effects of private competition and the claims of patronage + as from the more dreaded calamities of war, or the other ordinary + causes which lead to the decline of dominion." + +My Lords, you have here his declaration, that patronage, which he avows +to be one of the principles of his government, and to be the principle +of the last of his acts, is worse than war, pestilence, and famine,--and +that all these calamities together might not be so effectual as this +patronage in wasting and destroying the country. And at what time does +he tell you this? He tells it you when he himself had just wantonly +destroyed an old regular establishment for the purpose of creating a new +one, in which he says he was under the necessity of pensioning the +members of the old establishment from motives of mere humanity. He here +confesses himself to be the author of the whole mischief. "I could," +says he, "have acted better; I might have avoided desolating the country +by peculation; but," says he, "I had sons of the first families in the +kingdom of Great Britain, every one aspiring to the rapid acquisition of +lacs, and this would not suffer me to do my duty." I hope your Lordships +will stigmatize the falsehood of this assertion. Consider, my Lords, +what he has said,--two hundred and fifty men at once, and in +succession, aspiring to come home in the prime of their youth with +_lacs_. You cannot take _lacs_ to be less than two; we cannot make a +plural less than two. Two lacs make 20,000_l._ Then multiply that, by +252, and you will find more than 2,500,000_l._ to be provided for that +set of gentlemen, and for the claims of patronage. Undoubtedly such a +patronage is worse than the most dreadful calamities of war, and all the +other causes which lead to decline of dominion. + +My Lords, I beseech you to consider this plan of corrupting the +Company's servants, beginning with systematical corruption, and ending +with an avowed declaration that he will persist in this iniquitous +proceeding, and to the utmost of his power entail it upon the Company, +for the purpose of securing his accomplices against all the consequences +of any change in the Company's government. "I dare not," says he, "be +honest: if I make their fortunes, you will judge favorably of me; if I +do not make their fortunes, I shall find myself crushed with a load of +reproach and obloquy, from which I cannot escape in any other way than +by bribing the House of Peers." What a shameful avowal this to be made +in the face of the world! Your Lordships' judgment upon this great cause +will obliterate it from the memory of man. + +But his apprehension of some change in the Company's government is not +his only pretext for some of these corrupt proceedings; he adverts also +to the opposition which he had to encounter with his colleagues, as +another circumstance which drove him to adopt others of these scandalous +expediences. Now there was a period when he had no longer to contend +with, or to fear, that opposition. + +When he had got rid of the majority in the Council, which thwarted him, +what did he do? Did he himself correct any of the evils and disorders +which had prevailed in the service, and which his hostile majority had +purposed to reform? No, not one,--notwithstanding the Court of Directors +had supported the majority in all their declarations, and had accused +him of corruption and rebellion in every part of his opposition to them. +Now that he was free from the yoke of all the mischief of that cursed +majority which he deprecates, and which I have heard certain persons +consider as a great calamity, (a calamity indeed it was to +patronage,)--as soon, I say, as he was free from this, you would imagine +he had undertaken some great and capital reformation; for all the power +which the Company could give was in his hands,--total, absolute, and +unconfined. + +I must here remind your Lordships, that the Provincial Councils was an +establishment made by Mr. Hastings. So confident was he in his own +opinion of the expediency of them, that he transmitted to the Court of +Directors a draught of an act of Parliament to confirm them. By this act +it was his intention to place them beyond the possibility of mutation. +Whatever opinion others might entertain of their weakness, inefficacy, +or other defects, Mr. Hastings found no such things in them. He had +declared in the beginning that he considered them as a sort of +experiment, but that in the progress he found them answer so perfectly +well that he proposed even an act of Parliament to support them. The +Court of Directors, knowing the mischiefs that innovation had produced +in their service, and the desolations which it had brought on the +country, commanded him not to take any step for changing them, without +their orders. Contrary, however, to his own declarations, contrary to +the sketch of an act of Parliament, which, for aught he knew, the +legislature might then have passed, (I know that it was in contemplation +to pass, about that time, several acts for regulating the Company's +affairs, and, for one, I should have been, as I always have been, a good +deal concerned in whatever tended to fix some kind of permanent and +settled government in Bengal,)--in violation, I say, of his duty, and in +contradiction to his own opinion, he at that time, without giving the +parties notice, turns out of their employments, situations, and bread, +the Provincial Councils. + +And who were the members of those Provincial Councils? They were of high +rank in the Company's service; they were not junior servants, boys of a +day, but persons who had gone through some probation, who knew something +of the country, who were conversant in its revenues and in the course of +its business; they were, in short, men of considerable rank in the +Company's service. What did he do with these people? Without any regard +to their rank in the service,--no more than he had regarded the rank of +the nobility of the country,--he sweeps them all, in one day, from their +independent situations, without reference to the Directors, and turns +them all into pensioners upon the Company. And for what purpose was this +done? It was done in order to reduce the Company's servants, who, in +their independent situations, were too great a mass and volume for him +to corrupt, to an abject dependence upon his absolute power. It was, +that he might tell them, "You have lost your situations; you have +nothing but small alimentary pensions, nothing more than a maintenance; +and you must depend upon me whether you are to have anything more or +not." Thus at one stroke a large division of the Company's servants, and +one of the highest orders of them, were reduced, for their next bread, +to an absolute, submissive dependence upon his will; and the Company was +loaded with the pensions of all these discarded servants. Thus were +persons in an honorable, independent situation, earned by long service +in that country, and who were subject to punishment for their crimes, if +proved against them, all deprived, unheard, of their employments. You +would imagine that Mr. Hastings had at least charged them with +corruption. No, you will see upon your minutes, that, when he abolished +the Provincial Councils, he declared at the same time that he found no +fault with the persons concerned in them. + +Thus, then, he has got rid, as your Lordships see, of one whole body of +the Company's servants; he has systematically corrupted the rest, and +provided, as far as lay in his power, for the perpetuation of their +corruption; he has connived at all their delinquencies, and has +destroyed the independence of all the superior orders of them. + +Now hear what he does with regard to the Council-General itself. They +had, by the act that made Mr. Hastings Governor, the management of the +revenues vested in them. You have been shown by an honorable and able +fellow Manager of mine, that he took the business of this department +wholly out of the hand of the Council; that he named a committee for +the management of it, at an enormous expense,--committee made up of his +own creatures and dependants; and that, after destroying the Provincial +Councils, he brought down the whole management of the revenue to +Calcutta. This committee took this important business entirely out of +the hands of the Council, in which the act had vested it, and this +committee he formed without the orders of the Court of Directors, and +directly contrary to the act, which put the superintendence in the hands +of the Council. + +Oh, but he reserved a superintendence over them.--You shall hear what +the superintendence was; you shall see, feel, smell, touch; it shall +enter into every avenue and pore of your soul. It will show you what was +the real principle of Mr. Hastings's government. We will read to you +what Sir John Shore says of that institution, and of the only ends and +purposes which it could answer; your Lordships will then see how far he +was justifiable in violating an act of Parliament, and giving out of the +Council's hands the great trust which the laws of his country had vested +in them. It is part of a paper written in 1785 by Mr. Shore, who was +sole acting president of this committee to which all Bengal was +delivered. He was an old servant of the Company, and he is now at the +head of the government of that country. He was Mr. Hastings's particular +friend, and therefore you cannot doubt either of his being a competent +evidence, or that he is a favorable evidence for Mr. Hastings, and that +he would not say one word against the establishment of which he himself +was at the head, that was not perfectly true, and forced out of him by +the truth of the case. There is not a single part of it that does not +point out some abuse. + + "In the actual collection of the revenues, nothing is more + necessary than to give immediate attention to all complaints, which + are preferred daily without number, and to dispatch them in a + summary manner. This cannot be done where the control is remote. In + every purgunnah throughout Bengal there are some distinct usages, + which cannot be clearly known at a distance; yet in all complaints + of oppression or extortion, these must be known before a decision + can be pronounced. But to learn at Calcutta the particular customs + of a district of Rajeshahye or Dacca is almost impossible; and + considering the channel through which an explanation must pass, and + through which the complaint is made, any coloring may be given to + it, and oppression and extortion, to the ruin of a district, may be + practised with impunity. This is a continual source of + embarrassment to the Committee of Revenue in Calcutta. + + "One object of their institution was to bring the revenues without + the expenses of agency to the Presidency, and to remove all local + control over the farmers, who were to pay their rents at Calcutta. + When complaints are made against farmers by the occupiers of the + lands, it is almost impossible to discriminate truth from + falsehood; but to prevent a failure in the revenue, it is found + necessary, in all doubtful cases, to support the farmer,--a + circumstance which may give rise to and confirm the most cruel acts + of oppression. The real state of any district cannot be known by + the Committee. An occupier or zemindar may plead, that an + inundation has ruined him, or that his country is a desert through + want of rain. An aumeen is sent to examine the complaint. He + returns with an exaggerated account of losses, proved in volumes of + intricate accounts, which the Committee have no time to read, and + for which the aumeen is well paid. Possibly, however, the whole + account is false. Suppose no aumeen is employed, and the renter is + held to the tenor of his engagement, the loss, if real, must + occasion his ruin, unless his assessment is very moderate indeed. + + "I may venture to pronounce that the real state of the districts is + now less known, and the revenue less understood, than in the year + 1774. Since the natives have had the disposal of accounts, since + they have been introduced as agents and trusted with authority, + intricacy and confusion have taken place. The records and accounts + which have been compiled are numerous, yet, when any particular + account is wanted, it cannot be found. It is the business of all, + from the ryots to the dewan, to conceal and deceive. The simplest + matters of fact are designedly covered with a veil through which no + human understanding can penetrate. + + "With respect to the present Committee of Revenue, it is morally + impossible for them to execute the business they are intrusted + with. They are invested with a general control, and they have an + executive authority larger than ever was before given to any board + or body of men. They may and must get through the business; but to + pretend to assert that they really execute it would be folly and + falsehood. + + "The grand object of the native dewannies was to acquire + independent control, and for many years they have pursued this + with wonderful art. The farmers and zemindars under the Committee + prosecute the same plan, and have already objections to anything + that has the least appearance of restriction. All control removed, + they can plunder as they please. + + "The Committee must have a dewan, or executive officer, call him by + what name you please. This man, in fact, has all the revenues paid + at the Presidency at his disposal, and can, if he has any + abilities, bring all the renters under contribution. It is of + little advantage to restrain the Committee themselves from bribery + or corruption, when their executive officer has the power of + protecting [practising?] both undetected. + + "To display the arts employed by a native on such an occasion 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 hand + of their dewan." + +Here is the account of Mr. Hastings's new Committee of Revenue, +substituted in the place of an establishment made by act of Parliament. +Here is what he has substituted for Provincial Councils. Here is what he +has substituted in the room of the whole regular order of the service, +which he totally subverted. Can we add anything to this picture? Can we +heighten it? Can we do anything more than to recommend it to your +Lordships' serious consideration? + +But before I finally dismiss this part of our charge, I must request +your Lordships' most earnest attention to the true character of these +atrocious proceedings, as they now stand proved before you, by direct or +the strongest presumptive evidence, upon the Company's records, and by +his own confessions and declarations, and those of his most intimate +friends and avowed agents. + +Your Lordships will recollect, that, previously to the appointment of +Mr. Hastings to be the Governor-General, in 1772, the collection of the +revenues was committed to a naib dewan, or native collector, under the +control of the Supreme Council,--and that Mr. Hastings did at that time, +and upon various occasions afterwards, declare it to be his decided and +fixed opinion, that nothing would be so detrimental to the interests of +the Company, and to the happiness and welfare of the inhabitants of +their provinces, as changes, and more especially sudden changes, in the +collection of their revenues. His opinion was also most strongly and +reiteratedly pressed upon him by his masters, the Court of Directors. +The first step taken after his appointment was to abolish the office of +naib dewan, and to send a committee through the provinces, at the +expense of 50,000_l._ a year, to make a settlement of rents to be paid +by the natives for five years. At the same time he appointed one of the +Company's servants to be the collector in each province, and he +abolished the General Board of Revenue, which had been established at +Moorshedabad, chiefly for the following reasons: that, by its exercising +a separate control, the members of the Supreme Council at Calcutta were +prevented from acquiring that intimate acquaintance with the revenues +which was necessary to persons in their station; and because many of the +powers necessary for the collection of the revenues could not be +delegated to a subordinate council. In consideration of these opinions, +orders, and declarations, he, in 1773, abolished the office of +collector, and transferred the management of the revenues to several +councils of revenue, called Provincial Councils, and recommended their +perpetual establishment by act of Parliament. In the year 1774, in +contradiction of his former opinion respecting the necessity of the +Supreme Council possessing all possible means of becoming acquainted +with the details of the revenue, he again recommended the continuance of +the Provincial Councils in all their parts. This he again declared to be +his deliberate opinion in 1775 and in 1776. + +In the mean time a majority of the Supreme Council, consisting of +members who had generally differed in opinion from Mr. Hastings, had +transmitted their advice to the Court of Directors, recommending some +changes in the system of Provincial Councils. The Directors, in their +reply to this recommendation, did in 1777 order the Supreme Council to +form a new plan for the collection of the revenues, and to transmit it +to them for their consideration. + +No such plan was transmitted; but in the year 1781, Mr. Hastings having +obtained a majority in the Council, he again changed the whole system, +both of collection of the revenue and of the executive administration of +civil and criminal justice. And who were the persons substituted in the +place of those whom he removed? Names, my Lords, with which you are +already but too well acquainted. At their head stands Munny Begum; then +comes his own domestic, and private bribe-agent, Gunga Govind Sing; then +his banian, Cantoo Baboo; then that instrument of all evil, Debi Sing; +then the whole tribe of his dependants, white and black, whom he made +farmers of the revenue, with Colonel Hannay at their head; and, lastly, +his confidential Residents, secret agents, and private secretaries, Mr. +Middleton, Major Palmer, &c., &c. Can your Lordships doubt, for a single +instant, of the real spirit of these proceedings? Can you doubt of the +whole design having originated and ended in corruption and peculation? + +We have fully stated to you, from the authority of these parties +themselves, the effects and consequences of these proceedings,--namely, +the dilapidation of the revenues, and the ruin and desolation of the +provinces. And, my Lords, what else could have been expected or designed +by this sweeping subversion of the control of the Company's servants +over the collections of the revenue, and the vesting of it in a black +dewan, but fraud and peculation? What else, I say, was to be expected, +in the inextricable turnings and windings of that black mystery of +iniquity, but the concealment of every species of wrong, violence, +outrage, and oppression? + +Your Lordships, then, have seen that the whole country was put into the +hands of Gunga Govind Sing; and when you remember who this Gunga Govind +Sing was, and how effectually Mr. Hastings had secured him against +detection, in every part of his malpractices and atrocities, can you for +a moment hesitate to believe that the whole project was planned and +executed for the purpose of putting all Bengal under contribution to Mr. +Hastings? But if you are resolved, after all this, to entertain a good +opinion of Mr. Hastings,--if you have taken it into your heads, for +reasons best known to yourselves, to imagine that he has some hidden +virtues, which in the government of Bengal he has not displayed, and +which, to us of the House of Commons, have not been discernible in any +one single instance,--these virtues may be fit subjects for paragraphs +in newspapers, they may be pleaded for him by the partisans of his +Indian _faction_, but your Lordships will do well to remember that it is +not to Mr. Hastings himself that you are trusting, but to Gunga Govind +Sing. If the Committee were tools in his hands, must not Mr. Hastings +have also been a tool in his hands? If they with whom he daily and +hourly had to transact business, and whose office it was to control and +restrain him, were unable so to do, is this control and restraint to be +expected from Mr. Hastings, who was his confidant, and whose corrupt +transactions he could at any time discover to the world? My worthy +colleague has traced the whole of Mr. Hastings's bribe account, in the +most clear and satisfactory manner, to Gunga Govind Sing,--him first, +him last, him midst, and without end. If we fail of the conviction of +the prisoner at your bar, your Lordships will not have acquitted Mr. +Hastings merely, but you will confirm all the robberies and rapines of +Gunga Govind Sing. You will recognize him as a faithful governor of +India. Yes, my Lords, let us rejoice in this man! Let us adopt him as +our own! Let our country, let this House, be proud of him! If Mr. +Hastings can be acquitted, we must admit Gunga Govind Sing's government +to be the greatest blessing that ever happened to mankind. But if Gunga +Govind Sing's government be the greatest curse that ever befell +suffering humanity, as we assert it to have been, there is the man that +placed him in it; there is his father, his godfather, the first author +and origin of all these evils and, calamities. My Lords, remember +Dinagepore; remember the bribe of 40,000_l._ which Gunga Govind Sing +procured for Mr. Hastings in that province, and the subsequent horror of +that scene. + +But, my Lords, do you extend your confidence to Gunga Govind Sing? Not +even the face of this man, to whom the revenues of the Company, together +with the estates, fortunes, reputations, and lives of the inhabitants of +that country were delivered over, is known in those provinces. He +resides at Calcutta, and is represented by a variety of under-agents. Do +you know Govind Ghose? Do you know Nundulol? Do you know the whole tribe +of peculators, whom Mr. Hastings calls his faithful domestic servants? +Do you know all the persons that Gunga Govind Sing must employ in the +various ramifications of the revenues throughout all the provinces? Are +you prepared to trust all these? The Board of Revenue has confessed that +it could not control them. Mr. Hastings himself could not control them. +The establishment of this system was like Sin's opening the gates of +Hell: like her, he could open the gate,--but to shut, as Milton says, +exceeded his power. The former establishments, if defective, or if +abuses were found in them, might have been corrected. There was at least +the means of detecting and punishing abuse. But Mr. Hastings destroyed +the means of doing either, by putting the whole country into the hands +of Gunga Govind Sing. + +Now, having seen all these things done, look to the account. Your +Lordships will now be pleased to look at this business as a mere account +of revenue. You will find, on comparing the three years in which Mr. +Hastings was in the minority with the three years after the appointment +of this Committee, that the assessment upon the country increased, but +that the revenue was diminished; and you will also find, which is a +matter that ought to astonish you, that the expenses of the collections +were increased by no less a sum than 500,000_l._ You may judge from this +what riot there was in rapacity and ravage, both amongst the European +and native agents, but chiefly amongst the natives: for Mr. Hastings did +not divide the greatest part of this spoil among the Company's servants, +but among this gang of black dependants. These accounts are in pages +1273 and 1274 of your Minutes. + +My Lords, weighty indeed would have been the charge brought before your +Lordships by the Commons of Great Britain against the prisoner at your +bar, if they had fixed upon no other crime or misdemeanor than that +which I am now pressing upon you,--his throwing off the allegiance of +the Company, his putting a black master over himself, and his subjecting +the whole of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, the whole of the Company's +servants, the Company's revenues, the Company's farms, to Gunga Govind +Sing. But, my Lords, it is a very curious and remarkable thing, that we +have traced this man as Mr. Hastings's bribe-broker up to the time of +the nomination of this Committee; we have traced him through a regular +series of bribery; he is Mr. Hastings's bribe-broker at Patna; he is Mr. +Hastings's bribe-broker at Nuddea; he is his bribe-broker at Dinagepore; +we find him his bribe-broker in all these places; but from the moment +that this Committee was constituted, it became a gulf in which the +prevention, the detection, and the correction of all kind of abuses +were sunk and lost forever. From the time when this Committee and Gunga +Govind Sing were appointed, you do not find one word more of Mr. +Hastings's bribes. Had he then ceased to receive any? or where are you +to look for them? You are to look for them in that 500,000_l._ excess of +expense in the revenue department, and in the rest of all that corrupt +traffic of Gunga Govind Sing of which we gave you specimens at the time +we proved his known bribes to you. These are nothing but index-hands to +point out to you the immense mass of corruption which had its origin, +and was daily accumulating in these provinces, under the protection of +Mr. Hastings. And can you think, and can we talk of such transactions, +without feeling emotions of indignation and horror not to be described? +Can we contemplate such scenes as these,--can we look upon those +desolated provinces, upon a country so ravaged, a people so +subdued,--Mahometans, Gentoos, our own countrymen, all trampled under +foot by this tyrant,--can we do this; without giving expression to those +feelings which, after animating us in this life, will comfort us when we +die, and will form our best part in another? + +My Lords, I am now at the last day of my endeavors to inspire your +Lordships with a just sense of these unexampled atrocities. I have had a +great encyclopedia of crimes to deal with; I will get through them as +soon as I can; and I pray your Lordships to believe, that, if I omit +anything, it is to time I sacrifice it,--that it is to want of strength +I sacrifice it,--that it is to necessity, and not from any despair of +making, from the records and from the evidence, matter so omitted as +black as anything that I have yet brought before you. + +The next thing of which I have to remind your Lordships respecting these +black agents of the prisoner is, that we find him, just before his +departure from India, recommending three of them, Gunga Govind Sing, +Gunga Ghose, and Nundulol, as persons fit and necessary to be rewarded +for their services by the Company. Now your Lordships will find, that, +of these faithful domestic servants, there is not one of them who was +not concerned in these enormous briberies, and in betraying their own +native and natural master. If I had time for it, I believe I could trace +every person to be, in proportion to Mr. Hastings's confidence in him, +the author of some great villany. These persons he thinks had not been +sufficiently rewarded, and accordingly he recommends to the board, as +his dying legacy, provision for these faithful attached servants of his, +and particularly for Gunga Govind Sing. The manner in which this man was +to be rewarded makes a part of the history of these transactions, as +curious, perhaps, as was ever exhibited to the world. Your Lordships +will find it in page 2841 of your Minutes. + +The Rajah of Dinagepore was a child at that time about eleven years old, +and had succeeded to the Rajahship (by what means I shall say nothing) +when he was about five years old. He is made to apply to Mr. Hastings +for leave to grant a very considerable part of his estate to Gunga +Govind Sing, as a reward for his services. These services could only be +known to the Rajah's family by having robbed it of at least 40,000_l._, +the bribe given to Mr. Hastings. But the Rajah's family is so little +satisfied with this bountiful and liberal donation to Gunga Govind +Sing, that they desire that several purgunnahs, or farms, that are +mentioned in the application made to the Council, should be separated +from the family estate and given to this man. Such was this +extraordinary gratitude: gratitude, not for money received, but for +money taken away,--a species of gratitude unknown in any part of the +world but in India; gratitude pervading every branch of the family; his +mother coming forward and petitioning likewise that her son should be +disinherited; his uncle, the natural protector and guardian of his +minority, coming forward and petitioning most earnestly that his nephew +should be disinherited: all the family join in one voice of supplication +to Mr. Hastings, that Gunga Govind Sing may have a very large and +considerable part of their family estate given to him. Mr. Hastings, +after declaring that certain circumstances respecting this property, +which are mentioned in his minutes, were to his knowledge true, but +which your Lordships, upon examination, will find to be false, and +falsified in every particular, recommends, in the strongest manner, to +the board, a compliance with this application. He was at this time on +the eve of his departure from India, in haste to provide for his +faithful servants; and he well knew that this his last act would be held +binding upon his successors, who were devoted to him. + +Here, indeed, is genuine and heroic gratitude,--gratitude for money +received, not for money taken away; and yet this gratitude was towards a +person who had paid himself out of the benefit which had been conferred, +at the expense of a third party. For Gunga Govind Sing had kept for +himself 20,000_l._ out of 40,000_l._ taken from the Rajah. For this +cheat, stated by Mr. Larkins to be such, and allowed by Mr. Hastings +himself to be such, he, with a perfect knowledge of that fraud and cheat +committed upon the public, (for he pretends that the money was meant for +the Company,) makes this supplication to his colleagues, and departs. + +After his departure, Gunga Govind Sing, relying upon the continuance of +the corrupt influence which he had gained, had the impudence to come +forward and demand the confirmation of this grant by the +Council-General. The Council, though willing to accede to Mr. Hastings's +proposition, were stopped in a moment by petitions much more natural, +but of a direct contrary tenor. The poor infant Rajah raises his cries +not to be deprived of his inheritance; his mother comes forward and +conjures the Council not to oppress her son and wrong her family; the +uncle comes and supplicates the board to save from ruin these devoted +victims which were under his protection. All these counter-petitions +come before the Council while the ink is hardly dry upon the petitions +which Mr. Hastings had left behind him, as proofs of the desire of this +family to be disinherited in favor of Gunga Govind Sing. Upon the +receipt of these remonstrances, the board could not proceed in the +business, and accordingly Gunga Govind Sing was defeated. + +But Gunga Govind Sing was unwilling to quit his prey. And what does he +do? I desire your Lordships to consider seriously the reply of Gunga +Govind Sing, as it appears upon your minutes. It is a bold answer. He +denies the right of the Rajah to these estates. "Why," says he, "all +property in this country depends upon the will of your government. How +came this Rajah's family into possession of this great zemindary? Why, +they got it at first by the mere favor of government. The whole was an +iniquitous transaction. This is a family that in some former age has +robbed others; and now let me rob them." In support of this claim, he +adds the existence of other precedents, namely, "that many clerks or +mutsuddies and banians at Calcutta had," as he says, "got possession of +the lands of other people without any pretence of right;--why should not +I?" Good God! what precedents are these! + +Your Lordships shall now hear the razinama, or testimonial, which, since +Mr. Hastings's arrival in England, this Rajah has been induced to send +to the Company from India, and you will judge then of the state in which +Mr. Hastings has left that country. Hearken, my Lords, I pray you, to +the razinama of this man, from whom 40,000_l._ was taken by Mr. Hastings +and Gunga Govind Sing, and against whom an attempt was made by the same +persons to deprive him of his inheritance. Listen to this razinama, and +then judge of all the other testimonials which have been produced on the +part of the prisoner at your bar. His counsel rest upon them, they glory +in them, and we shall not abate them one of these precious testimonials. +They put the voice of grateful India against the voice of ungrateful +England. Now hear what grateful India says, after our having told you +for what it was so grateful. + + "I, Radanaut, Zemindar of Purgunnah Havelly Punjera, commonly + called Dinagepore:--As it has been learnt by me, the mutsuddies and + 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 from the contamination of mistrust and wrong, + and his mind is free of covetousness and 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 affliction, 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." + +Good God! my Lords, "_our families protected by his justice_"! What! +after Gunga Govind Sing, in concert with Mr. Hastings, had first robbed +him of 40,000_l._, and then had attempted to snatch, as it were, out of +the mouths of babes and sucklings the inheritance of their fathers, and +to deprive this infant of a great part of his family estate? Here is a +child, eleven years old, who never could have seen Mr. Hastings, who +could know nothing of him but from the heavy hand of oppression, +affliction, wrong, and robbery, brought to bear testimony to the virtues +of Mr. Hastings before a British Parliament! Such is the confidence they +repose in their hope of having bribed the English nation by the millions +and millions of money, the countless lacs of rupees, poured into it from +India, that they had dared to bring this poor robbed infant to bear +testimony to the character of Mr. Hastings! These are the things which +are to be opposed to the mass of evidence which the House of Commons +bring against this man,--evidence which they bring from his own acts, +his own writing, and his own records,--a cloud of testimony furnished by +himself in support of charges brought forward and urged by us agreeably +to the magnitude of his crimes, with the horror which is inspired by +them, and with the contempt due to this paltry attempt towards his +defence, which they had dared to produce from the hands of an infant but +eleven years old when Mr. Hastings quitted that country! + +But to proceed with the razinama. + + "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 reestablished 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, before I take leave of this affair of bribes and of the great +bribe-broker, let me just offer a remark to your Lordships upon one +curious transaction. My Lords, we have charged a bribe taken from the +Nabob of Oude, and we have stated the corrupt and scandalous proceeding +which attended it. I thought I had done with Oude; but as there is a +golden chain between all the virtues, so there is a golden chain which +links together all the vices. Mr. Hastings, as you have seen, and as my +honorable colleague has fully opened it to you, received a bribe or +corrupt present from the Nabob of Oude in September, 1781. We heard no +more of this bribe than what we had stated, (no other trace of it ever +appearing in the Company's records, except in a private letter written +by Mr. Hastings to the Court of Directors, and afterwards in a +communication such as you have heard through Mr. Larkins,) till October, +1783. + +But, my Lords, we have since discovered, through and in consequence of +the violent disputes which took place between Mr. Hastings and the clan +of Residents that were in Oude,--the Resident of the Company, Mr. +Bristow, the two Residents of Mr. Hastings, Mr. Middleton and Mr. +Johnson, and the two Residents sent by him to watch over all the rest, +Major Palmer and Major Davy,--upon quarrels, I say, between them, we +discovered that Mr. Middleton had received the offer of a present of +100,000_l._ in February, 1782. This circumstance is mentioned in a +letter of Mr. Middleton's, in which he informs Mr. Hastings that the +Nabob had destined such a sum for him. + +Now the first thing that will occur to your Lordships upon such an +affair will be a desire to know what it was that induced the Nabob to +make this offer. It was but in the September preceding that Mr. Hastings +had received, for his private use, as the Nabob conceived, so bountiful +a present as 100,000_l._; what motive, then, could he have had in +February to offer him another 100,000_l._? This man, at the time, was +piercing heaven itself with the cries of despondency, despair, beggary, +and ruin. You have seen that he was forced to rob his own family, in +order to satisfy the Company's demands upon him; and yet this is +precisely the time when he thinks proper to offer 100,000_l._ to Mr. +Hastings. Does not the mind of every man revolt, whilst he exclaims, and +say, "What! another 100,000_l._ to Mr. Hastings?" What reason had the +Nabob to think Mr. Hastings so monstrously insatiable, that, having but +the September before received 100,000_l._, he must give him another in +February? My Lords, he must, in the interval, have threatened the Nabob +with some horrible catastrophe, from which he was to redeem himself by +this second present. You can assign no other motive for his giving it. +We know not what answer Mr. Hastings made to Mr. Middleton upon that +occasion, but we find that in the year 1783 Mr. Hastings asserts that he +sent up Major Palmer and Major Davy to persuade the Nabob to transfer +this present, which the Nabob intended for him, to the Company's +service. Remark, my Lords, the progress of this affair. In a formal +accusation preferred against Mr. Middleton, he charges him with +obstructing this design of his. In this accusation, my Lords, you find +him at once in the curious character of prosecutor, witness, and judge. + +Let us see how he comports himself. I shall only state to you one of the +articles of his impeachment; it is the third charge; it is in page 1267 +of your Lordships' Minutes. + + "For sending repeatedly to the Vizier, and to his minister, Hyder + Beg Khan, to advise them against transferring the ten lacs of + rupees intended as a present to the Governor-General to the + Company's account; as it would be a precedent for further demands, + which if the Vizier did not refuse in the first instance, the + government would never cease to harass him for money." + +The first thing that will occur to your Lordships is an assertion of the +accuser's:--"I am morally certain, that jaidads or assets for ten lacs, +either in assignment of land or in bills, had been prepared, and were in +the charge or possession of Mr. Middleton, before Major Palmer's +arrival, and left with Mr. Johnson on Mr. Middleton's departure." + +My Lords, here is an accusation that Mr. Middleton had actually received +money, either in bills or assets of some kind or other,--and that, upon +quitting his Residency, he had handed it over to his successor, Mr. +Johnson. Here are, then, facts asserted, and we must suppose +substantiated. Here is a sum of money to be accounted for, in which +there is a gross malversation directly charged as to these particulars, +in Mr. Hastings's opinion. Mr. Macpherson, another member of the +Council, has declared, that he understood at the time that the ten lacs +were actually deposited in bills, and that it was not a mere offer made +by the Nabob to pay such a sum from the future revenue of the country. +Mr. Hastings has these facts disclosed to him. He declares that he was +"_morally_ certain" of it,--that is, as certain as a man can be of +anything; because physical certitude does not belong to such matters. +The first thing you will naturally ask is, "Why does he not ask Mr. +Johnson how he had disposed of that money which Mr. Middleton had put in +his hands?" He does no such thing; he passes over it totally, as if it +were no part of the matter in question, and the accusation against Mr. +Middleton terminates in the manner you will there find stated. When Mr. +Johnson is asked, "Why was not that money applied to the Company's +service?" he boldly steps forward, and says, "I prevented it from being +so applied. It never was, it never ought to have been, so applied; such +an appropriation of money to be taken from the Nabob would have been +enormous upon that occasion." + +What, then, does Mr. Hastings do? Does he examine Mr. Middleton upon the +subject, who charges himself with having received the money? Mr. +Middleton was at that very time in Calcutta, called down thither by Mr. +Hastings himself. One would naturally expect that he would call upon him +to explain for what purpose he left the money with Mr. Johnson. He did +no such thing. Did he examine Mr. Johnson himself, who was charged with +having received the money from Mr. Middleton? Did he ask him what he had +done with that money? Not one word. Did he send for Major Palmer and +Major Davy to account for it? No. Did he call any shroff, any banker, +any one person concerned in the payment of the money, or any one person +in the management of the revenue? No, not one. Directly in the face of +his own assertions, directly contrary to his moral conviction of the +fact that the money had been actually deposited, he tries Mr. Johnson +collusively and obliquely, not upon the account of what was done with +the money, but why it was prevented from being applied to the Company's +service; and he acquits him in a manner that (taking the whole of it +together) will give your Lordships the finest idea possible of a Bengal +judicature, as exercised by Mr. Hastings. + +"I am not sorry," says he, "that Mr. Johnson chose to defeat my +intentions; since it would have added to the Nabob's distresses, but +with no immediate relief to the Company. If, in his own breast, he can +view the secret motives of this transaction, and on their testimony +approve it, I also acquit him." + +Merciful God! Here is a man accused by regular articles of impeachment. +The accuser declares he is morally certain that the money had been +received, but was prevented from being applied to its destination by the +person accused; and he acquits him. Does he acquit him from his own +knowledge, or from any evidence? No: but he applies to the man's +conscience, and says, "If you in your conscience can acquit yourself, I +acquit you." + +Here, then, is a proceeding the most astonishing and shameless that +perhaps was ever witnessed: a court trying a man for a delinquency and +misapplication of money, destined, in the first instance, for the use of +the judge, but which he declares ought, in his own opinion, to be set +apart for the public use, and which he was desirous of applying to the +Company's service, without regard to his own interest, and then the +judge declaring he is not sorry that his purpose had been defeated by +the party accused. Instead, however, of censuring the accused, he +applies to the man's own conscience. "Does your conscience," says he, +"acquit you of having acted wrong?" The accused makes no reply; and then +Mr. Hastings, by an hypothetical conclusion, acquits him. + +Mr. Hastings is accused by the Commons for that, having a moral +certainty of the money's being intended for his use, he would not have +ceased to inquire into the actual application of it but from some +corrupt motive and intention. With this he is charged. He comes before +you to make his defence. Mr. Middleton is in England. Does he call Mr. +Middleton to explain it here? Does he call upon Mr. Johnson, who was the +other day in this court, to account for it? Why did he not, when he sent +for these curious papers and testimonials to Major Palmer, (the person +authorized, as he pretends, by him, to resign all his pretensions to the +money procured,) send for Major Palmer, who is the person that accused +him in this business,--why not send for him to bear some testimony +respecting it? No: he had time enough, but at no one time and in no +place did he do this; therefore the imputation of the foulest corruption +attaches upon him, joined with the infamy of a collusive prosecution, +instituted for the sake of a collusive acquittal. + +Having explained to your Lordships the nature, and detailed the +circumstances, as far as we are acquainted with them, of this fraudulent +transaction, we have only further to remind you, that, though Mr. +Middleton was declared guilty of five of the six charges brought against +him by Mr. Hastings, yet the next thing you hear is, that Mr. Hastings, +after declaring that this conduct of Mr. Middleton had been very bad, +and that the conduct of the other servants of the Company concerned with +him had been ten times worse, he directly appoints him to one of the +most honorable and confidential offices the Company had to dispose of: +he sends him ambassador to the Nizam,--to give to all the courts of +India a specimen of the justice, honor, and decency of the British +government. + +My Lords, with regard to the bribe for the _entertainment_, I only beg +leave to make one observation to you upon that article. I could say, if +the time would admit it, a great deal upon that subject; but I wish to +compress it, and I shall therefore only recommend it in general to your +Lordships' deliberate consideration. The covenant subsisting between the +Company and its servants was made for the express purpose of putting an +end to all such entertainments. By this convention it is ordered that no +presents exceeding 200_l._ [400_l._?] shall be accepted upon any +pretence for an entertainment. The covenant was intended to put an end +to the custom of receiving money for entertainments, even when visiting +an independent Oriental prince. But your Lordships know that the Nabob +was no prince, but a poor, miserable, undone dependant upon, the +Company. The present was also taken by Mr. Hastings at a time when he +went upon the cruel commission of cutting down the Nabob's allowance +from 400,000_l._ to 260,000_l._ [160,000_l._?], and when he was reducing +to beggary thousands of persons who were dependent for bread upon the +Nabob, and ruining, perhaps, forty thousand others. I shall say no more +upon that subject, though, in truth, it is a thing upon which much +observation might be made. + + * * * * * + +I shall now pass on to another article connected with, though not making +a direct part of, that of corrupt bribery: I mean the swindling +subterfuges by which he has attempted to justify his corrupt practices. +At one time, he defends them by pleading the necessities of his own +affairs,--as when he takes presents and entertainments avowedly for his +own profits. At another time he defends them by pleading the goodness of +his intentions: he intended, he says, to give the money to the Company. +His last plea has something in it (which shall I say?) of a more awful +or of a more abandoned character, or of both. In the settlement of his +public account, before he left India, he takes credit for a bond which +he had received from Nobkissin upon some account or other. He then, +returns to England, and what does he do? Pay off? No. Give up the bond +to the Company? No. He says, "I will account to the Company for this +money." And when he comes to give this account of the expenditure of +this money, your Lordships will not be a little astonished at the items +of it. One is for founding a Mahometan college. It is a very strange +thing that Rajah Nobkissin, who is a Gentoo, should be employed by Mr. +Hastings to found a Mahometan college. We will allow Mr. Hastings, who +is a Christian, or would be thought a Christian, to grow pious at last, +and, as many others have done, who have spent their lives in fraud, +rapacity, and peculation, to seek amends and to expiate his crimes by +charitable foundations. Nay, we will suppose Mr. Hastings to have taken +it into his head to turn Mahometan, (Gentoo he could not,) and to have +designed by a Mahometan foundation to expiate his offences. Be it so; +but why should Nobkissin pay for it? We will pass over this also. But +when your Lordships shall hear of what nature that foundation was, I +believe you will allow that a more extraordinary history never did +appear in the world. + +In the first place, he stated to the Council, on the 18th of April, +1781, that in the month of November, 1780, a petition was presented to +him by a considerable number of Mussulmen, in compliance with which this +Mahometan college appears to have been founded. It next appears from his +statement, that in the April following, (that is, within about six +months after the foundation,) many students had finished their +education. You see what a hot-bed bribery and corruption is. Our +universities cannot furnish an education in six years: in India they +have completed it within six months, and have taken their degrees. + +Mr. Hastings says, "I have supported this establishment to this time at +my own expense; I desire the Company will now defray the charge of it." +He then calculates what the expenses were; he calculates that the +building would cost about 6,000_l._, and he gets from the Company a bond +to raise money for paying this 6,000_l._ You apparently have the +building now at the public expense, and Mr. Hastings still stands +charged with the expense of the college for six months. He then proposes +that a tract of land should be given for the college, to the value of +about three thousand odd pounds a year,--and that in the mean time there +should be a certain sum allotted for its expenses. After this Mr. +Hastings writes a letter from the Ganges to the Company, in which he +says not a word about the expense of the building, but says that the +college was founded and maintained at his own expense, though it was +thought to be maintained by the Company; and he fixes the commencement +of the expense in September, 1779. But, after all, we find that the very +professor who was to be settled there never so much as arrived in +Calcutta, or showed his face there, till some time afterwards. And look +at Mr. Larkins's private accounts, and you will find that he charges the +expense to have commenced not until October, 1781. It is no error, +because it runs through and is so accounted in the whole: and it thus +appears that he has charged, falsely and fraudulently, a year more for +that establishment than it cost him. + +At last, then, when he was coming away, (for I hasten to the conclusion +of an affair ludicrous indeed in some respects, but not unworthy of your +Lordships' consideration,) "after remarking that he had experienced for +three years the utility of this institution, he recommends that they +will establish a fund for 3,000_l._ a year for it, and give it to the +master." He had left Gunga Govind Sing as a Gentoo legacy, and he now +leaves the Mussulman as a Mahometan legacy to the Company. + +Your Lordships shall now hear what was the upshot of the whole. The +Company soon afterwards hearing that this college was become the +greatest nuisance in Calcutta, and that it had raised the cries of all +the inhabitants against it, one of their servants, a Mr. Chapman, was +deputed by the Governor, Sir John Shore, to examine into it, and your +Lordships will find the account he gives of it in your minutes. In +short, my Lords, we find that this was a seminary of robbers, +housebreakers, and every nuisance to society; so that the Company was +obliged to turn out the master, and to remodel the whole. Your Lordships +will now judge of the merits and value of this, one of the sets-off +brought forward by the prisoner against the charges which we have +brought forward against him: it began in injustice and peculation, and +ended in a seminary for robbers and housebreakers. + + * * * * * + +Nothing now remains to be pressed by me upon your Lordships' +consideration, but the account given by the late Governor-General, Earl +Cornwallis, of the state in which he found the country left by his +predecessor, Mr. Hastings, the prisoner at your bar. But, patient as I +know your Lordships to be, I also know that your strength is not +inexhaustible; and though what I have farther to add will not consume +much of your Lordships' time, yet I conceive that there is a necessity +for deferring it to another day. + + + + +SPEECH + +IN + +GENERAL REPLY. + +NINTH DAY: MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1794. + + +My Lords,--I should think it necessary to make an apology to your +Lordships for appearing before you one day more, if I were inclined to +measure this business either by the standard of my own ability, or by my +own impatience, or by any supposed impatience of yours. I know no +measure, in such a case, but the nature of the subject, and the duty +which we owe to it. You will therefore, my Lords, permit me, in a few +words, to lead you back to what we did yesterday, that you may the +better comprehend the manner in which I mean to conclude the business +to-day. + +My Lords, we took the liberty of stating to you the condition of Bengal +before our taking possession of it, and of the several classes of its +inhabitants. We first brought before you the Mahometan inhabitants, who +had the judicial authority of the country in their hands; and we proved +to you the utter ruin of that body of people, and with them of the +justice of the country, by their being, both one and the other, sold to +an infamous woman called Munny Begum. We next showed you, that the whole +landed interest, the zemindars, or Hindoo gentry of the country, was +likewise ruined by its being given over, by letting it on a five years' +lease, to infamous farmers, and giving it up to their merciless +exactions,--and afterwards by subjecting the rank of those zemindars, +their title-deeds, and all their pecuniary affairs, to the minutest +scrutiny, under pain of criminal punishment, by a commission granted to +a nefarious villain called Gunga Govind Sing. We lastly showed you that +the remaining third class, that of the English, was partly corrupted, or +had its authority dissolved, and that the whole superintending English +control was subverted or subdued,--that the products of the country were +diminished, and that the revenues of the Company were dilapidated, by an +overcharge of expenses, in four years, to the amount of 500,000_l._, in +consequence of these corrupt, dangerous, and mischievous projects. + +We have farther stated, that the Company's servants were corrupted by +contracts and jobs; we proved that those that were not so corrupted were +removed from their stations or reduced to a state of abject dependence; +we showed you the destruction of the Provincial Councils, the +destruction of the Council-General, and the formation of a committee for +no other ends whatever but for the purposes of bribery, concealment, and +corruption. We next stated some of the most monstrous instances of that +bribery; and though we were of opinion that in none of them any +satisfactory defence worth mentioning had been made, yet we have thought +that this should not hinder us from recalling to your Lordships' +recollection the peculiar nature and circumstances of one of those +proceedings. + +The proceedings to which we wish to call your attention are those +belonging to the second bribe given by the Nabob of Oude to Mr. +Hastings. Mr. Hastings's own knowledge and opinion that that money was +set apart for his use, either in bills or assets, I have before stated; +and I now wish to call your Lordships' minute recollection to the manner +in which the fraudulent impeachment of Mr. Middleton, for the purpose of +stifling an inquiry into that business, was carried on. Your Lordships +will remember that I proved to you, upon the face of that proceeding, +the collusive nature of the accusation, and that the real state of the +case was not charged,--and that Mr. Hastings acquitted the party accused +of one article of the charge, not upon the evidence of the case, +contrary to his own avowed, declared, moral certainty of his guilt, but +upon a pretended appeal to the conscience of the man accused. He did +not, however, give him a complete, formal, official acquittal, but +referred the matter to the Court of Directors, who could not possibly +know anything of the matter, without one article of evidence whatever +produced at the time or transmitted. We lastly proved to you, that, +after finding him guilty of five charges, and leaving the other to the +Court of Directors, Mr. Hastings, without any reason assigned, appointed +him to a great office in the Company's service. + +These proceedings were brought before you for two purposes: first, to +show the corrupt principle of the whole proceeding; next, to show the +manner in which the Company's servants are treated. They are accused and +persecuted, until they are brought to submit to whatever terms it may be +thought proper to impose upon them; they are then formally, indeed, +acquitted of the most atrocious crimes charged against them, but +virtually condemned upon some articles, with the scourge hung over +them,--and in some instances rewarded by the greatest, most honorable, +and most lucrative situations in the Company's service. My Lords, it is +on the same ground of the wicked, pernicious, and ruinous principles of +Mr. Hastings's government, that I have charged this with everything that +is chargeable against him, namely, that, if your Lordships should ratify +those principles by your acquittal of him, they become principles of +government,--rejected, indeed, by the Commons, but adopted by the +Peerage of Great Britain. + +There is another article which I have just touched, but which I must do +more than barely notice, upon account of the evil example of it: I mean +the taking great sums of money, under pretence of an entertainment. Your +Lordships will recollect, that, when this business was charged against +him in India, Mr. Hastings neither affirmed nor denied the fact. +Confession could not be there extorted from him. He next appeared before +the House of Commons, and he still evaded a denial or a confession of +it. He lastly appeared before your Lordships, and in his answer to our +charge he in the same manner evaded either a confession or a denial. He +forced us to employ a great part of a session in endeavoring to +establish what we have at last established, the receipt of the sums +first charged, and of seven lacs more, by him. At length the proof could +not be evaded; and after we had fought through all the difficulties +which the law could interpose in his defence, and of which he availed +himself with a degree of effrontery that has, I believe, no example in +the world, he confesses, avows, and justifies his conduct. If the custom +alleged be well founded, and be an honorable and a proper and just +practice, why did he not avow it in every part and progress of our +proceedings here? Why should he have put us to the necessity of wasting +so many months in the proof of the fact? And why, after we have proved +it, and not before, did he confess it, avow it, and even glory in it? + +I must remind your Lordships that the sum charged to be so taken by way +of entertainment made only a part, a single article, of the bribes +charged by Nundcomar to have been received by Mr. Hastings; and when we +find him confessing, what he could not deny, that single article, and +evading all explanation respecting the others, and not giving any reason +whatever why one was received and the others rejected, your Lordships +will judge of the strong presumption of his having taken them all, even +if we had given no other proofs of it. We think, however, that we have +proved the whole very satisfactorily. But whether we have or not, the +proof of a single present received is sufficient; because the principle +to be established respecting these bribes is this,--whether or not a +Governor-General, paying a visit to any of the poor, miserable, +dependent creatures called sovereign princes in that country, (men whom +Mr. Hastings has himself declared to be nothing but phantoms, and that +they had no one attribute of sovereignty about them,) whether, I say, he +can consider them to be such sovereign princes as to justify his taking +from them great sums of money by way of a present. The Nabob, in fact, +was not a sovereign prince, nor a country power, in any sense but that +which the Company meant to exempt from the custom of making presents. It +was their design to prevent their servants from availing themselves of +the real dependence of the nominal native powers to extort money from +them under the pretence of their sovereignty. Such presents, so far from +being voluntary, were in reality obtained from their weakness, their +hopeless and unprotected condition; and you are to decide whether or not +this custom, which is insisted upon by the prisoner's counsel, with +great triumph, to be a thing which he could not evade, without breaking +through all the usages of the country, and violating principles +established by the most clear law of India, is to be admitted as his +justification. + +It was on this very account, namely, the extortion suffered by these +people, under the name or pretence of presents, that the Company first +bound their servants by a covenant, which your Lordships shall now hear +read. + + "That they shall not take any grant of lands, or rents or revenues + issuing out of lands, or any territorial possession, jurisdiction, + dominion, power, or authority whatsoever, from any of the Indian + princes, sovereigns, subahs, or nabobs, or any of their ministers, + servants, or agents, for any service or services, or upon any + account or pretence whatsoever, without the license or consent of + the Court of Directors." + +This clause in the covenant had doubtless a regard to Lord Clive, and to +Sir Hector Munro, and to some others, who had received gifts, and grants +of jaghires, and other territorial revenues, that were confirmed by the +Company. But though this confirmation might be justifiable at a time +when we had no real sovereignty in the country, yet the Company very +wisely provided afterwards, that under no pretence whatever should their +servants have the means of extorting from the sovereigns or pretended +sovereigns of the country any of their lands or possessions. Afterwards +it appeared that there existed abuses of a similar nature, and +particularly (as was proved before us in the year 1773, and reported to +our House, upon the evidence of Mahomed Reza Khan) the practice of +frequently visiting the princes, and of extorting, under pretence of +such visits, great sums of money. All their servants, and the +Governor-General particularly, were therefore obliged to enter into the +following covenant:-- + + "That they shall not, directly or indirectly, 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, for any + service or services performed or to be performed by them in India, + or upon any other account or pretence whatsoever." + +By this covenant, my Lords, Mr. Hastings is forbidden to accept, upon +any pretence and under any name whatsoever, any sum above four thousand +rupees,--that is to say, any sum above four hundred pounds. Now the sum +that was here received is eighteen thousand pounds sterling, by way of a +present, under the name of an allowance for an entertainment, which is +the precise thing which his covenant was made to prevent. The covenant +suffered him to receive four hundred pounds: if he received more than +that money, he became a criminal, he had broken his covenant, and +forfeited the obligation he had made with his masters. Think with +yourselves, my Lords, what you will do, if you acquit the prisoner of +this charge. You will avow the validity, you will sanction the principle +of his defence: for, as the fact is avowed, there is an end of that. + +Good God! my Lords, where are we? If they conceal their gifts and +presents, they are safe by their concealment; if they avow them, they +are still safer. They plead the customs of the country, or rather, the +customs which we have introduced into the country,--customs which have +been declared to have their foundation in a system of the most +abominable corruption, the most flagitious extortion, the most dreadful +oppression,--those very customs which their covenant is made to abolish. +Think where your Lordships are. You have before you a covenant declaring +that he should take under no name whatever (I do not know how words +could be selected in the English language more expressive) any sum more +than four hundred pounds. He says, "I have taken eighteen thousand +pounds." He makes his counsel declare, and he desires your Lordships to +confirm their declaration, that he is not only justifiable in so doing, +but that he ought to do so,--that he ought to break his covenant, and +act in direct contradiction to it. He does not even pretend to say that +this money was intended, either inwardly or outwardly, avowedly or +covertly, for the Company's service. He put absolutely into his own +pocket eighteen thousand pounds, besides his salary. + +Consider, my Lords, the consequences of this species of iniquity. If any +servant of the Company, high in station, chooses to make a visit from +Calcutta to Moorshedabad, which Moorshedabad was then the residence of +our principal revenue government,--if he should choose to take an +airing for his health, if he has a fancy to make a little voyage for +pleasure as far as Moorshedabad, in one of those handsome barges or +budgeros of which you have heard so much in his charge against +Nundcomar, he can put twenty thousand pounds into his pocket any day he +pleases, in defiance of all our acts of Parliament, covenants, and +regulations. + +Do you make your laws, do you make your covenants, for the very purpose +of their being evaded? Is this the purpose for which a British tribunal +sits here, to furnish a subject for an epigram, or a tale for the +laughter of the world? Believe me, my Lords, the world is not to be thus +trifled with. But, my Lords, you will never trifle with your duty. You +have a gross, horrid piece of corruption before you,--impudently +confessed, and more impudently defended. But you will not suffer Mr. +Hastings to say, "I have only to go to Moorshedabad, or to order the +Nabob to meet me half way, and I can set aside and laugh at all your +covenants and acts of Parliament." Is this all the force and power of +the covenant by which you would prevent the servants of the Company from +committing acts of fraud and oppression, that they have nothing to do +but to amuse themselves with a tour of pleasure to Moorshedabad in order +to put any sum of money in their pocket that they please? + +But they justify themselves by saying, such things have been practised +before. No doubt they have; and these covenants were made that they +should not be practised any more. But your Lordships are desired to say, +that the very custom which the covenant is made to destroy, the very +grievance itself, may be pleaded; the abuse shall be admitted to +destroy the law made to prevent it. It is impossible, I venture to say, +that your Lordships should act thus. The conduct of the criminal is not +half so abhorrent as the justification is affronting to justice, whilst +it tends to vilify and degrade the dignity of the Peerage and the +character of the Commons of Great Britain, before the former and against +the latter of which such a justification is produced in the face of the +world. + +At the same time that we call for your justice upon this man, we beseech +you to remember the severest justice upon him is the tenderest pity +towards the innocent victims of his crimes. Consider what was at that +time the state of the people from whom, in direct defiance of his +covenant, he took this sum of money. Were they at this time richer, were +they more opulent, was the state of the country more flourishing than +when Mr. Sumner, when Mr. Vansittart, in short, than when the long line +of Mr. Hastings's predecessors visited that country? No, they were not. +Mr. Hastings at this very time had reduced the Nabob's income from +450,000_l._ [400,000_l._?] sterling a year, exclusive of other +considerable domains and revenues, to 160,000_l._ He was, indeed, an +object of compassion. His revenues had not only been reduced during his +state of minority, but they were reduced when he afterwards continued in +a state in which he could do no one valid act; and yet, in this state, +he was made competent to give away, under the name of compensation for +entertainments, the sum of 18,000_l._,--perhaps at that time nearly all +he had in the world. + +Look at your minutes, and you will find Mr. Hastings had just before +this time said that the bread of ten thousand persons, many of them of +high rank, depended upon the means possessed by the Nabob for their +support,--that his heart was cut and afflicted to see himself obliged to +ruin and starve so many of the Mahometan nobility, the greatest part of +whose yet remaining miserable allowances were now taken away. You know, +and you will forgive me again remarking, that it is the nature of the +eagles and more generous birds of prey to fall upon living, healthy +victims, but that vultures and carrion crows, and birds of that base and +degenerate kind, always prey upon dead or dying carcases. It is upon +ruined houses, it is upon decayed families, it is upon extinguished +nobility, that Mr. Hastings chooses to prey, and to justify his making +them his prey. + +But again we hear, my Lords, that it is a custom, upon ceremonial and +complimentary visits, to receive these presents. Do not let us deceive +ourselves. Mr. Hastings was there upon no visit either of ceremony or +politics. He was a member, at that time, of the Committee of Circuit, +which went to Moorshedabad for the purpose of establishing a system of +revenue in the country. He went up upon that business only, as a member +of the Committee of Circuit, for which business he was, like other +members of the Committee of Circuit, amply paid, in addition to his +emoluments as Governor, which amounted to about 30,000_l._ a year. Not +satisfied with those emoluments, and without incurring new known expense +of any kind or sort, he was paid for the extra expenses of his journey, +as appears in your minutes, like other members of the Committee of +Circuit. In fact, he was on no visit there at all. He was merely +executing his duty in the settlement of the revenue, as a member of the +Committee of Circuit. I do not mean to praise the Committee of Circuit +in anyway: God forbid I should!--for we know that it was a committee of +robbers. He was there as one of that committee, which I am pretty well +justified in describing as I have done, because the Court of Directors, +together with the Board of Control, did, in the year 1786, declare that +the five years' settlement (which originated in that committee) was a +thing bought and sold: your Lordships may read it whenever you please, +in the 80th paragraph of their letter. + +Your Lordships are now fully in possession of all the facts upon which +we charge the prisoner with peculation, by extorting or receiving large +sums of money, upon pretence of visits, or in compensation of +entertainments. I appeal to your Lordships' consciences for a serious +and impartial consideration of our charge. This is a business not to be +hurried over in the mass, as amongst the acts of a great man, who may +have his little errors among his great services; no, you cannot, as a +judicial body, huddle all this into a hotchpotch, and decide upon it in +a heap. You will have to ask yourselves,--Is this justifiable by his +covenant? Is this justifiable by law? Is this justifiable, under the +circumstances of the case, by an enlarged discretion? Is it to be +justified under any principles of humanity? Would it be justifiable by +local customs, if such were applicable to the case in question? and even +if it were, is it a practice fit for an English Governor-General to +follow? + +I dwell the longer upon this, because the fact is avowed; the whole is +an issue of law between us,--whether a Governor-General, in such a case, +ought to take such money; and therefore, before I finally dismiss it, I +beg leave to restate it briefly once more for your Lordships' +consideration. + +First I wish to leave fixed in your Lordships' minds, what is distinctly +fixed, and shall never go out of ours, that his covenant did not allow +him to take above four hundred pounds as a present, upon any pretence +whatsoever. + +Your Lordships will observe we contend, that, if there was a custom, +this covenant puts an end to that custom. It was declared and intended +so to do. The fact is, that, if such custom existed at all, it was a +custom applicable only to an ambassador or public minister sent on a +necessary complimentary visit to a sovereign prince. We deny, +positively, that there is any such general custom. We say, that he never +was any such minister or that he ever went upon any such complimentary +visit. We affirm, that, when he took this money, he was doing an act of +quite another nature, and came upon that business only to Moorshedabad, +the residence of the prince of the country. Now do you call a man who is +going to execute a commission, a commission more severe than those +issued against bankrupts, a commission to take away half a man's income, +and to starve a whole body of people dependent upon that income,--do you +call this a complimentary visit? Is this a visit for which a man is to +have great entertainments given him? No, the pretence for taking this +money is worse than the act itself. When a man is going to execute upon +another such harsh cruelty, when he is going upon a service at which he +himself says his mind must revolt, is that precisely the time when he is +to take from his undone host a present, as if he was upon a visit of +compliment, or about to confer some honor or benefit upon him,--to +augment his revenues, to add to his territories, or to conclude some +valuable treaty with him? Was this a proper time to take at all from an +helpless minor so large a sum of money? + +And here I shall leave this matter for your Lordships' consideration, +after reminding you that this poor Nabob is still at Moorshedabad, and +at the mercy of any English gentleman who may choose to take 18,000_l._, +or any other given sum of money from him, after the example of the +prisoner at your bar, if it should be sanctioned by your connivance. Far +different was the example set him by General Clavering. In page 1269 +your Lordships will find the most honorable testimony to the uprightness +and fidelity of this meritorious servant of the Company. It runs thus: +"Conceiving it to be the intention of the legislature that the +Governor-General and members of the Council should receive no presents, +either from the Indian powers or any persons whatever, he [General +Clavering] has strictly complied, since his arrival here, both with the +spirit and the letter of the act of Parliament, and has accordingly +returned all the presents which have been made to him." I have dwelt +thus long upon this subject, not merely upon account of its own corrupt +character, which has been sufficiently stigmatized by my honorable +colleague, but upon account of the principle that is laid down by the +prisoner, in his defence of his conduct,--a principle directly leading +to a continuance of the same iniquitous practice, and subversive of +every attempt to check or control it. + +I must beg leave to recall your Lordships' attention to another, but +similar instance of his peculation, another and new mode of taking +presents: I mean, the present which Mr. Hastings took, through Gunga +Govind Sing, from those farmers of the revenues amongst whom he had +distributed the pillage of the whole country. This scandalous breach of +his covenant he attempts to justify by the inward intention of his own +mind to apply the money so taken to the public service. Upon this, my +Lords, I shall only observe, that this plea of an inward intention in +his own mind may, if admitted, justify any evil act whatever of this +kind. You have seen how presents from the Nabob are justified; you have +seen how the taking a sum of money or allowance for entertainment, +directly contrary to the covenant, how that is attempted to be +justified; you see in what manner he justifies this last-mentioned act +of peculation; and your Lordships will now have to decide upon the +validity of these pleas. + +There still remains, unobserved upon, an instance of his malversation, +wholly new in its kind, to which I will venture to desire your Lordships +very seriously to turn your attention. In all the causes of peculation +or malversation in office that ever have been tried before this high +court, or before any lower court of judicature, in all the judicial +records of modern crimes, or of antiquity, you will not find anything in +any degree like it. We have all, in our early education, read the +Verrine Orations. We read them not merely to instruct us, as they will +do, in the principles of eloquence, and to acquaint us with the manners, +customs, and laws of the ancient Romans, of which they are an abundant +repository, but we may read them from a much higher motive. We may read +them from a motive which the great author had doubtless in his view, +when by publishing them he left to the world and to the latest posterity +a monument by which it might be seen what course a great public accuser +in a great public cause ought to pursue, and, as connected with it, what +course judges ought to pursue in deciding upon such a cause. In these +orations you will find almost every instance of rapacity and peculation +which we charge upon Mr. Hastings. Undoubtedly, many Roman and English +governors have received corrupt gifts and bribes, under various +pretences. But in the cause before your Lordships there is one species +of disgrace, in the conduct of the party accused, which I defy you to +find in Verres, or in the whole tribe of Roman peculators, in any +governor-general, proconsul, or viceroy. I desire you to consider it not +included in any other class of crimes, but as a species apart by itself. +It is an individual, a single case; but it is like the phoenix,--it +makes a class or species by itself: I mean the business of Nobkissin. +The money taken from him was not money pretended to be received in lieu +of entertainment; it was not money taken from a farmer-general of +revenue, out of an idea that his profits were unreasonable, and greater +than government ought to allow; it was not a donation from a great man, +as an act of his bounty. No, it was a sum of money taken from a private +individual,--or rather, as has been proved to you by Mr. Larkins, his +own book-keeper, money borrowed, for which he had engaged to give his +bond. That he had actually deposited his bond for this money Mr. Larkins +has proved to you,--and that the bond was carried to Nobkissin's credit, +in his account with the government. But Mr. Hastings, when he was +called upon for the money, withdraws the bond; he will not pay the +money; he refused to pay it upon the applications made to him both in +India and here at home; and he now comes to your Lordships and says, "I +borrowed this money, I intended to give my bond for it, as has been +proved before you; but I must have it for my own use." We have heard of +governors being everything that is bad and wicked; but a governor +putting himself in the situation of a common cheat, of a common +swindler, never was, I believe, heard of since the creation of the world +to this day. This does not taste of the common oppressions of power; +this does not taste of the common abuses of office; but it in no way +differs from one of those base swindling cases that come to be tried and +heavily punished in the King's Bench every day. This is neither more nor +less than a plain, barefaced cheat. + +Now, my Lords, let us see how it is justified. To justify openly and +directly a cheat, to justify a fraud upon an individual, is reserved for +our times. But, good Heavens, what a justification have we here! Oh, my +Lords, consider into what a state Indian corruption has brought us in +this country, when any person can be found to come to the bar of the +House of Lords and say, "I did cheat, I did defraud; I did promise, and +gave my bond; I have now withdrawn it, but I will account for it to you +as to a gang of robbers concerned with me in the transaction. I confess +I robbed this man; but I have acted as trustee for the gang. Observe +what I have done for the gang. Come forward, Mr. Auriol, and prove what +handsome budgeros I gave the company: were not they elegantly painted, +beautifully gilt, charming and commodious? I made use of them as long +as I had occasion; and though they are little worse for wear, and would +hardly suffer the least percentage deduction from prime cost upon them, +I gave them to the company. Oh, I did not put the money into my own +pocket. I provided for myself and wore a suit of lace clothes, when I +was Jew bail for some of this company: it will turn, for it is hardly +the worse for wear, though I appeared two or three times, in different +characters, as bail for you on such and such an occasion. I therefore +set off these items against this money which I gained by swindling on +your account. It is true I also picked such a one's pocket of a watch; +here it is; I have worn it as long as it was convenient; now I give the +watch to the company, and let them send it to the pawnbroker for what it +will bring. Besides all this, I maintained aide-de-camps for you, and +gave them house-rent." (By the way, my Lords, what sort of aide-de-camps +were these? Who made him a military man, and to have such a legion of +aide-de-camps?) "But," says he, "I paid house-rent for them; that is, in +other words, I paid, at night-cellars and houses in Saint Giles's, +sixpence a week for some of the gang." (This, my Lords, is the real +spirit of the whole proceeding, and more especially of the last item in +it.) "Then," says he, "I was the gang's schoolmaster, and taught lessons +on their account. I founded a Mahometan school." (Your Lordships have +already heard something of this shameful affair, of this scene of +iniquity,--I think of such iniquity as the world never yet had to blush +at.) "I founded a Mahometan college for your use; and I bore the expense +of it from September, 1780, when I placed a professor there, called +Mudjed-o-Din."--This Mudjed-o-Din was to perfect men, by contract, in +all the arts and sciences, in about six months; and the chief purpose of +the school was, as Mr. Hastings himself tells you, to breed theologians, +magistrates, and moulavies, that is to say, judges and doctors of law, +who were to be something like our masters in chancery, the assessors of +judges, to assist them in their judgments. Such was the college founded +by Mr. Hastings, and he soon afterwards appropriated one of the +Company's estates, (I am speaking of matters of public notoriety,) worth +3,000_l._ a year, for its support. Heaven be praised, that Mr. Hastings, +when he was resolved to be pious and munificent, and to be a great +founder, chose a Mahometan rather than a Christian foundation, so that +our religion was not disgraced by such a foundation! + +Observe how he charges the expense of the foundation to the Company +twice over. He first makes them set aside an estate of 3,000_l._ a year +for its support. In what manner this income was applied during Mr. +Hastings's stay in India no man living knows; but we know, that, at his +departure, one of the last acts he did was to desire it should be put +into the hands of Mudjed-o-Din. He afterwards, as you have seen, takes +credit to himself with the Company for the expenses relative to this +college. + +I must now introduce your Lordships to the last visitation that was made +of this college. It was visited by order of Lord Cornwallis in the year +1788, upon the complaints made against it which I have already mentioned +to your Lordships,--that it was a sink of filth, vermin, and misery. Mr. +Chapman, who was the visitor, and the friend of Mr. Hastings, declares +that he could not sit in it even for a few minutes; his words are,--"The +wretched, squalid figures that from every part ran out upon me appeared +to be more like anything else than students." In fact, a universal +outcry was raised by the whole city against it, not only as a receptacle +of every kind of abuse, not only of filth and excrements which made it +stink in the natural nostrils, but of worse filth, which made it +insufferably offensive to the moral nostrils of every inhabitant. Such +is the account given of a college supported at an expense of 3,000_l._ a +year, (a handsome foundation for a college,) and for building which the +Company was charged 5,000_l._: though no vouchers of its expenditure +were ever given by Mr. Hastings. But this is not all. When Lord +Cornwallis came to inquire into it, he found that Mudjed-o-Din had sunk +the income of the estate from 3,000_l._ to 2,000_l._ a year,--in short, +that it had been a scene of peculation, both by the masters and +scholars, as well as of abandonment to every kind of vicious and +licentious courses; and all this without the shadow of any benefit +having been derived from it. The visitors expressly inquired whether +there was any good mixed with all this evil; and they found it was all +bad and mischievous, from one end to the other. Your Lordships will +remark, that the greatest part of this disgusting business must have +been known to Mr. Hastings when he gave to Mudjed-o-Din the disposal of +3,000_l._ a year. And now, my Lords, can you vote this money, expended +in the manner which I have stated to you, to be a set-off in his favor, +in an account for money which was itself swindled from a private +individual? + +But there still remains behind another more serious matter belonging to +this affair; and I hope you will not think that I am laying too much +stress upon it, when I declare, that, if I were to select from the whole +of his conduct one thing more dishonorable than another to the British +nation, it would be that which I am now about to mention. I will leave +your Lordships to judge of the sincerity of this declaration, when you +shall have heard read a paper produced by the prisoner in justification +of conduct such as I have stated his to have been. It is the _razinama_, +or attestation, of Munny Begum (the woman whom Mr. Hastings placed in +the seat of justice in that country) concerning this college, made +precisely at the time of this inquisition by Lord Cornwallis into the +management of it. Your Lordships will see what sort of things +attestations are from that country: that they are attestations procured +in diametrical contradiction to the certain knowledge of the party +attesting. It is in page 2350 of your Minutes. Indeed, my Lords, these +are pages which, unless they are effaced by your judgment, will rise up +in judgment against us, some day or other. + + "He [Mr. Hastings] respected the learned and wise men, and, in + order for the propagation of learning, he built a college, and + endowed it with a provision for the maintenance of the students, + insomuch that thousands reaping the benefits thereof offer up their + prayers for the prosperity of the King of England, and for the + success of the Company." + +I must here remind your Lordships of another attestation of the same +character, and to the same effect. It comes from Mahomed Reza Khan, who, +as your Lordships will remember, had been reduced by Mr. Hastings from +a situation of the highest rank and authority, with an income of +suitable magnitude, to one of comparative insignificance, with a small +salary annexed. This man is made to disgrace himself, and to abet the +disgrace and injury done to his country, by bearing his testimony to the +merits of this very college. + +I hope your Lordships will never lose sight of this aggravating +circumstance of the prisoner's criminality,--namely, that you never find +any wicked, fraudulent, and criminal act, in which you do not find the +persons who suffered by it, and must have been well acquainted with it, +to be the very persons who are brought to attest in its favor. O Heaven! +but let shame for one moment veil its face, let indignation suppress its +feelings, whilst I again call upon you to view all this as a mere +swindling transaction, in which the prisoner was attempting to defraud +the Company. + +Mr. Hastings has declared, and you will find it upon the Company's +records, that this institution (which cost the Company not less than +40,000_l._ in one way or other) did not commence before October in the +year 1780; and he brings it before the board in April, 1781,--that is, +about six months after its foundation. Now look at his other account, in +which he makes it to begin in the year 1779, and in which he has +therefore overcharged the expenses of it a whole year.--But Mr. Larkins, +who kept this latter account for him, may have been inaccurate.--Good +Heavens! where are we? Mr. Hastings, who was bred an accountant, who was +bred in all sorts of trade and business, declares that he keeps no +accounts. Then comes Mr. Larkins, who keeps an account for him; but he +keeps a false account. Indeed, all the accounts from India, from one +end to another, are nothing but a series of fraud, while Mr. Hastings +was concerned in them. Mr. Larkins, who keeps his private account just +as his master kept the public accounts, has swindled from the Company a +whole year's expenses of this college. I should not thus repeatedly +dwell upon this transaction, but because I wish your Lordships to be +cautious how you admit such accounts at all to be given in evidence, +into the truth of which you cannot penetrate in any regular way. Upon +the face of the two accounts there is a gross fraud. It is no matter +which is true or false, as it is an account which you are in no +situation to decide upon. I lay down this as a fixed judicial rule, that +no judge ought to receive an account (which, is as serious a part of a +judicial proceeding as can be) the correctness of which he has no means +of ascertaining, but must depend upon the sole word of the accountant. + +Having stated, therefore, the nature of the offence, which differs +nothing from a common dog-trot fraud, such as we see amongst the meanest +of mankind, your Lordships will be cautious how you admit these, or any +other of his pretended services, to be set off against his crimes. These +stand on record confessed before you; the former, of which you can form +no just estimate, and into which you cannot enter, rest for their truth +upon his own assertions, and they all are found, upon the very face of +them, to carry marks of fraud as well as of wickedness. + +I have only further to observe to your Lordships, that this +Mudjed-o-Din, who, under the patronage of Mr. Hastings, was to do all +these wonders, Lord Cornwallis turned out of his office with every mark +of disgrace, when he attempted to put into some more respectable state +that establishment which Mr. Hastings had made a sink of abuse. + +I here conclude all that I have to say upon this business, trusting that +your Lordships will feel yourselves more offended, and justice more +insulted, by the defence than by the criminal acts of the prisoner at +your bar; and that your Lordships will concur with us in thinking, that +to make this unhappy people make these attestations, knowing the direct +contrary of every word which they say to be the truth, is a shocking +aggravation of his guilt. I say they must know it; for Lord Cornwallis +tells you it is notorious; and if you think fit to inquire into it, you +will find that it was unusually notorious. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, we have now brought to a conclusion our observations upon the +effects produced by that mass of oppression which we have stated and +proved before your Lordships,--namely, its effects upon the revenues, +and upon the public servants of the Company. We have shown you how +greatly the former were diminished, and in what manner the latter were +reduced to the worst of all bad states, a state of subserviency to the +will of the Governor-General. I have shown your Lordships that in this +state they were not only rendered incapable of performing their own +duty, but were fitted for the worst of all purposes, cooeperation with +him in the perpetration of his criminal acts, and collusion with him in +the concealment of them. I have lastly to speak of these effects as they +regard the general state and welfare of the country. And here your +Lordships will permit me to read the evidence given by Lord Cornwallis, +a witness called by the prisoner at your bar, Mr. Hastings himself. + + + _The Evidence of Lord Cornwallis. Page 2721._ + + "_Q._ Whether your Lordship recollects an account that you have + given to the Court of Directors, in your letter of the 2d of + August, 1789, concerning the state of those provinces?--_A._ I + really could not venture to be particular as to any letter I may + have written so long since, as I have brought no copies of my + letters with me from India, having left them at Bengal when I went + to the coast.--_Q._ Whether your Lordship recollects, in any letter + that you wrote about the 2d of August, 1789, paragraph 18, any + expressions to this effect, namely: 'I am sorry to be obliged to + say, that agriculture and internal commerce have for many years + been gradually declining, and that at present, excepting the class + of shroffs and banians, who reside almost entirely in great towns, + the inhabitants of these provinces are advancing hastily to a + general state of poverty and wretchedness':--whether your Lordship + recollects that you have written a letter to that effect?--_A._ I + cannot take upon me to recollect the words of a letter that I have + written five years ago, but I conclude I must have written to that + effect.--_Q._ Whether your Lordship recollects that in the + immediately following paragraph, the 19th, you wrote to this + effect: 'In this description' (namely, the foregone description) 'I + must even include almost every zemindar in the Company's + territories, which, though it may have been partly occasioned by + their own indolence and extravagance, I am afraid must also be in a + great measure attributed to the defects of our former system of + management.' (Paragraph 20.) 'The settlement, in conformity to + your orders, will only be made for ten years certain, with the + notification of its being your intention to declare it a perpetual, + an unalterable assessment of these provinces, if the amount and the + principles upon which it has been made should meet with your + approbation':--whether your Lordship recollects to have written + something to the effect of these two last paragraphs, as well as of + the first?--_A._ I do recollect that I did write it; but in that + letter I alluded to the former system of annual assessments.--_Q._ + Whether your Lordship recollects that you wrote, on or about the + 18th of September, 1789, in one of your minutes, thus: 'I may + safely assert that one third of the Company's territory in + Hindostan is now a jungle, inhabited only by wild beasts: will a + ten years' lease induce any proprietor to clear away that jungle, + and encourage the ryot to come and cultivate his lands, when at the + end of that lease he must either submit to be taxed _ad libitum_ + for the newly cultivated lands, or lose all hopes of deriving any + benefit from his labor, for which perhaps by that time he will + hardly be repaid?'--whether your Lordship recollects a minute to + that effect?--_A._ I perfectly recollect to have written that + minute.--_Q._ Now with respect to a letter, dated November the 3d, + 1788, paragraph 38, containing the following sentiments: 'I shall + therefore only remark in general, that, from frequent changes of + system or other reasons, much is wanting to establish good order + and regulations in the internal business of the country, and that, + from various causes, by far the greatest part of the zemindars, and + other landholders and renters, are fallen into a state much below + that of wealth and affluence. This country, however, when the + fertility of its soil, and the industry and ingenuity of its + numerous inhabitants are taken into consideration, must + unquestionably be admitted to be one of the finest in the world; + and, with the uniform attention of government to moderation in + exaction, and to a due administration of justice, may long prove a + source of great riches both to the Company and to Britain.' + (Paragraph 39.) 'I am persuaded, that, by a train of judicious + measures, the land revenue of these provinces is capable in time of + being increased; but, consistent with the principles of humanity, + and even those of your own interest, it is only by adopting + measures for the gradual cultivation and improvement of these waste + lands, and by a gentle and cautious plan for the resumption of + lands that have been fraudulently alienated, that it ought ever to + be attempted to be accomplished. Men of speculative and sanguine + dispositions, and others, either from ignorance of the subject, or + with views of recommending themselves to your favor, may + confidently hold forth specious grounds to encourage you to hope + that a great and immediate accession to that branch of your revenue + might be practicable. My public duty obliges me to caution you, in + the most serious manner, against listening to propositions which + recommend this attempt; because I am clearly convinced, that, if + carried into execution, they would be attended with the most + baneful consequences.' (Paragraph 40.) 'Desperate adventurers, + without fortune or character, would undoubtedly be found, as has + already been too often experienced, to rent the different districts + of the country at the highest rates that could be put upon them; + that [but?] the delusion would be of a short duration, and the + impolicy and inhumanity of the plan would, when perhaps too late + for effectual remedy, become apparent by the complaints of the + people and the disappointments at the treasury in the payments of + the revenue, and would probably terminate in the ruin and + depopulation of the unfortunate country':--whether your Lordship + recollects to have written anything to that effect about that + time?--_A._ I perfectly recollect having written the extracts that + have been read." + +My Lords, Lord Cornwallis has been called, he has been examined before +you. We stopped our proceedings ten days for the purpose of taking his +evidence. We do not regret this delay. And he has borne the testimony +which you have heard to the effects of Mr. Hastings's government of a +country once the most fertile and cultivated, of a people the most +industrious, flourishing, and happy,--that the one was wasted and +desolated, the other reduced to a condition of want and misery, and that +the zemindars, that is, the nobility and gentry of the country, were so +beggared as not to be able to give even a common decent education to +their children, notwithstanding the foundation of Mr. Hastings's +colleges. You have heard this noble person, who had been an eye-witness +of what he relates, supplicating for their relief, and expressly stating +that most of the complicated miseries, and perhaps the cruelest of the +afflictions they endured, arose from the management of the country +having been taken out of the hands of its natural rulers, and given up +to Mr. Hastings's farmers, namely, the banians of Calcutta. These are +the things that ought to go to your Lordships' hearts. You see a country +wasted and desolated. You see a third of it become a jungle for wild +beasts. You see the other parts oppressed by persons in the form and +shape of men, but with all the character and disposition of beasts of +prey. This state of the country is brought before you, and by the most +unexceptionable evidence,--being brought forward through Mr. Hastings +himself. This evidence, whatever opinion you may entertain of the +effrontery or of the impudence of the criminal who has produced it, is +of double and treble force. And yet at the very time when Lord +Cornwallis is giving this statement of the country and its inhabitants, +at the very time when he is calling for pity upon their condition, are +these people brought forward to bear testimony to the benign and +auspicious government of Mr. Hastings, directed, as your Lordships know +it was, by the merciful and upright Gunga Govind Sing. + +My Lords, you have now the evidence of Lord Cornwallis on the one hand, +and the razinamas of India on the other. But before I dismiss this part +of my subject, I must call your Lordships' attention to another +authority,--to a declaration, strictly speaking, _legal_, of the state +to which our Indian provinces were reduced, and of the oppressions which +they have suffered, during the government of Mr. Hastings: I speak of +the act 24 Geo. III. cap. 25, intituled, "An act for the better +regulation and management of the affairs of the East India Company, and +of the British possessions in India, and for establishing a court of +judicature for the more speedy and effectual trial of persons accused of +offences committed in the East Indies," Sec. 39. + +My Lords, here is an act of Parliament; here are regulations enacted in +consequence of an inquiry which had been directed to be made into the +grievances of India, for the redress of them. This act of Parliament +declares the existence of oppressions in the country. What oppressions +were they? The oppressions which it suffered by being let out to the +farmers of the Company's revenues. Who was the person that sold these +revenues to the farmers? Warren Hastings. By whom were these oppressions +notified to the Court of Directors? By Lord Cornwallis. Upon what +occasion were these letters written by my Lord Cornwallis? They were +answers to inquiries made by the Court of Directors, and ordered by an +act of Parliament to be made. The existence, then, of the grievances, +and the cause of them, are expressly declared in an act of Parliament. +It orders an inquiry; and Lord Cornwallis, in consequence of that +inquiry, transmits to the Court of Directors this very information; he +gives you this identical state of the country: so that it is +consolidated, mixed, and embodied with an act of Parliament itself, +which no power on earth, I trust, but the power that made it, can shake. +I trust, I say, that neither we, the Commons, nor you, the Lords, nor +his Majesty, the sovereign of this country, can shake one word of this +act of Parliament,--can invalidate the truth of its declaration, or the +authority of the persons, men of high honor and character, that made +that inquiry and this report. Your Lordships must repeal this act in +order to acquit Mr. Hastings. + +But Mr. Hastings and his counsel have produced evidence against this act +of Parliament, against the order of the Court of Directors by which an +inquiry and report were made under that act, against Lord Cornwallis's +return to that inquiry; and now, once for all, hear what the miserable +wretches are themselves made to say, to invalidate the act of +Parliament, to invalidate the authority of the Court of Directors, to +invalidate the evidence of an official return of Lord Cornwallis under +the act. Pray hear what these miserable creatures describe as an +elysium, speaking with rapture of their satisfaction, under the +government of Mr. Hastings. + + "All we zemindars, chowdries, and talookdars of the district of + Akbarnagur, commonly called Rajamahal, in the kingdom of Bengal, + have heard that the gentlemen in England are displeased with Mr. + Hastings, on suspicion that he oppressed us inhabitants of this + place, took our money by deceit and force, and ruined the country; + therefore we, upon the strength of our religion and religious + tenets, which we hold as a duty upon us, and in order to act + conformable to the duties of God in delivering evidence, relate the + praiseworthy actions, full of prudence and rectitude, friendship + and politeness, of Mr. Hastings, possessed of great abilities and + understanding, and, by representing facts, remove the doubts that + have possessed the minds of the gentlemen in England;--that Mr. + Hastings distributed protection and security to religion, and + kindness and peace to all; he is free from the charge of + embezzlement and fraud, and that his heart is void of covetousness + and avidity; during the period of his government, no one + experienced from him other than protection and justice, never + having felt hardships from him, nor did the poor ever know the + weight of an oppressive hand from him; our characters and + reputations have always been guarded in quiet from attack by the + vigilance of his power and foresight, and preserved by the terror + of his justice; he never omitted the smallest instance of kindness + and goodness towards us and those entitled to it, but always + applied by soothings and mildness the salve of comfort to the + wounds of affliction, not allowing a single person to be + overwhelmed by despair; he displayed his friendship and kindness to + all; he destroyed the power of the enemies and wicked men by the + strength of his terror; he tied the hands of tyrants and oppressors + by his justice, and by this conduct he secured happiness and joy to + us; he reestablished the foundation of justice, and we at all + times, during his government, lived in comfort and passed our days + in peace; we are many, many of us satisfied and pleased with him. + As Mr. Hastings was perfectly well acquainted with the manners and + customs of these countries, he was always desirous of performing + that which would tend to the preservation of our religion, and of + the duties of our sects, and guard the religious customs of each + from the effects of misfortune and accidents; in every sense he + treated us with attention and respect. We have represented without + deceit what we have ourselves seen, and the facts that happened + from him." + +This, my Lords, is in page 2374 of the printed Minutes. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, we spare you the reading of a great number of these +attestations; they are all written in the same style; and it must appear +to your Lordships a little extraordinary, that, as they are said to be +totally voluntary, as the people are represented to be crowding to make +these testimonials, there should be such an unison in the heart to +produce a language that is so uniform as not to vary so much as in a +single tittle,--that every part of the country, every province, every +district, men of every caste and of every religion, should all unite in +expressing their sentiments in the very same words and in the very same +phrases. I must fairly say it is a kind of miraculous concurrence, a +miraculous gratitude. Mr. Hastings says that gratitude is lost in this +part of the world. There it blooms and flourishes in a way not to be +described. In proportion as you hear of the miseries and distresses of +these very people, in the same proportion do they express their comfort +and satisfaction, and that they never knew what a grievance was of any +sort. Lord Cornwallis finds them aggrieved, the Court of Directors find +them aggrieved, the Parliament of Great Britain find them aggrieved, and +the court here find them aggrieved; but they never found themselves +aggrieved. Their being turned out of house and home, and having all +their land given to farmers of revenue for five years to riot in and +despoil them of all they had, is what fills them with rapture. They are +the only people, I believe, upon the face of the earth, that have no +complaints to make of their government, in any instance whatever. Theirs +must be something superior to the government of angels; for I verily +believe, that, if one out of the choir of the heavenly angels were sent +to govern the earth, such is the nature of man, that many would be found +discontented with it. But these people have no complaint, they feel no +hardships, no sorrow; Mr. Hastings has realized more than the golden +age. I am ashamed for human nature, I am ashamed for our government, I +am ashamed for this court of justice, that these things are brought +before us; but here they are, and we must observe upon them. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, we have done, on our part; we have made out our case; and it +only remains for me to make a few observations upon what Mr. Hastings +has thought proper to put forward in his defence. Does he meet our case +with anything but these general attestations, upon which I must first +remark, that there is not one single matter of fact touched upon in +them? Your Lordships will observe, and you may hunt them out through the +whole body of your minutes, that you do not find a single fact mentioned +in any of them. But there is an abundance of panegyric; and if we were +doing nothing but making satires, as the newspapers charge us with +doing, against Mr. Hastings, panegyric would be a good answer. + +But Mr. Hastings sets up pleas of merit upon this occasion. Now, +undoubtedly, no plea of merit can be admitted to extinguish, as your +Lordships know very well, a direct charge of crime. Merit cannot +extinguish crime. For instance, if Lord Howe, to whom this country owes +so much as it owes this day for the great and glorious victory which +makes our hearts glad, and I hope will insure the security of this +country,--yet if Lord Howe, I say, was charged with embezzling the +King's stores, or applying them in any manner unbecoming his situation, +to any shameful or scandalous purpose,--if he was accused of taking +advantage of his station, to oppress any of the captains of his +ships,--if he was stated to have gone into a port of the allies of this +country, and to have plundered the inhabitants, to have robbed their +women, and broken into the recesses of their apartments,--if he had +committed atrocities like these, his glorious victory could not change +the nature and quality of such acts. My Lord Malmesbury has been lately +sent to the King of Prussia; we hope and trust that his embassy will be +successful, and that this country will derive great benefit from his +negotiations; but if Lord Malmesbury, from any subsidy that was to be +paid to the King of Prussia, was to put 50,000_l._ in his own pocket, I +believe that his making a good and advantageous treaty with the King of +Prussia would never be thought a good defence for him. We admit, that, +if a man has done great and eminent services, though they cannot be a +defence against a charge of crimes, and cannot obliterate them, yet, +when sentence comes to be passed upon such a man, you will consider, +first, whether his transgressions were common lapses of human frailty, +and whether the nature and weight of the grievances resulting from them +were light in comparison with the services performed. I say that you +cannot acquit him; but your Lordships might think some pity due to him, +that might mitigate the severity of your sentence. In the second place, +you would consider whether the evidence of the services alleged to be +performed was as clear and undoubted as that of the crimes charged. I +confess, that, if a man has done great services, it may be some +alleviation of lighter faults; but then they ought to be urged as +such,--with modesty, with humility, with confession of the faults, and +not with a proud and insolent defiance. They should not be stated as +proofs that he stands justified in the eye of mankind for committing +unexampled and enormous crimes. Indeed, humility, suppliant guilt, +always makes impression in our bosoms, so that, when we see it before +us, we always remember that we are all frail men; and nothing but a +proud defiance of law and justice can make us forget this for one +moment. I believe the Commons of Great Britain, and I hope the persons +that speak to you, know very well how to allow for the faults and +frailties of mankind equitably. + +Let us now see what are the merits which Mr. Hastings has set up against +the just vengeance of his country, and against his proved delinquencies. +From the language of the prisoner, and of his counsel, you would imagine +some great, known, acknowledged services had been done by him. Your +Lordships recollect that most of these presumed services have been +considered, and we are persuaded justly considered, as in themselves +crimes. He wishes your Lordships to suppose and believe that these +services were put aside either because we could not prove the facts +against him or could not make out that they were criminal, and +consequently that your Lordships ought to presume them to have been +meritorious; and this is one of the grounds upon which he demands to be +acquitted of the charges that have been brought forward and proved +against him. Finding in our proceedings, and recorded upon our journals, +an immense mass of criminality with which he is charged, and finding +that we had selected, as we were bound to select, such parts as might be +most conveniently brought before your Lordships, (for to have gone +through the whole would have been nearly impossible,) he takes all the +rest that we have left behind and have not brought here as charges, and +converts them, by a strange metamorphosis, into merits. + +My Lords, we must insist, on the part of the House of Commons, we must +conjure your Lordships, for the honor of a cooerdinate branch of the +legislature, that, whenever you are called upon to admit what we have +condemned as crimes to be merits, you will at least give us an +opportunity of being heard upon the matter,--that you will not suffer +Mr. Hastings, when attempting to defend himself against our charges, in +an indirect and oblique manner to condemn or censure the House of +Commons itself, as having misrepresented to be crimes the acts of a +meritorious servant of the public. Mr. Hastings has pleaded a variety of +merits, and every one of these merits, without the exception of one of +them, have been either directly censured by the House of Commons, and +censured as a ground for legislative provision, or they remain upon the +records of the House of Commons, with the vouchers for them, and proofs; +and though we have not actually come to the question upon every one of +them, we had come, before the year 1782, to forty-five direct +resolutions upon his conduct. These resolutions were moved by a person +to whom this country is under many obligations, and whom we must always +mention with honor, whenever we are speaking of high situations in this +country, and of great talents to support them, and of long public +services in the House of Commons: I mean Mr. Dundas, then Lord Advocate +of Scotland, and now one of the principal Secretaries of State, and at +the head, and worthily and deservedly at the head, of the East Indian +department. This distinguished statesman moved forty-five resolutions, +the major part of them directly condemning these very acts which Mr. +Hastings has pleaded as his merits, as being delinquencies and crimes. +All that the House of Commons implore of your Lordships is, that you +will not take these things, which we call crimes, to be merits, without +hearing the House of Commons upon the subject-matter of them. I am sure +you are too noble and too generous, as well as too just and equitable, +to act in such a manner. + +The first thing that Mr. Hastings brings forward in his defence is, +that, whereas the Company were obliged to pay a certain tribute to the +Mogul, in consideration of a grant by which the Moguls gave to us the +legal title under which we hold the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and +Orissa, he did stop the payment of that tribute, or acknowledgment, +small as it was,--that, though bound by a treaty recognized by the +Company and recognized by the nation, though bound by the very sunnud by +which he held the very office he was exercising, yet he had broken the +treaty, and refused to pay the stipulated acknowledgment. Where are we, +my Lords? Is this merit? Good God Almighty! the greatest blockhead, the +most ignorant, miserable wretch, a person without either virtue or +talents, has nothing to do but to order a clerk to strike a pen through +such an account, and then to make a merit of it to you. "Oh!" says he, +"I have by a mere breach of your faith, by a single dash of my pen, +saved you all this money which you were bound to pay. I have exonerated +you from the payment of it. I have gained you 250,000_l._ a year +forever. Will you not reward a person who did you such a great and +important service, by conniving a little at his delinquencies?" + +But the House of Commons will not allow that this was a great and +important service; on the contrary, they have declared the act itself to +be censurable. There is our resolution,--Resolution the 7th:-- + +"That the conduct of the Company and their servants in India to the +King," (meaning the Mogul king) "and Nudjif Khan, with respect to the +tribute payable to the one, and the stipend to the other, and with +respect to the transfer of the provinces of Corah, and Allahabad to the +Vizier, was contrary to policy and good faith; and that such wise and +practicable measures should be adopted in future as may tend to redeem +the national honor, and recover the confidence and attachment of the +princes of India." + +This act of injustice, against which we have fulminated the thunder of +our resolutions as a heavy crime, as a crime that dishonored the nation, +and which measures ought to be taken to redress, this man has the +insolence to bring before your Lordships as a set-off against the crimes +we charge him with. This outrageous defiance of the House of Commons, +this outrageous defiance of all the laws of his country, I hope your +Lordships will not countenance. You will not let it pass for nothing: on +the contrary, you will consider it as aggravating heavily his crimes. +And, above all, you will not suffer him to set off this, which we have +declared to be injurious to our national honor and credit, and which he +himself does not deny to be a breach of the public faith, against other +breaches of the public faith with which we charge him,--or to justify +one class of public crimes by proving that he has committed others. + +Your Lordships see that he justifies this crime upon the plea of its +being profitable to the Company; but he shall not march off even on this +ground with flying colors. My Lords, pray observe in what manner he +calculates these profits. Your Lordships will find that he makes up the +account of them much in the same manner as he made up the account of +Nobkissin's money. There is, indeed, no account which he has ever +brought forth that does not carry upon it not only ill faith and +national dishonor, but direct proofs of corruption. When Mr. Hastings +values himself upon this shocking and outrageous breach of faith, which +required nothing but a base and illiberal mind, without either talents, +courage, or skill, except that courage which defies all consequences, +which defies shame, which defies the judgment and opinion of his country +and of mankind, no other talents than may be displayed by the dash of a +pen, you will at least expect to see a clear and distinct account of +what was gained by it. + +In the year 1775, at a period when Mr. Hastings was under an eclipse, +when honor and virtue, in the character of General Clavering, Colonel +Monson, and Mr. Francis, sat for a short period at the +Council-Board,--during that time, Mr. Hastings's conduct upon this +occasion was called into question. They called for an account of the +revenues of the country,--what was received, and what had been paid; and +in the account returned they found the amount of the tribute due to the +Mogul, 250,000_l._, entered as paid up to October, 1774. Thus far all +appeared fair upon the face of it; they took it for granted, as your +Lordships would take it for granted, at the first view, that the tribute +in reality had been paid up to the time stated. The books were balanced: +you find a debtor; you find a creditor; every item posted in as regular +a manner as possible. Whilst they were examining this account, a Mr. +Croftes, of whom your Lordships have heard very often, as +accountant-general, comes forward and declares that there was a little +error in the account. And what was the error? That he had entered the +Mogul's tribute for one year more than it had actually been paid. Here +we have the small error of a payment to the Mogul of 250,000_l._ This +appeared strange. "Why," says Mr. Croftes, "I never discovered it; nor +was it ever intimated to me that it had been stopped from October, 1773, +till the other day, when I was informed that I ought not to have made an +entry of the last payments." These were his expressions. You will find +the whole relation in the Bengal Appendix, printed by the orders of the +Court of Directors. When Mr. Croftes was asked a very natural question, +"Who first told you of your mistake? who acquainted you with Mr. +Hastings's orders that the payment should be expunged from the account?" +what is his answer? It is an answer worthy of Mr. Middleton, an answer +worthy of Mr. Larkins, or of any of the other white banians of Mr. +Hastings:--"Oh, I have forgotten." Here you have an accountant-general +kept in ignorance, or who pretends to be ignorant, of so large a payment +as 250,000_l._; who enters it falsely in his account; and when asked who +apprised him of his mistake, says that he has really forgotten. + +Oh, my Lords, what resources there are in oblivion! what resources there +are in bad memory! No genius ever has done so much for mankind as this +mental defect has done for Mr. Hastings's accountants. It was said by +one of the ancient philosophers, to a man who proposed to teach people +memory,--"I wish you could teach me oblivion; I wish you could teach me +to forget." These people have certainly not been taught the art of +memory, but they appear perfect masters of the art of forgetting. My +Lords, this is not all; and I must request your Lordships' attention to +the whole of the account, as it appears in the account of the arrears +due to the King, annexed to your minutes. Here is a kind of labyrinth, +where fraud runs into fraud. On the credit side you find stated there, +eight lacs paid to the Vizier, and to be taken from the Mogul's tribute, +for the support of an army, of which he himself had stipulated to bear +the whole expenses. These eight lacs are thus fraudulently accounted for +upon the face of the thing; and with respect to eighteen lacs, the +remainder of the tribute, there is no account given of it at all. This +sum Mr. Hastings must, therefore, have pocketed for his own use, or that +of his gang of peculators; and whilst he was pretending to save you +eight lacs by one fraud, he committed another fraud of eighteen lacs for +himself: and this is the method by which one act of peculation begets +another in the economy of fraud. + +Thus much of these affairs I think myself bound to state to your +Lordships upon this occasion; for, although not one word has been +produced by the counsel to support the allegations of the prisoner at +your bar, yet, knowing that your Lordships, high as you are, are still +but men, knowing also that bold assertions and confident declarations +are apt to make some impression upon all men's minds, we oppose his +allegations. But how do we oppose them? Not by things of the like +nature. We oppose them by showing you that the House of Commons, after +diligent investigation, has condemned them, and by stating the grounds +upon which the House founded its condemnation. We send you to the +records of the Company, if you want to pursue this matter further, to +enlighten your own minds upon the subject. Do not think, my Lords, that +we are not aware how ridiculous it is for either party, the accuser or +the accused, to make here any assertions without producing vouchers for +them: we know it; but we are prepared and ready to take upon us the +proof; and we should be ashamed to assert anything that we are not able +directly to substantiate by an immediate reference to uncontradicted +evidence. + +With regard to the merits pleaded by the prisoner, we could efface that +plea with a single stroke, by saying there is no evidence before your +Lordships of any such merits. But we have done more: we have shown you +that the things which he has set up as merits are atrocious crimes, and +that there is not one of them which does not, in the very nature and +circumstances of it, carry evidence of base corruption, as well as of +flagrant injustice and notorious breach of public faith. + +The next thing that he takes credit for is precisely an act of this +description. The Mogul had, by solemn stipulation with the Company, a +royal domain insured to him, consisting of two provinces, Corah and +Allahabad. Of both these provinces Mr. Hastings deprived the Mogul, upon +weak pretences, if proved in point of fact, but which were never proved +in any sense, against him. I allude particularly to his alleged alliance +with the Mahrattas,--a people, by the way, with whom we were not then +at war, and with whom he had as good a right as Nudjif Khan to enter +into alliance at that time. He takes these domains, almost the last +wrecks of empire left to the descendant of Tamerlane, from the man, I +say, to whose voluntary grants we owe it that we have put a foot in +Bengal. Surely, we ought, at least, to have kept our faith in leaving +this last retreat to that unfortunate prince. The House of Commons was +of that opinion, and consequently they resolved, "That the transfer of +Corah and Allahabad to the Vizier was contrary to policy and good +faith." This is what the Commons think of this business which Mr. +Hastings pleads as merits. + +But I have not yet done with it. These provinces are estimated as worth +twenty-two lacs, or thereabouts, that is, about 220,000_l._, a year. I +believe they were improvable to a good deal more. But what does Mr. +Hastings do? Instead of taking them into the Company's possession for +the purpose of preserving them for the Mogul, upon the event of our +being better satisfied with his conduct, or of appropriating them to the +Company's advantage, he sells them to the Nabob of Oude, who he knew had +the art, above all men, of destroying a country which he was to keep, or +which he might fear he was not to keep, permanent possession of. And +what do you think he sold them for? He sold them at a little more than +two years' purchase. Will any man believe that Mr. Hastings, when he +sold these provinces to the Vizier for two years' purchase, and when +there was no man that would not have given ten years' purchase for them, +did not put the difference between the real and pretended value into his +own pocket, and that of his associates? + +We charge, therefore, first, that this act for which he assumes merit +was in itself a breach of faith; next, that the sale of these provinces +was scandalously conducted; and thirdly, that this sale, at one fifth of +the real value, was effected for corrupt purposes. Thus an act of +threefold delinquency is one of the merits stated with great pomp by his +counsel. + +Another of his merits is the stoppage of the pension which the Company +was under an obligation to pay to Nudjif Khan: a matter which, even if +admitted to be a merit, is certainly not worth, as a set-off, much +consideration. + +But there is another set-off of merit upon which he plumes himself, and +sets an exceedingly high value: the sale of the Rohilla nation to that +worthless tyrant, the Vizier, their cruel and bitter enemy,--the +cruelest tyrant, perhaps, that ever existed, and their most implacable +enemy, if we except Mr. Hastings, who appears to have had a concealed +degree of animosity, public, private, or political, against them. To +this man he sold this whole nation, whose country, cultivated like a +garden, was soon reduced, as Mr. Hastings, from the character of the +Vizier, knew would be the consequence, to a mere desert, for 400,000_l._ +He sent a brigade of our troops to assist the Vizier in extirpating +these people, who were the bravest, the most honorable, and generous +nation upon earth. Those who were not left slaughtered to rot upon the +soil of their native country were cruelly expelled from it, and sent to +publish the merciless and scandalous behavior of Great Britain from one +end of India to the other. I believe there is not an honest, ingenuous, +or feeling heart upon the face of the globe, I believe there is no man +possessing the least degree of regard to honor and justice, humanity +and good policy, that did not reprobate this act. The Court of +Directors, when they heard of it, reprobated it in the strongest manner; +the Court of Proprietors reprobated it in the strongest manner; by the +House of Commons, after the most diligent investigation, it was, in a +resolution moved by Mr. Dundas, reprobated in the strongest manner: and +this is the act which Mr. Hastings brings forward before your Lordships +as a merit. + +But, again, I can prove that in this, perhaps the most atrocious of all +his demerits, there is a most horrid and nefarious secret corruption +lurking. I can tell your Lordships that Sir Robert Barker was offered by +this Vizier, for about one half of this very country, namely, the +country of the Rohillas, a sum of fifty lacs of rupees,--that is, +500,000_l._ Mr. Hastings was informed of this offer by Sir Robert +Barker, in his letter of the 24th March, 1773. Still, in the face of +this information, Mr. Hastings took for the Company only forty lacs of +rupees. I leave your Lordships to draw your own conclusion from these +facts. You will judge what became of the difference between the price +offered and the price accounted for as taken. Nothing on earth can hide +from mankind why Mr. Hastings made this wicked, corrupt bargain for the +extermination of a brave and generous people,--why he took 400,000_l._ +for the whole of that, for half of which he was offered and knew he +might have had 500,000_l._ + +Your Lordships will observe, that for all these facts there is no +evidence, on the one side or on the other, directly before you. Their +merits have been insisted upon, in long and laborious details and +discussions, both by Mr. Hastings himself and by his counsel. We have +answered them for that reason; but we answer them with a direct +reference to records and papers, from which your Lordships may judge of +them as set-offs and merits. I believe your Lordships will now hardly +receive them as merits to set off guilt, since in every one of them +there is both guilt in the act, and strong ground for presuming that he +had corruptly taken money for himself. + +The last act of merit that has been insisted upon by his counsel is the +Mahratta peace. They have stated to you the distresses of the Company to +justify the unhandsome and improper means that he took of making this +peace. Mr. Hastings himself has laid hold of the same opportunity of +magnifying the difficulties which, during his government, he had to +contend with. Here he displays all his tactics. He spreads all his +sails, and here catches every gale. He says, "I found all India +confederated against you. I found not the Mahrattas alone; I found war +through a hundred hostile states fulminated against you; I found the +Peshwa, the Nizam, Hyder Ali, the Rajah of Berar, all combined together +for your destruction. I stemmed the torrent: fortitude is my character. +I faced and overcame all these difficulties, till I landed your affairs +safe on shore, till I stood the saviour of India." + +My Lords, we of the House of Commons have before heard all this; but we +cannot forget that we examined into every part of it, and that we did +not find a single fact stated by him that was not a ground of censure +and reprobation. The House of Commons, in the resolutions to which I +have alluded, have declared, that Mr. Hastings, the first author of +these proceedings, took advantage of an ambiguous letter of the Court +of Directors to break and violate the most solemn, the most +advantageous, and useful treaty that the Company had ever made in India; +and that this conduct of his produced the strange and unnatural junction +which he says he found formed against the Company, and with which he had +to combat. I should trouble your Lordships with but a brief statement of +the facts; and if I do not enter more at large in observing upon them, +it is because I cannot but feel shocked at the indecency and impropriety +of your being obliged to hear of that as merit which the House of +Commons has condemned in every part. Your Lordships received obliquely +evidence from the prisoner at your bar upon this subject; yet, when we +came and desired your full inquiry into it, your Lordships, for wise and +just reasons, I have no doubt, refused our request. I must, however, +again protest on the part of the Commons against your Lordships +receiving such evidence at all as relevant to your judgment, unless the +House of Commons is fully heard upon it. + +But to proceed.--The government of Bombay had offended the Mahratta +States by a most violent and scandalous aggression. They afterwards made +a treaty of peace with them, honorable and advantageous to the Company. +This treaty was made by Colonel Upton, and is called the Treaty of +Poorunder. Mr. Hastings broke that treaty, upon his declared principle, +that you are to look in war for the resources of your government. All +India was at that time in peace. Hyder Ali did not dare to attack us, +because he was afraid that his natural enemies, the Mahrattas, would +fall upon him. The Nizam could not attack us, because he was also afraid +of the Mahrattas. The Mahratta state itself was divided into such +discordant branches as to make it impossible for them to unite in any +one object; that commonwealth, which, certainly at that time was the +terror of India, was so broken, as to render it either totally +ineffective or easy to be resisted. There was not one government in +India that did not look up to Great Britain as holding the balance of +power, and in a position to control and do justice to every individual +party in it. At that juncture Mr. Hastings deliberately broke the treaty +of Poorunder; and afterwards, by breaking faith with and attacking all +the powers, one after another, he produced that very union which one +would hardly have expected that the incapacity or ill faith of any +Governor could have effected. Your Lordships shall hear the best and +most incontrovertible evidence both of his incapacity and ill faith, and +of the consequences which they produced. It is the declaration of one of +the latest of their allies concerning all these proceedings. It is +contained in a letter from the Rajah of Berar, directly and strongly +inculpating Mr. Hastings, upon facts which he has never denied and by +arguments which he has never refuted, as being himself the cause of that +very junction of all the powers of India against us. + + + _Letter from Benaram Pundit._ + + "As the friendship of the English is, at all events, the first and + most necessary consideration, I will therefore exert myself in + establishing peace: for the power of making peace with all is the + best object; to this all other measures are subservient, and will + certainly be done by them, the English. You write, that, after + having laid the foundation of peace with the Pundit Purdhaun, it + is requisite that some troops should be sent with General Goddard + against Hyder Naig, and take possession of his country, when all + those engagements and proposals may be assented to. My reason is + confounded in discussing this suggestion, at a time when Hyder Naig + is in every respect in alliance with the Peshwa, and has assisted + with his soul and life to repel the English. For us to unite our + troops with those of the enemy and extirpate him, would not this + fix the stamp of infamy upon us forever? Would any prince, for + generations to come, ever after assist us, or unite with the + Peshwa? Be yourself the judge, and say whether such a conduct would + become a prince or not. Why, then, do you mention it? why do you + write it? + + "The case is as follows.--At first there was the utmost enmity + between Hyder Naig and the Pundit Purdhaun, and there was the + fullest intention of sending troops into Hyder Naig's country; and + after the conclusion of the war with Bombay and the capture of + Ragonaut Row, it was firmly resolved to send troops into that + quarter; and a reliance was placed in the treaty which was entered + into by the gentlemen of Bombay before the war. But when Ragonaut + again went to them, and General Goddard was ready to commence + hostilities,--when no regard was paid to the friendly proposals + made by us and the Pundit Peshwa,--when they desisted from coming + to Poonah, agreeable to their promise, and a categorical answer was + given to the deputies from Poonah,--the ministers of Poonah then + consulted among themselves, and, having advised with the Nabob + Nizam ul Dowlah, they considered that as enemies were appearing on + both sides, and it would be difficult to cope with both, what was + to be done? Peace must be made with one of them, and war must be + carried on with the other. They wished above all things, in their + hearts, to make peace with the English gentlemen, and to unite with + them to punish Hyder Naig; but these gentlemen had plainly refused + to enter into any terms of reconciliation. It was therefore + advisable to accommodate matters with Hyder Naig, although he had + been long an enemy. What else could be done? Having nothing left + for it, they were compelled to enter into an union with Hyder." + +My Lords, this declaration, made to Mr. Hastings himself, was never +answered by him. Indeed, answered it could not be; because the thing was +manifest, that all the desolation of the Carnatic by Hyder Ali, all +these difficulties upon which he has insisted, the whole of that union +by which he was pressed, and against which, as he says, he bore up with +such fortitude, was his own work, the consequences of his bad faith, and +his not listening to any reasonable terms of peace. + +But, my Lords, see what sort of peace he afterwards made. I could prove, +if I were called upon so to do, from this paper that they have had the +folly and madness to produce to you for other purposes, that he might at +any time have made a better treaty, and have concluded a more secure and +advantageous peace, than that which at last he acceded to; that the +treaty he made was both disadvantageous and dishonorable, inasmuch as we +gave up every ally we had, and sacrificed them to the resentment of the +enemy; that Mahdajee Sindia gained by it an empire of a magnitude +dangerous to our very existence in India; that this chief was permitted +to exterminate all the many little gallant nations that stood between us +and the Mahrattas, and whose policy led them to guard against the +ambitious designs of that government. Almost all these lesser powers, +from Central India, quite up to the mountains that divide India from +Tartary, almost all these, I say, were exterminated by him, or were +brought under a cruel subjection. The peace he made with Mr. Hastings +was for the very purpose of doing all this; and Mr. Hastings enabled +him, and gave him the means of effecting it. + +Advert next, my Lords, to what he did with other allies. By the treaty +of Poorunder, made by Colonel Upton, and which he flagitiously broke, we +had acquired, what, God knows, we little merited from the Mahrattas, +twelve lacs, (112,000_l._) for the expenses of the war,--and a country +of three lacs of annual revenue, the province of Baroach and the isle of +Salsette, and other small islands convenient for us upon that coast. +This was a great, useful, and momentous accession of territory and of +revenue: and we got it with honor; for not one of our allies were +sacrificed by this treaty. We had even obtained from the Mahrattas for +Ragonaut Row, our support of whom against that government was a +principal cause of the war, an establishment of a thousand horse, to be +maintained at their expense, and a jaghire for his other expenses of +three lacs of rupees per annum, payable monthly, with leave to reside +within their territories, with no other condition than that he should +not remove from the place fixed for his residence for the purpose of +exciting disturbances against their government. They also stipulated for +the pardon, of all his adherents except four; and the only condition +they required from us was, that we should not assist him in case of any +future disturbance. But Mr. Hastings, by his treaty, surrendered that +country of three lacs of revenue; he made no stipulation for the +expenses of the war, nor indemnity for any of the persons whom he had +seduced into the rebellion in favor of Ragonaut Row; he gave them all up +to the vengeance of their governments, without a stroke of a pen in +their favor, to be banished, confiscated, and undone; and as to Ragonaut +Row, instead of getting him this honorable and secure retreat, as he was +bound to do, this unfortunate man was ordered to retire to his enemy's +(Mahdajee Sindia's) country, or otherwise he was not to receive a +shilling for his maintenance. + +I will now ask your Lordships, whether any man but Mr. Hastings would +claim a merit with his own country for having broken the treaty of +Poorunder? Your Lordships know the opinion of the House of Commons +respecting it; his colleagues in Council had remonstrated with him upon +it, and had stated the mischiefs that would result from it; and Sir Eyre +Coote, the commander of the Company's forces, writing at the same time +from Madras, states, that he thought it would infallibly bring down upon +them Hyder Ali, who, they had reason to think, was bent upon the utter +destruction of the power of this country in India, and was only waiting +for some crisis in our affairs favorable to his designs. This, my Lords, +is to be one of the set-offs against all the crimes, against the +multiplied frauds, cruelties, and oppressions, all the corrupt +practices, prevarications, and swindlings, that we have alleged against +him. + +My Lords, it would be an endless undertaking, and such as, at this hour +of the day, we, as well as your Lordships, are little fitted to engage +in, if I were to attempt to search into and unveil all the secret +motives, or to expose as it deserves the shameless audacity of this +man's conduct. None of your Lordships can have observed without +astonishment the selection of his merits, as he audaciously calls them, +which has been brought before you. The last of this selection, in +particular, looks as if he meant to revile and spit upon the legislature +of his country, because we and you thought it fit and were resolved to +publish to all India that we will not countenance offensive wars, and +that you felt this so strongly as to pass the first act of a kind that +was ever made, namely, an act to limit the discretionary power of +government in making war solely,--and because you have done this solely +and upon no other account and for no other reason under heaven than the +abuse which that man at your bar has made of it, and for which abuse he +now presumes to take merit to himself. I will read this part of the act +to your Lordships. + + [_Mr. Burke here read 24th Geo. III. cap. 25, sect. 34._] + + "And whereas to pursue schemes of conquest and extension of + dominion in India are measures repugnant to the wish, the honor, + and policy of this nation, be it therefore further enacted by the + authority aforesaid, that it shall not be lawful for the + Governor-General and Council of Port William aforesaid, without the + express command and authority of the said Court of Directors, or of + the Secret Committee of the said Court of Directors, in any case, + (except where hostilities have actually been commenced, or + preparations actually made for the commencement of hostilities, + against the British nation in India, or against some of the princes + or states dependent thereon, or whose territories the said United + Company shall be at such time engaged by any subsisting treaty to + defend or guaranty,) either to declare war, or commence + hostilities, or enter into any treaty for making war, against any + of the country princes or states in India, or any treaty for + guarantying the possessions of any country princes or states; and + that in such case it shall not be lawful for the said + Governor-General and Council to declare war, or commence + hostilities, or enter into treaty for making war, against any other + prince or state than such as shall be actually committing + hostilities or making preparations as aforesaid, or to make such + treaty for guarantying the possessions of any prince or state, but + upon the consideration of such prince or state actually engaging to + assist the Company against such hostilities commenced or + preparations made as aforesaid; and in all cases where hostilities + shall be commenced or treaty made, the said Governor-General and + Council shall, by the most expeditious means they can devise, + communicate the same unto the said Court of Directors, together + with a full state of the information and intelligence upon which + they shall have commenced such hostilities or made such treaties, + and their motives and reasons for the same at large." + +It is the first act of the kind that ever was made in this kingdom, the +first statute, I believe, that ever was made by the legislature of any +nation, upon the subject; and it was made solely upon the resolutions +to which we had come against the violent, intemperate, unjust, and +perfidious acts of this man at your Lordships' bar, and which acts are +now produced before your Lordships as merits. + +To show further to your Lordships how necessary this act was, here is a +part of his own correspondence, the last thing I shall beg to read to +your Lordships, and upon which I shall make no other comment than that +you will learn from it how well British faith was kept by this man, and +that it was the violation of British faith which prevented our having +the most advantageous peace, and brought on all the calamities of war. +It is part of a letter from the minister of the Rajah of Berar, a man +called Benaram Pundit, with whom Mr. Hastings was at the time treating +for a peace; and he tells him why he might have had peace at that time, +and why he had it not,--and that the cause of it was his own ridiculous +and even buffoonish perfidiousness, which exposed him to the ridicule of +all the princes of India, and with him the whole British nation. + + "But afterwards reflecting that it was not advisable for me to be + in such haste before I had fully understood all the contents of the + papers, I opened them in the presence of the Maha Rajah, when all + the kharetas, letters, copies, and treaties were perused with the + greatest attention and care. First, they convinced us of your great + truth and sincerity, and that you never, from the beginning to this + time, were inclined to the present disputes and hostilities; and + next, that you have not included in the articles of the treaty any + of your wishes or inclinations; and in short, the garden of the + treaty appeared to us, in all its parts, green and flourishing: + but though the fruit of it was excellent yet they appeared + different from those of Colonel Upton's treaty, (the particulars of + which I have frequently written to you,) and, upon tasting them, + proved to be bitter and very different, when compared to the former + articles. How can any of the old and established obligations be + omitted, and new matters agreed to, when it is plain that they will + produce losses and damages? Some points which you have mentioned, + under the plea of the faith and observance of treaties, are of such + a nature that the Poonah ministers can never assent to them. In all + engagements and important transactions, in which the words _but_, + and _although_, and _besides_, and _whereas_, and _why_, and other + such words of doubt, are introduced, it gives an opening to + disputes and misunderstandings. A treaty is meant for the entire + removal of all differences, not for increase of them. My departure + to Poonah has therefore been delayed." + +My Lords, consider to what ironies and insults this nation was exposed, +and how necessary it was for us to originate that bill which your +Lordships passed into an act of Parliament, with his Majesty's assent. +The words _but_, _although_, _besides_, _whereas_, and _why_, and such +like, are introduced to give an opening, and so on. Then he desires him +to send another treaty, fit for him to sign. + + "I have therefore kept the treaty with the greatest care and + caution in my possession, and, having taken a copy of it, I have + added to each article another, which appeared to me proper and + advisable, and without any loss or disadvantage to the English, or + anything more in favor of the Pundit Purdhaun than what was + contained in the former treaties. This I have sent to you, and hope + that you will prepare and send a treaty conformable to that, + without any _besides_, or _if_, or _why_, or _but_, and _whereas_, + that, as soon as it arrives, I may depart for Poonah, and, having + united with me Row Mahdajee Sindia, and having brought over the + Nabob Nizam ul Dowlah to this business, I may settle and adjust all + matters which are in this bad situation. As soon as I have received + my dismission from thence, I would set off for Calcutta, and + represent to you everything which for a long while I have had on my + mind, and by this transaction erect to the view of all the world + the standard of the greatness and goodness of the English and of my + master, and extinguish the flames of war with the waters of + friendship. The compassing all these advantages and happy prospects + depends entirely upon your will and consent; and the power of + bringing them to an issue is in your hands alone." + +My Lords, you may here see the necessity there was for passing the act +of Parliament which I have just read to you, in order to prevent in +future the recurrence of that want of faith of which Mr. Hastings had +been so notoriously guilty, and by which he had not only united all +India against us, and had hindered us from making, for a long time, any +peace at all, but had exposed the British character to the irony, scorn, +derision, and insult of the whole people of that vast continent. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, in the progress of this impeachment, you have heard our +charges; you have heard the prisoner's plea of merits; you have heard +our observations on them. In the progress of this impeachment, you have +seen the condition in which Mr. Hastings received Benares; you have seen +the condition in which Mr. Hastings received the country of the +Rohillas; you have seen the condition in which he received the country +of Oude; you have seen the condition in which he received the provinces +of Bengal; you have seen the condition of the country when the native +government was succeeded by that of Mr. Hastings; you have seen the +happiness and prosperity of all its inhabitants, from those of the +highest to those of the lowest rank. My Lords, you have seen the very +reverse of all this under the government of Mr. Hastings,--the country +itself, all its beauty and glory, ending in a jungle for wild beasts. +You have seen flourishing families reduced to implore that pity which +the poorest man and the meanest situation might very well call for. You +have seen whole nations in the mass reduced to a condition of the same +distress. These things in his government at home. Abroad, scorn, +contempt, and derision cast upon and covering the British name, war +stirred up, and dishonorable treaties of peace made, by the total +prostitution of British faith. Now take, my Lords, together, all the +multiplied delinquencies which we have proved, from the highest degree +of tyranny to the lowest degree of sharping and cheating, and then +judge, my Lords, whether the House of Commons could rest for one moment, +without bringing these matters, which have baffled all legislation at +various times, before you, to try at last what judgment will do. +Judgment is what gives force, effect, and vigor to laws; laws without +judgment are contemptible and ridiculous; we had better have no laws +than laws not enforced by judgments and suitable penalties upon +delinquents. Revert, my Lords, to all the sentences which have +heretofore been passed by this high court; look at the sentence passed +upon Lord Bacon, look at the sentence passed upon Lord Macclesfield; and +then compare the sentences which your ancestors have given with the +delinquencies which were then before them, and you have the measure to +be taken in your sentence upon the delinquent now before you. Your +sentence, I say, will be measured according to that rule which ought to +direct the judgment of all courts in like cases, lessening it for a +lesser offence, and aggravating it for a greater, until the measure of +justice is completely full. + + * * * * * + +My Lords, I have done; the part of the Commons is concluded. With a +trembling solicitude we consign this product of our long, long labors to +your charge. Take it!--take it! It is a sacred trust. Never before was a +cause of such magnitude submitted to any human tribunal. + +My Lords, at this awful close, in the name of the Commons, and +surrounded by them, I attest the retiring, I attest the advancing +generations, between which, as a link in the great chain of eternal +order, we stand. We call this nation, we call the world to witness, that +the Commons have shrunk from no labor, that we have been guilty of no +prevarication, that we have made no compromise with crime, that we have +not feared any odium whatsoever, in the long warfare which we have +carried on with the crimes, with the vices, with the exorbitant wealth, +with the enormous and overpowering influence of Eastern corruption. This +war, my Lords, we have waged for twenty-two years, and the conflict has +been fought at your Lordships' bar for the last seven years. My Lords, +twenty-two years is a great space in the scale of the life of man; it is +no inconsiderable space in the history of a great nation. A business +which has so long occupied the councils and the tribunals of Great +Britain cannot possibly be huddled over in the course of vulgar, trite, +and transitory events. Nothing but some of those great revolutions that +break the traditionary chain of human memory, and alter the very face of +Nature itself, can possibly obscure it. My Lords, we are all elevated to +a degree of importance by it; the meanest of us will, by means of it, +more or less become the concern of posterity,--if we are yet to hope for +such a thing, in the present state of the world, as a recording, +retrospective, civilized posterity: but this is in the hands of the +great Disposer of events; it is not ours to settle how it shall be. + +My Lords, your House yet stands,--it stands as a great edifice; but let +me say, that it stands in the midst of ruins,--in the midst of the ruins +that have been made by the greatest moral earthquake that ever convulsed +and shattered this globe of ours. My Lords, it has pleased Providence to +place us in such a state that we appear every moment to be upon the +verge of some great mutations. There is one thing, and one thing only, +which defies all mutation,--that which existed before the world, and +will survive the fabric of the world itself: I mean justice,--that +justice which, emanating from the Divinity, has a place in the breast of +every one of us, given us for our guide with regard to ourselves and +with regard to others, and which will stand, after this globe is burned +to ashes, our advocate or our accuser before the great Judge, when He +comes to call upon us for the tenor of a well-spent life. + +My Lords, the Commons will share in every fate with your Lordships; +there is nothing sinister which can happen to you, in which we shall not +be involved: and if it should so happen that we shall be subjected to +some of those frightful changes which we have seen,--if it should happen +that your Lordships, stripped of all the decorous distinctions of human +society, should, by hands at once base and cruel, be led to those +scaffolds and machines of murder upon which great kings and glorious +queens have shed their blood, amidst the prelates, amidst the nobles, +amidst the magistrates who supported their thrones, may you in those +moments feel that consolation which I am persuaded they felt in the +critical moments of their dreadful agony! + +My Lords, there is a consolation, and a great consolation it is, which +often happens to oppressed virtue and fallen dignity. It often happens +that the very oppressors and persecutors themselves are forced to bear +testimony in its favor. I do not like to go for instances a great way +back into antiquity. I know very well that length of time operates so as +to give an air of the fabulous to remote events, which lessens the +interest and weakens the application of examples. I wish to come nearer +to the present time. Your Lordships know and have heard (for which of us +has not known and heard?) of the Parliament of Paris. The Parliament of +Paris had an origin very, very similar to that of the great court before +which I stand; the Parliament of Paris continued to have a great +resemblance to it in its constitution, even to its fall: the Parliament +of Paris, my Lords, WAS; it is gone! It has passed away; it has +vanished like a dream! It fell, pierced by the sword of the Comte de +Mirabeau. And yet I will say, that that man, at the time of his +inflicting the death-wound of that Parliament, produced at once the +shortest and the grandest funeral oration that ever was or could be made +upon the departure of a great court of magistracy. Though he had himself +smarted under its lash, as every one knows who knows his history, (and +he was elevated to dreadful notoriety in history,) yet, when he +pronounced the death sentence upon that Parliament, and inflicted the +mortal wound, he declared that his motives for doing it were merely +political, and that their hands were as pure as those of justice itself, +which they administered. A great and glorious exit, my Lords, of a great +and glorious body! And never was a eulogy pronounced upon a body more +deserved. They were persons, in nobility of rank, in amplitude of +fortune, in weight of authority, in depth of learning, inferior to few +of those that hear me. My Lords, it was but the other day that they +submitted their necks to the axe; but their honor was unwounded. Their +enemies, the persons who sentenced them to death, were lawyers full of +subtlety, they were enemies full of malice; yet lawyers full of +subtlety, and enemies full of malice, as they were, they did not dare to +reproach them with having supported the wealthy, the great, and +powerful, and of having oppressed the weak and feeble, in any of their +judgments, or of having perverted justice, in any one instance whatever, +through favor, through interest, or cabal. + +My Lords, if you must fall, may you so fall! But if you stand,--and +stand I trust you will, together with the fortune of this ancient +monarchy, together with the ancient laws and liberties of this great and +illustrious kingdom,--may you stand as unimpeached in honor as in power! +May you stand, not as a substitute for virtue, but as an ornament of +virtue, as a security for virtue! May you stand long, and long stand the +terror of tyrants! May you stand the refuge of afflicted nations! May +you stand a sacred temple, for the perpetual residence of an inviolable +justice! + + + + + + +GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS, + +AND + +INDEX. + + + + +GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + +VOL. I. + +Advertisement to the Reader, Prefixed to the First Octavo Edition v + +Advertisement to the Second Octavo Edition xvii + +A Vindication of Natural Society: or, A View of the Miseries and + Evils arising to Mankind from every Species of Artificial Society 1 + +A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime + and Beautiful; with an Introductory Discourse concerning Taste 67 + +A Short Account of a late Short Administration 263 + +Observations on a late Publication, intituled, + "The Present State of the Nation" 269 + +Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents 433 + + +VOL. II. + +Speech on American Taxation, April 19, 1774 1 + +Speeches on Arrival at Bristol and at the Conclusion of the Poll, + October 13 and November 3, 1774 81 + +Speech on moving Resolutions for Conciliation with America, + March 22, 1775 99 + +Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol, on the Affairs of America, + April 3, 1777 187 + +Two Letters to Gentlemen of Bristol, on the Bills depending in + Parliament relative to the Trade of Ireland, April 23 and + May 2, 1778 247 + +Speech on presenting to the House of Commons a Plan for the Better + Security of the Independence of Parliament, and the Economical + Reformation of the Civil and other Establishments, + February 11, 1780 265 + +Speech at Bristol previous to the Election, September 6, 1780 365 + +Speech at Bristol on declining the Poll, September 9, 1780 425 + +Speech on Mr. Fox's East India Bill, December 1, 1783 431 + +A Representation to his Majesty, moved in the House of Commons, + June 14, 1784 537 + + +VOL. III. + +Speech on the Nabob of Arcot's Debts, February 28, 1785; 1 + with an Appendix + +Substance of Speech on the Army Estimates, February 9, 1790 211 + +Reflections on the Revolution in France 231 + + +VOL. IV. + +Letter to a Member of the National Assembly, in Answer to some + Objections to his Book on French Affairs 1 + +Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs 57 + +Letter to a Peer of Ireland on the Penal Laws against Irish + Catholics 217 + +Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe, on the Subject of the Roman + Catholics of Ireland 241 + +Hints for a Memorial to be delivered to Monsieur de M.M. 307 + +Thoughts on French Affairs 313 + +Heads for Consideration on the Present State of Affairs 379 + +Remarks on the Policy of the Allies with respect to France: with + an Appendix 403 + + +VOL. V. + +Observations on the Conduct of the Minority, particularly in the + last Session of Parliament, 1793 1 + +Preface to the Address of M. Brissot to his Constituents: + with an Appendix 65 + +Letter to William Elliot, Esq., occasioned by a Speech made in + the House of Lords by the **** of *******, in the Debate concerning + Lord Fitzwilliam, 1795 107 + +Thoughts and Details on Scarcity 131 + +Letter to a Noble Lord on the Attacks made upon Mr. Burke and his + Pension, in the House of Lords, by the Duke of Bedford and the + Earl of Lauderdale, 1796 171 + +Three Letters to a Member of Parliament on the Proposals for + Peace with the Regicide Directory of France. + + Letter I. On the Overtures of Peace 233 + + Letter II. On the Genius and Character of the French + Revolution as it regards other Nations 342 + + Letter III. On the Rupture of the Negotiation; the Terms + of Peace proposed; and the Resources of the Country for + the Continuance of the War 384 + + +VOL. VI. + +Preface to the Second Posthumous Volume, in a Letter to the Right + Hon. William Elliot v + +Fourth Letter on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory + of France: with the Preliminary Correspondence 1 + +Letter to the Empress of Russia, November 1, 1791 113 + +Letter to Sir Charles Bingham, Bart., on the Irish Absentee Tax, + October 30, 1773 121 + +Letter to the Hon. Charles James Fox, on the American War, + October 8, 1777 135 + +Letter to the Marquis of Rockingham, with Addresses to the King, + and the British Colonists in North America, in Relation to the + Measures of Government in the American Contest, and a Proposed + Secession of the Opposition from Parliament, January, 1777 149 + +Letter to the Right Hon. Edmund S. Pery, in relation to a Bill + for the Relief of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, July 18, 1778 197 + +Two Letters to Thomas Burgh, Esq., and John Merlott, Esq., in + Vindication of his Parliamentary Conduct relative to the Affairs + of Ireland, 1780 207 + +Letters and Reflections on the Executions of the Rioters in 1780 239 + +Letter to the Right Hon. Henry Dundas: with the Sketch of a Negro + Code, 1792 255 + +Letter to the Chairman of the Buckinghamshire Meeting, held at + Aylesbury, April 13, 1780, on the Subject of Parliamentary + Reform 291 + +Fragments of a Tract relative to the Laws against Popery in Ireland 299 + +Letter to William Smith, Esq., on the Subject of Catholic + Emancipation, January 29, 1795 361 + +Second Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe, on the Catholic Question, + May 26, 1795 375 + +Letter to Richard Burke, Esq., on Protestant Ascendency in Ireland, + 1793 385 + +Letter on the Affairs of Ireland, 1797 413 + + +VOL. VII. + +Fragments and Notes of Speeches In Parliament. + + Speech on the Acts of Uniformity, February 8, 1772 3 + + Speech on a Bill for the Relief of Protestant Dissenters, + March 17, 1773 21 + + Speech on a Motion, for Leave to bring in a Bill to repeal and + alter certain Acts respecting Religious Opinions, upon the + Occasion of a Petition of the Unitarian Society, May 11, 1792 39 + + Speech relative to the Middlesex Election, February 7, 1771 59 + + Speech on a Bill for shortening the Duration of Parliaments, + May 8, 1780 69 + + Speech on a Motion for a Committee to inquire into the State of + the Representation of the Commons in Parliament, May 7, 1782 89 + + Speech on a Motion for Leave to bring in a Bill for explaining + the Powers of Juries in Prosecutions for Libels, March 7, 1771. + Together with a Letter in Vindication of that Measure, and a + Copy of the proposed Bill 105 + + Speech on a Bill for the Repeal of the Marriage Act, + June 15, 1781 129 + + Speech on a Motion for Leave to bring in a Bill to quiet the + Possessions of the Subject against Dormant Claims of the Church, + February 17, 1772 137 + +Hints for an Essay on the Drama 143 + +An Essay towards an Abridgment of the English History. In Three Books. + + Book I. To the Fall of the Roman Power In Britain 159 + + Book II. To the Norman Invasion 227 + + Book III. Through the Reign of John 327 + + Fragment.--An Essay towards an History of the Laws of England 475 + + +VOL. VIII. + +Ninth Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons + on the Affairs of India, June 25, 1783. + + Observations on the State of the Company's Affairs in India 3 + + Connection of Great Britain with India 41 + + Effect of the Revenue Investment on the Company 56 + + Internal Trade of Bengal 76 + Silk 83 + Raw Silk 88 + Cloths, or Piece-Goods 99 + Opium 116 + Salt 142 + Saltpetre 170 + + British Government in India 173 + +Eleventh Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on + the Affairs of India. With Extracts from the Appendix. + November 18, 1783 217 + +Articles of Charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors against Warren + Hastings, Esq., late Governor-General of Bengal: presented to + the House of Commons in April and May, 1788.--Articles I.-VI. + + Art. I. Rohilla War 307 + II. Shah Allum 319 + III. Benares. + Part I. Rights and Titles of the Rajah of Benares 327 + Part II. Designs of Mr. Hastings to ruin the Rajah of Benares 339 + Part III. Expulsion of the Rajah of Benares 354 + Part IV. Second Revolution in Benares 380 + Part V. Third Revolution in Benares 386 + IV. Princesses of Oude 397 + V. Revolutions in Furruckabad 467 + VI. Destruction of the Rajah of Sahlone 484 + + +VOL. IX. + +Articles of Charge of High Crimes and Misdemeanors against + Warren Hastings, Esq., late Governor-General of Bengal: presented + to the House of Commons in April and May, 1786.--Articles VII.-XXII. + +Art. VII. Contracts 3 + VIII. Presents 22 + IX. Resignation of the Office of Governor-General 42 + X. Surgeon-General's Contract 60 + XI. Contracts for Poolbundy Repairs 60 + XII. Contracts for Opium 63 + XIII. Appointment of R.J. Sulivan 70 + XIV. Ranna of Gohud 72 + XV. Revenues. Part I. 79 + Part II. 87 + XVI. Misdemeanors in Oude 95 + XVII. Mahomed Reza Khan 179 + XVIII. The Mogul delivered up to the Mahrattas 202 + XIX. Libel on the Court of Directors 228 + XX. Mahratta War and Peace 238 + XXI. Correspondence 266 + XXII. Fyzoola Khan + Part I. Rights of Fyzoola Khan, etc., before the + Treaty of Lall-Dang 268 + Part II. Rights of Fyzoola Khan under the Treaty + of Lall-Dang 275 + Part III. Guaranty of the Treaty of Lall-Dang 278 + Part IV. Thanks of the Board to Fyzoola Khan 286 + Part V. Demand of Five Thousand Horse 287 + Part VI. Treaty of Chunar 296 + Part VII. Consequences of the Treaty of Chunar 302 + Part VIII. Pecuniary Commutation of the Stipulated Aid 306 + Part IX. Full Vindication of Fyzoola Khan by Major + Palmer and Mr. Hastings 313 + +Appendix to the Eighth and Sixteenth Charges 319 + +Speeches in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, Esq., + late Governor-General of Bengal. + + Speech in Opening the Impeachment. + First Day: Friday, February 15, 1788 329 + Second Day: Saturday, February 16 396 + + +VOL. X. + +Speeches in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, Esq., + 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 + + +VOL. XI. + +Report from the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed to + inspect the Lords' Journals in Relation to their Proceedings on + the Trial of Warren Hastings, Esq. With an Appendix. Also, + Remarks in Vindication of the Same from the Animadversions of + Lord Thurlow. 1794 1 + +Speeches in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, Esq., + late Governor-General of Bengal. (Continued.) + + Speech in General Reply. + First Day: Wednesday, May 28, 1794 157 + Second Day: Friday, May 30 227 + Third Day. Tuesday, June 3 300 + Fourth Day: Thursday, June 5 372 + + +VOL. XII. + +Speeches In the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, Esq., + late Governor-General of Bengal. (Continued.) + + Speech in General Reply. + Fifth Day: Saturday, June 7, 1794 3 + Sixth Day: Wednesday, June 11 75 + Seventh Day: Thursday, June 12 143 + Eighth Day: Saturday, June 14 235 + Ninth Day: Monday, June 16 335 + + + + +INDEX. + + +Accidental things ought to be carefully distinguished from + permanent causes and effects, v. 234. + +Account, capital use of an, what, i. 511. + +Act of navigation, i. 378; ii. 30, 33. + +Acts of grace, impolicy of, ii. 386. + +Acts of indemnity and oblivion, probable effects of, as a + means of reconciling France to a monarchy, iv. 460. + +Addison, Mr., the correctness of his opinion of the cause of + the grand effect of the rotund questioned, i. 150. + his fine lines on honorable political connections, i. 529. + +Administration, Short Account of a Late Short, (Marquis of + Rockingham's,) i. 263. + censures on that administration, i. 379. + state of public affairs at the time of its formation, i. 381. + character and conduct of it, i. 388. + idea of it respecting America, i. 397. + remarks on its foreign negotiations, i. 412. + character of a united administration, i. 419. + of a disunited one, i. 425. + the administration should be correspondent to the legislature, i. 471. + +Admiration, the first source of obedience, iv. 251. + one of the principles which interest us in the characters + of others, vii. 148. + +Adrian, first contracts the hounds of the Roman Empire, vii. 214. + +Advice, compulsive, from constituents, its authority first + resisted by Mr. Burke, iv. 95. + +Adviser, duty of an, iv. 42. + +Agricola, Julius, character and conduct of, vii. 199. + +Aix, the Archbishop of, his offer of contribution, why refused + by the French National Assembly, iii. 390. + +Aix-la-Chapelle, the treaty of, remarks on, v. 441. + +Akbar, the Emperor, obtains possession of Bengal, ix. 392 + +Alfred the Great, character and conduct of, vii. 261. + his care and sagacity in improving the laws and institutions + of England, vii. 482. + +Allegiance, oath of, remarkable one taken by the nobility to + King Stephen, vii. 388. + +Alliance, one of the requisites of a good peace, i. 295. + the famous Triple Alliance negotiated by Temple and De Witt, v. 438. + alliance between Church and State in a Christian commonwealth, + a fanciful speculation, vii. 43. + +Ambition, one of the passions belonging to society, i. 124. + nature and end of, i. 124. + misery of disappointed, i. 335. + ought to be influenced by popular motives, i. 474. + influence of, iii. 107. + one of the natural distempers of a democracy, iv. 164. + legislative restraints on it in democracies always violent + and ineffectual, iv. 164. + not an exact calculator, vii. 82. + virtue of a generous ambition for applause for public services, x. 176. + +America, advantage of, to England, i. 297. + nature of various taxes there, i. 355. + project of a representation of in Parliament, its difficulties, i. 372. + its rapidly increasing commerce, ii. 112. + eloquent description of rising glories of, in vision, ii. 115. + temper and character of its inhabitants, ii. 120. + their spirit of liberty, whence, ii. 120, 133 + proposed taxation of, by grant instead of imposition, ii. 154. + danger in establishing a military government there, vi. 176. + +American Stamp Act, its origin, i. 385. + repeal of the, i. 265, 389. + reasons of the repeal, ii. 48. + good effects of the repeal, i. 401; ii. 59. + +Ancestors, our, reverence due to them, iii. 562; iv. 213. + +Angles, in buildings, prejudicial to their grandeur, i. 151. + +Animals, their cries capable of conveying great ideas, i. 161. + +Anniversaries, festive, advantages of, iv. 369. + +Anselm, appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, vii. 373. + supports Henry I. against his brother Robert, vii. 377. + +Apparitions, singular inconsistency in the ideas of the vulgar + concerning them, vii. 181. + +Arbitrary power, steals upon a people by lying dormant for a + time, or by being rarely exercised, ii. 201. + cannot be exercised or delegated by the legislature, ix. 455. + not recognized in the Gentoo code, xi. 208. + +Arbitrary system, must always be a corrupt one, x. 5. + danger in adopting it as a principle of action, xi. 322. + +Areopagus, court and senate of, remarks on the, iii. 507. + +Ariosto, a criticism of Boileau on, vii. 154. + +Aristocracy, affected terror at the growth of the power of the, + in the reign of George II., i. 457. + influence of the, i. 457. + too much spirit not a fault of the, i. 458. + general observations on the, iii. 415. + character of a true natural one, iv. 174. + regulations in some states with respect to, iv. 250. + must submit to the dominion of prudence and virtue, v. 127. + character of the aristocracy of France before the Revolution, + iii. 412; vi. 39. + +Aristotle, his caution against delusive geometrical accuracy + in moral arguments, ii. 170. + his observations on the resemblance between a democracy and + a tyranny, iii. 397. + his distinction between tragedy and comedy, vii. 153. + his natural philosophy alone unworthy of him, vii. 252. + his system entirely followed by Bede, vii. 252. + +Armies yield a precarious and uncertain obedience to a senate, iii. 524. + remarks on the standing armies of France and England, iii. 224. + +Army commanded by General Monk, character of it, iv. 36. + +Art, every work of, great only as it deceives, i. 152. + +Artist, a true one effects the noblest designs by easy methods, i. 152. + +Artois, Comte d', character of, iv. 430. + +Ascendency, Protestant, observations on it, vi. 393. + +Asers, their origin and conquests, vii. 228. + +Assassination, recommended and employed by the National Assembly + of France, iv. 34. + the dreadful consequences of this policy, in case of war, iv. 34. + +Astonishment, cause and nature of, i. 160, 217. + +Atheism by establishment, what, v. 310. + ought to be repressed by law, vii. 35. + schools of, set up by the French regicides at the public charge, vi. 106. + +Atheists, modern, contrasted with those of antiquity, iv. 355. + +Athenians, at the head of the democratic interests of Greece, iv. 321. + +Athens, the plague of, remarkable prevalence of wickedness + during its continuance, vii. 84. + +Augustin, state of religion in Britain when he arrived there, vii. 233. + introduced Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons, vii. 235. + +Aulic Council, remarks on the, v. 119. + +Austria began in the reign of Maria Theresa to support great + armies, v. 368. + her treaty of 1756 with France, deplored by the French in 1773, v. 370. + +Authority, its only firm seat in public opinion, ii. 224; vi. 165. + the people the natural control on it, iv. 164. + the exercise and control of it together contradictory, iv. 164. + the monopoly of it an evil, v. 151. + +Avarice, an instrument and source of oppression in India, + iii. 107; ix. 491. + + +Bacon, Lord, a remark of his applied to the revolution in France, v. 175. + his demeanor at his impeachment, xi. 173. + +Bacon, N., his work on the laws of England not entitled to + authority, vii. 479. + +Bail, method of giving it introduced by Alfred, vii. 265. + advantage of it, vii. 265. + +Ball, John, abstract of a discourse of, iv. 178. + +Ballot, all contrivances by it vain to prevent a discovery of + the inclinations, iii. 507. + +Balmerino, Lord, proceedings in his trial, xi. 34. + +Banian, functions and character of the, ix. 363. + +Bank paper in England, owing to the flourishing condition of + commerce, iii. 541. + +Bards, the, character of their verses, vii. 178. + +Bartholomew, St., massacre of, iii. 420. + +Bathurst, Lord, his imagined vision of the rising glories of + America, ii. 114. + +Bayle, Mr., an observation of his on religious persecution, vi. 333. + +Beauchamp, Lord, his bill concerning imprisonment; Mr. Burke's + course with respect to it, ii. 382. + +Beauty, a cause of love, i. 114, 165. + proportion not the cause of it in vegetables, i. 166. + nor in animals, i. 170. + nor in the human species, i. 172. + beauty and proportion not ideas of the same nature, i. 181. + the opposite to beauty not disproportion or deformity, but + ugliness, i. 181. + fitness not the cause of beauty, i. 181. + nor perfection, i. 187. + how far the idea of beauty applicable to the qualities of the + mind, i. 188. + how far applicable to virtue, i. 190. + the real cause of beauty, i. 191. + beautiful objects, small, i. 191. + and smooth, i. 193. + and of softly varied contour, i. 194. + and delicate, i. 195. + and of clear, mild, or diversified, colors, i. 196. + beauty of the physiognomy, i. 198. + beauty of the eye, i. 198. + the beautiful in feeling, i. 201. + the beautiful in sounds, i. 203. + physical effects of beauty, i. 232. + +Bede, the Venerable, brief account of him and his works, vii. 250. + +Bedford, the first earl of, who, v. 201. + +Begums of Oude, accused by the East India Company of rebellion, ii. 475. + pretence for seizing their treasures, xii. 33. + +Benares, city of, the capital of the Indian religion, ii. 477, 484. + province of, its projected sale to the Nabob of Oude, xi. 259. + devastation of, during Mr. Hastings's government, xi. 302, 347. + the Rajah of, nature of his authority, xi. 240. + imprisoned by Mr. Hastings's order, xi. 277. + the Ranny of, the soldiery incited by Mr. Hastings to plunder her, + ii. 486. + +Benfield, Paul, his character and conduct, iii. 97. + +Bengal, extent and condition, of, ii. 498. + conquest of, by the Emperor Akbar, ix. 392. + era of the independent subahs of, ix. 392. + era of the British empire in, ix. 393. + nature of the government exercised there by Mr. Hastings, xii. 211. + +Bengal Club, observations on the, iv. 324. + +Bidjegur, fortress of, taken by order of Mr. Hastings, xi. 291. + +Biron, Duchess of, murdered by the French regicides, vi. 41. + +Bitterness, in description, a source of the sublime, i. 162. + +Blackness, effects of, i. 229. + +Boadicea, Roman outrages against, vii. 197. + +Boileau, his criticism on a tale in Ariosto, vii. 154. + +Bolingbroke, Lord, animadversions on his philosophical works, i. 3. + some characteristics of his style, i. 7. + a presumptuous and superficial writer, iii. 398. + a remark of his on the superiority of a monarchy over other + forms of government, iii. 398. + +Boncompagni, Cardinal, character of him, iv. 338. + +Borrower, the public, and the private lender, not adverse + parties with contending interests, v. 455. + +Bouillon, Godfrey of, engages in the Crusade, vii. 372. + +Boulogne, fortress of, surrendered to France, v. 204. + importance of it to England, v. 204. + +Bouvines, victory of, important advantages of it to France, vii. 458. + +Brabancons, mercenary troops in the time of Henry II., their + character, vii. 420. + +Bribing, by means of it, rather than by being bribed, wicked + politicians bring ruin on mankind, iii. 107. + +Brissot, his character and conduct, iv. 371. + Preface to his Address to his Constituents, v. 65. + +Britain, invasion of, by Caesar, vii. 165. + account of its ancient inhabitants, vii. 170. + invaded by Claudius, vii. 191. + reduced by Ostorius Scapula, vii. 191. + finally subdued by Agricola, vii. 199. + why not sooner conquered, vii. 202. + nature of the government settled there by the Romans, vii. 205. + first introduction of Christianity into, vii. 221. + deserted by the Romans, vii. 223. + entry and settlement of the Saxons there, and their conversion + to Christianity, vii. 227. + +Britons, more reduced than any other nation that fell under the + German power, vii. 232. + +Brown, Dr., effect of his writings on the people of England, v. 239. + +Buch, Captal de, his severe treatment of the Jacquerie in France, iv. 177. + +Buildings, too great length in them, prejudicial to grandeur + of effect, i. 152. + should be gloomy to produce an idea of the sublime, i. 158. + +Burke, Mr., his sentiments respecting several leading members + of the Whig party, iv. 66. + and respecting a union of Ireland with Great Britain, iv. 297. + respecting acts of indemnity and oblivion as a means of + reconciling France to a monarchy, iv. 460. + his animadversions on the conduct of Mr. Fox, v. 7. + his pathetic allusion to his deceased son, v. 207. + +Burnet, Bishop, his statement of the methods which carried men + of parts to Popery in France, iii. 430. + +Bute, Earl of, his resignation, i. 381. + his successors recommended by him, i. 381. + supposed head of the court party called "King's Men," i. 467. + + +Caesar, Julius, his policy with respect to the Gauls, vii. 163. + his invasion of Germany, vii. 164. + and of Britain, vii. 165. + +Calais, lost by the surrender of Boulogne, v. 204. + +Calamity, its deliberations rarely wise, iii. 540. + public calamity often arrested by the seasonable energy of a + single man, v. 124. + +Caligula undertakes an expedition against Britain, vii. 190. + +Calonne, M. de, remarks on his work, "L'Etat de la France," iii. 479. + extract from it, iii. 549. + +Campanella, curious story concerning him, i. 212. + +Canada Bills, convention for their liquidation, i. 409. + +Canterbury, dispute between the suffragan bishops of the province + and the monks of the Abbey of St. Austin, vii. 446. + +Cantons, French, their origin, nature, and function, iii. 462, 464, 471. + +Cantoo Baboo, Mr. Hastings's banian, x. 19. + +Canute, his character and conduct, vii. 276. + remarks on his code of laws, vii. 483. + +Capital, monopoly of, not an evil, v. 151. + +Care, appearance of, highly contrary to our ideas of magnificence, i. 154. + +Carnatic, the extent, nature, and condition of the country, + ii. 492; iii. 65. + dreadful devastation of it by Hyder Ali Khan, iii. 62. + +Caste, consequences of losing it in India, x. 89. + +Castile, different from Catalonia and Aragon, iv. 340. + +Castles, great numbers of them built in the reign of Stephen, vii. 389. + +Casuistry, origin and requisites of, iv. 168. + danger of pursuing it too far, iv. 168. + +Catholics, Letter to an Irish Peer on the Penal Laws against, iv. 217. + +Celsus, his opinion that internal remedies were not of early + use proved to be erroneous, vii. 184. + +Cerealis, extract from his fine speech to the Gauls, iv. 272. + +Change and reformation, distinction between, v. 186. + +Characters of others, principles which interest us in them, vii. 148. + +Charity, observations on, v. 146. + not to be interfered with by the magistrate, v. 146. + +Charles I. defended himself on the practice of his predecessors, ii. 279. + his ill-judged attempt to establish the rites of the Church + of England in Scotland, vii. 8. + +Charles II. obliged by the sense of the nation to abandon + the Dutch war, ii. 219. + brief character of him, iv. 37. + his government compared with that of Cromwell, iv. 467. + +Charles XII. of Sweden, parallel between him and Richard I. + of England, vii. 436. + +Charters are kept when their purposes are maintained, ii. 565. + +Chatham, Lord, his character, ii. 61. + +Cheselden, Mr., his story of a boy who was couched for a cataract, i. 226. + +Chester, the County Palatine of, admitted to representation + in Parliament in the reign of Henry VIII., ii. 150. + +Chesterfield, Lord, his conduct (when Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland) + with respect to the Roman Catholics, iv. 235. + +Cheyt Sing, Rajah of Benares, nature of his authority, ii. 479; xi. 240. + imprisoned by order of Mr. Hastings, xi. 277. + +Christendom, the several states of, have all been formed slowly + and without any unity of design, v. 373. + +Christianity, original introduction of, into Britain, vii. 221. + +Church, the, has power to reform her doctrine, discipline, + and rites, vii. 7. + +Church establishment in England, observations on it, iii. 352. + the provision made for its clergy by the state, iii. 364. + education of its clergy contrasted with that of the Roman + Catholic clergy, iv. 231. + eulogy on it, vi. 401; vii. 36, 56. + +Cicero, remarks on his orations against Verres, xii. 349. + +Circumstances, importance of them in all political principles, + iii. 240; vii. 55. + +Citizens, not to be listened to, in matters relating to agriculture, + v. 146. + +Civil list, debts due on it, request for a supply for discharging + them, how made, i. 508. + plan of economy relative to it, ii. 350. + +Civil society, great purpose of, vi. 333. + +Civil vicinity, law of, what, v. 322. + +Civil wars corrupt the morals of the people, ii. 203. + +Clamor, justifiable when it is caused by abuse, vii. 121. + +Clarendon, Constitutions of, vii. 403. + +Claudius, the Emperor invades Britain, vii. 191. + +Clavering, Sir John, eulogy on him, x. 246; xii. 348. + +Clear expression, different from a strong one, i. 260. + +Clearness not necessary for affecting the passions, i. 133. + +Clergy, convocation of, a part of the constitution, ii. 226. + observations on the provision made by the state for them, iii. 364, 448. + Roman Catholic, in France, character of them before the + Revolution, iii. 424. + laws of William and Anne respecting the Popish clergy, vi. 317. + review of the state of the clergy in England down to the reign + of Henry II., vii. 398. + +Clive, Lord, sent to India, ix. 438. + his conduct there, ix. 439. + +Clootz, Anacharsis, his masquerade embassy to the Constituent + Assembly of France, vi. 49. + +Coke, Lord, ingenious quotation in his Reports, i. 5. + his observation on discretion in judicature, iv. 292. + +Colonies, commercial, mode of levying taxes in them, an important + and difficult consideration, i. 354. + American, import ten times more from Great Britain, than they + spend in return, i. 393. + +Colonists, the British, in America, character of, i. 395. + Address to, vi. 183. + +Colors, soft and cheerful ones unfit to produce grand images, i. 158. + +Comedy, observations on, vii. 150. + Aristotle's distinction between it and tragedy, vii. 153. + +Comines, Philip de, his remarks on the English civil wars, vi. 252. + +Commerce and liberty, the two main sources of power to Great + Britain, ii. 87. + great increase of, in America, ii. 112. + +Common law, nature of the, vii. 462. + +Common Pleas, court of, its origin, vii. 466. + +Commons, the House of, observations on its nature and character, i. 491. + what qualities recommend a man to a seat in it, in popular + elections, i. 497. + can never control other parts of the government, unless the + members themselves are controlled by their constituents, i. 503. + ought to be connected with and dependent on the people, i. 508. + has a collective character, distinct from that of its members, ii. 66. + duty of the members to their constituents, ii. 95. + general observations on its privileges and duties, ii. 544. + the collective sense of the people to be received from it, ii. 545. + its powers and capacities, ii. 552. + cannot renounce its share of authority, iii. 258. + its composition, iii. 289. + the most powerful and most corruptible part of the constitution, vii. 62. + a superintendence over the doctrines and proceedings of the + courts of justice, one of its principal objects, vii. 107. + concise view of its proceedings on the East India question, ii. 559. + +Commonwealths, not subject to laws analogous to those of + physical life, v. 124, 234. + +Communes, in France, their origin, nature, and function, + iii. 462, 464, 472. + +Compurgators, in Saxon law, what, vii. 318. + +Condorcet, brief character of him, iv. 356, 372. + extract from a publication of his, iv. 356. + +Confidence, unsuspecting, in government, importance of it, ii. 234. + of mankind, how to be secured, v. 414. + +Connections, party, political, observations on them, i. 527, 530. + commended by patriots in the commonwealths of antiquity, i. 527. + the Whig connection in Queen Anne's reign, i. 529. + +Conquest cannot give a right to arbitrary power, ix. 456. + +Conscience, a tender one ought to be tenderly handled, vii. 54. + +Constantine the Great, changes made by him in the internal + policy of the Roman Empire, vii. 220. + +Constantinople, anecdote of the visit of an English country + squire to, v. 387. + anecdote of the Greeks at the taking of, vi. 96. + +Constituents, in England, more in the spirit of the constitution + to lessen than to enlarge their number, i. 370. + their duty to their representatives, ii. 370. + compulsive instruction from them first rejected by Mr. Burke, iv. 95. + points in which they are incompetent to instruct their + representatives, vii. 74, 75. + +Constitution, a, cannot defend itself, vi. 100. + consequences of disgracing the frame and constitution of + the state, vii. 103. + the English, a change in it, an immense and difficult operation, + i. 371, 520. + English, changes in it to be attempted only in times of general + confusion, i. 371. + eulogy on it, iii. 561; v. 210; vii. 100. + the whole scheme of it to prevent any one of its principles + from being carried to an extreme, iv. 207. + not struck out at a heat, iv. 209. + commendation of it by Montesquieu, iv. 212. + the only means of its subversion, what, v. 49, 52. + +Constitutional Society, The, its nature and design, iii. 236. + +Conti, Prince de, his character and conduct, iv. 436. + +Contract, an implied, one, always, between the laborer and + his employer, v. 137. + +Contracting parties, not necessary that they should have + different interests, v. 139. + +Control and exercise of authority together contradictory, iv. 164. + +Convocation of the clergy, though a part of the constitution, + now called for form only, ii. 226. + +Conway, General, moves the repeal of the American Stamp Act, ii. 52. + +Cornwallis, Lord, (Baron,) proceedings in his trial, xi. 30. + +Cornwallis, Lord, (Marquis,) his evidence at the trial of + Warren Hastings, xii. 359. + +Coronation oath, its obligations with respect to Roman Catholics, iv. 259. + +Corporate bodies, their usefulness as instruments, iii. 441. + more under the direction of the state than private citizens, iii. 447. + +Corruption, of nature and example, what the only security against, ii. 238. + in pecuniary matters, the suspicion of it how to be avoided, iii. 95. + +Cossim, Ali Khan, his character and conduct, ix. 405. + +Country, lore of, remarks on, xi. 422. + +Credit and power incompatible, i. 368. + +Crimes, the acts of individuals, not of denominations, ii. 418. + according to the criminal law, what, vi. 340. + +Cromwell, brief character of him, iii. 294. + his principle in the appointment of judges, iv. 13. + his conduct in government, iv. 37. + his government compared with that of Charles II., iv. 467. + +Cross, the effect of it not so grand in architecture as that of + the parallelogram, i. 150. + +Crown, the influence of it, what, i. 444. + inheritable nature of it, iii. 258. + this principle maintained at the Revolution, iii. 254. + the only legitimate channel of communication with other nations, v. 10. + +Crusade, origin and progress of the, vii. 369. + +Curfew, origin and policy of the, vii. 354. + +Curiosity, the first and simplest emotion of the human mind, i. 101. + general observations on it, i. 101. + +Custom, considered in relation to deformity and beauty, i. 179. + not the cause of pleasure, i. 180. + +Cyprus, account of the conquest of it by Richard I., vii. 428. + + +Danger and pain, the idea of them a source of the sublime, i. 110, 130. + with certain modifications, delightful, i. 111. + the danger of anything very dear to us removes for the time + all other affections from the mind, iv. 95. + +Darkness more productive of sublime ideas than light, i. 156. + necessary to the highest degree of the sublime in building, i. 158. + Locke's opinion concerning, i. 225. + terrible in its own nature, i. 226. + why, i. 227. + +Davies, Sir John, his statement of the benefits of the extension + of English constitutional law to Ireland, ii. 147; iv. 273. + +Day, not so sublime as night, i. 158. + +Debi Sing, his character and conduct, x. 69. + +Debt, the interest of, not the principal, that which distresses + a nation, i. 329. + +Debts, civil, faults of the law with regard to, ii. 384. + public, excessive, their tendency to subvert government, iii. 437. + +Deceivers and cheats never can repent, iv. 9. + +Declaration of Right, contains the principles of the Revolution + of 1688, iii. 252. + drawn by Lord Somers, iii. 254. + proceeds upon the principle of reference to antiquity, iii. 273. + +Defensive measures, though vigorous at first, relax by degrees, iv. 355. + necessary considerations with regard to them, vi. 100. + +Definitions, frequently fallacious, i. 81. + +Deformity not opposed to beauty, but to the complete common form, i. 178. + +Deity, power the most striking of his attributes, i. 143. + +Delamere, Lord, proceedings in his trial, xi. 31. + +Delight, what, i. 107. + distinguished from pleasure, i. 108. + the misfortunes of others sometimes a source of, i. 118. + the attendant of every passion which animates us to any active + purpose, i. 119. + how pain can be a cause of, i. 215. + +Democracy, no example in modern times of a considerable one, iii. 396. + an absolute one, not to be reckoned among the legitimate forms + of government, iii. 396. + Aristotle's observation on the resemblance between a democracy + and a tyranny; iii. 397. + the vice of the ancient democracies, what, iii. 508. + the foodful nurse of ambition, iv. 104. + +Departments in France, their origin, nature, and function, iii. 461, 465. + +Depth thought to have a grander effect than height, i. 147. + +Description, verbal, a means of raising a stronger emotion + than painting, i. 133. + +Desirable things always practicable, ii. 357. + +Despotism, nature of, i. 446; ix. 458. + +D'Espremenil, the illustrious French magistrate, murdered by + the Revolutionists, vi. 40. + +Dialogue, advantages and disadvantages of it as a mode of + argumentation, vi. 9. + +Difference in taste, commonly so called, whence, i. 89. + +Difficulty, a source of greatness in idea, i. 153. + its disciplinary uses, iii. 453. + political difficulties, ill consequences of attempting to + elude them, iii. 454. + +Dignity, national, no standard for rating the conditions of peace, v. 257. + +Dimension, greatness of, a powerful cause of the sublime, i. 147. + necessary to the sublime in building, i. 152. + but incompatible with beauty, i. 242. + +Dinagepore, Rajah of, account of him, xii. 318. + +Diogenes, anecdote of him, iv. 61. + +Directory, the, by whom settled, vii. 13. + rejected at the Restoration, vii. 13. + +Disappointment, what, i. 108. + +Discontents, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present, i. 433. + produced by a system of favoritism, i. 469. + +Discretion, Lord Coke's remark on, iv. 292. + +Discretionary powers of the monarch, should be exercised upon + public principles, i. 469. + +Discrimination, a coarse, the greatest enemy to accuracy of + judgment, v. 143. + +Dissenters, observations on the Test Act, in reference to them, iv. 264. + +Distress, great, never teaches wise lessons to mankind, iv. 10. + +Distrust, advantages of, iv. 443. + +Disunion in government, mischief of, i. 425. + +Divorce, observations on, v. 313. + +Domesday Book, origin, and nature of it, vii. 354. + +Double cabinet, project of a, in the English court, i. 447. + nature and design of it, i. 454. + mischievous influence of it, i. 478. + how recommended at court, i. 485. + its operation upon Parliament, i. 490. + singular doctrine propagated by it, i. 525. + +Drama, Hints for an Essay on the, vii. 143. + +Dramatic writing, difficulty of, vii. 145. + origin of, vii. 149. + +Druids, some account of their origin, character, and functions, vii. 176. + the opinion that their religion was founded on the unity of + the Godhead, confuted, vii. 185. + +Dryden, his translation of a passage in Virgil, v. 391. + +Du Bos, his theory of the greater effect of painting than of + poetry on the passions, controverted, i. 134. + +Dunkirk, demolition of, i. 412. + +Dunning, Mr., brief character of, ii. 398. + +Du Pin, M. de la Tour, his account of the state of the army + in France, iii. 512. + +Durham, County Palatine of, admitted to representation in + Parliament, in the reign of Charles II., ii. 152. + +Duty, effectual execution of it, how to be secured, ii. 353. + determined by situation, ii. 465; iv. 167. + people do not like to be told of it, iv. 163. + not dependent on the will, iv. 165. + + +Easter, whence the name derived, vii. 237. + disputes about the time of celebrating it promote the study + of astronomy and chronology, vii. 252. + +East India Company, origin of the, ix. 348. + system of its service, ix. 350. + a fundamental part of its constitution, that its government + shall be a written one, ix. 369. + two sources of its power, ix. 345. + its negotiations with government, i. 362. + observations on its charter, ii. 438. + extent and population of its possessions, ii. 443, 444. + observations on its conduct, ii. 446. + its treatment of the nations indirectly subject to its + authority, ii. 466. + its administration in the countries immediately under its + government, ii. 497. + concise view of the proceedings of the House of Commons + relative to it, ii. 559. + +East Indies, origin of the extensive British possessions there, ii. 560. + +Ecclesiastical investiture, origin and nature of, vii. 382. + +Economy and war not easily reconciled, i. 310. + admirable system of, in France, under Necker, ii. 273. + difficulty of attempting a plan of public economy, ii. 268. + rules for a proper plan of, ii. 286. + things prescribed by the principles of radical economy, ii. 310. + distinction between economy and parsimony, v. 195. + political economy, had its origin in England, v. 192. + +Education, effect of it on the colonists in America, ii. 124. + description of a good one, iv. 24; xii. 280. + +Edward the Confessor, his character and conduct, vii. 278. + +Election, popular, of magistrates, importance of it to a state, i. 472. + right of, what, i. 505. + mischief of frequent elections, i. 517; vii. 75. + the expense of them an important consideration, vii. 78. + +Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI., murdered by the French regicides, vi. 41. + +Emphyteusis of the Romans, nature of it, vi. 354. + +Empires do not fall by their own weight, vi. 27. + +England, nature of its monarchy, ii. 288. + eulogy on its constitution, v. 210; + natural representation of its people, what it is, v. 284. + its constant policy with regard to France, iv. 397. + always necessarily the soul and head of any confederacy + against France, iv. 397; v. 245. + +English History, An Abridgment of the, vii. 157. + +Enmity, when avowed, is always felt, vi. 57. + +Enthusiasm, excited by other causes besides religion, v. 361. + +Eostre, the name of a Saxon goddess,--whence the term Easter, vii. 237. + +Epicureans, the, why tolerated in their atheism by the supporters + of the ancient heathen religions, vii. 31. + their physics the most rational of the ancient systems, vii. 251. + why discredited, vii. 251. + +Equity, criminal, a monster in jurisprudence, i. 500. + +Established Church, the, should be powerful, but comprehensive + and tolerant, vii. 36. + +Established religion of a state, has often torn to pieces the + civil establishment, vi. 357. + +Establishment, legal, ground of a legislative alteration of it, vii. 10. + ground of the constitutional provision for the exclusive + application of tithes to its support, vii. 12. + +Etiquette, its signification and uses, v. 434. + +Europe, general division of, before the universal prevalence + of the Roman power, vii. 159. + the original inhabitants of Greece and Italy of the same race + with the people of Northern Europe, vii. 161. + view of the state of Europe at the time of the Norman invasion, vii. 327. + +Evidence, circumstantial, remarks on it, xi. 93. + +Example, of men of principle, never without use, i. 426. + the only argument of effect in civil life, i. 499. + what the only security against a corrupt one, ii. 238. + the school of mankind, v. 331. + +Executions of criminals, observations on them, vi. 245. + +Exercise necessary to the finer organs, i. 216. + +Expression, difference between a clear and a strong one, i. 260. + +Eye, the, in what its beauty consists, i. 198. + +Eyre, Sir Robert, (Solicitor-General,) extracts from his + speech at the trial of Dr. Sacheverell, iv. 138. + + +Factions, formed upon and generate opinions, vii. 44. + +Fame, a passion for it, the instinct of all great souls, ii. 65. + the separation of it from virtue, a harsh divorce, ii. 243. + +Fanaticism, epidemical, formidable nature of it, iii. 435. + may be caused by a theory concerning government as much as by + a dogma in religion, iv. 192. + +Farmer, dangerous to try experiments on him, v. 147. + amount of his usual profits, what, v. 148. + difficulties of his business, v. 152. + +Favoritism, a system of, in the executory government of England, + at variance with the plan of the legislature, i. 469. + +Fear, cause of it, i. 210. + early and provident fear the mother of safety, vii. 50. + +Feeling, the beautiful in, i. 201. + +Female sex, the moral sensibility more acute in them then in men, xii. 164. + +Finances, three standards to judge of the condition of a nation + with regard to them, i. 330. + importance of them to a state, iii. 534. + admirable management of the French finances under Necker, ii. 273. + +Financier, duty of a judicious one in respect to his calculations, i. 348. + his objects, what, iii. 538, 558. + +Fire, a chief object of worship to the Druids, why, vii. 182. + +Firmness, a virtue only when it accompanies the most perfect + wisdom, i. 440. + +Fitness, not the cause of beauty, i. 181. + the real effects of it, i. 184. + +Flattery, why so prevalent, i. 124. + +Florence, republic of, its origin, vii. 331. + +Force, not impaired, either in effect or opinion, by an + unwillingness to exert itself, ii. 108. + objections to its employment against the American colonies, ii. 118. + +Forest lands, plan of economical reform concerning them, ii. 300. + +Foster, Justice, extracts from his Crown Cases and Discourses on + the Crown Law, xi. 28, 123. + +Fox, (C.J.) panegyrics on him, ii. 533; iii. 219. + reluctant dissent from his opinion concerning the assumption + of citizenship by the French army, iii. 218. + animadversions on his commendation of the French Revolution, + iv. 77; v. 7. + policy of a treaty with France maintained by him, v. 26. + his conduct contrasted with that of Mr. Pitt, v. 60. + +France, from its vicinity, always an object of English vigilance + with regard to its power or example, iii. 216. + Remarks on the Policy of the Allies with respect to, iv. 403. + the liberties of Europe dependent on its being a great and + preponderating power, iv. 455. + character of its government before the Revolution, as shown + by a review of the condition of the kingdom, iii. 400. + its exterior splendor just before the Revolution, v. 236. + state of things there during the Revolution, iv. 70. + barbarous treatment of the king and queen at the outbreak of + the Revolution, iii. 325. + eloquent description of the queen as Dauphiness, and of the + revolution in her fortunes, iii. 331. + observations on her execution, vi. 40. + degraded office to which the king was appointed by the Revolutionists, + iii. 496; iv. 20. + with his own hand pulled down the pillars of his throne, iv. 362. + character of the king's brothers, iv. 429. + character of the aristocracy before the Revolution, iii. 412; vi. 39. + +Franchise and office, difference between them, iv. 252. + effect of separating property from franchise, iv. 256. + +Franklin, Dr., conjectures on his visit to Paris, vi. 152. + +Freedom, the great contests for it in England chiefly on the + question of taxation, ii. 120. + but in the ancient commonwealths chiefly on the right of + election of magistrates, or on the balance among the + several orders of the state, ii. 120. + character of civil freedom, ii. 229. + our best securities for it obtained from princes who were + either war-like or prodigal, vi. 35. + +French Affairs, Thoughts on, iv. 313. + +French Directory, the character of its members, v. 448. + their conduct towards the foreign ministers, vi. 48. + +French emigrants, capable of being serviceable in restoring + order to France, iv. 427. + +French literary cabal, their plan for the destruction of + Christianity, iii. 378. + +French moneyed interest, at variance with the landed interest, iii. 376. + +French Revolution, characterized as one of doctrine and theoretic + dogma, iv. 319. + its fundamental principle, iv. 322. + +Frenchmen naturally more intense in their application than + Englishmen, iv. 54. + mischievous consequences of this, iv. 55. + +Friends of the Liberty of the Press, a club formed under the + auspices of Mr. Fox, v. 20. + origin and character of it, v. 20. + +Friends of the People, origin, composition, and proceedings of + the club so called, v. 12. + a libellous petition of theirs, v. 47. + +Frugality, founded on the principle that all riches have limits, ii. 308. + + +Gaming, a principle inherent in human nature, ii. 293. + a general spirit of it encouraged by the Revolutionists + in France, iii. 488. + they who are under its influence treat their fortunes lightly, iv. 204. + +Garrick, David, anecdote of him, vi. 47. + +Gauls, their early incursions into Greece and Italy, vii. 161. + reduced at last by the Romans under Caesar, vii. 162. + policy of Caesar with regard to them, vii. 163. + +Geneva, possible benefits to it from state granaries, v. 155. + +Genghis Khan, observations on his code, xi. 212. + +Genoa, republic of, its origin, vii. 831. + +Gentoo law, the primeval law of India, xi. 207. + +Gentoos, the original inhabitants of Hindostan, ix. 377. + distribution of the people into orders or castes, ix. 380. + origin and character of their laws, ix. 482. + extracts from Halhed's translation of them, xi. 209. + +George II., character of his reign, i. 456. + +George III., advantages under which he came to the throne, i. 450. + +Germanic Custumary, the source of the polity of every country + in Europe, v. 319. + +Germans, of Scythian original, vii. 322. + brief account of their manners and institutions, vii. 291. + in certain of their institutions the outlines of the + constitution of England delineated, vii. 293. + +Germany, how likely to be affected by the Revolution in France, iv. 328. + +Gibraltar, the object of England in retaining it, iv. 383. + +Glastonbury Abbey, its extraordinary wealth and splendor, vii. 245. + +Go-betweens, the world governed by, iv. 189. + their mode of influence, iv. 190. + +Good fame of every man, ought to be protected by the laws, vii. 112. + +Gothic Custumary, the source of the polity of every country + in Europe, v. 319. + +Government, the forms of a free one not altogether incompatible + with the ends of an arbitrary one, i. 444. + project of government devised in the court of Frederick, + Prince of Wales, i. 447. + considered, i. 450. + nature and design of it, i. 460. + name of it, i. 466. + important ends of a mixed government, i. 469. + folly of hazarding plans of government except from a seat + of authority, ii. 104. + government a practical thing, ii. 227; iii. 310. + character of a free one, ii. 227. + an eminent criterion of a wise one, what, ii. 278. + reform in it should be early and temperate, ii. 280. + without means of some change, is without the means of its + conservation, iii. 259. + difficulty of forming a free one, iii. 560. + the particular form of it to be determined by the circumstances + and habits of a country, iv. 109. + a theory concerning it may be as much a cause of fanaticism as + a dogma in religion, iv. 192. + the establishment of one a difficult undertaking for foreign + powers to act in as principals, iv. 410. + not subject to laws analogous to those or physical life, v. 124, 234. + restraint the great purpose of, v. 133, 189. + policy of, in times of scarcity, v. 156. + important problem concerning, v. 166. + perishes only through its own weakness, v. 169. + impossible where property does not rule, v. 377. + the great objects of, v. 466; vii. 72. + its duty and right to attend much to opinions, vii. 44. + stands on opinion, vii. 91. + +Grace, acts of, impolicy of them, ii. 386. + +Gracefulness, an idea belonging to posture and motion, i. 200. + +Granaries, public, danger in erecting them, v. 153. + fit only for a state too small for agriculture, v. 155. + +Grand Seignior, the, not an arbitrary monarch, ix. 464. + +Great personages, wisely provided that we should interest + ourselves in their fate, xi. 308. + everywhere made the objects of tragedy, xi. 308. + +Greece, its original inhabitants of the same race as the + people of Northern Europe, vii. 161. + situation of it from a remote period, vii. 161. + +Greek Church, character of its secular clergy, iv. 230. + +Green Cloth, Court of, its origin and composition, ii. 304. + +Grenville, Mr., character of him, ii. 37. + +Grenville, Lord, eulogy of him, v. 174. + +Grief, cause of, i. 108. + +Guienne, William, Duke of, engages in the Crusade, vii. 374. + +Guilt, gigantic, overpowers our ideas of justice, iv. 466. + expedients for concealing it, frequently the cause of its + detection, x. 49. + is never wise, x. 49; xi. 261. + + +Habeas Corpus, remarks upon the suspension of it in respect + to Americans, ii. 190. + +Habit and use, not causes of pleasure, i. 180. + +Hale, Sir Matthew, Cromwell's declaration to him when he + appointed him judge, iv. 13. + defect in his History of the Common Law, vii. 476. + causes of it, vii. 476. + +Halhed's translation of the Gentoo code, remarks on it, xi. 207. + +Hallmote, or Court Baron, what, vii. 301. + +Hannay, Colonel, his character and conduct, xi. 418. + +Happiness, civil, what, x. 135. + +Hardwicke, Lord, his declaration as to the general rule of + evidence, xi. 77. + +Harrington, his opinion as to a commonwealth not governed + by its property, v. 377. + +Hastings, Mr., articles of charge against him presented to + the House of Commons, 1786, viii. 305-ix. 318. + appendix to the eighth and sixteenth charges, ix. 319. + speeches of Mr. Burke in his impeachment, ix. 327-x. 451; + xi. 155-xii. 398. + Report from the Committee appointed to inspect the Lords' + Journals, in relation to their proceedings on his trial, xi. 1. + his conduct in the treaty with the Mahrattas, ii. 454. + brief account of his treatment of the Nabob of Oude, ii. 467. + of the Begums of Oude, ii. 476. + of the Ranny of Benares, ii. 485. + his venal agreement for the extirpation of the Rohillas, viii. 308. + his fraudulent sale of the territories of the Mogul, viii. 322. + his designs against the Rajah of Benares, viii. 339. + orders the arrest of the Rajah, viii. 361. + instigates the plunder of his family by the soldiery, viii. 368. + usurps the government of Benares, viii. 380. + his oppressive impositions and exactions, viii. 381. + enforces the confiscation of the landed estates of the + Begums of Oude, viii. 403. + orders the seizure of their treasures, viii. 409. + severities practised upon their ministers in the execution of + those orders, viii. 414. + endeavors to stifle an inquiry into his proceedings, viii. 448. + corruptly abandons the Nabob of Furruckabad and his country + to the oppressions of the Nabob of Oude, viii. 472. + causes the destruction of the Rajah of Sahlone, viii. 486. + sets at defiance the orders of the Company with respect to + contracts, ix. 4. + and with respect to salaries, ix. 11. + his illegal and extravagant allowances to Sir Eyre Coote, ix. 12. + and to Brigadier-General Stibbert, ix. 13. + and to Sir John Day, ix. 15. + and for the civil establishment of Fort William, ix. 17. + his appointment of the Secretary of the Council as agent for + the supply of rice, with enormous commissions, ix. 19. + his corrupt receipt of presents in numerous instances, ix. 23. + tender and subsequent disavowal of his resignation, and + refusal to vacate office, ix. 42. + his illegal contract with the Surgeon-General, ix. 60. + his contracts for Poolbundy repairs, ix. 60. + his opium contracts, ix. 63. + his appointment of R.J. Sulivan to office, ix. 70. + his conduct with regard to the Ranna of Gohud, ix. 72. + his frequent, violent, and unauthorized changes in the + revenue and judicial systems of Bengal, ix. 79, 87. + permits his own banian to hold farms to a large amount in + different districts, in violation of his own regulations, ix. 83. + refuses relief to the distresses of the Nabob of Oude, ix. 98. + seeks to enforce unjust demands against the Nabob, ix. 98. + illegally assumes the delegation of the whole functions of the + Council, for the purpose of making a treaty with the Nabob, ix. 104. + in contravention of treaty stipulations, burdens the Nabob + with the continued maintenance of British troops, ix. 109, 112. + makes unjustifiable demands on, and receives unlawful presents + from the Nabob, ix. 110, 114. + on his own simple allegation of indefinite offences, urges the + Nabob to put to death Almas Ali Khan, ix. 154. + establishes a system of disreputable and ruinous interference + in the government of the Nabob, ix. 162. + attempts to abandon the British army to the sole discretion of + the Nabob, ix. 168. + arrests and continues in long imprisonment Mahomed Reza Khan, + without any proofs of guilt, ix. 185. + appoints Munny Begum to be guardian to the Nabob of Bengal, + and administratrix of the government, ix. 187. + seeks the aggrandizement of the Mahrattas, ix. 220, 228. + the Mogul delivered up to them through his instrumentality, ix. 221. + he libels and asperses the Court of Directors, ix. 228. + forces the Mahrattas into a war, by repeatedly invading + their country, ix. 253. + concludes a dishonorable treaty of peace and alliance with them, ix. 254. + withholds and conceals his official correspondence and + proceedings from the Directors and Council, ix. 267. + his conduct with regard to Fyzoola Khan, ix. 268. + his arbitrary principles of government, ix. 446; xi. 194. + his corrupt system of government, x. 5. + general farming of the lands at auction, in derogation of + the rights of proprietors, x. 15. + sale of offices, x. 21. + conduct in reference to the accusations of Nundcomar, x. 24, 205. + in the case of Munny Begum and the Nabob of Bengal, + x. 26, 193, 278; xii. 218, 245. + the receipt of bribes justified by an intention to apply + them to the Company's service, x. 43, 324. + account given of some of these transactions to the Directors, x. 44, 338. + delegation of the management of the revenues to a nominal + council, with Gunga Govind Sing as agent, x. 53. + appointment of Debi Sing to the charge of the province + of Dinagepore, x. 65. + the enormities of this man, mock inquiries into them, and + Mr. Hastings's responsibility in the premises, x. 77, 92, 186. + Mr. Hastings's measures justified by himself, as producing + an increase of revenue, x. 136. + remarks on the testimonials of the natives in his favor, + x. 154; xii. 356. + proofs of personal corruption, x. 161-295. + charged with peculation by General Clavering, x. 244. + opinions of counsel concerning his proposed prosecution + by the Directors, x. 257. + his connivance in the general corruption of the Service, + x. 296; xii. 294. + recriminatory charges against the House of Commons, xi. 166. + powers claimed by him, and the manner and results of their + exercise, xi. 195, 236, 238. + in the case of Cheyt Sing and the province of Benares, xi. 236. + of the Nabob of Oude, his kindred and country, xi. 372; xii. 3. + of the province of Bengal, xii. 208. + his extravagant and corrupt contracts, xii. 297. + his conduct in reference to various presents, xii. 324, 338, 350. + observations on the Mahometan college founded by him, xii. 352. + Lord Cornwallis's testimony to the disastrous effects of + his revenue system, xii. 359. + examination of the merits set up by him, xii. 370. + +Hawles, Sir John, extracts from his speech at the trial of + Dr. Sacheverell, iv. 126, 135. + +Height, less grand than depth, i. 147. + +Helvetii, remarkable emigration of them related by Caesar, vii. 172. + +Henry I. of England, brief account of his reign, vii. 375. + +Henry II. of England, brief account of his reign, vii. 394. + +Henry IV. of England, severs the Duchy and County Palatine of + Lancaster from the crown, ii. 296. + +Henry IV. of France, brief character of him, iii. 411. + +Hii, or Columbkill, brief account of it, vii. 249. + +Hindoo institutions, characteristics of, ix. 382. + +Hindoo polity, destroyed by Mr. Hastings, ix. 394. + +Hindostan, eras in its history, ix. 386. + +History, moral lessons to be drawn from it, iii. 418, 421. + caution with regard to the study of it, iv. 468. + +Hobbes, his view of war as the state of Nature, i. 15. + +Holland, Sir John, extracts from his speech at the trial of + Dr. Sacheverell, iv. 146. + +Holy Land, view of its condition at the commencement of the + third Crusade, vii. 426. + +Homer, his similitudes seldom exact, i. 88. + a simile from the Iliad, i. 105. + his representation of Discord, obscure and magnificent, i. 138. + no instance in the Iliad of the fall of any man remarkable + for stature and strength that touches us with pity, i. 243. + has given to the Trojans more of the amiable and social virtues + than to the Greeks, i. 243. + would excite pity for the Trojans, admiration for the Greeks, i. 243. + his masterly representation of the grief of Priam over the + body of Hector, iv. 95. + observation on his representation of the ghosts of heroes at + the sacrifices of Ulysses, vii. 181. + his works introduced into England by Theodorus, Archbishop of + Canterbury, vii. 249. + +Honest men, no safety for them but by believing all possible + evil of evil men, iv. 7. + +Horace, the truth of an observation in his Art of Poetry, + discussed, i. 134. + a passage from him of similar import to one from David, i. 143. + +Household, the royal, has strong traces of feudality, ii. 303. + +Howard, the philanthropist, his labors, ii. 387. + +Hudibras, humorous lines from, applicable to the modern Whigs, iv. 150. + +Hume, Mr., his account of the secret of Rousseau's principles + of composition, iii. 459. + his remark on the doctrines of John Ball, iv. 355. + +Humility, the basis of the Christian system, iv. 26. + humanity cannot be degraded by it, v. 253. + +Husbandry, classification of laborers in, v. 144. + +Hyder Ali Khan, scheme of the creditors of the Nabob of Arcot + to extirpate him, iii. 61. + dreadful devastation of the Carnatic by him, iii. 83. + +Hypaethra of the Greeks, what, vii. 187. + + +Imagination, what, i. 86. + no bounds to men's passions when they are under its influence, iv. 192. + +Imitation, one of the passions belonging to society, i. 122. + its source and use, i. 122. + +Impeachment, the great guardian of the purity of the constitution, i. 495. + +Impey, Sir Elijah, (Chief Justice of Bengal,) accused of the + official murder of Nundcomar, x. 218. + resolution of the House of Commons concerning this accusation, x. 311. + serves as bearer of Mr. Hastings's order to seize the + treasures of the Begums of Oude, xii. 32. + acts as commissioner to seek affidavits against the Begums, xii. 82. + +Indecision, the natural accomplice of violence, iv. 190. + +Indemnification, one of the requisites of a good peace, i. 295. + +Indemnity and oblivion, acts of, their probable effects as + means of reconciling France to a monarchy, iv. 460. + +Independence of mind, always more or less influenced by + independence of fortune, vii. 78. + +India, the people of, classification of them, ix. 376; xi. 207. + +Indians, British alliances with them in the American war denounced, + vi. 171. + +Indifference, pleasure, and pain, viewed in relation to each + other, as states of the mind, i. 103. + +Indolence, the prevailing characteristic of the class of + elegant, weak-minded people, vii. 147. + +Industry, effect of the Irish Popery laws in discouraging it, + vi. 351. + +Infinite, the artificial, consists in succession and uniformity + of parts, i. 149, 220. + +Infinity, a source of the sublime, i. 148. + in agreeable images, a cause of pleasure, i. 153. + +Influence of the crown, operation of it, i. 444. + +Inheritance, value of this principle in the British constitution, iii. 274. + +Injury is quick and rapid, justice slow, x. 151; xi. 181. + +Innocence, contrasted with guilt, ix. 371. + +Insolvency, who ought to suffer in a case of, iii. 381. + +Institutions, ancient juridical ones in England, intended to + retard the headlong course of violence and oppression, ii. 193. + in political institutions, soundness of the materials of + more importance than the fashion of the work, v. 120. + how, when revolutionized, to be reestablished, v. 126. + benefits of institution, properly conditional, vii. 15. + +Interest of a debt, not the principal, distresses a nation, i. 329. + +Intolerance, mischief of it, vii. 34. + +Ireland, danger of a proposed tax upon, i. 352. + early transmission thither of English liberties and institutions, + ii. 146. + Two Letters to Gentlemen of Bristol relative to the Trade of Ireland, + ii. 247. + Mr. Burke's defence of his Parliamentary conduct with regard to it, + ii. 377. + the plan for the government of Ireland until 1782, what, iv. 233. + the true revolution there, that of 1782, iv. 276. + state of religion there before the grant of Pope Adrian IV., vi. 342. + object of the grant, vi. 342. + mutual importance of Ireland and Great Britain to one another, vi. 420. + reduction of Ireland by Henry II., vii. 410. + nature and previous condition of the country, vii. 410. + motives which led Adrian to commission Henry to reduce it, vii. 410, 413. + the English laws said to have been established there at its + subjugation by John, vii. 449. + +Irish language, names of the letters of it taken from the names + of several species of trees, vii. 412. + +Isocrates, observation of his in one of his orations against + the Sophists, i. 5. + +Italy, its original inhabitants of the same race as the people + of Northern Europe, vii. 161. + its situation from a remote period, vii. 161. + + +Jacobinism by establishment, what, v. 309. + +Jacobins, their character, iv. 437, v. 285, vi. 367. + their great object, v. 39. + +Jacquerie, brief notice of the, iv. 177. + +Jaffier Ali Khan, made Nabob of Bengal by the English, ix. 401. + +Jaghires, Indian, nature of them, xii. 9. + +Jekyl, Sir Joseph, his character, iv. 130. + extracts from his speech at the trial of Dr. Sacheverell, + iv. 130, 131, 132, 136, 137, 142, 143. + +Jews, a source of great revenue to William the Conqueror, vii. 351. + +Job, observations on its sublime representation of a vision + in the night, i. 137. + its sublime descriptions of the war-horse, the wild ass, + and the unicorn and leviathan, i. 140. + +John, King of England, brief account of his reign, vii. 437. + +Judge, duty of one, xi. 104. + +Judges, ought to be the very last to feel the necessities + of the state, ii. 351. + +Judgment and wit, difference between them, i. 87. + the senses should be put under the tuition of the judgment, iii. 15. + a coarse discrimination the greatest enemy to accuracy of + judgment, v. 143. + +Juridical and legislative acts, difference between them, vii. 63. + +Juries, an institution of gradual formation, vii. 115. + not attributable to Alfred, vii. 264. + never prevalent amongst the Saxons, vii. 264. + +Jurisprudence, nature and importance of the science, iii. 357. + abrogation of it in France at the Revolution, v. 307. + state of the study of it in England, vii. 476. + whole frame of it altered since the Conquest, vii. 478. + +Justice is slow, injury quick and rapid, x. 151; xi. 181. + general observations on it, xii. 393, 395. + + +Keppel, Lord, character of him, v. 222. + +Kilkenny, Statutes of, prove the ancient existence in Ireland + of the spirit of the Popery laws, iv. 273. + +King, the things in which he has an individual interest, i. 485. + nature of his office, iii. 497. + just powers of the king of France, iv. 49. + power of the king of England, iv. 50. + Address to the, in relation to the Measures of Government in + the American Contest, vi. 161. + +Kings, naturally lovers of low company, ii. 337. + in what sense the servants of the people, iii. 269. + +King's Men, or King's Friends, character of the court corporation + so called, i. 466. + +Knight-errantry, origin of it, vii. 390. + + +Labor, necessary, why, i. 215. + human labor called by the ancients _instrumentum vocale_, v. 140. + that on which the farmer is most to rely for the repayment + of his capital, v. 140. + +Laborer and employer, always an implied contract between them, v. 137. + the first and fundamental interest of the laborer, what, v. 140. + +Laboring poor, impropriety of the expression, v. 135, 466. + +Lacedemonians, at the head of the aristocratic interests of Greece, + iv. 321. + +La Fontaine, has not one original story, vii. 145. + +Lancaster, Duchy and County Palatine of, severed from the crown + by Henry IV., ii. 296. + +Landed estate of the crown, remarks on it, ii. 299. + +Landed Interest, policy of the French Republic with regard to it, iv. 323. + +Landed property, the firm basis of every stable government, v. 491. + +Lanfranc, character of him, vii. 363. + +Langton, Stephen, his appointment to the see of Canterbury + through the influence of the Pope, vii. 447, 451. + oath administered by him to King John on his absolution, vii. 455. + +Law's Mississippi scheme, character of it, iii. 554. + +Law of neighborhood, what, v. 321. + +Law, remarks on the study of it, ii. 125. + +Laws, reach but a very little way, i. 470. + their severity tempered by trial by jury, i. 499. + superseded by occasions of public necessity, ii. 329. + bad ones the worst sort of tyranny, ii. 395. + laws and manners, a knowledge of what belongs to each the duty + of a statesman, v. 167. + civil laws not all merely positive, v. 321. + two things requisite to the solid establishment of them, vi. 321. + equity and utility, the two foundations of them, vi. 323. + ought to be in unison with manners, vii. 27. + of England, Essay towards an History of the, vii. 475. + of England, written in the native language until the Norman + Conquest, vii. 481. + of other Northern nations, written in Latin, vii. 481. + cause of this difference, vii. 481. + of Canute the Great, remarks on them, vii. 483. + of Edward the Confessor, so called, vii. 484. + ancient Saxon, review of their sanctions, vii. 484. + sources of them, vii. 487. + Gentoo, sources of them, ix. 482. + Mahometan, sources of them, ix. 480; xi. 216. + +Lawful enjoyment, the surest method to prevent unlawful + gratification, iv. 256. + +Lawsuit, observations on that comedy, vii. 152. + +Learning, an attention to it necessary to Christianity, vii. 246. + contributed, in the early ages, to the temporal power of the + clergy, vii. 399. + +Lechmere, Mr., extracts from his speeches at the trial of + Dr. Sacheverell, iv. 122, 124, 142. + +Legislation, important problem in, v. 166. + +Legislative and juridical acts, the difference between them, vii. 63. + +Legislative right, not to be exercised without regard to the + general opinion of those who are to be governed, ii. 224. + +Legislators, bound only by the great principles of reason and + equity, and the general sense of mankind, ii. 196. + character of a true legislator, ii. 456. + duties of legislators, v. 166; vi. 319. + the mode of proceeding of the ancient legislators, iii. 476. + +Legislature, the true end of it, what, ii. 225; iii. 457. + its power of regulating the succession to the crown, iv. 134. + +Leland, Dr., his book (View of Deistical Writers) the best on + the subject, vii. 34. + +Length, too great, in buildings, prejudicial to grandeur of effect, i. 152. + +Letter of Mr. Burke to the Sheriffs of Bristol, on American + Affairs, ii. 187. + to Gentlemen of Bristol, on the Trade of Ireland, ii. 249, 258. + to a Member of the National Assembly, on French Affairs, iv. 1. + to a Peer of Ireland, on the Penal Laws against Irish Catholics, iv. 217. + to Sir Hercules Langrishe, on the Roman Catholics of Ireland, + iv. 241; vi. 375. + to William Elliot, Esq., on a Speech in the House of Lords, + in the Debate concerning Lord Fitzwilliam, v. 107. + to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks upon himself and his Pension, v. 171. + on a Regicide Peace, v. 233, 342, 384; vi. 1. + to the Empress of Russia, vi. 113. + to Sir Charles Bingham, on the Irish Absentee Tax, vi. 121. + to Hon. Charles James Fox, on the American War, vi. 135. + to the Marquis of Rockingham, on the Plans of the Opposition + in reference to the American War, vi. 151. + to Rt. Hon. Edmund S. Pery, on the Relief of the Roman + Catholics of Ireland, vi. 197. + to Thomas Burgh, Esq., in Vindication of his Parliamentary + Conduct relative to Ireland, vi. 209. + to John Merlott, Esq., on the same subject, vi. 235. + to the Lord Chancellor and others, with Thoughts on the + Executions of the Rioters in 1780, vi. 239. + to Rt. Hon. Henry Dundas, with the Sketch of a Negro Code, vi. 255. + to the Chairman of the Buckinghamshire Meeting, on + Parliamentary Reform, vi. 291. + to William Smith, Esq., on Catholic Emancipation, vi. 361. + to Richard Burke, Esq., on Protestant Ascendency in Ireland, vi. 385. + on the Affairs of Ireland in 1797, vi. 413. + on Mr. Dowdeswell's Bill for explaining the Powers of Juries + in Prosecutions for Libels, vii. 123. + +Libel, the elements of a, vii. 113. + +Libelling, not the crime of an illiterate people, vii. 111. + +Liberty and commerce, the two main sources of power to Great Britain, + ii. 87. + mistakes about liberty, ii. 228. + cannot long exist among a people generally corrupt, ii. 242. + necessity of regulating it, iii. 240, 559, + how far men are qualified for it, iv. 51. + the distinguishing part of the British constitution, iv. 97. + its preservation the peculiar duty of the House of Commons, iv. 97. + order and virtue necessary to its existence, iv. 97. + a constitution uniting public and private liberty with the elements of + a beneficent and stable government, an elaborate contrivance, iv. 211. + partial freedom and true liberty contrasted, vi. 389. + review of the causes of the revolution in favor of liberty in + the reign of King John, vii. 472. + +Light, how a cause of the sublime, i. 156. + when excessive, resembles darkness in its effects, i. 157. + light and riant colors opposed to the sublime, i. 159. + +Limerick, treaty of, observations on two of its articles, vi. 345. + +Lindisfarne, brief account of, vii. 250. + +Liturgy of the Established Church, alteration of it ineffectual + for the quieting of discontent, vii. 13. + +Locke, Mr., his opinion concerning pleasure and pain, i. 105. + his opinion concerning darkness, i. 225. + +Longinus, an observation of his on the effect of sublime + passages in poets and orators, i. 124. + +Lords, House of, affected alarm at a supposed intrenchment by it on + the balance of the constitution, in the reign of George II., i. 457. + the feeblest part of the constitution, v. 49. + +Loudness, a source of the sublime, i. 159. + +Louis XIII., his hatred of Richelieu, iii. 499. + +Louis XIV., his dislike to Mazarin and Louvois, iii. 499. + his conduct at the peace of Ryswick, vi. 58. + reason given by him for the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, vi. 328. + +Louis XVI., barbarous treatment experienced by him at the Revolution, + iii. 325; iv. 19. + unjustly called an arbitrary monarch, iii. 339. + degraded office to which he was appointed by the Revolutionists, + iii. 496; iv. 20. + not the first cause of the evil by which he suffered, v. 366. + his character, v. 378. + character of his brothers, iv. 429. + +Love, its origin, nature, and objects, i. 125. + the physical cause of it, i. 232. + nature of that taught by Rousseau, iv. 30. + observations on the love of parents to their children, xi. 422. + and on the love of country, xi. 422; iii. 292, 494. + +Lucretius, passages from him, illustrative of the sublime, i. 144, 257. + +Luxury, some good consequences of it, i. 424. + a tax on it, the only contribution that can be termed voluntary, v. 461. + + +Machiavel, an observation of his on war and peace, i. 15. + his maxim concerning wickedness by halves, vi. 43. + +Madmen, a frequent appearance in them accounted for, i. 149. + +Magna Charta, observations on it, iii. 272; iv. 266. + origin and nature of it, vii. 460. + +Magnanimity, in politics, often the truest wisdom, ii. 181. + +Magnificence, a source of the sublime, i. 154. + +Magnitude, in building, necessary to the sublime, i. 152. + +Mahomed Reza Khan, arrested by Mr. Hastings, x. 184. + +Mahometanism, its conquests in Hindostan, ix. 387. + +Mahometan government, character of it, ix. 463. + laws, sources of them, ix. 480; xi. 216. + +Mahrattas, their territories invaded by the East India Company, ii. 453. + treaties with them, ii. 453, 454. + +Majority, in a commonwealth, question as to the proper power of, + iii. 299; iv. 170. + not true that in all contests the decision will be in their favor, + vii. 53. + +Malesherbes, murdered by the French Revolutionists, vi. 40. + +Malvoisins, what, vii. 389. + +Man, a creature of habit and opinions, ii. 234; xii. 164. + +Manifestoes, implying superiority over an enemy, when commonly made, + iv. 405. + matters usually contained in them, iv. 405. + +Manilla ransom, remarks on it, i. 407. + +Manners, while they remain entire, correct the vices of law, ii. 202. + corrupted by civil wars, ii. 203. + maintained in Europe for ages by the spirit of nobility and of + religion, iii. 335. + in England, derived from France, iii. 336. + have done alone in England what institutions and manners + together have done in France, iv. 327. + statesmen ought to know what appertains respectively to manners + and laws, v. 167. + of more importance than laws, v. 310. + laws ought to be in unison with them, vii. 27. + +Mansfield, Lord, his declarations concerning rules of evidence, xi. 84. + +Mara, the name of a Saxon goddess,--whence the term Night-Mare, vii. 237. + +Marriage, beneficial results of the Christian doctrine concerning it, + v. 312. + endeavors of the French Constituent Assembly to desecrate it, v. 312. + ends for which it was instituted, vii. 131. + restraints upon it in the reign of King John, vii. 464. + +Marriage Act, principles upon which it is grounded, vii. 131. + +Mathematical and metaphysical reasoning, compared with moral, vii. 73. + +Mazarin, Cardinal, not loved by Louis XIV., iii. 499. + bon-mot of a flatterer of his, on the match between Louis XIV. + and a daughter of Spain, vi. 20. + +Mediterranean Sea, importance to England of keeping a strong + naval force there, v. 421. + +Memorial to be delivered to Monsieur de M.M., Hints for a, iv. 307. + +Merchants, English, their evidence, petitions, and consultations + respecting America, i. 399, 405, 406. + principles and qualities of, ii. 506. + +Mercy, not opposed to justice, iv. 465; vi. 252. + consists not in the weakness of the means, but in the benignity + of the ends, vi. 168. + +Metaphysician, nothing harder than the heart of a thorough-bred one, + v. 216. + +Migration, in early times, caused by pasturage and hunting, vii. 171. + and by wars, vii. 171. + +Military life, its attractions to those who have had experience of it, + v. 464. + +Military and naval officers, the fortitude required of them, v. 468. + +Militia, probable origin of it, vii. 422. + +Milton, his admirable description of Death, i. 132. + his celebrated portrait of Satan, i. 135. + his description of the appearance of the Deity, i. 156. + example from him of the beautiful in sounds, i. 203. + of the power of words, i. 259. + +Ministers, Prussian, infected with the principles of the + French Revolution, iv. 359. + British, to be controlled by the House of Commons, v. 57. + observations on their duty in giving information to the public, vi. 14. + +Minority, Observations on the Conduct of the, in Parliament, + in the Session of 1792, v. 1. + power of a restless one, v. 285. + +Mistletoe, veneration of the Druids for it, vii. 183. + +Modes of life, injustice of sudden legislative violence to suc + as the laws had previously encouraged, iii. 439. + +Modesty, heightens all other virtues, i. 188; v. 128. + but sometimes their worst enemy, v. 129. + +Mogul, the Great, his grants to the East India Company, ii. 560; ix. 345. + sold by the Company, ii. 448. + the Company's treaties with him broken by them, ii. 452. + conspiracy to murder his son, ix. 412. + +Mohun, Lord, proceedings in his trial, xi. 32. + +Mona, the principal residence of the Druids in the beginning of + Nero's reign, vii. 195. + reduced by Suetonius Paulinus, vii. 196. + +Monarchy, preferred by Bolingbroke to other governments, iii. 398. + one of its advantages, to have no local seat, iv. 431. + +Monastic institutions, their important uses, iii. 440; vii. 244, 245. + +Money, the value of it how to be judged, v. 454. + +Moneyed companies, dangerous to tax great ones, i. 368. + +Moneyed interest, when dangerous to a government, iii. 437. + +Moneyed men, ought to be allowed to set a value on their money, v. 455. + +Monk, General, character of the army commanded by him, iv. 36. + +Monopoly of authority, an evil; of capital, a benefit, v. 151. + +Montesquieu, his remark on the legislators of antiquity, iii. 477. + character of him, iv. 211. + his false view of the people of India, xi. 207. + +Moral duties, not necessary that the reasons of them should be made + clear to all, i. 7. + +Moral order of things, great disasters in it affect the mind like + miracles in the physical, iii. 337. + +Moral questions never abstract ones, vii. 55. + +Moral reasoning, compared with mathematical and metaphysical, vii. 73. + +Mortality, a general one always a time of remarkable wickedness, vii. 84. + +Multitudes, the shouting of, a source of the sublime, i. 159. + a multitude told by the head, not the people, iv. 183. + +Munny Begum, (of Bengal,) her history, x. 195; xii. 226. + appointed by Mr. Hastings regent of Bengal, and guardian of the + Nabob, x. 196; xii. 218. + (of Oude,) her noble birth, rank, and connections, xii. 46. + +Music, remark concerning the beautiful in it, i. 204. + +Mystery, in any matter of policy, affords presumption of fraud, xii. 79. + + +Nabob of Arcot, the Subah of the Deccan sold to him by the + East India Company, ii. 450. + nature of his debts, iii. 25, 28, 29, 35, 39, 47. + +Nabob of Oude, conduct of the East India Company towards him, ii. 466. + +Nantes, Edict of, reason assigned by Louis XIV. for the revocation + of it, vi. 328. + observations thereon, vi. 328. + +Naples, how likely to be affected by the revolution in France, iv. 337. + +Nation, Present State of the, Observations on a late Publication + so intituled, i. 269. + character of this publication, i. 274. + state of the nation in 1770, i. 437. + speculation of the ministry on the cause of it, i. 438. + animadversions on their views, i. 439. + +National Assembly of France, corresponds with the Revolution + Society of London, iii. 237. + its composition and character, iii. 283, 450. + studies recommended by it to the youth of France, iv. 25. + its worship of Rousseau, iv. 25. + +Natural powers in man, the senses, the imagination, and the judgment, + i. 82. + +Nature, state of, inconveniences of it, i. 10. + the social, impels a man to propagate his principles, v. 361. + +Navigation, Act of, its policy, i. 378; ii. 30, 38. + +Navy, the great danger of economical experiments upon it, i. 345. + +Necessity, the plea of, remarks on it, v. 450. + +Negro Code, Sketch of a, vi. 262. + +Negro slaves, denunciation of attempts to excite insurrections among them + in the colonies by proclamations of the English governors, vi. 171. + +Neighborhood, the law of, what, v. 321. + +Newfoundland, view of the trade with it, i. 320. + +Newspapers, powerful influence of them in the diffusion of French + principles, iv. 327. + +Night, a cause of the sublime, i. 132, 158. + +Norman conquest, extraordinary facility of it, vii. 287. + attempt to account for it, vii. 288. + the great era of the English laws, vii. 487. + +Normandy, reunion of it to the crown of France, vii. 445. + +North, Lord, observations on his character, v. 182; vi. 216, 223. + +Novelty, the first and simplest source of pleasure to the mind, i. 101. + the danger of indulging a desire for it in practical cases, iv. 76. + +Nundcomar, accuses Mr. Hastings of corruption, x. 24. + +Nuzzer, or Nuzzerana, what, x. 171. + + +Oak, the, why venerated by the Druids, vii. 183. + +Oath, the Coronation, observations upon it in reference to the + Roman Catholics, iv. 260. + +Obscurity, generally necessary to the terrible, i. 132. + why more affecting than clearness, i. 135. + +Obstinacy, though a great and very mischievous vice, closely + allied to the masculine virtues, ii. 66. + +Office, men too much conversant in it rarely have enlarged minds, ii. 38. + in feudal times, the lowest offices often held by considerable persons, + ii. 303. + the reason of this, ii. 304. + +Officers, military and naval, nature of the fortitude required + of them, v. 468. + +Opinion, popular, the support of government, ii. 224; vi. 165; vii. 91. + an equivocal test of merit, v. 183. + the generality of it not always to be judged of by the noise of the + acclamation, v. 286. + +Opinions, men impelled to propagate their own by their social nature, + v. 361. + their influence on the affections and passions, v. 403; vii. 44. + the most decided often stated in the form of questions, vi. 28. + the interest and duty of government to attend much to them, vii. 44. + +Oppression, the poorest and most illiterate are judges of it, iv. 281. + +Orange, Prince of, (afterwards William III.,) extracts from his + Declaration, iv. 147. + +Ordeal, purgation by, vii. 314. + +Oude, extent and government of, under Sujah ul Dowlah, xi. 373. + + +Pain, pleasure, and indifference, their mutual relation as states + of the mind, i. 103. + nature and cause of pain, i. 210. + how a cause of delight, i. 215. + +Paine, Thomas, remarks on his character, v. iii; vi. 60. + +Painting and poetry, their power, when due to imitation, and when + to sympathy, i. 123. + +Pandulph, the Pope's legate, his politic dealing with King John, vii. 451. + parallel between his conduct to King John and that of the + Roman consuls to the Carthaginians in the last Punic war, vii. 453. + +Papal power, uniform steadiness of it in the pursuit of its + ambitious projects, vii. 449. + +Papal pretensions, sources of their growth and support, vii. 384. + +Papal States, how likely to be affected by the revolution in France, + iv. 337. + +Parliament, remarks on it, i. 491. + the power of dissolving it, the most critical and delicate + of all the trusts vested in the crown, ii. 553. + disadvantages of triennial parliaments, vii. 79. + +Parliaments of France, character of them, iii. 505. + +Parliament of Paris, observations on its subversion, xii. 396. + +Parliamentary disorders, ideas for the cure of them, i. 516. + +Parsimony, a leaning towards it in war may be the worst management, i. 310. + +Party divisions, inseparable from free government, i. 271. + definition of the term, party, i. 530. + evils of party domination, vi. 390. + +Passions, all concern either self-preservation or society, i. 110. + final cause of the difference between those belonging to + self-preservation and those which regard the society of the sexes, + i. 113. + those which belong to self-preservation turn upon pain and danger, + i. 125. + nature and objects of those belonging to society, i. 125. + a control over them necessary to the existence of society, iv. 52. + strong ones awaken the faculties, v. 287. + vehement passion not always indicative of an infirm judgment, v. 407. + mere general truths interfere very little with them, vi. 326. + passions which interest men in the characters of others, vii. 148. + +Pasturage and hunting, weaken men's ties to any particular + habitation, vii. 171. + +Paulus, observation of his on law, vi. 324. + +Peace, requisites of a good one, i. 295. + the steps taken to bring one about always an augury of what + it is likely to be, v. 251. + a ground of peace never laid until it is as good as concluded, v. 260. + an arrangement of peace in its nature a permanent settlement, v. 349. + +Penal statute of William III. against the Papists, repeal of it, ii. 391. + +People, accurate idea of the term, iv. 169. + evils of an abuse of it, iv. 411. + the temper of the people the first study of a statesman, i. 436. + in seasons of popular discontent, something generally amiss + in the government, i. 440. + the people have no interest in disorder, i. 441. + generally fifty years behindhand in their politics, i. 442. + a connection with their interests a necessary qualification + of a minister, i. 474. + sense of the people, how to be ascertained by the king, i. 475. + should show themselves able to protect every representative + in the performance of his duty, i. 503. + liberty cannot long exist where they are generally corrupt, ii. 242. + the people of England love a mitigated monarchy more than + even the best republic, iv. 149. + danger of teaching them to think lightly of their engagements + to their governors, iv. 162. + the natural control on authority, iv. 164. + dangerous nature of a power capable of resisting even their + erroneous choice of an object, vi. 296. + points on which they are incompetent to give advice to their + representatives, vii. 74, 75. + +Perfection not the cause of beauty, i. 187. + +Persecution, religious, an observation of Mr. Bayle concerning it, vi. 333. + general observations on it, vi. 394. + +Persecutor, a violent one, frequently an unbeliever in his own creed, + vi. 86. + +Peshcush, what, x. 171. + +Peters, Hugh, remarks on a passage in a sermon of his, iii. 318. + +Petition of Right, rests the franchises of the subject not on + abstract right, but on inheritance, iii. 273. + +Philosophical inquiries, how to be conducted, i. 70. + use of them, i. 72. + +Philosophy, Lord Bolingbroke's, animadversions on it, i. 4. + +Physic, the profession of it, in ancient times, annexed to + the priesthood, vii. 183. + +Physiognomy, has a considerable share in the beauty of the + human species, i. 198. + +Pilgrimages of the Middle Ages, benefits of them, vii. 247. + +Pitt, Mr., remarks on his conduct in 1784, v. 57. + his Declaration on the war with the French Republic, v. 278; vi. 21. + eulogy of it, v. 279, 390; vi. 22. + and of his speech on that war, v. 390. + +Place Bill, proposed remedy for parliamentary disorders, i. 518. + +Plagues, in Athens and in London, wickedness remarkably prevalent + during their continuance, vii. 84. + +Pleasure and pain, observations on them, i. 102. + pleasure, pain, and indifference, their mutual relation, + as states of the mind, i. 103. + +Poetry, more powerful than painting in moving the passions, i. 134. + does not depend for its effect on raising ideas or sensible + images of things, i. 246, 255. + this exemplified, i. 252. + affects rather by sympathy than imitation, i. 257. + dramatic poetry strictly imitation, i. 257. + descriptive poetry operates chiefly by substitution, i. 257. + +Poland, character of the revolution there, iv. 195. + contrasted with the revolution in France, iv. 198. + +Policy, a refined one, the parent of confusion, ii. 106. + inseparable from justice, iii. 438. + +Political connection, how regarded by the ancient Romans, i. 528. + England governed by one in the reign of Queen Anne, i. 529. + general observations on, i. 530. + +Political economy, had its origin in England, v. 192. + +Political system, an unwise or mischievous one not necessarily + of short duration, iv. 353. + +Politician, duties of one, iii. 557, 559. + +Politics, ought to be adjusted to, human nature, i. 398. + different in different ages, i. 442. + unsuitable to the pulpit, iii. 246. + +Polybius, anecdote concerning him, iv. 285. + +Poor, the laboring, their poverty owing to their numbers, v. 134. + proper compassion for them, v. 135, 466. + +Poorunder, treaty of, broken by Mr. Hastings, xii. 382. + +Pope, the, his dispute with Henry I., vii. 384. + his pretext for giving Henry II. a commission to conquer + Ireland, vii. 413. + his excommunication of King John, vii. 449. + treatment of him by the French Revolutionists, v. 418. + +Popery Laws, Tract on the, vi. 299. + +Popular election, a mighty evil, vii. 72. + +Popular opinion, an equivocal test of merit, v. 183. + +Population, rapid increase of it in America, ii. 110. + state of it, a standard by which, to estimate the effects + of a government on any country, iii. 400. + view of that of France, at different periods, iii. 400. + comparative effects of peace and war on it, as regards the + higher classes, v. 472. + +Power, all sublimity some modification of it, i. 138. + incompatible with credit, i. 368. + the civil power, when it calls in the aid of the military, + perishes by the assistance it receives, i. 484. + arbitrary power steals upon a people by being rarely exercised, ii. 201. + persons possessed of power ought to have a strong sense of + religion, iii. 354. + the ability to use it for the great and lasting benefit of + a country a test of statesmanship, iii. 441. + not willingly abandoned by its possessors, iv. 11. + dissensions in the commonwealth mostly concerning the hands + in which it is to be placed, iv. 163. + necessity of teaching men to restrain the immoderate exercise + and inordinate desire of it, iv. 163. + active power never willingly placed by legislators in the hands + of the multitude, iv. 164. + danger of a resumption of delegated power by the people, iv. 168. + does not always accompany property, iv. 349. + the possession of it discovers a man's true character, v. 362. + men will incur the greatest risks for the sake of it, vii. 82. + originates from God alone, ix. 456. + the supreme power in every constitution must be absolute, ix. 460. + ends to which a superintending, controlling power ought to + be directed, xi. 417. + +Prejudice, cannot be created, vi. 368. + +Prerogative, remarks on the exercise of it, ii. 225. + +Presbyterianism, remarks on it, iv. 452. + +Prescription, part of the law of Nature, iii. 433. + the most solid of all titles, and the most recognized in + jurisprudence, vi. 412; vii. 94. + +Present State of Affairs, Heads for Consideration on the, iv. 379. + +Price, Dr. Richard, observations on his sermon on the Love of + our Country, iii. 244, 301, 304, 316. + +Price of commodities, how raised, v. 142. + danger of attempting to raise it by authority, v. 143. + +Primogeniture, right of, operation of the Popery Laws in taking + it away, vi. 302. + +Principal of a debt, cannot distress a nation, i. 329. + +Principalities, the, proposal to unite them to the crown, ii. 298. + +Privations, all general ones great, i. 146. + +Profit, an honorable and fair one, the best security against + avarice and rapacity, ii. 335. + +Projects, new, requirements of men of sense with respect to them, i. 367. + +Property, ought greatly to predominate over ability in the + representation, iii. 298. + importance of the power of perpetuating it in families, iii. 298. + not always accompanied with power, iv. 349. + +Proportion, what, i. 166. + not the cause of beauty in vegetables, i. 166. + nor in animals, i. 170. + nor in the human species, i. 172. + whence the idea of proportion, as the principal component + of beauty, arose, i. 178. + +Prosperity, discovers the real character of a man, iv. 22. + a prejudice in favor of it, however obtained, iv. 425. + +Protestant, the state so declared at the Revolution, with a + qualification, iv. 257. + +Protestant ascendency, observations on, vi. 391. + +Protestant Association, the, animadversions on it, ii. 389, 415. + +Protestantism, at no period established, undefined, in England, iv. 258. + +Protestants, errors of the early, ii. 390. + misconduct of those in the South of France at the Revolution, iv. 452. + +Provisions, trade of, danger of tampering with it, v. 133. + +Prudence, the first in rank of the political and moral virtues, iv. 81. + its decisions differ from those of judicature, iv. 251. + its rules and definitions rarely exact, never universal, v. 241. + +Psalms, and Prophets, crowded with instances of the introduction of the + terrible in Nature to heighten the awe of the Divine presence, i. 144. + +Public affairs, state of them previous to the formation of the + Rockingham administration, i. 381. + +Public men, not all equally corrupt, ii. 240. + +Public service, means of rewarding it necessary in every state, ii. 330. + +Punishment, considerations necessary to be observed in inflicting + it, iv. 466; vi. 245. + under the Saxon laws, extremely moderate, vii. 321. + +Purveyance and receipt in kind, what, ii. 306. + taken away by the 12th Charles II., ii. 306. + revived the next year, ii. 306. + +Pythagoras, his discipline contrasted with that of Socrates, vii. 179. + why silence enjoined by him, vii. 179. + + +Raimond, Count of Toulouse, engages in the Crusade, vii. 372. + +Raleigh, Sir Walter, abusive epithet applied to him by Lord Coke, xi. 175. + +Reason, sound, no real virtue without it, iv. 24. + never inconvenient but when it comes to be applied, vi. 326. + +Reasoners, men generally the worse reasoners for having been + ministers, i. 338. + +Reformation, in government, should be early and temperate, ii. 280. + and slow, iii. 456. + different from change, v. 186. + general observations on it, iii. 455; iv. 111; vi. 294; vii. 71. + in England, has always proceeded upon the principle of + reference to antiquity, iii. 272. + +Reformation, the, observations on it, ii. 389. + effects of it, iv. 319. + +Reformers, English, character of them, iii. 430. + +Regicide by establishment, what, v. 309. + +Regicide Peace, Letters on, v. 233, 342, 384; vi. 9. + +Religion, writers against it never set up any of their own, i. 7. + effects of it on the colonists of America, ii. 122. + the basis of civil society, and the source of all good and + of all comfort, iii. 350. + the respect entertained for it in England, iii. 352. + a strong sense of it necessary to those in power, iii. 354. + mischievous consequences of changing it, except under + strong conviction, iv. 453. + the magistrate has a right to direct the exterior ceremonies + of it, vii. 30. + the Christian, in its rise overcame all opposition, vii. 25. + +Religious opinions, not the only cause of enthusiasm, v. 361. + +Repetition, of the same story, effect of it, iv. 328. + +Report on the Affairs of India, Ninth, viii. 1. + Eleventh, viii. 217. + on the Lords' Journals, xi. 1. + Vindication of, this Report from the Animadversions of + Lord Thurlow, xi. 149. + +Representation, ought to include both the ability and the + property of a state, iii. 297. + virtual, what, iv. 293. + natural, what, v. 284. + of America in the British Parliament, project of, i. 372. + consideration of its difficulties, i. 373. + of England, and that of France in the National Assembly, + compared, iii. 481. + +Representation to his Majesty on the Speech from the Throne, ii. 537. + +Representative, his duty to his constituents, ii. 95, 281, 357. + +Republican government, remarks on, iv. 109. + +Reputation, public, how to be secured, ix. 341. + +Resemblance, pleasing to the imagination, i. 87. + +Responsibility of ministers of state, nature of it, iii. 501; v. 507. + +Revenge, observations on, xi. 179. + +Revenue, great importance of it to a state, iii. 534. + its administration the sphere of every active virtue, iii. 535. + +Revolution of 1688, diminished influence of the crown at that + time how compensated, i. 445. + principles of it contained in the Declaration of Right, iii. 252. + the subversion of the old, and the settlement of the new + government, inseparably combined in it, iv. 80. + grounds of it, iv. 121. + contrasted with the French Revolution, iii. 225. + +Revolution in France, Reflections on the, iii. 231. + general observations on it, iii. 220. + characterized as a revolution of doctrine and theoretic dogma, iv. 319. + contrasted with the English Revolution of 1688, iii. 225. + +Revolution Society, correspond with the National Assembly of France, + iii. 238. + remarks on its principles and proceedings, iii. 238. + +Reynolds, Sir Joshua, on idiosyncrasy in taste and judgment, iv. 212. + +Rich, need the consolations of religion, iii. 366. + trustees for those who labor, v. 134. + +Richard I., brief account of his reign, vii. 425. + parallel between him and Charles XII. of Sweden, vii. 436. + +Richelieu, Cardinal, hated by Louis XIII., iii. 499. + +Rights, assumed, their consequences of great moment in deciding + on their validity, iv. 183. + +Rights of Men, Jacobinical theory of, animadversions on it, iii. 307. + sophistically confounded with their power, iii. 313. + +Robespierre, his character, vi. 62. + +Rochford, Lord, his remonstrance with regard to Corsica, i. 480. + +Rockingham, Marquis of, Short Account of his Administration, i. 263. + formation of his administration, i. 379. + state of public affairs at the time, i. 381. + character and conduct of it, i. 388. + ideas of it with regard to America, i. 403. + his Lordship's conduct in American affairs, ii. 40. + +Rohilla nation, sale of it by the East India Company, ii. 449. + +Roland, character of him, v. 70. + +Roman Catholics, Mr. Burke's defence of his Parliamentary + conduct with regard to them, ii. 388. + Letter on the Penal Laws against, iv. 217. + mode of education necessary for their clergy, iv. 229, 231. + condition of their clergy before the restraint on marriage, iv. 230. + mischievous consequences of placing the appointment of the Irish + Roman Catholic clergy in the hands of the Lord Lieutenant, iv. 234. + +Roman politics, under the Empire, different from those which + actuated the Republic, vii. 203. + dominion over the Britons and other conquered nations, methods + by which it was preserved, vii. 205. + procurators under the Emperors, why invested with greater + powers than the legates, vii. 208. + military ways, character and purpose of them, vii. 211. + number and extent of the principal ones in Britain, vii. 211. + revenues, nature of them, vii. 211. + three great changes in the government after the dissolution of + the Commonwealth, vii. 220. + +Rome, ancient, destroyed by the disorders of continual elections, vii. 80. + and by its heavy taxes, vii. 213. + bounds of the empire first contracted by Adrian, vii. 214. + +Rome, modern, its example a caution not to attempt to feed the + people by the hands of the magistrates, v. 155. + +Rota, in the French National Assembly, effect of it, iv. 350. + +Rotund, noble effect of it, i. 150. + accounted for, i. 150. + +Rousseau, the secret of his principles of composition, iii. 459. + a resemblance to him an object of rivalry to the leaders of + the National Assembly, iv. 25. + vanity his ruling passion, iv. 26. + brief character of him, iv. 27. + totally destitute of taste, iv. 30. + morality of the passions in his Nouvelle Eloise, iv. 31. + character of his style, iv. 32. + +Russell, Baron, the first, his character, v. 201. + +Russia, the Emperor of, the true policy of his government, v. 422. + +Russian treaty of commerce, i. 410. + + +Sacheverell, Dr., his impeachment carried on for the purpose of + stating the grounds and principles of the Revolution, iv. 119. + extracts from speeches of Managers at his trial, iv. 122-146. + proceedings in his trial, xi. 16. + +Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, reduces Palestine, vii. 427. + defeated by Richard I., vii. 429. + +Salaries, objections to a tax upon them, ii. 283. + +Sallust, remarks on his finely contrasted characters of Caesar and Cato, + i. 189. + +Salt, monopoly of, by the French government, i. 332. + +Santerre, his brutal conduct to Louis XVI., vi. 101. + +Saracens, their fierce irruptions and conquests, vii. 328. + +Savile, Sir George, his bill for the repeal of the statute of + William III. against Papists, ii. 396. + his character, ii. 397. + +Saxons, a brief account of their laws and institutions, vii. 291. + under their rule, the succession to the crown in England + partly hereditary and partly elective, vii. 297. + their laws wholly abolished in England since the Conquest, vii. 478. + sources of them, vii. 487. + +Scarcity, Thoughts and Details on, v. 131. + proper policy in respect to the poor, in times of, v. 156. + +Scotland, beneficial effects on trade of its union with England, ii. 254. + its Church establishment under the Union, iv. 258. + +Scripture, indefinite nature of subscription to it, vii. 18. + +Scythians, all Northern Europe originally inhabited by them, vii. 160. + +Selden, his statement of the Parliamentary practice in the + examination of witnesses, xi. 108. + +Self-preservation, the passions which concern it the strongest + ones, i. 110. + the sublime an idea belonging to it, i. 164. + +Senses, general remarks on them, i. 82. + ought to be put under the tuition of the judgment, iii. 15. + +Serpent, why an object of idolatry, vii. 184. + +Shakspeare, his description of the king's army in Henry IV. an + example of the sublime, i. 155. + +Shelburne, Lord, animadversions on a passage in a speech of his, ii. 544. + +Silence, why enjoined by Pythagoras and the Druids, vii. 178. + +Sirach, Son of, fine example of the sublime from his Book of Wisdom, + i. 155. + +Slaves, never so beneficial to their masters as freemen, v. 147. + +Smells, a source of the sublime, i. 162. + +Smith, Sir Sydney, Captain, observations on his case, v. 400. + +Smoothness, why beautiful, i. 234. + +Social nature, the, impels a man to propagate his principles, v. 361. + +Society, Natural, A Vindication of, i. 1. + definition of the term, i. 11. + notion of, how first introduced, i. 11. + political society, its nature and origin, i. 11; iii. 359; iv. 165. + its continuance under a permanent covenant, iii. 359; iv. 165. + the great purpose of it, what, vi. 333. + society and solitude compared, as sources of pleasure or pain, i. 115. + +Socrates, his discipline contrasted with that of Pythagoras, vii. 179. + +Solitude, something may be done in it for society, v. 125. + +Somers, Lord, the Declaration of Right drawn by him, iii. 254. + +Sophia, the Princess, why named in the Act of Settlement as + the root of inheritance to the kings of England, iii. 262. + +Sophia, St., Church of, anecdote of the Greeks assembled there, + at the taking of Constantinople, vi. 96. + +Sound, a source of the sublime, i. 159. + grand effect of a single one of some strength repeated after + intervals, i. 160. + a low, tremulous, intermitting one productive of the sublime, i. 160. + the beautiful in sounds, i. 203. + +Spain, how likely to be affected by the revolution in France, iv. 339. + not a substantive power, iv. 385. + +Speech of Mr. Burke on American Taxation, ii. 1. + at his Arrival at Bristol, ii. 85. + at the Conclusion of the Poll, ii. 89. + on Conciliation with America, ii. 99. + on Economical Reform, ii. 265. + previous to the Election in 1780, ii. 365. + on Declining the Poll, ii. 425. + on Mr. Fox's East India Bill, ii. 431. + on the Nabob of Arcot's Debts, iii. 1. + on the Army Estimates, iii. 211. + on the Acts of Uniformity, vii. 3. + on the Relief of Protestant Dissenters, vii. 21. + on the Petition of the Unitarians, vii. 39. + on the Middlesex Election, vii. 59. + on Shortening the Duration of Parliaments, vii. 69. + on Reform of the Representation of the Commons in Parliament, vii. 89. + on the Powers of Juries in Prosecutions for Libels, vii. 105. + on the Repeal of the Marriage Act, vii. 129. + on Dormant Claims of the Church, vii. 137. + in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, ix. 327-x. 145; + x. 147-451; xi. 155-xii. 393. + +Spelman, Sir Henry, his difficulties in the study of the law, vii. 477. + +Spirituous liquors, beneficial effects of them, v. 164. + +Spon, M., his curious story of Campanella, i. 212. + +Spring, why the pleasantest of the seasons, i. 153. + +Stability, one of the requisites of a good peace, i. 295. + +Stafford, Lord, proceedings in his trial, xi. 31. + remarks on the prosecution, xi. 112. + +Stamp Act, American, its origin, i. 385. + repeal of it, i. 389; ii. 47. + motives for the repeal, i. 391, 399. + good effects of the repeal, i. 401; ii. 59. + +Stanhope, General, extracts from his speech at the trial + of Dr. Sacheverell, iv. 127. + +Starry heaven, why productive of the idea of grandeur, i. 154. + +State, the, meaning of the term, iv, 248. + consideration of its fitness for an oligarchical form, connected with the + question of vesting it solely in some one description of citizens, + iv. 251. + not subject to laws analogous to those of physical life, v. 124, 234. + the internal causes affecting the fortunes of states uncertain + and obscure, v. 235. + great irregularities in their rise, culmination, and decline, v. 235. + in a conflict between equally powerful states, an infinite advantage + afforded by unyielding determination, v. 243. + +Statesmen, duties of, i. 436; v. 167. + standard of one, iii. 440. + difference between them and professors in universities, vii. 41. + +Stephen, brief account of his reign, vii. 386. + +Stonehenge, wherein an object of admiration, i. 153; vii. 179. + +Stones, rude ones, why objects of veneration, vii. 185. + +Strafford, Earl of, proceedings in his trial, xi. 14. 113. + +Sublime, sources of it, i. 110. + the strongest emotion of the mind, i. 110. + in all things abhors mediocrity, i. 157. + +Sublime and Beautiful, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin + of our Ideas of the, i. 67. + stand on very different foundations, i. 192. + comparison between them, i. 205. + on the efficient cause of them, i. 208. + +Succession, hereditary, the principle of it recognized at + the Revolution, iii. 252. + +Succession, in visual objects, effects of it explained, i. 222. + +Suddenness, a source of the sublime, i. 160. + +Suffering, the force to endure, needful to those who aspire to + act greatly, v. 250. + +Sujah ul Dowlah, his character, xi. 373. + +Sully, M. de, an observation of his on revolutions in great + states, i. 441. + +Superstition, nature of it, iii. 442. + +Surplus produce, nature and application of it, iii. 444. + +Sweetness, its nature, i. 235. + relaxing, i. 237. + +Swift, Dr., a saying of his concerning public benefactors, ii. 472. + +Sympathy, observations on it, i. 177; v. 398. + + +Taille, nature of, i. 330, 333. + +Talents, eminent, obscure and vulgar vices sometimes blended with, iv. 26. + +Tallien, the regicide, his sanguinary brutality, vi. 102. + +Tamerlane, his conquests in Hindostan, ix. 388. + remarks on his Institutes, ix. 467; xi. 214. + +Tanistry, what, vii. 297. + +Taste, discourse concerning it, i. 79. + definition of it, i. 81. + want of it, whence, i. 95. + a wrong or bad one, what, i. 95. + a good one, i. 96. + of no mean importance in the regulation of life, iv. 30. + +Taxes, mode of levying them in commercial colonies an + important and difficult consideration, i. 354. + nature of several in America, i. 355. + colonial, Lord North's project of a ransom of them by auction, ii. 171. + the great contests for freedom in England chiefly upon the + question of taxing, ii. 120. + taxes on different establishments, remarks concerning them, i. 368. + upon salaries, ii. 283. + details of English taxes, v. 476. + +Terror, sometimes a source of delight, i. 119. + how, i. 214. + an effect of the sublime, i. 130. + its physical effects, i. 211. + +Test Act, observations on it, iv. 264. + +Thanes, brief account of them, vii. 300. + +Theatre, general observations on the, iii. 338. + prosperous condition of it in England, v. 485. + made an affair of state in the French Republic, vi. 104. + +Theodorus, Archbishop of Canterbury, brief account of him, vii. 249. + his services to the cause of letters in England, vii. 249. + +Three Seals, the history of the affair so called, ix. 408. + +Time blends the conquered with the conquerors, iv. 272. + +Toleration, true, exemplified, iii. 431. + ought to be tender and large, iv. 258. + favorable to, and a part of Christianity, vii. 25. + not a virtue of the ancient heathens, vii. 31. + +Toulon, fleet of, injudicious measures of the English government + with regard to it, iv. 445. + +Townshend, Charles, character of him, ii. 64. + +Trade, sometimes seems to perish when it only assumes a + different form, i. 313. + quickly and deeply affected by taxes, i. 391. + tests of the state of it, what, v. 493. + Board of, its character and history, ii. 340. + +Tragedy, observations on the effects of, i. 120. + its subjects and passions, vii. 150. + great personages everywhere made the objects of it, xi. 308. + +Transmigration of souls, origin of the doctrine, vii. 181. + +Treasurer's staff, Lord Coke's account of the purpose of it, ii. 354. + +Trent, Council of, its wise introduction of the discipline of + seminaries for priests, iv. 231. + +Triangle, the poorest of all figures in its effect, i. 152. + +Triennial Parliaments, evils of them, vii. 79. + +Trinoda necessitas, in Saxon law, what, vii. 325. + +Turkey, power sought there with avidity, notwithstanding the + danger and insecurity of its tenure, vii. 82. + +Tyranny, aggravated by contumely, ii. 484. + the desire and design of it often lurk in the claim of an + extravagant liberty, iv. 115. + never learns moderation from the ill success of first oppressions, x. 83. + + +Ugliness, the opposite to beauty, but not to proportion and fitness, + i. 199. + consistent with the sublime, i. 199. + +Uniformity and succession of parts constitute the artificial infinite, + i. 149. + +Universal, nothing of this nature can be rationally affirmed or any + moral or political subject, iv. 80. + +Use, to be carefully attended to in most works of art, i. 154. + use and habit not causes of pleasure, i. 180. + + +Vanity, nature and tendency of, iv. 26. + +Variation, beautiful, why, i. 239. + +Vastness, a cause of the sublime, i. 147. + unity why necessary to it, i. 219. + +Vattel, extracts from his Law of Nations, iv. 471. + +Venice, its restrictions with respect to offices of state, iv. 249. + origin of the republic, vii. 331. + acquires the island of Cyprus, vii. 428. + the only state in Europe which benefited by the Crusades, vii. 428. + +Verbal description, a means of raising a stronger emotion + than painting, i. 133. + +Vice, the instances rare of an immediate transition to it + from virtue, i. 421. + +Vices, obscure and vulgar ones sometimes blended with eminent + talents, iv. 26. + in common society receive palliating names, xi. 177. + +Vicinity, civil, law of, what, v. 322. + +Virgil, his figure of Fame obscure, yet magnificent, i. 138. + remarks on his combination of images at the mouth of hell, i. 146. + an example from him of the sublime effect of an uncertain light, i. 161. + and of the cries of animals, i. 162. + and of powerful smells, i. 163. + his picture of the murder of Priam, i. 259. + of the Harpies, v. 187 + +Virtue, how far the idea of beauty may be applied to it, i. 190. + description of the gradual extinguishment of it in public men, i. 421. + will catch, as well as vice by contact, ii. 242. + virtues which cause admiration, i. 188. + virtues which engage the heart, i. 188. + +Visual objects of great dimensions, why sublime, i. 217. + effects of succession in them explained, i. 222. + +Voters, more in the spirit of the English constitution to lessen + than to enlarge their number, i. 370. + + +Wages, the rate of them has no direct relation, to the price + of provisions, v. 136. + +Wales, misgovernment of, by England, for two hundred years, ii. 148. + alteration of the system in the reign of Henry VIII., ii. 150. + +Wales, Frederick, Prince of, project of government devised + in his court, i. 447. + means adopted for its introduction and recommendation to + popular favor, i. 451, 453. + nature of the party formed for its support, i. 459. + name of this party, i. 466. + and of the new system, i. 466. + +Walpole, Mr., (afterwards Sir Robert,) his character, iv. 128. + extract from his speech in the trial of Dr. Sacheverell, iv. 129. + forced into the war with Spain by popular clamor, v. 288. + fault in his general proceeding, v. 289. + +War, its original may be very far from being its principal purpose, i. 298. + not easily reconciled with economy, i. 310. + the ground of a political war, laborers and manufacturers + not capable of conceiving, v. 38. + of England with the French Republic, a war with an armed doctrine, + v. 250. + can never be carried on long against the will of the people, v. 283. + general observations on, v. 318. + the power of making it, why put under the discretion of the crown, + v. 335. + principle of the law of nations with regard to it, vi. 349. + +Warwick, Earl of, proceedings in his trial, xi. 32. + +Water, why venerated by the Druids, vii. 182. + +Weakness, human, in adversity, never pitied by those who applaud + prosperous folly and guilt, iv. 183. + +Wealth, internal, consists in useful commodities as much as in + gold and silver, i. 321. + of a country, a standard by which to estimate the character + of the government, iii. 402. + can never rank first in England, iv. 327. + ought always to be the servant of virtue and public honor, v. 242. + remark of a foreigner on the display of it in the shops in London, + v. 496. + +Whigs, the great connection of, in the reign of Queen Anne, i. 529. + the impeachment of Dr. Sacheverell, for what purpose carried + on by them, iv. 119. + statement of the principles of the new Whigs, iv. 120, 151. + opinion of the new, with respect to the power of the people + over the commonwealth, iv. 161. + Appeal from the New to the Old, iv. 57. + +Wilkes, Mr., his contest with the court party, i. 497. + pretence for punishing him, i. 500. + +Will and duty contradictory terms, iv. 165. + duty not subject to will, iv. 165. + +William of Normandy, the extraordinary facility of his conquest + of England explained, vii. 288. + his numerous followers accounted for, vii. 333. + brief account of his reign, vii. 335. + view of his revenue, vii. 346. + his character, vii. 362. + +William Rufus, brief account of his reign, vii. 364. + +William III., his elevation to the throne an act not of choice, + but of necessity, iii. 254. + his judicious appointments to the vacant bishoprics, iv. 14. + the spirited address of the Commons to him respecting the war + with France, v. 296. + the Grand Alliance against France his masterpiece, v. 297. + his indomitable perseverance in pressing this measure, v. 299. + address of the House of Lords respecting it, v. 300. + +Wintoun, Lord, proceedings in his trial, xi. 22. + +Wisdom of the Son of Sirach, example of the sublime from that + book, i. 155. + +Wishes, vehement, the discovery of them generally frustrates + their attainment, v. 252. + +Wit and judgement, difference between them, i. 87. + +Words, the proper medium for conveying the affections of the mind, i. 133. + affect us in a manner very different from natural objects, + painting, or architecture, i. 246. + three sorts of them, i. 247. + general words before ideas, i. 249. + effect of them, i. 250. + may affect without raising images, i. 252. + this exemplified in the case of the poet Blacklock, i. 252. + and of Saunderson, the mathematician, i. 253. + how words influence the passions, i. 258. + the only means by which many ideas have ever been at all + presented to the senses, i. 259. + the source of a great part of the mischiefs that vex the world, vi. 397. + the world much influenced by them, xi. 172. + +Writers, when they act in a body and with one direction, have + great influence on the public mind, iii. 380 + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of the Right Honourable +Edmund Burke, Vol. XII. (of XII.), by Edmund Burke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF EDMUND BURKE *** + +***** This file should be named 18315.txt or 18315.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/1/18315/ + +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 Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |